27
Oct
2025

All of God’s people are saints through faith

This week, people’s attention is focused on Halloween. Halloween, or All Hallows’ Eve, was the evening before the Christian celebration of All Saints’ Day, or “All Hallows” in Old English. All Hallows’ Eve was sometimes called “Mischief Night,” when folks would “get together, have some fun, tell stories and have opportunities for bad behavior, a sort of licensed misrule.” However, English Heritage notes that All Hallows’ Eve also was a socially acceptable time “for poorer members of the community to visit their richer neighbors asking for charity.”[1]

Here on The Electric Gospel, I’d like to focus our thoughts this week on the festival of All Saints—and the understanding of who we are as saints. We are called, gathered, enlightened, and sanctified together with the whole Christian Church on earth, united by faith in Jesus Christ.

We believe in the communion of saints

by David Sellnow

The Bible tells us that the “prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective” (James 5:16). With that being true, do you suppose a prayer said by Jesus, God’s own Son, is an effective prayer, obtaining the blessing which he asked for? Most certainly the Father answers Jesus’ prayers!

So what about this prayer, which Jesus offered while gathered with his disciples on the night before he died?  Jesus prayed for the future church, the church of believers which would come into being by means of the apostles’ writing and preaching. Jesus said:

  • “I pray … that they all may be one, even as you, Father, you are in me and I in you, that they may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. The glory which you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one, even as we are one, I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one, that the world may know that you sent me and loved them, even as you loved me”  (John 17:20-23).

Jesus prayed for all the church to be one, for all believers to be brought to complete unity.  Has this prayer of Jesus been answered?  Has this prayer of Jesus been powerful and effective? …  Does it seem sometimes that this prayer of Jesus has been ignored or denied?

One encyclopedic source lists approximately 300 branches of denominations within Christianity and adds, “This is not a complete list.”[2] The Center for the Study of Global Christianity breaks down the data more narrowly, to each individual group within those various branches and estimates as many as 47,000 specific denominations across the globe today.[3] Over the course of its history, Christianity has undergone various divisions and subdividions.  If Jesus’ prayer for unity has been heard and answered—if a prayer for Christian unity by the very Son of God was powerful and effective—how is it possible that Christianity can be divided into thousands of subgroups and splinter groups?  Is there indeed unity?  Are we any way one, as Jesus and the Father are one, as Jesus prayed?

If we are thinking that all Christians on earth must come together outwardly in one visible organization, one ecumenical church body, we miss the point of Jesus’ prayer. The unity for which Jesus prayed goes beyond anything our eyes can see. He wants us to be one in faith, which is deep within us. He wants us to be one in him and one with the Father and Spirit, which is a matter of the heart. Certainly it is a blessing too when visible gatherings of believers can be one together in their confession of faith, but the truest form of fellowship happens at a level even deeper than our outward expressions. The Lord knows those who are his, and assures us that there is indeed a body of believers that share one hope, one calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one  God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all (Ephesians 4:4-6).

Here is a miracle: In spite of the fact that in this world we struggle to walk together and are torn and tempted and often divided, yet we have the Lord’s promise. All who, by his Spirit, are brought to believe in his name are united in that one name, and it is a perfect unity. It is a unity that goes beyond what is outer and surface and seen to what is inner and of the soul, unseen.  It is a unity whereby God can look upon a Lutheran and a Baptist and a Catholic and Russian Orthodox believer and—within all those whose hearts trust in Christ—God can and does create a unity that transcends anything we ever realize fully on this earth.  As much as we can realize it on earth, it is a witness to the rest of the world of the power of God’s message. Yet even when we find ourselves divided from one another by a number of different barriers between believers, we are confident that God is working his miracle of unity in our hearts. In the Apostles’ Creed, we confess that we believe in the holy, catholic (universal) church—the communion of saints. It is a miracle to believe it because we can’t so readily see it in the here and now. Yet we know it exists, for our Lord has promised it. And upon the last day, what has remained elusive to our eyes here will become vivid and glorious in the light of heaven. As Jesus put it in his prayer, “Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am, that they may see my glory which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24).  As believers, we will one day see Jesus in glory with ALL fellow believers, from whatever denomination they may come, as we join together in the heavenly circle of praise.  That choir will be as the apostle John later saw it in a vision:

  • “I looked, and behold: a great multitude which no man could count, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. They cried with a loud voice:  ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” (Revelation 7:9-10).

By God’s grace, and only by God’s grace—not by our doing or our denominational affiliation or by any other human design or detail, but solely by God’s grace—we will be among that great throng of saints arrayed in gleaming robes and singing that never-ending refrain. Salvation belongs to God. Salvation comes from Christ. The prayer of Jesus, which we know is being answered already now, even though we have such a hard time seeing it, will become a prayer finalized in joyous fulfillment when all his people stand hand in hand, recognizing one another and praising their same Savior, one with each other and one with the Lord.  We press on earnestly today in faith, and await that fulfillment of faith together with all the saints.

Prayer:

  • Lord Jesus, gather the hearts of all your people on earth in unity with you and the Father, already today, even when we don’t see it well. Help us to be more united and unified as your people on earth, not at the expense of your truth but rather through your truth. Sanctify us by your truth; your word is truth. Keep all your believers—those whom you know are yours, those whose hearts are joined to you by faith—keep us all by your Spirit until the day we see one another in glory in your presence. Jesus, as your own bride, we your people long to be brought to our heavenly home, where we will stand in joy beside you. Amen.

From The Large Catechism of Martin Luther (1529):

  • There is upon earth a congregation of pure saints, under one head, Christ, called together by the Holy Spirit in one faith, one mind, and understanding, with manifold gifts, yet agreeing in love, without sects or schisms.I am also a part and member of the same, a sharer and joint owner of all the goods it possesses, brought to it and incorporated into it by the Holy Spirit by having heard and continuing to hear the Word of God. Until the last day, the Holy Spirit abides with the holy congregation (or Christendom), by means of which he fetches us to Christ and which he employs to teach and preach to us the Word, whereby he works and promotes sanctification, causing this this community daily to grow and become strong in the faith and its fruits.[4]

 

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

[1] https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/halloween-saints-souls/

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominations

[3] https://omsc.ptsem.edu/the-annual-statistical-table/

[4] https://bookofconcord.org/large-catechism/apostles-creed/

Posted by David Sellnow
22
Sep
2025

Summer evangelism series (conclusion)

Seeing that today is the autumnal equinox (when astronomers start calling it fall), I suppose I’m late on wrapping up the evangeism series I started this summer. But, since school is in session, a lesson on outreach is a good thing to post now too.

Jesus’ own method for evangelism

by David Sellnow

Jesus himself provided a model for how to share spiritual thoughts and gospel hope with others. It was when he met a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well in Sychar.  [See the Bible record of this in John 4:3-26.]

There are several things to notice about what Jesus did in witnessing to that woman.

He did not let barriers get in his way (John 4:4-8).

The people of Judea and Galilee despised the people in the territory of Samaria that lay between them. They would travel miles out of their way to go the long way around and not travel through Samaria. Jesus didn’t do that. He went straight through Samaria, traveling in a direct line, willing to meet anyone where they might be in life.

We can do the same—we can step outside our usual comfort zones, break the ice with neighbors and acquaintances, even be a little intrusive (but in a nice way)—like Jesus asking the woman if she would draw a drink from the well also for him. (That was huge, because of the cultural tensions between Jews and Samaritans, and even common rules for interactions between men and women in those days.)

Don’t be afraid to speak of spiritual things (John 4:9-14).

Jesus and that woman spent some time talking about the cultural taboos he was breaking. She asked him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” Jesus answered in a way that moved toward water as a picture of something bigger, eventually saying he could offer living water that leads to eternal life. Honestly, it may have been a segue that confused her, but it piqued her interest.

Our own conversations with others may end up somewhat awkward sometimes too, and that’s okay. If it’s clear our intentions are heartfelt and meaningful, we’ll build better bridges with people than if we have some tightly scripted formula we follow and try to make them listen to our speeches. It’s better to have conversations, to listen and respond.

Be bold enough to speak of sin and struggles (John 4:15-18).

Jesus took the conversation in a direction that got at the reason why this woman had come to the well at a time when no one else was there. She was an outcast in town because her marital/relationship situation was, shall we say, complicated. Jesus had more than powers of perception, of course. As God come down from heaven, he knew the woman’s life situation before she had said anything about it.

We don’t have divine powers to know in advance what people are dealing with or struggling through. But we can be perceptive. We can ask people how they’re doing. We can be open and non-judgmental. We can be  good listeners. We can take time for people to trust us, so that we can talk together about difficult things.

Don’t major on minor issues  (John 4:19-24).

As soon as the woman realized Jesus had some sort of ability to see things, that he was some sort of prophet, she started debating religious differences. She said, “Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain [in Samaria], but you [Jews] say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus didn’t dwell on that peripheral topic. He emphasized that worship goes beyond places and spaces, saying the time had come when “true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth,” for “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 

We needn’t feel ready to delve into any and every topic of religious practices with people. We want to focus on the more basic message—knowing Jesus, and worshiping God in spirit and truth.

Ultimately, point to Jesus (John 4:25-26).

The woman was spiritually-minded enough to say then to Jesus, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.”  Jesus responded point blank by telling her, “I am he—the one who is speaking to you.” He is the one who teaches us the things we need, the one who provides answers to our  hearts’ yearnings.

Our message with others is just as straightforward. Point to Jesus. He is the Messiah. He is the one who teaches us all we need to have life in our souls, the one who gave himself up to save our bodies and souls.

Prayer: 

  • Jesus, you are our life and strength and hope. Embolden us by your Spirit. Give us the courage and compassion to speak in your name and share your good news with others—naturally, freely, as part of our daily lives. Amen.

See previous posts in this series:

Posted by David Sellnow
01
Sep
2025

Which goals and influences do we follow?

In lectionary readings this past month, some common themes have recurred.
This message incorporates scriptures from various readings heard in services in the month of August.
***************

Chasing prosperity vs. walking in the way of the cross

David Sellnow


Jesus said, “All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Luke 14:11). Scripture says repeatedly, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (*1)  But we don’t like to be humble. We want to be great. We want the best seats in the house. We want life to be smooth sailing and full of good fortune. And we’re inclined to listen to voices in this world that tell us things will be easy, comfortable, financially secure, problem-free.

In the days of the prophet Jeremiah, there were preachers telling people what they wanted to hear, promising good times and earthly glory were ahead. The Babylonian empire had besieged and attacked Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, carrying off many of the sacred temple vessels. The Babylonians deposed Judah’s king and placed their own governor in the land (cf. 2 Kings 25). Preachers like Hananiah offered comforting lies, predicting that within two years God was going to “break the yoke of the king of Babylon” and bring everyone and everything back home (Jeremiah 28:1-4). Don’t worry, Hananiah said, God was going to make Judah great again. 

Jeremiah cautioned that such promises were like straw, of no nourishment to people’s souls (Jeremiah 23:28) Jeremiah delivered the Lord’s truthful word that things were going to get more difficult—Judah’s people would experience an exile that would last 70 years. God was disciplining their hearts, encouraging spiritual seriousness and committed faith. 

People didn’t like that message. They felt entitled to be prosperous and were convinced they should not have to undergo suffering. They preferred other voices (like Hananiah’s ) that offered false hopes of security. Jeremiah was persecuted and ridiculed for his message, while the false prophets gained popularity and influence. 

People were that way in Jesus’ day too. They resisted hard truths. Jesus told them, “When you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat” (listening to weather warnings—but they ignored spiritual warnings. They kept expecting peace and prosperity, while Jesus brought a message of repentance and forgiveness. So, many people would not accept his message and became divided against those who did. (See Luke 12:49-56.)

It is a natural human tendency to want greatness and success in this world. Bible messages telling us to be humble and bear our burdens in life are not what our itching ears want to hear. (*2)

Back before the days of streaming services on our TVs, I used to flip channels to various religious stations included on basic cable, curious what the so-called prophets and televangelists were saying. I remember one captivating preacher who sat at a synthesizer keyboard, with a recurring slogan he would chant (and get his audience chanting with him): “I see you somewhere in the future, and you look much better than you look right now.” He wasn’t speaking about our eternal future. His prophecies focused on our lives in this world now. I thought to myself,“In the here and now, can you really promise everyone they will have a future better off than they are now?” Our futures on this earth are likely to have all sorts of problems (just like our past and present). An inevitable part of our futures is that we will end our days in death. As a matter of fact, that prophet whom I had watched—he died when he was just 60 years old, due to complications from pneumonia and a brain bleed, following a battle with an autoimmune disease.

That preacher had made all sorts of predictions about happenings he foresaw in this world in our lifetimes. Many of his “prophecies” pertained to prosperity and success in America. His messages frequently referred to various kinds of political events and were often quite vague. Some things happened—maybe, partially (depending on how you interpreted his rambling statements). Other predictions were clearly wrong. He responded to his critics by saying, “Some of my prophet compatriots have taken it upon themselves to tear this apart and say, ‘Well, he wasn’t that correct. He said many things that didn’t come to pass.’ So did you. I made mistakes, and so did you.” (*3) 

To me, that seemed an admission that he (and the other ‘prophecy compatriots’ he mentioned) were not given their visions by God, but were making their own claims. As God revealed through one of his genuine prophets, many prophesy lies in God’s name, saying, “I have dreamed! I have dreamed!” when really their ideas stem from their own unreliable hearts (Jeremiah 23:25,26). 

Even if someone predicts something about the future accurately, that doesn’t mean they are a prophet of God. As the first books of the Bible instructed us: If prophets or dreamers predict things that do take place, but then say, “‘Let us follow other gods’ (whom you have not known) ‘and let us serve them,’ you must not heed the words of those prophets” (Deuteronomy 13:1-3). They are steering your hearts away from God’s truth.

It is not a faithful speaking of God’s truth to say that God’s goal for your life is success in this world, making sure you always have a great seat at the table and honors and privileges. It is not a faithful speaking of God’s word to have you put your hope in any earthly, political entity—like the United States of America—as if God’s intention is the greatness of some earthly nation or kingdom. Those sorts of promises are an invitation to follow another god, another goal, other than what the LORD our Redeemer has called us to follow. A lot of the messages you hear on televised “evangelism” broadcasts are not so much Christ’s gospel, which urges us to take up our cross and follow him. Rather, they are voices of a different gospel, a prosperity gospel.

Kate Bowler, a scholar of American Christianity (*4), has described prosperity gospel as a religious movement which “expects that believers have faith as a kind of spiritual power” for speaking into existence the things they want in their lives. Prosperity gospel preaches that if you’re sick, you should say, “I’ve been healed,” and expect healing. If you’re struggling financially, you should give a “seed faith” gift to the prosperity preacher’s ministry and trust God will reward you financially. (*5) Prosperity gospel makes the measure of your faith equivalent to the state of your physical health and the balance in your bank account. It can make people who have cancer or other diseases question whether they’ve had enough faith. Kate Bowler said, “If you’re one of the many people who take medicine and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, it makes you into a failure as a believer, someone who has lost the test of faith.”

Faith actually, she said, abounds in people who know “what it feels like to come undone.” The eyes of Christ-centered faith stay focused on the cross, which shows us “a suffering Jesus, to remind us that we’re in our bodies, that Jesus was in his body … that our suffering is not an affront to God and that the world isn’t as it should be.” The gospel’s central story—of Good Friday and Easter—reminds us continually that “the world has come apart and only God can put it together.” The gospel of Christ’s death and resurrection points our hope to a new kingdom—”a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1). If we focus our attention on health and wellness and prosperity in this life, we don’t see that we need a new kingdom. But we definitely do. (*6)

The gospel of Christ’s kingdom is not about making you healthy and wealthy and wise with your investments or popular on social media. God’s mission is not about your earthly glory. Nor, for that matter, is it God’s mission to make America great in this world. (Or any other country or kingdom or political party.) It is God’s mission to enshrine Christ as king in our hearts and have us understand that his kingdom is not of this world. We may experience prosperity at times in this life, yes, and in this country, yes. But life with God is not about prosperity in this life now, in this country now. 

What is God’s purpose for us in this life? What did he say? Jesus said, “Life does not consist in the abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15). It is not about “serving your own interests or pursuing your own affairs” (Isaiah 58:13). It is about being rich toward God (Luke 12:21). It is about using whatever earthly resources we have to give justice to the weak and the orphan, the lowly and the destitute (Psalm 82:3,4). Those who are rich toward God are people who deal generously and lend, who distribute freely and give to the poor. They show hospitality to strangers, they remember those who are in prison. They invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind to eat and drink with them. They do not neglect to do good. They share what they have and are content with what they have, trusting that God will never leave them or forsake them. People who are at rest and content in Christ are not afraid of evil tidings; their hearts are firm, secure in the Lord. (*7)

Throughout the history of faith, God’s people have not routinely enjoyed prosperity and lives of ease in this world. Scripture tells how God’s faithful people have suffered torture and mocking and flogging and chains and imprisonment. There were those who were stoned to death, those who were killed by the sword. Many lived their lives destitute. The Lord commended them for their faith, but in their earthly lifetimes they did not receive the inheritance that was promised. The world was not worthy of them, Scripture said. But what God had in store for them was something better, something everlasting, something moths and rust can never destroy, something thieves can never break in and steal (Matthew 6:19-21).

May we follow the example of those heroes of faith, considering the outcome of their way of life and, like them, running “with perseverance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1; 13:7). We can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6). We don’t need to fret about success in this world, about prosperity in this life, not even about whatever disabilities or diseases may befall us. Why? Because we know that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (Romans 8:18). We know that nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39). With Jesus, we have an eternal home promised to us. Like our ancestors who persevered in the faith, we confess that we are “strangers and foreigners on the earth” who are desiring “a better homeland—a heavenly one” (Hebrews 11:13-16). 

Our dear Lord has prepared an eternal inheritance for us. We lift our hearts and our hopes up above this world. While in this world, we help one another and our neighbors, and any and all who need help. We keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8), confident that we will be more than repaid for anything we lacked in this life when we are joined with Christ “at the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 14:14). That is the life we live as people who know the cross of Christ, and who know the new life, the new creation, the resurrection that we have in him. 

  • (1) James 4:6, cf. also Psalm 138:6, Proverbs 3:34, Proverbs 29:23, Luke 1:52, 1 Peter 5:5.
  • (2) See Ephesians 4:2, James 4:10, 1 Peter 5:5, Luke 9:23, 14:27; 2 Timothy 4:1-6.
  • (3)  TUKO News, 2/12/2025.
  • (4) See Wikipedia for info and references: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Bowler
  • (5) See article on “Seed Faith Giving.”
  • (6) See Kate Bowler article on The Christopher Blog, 4/29/19.
  • (7) Cf. Psalm 112:5, Luke 14:12-14, Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16).
Posted by David Sellnow
02
Aug
2025

Summer evangelism series (continued)

Earlier this summer, I shared some thoughts on “Sharing our Light with the World.” I’ll offer some additional thoughts here on the topic of evangelism.

What does it mean to be a witness for faith?

On Palm Sunday afternoon, I almost ran over a church lady (a kingdom hall lady, from the Jehovah’s Witnesses). My wife and I got in our car, opened the garage door with the remote, were about to back out of the garage, and suddenly there she was, standing immediately behind us in the driveway. I stopped, got out, and talked to her. She was ever so urgent about inviting us to the Memorial of Jesus’ Death that they were observing that week. I was rather impatient with her, I’ll admit. I advised her that what she had done was not safe. She went on her way to the next house. She was well-meaning in her efforts, but probably not particularly successful.

On Memorial Day weekend, I traveled to Oregon. As our daughter got us from the airport and drove us into Portland, I was struck by some confrontational billboards along the roadways. In big, bold letters, one said, “Real Christians OBEY Jesus’ teachings.” Another, in stark white lettering on a black background, said, “Are you preparing to meet Jesus?” I did not call the number on the billboards for more information. It seemed the main thing they wanted you to know about Jesus is that he’s going to judge you (which is not, in fact, the main thing to know about Jesus).  Portland is the least religiously-affiliated city in the United States.* The traditionalist religious organization putting up those billboards** was not likely to win anyone over that way.

When I was a young man studying for ministry, I was trained by a traditionalist religious organization. We were taught not to spend much time on small talk when doing outreach. We were to get to the big question to ask: “If you were to die tonight, where would you be?” There was a planned outline for talking about where people thought they’d be spending eternity and why. I will say, the template they gave us for such conversations did emphasize Jesus as our Savior (not as someone eager to judge you for your failures). Still, though, it was a formula, a contrived conversation. They wanted us to stick close to the script to gain converts and bring them into the church.

In my early years working in ministry, I soon abandoned that formula and the idea that the goal was to gain converts for our church. More and more, ministry seemed to be about listening to people, understanding their hopes, their hurts, their needs, their questions, and responding with grace and concern in Christ. The Lord does not send us out into the world to build our own fiefdoms; he sends us as ambassadors of his kingdom. I started talking with people in more open-ended ways, not trying to force an outcome. The goal wasn’t about me succeeding in outreach, or about our local congregation gaining more members, or about hurrying people to some moment of conversion. 

When Jesus tells us, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14) and “let your light shine before others” (Matthew 5:16), that does not mean we are to blind others by confronting them as if we’re shining a high-beam flashlight in their face. Yes, I know Paul was blinded along the Damascus Road by Jesus himself, and Elijah called down fire from heaven over against the prophets of Baal. But in those instances, someone was so vehemently going against the will of God that something drastic had to be done. More generally, in our day-to-day lives with neighbors in our communities, we are not called to be confrontational—to put up billboards or ask someone sitting next to you on an airplane, “If you were to die today, where would you be?” (In my schooldays, that was the scenario used in the evangelism training video: a conversation with a stranger on an airplane. That’s perhaps the worst place and time to ask someone such a question!) 

What we are called to do as gospel witnesses is to glow warmly with the love of Christ, to be a beacon of hope—showing others the way to the safety and confidence that we’ve found in Jesus. 

Our lives as witnesses are like what Jesus told a man he had just healed, who had been possessed by many demons. Ever so grateful for the miracle Jesus had performed in his life, the man wanted nothing more than to follow Jesus and be with Jesus 24/7. But Jesus said to him: “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you” (Luke 8:39). His mission in life was to share with those around him his joy in Jesus, what God has done and can do. This is our mission in life, too.

We may yearn just to sit in Jesus’ presence and bask in his teaching, whereas talking with others about Jesus seems too much of a challenge for us. We’re content sitting in our church pews, listening. We may be uncomfortable sitting across a kitchen table or coffee shop table, talking spiritual realities with others. When I came to a congregation I once served, I learned that the evangelism committee had been meeting regularly, but had not ventured out beyond their meetings. They kept training and training on how to do evangelism, but hesitated to go out and have spiritual conversations. They never felt ready, never felt like they knew enough. I think they were too stuck on that formula or template approach that I had been taught (and they were being taught). The formula seemed simple, but also made them feel they needed a pre-scripted answer for every question or objection that might come up in a conversation.  

Jesus obviously doesn’t think we need to be experts before we speak in his name to others. The man Jesus had cleansed of demons had, up until then, been deeply distressed. “For a long time he had not worn any clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs” (Luke 8:27). Yet immediately after restoring that man to health and wholeness, Jesus told him to talk in his hometown about how much God had done for him. That’s a good model for each of us. Being a witness for the faith is personal and relational. It’s us talking with others about our hurts, our needs, and the help we have in Jesus—and their hurts, their needs, and the help they may find in Jesus. As we approach conversations with others, we can admit that we are broken people, that we’ve had our own demons and problems. We’re not going to be perfect. We’re not going to have some foolproof strategy or guaranteed results. We’re not marketers trying to sell Jesus or the church. We’re just people; we just need to be real and genuine and human and hurting and be WITH one another as we share the love we have found in Jesus. The apostle Paul said, “If those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves” (Galatians 6:2), urging us, in our frailty, in our shared humanity, to “bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:1).

In the midst of his ministry, when Jesus sent 72 of his disciples in pairs to go ahead of him to towns where he was planning to go (Luke 10:1), the instructions he gave them were not complicated. The mission focused on creating relationships. He told his teams, “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’  And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person …. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; …cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you’” (Luke 10:1-9). I suppose when we read something like that, we get hung up on the idea of “curing the sick.” We think, “Doing outreach must have been easy if Jesus gave them the ability to do miracles to cure the sick!”  But did that actually make things easier? Was Jesus’ own ministry easier because he could exorcise demons and heal diseases? In the region of the Gerasenes, where Jesus had cast a legion of demons out of that one man, the people of the region asked Jesus to leave because they were afraid of him (Luke 8:37). In other places, Jesus was met with suspicion and hostility by religious authorities on account of his teaching and the miracles he did. Ultimately, they crucified him.

We may not have powers to provide miracle cures for people’s illnesses, but we do always have something powerful in Jesus. We have comfort in Jesus’ cross, knowing what he suffered for us, and in his resurrection, securing our hope. We cling to one another and to Christ when we face sicknesses and death and all sorts of troubles. As Dr. Andrew Root of Luther Seminary has said, evangelism is not about some sort of strategy, it is an “embodied way of participating with people where Jesus Christ is present. It is a way God moves concretely in our lives and is a companion during the joys and sorrows in human life”—particularly in times of sorrow.*** Being an evangelist is simply being a person believing in Jesus, anchored in faith, who is willing to be with others in their struggles and search with others in their questions, and call on the Lord together in prayer with others when they desire hope and healing.

* See The Oregonian, March 12, 2025.
** See Forward, May 15, 2023.
*** “Reframing Evangelism: Following Jesus into Sorrow,” Pivot Podcast, 2025.

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
21
Jul
2025

The miracle of faith

A message for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost 

If something happens regularly, routinely, we don’t call it miraculous. The miraculous is when it goes beyond our understanding, beyond our finiteness. That is where the word of grace comes in … and the strength that grace gives to our hearts.

The Miracle of Faith

Do you believe in miracles?

One day this summer, I had gone to the grocery store, about two miles from my house. When I’d opened the liftgate and was putting groceries in the back of my vehicle, I set my cell phone down on the back bumper’s step pad. As I was arriving back at my house, it dawned on me that I’d never picked up my phone. I parked, with the prayer in my head: “Please, please—somehow let my phone still be sitting on the bumper pad.” I walked to the back of the vehicle and, amazingly, there the phone was, exactly where I left it.

Okay, that may not have been a miracle. Maybe I should thank the manufacturers of my cell phone case and the step pad on the car bumper for good friction and grip. We tend not to think of day-to-day fortuitous events as miracles in our lives. Then again, we often fail to acknowledge that the very fact of our lives—that we live and move and have our existence at all—is a constant miracle of God’s providence, as the apostle Paul pointed out (Acts 17:28).

I once knew a couple with two young children. The wife and mother was a devout churchgoer, who was teaching faith also to her children. The husband/father was an atheist, unwilling to acknowledge any invisible God overseeing all things. One night, after his wife led the children in prayer before supper as she always did, his pent-up frustration got the better of him. After they’d said their prayer, he said, “I don’t know why you insist on thanking some God out there for the food on the table. I’m the one who works and sweats to earn what we need. I’m the one who puts a roof over our heads and food on the table. You should be thanking me.” Billy, his son (about five years old at the time), looked at him with a child’s innocence and wisdom and said, “Yeah, but Dad, if God didn’t let you, you’d be sick or dead and you wouldn’t be able to work.” His dad didn’t have an answer … except that he started to come to church with his wife and children. And that was a miracle. The fact that a father listened and responded to the faith expressed by his child is nothing short of miraculous.

In my years in ministry, I came to serve a church that was badly in debt. (Something I found out after I got there.) They were perpetually behind on payments on their church building. They had not been paying anything on the principal of the loan, and many months weren’t even paying the full interest amount owed. The loan was from the national church body, not a bank, or they’d have been foreclosed on. We decided it was time we talked about faith and finances (including our obligations to Christian brothers and sisters from whom funds were borrowed). We started with a Sunday workshop. We followed with cottage meetings organized in member homes. As we were in the midst of our stewardship efforts, one of our members, a man named Richard, called to tell me he just won a sizable prize on a state lottery ticket. That wasn’t the miracle. Lotteries are the luck of the draw. Richard’s attitude and response was the miracle. He wanted to discuss how he could use the funds he was receiving for various charitable causes. He intended to use some in regard to our congregation’s debt, but didn’t want to become the “sugar daddy” of the congregation. We were making good progress in faith building with the membership as a whole, and Richard did not want to impede those overall efforts. He wanted recommendations of other places of need, beyond our own congregation, where he could send support. In a world where money drives the mindset of so many people, this gentleman was focused not simply on himself or ourselves, but on how he could benefit many others. That was a miracle of faith. Faith is always the most powerful miracle, wherever God is turning hearts to his way, his truth, his life.

Let’s talk about Abraham and Sarah and the mighty miracle that happened for them. Your first thought might be the miracle of bearing children in their old age. When the LORD announced to Abraham that he would have a son and that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky (Genesis 15:4-5), Abraham and Sarah were already past the point of fertility and childbearing (Genesis 18:11). It was indeed going to be a miracle that they would conceive and have a child of their own. The bigger miracle, though, was that they believed what God promised them. Yes, I know that Abraham and Sarah both struggled to believe when months went by and there was no pregnancy. They schemed that maybe Abraham was supposed to father a child with Sarah’s younger handmaid, Hagar—that somehow that’s what God meant. That was (obviously) not an ideal situation. And then, after more years went by—and more challenges in their lives occurred—the LORD came to Abraham’s tent in person with two angels and repeated the promise. In the midst of their doubts, the LORD said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son” (Genesis 18:14). Now, yes, I know that Sarah laughed, because it seemed so impossible. But the LORD asked them, “Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?”—calling on them to continue believing, because faith is maintaining conviction about things not yet seen (Hebrews 11:1). Ultimately, through all their experiences, and even through times of doubt and uncertainty, Abraham and Sarah did keep believing the LORD. And the LORD did keep all his promises to them. They did have the son of their own that God promised them. They did become the parents of a whole nation of descendants—though that part of the promise, and receiving the homeland God had promised for those descendants, were things that would happen after Abraham and Sarah’s lifetime. They weren’t always flawless in their faith, but they held onto faith, and the LORD held onto them as his own, counting them as righteous in his eyes. 

Our experience of faith is like that too. Sometimes we are ready to give up hope. Sometimes we may even laugh out loud—or cry out in pain—because God’s promises to us seem so far off, so hard to believe. As one wise pastor has said, too often our idea of faith is that it should give us wins here and now, keeping us comfortable and well off. But the Bible’s message is that Christ will overcome the world, not that we “win” in this world.  Faith is trusting that through pain and discomfort, God will hold onto us.

We’ve heard God’s promise, “I know the plans I have for you … plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV). But we have difficulty hanging onto hope for our futures when the circumstances we see in the present fill us with worries and concerns. We  are all like the man who struggled in asking Jesus for a miracle, saying, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24 NIV).

We tend to pray for miracles when we find ourselves in trouble, but we don’t always have faith even as big as a mustard seed, maybe not even as big as a grain of salt. Or we can be a bit like Martha in the Gospel reading (Luke 10:38-42)—ever so busy, doing what seems important in the moment, stuck in a mindset of how things are supposed to happen in this life. Whether burdened by life’s many anxieties or distracted by life’s many duties, what we need most is simply to listen for our Lord’s voice—to listen hopefully, faithfully, with a desire for inspiration and growth. We probably miss many miracles of faith because we are too lost in our own worries or too caught up in everyday obligations. We may notice nature’s miracles but not acknowledge the miracles God is working in our own hearts and lives. As a Minnesota author expressed it in a story, “We see a newborn moth unwrapping itself and announce, Look, children, a miracle! But let an irreversible wound be knit back to seamlessness? We won’t even see it, though we look at it every day” (Leif Enger, Peace Like a River, 2001). 

When I read that line in that book, about “an irreversible wound knit back to seamlessness,” my thoughts went back to an experience of my own years ago, when playing racquetball. In a fast-paced match, I raced up to the front wall of the court to make a play on the ball. Then, as I turned, my opponent had fired his return, and the ball smacked me directly in the ear. In addition to the pain I felt, immediately everything in that ear sounded very muffled. I had ruptured my eardrum. The doctor told me it was fully ruptured and not likely to heal on its own, that surgery would be required. He allowed that we’d wait a couple weeks to see if healing did progress, but he was not optimistic. I was a young father at the time, and we were on a very limited budget. The thought of what copay costs would be for surgery scared me. I prayed, “Please God, let this heal on its own!” But like a lot of our prayers, I asked yet doubted at the same time. Like a Bible writer described, I was more a doubter than a believer, “double-minded and unstable in every way,” and ought not to have expected to receive anything from the Lord (James 1:7,8). But lo and behold, my eardrum did heal “on its own.” Or really, I prefer to say, God’s kindness toward me allowed the ear to heal without a surgery I couldn’t afford. Like my little incident with my cell phone, I cannot prove to anyone that God’s invisible hand or a guardian angel was protecting me. But maybe that is a sign of how little faith I have. If I struggle to believe that God could and would do even the littlest of miracles in my life, what of the far greater miracles of life that God has promised to you and me?

Ultimately, the Lord is calling us to the  miracle of a place at his side. Even if we don’t see immediate miracles in the day-to-day now, the greater miracle is what God promises us at the end of life. The greatest miracle on which we stake our faith is resurrection to eternity with God. We believe that in the end our Redeemer will stand upon the earth, and even after our bodies have decayed, yet in our flesh we shall see God. We will see him on our side with our very own eyes (Job 19:25-27). We haven’t seen that happen with our own eyes yet. It defies all principles of the natural world. Things that are dead don’t come back to life. People that are dead don’t get up and resume their lives. But the promise of faith in Jesus is that the dead WILL rise. “The dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52). Our perishable bodies will put on imperishability; our mortal bodies will put on immortality, and death will be swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:53-54). That is our faith, our hope, our reason for living. Because – “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain and your faith is in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:13,14). Without Christ’s resurrection, there’s no promise for our resurrection, and then any faith we’d have would be futile. We’d still be stuck in our sins with nothing but death to look forward to. As Christ’s apostle has said, “ If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:19,20). By his life and death and resurrection, Jesus has become the firstfruits of resurrection for all of us and for all those who have died, promising us he will take us to be forever with him. That’s a promise even more miraculous than God telling Abraham and Sarah they’d have a son in their old age (and they did). That’s a promise God is telling all of us, that we will have life beyond what we know in this world—and we will. 

Sometime after the visit we heard about in the Gospel account—where Martha busied herself with too many chores trying to be the perfect hostess when Jesus just wanted to sit with her and speak to her heart—Jesus had come to visit Mary and Martha again. It was when their brother Lazarus had died. Martha wasn’t worrying then about daily, ordinary tasks—about whether or not dinner was on the table. She went out to meet Jesus as he was arriving, and asked him for a miracle. Let me share with you what was said that day:

  • Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.”  Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”  Jesus said to her, “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. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world” (John 11:21-26).

Lord, give us such faith as Mary and Martha had—faith that was there even on days they may have seemed distracted or in despair, faith that trusted Jesus when it mattered most.  Lord, give us such faith as Abraham and Sarah had—faith that struggled through years when they did not see how the promises made to them possibly could be fulfilled, but hanging onto hope and trust still that whatever you said, Lord, would come to pass.

Lord, we DO believe in miracles. Help us on the days when our faith is shaken and it’s hard to believe. You are our help and our friend and our Savior always.

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.

Other quotations from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Posted by David Sellnow
29
Jun
2025

Sharing our light with the world

“Do the work of an evangelist” (2 Timothy 4:5).

  • The topic of evangelism is on my mind this summer. (I’m involved with the outreach committee at church.) I rediscovered an article I wrote for publication a number of years ago. I’ll share a version of it here as June’s blog post.

Sharing our light with the world

I sat among the spectators at a high school track and field invitational. Behind me sat students from a Christian high school, intermingled and interacting with peers from public schools. These teens were abuzz with conversation—but not about the jumps or hurdles or races taking place. They talked about body parts and bodily functions. They made coarse jokes. They engaged in crude flirtation.It seemed the church kids were doing their best to show they weren’t too religious. They were fitting in.

I’m sure those young Christians have had better days as witnesses of their faith. I know I’ve had days when I’ve done much worse. As salt of the earth and light to the world, all of us could be much more flavorful and lots brighter. We don’t need to be oddballs or prudes in relating to those around us. We do want to leave a positive impression.

Jesus commissioned us: “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15). Did he mean that to apply in the bleachers at hometown sports events, in the aisles at the grocery store, on the assembly line in the factory? Respectfully, we don’t force faith conversations in public places. At the same time, we don’t want our faith to be hidden from view in our day-to-day lives. People don’t “light a lamp and put it under a basket.” Jesus said, “Let your light shine” (Matthew 5:15,16). Often we think of evangelism and outreach as activities of the church, done with planned and programmed methods. But God urges us to see gospel-proclaiming as an everyday believer’s way of life. 

Peter counseled people of faith: “Always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15). Our witnessing is not limited to special, occasional, institutional efforts. Each of us has opportunities to “proclaim the LORD’s salvation from day to day” (Psalm 96:2). 

I once was secretary for a floor committee of a national church convention. Our committee recommended a resolution encouraging faith sharing by members of local congregations. We proposed it as a simple idea: If we are not mission-minded in our own neighborhoods and towns, we are not likely to be zealous about missions on the other side of the world either. 

The resolution was passed. Coming out of the convention, the national church organization then began promoting a “North American Outreach” publicity campaign. (Not exactly what the original committee had in mind.) There were press releases and video vignettes and magazine articles.There were district conventions that followed up on the theme. At the district convention I attended, 449 pages of print were put into our hands. There was a book of reports, and there were reports on the reports.. 

As churches and church organizations, we have convocations and publications and programs to emphasize outreach, but how much do we genuinely engage in outreach? Personally, individually, are we having spiritual conversations, talking about matters of faith? We don’t want merely to be “playing church,” discussing amongst ourselves the importance of preaching the gospel. We want to be speaking good news in Christ to one another and to the persons around us. 

In The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis imagined a demon’s glee at getting a Christian focused on church fervor rather than spiritual substance: “Provided that meetings, pamphlets, policies, movements, causes, and crusades matter more to him than prayers and sacraments and charity, he is ours—and the more ‘religious’ (on those terms), the more securely ours.” 

It is a far-reaching undertaking that Jesus has assigned to us, to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). It cannot happen if we are selfish. Are we sometimes selfish with the gospel? Do we seek to insulate ourselves from the world more than prepare to bring testimony to the world? If you counted up all the dollars and hours we expend as congregations and area associations and as a church bodies, it would be interesting to see how much of our attention is given to edifying ourselves and how much is truly devoted to reaching and serving our neighbors and our communities.

Please don’t misunderstand—we are to be faithful in proclaiming God’s name in the assembly of believers and to teach our children the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord. I am not suggesting that we do less inreach to our own members. But if we spend 90 percent or more of our time and efforts on those who are in the church, are we giving a proper balance of our attention to the many others who have “no hope and are without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12)? 

Sometimes the lost come looking. Some persons wander into your sanctuary on Sunday morning seeking… something… exactly what they have no way of knowing. How do we react when there are guests in our midst? Is the world welcome within our walls? If we are ready to go with good news to all, we will be ready also to receive all who arrive on our doorstep. We will realize that we are united by Christ, not by common ethnicity or customs. We will be willing to incorporate and accept all creation into our congregations. We won’t cluster in a corner exchanging German potato salad recipes when newcomers might have entirely different interests and tastes. 

In our lives as Christ’s witnesses, everything we say and do sends a message to those around us about what Christ means in our lives. That is true on the sidelines at a track meet, in the gathering spaces within church buildings, and anywhere that we interact with others in our daily lives.

Scripture references are from the World English Bible Update (WEBU)

Posted by David Sellnow
11
May
2025

Mother’s Day / Good Shepherd Sunday

A parent who does not forget us; a shepherd who walks beside us always

Thoughts on Mother’s Day / Good Shepherd Sunday


Mother’s day is not a joyful holiday for everyone. For some it is uneasy, or complicated, or painful. Some have had difficult relationships with their mothers—or mothers with their children. Some have lost their mothers or have lost a child. Some have wanted to become mothers and have been unable to do so. Some have never known their mothers and have been raised in foster care or group homes. Even for those in traditional family structures, mothering isn’t easy.  

Writing on Medium, Lauren H. Sweeney says, “Mother’s Day is hard for me because I am a mother and I have a mother. And we’re both inadequate. It wasn’t supposed to be this way, it wasn’t the plan. I was going to be everything she wasn’t. … The thing that makes mothering so hard (and consequently, a day about celebrating mothering so hard) is knowing that I don’t do it right, just as I wasn’t done right by. I mean, my mother tried. And I try.”  But life is hard and things don’t go painlessly.

Scripture says (Isaiah 49:15): “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb?” In the next breath, that same scripture acknowledges that human parents may forget and neglect their children. I work in a human services agency, where child protection services and child support enforcement are ongoing concerns. We celebrate Mother’s Day for all the good that comes from mothers. We celebrate Father’s Day for all the good that comes from fathers. Yet we also acknowledge that there are no perfect parents in this world, nor any perfect children, and family life is frequently problematic.

Our heavenly Father assures us that even though earthly parents may fail to be mindful of their children, he will not forget us.“See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands,” he says (Isaiah 49:15-16). We wonder about that, though. We often cry out to God, “The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me” (Isaiah 49:14). We seek God, we thirst for him, wanting to know he is with us. We are like souls in a dry and weary land where there is no water (cf. Psalm 63:1). We feel like a man named Job felt long ago when his life fell apart. Whether we look ahead or behind or to the right or the left, we cannot perceive God’s presence. It seems God is hiding or has abandoned us (cf. Job 23:8-9).

Often, our problem with sensing God’s presence in our lives is we expect to find him only in obvious blessings, in pleasant and happy times, when we see signs of success. More often, God’s most noticeable presence with us is during times of strain and hurt and hardship. The LORD promises us, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you” (Isaiah 43:2). God does not promise that floods and fires and turmoil will not come our way. Rather, when the troubles of the world plague us, that is when we draw closest to him. 

Today is not only Mother’s Day. It is also Good Shepherd Sunday—a day to be reminded of how God cares for us and carries us. As the shepherd psalm (Psalm 23) assures us, even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we need no fear evil because the LORD is with us and comforts us (Psalm 23:4). In a sermon this weekend, a pastor echoed that word to congregation members, saying. “Our Shepherd walks with us and has always walked with us. No place is foreign to Jesus. All things are present to him, because he has defeated death.” Christ was and is and will be with us always—through life’s every trial, through death, and into eternity.

We will walk through troubles in this life. That doesn’t mean that God our Father has forsaken us. Rather, in times of trouble especially the Lord’s word rings true, telling us,  “As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted” (Isaiah 66:13). We are assured that the Lord keeps track of all our sorrows, as if collecting all our tears in a bottle. He has recorded each one in his book (Psalm 56:1). We can take comfort in times of suffering, “knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5). 

It is best not to get too absorbed in our own pain and problems, but to connect with our fellow human beings in faith and hope. In a deeply personal book about the struggles of his own soul, Henri Nouwen wrote: “You will deceive yourself into believing that if the people, circumstances, and events [of your life] had been different, your pain would not exist. This might be partly true, but the deeper truth is that the situation which brought about your pain was simply the form in which you came in touch with the human condition of suffering. … Real healing comes from realizing that your own particular pain is a share in humanity’s pain. … Every time you can shift your attention away from the external situation that caused your pain and focus on the pain of humanity in which you participate, your suffering becomes easier to bear. It becomes a ‘light burden’ and an ‘easy yolk’ (Matthew 11:30). Once you discover that you are called to live in solidarity with the hungry, the homeless, the prisoners, the refugees, the sick, and the dying, your very personal pain begins to be converted into the pain [shared with all human beings], and you find new strength to live in it. Herein lies the hope of all Christians” (The Inner Voice of Love, 1996 – p. 103-104).

********************

  • For whatever reason God chose to make humans as we are—limited and suffering and subject to sorrow and death—God had the honesty and the courage to take his own medicine. Whatever game he is playing with his creation, he has kept his own rules and played fair. He can exact nothing from humanity that he has not exacted from himself. He has himself gone through the whole of human experience, from the trivial irritations of family life and the cramping restrictions of hard work and lack of money to the worst horrors of pain and humiliation, defeat, despair, and death. He was born in poverty and died in disgrace and thought it well worthwhile. 

-Novelist and Christian writer Dorothy Sayers

The Greatest Drama Ever Staged & The Triumph of Easter (1938)

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
19
Apr
2025

Blessed are those who die in the Lord

”I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’”

“Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their works follow with them.”

Revelation 14:13 

The promise of Easter 

by David Sellnow


Coming into church on Easter morning, we hear, “Christ is risen!” and respond, “He is risen indeed!” This message brings a special peace to our hearts, because Christ has promised he will raise us from the dead just as he raised himself. The power of Jesus’ cross and resurrection proves that he has the power to raise us also. The enduring hope of the resurrection gives us confidence in the face of death. When Christ was about to die, he looked forward to his own resurrection. On the cross, Jesus’ last words were, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). He was confident that death could not hold him. Christ defeated death, and his victory was shown unmistakably when he rose from the tomb. Because of this, you and I can commend ourselves to God without fear. Christ’s resurrection has given us this confidence. We commit ourselves into the Father‘s hands, trusting in God‘s promise of a blessed life, and looking forward to the glory of life in heaven.

The content of the promise

To say “blessed are the dead” seems a contradiction in terms. Death is the opposite of life. Scripture itself describes death with such terms as sorrow, bitterness, terror. “The wages of sin is death,” God declares in judgment (Romans 6:23). And death would be only that—except for one thing. Our Lord says, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on” (Revelation 14:13). The curse of death is removed by the Lord Jesus Christ. In Jesus, we have God‘s promise that death is no longer a trap door into doom and gloom, but is a blessed archway through which we pass to heaven. Only God could make such a promise, and only Christ could make such a promise come true through his own death and resurrection. “The wages of sin is death,” God has spoken, “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).

The source of the promise

The source of our hope is God himself. Eternal life is his gift to us. The fact that the almighty and all-faithful God is the source of the promise gives us confidence. He is the God who promised Moses that he would lead Israel out of slavery in Egypt—and did so with miraculous power. He is the God who promised Abraham that he would have a nation of descendants, though Abraham and his wife Sarah were old and beyond the point of having children. Nothing is impossible with God. He is the God who saved Noah and his family, carrying them through the greatest of dangers. While floodwaters raged above the mountain tops, Noah and his family were kept secure in the ark. The LORD is the faithful God who keeps every promise. He promised to send a Savior who would deliver us from sin and free us from death … and he did! The Savior, Jesus Christ, promises, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies. Whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25-26). Christ makes this promise on the basis of his own completed work as our Redeemer. God has faithfully kept his promise—and will keep it also to each of us.

The recipients of God’s promise

We are among those who live and die in the Lord. As people who have received the promise of eternal life from God, we put our constant trust in him. Our lives already now are filled with the new life that God has promised us. Every Sunday is a reminder of Easter Sunday, because every Sunday we celebrate the new life given to us through Christ’s resurrection. Our lives are given blessedness—happiness—each and every day. Jesus’ resurrection is the seal of our forgiveness, so every week and every day we live in the joy Easter brings. Because God is giving us life in his Son, we have the confidence to face each new day.

Perhaps you’d say you don’t feel unspeakably joyful every day of the week—especially now in our unsettled world. Many anxieties of this life weigh us down. But these do not reduce our Easter happiness. If anything, they accentuate our joy. We know that our life now is a temporary one that is leading on to a final victory. Because of what Christ has done, we can trust in the Lord and commend ourselves into his hands. We look forward to higher glory in heaven.

What will heaven be like?

“Yes, says the Spirit”—we will rest from our labors (Revelation 14:13). After all the struggles of this life, heaven will bring us ultimate peace and rest. As finite beings, we have a hard time imagining heaven in anything other than human terms. In my childhood, I thought heaven would be like my grandmother‘s house. I had terrible problems with car sickness in my youth, so the 70-mile trek to grandma‘s was always an ordeal. But once we arrived, I quickly forgot the nauseating trip and was playing games in grandma‘s backyard. The days at her house were some of the happiest in my life, and well illustrated for me the comfort and joy of heaven. There, God’s people have his promise that “he will wipe away every tear from their eyes” and there will be no more death, nor crying, nor pain (Revelation 21:4).

But what will heaven be like exactly? We can never fully know until we are brought there by our dear Lord. Eternal glory is beyond our reason or experience or imagination. We do know that in our eternal home, our greatest joy will be to live in the presence of God and be able to view his glory. That is something no human being could withstand in this life. We know also that in heaven we will shine with glory as well. God’s people will “rest from their labors, for their works follow with them,” the Spirit says (Revelation 14:13). This does not mean that our works earn us a way into heaven. Scripture clearly says that we have been saved by grace through faith and that even faith is not from within ourselves—it is the gift of God (cf. Ephesians 2:8). Yet the apostle who wrote those words immediately added, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). It is God who works in us both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). Thus glory follows us into heaven from the things that we have done in God‘s name in this life. This too is by God‘s grace, because everything we do is affected by sin. But God washes all that we do in Christ’s blood, and through Christ, our less-than-perfect works are made whole and perfect. What we do is blessed by God, and our works follow us into his presence. Our lives flow from faith in Christ—now and in the future. Each person will shine with a different aspect of glory, but all will shine. As a prophet has written, those who are wise will shine with heavenly brightness and “those who turn many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever”.(Daniel 12:3).

Our attitude as we look forward to glory

It should not bother us what place we will have or the amount of glory that will be reflected in us in heaven. Jesus’ disciples had fallen into arguments about this. Each time, Jesus corrected them in their ambition. Once he brought a small child before them and said, “Unless you turn and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 18:3-4). Our attitude as we look forward to glory is not to be one of competition and envy, but one of service. Just as Christ loved us and gave himself for us, so we love and serve one another. This means “being like-minded, having the same love … doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself” (Philippians 2:2-3). Don’t seek to serve your own glory or your own selfish pride, but do all things for God’s sake and to the benefit of Christ’s kingdom. Our focus ought never be on our glory, but on gratitude to God. Then we find true blessedness in this life. Then we can anticipate blessings that are truly glorious in heaven. There, the blessedness will be the same for all—whether child or adult, man or woman, rich or poor—because to be blessed is to be ultimately happy. To be blessed to have the greatest possible joy, since you are forever in heaven with your Lord, your Savior. Though all have their own share of reflected glory, each has the highest degree of happiness. All of us, through believing in him, will one day shine with God‘s glory in heaven when he personally fulfills his promise to each of us. 

Yes—blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. 

Happy Easter.

All Bible quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), a public domain Bible translation.

Posted by David Sellnow
15
Mar
2025

All God’s children have a voice

Each soul speaks in their own way

Today is the 11th anniversary of The Electric Gospel blog. (I hadn’t been paying attention last year, and missed marking the 10th anniversary.) This project started March 15, 2014, with a post from one of the ministry school students I was instructing. Allow me to share the origin story with you, which tells you something about this blog’s purpose.

In my classes, I encouraged students to compose devotional writings in their own voice and style. Much of the ministry training they received gave them templates and formulas they were told to follow. Their writings tended to be formulaic and stilted as a result. I wanted them to take in spiritual truths and express them in their own way, writing from their hearts. When they did, their expressions of faith spoke with grace and strength. I sent some of the most poignant pieces to the editors of the national church organization’s monthly magazine, and several students’ articles were published there.

One such student, Mariah, had dated someone who was controlling and overbearing. He maintained that male dominance in relationships was the biblically-commanded way. Mariah had a different perspective. She wrote about how this man had made her feel worthless and her gifts and talents unappreciated. When I sent Mariah’s article to be considered for publication by the national magazine, the assistant editors (both of them women) greatly appreciated her words. They put the article onto their schedule for an upcoming month’s issue. When it came time for the article to proceed to publication, I received communication from the magazine’s lead editor (a man). He had decided Mariah’s personal story needed editing. He provided his heavily altered rewrite of the article. He said that if the author agreed to the rewritten version, he would allow it in the magazine in that form. If she did not consent to the edited version, then the article would not be published. His version robbed Mariah’s original writing of her unique voice. It now sounded like it was composed by a staid, formal, traditional, clergy-trained man. It had become very much his writing, not hers—coming from his frame of reference, not hers. Mariah was hurt. She would not allow the magazine to run the editor’s version with her name listed as “author”—and I wholeheartedly supported her. I conveyed Mariah’s decision to the magazine editor, along with my own objections to how he had handled the matter. 

As Mariah and I talked, I said I’d start a place of my own online to feature selections of spiritual writing from students. I wanted Mariah’s article to be the first to be featured. She embraced the idea (not just for herself, but also for her fellow student writers). Thus, The Electric Gospel blogsite was born. 

You can read Mariah’s original piece here (just as she wrote it): “I Will Respect You.”

In those years of posting students’ work to the blog pages, I sought to give a forum to those who pressed against rigid expectations and situations that made them feel devalued.

There was a pre-seminary student who felt he wasn’t enough. He struggled to keep up with the college’s curriculum and to fit in with his classmates. When he stopped trying to compose something according to formulas dictated to him and wrote what he was feeling in his heart, his words sang with deep intensity.  (His article: “A Cry from the Depths of One’s Heart.”)

There was a devout woman from a Caribbean nation who came to the college, older than the typical college students around her. She experienced implicit bias and ageism and cliquishness on the campus, which kept her feeling like she didn’t belong (in a place where everyone should have felt embraced and welcomed). I urge you to read her impassioned plea: “Do We Really Love Each Other in the Church?”

In the years since I stopped teaching, I’ve used this blog as a place for some of my own writing. I’ve tried to highlight our imperative to value every individual, to listen to each person’s voice.  I’ll offer a couple of examples of past posts of mine here that might be worth your time to go back and read:

All of God’s children have a voice. Each soul speaks in their own special way. Hopefully this blog over the past 10+ years has been a place where the perspectives of Christ’s people from many walks of life have been honored and valued. 

****************

Do not think of yourself more highly than you should. Instead, be modest in your thinking, and judge yourself according to the amount of faith that God has given you. We have many parts in the one body, and all these parts have different functions. In the same way, though we are many, we are one body in union with Christ, and we are all joined to each other as different parts of one body. So we are to use our different gifts in accordance with the grace that God has given us. If our gift is to speak God’s message, we should do it according to the faith that we have (Romans 12:3-6—Good News Translation).

Posted by David Sellnow
05
Mar
2025

An examination of our spiritual health

Thoughts for the season of Lent

David Sellnow


A health care worker expressed frustration with her patients. “That’s the second time this week I’ve had to use the warning, ‘You could die!’ … and again it didn’t work.’” A diabetic man with blood sugar numbers off the charts keeps neglecting to take his insulin.  A woman whose EKG shows she’s in the process of having a heart attack says she doesn’t feel that bad and refuses to be admitted to the hospital.

When it comes to spiritual diagnosis and treatment, are we much different? We think, “Meh, my sins are not that bad. I’ll be okay.” We’re not eager to deal with our problems, our failures, our chronic iniquities because we’ve become accustomed to living our lives with those issues.

Jeremiah once lamented, “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored?” (Jeremiah 8:22)  Plenty of balm and balm-applying physicians did exist in Gilead. And plenty of gospel healing was available to God’s people in Israel—but they did not avail themselves of it. They suffered as a result.

Lent is a time for us to give attention to what ails our hearts—spiritually. We are directed to our need for a physician that can heal our souls. Jesus is that physician. In his ministry, Jesus showed us our sinfulness and offered balm for healing through his redemptive work. Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” (Luke 5:31). Every one of us remains continuously in need of treatment for sin-sickness. The path to health and life for our souls is in Jesus.

Let’s not get lost in superficial approaches to Lent. Giving up this or that food or this or that habit during Lent doesn’t do something redemptive for us. The season’s intent is for us to be honest about our spiritual need and look to Jesus for wholeness and holiness. It’s not about beating ourselves up with guilt over all that Jesus suffered on our behalf. He gave himself for us to set us free from guilt and shame. As Scripture says, “We have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us …. Since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience” (Hebrews 10:19-22). In the midst of Lent, let’s not lose sight of the path of life and fullness of joy that we have in Christ (cf. Psalm 16:11).

As a kid, I couldn’t figure out why people referred to the “40 Days of Lent.” If you count the days from Ash Wednesday through the Saturday of Easter weekend, there are 46 days. Did we mess up the math? Later I learned the reason for the mathematical discrepancy. There are 46 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter, but six of those days are Sundays. The Sundays are not really part of Lent. Every Sunday is a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. Even in the midst of a Lenten focus on Jesus’ passion (his sufferings and death), we never forget our ultimate hope. We have “a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). And we “hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering” (Hebrews 10:23). We meet together and encourage each other all the more as we see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:25). Jesus’ resurrection gives us constant and certain hope. The life of a Christian—including days when we dedicate time to thinking about our sins and Christ’s suffering—is a life filled with hope because Jesus’ life did not end in the grave but in glory.

The 40 days of Lent go back to an old tradition of fasting for 40 days prior to the celebration of Christ’s resurrection, reminiscent of Jesus’ own 40 days of fasting in the desert as he worked out our salvation for us. But even in the most somber days of the church’s history, those days of fasting were interrupted each Sunday. Sunday is the Lord’s Day, the day of his resurrection. Knowing Christ is resurrected, all somberness and shame are chased away, and our hearts rise up to where our home is with our Lord in heaven.


For additional Lenten thoughts, see previous posts:

 

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
Load more

Subscribe

Verified by MonsterInsights