4-15-2021

 Good Morning All!

          Amos 5:24; “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

   The prophet Amos is the prototypical prophet when we think of Old Testament prophets.  He really lets them have it.  He pronounces God’s coming wrath and judgment to the people of Israel and Judah.  He likes to use the phrase “for three transgressions and for four.”  He repeats this phrase numerous times in the first couple of chapters.  He does this to indicate that things are getting worse.  The people are in a downward spiral and God’s wrath is coming.  Amos keeps repeating the warning, but the people will not listen.

    God, through Amos, even tells the people of Israel and Judah that He “hates and despises their feasts, He takes no delight in their solemn assemblies, He will not accept their offerings or even look at them, He calls their singing ‘noise,’ and they should take it away.”  What causes this?  Why is God so angry?  Because the people of Israel and Judah have denied justice to those who are most vulnerable in their land, the widows, the orphans and the strangers in their land.”  They are abusing the weak and the defenseless and the wrath of God is coming.

    God continually called to the children of Israel to have compassion and mercy on the weakest in their midst.  He reminds them of how cruelly the Egyptians treated them and how they must not treat others in this fashion.  So, when God’s wrath is to come, a failure of justice and righteousness is the sign of their apostasy.

    This truth continues to be revealed in the New Testament as Jesus calls for compassion and mercy.  In His description of the final judgment, it is the failure to give water, or food or clothing to “these the least of my brothers” that is the sign of a lack of faith.  As Christians, we are to be merciful to our neighbor, especially the most vulnerable among us.  As Christians, we should never say, “not my problem” or “let someone else worry about them” or “call me when you are an American.”  These are sinful and despicable phrases that should never come from the lips or the heart of a believers. 

    Justice is to roll, like a river from people of faith.  And this justice is not only retributive, that is punishment; but it is also distributive, that is we are to make sure everyone has a place at the table.  We are to seek this for all people, not only the wealthy and the popular, not just those who look like me, talk like me and act like me but to all, regardless of who they are.  In Deuteronomy 10:18 we are told, “He (God) executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner (the stranger or the alien), giving him food and clothing.”  God calls us, as His people, to be the active agents to work His mercy, His grace, His righteousness in this world which is in such dire need of His love.  Let justice roll down like waters that we may walk in God’s way.

Father of all mercies, your mercies are new to us every day and they roll down upon us like waters.  Guide us to do justice in our land. Break our hearts as we see others in misery.  Move us to that gut-wrenching compassion that Jesus has.  Lead us Father by your Spirit that we may be your faithful servants.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

4-14-2021

 Good Morning All!

          Matt. 6:23-24; “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

     Festering problems are the worst kind of problems.  We let them simmer and steep in the back of our minds and in the depths of our hearts.  Whether we are harboring them against someone, or someone has something that they have against us.  Festering problems can grow.  The Hatfield and the McCoy feud involved the ownership of a pig.  A festering problem became a feud where real people lost their lives.  A number of years ago a man in southern South Dakota shot and killed a father and a son over a drainage dispute.  A festering problem cost real people their lives.

     Most of our festering problems do not elevate into bloodshed but they often elevate into hatred or distrust, jealousy, or contempt.  Yet these cause us to struggle in our lives and do damage to our faith.  It is difficult to love Christ and hate our neighbor.  The apostle John tells us in his first epistle that it is impossible.  We cannot say we love Jesus but hate our neighbor; it does not work this way.  Even if we see it as “holy anger”; it is not our place to judge that alone belongs to God.  Rather we must stop the problem before it festers and causes troubles.

    This is what Jesus is teaching us in this portion of the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus is teaching us that as his disciples we are to follow him faithfully in word and deed.  We are to show the same love for others which Christ showed for us.  Can we, do it?  No, not really, because we are still sinful in nature.  We will still have days when we are angry at our spouse or our children or co-worker or neighbor.  We are still going to be mad when the neighbor’s cows get into our corn.  But let it pass, do not let it fester go and reconcile with your neighbor.  And if it was your cows; go to your neighbor and reconcile the issue.  Remember that as you solve your problems that the love of Christ is present in your words, your actions and in your life. 

    Notice how important God views the need for us to reconcile with our brothers.  We are not to do it immediately after our offering; we are to do it before we make the offering.  Before we offer to God our praise and thanksgiving we are to reconcile with our brother.  Reconciliation with our neighbor is a major part of our faith.  Jesus reconciled us back to God, so we are to reconcile our brothers back to us.  If we look at the sin of Adam and Eve as a rupture in the relationship between man and God, the very next story recorded is the murder of Abel by Cain.  This is the rupture in the relationship between men.  It was this rupture that caused people to build cities and nations, not out of love but out of fear and jealousy.  It is this rupture that causes the world to spend more on armaments and standing armies than on taking care of those who need help.  Jesus calls upon us to reconcile with our brother, one at a time, rebuilding our relationships on love and trust not fear and jealousy.

Lord, let our memory provide no shelter for grievance against each other.  Let our heart provide no harbor for hatred of each other.  Let our tongue be no accomplice in the judgment of each other.  In Jesus name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

4-13-2021

 Good Morning All!

          2 Cor. 4:7: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us”.

     Clay jars are an interesting creation.  They look and are extremely fragile.  It does not take much to destroy them.  One well-placed rock or one good kick and they shatter into dozens if not hundreds of pieces.  It would be very foolish to place anything of value in a clay jar.  Most people would use stone or iron to form a protective shield around the valued possession, but you would not use a clay jar.  That would be foolish, some would even say madness.  The risk of losing the valued treasure would surely out way all the benefits of using a clay jar.  Benefits that I cannot even think of right now. 

    Yet that is exactly where God placed his valued treasure, in a clay jar.  This highly reassured item is the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The forgiveness of sins, the reconciliation of people back to God through Jesus, the adoption as sons of God; are among this wonder precious gift.  This is something which needs to be shared with all of mankind.  So how does God do this?  Does he use angels to tell the world like he did at Jesus’ birth?  Does He use a flood like He did at the time of Noah?  Does He send plagues like He did to Egypt at the time of the Exodus?  These might be smarter in the eyes of the world, but God uses something or someone totally different; God uses you and me to deliver this message of good news.

     Even though we are frail and break easily and often; God chooses to use us.  He uses us as His partners in this ministry of reconciliation which began with Jesus.  Jesus gave us a new covenant to live under.  One based entirely on God’s grace; one where we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit which gives us the faith to trust in God’s promises and in is Word.  We are still a work in progress.  We are still God’s handiwork.  God is still shaping and forming us to be what we were created to be and that is the keeper of god’s creation and to be companions with each other starting with our spouse and then our family and then our neighbors.  We were created to live a life of perfect communion and companionship with God.  Yet sin ruined that and made us into clay jars, but God still loves us.  That is one of the great wonders of the Bible.  Too often we read the stories in the Bible and then we try and see where we “fit in” the story.  The story is never about us or where we fit in.  The story is always about God and about the very nature of God.  Scriptures reveals that god is a just God demanding payment for a debt.  But it also shows a loving God who sent his only son to die for that debt.  The Bible shows us what great love God has for us by not destroying us for our sins.  It shows God’s patience with us trusting this incredible treasure to us a bunch of cracked clay jars.  First God gives this gift of redemption to us and then He trusts us to carry it forward to the ends of the earth for him. 

 Father of all mercies, keep us safe with in the shelter of your arms.  Protect us your clay jars that we may fulfill your holy ministry.  Guide us to those who are in most desperate need of your love and lead us to share the Good News of salvation, which is found in the name of Jesus, in whose precious name we pray, Amen.  

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret      

4-12-2021

 Good Morning All!

      Psalm 28:7; “The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.”

     Who do you trust?  Of the people in your life, who do you trust?  When astronaut Scott Carpenter was asked about his first take-off into space aboard the Mercury rocket and what his thoughts were; His response was, “I thought,’ why did they always have to take the low bidder?’”  As the rocket shook so did his trust.  Every day we drive down the road; we trust that the other driver who is coming at us will stay on his side of the road.  Every day that we turn on the light switch; we trust that the electricity is still flowing.  Every day we eat some food; we trust that it is safe for us to do so.

     Yet every day, that driver is paying more attention to some electronic device and not to the road.  Every day, with the draw on the electrical grid; we wonder if this is the day it breaks.  Every day, scientists try to find more reasons that most of what we eat is actually killing us.  As we watch the news, with all the 24-hour news stations and with the internet and its speed, with the blurring of the line between reporter and commentator, journalist and talking head; you wonder if you can trust the information that we receive is factual.  Who do you trust?

    Most of us would say that we trust God.  But that leads to the question, who is your God?  Martin Luther defined a god as this: “A god is that to which we look for all good and in which we find refuge in every time of need.  To have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe in him with your whole heart… That to which your heart clings and entrusts itself is, I say, really your God.”  Where do you look for ultimate security?  Is it your spouse or your parents?  Is it your wealth?  Is it your intellect?  Is it the government?  If, in time of need or time of thanks, you look to one of these first rather than God; those others are your god. 

     As soon as we look to anything or anyone for our ultimate comfort and security; they will fail us.  These other things, all other things, will fail because they are of human design and limited by human capacity.  The passengers of the Titanic, who trusted that the ship was unsinkable, learned the cold hard way.  God continually invites us to trust in Him and Him alone.  Every other earthly prop will give way, but God will hold us forever.  Paul wrote,” nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  The devil will try but he will not succeed and when we trust in the Lord, truly trust in Him and His promise; we are truly helped, and our heart will exult, and we can sing His praises forevermore.

 Gracious and loving Father, in you alone do we have any security or hope.  While others make promises they cannot keep, you alone are true.  Forgive us when we are weak and fail to trust totally in you.  Keep us in your arms and strengthen our walk with You.  In Jesus precious name we pray, Amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret         

4-11-2021

 Good Morning All!

     Psalm 7:1; “O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me.”

     Do you remember the Fugitive?  Dr. Kimball was found guilty of a crime he did not commit while being hauled to his execution he escaped and was chased through the rest of the TV series.  He was pursued by the police who would usually come in one side of town while he left out the other.  Do you remember The Incredible Hulk?  Dr. Banner was chased because of an experiment which changed him into the hulk, and they wanted to find out why and how.  Do you remember Airwolf?  A super helicopter is hidden in a hollowed-out cave in the Valley of the Gods to hide it from some government agencies which want to use it for some less than good things. 

    All these shows, and some others, involve someone being chased or pursued.  We are often fascinated with the pursuit of someone, whether it is a television series or the real-life pursuit of someone like the Unibomber or bin-Laden.  We like to watch someone else being chased but what about when we are being pursued?  We are often being pursued.  It is usually something of our own doing.

     We are often pursued by past sins which we do not let go off or maybe by past sins which we have not really repented of.  When we do not let go of the past sins, when we think that they are just too much or too horrible to confess; the devil uses them to hound or pursue us with guilt and shame.  We are also pursued by the guilt and shame we feel for sins which we do not completely repent of.  Remember the story of the tax collector who, when he repented, paid back four times what he extorted when he collected taxes?  Sometimes that should be us. Sometimes we are pursued by the guilt and shame of a sin against our neighbor that we do not fully come clean to.  Perhaps we confess to God but not to our neighbor.  Maybe we said some unkind things about someone else; perhaps we heard some unkind things said and we did not speak up.  Maybe something happened and we let someone else take the blame for our mistakes.  These are things which will pursue us.  Sins, that go unconfessed, always pursue us.

    Fortunately, God, through his mercy because of Christ’s atonement, forgives our sins.  Now all we must do is let this comforting fact lead us to finish our confession or repentance to remove the guilt.  It takes courage; to admit to our shortcomings but God’s love and forgiveness should give us the courage to take that step.  If God is for us, who can be against us?  And if they are against us, so what?  God is for us, offering us His forgiveness and the promise of eternal life; we find refuge in Him from all our pursuers.

God of mercy, give us strength to combat all our pursuers as we find refuge in you.  Comfort us and sustain us in Your peace, be with our brothers and sisters who are especially under attack. In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret           

4-10-2021

 Good Morning All!

       Psalm 126:2; “Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”

      We are all too often a nation of gloom and doomers.  We are, as Spiro Agnew put it, “nattering nabobs of negativity” and yet of all the people in the world; we should be the most joyous.  The Lord has done great things for us.  We live a life that the overwhelming majority of the world cannot even begin to fathom and yet we complain.  God’s blessings have been poured out upon us and we barely even recognize it.  Many in our country have come to believe that they are in some way, shape or form entitled to the blessings of God.  They believe that somewhere back in their ancestry, their forefathers and foremothers had so much faith that they built up blessings which God owes to them today.  So, with that mentality, they are never happy; they never see the greatness of God’s blessings.  They never see the wonder of what God does for us every day and in every way.

     They fail to see the wonder of God’s grace, the empty tomb, the body and blood in the bread and the wine.  They fail to see the comfort God gives them through their family and through their church.  They fail to see the beauty which he shows us in the flower and the field, the rushing stream, and the still lake.  They are convinced that God is holding out on them and that he owes them something more. 

     Yet the Lord has done great things for us.  We get up every morning secure in the knowledge of our salvation, knowing that the God of love is present in our lives.  The devil cannot harm us.  We should be filled with laughter we should be filled with shouts of joy.  We should sound like every elementary school after a Halloween party, loaded with joy and sugar-powered laughter.  Of all the people in the world, Christians should be the happiest.  We know how the story ends and it ends with us in heaven.  How much greater joy is there?  It truly does not get any better than this anywhere here on earth.

    God’s grace fills our lives even when we do not think so; God is blessing us with all that we need to support this body and life.  We should be worshipping Him and giving Him praise for all the blessing we have received but it seems that Spiro Agnew was right.  Too often, in too many ways we are “nattering nabobs of negativity”.  So, as we go forth, let us ask God to help us see the blessings and grace that we have received and to have our mouth filled with laughter and our tongues shout for joy.

 Dearest Jesus, your mercies are new to us every day.  Yet we fail to see them.  Lead us to share the joy of your salvation to engage other with laughter and fellowship, with love and grace which flows from you through us to all whom we meet.  Bless us Lord and keep us on your path of righteousness.  Use us in service to your kingdom.  In your precious name we pray, Amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret        

4-9-2021

 Good Morning All!

       Psalm 62:8: “Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.”

     Did you or do you keep a diary?  Do you have a place where you write down all those thoughts that you have and then lock them away so no one else will see it?  When I was much younger, it was common for girls to have diaries and to pour their hearts out in the diary.  They would lament over boys and teachers and friends and enemies and what today we call “frenemies” and only the most trusted friends ever saw the inside of the diary.  Some of the boys did but not many; it was still the time of macho tough guys; none of this touchy-feely stuff.  People like to have a way to “unload” their thoughts and feelings and not just teenage girls.  Psychologists still recommend using this method to relieve burden and stress. 

    The origin of the court jester in the royal courts was one of being someone who the king would talk to and tell him all his innermost thoughts and fears.  The court jester was then one of the few who could speak bluntly to the king and get to keep his head.  The court jester served as a confessor to the king.  The king would confess all his thought, ideas, plans, desires, fears or whatever and the court jester would be a sounding board for the king.  It is somewhat ironic that someone who is viewed as a fool or simply an entertainer would serve this role, but the court jester was one of the few people a king could trust.  The priests and bishops reported to the Pope in Rome and the other lords and ladies often had mischief and schemes afoot.  We all need some way to eliminate the frustrations and fears that we have, and we need someone or somewhere to get rid of the burden.

    Our verse for this morning speaks to us of how God is to be our confessor or our diary.  Pour your hearts out before him; what an amazing phrase and an incredible promise yet we rarely use it.  We try to hide things from God.  I do not know why we do that, but we do.  We all have something, some sin; that we just refuse to let go of that we refuse to confess and yet God knows all our secrets.  When you and I confess our sins, or admit our fears, or acknowledge our weaknesses to God; we are not telling him anything new; God already knows.  Yet by confessing our sins and our other shortcomings we benefit.  You see as long as we hang onto those sins and those fears, the devil and our old sinful nature has stuff to throw at us stuff to make us feel ashamed and unworthy of God’s gifts.  As long as we think we are hiding that sin from God we have a 100-pound weight on our back and we just keep walking getting bogged down by the weight of our sin.  And remember this is a sin which God has already forgiven we just do not want to let go so the devil just keeps picking at it like a scab from a cut, the devil just keeps picking and inflaming it and causing us pain.

   God tells us over and over,” it doesn’t have to be that way”.  Confess your sins, or as the Psalmist wrote ‘pour out your heart’ and God will give you refuge.  God sent his one and only Son to die a horrific death because he loves you; how much more proof do we need?  Pour out your heart; your sins and fears alike and let God deal with them.

 Gracious Father, we are slow to turn to you at all times and we miss so many of your tender mercies because of it.  Give us the wisdom to trust in You at all times that we may live the life that you desire for us.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray.  Amen

God’s Peace,        

Pastor Bret