Hebrews

Feb

2022

Why church?

I initially sketched out the thoughts of this post as a conversation starter for a church committee. I’ve reworked the thoughts for sharing here. Feel free to join the conversation here via comments, or to share with others if you find the thoughts useful.

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Why church?

Our mutual need for spiritual encouragement

Attendance at church services was dropping year by year before COVID happened. Getting people back into church settings after pandemic lockdowns added further challenges. When anyone can access anything they want online, including spiritual videos and writings, who needs church?

We do need church … although not necessarily in the sense of buildings we meet in. Martin Luther reminded us that a building “should not be called a church except for the single reason that the group of people assembles there.” Those who gather give the house of worship the name “church” by virtue of their assembly (Large Catechism: Apostles Creed). We gather in order to connect with each other and with the Lord, to keep “encouraging one another” (Hebrews 10:25). The first Christians (in the first century) didn’t have church buildings to meet in. They gathered in each other’s homes. They met wherever they could meet, knowing that holding onto hope and living in love wasn’t easy (cf. Hebrews 10:23-24). Like those first century believers, we still need community with each other and communion with God. As another writer on this blog has attested: “The benefit of having a close community with your church is immeasurable–a family of believers who all look out for one another in love, support each other in faith, and build each other up” (The Electric Gospel, 6/13/2014).

Image credit: Liturgy.co.nz

As Christians, we want to share the life and fellowship that we have with others. We invite others to join us in church–to be included in our prayers, in our songs, in listening to words from God together with us. At the same time, we seek to extend Christ’s message outside the church walls too, in every form of outreach available to us. Technology has been a blessing, allowing us to connect with persons near and far through blogs, emails, videoconferencing and live streaming. Where the ancient church used letters (“epistles”), disseminated from congregation to congregation, we rely on the information technologies of our time to stay in touch. If you’re reading this as someone outside the church, and you’re not yet comfortable stepping inside a church, by all means explore, browse, stream, investigate from where you are. Look for ministries that convey Christ’s love and welcome for all people. Listen for the warmth of Christ that says, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). I pray you will find a gospel-focused ministry in your area that could become a church home for you.

I’ve known plenty of people who have been uneasy about churches and ministries, as they had been deeply hurt by religious institutions and individuals. There are now institutes and studies examining religious trauma, which usually stems from struggles within an authoritarian religion or religious group, and then persons begin to “question the true extent of what they’ve been taught to believe” (Apricity Behavioral Health, 2020). There are podcasts, such as Cafeteria Christian, for listeners who want a connection to Jesus but have been disillusioned by the actions of many professed Christians. It’s understandable for non-churchgoers to be skeptical of the church. It’s imperative for those of us who are churchgoers to show our neighbors that they truly are welcome in our community. The church is to be a place for mutual spiritual uplifting, a place where Jesus guides how we treat one another: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven” (Luke 6:37). When someone is in need of encouragement and seeks spiritual guidance (whether by attendance at church or accessing ministries online), we want them to know they have a friend in Jesus–and in us.

Let people come together–inside the church and through the extended outreach of the church–in ways that provide mutual spiritual encouragement in the spirit of the Savior.

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Just as I am, though tossed about
with many a conflict, many a doubt,
fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, thy love unknown
has broken ev’ry barrier down;
now to be thine, yea, thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

– “Just As I Am,” Charlotte Elliott (1835)

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.

Jun

2021

A suffering woman and a dead girl

Jesus is our Hope when Problems are Unsolvable

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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.

Dec

2019

An invitation to church

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on June 12, 2015. The following was written as a “letter to a friend” assignment in one of my Bible courses.

Come to church with me!

by Elizabeth Jeske

Hey, Jack!

It was so good hanging out with you last week! It seems like it’s been so long since we have spent some quality time together. It totally felt like the moment we left off though, as if no time had passed since we last hung out. I’m glad that we are that close!

You know that I care about you very much and only want the best things for you. Because of this, I can tell when you are not doing so well. I have noticed that you have not been going to church lately. I am not making any accusations and judgments, merely stating what I have observed. I know that there are dozens of reasons that people miss church, like sickness or traveling. But since this has been happening frequently, I have become a bit worried as to why you are regularly missing church.

The Bible has quite a bit to say as to why we attend church. First and foremost, it is a way to preserve and strengthen our faith. We are encouraged to “draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:22-25).

This section of Scripture speaks about several reasons we should go to church. First, we go to church because we are sinful beings. We consistently sin. I mean, we can’t NOT sin. We always are falling short of what we are supposed to be doing, falling short of what is expected of us. What better way is there to be reminded of our forgiveness, to have our consciences cleansed, than immersing ourselves in the Word in worship?

Another purpose of church is to get us into the habit of fellowship. The ability to profess your faith with other Christians is a wonderful experience. Being able to worship with other Christians helps strengthen our faith. It is also encouraging to see others in the faith worshipping alongside you. And Christ says that when two or more are gathered together, he is also there.

Faith needs to be nourished and stay active. An idle faith is sure to lead to no good. When we do not use our faith, it is not growing. It is not doing anything. An idle faith is not prepared for the temptations and devastations of the world. Regular worship is beneficial to keeping faith refreshed and prepared for the sin that constantly surrounds us. Continually going to church is a good way to stay active in our faith.

You might say that it is not worth going to church when your heart is not in it. While it might seem that way, it is quite the opposite. Going to church, even when our hearts are not in the right place, allows the Holy Spirit a chance to enter into our hearts. Closing our minds to going to church eliminates any chance of that happening. Going to church might be exactly what our faith needs.

Look, I know that hearing this from a friend is not the easiest thing to deal with. I know it might change our friendship a little bit, but I care about your faith-life enough to express my concerns. This is by no means a way to claim I know everything about you or to make you feel belittled. I just care enough to try to be helpful when I can.

If you would like, I would love to take you to church sometime. We can even explore a new congregation that we have not been to before, if you’d like. I would not mind if we went out to brunch afterwards. Just let me know!

Hope to hear from you soon,

Elizabeth

Dec

2019

Martha – An Example for Us

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on July 29, 2014

Martha, Martha — an example for us

by David Sellnow

I generally don’t pay attention to all the minor feast days in the Christian calendar. It’s traditional within the church to designate certain days to remember people of faith from our past. Persons who died martyr’s deaths are typically remembered on the day of their deaths — the day they went on to be with the Lord in glory. Others simply have dates assigned by tradition. I’m not the type to pray to persons from the past. I believe in relying on the LORD God alone. But we do recognize the lives of trust that our predecessors lived and we desire to emulate their confidence in Jesus. Scripture urges us to ponder how they lived by faith (cf. Hebrews 11). “Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

July 29 is the traditional day for remembering Martha of Bethany, sister of Mary and Lazarus, dear friend of Jesus. We would do well to think about Martha’s example as a believer.

I’m afraid what most of us remember about Martha — and usually with disapproval — is how she raced about in the kitchen when Jesus came to visit, and was frustrated that her sister wasn’t helping her. Luke 10:38-42:

Jesus came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Don’t be too judgmental of Martha. Jesus wasn’t. His words to her were a warm encouragement, not a stern rebuke. Martha loved Jesus dearly and opened her home to him. Who of you would not try to put your best meal on the table if Jesus came to visit? So often so many of us need the reassurance of Jesus — that we can quit all our racing around and just sit with him and listen to his message of hope. We don’t have to be the perfect accomplishers of all of life’s little tasks. We have a Savior who just wants us to be with him.

We would do well to remember another conversation between Martha and Jesus. Martha’s brother Lazarus became very ill and died … and Jesus had not hurried to go to his friends when Lazarus was ill. He came to Bethany finally after Lazarus had been in the grave for four days. The evangelist John tells what transpired (John 11:20-27):

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him ….

“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

Jesus demonstrated his grace and his almighty power that day, summoning the wrapped corpse of Lazarus out of his tomb and back to life.

Martha demonstrated the rock-solid faith of a disciple of Jesus that day, not afraid to question her Lord in prayer (conversation) with him, and also firmly convinced of the reality of his gospel. Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, who came into the world to give us resurrection and life.

Martha knew that about Jesus. We know that about Jesus.

Through Jesus “you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God” (1 Peter 1:21)

Dec

2019

The beginning of a story

Originally posted on the Electric Gospel on October 24, 2019.

The following is an excerpt from a brief book of mine that illustrates truths from Psalm 23. The book is called, The Lord Cares for Me (click the link to go to the page on Amazon).
Another book, Faith Lives in Our Actions, is also available.

The Story of Charlotte

(The start of the story)

Charlotte ran a business in New Orleans. Her business didn’t advertise on the radio or in the newspaper. Word on the street and pictures on the Internet attracted customers. Charlotte ran an escort agency. Actually, it was a prostitution business. Charlotte had been a prostitute herself. Now she was in her mid-30s and had taken over as the head of the agency. The younger girls now worked for her, providing sex for money for sex-hungry men. Charlotte kept a large share of the money for herself, because she found customers and made arrangements and kept things safe for her girls. Charlotte’s business made lots of money. She lived well in a comfortable apartment that was home for Charlotte and her son, Logan.

Logan had been a mistake. Charlotte had gotten lazy about pregnancy protection sometimes when she had been selling herself for sex. When she got pregnant, she decided to have the baby. She’d never had anyone to love, and the baby meant the world to her. Now Logan was five years old and ready to start school.

Charlotte’s business kept her up through the overnight hours most nights. She slept during the morning hours, into the early afternoon. Logan stayed with a neighbor as his babysitter during those hours. Logan’s babysitter, Maria, had a five-year-old boy of her own. Maria was a Christian. She knew how Charlotte made her living. She didn’t quite have the courage to talk to Charlotte about it, or know what to say if she did. But she invited Logan to come along to a summer activity program at her church in the mornings, and Charlotte said it was okay.

Logan loved the church program. He told his mom, “I want to go to school there all the time!” The church operated a school, so Charlotte filled out papers to get Logan enrolled.

Maria spoke to the school’s director. “There’s something you maybe should know about Logan’s mom,” she said, and told him the type of work Charlotte did. The school director replied, “Well, it’s no different for Charlotte than for any other parent at our school. We ask all parents to take a series of Bible classes so they’ll know the faith that we’re teaching to their children in our school. If Charlotte agrees to do that, her son is as welcome in our school as anyone else.”

Charlotte did agree. She began classes with the pastor’s assistant, Stephen. Once a week, Stephen met with Charlotte in the afternoon. He taught Charlotte about God and about how God created the world and the first people. He explained how some of the angels God had created rebelled against him and became devils, and how Satan, the leader of the evil angels, tempted the first man and woman away from God. Stephen said, “After the first people disobeyed God, all people have been stuck in sin ever since.” He warned that sin is a real problem – and not just for our lives with one another as human beings.

Stephen told Charlotte, “Sin has created a horrible separation between us and God. The Bible tells it like it is: ‘Your sins have separated you from your God. They have caused him to turn his face away from you. So he won’t listen to you’ (Isaiah 59:2). And our separation from God is a permanent thing, a deadly thing. ‘People will die because of their own sins’ (Ezekiel 18:20). ‘When you sin, the pay you get is death’ (Romans 6:23). Because we are sinners and live in sinful ways, we will die forever, be in hell forever. Jesus warned us about the way we use our bodies to commit sins. He said, ‘If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It would be better for you to enter the kingdom of heaven with only one hand or one foot than to go into hell with two hands and two feet. In hell the fire burns forever’ (Matthew 18:8). We can’t actually help our situation by cutting off body parts. But Jesus’ words were meant to show us just how serious a problem sin is.”

Charlotte was uncomfortable with these lessons from the Bible, with all the harsh words of God’s law. The 10 Commandments bothered her. She knew she was a sinner. But she didn’t like to think about it. She told herself she was just making money in the best way she knew how, to support herself and her son. She didn’t like the fact that God was judging her life when the world seemed such an unfair place and God never seemed like he was there to help her anyway.

As uncomfortable as she was, Charlotte continued to meet with Stephen for Bible lessons. Sometimes she argued. Sometimes she got upset. But she kept thinking about these things.

Once Stephen saw that Charlotte was thinking seriously about sin, he shifted his message. “You know, Charlotte, the Bible isn’t all commandments and condemnation. I’ve started there because that’s where the story starts – with our sins against God. But there’s much more to the story than that. There’s good news for us too – amazing good news. Jesus warned us about the dangers of our sins, yes. But Jesus mostly came to do something about our sins, to fix the mess we have made for ourselves. The Bible says, ‘Those who do what is sinful belong to the devil. They are just like him. … But the Son of God came to destroy the devil’s work’ (1 John 3:8). The damage the devil had done was undone by Jesus. Jesus is God along with the Father in heaven and the Holy Spirit. But he became human. He became one of us to rescue us. God says that people ‘have bodies made out of flesh and blood. So Jesus became human like them in order to die for them. By doing that, he could destroy the one who rules over the kingdom of death. I’m talking about the devil. Jesus could set people free who were afraid of death. All their lives they were held as slaves by that fear’” (Hebrews 2:14-15).

Charlotte looked at Stephen like had seen into her soul. “For a long time in my life,” she admitted, “I wanted to die. But I was too scared of dying to actually end my life.” She told Stephen more of her story: “I had run away from home as a girl because home was awful, but life on the streets was worse. I survived, but I hated what I was doing. I wanted to die but couldn’t. I wanted to live but it wasn’t really a life. I grew numb to the kind of life I was living. I just made it about the money. Then Logan came along. Now I want to make a decent life for him, an actual life for both of us.”

“The only actual life there is,” Stephen said, “is life that God gives us. Jesus said, ‘Anyone who hears my word and believes … has crossed over from death to life’ (John 5:24). Having our lives connected to Jesus is the one thing that matters, the one thing that is needed, as Jesus put it (Luke 10:42).

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There’s more to Charlotte’s story. Read the rest in The Lord Cares for Me: Stories and Thoughts about Psalm 23 (available at Amazon.com).

Dec

2019

Can you be thankful if your turkey is skinny?

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on November 22, 2018.

On this Thanksgiving Day, I dug out a message I had written for church use some years ago. I needed to remind myself to be thankful even when material circumstances aren’t ideal. As the Word of God urges, “Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. In everything, give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
May you find blessing this Thanksgiving.

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Can you be thankful if your turkey is skinny?

by David Sellnow

At your house on Thanksgiving Day, when it’s time to have a prayer before the meal, is there somebody who blurts out, “Praise the Lord and pass the butter”? It’s just a silly comment made in fun, but it points to an attitude we all fall into quite often: Praise the Lord (a little) and pass the butter (a lot). We’re in a hurry to get done with spiritual things so we can get on to other things that we think of as more enjoyable. Praise the Lord a little, then let’s get on with lunch, or football, or shopping, or movies, or whatever. At our Thanksgiving meals, what gets more attention and conversation—the spiritual blessings of the past year, or just how good all the foods taste?

We are people who easily focus on our bellies. We hunger for extra helpings. We have an appetite for pleasures and possessions. Our Thanksgiving celebrations tend to flow in that direction too. We notice material goods that God bestows—sufficient income, paid-up bills, bodily health, absence of pain, etc. We’re glad and thankful when there is a big fat turkey on our table.

But what if there isn’t? Can you be thankful if your turkey is skinny? Can you be grateful if good things seem few and far between? Can you still have Thanksgiving if your income is dwindling and bills are increasing, if your health is poor and pain level high? Can you be thankful even where there’s not much in the freezer and the cupboards are almost bare?

To consider such questions, let’s give our attention to Hebrews chapter 12. We’ll pay particular attention to the key verse at the end of the chapter (verse 28). But let’s walk through the beginning of the chapter first, to see the overall inspired train of thought.

Hebrews 12:1-3 (World English Bible) …

Let’s lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him who has endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, that you don’t grow weary, fainting in your souls.

The first answer to the question, “Can you be thankful if your turkey is skinny?” is: Yes, if you’re looking at what’s truly important. What’s important in life is not how much comfort or luxury we have in our present life. Eyes of faith are fixed on Jesus and on heaven. If we keep looking ahead, in Christ, to our ultimate goal, we can find reason to be thankful even during times when we suffer miserably. Look at the great number of prophets and apostles who lived their lives that way. Look at Jesus himself! He suffered horrors beyond our imagination, but was willing to endure all because he knew the outcome was eternal life—not just for himself, but for all of us with him. We are his pride and joy, the reason he endured such suffering. Surely we can endure pain and hardship for the sake of Jesus, who is our pride and joy.

Hebrews 12:4-13 …

You have not yet resisted to blood, striving against sin. You have forgotten the exhortation which reasons with you as with children: “My son, don’t take lightly the chastening of the Lord,

nor faint when you are reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with children, for what son is there whom his father doesn’t discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have been made partakers, then you are illegitimate, and not children. Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live? For they indeed, for a few days, punished us as seemed good to them; but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness. All chastening seems for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

Can you be thankful if your turkey is skinny? Yes, if you value healthy discipline. Facing hardship and enduring pain is not a bad thing. We may feel bad in our bodies, but suffering is enormously good for our souls. In good times we are too apt to forget about God, our Maker and Preserver who gives us all good things. In tough times especially, we realize that we are dependent on God and call out to him for our needs. God often uses physical losses to do us spiritual good. We give thanks when we suffer, knowing God is using the suffering to train our spirits, disciplining us as his children so that we don’t get so caught up in the wants of this world, but rather see the greater value of spiritual things.

Now let’s jump ahead to the powerful concluding verses of the chapter –

Hebrews 12:28-29 …

Therefore, receiving a Kingdom that can’t be shaken, let’s have grace, through which we serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

Whether your turkey is fat or skinny, it doesn’t matter. Simply “say grace” and give thanks in every moment, just as we do as we sit down to a meal. Offer prayers and continue to serve the Lord. Worship the God who made you, who saved you, who gives you a place in his eternal kingdom. Worship him with your whole life. Appreciate and praise what he’s doing each day. Don’t ever become complacent about your spiritual life or your thanks to the Lord. Remember, God is a consuming fire whose glory we will be glad to see, but who can also burn us in a moment if we push him out of our hearts and lives. Hold onto the grace that God has given you in Jesus. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. Follow the pattern of the great cloud of witnesses of the faith, the heroes of the Bible who lived by faith (who were described in Hebrews chapter 11). As it was for them, so it is for us: The righteous live by faith, and we give thanks to the God who has given us that faith.

So praise the Lord and pass the butter as you celebrate Thanksgiving. Even if you don’t have much beyond bread and butter to pass, even if your turkey is skinny, God be praised. He is our eternal Redeemer.

Dec

2019

Building others up

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on November 19, 2017.

Building Others Up … Not Tearing Them Down

by Morgan Shevey

If your family is anything like mine, the time when everyone comes home from school can be a tense situation as everyone gets used to living with one another again. The long vacations are often not harmonious as we all, myself included, criticize every little thing that does not happen to our liking. We send disgusted looks when someone wears a rather original outfit or sneak in a scathing comment when another family member does not sweep the floor well enough. Every single thing is seen as being wrong and is immediately subjected to judgment.

The same issues often arise in the church, as we come into contact with individuals of different backgrounds and gifts. Again, we find ourselves judging others who do not dress up enough for services or have taken a completely different approach at conducting worship. What makes it worse is that most of this criticism takes place behind our fellow believers’ backs. Tearing down our brothers and sisters in Christ becomes our focus, rather than praising God. Our mission of spreading the gospel to all people cannot be accomplished if we are too busy nitpicking the actions of fellow members of our congregation. Instead, we are called to build each other up with encouragement, which will bring us much closer to a unified goal.

Negative criticism does not benefit anyone

Judgmental criticism can easily become a sinful habit. Many people criticize and judge others because they think it will make them feel better about themselves. In reality, they remain just as empty inside. Being judgmental toward others cannot fill whatever void is inside them. A critical individual is only doing more and more damage every time they openly judge a fellow believer. People will be pushed away if we continually tear apart their opinions or ideas. We are told “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29). We can reach more of our fellow believers by encouraging them in their work for Christ. They will be more responsive to our opinions and our teaching of the Word if we speak words of encouragement.

We do not know what others are going through in their lives

We want to be careful about criticizing others, because we do not know what is happening in their private lives. Every Christian struggles with something. Even if they do not show it, it does not mean that there is not more going on in the background. Criticism can bring down their spirits and make it more difficult for them to trust the promises that God has given. Our judgment can block them from reaching out for help when they need it. “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please our neighbor for his goo to build him up” (Romans 15:1-2). Our role as Christians is not to elevate ourselves by tearing others down, but humbling ourselves to be servants to those who need it. Encouraging words show our love for others as well as our willingness to help them in every situation.

Everyone has gifts and talents that are worthy of praise

The God-pleasing lives that we do see deserve our honor and respect. God has bestowed the blessing of numerous talents and abilities on his people. These gifts exist to serve the church is a variety of ways and each person has a place in the mission of spreading the gospel. Instead of discouraging others from using their gifts because it’s “not the way we do things,” we seek to praise others for their humble service to the church. “Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church” (1 Corinthians 14:12). Recognizing the amazing talents of others compels us to use our own gifts to the best of our ability. By encouraging everyone to use their abilities to the fullest, we, in turn, are encouraged to do the same.

We are only perfect through Christ

While we strive to live according to God’s commands, we are unable to constantly resist temptation. No one is perfect, we all know this full well. Every single individual born into this world has inherited sin and is unable to keep from sinning on a daily basis. Our criticism of others is a perfect example of this. But why tear down others when we fall under the same temptations that they do and will be subjected to the same judgment by God on the Last Day? Only through faith in Christ can we be perfect in God’s eyes. Therefore, criticizing the actions of others is hypocritical, since our sins are just as numerous as those of any other Christian. Instead, we are invited to “encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness” (Hebrews 3:13). Until the day that Christ takes take us home to heaven, we want to take every opportunity to build up our fellow Christians.

Every day we are presented with opportunities to encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ. By working together and building one another up, the mission of the church can be carried out to all parts of the world. When we are tempted to criticize or judge others, we remember that Christ never judged us, but loved us enough to sacrifice himself for the sake of our sins. Our eternal judgment has been taken away forever because of our Lord. Through his gracious love, we have become his children, forever free from judgment. In his name, we seek to build one another up always, that we may continue to live in blessing under God’s almighty hand.

Dec

2019

Seeing through new eyes

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on June 6, 2017.

The Lens of Faith

by Maggie Frey

I don’t have perfect vision. Reading anything up close is fine, but if I want to see something far away or read a projector screen, my eyesight just doesn’t cut it. I need something to help me focus in on what it is I want to see. Like most people that need vision help, that aid comes in the form of glasses. The glasses allow me to see things from further distances with more ease. I don’t have to squint to read a line of text or try and figure out who the blurry figure across the room is; I already know.

The same thing happens in our spiritual lives. From birth, sin has clouded up our vision. We stumble through life, unsure of our steps, blindly feeling our way around, hoping that we catch onto something that might save us. Some people might say that they’re “fine”, that they don’t need any help and are okay with stumbling around unsteadily, tripping onto any and every obstacle in their path.

Thankfully, there is a solution to this blinding problem. God provided us with the best kind of “lenses,” free of charge, and they show us the only way that can save us from the obstacles in our path: Jesus. Through the lenses of faith, we are able to focus on Jesus, who shows us the way to heaven by his death and resurrection.

We no longer have to stumble our way through life, unable to see the obstacles in our path. Through faith, Jesus makes it clear that he is the way to salvation. We still may stumble or fall, with sin moving in to cloud our vision again. But through devotions, church, and other ways that connect us to God’s Word, we get a stronger prescription, still making clearer what the way to salvation is. We are able to encourage others along with the writer of Hebrews when he writes, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2).

Jesus will always be the focus through our lens of faith. We never have to doubt that he will leave or that the path of life will change. Even through our stumbles, Jesus is the one thing that will never change.

Dec

2019

God hears your prayers — even those that aren’t expressed in words

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on March 31, 2016

Sometimes in classes I taught, a little assignment that expects a brief response (such as an online discussion) yielded deep and thoughtful responses from some persons. The thoughts shared below happened like that. Lizzie Kogler offered some heartfelt musings about the prayers of our hearts.

Thoughts concerning prayer

by Lizzie Kogler

Think back to a time when everything in your life seemed to be going completely wrong. You lay awake at night thinking about how full your plate was, but how empty your stomach was, or about how many duties and obligations you had, but how little energy you had. When there was nowhere left to turn, did you close your eyes and pray?

For me, this is the kind of pray-er I have become. I have become someone who keeps trudging through the muddy streets of life, gradually slowing down, until I fall face-first into the stinky goo. Then and only then are my prayers passionate, a pleading cry for help.

Do you ever fall into this same trap of holding out until prayer is your last resort? It’s not like I think that God isn’t powerful enough or present enough to save me. It is more my sinful nature of wanting to think that I by myself am enough to get through life. And then, time and time again, I fall down on my knees looking upwards toward the cross, still stained in red.

So this leads me to a question concerning prayer.

In the Large Catechism, Martin Luther wrote, “Let people learn to value prayer as something great and precious and to make a proper distinction between babbling and praying for something.” I don’t disagree with Luther … but I also wonder. Are there ever times that our babbling (or what might seem like babbling) indeed is prayer?

Certainly there is a difference between mere babbling and true prayer. According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “Babbling is talking rapidly and continuously in a foolish, excited, or incomprehensible way” … whereas prayer was defined by Jesus this way: “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others … But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen … And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:5-8).

Are there times where we are foolish, excited, or hard to understand? Absolutely, we are human. But this does not mean that we should not come to the Lord in prayer, for fear of the sin of babbling. Jesus encourages us to cast all our anxieties on him, because he cares for us (cf. 1 Peter 5:7). This means coming to Jesus with an open heart, ready to hear his forgiveness, peace, and comfort.

I will admit that sometimes I am afraid to pray. I am not worried about whether God is going to give me or not give me what I am asking for. I do not feel nervous about his plan for my life. It is more that I feel guilty for not praying as much as I could or should. But then I remind myself that God is gracious and hears my prayers. He hears your prayers too – even those that aren’t fully or perfectly formed into clear words.

Passages for prayerful encouragement:

In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.
Psalm 18:6

But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
James 1:6

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Hebrews 4:16

The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
Romans 8:26

Why church?

Our mutual need for spiritual encouragement

Jesus is our Hope when Problems are Unsolvable

Come to church with me!

Martha, Martha — an example for us

The Story of Charlotte

Can you be thankful if your turkey is skinny?

Building Others Up … Not Tearing Them Down

The Lens of Faith

Thoughts concerning prayer

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