Philippians 3: 18b-20:
"...18b many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. 20But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ..."
My family and I just returned from a little getaway to the Wisconsin Dells. My in-laws have a time share condo at the Dells and we joined them out there for Sunday and Monday night. One of the best aspects of a planned vacation or getaway are the weeks and days preceding the vacation when you can look forward with anticipation to getting away, especially during those days when 'daily grind,' grinds harder than usual, it's nice to have something to look forward to.
The 2nd lesson for this upcoming Sunday is from Philippians 3, a few passages before our lesson picks up, we learn from the pen of Paul that we are to, "13b strain(ing) toward what is ahead, 14 (I) press(ing) on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called (us) me heavenward in Christ Jesus." As Christians living here in this world, we have a getaway to look forward to that will get us away from more than the daily grind, it will get us away from sin and all the effects of sin - we have Heaven to look forward to. Imagine what it would be like if you were to page through your calendar for the next month, the next year, the next eternity and have absolutely nothing on the docket, absolutely nothing to look forward to! How depressing would that be, how hopeless would that feel? The unbeliever has nothing to look forward to, eternally speaking, and so it isn't hard to understand why they easily adopt a 'live for the day philosophy' - eat, drink and be merry. "their god is their stomach ... their mind is on earthly things."
I have a friend, Brian, who was a high school classmate of mine at Fox Valley Lutheran. Brian is currently serving our country and doing a tour of duty in Iraq. Brian has been keeping in touch from his tent using Facebook and email. Just as Brian isn't settling in for the long haul in Iraq, so we don't need to focus on settling in for the long haul here on this earth. Just as Brian wants nothing more and is looking forward to nothing more than coming home to his wife and to his daughter, so we should want for nothing more and look forward to nothing more than going Home to our Creator, to our Savior and to our Faith Giver. "Our citizenship is in heaven."
I can't help but think of the hymn - it's the last one in our 'Old' hymnal (TLH #660) - "I'm But a Stranger Here, Heav'n is my Home, earth is a desert drear, Heav'n is my home. Danger and sorrow stand, round me on every hand, Heav'n is my fatherland. Heav'n is my home."
Getting away for a few days to the Dells was fun and relaxing, but there's just something nice about getting home - 'Home Sweet Home' as they say. Won't it be sweet when Jesus completes His preparations and brings us home to Him forever?
Dear God,
Please help remind us that this world isn't the end for us - our time here is not even a speck on the timeline of eternity. Help us focus our minds and hearts not on earthly things, but help us store up for ourselves treasures in Heaven. When we're having a particularly tough day here on this earth, remind us that soon we will feel like strangers no more and soon enough we will be at Home, enjoying eternity with you.
In Jesus name we pray,
Amen.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
February 18, 2010
Imagine for a minute that you got sick. What would you do? Well, if you're anything like me, you would avoid going to the doctor at all costs. You think I would have learned my lesson by now that the issue usually only compounds and ends up being ten times worse than if I would have just gone to the doctor in the first place. Anyway, you are sick, what do you do? You do something to try and get better. Maybe it is going to the doctor, or maybe you try a home remedy. Whatever it is, you do something to try and get better.
The truth is, all of us our sick. We have a sickness, we have a terminal illness, and that sickness is sin. For the rest of our lives we will be plagued by it. The problem with this sickness is that sometimes it's hard for us to identify or recognize. Different symptoms of our sickness pop up at different times. Sometimes it's the symptom of hate, sometimes it's the symptom of greed, sometimes it's the symptom of lust, sometimes it's the symptom of pride, sometimes it's the symptom of selfishness. The other problem we have with this sickness of sin is that, as Pastor mentioned in his sermon this past Sunday, we gauge our health by comparing ourselves with our neighbor. We look at them and see that they have the 'heart disease of sin,' while we only have the sniffles - they're the sick ones - we think we're pretty healthy. Or maybe we even compare ourselves to someone in our own congregation, a fellow Christian. Look at all the things they have done - they are way sicker than I am - I'm actually pretty healthy -I'll be o.k. There's only one person we can compare ourselves to when we are gauging our health, and that's Jesus Christ. Jesus lived a perfect life and died a perfect death and the whole time he was here he lived a clean bill of health. When we compare our health with Jesus' health, it doesn't take long for us to realize how sick we really are.
So we realize we are sick and we realize we need to do something to get better. What do we do? All the home remedies in the world won't help our sickness. Lots of people try these home remedies, they buy into the 'self-help philosophy,' or the 'power of positive thinking.' They try these home remedies and they might seem to help mask the symptoms for a while, but they never really cure the sickness of sin. Jesus once said to his disciples, "It's not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick." We are those who are sick, if Jesus' is the Doctor, then we need Jesus. So we cry out with the Psalmist, 'Out of the depths I have called to you, O Lord, Lord hear my prayer.' And Jesus does hear our cry. He does heal us. Because he lived that perfect life and died that perfect death and lived it all with a perfectly clean bill of health, He will one day bring our terminal illness to an end. He will call us out of this world to live with Him, in perfect health, both physical and spiritual health.
Dear God,
All of us suffer from the sickness of sin - that terminal illness. And so we cry out for your healing help. We know you hear our cry and want to take care of our sickness. Someday please take us home to be with you where we will live lives of perfect health - free from the sickness of sin. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
The truth is, all of us our sick. We have a sickness, we have a terminal illness, and that sickness is sin. For the rest of our lives we will be plagued by it. The problem with this sickness is that sometimes it's hard for us to identify or recognize. Different symptoms of our sickness pop up at different times. Sometimes it's the symptom of hate, sometimes it's the symptom of greed, sometimes it's the symptom of lust, sometimes it's the symptom of pride, sometimes it's the symptom of selfishness. The other problem we have with this sickness of sin is that, as Pastor mentioned in his sermon this past Sunday, we gauge our health by comparing ourselves with our neighbor. We look at them and see that they have the 'heart disease of sin,' while we only have the sniffles - they're the sick ones - we think we're pretty healthy. Or maybe we even compare ourselves to someone in our own congregation, a fellow Christian. Look at all the things they have done - they are way sicker than I am - I'm actually pretty healthy -I'll be o.k. There's only one person we can compare ourselves to when we are gauging our health, and that's Jesus Christ. Jesus lived a perfect life and died a perfect death and the whole time he was here he lived a clean bill of health. When we compare our health with Jesus' health, it doesn't take long for us to realize how sick we really are.
So we realize we are sick and we realize we need to do something to get better. What do we do? All the home remedies in the world won't help our sickness. Lots of people try these home remedies, they buy into the 'self-help philosophy,' or the 'power of positive thinking.' They try these home remedies and they might seem to help mask the symptoms for a while, but they never really cure the sickness of sin. Jesus once said to his disciples, "It's not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick." We are those who are sick, if Jesus' is the Doctor, then we need Jesus. So we cry out with the Psalmist, 'Out of the depths I have called to you, O Lord, Lord hear my prayer.' And Jesus does hear our cry. He does heal us. Because he lived that perfect life and died that perfect death and lived it all with a perfectly clean bill of health, He will one day bring our terminal illness to an end. He will call us out of this world to live with Him, in perfect health, both physical and spiritual health.
Dear God,
All of us suffer from the sickness of sin - that terminal illness. And so we cry out for your healing help. We know you hear our cry and want to take care of our sickness. Someday please take us home to be with you where we will live lives of perfect health - free from the sickness of sin. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
February 4, 2010
Some of Jesus' disciples were fishers of fish. In the Gospel lesson for this upcoming Sunday, Jesus called all of his disciples to be fishers of men. And now here we are, 2000 years later, Jesus' present day disciples, and He calls us to be fishers of men.
The great thing about being a fisher of men is that you don't have to travel a great distance to some far off lake, there are lakes all around us. You can start by fishing men in your own home with those you share a roof with - there are men to fish in your own home. You can fish men when you are at the holiday dinner table with extended family and relatives. You can fish men in the workplace. You can fish men at the grocery store or at the library or other places you are at in your community.
A wise theologian from a couple of centuries ago, his name slips me now, once said, 'preach the Gospel at all times, if necessary use Words.' When we live the Fruits of the Spirit, when we live, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control, we are fishing men.
Dear Lord,
You want us to be fishers of men, so we come to you tonight and ask that you would help us be good fishers of men. Remind us that we don't need to be experts with a hook, line and sinker. All we need to do is cast out that line, or lower that net, and your Holy Spirit will take care of the rest. Fill us with and extra dose of ambition to get out there and get fishing!
Amen!
The great thing about being a fisher of men is that you don't have to travel a great distance to some far off lake, there are lakes all around us. You can start by fishing men in your own home with those you share a roof with - there are men to fish in your own home. You can fish men when you are at the holiday dinner table with extended family and relatives. You can fish men in the workplace. You can fish men at the grocery store or at the library or other places you are at in your community.
A wise theologian from a couple of centuries ago, his name slips me now, once said, 'preach the Gospel at all times, if necessary use Words.' When we live the Fruits of the Spirit, when we live, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control, we are fishing men.
Dear Lord,
You want us to be fishers of men, so we come to you tonight and ask that you would help us be good fishers of men. Remind us that we don't need to be experts with a hook, line and sinker. All we need to do is cast out that line, or lower that net, and your Holy Spirit will take care of the rest. Fill us with and extra dose of ambition to get out there and get fishing!
Amen!
February 11, 2010
So, here we are, February 11th, just a couple days away is... Valentine's Day - February 14th. I'll be the first to tell you that it's NOT my favorite holiday - not quite as bad as 'Sweetest Day,', but it's right up there. Apparently I'm not the norm when it comes to Americans. As I was watching the Super Bowl last Sunday, near the end, I noticed a commercial by Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart chose to spend their 2 1/2 million dollars for their 30 seconds on an ad that tried to get viewers to realize that Wal-Mart is a great place for guys to buy Valentine's Day gifts. Think of all the things that Wal-Mart could have focused on and they chose Valentine's Day. This got me thinking, and I did a little research. Last year, in the middle of this deep recession, Americans spent - get this - 14 billion dollars on Valentine's Day related items - flowers, cards, jewelry. If money talks, then Valentine's Day is a big deal, so I thought I would chose a devotion for tonight that was somewhat related to Valentine's Day.
To illustrate the point that Luther makes in our devotion for tonight - imagine that you had that 14 billion that Americans spend on Valentine's Day - that you were a billionaire 14 times over - and that you closed your eyes - opened a phone book and put your finger down on a name - then you handed over that 14 billion - which was every last penny you had - to that complete stranger whose name was underneath your finger. Or, crazier yet, you handed it over to your worst enemy - ridiculous! If we are using earthly terms, then there aren't enough riches in the world to illustrate or compare how much God sacrificed when He sent his one and only dear Son into this world to die for us. "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Think of it - we were God's arch-enemies - and He decides to sacrifice his only dear Son to redeem us - ridiculous by human standards - kind of hard to wrap our brains around. That's the kind of love that God has for us - undeserved love - grace.
So, this Valentine's Day, as we are giving and receiving Valentines or gifts, or whatever we do to show our love ones that we love them, let's take a little time to receive the Valentine that God sent us - His Word - where we find throughout the pages, story after story about God displaying that ridiculous love to people who didn't deserve it.
Sometimes I think we have become somewhat matter of fact when it comes to God's love. "Jesus loves me this I know" and we accept that as fact - and that is a good thing! But, sometimes it might do us good to step back and really think about how crazy amazing God's love and God's grace really is. When we begin to really think about this, our hearts will want to thank God for this love. How do we do this? By following the instructions detailed in God's Valentine - all those instructions can be summed up in a single command, "Love your neighbor as yourself." So we thank God for his love by reflecting some of that love to those around us.
Dear God,
You tell us that 'We love because You first loved us.' And boy oh boy, do You love us. You love us more than we can really comprehend or get our heads around. We want to show our thanks to you for your love and we know we can do this by following your commands. So we come to you tonight and ask that you would give us the strength and the wisdom to carry out your commands that are summed up in a single command to love one another.
In the name of Jesus - who You sent in love,
Amen
To illustrate the point that Luther makes in our devotion for tonight - imagine that you had that 14 billion that Americans spend on Valentine's Day - that you were a billionaire 14 times over - and that you closed your eyes - opened a phone book and put your finger down on a name - then you handed over that 14 billion - which was every last penny you had - to that complete stranger whose name was underneath your finger. Or, crazier yet, you handed it over to your worst enemy - ridiculous! If we are using earthly terms, then there aren't enough riches in the world to illustrate or compare how much God sacrificed when He sent his one and only dear Son into this world to die for us. "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Think of it - we were God's arch-enemies - and He decides to sacrifice his only dear Son to redeem us - ridiculous by human standards - kind of hard to wrap our brains around. That's the kind of love that God has for us - undeserved love - grace.
So, this Valentine's Day, as we are giving and receiving Valentines or gifts, or whatever we do to show our love ones that we love them, let's take a little time to receive the Valentine that God sent us - His Word - where we find throughout the pages, story after story about God displaying that ridiculous love to people who didn't deserve it.
Sometimes I think we have become somewhat matter of fact when it comes to God's love. "Jesus loves me this I know" and we accept that as fact - and that is a good thing! But, sometimes it might do us good to step back and really think about how crazy amazing God's love and God's grace really is. When we begin to really think about this, our hearts will want to thank God for this love. How do we do this? By following the instructions detailed in God's Valentine - all those instructions can be summed up in a single command, "Love your neighbor as yourself." So we thank God for his love by reflecting some of that love to those around us.
Dear God,
You tell us that 'We love because You first loved us.' And boy oh boy, do You love us. You love us more than we can really comprehend or get our heads around. We want to show our thanks to you for your love and we know we can do this by following your commands. So we come to you tonight and ask that you would give us the strength and the wisdom to carry out your commands that are summed up in a single command to love one another.
In the name of Jesus - who You sent in love,
Amen
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