Author: nfuller

Whatever “Betide Thee”, Jesus provides strength

Posted on by nfuller

Verse 1 of the Hymn of the Day for the 9th Sunday after Pentecost (Introit Psalm 147:7-11, OT reading Genesis 15:1-6, Epistle Hebrews 11:1-16, Gospel Luke 12:22-34) reads as follows:   If thou but trust in God to guide thee and hope in him through all thy ways, He’ll give thee strength whate’er betide thee and bear thee through the evil days. Who trusts in God’s unchanging love builds on the rock that naught can move.

If you just trust in God’s guidance to you, put your hope in him in how you live your life, He will give you strength. Specifically strength for whatever betide you. Betide means what happens to you or what befalls you by fate, or by the evil of this fallen world.

He will hear us through the evil days of this life- all of our days.   Who trusts in God’s unchanging love builds on the rock that nothing can move.  Neither life nor death nor anything in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

If you but trust in God to guide thee…  How is your trust?  What has befallen you and betided you lately? And how does our faith in Jesus carry us through?

How has trusting God’s promises been going in your life lately?  Did listening to the words of our gospel lesson convict you about weight you needlessly carry with you and worries you hold onto- instead of giving them to Jesus?

How about the church as a whole. What things have you seen befall the church in your life time?  Have  you seen the church shrink? Have you seen from one generation to another where the values of faith are somehow lost in translation- or more specifically lost in the spirit of individualism and abandonment of convention that came with the sexual revolution of the 1960s. 

What have you seen befall Christ Lutheran Church as a specific congregation? Can you trust that whatever has betided, befallen, whatever evil has assaulted this congregation- can you trust that Jesus will bear through with his bride the church through whatever happens- that he will ground the church on His perfect unchanging love?

Our scripture readings this Sunday are rich with examples of trust in the Lord’s provision for us:18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,19 that he may deliver their soul from death  and keep them alive in famine.

28 But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!

29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

With so many convincing statements of God’s provision how could we ever worry again.  Yet as sure as the sun will rise we are likely to worry nonetheless.  Our gospel reading from Luke chapter 12 and the more familiar close parallel in Matthew chapter 6:25 are especially clear in all of scripture in teaching that worry is from a lack of trust in God’s provision.

 Some of us worry more than others- but in truth those who worry more may not be less committed to their faith. I remember times in my life when as much as I read the promises of God, a certain amount of worry about things out of my control in the future would still nag at me.   

What will it actually take for us to cast aside worry?   Do we just need to be like Abraham and simply have faith no matter what? But what does it mean to have faith like Abraham, does it mean that we likewise need to believe in impossible promises such as a child in advanced age?

Our Lutheran confessions have plenty to say about the meaning of Abraham’s trusting in God’s promises.  They answer the question of why Abraham is the hero of our faith, because “In hope he believed against hope.”

The Formula of Concord states about Abraham’s faith:  “When the promise of the blessed seed Isaac was given to him, Abraham honored God’s truthfulness. He confidently concluded and believed that what God promised He could also do, although it appeared impossible to his reason. So also about Isaac’s sacrifice he understood and believed God’s Word and command plainly and simply, as they read according to the letter. He committed the matter to God’s almighty power and wisdom, which he knew has many more modes and ways to fulfill the promise of the Seed from Isaac than he could comprehend with his blind reason.”

As great as Abraham’s faith appears to us- it is all a gift of God. The Apology of the AC confesses:  “For faith justifies and saves, not because it is a worthy work in itself, but only because it receives the promised mercy.  It is a work of the Holy Spirit in which we are freed from death and terrified minds are encouraged and brought to life.”

Abraham’s faith was not a work but a clinging onto the promises of Christ. Trusting the promise is faith.  This faith is accounted to us as righteousness. Trusting in Christ- holding onto Christ for dear life.  As many of you know our sister in Christ Mary was called to the Lord yesterday morning.  In those last days, lying in bed strength gone at an advanced age- what else can a Christian do but wait in hope for the promises of Christ- looking to him for salvation- for the resurrection on the last day. 

At the end of life there is no option to help one more person or accomplish one more thing in life in hope. At the end of life there is nothing anyone could hope in other than Christ.  

In Christ the promises of our faith should not sound impossible to us.  Christ has already risen from the dead- what He does for his children is now hardly impossible to imagine.

Why do we still worry when we hear certain scripture passages? I believe the answer is that we only hear the words of the message ‘don’t worry, don’t be anxious at first glance of hearing those words of comfort.  Our ears are listening for the results we want in order to feel better.

But as long as we pay attention to the whole process- to what Jesus has done for us, and to why he promises to provide for us- we shall worry very little indeed.  As long as we hear not just the words ‘have faith it will be ok’- but instead meditate on the content of that faith- our Lord Jesus Christ- who is the victor over death and the grave, then we shall truly have reason for comfort!

“Fear not Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” -Like a shield the Lord is in front of the believer- protecting and defending believers from enemies of all kind.

Jesus is our shield who goes before us and bears all of our infirmities on himself so that we are not struck with judgement. As a shield Jesus bears the full brunt of all of our challenges so that we can never be over taken by the evil one.

Have you ever tried to do things so well that you begin to get frustrated when things don’t go as you would like?  Working hard and putting our best into things can be a satisfying experience.   The things we do well may even give glory to God, but they do not save us.

Perfectionism is a common struggle in American culture – attaching undue personal significance to how well we do things, to the point we feel as if our reputation and identity is on the line- almost as if we thought our salvation was riding on how well we do things- as if our hard work is the shield that protects us against all that can go wrong in life and all dangers as well.

How different it is when we see our salvation as entirely grounded in what we cannot control ourselves- in what Jesus does for us.  Faith is a total surrender to the promises of God. 

In the Introit we hear how our surrender to God is what delights God, not our own strength: 10 His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, 11 but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.

Like Abraham trusted in what he could not immediately see, we walk by faith not by sight. We trust in what God promises to us- not what we can arrange for ourselves. The king is not saved by his great army, a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.

We wait for the Lord, he is our help and our shield.   It is easier to believe as the world does in the strength of the horse or the might of man. Many mainline protestant denominations champion the social causes of our day at this point in time more than they care about God’s Word. Essentially they are believing in the might of man over God’s Word.  

To be popular and agreeable as a church to our culture is a dangerous temptation.  It leads to a path of believing social justice issues are the means of your justification.  If you care about those who are disadvantaged and downtrodden- you have to figure God must be on your side and will save you.    

Abraham demonstrates an example of a different type of trust.  Trusting the impossible promises of God. Promises that contradict our human reason such as having more descendants than stars in the sky, or having the gift of a son in the most advanced of age in life.

God’s Word for us this week helps us to see that God’s promises remain, that his church will endure not through gimmicks and efforts we make to portray the church as just as comfortable and self affirming as our culture.  Not through a more contemporary way to relate to our culture- but through the message of His Word- Through the promise “If you but trust in God to guide thee.”

Teach us to pray

Posted on by nfuller

It might seem like an odd way to start a sermon, but in order to have the right framework for understanding the theme of prayer- I want us to recall of last Sunday’s reading from Luke chapter 10:  Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion which will not be taken away from her.  What is the one thing necessary about prayer?

In Luke chapter 11 the disciples make a request to Jesus, ‘Lord teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples’.   This request of “Lord teach us to pray” seems reasonable and natural ; it could have been prompted by the anxious desire to ‘get prayer right.’

Apparently John the Baptist had taught his disciples to pray. Each Rabbi might have a distinctive prayer model.  The disciples did not want to be left out.  They had experienced the demands of ministry as recorded in Luke Chapter 10 and they knew they needed to become confident prayer warriors. 

Their request reflects a perspective that prayer is about the proper technique, the correct words, the right posture. So they asked; and Jesus answered their request.  He taught them to pray. But he also taught them that the heart of prayer is not technique structure and terminology-  The heart of prayer is our relationship with God, our Father.

The Lord’s Prayer provides a framework through which we can understand  prayer in the context of our relationship with God, our Father.  While we use this prayer most often to recite together in worship and in our lives- this prayer also provides a framework that redefines the foundation of prayer.  It redefines prayer in terms of the one thing necessary- our loving and trusting relationship with God.

We know from the scriptures that proper prayer originates from God, not from us.  The Psalter illustrates this order of prayer where God’s people respond to and celebrate God’s promises.  “Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will answer you.”

We pray because God has invited us to pray in the scripture.  And we know His prayers are heard because of Jesus, through His taking away the sin of the world we know the Father is eager to hear our prayers. 

In teaching them to pray, Jesus challenged the disciples to rethink the very nature of prayer. Christian prayer is not like prayers of the people of this world.  They view prayer as a negotiation process with a super power.       They appeal to God’s ego through flowery speech and generous portions of praise. They appeal to God’s greed with their promises and pledges. They appeal to his sense of justice by offering many prayers in the hope of shaming God into action. All these prayers originate from the self, instead of from God.    

The prayer of Jesus’ disciples do none of these things. Prayer springs not from our need but from our relationship with our Heavenly Father. While we readily acknowledge the all knowing and all powerful and benevolent nature of God, we begin our prayer first and foremost in the Lord’s Prayer with an acknowledgement that God is our Father and we are his children.

The best prayers are when we speak to God what he promises to us, as His children, in faith to our Father who delights to provide for us. Our adoption as Sons and daughters into God’s kingdom is a gift of God granted to us through the life death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  When we pray the fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer, forgive us our trespasses, we are reminded that our sins have been forgiven, and will continue to be forgiven-  even as we sin daily.

 This forgiveness is the true basis for calling God as our Father. The fact that God is our Father changes everything in our prayer. Now we are bold in our petitions to our Father, Verses 5 through 8 in our gospel reading offer a brief parable about prayer.  This is a parable more about our prayers than God’s answers to our prayers. 

In this story the sleeping friend yields to the persistence of the knocking neighbor primarily because the knocking neighbor is bold.  However we should not lose sight of the fact that the sleeping friend gets up and opens the door with bread, not a baseball bat. 

Jesus celebrates the boldness of this request, highlighting how the neighbor is confident in the relationship he has with the sleeping friend. He expects to be greeted with bread- not the baseball bat.  

God desires us to be confident in our relationship with our Heavenly Father, confident in His goodness and love toward us; so confident that we persist in asking, seeking, and knocking.

What boldness in prayer do we overlook on account of too small of expectations out of our spiritual life, too narrow of horizons for the role we expect God to play in our lives?

With boldness we can bring before Jesus our needs in prayer.  We can bring before Him our loneliness, our fears and worries.  With boldness we ask that our resentments would soften, our difficulties accepting what has ‘not gone according to our plan’ – turned over to our Savior in prayer. 

With boldness as a congregation we should be praying for our Sunday School to grow.  With boldness we can pray that our congregation grows in faith and in numbers- not that we pray this as reflection of our self interest and personal agendas, but because it is God’s Will for His church. 

With boldness we should be praying for those who have faced adversity and trials in life to the point where they are discouraged in their faith. We should pray for those who may have been hurt by the church to the [point where it is a stumbling block for their faith.

Our scripture reading for this Sunday have helped me to realize what significant potential there is for me in approaching my Heavenly Father in Prayer.  How much is to be gained for us as the body of Christ if we open ourselves to praying for what God has promised to us through Christ.

The ultimate expression of confidence in our Heavenly Father is our trust in God to give us good gifts as he determines best for us.  We can be at peace knowing that every good gift comes from our Father.

What is the One Thing Needful?

Posted on by nfuller

The first verse of the Hymn: One thing’s Needful summarizes well the visit of Jesus to Mary and Martha recorded in luke chapter 10: “One thing’s needful Lord, this treasure teach me highly to regard. All else though it first give pleasure, is a yoke that presses hard! Beneath it the heart is still fretting and striving, no true lasting happiness ever deriving. This one thing is needful; all others are vain- I count all but loss that I Christ may obtain!” 

Verse 2 even describes and celebrates Mary’s careful savoring of each word He spoke, her devotion to Jesus where “all earthly concerns she forgot for her Lord And found her contentment in hearing His Word.”

The phrase Jesus speaks: “One thing is needful” is so memorable I have quoted it to myself countless times.  Often in my life the events of a day or a week tempt me to go in so many directions, that I find it essential to refocus by speaking to myself the counsel Jesus gave to Martha, One thing is needful. But exactly what is the one thing that is needful?

Mary and Martha have the privilege of hosting Jesus at their home.  Jesus and the disciples were passing through the village and they stopped at their home.  In other words this was an unplanned visit. 

Talk about a once in a lifetime surprise visit.  I imagine both Mary and Martha felt an initial desire to hurry up and make the house spotless. Think if you were in their place! You would probably wish you had more advance warning that Jesus was coming.  ‘Lord if I had known you would have been coming to stop by I would have planned my day much differently. I would have gone to the market and bought the best produce and cheese I could find. – And the best wine.’   

You can imagine the desire to impress and be a gracious host would continue for as long as Jesus was there.   It might be a little difficult relaxing and taking in the evening with Jesus as a guest.  Can I fix you anything else Lord?  

There is nothing wrong with putting great energy and devotion into your role as host.  It is likely that Martha was the owner of the house and therefore had the responsibility and privilege of preparing a meal for Jesus.  We see a very similar situation in the appointed Old Testament reading (Genesis 18:1-10) where Abraham works to prepare a feast for the Lord in the form of these heavenly visitors that have come to his house.  Abraham works hard in his role as host.  He does not even try and make small talk with his guests until the task is complete.

There is something different about the way that Martha handles her role of host. She wants her work to be recognized as more valuable than the work of listening to Jesus.   Work that began as a devotion to Jesus became complicated by the sins of resentment and envy.

The resentment builds up and festers to the point where she wants to call attention to the situation.  You can just picture her intentionally clanging pots and making noise so that Mary could not help but hear what Martha is busy with.  Then her patience comes to an end and she interrupts Jesus while he is teaching.  “Lord don’t you care that my sister just sits, while I am slaving away here in the kitchen?”

In her mind she was completely justified in her complaint.  Clearly it was unfair that she was left to do all the work by herself.  But then Jesus turns his attention to her, and lovingly turns her perspective upside down.  Jesus tells her that one thing is needful and Mary has chosen that thing.  Nothing can be said against her. 

On the surface it was easy for Martha to believe she was doing exactly what she should be doing.  Her preparations were useful and important.  Perhaps she even carried them out with a spirit of devotion to Jesus.  But the problem was that this devotion was carried out over and above actually hearing from Jesus. 

It is a characteristic of the kingdom of God that man’s idea of right and wrong is not the same as God’s.  In this case Jesus was not expecting to be pampered with the best Martha could offer.  Jesus did not come to be served by us, but to serve us and even lay down his life for us.  He does not need us to work to please him, but instead he is here to be our Savior and fill us with the joy of his Word.

In verse 38 as the gospel reading begins, we read the disciples were on their way. Where were they on their way too?  Simply put they were on their way where Jesus was leading.  Jesus was on his way to the cross.   

There would be perhaps no other opportunity like this for Mary and Martha to hear from Jesus.   For Mary it was a time to listen from the start, for Martha it became a time to serve to the exclusion of listening. 

The scripture describes Martha as being distracted.  To be distracted means that you may start off on track and focused, but eventually something else pulls you away in a different direction.  Perhaps she started off listening alongside Mary but saw it was getting closer to Supper time and couldn’t help but start with preparations. 

For Martha the distractions were not necessarily self centered pursuits.  Martha was doing things that a person can reasonably expect to do.  Likewise we often find ourselves with situations in which others need our help to the point where we become distracted from other things we are also responsible for in life.  

There is no shortage of distractions in the world we live in today.  In recent years of counseling at a mental health agency, I continue to be struck at how often people will speak about political spin, news stories and opinions on social media about political issues as things that contribute to them feeling bad about themselves or their lives. What a convenient distraction from the problems of our own lives- to find an enemy and scapegoat on cable news or the internet. 

At the same time much closer to home daily life provides its own level of distractions. Americans feel more busy and starved of time for themselves than perhaps ever before. Technology brings the responsibilities of the workplace to our very homes, where many fields of work involve a feeling of being on call all of the time.  Families with school age children find themselves scrambling from one practice and event to another with limited times of the whole family having time together.

We have become a culture quite saturated with distraction.  Because it is so easy to become distracted, these words of Jesus are so important: One thing is necessary.  There are many times when we must order things in our lives, but when the time comes for us to receive the love of Jesus delivered in God’s Word, that is beyond doubt the only thing necessary.

God’s Word challenges us to ask, Do you view hearing God’s Word as a fundamental basic necessity of life? As part of our human nature we experience an internal battle between balancing the things that we really need to do and those things that we would like to do. 

Our greatest need is to receive the gospel and receive God’s perfect love in Christ.  The things we consider most needful by our human perspective are exactly the things that can and will go wrong.  The gift of the gospel never disappoints us. 

With respect to our need to hear God’s Word our gospel account is very instructional and normative for describing how we can live our daily lives according to what is truly needful.  But with respect to the needs of our brothers and sisters who do not know Christ, our reading is not suggesting that the most important thing we can do is sit in church every Sunday- and not care about those who are lost. 

With respect to those who do not know the Lord, it is needful for us share the gospel.  It is one thing to be like Martha and be misguided in how you spend your time or in how you try to serve God.  It is another thing to be like those who had no interest in having Jesus over at their house at all.   

When it comes to properly choosing what is needful, I fail every week, and even every day with some of the decisions I make to be busy doing instead of listening to God’s Word.  I think it’s safe to say that all pastors on a regular basis fail to properly discern what is needful in this way.  In fact all of us fail, just like Martha in putting the right priority on our time with Jesus.  Because of sin we make the wrong choice all the time as far as what is needful.  

But just as Jesus forgave Martha and lovingly corrected her priorities, He forgives us and leads us back to His Word.  We enjoy clarity from God’s Word in our lives not because we are wise enough to prioritize God over other interests or responsibilities.  We have clarity for what we need in life for the simple reason that Jesus comes to us, forgives us and restores us as a new creation.  May our Lord’s love for us shown on the cross provide this perfect clarity to us each and every day.      

The heavens declare the glory of God

Posted on by nfuller

Brothers and sisters in Christ here in the thick of summer, I can’t help but think about the stars.  People have  been setting off fireworks in the night sky this past week, but the light show of God’s creation far surpasses anything we can light up the sky with.  It is just about unbelievable to consider the expanse of the stars, light years away and yet they still give off light that we can see.

We heard at the beginning of our worship service how God’s people see the stars through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit: The heaven’s declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

In our modern science fiction obsessed world we may associate the stars as this frontier of the unknown.  If you research the stars and astronomy you get numbers beyond comprehension and estimates of the age of the stars that fit within the narrative of evolution and the theoretical big bang. 

Many a time in the past such views of the stars make me want to narrow my focus and just forget about the stars and all of the unknowns about space- after a while I become weary of things that are hard to understand and I get tired of filtering through in my mind which statements I hear that are following speculative philosophy instead of actual scientific observations. 

To me all of the evolutionary speculations that are stated as if they are fact makes me feel depressed, ‘this again, you can’t read anything without encountering the same tired stories about cataclysmic events that somehow bring order to the universe.’ 

Regardless of what speculative scientists write about the universe this expanse of stars beyond our comprehension declares the glory of God each day:

 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.  Psalm 19 describes the stars as providing a tent for the sun, and celebrates that nothing is hidden from the heat of the sun and the stars. 

The stars not only give an illustration about the glory of God in creation, they also proclaim the power of God’s Word, the gospel.  Genesis 15:5 “And he brought him outside and said, look toward heaven, and number the stars if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit St. Paul quotes both Isaiah chapter 52 and  Psalm 19 in his letter to the Romans chapter 10: 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for  “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”

These same Words were spoken in our Gradual:   How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news, who publish peace and bring good news of salvation. Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.

Instead of celebrating how heavens declare the glory of God, it is now the voice of the church, Jesus’ followers whose voice goes out to all the earth. Yes the stars are beautiful and awesome in their nature, but how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news- how beautiful is the work of the gospel – ringing out with power and might from one corner of the earth to another. 

The peace of the Lord extends from one corner of the earth to another.  Jesus sent out the 72 to proclaim this peace, and this peace has gone out to us.  We are far enough from Jerusalem to ourselves be the ends of the world.   The Word has gone out to us and the message we give to the world is the message of ultimate peace, God has reconciled the world to Himself through His Son Jesus. 

The voice of the gospel that we proclaim, both pastors, and congregation members alike, goes out to all the earth, and shines with a brightness beyond what we can comprehend.  This is such a thing of beauty because lives are transformed from condemnation to an inheritance in heaven.

If you were to try and think about all of the people in your life that have shared the gospel with you in word or deed.  All of the people who have encouraged you whether in person or through a book you read or a sermon address you heard on the radio, a movie, a podcast, all of the friends in Christ you have known, pastors, Sunday school teachers, your own family, classmates or campus ministry peers- why the list is so long you cannot really take in the scope of it. 

I imagine this list would include all of the hymn writers of your favorite hymns, the  seminary professors who taught your pastors or theologians in the history of the church who inspired the pastors you have known in your life, the authors who wrote your favorite children’s books like CS Lewis and Chronicles of Narnia, your favorite gospel song writers- and we cannot forget all of those saints in the Old and New Testament who inspire us by their examples of faithfulness, and saints throughout the church’s history, like Martin Luther or Dietrich Bonhoeffer or Henri Nouwen. 

The voice of the gospel goes out to all the earth, and it is just like the stars, we can hardly comprehend how beautiful God’s design is. 

Yet this message of unsurpassed beauty is not always heard as peace by the world.  Some hear the message of the gospel from the church as the Word of Jesus himself, while others want to imagine that somehow the proclamation of Christ Crucified is only the message of the church and not what God intends for people to know.  We heard in our gospel reading:

 16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

Jesus clarifies that those who are sent by him are speaking for him and the Father as well.  The unbelief of this world is a daunting obstacle for believers.  It is too easy to second guess or doubt what business we have sharing the gospel with others as we realize many will not want anything to do with hearing God’s Word. 

Yet we need to remember we are not sharing our own message, but speaking with Jesus, speaking with the entire body of Christ this gospel that has been ringing through the world with glory and power.

As the disciples rejoiced that even demons submitted to their names, Jesus points out that the true reason to rejoice is not that they are instruments of such power for God’s kingdom- but that they themselves are saved through Christ. 

Our names written in the book of life is far more valuable to us than what we can accomplish in life through the power of God’s Word. We don’t proclaim the gospel to boast about how good we are at it, instead we are thankful above all else that this message applies to us as well. 

Those of us who are able to many things in God’s kingdom, and those of us who are able to do very few things, with little to boast about we all alike receive the same amazing gift of the our names written in the book of life.  Amen.  

Refreshing eats for the summer: Spinach Strawberry Salad

Posted on by nfuller

1 lb. spinach
1 pint sliced strawberries
2 oz. slivered almonds (Toast in oven @ 350 for 4 minutes)

Dressing (mix in blender)
1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. sesame seed
1 T. poppy seed
1 1/2 tsp. dry minced onion – optional
1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar or strawberry wine vinegar

Blend well

Add 1/2 c. vegetable oil

Blend well and enjoy!

~Recipe courtesy of Larry and Bonny Jones

Jesus, why do you not leave me alone?

Posted on by nfuller

What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” 

The demons recognize and know who Jesus is more than anyone else.  They are the first to call Jesus the Son of God, not the disciples. But they say this in dread fear- recognizing the power of Jesus and their helplessness before Him.  “Jesus, do not torment me”- is not a phrase you could imagine any man or woman saying.  A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not put out. 

Only the dark forces recognize the true spiritual warfare at stake for which Jesus was born to fight.   They recognize the power of their enemy- Jesus. They see their end and beg for a delay to their demise.

What have you to do with me? Or in another translation of the original Greek, “Why do you not leave me alone.”  What does the Son of God, pure truth, the light of the world have to do with a legion of demons inhabiting this man?  What business does light have visiting the darkness? 

Was it the demons alone who spoke this phrase, ‘what have you to do with me’ or did the man possessed himself ask this question, what have you to do with me Jesus because nobody else had anything to do with him.  The account in this reading of this man’s isolation and suffering is staggering.  

We hear: For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. It is hard to picture a more pitiful and miserable existence than this man was in.  His depravity was so great that he was not even among civilization, sleeping in tombs, living among unclean pigs.  Naturally he would wonder what business Jesus would have talking to him.

The business is that Jesus has come to liberate us from the darkness.  What does Jesus have to do with this demon possessed man- everything.  Jesus has everything to do with these demons- for he has come to vanquish them.  He does not leave this poor man- separated from society, suffering with an inhabitation of thousands of demons if the name Legion is accurate.   This poor man, the lowest of low- Jesus has everything to do with him. I have not come to seek the saved, but the lost.

The demons begged Jesus to let them enter the pigs on the hillside. They drove the pigs over the cliff in order to destroy them.  They settled for destroying the pigs- destruction being their ultimate aim in life.   As a result of this dramatic scene the villagers and herdsmen were afraid, they asked Jesus to leave.  They feared Jesus when it was the demons who they should have feared.

The people feared to see the power that Jesus had healed this man- but they should have seen this as a cause for comfort and peace.  The man was experiencing peace and comfort, as he sat with Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. He wanted to stay with Jesus, but was told:   Return to your home and declare how much God has done for you. 

As we appreciate how much God has done for us, as we truly recognize how helpless we are on our own, we will want to declare to the world what God has done for us.

When I was first entering seminary after I graduated from undergrad I had many opportunities to tell people what I was pursuing for my career.  Often this would be one of the first time church or Christian faith was the center of the topic of conversation with some friends of my parents from my dad’s work place or riding Harley Davidson motorcycles. 

“If I ever entered church, flames might spontaneously erupt.”  “If I walked in the earth would tremble.”  People will make jokes about how unworthy they are to actually be in a church- its not for me, I don’t belong here, I would never fit in, It would be a joke.

How I wish I would have thought more of the man possessed with demons, who said to Jesus, what have you to do with me, have you come to torment me.  Well yes it is a wonder that the church doesn’t erupt in flames when I walk in too! Chief of sinners though I be, Christ laid down his life for me.  The man possessed with demons had plenty of cause to question how it is that Jesus came to him- and we have plenty of cause too. 

By all rights we should be just as afraid and perplexed about how vulnerable we are to the destructive agenda of the demons, with our fallen human nature, with our natural state of seeing God as our enemy who is coming to destroy us.

Yet while we were still sinners Christ died for us.  And Christ has come to vanquish all of the demons from our world, be gone and trouble my own children no more!   Psalm 139 puts it well:

Where shall I go from your Spirit?  Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!  If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning  and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me,     and your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to you;  the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

God has everything to do with us. Daily he has everything to do with us. We are reminded of this in the Small Catechism of Martin Luther,the 4th petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

Give us today our daily bread: God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers, even to all evil people, but we pray in this petition that God would lead us to realize this and to receive daily bread with thanksgiving.

We often stress in the Lutheran church God’s great provision to us in the gift of salvation through Christ’s saving work on the cross. But we also see God’s provision in upholding creation and sustaining our daily lives.

What is meant by daily bread? Daily bread includes everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or wife, devout children, devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, self-control, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.

Daily God has everything to do with us, even unto the last day where God has everything to do with us through the cross and empty tomb and his kingdom forever. Amen.   

The gift of music!

Posted on by nfuller

‘’Music is God’s gift to man, the only art of heaven given to earth, the only art of earth we take to heaven” (Walter Savage Landor).          

Singing or playing music on an instrument expresses our “soul” (mind, will and emotions). But music that lifts our hearts and our eyes to God in Judeo-Christian worship comes from another dimension within the believer-from his spirit, from a heart renewed in Christ, made in God’s image.

This worship does involve our “soul”. With my mind, I can speak/sing and understand the words; with my will, I can sing to my best ability, or just be silent; with my emotions, I can feel joy, be moved to tears, be strengthened in my commitments, express my love for and to God, be lifted in my faith. Paul, the Apostle, in 1 Corinthians 14:15, says, “I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray also with my mind. I will sing with my spirit, but I will sing also with my mind”. Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well, in John 3:24, “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”  I always wondered what Paul and Silas sang in their prison cell when the earth shook and set all the prisoners free from their chains! (Acts 16:25-34). Several people came to faith that day.          

Sacred music has its own language: that language is of the spirit. The Christian faith has always been one of much singing. Our roots remain in the Jewish songs of deliverance and praise to God. The Psalms have always been the songbook of the church. So many of our hymns are inspired by them.

In 1529 A.D., Martin Luther wrote “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”. That was almost 500 years ago! Compared to most of the “Popular songs” that have been written over the past centuries, with their secular lyrics and tunes, this hymn and so many songs of faith have truly survived the “test of time”. “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” is based on Psalm 46,” God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble…”. These words and the hymn we sing in our time of unsurety are just as meaningful as when they were written.

“A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”
Martin Luther, 1483-1546; tr. Lutheran Book of Worship, 1978

“A mighty fortress is our God, A sword and shield victorious; He breaks the cruel oppressor’s rod And wins salvation glorious. The old satanic foe Has sworn to work us woe. With craft and dreadful might He arms himself to fight. On earth he has no equal.”

“No strength of ours can match his might. We would be lost, rejected. But now a champion comes to fight, Whom God Himself elected. You ask who this may be? The Lord of hosts is He, Christ Jesus, mighty Lord, God’s only Son, adored. He holds the field victorious.”

“Though hordes of devils fill the land All threat’ning to devour us, We tremble not, unmoved we stand; They cannot overpow’r us. Let this world’s tyrant rage; In battle we’ll engage. His might is doomed to fail; God’s judgment must prevail! One little word subdues him.”

“God’s Word forever shall abide, No thanks to foes, who fear it; For God Himself fights by our side With weeapons of the Spirit. Were they to take our house, Goods, honor, child, or spouse, Though life be wrenched away, They cannot win the day. The Kingdom’s ours forever! “

(This article is inspired by Nathaniel Olson’s Hymns of Faith).

Melodie Gilbert, Organist, Christ Lutheran Church

Summertime stings, bites, etc.

Posted on by nfuller

Oh boy! Summertime has arrived. Time for fun, vacations, cook outs, and yes – the bites, stings of insects and spiders. Although mosquito bites are irritating and spider bites often stingy and itchy, the most common stings of concern are those from bees. 

Why? Because they hurt, and they can lead to development of allergic responses from the host whom they bite. No one is born with an allergy to bee stings. It takes exposure- and that occurs when the bee stings – bee venom is injected and the body identifies it as a foreign – an enemy and begins to set up an army against it, called antibodies. The first few stings give the exposure needed and then the body manufactures the antibodies which are stored away but rapidly deseminated  as more exposure occurs 

Somatic reaction is always bee species specific- one is allergic to only that bee specific sub group. 

Workers for the same bees will return to the same location every summer either because of the abundant food sources (flowers) or because of the hive they built. They will find the old hive, remodel it and set up house keeping. So one sensitized to these bees a previous summer may be at risk for scary reactions. Sensitization occurs by repeated stings (playing in the area of the hive everyday)  or by one big exposure, bee hive falling on one’s head- which by the way happened to me a few summers ago. Bee keepers are at a particular risk. 

The body can react to as simple as a reaction to a red welt at the site of the bite to hives all over to more serious reactions with wheezing, heart racing, tongue swelling, difficulty breathing, or cardiovascular collapse, The more times exposure occurs, the more serious the reaction can be as the body is set to attack the enemy!

If you are in the group of people who have begun to develop more total body reactions, you should be prepared and consult with your physician to provide you with an Epifer kit. It includes 2 auto injectables, pens of .3 mg of ephifren 1:1000 dilution which will counteract too serious body responses. The kit is expensive usually at least part covered by insurance- but is life saving. You should bring it to all outside events, camping hiking, bike riding. And you should have someone close to you who is capable of administering the shot if you are to sick.

Remember too as a prevention almost all bees stay out of defenses of their food source, their hive, and their queen. If you are working with a flower bed when the bees are collecting nectar just change your location they won’t .  If indeed these bees have built their nest in an undesirable location one should contact their county exchange and request who can move or relocate the hive to a better location.

Bees are a invaluable to our environment for pollination of flowers of crops, tress and the manufacturing of honey for food and medication.  Honor them, respect them and don’t mess with them.

Happy Summer!

Jayne Croghan MD

Pentecost, no limits in Christ

Posted on by nfuller

Have you ever wished there were not so many limitations to your life? A few years back there was a movie called Limitless.  The basic plot of the movie was that the main character gets a hold of a pill that unlocks the full potential of his brain. 

Through being able to access 100% of his brain he is able to live life as if it is moving in slow motion, several step ahead of everyone else to the point where he has seemingly limitless power in society.  If you are honest, you may admit that such a premise sounds attractive. 

In recent years I have probably become more aware of limitations in my life than ever before.  With three young children, limitations are self evident to begin with.  I can only stay out so late in the evening, I can only get so much house or yard work done in a day when I am also seeing to the needs of family time.  

Serving as a worker pastor has also brought to mind limits. The time commitment of a 40 hour work week can limit many other avenues of Ministry I would like to look into.

But what makes me aware of limits more than anything else are the limitless possibilities of how to approach outreach and evangelism.  I have talked with many brothers and sisters in Christ of what opportunities are present for community outreach and evangelism in this congregation and in the Irvington Community.

So many good ideas, it is simply not possible to carry out all of the promising approaches that are observed in various churches in our synod.  The more aware I am of opportunities for pastoral leadership, the more aware I am of the limits of our human nature.    

Perhaps you can relate to the feeling of limitations.  Maybe you feel your life has more limitations than others. One family you know has a vacation cabin on a lake, where your family is lucky if you even manage one weekend a year to travel somewhere different than your usual life activities.

Maybe you know some people who do so much through the course of a year that they seem to have energy to spare, where you feel you are lucky if you have enough energy to keep the house in reasonable condition and bills and deadlines caught up with.

The fact is that limitations are a characteristic of all of our lives.  Our human nature presents us with limitations about how much sleep we need, and a list of countless  things we need in place to be healthy.   Our society presents many limitations in the form of how much money we are willing or able to spend. 

The ultimate limitation of our lives is sin.  Sin limits how healthy and rewarding our relationships are.  Sin limits how big our hopes and dreams are.  Sin limits every good impulse we might have.

If only we could take some magic pill to remove those limiting effects of sin! But the truth is that no movie fantasy can overcome the effects of the Fall into sin. 

But there is one real life character who can overcome the effects of the Fall.  Our Lord Jesus Christ has come to us to remove the limits from our lives. No not the limits that keep us from being wealthy beyond our wildest dreams- as some televangelists would have us believe.

Nor has Jesus come to remove the limitations of our bodies and daily schedules that humble us on a daily basis.  Jesus has not come to give us an ultimate freedom to do whatever we desire or attain whatever we covet in life.   

Instead Jesus has come to make us perfectly free to have a relationship with our living God!  On the day of Pentecost Jesus sent His Spirit to His church so that his kingdom would come on the earth without limits. 

Pentecost was the day in history where the Holy Spirit was sent by Jesus to the church a gift without limits.  The day of Pentecost was seven weeks after the resurrection of Jesus- 50 days by the Jewish counting of days. 

We hear in Acts chapter 2 that when the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. How is it that the disciples and countless others knew to be together in one place? Pentecost was already a day in it’s own right, the feast of Weeks  which marked 50 days after the Passover, the end of the Passover season- sort of like how today we think of Labor day as the end of the summer.

During the Feast of weeks or Pentecost, God’s people were to bring the first fruits of their harvest as an acknowledgement of God’s blessing to them. People might journey to Jerusalem for Passover and stay through Pentecost.  It makes sense why God would chose this day to give the church the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Beginning with Pentecost the Holy Spirit sends the church out to proclaim the message of Christ crucified and glorified.   Before the events of Christ’s passion the full story could not yet be told. 

Now that Jesus has ascended into heaven, the Spirit strengthened the church to tell the whole story.  The day of Pentecost, like the Old Testament counterpart of the feast of weeks was about the first fruits of harvest.  The 3,000 who were united by the Holy Spirit in faith were the first of many fruits of the harvest of Christ’s Passion. 

Jesus promised this gift, the Holy Spirit to be with us and lead us to the truth of Jesus’ love for us.  Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the helper, The word on Greek in is Paraclete, which literally means one who walks besides us. Other translations of the Bible use such varied terms as our advocate, our helper, our friend.  All of these words help us to see that since the first Pentecost, God has been assisting and strengthening the church to His purposes. 

These purposes of God are greater than what man can imagine.  Following Pentecost God’s design prevailed regardless of the limitations of human cooperation or imagination.   No limits to the Spirit’s work of proclaiming Christ crucified.

Prior to the time of Pentecost the church was largely confined to the immediate area around Jerusalem. Yet on the day of Pentecost travelers from all over the Mediterranean world where in Jerusalem for the feast of Tabernacles.  We hear the list of nations in verses 9 through 11 in our reading from Acts. The church would not be confined to one corner of the middle East, but spread throughout the world.  

Part of our sin is that we put limits on the designs of our God.  We limit the work of the  Holy Spirit to the church in our own minds through unbelief or doubt.  We may have doubt as to what power the Holy Spirit has in our and in the church. 

We look at the church and see limits in terms of what the church is as an imperfect human institution. Many in our society might even resent the church for such limits- as if it is keeping us from God’s love. 

One particular limit our society may put on the Holy Spirit is casting doubt on the clarity of the Holy Spirit to us.  Does the Bible really say what the church claims it is saying about how God’s kingdom works? Or even the question of, does the Bible really say what God intended for it to say, or has it been changed by human intervention?

But the clarity of the message of Pentecost is undeniable: Jesus is our risen and ascended Lord.  Jesus has taken on our sin on the cross, so that we might be reconciled back to God.  And Jesus has sent the helper whom the Father has sent in His name to bring us to remembrance all that he has said.

The legacy of Pentecost to us is that even though are lives are full of limits in every aspect- there is through the in dwelling of the Holy Spirit in us, no limit to our ability to access the grace of God in our lives! 

Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, we now have a relationship with God that knows no limits.  When we pray, the Father hears us.  When we hear and receive God’s Word with joy, our faith grows- it’s a guarantee and promise of our Lord! With the Holy Spirit we pray:  Alleluia. Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your love.

It’s a matter of First things First. Once we recognize that there are no limits to the love of God in our lives, then we can view the limitations of life differently. If we struggle with loving steadfastly family members when they try our patience- then the limitless love of Christ carries us through.

If we struggle with discouragement over the limits of which community outreach events we can carry forward, we do well to look to our Savior and see his limitless love.  Then we are reminded that the goal is not to fill up our church calendar with as many events as possible, but to share the love of Christ in whatever ways we can during the times when we plan activities.

The day of Pentecost helps us to see what is possible for the church because of the unity and power the gift of the Holy Spirit has brought to the church.  Where the Tower of Babel ended with the scattering of nations and dividing of tongues, the Day of Pentecost has united the church from people of all nations under a common language of the gospel.   21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved

Easter for us

Posted on by nfuller

After celebrating the resurrection of Our Lord the past five weeks we now focus on our own promised resurrection on the last day. In Revelation chapter 21 we are reminded of our resurrection through the imagery of a wedding, the wedding of the church as the bride of the lamb.

Jesus foretold this marriage feast at the Last Supper with his disciples:  “I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew with you in the kingdom of my father.”

In Ephesians 5:25-27 Paul describes how Jesus loves the church his bride, “that he might present to himself the church in all of her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing: but that she should be holy and blameless.”   This is imagery of a royal wedding.

Revelation chapter 21 describes not only a royal wedding, but a royal city- Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God: beautiful brilliant, magnificent. Earlier in chapter 21: “And I saw the holy city the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”  

In this city 12 gates always open representing the Old Testament people of God. The 12 precious stones that are the foundation represent the New Testament People of God.

The city is described as a perfectly square cube, its length and width and height are equal-  with over 1200 miles from East to West, 1200 miles from North to South, and beyond comparison to anything we know of outside of science fiction-  1200 miles from the ground to its full height.  Denver is called the mile High city with its elevation of over 5,000 feet, surrounding mountains another 5,000 feet.  Which makes only 2 miles of elevation as compared to 1200. Beyond what we can comprehend.    

But the dimensions of the city are only one aspect of what we struggle to comprehend. Even more beyond our imagination is what it will be like to have no temple in this city, no place of worship- because it would be completely redundant to have a temple when God himself is at the center of the city. 

It’s beyond what we can imagine, no sun or moon because the glory of God gives its light and the lamb its lamp.   The glory of eternity with Jesus is beyond what our minds can grasp.   But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”  – 1Corinthians 2:9

No eye has seen, nor has the heart of man imagined, but yet we have this glimpse here in Revelation chapter 21.  

There was a best selling book  in 2010 called “Heaven is Real.”  Interesting story of a young boy named Colton Burpo who saw a few things resembling what appeared to him as Heaven when he was going through a near death experience.  But we do not need any accounts of what people see or dream about heaven. For any one person’s picture or imagination of heaven is going to be very cloudy and inaccurate as compared to what is revealed in scripture by God’s Hand.   We have the true picture of what is real about heaven here in God’s Word, here in Revelation chapter 21.

This true picture is important for us, because as of yet we still walk by faith in this fallen world. We are in the stage that theologians have called the church militant- we fight against the temptations of sin, the devil and the fallen world on a daily basis.  

Throughout history the church has believed Revelation was written by the Apostle John, inspired by the Holy Spirit. His life circumstances were far less reminiscent of the glory of the New Heaven and the new Earth; and far more resembling of the fallen world that we live in today. In the later years of his life John was exiled to the island of Patmos in the Mediterranean Sea on account of his faith in Christ. 

While on Patmos John certainly experienced the loneliness of separation from the church which was separation from those who shared with him the hope of new life in Christ, and separation from those who longed to see Jesus again. We know something of this isolation and loneliness every time we find ourselves aware of the unbelieving world around us and every time we experience the pressure to live by the wisdom of this world instead of the gospel.

John was the youngest of the disciples that Jesus called. Now at the time of the book of Revelation, John is on account of his longevity in life now the last living disciple- the oldest disciple. I can’t help imagine the loneliness of this situation.  All those who he was nourished together with in the faith by Jesus were now with the Lord in heaven.    

How easy it would be for John to look back to the past and long for the good ole days when he walked beside Jesus.  How far away must those memories of the Last Supper and the trial and the cross have been.  

Or memories of when Jesus rose and appeared to him and the rest of the disciples. Or the days of wonder where the church grew in the power of the Holy Spirit and John was even experiencing the Holy Spirit working miracles through him for the sake of the gospel. How many sweet memories of the past, and how much isolation in the present!

But if John was caught up looking back to the past while in Patmos he did not stay there long, as Jesus guided him to see a vision of the glorious future that awaits all of God’s people.  “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.”

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

  The remainder of John’s exile on Patmos would not be spent looking back to the past, but instead eagerly looking forward to the redemption prepared for God’s people at the end of time. 

Even if circumstances should appear as if Satan is becoming victorious in the world, God’s Word in the book of Revelation helps us to see that God will be victorious in the end. “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 

In light of the certainty of victory at the end, we can see the challenges of the present in a different light. The glimpse of eternity lets us see the end in sight to start with.   We heard in our gospel reading this very truth, “In this world you will face trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world.”  Jesus has already won the victory for us. Our names have already been written in the book of life. We have the assurance that we are his, we have been marked by the cross, He put His name on us in Holy Baptism and we belong to Him. We cling to His promise and cling to the glimpse of eternity.

Knowing the end of the story can make all the difference. Often it is more enjoyable to watch an action adventure movie the second time around. Because once you know the end you can relax and not be bothered so much by the difficulties and trials that come along the way. Once you know how it is going to turn out you can put whatever trial and tribulation in life in perspective.

Revelation chapter 21 as a whole gives us a marvelous picture of the new home that awaits us at the end of time- a concrete picture of what awaits us when the New Heaven and the New Earth is created.

 It is a wonderful picture of what Christ’s victory over the grave has secured for God’s people.  The description and imagery of this new home reminds us of where things began at creation.  In Eden God prepared everything for Adam and Eve, so that there was abundant provision, no sickness, and plenty of meaningful activity as caretakers of the garden.

And here at the end of the story as recorded in Revelation chapter 21 there is the river of life flowing through the center of the New Jerusalem and the tree of life for healing of the nations.  We are brought back full circle to the glory that God first brought to us in creation.

“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Jesus has promised us that he has prepared a new home for us, as we hear in John chapter 14 “I go to prepare a place for you.” And even as he has prepared a place for us, he comes to us now.  We have the privilege of sharing this good news with the world. Jesus has prepared a place for all of us. And what a wonderful place it is! Amen.