aSacredRebel

Pray

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Colossians 4:2-6 ESV)

Here the author of Colossians is reminding them to pray and to be watchful after they pray, being thankful for what they ae provided.

How many of us are thankful for what we have? Yesterday in a bible study I was reminded of the question, “what if you woke up tomorrow morning only with the things you thanked God for today?” What would we have? And would we truly be thankful. We sometime get upset when God doesn’t work like a cosmic vending machine and give us what we ask for, what we want. We are remiss to not thank Him for what He has given us, what we need.

We also need to pray for others, that God would work in and thought their lives, that God’s word might be made known through them.

So pray! And be thankful for what you have received from Him who watches over your needs and pray for others that God’s will is done in and through them.

do for who…

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. (Colossians 3:18-25 ESV)

This is an interesting text that has been used many wrong ways.

We have the tendency to use the Bible for our own need to get what we want. However I believe this text is not about keeping people down or in their place it is about what we have been gifted to do for the betterment of society.

You see Luther told us that we were all ordained to do something for the betterment of society. We have been given a gift that we are to use in the world. We need to use our gifts for the world and serve the world though our talents and time and wonders that God gave us. This text is not saying that wives need to know their place or that anyone should undergo anything because of who they are or aren’t or what their sexual identity might be. This text is telling us to live in the gift of life that God has given you living out the love He has shown you and given you over flowing with mercy and grace and serve the world as if everything we do is done unto the Lord who is then least of these!

Saving…

Someone in the crowd said to him, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. But he said to him, Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you? And he said to them, Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. And he told them a parable, saying, The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ” What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops? ” And he said, ” I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry. ” But God said to him, ” Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? ” So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. (Luke 12:13-21 ESV)

Man who made me the judge over you? Why does this man want Jesus to be the arbitrator for the estate of these brothers? Jesus is not concerned with money. (for not being concerned with it He sure talks about it a lot!)

He tells a parable about a man…

Which brings me to a question. Is it wrong for us to save money and plan for the future? If this is the case as it seems Jesus is making here, how many of us are in the wrong? Now I will say I am glad my wife and I save money. If we had not the past 18 moths I have been on leave from call would have been much harder than it was. But that is not what Jesus is saying. He is not telling us not to save and prepare for the future.

To see what He is saying we have to look deeper in the story. Jesus makes a comment on the focus of the man, read the conversation the man has with himself again. “I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” He is doing all of this stuff for himself with no thought of any one else. There is no spouse, no children, no talk of neighbors in need. He is focused only on himself and how this will effect him. He is a steward of all of these crops and needs to use his wealth and good fortune for the benefit of others. Jesus is not telling Him to not prepare and store some, that is Joseph’s story from the Hebrew Scripture. But Jesus wants us to be focused on others and not only our own needs.

It is not about saving and having wealth, it is about our focus and how we think of others before ourselves.

Who

Hear this, all you peoples; give ear, all inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor together. My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding. I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will solve my riddle to the music of the harp. Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me, those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches? Truly, no ransom avails for one’s life, there is no price one can give to God for it. For the ransom of life is costly, and can never suffice that one should live on forever and never see the grave. When we look at the wise, they die; fool and dolt perish together and leave their wealth to others. Their graves are their homes forever, their dwelling places to all generations, though they named lands their own. Mortals cannot abide in their pomp; they are like the animals that perish (Psalm 49:1-12, NRSV)

We have all heard the saying, “You can’t take it with you.” We can not take anything we have here with us to beyond the grave except the gift given to us by God for which there is no price we can give to God.

We need to look out for the lowly, the needy, the last, the lost, the little, and the least. Those who think because they have they can get what they want have made their grave and it is their wealth the psalmist tells us. We need to be in God and allow Him to work in and through us. We can not buy our way into His graces and the things we have here should be used for others not our own elevation.

Use what God has given you wisely and be there for others and always remember that you can’t take it with you.

a new self…

Now this I affirm and insist on in the Lord: you must no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart. They have lost all sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. That is not the way you learned Christ! For surely you have heard about him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus. You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:17-24, NRSV)

You must no longer live the way you use to live. What does that mean?

We need to live in the light and and be open and sensitive to those around us, not only looking out for our own needs, but more focused on the other than ourselves. We can not be deluded by our own lusts for self preservation and elevation, but sympathetic to the needs of the world around us. That is what Jesus did, and that is the new life we are called to.

So the beginning is here, follow Jesus and be more concerned with the other than you are with yourself!

Advisor

O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
“For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”
“Or who has given a gift to him, to receive a gift in return?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:33-36, NRSV)

We all want to serve God, only God does not need any advisors. He is the one who should be advising us, as Paul tells the Romans.

We do not know the mind of God, and we have not given Him anything that He has not already given to us. We are the stewards of His many wonders He has given to us. We can not give Him anything that He has not given to us first to take care of.

But don’t we all play God’s advisor or counselor. We all want to do God’s will and be a part of His mission, but only on our terms and in our way. But when God calls we are to come and follow, to take up our cross and give up our ways. We need to do what God tells us and not tell Him what we want to do, or change His plans to meet our needs. His plan is perfect the way it is and our input is not needed. We are not advisors or counselors but followers…

Love…

“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 5:43-48, NRSV)

How easy it to love those who love you? Sometimes, most times, it is easy. We can easily give as we have been given…

But think what God did for you. He loved you when He could not be near you. He loved you when you were covered in sin and not able to be in His presence. And He loved you who were not able to be with Him.

So how much more should we do the same?

We must love those who are our enemies and pray for all people. This is what God has called us to do…

Righteous by faith

What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” (Romans 9:30-33 ESV)

Do you know all of the rules?

Do you follow all of the rules?

Have you ever seen someone new to the community reach a status of someone who has been a member for all of their life, even though they can not possibly know all of the “rules”?

You see there are the written rules, then every community has their unwritten rules. We need to know all of these and follow them to be in right with those who control the community.

But Paul tells the Romans that in God’s community it’s not about the rules. Even if you know the rules and try to keep them, that will not get you in the right standing with God. You have to have faith and believe that God is going to do what He has promised. We can only get in right standing with God by believing and following God where He leads us not just doing what those around us say is right.

Worship how?

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch ( referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. (Colossians 2:16-23 ESV)

How many of us think or believe that the way we worship is the right way and the only way?

There are so many different denominations and congregations and all of them worship God in a different way. Now it is true that many denominations will have many of their congregations that worship in a similar manner. It is true in most Lutheran congregations that worship will be in a way that if you are Lutheran you will recognize and feel it at home.

But is this way right?

The author of Colossians tells us that we can not hold anyone accountable because of the food they eat or they way they worship. These things do not have affect on the way we worship God. They get in the way of all of us focusing on worshiping God and fighting amongst ourselves. If what we are doing is feeding our relationships, then worship and help others know why it feeds your relationship. But hold no one at fault for not worshiping like you. Build up the body.

Prayer…

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and sit will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:1-13, ESV)

I believe I can easily say this is a passage of scripture that has most pastors running for the hills when we see it. You see the text says that is you ask for something God will give it, and if you seek something you will find it and if you knock it will be opened… Well we have all had those times we asked and we did not get what we asked for, and we sought, and are still seeking, and we knocked and the door seemed to shut even tighter…

But the point of the verses is Jesus teaching the disciples to pray, and it is a simple yet complex thing to have a conversation with the Father. But Jesus breaks it down for us, in a conversation and relationship builder.

Prayer is really simple, it is a conversation. Jesus addresses God as Father, or better yet, as Daddy. The word Abba is the very familial word for father and would be equivalent to our word daddy. Jesus tells us to call the Father Daddy! And then He tells us to ask Daddy to keep His name holy. We can not do that, only He can, and so we ask Him to work His holiness in and through all that we have and everywhere we go, that He would be holy in us and around us, that His kingdom would come and be made known here. And then He breaks it down to three easy to remember petitions:

For provision
For relationships
For safety

Jesus tells the disciples to ask for their daily bread. Ask for the things they need in order to survive. Then He tells them to ask for forgiveness as they have forgiven. We need to keep the lines of communication open and seek to right our wrongs. We must constantly be in check of the relationships we are in and keep them moving forward. Then He tells them to to ask to not be lead into temptation. This is for our safety. We need to stay out of the place that will get us into trouble and we could all use assistance in this!

So it is easy. Simple. And the next part is Jesus did not say to pray these words but to pray in this way, so take His outline:

Open the conversation: Daddy
Ask for provision
Ask for relationship help/advice/time
Ask for safety

And when you do this, do it in your words, honestly what you are thinking and feeling in your heart.

And then comes the hard part and what I believe the text pastors like to stray away from deals with, Trust…

We have to trust that God will actually give us what we need. And be there for us as He has promised. In order for Jesus to show the disciples this is something they can believe in He tells them about a man who has late night visitors. He goes to a neighbor and asks for some bread. Now most of us today would see this as a huge inconvenience on the man who is asleep in his house with his children. Yet the word translated above as “impudence” is better translated shamelessness. Because of the man who did not have what he needed for his guest and goes shamelessly to his neighbor seeking help, the neighbor will get up and give it to him. Also because in the system of Jesus’ day, if the man did not rise and help the man who came knocking, the sleeping man would be the one who would be shamed for not helping his neighbor in need. And if this is how we humans do things, and help people around us, how much more can we trust in, believe in, have faith in Jesus and Daddy God to follow through on what He has promised. You see it is true that he will follow through on His promises. But He will not give us what we ask for, He will give us what we need. That is why answers to prayers can be, Yes, No and Not right now, Or my parental favorite: Maybe…

But is that all this lesson give us?

An easy outline for prayer. Jesus telling us to honestly tell our Father what we are feeling and holding dear in our hearts, and then to trust. Yes and no…

You see there is a connection between this text and the text of Luke 4:1-13. This is the text of the Temptation of Jesus, and the temptations are for Food, Power, and touching Heaven.

Satan tells Jesus to turn the stones into bread – He needs His daily provision. But Jesus says we have to live on the very word of God. You see, even though Jesus could turn the stones to bread, He needed to ask God to provide for Him, because God will give us what we need, not what we ourselves are seeking after or wanting.

Then Satan offers Jesus all of the kingdoms of the world. He offers Him relationships with subjects to follow Him. You see relationships treated in the wrong way leads to broken lives and hurt people. We need to hold the power in the right place and allow God to hold the place pf supreme power in our lives and all of our relationships, otherwise things could go astray.

Then Satan tells Jesus to go to the pinnacle of the temple and throw Himself down, because the Holy Angels will not allow Him to hurt Himself. You see in Jesus day, the pinnacle of the Temple was the place where Heaven and earth met. It was the highest place in the world, and Jesus could jump from here and not get hurt. And while this is true, we are not to go into places where we can be hurt.

So this simple prayer is a way for us to manage our temptations as well as maintain our relationship with God. So talk simply, honestly and trusting in what God has promised, for He will never let us down.