Lord of the Sabbath

20130824-101311.jpgOn a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” (Luke 6:1-5 ESV)

We read this and say, “what is wrong with picking grain and eating when one is hungry?”

Well, first off, who’s field is it! Do you have permission to be picking this grain? Are you breaking another commandment? But none of these are what the Pharisees are worried about. What they are up in arms about is the next part. They are upset because the disciples rubbed the grain in their hands. They did work on the Sabbath. And work is not allowed on the day of rest.

Now if a person is hungry and no food is prepared does not one have the ability to prepare food? Remember though where the Pharisees are coming from. The Israelites were slaves for many years in Egypt where they were told when to work, they probably didn’t get a day off. So a law that demands they take a day of no work sounds really good and something we will uphold. If you we a slave and forced to work all the time, someone telling you to take a day of rest is not a command you will have trouble with, and will fight to keep it!

But we have to remember that the Sabbath was created for man. “And Jesus said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.'” (Mark 2:27 ESV) The Sabbath is a day of rest for us. And we all should rest but if something more important in the grand scheme of relationships is needed then that trumps the Sabbath.

So remember that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath and follow His lead!

Bless the Lord

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. (Psalm 103:1-8 ESV)

I read this psalm this morning and I was transported to Lutheran Camp Chrysalis in Kerrville, TX…

I heard the song leader screaming, “Bless the Lord! Oh my soul!”

That is a wonderful camp song that comes from this psalm. And here are the words:

Bless the Lord (Bless the Lord)
Oh my soul (my soul)
And all that is within me
Bless His holy holy holy holy name

For He has done great things hallelujah
He has done great things hallelujah
He has done great things
Bless His holy holy holy holy name

This psalm is one to cling to when we feel like our sins are to great, for God is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and will forgive our sins when we call out to Him. So bless the Lord by calling on Him and laying your life at His feet and allow His great things to cover you!

the dip by Seth Godin

A little book that teaches you when to quit!

What a wonderful concept because we are told over and over again that we should not quit.

I mean really we have all seen the picture of the frog in the birds mouth with it’s hands on the birds neck with the line “Never Quit!” Is that really good advice? Seth Godin tells us it is not in this easy read that imparts knowledge we already knows but backs up the knowledge with stories of those who actually quit and never looked back.

Godin helps us to focus our energy where we can make a difference and know when we have to push through the pain, or know when it is time to step away.

This is a must read for everyone to help them see their fullest potential as a person, be that in business or just to be the best of who they are!

Godin gives us nuggets of wisdom to help us see our true potential, find the thing we are personally, or our business is, best at and bring it to the next level of changing the world.

Discipline

Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children “My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, or lose heart when you are punished by him; for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves, and chastises every child whom he accepts.” Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children. Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness. Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and through it many become defiled. See to it that no one becomes like Esau, an immoral and godless person, who sold his birthright for a single meal. You know that later, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, even though he sought the blessing with tears. (Hebrews 12:3-17, NRSV)

How many of you as parents have disciplined a child? Have you made them endure a time of cleaning or waiting?

How many of us our enduring a time in our lives where it feels like nothing s going our way and we could not feel closer to the Lord? Maybe we are being prepared for our good…

Remember that God can make all things work together for His good, and He is your parent who wants the best for you.

Endure those times of discipline knowing it is for your good. Or better than endure, enjoy those times and relish how this is making you more like Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith!

House of prayer?

20130821-144223.jpgThen he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; and he said, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer’; but you have made it a den of robbers.” Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him; but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard. (Luke 19:45-48, NRSV)

For the Chief Priest, scribes and the leaders of he people did not listen to to the scripture Jesus quoted did they?

He said that His Father’s House was to be a house of prayer, and they had made it a den of robbers. Was this because they were selling the necessary wares for those who needed to worship? No it is because he exchange rate for the temple money was not good for the people and he prices they were paying were not good for the people. And who set up the systems of exchange and pricing?

What do we do in our buildings where we worship? Is it all prayer and worship? Or do we discuss how to make money and about the things that are wrong with society and the people we welcome and don’t welcome? If we do anything beyond praying we are not doing what Jesus and the Hebrew Scriptures told us to do.

So would Jesus drive you out of the temple?

what do we worship…

‘Our ancestors had the tent of testimony in the wilderness, as God directed when he spoke to Moses, ordering him to make it according to the pattern he had seen. Our ancestors in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our ancestors. And it was there until the time of David, who found favor with God and asked that he might find a dwelling-place for the house of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built a house for him. Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says, “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?” ‘You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are for ever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers. You are the ones that received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you have not kept it.’ (Acts 7.44-53, NRSV)

What can be made for God that God did not make? He has made the heavens and the earth and all that is around us He has made. So why do we toil over building the right buildings?

What are we really worshiping?

The above window is beautiful and a wonderful rendition of an understanding of the good shepherd, but if this window and the building around it become the center of our attention we are no better than the stiff necked uncircumcised people of heart and ear who had the law handed to them by the angels, but fail to keep it. The law is not about being in the right, it is about right relationships and being there with and for each other. The law is not meant to keep people away, but to show us how we are to live together for the furthering of God’s kingdom.

So do you worship the building you worship in, or do you love and worship God? Because there is nothing you can make that will impress the creator of the universe!

Blessed

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you. Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord. Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart! (Psalm 32:1-11 ESV)

Are your transgressions forgiven? Is your sin covered?

We are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God. There is a cute story I have heard many times about sin…

A man prayed to the Lord, “Lord it has been a good day so far. I have not called anyone a name, or thought bad thoughts about any one or anything. I have been completely focused on you. But Lord I’m about to get out of bed now so if you could give me the strength to continue this way.”

We all fall short, but the blessed person is the one who confesses their transgressions to the Lord, and confess their sins. Then the Lord forgives them, and brings them into the place where he blesses can be.

So do not beat yourself up because of your sin, confess it, and be one of the blessed.

Set this place on fire!

“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law. He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? (Luke 12:49-56, NRSV)

This is the gospel of our Lord! It was hard for me as a pastor to say that after reading this text this morning, because upon first hearing and thought process there is not much good new to be heard here. Jesus tells us that He has come to bring fire to the earth and He wishes it was already here. And then He goes on to tell us that He didn’t come to bring peace but division!

So the second destruction of the earth is coming by fire and Jesus is going to set this place ablaze. And not only that, but He is going to cause families to be at odds with each other. So just where is the good news. You read a text like this and you want to run to the other texts for the day and see what they have…

But hold on. Is the problem we have with what Jesus says here the texts fault, or something within us?

The text has done nothing wrong, and Jesus is getting His feelings out. He has done this before when tables are over turned in the temple. He has done some harsh things…

So what is this fire? We saw this earlier in Luke when the disciples asked Jesus if they should call for fire to rain down from heaven on the Samaritan village… It could be the second destruction of the world. God gave us the rainbow to tell us He would never again destroy the world with water, but that left every other element up for grabs.

The thing we need to look at here is what the context of this text is. This text is part of the journey to Jerusalem. Jesus has set His face towards Jerusalem and the cross. And this text is part of that. So in the whole grand scheme of things, this is before the cross…

So what if this fire, is not destruction? What if this fire is the inhabiting of all of the earth by the fire baptism of the Holy Spirit that comes on Pentecost? You see Jesus has not died, or risen yet in Luke, so Pentecost has not happened. What if this fire that Jesus is bringing is the coming Holy Spirit, and how He wishes it was already blazing on the earth and in the hearts of all men? He wishes this was so, because he is going to the baptism of His death.

And because of this He is stressed. Did you hear that? Jesus is stressed because He s going to be killed. To me, that right there is the good news! Jesus understand the stress of having to do something or face something. He came to earth and became human and understands what it is to feel stressed. He gets what we go through. And He understands what it can do to your life.

So do not think of the fire as destruction, but as the coming Spirit, and know that no matter what you are facing, Jesus has seen what it is like to be stressed, and it will all be something you can make it through with Him at your side!

False…

“So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place ( let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. (Matthew 24:15-28 ESV)

Look out for false christs and prophets. The world around us allows people to see things and do things that seem miraculous. We must not be led astray…

But Jesus also warns us to watch out for the false prophets and those who would claim to be messiah in the church. You see in Jesus’ day many were claiming to be the messiah and many were prophets. They were everywhere…

The interesting line in here for me is the last. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. We gather around the things that keep us in touch with the past. We hold onto the traditions and things of the past and can’t seem to look to the future or today. We are caught up In the ways that were… Jesus told us to look to the future and to be aware of what is happening here and now.

Be aware of where we are and what is happening and do not add to the false prophets and bring people away from the true Christ. Even in the church we are really good at looking backwards rather than forward. We need to focus on Christ, and where He is leading rather than the rules and regulations of our local congregations.

Follow Christ and do not add to the confusion of the false ways that lead others astray…