Tag Archives: Clay Jars

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on November 30, 2015
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Until We Say “Uncle” — Rev. David J. Schreffler

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November 30, 2015

“To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.” 1 Corinthians 9:22

“A Christian worker has to learn how to be God’s man or woman of great worth and excellence in the midst of a multitude of meager and worthless things. Never protest by saying, “If only I were somewhere else!” All of God’s people are ordinary people who have been made extraordinary by the purpose He has given them. Unless we have the right purpose intellectually in our minds and lovingly in our hearts, we will very quickly be diverted from being useful to God. We are not workers for God by choice. Many people deliberately choose to be workers, but they have no purpose of God’s almighty grace or His mighty Word in them. Paul’s whole heart, mind, and soul were consumed with the great purpose of what Jesus Christ came to do, and he never lost sight of that one thing. We must continually confront ourselves with one central fact— “…Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).

“I chose you…” (John 15:16). Keep these words as a wonderful reminder in your theology. It is not that you have gotten God, but that He has gotten you. God is at work bending, breaking, molding, and doing exactly as He chooses. And why is He doing it? He is doing it for only one purpose— that He may be able to say, “This is My man, and this is My woman.” We have to be in God’s hand so that He can place others on the Rock, Jesus Christ, just as He has placed us.

Never choose to be a worker, but once God has placed His call upon you, woe be to you if you “turn aside…to the right or the left…” (Deuteronomy 28:14). He will do with you what He never did before His call came to you, and He will do with you what He is not doing with other people. Let Him have His way.” (My Utmost For His Highest, Submitting to God’s Purpose, October 25, 2015, Our Daily Bread website)

“Choosing” versus “being chosen”. How do you view your work in the kingdom of G*d: that you have chosen your path, or that G*d has appointed a path for you? This is a very important distinction being made: “choosing” versus “being chosen”. One puts us in control, the other puts G*d in control – one focuses on our efforts, the other focuses on G*d’s efforts. Recently I preached at the installation for my friend Micki. She was a church organist and worked for the federal government. She could have retired and gone off into the sunset of her life. However, G*d had other ideas. One day she called me and we talked about “the call” we receive from G*d. She was hearing that call, and struggling with what she should do. My answer was the same answer I would give anyone who believes they are being called – no matter what we think, if the call comes from G*d, there is no running from it. When G*d chooses us, we really have few options, because G*d will mend and bend and mold us until we say “uncle”, because G*d is in control, and does not give up easily, if at all.

Pastor Dave

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on August 3, 2015
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Vessels For G*d — Rev. David J. Schreffler

 

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August 3, 2015

“This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by; the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”   Amos 7:7-15 (NRSV)

“If we’re really honest with ourselves…When the truth hurts, we deny, deflect, and defend ourselves. Like a bug hiding from the light, we scurry to find the safety of dark corners so we can hide from the change to which we are being called. But even the darkness is as light to our Lord Jesus who followed us to the very depths of death itself that we might yet be freed to walk in the light.”
(Krista Vingelis, Pastor, Trinity Lutheran Church of Porterville, Calif.)

Let me tell you my friends, I pray every day, every day that G*d might give me the wisdom and the insight about what G*d would want us to do in this or that scenario. And often I feel like our friend the prophet Amos, who knows that he is just a vessel for G*d — and that unpopular topics can result in unpopular sermons — and yet, like Amos, pastors are just regular Joes and Janes, called by G*d, trying to hear the voice of G*d through a cacophony of voices ranting opinions, claiming to “know G*d’s mind”, views of political correctness, and secular humanism. And still I am trying to decide, in this place, in this world, in this community:

Is G*d dropping a line to say “enough is enough”?

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or,
Is G*d once again trying to tell us or remind us how G*d decides to draw a line in the sand?

As a Lutheran, I believe that the word of G*d is a living, breathing word that speaks to us through all times and places, and can help us see what G*d is doing in an ever-changing world. We Lutherans struggle through such issues, reading G*d’s word and remaining engaged in the conversation praying that the Holy Spirit will lead us and guide us so that we might get a glimpse of the lines in the sand that G*d is drawing. But it will not be easy, nor will it be immediate. It might even be painful, because change is never easy, especially when we think we have a grip on life, the universe and everything, and then G*d decides to challenge us. That is exactly what G*d did to first century Judaism in the person of Jesus Christ. And then the Holy Spirit came to embolden a rag tag group of disciples who risked life and limb to spread the word about Jesus. Why should we believe that G*d wouldn’t do that to us today — send the Spirit to us to help us each achieve a new life in Christ. Just like Christ came to change our understanding of how G*d works in the world, this same word still points us to a G*d who is still surprising us, still teaching us, and still leading us to new possibilities.

Pastor Dave