Tag Archives: GRACE

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on June 20, 2015
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Repentance (As if ripped right out of the headlines) — Rev. David J. Schreffler

June 20, 2015

“If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him; and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times and says, “I repent”, you must forgive him.” Luke 17:3-4

“Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away…the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

“But when you have returned with your heart to G*d, when you have put away the old person and have put on the new one, then testify to the new person by virtues as you have earlier testified to the old by vices. Nobody becomes a master at once.” Johannes Bugenhagen (1485 – 1558) On the New Person “For All The Saints” volume II, (p. 112)

It is one thing to sin, and to repent to the one to whom you have sinned — forgiveness comes easier the first time then it does the tenth. But to continue to sin over and over again to one person, and to continue to seek forgiveness, well this seems so Sisyphean in logic. Why would we continue to do something sinful over and over and over again to someone, and then expect that our offers of repentance would be met with anything but skepticism? And yet we are commanded to forgive not seven times, not seventy-seven times, but an eternal number of times. So we have trouble — trouble for the forgiver, and the one who seeks forgiveness.

The trouble for the forgiver comes in the act of forgiving someone hoping that this time they will change. But that is not why we forgive — we forgive because Jesus commands us to forgive — an unlimited number of times.  As we watch the community of Charleston, South Carolina deal with the tragic events of the shooting in the AME church, we watch families who are struggling with an enormous loss offering forgiveness for the shooter, and requests for repentance.  A terrible act of hate that transpires in a church, is met with love that is taught in the church.  The seemingly immovable object of hate is obliterated by the irresistible force of G*d’s love in Jesus.

The trouble for the one seeking forgiveness is that, as Paul says, “Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away…the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) So, if we are a new person, we should be a “changed person” — and by changed I mean someone who learns a new way to live.

What needs changing in your life so that you will be a “new creation in Christ?”

Pastor Dave

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on June 11, 2015
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Vain Grace or Grace in Vain (I don’t like the sound of either) — Rev. David J. Schreffler

June 11, 2015

“As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited.” 2 Corinthians 6:1,3

“So Paul appeals to the Corinthians as cooperators with God not to accept his grace in vain. The phrase in vain means “without effect or result.” Paul’s concern is that God’s grace will not have any meaningful impact on their lives. The story is told of a small boy who closely watched a neighboring pastor build a wooden trellis to support a climbing vine. The youngster did not say a word the entire time that he watched. Pleased at the thought that his work was being admired, the pastor finally said to the boy, “Well, son, trying to pick up some pointers on gardening?”

“No,” replied the boy, “I’m just waiting to hear what a preacher says when he hits his thumb with a hammer.” (A Plea Not to take G*d’s Goodness for Granted BibleGateway)

So many things can become a stumbling block within the church and the Christian community. We, as Lutherans place primacy on the issue of Grace for our justification with G*d through faith in Jesus Christ. Just that alone, trusting in the promises of G*d through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus can be a stumbling block for many. Then you place the trust of delivering the message of that Grace through faith to a body of “human” believers — who can find it hard not to be the sinful, egocentric, selfish and graceless people because these behaviors come to us by our very nature — well you can see why there can be many stumbling blocks to the faith of “believers” and “potential believers” alike. Even pastors, those who are called to be the shepherds of the flock, can become selfish shepherds trying to lead a flock to their own selfish desires — or leading a flock of people who are simply waiting for the pastor to “hammer his own thumb”. It seems almost every day that we hear a story about a church or a church body and how they are dealing with clergy who have behaved badly — behaved outside our calling to be servants and role models of the faith.  G*d’s Grace is too costly to cheapen it through behaving badly.         

How might you be a stumbling block to someone’s faith today? And, how might you help remove a stumbling block from someone’s faith today?

Pastor Dave