repentance

Sep

2024

Responding to evil and trouble in this world

Thoughts in remembrance of 9/11

public domain image from picryl.com

This past weekend, CBS news program “60 Minutes” rebroadcast their 2011 special, “9/11: The FDNY,” recalling the efforts and sacrifices made by firefighters responding to the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York City.

9/11 made us ponder also theological questions about horrors and tragedies that occur in this world. I’ll share here devotional thoughts that originally were The Electric Gospel message in September 2001. (At that time, The Electric Gospel was in email form, sent to an electronic mailing list of college students as part of a national campus ministry program.)

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Responding to evil and trouble in this world

Planes hijacked. Skyscrapers plummeted to the ground. The seat of strength of our military might—the Pentagon—ruptured, fractured, broken, burning. What are we to think?

Why would God let such things happen? Why would God let planes crash and buildings collapse? Is America so sinful that God decided to punish us? Were the people aboard the hijacked jets under a sentence of God’s judgment? Were the people in the World Trade Center less godly than others, so God was okay with letting them die? Those thoughts surely are a misinterpretation, for this is the God who said he would have spared Sodom and Gomorrah had there been ten righteous people living there (Genesis 18:32).

Why would God let terrorists succeed? Why has he let evil people have their way? Is he approving of their evil? Is he unable to put a stop to evil? Neither thought is acceptable. We believe the word that the LORD is not a God who takes pleasure in evil (Psalm 5:4) and cannot be tempted by evil (James 1:13). We believe the promise that nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37), that the Lord has all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18).

So then, what are we to say when evil and trouble occur? How do we respond to tragedies in this world?

Let’s ask someone who can give us an answer. Here is what Jesus himself had to say on the subject:

There were some who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did” (Luke 13:1–5).

We don’t know all the details about the incidents mentioned in Jesus’ comments. Clearly, they were well-known current events in Jerusalem at that time. One was an example of brutal, terrorist-type activity. Pontius Pilate ordered the massacre of certain Galileans in the temple courts where sacrifices were brought. They may have been suspected as revolutionaries. Roman methods for dealing with such suspects were typically swift and severe. They kept people in line by engendering fear. The other event was not one of malicious intent, but simple structural failure. A tower toppled and eighteen people were crushed underneath it.

One event a horrific crime, the other an accidental catastrophe. Regardless of the circumstances of the deadly incidents, Jesus says our response should be the same. Repent, or we also will perish.

Jesus’ words at first strike our ears as harsh. When people are murdered, our immediate reaction is outrage. When tragedies take lives, our main inclination is to mourn. But Jesus urges us also toward repentance. Why?

It comes down to an understanding of the shortness of this life and the necessity of clinging to God. We live in a world where death happens every day. We speak of many deaths occurring from natural causes, but there is nothing truly natural about death. Death entered the world through sin (Romans 5:12). The violation of God‘s commands is the reason that human beings die. Death has been a curse to us since sin entered into our world, with sin damaging us all along the way. Sin rears its ugly head in every ugly form it can find. Death takes its toll whenever and however it can—through crime, through disaster, through disease, through the decline of old age. We sin and we die. That is the story of human life and human history.

If we think we can make humanity immune to sin and death by self-help programs, we are mistaken. If we think we can make the world more secure by our own human efforts, we are mistaken. We are caught up in a world where there is sin, and we do die.

That is why Jesus said, “Unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Everybody in this world does perish, and one way or another. Whether it comes by the blade of a soldier’s sword or the bricks of a buckling building, whether by the bullets of a drive-by shooter or the winds of a tropical storm, whether by the hatefulness of an international terrorist or just that your heart stops beating while you sleep in your bed at night … the fact is that you and I and everyone else will face death. Whether we die of what are deemed natural causes or die in tragic ways, death is a reality we cannot avoid. We are not the solution to our own problem. We are people in need of a restored link to life with God. That is why Jesus urges us to repentance. He wants us to understand our need, our helplessness … and the hope that we have in him.

The meaning of repentance is not just recognizing our sin and weakness. It also means recognizing where help is to be found and turning to the one in whom there is help. We need trust. We need strength. We don’t get those things on our own. We are brought from death to life by the living God.

Jesus followed his words about crimes and disasters by telling a parable. He spoke of a fruitless fig tree that was wasting the soil in which it stood. By all rights, the orchard owner could hack such a tree down right away. But that is not God’s gardening method. Dig around It, fertilize it, nurture it, give it more time (Luke 13:6-9). That is what God does. In spiritual terms, what does that mean? It means God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). We call our time on this earth a time of grace. If God were to wipe out all evil before it ever occurred, he would have to stop each of us human beings in our tracks. Not a single person could continue acting if God were to eradicate all evil by force, by wiping it off the face of the planet. We all have tendencies toward evil and weakness and sin. We are all stained with guilt. God did not choose to deal with evil by destroying sinners. He chose to answer the problem of evil by sending the solution in Christ.

Rather than launching destruction against every evildoer, the LORD laid on his own Son the guilt of all the world (Isaiah 53:6). Christ himself became the object and sufferer of every imaginable human evil. He was mocked and spit upon. He was slapped, punched, clubbed. He was whipped with ripping shards of metal tied to leather, tearing his flesh, bloodying his back. He was nailed hand and foot to hunks of wood, and hung up to die as a victim of mob rage and governmental violence. He was made the scourge of all the world. More than that, he was made the target of God’s own justice, carrying on himself the penalty of all sins. “It was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain” (Isaiah 53:10). That is how God answered evil and death. He gave all us life by the death of his one eternal Son.

So, when we see horrors happen in our world, how will we respond? Let us meet those events with humility and repentance. We know that all of us—along with all the rest of the world—need redemption. We also meet those horrors and tragedies with faith. We set our hopes not in this world or anything of this world, but in Christ, He suffered all things and satisfied all justice on our behalf. In him, we are saved.

We do not know what will happen tomorrow. We do not know what will be the outcome of any present or future war. We do not know if the USA will endure for centuries to come or not … or whether Judgment Day itself may be just around the corner. What we do know is that Jesus is our Savior. He has purchased and won us from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil with his holy precious blood, and with his innocent sufferings and death (Luther’s Small Catechism). That is the basis of our hope on the best of days in this world. That is the basis of our hope on the worst of days also.

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.

Dec

2023

The Sun of Righteousness is Rising

An Advent Promise—and Warning

Bible text for this devotion: Malachi 4:1-6

The Sun of Righteousness is Rising

by David Sellnow

In 1969, John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) wrote a song called Bad Moon Rising. “I see the bad moon arising, I see trouble on the way”—that was the opening lyric. The song had a very end-times theme. One stanza said:

I hear hurricanes a-blowin’
I know the end is comin’ soon
I fear rivers overflowin’
I hear the voice of rage and ruin.

Fogerty himself said the song is about “the apocalypse that was going to be visited upon us”—but at the same time wrote it with “a happy-sounding tune.” I thought of that song as I was reading the prophecy from Malachi. The prophet spoke of a time that is like a bad moon rising for many people, but like a glorious sunrise for others. “The sun of righteousness shall rise,” Malachi wrote (4:1), bringing healing, light, and warmth for those who revere God’s name. At the same time, it will burn the arrogant and evildoers.

If you had a Bible in your hand and opened it to find the book of Malachi, you’d get a good idea of what new horizon he had in mind. It is the New Testament—the coming of the day of Jesus Christ. The words of Malachi chapter 4 are the last words in the Old Testament. You flip the page and you’re in the New Testament. The first New Testament book, Matthew, begins with “an account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah” (Matthew 1:1) and then explains how “the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place” (Matthew 1:18). That’s a 400-year flip as you flip that one page. Malachi’s writing was the last prophetic word from God for at least 400 years before Jesus Christ arrived on the scene. The next prophet from God would not come until immediately before Jesus. Then, an angel announced the birth of a child to be named John. Echoing the words of Malachi, the angel said, “He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah” he would “turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:13-17). That child would become the preacher known to us as John the Baptist.

In the new day as prophesied by Malachi, and introduced by John the Baptist, “the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings” for all who revere the name of the Lord (Malachi 4:2). “Revere” is an attempt to translate the ancient Hebrew word יָרֵא (yah-ra), for which we have no one-word equivalent in English. It is to fear the name of the Lord, to stand in awe of him, to be amazed at him, respect him, trust him, rely on him, worship him. Those who revere God, who know his saving name and his saving deeds, anticipate his arrival with hope. When the Lord enters our world, his coming is an answer to prayers, a day of salvation. He brings righteousness as a gift, forgiving our sins and supplying us with goodness. The day of the Lord is like bright and warm sunshine, bringing a fresh new morning. Think of the warmth and joy we feel when we celebrate Christmas: Jesus came to be our righteousness, to bring us peace with God. This dawning of the new, bright sunshiny day in Christ is the kind of thing that makes you go out and leap like young calves released from the stall, as Malachi described it (4:2). You jump for joy. You bask in the sunlight. Your spirit rejoices in God your Savior (cf. Luke 1:47). Sin and death and all that opposes the way of grace and faith in Christ “will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 4:3). God promises that all the evil which troubles us is overcome by the coming of the Christ. Both when Jesus came to this world the first time, and when he comes again, the triumph of life that is in him is made evident.

Having said that, it also must be said that the day of the Lord does not make everyone happy. Many do not revere God‘s name and do not welcome him. Their hopes are in themselves, not in the Lord. Some think they are perfectly healthy without God and feel no need for spiritual healing. Some have usurped religious authority for themselves and imposed rules that “lock people out of the kingdom of heaven” because they get wrapped up in legalisms and neglect “justice and mercy and faith” (Matthew 23:13,23). Those attitudes the Lord calls arrogance. There also are persons who do immoral deeds in darkness. They don’t want any sunlight exposing their shame. The things they do are things God calls evil. According to Malachi, for the arrogant and the evildoers, the shining of God‘s light is like scorching desert heat that burns. God’s announcement of a rising sun of righteousness is like a bad moon rising for them. The same righteousness of God that provides a refuge for those who trust in him is a burning scourge on those who trust their own righteousness or try to hide their own guilt. God’s blazing glory turns to dust everything that is not cleansed by forgiveness through faith. “All the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble,” Malachi warned (4:1).

So we see that the day of the Lord is a great joy for those who put their trust in the Lord by faith. It is a dreadful day for those who do not, whose hearts fight against God. We might well bear in mind that either of those descriptions may describe each of us at times. We are not always faithful. We have the same human tendencies as all human beings, wanting the opposite of what the Lord wants for us, thinking we know better than him. Malachi spoke to our consciences. “Remember the teaching of my servant Moses,” he said (Malachi 4:4). No one who keeps in mind God‘s laws to Moses can pretend they are righteous on their own or hide the fact that they sin. What does the law of Moses say? “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5) “Walk in all his ways” (Deuteronomy 10:12). “Have no other gods” (Exodus 20:3)—nothing that comes ahead of the Lord in your life. Be holy. Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another. Do not pervert justice. Judge your neighbor fairly. Do not go about spreading slander. Do not hate your brother in your heart. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge. Love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus, chapter 19). Just listening to those laws is painful, because we know we fall far short of godly ideals. We are not righteous. We are sinful. Malachi’s warning keeps us from getting too puffed up about ourselves.

So did the warnings of the prophet who came after Malachi, a voice like that of Elijah of old. John the Baptist was like a second Elijah, speaking for God. He declared: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 3:2). John the Baptist scolded those who were proud of themselves and their heritage, but were arrogant and lacked the humility of faith. “Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’” John told them. “For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham” (Luke 3:8). Being descendants of a religious forefather was not a ticket into heaven for them. Without faith in the Messiah themselves, they were destined to be cut down and thrown into the fire (Luke 3:9). That was John’s message to the arrogant and evildoers.

Strong prophetic warnings always aimed at shaking people out of their self-righteousness and sinfulness and turning their hearts back to the Lord. While the ministry of God’s prophets shouted out warnings, they also soothed with promises. Malachi told of healing sunshine, rays of hope for people who trusted in God. And John “proclaimed the good news to the people” (Luke 3:18). He pointed to Jesus and said, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). John’s ministry turned the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, keeping individuals and families focused on faith and hope and love (cf. Malachi 4:6). The curse of the law would be removed by the Messiah, Jesus (cf. Galatians 3:13-14). The sunshine of God’s love, the gift of his goodness, have come to us in the person of Jesus Christ.

We are living in the Day of the Lord, my friends. His presence never departs from us. It is AD 2023. We refer to our years as AD: Anno Domini—in the year of the Lord. The ancients who set up our calendar declared every year from the time of Christ’s arrival to be “The year of our Lord.” The Lord has come. The Lord will come again. Blessed be the name of the Lord, and blessed are all those who continue to put their trust in him. Let us continue to put our trust in him, and so be ready for the day he comes again.

Christmas gift idea: Sermons on Selected Psalms, available at Amazon.com:

Sermons on Selected Psalms: Sellnow, David: 9798402872462: Amazon.com: Books

Sep

2023

Learning how to forgive

Readings for 16th Sunday after Pentecost, Sep. 17, 2023

Learning how to forgive — forgive freely, but not cheaply

by David Sellnow

We have a hard time with forgiveness. Maybe you have been on the receiving end of a grudge. You wronged someone. It was years ago, and they haven’t spoken to you since. Or maybe you’ve been the one holding a grudge. You’ve turned away from someone, ignored them, ghosted them, because they betrayed or disappointed you in some way. Or perhaps you haven’t gone that far. You’ve had your differences with a family member or friend or neighbor, and you’ve put up with them. You looked the other way; you said, “It’s OK.” Meanwhile, though, you kept a mental record of each and every infraction—what they did and when they did it. Whatever the issue or the behavior, you find yourself thinking: “How many times do I need to forgive? It’s been seven times already. Is seven enough?” Remember, though, Jesus’ response to that question: “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:22). Jesus does not want us putting limits and restrictions on how much we’re willing to forgive. Our God certainly has not set restrictions on his own capacity to forgive us.

Jesus illustrated the too-frequent difference between God forgiving us and us forgiving others with his parable of the unmerciful servant (Matthew 18:23-35). The servant had been forgiven by the king of a debt of 10,000 talents, an unpayable debt that was simply wiped off his record. That same servant turned around and pursued legal action against a fellow servant who owed him 100 denarii. In the Roman empire, a denarius was a coin used to pay a daily wage. A talent was a unit of weight for gold or silver, about 75 pounds. To add up to one talent of value, you’d need 6,000 denarii. So a debt of 10,000 talents would be 60,000,000 denarii. After having a debt of 60,000,000 denarii expunged by the king’s grace, the man harshly refused to show any leniency with a peer who owed him 100 denarii. How often are we like that? We forget how merciful God has been in his dealings with us, and we show little or no mercy in our dealings with others.

Sometimes too, we withhold forgiveness because we have invented our own infractions and cut people off for arbitrary reasons. We are like the early church folks who were judging each other for which days they observed as holy days or what foods they did or didn’t allow themselves to eat. Christ’s apostle needed to remind them: “Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another?” (Romans 14:2-4).

We get carried away in self-asserted certainties and punish people for going against our expectations—which may be far from God’s own commands. Some real-life examples:

A father hasn’t spoken to his adult son for decades, because the son joined a church of a different denomination. Is that man so sure God is present only in his own type of congregation and in no other places?
A friend has not forgiven a friend for accepting a position and moving to another part of the country. Resentment set in about being “abandoned”—as If the Lord God had issued commands that the friend should have remained forever in one place on this earth.
A student severed a friendship from a classmate who stopped letting them copy homework assignments, blaming the classmate when they failed the assignments.

Sometimes we are the ones sinning, holding grudges, creating or maintaining divisions. Yet we blame it on the other persons rather than admitting our own insincerities and inconsistencies.

I once attended a church elders meeting, where one elder came to the meeting concerned about all of the “deadwood” in the congregation (members who had not been to worship for a while). He had a proposal. He had prepared samples of a series of letters to send to people. The first letter would warn them about the dangers of not attending church. If they didn’t respond or return to worship within six weeks, the church would send the second letter, with stronger warnings. Then, if they didn’t respond or return to church within another six weeks, the church would send the third letter, informing the recipients that they would be excommunicated. All of this was planned without making any sort of personal outreach effort to those members: no phone call, no personal visit. Just a series of three form letters, then their names would be removed from the church roster. Thankfully, the other elders on the board spoke up before the pastor even had to say anything. This was not a gospel-oriented idea. This was not how they were going to do ministry. Still, the fact that the idea was raised says something about the way we sometimes feel—ready to write people off, be done with them, rather than continuing to extend forgiveness.

I wonder how such a series of letters would have affected a church member I met in a different congregation. When I came to the congregation as the new pastor, I made an effort to visit each member’s home. There were, of course, plenty of members who had not been active in church for some time. One woman had been absent for years after having been very active previously. When I asked what had caused her to pull away, she described how it had happened after she and her husband had lost a child. The experience strained their marriage. She and her husband eventually divorced. Immediately after the child’s untimely death, church members showed her much caring and concern. But as time went on, she grew tired of facing people in the congregation, who always greeted her with such a sad look, always so worried about her. It was almost pushing her to continue to dwell in the grief and loss and pain. She just couldn’t handle that anymore, so she stopped coming. She’d visited some other churches along the way, but had not felt at home yet anywhere else. It was good that I went to visit her, and it was time that she was ready to return and become part of that church family again.

We don’t always know what is going on in someone else’s mind or heart. We should not rush to judgment about their seeming lack of expression of faith, or sins or troubles they seem to keep stumbling into. Far better that we be patient with them, with everyone—as we would want people to be patient with us—when struggling through something damaging or difficult.

Think of the Lord and his dealings with Israel. The Lord did not support their patterns of wandering and straying from his side. Yet at the same time, he was always in a posture of forgiveness, ready to embrace his people when they returned to him. Think of the picture Jesus gave us of the father of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). The father kept waiting for his son to come to his senses, to want to be home. He was watching and hoping every day for that change of heart. That is the stance of our God. He is not glad that we are doing wrong or living in senseless ways. He is always ready to grant us a place at his table and a celebration when we are back in his home and his family. As one of our most treasured psalms says of the LORD’s way of forgiveness: “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always accuse …. He does not deal with us according to our sins …. As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him” (Psalm 103:8-13).

We pray that our ability to forgive will grow more and more like the compassionate heart of the LORD our God.

Having said that, let’s remember something else about the Lord’s way of forgiveness. Giving the gospel to someone who keeps wallowing in their own mud, refusing to repent, is like tossing pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6). While our usual failing is that we are too slow to forgive, there are also times when Christian people can be too quick to forgive. Excusing those who aren’t aren’t really ready for forgiveness can be harmful. We are seeking real restoration in our relationships, not simply sweeping hurts and abuses under the rug.

Let me offer an example, from a social worker in a domestic violence shelter. This was in the Bible belt; the majority of women who sought shelter there from brutal abuse were deeply religious persons. Most of the staff were not church people, though, and they were frustrated by a pattern they were seeing. The religious women believed they had to forgive immediately. The minute their man would say, ‘I’m sorry,’ they’d go back to him. The shelter would see them again within days or weeks, beaten up worse than the last time. According to Domestic Shelters.org, most women return to an abusive relationship six or more times, for various reasons, repeatedly subjecting themselves to the violence. At this Bible belt shelter, the averages were driven even higher by the religious conviction, “‘I must forgive,” pulling women back to their partners prematurely. In her work at the shelter, the Christian social worker of my acquaintance was asked to offer her perspective and counsel these women. She began pointing the women to the meaning of the word “repentance,” which indicates a change of heart and mind. It is a transformation, a turnaround, moving in new directions. As John the Baptist emphasized, those who repent will “bear fruit worthy of repentance” (Matthew 3:8). The women also needed to be reminded of how Joseph dealt with his brothers. Joseph’s brothers had sold him to slave traders when he was a teenager (cf. Genesis 37). By God’s providence over many years, Joseph went from being a slave in Egypt to becoming a government official, second only to the pharaoh himself. Then, when a famine hit, Egypt was the only place with storehouses of food. Joseph was in charge of the food program. When Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt to buy food (and didn’t recognize Joseph), he put them through quite an ordeal to test them. He wanted to verify that they were different than they had been. He didn’t rush to reunite with them. He made sure they were repentant first. So, when he did reveal his identity to his long-lost brothers and welcomed them with open arms, the reunion was real. He had the whole family come down to live in Egypt, including his aged father. Then, when father Jacob died, the brothers became worried that Joseph’s kindness to them would stop, that he had only been showing them mercy because of their father’s presence. But Joseph again reassured them and spoke kindly to them. Joseph modeled his forgiveness after the forgiveness of God himself. (Cf. Genesis 50:15-21.) God had brought about good for Joseph, and Joseph was glad his relationship with his brothers had been healed.

When it comes to forgiveness, much of the time we are too slow to forgive, too arbitrary, too stingy. We are too easily like the unmerciful servant Jesus described, wanting to take people by the throat and demand, “Pay me what you owe me!” (cf. Matthew 18:38). Other times we are too quick to forgive, too enabling, too carelessly handing out pardons while the crimes are still being committed. Our Lord, Jesus, has instructed us to “be as wary as serpents, and as innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16 NASB). Learning how to forgive is an uphill journey for us. But with the Spirit’s wisdom guiding us on, we can learn how to forgive so that relationships are fully healed, families and friends genuinely reunited.

May God give us the wisdom to be careful when unrepented sin must be confronted with strength, and also the grace to give wholehearted forgiveness to fellow sinners in need of mercy. May we show mercy to our fellow servants of God, our King, in the same way that God, our King, has shown mercy to us (cf. Matthew 18:33).

Dec

2022

A spirit of Advent past

Repent – for the kingdom of heaven is near

On December 4, 1981, my father delivered this Advent-themed message for a chapel service at the beginning of this holy season. It seemed fitting to post here as a spirit of Advent/Christmas past, reminding us of an important theme of the season. Donald Sellnow served in ministry from the 1950s to 1990s.

An Advent message

by Donald C. Sellnow

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 3:1-2).

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Annibale Carracci, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Repent! That’s a familiar word to anyone who knows the Bible. The prophets in the Old Testament repeatedly called for repentance. So did the Savior and his spokesmen in the New Testament. All four of the Gospels, in their opening chapters, take up the ministry of John the Baptist. John’s message was a message of repentance.

John’s message of repentance is also the keynote of the Advent season. We sometimes think of Advent as a season to be jolly … and it is that, in the proper sense of the word, to be sure. But it is also the season to repent. The violet color historically was seen on church altars and lecterns and pulpits during Advent—the same color that was used during Lent—as a reminder of the penitential nature of the season. We don’t always think of Advent in this way, but we should. Before we can really rejoice in the Savior, born for us in Bethlehem, we need to recognize our urgent need of that Savior. We need to see our sins, to realize that we are indeed wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked when we are separated from a relationship with our Lord. We need to acknowledge and confess our transgressions to the Lord.

Someone once said that the task of preaching is to comfort the disturbed and to disturb the comfortable. John, with his ministry of baptism at the river in the wilderness, certainly did that. He destroyed the comfortable; he preached the law all of its severity. He called out the proud, self-seeking, and self-righteous Pharisees and Sadducees. When they came out to him in the desert, he called them “a brood of vipers” (Matthew 3:7). He let them—and the many others who came out to hear him—know, in no uncertain terms, that they were sinners. Their own righteousness wasn’t good enough. They needed to repent or they would perish.

But John was not just a preacher of the law. He also and especially was a preacher of the gospel. He not only pointed out sin, but also pointed to the Savior from sin. His message of repentance intended not only to bring forth sorrow and contrition, but above all to elicit faith. So, John proclaimed loud and clear the good news about Jesus, through which the Holy Spirit works grace. John testified of the one mightier than himself, whose shoes he was not worthy to carry. He directed contrite sinners to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He comforted the disturbed.

You and I need John’s message of repentance in this Advent season too. We need, first of all, to be disturbed over our sins. Most certainly, we all have plenty of them to be disturbed about. Those Pharisees and Sadducees were not alone in their pride, selfishness, and self-righteousness. You and I have the same sins to contend with in our own hearts. How easy it is for us to think that we are somehow a little better than others, to say ourselves (if not out loud), “I could’ve done that better than she did!” or, “Why did he get that position instead of me?” How easy it is for all of us to be wise in our own conceits, and how hard it is, and true humility, to consider others better than ourselves. How often do we find ourselves asking only of our own advantage, without concern for a neighbor? Often it is, “Hooray for me!” and we let the other person look out for himself. Often, instead of bearing one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2), we are concerned only about ourselves.

And how many times don’t we all display the little Pharisee who lurks in all of us and piously pat ourselves on the back for not being like other people who into some gross and open sin? Instead, we should humbly acknowledge that there, but for the grace of God, we’d find ourselves just as lost. It isn’t only sins of pride and selfishness and self-righteousness that mar our lives. There are all kinds of other sins too. None of us can escape the lightning of God’s law. None of us can stand up before a holy God in whose sight every unclean thought is adultery, who condemns anger as murder, and who requires that our hearts be free of all evil desires.

If that disturbs you—and I surely hope that it does—then take heart. There is comfort for the disturbed—comfort in the same beautiful Savior to whom John directed troubled sinners in the first Advent season. Jesus, the Lamb of God, has taken away the sin of the world (John 1:29). That includes your sins and mine. God’s greatest Christmas gift has our names on it. For unto you, unto me, is born a Savior, Christ the Lord. He gives us the gift of cleansing from all that stains us–a Savior who gives us strength to go forward, away from sin, to walk in goodness with him.

That’s real comfort for the disturbed, comfort in the face of our sins and shame, comfort in the face of all the troubles that we inherit in this sin-affected world. For since God has given us the supreme gift of his Son, he will also, along with him, give us what we need in this life (Romans 8:32). Whatever difficulties we have to deal with (and difficulties don’t subside just because it’s Christmas time), we can look to the manger and the cross and the empty tomb. We see there how God loves us and will indeed take care of us.

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” That was the Advent call in the Judean wilderness proclaimed by John, preparing the way for Jesus. That’s the Advent call still today, making straight a way into our hearts for Jesus. May the Holy Spirit use that call to comfort the disturbed and to disturb the comfortable. May he prepare our hearts to celebrate Jesus’ incarnation at Christmas, and to welcome his return at the end of days. The Advent call convicts us of our sins, consoles us with the good news of forgiveness, and causes us to bring forth fruits of repentance in our lives.

Prayer:

Dear Lord, we admit our many sins and errors. We often have been proud and selfish and loveless in our dealings with others around us. We confess our guilt and ask for your mercy and renewal. Keep us in daily repentance and faith. Move us to respond to your love with love. Prepare our hearts to celebrate Christmas in true thankfulness for the greatest gift of all, and fill us with the comfort that your gospel alone can give.

—-

Mar

2022

Patience

A meditation focused on Psalm 129

PATIENCE

See Psalm 129 in The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language by Eugene Peterson

Have you heard the apocryphal story about the woman who asked her pastor to pray for patience for her? Let’s hope it’s not a true story, because it would be terrible ministry practice. (Cf. article by Tim Harvey in The Messenger, 11/13/2019.)

The story goes like this:

A woman came to see her pastor. She said, “I am struggling with losing my patience. I get so frustrated dealing with my kids. At work, the policies and procedures and red tape infuriate me. When standing in line at the grocery store, I get agitated and just want to scream. Pastor, would you pray for me, that I can learn to be more patient?”

“Sure,” her pastor replied, and began to pray: “Lord, give this woman trouble and pain. Bring about times of distress and difficulty. Cause her to suffer …”

“Wait, wait, wait!” The woman interrupted. “Please stop! I didn’t ask for you to pray for me to have pain and suffering. I asked you to pray for patience for me.”

The pastor took a Bible off the desk (King James Version, of course), opened to Romans chapter 5, and read: “We glory in tribulations … knowing that tribulation worketh patience” (Romans 5:3 KJV). If you want patience, what you need is more suffering.

I hope no pastor would take such an insensitive approach. There is, though, a grain of truth to consider. Scripture does say we welcome sufferings when they come, “knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3-4). God doesn’t take pleasure in seeing us suffer; he loves us and strengthens us with his Spirit (Romans 5:5). When powers and people in this life kick us around and knock us to the ground, we hang on to hope in God’s promises. We trust he is working to deepen our relationship with him, build our resilience over struggles, and prepare us for an eternal reward as people called to be his own.

Our natural tendencies do not tend toward patience. As Pastor Eugene Peterson put it in his book, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, we are people who are constantly “whining and chattering … and running and fidgeting,” which causes us to miss listening to the slow, calm, merciful words and ways of God (p. 114). “The way of the world is peppered with brief enthusiasms” (p.123), of chasing after one thing and then another, because this world is a temporal, temporary, wibbly-wobbly sort of place. That which is enduring and permanent–that which is everlasting–can only be found in relationship with God. But that’s not what counts to us when we’re always tracking daily stock prices and quarterly business reports and scrolling what’s trending on social media and what’s streaming on our TVs or tablets or all the other devices we’ve accumulated to occupy our time.

Our chronic impatience–our pursuit of “brief enthusiasms”–spills over into spiritual life too. For example, a number of years ago, I attended a concert in Houston. The headline act was Leon Patillo, who had been lead singer for Santana. He had found Jesus and turned to making Christian contemporary music. His vibe was bouncy and boisterous, like you’d have heard in dance clubs, except with lyrics full of “Praise God!” and “Hallelujah!” Oodles of young kids had come to party to his synthesizer sounds, and they were bored with the opening act (the person I had actually come to see). His name was Michael Card. Those of you in my age bracket may recognize his name as the songwriter of “El Shaddai,” “Love Crucified Arose,” and other thoughtful songs focusing on the life of Christ revealed in the Gospels. Midway through his brief portion of the show, as the young people were impatient for the headline act to take the stage, Michael Card paused and spoke sincerely to the audience. He said, “Christian life is not one big party; I want you to realize that. We are not here only to jump and sing and dance, but to struggle in the name of Jesus as we proclaim him to the world.” And then he read from Philippians chapter 3 (verses 10-11): “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

Michael Card had it right. Jesus does not promise us constant fun or problem-free living on this earth. He does promise inner joy that transcends outward circumstances, life forever to those who endure and overcome.

Psalm 129 has a message of a similar mood. Worshipers on their way up to Jerusalem would sing this song, remembering their history as a people, trusting God’s enduring faithfulness to them, and praying that the enemies of God’s people would be thwarted.

Think of the patience needed to be an Old Testament believer in the promises of God.

Abraham was promised by God that he would be the father of a great nation, bringing about blessings through him and his descendants (Genesis 12:1). He was 75 years old at the time (Genesis 12:4). The promise was laughable. Then, Abraham was made to wait 25 years before the miraculous promise was fulfilled and the son Isaac was born, when he was 100 years old and his wife Sarah was 90 (cf. Genesis 17:17, 21:5-7).
Jacob was promised that the land inhabited by Abraham, his grandfather, and Isaac, his father, would become the homeland of that nation of their descendants (Genesis 35:11-12). Then, in his old age, Jacob and his whole extended family needed to emigrate to Egypt to survive a time of famine (cf. Genesis 42-47). Not until a couple hundred years later did the Israelites, as a people, exit Egypt and go back to the promised land.
The history of Israel from that point forward wasn’t easy either. In the days of the Judges, the people faltered in their faithfulness and experienced a series of attacks against them by surrounding peoples such as the Moabites, Midianites, Canaanites, Ammonites, and Philistines. During the time of the Kings, forces that opposed God’s plans for his people continued to afflict them from both inside and outside their nation. Eventually, the northern tribes of Israel fell under the domination of the empire of Assyria, and then the southern tribes (the nation of Judah) fell to the empire of Babylon. Some think that Psalm 129 may have been composed during the time of exile in Babylon or after Jewish exiles returned from there decades later.

With that history of Israel’s struggles in mind, the psalm writer reminisces: “They’ve kicked me around ever since I was young”–so says Israel–”but they never could keep me down” (Psalm 129:1,2 MSG). In poetic imagery, the psalm sees the history of Israel as if others were driving plows up and down their back, ripping deep into their flesh. Yet they were not destroyed. They were not defeated. God kept coming to Israel’s aid, “ripping the harnesses of the evil plowmen (Israel’s enemies) to shreds” (Psalm 129:4 MSG), rescuing his people.

When I read Psalm 129’s description of how the enemies of Israel were gouging and ripping up the back of the people of Israel, I can’t help but think of another image of suffering. Jesus Christ went through an ordeal of suffering. We call it “The Passion of the Christ” because suffering is the original meaning of the Latin term passio. When Jesus was brought before the Jewish authorities as an enemy of the people, those “who were holding Jesus began to mock him and beat him; they also blindfolded him and kept asking him, ‘Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?’” (Luke 22:63-65). Jesus was then dragged before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate as an enemy of the empire. Though there was no basis to the charges against Jesus, Pilate had him flogged–at two points during the process, it seems (cf. John 19:1 and Matthew 27:26, Mark 15:15). The 2004 movie, The Passion of the Christ, dramatized how gruesome scourging by Roman soldiers could be. Mel Gibson’s original theatrical release of the film dwelt on that torture scene for ten minutes. Subsequent editions of the film cut five minutes of the goriest visuals, because viewers and critics had found it too horrible to watch. If the image of it is too horrible for us to endure, what of the horror endured by Jesus himself, actually experiencing such a thing? And then experiencing the horrors of crucifixion, slowly suffocating to death? And the horror of soul in bearing all the weight of humanity’s separation from God as an act of atonement for us, causing him to cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)?

We can have patience in our ordeals in life because we know we have a God who is on our side. He has suffered with us and for us. “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:15-16).

Now, there’s a part of Psalm 129 that we haven’t addressed yet, which we can’t ignore. The last verses of the psalm approach the throne of God with a prayer for punishment on all those who have hated and opposed Zion–God’s holy mountain, God’s people, his church. “Oh, let all those who hate Zion grovel in humiliation; let them be like grass in shallow ground that withers before the harvest” (Psalm 129:5-6 MSG). Is that a righteous prayer? Are we allowed to pray for judgment against “the evil plowmen” who have “plowed long furrows up and down” our backs? Are we allowed to ask God to rip “the harnesses of the evil plowmen to shreds” (cf. Psalm 129:3,4 MSG)? When Christ was crucified, didn’t he say, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34)?

Yes, Christ urges us to show patience and forgiveness to all. At the same time, we also speak out against those who knowingly and persistently act against righteousness and justice and goodness. Jesus himself forcefully upended the tables of the merchants and money changers doing business in the temple area, even making a whip to drive away all their merchandise–sheep and cattle they were selling for sacrifices (John 2:13-17). God’s prophets again and again decried those who acted unjustly. The prophet Amos warned the proud and powerful in his day, saying, “I know how many are your transgressions, and how great are your sins—you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy. … Hate evil and love good. … Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light, and gloom with no brightness in it [to those who are wicked]?… Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:12,15,21,24).

We are called to a path of patience like God’s own patience, “not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). But that doesn’t mean we wish people well in their path of sin or smile cheerfully when evil and hurtful things occur. Christians can get confused about that sometimes. I know someone who worked in a domestic violence shelter in the Bible belt. Many of the women entering the shelter were deeply Christian in their convictions. As soon as their terror subsided and their wounds and bruises began to heal, they began feeling it was their duty to go back to their husbands and forgive them. The shelter team had trouble keeping these women safely in the program, because of their compelling urge to turn the other cheek and forgive quickly. The advice I offered? Remind the battered women of the example of Joseph in dealing with his brothers. Joseph had been mistreated by his brothers and sold off into slavery by them. God kept Joseph safe and put him in a position where later his brothers came before him (not recognizing who he was, as he became a leader in Egypt and had the appearance of an Egyptian). Joseph very much wanted to forgive and reconcile with his brothers, but didn’t rush into doing so. He put his brothers through a series of tests of character to see if they were still the same uncaring men who had sold him into slavery more than a decade earlier (cf. Genesis chapters 42-45). Once it was clear they were changed, repentant persons, he revealed himself, and a genuine reunion and reconciliation occurred.

Loving Zion–loving the kingdom of God and all that is good–means we will not smile and nod toward those who hate Zion or do evil. We will, in all honesty, feel what the ancient psalm-singers felt when they sang: “Let all those who hate Zion grovel in humiliation.” We don’t say, “Congratulations on your wonderful crop! We bless you in God’s name!” (Psalm 129:8 MSG) to those who achieve their great harvest or success by abusing or exploiting or taking advantage of people to get it. We call evil evil, and we call good good. We pray for the good of all, and we pray against that which is evil. And we wait patiently while enduring suffering and hurt in a world that is plagued by much that is evil, knowing we have a God who is good and who will rescue us from all that is painful in his appointed time.

The Passion of Christ has shown us how God achieves what is valuable for us. There was nothing quick or easy about the path set before Jesus. He trod that bloody, anguished path for us. And he promises us that when our patience is tried and tested, he remains with us, building our endurance, giving us hope. As the Scriptures testify: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh” (2 Corinthians 4:8-11). This is our calling in Christ.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are rom the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Jan

2021

Spiritual resolve

by David Sellnow

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

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

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

Spiritual resolves for our lives in Christ

1. Cling to eternal hope

“If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:19,20). So, with clear resolve, we can stay strong in hope always. “God … gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore … be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:57,58).

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

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

3. Examine ourselves and repent

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

4. Give attention to what God says

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

5. Pray and labor in the Lord

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

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

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

Dec

2019

Escaping the prison of guilt

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on October 30, 2015. On October 31 each year, Protestants recall the anniversary of the Reformation – a movement that began in 1517 to reclaim the life and joy and hope of the gospel within the church. Students in a history course I taught read a biography of Martin Luther, which highlighted not only his personal history but the main themes of the Reformation movement. The following student writing was an essay from a student reflecting on Luther’s experience … and her own.

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

Brought to life by the gospel

by Grace Williams

“I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” ~ Galatians 2:21

Could you imagine living in a world where everything was up to you? As Christians, we know full well that God has already done everything for us to secure our salvation. But what if this truth was not set in stone? If achieving eternal life was based even in the slightest on our adherence to the law, the Bible spells out a very terrifying message: All persons have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. If this is true, how then could we possibly do anything to make ourselves pure in God’s eyes?

This is the question that tormented Martin Luther’s each and every waking moment during the years before he nailed up his famous 95 Theses. Luther had been raised under the law-driven doctrine of the medieval Roman Church, and his spiritual state fully exemplified the dangers of excluding the gospel in one’s worship life. He was constantly surrounded by church officials ordering him to repent of his sins, and tearful confessions were a daily ordeal. Every time Luther committed even the “smallest” of sins, he would be overcome with grief and shame and go running to a priest to beg for assurance of forgiveness. Often, he would even physically punish himself or go days without eating, in order to show penance for what he had done, in hopes that God would have mercy on his soul. The worst part of it all–the pain, the torment, and the utter humiliation–was that he never knew if the measures he was taking were enough.

Most of us can’t even imagine living in a state of constant fear that our repentance isn’t enough. While many may find it next to impossible to relate to Martin Luther, I have witnessed firsthand how powerful of a prison penance can be–and how the gospel changes everything!

When I was very little, I had severe Tourettes and OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). Today it has toned down quite a bit, and I have learned to cope with it and accept it as part of who I am. It is just one of the many blessings God has given me to make me unique. But I did not always see it this way. In fact, it used to make my life a bit miserable. Part of having OCD and Tourettes is that your mind is miswired to fixate itself on things that bother your conscience. For instance, if you are brought up taught that “stupid” (for a mild example) is a bad word, you will be more inclined to have that word inadvertently cross your mind. You can imagine as a Christian how fixated you could become on the bad sins you had committed! I used to go through periods of time where I was so overcome by sins that I could not get out of my head that I was literally praying nonstop throughout the entire day. (And I assure you, this is, sadly, no exaggeration!) Some nights I would stay up hours on end, asking God why I was so sinful and begging that he would forgive me for all the terrible things I had committed that day. I knew that Jesus had saved me … but I had also been taught that we should repent of all of our sins, and I was completely overwhelmed! Finally, one night, I broke down in front of my parents. That is when God swooped in with his life-saving gospel!

Looking back on it, I realize now how foolish it was for me to doubt God’s forgiveness and mercy. For a long time I wondered how God could possibly use that chapter of my life for my good–aside from me having A LOT of one-on-one time with him in the early hours of the morning. It wasn’t until recently that I realized why he allowed me to carry that cross for so long. Thanks to my experiences, I can relate to those who are burdened down by sin, and I can offer them the reassurance that God’s love covers over even a multitude of sins. I understand better than ever how the law, without gospel, is meaningless! Without gospel, we are slaves to sin and penance. We cannot earn our way into Gods arms, nor can we atone for the good we have failed to do. The gospel is truly the life-giving message that people so desperately need to hear! That is why Luther’s work and the Reformation are so vital to Lutherans today. God help us never to lose sight of the gospel, so that in confident faith we may proudly proclaim, “That no one is justified by the law before God is evident; for, the righteous person shall live by faith” (Galatians 3:11).

The law is a prison … but the gospel is the power of God for salvation, to everyone who believes!

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).

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

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

A letter from home for you

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on October 27, 2014.

A Letter from Home, from your Heavenly Father

by Morgan Jacob

My dear child,

I am always with you. I know the deepest depths of your heart. I know your thoughts, your words, and your deeds. I see all of the wonderful works that you do to bring glory to me. I’ve noticed how you help your neighbor, how you proclaim my Word to others, and how you diligently study the Scriptures on your own. I do see all of the good that you do, and it pleases me.

However, I do also see the bad. Those daily sins that you struggle with? Yeah, I know all about them. No matter how hard you try, you just can’t seem to stop sinning. The laziness, the lack of love for others, the drunkenness, the judgmental thoughts. You know the sins that I’m talking about. I also see the sins you commit that you yourself aren’t even aware of. What I see, all of these shortcomings, do not please me.

However, do you not know that there is something else that I see even more than your sins? I see my son, Jesus. His perfect life and death on the cross covers all of your sins. He lived the perfect life that you are not able to, and he died the death that you deserve. He conquered sin, death, and the devil. Because you are my own dear child, whom I adopted through baptism and my Word, I look to Jesus when you sin. Because I love you as a Father loves his dear children, you can have the confidence that I have truly forgiven you because of what Christ has done. I do not hold your sins against you nor do I write a list of them and compare you to your neighbor. I keep no record of wrongs.

My forgiveness towards you, however, does not give you a free pass to sin. Do not think that because you are forgiven, you can act however you please. But rather, act in a way that will please me, your heavenly Father.

Repent, and turn from your evil ways. Avoid all sins that will lead you away from me. Do not let yourself be tempted to the point where your heart turns cold towards me and you no longer see the seriousness of your sin. Resist your sinful nature that constantly tells you, “Oh, what I’m doing isn’t really that bad” or “I certainly don’t sin as much as that person.” Satan will tempt you into thinking that your sins are not condemning, but you know from my Word and what you have learned that the one who lives a life of impenitence will not enter my kingdom.

Repent, my child, because I forgive you. Attend my supper where you are given my Son’s body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins and reassurance of my love for you. Surround yourself with those who walk in my way and follow my decrees. When you wrong someone, ask him for forgiveness, and be truly repentant. Do not just say the words “I’m sorry,” because words mean nothing without actions. As my servant John wrote to you, “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:18). So therefore, my dear child, turn to me and I will help you put your words into actions and truly change your heart.

And finally, forgive others, just as I have forgiven you. This is not an easy task and it never will be. Your brothers and sisters will sin against you, and you will sin against them. A friend may betray you, a parent may neglect you, your partner may lie to you. Do not hold these sins against them. They are my precious children too. Forgive them, really forgive them. True forgiveness is more than saying the words “I forgive you” or “It’s okay, it’s not a big deal.” Forgiveness means that you will not hold your brother or sister’s sin against him or her any longer. You won’t bring it up in the future. You won’t guard feelings of hostility in your heart, and you won’t use their sin against them to cause hurt. When you forgive someone, you will set that person free.

Do not think that you can forgive on your own because you are such a good or strong person. You have the ability to forgive because I have given that to you, and I have forgiven you. Look to me when you face difficult challenges in your life. Whether you wrong someone or somebody wrongs you, look to see what my Word says, and you will be comforted. When you sin, repent, and when somebody sins against you, forgive them.

My dear child, it may not seem like I am always with you. You can’t see me, but remember that you can hear me. My Word is always in front of you to read, my angels are always surrounding you and protecting you, and I am always watching over you. Take to heart and listen to these words from my Son, Jesus, who said to his disciples—and says to you— “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven” (John 20:21-23).

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for loving us so much that you have forgiven all of our sins. Keep us close to you and motivate us to always stay in your Word. Give us the strength to ask for forgiveness and also to forgive others, as you have forgiven us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Thoughts in remembrance of 9/11

Responding to evil and trouble in this world

An Advent Promise—and Warning

The Sun of Righteousness is Rising

Learning how to forgive — forgive freely, but not cheaply

Repent – for the kingdom of heaven is near

An Advent message

A meditation focused on Psalm 129

PATIENCE

Spiritual resolves for our lives in Christ

Brought to life by the gospel

The Story of Charlotte

A Letter from Home, from your Heavenly Father

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