Posts - The Electric Gospel

Jan

2020

Jesus, our Brother

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on February 28, 2019.

Jesus, our Brother

by David Sellnow

While Jesus was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, seeking to speak to him. One said to him, “Behold, your mother and your brothers stand outside, seeking to speak to you.”

But he answered him who spoke to him, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” He stretched out his hand toward his disciples, and said, “Behold, my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Matthew 12:46-50).

Jesus made it clear that having a relationship with him is a matter of faith. Doing the will of the Father–which means believing in Jesus as the source of life (cf. John 6:29,40)–is what makes us Jesus’ brothers. Even Jesus’ own blood relatives on earth had no more special relationship with him or with God than is accessible to us through faith in Jesus.

On the night before his sacrificial death, Jesus spoke to his disciples as brothers, bracing them for what lay ahead (John 16:17-33). He emphasized that their relationship with God would not become diminished by his absence, when he returned to the Father. Rather, their relationship would be just as direct–they could go straight to the Father with any request. He assured them, “The Father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came from God” (John 16:27). The same is true for us today. We may have trouble in this world, but we cling to God with confidence, knowing Jesus has overcome all things in this world on our behalf.

It is significant that in his first appearance after rising from death (John 20:10-18), Jesus emphasized to Mary Magdalene his relationship with all the believers. He said to her, “Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God’” (John 20:17). Believers are Jesus’ sisters and brothers, and his Father is our Father. Through our living Lord Jesus, God listens to us and loves us just as he listens to and loves his One and Only Son.

The writer to the Hebrews (2:10-18) summed up what Jesus has done for us as our brother. He became like us, one of us, in order to overcome sin and death for us and bring us into eternal life with him and the Father. He is not ashamed to call us his brothers, saying, “I will declare your name to my brothers. Among the congregation I will sing your praise” (Hebrews 2:12). Especially significant for our prayer life is the last verse of Hebrews chapter 2: “For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted” (Hebrews 2:18). Jesus, our Brother, understands every temptation and struggle that we face. When we go to him in prayer, he is not far-removed or detached or unsympathetic. He walked a harder path on this earth than any of us will ever walk. He knows just how we hurt. We are able to confront and endure life’s trials with him at our side.

All Bible quotations from World English Bible (WEB), public domain.

Books available on Amazon.com –

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

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

Jan

2020

Prayers in place of resolutions

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on January 1, 2019.

Prayers in place of resolutions

by David Sellnow

Rather than making promises to myself that I likely can’t keep, this year I want to focus on things outside of me that are more enduring — things that remain constant and true whether I have stamina or not. They are, in fact, the things that will give spiritual stamina — the strength to keep going, one day at a time, in the new year. “Faith, hope, and love remain — these three. The greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13).I’ve never been a big believer in New Year’s resolutions. Maybe it means I just don’t have enough resolve, that I’m weak on willpower. But such is a symptom of the human condition in general, not just me. Researchers consistently find most people fail at keeping New Year’s resolutions. One frequently cited statistic says 80% of people’s resolutions fail within six weeks. The most generous estimate I’ve seen says more than half of resolutions don’t last six months.

So these are the things for my focus in the new year — and invite you to share that focus with me. I offer these three prayers:

For faith:

Lord, help me trust in you and what you have promised. As a man like me once said, “I believe. Help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). Believing is hard when we’re faced with demons in our lives (as that man was). Believing seems insane when we can’t see you, God, and haven’t a clue what you’re doing. But I pray for confidence, for contentment, for the ability to be thankful for what I do have … and to be assured that when my heart is seeking God, I “shall not lack any good thing” (Psalm 34:10).

For hope:

“The days of our years are … but labor and sorrow” (Psalm 90:10). Your word warned me of that, Lord. Jesus said so, too: “In this world you have trouble” (John 16:33). The daily grind and obstacles in my path make hanging onto hope exhausting. God, I need reminders that hope in your goodness can’t demand that you prove your goodness in ways obvious to me. “Hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees?” (Romans 8:24). Help me, Lord, to hope for that which I don’t see, and to wait for blessings with patience.

For love:

Forgive me, Spirit of Christ, for valuing things that are of little value when the greatest of all things is love. On this earth, institutions and corporations seem to matter so much. Careers and accomplishments are seen to define who we are. But that’s not true. A wise old man called all such things meaningless — “a chasing after wind” (Ecclesiastes 2:11). What really matters is being “rooted and grounded in love,” and comprehending “the width and length and height and depth” of that love (Ephesians 3:17,18). Lord, enable me to “know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:19), and to extend that love to people around me, knowing love matters most of all.

All Bible quotes from World English Bible (WEB).

Jan

2020

Answering questions

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on October 25, 2018.

Answering questions

by David Sellnow

Once, in a religion class I was teaching, a student started the day by asking a question. He said no one had ever been able to give him a good answer before, and he really was hoping I could. He asked: “In heaven, if everyone is perfect, how does that work? If you’re playing basketball in heaven, and the offense is perfect at scoring and the defense is perfect at shutting down offenses, what happens?”

I rolled my eyes. I didn’t take the young man seriously. I thought he was joking. I later realized he was serious. He was struggling with a concept. He honestly wanted an answer. I owed him an apology for the way I had laughed off his question initially.

When people have religious questions, no matter how odd the questions might seem to us, we do well to listen carefully and answer thoughtfully. Their questions and curiosity — even their objections and counterarguments — provide us with opportunities to speak gospel words that bring attention to Christ.

There is a Christian author named Alicia Britt Chole, who was not always a Christian. Her book Finding an Unseen God tells her story, of how she did not believe in God as a child and was very much an atheist during her high school years. She didn’t fit in at all in her Texas high school where most folks were pretty religious. But two girls whom she refers to as the “Bowheads” (because they always wore bows in their hair) decided to be her friends even if she didn’t share their beliefs. Their patience and genuine friendship made an impact on her. In college, she began pursuing religious questions with more seriousness. And she writes this about her questioning:

What a relief it was for me to discover that [my] continual questioning did not make God nervous. Interrogatives do not irritate God. Emotionally charged query does not shut God down. … God is, after all, rather secure.

The problem is not that we have questions. … Personally, I have found that God takes pleasure in an inquiring mind. God delights in sincere questions.

– Finding an Unseen God (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 2009), 142

During Jesus’ ministry, a group known as the Sadducees had a question for Jesus. It was an insincere, eye-roller sort of question. Still, Jesus took up the question seriously and answered in a meaningful, educative fashion.

Here’s the account of that event (Luke 20:27-38 WEB):

Some of the Sadducees came to him, those who deny that there is a resurrection. They asked him, “Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies having a wife, and he is childless, his brother should take the wife and raise up children for his brother. There were therefore seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died childless. The second took her as wife, and he died childless. The third took her, and likewise the seven all left no children, and died. Afterward the woman also died. Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them will she be? For the seven had her as a wife.”

Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry, and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. For they can’t die any more, for they are like the angels, and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he called the Lord ‘The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all are alive to him.”

Notice the manner in which Jesus responded to the Sadducees’ question, even though the Sadducees were opponents of Jesus and were attempting to refute the idea of a life after death. They had decided there is no resurrection, no afterlife — that the meaning of religion is to give morality to this life. So their question was just a doozy dreamed up to test Rabbi Jesus and see if they could stump him. But even with their not-so-sincere question, Jesus answered as a true teacher. He looked his questioners squarely in the eye and taught them something of what heaven really is like. He pointed to the Scriptures, showing how Moses expressed faith in the God who is “not the God of the dead, but of the living.” The Scriptures point us to God, to our salvation in God, to a resurrection to life with God. This was the message of good news that Jesus consistently proclaimed — good news that he was fulfilling in his own person.

How do we answer the questions that come to us? Let me tell you a story of another woman whose perspective on religion changed when she was a teenager. This woman, Elaine, was raised in the church and took the pastor’s class for the teens at her church. She had lots of questions, such as how on earth did Noah manage to get dinosaurs on the ark, and other curious wonderings like that. The pastor was always irritated by her questions, pushed aside her questions, didn’t want to answer her questions. He had his agenda that he wanted to get through in class, and she was interrupting. After a while, he wouldn’t let her ask any more questions. And after a while further, Elaine decided the church wasn’t for her. She stayed away from the church throughout her adult life. She only came back into a church class years later (that’s when I met her) — when she was working as a caregiver for a disabled woman who wanted to attend the classes. Elaine came along with Nadine as caregiver … and thank goodness I didn’t roll my eyes at questions Elaine started asking again, decades after she had previously given up on the church and its ministers.

The Lord Jesus wasn’t afraid of questions. When given the chance to speak to a question, Jesus answered in an evangelical, gospel-centered fashion. God grant us the attitude of Jesus as we deal with others, that we don’t dodge questions or reject their questions, but point every struggling or wondering soul to Jesus and his Word for the answer. And even when the questioners are Sadducee types who may think they already know more than we do, let’s still be serious and solid in our answers, saying what the Word of God says, calling attention to the Lord our God. “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all are alive to him.” And our testimony in Jesus’ name is to point others to the life that is in him.

Jan

2020

The Lord provides

Originally posted on The Electric Gospel on September 11, 2018.

The Lord provides for us

by David Sellnow

The following blog post is an excerpt from the book, The Lord Cares for Me, recently released through Amazon publishing. The book features stories that illustrate the truths of Psalm 23, and is written in easy-to-read vocabulary and style for readers of all ages and abilities. This excerpt follows “The story of Jake and Sally,” featured in chapter 1. All Bible quotations are from the New International Reader’s Version (NiRV).

If you do get a copy of the book, reviews posted on the Amazon website will be appreciated.

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The LORD is my shepherd. He gives me everything I need (Psalm 23:1).

When we are not connected to God, we are lost. When we are lost, what we need the most is for God to find us, to bring us back to him, the way a shepherd would look for a lost sheep.

Jesus is the one who connects us to God. He forgives us for what we’ve done wrong, because he gave up his life to pay for all the wrong things we did. He was given a death sentence like a criminal, but Jesus was not a criminal. And he was more than an ordinary man. He is God’s own Son. He had come down from heaven to live in our place on earth. And so after he was killed, he came back to life. And because of what he did, he promises us a whole new life. “Jesus was handed over to die for our sins. He was raised to life in order to make us right with God” (Romans 4:25). Being right with God is always what we need the most.

God does take care of our other needs too. Jesus told us not to worry, that our Father in heaven does care for us and will provide for us. Here’s what Jesus said:

“Don’t worry about your life and what you will eat or drink. And don’t worry about your body and what you will wear. Isn’t there more to life than eating? Aren’t there more important things for the body than clothes? Look at the birds of the air. They don’t plant or gather crops. … But your Father who is in heaven feeds them. Aren’t you worth much more than they are? … So don’t worry. Don’t say, ‘What will we eat?’ Or, ‘What will we drink?’ Or, ‘What will we wear?’ People who are ungodly run after all of those things. Your Father who is in heaven knows that you need them. But put God’s kingdom first. Do what he wants you to do. Then all of those things will also be given to you” (Matthew 6:25-33).

So God does promise to provide for his people. That doesn’t mean we will always have lots of money or things. Sometimes we may barely have enough. But God says he won’t abandon us. And he wants us to think about spiritual needs too, not just physical needs. He does not want us love money and things or to set our hearts on such things. He tells us, “Think about things that are in heaven. Don’t think about things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2).

If we think too much about money, we can cause ourselves trouble. The Bible says that people who want to get rich often wander away from faith in God (1 Timothy 6:10). Instead, we are urged to think this way: “You gain a lot when you live a godly life. But you must be happy with what you have. We didn’t bring anything into the world. We can’t take anything out of it. If we have food and clothing, we will be happy with that” (1 Timothy 6:6-8).

One of the ways God provides for us is through the help of others. When we are facing struggles in our lives, we may need to look to others for help. God calls on his people to help each other, to show love to each other. “So when we can do good to everyone, let us do it. Let us make a special point of doing good to those who belong to the family of believers” (Galatians 6:10).

What Psalm 23 says is true. The Lord is our shepherd. He gives us everything we need. He gives us a relationship with him, which is what our spirits need. And he makes sure the basics of daily bread and clothing are met, which is what our bodies need. And in the end, when the time comes that our bodies die, God promises to provide for us even then. “I am the resurrection and the life,” Jesus said. “Anyone who believes in me will live, even if he dies” (John 11:25). Jesus faced death and came back to life. He promises to give us the same ending to our life story. He really is the Lord who provides everything we need.

Jan

2020

A parent’s prayer for a graduate

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on May 29, 2018

A Parent’s Prayer for a Graduate

by David Sellnow

Thinking of you, my child, and the fact that you’ve finished college, I have much in mind that I lay before the Lord in prayer. I hope you won’t mind that these thoughts ramble in no particular order as I write them for you to read and heaven to hear. I know the Spirit above doesn’t mind, because “the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can’t be uttered” (Romans 8:26).

I pray you will hang onto Jesus, to anchor your soul in the firmness of his life and truth, and to lift you up in hope each day. When I pray that you hang onto Jesus, I’m not thinking so much of the formalness of this or that church—though church and formalness can be good spiritual disciplines. My primary prayer is that your heart remains connected to Jesus like a branch growing from a vine. Jesus pictured it that way: “As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. I am the vine. You are the branches” (John 15:4,5).

I pray you will hang onto memories—not only of college years but also of childhood. Relish and treasure the good things you’ve experienced, the laughs, the joys, the interesting happenings. Remember times of blessing with family and friends. But also remember the struggles, the challenges, the mistakes. Don’t dwell on them in regret, but learn and grow from them as you take your past and present self into the future.

In that vein, I pray you will see success as an inner, spiritual quality more than as a financial quantity or as a résumé of accomplishments. You may never win a Nobel Prize or a Tony Award or any noteworthy prizes or awards. But being an everyday person in an everyday life is okay also. And you may not make millions or even tens of thousands, but if you have enough to survive, and you maintain integrity in your heart, that is enough. A person’s life “doesn’t consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses” (Luke 12:15). Do your best to succeed where you are, in whatever you are doing, remembering that the truest reward is richness of the soul, being filled with a love and eagerness for those around you.I pray that the path you have chosen for your career will be a blessing to you, and that you will always find satisfying work in your field. But if it happens anywhere along the line that you have to accept a position other than your ideal, I pray that you’ll be able to make the best of that too. The great apostle Paul sometimes needed to support himself by making tents. Sometimes you do what is needed rather than what is desired. Through it all, preserve your character and resolve. “Better is a little with righteousness, than great revenues with injustice” (Proverbs 16:8).

I pray you will network well, connecting with people. That isn’t always easy, because people and relationships can be challenging. An existential philosopher, in a famous line from a play, said: “Hell is other people.” It’s easy to feel the way he felt. But at the same time, we need other people. We need networks—and not just the social media kind that exist online. No person is an island. And even if some were islands, islands need connections to other places in order to meet their needs and access opportunities. I pray that you’ll get along with others in your career and community in beneficial ways. “If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with all men” (Romans 12:18).

I also pray that as far as you yourself are concerned, you will be comfortable being who you are, where you are, and how you are in life. Don’t let yourself worry whether you fit in with others or line up with expectations others may have. Life doesn’t need to be a game of keeping up with the Joneses or the Kardashians or whomever else. Allow yourself plenty of leeway for finding your own way. Accept that there will be changes in plans, redirections and do-overs. Remember that you are unique, that you are God’s workmanship, and he has prepared in advance many good things for you to do (cf. Ephesians 2:10). In whatever direction you go, go with confidence in yourself and in the Father above, who cares for you.

I pray you will do better in life than us, your parents. I don’t mean that necessarily in financial or career terms, though that would be nice too. Mostly I mean for you to have happiness, stability, and contentedness to a greater degree than we have evidenced. Though we’ve tried to devote ourselves to you in love and leadership, parents are never perfect examples. For the best sort of leadership, always look toward the Lord himself. “Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children. Walk in love, even as Christ also loved us and gave himself up for us” (Ephesians 5:1,2).

I pray you will be honest with yourself and with others. I know, I know, I haven’t always been that way myself. I’ve put up false fronts in public and said other things in private. But in the end, that only leads to internal and external conflict. Better to be the way that Jesus described Nathanael, when choosing him as a disciple: “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit” (John 1:47).

I pray you will remain a positive force for good in the world, even when this world seems to have little that is good and positive in it. When you look around and see perpetual crises and conflicts, refugees forced to flee their homes and lands, children growing up in poverty and hunger, and all the other woes of this world, it’s easy to give up on making the world a better place. But remember that the same Bible that prophesied there will always be “wars and rumors of war” (Matthew 24:6), and that “you always have the poor with you” (Matthew 26:11), also said to us: “As we have opportunity, let’s do what is good toward all men” (Galatians 6:10), and urged us to offer “petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks” for everyone around us (1 Timothy 2:1). Keep striving to do what you can in your own little corner of the world to make an impact there, even when it’s hard to see much change occurring in the wider world beyond you. Don’t give up on being someone who loves your neighbor, even when the wider neighborhood of the world seems not to notice or care.

I pray you won’t be surprised or devastated when trouble comes along, when plans get derailed, when obstacles block your path. In this world we will have trouble, Jesus said (cf. John 16:33). So if you do encounter painful difficulties, don’t despair. Not all of life will be rosy, and even when there are roses, they always come with thorns attached. So hang onto hope though thick and thin. Endure hardship when it happens, be disciplined by it, grow stronger from it. “All chastening seems for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11).

I pray you will savor and be strengthened by the simple pleasures you can find in life—a refreshing beverage, a relaxing evening at home, a walk in the park. I hope too that your life may have its fill of exciting moments and bigger adventures. But when you can’t get away for exotic vacations or extensive travels, I pray you’ll be able also just to appreciate the life that you have, wherever it may be. Just say, “Feed me with the food that is needful for me” (Proverbs 30:8) – that is enough.

Finally, I pray you will remember where home is. You are all grown up and away from us now. But we remain your parents always, and maintain concern for you constantly. You still may need us for advice, for reassurance of love, or just for a hug or a chat. Don’t stay away from home or off the phone from us for too long at a time. And even if you are at a point where you don’t need much from us, we very much need you and yearn to see you and hear from you. So don’t forget dear old mom and dad. As the Bible urges, “Listen to your father who gave you life, and don’t despise your mother when she is old” (Proverbs 23:22). You are our most precious treasure on this earth, and we are always praying for you!

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Just released on Kindle Direct Publishing: Faith Lives in Our Actions: God’s Message in James Chapter 2. Get the eBook for your Kindle, or you can download the free Kindle app to read on any device.

Jan

2020

When winter seems unending

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on April 7, 2018.

Always winter … but always Christmas and always Easter

by David Sellnow

Where I live, it seems like winter will never end. This week a record low temperature was set — in single digits. Waking up yesterday morning, the wind chill felt several degrees below zero. Tomorrow a snowstorm is predicted. And it’s April.There’s a line in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis, that comes to mind: “It is winter in Narnia,” said Mr. Tumnus, “and has been for ever so long … always winter, but never Christmas.” Life in the real world can seem very much like that so much of the time. Another way of describing life’s long, cold, dreariness was expressed by Moses many centuries ago: “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow” (Psalm 90:10).

Yet that message of sadness and pain is not the only word we have from God about our lives in this world. In reality, while our lives may feel like an endless winter, it is always Christmas for us, and always Easter. The meaning of Christmas was that God came into this world to share our pain, to take all our troubles onto himself. It was prophesied (Isaiah 7:14), “The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” [which means, “God with us”]. Christ entered into our existence and “took up our pain and bore our suffering. … The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4,5). Christ faced all the worst that this world has to offer and died for us. But “it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him” (Acts 2:24). Every Easter, we celebrate his resurrection from the grave and the life eternal we have through him. And resurrection hope is not just something that prompts us to put on springtime clothing and go to church on Easter Sunday. God’s mercy “has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3) — a hope that enables us to get up and face each day in the here and now, as well as having assurance of being with God in the hereafter.

It may indeed always be winter in the way our lives feel on this earth. But in Christ, it is always Christmas, for he is beside us as our Brother, born into humanity with us. And in Christ, it is always Easter, filled with hope and new life. Because he lives, we also will live (John 14:19).

Jan

2020

Loving others

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on January 21, 2019.

Loving others

by David Sellnow

In a sermon delivered at New Covenant Baptist Church in Chicago (April 9, 1967), Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke of being committed to loving our neighbors – all neighbors. In that sermon, he said:

There will be a day, the question won’t be, “How many awards did you get in life?” … It won’t be, “How popular were you?” … It will not ask how many degrees you’ve been able to get … or “What kind of automobile did you have?” On that day the question will be, “What did you do for others?”
Now I can hear somebody saying, “Lord, I did a lot of things in life. I did my job well … I went to school and studied hard. I accumulated a lot of money, Lord; that’s what I did.” It seems as if I can hear the Lord of Life saying, “But I was hungry, and ye fed me not. I was sick, and ye visited me not. I was naked, and ye clothed me not. I was in prison, and you weren’t concerned about me.” …
What did you do for others? This is the breadth of life. Somewhere along the way, we must learn that there is nothing greater than to do something for others.

– from “The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life,” by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,

via The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and EducationInstitute, Stanford University.)

For Martin Luther King Day, I’d like to share some thoughts of my own about showing love – and God’s grace – to all our neighbors. The following is excerpted from my brief book, Faith Lives in Our Actions (available at Amazon). Bible quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB).

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Loving all people

James, the brother of Jesus, pinpointed lack of love as a pivotal problem in our lives as Christians. James wrote: “If you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you do well. But if you show partiality, you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors ” (James 2:8-9).

If we could love with all our hearts, we would do well. Love “is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10). Jesus had said that the first and greatest commandment is to love God fully, and its corollary is to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-39). James called this the royal law of Scripture. It is the heart of the law, and it is where we fall most miserably short of what God expects of us.

James pointed at favoritism as the centerpiece of our lawbreaking. Even after we have been converted to Christ, our old sinful tendencies diminish the extent of our love. We may, for instance, spend much to send our own children to Christian schools, but give far less to extend Christ’s love to souls around the world. Or we are pleased to be part of God’s kingdom ourselves, but often feel no great urgency to include others in his grace. Once, when my congregation was planning an open house, I asked one of our members if he had invited his farmhands and their families. He looked at me as though I had proposed something preposterous. The thought had never crossed his mind. When I brought it up, it made him uncomfortable. Mexican weed-pullers weren’t really the sort of folks he wanted in his church. To him they were only hired hands, a lesser breed of people.

We try to convince ourselves we are law-abiding. We set up church policies and programs. We want everything to honor God, according to proper guidelines. But we forget what the real line is: love. We callously, oafishly and repeatedly step over that line. We strain out gnats while swallowing camels (cf. Matthew 23:24). We make sure we have glorious choirs singing in our balconies, but fail to notice neighbors in need across the street. When James described the sort of religion that God accepts, he mentioned nothing of formal church activities. James had said, “Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (James 1:27). Those are the kinds of aims we are to seek.

Jan

2020

Forsaken … but not forsaken

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on April 27, 2018.

Forsaken … but not forsaken

by David Sellnow

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?” (Psalm 22:1).

David, who became king of Israel, wrote those words at some point in his life. We don’t know when David wrote Psalm 22, only that he sent it to the chief musician in Israel when he was king. We also know that there were plenty of times in David’s life when he might have said, “Trouble is near” and “there is no one to help” (Psalm 22:11).

Sometimes David’s troubles were through no fault of his own, such as when King Saul kept pursuing him, trying to kill him. David had dared to challenge an enemy no one else in Israel would challenge–Goliath of Gath, a gigantic warrior of the Philistines. Saul grew jealous of David and aimed to eliminate him. At one point, David wound up going into Philistine territory, to Gath itself, to get away from Saul. While there, the only way David could keep from being imprisoned or killed by the king of Gath was to feign insanity. David scribbled on the doors of the gate and let saliva drip down his beard. The king, Achish, said to his servants, “You see the man is insane. Why then have you brought him to me?” (1 Samuel 21:13,14).

Sometimes David’s troubles were the result of his own arrogance and sin, such as when he seduced the wife of one of his military men while that man was away at battle. David then saw to it that the man was killed, so that David could take Bathsheba (the wife) from him and make her his own. David’s soul was plagued and troubled until God’s prophet compelled him to confess his sin. (Cf. 2 Samuel 11-12.)

Other times David’s troubles were a combination of his own failures and the sins of others against him. His son Absalom mounted a conspiracy, trying to throw his father off the throne. David needed to wage a civil war against his own son. In the end, Absalom ended up dead and David struggled to bear such a tragedy. (Cf. 2 Samuel 15-19.)

In our lives too, there are times when we feel forsaken by God and alone in our despair and troubles. Sometimes it’s through no fault of our own; it’s just things that happen to us or acts by others done against us. Sometimes our aloneness and pain are caused by our own sins and shame, torturing our minds and hearts. Other times the anguish we face is a combination of our own failures and things done by others that hurt us further. We wonder where God is in all this. Our souls cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning? My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don’t answer” (Psalm 22:1,2). We keep crying out day and night, but find no rest.

We recognize, though, that the anguished cries of David’s psalm belongs to someone else even more than the thoughts belonged to David or than they belong to us. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Those words were uttered by Jesus, the Christ, as he hung on the cross. Jesus took on himself all our sins, all our troubles, all our agony, all our shame, and experienced the abandonment of God his own Father. He did so to atone for all our woes and guilt and hurt. Some elements of Psalm 22 point beyond anything David likely experienced, looking prophetically ahead to the sort of death Jesus died when he took our place under all the burdens of sin. “They have pierced my hands and feet,” the psalmist said (v.16), anticipating the crucifixion that the Messiah would suffer.

No matter what our sufferings in life and no matter why they occur–by our own fault or the fault of other sinners or simply the result of living in a sin-stained world–we can know one thing for sure. Jesus suffered as much and more than anything we are suffering. And Jesus suffered as he did for us, to give us hope in the face of suffering. Our hope, ultimately, is in Jesus, whether or not the circumstances of our daily lives get any easier. Though the Lord may bring us down “into the dust of death” (Psalm 22:15), he remains always our God from the time of our birth onward. “All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him” (Psalm 22:29). We can’t keep our own souls alive, but God will. And we will continue to serve him and proclaim his righteousness (Psalm 22:29-31).

Jan

2020

Let your light shine

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on January 28, 2018.

Shining like the brightness of the heavens

by Sheryl Persaud

“In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

Have you ever been in a church with stained glass windows on a sunny day? It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Light passes through the windows in colorful, detailed patterns. And often, stained glass windows are not merely patterns of color, but persons and events from the Bible are illustrated in the glass. The windows shine in ways that tell stories of faith.

Think about the time and preparation it takes to make a stained glass window. First, you will need to decide what design you want to make. Then you’d choose each color and shape carefully in order to make that design. At first, it is just a mess of broken glass, but when you arrange the pieces together into the story or symbol you wish to convey, you have a beautiful masterpiece.

As God’s people, we are like stained glass windows. God sees the beautiful plan and design he has for us. We cannot see this plan because sometimes our life is like a big, messy pile of broken glass. We may also feel the pains of broken glass. There may be so many trials we are facing in our lives that we don’t think anything good can come from it. However, God looks at each broken piece and he sees art. He sees how each broken piece will fit together perfectly. He needs us to be patient, in the same way an artist exercises patience as he is creating his art. We wait to see and understand God’s master plan for us. At times we may want to give up, but we hang on in trust that our Savior is working in our best interest.

When a stained glass window finally goes up and the sunlight shines through, all you can do is step back, admire it, and praise the person who created it. We want God’s Word to shine through us and those we come into contact with. We are able to shine a light to others because Christ has put a light into us first. He did this through his death on the cross, that we may become shining pillars reflecting his love and mercy, bright enough for all to see. How awesome it would be to show others the wonders of our awesome creator! We become a fulfillment of what God foretold: “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever” (Daniel 12:3).

Just as sunlight shines through and illuminates figures in stained glass windows, we glow beautifully when God’s Word shines through us.

Prayer: Dear God, give us the courage to put our full trust in your plans for us. Help us to be illuminated by your light, reflecting Christ’s love and grace in all we say and do. Amen.

Jan

2020

The priesthood of all believers

Originally shared on the Electric Gospel on September 24, 2017. This message was written as a contribution for a devotional booklet published in the 500th anniversary year of the Lutheran Reformation.

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“You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).

All God’s People Are Priests

by David Sellnow

Harold stepped into the pulpit and addressed the congregation.

“I am not a pastor,” Harold said. “I never studied at a seminary. I’ve raised cotton, and now I work for an association of cotton growers. I am not a professional preacher or public speaker. I don’t generally get up in front of other people and give talks. So I’m rather nervous about standing up here this morning. In fact, if I weren’t behind this pulpit, you could see my knees knocking!”

That was how Harold began his message on a Sunday when the pastor was away. The church was a small congregation, far from any others of its synod. When the pastor was traveling to a national meeting or other obligations, church council members would lead Sunday services. Harold’s message on this day focused on words from the apostle Peter: “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).

“All God’s people are priests,” Harold continued. “Priests have the right to approach God directly; we are welcome in God’s presence. Through Jesus Christ we all ‘have access to the Father by one Spirit’ (Ephesians 2:18). When we were baptized, we became part of the priesthood of all believers in Jesus. That gives us the privilege of approaching God ‘with freedom and confidence’ (Ephesians 3:12), and also the privilege to proclaim Christ to the world. We declare the praises of the Lord who brought us out of darkness and into the light, who rescued us from death and gave us life. We all share in that gospel mission.”

The Reformation reaffirmed the truth that all God’s people are equal members of God’s kingdom, a universal priesthood of those who pray and proclaim in the name of Jesus. Martin Luther wrote, “If a group of pious Christians settled in a wilderness and had among them no priest consecrated by a bishop, and if they were to agree to choose one from their own midst to baptize, give communion, announce forgiveness and preach, such a man would be as truly a priest as he would be if all bishops and popes had consecrated him. This is why anyone may baptize and give absolution in case of necessity, which would be impossible if we were not all priests.”

Harold fulfilled such a role in his congregation in the pastor’s absence. Each of God’s people fulfills a more general role of worship and witness in everyday life. God’s Spirit is with all of his people—all of his priests—as we come to him in prayer and go for him to others, with news of his grace.

Prayer: Jesus our Lord, we praise you for what you have done for us. Embolden all of us as your people—a royal priesthood—to come to you for blessing and to speak for you, extending your blessing to others. Amen.

Jesus, our Brother

Prayers in place of resolutions

Answering questions

The Lord provides for us

A Parent’s Prayer for a Graduate

Loving others

Forsaken … but not forsaken

Shining like the brightness of the heavens

All God’s People Are Priests

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