Currently Reading N or M? (Tommy and Tuppence) By Agatha Christie see related

another clerical story

So I'm wearing my clerical right now.  This isn't unusual for a Saturday night because we have a Saturday night service at church.

Anyway, I just got home and there are these two kids (am I really calling highschoolers kids?  I want to describe them as a couple of young punks...but I'm afraid of what that sentence might say about me.)  standing in front of there car parked right in front of my house.  Now to get the right picture for this realize that we do not have a drive way.  We live on a one way street and there is plenty of room for everyone to easily park a couple of cars in front of their own house.  So it's odd for someone to be parked...smack dab in front of my house.  So I parallel park behind them while they stare at me the whole time.  One kid (the blond punk with the baseball on backwards and his pants down around his knees) is even giving me the stink eye.  I've been a teacher so I really don't think twice about it.  But when I get out the car I decide to be overly friendly (it tends to be disarming and leaves you feeling happy).  So I say something like hi, how're you doing tonight.  And the blond kid says "How's God doing tonight?" (i'll let you supply the sarcastic tone on your own).  It was at this point I realized I was wearing the clerical still.  I smiled and said, Oh he's doing great and he thanks you for asking.  That kid just sort of grumbles.  His friend's eyes are all huge and he is all apologetic and explains why they're.  I babble a little, say good night and head in.

But here's the thing.  I know they think I'm Catholic.  People always do.  And I know Mary Jane (my very pregnant wife) is going to be coming home soon.  I keep peeping out the window, hoping they're still there when she gets home, because I really really really want to see their faces when they watch a woman pregnant with twins park get out of the car, waddle her way up to the house and walk into the same house the "catholic priest" just entered.

Will make my day.

Currently Reading unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity... and Why It Matters By David Kinnaman, Gabe Lyons see related

My car broke down.  I was out doing some hospital visits on a day where the heat index topped out at 110 and my car decided…um…no.  I’m done with this.  Thankfully the problem presented itself in such a way that I was given a little notice.  I barely made it to the mechanic’s, but I got there just in time.

Now I have to pay to have it fixed and it’s expensive.  It is going to cost….well….let me put it this way.  As a vicar I am finally being paid, and while a vicar is not a high paying salary this will wipe out my first pay check.  Not fun.  As a matter of fact I spent the rest of the day bemoaning my “tragedy.”  You’d think a guy who was in the process of visiting a number of people in the hospital (two of which were in the same family) would have been able to keep things in perspective, but you’d be wrong.  I was all frustrated because we had finally been able to save a little and here we were blowing it all in one fell swoop.  I just wanted to save up a little for when the twins arrive, so we have back up, so we have an emergency fund for them.  Is that so wrong?

No, it’s not.  But I really needed to shut up. 

It’s funny what a simple perspective shift will do for you.  There was no tragedy, just a minor inconvenience.  The Lord did what he always does, he provided.  Here we are, for the first time in a couple of years with a little extra.  We are no longer living off one paycheck, we are not currently paying tuition (although there is more of that to come next year), there are not hundreds of dollars worth of texts books to buy every couple of months, the babies aren’t here yet so there is still a little lee way, and the car breaks now.  There couldn’t be a more ideal time.  If it broke in March I don’t think we could have afforded to fix it.  If it broke next December we would be in a really tight bind.  Right now is the one time when we could afford both the finance and the time associated with the break down.  What right do I have to complain?

So I am going to go down to the shop during my lunch break and pay for the car out of our savings account, not our checking account, with money meant for an “emergency” not money meant for food or bills, and I will do it with a grateful spirit.

Matthew 6:25-34

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

And why do you worry about clothes?  See how the lilies of the field grow.  They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed ike one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be give to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow ill worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own”

Psalm 119: "Beth"

How can a young man keep his way pure?

By living according to your word.

I seek you with all my heart;

Do not let me stray from your commands.

I have hidden your word in my heart

That I might not sin against you.

Praise be to you, O LORD;

Teach me your decrees.

With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth.

I rejoice in following your statutes

As on rejoices in great riches.

I meditate on your precepts

And consider your ways.

I delight in your decrees;

I will not neglect your word.

Currently Listening Redemption Songs By Jars of Clay It is Well with My Soul see related

“Well with my Soul?”

July 27 sermon (rough draft)

Text: Romans 8:28-39 along with Job 19

Readings:

OT lesson:        Job 19:23-29

Psalm:              125

Epistle: Romans 8:28-39

Gospel             Matthew 28:18-20

Sermon Hymn:  “It is well with my Soul”

A beautiful hymn, one of my favorites, but it can be a hard one as well.  I met a young man the other day at the hospital.  I was at Children’s Hospital visiting one of our own members, Rachel Ebler, many of you are familiar with the Ebler family and all that they are going through.  I should mention they said it was okay for me to talk about this.  Anyway, this guy is in his early twenties, and, like Rachel, has cystic fibrosis.  Without going into a lot detail it is enough to say things are not going well, and while one hopes and prays, things do not look good.  I bumped into his mother in the hallway and mistaking me for the chaplain she began telling me about her son.  I corrected the mistake but offered to visit with him anyway.  When I walked into the room he was curled up in a ball with his face pressed against the TV ignoring everyone.  He didn’t even acknowledge our presence.  It took a while but he and I visited a little.  He is a scared, hurt, bitter young man.  You should know that this is a Christian family.  But can you imagine telling him to sing this hymn?  “When peace like a river, attendeth my way; When sorrows, like sea billows, roll; Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.”

Uplifting, encouraging, easy to say on the sunny days of life.  But when the clouds actually do roll in, when something like cystic fibrosis steals your very breath away, it becomes a little harder to swallow.

Imagine, for example, saying these words to Horatio Spafford.  Horatio was a prominent Christian living in Chicago in the latter half of the 19^th century.  He was a successful lawyer heavily invested in Chicago real estate and generally living the “perfect” life.  Then it all changed.  His son died, and shortly after that he lost all of his land holdings in the great Chicago fire of 1871.  By 1873 the family, still grieving, decided they needed to get away.  A trip was planned for Europe.  The trip, as planned, was not all business. Horatio was going to hook up with Dwight Moody in England and help in his evangelistic endeavors. Life being what it is Horatio found himself unavoidably detained, but decided to send his wife and four remaining children ahead of him with a promise that he would shortly follow.  On November 22 1873 the English ship Lochearn struck the ship carrying Horatio’s family.  The boat sunk in less than 12 minutes.  Miraculously, Horatio’s wife survived, but all four of his children died.  His wife was taken with the other survivors to Cardiff where she cabled Horatio with this simple message: “Saved, alone.”  Can you imagine coming up to this man and telling him “Whatever my lot…it is well, it is well with my soul”?

But we don’t even have to go all the way back to the 19^th century.  We don’t have to go to chance encounters in the hospital.  Our lives are surrounded by Horatio like tragedies.  We have, as I mentioned a few moments ago, people like Rachel, a daughter of our congregation suffering from Cystic Fibrosis right here.  Can you imagine going up to her and saying “It is well with my soul?” 

Who here doesn’t understand this sort of pain?  Who hasn’t suffered the loss of a loved one?  Some of us have stood beside the grave of our children.  Some of us have mourned the loss of friends due to violence and some of us have watched as our parents have slowly been stolen from us.  Some of us have known the pain of not being able to have children while others have had to give birth to stillborn babies.   We’ve known the fear of cancer, heart disease, and strokes.  We’ve known the helplessness of being laid off, and some of us have even tasted the terror of being homeless.  We watch in horror as shootings happen in our neighborhoods be it Kirkwood, or this last week Maplewood.  We’ve seen these “Horatio” like tragedies in life.  How can we possibly expect people going through them, how can we when that particular sea billow rolls over us declare “it is well with my soul”?

I don’t have a quick, easy answer to that question, but have you ever noticed how many strong Christians there are out there whose faith enables them to do it?  Take, for example Horatio Spafford.  Some of you here may have already realized this but he is actually the author of the hymn we have been discussing.  Those words were penned by Horatio Spafford after the loss of his children as he traveled by ship to join his wife in England.  In the midst of his grief and sorrow, even as he traveled over the very waters where his children drowned, Horatio penned these words “Whatever my lot, you have taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul”

How is that possible?  How does a man lose his children and still praise the Lord?  How does a young widow still praise the Lord after the sudden loss of her husband?  How is it that we have people like Rachel, right here in this congregation?  Because let me tell you, there was a dramatic difference between Rachel and the other young man I visited with.  They were both suffering from the same disease, both were Christians, but while he was bitter, she was joyful, while he stared at the TV and grunted she shared with me her hope in Christ.  We spent a wonderful half hour taking about everything from Nintendo to our confirmation verses.  Rachel knew her confirmation verse, how many of here can make that claim?  She had chosen it for herself.  It’s Joshua 1:9 and she was even able to rattle it off without thinking twice, “Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”  Rachel believes this.

How do people do this, or maybe the more important question is: How can we be people who, in the midst of extreme pain and sorrow, say…it is well with my soul?

It’s not easy.  In times like that there is real pain, real grief that you must go through.

It begins by realizing the story is not over.  It begins by clinging to the truth we heard proclaimed by Job in our Old Testament Lesson. 

Hopefully we remember who Job is and all the pain he went through.  We find this passage smack dab in the middle of the book of Job, right when his friends are telling him to despair and die, Job declares: “I know that my Redeemer lives”

This must be the center of our lives if we are going to endure during these times of trial and pain.  This is the truth we cling to and from it springs all of our hope.  Listen to how Job follows that dramatic statement up:  “And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I and not another.  How my heart yearns within me!”  We know that our Redeemer lives and because he lives we know his promises to us are sure.  There is hope attached to those words because Christ did not stay in the tomb.

That loss of job, that illness, that death, that tragedy, whatever it is has not separated you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.  It can’t.   

Listen again to the words of Paul in our epistle lesson.  “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, not any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

I love those words.  They were my confirmation verses, and they have been verses I have clung to ever since.  Everything is mentioned in that list.  Every conceivable thing, person, or idea is included.  The only thing, in or out of existence, not included in that list is God himself, and he will not leave us ever, no matter how ugly the situation may appear.

But how do I know that?  During those darkest hours, when cancer strikes or my spouse has died, that is the one time it is easiest to doubt God’s love.  That is when I am least faithful. That’s when I am least likely to hold up my part of the bargain.

Yes, but it’s not a bargain, it’s not your faithfulness in question.  If it were then every little slip, every little sin, every quick doubting thought would be a crushing weight upon you.  No, it is not your faithfulness in question, but the faithfulness of the God.  He is the one making the promises, not us.  He has promised to justify us and he has chosen you.  He has made the promise to you, personally. 

Paul writes in verses 29-30 “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those he predestined, he also called; those he called he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”

  You were an orphaned infant, a slave in some little village.  God saw you, loved you, and sent his son to break through the barriers and pull you out.  And then, having freed you he adopted you as his son and gave you all the rights of a son.

And as Paul says  “What then shall we say in response to this?  If God is for us, who can be against us?”  When the tragedies of life come bearing down, we look them in the eye with the confidence that whatever may befall us now our eternal destiny is secure.  Because what could possibly get in-between us and God when it is the blood of our living Redeemer which has sealed our status as adopted children of God?  “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  And armed with this knowledge we can stand in the face of extreme tragedy and in the midst of our grief, not denying it, and through the veil of our tears, not suppressing them, proclaim along with Horatio, along with Rachel “Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.”  Amen.

Currently Reading A Year with Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Daily Meditations from His Letters, Writings, and Sermons By Dietrich Bonhoeffer see related

Our God

Isaiah 44:6-8

“This is what the LORD says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty:

I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.

Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it.

Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come—yes let him foretell what will come.

Do not tremble, do not be afraid.  Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago?  You are my witnesses.  Is there any God besides me?  No, there is no other Rock;  I know not one.”

I was driving to the office on Tuesday and listening to the weather on the radio.  The weatherman assured me it was 80degrees outside and cloudy but that it would not start raining until 1 pm.  Funny thing was it was 8 in the morning and pouring rain right at that moment.  Oops

We can’t even tell what is going on now let alone what is going on in the past or the future.  Yet Yahweh, our God, our first and last knows.  Look at all the stupid things we put our trust in

So I’m driving into the office this morning and NPR flashes the local weather.  The guy on the air waves tells me the temperature is 80 degrees and cloudy with a strong chance of rain starting at 1 PM.  Funny thing, it was 8:30 and pouring outside.  It’s 9:36 as I sit here writing this and it is still pouring.

“Who then is like me?  Let him proclaim it.  Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come—yes let him foretell what will come.”

Foretell what will come?  Declare what happened since the establishment of His people?  We can’t even figure out what is going on right now around us.  With all our modern technology, all that we depend on and practically worship to give us insight and information we are still ignorant gnats aimlessly circling around.

Why do we spend so much time relying on all these other “rocks” when we know “there is no other Rock”?

Oh…and for those of you playing at home it just stopped raining.

Wait….there it goes again.  See….can’t even figure out what is going on around us.