9-8-2015

Good Morning All!!                       

         Psalm 25: 1-2; “To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.  O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me.”

      I was visiting with a member of one of my congregations the other day and we were talking about church members and their participation in events outside of worship services.  “Why don’t more volunteer to be in the Life booth at the Fair?”  “Why don’t we do more for the poor and the needy?”  He rattled off a few more but that is the gist of his line of questioning.  I told him that I thought the biggest reason was shame.  He gave me a shocked look so I figured I better explain.

    Many people feel shame.  Not that they are ashamed of being a Christian but they feel shame in that someone they know may see them and say something along the lines of “YOU, are a Christian?  I would have never guessed.”  We feel shame over our sinful nature and then are afraid to be seen in public being a Christian.

    As we look at this, try and see that guilt and shame are two different things.  Guilt is our response to doing something we think is wrong.  I feel guilty if I cut in line ahead of someone.   I feel guilty if I am rude so someone.  Guilt can cause you to change the way you act.  I ask, “Are you in line?” to keep from stepping in where I should not and I will let someone go ahead of me just to keep from being unfair.  Shame is how we view our character.  We look at our self and see someone who is a bad person, a bad employee, a bad parent, a bad spouse, someone who is promiscuous, someone who is deviant, someone who is unworthy.  Shame does not change our character for the good.  Shame only pushes us down.

    That is why when someone shames you or calls out some form of behavior in you; you back down and turn and walk away.  That is why the devil throws shame at you; in order to push you down and away from Jesus.  I hear it when someone tells me, “I’m not good enough to come to your church.” When they mean it, the pain is written all over their face and cracks through their voice.  The pain is tremendous but does not have to stay.

    You are a redeemed child of God.  You are not defined by events in your life; you are defined by God and his mercy.  You are not a bad parent or a bad spouse, a deviant or someone who is unworthy of love; you are a redeemed child of God.  Luther tells us to remember our Baptism, every day, in order to remember that you are a redeemed child of God.  Nothing beats that truth, nothing trumps that fact.  The past is just that- past.  Christ washes away our sinful character and replaces it with his Spirit in a new creation that desires his will.  We need not feel shame; it is not who we are any longer.

Father, keep me from being burdened by shame.  Move me by your Spirit to go beyond the devil’s lies and to reach out to share your great love.  Give me power over my shame.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret      

9-7-2015

Good Morning All!!                       

         Deuteronomy 11:9, “and that you may live long in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey.” 

    We are going to live in a land of milk and honey.  That is a phrase we don’t use much.  It refers to a land that is bounteous and fruitful.  So do we live in a land that is flowing with milk and honey?

    It is always kind of funny to listen to farmers talk.  Most will always tell you that they farm the worst ground in the area.  One farmer told me that when the soil surveyor came through and surveyed the land; the surveyor told him that he would starve to death before he raised a family on this land.  A fair number claim to farm in “No Hope Township”.  So apparently, most of us do not think we farm or live in the land flowing with milk and honey.

    A lot of this is just the humble nature of most farmers; they usually don’t brag too loudly about what they do.  Some might be self-preservation.  If you are renting good land, you don’t want everyone to know and then try to bid it away from you.  But deep down, do you live in a land flowing with milk and honey?

    This phrase has always fascinated me because when you look at the land that the children of Israel occupied; it would be hard to call it the land flowing with milk and honey.  It is mostly a desert and is about the only Middle Eastern country without any oil.  They build dams to catch the spring runoff from the mountains to have water for their gardens. How is this, the land flowing with milk and honey?

      The reason that it is the land flowing with milk and honey has nothing to do with the dirt of the land but with the owner of the land.  The children of Israel were living in the land that God was giving to them, as a gift, keeping a promise that he made to their forefathers.  It was a land flowing with milk and honey, not because it grew 250 bushel corn or 75 bushel soybeans, but because the children of Israel were living in the covenant of God’s grace.

      We too, live in a land flowing with milk and honey.  We live in God’s grace.  We are his children, redeemed and righteous before God.  We call him Father and he hears us, he embraces us with the love that we cannot even begin to fathom.  We see that love in the life of Jesus; we see it in the empty tomb.  We see it in the promise of salvation that is ours.  We see it when we join in the communion of saints and the holy fellowship with our fellow believers. 

     We live in a land flowing with milk and honey.  We receive God’s blessings when we deserve his wrath; we receive his mercy when we deserve his judgment.  God’s love for us gives us our land flowing with milk and honey and nothing can take it away.

     Dear Father, your mercies are new everyday as we live in your land flowing with milk and honey.  Forgive us when we are slow to see the wonders of your love and the greatness of your grace.  Guide us to live out our lives in such a way that we draw others to live in your land as well.  In Jesus precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

9-6-2015

Good Morning All!!                       

          James 2:26; “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”

     I have been reading a book by Craig Groeschel entitled “The Christian Atheist”.  The basic premise of the book is that many in the church are only “culturally” Christian.  We go to church, we say the words, we put a little in the collection plate, and then we go home and live our lives as if Sunday didn’t occur.  We live our life the same.  Our life before hearing God’s Words of grace and forgiveness is the same life we live after we hear these words.  There is no difference in our life.  Culturally, our lives look like we are Christians but in our heart we are the same; we live as though we are unbelievers.

    This is the battle that James is addressing in his epistle that he wrote shortly after the Church started to grow throughout the region.  People were coming to church, were joining the church but were no different in their behavior.  James addresses the way we treat rich people better than the way we treat poor people.  He spoke to how we let our tongue rattle on and on in an endless drivel of gossip and slander.  He spoke of how we sit, pious in our attitude, but negligent in our actions.  James is telling us that we cannot live as if we do not have faith because that means we do not have faith.

    It is somewhat fitting that we look at this at this time.  We see more and more where the culture today is telling us that we can have our faith as long as we keep it in our church and in our home.  This statement is the polar opposite if what Scriptures teaches us.  The summation of what the Book of James tells us is that faith determines our behavior and our actions.  The manner in which we conduct ourselves is a manifestation of our faith.  If we sit in church, next to our neighbor and then Monday plot how to cheat him; where is faith?   If we sit in church, next to our poor neighbor and think, “they need to make better choices like I do”; where is faith?

    James’ answer is clear; faith is dead.  You do not have faith if you are not moved by the Spirit to be different from the way you were.  Words speak but actions speak volumes and out shout simple words alone.  So in many ways, the call of James and the challenge of our world and culture is the same; where is your faith? 

    Our faith is in Jesus, who died for my sins and was raised for my justification.  Faith makes us alive to serve God in his kingdom; we can’t forget that part.  If we refuse to serve are we truly alive in Christ?  Follow God’s will and serve him in his kingdom.

Father, move me; turn my world upside down that I may see the fire that you place in my heart.  Do not let the fire go cold.  Move me to see those around me as part of your creation and part of your kingdom.  Turn me from complacency and shallowness.  Use me as your agent here on earth.  Make me your hands and your voice.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret 

9-5-2015

Good Morning All!!                       

          John 21:15; “When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

          I was on the local school board during the early years of the technology push.  Computer, monitors, miles of cable, rooms full of servers became the norm.  Yet our knowledge didn’t always keep up.  During one drafting class, the new program for drafting stopped working.  The teacher worked on it for a few minutes but with no luck.  He called the tech coordinator and they looked at it for a few more minutes.  The principal and the superintendent came to see what was what.  They talked about calling the tech support for the company that sold the software.  While they were talking, a student came along and said, “This is what my mom does.” He turned the computer off and then turned it back on.  The program worked just fine.  Sometimes, we need to see the easier answer.

    A man was operating a small repair shop.  One of his customers told him that the pop machine wasn’t working.  He stopped and opened the machine and tripped a reset then turned it on but nothing happened.  With a disgusted tone, he called the local distributor and told him that their stupid machine wasn’t working.  They sent a repairman down who bent down and plugged the machine back into the outlet.  Sometimes, we need to see the easier answer.

    Many of us as Christians have been rocked the past few months by the changes in our culture and taken back by the open hostility that has been leveled at us.  Suddenly, we feel like we need to be like Augustine, or Justin Martyr or one of the great defenders of the faith.  I don’t know about you but I am not always the greatest speaker.  So we find ourselves backing away.   Maybe we should review and remember what Jesus told us.

    Notice our verse.  Jesus didn’t tell Peter to debate the faith or to argue with all who attack you or to carry the battle into the enemy’s territory.  Jesus told Peter to “Feed my lambs.”  Maybe this is the message we should take.  Instead of arguing, we should act.  Maybe it would be more beneficial if you took a meal to the lonely elderly couple next door. Maybe it would be more beneficial if you helped the young family down the road who is struggling to afford school supplies or maybe even the medicine their child needs.  Maybe it would do more good to take food to the food bank or volunteer at the soup kitchen.  Maybe all this noise is distracting us from seeing the needs in our community.  Maybe we should go back to the easy answer and feed my lambs.

Father, in your mercy you call us to be your arms and hands in this world.  You have given us the task of feeding and caring for your lambs.  Guide us to stay focused on your holy task.  Lead us by your Spirit to serve you by loving our neighbor and giving them a cold glass of water and something to eat.  Guide us in our path.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret