2-29-2020

Good Morning All, 

    Psalm 103:4; “who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,”

    Many years ago, Erma Bombeck wrote a book entitled, “If Life is a Bowl of Cherries, what am I doing in the Pits?”  It was her humorous look at life in suburbia.  She had many quaint sayings and observations that were somewhat insightful and usually funny.  Yet it asked a serious question if it was intended to be funny, why am I always in the pits?

    We use the phrase “in the pits” to describe a feeling of despair and or loneliness.  We feel we have a problem and that no one has an answer to it.  This feeling can run the gamut from the high school athlete who just can’t beat his opponent to the employee who just can’t seem to get that promotion to the person who keeps losing a job or some other type of calamity.  We usually associate this feeling with being down as in “down in the pits”.  This is actually a very old idea and goes way back to Scriptural and pre-Scriptural time when a person was punished by being thrown into a literal pit.  Often this pit would be at the low end of the village so rainwater and sewage would flow freely into it.  Sometimes it would have a cover of some sort over it to keep out the light and any chance of escape.  So, life in the pit was a dark, dank, cold, smelly and lonely existence.  It was a punishment at a time when punishment was very mercurial and completely dependent upon the whims of the ruler.  The length of time was often arbitrary as well.  

    So, as we look at our verse, we should have the image of a person, unjustly and cruelly judged, being thrown into a pit of punishment.  How long he will stay there is yet to be determined.  He will have little, if any, contact with those who love him; he will just sit in the smelly, cold pit until the ruler or judge decides to let him out.  Also, remember this was at a time when they put you in prison for a debt and didn’t let you out until you paid it so he could be in that pit long enough to die.

   There are times in our lives when the devil puts us in a pit like this.  First, something goes haywire; it might be accidental like a car wreck.  This spins into not being able to get to work on time.  This could lead to being fired.  Now you are in the pits.  It might be a relational issue with your hormonally challenged teenager that explodes into a real war.  It might be the declining health of an aged parent or worse it might be a combination of all these events with a know-it-all neighbor with all the answers for you.  Yikes!! This is really the pits.

    So, we see our Savior pulling us out of the pit and not only pulling us out but lifting us up.  He holds us with his everlasting love and mercy.  He sees our condition and sends his spirit of hope to us; he sends his Spirit of comfort to us.  We need to trust in his mercy that the pit is usually of our own doing and we only need to focus on Christ for our deliverance. 

Father of all mercies, you extract us from the pit of despair with your love.  Be especially with those who are struggling with the battles of the pit, depression and despair, ad give them the refreshing breath of your Spirit.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-28-2020

Good Morning All, 

    Matthew 22: 9-10; “Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.   And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So, the wedding hall was filled with guests.”

    It was to be the wedding feast of all times.  The king’s only son was getting married and it was going to be a party to end all parties.  All the important people were invited, the date was set, and the preparations were under way.  There was to be all kinds of special food, only the choicest cuts of meat, the finest wines, the most delectable desserts, wonderful music; absolutely the greatest event of a lifetime.  People would talk about this for ages to come.

    Then some cracks started to form.  Some of the nobles, who thought they should have been the king anyway, decided that they “had a prior engagement” or that they “would be unable to attend”.  The banquet hall would not be full.  It was rapidly becoming obvious that the hall would probably be more empty than full.  Eventually, it would be almost entirely empty.  Those who were invited thought that the king was of no importance and they really did not want to bother with going to a reception for his son regardless of how good the food was.  They assumed that the king would crawl to them, begging them to come to the party.

    The king had a different idea.  He still wanted this celebration to go on.  So, he had his servants go out into the city and into the countryside and invite anyone they met.  They invited the lepers and the homeless.  They invited the sick and the lame.  They invited everyone to fill the banquet hall.  The feast went on and on; the invited guests were excited because they never expected to be invited to such a wonderful party and those who were invited but stayed home; they missed it all.

    Jesus told his disciples this story to show them how great God’s love for us truly is.  We are the outcasts.  Our sin puts us in that position.  Our sin also causes us to feel the pain of this separation.  When we struggle, we are all alone.  When life goes down a hard or difficult path, we are lost.  The pain of sin is like being a leper; we are left on the outside looking in.  Yet God has a better way.  He comes to you and he comes to me and he invites us in.  We are taken in, we are cleaned up, given new clothes and then fed a most wonderful meal, the best ever. 

    That meal, our heavenly meal, awaits us.  The king’s messengers invite us in.  We are being cleansed even as we wait for the wonderful feast.  God loves us, cares for us, comforts us, defends us and gives us hope.  We are no longer on the outside looking in; we are in the banquet hall.  We are waiting for our table to open up.  When it does, the feast will be beyond anything we can ever imagine here on earth.

Father of love, you bring us to your feast by the Spirit.  You fill us with your splendor.  Renew us by your grace and keep us in the certainty of your tender mercy.  Guard us and guide us.  We ask that you especially be with those who feel excluded from life’s joy.  Give them the comfort of your loving arms and lead them to know your loving will.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’ Peace,

Pastor Bret 

2-27-2020

 Good Morning All, 

    Matthew 18: 21-22; “Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”  Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

    The young couple was sitting in the pastor’s office.  They had just gone through another major argument/ blowup.  They were sniping and fighting, again.  He didn’t listen; all she did was nag.  He never helped; she was never satisfied.  The list never ended.  One sat in one chair while the other sat in a different chair as far apart as possible.  Both sat with their arms folded, frowns upon the face; not a lot of joy here.

    So, the pastor started with a couple of Bible lessons.  First, they read about Peter when he denied Jesus three times.  The pastor asked, “Have you ever felt that the other denied you?” They both answered “yes!”  Then they read about when Jesus restored Peter by telling him to “feed my sheep”.  The couple was asked, “Did you forgive the denial?”  Neither answered because each knew where this was going.  So, the pastor asked, “Would you forgive the other at least once?”  Both agreed that once was not too much to ask or to do for each other. “We all make mistakes”

   So, then they looked at our verse.  How many times do we forgive?  This translation (ESV) says seventy-seven times.  Others say seventy times seven.  Either represent a number beyond which we would keep track of.  We also want to remember that Peter’s number represents more than twice what was expected at the time of Jesus (3 was expected).  So even he was speaking of an attempt to give more than most.  Jesus’ answer went beyond any human thought.

    The truth that Jesus is teaching us is that the true key contentment in our life is the willingness to forgive; even beyond willing, we must desire to forgive.  The desire to forgive is the basis of our faith and our salvation.  God wants to forgive you.  That is why Jesus came to die for you and to remove your sin; this was because he wanted to forgive you and to show you his love for you.  So here we see where Jesus is telling us the essence of our earthly contentment: to forgive others.  By forgiving others, we let go of the pain that holding onto the sins of others causes us. 

    This is part of the reason why Jesus uses such an extreme number of “counted” forgiveness.  In this, we see the burden of carrying the sins of others.  All the work, all the time, all the effort to keep track of each person we know would be burdensome beyond belief.  Yet we often try to do this in our heart, and we see the pain we experience just like that couple who was visiting their pastor.  When you see the pain of others and when you feel your own pain because you hold on to the sins of others.

    So, Jesus reveals to us the most needed element in a contented life; we need to forgive others in order to let go of the burden of keeping track of those sins.  It is remembering this pain that hurts us.  Always remembering causes the burden.  Let it go; forgive as you are forgiven.

Dear Jesus, teach us to forgive as you forgive us.  Lead us to see this is the source of our contentment.  In your precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret 

2-26-2020

Good Morning All, 

         Isaiah 64:8; “But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand."

       There was an article that I read a while back about a man who attempted to swindle some people out of their money.  He told them he was investing it wisely, but he was spending it on financing his lifestyle.  He bought fancy cars, took expensive vacations, and bought expensive artwork.  When they finally caught up to him, most of the authorities warned the duped investors that they may only get back a fraction of their original money.  They sold all the con man’s possessions to help recover the losses.  They were stunned when some of his artwork, especially some of the vases and pottery, brought incredible amounts.  The original investors actually made more money from the sale of the artwork than they would have from the con man’s claimed investments!

    It is amazing how much some artwork can be so expensive.  There was a vase from the Chinese Qing dynasty that sold for over $80 million.  So, what made that vase so valuable?  It was only painted baked clay; where does its value come from?  Mostly it came from its age and the rarity of the piece.  It also came from the skill of the potter who made it.  It came from the potter’s ability to mold and to shape that lump of dirt into an artistic expression that would become almost priceless.

    This is how we should view our self and each other.  We are really only lumps of clay; in and of itself, clay has very little value.  But once the clay is molded and shaped by the masterful hands of the craftsman, it has great value.  Our value is not in what we are but in who has crafted us.  Our value is because of God’s work in us and for us.  We have value because God says we do.  Yet it goes beyond this simple fact.  I have value because of Jesus Christ but so do you.

    We need to remember that it is not a “me” world.  This is God’s creation and “we” live in it.  All of God’s children have great value.  We need to see that the value of everyone is high.  No one is of “no value.”  All have the same price exacted for their soul; the price of God’s only Son was paid for each of us.  It was paid for you, but not just you; it was paid for everyone.  Everyone should be viewed as God’s redeemed child, my brother and sister, your brother and sister.  This is why God wants us to love each other as he has loved us.  We are his children and we are brothers and sisters.  So, God wants us to care for each other holding each other as valuable works of art products of the master’s hand.

Gracious Lord, you have molded and shaped me to be your child.  Guide me so that I will extend to those around me the love that you have for me.  At times I will fall short; lead me to repent.  At times others will fall short; lead me to forgive.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.                                                                    

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-25-2020

      Good Morning All, 

     Acts 4: 29; “And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness”

    There is the story of Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe who, when in command of the 101^st Airborne Division, found himself and the division surrounded by a much superior in strength German Army was given the terms of surrender by the German Command.  The German Command listed how superior the forces were, how there was no escape or hope, how this would spare civilian life, and so on; gave the general two hours to respond.  His answer, quite famously now, was,” Nuts.”

    At first the German Command couldn’t figure out what he meant.  Eventually they did and began an assault on the city, but the Americans held off until reinforcements arrived and drove the German army back.  When threatened with destruction, the general responded, “Nuts.”  This was a bold statement and a bold act.  When news of this travelled through the ranks of the American forces, they probably puffed up a little, taking pride in their officer’s confidence in them.  Perhaps the Germans were somewhat dismayed, outnumbering and outgunning the Americans yet they did not surrender. 

    Our verse is part of a longer prayer that the Apostles prayed after Peter and John were released from being imprisoned over the preaching of Jesus Christ.  The Apostles and their fellow believers were faced with persecution and death.  They didn’t ask that the persecution was removed, they asked for boldness to speak God’s Word.

    This is what we need to do.  We need to ask God to give us boldness to proclaim his Word.  We need to proclaim his Word of forgiveness, of hope, of truth.  We need to boldly show the world what God’s love truly looks like.  Instead of backing away in fear we need to boldly speak out.

    God encourages us to ask for boldness, to ask for strength and not less work.  We often fail to see that when others see your faith in action; they are moved by it.  They may be jealous, or angry; they may see it and marvel at your strength and calmness.  But what they do see is your faith and through this they see God in action.  God gives us the opportunity to witness to our faith in him.  Sometimes it may be a challenge, but we need to remember that God is with us and guides us on our way.

     The thing is that this boldness may be most needed in your own family.  This may be where God has placed you to be strong.  Trust God and his Word to sustain you.  You don’t need to be overly boastful or arrogant just truthful about God’s love in your life and how it impacts you today.

Gracious Father give me boldness to proclaim your Word to the world around me.  This broken world needs to hear of your love more than ever, guide me by your Spirit to proclaim it loudly.  In Jesus precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret            

2-24-2020

Good Morning All, 

        1 Peter 1:3; “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead"

    There is an ancient Roman saying. “While there is life, there is hope.”  We apply this to our life, and we teach it in many capacities.  If you have ever coached a group of youngsters in any kind of sport, keeping them from giving up when they get behind is always crucial.  You must continually tell them,” Don’t stop until the clock does” or “It ain’t over until it is over” or “Fight until the last out.”  Take your pick they mean the same thing, there is always a chance.

    This is an attitude held by many doctors and nurses.  As long as there is a breath of life in a person, there is hope that they will get better.  Most people like to believe that this is their philosophy for life as well.  As long as there is life, there is hope.  They just keep on plodding on forward; holding to the tenet that hard work will get them ahead in the end.  But what happens when hard work fails?  What happens when it feels like all the life is gone?  What happens when all your work doesn’t keep you healthy?  Or wealthy?  What happens when life doesn’t go according to our plan?  Is there no hope?

    As a Christian, we should view this saying a little differently.  We should say, “Where there is hope, there is life.”  We know that all our hope, life, comfort, all that we have comes because we have been given hope by God.  This hope exists beyond this world and this life.  The struggles of this world, though sometimes painful, are only temporary.  Even as we battle these struggles, God gives us the tools to deal with them.  He gives us His Spirit to bring us into remembrance what he has told us, how he has given to us his words of forgiveness, his words of reconciliation. 

    He gives us his sacraments to give us the touch and feel of his grace; the life renewing, soul refreshing nourishment to help restore us.  He gives us his Church, the flesh and blood contact here on this earth; the hands of his grace.  All this he gives to us out of his love and fatherly mercy.  He gives us this to exist in a broken, sinful world. 

    He gives us this so we can be sure of the promise that we have; the promise of hope.  The certainty of God’s grace and his merciful actions.  The certainty of our salvation which is ours and eternal life which awaits us.  We have life because we have hope.  We have hope because of God’s grace. 

Dearest Father, we often feel that there is only despair in our life.  We often feel we have no hope.  Give us the certainty of our hope, of our living hope.  Lead us forward with the confidence of your grace, active in our lives.  Be with those who have no hope at this time, give them the certainty of faith to hold onto the living hope that is from you.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

2-23-2020

  Good Morning All, 

    Luke 2:17; “And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child”

    When I watch television, I usually watch MeTV.  It has all the old classics that I can still understand.  I was watching Dragnet the other day and I still love Joe Friday’s standard line, “Just the facts ma’am, just the facts.”  How many times have you ever wanted to say that to someone as they droned on and on and never made any sense while they were doing it?  Yet in many ways, as Christians, what we are called to do is just what Joe Friday asks for; just the facts.

    If you step back and look at our faith; it is unique.  It really starts right here in our verse.  This was the response of the shepherds who were “keeping watch over their flock.”  The angels proclaimed the good news and gave glory to God for his greatness.  The shepherds went to see this baby who was the Savior of the world.  After they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.  Just the facts.  It started with simple, uneducated farm kids.  Young men who were shepherds.  Shepherds were the kind of people who got lost in the crowd.  Shepherds were sometimes the kind of people who wanted to get lost in the crowds.  Shepherds were about as unlikely candidates to announce the birth of the Savior as you would find.

    They were almost as unlikely as a bunch of fishermen who told the world that they had seen the risen Savior.  There wasn’t a whole lot of flowery language; just the facts.  A simple faith for simple people who only knew how to do one thing; relay the facts.  These people didn’t have an agenda or a policy to follow.  They didn’t try to appease or avoid; they just told the facts; Jesus the Christ, the Son of God was born man, died for our sins and was raised from the dead by God to show that it is true.  Just the facts, ma’am. 

    The beauty of this is that all we ever must do for our fellow man is to give him the facts.  You don’t have to defend it or explain it; you don’t have to possess a theological doctorate degree; you only need to tell them the facts.  If people reject the facts, that is up to them.  All we can do is to state the facts and try and live the facts.  “Try” is a good way to put it; we are sinful by nature and will fail occasionally, but our desire is to do God’s will; to love as he first loved us.  That can be very hard but that is our goal here on this earth; to love as God first loved us.

    So, whether you are a college graduates with degrees plastered all over your wall or whether you never got beyond the 6^th grade, just tell the facts.  Jesus died for your sins in order to redeem you and to make you his own.  His resurrection shows that God was satisfied with the payment.  So, go tell, make known what was told to you.

Loving Father help us to tell the facts.  Give us the courage to speak of your love to those around us.  Help us to be especially kind to those who most need your Words of mercy.  Give us the right words to make known what you have given to us.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-22-2020

Good Morning All, 

        Psalm 103:12; “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us."

    When my wife and I were early in our marriage we lived in a trailer on the same farm as my parents.  It was your typical “starter trailer home”; it had thin walls and not the greatest windows.  One warm summer night, we started to smell something and that something smelled horrid.  It was pungent; skunky pungent.  In the morning, the smell was still there.  We looked out the window and about 10 feet from the back door was a dead skunk; a very dead, ripe, stinky skunk.  It was very unpleasant to be near the skunk so we wouldn’t use the back door.  We wouldn’t use the area and it was very disgusting.  In order to fix the situation, I had to scoop up the dead skunk with a shovel and haul it far, far, FAR away.  I even had to scoop up some of the dirt.  We poured some “perfumy”, good smelling stuff on the ground so it didn’t smell bad anymore.

    Getting rid of the stinky skunk wasn’t pleasant; but if we would have left it there, we would have never used our back door or that entire section of our yard.  We had to get rid of the stench in order to take our backyard back to our usage.  Sin is just like that; sin is a stinky, smelly thing.

    Our sin sits before God like a stinky, dead skunk.  That stinky skunk kept God away from us.  We were too repugnant to be in God’s presence.  This smell would never go away on its own; the only way for the smell to go is for the sin to go.  This is what God did; he removed your stinky sin from you, as far as the east is from the west. In order that you can stand before God and not be repugnant. God removed the sin by having the blood of Jesus remove it and replace the stink of sin with the sweet aroma of His righteousness.  That is how we can have a relationship with God, he removes the barrier, the awful stench; that prevented it.

    God tells us that we must do the same with those around us.  If we want a relationship with others, we must be willing to get rid of the stench.  When we allow sins that others commit against us to remain, they only serve to foul the area and make it unusable.  The stench keeps us apart.  It gets in the way because it keeps reminding us of the pain we once had.  It is better to forgive and get rid of the smelly problem.  By letting go of the sin that others did to us, by forgiving them, we get rid of the dead skunk.  Sin only separates us from relationships, both from God and others.  The only way to heal these relationships is to remove the sin.  God did this for us by having Jesus bear our sins and take them far, far, FAR away.  This frees us to see that this is the best way to deal with the stench; send it far, far, FAR away.

    Gracious Lord, you have removed our sins and the stench they cause in order to return us to your presence.  By this gift, you free us from the bandage of sin; you free us to forgive others and restore them to a loving relationship with us.  Guide those who refuse to throw away the dead skunk.  Show them the peace that is theirs through your gracious act.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-21-2020

Good Morning All, 

    Matthew 16:18; “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

    Jesus said, “I will build my church.”  Well sort of, anyway.  Jesus didn’t speak English; he spoke Aramaic.  This verse was originally written in Greek.  Neither use the word “church”; that was a later translation.  The word in Greek is “Ecclesia” which means the “out called”.  It was translated in the Middle Ages to the German word “Kirche” meaning church.  Yeah, this I kind of boring but there is a point.

    We are the “out called”.  We are the people who Christ called and made into his body.  We are a living, active being.  We are not and institution or an organization; we are the body of Christ.  We are the people whom he has gathered together, from all over, to do his work here on earth.  We are gathered together based on the same proclamation that Peter made.  Peter proclaimed to Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!”

    We are part of the body of Christ; not by wisdom, might, wealth or any other man-made thing.  We are part of the body by faith.  If we believe in our heart and confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord; we are saved.  It is that simple.  We are then part of the body.  We are called out of the sinful world and gathered together as the redeemed, forgiven body of Christ.

    We are called to action.  We are called to make a difference in the lives of those around us.  The Word of God in the hearts of men changes lives!  Your life is changed; the lives of those who you touch are changed.  God in your life, Jesus as your Lord changes the lives of people.  We go from hopeless, lost creatures to hopeful, saved children of God.  We are gathered as a living, breathing being.  We are called out of the sinful world into God’s grace-filled kingdom.  From here we reach out to those around us, one at a time, as each has need or is willing to hear.  We are the physical presentation of Jesus on the earth.

    Jesus calls us to be an active heartbeat in the world.  He calls us to make a difference in this world.  This is what Christmas should mean to us.  When Jesus came to this world, he made a difference in the lives of people everywhere.  Now, until he returns, he wants us to make a difference in the lives of those around us.  Show them God’s compassion.  Show them God’s mercy.  You have seen it; you have experienced it.  God wants you to be an active force for his love in your world.  Be it your neighbors, your family and friends, or just the people you interact with on daily basis.  Be the living presence of Christ in the life of those around you.  It doesn’t require money or fame or strength; it only requires faith, the rock upon which we are built.

Father of grace, you bring us together to be your hands and your arms; to be your presence here on this earth.  Stir us up, by your Spirit, to reach out to those who are in need of your compassion, your mercy and your love.  Bring peace to this world and give hope to all.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-20-2020

Good Morning All, 

    2 Corinthians 12:9; “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me”.

    It seems like yesterday.  It was a while ago, but it seems like yesterday and it was a very frustrating day.  I had horrific troubles with sending out the devotion.  Some of you may have not gotten it.  Some of you may have gotten two or three.  So, I took the morning and went to my favorite tech guru (she was gone but the next gal was nice) but their advice was flat.

    They signed me up for a new provider. (Sigh) So I came home and began to process to the new account.  I had no way to import the addresses, so I had to enter each one, one at a time.  When I got done them all entered, I couldn’t get the new addresses to go into files in order to mail multiple emails.  By the time I quit (not done), it still wasn’t working properly.  I resigned to my fate and went and taught Confirmation class, a little surlier than I should have been.

    I don’t think there is anything more humbling than when things don’t work the way we expect them to.  Robert Burns once wrote “The best laid schemes of mice and men, go often awry,” I know that feeling well.  It is at these times, times when I really feel like throwing up my hands, when God really speaks to me.  No matter how good I think I am or how much the world will miss me when I am gone, it is never my success but God’s action working through me. 

    It is amazing how often these “wake ups” occur after you have been puffed up.  Does this mean that God “zaps” you every so often; I don’t think so.  It is more that when you are humbled, you realize your weaknesses and your failures.  You see your weaknesses and, by God’s grace; you see God’s power.

    If you really step back and look you can often see God’s hand in your life.  Sometimes it takes a few years to really see it, but it is there.  We can look back and see God’s hand in friends who were there.  We see family members who helped shape our life experiences.  We see God’s hand as we look back and can smile because it was there.

   We can look forward with confidence that God’s hand will be there tomorrow as well.  We may not fully see it right away but when we truly need it the most; God’s grace is and will be there.  At our greatest weakness, whether illness, death, family breakdowns, financial struggles or whatever it is; God’s grace will ultimately pull us through.  In our weakness God’s strength will always show through.

Dearest Father, even when we think we are strong, we are weak and completely dependent upon your grace to live, to thrive, to flourish.  It is your wonderful mercy that keeps us going even when we don’t see it.  Be with those who feel only their weakness.  Show them the power of your loving kindness.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-19-2020

Good Morning All, 

        2 Timothy 4:3; “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions”

    It is always amazing how people react to hearing what they do not want to hear.  Some young children will stick their fingers in their ears and make blathering noises to drown out what is being said.  I have had confirmation students who, when faced with facts they don’t want, will bring up a fact that has absolutely nothing to do with the topic.  Their goal is to confuse the situation.  When they become adults, their answer is to claim that they have a different set of facts to counter the other set of facts.

    One of my favorite quotes is, “sir you are entitled to your own opinions, but you are not entitled to your own facts.”  There is a lot or truth in that statement.  We often want to have our own truth, our own set of facts.  This is what Paul means when he talks about itching ears.  We hear the truth, but we filter it and hear what we want in the way that we want.  We do this because our sinful nature wants to have its own truth.

    Our sinful nature wants us to have a different set of facts.  It wants us to believe that we are better off hearing what we want to hear.  It wants to tell us that our truth, whatever that is, however it changes, is the best truth.  Of course, this is also why we end up lost, hurt, lonely, and in a state of hopelessness.  When our ears itch and filter God’s truth and try to spin the “facts” to lead us astray, that is how the world and our sinful nature tries to control us.

     This is why it is so critical that we listen closely to God’s voice, to his Word.  The world will tell us to worry about only our self.  God calls upon us to love our neighbor.  The world tells us that everything is ours to take yet God created us to take care of creation, to have dominion not domination.  Our life is better when we live according to God’s will.  This is not because of some enforced law but because we, like any other created thing, are best fit to serve the purpose for which we were designed.  God created us to worship and praise him, to love one another and to take care of the creation.  We are most content when we live that life.  This is the rhythm which best suits us.  It is when we seek a different truth that we again have itching ears.

    So, as we look for truth, we know that the source of all truth is Jesus.  We know his word is true, his actions are true, we know his love for us is true.  We know his promise of salvation is true.  This is what we hold on to.  This is the truth that we need.  Our ears will still itch from time to time, but God’s truth will sound through if we have faith and faith comes through hearing God’s Word, the true Word.

Father of love and mercy, your Word is truth and it moves us to follow you, to trust in you, to live our lives holding onto the promise of salvation.  Keep us from itching ears.  Give us the faith and the courage to hold onto your incredible grace.  Be with those who are struggling with life today.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-18-2020

Good Morning All, 

    Matthew 9:9; “As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.”

    Despicable.  That is really the only way most people would describe Matthew.  He was the traitor of traitors.  He was working for the Romans against his own people.  He was a Jew and he was collecting taxes, actually, extorting money from his own people and he was doing it face to face probably with a smirk. 

    There were two kinds of tax collectors.  There were the chief tax collectors, these were the higher ups who didn’t get their hands dirty.  Then there were the regular tax collectors like Matthew.  He would have sat at the toll booths by the entrances to the city or by the central marketplace.  He would have enforced tariffs or value taxes.  He would have collected taxes for the exchange of money or for the tax on import or export goods.  These rates were “flexible” depending on how much he felt he could extract from the other person.  He would have had a few “enforcers” behind him to help persuade the taxpayer to pay his tax.

    He always had to extract a little more than what was called for.  He had to turn in the tax money, pay the bribe to the chief tax collector, pay the hired muscle and still make a living for himself.  But he didn’t need to live that good and he was working for the Romans; the government that was repressing his people.  He was handling their filthy lucre and he was dealing with those unclean gentiles.  He would never be clean enough to go into the Temple.  Every good Jew would ignore him, or even spit on him in passing him on the street.  So, his friends were of no value to the Jewish society either.  His friends were other tax collectors, the thugs they hired, maybe a few prostitutes would have been the extent of his friends as well.  He was the lowest of the lowest, the absolute bottom of the barrel.

    Yet Jesus called and he listened.  Jesus called and Matthew walked away from his booth.  He walked away from all the money.  As soon as he left, one of the thugs or other tax collectors would have taken over.  His job was gone, for good or ill, his source of income dried up as he stood up.  The fact that Jesus even spoke to him speaks of how great his love is.  So, what do we learn from the calling of Matthew?

    There is never, ever someone who is too bad to be called to the saving grace that Jesus gives to you.  There is no way that you are ever beyond hope.  There is nothing we can do that will ever turn God’s love from us.  God desires you just as much as he did Matthew.  God desires to have you as part of his kingdom.  God pours out his grace upon you.  You may be bad, but you are no more despicable than Matthew.  Jesus called Matthew into his kingdom; he is calling you as well.

Gracious Father, many times I feel lower than Matthew. I feel there is no way you could ever love me and yet your mercy speaks to me each day.  Your grace is poured out on me every single moment.  Strengthen me that I may live knowing the certainty of your grace.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace

Pastor Bret

2-17-2020

Good Morning All, 

    John 15:13; “The greatest love you can show is to give your life for your friends”.

     Have you ever seen the movies Armageddon?  It starred Bruce Willis.  It was about an attempt to head off an asteroid that is heading toward earth.  The plot is that a team of oil drilling specialist will land on the asteroid, drill a hole into the asteroid, and place a nuclear bomb in the hole and blow the asteroid up. There are all sorts of troubles; in the end the switch for the bomb malfunctions so someone must stay on the asteroid and manually set it off.  Bruce Willis, the hero, stays behind to set off the bomb and saves the world.  Everyone sees him as the greatest hero ever.  He gave his life so that the rest of the world could live.

    This is usually how we view our heroes.  They end up larger than life and die in order for others to live.  He might be a soldier who attacks the enemy to save his platoon.  It might be the guy who jumps on the grenade or the person who jumps in front of someone else when the bullets start flying.  This is how we see this verse playing out.  Yet when we do, we are really missing a great point that Scriptures make about our lives.  Most of us will never face a situation where our life is in danger of ending but this verse still applies to us.  This is because God calls us to give up our life for others.

    The way that most of us will face this is by giving up our life in a different fashion.  We “give up our life” when we put aside our own selfish desires out of love for those around us.  The most obvious time this occurs is in marriage.  Both partners must be willing to “give up their life” for the other for the marriage to be healthy and successful.  Each must remember that a decision affect more than just themselves.  A new job offer should be discussed before being accepted.  The purchase of a major item should be discussed before it occurs.  We also see it when children enter the family.  The needs of the child can’t be left for the desires of the parents.  These are the more obvious but what about the lesser ones?

     God calls us to give up our lives for our friends.  If your friends are in need of help, do you give up some of your selfish desires to help them?  God calls us to do this.  Do we give up some luxury in order to give someone else a need that they have?  Maybe you like to buy a fancy cup of coffee every day for lunch.  If you gave up one $4.00 cup of coffee a week, you could give $200 towards a local food bank.  This is just one example, very simple, of “giving up your life” in order to help others.  It doesn’t have to be you jumping on a grenade, it might just be giving up a small luxury for someone who has a need right now.  Can you do that?

Gracious Father, you sent Jesus to give up his life that we might have salvation.  Help me to give up some of the things that I do not need that I may help someone who is in need.  Father, there are many who have great needs today, use me to be your arms to embrace them with your grace.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret