2-4-2015

Good Morning All,

           Luke 11:3; “Give us each day our daily bread”

     Andy Warhol (1928 – 1987) is most known for his painting of “pop art” in the 1960s. He is known for paintings of Marilyn Monroe, Muhammad Ali, dollar bills, and many other iconic images. The Campbell’s Soup Can is one of those iconic images. For a movement of art that appeared to be anything but art, Warhol and pop art has remained influential.  It caused quite a stir in the art world.  Many questioned how something so mundane and “pedestrian” could be considered art.

     Yet this picture went on to be very famous.  This unassuming painting of a Campbell’s Soup Can blurs the line of art and the world. Warhol painted many soup cans from Tomato to Onion to a scene of 100 Campbell’s cans.  Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Can is one of the greatest and most famous pieces of art in the history of modern pop art.

     “Lord, teach us to pray,” the disciples ask. It is such a simple request and Jesus offers simplicity in his answer. The prayer he gives to his disciples is unassuming and straightforward. There is no question that this is a prayer indeed. But how did the disciples not know how to pray? Before we hear Jesus’ answer to the disciples, we might listen and hear overtones of other prayers.  We could overhear disciples praying like the Pharisees, we could consider the temple rituals of the Sadducees, or even the total ignorance of the pagan world may come to mind. In contrast to these people and these prayers, Jesus offers a simple act of prayer; we call it The Lord’s Prayer.

    This prayer is near and dear to the Christian community. Yet at times it seems too simple to be a real act of prayer. Praying for daily bread might seem trite to some.  Particularly in a world where our basic needs are typically met. Praying short petitions seems rote and disingenuous in contrast to long prayers and meditations of the heart. This prayer, however, calls us into a world where the simple has beauty, and where the mundane has divine significance. Jesus leaves little to wonder, but much to appreciate when he teaches his disciples about prayer.

    A simple soup can.  It reminds us not just to pray for our own daily food from the gracious hand of our heavenly Father but to recognize the fullness of the kingdom of God. We pray these words because God promises to hear our prayers. But we also live these words.  Our lives become this prayer in action as Jesus calls us into a sacrificial love for neighbor that is simple and unassuming.  Drive around the city.  Watch as this prayer reminds you that giving to the poor and needy is part of the kingdom.  Dismissing the simple things, or even not asking for them in prayer, is like dismissing Warhol’s simple artwork. There is more to the kingdom of God. For this reason, Jesus teaches us to pray, and by praying to seek his kingdom, this simple and unassuming kingdom present in our world.

Gracious God, lead us to always pray for our needs and for the needs of others.  Lead us to see your love in all of our life.  Guide us to see that nothing is too small for your care and love.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-3-2015

Good Morning All,

        Habakkuk 3:18; “yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.”                                                                                                          

       “Is everybody happy?” was the catchphrase of a depression-era singer named Ted Lewis.  He would ask it and then answer “yessir.”  This banter seemed to resonate with many of the people who listened to his songs or watched his shows.  His band was one of the few that remained together during that era. 

    Is everybody happy?  Given that we are in a far better economic condition than The Great Depression, we should be.  Yet when you listen to people; they don’t like their job, they don’t like the way they look, they don’t like the way their life is turning out.  The amazing thing is that often, if one phase of our life turns better and we should be happy, we simply focus on a different element in our life that we are unhappy with.  So, many spend a lot of time unhappy.

    The word happy comes from the same root word as happening which thus implies that happiness is something that happens to you.  It is an event and can be very circumstantial.  You can be happy when you make your last car payment or your friends come over for the Super Bowl.  Yet this becomes problematic; how do we respond when the car needs repairs or the friends go home?  Happiness can be fleeting but God gives to us something far better than happiness; God gives us joy.

    While temporary happiness depends on the circumstances, true joy can defy the circumstance.  Happiness is a feeling whereas true joy is an attitude.  True joy, true Godly joy, is that deep seated, deeply held, deeply settled confidence that God is in control of every situation, every event, every occurrence in my life.  True joy comes from the knowledge that a loving, caring Father in heaven is looking out for us and protecting us from the devil’s harm.

    This does not mean that the life of a Christian is an easy lot.  In the Gospels, God promises his children four things in this world.  We will have his peace, his power, his purpose but we will have earthly troubles.  Yet we can find joy in the fact that God’s peace, power and purpose have defeated the world and its troubles.  It is by living in joy that we show the world and our neighbors what faith in God’s promises brings into our life.  We have the fruits of the Spirit love, JOY, peace, etc.  It is no fluke that joy is listed this high in the list second only to love and serving as a bridge or connector to love and peace.  It is tough to have true peace if we have no joy and everything is impossible without love.

    We need to see that true joy is found, not in having or possessing but rather in being or existing in God’s grace as God’s children.  True joy comes from the knowledge that, despite whatever the world throws at us; we are the victors through Jesus.  This is our joy; God has reconciled us to himself and we have true hope in him-life eternal.       

Father of all joy; guide me to walk in your joy and peace.  Guide me to live in the certainty of your love.  Grant me the peace to know the true joy that you want me to have.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-2-2015

 Good Morning All,

        Galatians 4:5; “to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

     There was a young man who was troubled about his past.  He had been adopted at a very young age and had no recollection about his “real” parents.  He loved his adoptive family but felt there was a hole in his life as part of it was missing.  All he knew was that his mother had given him up at a very young age because she was unable to care for the young man and his brother.  He knew he was loved but always wondered about his past.

    Yet one day while in a weekly Bible Study, they looked at Galatians and about receiving “adoptions as sons.”  Suddenly he saw his life and faith in a new light.  “I was adopted by my parents and given a new family.  In the same way, I have become a member of God’s family and given a new identity, God’s identity.”

    Adoption is a fascinating event.  It is, at one level, very personal and emotional.  Yet it is also very much a legal event.  Adoptions have to be formalized in a courtroom with a judge present.  So while adoption is a very subjective event with all the warmth and emotional actions; it is also very objective in the way it works.  Adoption is bridge between the personal and the legal.  It takes a legal action and morphs into a very personal, new relationship between the parent and the child.

    All believers receive the adoption of sons.  We receive this in a very personal way; we receive it at Baptism.  Here we are received, one at a time by name, into God’s family and we receive this adoption because the only natural son, Jesus, gave up his life for us.  As a result, God makes us his sons, by adoption.  We are his beloved children in a very legal sense.  We have the full rights of sonship; we are co-heirs with Jesus in God’s kingdom.  We are co-heirs to eternal life and to the holy kingdom which will last forever.  We are the beloved sons and daughters in God’s family.

    Yet it is also very personal.  God chose you.  God chose you from before the foundations of creation were set.  God chose you to love and to declare a child of his own.  We not only have all the legal rights of a family member; we also have the familial rights.  We can come to our Father with our fears and our worries, our cries and our sorrows and God has promised to listen to us as a loving father listens to his dear children.  He has promised to comfort us and to hold us close in his loving arms.  We are safe in his protective care.  We are loved by our Father.

Gracious Father, you claim us as your children through the waters of Baptism.  We are marked as your dear children.  Our names are written in the palms of your hands.  Guard us by your Spirit as we are made part of your holy family.  Give us the certainty of your grace.  Lead us to live full and peaceful lives in your kingdom. In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret   

2-1-2015

 Good Morning All,

         Ephesians 4:32; “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

     It is the call throughout the Bible; we are to forgive.  We are to forgive one another even as God has forgiven us.  This is our goal; we aim for it, we desire it, we seek it and yet we struggle with it more than almost anything else.  It is the sinful nature in us that we battle every day.  It is that sinful nature that we need to drown every day through repentance and absolution.

    Forgiveness must take place every day.  First we need to come before God asking for the forgiveness of the sins we commit.  We need to do this in order to see our need for this forgiveness and for the fact that we are freely forgiven by God.  We are then to see that there are others who seek and need our forgiveness and this includes forgiving ourselves.  This forgiveness needs to occur each time the thought to “un-forgive” enters our life and our thoughts.  Every time we recall the hurt and we think that forgiveness may not be what we want give.  We may want to hold onto the anger and the pain.  Yet we need to struggle with this and ask God to continue to turn our heart so that we can forgive and release the pain and sin.

    In order to do this, we may have to leave a toxic or poisonous relationship.  If we find ourself being dragged back down by the attitudes or actions of others, we may have to walk away, at least until we have healed some.  We may have to avoid those who want to keep us living in the pain and the sorrow.  We need to forgive but we may need to walk away, at least until we can leave the toxic portion behind us.

    We also need to remember that forgiveness can be more of a process than an event.  We may have to revisit it more than once.  We may even find that it occurs in increments.  For us, forgiveness may be a long and slow process but it is a process that we must choose if we are to be healed and healing is the goal.

    The thing we need to always remember is that forgiveness is about healing.  It is about healing the pain that we either experience or cause.  Forgiveness is not about giving or taking but it is about being healed.  It is about healing the brokenness in the relationships that we have.  Forgiveness from God heals our relationship with God.  Forgiveness heals the rupture inside of us.  Forgiveness heals the rupture in our relationships with others.  Forgiveness brings about the healing that can restore us to the life which God created us to live.  Forgiveness provides the balm for our wounded souls.

Father of mercy, lead us to forgive.  Lead us to follow the path of healing and restoration.  Lead us by your Spirit to seek out the love that you give to us.  Lead us to live in peace.  Lead us to live in the joy of your mercy.  Heal us that we may be yours.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret