Why do we give?

Why do we give this season?  Why does it seam that during the holidays are hearts are open and our eyes see things we normal miss, and our ears hear things we normally selectively block out?

It seems the last, the lost, the least and the little come to the for front in the holidays, and we focus all our efforts on others, and try to forget ourselves.  But you know that is exactly what we are called to do every day of our lives. Jesus tells the lawyer of the Pharisee’s the greatest commandment, the greatest thing we have to do throughout and through our lives is to love God. And then as He usually does, Jesus expands on that, and the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself.  You see in this one sentence, Jesus tells us our lives should be defined by love, love of God and love of the other, just as we love ourselves.  We need to look out for the person next to us, just as much as we do ourselves.  We need to want for them the things we want for ourselves.  We need to give to them the things that we give to ourselves.

This season of Advent is time spent reflecting on the coming Messiah, it is also time we tend to see the last, lost, least and little more. Not that they are more this season, we are just more focused on them, and that is how all of life should be! Focused on the other, rather then the self!

Dear daddy God, help me to not stare at my navel, but to look beyond myself and give to others as I want to give to myself. Guide me to so love the other, that they become the focus of my life, so that your love will overflow from me to them and we will all be bathed in the mercy and grace that flows from you throne. Amen.

In what do you place your trust?

We have so many things that can seem to be our savior or our god, and from time to time these things change. One day we may place our trust in Jesus our savior, and other days it maybe in our talents or our money.

We may think we have it all together because our bank account is big enough to cover our needs. Or our job is good enough to provide for us for many years to come. Well as we have seen in recent months/years that many things can effect our jobs, and banks accounts.  We are not assured of anything, except for death of our fleshly bodies.  So in what do you place you trust?

We cannot offer a sacrifice to God to get him to turn an ear to us. He does not desire burnt offering or sin offering. We cannot give anything of our own to Him to incline Him to us. Yet He is our God, our rock and our salvation. He is the one who when we cry out is there to hear us and incline His ear to us, and to pull us from the mire we have created for ourselves.

The psalmist says, “Happy are those who make the Lord their trust.” You will be happy and secure if you place your trust in God.  Not in your money, or your job, or your family, or anything else you think will save you. God alone is in whom you should trust. As this will give you a sure foundation.

Our rock and foundation, give us a platform on which to build and sustain our lives.  Help us to trust only in you and not in our own lives. Amen.

Trust

Psalm 25:1-2a To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust;

Where does your trust lie?  What is it that is your hope?  The psalmist here asks the Lord to turn to them and to be gracious to them, for they are lonely and afflicted.  They request relief from the troubles of their aching heart, to be brought out of their distress.  They ask the Lord to consider their afflictions and their troubles and that their sins might be forgiven.

Have you ever pleaded with the Lord, for comfort from your troubles? Asked the Lord to take away your pain and burdens, and to give you a free and clear conscious?  The psalms give us a place of refuge in the moments we want to cry out to God for the troubles and pains of our existence, to find comfort and solace in a God that promises us to be our shield and our shelter.  To love us as only a mother loves her child and to shade and protect us from all harm.

Lift your soul to the Lord, and put your trust not in yourself, your family, your community, or your certainty about anything, but be hopeful in the promises of a God who has given His only son to give you a relationship with Him.  Hope in the coming savior, and trust in Him alone.

Gracious God, help us to focus on the coming of your Son this Advent season. Help us also to trust in you alone and not anything else we think is certain. Work in and through us, so that the light you give us will shine brightly in this world that needs to see you.  Amen.

 

Denominations and division…

It is these worldly people, devoid of the Spirit, who are causing divisions. (Jude 19)

Do we have division in the body of Christ? Yes that is why there are so many denominations in the Christian church. Here is an article from Wikipedia that defines this division. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominations) So what is that causes this division, this separation?  We would say differences in theology.  Our dogma is different. We have a different understanding of the Bible.

However this verse from Jude says it is people who are devoid of the Spirit who are causing division.  Does that mean there are people devoid of the spirit in our gatherings of the body of Christ?  Does that mean I could be one devoid of the Spirit if I am causing separation and division?

The unnerving answers to these questions are, yes there are people in the gathering of the body of Christ that are devoid of the Spirit, and yes at times we are the one that is devoid of the Spirit.  This is the understanding of Martin Luther’s statement simul justus et peccator.  We are simultaneous justified and sinner.  We are both saint and sinner. We are filled and following Jesus and we are at the same time someone who is not filled and falling away from Jesus.

So is there division in the body, yes! Is there something we can do about it, yes! Follow Jesus and act like him, and look out for the needs of others and not our own needs.

Gracious savior fill me with your Spirit and help me to not look out for my own needs, but for the needs of the other. Help me to not be the one who causes division, but the one who helps us as your body to be united in you. Amen.

Who can stand before the Lord?

The psalmist asks, “If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?”  And isn’t that the truth? Who amongst us can stand, because the Lord does mark our iniquities. He remembers the sins of the generations for many to come it says several times in the Bible.  So who amongst us can stand?  We are all in trouble if this is what the message of the gospel is.

Yet we know that is not the full message. And to be honest that is not where the psalmist stops either.  The next verse is “But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.”  The Lord gives us forgiveness, so we may revere Him. The Lord knows and marks all of our iniquities, and has counted all of our sins, but yet forgives them all. He forgives us our trespasses and allows us to be in a relationship with him.

The psalmist continues, “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning.” I hope in His word and wait for Him, because I know that this darkness will not last forever, and the blackness that surrounds me as the night will soon break away to the light of the new day and there, my God will be to forgive me and cleanse me and make me His own. Not holding me up to what I deserve, but holding me up in the light of His love.

The psalmist reminds us that we are not worthy, yet God still calls us and makes us His own. So do not let the darkness of your world win, or overcome you, live in the light of the coming day, when God will remember your iniquities no more and will wipe away every tear.  Know that He has promised to redeem us from our iniquities.

Saving Lord, help us to remember that without you we can not stand, and because of your love and sending our savior we can be with you forever. Amen.

 

Without spot or blemish…

As we wait we are to be found without spot or blemish.

How are we to be found without spot or blemish?  That means we are to be perfect in everything we do, not succumbing to sin, or allowing ourselves to do things for personal gain, and always looking out for the other and loving like Jesus.  Try as I might, that is not going to happen, because I am flawed and I can not do that all the time.

I do things for my own gain, and think about myself more than others sometimes. I do not look out for others and at times find it hard to show the love of Jesus.  But Peter tells us, as he wrote here, “while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish;”  Strive to live up to the scriptures and live out the love they show forth in your life.  And be careful doing this.  Peter urges, as also Paul wrote, that we strive to understand the scriptures and not twist them to our own understanding. “There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.”

The things that are hard to understand are not to be passed over, or worked out in our own minds. God will help us, if we can but turn to him. “You therefore, beloved, since you are forewarned, beware that you are not carried away with the error of the lawless and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”  Do not be conformed into thinking you know what the Bible says and go off on your own, or after others simply because it sounds biblical. Discover for yourselves what God is saying in the Bible and pray that He guide you to the truth He has for you.

We on our own can not be without spot and blemish but with Him all things are possible.

Wonderful Savior, guide us in your love to seek your wisdom and strength in all that we do. And be with us this Advent and form us into your likeness. Amen.

Waiting?

How long do we like to wait?

Today we do not know what it means to be patient anymore.  I mean we have easy mac and cheese.  Really?  How hard is it to put some water in a pan, and put it on the stove and boil the water to add the macaroni and then cook it and drain it, and add the cheese flavored powder and butter and milk?  And what about easy hotdogs, already on a bun, just heat and serve? Again another feat of culinary design!

We have to have it and have it now. We can not wait for anything it seems…

But Peter reminds us, “But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day.” A day is like a thousand years!  The blink of an eye is like a thousand years… Time does not have the same effect on God as it does on us, and He is patient, knowing what needs to happen and not wanting to rush it, like a good soup takes time to simmer, so God is patient. “The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.”

So this season of expectation is a time for us to live in the time of expectation, that all will come to the realization that Christ is King, and the coming baby in the manger is the Messiah, the savior of the world.  So wait for him, with joyful expectation!

Wonderful Savior, guide us in our waiting to focus on you, the one coming to us in the manger. To not rush your arrival, but to simmer in the plans and processes that bring you to us. Fill us with your joy and love so that we might shine your presence to all of this world that needs to see your love for them. Amen.

A house of thieves…

What is God’s house to you?

The gathering of the body is something we are told to do, and in doing that we say we go to church…

Well I try hard with my wife to tell our daughters we are going to worship, because we are the church. “I am the church, you are the church, we are the church together. The church is not a building the church is the people.”  We can not go to church, for we are the church. But we can go to our Father’s house… But where is that? And a better question yet is what is that?

Why do you gather on Sunday with the body of believers? Is it to get your fill for the week? This is the one hour you get your tank filled so you can face the rest of the week?  Is it to be seen by others doing your weekly duty of gathering, and participating in the Holy Supper? IS it so others can see you place your offering in the plate? Is it to bring praise and adoration to God? Is it to worship your creator and give him the adoration he deserves from us?

The Father’s house as a den of thieves is not something that only happens in Jesus’ day, it is happening still today when we gather for self centered reasons. When we look for our own needs, rather than gather to worship God and give Him praise and adoration.

So gather with the body of believers you are a part of, not for your gain, but for others, and to bring God praise and glory. And through this you will be blessed.

Gracious savior, help us to not make worship or your house about us.  Help us to worship you alone and to give you praise and adoration through all of our lives.  Guide us to not look out for ourselves, but to focus on you. Amen.

What do you need?

What do you need?

Today’s gospel lesson might seem a little on the odd side to be reading during Advent.  It is the gospel lesson most of us associate with Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter – the beginning of Holy week.

I however find this to be a most appropriate lesson for us to ponder during the season of Hope and Light as we await on the long expectant Messiah to come to us.

You see our society is so caught up in the have to have and keepin up with the Jones… We are so focused on what we want, we lose sight of what we need. How many of you have already been shopping for Christmas?  How many of you braved the sales on Black Friday?  Most years I would have been right there with you, but this year, I did not go out shopping at 4:00 or 5:00 am. I did go to the mall as my little girl wanted her ears pierced and so we went… But it was not to be a part of the madness… We consume and consume until we can not possibly get anything else and then consume some more, I wonder sometimes when is enough enough. And I say that to myself, to curb that want inside of me as well…

We see in our gospel lesson the only thing in all of the Bible that Jesus, the savior of the world ever needs… “When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.””

The only thing Jesus needs is a donkey and her colt! So what is it that we need?

Gracious God help us to focus on the coming Messiah this advent and not on our own wants and desires. Help us to be filled with expectant hope in the baby coming to us, and to make him all we need. Amen.