Tag Archives: Strength

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on September 19, 2015
Tags: , Strength   

Make Them Known to Your Children — Rev. David J. Schreffler

image  September 19, 2015

“But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children—” Deuteronomy 4:9

“In crafting a sermon on this or another passage, we have occasion to reflect on preaching as necessary repetition of the story and of the commandments that strengthen faith and lead to life. It is not necessary to find or invent new stories each week. Moses cautions the people against adding on to the word God has given. He also cautions against holding back, or subtracting, whether by conscious effort to trim off the parts we do not like or by quiet omission and neglect of the parts we do not understand.

We share Moses’ hope that our children will have the blessing of life. We want them to cross into a place where we will no longer carry them, where they will enter and claim the inheritance God has prepared for them. Our children stand at a threshold. We — preachers, parents, catechists, neighbors, priests, deacons, elders — are their teachers. We are entrusted with our people’s memory and testimony. May our preaching and our life together show to our children the wisdom and justice of God’s teaching, so they may trust in God’s promise and receive abundant life.” Dear Working Preacher, Commentary on Deuteronomy 4, Anathea Portier-Young, Associate Professor of Old Testament, Duke Divinity School, Durham, NC

Moses says “…take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children.”

How are we doing? With the mass migration of young people away from the Protestant Church, I am not so sure we have done such a good job. It is hard to answer the question “why?” The major new survey of more than 35,000 Americans by the Pew Research Center finds that the percentage of adults (ages 18 and older) who describe themselves as Christians has dropped by nearly eight percentage points in just seven years, from 78.4% in an equally massive Pew Research survey in 2007 to 70.6% in 2014. And yet many of the Millennials will report themselves as being “spiritual” and report praying with the frequency of their grandparents.

I guess it is possible that the “old ways” just do not resonate with those between the ages of 18 years and 25 years of age. That means that our churches need to find some alternatives — so we can meet the needs of the aging Baby Boomers and the millennials. That will be a challenge, but most likely the beginning of any change will happen on the local level. As pastors and congregations assess their individual context including the makeup and needs of their community, it may be possible for people of all ages to find meaningful worship and ministry opportunities — that is if the congregations will trust G*d to lead them to new landscapes and new opportunities — just as the Israelites trusted Moses.

The question is: Will we be able to make those changes in time, or will the church lose another generation of people?

Pastor Dave

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on July 29, 2015
Tags: , Strength   

Strength is for Service, Not Status — Rev. David J. Schreffler

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July 29, 2015

“We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves… Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of G*d.” Romans 15:1,

“By facing our own faults, we’re able to interact with others. When we see others straying from the faith…we can…try to understand the reason for their drift from the faith. We can address the needs and concerns God reveals to us, instead of condemning them in their weakness and leaving them trapped in their sin. Both Paul and James teach that those strong in courage are to take their courage to the weak. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, ‘How can I help?’” (Rick Warren)

Jesus was always standing up for the last, lost, least and little of his society. Luke is the gospel that tells this aspect of Jesus’ ministry most evidently. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus comes across as the Son of Man — as the champion of the outcast, the weak, and the lost. In Luke’s gospel we have the story of Jesus and his teaching focused on the outcasts of society. It is the gospel of the poor and of social justice. Luke features marginalized people — and people who others would have given up on — like the story of the prodigal son, and the story of the ten lepers.

It seems to me that we, then, as followers of Jesus, should also see a large part of our ministries focused on the marginalized and the outcasts of our society. Who would this be? Who are the marginalized in our society and in our communities? For each one of us, that depends on where we live — and who we see as the outcasts. But we remember that our strength comes, not from ourselves, but from the Holy Spirit. When we are strong in faith, then we have the strength to help the weak: the weak in faith, and the marginalized of the world.

G*d’s Word is a reminder of where our strength comes from, and leads us to live lives of bearing other’s burdens.

Pastor Dave