aSacredRebel

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?

Why do you do…

He said also to the man who had invited him, When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just. (Luke 14:12-14 ESV)

Why do you do what you do?

The understanding of a gift is something that is given with no strings attached. Yet how many times does that actually happen? Usually people will give gifts, invite people, send cards because of what they will get in return. We do not do things because we are motivated by love or the gospel. Usually we do things because we are motivated by what we will get out of the process.

As Jesus said in the above passage, we invite those to our banquets we know that they will be able to repay us. But that is not what we are suppose to do. We are called to show love to those that are not loved by society. We are called to love those who can not repay us, because we have been given everything we have by God and therefore should freely give it away.

So why do you do what you do?

See the Lord…

The angels had 6 wings.

With 2 wings they covered their faces.

With 2 wings they covered their feet.

With 2 they flew.

Ok I get the face and flying… but what is this feet business. Let’s just it is the topic of another blog post but it has nothing to do with feet…

They covered their face because they could not look at God. They could not see Him. Even the angels that attended to Him in His high court could not see Him. No one saw His face. Moses saw His backside, as God passed by him and covered his face so he could not see Him.

Even the angels could not see Him, but we can! Jesus said if you’ve seen me you’ve seen the Father. And if we see Jesus in another than we see the Father in them.

So fly and do not worry about covering your face, but cover your feet, that is always a good thing…

Making God Gag…

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation. “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” (Revelation 3:14-22, ESV)

You’ve got your life together right…

No problems everything is going the way you want it to, and things are looking good. You are a self made man or woman and you have done it all by yourself. You pulled yourself up by your own boot straps and your success is your own doing!

We’ve heard this all before. I made this money and I deserve everything I have. I do not owe any one any thanks for where I am…

But are any of us self made?

Did we pull our selves up by our own boot straps?

Did we really get to where we are by ourselves?

Do any of us really need God?

That is exactly what is being said to the church at Laodacea. They are lukewarm, neither hot or cold. They do not think they need God or that God had anything to do with getting them to where they were.

But you see that is simply not true. All of us have had some help getting to where we are. Our parents, pour teachers, and other leaders around us, some of us baseball or softball coaches, football, or soccer coaches, or scout leaders, or others who influenced our lives. But God has also had a hand in our lives, whether we admit it or not. We can either acknowledge that God is a part of our lives, be hot for him, or we can say that God had nothing to do with us and be cold, but we can not say that it is all our own doing. When we try to take all of the credit, we are lukewarm, and we make God gag.

So are you living a lie and saying you are self made?

Are you making God gag?

Tell the world who helped you to where you are and whose you are! Shout it out loud and be hot for the Lord!

The Church is my mother.

Being RKP

The church is my mother.

In an actual, literal way.

She did not ask to be so.

She could never live up to my hopes for her.

She taught me how to color outside the lines.

She gave me the courage to love others.

She nurtured my soul and showed me I was valued.

She came to my banquets and watched me rock the Psalty chorus.

She gave me clothes when I was naked.

She fed me when I was hungry.

When I felt ashamed, she wiped my tears and told me I was loved.

She has gotten ill and is unable to care for herself.

She tries, like hell, to keep her independence.

The small things get ignored.

The small things become big things and her health decreases.

My siblings stop calling, outside of the mandated occasions.

I call her every week.

I endure the conversations about getting married…

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