Joy!!!

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. (Psalms 100:1-5 ESV)

Sometimes it is hard to be joyful.

Sometimes all we want to do is make a noise that is not joyful.

But the psalmist tells us to make a joyful noise and to serve the Lord with gladness!

We can do this because His steadfast love endures forever! Not because we always feel like it or are in the mood to. We can be joyful in the Lords because of all He has done for us.

That is why, even in fear and darkness, in pain, and sorrow, we can make a joyful noise and serve Him with gladness.

He will always walk with you through every valley and joy and that is why we can come to Him in joy!

Doubt vs. Faith?

At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.” (John 10:22-30 NRSV)

Today is Good Shepherd Sunday. It is the 4th Sunday of Easter and we read (those who follow the Revised Common Lectionary) Psalm 23 and a Gospel lesson from John 10 every year.

I was struck this week with the opening verse for Psalm 23:

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

As I read this I wondered if I truly was a sheep of Jesus’ fold. Because I will be the first to admit I Want! I wrote a post on it a few days ago, which you can see here. I want health, wealth happiness, you name it I probably want it. We all want things, if we are honest with ourselves. And if we are really honest deep down in those dark places of our lives we want to know that our faith will pay off in the end. That all of the promises that God has made are really and we can truly count on Him to get us through. We want to know this.

Which brings us to our gospel lesson for the day. You see Jesus’ people wanted to know plainly if He was the Messiah, the Christ, or not. They were questioning Him, in the Portico of Solomon, the place a king would give judgments of justice. They wanted to know. The idiom used here in John in the original Greek today means, “How long will you continue to annoy us?” They were questioning Jesus and I bet He was getting tired of it.

Have you ever been asked questions by someone and been annoyed by it? We all ask questions, and it is good to question. We have setup in our congregations and worship places and communities of worship that faith and doubt or questions do not live well together. We want to think a person of faith would not doubt and that questions are bad. But the people in today’s reading who are questioning Jesus are asking Him to verify His power, that He is actually God. And don’t we all want verifiable proof of this? We all want to know the promises are real!

I’ll be the first to tell you that doubt if not the opposite of faith! I have had many doubts and have gone to many dark places in the past years as I wait on God. I have no fear that God is with me and walks and prepares a place for me. He is always with me and will always be with me, but I doubt my abilities as a husband, as a father, as a preacher, as a ministry worker. I doubt I have the abilities to make it! I have been to dark places and wondered how I would get back out. We need to admit that doubt is there. As people of faith it is OK for us to doubt. It is OK for us to question, because God is big enough to take our doubt and our questions. We need to know that others among us, who sit next to us in the pew, on the bus or train, in the next cubical, across the restaurant  are hurting and wondering how they are going to make, and if God really loves them. It is OK to question if God is with you. Doubt does not make your faith weaker, if you always fall back on your faith, it will make it stronger. Your questions will push you towards God and deepening of that relationship.

I have had doubts and I will always have doubts until He comes again, but I will never fear that He has left me. He always walks with me.

Remember that you shall not want, because He will provide everything that you need. And He is always with you.

The last line of Psalm 23 tells us this:

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.

Goodness and mercy will follow you… Sounds like a little puppy following on your heals. But is should be more like “surely goodness and mercy will pursue me all the days of my life…” We think that the only think that pursues us is darkness, pain, evil, but here the psalmist tell us that God pursues you. He is chasing after you where ever you go. He loves you too much to let a little doubt or question get in the way.

Live in the question and the doubt and allow God to pursue you and fill you with His peace. It will not make everything perfect, but it will get rid of fear!

What’s for dinner?

And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:29-32 ESV)

Do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink…

I would say from this verse that Luke was not a parent. It seems the great question of every day is what are we going to have for dinner…

We spend countless hours in our house discussing this and doing shopping lists and planning for what will be for dinner.

So according to Luke are we not suppose to do this? Now I do not think that is what Luke is saying. But we are not to be concerned chiefly with our daily lives. If we focus on seeking after God and His kingdom, everything else will all fall into place. That does not mean you will always have everything that your want, but God will always make sure you have everything you need.

Who do you serve?

“As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord God : Go serve every one of you his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and your idols. “For on my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel, declares the Lord God, there all the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in the land. There I will accept them, and there I will require your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your sacred offerings. As a pleasing aroma I will accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered. And I will manifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that I swore to give to your fathers. And there you shall remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 20:39-44 ESV)

Serve me or serve your idols…

We all know that you can not serve 2 masters. Even if someone is a double agent, they take orders from one agency, but only so they other agency can get insider information. They only serve the one agency.

So who do you serve?

Here God says that if you are not going to serve Him then you can just go serve your idols. And in the end you will not be judges by your sinful and evil ways, but you will be judged by the sake of His name.

Our deeds will not save us or condemn us, our only hope is in Jesus and following after Him and doing what He is calling us to do. So lay your idols down and follow the one whose name can save you.

I want it!

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalms 23:1-6 ESV)

How many of us want?

I want something so bad right now I’m about to go crazy trying to figure out why I can not get one. Many of you know that I am a pastor in the ELCA. I have been on leave from call for the past 14 months. I have been in the process of looking for a new call for about 26 months. And I have not yet found a congregation that is a match. Now that could lead one to really start to question ones calling, but I am not questioning my calling. I know I have been called to word and sacrament ministry, but I am still in want. I want to be in a call… But Psalm 23 says I will not be in want. God will lead me like a shepherd leads His sheep. he will lead me besides still waters so I can drink and He will keep the bugs away by covering my head with oil, and He will keep me safe. And He has done all of this. He has provided in our time of need and even thought we are down, we are not out. We have resources available because God has provided, and He will continue to provide.

I guess I wonder if our being in want for something is God leading us to understand that His timing is perfect and our want is not a need and when it becomes a need, then and o ky then will it be provided.

Send Who?

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” (Isaiah 6:1-8, ESV)

We have all heard this passage if scripture if we have been to worship for a while. This is the passage I always think of when I hear the hymn I the Lord of Sea and Sky. And usually when we worship this this set of verses we will hear that song. It is a wonderful hymn, but it misses the concept this passage is getting at…

The chorus of the hymn is:

Here I am Lord, Is it I Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night.
I will go Lord, if You lead me.
I will hold Your people in my heart

Who among us would not say this? I have heard the Lord calling and I want to follow where He is leading me, and of course He will lead me, so I will go and hold His people in my heart. It all sounds so quaint. Like a Norman Rockwell painting! But is that what it is here in Isaiah 6?

First off Isaiah finds himself in the temple with God and he knows he is in trouble because he is sinful and can not be in God’s presence. So to handle this little situation, the angels are there and they take a hot coal from the altar and set it on Isaiah’s lips to purge the sin from him… Uhhh No thank you! I do not want a burning coal touching my lips. But Isaiah does not complain about this. He is told his sin is removed, and the Lord asks for a volunteer and Isaiah willingly says, “Here I am!”

That is where our story today ends, and is fitting for the hymn… But there in lies the problem!

You see we all think “once I say yes to God everything will be sun shine and roses, and life will be easy. He would never ask me to do anything hard.” Ummm have you read the New Testament and seen what He made His son do? Do you think you are going to get it easy?

The Lord then sends Isaiah to the people to tell them to keep hearing but not understand, and to keep seeing but not perceive. Isaiah will tell the people their hearts will be dull, their ears heavy, and their eyes blind. Now does that sound like a fun mission? No it is not all sunshine and roses. God sends Isaiah to tell the people they will not understand perceive, and their hearts will be hardened. It is not a good mission to be on, but he has already volunteered…

So next time you say Here I am, remember God will lead you, and He may just take you some place you would rather not go…

Defense…

So Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense: “I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently. “My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee. And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king! Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead? “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities. “In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ (Acts 26:1-18, ESV)

What would you say if you had to defend your faith?

What would you say if a friend or neighbor asked you about your community you worship in?

We say (and it is biblical) “The Holy Spirit will give me words to speak…” That is true, but that does not mean we should not be prepared to give a defense of our faith.

Do you know what you would say to someone who questioned your beliefs, or asked you why you did the things you did? Paul had a clear understanding of who he was as Saul, and that understanding of self got even more clearly defined when he became Paul. You see Jesus has a way of helping us know who we are, because as He created us is the most perfected version of us, and the only way to achieve that person is through Him.

So pray and ask Him what your defense would be, and ponder how you might answer questions of your faith. But know that He will be with you as He was with Paul, to give you strength in times of need.

Questions…

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. (Psalms 121:1-8 ESV)

We as humans question things on a daily basis. Kids are really good at this, asking, “why” or “how do you know that.” Or “are we there yet?”

We questions things we do not understand or are unsure of. Sometimes when things are to good to be true or so far out there we may not believe what we have been told or have found to be the answer.

It is in our nature to question…

But there is one thing we do. It have to question. Ay time we need help, all we have to do is turn our eyes to the hills and see our help come from the Lord. He will always be there to keep me going in and out and cover everything that happens in our lives.

So trust that God will always be there and He will help and shelter you!

Are you ready?

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”  He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”  He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.  Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.”  (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.” (John 21:15-19 ESV)

We are all familiar with this passage where Jesus restores Peter. Peter denied Jesus 3 times and here Jesus restores Peter by asking him if he loves Him 3 times. Peter was angry because Jesus kept asking, but then realized that he was restored.

All of us want restoration from our sins. We all want to be right with Jesus but follow after our own desires and our own self preservation. We desire the restoration but are we ready for it?

You see as in Peter’s case restoration is more than being in a right relationship with God. Restoration to Jesus is about doing  what God is calling us to do and be. It is not about being right with God, but about following and doing what Jesus asked you to do.

So are you ready to be restored?