Monthly Archives: November 2015

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on November 20, 2015
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Sins, Which Are Many, Are Forgiven — Rev. David J. Schreffler

 

image          November 20, 2015

“One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.” Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Teacher,” he replied, “speak.” “A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt.” And Jesus said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Luke 7:36 – 50

“He had given much thought to this, and was persuaded that the shortest way to come to G*d was by a continual exercise of love, doing all things for His sake. That we ought to make a careful distinction between acts of the understanding and those of the will, for the first were of little account when compared with the second. Our business is simply to love and be happy in G*d. That all possible mortifications would not serve to blot out a single sin, unless they were grounded in the love of G*d.” Brother Lawrence (1611 – 1691) The Practice of the Presence of G*d, “For All The Saints” volume II (p. 1021)

“That we ought to make a careful distinction between acts of the understanding and those of the will, for the first were of little account when compared with the second.” Brother Lawrence is making a wonderful distinction. He goes on to say that if our actions are not grounded in the love of G*d, they will have little effect on our salvation – I would say that this is true because G*d is love and our salvation is grounded in the love of G*d that comes to us as a gift, and without love, our relationship with G*d is of little account. We can try to intellectualize this relationship, but our reasoning will never trump love. We are closest to G*d when our will is tied to G*d’s love – and our actions flow out of love, not out of earning or achieving.

Have you ever witnessed someone doing something ordinary or even extraordinary and wondered why they did it? Just recently there was the story of a former soldier who during the campus shooting in Oregon, rushed toward the shooter rather than run away, and that was after he directed others to run away to safety. Why did he do it? Was it training? Eventually he was shot five times – he literally risked his own life for complete strangers. Why did he do it? Was it his faith, or was it something else emanating from deep within him? Is it possible for you to do something extraordinary in the name of love for people you do not know? Normally we do something for money, regularly we do something out of obligation, often we do things for people we love. And then, there are those times we do something only because we love Jesus.
Be on the look out this week for those actions you do out of love: those that are because you love someone, and those that are because you love G*d.

Pastor Dave

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on November 19, 2015
Tags: , Following, Vocation   

Vocation and Call — Rev. David J. Schreffler

 

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November 19, 2015

“Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Chapter 10
Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.   Matthew 9:35 – 10:4

“…my own life has been circumscribed by a sense of vocation, of “calling”. It is so easy to look back over the years and credit a gathered accumulation of wisdom and experience as the crucial element in making early decisions. Yet when Dr. Stockings offered to give me a medical education if I should choose such a career, I refused. I do not know why. I do know that it was not even a temptation. My bias was on the side of religion – of this I was certain, although the reasons are hidden to me still.

….A mixture of adolescent confusion, the affirmation of mind and personality fostered by my college experiences, a sense of calling going back to earlier times, and the vast possibilities of reconciliation between black and white all gave me the feeling of knowing a “secret.” In this lay the strength to affirm my own life and the way that I should take to walk. It is important in this accounting that at bottom all of this was a part of my meaning of G*d in the common life. G*d was everywhere and utterly identified with every single thing, incident, or person.” Howard Thurman (1900 – 1981) With Head and Heart: the Autobiography of Howard Thurman, “For All The Saints” volume II (p. 1016 – 1017)

Jesus called the first disciples, called them from vocation, to vocation, and set them upon a road that I am sure not all of them understood or even anticipated. They must have faltered, some of them, before engaging on the journey. They must have struggled, struggled with family, relationships, jobs, communities, but onward they soldiered. What was their understanding of G*d I often wonder? They would have been steeped in the Jewish faith, or maybe even had little faith at all. But when someone who claimed to be G*d incarnate, someone who called them to leave everything important or of value to them, the scriptures tell us they simply “followed.” I wish the scriptures included the struggles they must have been feeling internally, and fought externally. I wish we had some sense of their calling, understanding of G*d, questions and conversations with Jesus as the call moved forward. What we have, mostly, is silence, and their witness and ability to follow.

It has been clear in my own calling that the struggle with understanding the call is just as important as the call itself. Seminary helped me to clarify the understanding of the call, but the call itself has its own story. It emanated from a little league field among cornfields in a small town in central Pennsylvania. Or maybe it was there and the church where I was baptized and confirmed – walking to church on a Sunday morning, sitting in church listening to birds sing, cars meander by, a choir struggle with tone and content, and a pastor who seemed older than Moses himself. Or perhaps the friends I had, the acquaintances who seemed more, the struggles with stuttering and a world that increasingly made no sense. It was faith I could trust among all of the negative experiences. But what was the source of the faith? It was not strong preaching, though I am sure Pastor Ernie had his good and bad days. It was not fire and brimstone theology and teaching. It was a struggle to understand who I was and why G*d even cared about me – but G*d never left my side, never abandoned me, never forsook me though I certainly was not the best partner. G*d was always there, gently nudging, whispering in my ear, guiding me in mysterious and hidden ways.

Pastor Dave