ps from psWe’re a few days away from our annual celebration of the Reformation. Once a year on Reformation Sunday, we remember and celebrate what the Holy Spirit did through Martin Luther and the movement that began the Protestant Reformation.
Luther and those that followed CHANGED the church! All because of reading Scripture and hearing about God’s grace for each of them.
Quick review: Luther was a Catholic priest. He read the Bible, especially verses like Ephesians 2:8-10 where it says “for by grace you have been saved through faith…..not because of works…” This new understanding of what God was really trying to tell us in the Scriptures propelled him to detail out 95 things he thought should be changed to match up the church better to these grace filled Scriptures. Church didn’t like his ideas. Church kicked him out. Luther kept reading and preaching about God’s grace. People started hearing, maybe for the first time, that they were unconditionally loved by God and that good news alone could change their lives and therefore they could change the world.
And 500 years later, here we are. Lutherans. Methodists. Episcopalians. Baptists. And more. Each church still changing and trying to change the world.
So if I asked you today: “what would you change in the church/world today?” Could you match Luther’s movement?
Seems like a lot for a rainy Wednesday in WNY with the Bills on a slight losing streak.
So…. what if we scaled the Reformation back a tad. To a reformation. And just looked in the mirror today and started a new reformation right there. In us! Just in us.
What if you re-read that Ephesians 2 text: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”
Do you hear it speaking directly to you? Just you! That you are unconditional loved by God! With that in mind, what would change in us? What could change through us?
Knowing that we are unconditionally loved by God, how does that change how we feel about ourselves?
Knowing that we are unconditionally loved by God, how does that change how we love….forgive…support our family and friends?
Knowing that we are unconditionally loved by God, how does that change how we deal with stranger or those that don’t look like us, come from the same place or love the same way?
Knowing that we are unconditionally loved by God, and that we are empowered by that love and created to do good, how does that change the work we do today to be ministry instead of just a job or a timecard we punch?
What if we start with that reformation? What if we move from macro-church-changes to micro-church-changes? What if we let this good news seep into every other day of our family and work life, above and beyond Sunday?
That would be a Reformation Celebration for sure. And that feels like enough for a Wednesday.
Lord, thanks for the Reformation. May the reformation continue today. In me. Amen.
When I was a kid, I would strive to be in the 90th percentile. However, if I’m being honest about my past, all my high school/college/grad school/seminary teachers are probably laughing at that statement. If I was in the top 10%, I (and everyone around me) was actually surprised and excited. School wasn’t exactly one of my “spiritual gifts.”
And yet in Luke’s gospel, the bottom 10% was just highlighted. Jesus said to the one that returned and gave thanks, “Were not ten made clean? Where’s the other nine?”
But it’s a different type of 10%. It’s the thankful 10%. The one that recognized Jesus. The one that saw what God was up to. The one that thanked God for what just happen. The one out of ten. The 10%.
So let me affirm for you….if you are in the 10%, maybe you’re not on the bottom. Maybe you’re dialed in to seeing God, stopping for a moment, returning to Jesus and giving thanks.
So, what’s being that 10% look like for you today? How could your 10%-ness reconnect you to what God just did, is doing and will do in your life? What could your 10%-ness do for the world around you to invite them to have 10% type vision, 10% type action, 10% type thankfulness and 10% type praise in the world.
For those of you struggling to try and make it into the 90th percentile….maybe it’s not all that’s it’s cracked up to be. “What can we do?” Maybe we strive instead to be part of the 10%. .Lord, help me change what I’m striving for and be part of the 10%. Amen.
ps from psHas your church ever had arguments? Has it ever disagreed on important issues? Has it ever had strong personalities that have gotten under the skin of some of the other members? Have the same sort of things happened in your family or in your workplace? In light of these situations, have you ever asked: what can we do? If any of these questions are true for you, then you match up pretty well with the early Christian church.Our Adult Forum group, which meets on Sunday mornings at 9:00 AM and is open to all, is going to start looking at the book of Acts. It’s one of the most interesting books in the Bible because there are sooooo many incredible personalities contained within the stories. It captures some of the greatest highs and lows of trying to figure out how to follow Jesus, and share this good news of God’s grace with the world. Maybe that early church also asked: What can we do?Here’s just a couple of the tough situations that can be found in this book: Acts1:15-22 – they have to pick a new leader after Judas’ betrayal; Acts 2:4-11 – people gather from many different countries and can’t understand one another because of different languages; Acts 2:43-47 – no longer satisfied with worship in the Temple, tensions in developing new ways of worship & being God’s chosen people; Acts 3:1-10 – figuring out the role of healing in the church as some questioned the right of Peter & John to assume role of healing that had been Jesus’ forte; Acts 4:36-37 Barnabas – what was his role, struggle with who was in charge and calling the shots.
And that’s only up to Chapter 4!!!!
If you’re reading this, and you are a missionary at St. Paul’s, you are part of a church that has lasted almost 200 years. I’ve only been there for a few of them, but I’ve known of several tough conversations, theological challenges, tough personalities, and challenging decisions that had to be made. I can only imagine over the almost 200 years just how many have come up.What can we do?
One of the things I love about the church community, especially St. Paul’s, is that when we are at our best we are able to have all the hard discussions, all the hard personalities, all the theological challenges, and all the tough parts of following Jesus and still say What CAN We Do with a feeling of being ready to step to the plate? What can/should/will we do to be part of this imperfect system and yet still share God’s good news?Many people that I meet in my travels throughout Western New York, from Bills games tailgates to pubs to the Erie County fire service to local neighborhoods, have told me stories about things that have pushed them away from Church. They are stories very similar to the stories in Acts. I wish I could fix some of the scenarios they named, but I know that most of them are just part of being church itself. Because church is filled with broken and searching and imperfect people. Just like me. Just like you. And we’re all just trying to figure out how to follow this incredible savior.Continue to be part of the church that is being created, reformed and reshaped. Jump into the Adult Forum if you want to hear some of these stories. Jump into the book of Acts on your own if you’re looking for a way to start reading the Bible. Jump into the stories of some of the most improbable that do the incredible. Because 2000 years later, we’re still trying to figure it out. I only pray that God can use this wacky group of followers that we have today to continue to make sure the world, and everyone in it, knows that they are unconditionally loved by God. Lord, we’re a work in progress. Stay with us as we struggle. Amen.
Crazy story coming up this weekend from Luke 16 between Abraham, a rich man and Lazarus. Summary: rich guy dies, goes to the fiery place, sees that Lazzy made it to heaven, Richy Rich asks the Abe to send Lazzy back to his family to tell them to shape up so they don’t end up in the hot box, but Abe says “Nope, they should have listened better the first time to the prophets that were sent.”
Interesting. Bible’s full of interesting stories. But the basic point is: we should all listen better the first time because God is trying to tell us we are loved. It could/should/might change our lives. And if it does/kinda/maybe change our lives, then we could/should/might change the world around us.
Makes me think of Children’s Sermons.
People sometimes tell me they understand and get more out of the Children’s Sermon than the “Adult” (read: longer with illustrations, a couple jokes and bigger words) sermon. And I’m glad. We laugh more. The kids are awesome and often give funny and perfect answers. Makes me wonder why I add 12 minutes to the service, especially on game days, when usually the basic message is enough.
And then that makes me wonder: what Children’s Sermon would you write? What Children’s Sermon are you currently giving? What’s Children’s Sermon could you live out today or tomorrow?
If Richy Rich was counting on you sharing enough good news with his family that it would turn their lives around, what would you say? What would your story be? Your illustration? Your object lesson?
My prayer for you today is that you will work on your Children’s Sermon for the world around you. That it will be easy for people to see and hear about God’s love for them. That it will be simple and fun and easy to figure out. And that as you share it, you’ll be reminded yourself of the simple and amazing and fun message that you are unconditionally loved by God.
Lord, help me share a basic message of your love. Amen.
ps from psIt has felt a bit chaotic in recent days for many. Many of you in conversations we’ve had or I’ve heard others are having are describing a bit more fear, anxiety, frustration and lostness than normal. Even my dental hygienist was asking me about this this morning, while scraping a sharp metal object over my teeth and gums and then asking if I felt any discomfort…to which I always reply, “yes, right about when you’re scraping a sharp metal object over my teeth and gums.”
Sometimes life feels like it’s scraping a sharp metal object over ours teeth and gums and hearts and patience and plans and comfort zones and even our faith. And those moments of discomfort can become chaotic times pretty fast. Kristen’s sermon on Luke’s story of the “Lost” parables was great to remind us that just as Jesus goes after the one lost one, he also treasures, stays with and loves the 99. In fact, Jesus loves 100% of us 100% of the time.
The challenge in our faith lives is staying connected to that chaos smoothing news.
Those are the times that I pray. I pray, not to make God snap his godly fingers and fix x, y, or z (although, to be honest, I do hope for it), but instead to return me to the purpose and position God put me (and you) in: to continue to overwhelm darkness with light, love and grace.
Prayer changes me. And in that change, chaos is calmed, peace has a chance to return, hope is restored and light gets brighter. God invites us into that prayer whenever and wherever it is needed. Whenever and wherever it is chaotic. Wherever and whenever anxiety rises up.
There’s a classic prayer that hangs next to my desk that my awesome crafty wife made for me 20+ years ago (her two-year long, first and last needlepoint project) that reads: Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.
Acceptance. Courage. Wisdom.
If life is chaotic for you today, may God grant you serenity to accept some of the brokenness in and around us and to know that God’s love is bigger than all of it.
If life is chaotic for you today, may God grant you the courage to change the situation around you by sharing more grace and love.
If life is chaotic for you today, may God grant you the wisdom to discern the difference and the wisdom to never forget that you are unconditionally loved by God.
Recent Comments