Tag Archives: Hope

Hope comes through faith, it helps us with doubt

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 10:38 pm on April 17, 2015
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Do Not Be Deceived – Rev. David J. Schreffler

April 18, 2015

“Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy’s (G*d’s) will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of (G*d) seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys (G*d). C. S. Lewis (1898 – 1963) The Screwtape Letters

If you have never read one of C.S. Lewis’s books, I would recommend you read The Screwtape Letters. The crux of the story is that a senior Devil named Screwtape is teaching his nephew named Wormwood (a devil in training) about the ways of G*d – and how they can deceive and turn people away from G*d.

“Screwtape writes to his nephew: He (G*d) will set them off with communications of His presence which, though faint, seem great to them, with emotional sweetness, and easy conquest over temptation. But G*d never allows this state of affairs to last long. Sooner or later He withdraws, if not in fact, at least from their conscious experience, all those supports and incentives. He leaves the creature to stand up on its own legs–to carry out from the will alone duties which have lost all relish. It is during such trough periods, much more than during the peak periods, that it is growing into the sort of creature He wants it to be.”

We all know this experience. We have those moments where G*d seems so present in our lives. We feel buoyed – lifted – like the Holy Spirit is carrying us along without our feet touching the ground. And then, something brings us down – sometimes very far down – to the point that we think G*d has left us completely. But G*d has not left us completely. G*d never leaves us – but we can leave G*d, though we think we have not changed our position. A wise man once told me that he learned this lesson: if we feel that G*d’s presence has lessened or been completely lost in our lives, then it is true that one of us has moved away – but G*d doesn’t move. It is through the presence of the Spirit where we are being strengthened to sustain the “trough” times – where we lament “G*d why have you forsaken me” – and yet we have the strength to sustain our faith, knowing G*d’s love, mercy and grace are steadfast and true.
Pastor Dave

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on April 17, 2015
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The Dividing Trench – Rev. David J. Schreffler

April 17, 2015

“Jesus said, ‘While I was with them, I kept them in thy name, which thou hast given to me; I have guarded them, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to thee…I do not pray that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” John 17:12ff

“Today we face an entirely different situation: church and nation can and indeed dare no longer be regarded as one. Through the whole nation runs the dividing trench, with the Christian community on one side and on the other–the “world”. And the side to which the individual belongs is no longer determined–as it was up till now–by his attitude toward his nation; it is determined only by the Lord Jesus Christ and by our attitude toward him…the world and the Christian community are parting company even in the church. No one really wanted it but nobody is able to prevent it… When it happens–that members of the church attend service in order deliberately to leave the room very noisily during the reading of the scripture lesson and insult the preacher in the open street after the service, then the rift as it touches the church itself is merely becoming visible.” Martin Niemoeller (1892 – 1984) A sermon preached in June, 1934, in Here Stand I “For All The Saints” volume I (p. 1024-1025)

We have to look at this sermon preached by Niemoeller in 1934 and wonder, “If this was a concern for the church in his day, imagine what the state of the church must be like today.” If you have spent time in the church for any substantial length of time, you will have experienced some kind of divisive action on the part of some members. In the church to where I am currently called, we had a division quite a few years ago. It involved the payment of a pastor, and whether the congregation could afford two pastors or one pastor. There was a division. The older members believed they could not – the younger members believed they could. The arguing turned from financial to attacking the pastor for his personal habits: “He would go home and smoke a cigarette on his porch and read the Sunday news.” In the end, a small but influential faction left to attend another Lutheran church.

In another congregation I attended, the fracture involved a hymnal: “Do we embrace the new Green hymnal, or do we hold on to the nostalgia of the familiar Red hymnal.” In the end, the congregation passed a resolution for the church council to cease and desist purchasing the new hymnal, and the fallout involved a small faction leaving.

Jesus prays for his disciples, knowing they are in the world and will experience the ugliness of the world. He does not ask the Father to remove them from the world, but that they will be protected and sustained while in the world. What is unfortunate for all is that the ugliness of the world is always going to infringe upon the church, because the church is filled with imperfect and sinful people. As Niemoeller wrote in 1934: “the world and the Christian community are parting company even in the church. No one really wanted it but nobody is able to prevent it..” We may not be able to prevent the divisions that happen in the church, but we can be mindful of the possibility, and pray that the Holy Spirit continue to be present in everything we do. It is only with the help of the Holy Spirit that we will be able to rise above all division and continue to strive for unity in the church.

Pastor Dave