Ego Must Die

"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you." (James 4:10 NRSV)

Let that ego die! Let it die, now!

Jesus did not exalt himself on earth. He humbled himself. He was willing to even suffer death on the cross for our sakes. Why should we think that we ought to be more exalted that the one who was willing to give his life that we might live?

St. James wrote:
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you." (James 4:8-10)

It is folly to attempt to exalt ourselves. "He (Jesus) sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, 'Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.'" (Mark 9:35)

In the end, all of our vain attempts to gain recognition for ourselves will fail us. It is only God who can lift us up. We will be lifted up by His own hand. Remember, too, that when Jesus was lifted up, he was lifted up on the cross. He was exalted through death.

Let that ego die so that you might live more fully in Christ.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Where Did Monday Go?

 

^"And He said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.'" Mark 2:27-28 NKJV

A lot of people really dislike Mondays. But, on most Mondays; lately, I have had to keep reminding myself that it is actually Monday. My Sundays have been so busy lately that by the end of the day it feels like I have completed two days and I totally want to move on into Tuesday. Although, it feels a bit awkward; it is a good thing. By Saturday, I have actually been able to take a Sabbath rest. I can spend most of the day just being in intentional communion with God; studying His Word and praying. This is a very good thing for me. It helps me to prepare for the first day of the week; which is not Monday; but, Sunday.

I do not despise this first day of the week. I do not really have much time to think about it. I just follow the daily planner and keep on moving. But, I do thank God for the day of rest that He gives me on Saturday so that I might be refreshed, so that I might be reenergized, and ready to go very early on Sunday morning. As Jesus tells us, the Sabbath was made for us. May God help you to all find time to spend solely resting in Him.

God's Peace - Pr. J

In The Beginning...

"

By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible." Hebrews 11:3 NRSV

Science has provided us with some amazing things: vaccines for diseases that may have long ago destroyed humankind; conveniences to make our lives more pleasant (even if some of them are destructive to the earth); instant communication with people around the world; the list goes on. But, science is not all-knowing. It is ever evolving. There is always something knew to learn.

When it comes to faith, science does not have the last word. God does. He has and is the last word just as He had and was the first word.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people." John 1:1-3

May God grant us all faith to live by faith in His Word, who is Jesus the Christ.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Flowers or Weeds?

 

"What is a weed?  A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."   ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, Fortune of the Republic, 1878

My husband does not appreciate my flower gardens. Neither he nor I know exactly what species are growing in them during any given season. He considers them mostly weeds. I consider them all flowers. I have to watch him closely when he's busy with the weed-eater in order to make sure all of the flowers in my gardens survive. He came really close this summer to removing all my wild raspberry bushes. Fortunately, for him, me, and the raspberries, I happened to walk outside before he started. The strawberries are gone though.

And... so, let us a take a look at the children of God. Does He not normally call the least to be greatest; the last to be first? God does not discern things as mankind discerns things. He sees the full potential while we look at the short-comings and failings. "But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first." Mark 10:30 

Just because we don't have to buy those plants that others often consider weeds; does not mean that they don't have a good and useful purpose in the garden of God. They are indeed very valuable as they are free gifts from God Himself.

Do not consider the children of God to be mere weeds to be cast out of the garden. Only God can know what are true weeds and true flowers.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Holy Is His Name

The First Petition.

Hallowed be Thy name.

What does this mean?--Answer.
God's name is indeed holy in itself; but we pray in this petition that it may become holy among us also.
How is this done?--Answer.
When the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and we as the children of God also lead holy lives in accordance with it. To this end help us, dear Father in heaven. But he that teaches and lives otherwise than God's Word teaches profanes the name of God among us. From this preserve us, Heavenly Father.

http://bookofconcord.org/smallcatechism.php

His name is holy. It was so revered by the Israelites that they would not even speak it.

His name is holy and those who worship Him and profess His Holy Name pray and strive to ensure that nothing unholy is done among us that would cheapen and profane His Name.

"Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name."  Psalm 27:12

God's Peace - Pr. J

You Shall Have No Other Gods

The First Commandment
You shall have no other gods.
What does this mean? We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.  (http://catechism.cph.org/en/10-commandments.html)

I spent many, many, years as a wife of a U.S. Marine. They have a saying: "God, Country, Corps." That is in proper order. God always comes first. There can be no other gods. There can be no other priorities. When faithfulness to God comes first, faithfulness to our other obligations just falls into place, with the help of God. But, if we cannot be faithful to God, then we will not be faithful to anything or anyone else, either.

As a Marine Corps wife, I spent a lot of time alone raising two sons, as my husband was deployed for far more than half of his career. I had no family near. It was a good thing. Through this time, I learned that there is one I can trust all of the time; that is God. Through this time, I learned that there was one who loved me like no other. God was there when no one else was. I wasn't always thrilled with the way He worked things out; but, I came to know and trust that no matter how He was working them out; they were being worked out for the good.

The best thing we can do for our loved ones, for our country, for our world, is to fear, love and trust God above all things and to Him first and to follow in the way He would have us go. His plan is perfect for us; ours is not.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Revelation 2:1-7 Remember Your First Love

Revelation 2:1-7 NIV
Bishop Frederic Baraga, missionary to the Ojibwa, during the 1800's, often reminded the people to "remember their first love." In his vision, St. John was instructed to warn the church at Ephesus about their falling away from their first love, who is Jesus the Christ.

Whenever we put anything or anyone before our God, we are committing idolatry. God must always come first and everything else will fall into it's proper place. How often we neglect to put God first in our lives! It is so very disheartening to see those who profess to be Christians putting so many other things of this world before worship and service to God.

The message to the people of Ephesus is an excellent example of both law and gospel. Jesus, in John's vision, commends the church for their hard work and perseverance; for the fact that they cannot tolerate wicked people; and have confronted those who claim to be apostles and are not. Even as they are being commended for their faithfulness in these areas; they and we are being warned against idolatry. Remember your first love. Remember him and keep him first in your life.

"Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God." (vs 7)

God's Peace - Pr. J

1 John 2:3-11 First Comes Like

1 John 2:3-11 NIV

In any relationship, for us to believe and trust someone, we must get to know about someone. Recently, I saw a commercial that I actually like. It was a Zoosk commercial "Love does not comes first. First comes like."  I liked it because I know more than a few teen-agers (and at leas a few adults) who should really pay attention to this. Before genuine enduring love occurs, we must first get to know one another and actually learn to like each other despite all those little things we might not appreciate so much. Genuine love grows as we get to know about each other. There might be a whole lot less break-ups and divorces if we spent more time learning to like each other before we commit ourselves to loving and living with someone forever.

Our relationship with God is not so very different. In order to say that we truly love Him, we first must get to know Him. When we get to know about Him, love will come in the getting to know Him and what He has done for us. We do that by reading His word in the Holy Scriptures; gathering together to hear His Word in fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ; by receiving Jesus in the Sacraments; and by spending time talking with Him in prayer.

Get to know God our Father; walk with God the Son; take the time to listen to the Holy Spirit and then your love will be made complete.

God's Peace - Pr. J

John 15:18-25 Bullied for Jesus

John 15:18-25 NIV
It is tough for Christians who desire to be faithful. You may have friends. But, you will also in all likelihood have a lot of enemies as well if your first love is Jesus. The world did not (does not) love Jesus and will not love his followers, either.

When my granddaughter was in elementary school (about 3rd grade) she had a friend who belonged to a Christian group that thinks females should wear long dresses or skirts all of the time.  Wearing a dress has actually become a symbol of faith in Jesus for that particular faith community to the people in the larger community. A woman who dresses in this manner is easily recognized as a dedicated Christian. This young girl wore dresses to school all of the time. To put it bluntly; she was bullied quite a lot because of it. Now, my granddaughter is not a big fan of dresses. She usually only wears them for special occasions. One morning she donned a dress for school so that her friend would have "company." My granddaughter thought this might help others to accept her friend. When she got home that day I asked what the kids in school thought about her dress. She replied that when she got off of the school bus some kids pushed her in the snow bank along with her friend. But, she was ok with that. She was in good company.

There will be those who definitely don't like you if you don't conform to the standards of the world around you. Even the tiniest hint that you might be a faithful follower of our Lord, Jesus Christ, can get you bullied and persecuted.

May God help us to not judge other Christians based on adiaphora; but support them in their desire to serve; as they strive to be reflections of Jesus to the world. If the world hates them; if it hates you; remember that the world hated Jesus first for no reason. You are in good, real good, company.

God's Peace - Pr. J  

Luke 14:1-14 Place of Importance

Luke 14:1-14 NIV
Jesus associated with everyone. On one Sabbath, he went to eat at the home of a prominent Pharisee. If you recall from our previous readings, the Pharisees were not exactly fans of Jesus. But, he didn't care. He did not have a problem associating with anyone who welcomed him.

Jesus gives us some rules of etiquette for dining that can be used whether you are at someone's home or at a wedding reception. Take the least important place so that you will be honored when asked to move up. Do not sit in a seat of honor or you may be humiliated when the host asks you to move to a place of less importance to make room for another.

The last shall be first and the first last.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Luke 2:41-51 Children Belong In Our Father's House

Luke 2:41-51 NIV
Mary and Joseph went home and didn't realize that they had left Jesus behind in Jerusalem. Like most parents, they were probably pretty panicked when they realized He was not with them. They rushed back to find Him in the temple. He asked, "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" (vs 49)

Didn't you know? Didn't you know that our children belong often in our Father's house so that they can be loved and nurtured and taught by the community of saints that gathers there? I am always amazed at how many young people gather with us at Zion. For such a small community, about 1/3 of our congregation in recent months has been God's children under the age of 18. Isn't our Father's house the place all of our children should be? Should they not be there not just for required festivals, but as often as they can? Our Father's house is a place where children can learn to be accepted and loved unconditionally (at least I am hoping everyone accepts all of our children unconditionally). Our Father's house is a place where they will learn that when they become adults, they will have a place, a family, to go to when they are all alone, no matter where in the world they might find themselves. May God grant that not only will children be welcomed into every Christian congregation, but that their parents would desire to bring them and be with them.

On another note... This is Holy Week. On Thursday we will remember how Jesus celebrated the Passover with His last meal with His disciples. Three of our children will receive their first Communion at this service (after their feet have been washed, of course). Please, join us if you are in the area. Worship is at 6 p.m.. I am cooking and serving lamb stew at 5 p.m.. Everyone is welcome!

God's Peace - Pr. J

Matthew 20 - Last, First; First, Last

“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous? So the last will be first, and the first will be last.'” (Matt 20:13-16 NIV)

In the parable of the workers of the vineyard, it appears that the wages are not given out fairly. Those who work for one hour receive the same payment as those who labor all day. In the end, Jesus' response is: “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” (Matt 20:16)

We sometimes complain that life is not fair. "I work so hard and receive so much less than those who don't appear to work as hard. Life is not fair." Well, ask yourself this: Was it fair that Jesus died for my sins? He did nothing wrong. He was without sin. Yet, he took our places and our punishment so that we might be reconciled to our Father in heaven. Was it fair for one man to receive the penalty for the sins of the whole world?  He put himself last, humbled himself for us, and now is first in the Kingdom of God. He reigns!

God does not think or act like we do. That's probably a really good thing for us. What seems right or just in our eyes, doesn't necessarily make it just in God's eyes. Jesus says the last shall be first and the first will be last. Something about that just doesn't seem right to us. But, it is God's word. It is his plan.

Thanks be to God, it is He who is in charge and not we.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Isaiah 22 - Look To the One Who Loves You

"...but you did not look to the One who made it, or have regard for the One who planned it long ago." (Isa 22:11b NIV)

A woe, a prophecy against even Jerusalem. Jerusalem's enemies have heard of their demise, now it is Jerusalem's turn. They, who have been blessed by God are revelling on the rooftops. They are rejoicing and partying. But, they are not rejoicing in the LORD. They've become complacent. They do not look to the LORD, but to themselves and to their own (individual) pleasures.

And... they will suffer. The LORD Almighty cannot be mocked - not unless you are willing to accept the consequences of putting Him on a back burner in your life.

Hmmm.... Now how do I put a good construction to this prophecy against Jerusalem after all "...we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him..." (Rom 8:28) I guess that's the key. The people of Jerusalem forgot their first love. 

May God help us to always remember our first love - the one who first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

God's Peace - Pr. J