Fiery Furnace…

Then Nebuchadnezzar was so filled with rage against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that his face was distorted. He ordered the furnace to be heated up seven times more than was customary, and ordered some of the strongest guards in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. So the men were bound, still wearing their tunics, their trousers,their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the furnace of blazing fire. Because the king’s command was urgent and the furnace was so overheated, the raging flames killed the men who lifted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. But the three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down, bound, into the furnace of blazing fire. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up quickly. He said to his counsellors, ‘Was it not three men that we threw bound into the fire?’ They answered the king, ‘True, O king.’ He replied, ‘But I see four men unbound, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the fourth has the appearance of a god.’ Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and said, ‘Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!’ So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counsellors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men; the hair of their heads was not singed, their tunics were not harmed, and not even the smell of fire came from them. Nebuchadnezzar said, ‘Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. They disobeyed the king’s command and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that utters blasphemy against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins; for there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.’ Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. (Daniel 3:19-30 NRSV)

Do you feel like your life is under fire? Under pressure?

Have you ever done something that someone in power did not like and they set out to get you?

Can you trust God with all of your life like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?

I am sure all of us have been or are under pressure and feel like the fire is burning hot all around us. And we have all probably upset the powers that rule over us. We are human we can not make everyone happy all the time…

But do you trust God enough to risk dying for Him?

Do you trust Him with your life to stand up for your faith? In the face of those who are not part of it, and with those who are a part of it and say you have missed the boat? God is calling us to new adventures which may mean new a different things. Why do we believe that God will do nothing new now? The Pharisees thought this way too, that God had done all the new stuff and now it would always be the same, and then Jesus came along…

God will do what has o be done so that all of creation will be redeemed and we have to be ready to follow. So do you trust Him with your life?

 

I know I do…

Presence

Oh give thanks to the Lord ; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered, (Psalms 105:1-5 ESV)

Seek His presence continually…

Do you have a friend you call on in times of need? Does it take a while to explain to them what is happening and why you need their advice? What if your life was so connected to their’s that you didn’t have to explain what was happening and why you needed advice? Wouldn’t their advice and council be something deeper and and richer if you were deeply connected in the life you share?

Now image how much deeper your understanding of the grace God gives us of you were deeply and richly connected to Him. Be knows you better than you know yourself but how well do you know Him? How connected are you to Him. Seek Him and bask in the glory of His Grace.

Do for who?

“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience—I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks? So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. (1 Corinthians 10:23-33 ESV)

There is a scene from Tinkerbell where the head fairy dust fairy goes and talks to an owl about his problems. He talks about how the other fairies are always causing problems and they are doing things that really cause him problems. The owl always answers, “who?” And finally the fairy realizes that he can not blame his problems on someone else, he is the one that has to face up to them…

We always want to blame someone else for our problems. Seldom do we do things motivated for the other. But that is what Paul is telling the Corinthians here to do. If someone sets food in front of you eat it without worry where it comes from, but if someone tells you it was sacrificed to idols, then don’t eat it for that person who told you will be adversely effected by you consuming the food. Everything we do should be based on how it will effect someone else, not ourselves, because God has taken care of us, we are conveying the message of His love to others, and that is done through our actions as well as our words.

So do not for you, but for everyone else. Allow God to shine through you.

How are we made right?

What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. (Romans 4:1-12 ESV)

Is baptism necessary for someone to be right with God? As Lutherans we say yes. Baptism is necessary for someone to partake in communion. Right, we say all baptized believers are welcome to the table in the ELCA. I remember talking about this statement in seminary. I said it was an exclusive statement and my professor said it was meant as an inclusive. It is exclusive for those who have not been baptized, as they are not welcome according to the statement. But it was meant to say that all baptized believers, not just Lutherans, or ELCA Lutherans. If you were baptized you are welcome. Well it is both exclusive and inclusive. So is baptism necessary for salvation and for participation in communion?

Both communion and baptism are means of grace, places we receive from God. There is nothing man does in them except participate, we do not give anything, we only get. We receive God’s grace through both communion and baptism, so where is it recorded that baptism has to come first? Can’t we receive the grace of God through communion, then come to be baptized? Also who is not to say that we are not already sealed by God before we are baptized?

Abraham was made right then circumcised. So when are we made right?

Where are you from?

Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. (Philippians 3:17-21 ESV)

Where are you a citizen of?

Many of us can say we live in a country, and city and possibly state… so we are citizens of multiple places. Some of us could even be citizens of different countries…

And that was the case in Paul’s time ans your citizenship was a badge of honor. To be a citizen of Rome meant something.

However Paul is telling us that our citizenship here and now is not important. What is important is our claim to another citizenship. We are claimed by God as His children and are heirs to the kingdom. We are claimed by God and therefore we have something to shout from the mountaintops!

So next time someone asks you where you are from tell them you are a citizen of heaven!

Do we want to be gathered?

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”” (Matthew 23:37-39 ESV)

Do you ever read this and wonder how people could not have known who Jesus was? With everything He was doing, healing the sick, healing the lame, giving the blond sight, and setting chives free, how could they not get it?

But look around at us today and see how as the body of Christ we are divided, and do not agree. Jesus came to show the church, the body of Christ, the people of God how to live a better way. A way that was not like what they had known. It was not a new way for God, but our humanness got in the way of us seeming and understanding what God had set up for us to do. Jesus did something different from what the religious systems of the day setup and was doing. Today we also can think there is not a new revelation and that we have seen it all. God has shown us the new way and that won’t change… However the factor of our humanness is still there and we are still messing things up.

If Jesus came back today and said that he wanted to gather us under His wings would we want to be gathered? Are we ready to give up our religious systems to follow where Jesus is taking us? The only thing that truly matter is Christ and Christ crucified. The religious system is our way to understand that and help us live that life… Are you ready to give up anything that gets in the way of Jesus and be gathered under His wings?

imitate us…

Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, (Philippians 3:17-20 ESV)

Are you imitating Paul?

Kind of hard to imitate someone you have never seen. Now we have a lot written from him and can see how he might have lived based on that. So it is easier to imitate the person we believe he was form his writings. But is it really Paul we are to imitate?

Paul tells us to “keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.” Yes this line does come after imitate me, but this follows after his unpacking of what everything is compared to Christ. So maybe we are to imitate Christ and use the example of Paul and how he walked and lived. We all have a person in our lives that is a model to follow in their walk of discipleship. I have several, and most of them have also seen at their worst. And to me that is what makes them a good model for my faith. You see they do not have it all together and they speak that. They live their brokenness for the world to see. They do not hide it or sugar coat it. They are the living breathing embodiment of what God has called us to be. REAL.

So be real and show the world you don’t have it all together, but also show them who you rely on. And walk as He would have walked.

rubbish…

Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. (Philippians 3:2-12 ESV)

We can not brag about ourselves because we really have nothing to brag about…

Paul does, though, according to the text above. He has met all the criteria for being on the inside by his lineage. But this does not matter. You see everything that is not Christ crucified is rubbish.

Rubbish is an interesting word. Merriam Webster Online defines rubbish as:

1: useless waste or rejected matter : trash
2: something that is worthless or nonsensical <few real masterpieces are forgotten and not much rubbish survives — William Bridges-Adams>

The Merriam Webster Student Dictionary defines it as “useless waste or stuff that has been thrown away : TRASH”

So rubbish is trash or unimportant stuff. It is something that in the grand scheme of things does not matter. And Paul here is saying anything that is not Christ Crucified is rubbish, trash, adiaphora, stuff that does not matter at all.

All of your possessions and everything you have, your house, your car, your clothes, your cell phone, your laptop, your tablet… All of these things do not matter. How much time do we spend worrying about what other people are going to say about the things that don’t matter? How much money (which doesn’t matter either) and time and life do we spend on getting out look right, our home right, our car right… And we miss the boat.

Everything except Christ crucified is rubbish and Paul even goes farther than that and uses a word that is not any where else in the New Testament. The word is skubala in the Greek and is only found here in Philippians chapter 3 and Paul uses it for the power it would bring out in his statement. It is translated as rubbish or dung, or loss, or refuse but none of these get close to what it means to us in English. We would hear it in “the _____ hit the fan.” It is a slang word of Paul’s day for animal or human excrement  Paul uses this word here for the effect of what it would have been heard as, because that is exactly what everything is in contrast to Christ crucified. Christ crucified is the only thing that can save us. We can’t, our car can’t, our clothes can’t, our spouses can’t, our churches can’t, our pastor’s can’t, our money can’t, our jobs can’t…. Nothing except Christ!

And that is the point. Everything else is rubbish or dung as the KJV says… Everything is worthless crap compared to Christ crucified and what that has done for you!