eternity

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
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
28
May
2024

John 3:16 – Father, Son, and Spirit in Action

Trinity Sunday was observed this week. The Gospel reading for the day included a well-known and well-loved passage from Scripture, John 3:16.  I’ll share here a message based on John 3:16, pondering the actions of the Triune God on our behalf.

For additional thoughts for Trinity Sunday and season, see also the post, “We trust in a God who goes beyond our understanding.”

God Loves You

In the town where I grew up, it was not uncommon to be stopped on the street and asked, “Are you saved?” (The questioners were students from a small Bible college in the town.) You won’t find the question, “Are you saved?” as a mission strategy used by any of God’s witnesses or apostles in the Bible.  You will find them, time and again, telling and retelling the simple, straightforward message of why we needed Jesus and what Jesus did for us.  God’s message is not a question, “Are you saved?” but a declaration: “You are saved!”  God doesn’t interrogate us, pressuring us to make decisions we don’t have the spiritual power to make. Instead, he tells us where we stand when we are standing outside of his grace, and he tells us how we are rescued by his amazing grace.

The message God speaks to you again and again in Scripture is that he loves you. The most famous such Bible statement is John 3:16. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

That one sentence is the Word of God in a nutshell.  It holds within it a complete story of how much we needed God and how much his love has done for us. God loves us so much that he, the Father, gave up his Son. God, the Son, gave up his life. God the Holy Spirit gives us life when he brings us to believe in what God has done in Jesus. God—the Father, Son and Spirit—in threefold fashion is our Savior from the sin and desperation in which otherwise we would perish.

Let’s look at the love of the Father first. God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son.  Amazing. Simply amazing. For one thing, we marvel at the relationship between Father, Son and Spirit who exist in one Being. We stand awestruck at that thought. We never fully fathom how God can be how he is—but he is! And then we’re amazed at the grace of God, that he would give up his Son, who is one with the Father, letting his eternal Son die in order to rescue us. We did not live to please God; we live to please ourselves. We are people who are ruled by our desires—desires that fight against God so that we do not and cannot obey God’s laws (see Romans 8:5-7). And yet God loves us! What grace! It is undeserved and unappreciated, but God loves us anyway. Like a father of runaway children who left home to live in the streets, God loved us even though we made ourselves unlovable. He kept his arms open to receive us even though we told him not to wait up, that we weren’t coming home. God loves us like a Father who never gives up on his children—and gave his most beloved Child, his own eternal Son—so that we could be his children and included in his family. “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are” (1 John 3:1).

And Jesus, God’s own Son, was a willing participant in this plan. Jesus did not object to his role in our redemption. He looked straight ahead and hoisted the cross on his shoulder and began to drag it to the place where he would be executed as the ultimate act of God’s love for sinners. Even before it happened, Jesus matter-of-factly told his disciples, “The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles; they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him” (Mark 10:33-34).  When one of his disciples said, “No! Never, Lord!” Jesus scolded him for thinking that way, for not having God’s plan in mind (cf. Matthew 16:21-22). “Christ loved us and gave himself for us,” is how Scripture tells the story (Ephesians 5:2). No one took his life from him; he laid it down of his own accord (John 10:18). The apostle Paul pondered on the magnitude of what Jesus did, saying, “Rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7-8). That’s an amazing amount of love—God the Son gave up his life to make us sons and daughters of God with him, when there was nothing inherently in us that made us worthy of such a gift.

And there’s still more. God, who sent his Son from heaven, who gave his life on the cross, is not content to leave it at that and then let it up to us from there. He brings his love to us personally. He pours out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he gives to us (Romans 5:5). The Holy Spirit gives us life from God.  Notice something in the familiar words of John 3:16, that whoever believes in God’s Son (Jesus) shall have eternal life.  Believing in Christ is not something we, of ourselves, have the power to do. “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3). We were dead in our spirits, but God made us alive with the Spirit’s message of Christ. The Bible says it quite plainly:  A person “without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:14 NIV). We needed the Spirit to take the blindness from our eyes so we could see God, to lift the veil of deadness from our hearts so we could believe in God.

The Father loved us and gave up his Son. The Son loved us and gave up his life. The Spirit loved us and gave us the gift of faith, so that all the love of God would be revealed to us and believed by us. God loves us through and through, from start to finish—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As I said at the outset, there’s no question about whether or not you are saved; there is a definitive answer, a declarative statement. God loves you and has saved you in Christ and has convinced you of that truth by his Spirit. God’s love is not a question; it is a fact, a certainty.

Still, even though we know this, our fragile hearts find ways to question God, to question whether God really loves us. You know how it goes, something like this: God, you say you love me … but then why, God, is my life so difficult?  How come people who don’t seem to care about you get all the breaks in life and I get nothing? How come I have to struggle and scrape to get by? You say you love me, God, but I have a hard time seeing it. If you love me so much, why don’t you make my life better?”

Why do we ask such questions? Why do we make such accusations against God?  Why do we find ourselves doubting his love? Because we look for evidence of his love in the wrong places. We look for evidence of the wrong sort. We look for evidence in terms of earthly things and earthly advantages and earthly successes. That typically isn’t the sort of evidence of his love that God gives.

Let me ask you this: Would you say that God the Father loved his Son, Jesus? Yes, of course. He even said so for people to hear when Jesus was on this earth. When Jesus was baptized, God’s voice was heard from heaven, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love” (Matthew 3:17).  There were two other occasions later in Jesus’ time on earth when the same thing happened—God spoke from heaven and said, “This is my Son, whom I love.”  God loved Jesus;  we’ll take that as an undeniable fact.

Yet Jesus said of his own life on earth, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). Jesus had no mansion, no castle, not even a house. He went from place to place all the time. At the end of his life, Jesus’ wardrobe consisted of the clothes on his back. And those clothes were stripped off of him and divided up by soldiers who crucified him. Jesus was stripped naked and nailed to a cross and hung up to die. 

God loved Jesus. How could God allow his own Son whom he loved to be treated like that? Because God had a higher, better, bigger goal in mind. Jesus would die without a thing in this world to his name, but would rise again to life and have us as his own. He and we look forward to eternal pleasures in the kingdom of heaven (cf. Psalm 16:11).

God isn’t so much concerned about how nice your house might be on this planet, or how much luxury you can afford, or how many clothing choices you have when you look in your closet. Oh, he will give you enough to get by—you can thank him for that. But all that stuff is surely not the main way in which God wishes to show love to you. His love to you is mainly in Jesus. His love for you is intended to connect you to him for eternity. His love to you is most concerned with preparing a place for you in the mansions of heaven, not making sure you’re comfortable in some suburban subdivision here below.  If you look for God’s love in terms of what kind of house you can afford and what kind of car you drive and what kind of friends you have in your neighborhood, you’re bound to be disappointed. Look to God, instead, for the best of what he has to give you:

  • Love that is constant in Jesus even when persons in this world seem not to love you. 
  • Life that is guaranteed by the Holy Spirit even when what you experience in this world seems to be one failed promise after another. 
  • A relationship that is solid with the Father in heaven even when relationships on earth with family and friends are cracked and strained and unstable.   

Don’t look for evidence of God’s love merely in people and things—see the evidence of God’s love in God himself, in what he has done. God so loved the world (and God so loved you) that he gave his precious Son, Jesus Christ, to secure eternal life for you. 

God loves you. If you ever have any doubt about that, look at what the Father did. Look at what Jesus did. Look at what the Holy Spirit has done and is doing. Salvation is not a question; it’s the deepest, greatest truth in the universe. God loves you in Christ and has made you his own by his Spirit, and you will live forever in him. Hang onto that love—the best love there is, no question about it.

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
09
Apr
2024

Good Shepherd resources for ministers

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

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

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

The LORD our Shepherd, through whom we have life

  • Originally preached April 16, 1961

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Posted by David Sellnow
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
04
Jun
2023

Thoughts for Trinity Sunday

“Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5, World English Bible).

We trust in a God who goes beyond understanding

by David Sellnow

Image by jette55 from Pixabay

There is an ancient Christian creed that says, “We worship one God in three persons, and three persons in one God,” that “the Father is eternal, the Son eternal, the Holy Spirit eternal. Yet they are not three eternals, but one eternal Lord God” (The Athanasian Creed). Can you explain that? That makes no sense humanly speaking, mathematically or logically. Yet we declare it to be true.

The conundrum of the Trinity is just one of the many secrets of God. Consider Jesus Christ himself. Jesus is Son of God and Son of Man. In Christ all the fullness of God is present in a human body, the Bible says (cf. Colossians, 2:9). Can you explain how that is possible, that God became human and lived among us? Incredible, isn’t it?  Yet it is also true.

Consider the wonders God has done. Out of nothing, God made everything. He called the universe into being. Can you scientifically account for the intricacies of the created order? The most brilliant scientific minds continue to search and study such questions. God’s word asserts that his divine hand is behind it all. To quote a psalmist: “Heaven is declaring God’s glory; the sky is proclaiming his handiwork. … His lightning lights up the world …  and all nations have seen his glory” (Psalm 19:1; Psalm 97:4,6, Common English Bible).

God tells us that he will one day resurrect our bodies from the grave. Dead tissue will come back to life. Scattered ashes and decomposed bones will rise up again as the same people who once lived in these bodies. Is that something you can devise and do at home? If we understood how resurrection could happen, surely somebody would be building a life-reviving business right now. But we don’t rationally comprehend such things. The miracles and mysteries of God are beyond what we can humanly conceive or do. It’s like Elihu told Job in days of old: “Surely, God is great. … My heart trembles and leaps out of its place” (Job 36:26, 37:1).

We believe in a God who goes beyond understanding. That is good–because where our understanding is limited, God is unlimited. His ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:9). Even the revered King Solomon, who was renowned throughout the world for his wisdom, readily admitted his inadequacy before God. It is Solomon who tells us: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight” (Proverbs 3:5). Solomon’s own life story exemplified how following his own instincts became a meaningless “chasing after the wind” (Ecclesiastes 2:11). He learned that apart from God, no one could enjoy life or have what they need (Ecclesiastes 2:25). 

When we ponder God’s triune nature, we may offer analogies like water, ice, and steam (the same substance in three different forms). However, none of our illustrations do justice to the greatness of God’s being. I once tried my own illustration for a children’s sermon. I asked three of the youngsters in church to come forward, and I said I was going to combine them into one person. Then I put my arms around all three of them in a bear hug and squeezed and squeezed. They laughed, but of course, they could not all be one in essence together. Yet God tells us that he is Father, Son, and Spirit, each distinct, and yet all three unified as one together in the divine Being. 

If we try to put God into a framework that fits our way of thinking, then as the author J.B. Phillips said, we’ve made God too small.  As Phillips wrote, the immensely broad sweep of the Creator’s activity, the astonishing complexity of his mind’s processes (which science labors to uncover), the vast sea of what we see as God’s handiwork–all this is only a small portion of who God is. We have only a glimpse of his awesomeness in the small corner of the universe in which we human beings live and move and have our being. 

We accept the greatness of God and all his miraculous doings on faith. Faith confesses that we live and move and have our being in God (Acts 17:28), though we can’t see him. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). We have not seen God, nor can we comprehend everything about him, yet we believe and trust in him with all our hearts. 

And God is worthy of being trusted. He is the LORD, Yahweh or Jehovah, whose name means “He is.” He just is, always the same, always existing, always the Lord. From everlasting to everlasting, he is God (Psalm 90:2). The number of his years is past finding out (Job 36:26). He fills heaven and earth (Jeremiah 23:24). He rides on the wings of the wind (Psalm 104:2,3).  He is beyond our reach and exalted in power (Job 37:23). He does great things beyond our grasp (Job 37:5). His greatness no one can fathom (Psalm 145:3). 

I could go on and on with more quotes from Scripture. The Lord is amazing in every way. An English translation of the ancient creed I mentioned before said it with style: “The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible; and yet not three incomprehensibles, but one incomprehensible.” God is incomprehensible–infinite, uncreated, eternal, almighty. He is the Lord. Therefore, we trust in him–and our trust is not misplaced.

Solomon’s proverb pictures the contrast between trusting in God vs. relying on one’s own brainpower with an intriguing choice of Hebrew words. In English, we read, “Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5 WEB). The idea in the Hebrew word “SHa’aN,” (שָׁעַן) means to lean on something like you’d lean on a cane or walking stick. It holds you up, but barely. It’s a crutch that lets you limp along. On the other hand, for the Hebrew expression describing “trust in” the Lord, Solomon used another word: BaTaKH ( בְּטַ֣ח). It means to feel safe and fully confident, to have an unshakeable sense of security. To picture this, think of a young child finding security in her father’s or mother’s arms. Envision a sick or injured toddler, who is unable to understand the hurt. Still, she feels safe in her parent’s embrace. She will fall asleep there, calm and reassured. That’s what trusting God is like. And God is our Father. He is in control and can cure all ills. He is a very real help and refuge to us at all times, able to remove our fears (cf. Psalm 46). What a blessing to be held up and carried in his everlasting arms (cf. Deuteronomy 33:27)! We need not wobble along with only our own intelligence or ability to prop us up.

We recognize that God “dwells in unapproachable light” and “no one has ever seen or can see” him (1 Timothy 6:16). Yet while God is unapproachable, unimaginable, in so many ways, he does not wish to remain unknown to us or unseen by us. He wants us to be able to stand before his throne and see his face (Revelation 22:4), to know fully and see face-to-face the glory that is his (1 Corinthians 13:12). To that end, he provided a way for us to know him and come to him. While  “no one has ever seen God, It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known” (John 1:18). That, ultimately, is the basis for our trust in the Lord. We trust in God not because it makes such good sense or we understand every detail about eternity. We trust in him because he’s shown us such great love and safeguards our souls.

Faith consists not in trying to hold ourselves up with the crutch of our own understanding, but relying fully on the strong rock who is God, trusting in the Savior God provided (Jesus), believing because the Spirit has convinced us all this is true. That’s all we really need to understand. We know Jesus, and Jesus is sufficient to meet all our needs (Hebrews 7:26). Jesus bridges the gap between us and God. The peace which God gives us goes beyond all understanding, and keeps our hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7).  We rest assured when we are resting in God and his promises.

Let me add just one more thing as we conclude this meditation. Confessing that God goes beyond our understanding doesn’t mean we stop using our understanding—our minds and all the other good gifts with which God has blessed us. Trusting in the Lord doesn’t mean we go through life saying, “God knows what’s best for me, so I’ll wait for a sign from heaven”–about what job or career path to pursue, or what decisions to make. We use our minds and the skills God has given us. We take stock of ourselves, assess the gifts and abilities God has given us and the opportunities set before us, and we make decisions.  Trusting in the Lord and not leaning on human understanding doesn’t mean that when we get sick, we’ll decline seeing a doctor and just say, “I’ll pray about this, because I know God can heal me.” We will pray, but most certainly also will make use of help and resources available to us in God’s created world. All the while, we know that even if modern medicine cannot cure us, not even death can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord (cf. Romans 8:38,39).

Photo by Jessica Lewis Creative: https://www.pexels.com/photo/black-mug-with-religious-text-from-holy-bible-4200823/

Our God has created us with much ability, much understanding, many resources and tools. We will use all those things to navigate our lives as best we can. But as people of faith, we also have this underlying confidence: A loving God who is far greater than us is always with us. When life hits us with challenges bigger than we can handle, when we can’t answer all the questions and dilemmas of our world, when death is on our doorstep or takes loved ones from us, when we are at our wit’s end … we still have our God, our heavenly Father, holding out his arms to fold us into his embrace. We still have our Brother, our Savior, Jesus, who gave his life for us and gives us life eternally with him. We still have our encourager, our Advocate (John 14:26), the Holy Spirit, who fills up our hearts and enables us to live with hope.  Dear friends, fellow believers, we have peace of mind and peace of heart in knowing God. And the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit will be with you, always (cf. 2 Corinthians 13:7).

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
07
May
2023

Blessed Assurance

Easter continues

by David Sellnow

Image credit: Pxfuel

Easter Sunday was a month ago … but our Easter joy is ongoing. Over the past three weekends at church services I attended, we sang these opening hymns:

  • “Alleluia! Jesus Is Risen!”
  • “I Know That My Redeemer Lives”
  • “Hallelujah! Jesus Lives!” 

We don’t stop singing Easter songs after Easter Sunday, because the Easter season continues. Indeed, Sundays became “the Lord’s day” for worship (Revelation 1:10), as Christians commemorated weekly the miracle of Jesus rising from the dead (which occurred on a Sunday).

Some years ago, I wrote Easter lyrics for a familiar Christian hymn, “Blessed Assurance,” emphasizing the consistent confidence we have because Jesus has conquered death for us. 

I’ll share those lyrics here, as we continue our Easter spirit, assured in our faith.

Blessed assurance, Jesus gives me!
His resurrection is my victory.
His death forgives me, purges my sin;
by faith that’s giv’n me, heaven I win. |
Blessed assurance, Jesus gives me!
Promises I’ll live eternally!
Jesus, my Savior, praises I’ll sing–
for the new life that to me you bring.

Blessed assurance, Jesus arose!
I am released from all deadly foes.
Jesus for all the victory won.
Sin’s curse has ended; life has begun.
Hear now my story, hear now, my song–
praising my Savior, all the day long!
Sing loud the story, sing loud the song–
Praising our Savior, all the day long!

Blessed assurance, I will arise,
live with my Savior again, in the skies!
All grief and sorrow will then be gone;
glory will shine in me like the sun.
Blessed assurance, Jesus gives me!
Promises I’ll live eternally!
Jesus, my Savior, praises I bring.
You are my life, my hope, and my king.

Fanny Crosby, from Wikimedia Commons

For information on the original music and lyrics to “Blessed Assurance” by Phoebe Knapp and Fanny Crosby (1873), see this article that was published in the St. Augustine Record newspaper.

Posted by David Sellnow
15
Aug
2022

Timelessness

“With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day.” (2 Peter 3:8)

Life has been hectic for me lately. For more than two months, I haven’t paused long enough to post thoughts to this blog. Perhaps no one noticed, because whoever might be reading this might have been busy too!

Today’s task for me was to catch up on some spring cleaning. (Yes, I know, it’s late summer.)  I came across some thoughts I once wrote on the subject of this life’s time pressures. Rereading those thoughts did me some good. If you’ve been feeling time-pressured, maybe these thoughts will be good for you too.

Back when my kids were young, I recall a night we thought we had just enough time to gather the family for a quick meal. One child was finishing sports practice; another was on the way to a game; a third needed to be at play rehearsal; the youngest would tag along in one direction or another. We had a 45-minute window when all of us could be together for supper. But the pickup window at the burger joint was slow. Instead of sitting down at the table, we had to grab and run, in separate cars, gulping our food on the way here and there.

As I drove my daughter to her rehearsal, a song came on the radio–a song about heaven. It was a country song … and not a particularly good one. It made me think, though: How wonderful heaven will be! No chasing, no racing, no pressures, no deadlines. Instead, endless peace. We will rest from our labors (Revelation 14:13) with no more recurring cycle of day and night (Revelation 21:23). Time as we know it will cease, and “we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Eternity with God will be so tranquil that the floor of heaven is described as being “something like a sea of glass, like crystal” (Revelation 4:6).

Sometimes people picture the peacefulness of heaven as though it will be dull or tedious. Cartoons lampoon harp players sitting on clouds, looking as if they have nothing else to do. Don’t think of heavenly rest that way. We will be active. We will be lively. We will be engaged in constant service in God’s presence (Revelation 7:15). We will be singing the praises of Christ for his salvation (Revelation 5:12). We will see God’s face and will reign with him (Revelation 22:4). Life will be calm, but it won’t be tedious.

What we will be missing from heaven–(and we won’t miss such things!)–are the problems and pitfalls associated with our current time-bound existence. Temporal life has become defined by mortality and decay, by conflicts and complications. Sin has made our world that way (cf. Romans 8:19-23). Everlasting life will have none of the things that cut short our time here. “With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day” (2 Peter 3:8). Yet there will be no feelings of boredom, nor any sense of time dragging. Never will we experience the anguish of an awful episode that seems like it will never end. “Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more” (Revelation 21:4). That old order of things will have passed away.

At the moment, in the here and now, I’m a month behind in sending a birthday card to one of my siblings. I’m scrambling to keep up with tasks at work, logging overtime hours because our agency is experiencing staff shortages (as are many human services agencies these days). In the non-momentary infinity of the hereafter, we’ll all have ample hours always. (What are hours there?)  We’ll have limitless capacity to associate with one another in the heavenly family and uninterrupted opportunity to be with our Father. I’m glad for all the activities of my family and associates on this earth, glad we find time to enjoy many good things in our world. Yet I long for the timelessness of heaven and the even stronger bond of faith and hope and love that will exist for us with one another there.

David Sellnow

**********

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.

A version of this devotional writing was published in Forward in Christ (January 2005).

Posted by David Sellnow
17
Apr
2022

An Easter message

Life is eternal in Jesus

  • 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, the first fruits of those who have died (1 Corinthians 15:19,20).

Maintaining our hope in life can be extremely challenging. In my own circle of contacts, I have known a family (mother and two daughters) that died in a house fire. I’ve sat in the ICU waiting room with a soon-to-be widow, whose husband’s body was shutting down and whose kidneys were failing after a lifelong struggle with diabetes. I knew a young bride-to-be whose fiancé died in his sleep before they were married, for no apparent cause. I’m sure each of you has known families and individuals who have experienced heartache and struggle and loss; likely, you’ve experienced tests of faith in your own household. Life in this world has many days of joy, and many days of ordinary routine …  but, all too often, also has so many problems and so much pain. It can be hard to hold onto hope in day-to-day affairs. Where is hope when your car gets stolen by thieves whose only purpose is to post reckless driving videos on social media? When the job you worked in for decades tells you they’re downsizing and you’re done? When your spouse or life partner walks away, abandons you? When your doctor tells you the prognosis is not good? When wars and pandemics can turn our world upside down in a matter of days? Well-meaning friends may try to console us, saying, “Whenever God closes a door, he opens a window.” But we want to shout back, “All I see are boarded-up windows everywhere. And if there is a window, it’s a hundred feet off the ground; if I try to go in that direction, I’ll fall and be crushed.” When the worst happens–when a life ends and we lose a loved one–we want to hope for a reunion one day in the next life. But we have our doubts about that too.  It’s just so hard to believe. 

Think of what it was like for Jesus’ friends and followers when he died. Even though they had witnessed the astonishing miracles he had done, his death had crushed their hopes. They’d seen him multiply a handful of food into enough to feed thousands. They’d seen him give sight to the blind and cure incurable diseases. They’d seen him bring dead persons back to life. He gave a dead girl back to her father alive (cf. Luke 8:49-56). He gave a dead son back to his widowed mother, turning a funeral procession into a celebration of life (cf. Luke 7:11-17). He restored his friend, Lazarus, to his sisters Mary and Martha, after Lazarus had been in the tomb already four days (cf. John 11).  Jesus’ disciples had every reason to be confident in Jesus’ power over everything, including death. But their confidence was shattered when they saw Jesus arrested, tried, beaten, whipped, convicted as a criminal, crucified, dead, and buried. The disciples of Jesus were devastated. On Sunday morning, when women who had gone to the tomb reported that the stone was rolled away and the tomb was empty and they had seen angels who said Jesus was alive again, for Jesus’ apostles, “These words seemed an idle tale, and they did not believe them” (Luke 24:11).  In the evening on that day, the disciples of Jesus were still not sure what to think. They met behind locked doors out of fear (cf. John 20:19). They feared the same sort of horrors that Jesus suffered awaited them from a hostile community. Jesus needed to appear to them personally, alive and well, before they were able to believe the good news of the resurrection–even though Jesus had told them in advance this is what would happen. The experience of Thomas, who was not with them when they saw Jesus, was essentially the same experience all the disciples had. Thomas said, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in [the spear wound in] his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25).  They all had been that way. The reality of the resurrection was so unbelievable, they needed to see to believe.

We struggle in that way too. We don’t visibly see the souls of our loved ones being welcomed into the arms of God in heaven. We haven’t personally witnessed anyone come back from the dead. We want to believe that decayed or cremated remains can be remade and reinvigorated by God, resurrected to life everlasting. But believing is so, so hard.  

The message of Easter is the message that Jesus gave a week later when he appeared to his disciples again, this time with Thomas there too.  Jesus said to Thomas, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (John 20:29).  Those who have not yet seen and yet have come to believe–that’s us.  It was hard for the friends and followers of Jesus–who knew him in person as a human being on this earth–to come to believe in him as the eternal Son of God and as the Lord who could come back even after he was brutalized, lifeless, and buried. But they saw Jesus, who “presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs” (Acts 1:3), and the unbelievable became the rock-solid foundation of their faith. By the Spirit’s power to change hearts and minds, Jesus’ disciples’ faith in the resurrection became a witness to the world of the reality of Jesus’ power.

It is hard for us–as believers in Jesus today–to hold onto hope and faith in the face of the death of our loved ones, in the face of the struggles of our lives and the troubles of our world. But we rely on the word of the apostles who saw Jesus alive.  Peter said, “We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty” (2 Peter 1:16). And Peter assured us, “Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls (1 Peter 1:8-9).  We have confidence in the testimony of those who were led by Jesus, who witnessed his death, and saw him alive again, and watched him ascend back into the sky (cf. Acts 1:6-11).  Those first disciples of Jesus were threatened, persecuted, and even killed because they stood by their confession of his resurrection with confidence. That’s how sure they were. We have those sure promises of God, which the apostles and prophets have shared with us (cf. Ephesians 2:19-20). God guarantees his promises of life forever are true. God’s promises are our reason for hope when life becomes a struggle, when death overtakes persons that we love, when the events of our world are more chaos than calm.

“We believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died” (1 Thessalonians 4:14). That is our hope. That is our faith. That is what enables us to keep going from one day to the next, and what enables us to face even our last days with confidence. We have been given “a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).

Lord, we believe; help us overcome our doubts (cf. Mark 9:23-24).  

Prayer:  Lord of heaven and earth, help us when we experience pain and loss in our lives here on earth.  Help us to have a view that includes all of life—all the way to eternal life in heaven with you.   Enable us to endure sadness and tragedies by clinging to the living hope that you have given us—the hope of an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade, kept in heaven for us (cf. 1 Peter 1:4).  Trusting in Jesus’ resurrection, we pray.  Amen.

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

Posted by David Sellnow
01
Dec
2021

The Resurrection is our Hope

Last month, I shared a sermon by my father as the blog post of the month. My thoughts are very much focused on family also as this month draws to a close.  A member of our family has passed away, and we will be gathering for her funeral.  It seems appropriate to share another sermon from my father at this time.  As church year thoughts shifted from End Times (thinking of the end of life and end of this world) to the start of Advent (thinking of Christ’s return to take us home), this was a sermon preached by my father, November 20, 1960.


Christian Comfort in the Face of Death

by Donald C. Sellnow

But we don’t want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you don’t grieve like the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.  For this we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever.  Therefore comfort one another with these words.

(1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)


In directing us to the comfort that is ours in the face of death, Christ’s apostle refers three times who have died as being asleep. The death of a Christian truly can be called a sleep, because the person is awaiting a glorious awakening. The awakening will take place in the resurrection of the body on the last day, an awakening to eternal life made certain for God’s people by the resurrection of Jesus from the grave. As Paul reminded us, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus” (v.14). 

The resurrection of Jesus is a fundamental belief of our Christian faith. It is so vital and all-important that the New Testament writers refer to it no less than 104 times. It is the very basis of our Christian comfort in the face of death. If Christ had not risen from the dead, our faith would be in vain and useless, and we would look forward to death with only fear and despair.

But our faith is not in vain, and we need not fear death. Our Savior did indeed rise again the third day, as we confess in the Apostles’ Creed, as attested to by scores of witnesses (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:3-8). God’s sure word assures us Christ’s resurrection is a fact, beyond any reasonable doubt.  Christ’s appearances after his resurrection are detailed in that Word, recounting how Jesus showed himself to his disciples again and again. He gave them many convincing proofs that he—whom they had seen dead and buried—was alive again. He walked and talked with them. He ate and drank with them. He let them touch his risen body and see the marks of the crucifixion in his flesh. His friends and followers were at first slow to believe it, or we might say, they were appropriately skeptical. But the Lord Jesus thoroughly and completely convinced them of the miracle of his resurrection—so much so that they were ready to die for their confession of Christ as the risen Savior.

The good news that Christ rose triumphant from the grave is a sure, biblical fact. It also is much more than that, for it is a fact filled with wonderful meaning for us. The fact that Christ rose from the dead assures us that his death on the cross was indeed a redemptive, meaningful act for us all. His sacrifice of himself on the cross has taken away the sins of the whole world and opened up the gates of heaven to all, so that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

Christ’s resurrection assures us that all our sins are forgiven, and also assures us that we, too, will rise to eternal life. As the apostle Paul stated: “Even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus” (v.14). All who by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit hold fast in faith to the end, trusting in the crucified and risen Savior, shall be raised up with him in joy and glory. For we have our risen Savior’s sure promise:  “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25,26).

Therefore, since we have this sure comfort based on the resurrection of our Lord, we need not grieve in a way that is without hope when our loved ones depart this life. They have fallen asleep in Jesus, but will be awakened to life forever with Jesus. Surely, it is appropriate to mourn over the departure of loved ones from this life. Jesus himself wept at the grave of his friend Lazarus, whom he had loved deeply (cf. John 11:28-37). But in our grief, we also have rays of hope shining through, as we remember our loved one died in Christ. Those who have rested in Christ’s arms during this life rest in his loving arms also in death, and await the glorious resurrection of their bodies to life eternal, which is to come.

Another comfort we have concerning the resurrection is that there will be no disadvantage to those who have already fallen asleep in Jesus when that day comes. There will be equal joy for all believers in Christ.  The Christians at Thessalonica, to whom Paul wrote his epistle, were eagerly awaiting the Lord’s return in glory. But as they awaited the Savior’s second coming, they began to wonder what would happen to those who already had died in Christ. Somehow they had gotten the idea that those still living at the time of Christ’s return would have a great advantage over those who had already died. They feared the dear departed would not be able to see and welcome the Savior when he appeared. In connection with this misconception, the apostle told them: “For this we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever” (v.15-17).

Here Paul gives us a fuller picture of the great resurrection on Judgment Day. On that day, our Savior will return in glory to judge the living and the dead. He will descend from heaven with a shout, with a mighty order and command that will penetrate every grave and echo through the whole creation. The voice of the archangel (greatest among the angels) will also be heard. He will sound forth the trumpet of God over all the earth. Then “the dead in Christ will rise first” (v.16). We know that on Judgment Day, all that are in the grave, believers and unbelievers alike, shall be raised up. But here St. Paul wants to comfort the Christians concerning a very specific point. He is content to center attention only on the rising of the believers. And what he wants to tell us is this: The very first thing that the Savior will do upon his return for judgment is to raise up his believers. Then, as they are resurrecting, those Christians who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus there will be no advantage or disadvantage either for the dead or the living Christians. Simultaneously, both will be caught up to meet and welcome their Lord, who has come to bring final deliverance from evil to his people. In the resurrection, Chtrist will also give his people a glorified body. We will be given bodies free from the consequences of sin, sickness and disease, immortal bodies that will be perfectly suited for life that lasts forever. As the same St. Paul assured us in another of his letters to the church: “Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die,but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory’” (1 Corinthians 15:51-55). 

That brings us to the final part of our meditation about our comfort in the face of death. The comfort is endless, perpetual, enduring, for “we will be with the Lord forever” (v.17).  Our comfort as Christians is an eternal comfort. We will be in the presence of our gracious Savior in a life of bliss without end. The resurrection of the body will take us forward to a place where God himself will be with his people and “he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4). What a wonderful comfort this is for us when we are approaching our own death and as we think of our loved ones who have preceded us in death. For we shall meet them again in heaven, where we shall be together with them and with our Lord. In that heavenly home, there shall be fullness of happiness and joy forevermore.

“Therefore comfort one another with these words” (v.18). We indeed can comfort one another with these words of gospel truth. The message of the resurrection to eternal life is a bright ray of hope in the face of death. The fact that Christ died and rose again—and that he will raise up all who believe in him to eternal life with him—is the rock solid ground of our confidence. This central truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ—the power of his resurrection, shared with us—is what gives rest and peace and comfort to our souls as we face the loss of a loved one or our own last hour on this earth. May we all hold fast in faith to Christ the Savior, clinging to this comfort always. 

Lord, keep us steadfast in faith and grant us at last a blessed death and a joyous awakening in our eternal home. 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