29
Apr
2024

The power of Jesus’ resurrection

Easter this year was March 31st … but the Easter season continues into the month of May. And the impact of Christ’s resurrection continues every day, in every season.  This message contemplates Christ’s resurrection power in our everyday lives.

We are not zombies. We are alive with Jesus.

You likely are familiar with the miracle when Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave. Lazarus, a dear friend of Jesus, had been ill and died. When Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. Jesus asked that the stone sealing the tomb be taken away. Then he called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” Then do you recall what happened? Was it like this?

  • Lazarus stood up and came out of his grave. He smelled of death, and moved stiffly from rigor mortis. When they took off the grave clothes he’d been wrapped in, they saw that his body had started to bloat, and bloody foam was oozing from his nose and mouth. …

I’ll stop with descriptions of how a human body decomposes after death. You know that is not how it went when Jesus raised Lazarus. Jesus had said, “I am the resurrection and the life.Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:23,25,26). Jesus did not promise some meager reanimation of dead bodies, a zombie sort of life. With Lazarus and others that Jesus raised from death, he brought them back full and whole. He returned them to their families as living, breathing, loving human beings. Jesus came so we “may have life, and have it to the full,” a “rich and satisfying life,” that we enjoy life “abundantly” (John 10:10 NIV, NLT, NRSV). We are not meant to be walking zombies.

The apostle John said, “Beloved, we are God’s children now” (1 John 3:2), reminding us that no one who abides in Christ continues in sin, that we pursue what is right and righteous because Christ is righteous (1 John 1:7). John went on to say, “We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death” (1 John 3:14).

John’s words cause us to examine our lives. Are we sometimes like spiritual zombies, rather than the truly raised-to-life people that we are in Christ? A zombie is a dead person that goes through the motions of life but isn’t really alive. Does that description ever fit us? Let’s think about what dead bodies do, and apply that to the life of our souls.

  • Dead bodies stink with a foul odor. People turn away because the smell is offensive. What would a dead soul be like? A person who gives off a foul odor emotionally, spiritually. Someone who is hard to be around. You repel people by your irritability or harshness or selfishness. Are you ever like that? Aren’t we all often like that?
  • Dead bodies rot and decompose. They decay. What would a dead soul be like? A person whose behavior goes from bad to worse. Someone whose bad habits grow like pus and fungus. You don’t get stronger or healthier day by day, but just the opposite—your spiritual life degrades abd gets deader. Are you ever like that? Aren’t we all often like that?
  • Think of the flesh-eating zombies of the movies or the fungus-infected bodies in The Last of Us video game or TV series. What do they do? They attack. They devour. They have no motive other than their own insatiable appetite. What would a zombie soul be like? Someone who lashes out mindlessly at others. Someone who tears down anyone who stands in their way. You don’t care about anything or anyone, only about what you want. Are you ever like that? Aren’t we all often like that?
  • Zombies, as portrayed in popular fiction, have no emotion. No feeling. No thoughts.They don’t communicate with you. You are nothing to them. What would a zombie soul be like? A person who is dead to the feelings of others. Someone who has no real relationship to those around them, who exists only for themselves. You don’t love. You don’t care. You just trudge from one moment to the next in your own mindless existence. Are you ever like that? Aren’t we all often like that?
  • Or think of a dead body, a corpse. What does a dead body do? It doesn’t move. It doesn’t walk, doesn’t run, doesn’t dance. It is lifeless. What would a dead soul be like? Lifeless. Cold. Callous. Inactive. You just stare at life with blank, empty eyes. You don’t move a muscle when there is spiritual work to be done in the world. Are you ever like that? Aren’t we all often like that?

We celebrated Easter a few weeks ago—the glorious good news of Jesus’ resurrection from death. We know that Jesus’ resurrection means our own resurrection one day, our bodies restored from the grave to live forever with the Lord. At our resurrection on the last day, Jesus won’t be unearthing us as the walking dead, as some sort of reanimated corpses. We will be completely alive, renewed, transformed. Death will be swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:54). Jesus resurrects his people to full, complete, unlimited life—life that will go on eternally.

And—this is important, my friends—the life which we receive from Jesus we have received already now. We have already been brought back from death to life. There is a resurrection that has already happened in you, a reviving of your soul with the life of God. Think of how that resurrection affects your day-to-day life. We are not zombies. We are alive with Jesus.

Think of the difference in the apostles who first witnessed Jesus’ resurrection. They had been cowering behind locked doors in fear. Then, emboldened by seeing Christ alive, they went out into the center of Jerusalem and announced, “You killed the one who leads people to life. But God raised him from death, and all of us can tell you what he has done” (Acts 3:15 CEV). Following his resurrection, Jesus told his disciples (and tells us today) that “repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations” (Luke 24:47), that we are his witnesses in the world. Our witness to Christ is shown by the life and liveliness, the love and committedness that we show in our lives as Christian people. 

Now, admittedly, we struggle with this. Christ knows that we struggle. As he once told his disciples, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). Christ’s apostles knew that we struggle. The apostle Paul described the struggle from a personal perspective. He had written: “How can we who died to sin go on living in it? … We have been buried with Christ by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:2-4).  And then, in the same letter, Paul also admitted:  ““I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. …  it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. … I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members” (Romans 7:15-23).

Our struggle with sin is like going through life with a “body of death” inside us, lingering there (Romans 7:24). We have been raised to new life by Christ our Savior, yet we backslide again and again into habits of sin and ick and decay. We have the power of new life from Jesus rushing through our spirits, by his Spirit … but we still struggle with being cold in our hearts, unthinking in our actions. 

 We have the rot, the fungus of sin living in us, yes. But Christ is stronger than sin. Christ is the remedy to sin. Christ will one day lift us above and out of all our sin into the heavenly holiness that awaits us. Even now, he cleanses us from our sins. He is life. He empowers us against the sin and selfishness within ourselves. As the apostle Paul said elsewhere, “If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17)!

What I said before about how zombies and corpses function is false as applied to us now, in our resurrected spiritual lives.  

  • We are new, we are alive, we are refreshed and full of life in Christ.
  • We exude a pleasant spiritual aroma, making others want to be around us because they can sense the breath of God’s Spirit in our attitudes and words.
  • We grow more and more alive as the love of Christ grows in us, invigorates us, and motivates us.  
  • Just the opposite of mindless and soulless, our lives in Christ now are mindful of the persons around us, reaching out in relationship, seeking to connect with others’ hearts and souls through the message of Christ.  We exist more for the sake of others than for our own appetites.
  • Not dead but alive, we walk, we run, we dance through life in joy in the Lord. We are active, energetic, lively for the Lord’s work and for serving one another.  

That’s how living people live—and that’s who we now are. We are the living people of God, alive by the power of Christ’s resurrection. True, the new life we live is never easy. As long as we are on this earth, we still carry something of that old zombie self inside of us. We still will lapse into the stench and rot that characterizes us as sinners. But we have hope. We can have confidence. We renew our strength daily, because we have an answer. When Paul pondered the struggle within his own life and said,  “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24 NIV), he immediately answered his own question: “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7:25 NIV)!

We are not doomed to live as zombies. “God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. … If we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us” (1 John 4:9,12). We need not succumb to sin as our master any longer (cf. Romans 6:13). We live now under God’s grace. God’s grace be with you, as you go out daily as witnesses to the living Christ and live life in his name.

Scripture quotations, except where otherwise indicated, are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Additional versions used:

  • Contemporary English Version, copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society
  • New International Version, copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
  • New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Posted by David Sellnow, 1 comment
09
Apr
2024

Good Shepherd resources for ministers

I’ve previously posted some messages written by my father here on The Electric Gospel.  This week is the 25th anniversary of his death (April 9, 1999).  In memory of my father and his years of ministry, I’d like to share a sermon of his about Christ as the good shepherd and the doorway to eternal life.  Good Shepherd Sunday is coming up on April 21st (the 4th Sunday of Easter). Perhaps some present-day ministers will find his Good Shepherd sermon (below) a useful resource in preparing their own messages for that day.

Also, as I’m allowed periodic free book offers for my Kindle e-books, I thought this a good time to set up an offer for The Lord Cares for Me: Stories and Thoughts about Psalm 23.  From April 10 through April 14, you can obtain that e-book for free on Amazon.com. Ministers might find one or another of the story-messages in that book useful for Good Shepherd Sunday.  [Two other books, Sermons on Selected Psalms and Faith Lives in Our Actions, are available at reduced cost also for several days starting April 10.]

In memory of Donald C. Sellnow (1928-1999), here is a sermon he delivered on Good Shepherd Sunday:

The LORD our Shepherd, through whom we have life

  • Originally preached April 16, 1961

The picture of Christ as the good shepherd is often used in the Bible. The psalmist David sang, “The LORD is my shepherd” (Psalm 23:1). The prophet Isaiah said, “He will feed his flock like a shepherd” (Isaiah 40:11). The Savior referred to himself this way, declaring, “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11).  This picture of Jesus as the good shepherd is dear and precious to the heart of every Christian.

In the same context, we also hear Jesus speak of himself as the door or the gate for the sheep (John 10:7). Let us give our attention to the inspired record of Scripture in which the Savior gives us these two meaningful pictures of himself. 

Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). In this one short statement, Jesus sums up the entire gospel message. He is the shepherd who laid down his life for sheep who loved to wander. The way the world of sinners would be redeemed was by the suffering and death of the Son of God in the sinners’ stead. The good shepherd died so that the sheep might live. In his boundless, amazing love, Jesus our good shepherd willingly gave his life for us on the cross. Through his sacrifice, we have pardon, peace, and everlasting life. As Isaiah so strikingly put it: “All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and the LORD  has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).

May we ever rejoice in this great good news and hold fast to it all our days. May we never grow tired of hearing this simple gospel message nor underestimate its importance for our lives. This precious gospel—that the good shepherd gave his life for us and through him we have eternal salvation with all its abundant blessings—this is what gives lasting meaning to our lives. This is what gives us solid comfort and hope in the face of death. Yes, because Christ in love laid down his life for us, we now confidently can declare: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall lack nothing” (Psalm 23:1). And each of us, no matter how old, can still say in childlike faith: “I am Jesus little lamb, ever glad at heart I am” (The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941, #648).

Not only did the good shepherd lay down his life for the sheep. He also took it up again when he rose triumphant from the grave, thereby sealing and confirming his work of redemption. The resurrection of Christ is the supreme proof that his sacrifice on Calvary was indeed a perfect payment for sin, and we truly have been redeemed. Christ gave up his life and then took it up again to make us certain that we are saved and heaven is ours. 

We also are assured by knowing that our shepherd knows his sheep. We read, “The sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. Whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice” (John 10:3-4). In shepherding life, each morning the shepherd came to the sheepfold or corral where the sheep were kept for the night, to gather his sheep and lead them to pasture. Now that wasn’t quite as easy as it sounds. Frequently, there were several flocks inside the sheepfold. How did each shepherd get his own sheep? Well, it may sound amazing to us, but the shepherd knew his own sheep. Even though his flock numbered several dozen, or perhaps as many as a hundred, the shepherd could identify each sheep.

Jesus wants us to remember that he knows who we are as members of his flock. Nothing is hidden from him who knows the innermost thoughts and secrets of human hearts. Jesus knows just how important he is to us. He knows our sins and shortcomings—but he also knows our hearts of faith. He knows our failures and our unworthiness—but he also knows our needs and wants. He knows that above all we need assurance of his grace and forgiveness, and he gives it to us in his Word. He tells us: “Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). He knows also all our sorrows and griefs, and he comforts us with the knowledge that he is with us and will make all things work together for our good (cf. Romans 8:28). Thus the good shepherd watches over his flock, leading us into the green pastures and beside the still waters of his Word of comfort and help.

Even as the good shepherd knows his sheep, so also is he known by them. As the scripture tells us, the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. “They will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him; for they don’t know the voice of strangers” (John 10:5). It is absolutely essential for sheep to trust their shepherd. This was especially true in Palestine in Jesus’ time. Good pastures became scarce at times, especially after the long dry summer. Frequently, the shepherd led his flock miles away from home, searching for a good pasture. The shepherd didn’t drive his sheep. He led them. If the path led through a dark and frightening valley, the shepherd would simply walk ahead, calling his sheep to follow. And follow him they would, for they knew his voice and trusted him.

So also, every sheep of Christ knows their shepherd and follows his voice. Christians know Jesus as their good shepherd by faith. They believe and trust in him as their Savior and guide. They listen to his voice as he speaks to them in his Word. Through his Word, Christ tells us all we need to know for our faith and life. We rely on that Word. We follow wherever the good shepherd leads as he speaks to us.

Perhaps you have been criticized for following Christ without ifs or buts. Perhaps you have been asked to prove something that you believe, instead of simply taking it on faith. But could you? Can we prove all beliefs? No, nor do we attempt to. We walk by faith, not by sight. We take our Lord at his word and subject our reason to that word. We accept what his Scripture is telling us. That’s the attitude of a person who has learned to trust the voice of his good shepherd. In turn, our experience has been that following the Word of Christ brings peace and blessing to our lives that we can’t find by worldly proofs.

Thus, Jesus gives us not only a picture of himself as the good shepherd but also of ourselves as his sheep. Do you recognize yourself in the picture? Do you know him as your personal Savior who suffered and died for you, and cling to him as your only hope in life and in death? Do you let his Word guide you in what you will do in the situations of your life? … Or do you sometimes let outside pressures, personal convenience, or pursuit of pleasure guide you? Do you make good and faithful use of his Word in church and at home? Do you come frequently to his table to be refreshed and strengthened by the sacrament that he has given for us?

May we all, in true repentance and sincere faith, ever look to Jesus as the shepherd and bishop of our souls, hearing his voice and following him with grateful hearts throughout our lives.

In addition to calling himself the good shepherd, Jesus also calls himself the door. It is upon this meaningful title that we focus further in our meditation today. Jesus said, “Most certainly, I tell you, I am the sheep’s door. … I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved” (John 10:7,9). In the sheepfolds In the Holy Land, a door or gate was set, by which the sheep were let in and out. There was only one such door in the wall of the sheepfold. Only by passing through this door could sheep get in. Now, Jesus says of himself, “I am the door.” Just as there was only one gate through which the sheep could enter the safety of the sheepfold, so also, Christ is the door through which we, as sinful human beings, enter eternal life in heaven. Jesus came and gave his life on the cross so that we might have unending life and all the abundant blessings of salvation. It is through him as the door to life that these blessings are found.

Over the course of history, people have proposed many different ways to heaven and to happiness, but we put our faith in the one who has told us he is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Jesus Christ is the door who gives us access to our Father in heaven. It is through faith in him that we are shepherded into eternal life above. The Bible emphasizes this point over and over again. Jesus is the Savior of all humankind. Those who trust in him, with God-given faith, will enter the mansions of heaven, living in eternal grace with God. As the apostle Peter declared, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that is given among men, by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). The saving name is the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Thus, dear friends, we have been reminded that Jesus is the good shepherd who gave his life for the sheep. As such, he is also the door to eternal life. May we cling to him in humble faith all our days, hearing his voice as he speaks to us in his Word. May we follow him with obedient and thankful hearts, as he leads us through this valley of shadows (and often tears) to our eternal home of joy above. Amen.

Scripture quotations are from the The World English Bible (public domain).

Posted by David Sellnow, 0 comments
10
Mar
2024

Giving up self-redemption for Lent

We are in the middle of Lent. Are you feeling refreshed … or are you feeling burdened?

In my teaching days, a student came to me just before the beginning of a Lent season. She was distressed and anxious. She said, “I don’t like Lent. Everybody sees this as such a special time, but it makes me miserable.”  She dreaded six weeks of feeling dreary and guilty. She’d heard preachers who focused solely on law, on how horribly we have failed, on how we drove the nails through Jesus’ hands and feet and put him on the cross. She wanted to hear more about why Jesus did what he did for us, on the relief he has brought us. The tone of Lent she had experienced felt like forty days of flogging ourselves with feelings of unworthiness and guilt. She yearned to hear more good news—more gospel.

The season we call Lent (which means “lengthen”) has a long history. The earliest origins of Lent are somewhat unclear. When Christianity began, the faithful fasted on the anniversary of Jesus’ death. That “paschal fast” would continue through the next day, Saturday, “to honor the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus” (US Conference of Catholic Bishops). The fast grew to extend throughout Holy Week, and eventually lengthened to a period of fasting for 40 days—reminiscent of Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness (Matthew 4), the 40 days Moses spent on “the mountain of God” (Exodus 3:1 & 24:18), and the 40 days and nights the prophet Elijah spent trekking to that same mountain (1 Kings 19:8).  

During Lent, it became a tradition to stop singing hallelujahs during worship services—including on Sundays. The Sundays in Lent are actually not part of Lent. Each Sunday in Christian worship is meant to remember and celebrate Jesus’ resurrection (which is worthy of unending hallelujahs). Nevertheless, hymns and services throughout Lent took on a somber tone, omitting joyful songs of praise until Easter.

In my youth, the Lutheran church I attended had the habit of extending the “no hallelujahs” rule three weeks further back. I still recall the Latin names used for the three Sundays before Ash Wednesday: Quinquagesima (“fiftieth”), Sexagesima (“sixtieth”), and.Septuagesima (“seventieth”). Extending the penitential season back further “developed from the early sixth to the early seventh centuries as the result of monks extending the forty-day pre-paschal fast for progressively longer periods” (Patrick Regan, Advent to Pentecost, cited by Catholic Culture). 

My impression of the history of Lent (and pre-Lent) is that it was driven by a desire to contribute something to our own redemption. If monks lived a quiet, humble life to serve others and devote themselves to godly study, fine. If they drove themselves to ever-increasing lengths of self-sacrifice in attempts to make up for their sins or establish their own righteousness, this was a mistake. Martin Luther (who had been a monk) wrote about how monks became “puffed up with this opinion of righteousness” and “thought themselves to be so holy because of their holy kind of life”— better than other Christians who “led but a common life” and didn’t do any additional, special works (Commentary on Galatians, 1535). We fall into the same mindset if we think that the more religious things we do and the more everyday things we give up, somehow that will make us better people and closer to God. As a contemporary religious teacher has said, “Whether you do enough or believe enough or perform enough” is not “what decides whether you are good enough and worthy enough and loved enough. If you make some sort of sacrifice to make yourself more holy in God’s eyes, you were sold a false bill of goods. That was an indulgence that you paid for with your emotional effort, and it is not real. God already loves you. You cannot make yourself more holy” (Cafeteria Christian, “Giving Up Perfectionism for Lent,” episode #212/260).  

Rather than trying to fulfill vows like monks, Martin Luther advised that going about the normal tasks of human life “serves God precisely as he desires to be served” (Robert Kolb in The Lutheran Witness, 3/7/2022). As Luther said elsewhere, “Ordinary work is a divine vocation or calling.” Rather than a 40-day fast or giving up this or that for Lent (focused on ourselves), we might consider acts of love and service focused on others. “You can investigate more ways to participate with joy and freedom in the world around you, and Lent can be a part of that” (Cafeteria Christian). In doing so, we also understand that any acts we undertake “are not to be done with any notion that by them we can be justified before God–for faith alone is righteousness before God” (Martin Luther, On Christian Freedom, 1520).

The habits and customs observed during Lent may be useful to help us focus our thoughts on spiritual things rather than on earthly desires. Having a penitential season is a good practice, to come to terms with ourselves over the seriousness of sin. But we dare not ever (during Lent or otherwise) forget the gospel that gives every season of our lives meaning. If not for what Jesus did—not only by his death, but also by his resurrection—our faith would be futile and we are still in our sins (1 Corinthians 15:17). So, let us keep the good news of Jesus’ victory for us at the forefront of the Lent season and all seasons. And maybe, just maybe, let’s not be afraid to sing hallelujahs on Sundays.

I remember a gentleman named Peter. After attending services throughout the year at a congregation I served, he said, “I appreciate how I can bring a guest to church on any given worship day, and I know the gospel will be clearly heard.” I was glad to hear we were consistent about that.

I remember also a lady named Verna. She had been taking classes and attending services at our mission church. When asked if she desired to join the church as a member, Verna was eager to do so. She said, “When I used to go to other churches, I would go home every time feeling awful. Now I come home from church feeling refreshed, joyful, relieved.” We discussed further what the difference was. She identified that her prior church experiences had been all law and only law. Even Jesus was made into a stern figure of law, commanding us to do as he did, to be how he was, or else we were not worthy.

“Lent should be a season of rest, not pressure” (Cafeteria Christian). Worship that is whole and spiritually healthy will never leave us wallowing in guilt, walking away hopeless. When we witness what Christ our Savior has done for us—both by his sufferings and death and by his resurrection and rule over all things—we are moved to say, “Hallelujah!”–which is Hebrew for “Praise the LORD!”

Scripture quotations, except where otherwise indicated, are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Posted by David Sellnow
15
Jan
2024

Prayers and a poem on MLK Day

Praying—and putting prayer into action—for all people

Prayers and a poem on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Image credit: Diocese of Rockville Centre

Michael King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929. “In 1934, however, his father, a pastor at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, traveled to Germany and became inspired by the Protestant Reformation leader Martin Luther. As a result, King Sr. changed his own name as well as that of his five-year-old son” (History.com).

The work of Martin Luther King, Jr.—in society as well as in his ministry—strongly reminded us of the need to pray for, care for, and value each and every one of our neighbors.  

In observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I’ll share here on The Electric Gospel a pair of prayers from King’s career as a minister at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, as well as another poem and prayer fitting for this day.

These two prayers come from handwritten manuscripts from use in worship services:

  • O thou Eternal God, out of whose absolute power and infinite intelligence the whole universe has come into being: We humbly confess that we have not loved thee with our hearts, souls and minds and we have not loved our neighbors as Christ loved us. We have all too often lived by our own selfish impulses rather than by the life of sacrificial love as revealed by Christ. We often give in order to receive, we love our friends and hate our enemies, we go the first mile but dare not travel the second, we forgive but dare not forget. And so as we look within ourselves we are confronted with the appalling fact that the history of our lives is the history of an eternal revolt against thee. But thou, O God, have mercy upon us. Forgive us for what we could have been but failed to be. Give us the intelligence to know thy will. Give us the courage to do thy will. Give us the devotion to love thy will. In the name and spirit of Jesus we pray. 
  • Our loving Father, from thy hand have come all the days of the past. To thee we look for whatever good the future holds. We are not satisfied with the world as we have found it. It is too little the kingdom of God as yet. Grant us the privilege of a part in its regeneration. We are looking for a new earth in which dwells righteousness. It is our prayer that we may be children of light, the kind of people for whose coming and ministry the world is waiting.

Excerpted from “Prayers,” The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute

Martin Luther King Jr. Day, on the third Monday of January, falls on or near the date MLK Jr. was born (January 15, 1929). For us as Christians, the observance fittingly falls in the season of Epiphany, a time focused on the manifestation of Jesus Christ as hope and Savior for all persons in the world. “The appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus” has “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10).* We seek to continue to reveal and share the grace given to us in Jesus.

Suited for Epiphany season, another Baptist minister and civil rights leader, Howard Thurman, composed a poem, “When the Song of Angels is Stilled.” Thurman’s words make us mindful of the ongoing call of Christians in a world that needs the light of Christ.

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and the princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers,
To make music in the heart.

Published in The Mood of Christmas and Other Celebrations,
by Howard Thurman © 1985 by Friends United Press.

Permit one more prayer thought here, from another minister and proponent of social justice, Walter Rauschenbusch. Born the son of a Lutheran missionary to German immigrants in the United States, Rauschenbusch went on to become ordained as minister of the Second German Baptist Church in New York City. The following prayer of his is excerpted from The Communion of Saints: Prayers of the Famous (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1990).

O God, the Father of us all, we praise you for having bound humanity in a great unity of life so that each must lean on the strength of all, and depend for his comfort and safety on the help and labor of his brothers and sisters.
We invoke your blessing on all the men and women who have toiled to build and warm our homes, to fashion our clothing, and to wrest from sea and land the food that nourishes us and our children. We pray you that they may have health and joy, hope and love, even as we desire for our loved ones.
Grant us wisdom to deal justly with every man and woman whom we face in the business of life. May we not unknowingly inflict suffering through selfish indifference or the willful ignorance of a callous heart.
May the time come when we need wear and use nothing that is wet in your sight with human tears, or cheapened by wearing down the lives of the weak.
Speak to our souls and bid us strive for the coming of your kingdom of justice when your merciful and saving will shall be done on earth.

* Scripture quotation from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

Posted by David Sellnow
06
Jan
2024

Epiphany message: A starry beacon up there for the rocky road down here

As with gladness men of old
did the guiding star behold;
as with joy they hailed its light,
leading onward, beaming bright;
so, most gracious God, may we
evermore be led to Thee.

Hymn lyric by William Chatterton Dix,
written January 6, 1859

The festival of Epiphany (January 6th) “recalls the visit of three Magi, or wise men, to the infant Jesus, and their sense of wonder at the encounter. It is the 12th day after Christmas and closes the Christmas season” (PBS.org).  

As this day of Epiphany was approaching, my mind went back to the thoughts and cadences of an Epiphany sermon preached last year by Pastor Gerhardt Miller. I prepared the following abridged version of that message, which Gerhardt graciously has approved for sharing with you here on The Electric Gospel. 

A starry beacon up there for the rocky road down here

by Gerhardt Miller

At Epiphany, we remember and ponder the journey of the Magi, “wise men from the East” who “came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage’” (Matthew 2:1-2).

The wise men—whatever their number, two or three or twenty or thirty—did not find their way to the baby Jesus by accident. The wise men, wherever their hometown, were on a mission, and they completed that mission with diligence and faith. They depended on God’s grace. We too realize that anything we accomplish is accomplished with God’s grace. Make no mistake, these Magi did not stumble by accident through the front door of the private home of the Infant Jesus. That the wise men were brought to the humble threshold of Mary and Joseph and the child Jesus  was because God had blessed them with more than education and insight and privilege. God also blessed them with faithful perseverance, matching the challenge of finding this precious child called Jesus.  These figures we call the wise men, I suppose they were privileged. These wise men were blessed with an education. They were scholars. They studied astronomy and astrology. They knew the heavens and the stars and the planets. Their learning included more than what was above their heads. It also included what was written and reported at their fingertips. These learned souls were students of ancient literature as well. Their education would have included discourses on the forces of good and the forces of evil.

These wise men had learned Scripture and were committed to finding the Christchild. Wherever they had learned Scripture and astronomy and theology, they had to reapply that learning to a  journey over real roads with real hardships and hazards. Think of it, these Magi left what was familiar and safe. They ventured into the unfamiliar and the strange—willingly, even eagerly. They left the comforts of home, endeavoring into the discomforts of the rocky road at best and the unmarked, roadless wilderness at worst. They threw themselves into the perils of becoming foreigners, when they could have just stayed put in the comforts of their own ivory towers.They left all of that behind to seek Jesus.

Let us praise the wise men for their persistence. Persistence requires faith. We do not persist if our doubts are greater than our faith. The wise men had faith in the promise they had heard. The most glorious evidence that God is love is found in the flesh and blood of a small child. The wise men wanted to see, and to bow in worship. When they left home, the wise men did not know the address or longitude or latitude of their destination. When they set out, they did not know how many miles they would travel. When they packed their bags they did not know who or what they would encounter in their quest to find this new king. When they left home, all they knew was that they were following a sign to wherever and whomever it would lead them. Let us praise these wise men for their willingness to go the distance. They went the distance in all of its mess and muck to discover God. They went the distance with all of its heat and cold and wetness and dryness. They went the distance with all of its uncertainty and pitfalls and sorrow. But in taking that journey, these wise men had a starry beacon to lead them, to show them the way. 

Sometimes we need a beacon to shine—to know which way to go and have a safe road. We think of these figures having a starry beacon to show them the way when the way was clear. But the leading star above them did not remove them from the dirt and sand and danger around them. The star up there guided them, but they still had to go through the difficult road below. The starry beacon up there fortified them for the challenges ahead of them. When we are inspired, we are fortified. And the wise men were inspired. 

How has inspiration given you strength in your journey? The Lord gives us strength and inspiration through Scripture and also through the people and happenings around us. God gives us strength to do the things that are difficult for us to do. When we are inspired, we are fortified. Sometimes our roads are rocky, and we need a star. Sometimes our days are dark and we cannot see a star. But we remember learning about a light and even seeing the light … and the sheer memory of God’s light gets us to put one fearful foot in front of the other fearful foot, to get us through the scary dark into the loving light. 

For those wise men, when the road was rocky, they could see the star. When there was no road to follow, they could see the star. When the way was rough and steep and strange and frightening, they could see the star. When they encountered fearful circumstances around them and experienced doubt within themselves, they could see the star. When they were tired and cold and hungry and thirsty, they could see the star. As long as they could see the star, they could keep on going. 

Have you ever wanted to just give up? We want to match the determination of these wise men, these learned souls. When the star was not seen by them, it was remembered by them—and in its being remembered, it shone on.  The light in their memory could keep them going. Whatever the mess around these wise men, whatever the difficulty challenging them, they could see the star or look for the star or just remember the star. So, they could keep on going. 

When we are inspired we are fortified: the starry beacon up there for the rocky road down here. 

May our inspiration in our quest to discover truth and beauty—to discover God in God’s countless forms—be the Christchild, Jesus. May our beacon be Jesus’ love, for Jesus’ love and grace and understanding give us strength to carry on. Not only that, but Christ gives us the guidance to know where to go. May the name of Jesus be our beacon in our quest to discover God in our commonplace lives (that are not so commonplace in the end). Despite their high position and all their finery, the Magi had to work to find Jesus. Like the wise men, sometimes we have to work to find Jesus. Like the wise men, we have to work to see a small sliver of light to carry us over rocky roads and through the wilderness. Like the wise men, may we find strength in our purpose, so we can navigate life’s difficult roads. May our eyes be opened to see heavenly beauty when we feel bogged down on the rocky roads here below.

Prayer: Lord, have mercy for each and every one of us, especially for the times we have failed to see how you are with us in our lives. Teach us, so that we may understand and know that you are living and loving and with us, almighty God. Shine your beacon of light on us, to strengthen us for the roads we walk, trusting in Jesus. Amen.

Scripture quotations, except where otherwise indicated, are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Posted by David Sellnow
17
Dec
2023

Digital stocking stuffers for Christmas

Get an e-book or two for those on your gift list

Need a last-minute Christmas gift that can be delivered on time? A digital stocking stuffer could be the answer. This week (beginning 8am Pacific time on 12/19/23), holiday prices are in effect for two titles available on Amazon.com.  $1.99 each for the Kindle editions of:

The Lord Cares for Me: Stories and Thoughts about Psalm 23

Six stories about lives of faith reveal how God’s promises speak to our hearts’ concerns. Come along with Jake and Sally, Tammy Jo, Charlotte, Larry and others as they experience the Lord’s care as the Shepherd of their lives.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GV76SWF

Faith Lives in our Actions: God’s Message in James chapter 2

Posted by David Sellnow
03
Dec
2023

The Sun of Righteousness is Rising

An Advent Promise—and Warning


The Sun of Righteousness is Rising

by David Sellnow

In 1969, John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) wrote a song called Bad Moon Rising. “I see the bad moon arising, I see trouble on the way”—that was the opening lyric. The song had a very end-times theme. One stanza said:

I hear hurricanes a-blowin’
I know the end is comin’ soon
I fear rivers overflowin’
I hear the voice of rage and ruin.

Fogerty himself said the song is about “the apocalypse that was going to be visited upon us”—but at the same time wrote it with “a happy-sounding tune.” I thought of that song as I was reading the prophecy from Malachi. The prophet spoke of a time that is like a bad moon rising for many people, but like a glorious sunrise for others. “The sun of righteousness shall rise,” Malachi wrote (4:1), bringing healing, light, and warmth for those who revere God’s name. At the same time, it will burn the arrogant and evildoers. 

If you had a Bible in your hand and opened it to find the book of Malachi, you’d get a good idea of what new horizon he had in mind. It is the New Testament—the coming of the day of Jesus Christ. The words of Malachi chapter 4 are the last words in the Old Testament. You flip the page and you’re in the New Testament. The first New Testament book, Matthew, begins with “an account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah” (Matthew 1:1) and then explains how “the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place” (Matthew 1:18).  That’s a 400-year flip as you flip that one page. Malachi’s writing was the last prophetic word from God for at least 400 years before Jesus Christ arrived on the scene. The next prophet from God would not come until immediately before Jesus. Then, an angel announced the birth of a child to be named John. Echoing the words of Malachi, the angel said, “He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah” he would “turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:13-17). That child would become the preacher known to us as John the Baptist.

In the new day as prophesied by Malachi, and introduced by John the Baptist, “the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings” for all who revere the name of the Lord (Malachi 4:2).  “Revere” is an attempt to translate the ancient Hebrew word יָרֵא (yah-ra), for which we have no one-word equivalent in English. It is to fear the name of the Lord, to stand in awe of him, to be amazed at him, respect him, trust him, rely on him, worship him. Those who revere God, who know his saving name and his saving deeds, anticipate his arrival with hope. When the Lord enters our world, his coming is an answer to prayers, a day of salvation. He brings righteousness as a gift, forgiving our sins and supplying us with goodness. The day of the Lord is like bright and warm sunshine, bringing a fresh new morning. Think of the warmth and joy we feel when we celebrate Christmas: Jesus came to be our righteousness, to bring us peace with God. This dawning of the new, bright sunshiny day in Christ is the kind of thing that makes you go out and leap like young calves released from the stall, as Malachi described it (4:2). You jump for joy. You bask in the sunlight. Your spirit rejoices in God your Savior (cf. Luke 1:47). Sin and death and all that opposes the way of grace and faith in Christ “will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 4:3). God promises that all the evil which troubles us is overcome by the coming of the Christ. Both when Jesus came to this world the first time, and when he comes again, the triumph of life that is in him is made evident.

Having said that, it also must be said that the day of the Lord does not make everyone happy. Many do not revere God‘s name and do not welcome him. Their hopes are in themselves, not in the Lord. Some think they are perfectly healthy without God and feel no need for spiritual healing. Some have usurped religious authority for themselves and imposed rules that “lock people out of the kingdom of heaven” because they get wrapped up in legalisms and neglect “justice and mercy and faith” (Matthew 23:13,23). Those attitudes the Lord calls arrogance. There also are persons who do immoral deeds in darkness. They don’t want any sunlight exposing their shame. The things they do are things God calls evil. According to Malachi, for the arrogant and the evildoers, the shining of God‘s light is like scorching desert heat that burns. God’s announcement of a rising sun of righteousness is like a bad moon rising for them. The same righteousness of God that provides a refuge for those who trust in him is a burning scourge on those who trust their own righteousness or try to hide their own guilt. God’s blazing glory turns to dust everything that is not cleansed by forgiveness through faith. “All the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble,” Malachi warned (4:1).

So we see that the day of the Lord is a great joy for those who put their trust in the Lord by faith. It is a dreadful day for those who do not, whose hearts fight against God. We might well bear in mind that either of those descriptions may describe each of us at times. We are not always faithful. We have the same human tendencies as all human beings, wanting the opposite of what the Lord wants for us, thinking we know better than him. Malachi spoke to our consciences. “Remember the teaching of my servant Moses,” he said (Malachi 4:4). No one who keeps in mind God‘s laws to Moses can pretend they are righteous on their own or hide the fact that they sin. What does the law of Moses say? “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5)  “Walk in all his ways” (Deuteronomy 10:12). “Have no other gods” (Exodus 20:3)—nothing that comes ahead of the Lord in your life.  Be holy. Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another. Do not pervert justice. Judge your neighbor fairly. Do not go about spreading slander. Do not hate your brother in your heart. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge. Love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus, chapter 19). Just listening to those laws is painful, because we know we fall far short of godly ideals. We are not righteous. We are sinful. Malachi’s warning keeps us from getting too puffed up about ourselves.

So did the warnings of the prophet who came after Malachi, a voice like that of Elijah of old. John the Baptist was like a second Elijah, speaking for God. He declared: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 3:2). John the Baptist scolded those who were proud of themselves and their heritage, but were arrogant and lacked the humility of faith. “Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’” John told them. “For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham” (Luke 3:8). Being descendants of a religious forefather was not a ticket into heaven for them. Without faith in the Messiah themselves, they were destined to be cut down and thrown into the fire (Luke 3:9). That was John’s message to the arrogant and evildoers.

Strong prophetic warnings always aimed at shaking people out of their self-righteousness and sinfulness and turning their hearts back to the Lord. While the ministry of God’s prophets shouted out warnings, they also soothed with promises. Malachi told of healing sunshine, rays of hope for people who trusted in God. And John “proclaimed the good news to the people” (Luke 3:18). He pointed to Jesus and said, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). John’s ministry turned the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, keeping individuals and families focused on faith and hope and love (cf. Malachi 4:6). The curse of the law would be removed by the Messiah, Jesus (cf. Galatians 3:13-14). The sunshine of God’s love, the gift of his goodness, have come to us in the person of Jesus Christ.

We are living in the Day of the Lord, my friends. His presence never departs from us. It is AD 2023. We refer to our years as AD: Anno Domini—in the year of the Lord. The ancients who set up our calendar declared every year from the time of Christ’s arrival to be “The year of our Lord.”  The Lord has come. The Lord will come again. Blessed be the name of the Lord, and blessed are all those who continue to put their trust in him. Let us continue to put our trust in him, and so be ready for the day he comes again.

Christmas gift idea:  Sermons on Selected Psalms, available at Amazon.com:

Sermons on Selected Psalms: Sellnow, David: 9798402872462: Amazon.com: Books

Scripture quotations, except where otherwise indicated, are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Posted by David Sellnow
30
Oct
2023

A Reformation message: We cling to the gospel

The law condemns. The gospel saves.

by David Sellnow

  • “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:6,7).

  • “To be convinced in our hearts that we have forgiveness of sins and peace with God by grace alone is the hardest thing.” – Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians (1535), translated by Erasmus Middleton (1833).

One day I was driving down the street and did a double take on a church sign. The sign said, “The death of Christ will not be your pardon.” As I drove by, it was like a slap in the face. I stopped; I turned around. Then I realized it was a two-part sign. I had read the back of the sign first. From front to back, the sign said this: “If the life of Christ is not your pattern … the death of Christ will not be your pardon.”

That wasn’t really much better than seeing the back of the sign all by itself. What was that sign telling people? “If you don’t do what Jesus would do, then what Jesus did on the cross doesn’t count for you.” In other words, you’d better straighten up and live right or God won’t love you and Jesus won’t forgive you. That sort of message puts your works first and God’s forgiveness second. The Bible teaches it the other way around: God’s forgiveness comes first, atones for all your sins. By this grace, your heart then becomes motivated to live according to a godly pattern.

It’s easy for us to get that message turned around. It’s not uncommon for individuals to put the burden on themselves to make their salvation happen. I have known persons who made multiple altar calls. They’d go up and devote themselves to Jesus, then when they failed to live perfectly, the onus was on them to start all over again, as if it all depended on them. I know people who have been baptized multiple times. They saw baptism as their own pledge or promise to God. Each time they’d slip in their commitment or break a commandment, they felt they needed to get baptized again, commit themselves again.

Those are law-oriented views. Law condemns. When you read the Ten Commandments, you don’t come away thinking, “Oh, what a good person I am!”  The commandments show you multiple ways you have failed to obey God—how you have failed to love God and love your neighbor as you should. If you make keeping commandments your way to gaining heaven, you are doomed to failure.

This is true no matter what the commandments. Look at the religions of the world. Do Muslims perfectly obey the Five Pillars of Islam? Do Buddhists adhere perfectly to Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Path? Do Mormons follow to perfection the teachings of Joseph Smith? We ultimately fail under any system of commandments.

You could write your own commandments. Make them things you think you could do. Let’s say you were to start the First Church of Healthy Living, and you had just three laws:

  1. Do not eat sweets or desserts.
  2. Exercise 40 minutes a day.
  3. Eat a bran muffin for breakfast every morning.

Even if you believed your eternal salvation depended on keeping those commands, there would come a day you didn’t feel like exercising. There would be a morning you didn’t care for a bran muffin. You’d have moments of intense temptation when you just had to have chocolate. You would fail at your own religion. You would fall into sins against your own commands.

Scripture makes it clear:  “All who rely on the works of the law are under a curse. … No one is justified before God by the law” (Galatians 3:10,11). Law can’t save us. Commandments are not stepping-stones into heaven. The law leaves us condemned.

When a religious approach (like the church sign I mentioned) speaks of Jesus but then adds conditions you must fulfill, that isn’t really gospel. Gospel means good news. As soon as you add some obligation of law keeping to the gospel of Christ, you have perverted it. The gospel is pure good news, full forgiveness in Jesus with no strings attached. Other gospels are throwbacks to law-oriented thinking, which is humans’ instinctive approach to religion.  

Daniel Csörföly (Budapest, Hungary), via Wikimedia Commons

There is only one message that saves. It is the message of “grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to set us free” (Galatians 1:3,4).  Grace is unearned, undeserved, unconditional love. God gives grace. He gave his one and only Son, Jesus. Jesus, the Christ, gave himself over to death for us. He rose from death to give us life. Grace is a gift.

That message is the only spiritual message that brings us peace. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid” (John 14:27). You need not be afraid about your salvation; Jesus guarantees it for you. You need not trouble your heart about which commands you have kept and which you have broken; Jesus forgives every sin. Jesus gives you true inner peace by cleansing away the condemnation in your conscience. He takes away all the guilt of your sin. That is the message of the gospel. It is not the world’s most popular religious message.  As the apostle Paul pointed out, this message does not typically win the approval of men or please people, who are looking for some sort of self-help plan to save themselves. But we are servants of Christ. We are believers in Christ. We will go forward in Christ, continuing to proclaim the one true gospel message.  All other messages condemn because they have their basis in human works, in keeping laws.  The gospel of Jesus is the only message that saves. 

October 31, All Hallows’ Eve, is remembered as Reformation Day, from actions take by monk and priest Martin Luther in 1517.  November 1st is All Saints Day.  For thoughts regarding your place as one of God’s saints, see a previous article here on The Electric Gospel:  “Me, a saint?”

Scripture quotations, except where otherwise indicated, are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Posted by David Sellnow
15
Oct
2023

The Lord keeps me safe

This post is an abridged version of a story from the book, The Lord Cares for Me, available through Amazon publishing.  The stories in the book illustrate truths from Psalm 23.  I’ve set the Kindle version of the book to be available for free this week (M-F, Oct 16-20). You can download a Kindle app to your computer if you don’t have a Kindle e-reader. There are also Kindle apps you can load on your phone. Paperback editions may be purchased if preferred.  If you do get a copy of the book, reviews posted on the Amazon website will be appreciated.

I have a couple other books available on Amazon also:

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Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid. You are with me. Your shepherd’s rod and staff comfort me (Psalm 23:4 NIrV).

The story of Tom and Tina

by David Sellnow

Tina and Tom and their children—Haley (age 5), Rose (3), and Zack (not quite a year old)—had made a trip to Seattle, many miles from their home in southern Colorado. They’d attended a wedding of some friends and planned sightseeing on the way. On their road trip to the northwest, they camped in Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho. On the way home, they traveled south down the Pacific coastline, camping overnight at a beautiful state park in Oregon. Tom had mapped everything out in advance. There was an east-west highway across central Oregon that they could take to reconnect to the interstate and head home.

The first part of the journey eastward was challenging. The road wound up into the mountains at a steep angle. There were twists and turns, and thick trees lined both sides of the road. Whenever they drove with the kids in the vehicle, Tina tended to be nervous. She was a worrier.  The narrow lanes of this road and the inability to see past each tight turn only added to her tension.

Then things got worse–a long section of road construction. The lanes got even narrower, the traffic more congested. Inside herself, Tina’s emotions were boiling. The fun they’d enjoyed on the Oregon coast wasn’t worth the stress added by taking this way home. She wanted to yell at Tom for planning a bad route … but held her tongue in front of the kids. Tom was feeling the stress too, partly because he could tell how much the tension was eating at his wife.

They were relieved when they descended the eastern ridge of the mountains and came out to a city in the flatness of the valley below. They stopped for gas, got the kids some drinks and snacks, then continued on their way. Tina took her turn behind the wheel. She was less stressed when she was driving. She felt like she had at least some control that way.

Free public domain CC0 photo, Rawpixel.com

Tina’s feeling of control faded before long. East of the mountains, Oregon seemed like a barren wasteland. There were no cattle or farms. There were no towns, no signs of anyone living on the land. For a half hour of driving, they hadn’t even seen another car on the road, in either direction.

“What happens if we run out of gas out here?” Tina blurted out when she couldn’t hold back her worries anymore. 

“We have plenty of gas,” Tom assured her. “We filled up the tank less than an hour ago.”

“But there’s nothing out here!” Tina said, almost screaming. The fact that the children were in the back seat wasn’t enough to restrain her anymore.

“Check your cell phone,” she said to Tom. “Can you get a signal?”

Tom looked at his phone. There was no signal.

“See, we could die out here!” Tina moaned, her fears overwhelming her.

Hayley spoke up from the back seat. “Mommy, God knows where we are even if the cell phone doesn’t work.”

Tina tried to show calm on the outside, but inside her mind, her worries would not be quiet. She drove for another half hour, still encountering no other cars on the road. Tina began to notice the temperature gauge on the dashboard was rising above its normal range. “Tom, the engine is getting hotter. What happens if the engine overheats?” There was a tone of panic in Tina’s voice.

“Let’s pull over,” Tom suggested. “Let the engine cool a little.”

It was hot outside. Zack wouldn’t stop crying. Tina tried to hold him and soothe him, but soon she was crying uncontrollably too. Hayley and Rose were scared–mostly because Mom was so scared. Tom tried to calm everyone down.  “Let’s all say a prayer,” he said, and asked God to guard them with his angels. 

Tom drove when they resumed traveling, taking it slow. Before long, in the rearview mirror, he saw a car approaching. Tom slowed further and turned on his flashers. As the car came closer, Tom realized it was a state trooper. Normally Tom didn’t like seeing the lights of a patrol car in his rearview mirror. Most times it meant he was in trouble for speeding or breaking some traffic law. Today, Tom breathed a sigh of relief, comforted by the presence of the state trooper. They weren’t alone on the road. 

“How can I help you folks?” the officer said when he walked up alongside the van. 

“You’ve helped us already, just by being here!” Tina said. 

Tom explained the situation. The trooper said he’d follow behind them to make sure they made it to the next town, which was about 20 miles ahead. The family’s trip home was delayed by half a day while a mechanic in town fixed their engine problem. But they made it home safe, and that was what mattered.

As Tina tucked the children into bed at home, one by one, Rose said, “Mommy … the policeman who stopped to help us … was he an angel?”

“Well, he was an answer to our prayers, that’s for sure!” Tina took Rose’s hands in hers to say a prayer of thanks to God for watching over them on their journey.

The moral of the story:

Too often, we think of God watching us like a state trooper with a radar gun, ready to arrest us when we break commandments. When life’s road is long and lonely and we realize how vulnerable we are, knowing that God’s authority surrounds us relieves our fears. As the psalm writer confessed, “Your shepherd’s rod and staff comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). 

What if the story of Tom and Tina’s family had ended differently? What if their car did break down on the barren road and no one came to help them? What about our own lives when problems pile up and there seems to be no relief? Does that mean God has deserted us? No, the Lord is always shepherding us, even when we are walking through the darkest corners of life … and death. He’s not just our God for solutions to problems while we’re on this earth. His ultimate purpose is to lead us to an eternity with him. One of the teachers Jesus gave to the church said, “I push hard toward what is ahead of me. I move on toward the goal to win the prize … the heavenly prize” in Christ Jesus  (Philippians 3:13-14). No matter what dangers we face, no matter how dark or scary the journey gets, we can say,  “I will not be afraid. Lord, you are with me” (Psalm 23:4).  

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL READER’S VERSION®.Copyright © 1996, 1998 Biblica. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of Biblica.

Posted by David Sellnow
17
Sep
2023

Learning how to forgive

Readings for 16th Sunday after Pentecost, Sep. 17, 2023


Learning how to forgive  — forgive freely, but not cheaply

by David Sellnow


We have a hard time with forgiveness. Maybe you have been on the receiving end of a grudge. You wronged someone. It was years ago, and they haven’t spoken to you since. Or maybe you’ve been the one holding a grudge. You’ve turned away from someone, ignored them, ghosted them, because they betrayed or disappointed you in some way. Or perhaps you haven’t gone that far. You’ve had your differences with a family member or friend or neighbor, and you’ve put up with them. You looked the other way; you said, “It’s OK.” Meanwhile, though, you kept a mental record of each and every infraction—what they did and when they did it. Whatever the issue or the behavior, you find yourself thinking: “How many times do I need to forgive? It’s been seven times already. Is seven enough?” Remember, though, Jesus’ response to that question: “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:22). Jesus does not want us putting limits and restrictions on how much we’re willing to forgive. Our God certainly has not set restrictions on his own capacity to forgive us.

Jesus illustrated the too-frequent difference between God forgiving us and us forgiving others with his parable of the unmerciful servant (Matthew 18:23-35). The servant had been forgiven by the king of a debt of 10,000 talents, an unpayable debt that was simply wiped off his record. That same servant turned around and pursued legal action against a fellow servant who owed him 100 denarii. In the Roman empire, a denarius was a coin used to pay a daily wage. A talent was a unit of weight for gold or silver, about 75 pounds.  To add up to one talent of value, you’d need 6,000 denarii. So a debt of 10,000 talents would be 60,000,000 denarii. After having a debt of 60,000,000 denarii expunged by the king’s grace, the man harshly refused to show any leniency with a peer who owed him 100 denarii. How often are we like that? We forget how merciful God has been in his dealings with us, and we show little or no mercy in our dealings with others.

Sometimes too, we withhold forgiveness because we have invented our own infractions and cut people off for arbitrary reasons. We are like the early church folks who were judging each other for which days they observed as holy days or what foods they did or didn’t allow themselves to eat. Christ’s apostle needed to remind them: “Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another?” (Romans 14:2-4).

We get carried away in self-asserted certainties and punish people for going against our expectations—which may be far from God’s own commands. Some real-life examples:

  • A father hasn’t spoken to his adult son for decades, because the son joined a church of a different denomination. Is that man so sure God is present only in his own type of congregation and in no other places?
  • A friend has not forgiven a friend for accepting a position and moving to another part of the country. Resentment set in about being “abandoned”—as If the Lord God had issued commands that the friend should have remained forever in one place on this earth.
  • A student severed a friendship from a classmate who stopped letting them copy homework assignments, blaming the classmate when they failed the assignments. 

Sometimes we are the ones sinning, holding grudges, creating or maintaining divisions. Yet we blame it on the other persons rather than admitting our own insincerities and inconsistencies.

I once attended a church elders meeting, where one elder came to the meeting concerned about all of the “deadwood” in the congregation (members who had not been to worship for a while). He had a proposal. He had prepared samples of a series of letters to send to people. The first letter would warn them about the dangers of not attending church. If they didn’t respond or return to worship within six weeks, the church would send the second letter, with stronger warnings. Then, if they didn’t respond or return to church within another six weeks, the church would send the third letter, informing the recipients that they would be excommunicated. All of this was planned without making any sort of personal outreach effort to those members: no phone call, no personal visit. Just a series of three form letters, then their names would be removed from the church roster. Thankfully, the other elders on the board spoke up before the pastor even had to say anything. This was not a gospel-oriented idea. This was not how they were going to do ministry. Still, the fact that the idea was raised says something about the way we sometimes feel—ready to write people off, be done with them, rather than continuing to extend forgiveness.

I wonder how such a series of letters would have affected a church member I met in a different congregation. When I came to the congregation as the new pastor, I made an effort to visit each member’s home. There were, of course, plenty of members who had not been active in church for some time. One woman had been absent for years after having been very active previously. When I asked what had caused her to pull away, she described how it had happened after she and her husband had lost a child. The experience strained their marriage. She and her husband eventually divorced. Immediately after the child’s untimely death, church members showed her much caring and concern. But as time went on, she grew tired of facing people in the congregation, who always greeted her with such a sad look, always so worried about her. It was almost pushing her to continue to dwell in the grief and loss and pain. She just couldn’t handle that anymore, so she stopped coming. She’d visited some other churches along the way, but had not felt at home yet anywhere else. It was good that I went to visit her, and it was time that she was ready to return and become part of that church family again. 

We don’t always know what is going on in someone else’s mind or heart. We should not rush to judgment about their seeming lack of expression of faith, or sins or troubles they seem to keep stumbling into. Far better that we be patient with them, with everyone—as we would want people to be patient with us—when struggling through something damaging or difficult.

Think of the Lord and his dealings with Israel. The Lord did not support their patterns of wandering and straying from his side. Yet at the same time, he was always in a posture of forgiveness, ready to embrace his people when they returned to him. Think of the picture Jesus gave us of the father of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). The father kept  waiting for his son to come to his senses, to want to be home. He was watching and hoping every day for that change of heart. That is the stance of our God. He is not glad that we are doing wrong or living in senseless ways. He is always ready to grant us a place at his table and a celebration when we are back in his home and his family.  As one of our most treasured psalms says of the LORD’s way of forgiveness:  “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always accuse …. He does not deal with us according to our sins …. As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him” (Psalm 103:8-13).

We pray that our ability to forgive will grow more and more like the compassionate heart of the LORD our God.

Having said that, let’s remember something else about the Lord’s way of forgiveness. Giving the gospel to someone who keeps wallowing in their own mud, refusing to repent, is like tossing pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6). While our usual failing is that we are too slow to forgive, there are also times when Christian people can be too quick to forgive. Excusing those who aren’t aren’t really ready for forgiveness can be harmful. We are seeking real restoration in our relationships, not simply sweeping hurts and abuses under the rug. 

Let me offer an example, from a social worker in a domestic violence shelter. This was in the Bible belt; the majority of women who sought shelter there from brutal abuse were deeply religious persons. Most of the staff were not church people, though, and they were frustrated by a pattern they were seeing. The religious women believed they had to forgive immediately. The minute their man would say, ‘I’m sorry,’ they’d go back to him. The shelter would see them again within days or weeks, beaten up worse than the last time. According to Domestic Shelters.org, most women return to an abusive relationship six or more times, for various reasons, repeatedly subjecting themselves to the violence. At this Bible belt shelter, the averages were driven even higher by the religious conviction, “‘I must forgive,” pulling women back to their partners prematurely. In her work at the shelter, the Christian social worker of my acquaintance was asked to offer her perspective and counsel these women. She began pointing the women to the meaning of the word “repentance,” which indicates a change of heart and mind. It is a transformation, a turnaround, moving in new directions. As John the Baptist emphasized, those who repent will “bear fruit worthy of repentance” (Matthew 3:8).  The women also needed to be reminded of how Joseph dealt with his brothers. Joseph’s brothers had sold him to slave traders when he was a teenager (cf. Genesis 37).  By God’s providence over many years, Joseph went from being a slave in Egypt to becoming a government official, second only to the pharaoh himself. Then, when a famine hit, Egypt was the only place with storehouses of food. Joseph was in charge of the food program. When Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt to buy food (and didn’t recognize Joseph), he put them through quite an ordeal to test them. He wanted to verify that they were different than they had been. He didn’t rush to reunite with them. He made sure they were repentant first. So, when he did reveal his identity to his long-lost brothers and welcomed them with open arms, the reunion was real. He had the whole family come down to live in Egypt, including his aged father. Then, when father Jacob died, the brothers became worried that Joseph’s kindness to them would stop, that he had only been showing them mercy because of their father’s presence. But Joseph again reassured them and spoke kindly to them. Joseph modeled his forgiveness after the forgiveness of God himself. (Cf. Genesis 50:15-21.) God had brought about good for Joseph, and Joseph was glad his relationship with his brothers had been healed. 

When it comes to forgiveness, much of the time we are too slow to forgive, too arbitrary, too stingy. We are too easily like the unmerciful servant Jesus described, wanting to take people by the throat and demand, “Pay me what you owe me!” (cf. Matthew 18:38).  Other times we are too quick to forgive, too enabling, too carelessly handing out pardons while the crimes are still being committed.  Our Lord, Jesus, has instructed us to “be as wary as serpents, and as innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16 NASB). Learning how to forgive is an uphill journey for us. But with the Spirit’s wisdom guiding us on, we can learn how to forgive so that relationships are fully healed, families and friends genuinely reunited. 

May God give us the wisdom to be careful when unrepented sin must be confronted with strength, and also the grace to give wholehearted forgiveness to fellow sinners in need of mercy.  May we show mercy to our fellow servants of God, our King, in the same way that God, our King, has shown mercy to us (cf. Matthew 18:33). 


Scripture quotations, except where otherwise indicated, are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Posted by David Sellnow
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