June 13, 2022 — Words of Wisdom, N. T. Wright

21^st Century Eyes

“For too long we’ve read scripture with 19^th century eyes and 16^th century questions.  It’s time we get back to reading with 1^st century eyes and 21^st-century questions.” N. T. Wright

“…he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes,saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”  They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.  Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.  Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.”  Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided.   So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”   John 9:6-17

21^st Century Eyes

Questions.  Do you ask enough questions about the bible, about your faith understanding, and about your church’s denominational teachings?  Every chance the media and other icons in popular culture get to make fun of people who believe in G-d, they take that opportunity, especially poking fun at Christians who believe in a virgin birth, or that Jesus died on a cross and rose again in the resurrection. And, of course, with the controversies that the Christian church has had to endure, like Priests and accusations of child abuse, and televangelists who bilk senior citizens out of millions of dollars each year, it is no wonder people of faith are targets for criticism and persecution.

When the Pharisees asked the man (who was formerly blind) repeated questions about how he regained his eyesight, they were trying to understand it through first century eyes. When they wanted to silence Jesus, neither he nor the man (who was formerly blind) would be silent. They continued to speak out. We cannot be silent about our faith in the 21^st century. We need to be able to defend our faith – which is why we need to ask questions – many, many questions. We need to seek opportunities for bible study – we need to understand what it means to call ourselves Lutherans, or Presbyterians, or Methodists.  And finally, we need to understand that the Bible is the Living, Active, Holy Spirit Breathing Word of G-d that remains the formative word for worship and service. 

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, when others persecute us for our beliefs, we too often grow silent. But we have the Word to refute their jabs and defend our faith. Give me the strength today to speak up and speak out for Jesus. Amen.

Pastor Dave

June 14, 2022 – Words of Wisdom, Barbara Brown Taylor

Gnosis

“Jesus was not killed by atheism and anarchy.  He was brought down by law and order allied with religion, which is always a deadly mix.  Beware those who claim to know the mind of G-d and who are prepared to use force, if necessary, to make others conform.”  Barbara Brown Taylor

“So the soldiers, their officer, and the Jewish police arrested Jesus and bound him. First they took him to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year.Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was better to have one person die for the people.”  John 18:12-14

Gnosis

“Beware of those who claim to know the mind of G-d”, writes Barbara Brown Taylor. Taylor is a professor of Christian Spirituality at the Columbia Theological Seminary, the author of many books, but is first and foremost an Episcopal Priest. As pastors and priests, we are called to preach on the Word of G-d –but that does not mean that we necessarily know the mind of G-d. G-d remains so mysterious to us, so “out of our reach” of our understanding because we know so little about G-d. The most we know about G-d is what has been revealed to us in Jesus Christ.

Albert Einstein is famously quoted as saying “I want to know the mind of G-d; the rest is detail.”  In his case, I believe Einstein wanted to understand how the mind of G-d works, not claim to know what G-d was thinking. But I am not interested in knowing how G-d’s mind works, I just want to understand G-d’s will in and for my life. For that to happen, I must have an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. This is where I will spend my time in study, prayer and preparation – the rest I leave up to G-d through the Holy Spirit to point me in the right direction.

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, we ache to know how G-d works, thinks, and plans our future. Unfortunately, this remains out of our knowing. What I can do every day is pray to understand G-d’s will in my life today, and every day. Amen.

Pastor Dave  

June 11, 2022 — Words of Wisdom, C. S. Lewis

The Word is Not Chained

“I didn’t go to religion to make me “happy”.  I always knew a bottle of Port would do that.  If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.”  C. S. Lewis

“Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David—that is my gospel, for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained.” 2 Timothy 2:8-9

The Word is Not Chained

It is clear that Christianity would not have spread so quickly if it were not for two early influences: the influence of Paul the Apostle, and the working of the Holy Spirit. From the day of Pentecost, where the Holy Spirit rested like tongues of flame on the many disciples, Christianity spread like wildfire. But it did not spread without its challenges. Paul was arrested, shipwrecked, beaten, imprisoned — but none of that stopped Paul. He persisted, singing hymns for jailers and having visions. 

There is a present and active theology in our world today that teaches that if your faith is strong enough Jesus will make your lives better, happier, and richer. But that is the theology of preachers like Joel Olsteen, and other Prosperity Theologians. To me, that is a dangerous theology, because I know too few people who have cornered the world on happier, wealthier, and properity. So not get me wrong — I do believe that our lives are better for being followers of Jesus – and I believe that we are richer in blessings because of Jesus – and I believe we are happier as followers because Jesus has won our salvation. But to think that our lives will be easier because we follow Jesus is setting ourselves up for unachievable expectations.

As Lutherans, we follow the theology of the cross, not a theology of glory.  Jesus has won glory for each one of us, but that does not mean that we will necessarily see any of that glory on this earth. Oh we will have our moments. But for most of our lives we will be seeking to better the lives of others through our resources, our time and our prayers as we take up our crosses and follow Jesus.

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, too any of our friends are seeking only wealth and riches. You promise us riches in heaven. Help me everyday to work to make the lives of others better. Amen. 

Pastor Dave

June 12, 2022 – Holy Trinity Sunday

[Jesus said,] ¹²“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” John 16:12-15

I was listening to the radio the other day, while I was doing my seatbelt surveys, which I often do since I have a lot of time to think, and to listen – anyway the news program I was listening to was talking about pain. Did you know that 50 million people in our country live with chronic, physical pain. And many of those people suffer from pain that seems to have no discernable cause or genesis. Now, some of these people suffer from pain that the cause is known – back pain, knee pain, pain from arthritis, and general aches and pains. But for those who search and search for a cause for their pain, researchers are learning some possible causes. One of the causes is this: repeated exposure to psychological trauma or deep depression and anxiety in their childhood can leave a physical imprint on the brain that can make them vulnerable to pain.

You see, under healthy conditions, higher circuits of the brain (the prefrontal cortex) can regulate whether someone feels pain and how much pain they feel. But these higher brain circuits can weaken and atrophy the longer someone has been exposed to chronic stress – and fear – and depression and anxiety – which makes people more vulnerable to feeling real pain. To combat this pain, some people are turning to therapies that involve some talk therapy, and journaling – to assist them with learning to address negative emotions that have developed over many, many years. They learn to face fears, gain insights and perspective – which helps them put their higher brain circuits back online – and their brains learn to regulate pain in appropriate ways once again.

I guess I am saying all of this because, it is really true, that when we learn to avoid unpleasant emotions – we cause ourselves physical and emotional harm and pain. And as I have watched and observed our society, I can say that we are a people who try desperately to avoid unpleasant emotions and pain. People will find any pill they can to fix every problem – thus we have so many people who have fallen to abuse alcohol and opioids. And I believe one of the consequences of people moving into retirement homes and nursing homes is that we have scrubbed death from our lives. Over the fourteen years I have been a pastor, I have observed that fewer and fewer people come to funerals – and more families are avoiding having traditional funerals for their loved ones – hoping to minimize the pain of death.

It just is not possible to remove all unpleasantness and avoid all pain and suffering from our lives. In fact, I would imagine that each one of us can name at least one person in their life who is dealing with some physical, emotional, psychological, addictive or spiritual pain – whether it is a family member, a friend, or even someone they know in the church. That said, we are a people desperately in need of help, hope and healing: help from G-d the Father, hope from G-d the Son, and healing from G-d the Holy Spirit.

Yes we are going to suffer, but this suffering is not in vain – in fact we learn to see how our suffering is formative – for it produces endurance. When we trust that G-d is our help and our hope, then we are beginning to understand how our healing comes through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

And our endurance in this life produces character – it produces strength of character – because when we learn not to put our trust on the transient things of this world, then we strive, not for earthly treasures, but for what is to come. As such our character is not just for this world – it is for now, and for what it to come. And this character is what produces hope – because our Hope is built on nothing less than Jesus and his righteousness – and when we place our hope in Jesus, then the love of G-d will come pouring into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, because of the Grace of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Dave