charity

07
Aug
2023

Earthly needs, heavenly priorities

While we live amid everyday concerns, we yearn for eternity.  While we live in this world, we yearn for a better world to come. Having a focus on spiritual realities will guide how we live our lives and use our resources in the present, material world.

Earthly Needs, Heavenly Priorities

by David Sellnow

Sometimes comedians are the best truth-tellers.  They can look us in the eye and tell it like it is, because they make us laugh at ourselves and our fallibilities. In the 1980s, which scholars called “The Decade of Greed” or “The Decade of Excess,” sharp-tongued comedian George Carlin said it best. He got at all of us, not just the Wall Street traders and business tycoons. Carlin’s stand-up bit was called “A Place for My Stuff.” He said, “That’s the whole meaning of life, isn’t it? Trying to find a place for your stuff. That’s all your house is. Your house is just a place for your stuff. If you didn’t have so much stuff, you wouldn’t need a house. You could just walk around all the time! Your house is just a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get more stuff. And sometimes you gotta get a bigger house. Why? Too much stuff! Now you gotta move all your stuff, and maybe put some of your stuff in storage. Imagine that: there’s a whole industry based on keeping an eye on your extra stuff.”

It’s not the 1980s anymore, but Carlin’s diagnosis still rings true. We earthbound persons struggle to live spiritual lives because we have too much affinity for the earthly things –for lands and lawns, for houses and vehicles, for stuff and stuff and more stuff. We easily get attached to our stuff, and our lives tend to revolve around our stuff. That can get in the way of deeper things, of spiritual meaning, of soulful relationships with one another and with God.

Life in this world is a constant tension between that which is healthy and enriching for us as spiritual persons and that which appeals to our material needs and wants. Jesus described the field of this world as a mixture of weeds and wheat growing together, side by side (Matthew 13:38).  He also described how God’s life-giving word is spread across the world everywhere, but for many, it’s like seed sown among thorns. “The cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing” (Matthew 13:22). In each of our hearts there’s always a struggle between weeds and wheat, between invasive concerns of this life and productive fruit of a godly life. We are caught up in the daily struggles of a created world that has been “subjected to futility” and is “in bondage to decay” (Romans 8:20,21), while at the same time we are inspired by hopes that we have inwardly, longing for the redemption of our bodies in the resurrection, looking for eternal realities that we don’t yet see in the visible realm (cf. Romans 8:23-25).

It’s not that earthly things are bad. It’s a matter of keeping our perspectives in order. We can get so concerned about dollars and diamonds and dividends–things that seem to make this life secure–that we forget how insecure eternity can be if we don’t have God in our hearts. Having a piece of what seem rock-solid earthly investments won’t mean much when the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea (Psalm 46:2). God has declared, “I am the first and I am the last… There is no other rock” (Isaiah 44:6,8). Even if a person could gain the whole world, what good is it if it costs him his very self, his life, his soul (Luke 9:25)? No earthly gain of any kind can ever compensate a person for the loss of life and soul, for the lack of a relationship with our Creator, our Lord.

The good Lord does know that we have daily needs. He is concerned about the well-being of our bodies as well as our souls. For example, consider a time when Jesus was personally in mourning, after he’d heard the news of how John the Baptist was murdered. Jesus went to a deserted place by himself to be alone, but the crowds of people did not leave him alone (Matthew 14:12-13). They followed on foot by the thousands, looking to him as their helper. Though he himself was in the midst of anguish caused by this world, Jesus could not look away from the troubles of the people who came to him. “He had compassion for them and cured their sick” (Matthew 14:14). Then, because they were in a deserted place and almost no one had brought food along, Jesus did a miracle to feed them all a meal. He multiplied five loaves of bread and two fish into enough food to feed “five thousand men, besides women and children” (Matthew 14:21)–so much of a miracle that they even had twelve baskets full of leftovers after everyone had eaten (Matthew 14:20).

There was a sad aftermath to that event, however. The crowds that experienced that miracle wanted to take Jesus by force to make him their king. They wanted a political icon, an economic savior here on this earth. Jesus had to pull away from them and go elsewhere. When the crowds chased him down and found him again the next day, Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you” (John 6:26,27). The people who clamored after Jesus needed him not just as their bread king, to make their bellies full and their lives comfortable. They needed him as their main source of sustenance, the true Bread of Life. Even if you get manna from heaven as a gift from God, that daily bread isn’t enough to sustain you. Jesus told those crowds, ”Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven” (John 6:49-51).  When Jesus said that, that claim was too much for most people. At that point, many of them turned away and stopped following Jesus, stopped listening to him (John 6:66). They wanted earthly ease and comfort from him. They weren’t in the mood for challenging spiritual realities.

It can be a delicate balance in our lives and in our ministries to maintain–between giving attention to day-to-day concerns and staying focused on our eternal calling.  We pray to the Lord for daily bread, that God would lead us to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving. At the same time, we pray, “Thy kingdom come,” asking God to give us his Holy Spirit, so that by his grace we believe his Word and lead godly lives (cf. Luther’s Small Catechism). Daily bread (meeting our bodily, earthly needs) is essential, but the higher calling of Christ’s kingdom puts all our daily affairs into perspective. His spiritual truths give depth and meaning to the day-to-day aspects of our lives.

People who are called to follow the Lord too easily get sidetracked from spiritual priorities. We can forget what’s important, can become self-important and self-indulgent. It’s hard to stay growing in healthy directions. It’s easy to become entangled, overgrown, unproductive. Weeds are always trying to creep into our own hearts. All churches in this world also will be both weeds and wheat, intermingled. Don’t be too eager to root out what you think is an unwanted plant or unwanted growth. Sometimes it’s hard to tell. Even people who seem the most godly may have deep struggles of soul, and some who appear roughest around the edges may, in their hearts, be the closest to God. Don’t be too eager to push aside those you think have rejected the gospel or are unwilling to listen.  After Saul, the self-righteous Pharisee, was turned around to see God more fully, more truly, he did not turn his back on the people from whom he had come. As the apostle Paul, he deeply desired to bring others of his own people, steeped in the heritage of Judaism and the Hebrew scriptures, to see the life and beauty that is in Jesus, to know Jesus as the Messiah the scriptures had prophesied (cf. Romans 9:1-5). Paul toiled and struggled, with all the energy that God inspired in him, to reach out to both Jews and Gentiles, to both slaves and rulers, to everyone and anyone, to make the word of God fully known and reveal the mystery of Christ given for us and living in us (cf. Colossians 1:25-29). 

When we get caught up in the concerns of this world, we can forget that our mission is to everyone and anyone. In our personal lives, we can become more concerned about maintaining our own earthly comforts and neglect the others’ needs. In our church lives, we can become more concerned about preserving our own institutions and traditions than about the spiritual needs of others. We can unthinkingly place ourselves in a position of importance and crowd others out, making them feel unwelcome. Maybe we say all are welcome, but then if they come to us, we try to force them to be like us, think, like us, act like us. We fail to appreciate that God calls all kinds of people, with all kinds of perspectives, into the wide boundaries of his kingdom.

We also can make a mistake if we become so otherworldly that we ignore the everyday needs of those whom we would seek to serve in Christ. Remember that even though Jesus was drawing people to higher, spiritual priorities–and even though many of those following him seemed to want only mundane, earthly blessings from him–he still did not ignore their basic human needs. He healed the sick. He fed the hungry. He lent a hand to those who needed help to stand up, even while he was lifting souls up higher still to a heavenly hope and calling.

I’ve known some church organizations that were inconsistent in their approach to such things. Their stateside congregations very much avoided providing assistance programs to people in their communities. They said (with disapproval) that was “social gospel,” trying to fix and improve our present earthly society. They said the church’s concern should be with eternal things only. As a result, the communities in which these churches operated saw them as aloof, unresponsive, uncaring. Their ministries were stifled by their unwillingness to do what Jesus did, attending to the blind, the lame, the deaf, the sick, the poor (cf. Matthew 11:2-6), and caring “for orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27). They cared for their own, within their own congregations’ membership, but did not do so in wider outreach toward others outside, in their communities.

Yet, in foreign fields of work in developing nations, they attended to both the physical and spiritual needs of the people in the villages. They built wells for clean water. They established medical missions to provide healthcare. These things were in addition to and in conjunction with the churches they established and worship they held. That was the better model. When Christians and churches do such things because they truly are concerned about people’s whole lives, this is a sign of love moved by the gospel. Like Jesus’ miracles of love, these things will help people see what the gospel is and does within our hearts.

On the other hand, I’ve also sometimes seen congregations and church organizations offering things to the community just to hook people’s attention, while their real goal is building up their own church numbers. I’ve been at church meetings where it seemed the motivation for outreach was a desire to get more members in the building so they could balance their budget, pay the bills, keep their organization afloat. The same thing that can be said of us as individuals can be said of us as churches: Whoever wants to save their life–to preserve what they have in this world–will lose it, (Luke 9:24). If we are reaching out to others only for the sake of preserving our own institutions, we are losing our soul as a church. We dare not expect the blessing of God on such efforts. When we are willing to lose our lives for Christ and for the sake of the gospel, then we find blessing.

May God give to each of us and preserve in all of us a proper focus for our lives and for ministry. As Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6). Our primary hunger, our greatest need, is the hunger of the soul to have a satisfying relationship with the creator, to have the righteousness that comes from God. At the same time, we won’t neglect the needs of those who are hungry, those who are hurting, those who are homeless, those who are friendless. We will befriend our neighbors and community members in everyday ways, in unassuming ways, with ordinary blessings–genuinely aiming to help others, not promote ourselves. 

Hopefully we can become a little less attached to all our stuff and stuff and more stuff. Our lives do not consist of the abundance of our possessions (Luke 12:15).  We don’t live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).  So, let’s do what we can to share our bread, share our stuff … and share the words of Jesus and the love of Jesus and the spirit of Jesus with everyone we can. God help us to maintain both heavenly priorities of faith and earthly priorities toward our neighbors, in Jesus’ name.  

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

Posted by David Sellnow
05
Sep
2022

Humility = Service (part 2)

For Labor Day, 2022

Be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).

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This post is a follow-up to last week’s post on Humility = Service.  The thoughts stemmed from readings for Pentecost 12:  Proverbs 25:6-7, Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16, and Luke 14:1, 7-14.

Acknowledging our ability to be of service to others

As we consider, humility and service, a second point needs to be made. If you read the previous post, maybe my descriptions missed some of you. Quite likely, a number of you are not pushy or bossy or intrusive or insistent. You let others go ahead of you. You’re patient while waiting your turn. You are completely content to be the quiet person in the back of the room. You aren’t looking to be on center stage.  That may be just fine … but it also may be unhelpful. Let’s consider what can happen when you are too humble, too self-effacing, too willing to keep quiet on the sidelines.

I’ve seen humility go too far and impede godly service to one another. Too often, people who have gifts to serve and gifts to lead are asked to use those gifts, and they say, “Oh, no, not me. I can’t do that.”  They sound like Moses when he hesitated, saying, “O my Lord, please send someone else” (Exodus 4:13).

I remember a meeting of a board of elders at a congregation. It was suggested that the elders do more than have meetings. The proposal was that every other month–instead of just meeting around the table at the church–they would start with a prayer, then go out to scheduled appointments to visit with church members. The elders around the table turned pale as ghosts when the suggestion was made. Doing the actual work of ministering to others frightened them.

Or there was a woman in a congregation, someone others looked up to. Others would approach her for advice. She was spiritually well-grounded, and others could see that.  When her pastor asked her to take on a more formal role, as a deaconess in the congregation, she professed all sorts of humility and said she wasn’t worthy of such a role. Maybe that was okay. Maybe she didn’t need any official title. If she continued doing the mentoring she was doing when others approached her, that would still be good. But she needn’t have shied away from stepping up to higher responsibilities, when asked to do so for the good of others.

When someone calls upon you to “come on up” to a higher position of responsibility, or to a task of leadership to which you are particularly suited, are you ready to answer that call? Or will you let an excess of humility get in your way?

If you are called to come up to a higher place and serve others around you in your life, don’t wave a white flag of humility and say you’re not worthy.  It’s quite true that none of us are worthy by our own virtue to serve as ambassadors for Christ. But Christ, in his mercy, has given each of us gifts and calls each of us into unique roles of service. “If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly” (Romans 12:8 NLT).

This principle applies not just in your church life, such as the church examples I gave. Being ready to step up and serve applies daily in your personal life. Each of you has connections, situations, opportunities that arise day by day. When an occasion arises which calls you into action, that’s not a time for you to hide in humility and say, “Oh, it’s none of my business,” or, “Someone with more knowledge or skill should be the one to help.”  The situation is in front of you now. The friend or neighbor or family member is needing you now. Don’t pull back, afraid. Be open to others’ needs. Be ready to help as best you can. Most of all, just be. Be present. Be there for people when they need you.  When someone is calling out with a need, recognize that God may be calling you to step into action. Often those calls are not verbally expressed, but you know the need is there. Without being a busybody, you can offer yourself as a friend, as an ally in Christ. You can offer resources and referrals to other sources of help too. Look for those real-life opportunities to be Christ to your neighbor. “Who knows? Perhaps you have come to [the position you are in] for just such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).

Acting on behalf of others is a way of exercising proper humility. You don’t use humility as an excuse in such situations, backing away and ducking out.  You exercise humility by putting others’ needs ahead of your own, others’ comfort and care ahead of your own potential discomfort and fears. You use your time and your talents in the interests of others. Having humility and compassion means you’re not just looking out for yourselves.  Through your love and labor, you become humble and devoted servants to one another (cf. Galatians 5:13).

In your lives, what opportunities are presenting themselves where someone is saying, “Friend, come on up” to a higher place, to an added responsibility, to a role of helping or leading others? Keep your eyes and ears open for those opportunities. Keep your spiritual senses tuned in. Recognize that God is calling you to use your gifts in humble service to your neighbor. When you see someone hungry, you’ll be ready to give them food. When you see someone thirsty, you’ll give them something to drink. As Scripture urges (Hebrews 13:1-3), you will “let mutual love continue.” You will “show hospitality to strangers.” You will “remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them.” You will do whatever you can to assist those who are feeling tortured (experiencing pain or suffering in their lives), ”as though you yourselves were being tortured” along with them.  You will “continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God” by doing good for others and by sharing yourself and what you have with others, “for such sacrifices are pleasing to God” (Hebrews 13:15-16).   You will welcome into your life “the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind”–those who cannot repay you–knowing “you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 7:13,14).  In doing even just the little things for those who seem the least significant or least influential in this world, you offer service to Christ, who says to you, “‘Truly I tell you, just as you” do these things for “the least of these who are members of my family,” you do it for me (cf. Matthew 25:35-40).  Amen.

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

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

 

Posted by David Sellnow
07
Mar
2022

The Lord is our righteousness

A preface to this post:

Our hearts are with the people of Ukraine at this time, as they struggle to protect their country and many have been forced to flee their homes.  A number of years ago, I visited Ukraine to teach a course at a seminary there. I asked a contact of mine what, if anything, those of us far away could do in the present crisis.  He responded, “Thank you very much for your prayers and concern. Here is a link where you can donate to Ukrainian Army: https://uahelp.monobank.ua/.”  [If you go to the site, a donation of 1000 hryven’ at today’s current exchange rate is 33.28 in US dollars.]   Others may be inclined to show support via humanitarian agencies. The Guardian newspaper recently published links to charitable agencies working to alleviate suffering: “How Americans can help people of Ukraine.”

At the beginning of in Lent in 2009, I was privileged to preach to a group in Ternopil. I’ll share a version of that message for the first week in Lent here. Let us pray for and support one another in all the struggles and tests of faith that this life brings.

This is the name by which he will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:6).

In the wilderness, tempted by Satan

What are your temptations in life?

Are you tempted to be greedy, to want more than you have?  Are you tempted to be lazy, to do less than you can do?  Or are you tempted to be a workaholic?  Do you never let yourself rest?

Are you tempted to be judgmental, to look down on other people? Are you tempted by jealousy and hostility?  Are there persons that make you so angry you want to hit them?  Maybe you don’t actually hit them, but you’ve got a hammer in your heart that pounds and pounds with hatred or envy.

Are you tempted to be lonely?  To feel isolated?  To feel sorry for yourself?  To feel like God has put you on a path that is too often too difficult and doesn’t give the rewards you want?

Are you tempted to be frustrated and afraid—about the state of affairs in the world or in your life or for your church?  Do you keep wishing earth would be more like heaven, even though you know it is not (and cannot be)?

We all know what it is to be tempted.  We are bombarded with temptations day after day.  The devil knows which ones work particularly well on each of us. We are attacked at every point where we are most vulnerable. 

You know your own temptations and sins.   You could pour out your soul in confession all day long.  You’d never run out of unpleasant thoughts and words and deeds to confess, because so very often temptation wins, godliness loses. You are at fault for this failure, that offense, those ugly behaviors, these unkind words, and countless shameful omissions of the many good things you might have done.

You are guilty, as am I.  We are like the man in Jesus’ parable, standing at a distance from God, not even daring to look up to heaven, acknowledging our failings and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13).  Think about it: the sins we’ve been mentioning are things that occur to us now, while we are Christians, while God’s Spirit is within us. Yet still we fall or slip or dive headfirst into sin so many times.  Imagine the bondage of sin we were in before the Spirit came to us. What great need of salvation there is for every one of us!

And what a Savior we have in Jesus Christ!  The first thing he did—the first, immediate task he took up after his anointing—was to expose himself to Satan’s every temptation and overcome them all.  He did that for us.  As soon as he was identified as the Christ by his baptism at the Jordan River, “the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.  He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan” (Mark 1:12-13). Jesus went head-to-head with Satan—and not merely for sport.  As God, Jesus could trounce the devil underfoot eternally, destroy him absolutely.  But the fullness of time had come, and God the Son, “born of a woman, born under law to redeem those under law” (Galatians 4:4,5), was working out our redemption under the law.  He was fulfilling all righteousness for us, carrying out every commandment in our stead as a human being. He deflected every temptation, proclaiming the word of God in the face of evil.  Thus, in Jesus, God has provided a record of human obedience to his will that is faultless, spotless—“one who in every respect has been tested, as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

What Jesus did in the desert is much more than an example for us to follow.  If Jesus only serves as an example to us, our situation would still be hopeless.  Who of us can follow Christ’s example and be perfect as he was and is?  Christ came not merely as example.  Christ is our substitute, our life, our salvation.  He did all that he did to atone for us, to provide us with holiness.

The confrontation with temptation in the desert was Jesus’ first official act as the Anointed One, the Messiah.  But it was not the only vicarious act he performed as atonement for us.  His whole life was lived as a substitute for ours.  Every time Jesus obeyed Mary and Joseph when he was a child, he was doing so in our place.  Every time Jesus performed an act of love and mercy for the sick, the sorrowful, the demon-possessed, the bereaved, he was doing perfectly all the things we never could do well enough. 

The forty days that Jesus spent in the desert at the beginning of his ministry were not the only occasion when the devil sought to distract Jesus, damage him, derail his mission.  When this round of temptation was over, the devil left Jesus—but only for a time (Luke 4:13). He would be back.  Satan would strike again and again at Jesus—just the same way that the devil strikes again and again at us.  As Jesus pursued his path as the Christ on this earth, he set his face like flint and marched on (cf. Isaiah 50:7, Luke 9:51).  He marched on all the way till they threw a rough-hewn wooden beam across his shoulders and told him to drag it out to the place of execution. There he was put to death in our place, just as he had lived in our place.

Jesus supplied a record of righteousness for us by his obedience to every moral duty, by his rejection of every sinful temptation.  And then he removed the record of shamefulness that stained us by his anguish on the cross.  He who had no sin was made to be sin for us—“the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6)—so that “in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Now, when we are tempted, we run for refuge into Jesus’ arms, the one who has already defeated the devil on our behalf, and we find strength in his strength.

Now, when we sin, we return to Jesus, in repentance, to be renewed by his righteousness, to be received by his love, to be revitalized for new life. 

Christ is our forgiveness and hope and source of life.  Through his victory, we live victoriously. Through his victory, we are given strength to overcome temptations.  Through his victory, we are assured a place beside him in eternity.

Thank God that Jesus went out into the desert to be tempted by the devil.  He did it for us, and he won that battle for us … just as he has won every other spiritual battle.  Because of him, we are blessed “in Christ with every spiritual blessing” (Ephesians 1:3).  Our trust, day after day, is in Jesus, who defeated all temptation for us.

Reading for the 1st Sunday in Lent
The Temptation of Jesus – Luke 4:1-13

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

Posted by David Sellnow
30
Sep
2021

No place to lay their heads

Grateful for our homes, we will help those who are homeless


If you close your ear to the cry of the poor, you will cry out and not be heard. – Proverbs 21:13


I visited Portland, Oregon in mid-summer. The weather was pleasant while we were there, with daytime highs in the mid-70s, a bit below their normal average for the time of year. Prior to our visit, however, Portland had endured a record-setting heatwave with temperatures as high as 117 degrees, and thermometers climbed back into the 90s and above 100 degrees soon after our trip. During the heat of late June, the Oregon Medical Examiner’s office reported 96 deaths statewide from hyperthermia, 60 of those in Portland. Many of the deaths were older persons living alone with no air conditioning. Additionally, county leaders in the Portland metropolitan area and elsewhere in Oregon confirmed that a significant number of persons who died due to the excessive heat were homeless or inadequately housed.  Portland is one of many American cities with high rates of homelessness.  Globally, the United Nations estimates that “1.6 billion people worldwide live in inadequate housing conditions, with about 15 million forcefully evicted each year.”

I realize how fortunate I am to have a home. I may wish I had more equity in the house that I am slowly purchasing. I wish I could afford improvements and additions to the property which are beyond my means or would press my budget. But those are problems of privilege, not the crisis-level concerns of those at risk of losing their housing.  In the United States today, an estimated 2.6 million tenants are facing eviction if they don’t receive aid. Due to the pandemic, the federal government authorized a $46.5 billion eviction prevention program, but to date (eight months after Congress approved the funds), less than 17% of the rental aid has been distributed. Congress also authorized $10 billion to help the more than 2 million homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgages, but that program also has been agonizingly slow in responding to the needs that exist. In August, the federal moratorium against evictions was ended by the Supreme Court, which means the risk of more people losing their housing has increased. A state order against evictions ends today in California, which already has more homeless persons than any other state, including nearly half of the nation’s unsheltered homeless (living in tent encampments, in cars, in abandoned buildings, on the sidewalk, etc).

We may contemplate renovating our homes, upgrading to bigger or better homes, purchasing a vacation home in addition to our homestead property. Having a sizeable amount of earthly possessions is not inherently wrong; we remember that God blessed faithful forefathers such as Job and Abraham with great wealth (cf. Job 1:3, Genesis 12:1-2). However, we do well to heed also the prophet Isaiah’s warning to God’s people, that “God expected justice” but instead heard cries of injustice (Isaiah 5:7), admonishing those “who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is room for no one but you” (Isaiah 5:8). We recall also Jesus’ parable of the rich man who planned to build bigger barns to store all his excess goods. God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” (Luke 12:20). Jesus reminds us, “One’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15). 

Our days on this planet are not permanent. We are called to see ourselves as “strangers and foreigners on the earth” who are “seeking a homeland … a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (Hebrews 11:13-16). We are also called to live in community with one another as we sojourn here. In the eyes of God, an acceptable “fast” (reducing our own consumption) is “to loose the bonds of injustice … to let the oppressed go free … to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin” (Isaiah 58:6,7).

When Jesus came down and “pitched his tent among us” (John 1:14, literal translation), living our experience on this earth, he said to those who would follow him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Luke 9:58).  Surely, our Savior has empathy toward those who have no home. Christ seeks to provide us all a home in his heavenly mansions. In the meantime, until we reach that heavenly home, let’s strive to help one another and all of our neighbors have a safe place to be in this world.

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I’ll link here several highly-rated charitable organizations aiming to reduce homelessness. There are many more you likely can find in your own area.

Transition Projects

  • Over 50 years of helping deliver life-saving and life-changing assistance to some of Portland’s most vulnerable residents
  • 100 out of 100 rating on Charity Navigator

Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans (MACV)

The People Concern

  • Los Angeles area organization seeking to empower homeless persons to be housed, healthy and safe and to become active participants in the community
  • 100 out of 100 rating on Charity Navigator

HomeAid America

New Story

National Alliance to End Homelessness

Religious statement:  “Homelessness: A Renewal of Commitment” (ELCA, 1990)

Scripture quotations, except where indicated otherwise, 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
28
Jun
2021

A suffering woman and a dead girl

Jesus is our Hope when Problems are Unsolvable 

[Readings for the 5th Sunday after Pentecost: Lamentations 3:22-33, Psalm 30, 2 Corinthians 8:7-15,  Mark 5:21-43]

Chances are, a number of you currently are experiencing or recently have experienced a loss, a hardship, some source of pain in your life. Just in terms of those who’ve lost a loved one, statistics say there are people reading this blog post dealing with that form of grief. “About 2½ million people die in the United States annually, each leaving an average of five grieving people behind” (The Recovery Village: Grief by the Numbers). In 2020, that number of deaths in the US was estimated at over 3½ million by the CDC’s National Vital Statistics System–the death toll expanded greatly due to COVID. An Associated Press poll conducted in March of this year found that 20% of people in the United States had lost a friend or close relative to COVID. “That means a potential bereaved population of about 65 million.” A psychiatrist at Columbia University warns that because of isolation due to the pandemic, a significant percentage of the bereaved could experience prolonged grief disorder, a condition of persistent grief that lasts longer and aches more deeply than the typical grieving process. Some studies have shown more than triple the typical rate of prolonged grief disorder have been occurring over this past year. (See “COVID Has Put the World at Risk of Prolonged Grief Disorder,” by Katherine Harmon Courage, May 19, 2021, in Scientific American.)

Those are some general truths, some national and international statistics. More than likely, some of you reading this are grieving over a loss, some are struggling with persistent pain, all know community members whose lives are hurting.

“Encounter” by Daniel Cariola, Magdala Chapel – https://www.magdala.org/

The Gospel account for this Sunday (Mark 5:21-43), from the days of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, shows powerful examples of persons dealing with grief and trauma … and their dependence on Jesus as their only hope. First there is the case of Jairus’ daughter, a young girl who should not become deathly ill, but who was deathly ill. Then, even as Jesus was on his way to Jairus’ home, the girl died. That did not stop Jesus from his desire or ability to help. We’ll say more about that momentarily.  Meanwhile, Jesus was the only answer for a woman whose problem just would not go away, and she was at the end of her rope. She had been suffering for twelve years with “an issue of blood,” as the King James Version put it. Our translation says “hemorrhaging.” Modern scholars, assessing what may have afflicted her, deduce it was menorrhagia — “abnormally heavy and long menstruation that causes enough cramping and blood loss … that it makes normal daily activities impossible” (Nigerian Biomedical Science Journal, August 29, 2017). We feel anguish for that woman, experiencing such a condition for twelve years. Now think also of the social stigma that it placed on her in her culture. Jewish cultural norms, following the laws of Moses, stipulated that anyone with a bodily discharge (bleeding or secretion) was considered “unclean” and was to stay socially distanced till after the bleeding or discharge stopped. It was a religious rule but also something of a public health rule for the Jewish people back before anyone knew much about bloodborne pathogens protocols. So, on top of a chronic, frightening health problem, this poor woman was supposed to remain in something like COVID-19 lockdown when the community around her was not in lockdown. Think of the isolation and abandonment and frustration she must have felt. She seems to have been a woman of some means, and had spent every penny she had going to various doctors, trying to find a cure for her problem. But none of them could help her. Her condition only got worse. Coming to see Jesus was an act of desperation, her last hope. She’d heard about Jesus. She’d heard he could do miracles. So she violated the social distancing policies that prohibited her from going out into a crowded space. She made her way through the throngs of people following Jesus, hoping just to get close enough, thinking, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well” (Mark 5:28).

Indeed, the woman was made well from the moment she came in contact with Jesus. But Jesus did not want her to remain in hiding (or to hide from him).  He stopped the crowd. He took note of the woman, who was afraid and confessed what she had done–which actually was a confession of faith. Jesus commended her and promised his ongoing presence with her. “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease,” Jesus said (Mark 5:34).  Think a bit about the context too.  Jesus was on his way to the home of a high-ranking person, Jairus, who was a leader of the local synagogue.  And Jairus had a significant need for Jesus’ attention; his daughter was deathly ill.  But Jesus paused to pay attention to the woman who just wanted a quick, incognito encounter and nothing more. She was like a person who comes to a church hoping against hope for something, sitting in the back row, not wanting to be noticed, but the Lord wants her to be noticed and wants people to care about her.  No matter how insignificant we feel we are, no matter how ostracized or shoved aside by society, no matter how helpless we think our situation is, Jesus wants us to know we are  welcome in his presence, that we are worthy of care and attention.

Gabriel von Max, “The Raising of Jairus Daughter” (1878) – Wikimedia Commons

And Jesus will care about us even when our situation is more dire than twelve years of incessant bleeding. For example, when a twelve-year old girl is dying–and even when she dies–Jesus does not turn away from helping.  To everybody else in the situation with Jairus’ daughter, her death was the end of the story. People came from the family’s house to say Jesus need not be bothered anymore, because the girl was dead. When Jesus came to the house anyway and told the mourners the girl was only sleeping and he would wake her, they all laughed at him. But we see the ultimate power of Jesus and the reason he had come to be with us on this earth. Death is the ultimate problem that plagues us as human beings. The sicknesses we have point to our mortality, to the eventuality that we all die. The death of a child points out the cold reality of death in a particularly harsh way. But the shocking finality of death is the very reason Jesus became incarnate as a human being, to reverse that curse. As Scripture says, Jesus came down to our level “so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” Since we are beings of flesh and blood, he “shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death” (Hebrews 2:9,14,15). Jesus’ actions healing the suffering woman and raising the dead girl are evidence of the healing and salvation he came to bring to all of us. 

Maybe the problems you experience in your life aren’t exactly like the cases we looked at today, a woman hemorrhaging blood for twelve years, a family mourning the death of a child. Their experiences are examples within the range of so much human suffering that occurs.  So many people experience deep hurts of so many kinds. In my years in the church, I’ve known …

  • dear souls who bore the scars of childhood sexual abuse for years and years in their adult lives …
  • dear souls who struggled with addiction …
  • dear souls who lost their jobs and struggled to maintain self-respect …
  • dear souls who experienced excruciating pain from terminal diseases …
  • dear souls who lost loved ones in senseless ways — in a car accident that occured on the way home from attending a funeral, or in a plane crash that occurred while attempting a stunt for a military air show.

In the work I’m doing now in human services, I encounter persons …

  • who need skilled nursing care and hospice care …
  • who need mental health hospitalization …
  • who have all manner of disabilities and need ongoing care and supports …
  • who are challenged by poverty and have little or no resources ….

So, while I don’t know exactly what you’re going through in your lives right now, chances are, there are losses, hardships, and no shortage of sources of pain. Maybe you feel like your soul has been bleeding for years and you don’t know how to make it stop. Where do you turn when the hurt in your life is constant, when the aches of your heart never really go away? Maybe you’ve tried everything–self-help books, practicing self-care, seeking professional help, any kind of help from anywhere and everywhere. And some things help some, but nothing is a complete cure.  Only the hope we have for resurrection in Jesus can keep us going through the pains and losses and devastations that are so much a part of life on this earth. Jesus is our hope when our problems are otherwise unsolvable.  Like the woman pressing through the crowd for even just a touch of the hem of his garment, we reach out to Jesus as our only eternal source of hope.

And how does that work–to reach out to be touched by Jesus when Jesus isn’t physically walking through the streets of your town?  Certainly one way is in coming to church, where you gather to hear Jesus’ words and receive his touch through the sacraments. There’s another way, too, that I’d like to say a little something about before concluding this message. I’d like you to think about today’s Epistle lesson also (2 Corinthians 8:7-15), which maybe seemed to go in a different direction than the other readings of the day.  Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth: “As you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in your love for us—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking” (2 Corinthians 8:7). The generous undertaking going on at that time was a special gathering of financial support for Christians elsewhere, particularly in the regions of Judea and Syria, who were experiencing food shortages and famine conditions.  Actually, the original statement in Paul’s letter simply says, “We want you to excel also in this grace” — the Greek word charis (from which we get our English word “charity”).  It’s somewhat limiting that in English we use the word “charity” (charis) mostly in terms of financial gifts.  Scripture uses the same word not just for gifts of financial support but for the ultimate grace, God’s gift of his Son Jesus, the One and Only, to be our rescuer.  Jesus now calls us to be gifts of grace to each other–with financial contributions, yes, but more than financial contributions. We become embodiments of Jesus to one another in our times of need.

At a church I was associated with in Texas some years ago, the congregation was in a bit of a financial crisis. A series of cottage meetings were planned, gathering members together in small groups at host members’ homes, to talk about how to address the financial crisis. At the first of those meetings, before getting to the stewardship agenda for the evening, there was an icebreaker activity planned, just to get people talking. Each person could respond to a prompt on the icebreaker card, which had prompts such as, “The most embarrassing moment in my life was ___________” … “One of my favorite vacations was _____” … “Something I’m praying about right now is ______,” and others. The first person at that first meeting started the conversation circle, choosing, “Something I’m praying about right now” and saying, “I’m praying for my daughter, who was just diagnosed with cancer.” There followed many minutes of fellow members showing concern for the woman, for her daughter, for her daughter’s husband and children, and actually engaging in prayer right there as a prayer circle.  The next person in the circle then also chose to share something heavy on her heart, something she was praying about, and the members listened to her hurt and ministered to her as well. For over two hours that evening, the members shared their needs, consoled one another, prayed for one another. They never did get to the planned agenda about the church’s financial situation, and that was okay. They did what was important. The other cottage meetings that occurred in the days and weeks after that first one all followed the same pattern. The gathered members all focused on the prompt about what was heavy on their hearts, what they were praying about, and they acted as missionaries of gospel to one another, encouraging each other.  Oh, and by the way, the church’s financial situation turned around too–because for the first time in a long time the members of the congregation began to realize the value of their ministry to one another and to others and, like Paul said, they began to excel also in that grace and in the generous undertaking of gifts to support needed ministry.  

In the midst of famine and hunger, in the midst of grief and abandonment, in the midst of sickness and death, in the midst of all this world’s problems and pains, Jesus is our hope. And as brothers and sisters to one another in Jesus, we become miracles of grace and hope to one another as well.

Brothers and sisters, may Christ be with you as you endure whatever hurts or sorrows are happening in your life today and whatever troubles you may face in days to come. And may you be with one another in Christ, supporting each other, praying for one another, reminding each other of the gospel hope we share. We know our Redeemer lives, and that he will be with us when we are on our deathbeds, and that at the end, he will stand upon our graves, and that even after our skin has been destroyed, we will yet see God, we will be raised by Christ to be with Christ forever. How our hearts yearn within us!  (Cf. Job 19:25-27.)  Amen.

—

Scripture quotations 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
02
Jan
2021

Spiritual resolve

by David Sellnow

The Harris Poll conducts surveys annually about people’s New Year’s resolutions. According to their recent survey, more Americans are making resolutions for 2021 than did so for 2020.  Nearly half the population plans to make at least one resolution for the year ahead. Among younger adults (ages 18-39), the number of resolution-makers approaches 60%. What sorts of resolutions are people making?  Some of the common ones are:
   – exercise regularly;
   – lose weight or manage weight;
   – budget/save/invest money;
   – practice more self-care;
   – learn a new skill.

Resolutions like those aren’t altogether out of line with biblical thoughts.  We are stewards of our bodies and minds, which are “fearfully and wonderfully made” by our creator (Psalm 139:14). We are like a city breached by invaders if we lack self-control (cf. Proverbs 25:28). We know money and resources should be handled carefully, as the proverb teaches: “Precious treasure remains in the house of the wise, but the fool devours it” (Proverbs 21:20).  And caring for ourselves is implied in the second greatest commandment of God’s law: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31).  Taking care of ourselves is necessary if we are going to care for our neighbors.

As people of faith, though, deeper resolves have a higher priority.  Scripture focuses on spiritual resolve, on committing ourselves to the Lord who has committed himself to us. As we enter this new year, let’s consider some of the themes that align with what Jesus called the first and greatest commandment:  “The Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30).  Allow me to set forth some themes (along with scriptures) that speak of our spiritual resolves. 

Spiritual resolves for our lives in Christ

1. Cling to eternal hope

  • “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). So, with clear resolve, we can stay strong in hope always. “God … gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore … be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:57,58).

2. Take hold of our calling as God’s children 

  • That we are God’s children is a miracle of grace. It is because of God’s love “that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are” (1 John 3:1). Since God is our Father, we lay claim to our place with him.  We “take hold of the eternal life to which [we] were called” (1 Timothy 6:12). We resolve to “lead a life worthy of the calling” we have received (Ephesians 4:1), knowing that we have been adopted as “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17).

3. Examine ourselves and repent

  • Before rushing to judgment of anyone else and accusing a neighbor of having clouded vision, we realize that there are log-sized splinters in our own eyes (cf. Matthew 7:1-5).  “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8,9). We resolve each day to “test and examine our ways and return to the Lord,” lifting up “our hearts as well as our hands to God in heaven” (Lamentations 3:40,41).

4. Give attention to what God says 

  • In The Book of Common Prayer (1549), Archbishop Thomas Cranmer expressed the prayer that we “hear, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest” God’s words for our lives, so that through those words “we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life.”  A heart full of spiritual resolve will delight in God’s truth, saying, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth” (Psalm 119:103).  Members of Christ’s family will treasure the good news about what God has done and ponder such things in our hearts (cf. Luke 2:19).

5. Pray and labor in the Lord

  • The God who speaks to us in his Word also listens to our concerns. “When you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you,” he promises (Jeremiah 29:12), and affirms that our prayers are “powerful and effective” (James 5:16). As we set our hearts to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), let’s resolve to pray not just for ourselves. There is a world in need of our concerted prayer and action. We want to offer “prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings … for everyone” (1 Timothy 2:1). And as we pray, we look for ways to be an answer to others’ prayers. Jesus urged seventy of his followers to “ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” as he was commissioning them to go out into communities in his name (Luke 10:1-9). So also as we pray, we will keep our eyes open for opportunities to be agents of God’s mercy to others, knowing that “to do good and to share what you have” and “to care for orphans and widows in their distress” are the sorts of things God considers pleasing sacrifices and the purest expression of our religious convictions (Hebrews 13:16, James 1:27).

May these sorts of resolves–rooted in our spiritual identity and putting into practice our spiritual priorities–be strong in our hearts this year and every year.  “May the God of peace himself sanctify [us] entirely. … The one who calls [us] is faithful, and he will do this” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

Scripture quotations 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
22
Nov
2020

The King who Inscribes his Character on Us

A message for Christ the King Sunday

  • Our King does not dominate or dictate
  • Our King invigorates us to be like him


There are a number of churches around the world named “Christ the King.” The Cathedral of Christ the King in Mullingar, Ireland, is reportedly the first church given that name. The Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta is one of the ten largest congregations in the United States. Those are just a couple of the big Christ the King churches. There are numerous smaller congregations too. 

I don’t know of any churches named “Christ the Tyrant” or “Christ the Despot” or “Christ the Dictator.” I Google-searched for such names, but couldn’t find any. I did find an opinion piece arguing that Christians tend to view their Lord that way–as a benevolent dictator. But if there are people of faith who take that view, they’re mistaken. Christ the King is certainly not like some military strongman or arbitrary emperor, nor even like a benevolent dictator.  Christ is not someone who looks upon us as weak subjects who do his bidding simply to suit his whims. Christ did not become our king by standing above us, pointing out what we must do from moment to moment. Christ became our king by standing with us, among us, leading us in a path we could not have followed without his leadership. Jesus said to those who followed him, “I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:27). On the night he said that, Jesus proved his point by getting down on the floor and washing his disciples’ feet (cf. John 13).

Quite clearly, Jesus is the opposite of a tyrant.  He won our allegiance by going into battle against tyrants and overlords for us. The tyrant was sin. The tyrant was the devil who accuses and all the demons that torment us. Those are the sorts of rulers that dictate and demand, that control us by fear and guilt. Christ is not like that.

Jesus is also much different from even the most benevolent dictator. Such a ruler believes that he must decide all things for the people underneath him because they are underlings and he is so much above them. Now, it is true that Christ, our King, certainly does know what is best for us.  Christ is “the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24).  As high as the heavens are above the earth, so far are his thoughts higher than our thoughts (cf. Isaiah 55:9). But the fact that Christ is superior to us in all things does not mean he deals with us as inferiors. Rather, he comes alongside us and shares his life and strength with us. He invigorates us with his words, his Spirit, so that we become alive in him. We become more and more like him as we grow in our relationship with him.

I have known God-fearing people who haven’t understood this, who haven’t grasped how Christ is seeking to lead them. They trouble themselves over every detail of their lives, searching desperately for some sort of sign from God. “What is God’s will?” they’ll say; “What does God want me to do?” I knew a woman who struggled over the smallest decisions like that. She begged to know what actions God wanted her to take, almost hoping a daily to-do list would appear like handwriting on the wall, so she’d know she wasn’t making any mistakes. In her anxiousness, she once put two pens side by side on the table and asked, “Now, which pen does God want me to use? The blue one or the black one?” That’s going too far in expecting God to direct our lives. Yes, Christ is our leader by night and by day. But Jesus leads us not as though we are blindfolded and he must guide our feet for every step we take. He instills his character and his way of life in us, so that we make our own decisions as the new persons that we are in Christ (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:17).  It’s an outmoded way, a childish way, to want God to dictate every direction to us, to tell us exactly what to do in every instant. It’s a new way of life, as we become mature in Christ, that we  make our own decisions and take actions that flow from the mind of Christ which is in us (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:16). 

Consider the Epistle assigned for this weekend for the festival of Christ the King.  The prayer for the Christians at Ephesus remains an apostlic prayer for us today.  Notice the emphasis on how the power of Christ works in us and inspires us as he extends his kingdom into our hearts.

  • I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you … and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion ….  And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all (Ephesians 1:17-23). 

Christ as king is head over all things for us. That’s not an image of some giant head floating in the air like the Great and Powerful Oz. There’s no false pretense of power with Christ our King. He rules in a way far better than the way any authority in this world operates.  Even while Christ is seated high above in the heavenly places, he is at the same time intimately connected to us, like the head to members of the body. His thoughts pulse through us and we operate in unity with him. We are his feet to run out into the world, his hands to extend help and care to persons in his name, to put into practice his love.

Consider also the description of what Christ will find when he returns at the end of time, when he “comes in his glory, and all the angels with him” and “all the nations will be gathered before him” (Matthew 25:31-42).  Who are the people he calls his own, who truly have known him? 

  • The king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me” (Matthew 25:34-36).

When Christ says this to his people, what is their reaction?  “When did we do that?” They wonder what he’s talking about. Christ’s people do such actions on behalf of “the least of these” fellow members of the human family not because they’re keeping score of their good deeds, not because they’re trying to impress God by their actions. They do such things just because that’s who they are, because the spirit of Christ inhabits them and propels them into action.  The people of Christ’s kingdom serve everyone they encounter without thinking, “This is something I must do because the king has issued an executive order.” Yes, the kingdom of Christ has laws, but those laws are designed by our Lord for our good and the good of our neighbors. As we grow in our understanding and relationship with our King, we embody more and more the spirit and compassion and action that he has for all who are in need. We become Christ to our neighbors.

Martin Luther famously wrote on that theme–that we become like “little Christs.” In his booklet On the Freedom of a Christian (1520), Luther wrote:

  • Since God has overwhelmed me with such inestimable riches, why should I not freely, cheerfully, and with my whole heart do all that I know will be pleasing to him? I will therefore give myself, as a sort of Christ, to my neighbor, as Christ has given himself to me. I will do whatever is advantageous and wholesome for my neighbor, since by faith I abound in all good things in Christ. … We each become a sort of Christ to each other, so that we may be mutually Christs, and that the same Christ may be in all of us; that is, that we may be truly Christians.

Our life as Christ’s people, in his service, is not like serving an earthly ruler who dominates and bullies to get his way, and whose subjects survive by trying to ingratiate themselves with the ruler. We serve as people whose character has been transformed by the grace and goodness of our king. We become his allies in extending the life of his kingdom into a world that has not understood him and operates by principles so often opposite to his.

Which leads to one final point that must be mentioned.  We need to take notice of the other sort of approach that predominates in this world. It is an approach not only by the rich and powerful, who lord it over others in positions of power and authority. It’s also an approach adopted by people in general toward authority — including God’s authority.  It may work with the powers that be in this world, but it doesn’t work with God. In the Gospel reading for today, did you notice how those who are on the wrong side of Christ respond when Christ says they did not do the things that people of his kingdom do?  They say, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you” (Matthew 25:44)?  And he will answer them, “Just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me” (Matthew 25:45).  They thought they had done good things.They thought of themselves as good people. They expected God should be pleased with them, because they had minded their own business and stayed out of trouble. They may even think they had done great undertakings for the King, that they would have an elevated position in his kingdom because of high-powered things that they did. Jesus described such persons in his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:21-23):

  • Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?” Then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.”

Too often people have the wrong idea, thinking Jesus owes it to everybody to be nice to them.  And they also think that if they go out of their way to do things they think God wants, that then they are entitled to extra rewards, sort of like people may think their donations or efforts on behalf of some political leader entitle them to perks and privileges in that person’s administration. But Christ our King doesn’t operate by those principles. Christ calls his people to follow him, not worldly “philosophy and empty deceit” or “human tradition” (Colossians 2:9). We are called to follow the truth according to Christ, whose kingdom is not of this world (cf. John 18:36). So let’s not be confused. Let’s not slip back into worldly thinking, into tallying up our good deeds as though keeping a scoresheet will impress Christ the King, or boasting about where we think we stand with God or how right or righteous we are. Being servants of Christ’s kingdom means setting ourselves aside and simply serving others. Christ established his kingdom by laying down his life for those whom he loved and came to serve. As servants of Christ the King, we carry on in his kingdom and extend his kingdom in the same way. We deny ourselves. We take up whatever crosses we may be asked to carry, and we do all we can to help others carry their crosses too (cf. Luke 29:23-25).  As the word of our King tells us, “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2). That’s how we serve–and whom we serve–as the people of Christ the King. 

Posted by David Sellnow
06
Sep
2020

Work is essential

by David Sellnow


When the COVID-19 pandemic began, state governors issued orders identifying essential workers whose labors were needed for community health and sustenance and safety. As pandemic conditions have persisted, we’ve come to see how work is essential for everyone. Those who’ve been forced into unemployment are painfully aware of how much their work mattered, especially as extended unemployment benefits ran out.

Even in Eden, work was provided for Adam and Eve. We may sometimes think of work as a necessary evil, but meaningful labor is actually an ongoing good that God intended for us in this world. Being on a perpetual vacation with nothing to do would not be paradise. Vacations provide needed respite from overwork. A weekly day of rest (sabbath) is a divinely designed time to withdraw from busyness and renew our spirits in communion with our Creator. But work itself is a vital part of our human experience. Anyone who has ever lost a job and been out of work knows what a blow to personal identity and security and hope it is.

Work is God’s way of providing for our needs in daily life, as well as the needs of our neighbors and communities. Studies have found that job loss and insecure employment have damaging effects on individuals’ emotional well-being and overall health. A 2009 study found that “unemployed workers died more than a year earlier than average” (Houston Chronicle, 2/1/2019).  As to community wellness, a study published in 2001 in The Journal of Law and Economics found that “a substantial portion of the decline in property crime rates during the 1990s [was] attributable to the decline in the unemployment rate.” When work is unstable, our own health and the stablility of whole communities is threatened. .

All work that has a beneficial purpose is godly work. A devoted church worker, Martin Luther, labored hard to teach this truth about work outside of church. In his era, clergy persons were held to be somehow holier than ordinary people simply by virtue of the religious positions they occupied. Luther reshaped the outlook on vocation or “calling,” assigning honor to all community members who were doing good work for their neighbors.  

In his address To the Christian Nobility in the German lands (1520), Martin Luther wrote: “A cobbler, a smith, a peasant—each has the work and office of his trade, and yet they are all alike consecrated priests and bishops. Further, everyone must benefit and serve every other by means of his own work or office so that in this way many kinds of work may be done for the bodily and spiritual welfare of the community, just as all the members of the body serve one another.”  Luther also has been quoted saying, “Every occupation has its own honor before God. Ordinary work is a divine vocation or calling. In our daily work, no matter how important or mundane, we serve God by serving the neighbor and we also participate in God’s ongoing providence for the human race.”   Marc Kolden, writing in the Lutheran Journal of Ethics (2001), emphasized that Luther’s thought wasn’t so much about what formal occupation you might have. Any and every role in which you labor for others–even “the most mundane stations” and lowest tasks–”are places in which Christians ought to live out their faith” and help others by their efforts. In his writing On the Estate of Marriage (1522), for instance, Luther highlighted the noble duty of a parent changing diapers as an act of faith and love and service.

As COVID-19 began to ravage the United States, healthcare workers were hailed by members of their communities, from the banging of pots and pans each evening at 7:00pm in New York to residents going outside and howling at 8:00pm each night in Colorado. This was welcomed as recognition of essential efforts. I pray that through this present crisis, we learn to applaud work and workers in all sorts of needed roles, and also respect and remunerate workers appropriately for what they do to hold our communities together. Many of those considered “essential workers” under governors’ orders are in positions that are paid minimum wage or not much more. In my state, someone working full-time at minimum wage must spend roughly half their income to afford a one-bedroom apartment. They’d spend quite a bit more than half their income on rent in a metro area. According to government-defined standards, households that spend more than 30% of their income on rent are defined as “cost-burdened” and qualify for public assistance. Those spending more than 50% of their income on rent are “severely cost-burdened.” Something does seem amiss when persons doing work that we consider essential to community life have a hard time making ends meet as residents in the community.

So, as we observe Labor Day, let us pray:

  • with deep thanks for our own employment if we continue to have employment;
  • with passionate concern for all who are facing unemployment or reduced employment and income;
  • for generous gifts to churches and charities who work with persons in need; 
  • for strength and hope and help if we ourselves are financially burdened and at risk;
  • for recognition of all workers’ worth and the value of others’ work on our behalf;
  • for a willingness to share in supporting one another as neighbors in society;
  • for wise leadership in our nation and world to guide economies through difficult challenges;
  • for personal commitment to do all forms of labor and service as acts of faith in answer to our calling as Christ’s people.


“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms“ (1 Peter 4:10).

“Brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good” (2 Thessalonians 3:13).

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Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Posted by David Sellnow
24
Dec
2019

Be liberal with your love

Originally posted on the Electric Gospel on July 3, 2018.

Last year for Independence Day, I posted a message titled, “To Change a Nation, You Must Change Souls.”   I thought I’d post something again this year for the national holiday — something that says a little bit about how the culture of politics often differs from how hearts are moved by faith.

Feel free to share this post with others.

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Be Liberal with your Love

by David Sellnow

I want to be liberal, and hope you will be too.  I’m not talking about political liberalism, but the kind of liberality that every Christian will want to espouse.  Our hearts go out to all those in need of spiritual guidance or physical assistance.  Our gifts will flow freely, liberally, in order to bring needed benefits to them.

I fear that some within the Christian community have so adopted the doctrines of political conservatism that they become unwilling to practice liberal Christian kindness, which is eager to assist those in need.  A church member—a dear, dedicated lady—argued against giving aid to struggling families.  Our congregation was providing them with vouchers to the community food bank.  Bear in mind, we paid pennies per pound for the food, and our annual expense for this charitable effort was less than one percent of our congregational budget.  It wasn’t the amount of our donations that sparked this woman’s objection.  It was the principle of the matter.  She was firmly convinced that helping the poor encouraged helplessness and dependency.  This can sometimes be the case, but is not always so. The Bible writer James described a scenario in which an individual is truly in need of help.  You can’t tell him he should budget his income better; he has no income.  You can’t say he should work harder; he has no job and no prospects.  The person James pictured is literally naked and absolutely lacking.  He’s got nothing.  He’s totally helpless.  Will you help him … or will you pass by on the other side of the street?  James’ brother, Jesus our Savior, told a parable that warned against behavior like that.  Jesus’ parable pictured a priest and a Levite passing by on the other side of the road when they encountered one of their countrymen who had been robbed and beaten and left for dead (cf. Luke 10:30-37).  Being a true neighbor means helping anyone that you see in a position of need—as the good Samaritan in Jesus’ parable exemplified.

Along with our inaction toward neighbors in need in the communities where we live, we have allowed ourselves to fall into similar attitudes globally.  We see Third World inhabitants as the concern of international policymakers, not of personal concern to us.  We fear foreigners as threats to our jobs through outsourcing, or we want them as markets for our products through exporting.  We fail to remember that they are, first of all, people.  They deserve our evangelistic concern and Christian compassion.  If love for others—including strangers and foreigners—is not in our hearts, can we say the love of God is in us?  “He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love. … If a man says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:8,20)?

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“Be liberal with your love” is excerpted from the book, 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

Posted by Electric Gospel
24
Dec
2019

Faith must act

Originally posted on the Electric Gospel on June 23, 2018.

Faith must act

by David Sellnow

This installment of The Electric Gospel is an excerpt from the recently released book, Faith Lives in Our Actions: God’s Message in James chapter 2.   The full book is available through Kindle Direct Publishing.

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It is a central Christian truth that we are made right with God through faith, not by keeping commandments  (cf. Romans 3:28, Galatians 3:11, Ephesians 2:8,9).  Yet it is also true that where faith exists, doing good is to be expected.   “What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? … Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself” (James 2:14,17).

Faith that generates no works isn’t really faith.  True faith always has actions flowing from it.  For example, the thief on the cross next to Jesus had only a few moments of life as a believer.  Yet he was moved to confess Christ aloud and rebuke another man’s mockery.  An elderly grandmother in a nursing home may not have ability or opportunity to do community service, but her heart regularly offers prayers from where she lies in bed.

Most of us are not confined by bodily frailty.  None of us are being held down by nails through our feet.  There is so much good that we can be doing.  Why is it that at times we seem so inactive in serving the Lord and loving our neighbor?  Is there some sort of glue that has us stuck in our recliners in front of wall-sized TV screens?

James said faith by itself—without actions accompanying it—is dead.  It no longer exists.  That’s because faith never exists by itself.  Faith always acts.  A man with faith would never say, “Look at me!  I have no deeds!”  He would be ashamed of his inaction.  A person of faith is always seeking opportunities to put faith into practice.  Having faith without works is like having fire without heat.  It just doesn’t happen.

James gave a specific example of how faith connects with works.  He challenged us about our attitude toward the poor and called us to a greater love.  James asked, “What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him?  And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food, and one of you tells them, ‘Go in peace. Be warmed and filled;’ yet you didn’t give them the things the body needs, what good is it?” (James 2:15-16).

Ask yourself the uncomfortable sort of question James is asking you. What do you do if you encounter someone who is destitute?  That’s an uncomfortable question for many of us because we seek to avoid such encounters.  We build our homes in the suburbs, out of sight of urban poverty.  We teach our children that there are certain parts of town you just don’t go to.  We say this in the interest of safety.  But are we inferring that the poor are inescapably criminal and utterly beyond hope?  Might it also be that, underneath it all, we have an aversion to dealing with the poor?

James’ example demonstrates how our aversion works.  We are pious about it.  We say we’ll pray for people whom we see struggling.  We wish them well … but are eager to send them on their way.  We are reluctant to get our hands dirty and get into the ghettos and get involved.  We say to the person who can’t afford food or clothes, “God bless you, you poor dear!  I hope you will be okay.”  What good is that?  God puts needy persons in front of us for a reason.  How will their needs be met if we don’t respond to their needs?

In James’ time, a common farewell was to say “Go in peace.”  It is similar to our “goodbye,” which derived from the phrase, “God be with ye.”  Most of the time we speak expressions like “farewell” and “goodbye” as trifling slogans—indeed, how many of us even recall their original meaning?  We even say “God bless” as a parting word in a similarly empty way.  We don’t utter these words as true prayers, for that would lead to our personal involvement.  We prefer to remain detached.  To say, “I’ll pray for you,” is often a dodge to avoid doing something concrete.  Yes, we should pray for the less fortunate, and prayer is “powerfully effective” (James 5:16).  But God also wants to use us as an answer to others’ prayers, to be his agents to bring mercy into their lives.   “Let’s not love in word only, or with the tongue only, but in deed and truth.” (1 John 3:18).

Let’s look at the full picture.  We have Christians in our congregations who could use assistance.  There are persons across town or in nearby cities whose need cries out to us in our affluence.  And the world has grown closer within our reach in the centuries since James’ time.  If we ask ourselves now, “Who is my neighbor?” we must include the throngs of humanity crowded into impoverished regions all around the globe.  When I was a child, my mother said I should eat my vegetables because starving children in China would be glad to have such food.  (I suspect everybody’s mother used some similar admonishment!)  I don’t recall, though, that we ever tried to send a care package to the starving in China or India or Africa or wherever.  Maybe a plateful of one kid’s green beans wouldn’t make much global impact.  But in our world today, we have access and ability, through missionaries and other charitable organizations, to share shiploads of necessities with neighbors all over the world who are “naked and in lack of daily food” (James 2:15), or who need medical care or other basic humanitarian services.  Do we think much about them?  Do we do much to help them?  James’ powerful urging is:  Do something!  The world’s poor are not to be viewed as a drain on the world’s economy, but as opportunities for us to put faith into action.

Posted by Electric Gospel