7-17-2020

Good Morning All, 

             John 11:6; “So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.”

    “I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date!”  This was the start of a song from “Alice in Wonderland”.  The White Rabbit was always running around and always lost or late getting somewhere.  Many of us have had that experience.  There are times when we run late and feel tired and worn to a frazzle because of it.  We are late to an appointment, or late on a payment or late getting to work or school but have you ever been late on purpose?

    I remember talking to a school superintendent about a student that wanted to transfer to his school.  It seemed that the student had argued with a teacher more than was necessary.  It also seemed that the parents were on the side of the student.  The student was quite an athlete and the parents assumed that some school would want him quick.  The father let a message for the superintendent to call before one of the other schools did.  After the superintendent heard the phone message, he waited a few days to call the father back.  The father told him it was too late; they were already going to school “B”; the father did not see the superintendent’s smile over the phone.

    You may have been late, but have you ever been intentionally late?  Have you ever delayed an action to avoid it all together?  Have you ever made a call too late to go to the dinner party you wanted to avoid?  Most of us have done it and it is probably rude to do so.  Yet we excuse ourselves by claiming we are sparing the feelings of those whom we avoid.  Yet sometimes the delay may be more painful than the truth or it may even cause further trouble.  That can be human nature but what about Jesus, why did he wait two days?

    Jesus knew Lazarus was sick, deathly sick.  He knew Lazarus would die.  Yet he waited two days before going to see him, why?  Was Jesus uncaring about Lazarus; no because when Jesus was told Lazarus had died, he wept.  So, what was the purpose?  The purpose was so that God would be glorified.  Even though Martha and Mary had asked Jesus to come, he waited for a couple of days so that God would be glorified.

    This can give us some comfort when we feel at times that God isn’t listening.  Sometimes we pray but it seems that God isn’t listening.  God hears you and he answers you but, in his time, and in his way.  Sometimes what we ask is not always the best for us or according to his will.  We do not always understand God’s ways, but we do know that He is a God of love and whose desire is for us to live with him in his kingdom; he has demonstrated this.  So even if he waits a couple of days, his grace is there.

Father of all grace and truth, sometimes when we come to you, we do not hear the answer we seek or in the time we seek it.  Give us the strength to wait; to wait in joyful expectation that your grace will see us through.  Be with those who are waiting and wondering now.  Comfort them and guide them.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret 

7-16-2020

Good Morning All, 

         Genesis 3:5; “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

     “Be all you can be” that was an advertising slogan for the army a few years ago.  It was to encourage the new enlisters to see the army as a way to accomplish their goals in life.  That is something that we encourage our children, and adults, to do.  Seek out our goals and try to accomplish them.  But this can be a dangerous time.  The young man or woman who dreams of being a professional athlete and uses steroids or other drugs to accomplish this is going the wrong way.  Sometimes a dream can go too far.

     We encourage people to “be their own man or woman” or we tell them “you are the captain of your own life.”  We do this so people will be active agents in their lives and willing to take responsibility for their actions and willing to work for what they need and want.  There is nothing wrong with this; it is even worthwhile.  But sin puts a dark spin on this if we are no vigilant.

    When the devil tempted Eve, it was not with gold or silver, or even with the sweet taste of a forbidden fruit.  The devil’s temptation was that Eve would be like God.  Eve could have even thought she might be greater than God and so the long-time battle within man’s heart began.  In a way it is interesting when we look at it, the age-old question; who sits on throne in your life, God, or you?

    Luther saw this as the crux of sin.  The First Commandment is first because it is the prime commandment.  When Luther wrote his catechism, he took a portion of the First Commandment from Exodus 20 and made it the close of the Commandments.  He did this by design.  All the Commandments are in the First Commandment.  Who sits on the throne of your life, God, or you?  If it is God, you will honor his name and his worship.  You will honor your parents and not kill or commit adultery or lie about your neighbor.  If God is the God who occupies the throne of your life, these will be easily kept.  But when you place yourself on the throne, then selfish desires arise.  You see yourself as more important than God or your parents.  If others get in your way, get rid of them.  If you want something or someone just take it any way you can.

    The age-old question, who sits on the throne of your life, God, or you?  God’s mercy calls you to see that God’s benevolence and love is far better than our own selfish desires.  God’s mercy calls for you to repent and see that God is truly the God of our life and through Him we have life.

God of grace, far too often we place our self on the throne of our life and when we do, we destroy so many things, lives, relationships, your creation. Forgive us when we do this.  Keep us mindful that you are our king.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

7-15-2020

     Good Morning All, 

     Genesis 1:28; “And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

    It is a comment that gets made at many weddings, especially the reception.  It is usually an uncle or great-uncle or a taunting brother-in-law.  One of them takes the bride aside and tells her, “Remember, be fruitful and multiply!”  The usual arching of the eyebrows a couple of times occurs.  Often, the poor bride simply blushes as everyone around her giggles and laughs.  One time, the bride told the teasing brother-in-law to, “Keep up!”  That really caused a fit of laughter as the brother-in-law was embarrassed.

    Most of us know this verse, at least the “be fruitful and multiply part.”  We recognize this for what it is.  Marriage is about having babies.  It is about the continuing of the human race.  Now there may be some who choose not to have children or who may be unable to have children but by and large we see this to be about procreation.  We see this as the biological and physical portion of a marriage.  In this fashion it is true, but it is also incomplete.  There is another part of marriage that is often overlooked, even by Christians, and that is the spiritual part.

    As we look at the marriage, we can see that it is the fundamental building block of human society.  A man and a woman marry and form a new being, one flesh.  They then join in fellowship with others to form communities then nations.  Yet God used this basic building block to start the formation of people living in a community together.  In many ways, it is also the basic building block of the church.

    It is no small event that Jesus said, “Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of you.”  Two, a husband and a wife, are the basic building block of the church.  Those two are to go forth and spread the Gospel of Jesus; to multiply.  This is the spiritual part of the marriage.  From here, the married couple are to be a witness to their faith for the glory of God.  “Go and make disciples”; “Preach the Gospel to all creatures”.  This is the directive to the Church, but it applies to the most basic unit.  It applies to you and to me; it applies to us.

    Through the gift of marriage, we have another way of God’s glory being revealed in this world.  We see his grace in action in our lives.  The gift of marriage is a blessing to all even those who are not married now.  It forms the unit through which society and the Church is built. 

Father of all grace, your mercies are new to us each day.  We thank you for the gift of marriage and the blessing that it gives to us.  Even though it is often hurt in this world of sin, it remains one of your great blessings.  Use those who are married to be your voice of grace as your Church grows.  Bless them with your Spirit and guard all marriages against the attacks of the devil.  Protect them in your loving arms.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

7-14-2020

Good Morning All, 

      Psalm 51:10; “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

      It is the little things in life; how often do we say this or think this?  Oh, the little things that mean so much.  I think for most of us this is true.  A hot cup of coffee on a cold day can go a long way to a content heart.  The gentle voice of your spouse as you sit and listen to some music.  Listening to your children or grandchildren as they are sleeping.  Watching them read a book or playing a game.  The quiet times with friends can make life enjoyable and truly fun.  The little things in life are wonderful.

     Yet sometimes, it is the little things in life that cause us the most pain and problems.  The problem is that we all have those little sins in our life.  They are just little ones, nothing major.  Just small, nagging little sins.  Most of us have not really committed what we would consider “big sins”.  We have never murdered someone; we have never actually committed adultery.  We have never stolen anything of any real value, but we have those nagging little sins.

     Sometimes, we do not even think of them as sins.  We call them “peccadilloes”; or “character flaws; or “idiosyncrasies” but we never call them sins.  We have never committed murder but there are some people who we would like to move away, or some such problems beset them.  We make cruel and snide remarks, but it is “just what I was told”.  We love the “good and juicy” gossip.  We still claim that we have no other gods before God but sometimes God just does not fit into our busy schedule.  We have never committed adultery but a little looking and fantasizing is “natural” isn’t it?  And so, we let off a little steam when we are with our friends and complain about our spouse to them, we all need a release don’t we?

     Those little sins are so hard to let go of, aren’t they?  We like to hold them because we think they give us power and we think they do not really matter in the greater scheme of things.  We may rationalize all our actions, all our little ways but the bottom line is that they are still sins.  They are sins and sins are what separate us from God.  Sin is what breaks our relationship with God.  Sin is what pollutes us and makes us unworthy of being in God’s presence.

    That is why David wrote this verse so many years ago.  As he looked at his life, he saw where he was at.  God had revealed to him the pain he was causing, to himself, to others and to how his relationship with God was broken.  David had lied, committed adultery and murder.  The pain and the agony of it came home to roost for him and he suffered for it.  Just like we suffer when we hold onto sin, whether it is sin that we are afraid to admit to or sin that we think is minor and harmless; sin destroys our relationship with God.

    Only God can restore and renew us.  He does this through the saving atonement of Jesus.  He does this through his love.  He uses the baptismal grace that he gives us for the daily washing of our sins away.  A clean heart, every day.  A right spirit, every day.  God’s gift to us because of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice.

Father, in you we have forgiveness because of Jesus.  Make us clean and right.  Give us your Spirit to guard us and protect us.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret     

7-13-2020

Good Morning All, 

            Psalm 35:22; “You have seen, O Lord; be not silent!  O Lord, be not far from me!”

     I ran into an old friend that I hadn’t seen in years.  We were only able to chat for a minute or two.  It was fun to see him again after all these years.  We had the quick, “where are you?” “How is your family?”  “Have you seen…?” and then we were done.  It was that quick.  I told him to call next time he was in town and maybe we could get together again.  I felt good after the encounter.  I remembered some of the fun we used to have back when we were younger.  I looked forward to his call.  Three years later, he still has not called.

    After a while, I began to wonder.  Why hasn’t he called?  Did he lose my number?  It is in the phone book.  Has he not been back again?  He said he was back about every 6-8 months or so.  Did something happen to him?  I probably would have heard something.  Then that deep insecurity sinks in and I wonder, maybe he just does not want to talk to me.  Perhaps he was just being polite and trying to get out of a conversation that he didn’t want to have.  Maybe he was just letting me down easy thinking that “go away” was a little too harsh.  I don’t know, one way or another.  He has been silent, and I just wait for him to call me.

    This is one of those times when silence is a disappointment.  I survive; I hadn’t seen him over 25 years.  There are times when silence can be painful.  When we wait for the lab results to a medical test, silence can be painful as we wonder what was going on.  Waiting for the doctor to come out and tell you how the surgery for your loved one went as we wait in silence in a painful loneliness.  Probably the toughest silence is when we think God is silent.

    I remember listening to a young couple who were struggling with trying to start a family.  It was not working the natural way.  It was sad because they would have been great parents.  There had just been a story about an abandoned child that had died from neglect and the pain in their face was obvious.  Why was God silent?

    Sadly, we can never answer “why?” for God.  We can never explain God and his ways.  All we truly have is the blood-soaked empty cross and the open tomb.  Those speak volumes to us.  They speak of God’s immeasurable love for us and our eternal life with him.  They speak of his love for us.  They speak of his compassion and mercy for us.  Some things we do not hear because we are not listening to what God is saying, we are listening for what we want to hear but sometimes that is not what God has to say.  So, we need to look past our wants and look to God’s promise and hear his mercy for us.  It can be exceedingly difficult but here we see that in our weakness God’s strength, his wonderful words of forgiveness and reconciliation, carry us through.

Father of wonder, often we feel you are silent when we are not listening to your words of grace.  Give us the strength to listen closely to your word.  Be with those who feel you are silent today.  Let them hear your words of mercy and your words of grace.  Be with them and strengthen them.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s peace,

Pastor Bret    

7-12-2020

Good Morning All, 

         John 16:13; “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”

      I have had mixed results using the GPS to direct my travels.  On one trip, we went to Minneapolis to watch a baseball game.  Now I am more comfortable with one or two cars at a time on the road with me so the 5-6 lanes full of cars all going 70+ and weaving in and out of traffic is a step up.  Yet I drove and my wife watched the GPS and we went right to where we wanted to go on the first try.  The GPS worked

    Our other trip was a little different.  We went to the Black Hills and stayed in a cabin somewhat off the beaten path.  We plugged in the location in the GPS and began our journey.  I don’t know if the mountains and the trees blocked the signal of the satellite or the coordinates just didn’t make sense to a computer but as we journeyed, we paid homage to Robert Burns and took a road less travelled.  The GPS did not work quite as well.

    Fortunately, we have a guidance system that is far more reliable than even the best GPS; we have the Holy Spirit to guide us by reminding us of God’s blessings, promises and his wonderful words of grace.  He brings to mind all of God’s graciousness and steadfast love for us.  “Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” “Cast all your anxieties on him for he cares for you” “Christ came into the world to save the world not condemn it” “Be still and know that I am God” these are but a few there are many more for you to hold onto at the various times of your life and the journey you are on.

    The challenge in our life is much like the GPS; do you trust it?  While the GPS has been known to lead us astray occasionally, God’s Spirit never has.  So, we need to trust in God’s grace for our life.  We need to always keep in mind that God’s desire is for you to live as his redeemed child.  God’s desire is to have you live with him in eternal joy.  We need to keep this in mind.  There may be some bumps along the way, there will be times when the path isn’t clearly visible to us but God is always there for us to protect us, to guide us, to heal us, to give us life. 

    Jesus came into this world to give you life.  He came to give you hope.  He returned to heaven to rule and to intercede on our behalf.  He promised that the Holy Spirit would come to guide us and to lead us home.  This is the promise that God makes to you.  Trust his Word to see you through.

Father, as we face the struggles of this life, we sometimes are lost.  You send your Spirit to guide and comfort us. Give us the strength to trust your Spirit when we feel lost and beaten.  Be with those who especially battling life’s challenges.  Give them the courage to rely on you, in the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret      

7-11-2020

Good Morning All, 

                Ephesians 2:14; “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility”

       In 1965, Simon and Garfunkel released a song entitled, “I am a Rock.”  Unlike the Chevy pickup commercials, this was not an enjoyable experience.  It spoke of pain and loneliness.  The second verse goes like this:    I've built walls, A fortress deep and mighty, that none may penetrate. I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain. It's laughter and it's loving I disdain. I am a rock; I am an island.

    Maybe this is you.  Maybe you have built walls.  You may have built them to stop being hurt, to stop feeling the pain.  Maybe you opened your heart and your soul to someone, and they crushed you.  Perhaps they rejected you, were disloyal to you, betrayed you or caused you pain in another fashion.  Pain can be one of the greatest driving forces in human existence.  We seek to avoid it at all costs even to the point of building walls around us.

    That is often how we deal with this kind of emotional pain; we build walls.  We build them between our spouses, family, friends, rivals, or anyone else who can hurt us.  We build these walls in a false hope that we can protect ourselves from pain.

    The problem with this thought is that the only thing we usually accomplish by building walls is to hold in the pain rather than keep it out.  By keeping the pain in, we self-inflict even more pain and suffering.  The stronger the walls; the more effective they are in holding in all the pain and suffering.  The more we suffer, the more we build walls; walls that separate us from those whom we love and who love us.  This is what sin does to us; it convinces us to build walls.  Sin convinces us that being all alone is better than having a loving relationship with those around us.

    Yet we know that Jesus came to bring about healing.  He came to heal all our brokenness.  He came to break down walls.  The first and greatest wall that he destroyed was the one that separated us from God’s love.  He destroyed this wall and brought us back into his loving kingdom.  He gives us the power to destroy the walls that we have between us and those around us.  His forgiveness makes us his children.  What others say or do; how others react towards us does not define us.  The events of our lives do not define us, God’s grace defines who we are; we are his children, loved by him and cherished by him.  This is what we can cling to.  We do not need the walls; God grace will protect us.

Father, at times we struggle with the pain of broken and harmed relationships.  This world only gives us pain but in you we have comfort, in you we find hope.  Help us to break the walls and to heal the fellowship that we have with our brothers and sisters.  Be with those who are suffering at this time.  Send them your healing Spirit.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret