Ministry on the New Frontier; a Review of Clint Shnekloth’s: Mediating Faith

Great thoughts on a wonderful resource!

geoff sinibaldo's avatarsinibaldo.wordpress.com

I’m sitting in my office on a Monday morning. Last night before bed I posted in the ELCA Clergy Facebook Group* the struggles I have with the upcoming Sunday’s assigned readings for worship, and have a couple dozen responses to my post, many of which are helpful. Yesterday’s sermon is posted on YouTube.  As I post the YouTube link on my blog, I am amazed by the number of hits I got on a year old post after my head injury simply by reposting it on Facebook.  I just read a Twitter message from a college student in Pennsylvania, who took a beautiful picture of campus and shared it with me. Pandora is playing Arcade Fire in the background. A few years ago I would not have done any of these things. I joined Facebook in 2007. Like many I am not a native to social media but learned it…

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eye of a needle

A certain ruler asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother.” ’ He replied, ‘I have kept all these since my youth.’ When Jesus heard this, he said to him, ‘There is still one thing lacking. Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ But when he heard this, he became sad; for he was very rich. Jesus looked at him and said, ‘How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ Those who heard it said, ‘Then who can be saved?’ He replied, ‘What is impossible for mortals is possible for God.’ Then Peter said, ‘Look, we have left our homes and followed you.’ And he said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not get back very much more in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.’ (Luke 18:18-30, NRSV)

We get hung up on this…

I mean it is not hard to see why, can a camel really go through the eye of a needle?

And if a camel can’t then it is truly impossible for a rich person to get into the kingdom. And the news flash for all of us in the 1st world countries, we are rich whether we think we are or not!

So we will not make it.

So in order to get around this we all have to give up all of our belongings and follow Jesus right?

This reading does not say that! Jesus told this ruler to follow the commandments, and when he claimed to have done that, Jesus told him, and only him, to go and sell everything and come back to follow Him. You see for this man, his wealth was his god.

So what is your god that you need to give up and lay at Jesus’ feet so you can truly follow Him?

You see we are not able to do many things on our own, but with God all things are possible!

So figure out what your god is and give it up, and watch that eye on the needle blow up!

competition

The Lord is my portion; I promise to keep your words. I implore your favor with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise. When I think of your ways, I turn my feet to your decrees; I hurry and do not delay to keep your commandments. Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me, I do not forget your law. At midnight I rise to praise you, because of your righteous ordinances. I am a companion of all who fear you, of those who keep your precepts. The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love; teach me your statutes. (Psalm 119:57-64, NRSV)

What holds us from achieving our goals?

We get put down by people around us every day, but is their opinion of us what should matter to us?

How many of turn to the Lord and follow where He is leading us? If we follow where God is leading us then we have nothing to fear.

The only thing we really have to fear is the man/woman in the mirror. They are truly the only one that can keep us from following God.

God has promised us that He will walk with us through this world. Not that life will be easy, or being His disciple is going to be a walk in the park, but He will be with us to see us through.

So truly the only one who can keep you from following God, is you!

heap what?

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:9-21, NRSV)

We are not to repay evil for evil, but we are to love our enemies.

We are to pray for those who revile us.

We are to bless those who curse us.

We are to live in harmony with one another.

For by doing this we leave space for God to work in the lives of those who seem to be against us.

And in so doing this we heap burning coal on their heads!

Now that would just down right hurt! Burning coals on your head would not be a pleasant experience and in the whole grand scheme of things is truly worse than any revenge I believe any of us could come up with. Plus think of it in this way. Most people expect you to retaliate, in fact that is probably why some of them lash out in the first place. And if you do not retaliate, they will be confused and annoyed. By not doing what they expect, but loving them in-spite of their hate, we are doing what God has done for us!

God confuses us by loving us in-spite of our doing what we shouldn’t.

So confuse them and heap burning coals on their heads!

are you kidding!

‘You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you. ‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:38-48, NRSV)

Are you for real Jesus?

Really I’m suppose to not seek retaliation, but turn the other cheek to become a punching bag and to let people walk all over me by giving them everything I got!

If we take the words at face value then yes that is what it says, but we have to understand the context.

You see it was said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth so that there would be justice and not retaliation. It is suppose to keep it equitable. Yet it turns the bullied into the bully. It makes the one taking the eye, just as bad as the person who took the eye to cause the taking of the second eye…

And as Jesus usually does He ratchets up what society expects…

But we still have to understand what He is saying…

But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also;

This sounds like Jesus wants us to be a punching bag, but actually it is leveling the playing field. You see someone of a higher status would strike a person on the right cheek with the back of their right hand. But in order to strike a person on the left cheek they would have to use the palm of their right hand and in Jesus’ day this signified that those people were equals. One did not strike a lower statues person with their palm… It is leveling and saying we are equal in the eyes of God!

and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.

Again Jesus is asking to go above and beyond. But we have to understand that the understanding in the Roman Empire was that any person should and could be asked (forced) to care a Roman’s soldier’s pack for a mile. Jesus is saying take the expectation and do it happily and then go an extra mile! We as disciples are called to go the extra mile. We can not do the bare minimum with those we love. Everyone does that so how does the world see the love of God, by us as disciples living like Jesus and loving those who nail us to the cross, you and me!

So know Jesus is not asking you to be a doormat. He is asking you to share His love with the world!

 

do not judge…

‘Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgement you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbors eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, “Let me take the speck out of your eye”, while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbors eye. (Matthew 7:1-5, NRSV)

Do not try to remove the speck from your brothers eye when you have a plank in yours! We take this as a statement to not judge others, because that is what we do not do. But Jesus says “do not judge, so that you may not be judged.”

We could say from this statement that God will judge us if we judge others. Well I know it is too late for me on this, and if you are honest with yourself probably you too. If only we hadn’t judged we might have not been judged! So this means that we can’t judge others because then we ourselves will be judged on the same level we judge.

The picture above I think shows it all! They say a picture is worth a thousand words and I agree here.

You see the 2 men are pointing at each other, we assume judging one another. But look closely at the top hand…

Yes he has one finger pointing at the other man, in an accusing way, but where are his other three fingers pointing?

Those other three fingers are pointing back at him! He is in a way accusing himself more vehemently than the one in front of him. He is pointing three fingers at himself!

Remember that every time you wag your finger at someone, you are wagging more at yourself, and the very speck (sin) you see in them is probably the plank (sin) you yourself are trying to keep from the light in yourself…

Confess for yourself and make your relationship right, rather than playing God in the world.

Where is your trust?

Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. (Galatians 5:2-6, ESV)

Where do you place your trust?

Paul tells the Galatians that they can not hope in circumcision.  If they place their hope in circumcision then they must keep all of the law, and for 99.9% of people is impossible.

We can not trust in anything other than our faith in Christ. Only our faith is capable of holding us through…

If you trust in the physical aspects of this world Christ is nothing for you. If we trust in the law our faith is nothing and there is no hope.

But our hope is strong when we live by faith. Trust in Christ for His faith will see you through!

Change for Change Sake

Wonderful words on change!

the16percent's avatarThe 16%

When confronted with the need to change, many managers attempt to reassure their organization that “we are changing because we have to, but we are not going to create change just for the sake of change”.

While their intent is to make the change easier by reassuring fearful employees, in reality they accomplish just the opposite… their team hears that change is bad, and something to be endured only to the extent absolutely necessary.  Indeed, the underlying message of “we won’t make you change just for change sake” creates an extra burden to persuade your team that each and every change is actually necessary – thus requiring far more resources and energy to drive the needed change.

But the only constant in today’s world IS change. And high-performing organizations recognize the constancy of change and develop an organizational culture that rises above merely “enduring” change, and actually embrace, harness and drive…

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Everything is allowed but does that mean it’s good?

“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks? So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:23 – 11:1, ESV)

Paul told the Corinthians that everything is allowable, but does that make it good?

We must also do everything for the other and not for our own good. We have to do what is good for the other and not make ourselves the center of our world.

The center of our world must be Christ.

Paul tells us to imitate him which would mean we are imitating Christ.

So imitate Christ and do for others.

Imitate Christ and put others first.

And do not do everything but what He calls you to do.

Do not allow this world to control you and your actions but make Him the center of your world!