Monthly Archives: August 2015

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on August 31, 2015
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Sharing the Good News of the Gospel — Rev. David J. Schreffler

 

image   August 31, 2015

“The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the on” John 1:29-32

“The he says: “John, you may tell it. Go back in there and go up and down the tables, and tell all of them. And then if you want to, go upstairs and tell them all about it, and then downstairs and tell the hogshed men and the drivers and everybody what the Lord has done for you…”…Oh, that happy day! Can I ever forget it? That was my conversion morning, and that day the Lord sent me out with the good news of the kingdom. For more than forty years I’ve been telling the story. My step is getting rather slow, my voice breaks down, and sometimes I am awful tired, but still I’m telling it. My lips shall proclaim the dying love of the Lamb with my last expiring breath.” The Unmatched Negro Philosopher and Preacher, by William E. Hatcher — John Jasper (1812-1901) “For All The Saints, volume II (p. 467-468)

John Jasper was a former slave and, for fifty years, a prominent Virginia preacher. He was the youngest of 24 children. John Jasper had a major conversion experience and his master encouraged him to share it with everyone, so he spent his life spreading the good news of Christianity. He was the founder of the 6th Mount Zion Baptist Church, where he preached until his death.

In the Lutheran church we do not believe so much in a one time “conversion experience”, but more of a “life-long” conversion — where the Holy Spirit continually works in our lives helping us to understand the Gospel and to live accordingly. But this does not relieve us of the need to share the good news, nor does it mean we do not have the right or privilege to do the same. It is in living the gospel that we learn of the wonders and the power of the Christ-like life — and it allows us the opportunity to have stories of our own.

No matter how slow our step becomes, or how dim our eyesight, as long as we have breath in our lungs, we have the opportunity to share the good news. Who will you share the good news of the kingdom of G*d with today?

Pastor Dave

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on August 30, 2015
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The Dirty and the Clean — Rev. David J. Schreffler

 

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August 30, 2015
Sunday

“Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”
Mark 7:14-15

“When I preach at the prison where I volunteer as a chaplain I invariably run into “holiness people.” I know there is a bit of irony in that but it is true. In my normal life I spend most of my time with Christians you might call “all things in moderation” sort of people. But the holiness people aren’t like that – they watch me like a hawk when I preach. They come up to me after worship and point out verses that I didn’t quote perfectly, or tell me about edgy words that I used that might have “opened the door for the devil’s toe hold.” At first those folks kind of freaked me out. I came to dread in particular one guy who would catch me stumbling every time. He has a lot more time to study the Bible than I do and he would always yank out a verse or two to “correct” me. Mostly, he was right. But then I began to notice something. It was obvious that the holiness crowd sat in the front of the room while the guys who just showed up in chapel to “do business” sat in the back. But what I learned over time was that their separation wasn’t limited just to chapel – that separation continued throughout the week. The “clean” sat in the front. The “dirty” sat in the back. So one night I challenged those in the front to sit in the back the next week. They still haven’t taken me up on it…and I get far fewer Bible verses quoted to me after the sermon. And that, I think, is the key to these verses. They aren’t about moral purity (not that there is anything wrong with that) but about the corrosive effects on human community of separatist religiosity that reduces the world to insiders and outsiders, clean and unclean.

The bottom line is that Jesus didn’t just show up for the good people but for all people. And my personal sense is that he would have hung with the guys in the back of the room.” Daily Devotions Pastor Kerry Nelson (Thursday, August 27th Mark 7:14-15)

When people go to great lengths to “appear” holy — I can’t help but allow my suspicions to enter my brain. Why must someone go to such lengths to make me think they are “holy”? Often, not always, but often it is an attempt to hide their own “dirt”. By dirt here I mean their own sinfulness, because they have no idea how to resolve their sinfulness with their need to be holy. We have no need to put our “holiness” on a plate to hold out for all to see. Jesus is just as capable of loving us in spite of our “dirt” without our extensive attempts to cover that dirt. Instead, we should be getting dirtier working with those who have no more strength to hide their dirt because they have yet to understand what Grace is all about. You see, Grace is the “Heavenly Holy Hoover” — Grace is what sucks the dirt out of our lives and leaves us looking as clean as ever in the eyes of Jesus. This allows us to join Jesus in the back of the room sitting with the “sinners” and the “tax collectors” and learning from each other about the love of Jesus.

Pastor Dave