Blasphemy…

The Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus replied, ‘I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?’ The Jews answered, ‘It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.’ Jesus answered, ‘Is it not written in your law, “I said, you are gods”? If those to whom the word of God came were called “gods”—and the scripture cannot be annulled—can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, “I am God’s Son”? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.’Then they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands. He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there. Many came to him, and they were saying, ‘John performed no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.’ And many believed in him there. (John 10:31-42 NRSV)

How many of you have ever been charged with blasphemy?

OK we really don’t charge for blasphemy in the church, but how many of you have been held to a standard of what you have said or done is just out of line with what the church has taught?

You see the Jews wanted to kill Jesus not because He was good but because He was teaching them something that was against what they knew to be good and right. Even though what He was teaching them was in the scriptures!

How many of you go to a worship gathering where the pipe organ is used? Do you know that now if you try to have worship with some other means of musical accompaniment that it is considered blasphemy in some congregations? Did you also know that when the organ was introduced to worship settings it was the instrument of the devil and should not be used in worship?

Also how many of you go to a place of worship that has a woman pastor? This was blasphemy in many places until just recently and still to this day is not acceptable in some denominations…

We are really hung up on the “we have never done it that way” that we miss the forest for the trees.

We are suppose to be followers of Christ. Not followers of the way we have always done it. So listen to wheat He is calling you to do and do it!

 

Why can’t we?

Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed. And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose. And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. (Acts 9:32-35, ESV)

Do you read passages like this and wonder why they don’t happen today?

Do you ever read passages like this and wonder why can’t I do that?

We want the powers it seems the disciples of Jesus had. It is almost like they had something special because they were touched by Him…

But didn’t Jesus say to them (and us) that “we would do greater things than He did”?

The problem is in our inward thoughts…

Why do you want to be able to do the things you read about? Is it selfish or selfless?

Paul healed everyone because Jesus came to heal everyone. They did not withhold from anyone the power the disciples yielded was Jesus’ power and that is why it worked. If we are giving ourselves away selflessly than the things that happened then will happen now, and they do.

We maybe doing things we do not even see, but our job is not to want to do the miracles  our job is to follow Jesus and do what He needs us to do.

You can! And Jesus will through you, just follow Him!

Sending me Angels…

This past Saturday night I had the privilege of seeing Delbert McClinton with some great friends. He sang a song which made us take notice called Sending Me Angels. One of my friends found a link to the lyrics and sent it to me. I read them and thought about all of the wonderful angels my friend has placed in my life.

I am thankful for all of the angels God has sent me and this is for you.

Lyrics to Sending Me Angels :
I walked down to the river, stood on the shore
Seems like the devil’s always tryin’ to get in my door
Just when I thought I couldn’t take it anymore
Here he came again, my friend

He keeps sending me angels from up on high
He keeps sending me angels to teach me to fly
He keeps sending me angels, sweet and true
He keeps sending me angels just like you

As I stand on this mountain, face to the wind,
Amazed by the number of times I have sinned,
And the countless number of enemies that should have been friends
Here he comes again, my friend

He keeps sending me angels here they come a-flyin’
He keeps sending me angels to keep me from cryin’
He keeps sending me angels, sweet and true
He keeps sending me angels just like you

Some say that it’s comin’, I say it’s already here
The love that’s among us through the joy and the fear
When I look into your eyes everything is so clear
My friend, here he comes again

He keeps sending me angels from up on high
He keeps sending me angels to teach me to fly
He keeps sending me angels, sweet and true
He keeps sending me angels,just like you

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.