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An Observation – Holiness

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Sometime back in grade school, many ….. many years ago, we were introduced to the 1913 poem Trees by Joyce Kilmer with its beginning line, “I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree.” The speaker insists that no human art or creation can match the beauty and majesty of nature. A commentary states that “The poem can thus be read as a hymn of praise to God’s creation, celebrating both the wonder of the natural world and its maker.” 

Why this came to mind now I have no idea but the description in the above commentary with the words “beauty”, “majesty”, and “wonder”, are a strong parallel for my thoughts this morning. I’m thinking about the concept of holiness, the awesome wonder and holiness of our Lord God. I think of Moses doing the mundane work of tending a flock of sheep and being confronted by God appearing to him in the form of a burning  bush that is not consumed. He heard the words, “take the shoes off your feet for you are standing on Holy ground”. (Exodus 3:5) Later, in the Exodus account, Moses has spent time with God and returning to his people with his face radiating light from his holy encounter. (Exodus 34:29f) Or the prophet Isaiah falling prostrate trembling before his vision of God Almighty. (Isaiah 6) There are many such descriptions of encountering God’s holiness.

In the fast paced and event crowded days we become calloused to a sense of the awe and wonder of the Lord God who appears to us in many and varied ways if we are willing to look around, to think, to meditate, to offer a brief prayer, to worship. The message in today’s sermon at church was about a Jealous God who will not allow worship due Him to be shared with any idols we may create. But this is not because He is a vain and egotistical lord. Rather, His jealousy is for us. We are His creation. He knows that our best good, our most joy-filled life, most secure and a life of peace, is only found when we are enfolded in the presence of His Holy Life. He is the source of life upon which we draw in worship, whether from the wonder of nature or the setting of corporate worship. It is important for us to look for and enter into that sense of God’s Holiness.

It is why we call the room for our worship a Sanctuary. It is why, in that room, we have an altar separated by a chancel rail. It is from this area that we hear the Word of God and receive the Holy Sacrament. There have been times at that rail that I have been unable to speak, and holy tears were the only response I could give. I don’t expect everyone to respond the same way, but however you respond realize that you come into the sacred presence of Almighty God. Be humbled and rejoice in it!  It is in God’s blessed presence you find your life.

“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.   …….

“You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain;
And they will all grow old like a garment Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail.” (Hebrews 1:1-4, & 10-11)

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An Observation: We’ve Changed….

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Well of course we have with the passage of time. We’ve gotten older. We have a lot more technological innovations changing the way we work and play. We’ve learned new things. Yes, of course all these have changed our physical appearance and the manner in which we live. All this is natural with the passage of years, but I’m looking at more than this. I’m thinking of the change that has taken place at the core of our being. An inward change.

When I say “we’ve” changed I’m looking in the collective sense of society as a whole, the nature of the world in which we live in this third millennium. Individually we are called by our Lord to observe our world and guide our own lives by Holy Scripture as we are guided by the Holy Spirit. This is where we enter into a spiritual battleground, recognizing the changed nature of our world yet seeking to guide our selves and our family by the values and nature of our Lord Jesus.

Living in this vastly changed world we now occupy is what I’ve been writing about in my book Not For This Life Only and in these Observations on my website: Life-Has-Meaning.com. I am an old retired Lutheran pastor. What I write about is more than just an older person not being able to get used to “modern” ways. Of course there is that too, but the changes I refer to are fundamental to the nature of life itself.

In the Introduction to my book I referenced Dr. Peter Kreef’s statement that “We are the first civilization that does not know why we exist. …. The essence of modernity is the abandoning of [a] religious foundation.” Both Dr. Kreef and Dr. Carl Trueman, in his book The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self have traced the changes and acceptance of “truths” over past hundreds of years that have culminated in our accepting of what we see today as the “truth” of who we are as human beings. It is these so called truths that are contrary to the people God made us to be. Dr. Trueman refers to the modern self as Expressive Individualism.

Dr. Trueman said this term, coined by an American sociologist in the 1990s, refers to “the way we think about ourselves in modern society, the normative notion of the self, is one where our inner feelings are critical to our identity, critical to who we are; our ability to express those inner feelings is therefore essential to what we might dub as ‘social authenticity.’” This has opened the Pandora’s Box of societies sexual attitudes and political policies which are contrary to who God declares that we were created to be. Guided by our inner feelings and not by God’s truth is an acceptance of the devil’s taunt, “You will not die. Your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5)

Our meaning, our nature, comes not from how we feel about ourselves inside, but who our God created us to be, and who our Lord Jesus redeemed by His precious blood. We are created male or female in the very image of God and made God’s redeemed child through faith in Christ. This is who you are by God’s pure grace apart from any inner feelings you have about yourself. You are loved with an everlasting love beyond anything you feel or think of yourself. Hold to this truth and live each day in its meaning. For in our Lord God your life does have meaning.

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What is sin?

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Sin – now there is an interesting word to start a mid-week morning. But anyone who has read even parts of the Bible know the word and have some thoughts about what sin is. Sin calls attention to laws or values established by God. We don’t relate it to civil laws. We don’t say we have sinned when we go over a speed limit regulating traffic, or an error we’ve made in paying our taxes. No, to sin speaks of breaking a commandment we believe has been established by Almighty God. Even then we try to soften the word, just as we do with speed limits, by saying that what we did really isn’t so bad, it was in the tolerance allowed by the speed camera’s setting.

There is a lot more to sin than that. Sin is certainly a matter of violating the Ten Commandments, something we do that is against God’s will. But sin is even more than that. Sin is part of our nature. In our Lutheran worship service the pastor begin by declaring, “If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  The pastor then invites the congregation to take a few minutes in silent prayer to confess the individual sins our  Lord brings to mind. These are our individual known sins that we’ve committed against God during the past week.

We continue our prayer of confession saying, “Most Merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against you by thought, word, and deed,  by what we have done and what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbor as ourselves.” This is the second part of what sin is all about. It is who we are. It is our fallen nature. In the presence of Almighty God we can’t just sluff this off with some excuses about everybody being the same, and anyhow God is loving and forgiving. Yes, both are true, but they are not a “get out of jail free” card. 

The words that follow in our prayer of confession hit me very hard when I have to say them. I understand the reality of their truth. “We justly deserve your present and eternal punishment.” Sin is what I do, and also part of my nature in rebellion against my Creator and Lord. I cannot escape this with any excuses or self-justifications. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” St. Paul wrote in Romans 3:23. It was St. John who declared “if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not is us.”(I John1:8)  It is the truth that we have inherited our sinful nature from the rebellion of our first parents. (Genesis 3) This rebellion from God explains so much of what we see continually in the evils of the world around us. There is no other ultimate explanation and there is nothing mankind can do about it.

However, our Sunday’s liturgical confession doesn’t stop with our deserving eternal punishment. We appeal to the mercy of our God.  “For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in your will nd walk in your ways to the glory of your holy name. Amen.”

It is then that we are able to hear from our pastor God’s gracious words. “Almighty God in his mercy has given his Son to die for you and for his sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I declare unto you the entire forgiveness of all of your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

There is no sluffing off. No self justification. No excuses. No confessing one little sin and being done with it. We fall humbly before the mercy of Almighty God and come to the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ where alone we are assured that our just condemnation before God has been paid. Our debt is satisfied. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”(Romans 8:1) What else can we say to that but “Thanks be to God.”

Yes, we will sin again. Yes, our human nature is to rebel against our Creator. But because of the depth of God’s love He has provided the way for us to come to Him in the sacrificial death and glorious resurrection of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. The sentence of eternal separation has ben satisfied. We are able to serve God and others in the love of God given to us in Jesus Christ. AMEN.  

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Thoughts about Christmas – Part 1

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I made a request of the members of our church congregation this year. I asked them to write down a few special memories they had from their childhood or family about Christmas and send them to me. I received a number which will be compiled into a booklet to share with the congregation on Christmas Eve. Since we are an older fellowship many of the memories go back to the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. Also, a few of our people spent their early Christmases outside of the U.S. Their memories contrasted with the average American Christmas they experienced later. Gifts were given, but there was not the same emphasis on the abundance of toys and material thing. Personally, when I was growing up I don’t remember the Friday after Thanksgiving being called Black Friday, the day Christmas sales began and merchants wanting to end the sales year in the black. It was interesting to see a few common themes appear among the vastly distant locations of the families who wrote.

One theme was the mystery and anticipation of what was coming on Christmas morning. That mystery and anticipation was looking forward to the decorations and gift that were anticipated by the children. But it is a lesson we can all hold onto in adulthood. We are not as concerned about what presents might be coming, but rather the Biblical truth of one day standing in the presence of the living Lord Jesus. This should be anticipated and longed for, even as a child anticipates Christmas morning. The Bethlehem shepherds were taken by surprise on that hillside when they heard the angelic announcement, “For unto you is born this day … a Saviour who is Christ The Lord.” Scripture promises Christ’s return to claim His Bride, the Church. This could be the day we hear the cry, “Behold the bridegroom! Come out to meet Him.”(Matthew 25:6) Keep that childhood anticipation.

Another fairly common theme in the congregation’s Christmas accounts was finding great joy in more simple and lasting things. We have become so used to abundance. Many families spend a lot on gifts, (one of our more straight forward writers called it “junk”) and asking children what they want when presented with an abundance of Walmart, Target, and Costco items all simplicity is lost. The common theme moved away from gifts and toward having fun together with special things – the appreciation of lights, pretty hand made decorations, the smells of food cooking for an enjoyable meal. I think we have all found that the vast majority of gift are soon forgotten. What is remembered are things not valued in dollars but pleasure in things far above any material cost.

What is remembered leads us to the third common theme, stability, family, and faith. These were pretty much unanimously mentioned by each writer. Stability, a solid foundation, people that can always be counted upon are vital for our own personal foundation of life. We know that the outward circumstance of life frequently change, not always to our liking. In family and above all in our faith we find that foundation. In the next to last chapter of the Old Testament we read, “For I am the LORD, I do not change [but remain faithful to My covenant with you]; that is why you, O sons of Jacob, have not come to an end.” (Malachi 3:6 The Amplified Bible translation) And in Hebrews 12:28-29 of the New Testament is written “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”

I offer the same opportunity to you. Think about your own Christmas memories. What are the lasting memories and what is of the most value for life, now and always?

Good Morning

Good Morning February 4

They say that seeing is believing. We like to see the results of the things we hold to be true. When we flip a light switch, we don’t see the electron running through the wires inside the wall, but we see the light come on, so we believe that the electrons are there. Just because we don’t see a result doesn’t mean that something isn’t happening. A light bulb may be burned out, but the electrons are still in the wire. So it is with our prayers. We want to see the results of our prayers and often do, but there are times when we pray and pray with nothing seeming to happen. We always look at the outward results when our Lord begins His work on the inside. The Lord’s greatest miracles are those of turning hearts to Him, of forgiving sins, of healing deep and long held hurts. These will be seen later on in changed lives, but there is so much happening that is unseen. It is why Jesus encourages us to continue to pray and not lose heart. He further said, “blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” God does love you, care about you, and is working for your good far beyond anything your eyes presently see.

Good Morning

Good Morning December 17

Some people have trouble believing in something that they can’t see, or can’t apprehend with their physical senses. Yet we do it all the time. For example, many people have TV service by satellite today. 250 plus channels! Why anyone needs that many is beyond me, but that’s not my point here. We look at the dish receiving antennas attached to many houses, and coming into those antennas are more that 250 simultaneous images. No one can see them, but they are there and we take them for granted. Physics can explain electro-magnetic wave propagation, but it is still beyond our five senses, yet we believe in it. We say we see the results of it on the TV screen, therefore it must be real. We see the results of it! But we also see the activity of our Lord all around us. Paul speaks to this saying, “For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”(Romans 1:20) God loves you. God is near to strengthen, care for, and to help. Jesus is the giver and the joy of life. All beyond our five senses, but very very real. You can believe it and trust it today.

Good Morning

Good Morning November 25

I was playing with my 4 year old grandson on Saturday. At one point I had to stop him from doing something he wanted to do. He got upset, and went off pouting as he sometimes does. I tried to explain that I wasn’t scolding him, and I wasn’t angry with him. I was saying this for his good. If he did what he wanted to do he could be badly hurt. He really had difficulty understanding this and still wanted to do what he had been doing – but he didn’t. This is very much like the way some of God’s guidance strikes us. He provides a way of life that is for our good. This doesn’t always fit in with what we want to do. We may (or may not) conform to His will, but the desire is still in us to do our own thing. This is often our internal battle of wills. But if we are willing to trust our Lord who made us, and yield to His will, however hard that may be, we find that He really does have our best good at heart.

Good Morning

Good Morning November 11

There are issues about people being open minded or close minded; willing to listen to other positions, or refusing to hear any other. Some Christians are accused of being closed minded fundamentalists in their condemnation of others, and there certainly are these, unfortunately. But the question is not how staunchly one holds to a position, but how he seeks to share that position. For Christians, the divinity of Christ, and salvation by faith in Him are central. These truths cannot be given up, and are worth dying for. But how we share them is of prime importance. They are first shared by a life that is lived in sacrificial service. It is only the love of Christ through us that will draw others to Him. It is being open to others, and allowing them to see that we care that will show them there is something better in Jesus. Christianity is a faith worth dying for, but more importantly it is a faith worth living to the fullest.

Good Morning

Good Morning November 8

What is on your schedule for today? Maybe a series of routine tasks for work or home. Maybe more serious items that have caused worry and fear. Either way they are things we must face and deal with as best we can. But in the grace of our Lord God we know that we face nothing alone. That really is the point of yesterday’s message emphasizing that we are loved. God is with us. In the praise of our God Psalm 68 declares “ Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, The God who is our salvation.
God is to us a God of deliverances; And to GOD the Lord belong escapes from death.”(vss.19-20) As any father knows they are never really separated from their children. What concerns the children concerns the father. God is our Father, and has more care for us than any earthly father. Our burdens are on His heart, and He is able to help. Whatever this day holds, whether routine or difficult, know that you are love and that the Lord is with you. Trust Him.

Good Morning

Good Morning September 17

Small things are important. A woman came to Jesus asking for healing for her daughter. Her faith was such that she said she only needed a crumb size blessing from God and her daughter would be healed. Another time Jesus commended a poor widow for putting just two pennies in the offering box. And still another time He said that we only need faith the size of a tiny mustard seed to be able to do great things. In our bigger is better world, Jesus calls us to be faithful in the small things. We don’t need to yearn for more, or wish we could be better at something. We simply recognize that all we have is His. He gave it to us and we seek to use everything to honor Him. Jesus’ greatest example of faith, the faith that inherits the Kingdom, was a little child set in their midst. We take care of the small things, and God will see to the big ones.