"Citius, Fortius, Altius - Faster, Stronger, Higher." This is the motto of the International Olympics which will hold its games in 2008. This week Carol and I have been part of the "altius," as we spent several days at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. The hundreds of spendidly colorful balloons ascending into the morning sunrise have given us memories that will remain with us as long as we live.
There was tragedy this year when a passenger died as a balloon basket caught on power lines. This always makes some question ballooning and whether or not such an event should be held in a densely populated area.
But one thing is sure: regardless of obvious dangers, mankind will ever strive for faster, stronger and higher achievements which show mastery over earth and the human body. It is in our human nature to challenge ourselves, especially to ascend the heavens. Ever since the Tower of Babel, mankind has sought to reach into the heavens, for the thrill of height, perhaps even to touch the face of God, as the poet writes.
We have also enjoyed a week with a hundred or more travellers in the 2007 Region 11 Airstream Rally. We people gather together for all manner of clubs and organizations, for mutual interest, friendship, and most of all, community. It is in our nature to want to join others on our journey through life. It begins with family and extends to those with whom we choose to spend our time, for whatever the reason.
David wrote in Psalm 16:1, "Keep me safe, O God, for in You I take refuge." Since the very beginning, people have sought safety in numbers, for even God said in Genesis 2, "It is not good for man to be alone." The Christian church was given us as a place of such refuge. I pray you have that place and those people with whom you are safe, the place where you have refuge with God, the fellowship of people and the nourishment of His Word and Sacraments.
"Citius, Fortius, Altius." One day those who trust in Christ will experience the strength, the height, and yes, even the speed of heaven and God's presence.
I pray you'll all be there.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
BEING A WINNER
When I woke up this morning, I felt like a winner. Last night our home team, the Colorado Rockies, won a 13 inning tiebreaker game that gave them the Wild Card berth in the National Baseball League playoffs. For the first time in twelve years, the Rockies will be playing postseason baseball, so around here we all feel like winners.
The winning run will probably be debated because it's unsure if the runner touched home plate. But the umpire declared him safe. When asked by a sportscaster if he actually touched the plate, the runner said, "I don't know if I touched the plate or not, but the umpire called me safe and that's all that matters."
What he said also rings true in our relationship with God. Before the game Carol and I had gone to the viewing of a Christian friend who had gone to his eternal rest with the Lord. We were among his many friends who gathered to visit with his family. Rev. David Koch was a good man in every way, kind and gentle, always trying to do what was right. But how good he was really doesn't matter, because he is now in heaven.
The fact that he had spent his life as a pastor was not a factor in his salvation, nor that he was a fine husband and father and Christian friend. What mattered was that God had declared him safe at home because of his Savior. David was a winner because of what Jesus did, not what David did. Though he was a sinner like all of us, and deserved nothing, the Heavenly Father declared him sinless because of faith in Jesus. Thus David is safe in his heavenly home.
God loves us no matter what. Because of the mercies and love of Jesus Christ, all who trust in Him will be safe in our heavenly home where there are no losers. And there's no cancer there, either. When we wake up in heaven, we are all winners.
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for doing what was needed, so that all who trust in You are winners.
The winning run will probably be debated because it's unsure if the runner touched home plate. But the umpire declared him safe. When asked by a sportscaster if he actually touched the plate, the runner said, "I don't know if I touched the plate or not, but the umpire called me safe and that's all that matters."
What he said also rings true in our relationship with God. Before the game Carol and I had gone to the viewing of a Christian friend who had gone to his eternal rest with the Lord. We were among his many friends who gathered to visit with his family. Rev. David Koch was a good man in every way, kind and gentle, always trying to do what was right. But how good he was really doesn't matter, because he is now in heaven.
The fact that he had spent his life as a pastor was not a factor in his salvation, nor that he was a fine husband and father and Christian friend. What mattered was that God had declared him safe at home because of his Savior. David was a winner because of what Jesus did, not what David did. Though he was a sinner like all of us, and deserved nothing, the Heavenly Father declared him sinless because of faith in Jesus. Thus David is safe in his heavenly home.
God loves us no matter what. Because of the mercies and love of Jesus Christ, all who trust in Him will be safe in our heavenly home where there are no losers. And there's no cancer there, either. When we wake up in heaven, we are all winners.
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for doing what was needed, so that all who trust in You are winners.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
LIFE'S DETOURS
Anyone who has traveled by road this summer probably has a "detour story." Detours can be irritating and inconvenient. They slow you down, disrupt your schedule, and may even ruin your plans. Detours make us wonder why and why now?
When we're forced to take a detour, something that may help is seeing if there is there a reason beyond the road construction, the repair or even serious accident that has caused us to take a different route. Are we being taught patience? Is our detour showing us a part of God's creation we would otherwise have missed? Have we avoided something worse if we'd have stayed on our planned road?
Detours often come on our road of life, times when we're prevented from doing what we'd planned or hoped. Illness, bad experience or some kind of loss may cause us to ask "Why?" We want to know why we can't get to our longed-for goal. What is God trying to teach us? Why couldn't He have done it some other way?
In time we may discover the reason, that this "detour" was a better way for us, but right now we can't see it. We may even try to take a different route than the detour signs direct us. (I once took a "better way" and ended up in a field of mud!) Detours are there for a reason, and we'd best stay on the recommended road.
We humans also make sinful detours away from God, into fields of mud and sin that can sink us. That's why Jesus had to take a detour from His eternal glory road to live a few years in this world so that He could help us. His detour led Him to the cross. He went there so we wouldn't have to. Calvary consumed Him for a short time so that we could spend an eternity in heaven.
Let's trust the Lord for what He has done, and follow those road signs!
When we're forced to take a detour, something that may help is seeing if there is there a reason beyond the road construction, the repair or even serious accident that has caused us to take a different route. Are we being taught patience? Is our detour showing us a part of God's creation we would otherwise have missed? Have we avoided something worse if we'd have stayed on our planned road?
Detours often come on our road of life, times when we're prevented from doing what we'd planned or hoped. Illness, bad experience or some kind of loss may cause us to ask "Why?" We want to know why we can't get to our longed-for goal. What is God trying to teach us? Why couldn't He have done it some other way?
In time we may discover the reason, that this "detour" was a better way for us, but right now we can't see it. We may even try to take a different route than the detour signs direct us. (I once took a "better way" and ended up in a field of mud!) Detours are there for a reason, and we'd best stay on the recommended road.
We humans also make sinful detours away from God, into fields of mud and sin that can sink us. That's why Jesus had to take a detour from His eternal glory road to live a few years in this world so that He could help us. His detour led Him to the cross. He went there so we wouldn't have to. Calvary consumed Him for a short time so that we could spend an eternity in heaven.
Let's trust the Lord for what He has done, and follow those road signs!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
FORGIVENESS AND BEING FORGIVEN
Who can forgive our sins? And how is it done? I recently saw "The Last Sin Eater," a film about the Welsh practice of trying to cleanse the sins of a deceased person. At the funeral, a beggar-outcast of the community, designated "the sin eater," is given ritual food and drink and thereby takes away (absolves) the sins of the deceased person so (s)he can rest in peace. The sin eater is otherwise shunned by the people, for in him they saw the embodiment of all their sins and evil deeds.
This ancient practice is linked with the basic human need to have one's sins forgiven. The Old Testament Israelites for a time had the practice of a "scapegoat," a live goat over whose head the high priest confessed all the sins of the Israelites. This goat was then sent into the wilderness on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), to symbolize the removal of their sins. It was a fore-shadowing of the work of Jesus.
In "The Last Sin Eater," the 1850s Appalachian community finally stopped using this practice after being reminded of the Gospel in which Jesus was the final sin eater, the last scapegoat. Today we know that His words, "It is finished," signalled the end of all such human attempts to remove sin. You and I can't do it. Only God removes sin - no human ritual can do what He does.
On September 11, the anniversary of the death of nearly 3,000 innocent people, we need to think about forgiveness. Forgiveness does not mean excusing sin, or even making friends of those who have offended us. It does not mean letting our guard down. It is laying aside our rightful retribution. It is our decision not to pursue what is justly ours, but to give it to God who balances the scales. Forgiveness is what God did for us in Jesus. He punished Him, made Him the scapegoat, and in the cross absorbed our sins. By the punishment He took, we are forgiven.
As much as we might like to, we cannot make Moslems our scapegoat. They are not the cause of evil in the world. All humans need Jesus Christ, for without Him we will but wander in the wilderness of sin and misery. When we trust in the merits of our Lord Jesus, when we have faith in Him, our sins are forgiven and we can also forgive others. We all need Jesus Christ and the blessings which He alone can give.
Today I hope you will forgive someone.
This ancient practice is linked with the basic human need to have one's sins forgiven. The Old Testament Israelites for a time had the practice of a "scapegoat," a live goat over whose head the high priest confessed all the sins of the Israelites. This goat was then sent into the wilderness on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), to symbolize the removal of their sins. It was a fore-shadowing of the work of Jesus.
In "The Last Sin Eater," the 1850s Appalachian community finally stopped using this practice after being reminded of the Gospel in which Jesus was the final sin eater, the last scapegoat. Today we know that His words, "It is finished," signalled the end of all such human attempts to remove sin. You and I can't do it. Only God removes sin - no human ritual can do what He does.
On September 11, the anniversary of the death of nearly 3,000 innocent people, we need to think about forgiveness. Forgiveness does not mean excusing sin, or even making friends of those who have offended us. It does not mean letting our guard down. It is laying aside our rightful retribution. It is our decision not to pursue what is justly ours, but to give it to God who balances the scales. Forgiveness is what God did for us in Jesus. He punished Him, made Him the scapegoat, and in the cross absorbed our sins. By the punishment He took, we are forgiven.
As much as we might like to, we cannot make Moslems our scapegoat. They are not the cause of evil in the world. All humans need Jesus Christ, for without Him we will but wander in the wilderness of sin and misery. When we trust in the merits of our Lord Jesus, when we have faith in Him, our sins are forgiven and we can also forgive others. We all need Jesus Christ and the blessings which He alone can give.
Today I hope you will forgive someone.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
LABOR DAY, WORK AND REST
Where did Labor Day come from? History has almost forgotten Peter McGuire, an Irish-American cabinet maker who proposed a day dedicated to all who labor. Old records describe him as a red-headed, fiery, eloquent leader of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners. McGuire introduced his idea in 1882. "Let us have, a festive day during which a parade through the streets of the city would permit public tribute to American Industry," he said.
The following September, New York workers staged a parade up Broadway to Union Square, despite warnings against doing so. McGuire's holiday eventually moved across the country as did recognition of the rights of the working man. In 1884, Detroit workers celebrated their first Labor Day. Finally in 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed a Labor Day holiday bill, making it a national observance. The timing was ironic since earlier that year he had called up federal troops in a failed attempt to stop a strike by the American Railway Union (ARU). The creation of Labor Day, therefore, was most certainly part of American political history.
Despite the fact that our sweat and hard work come as a result of human sin, Almighty God gives human labor dignity and value. But He also gives us a day of rest. Sunday is the Christian "sabbath", the day when people can and ought to rest from their labors and take time for worship. An hour or two each week in God's house to receive God's Word and Sacrament is far more valuable than any amount of money we can earn during that time. And it's worth more than our "sleeping in" as well, for the rest God gives goes beyond bodily needs. It gives rest and refreshment to our souls.
Last week Carol and I joined a small mission church about 20 minutes from our home. It's the first church I've joined where I chose to. We really enjoy our new church and volunteered to take over a project there to develop a "home-made" pictorial membership directory. I mention this because to us, belonging to a church means doing something helpful there. Church membership is active, not merely passive. We receive from the Lord, but we also give back, out of gratitude. Offerings are part of worship, and part of our offerings are helpful activities.
Give thanks to God this weekend for the privilege of work. Most people no longer engage in the kind of heavy physical labor once common to all, but we still labor to earn a living and to help others in some day.
May all your labors be good.
The following September, New York workers staged a parade up Broadway to Union Square, despite warnings against doing so. McGuire's holiday eventually moved across the country as did recognition of the rights of the working man. In 1884, Detroit workers celebrated their first Labor Day. Finally in 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed a Labor Day holiday bill, making it a national observance. The timing was ironic since earlier that year he had called up federal troops in a failed attempt to stop a strike by the American Railway Union (ARU). The creation of Labor Day, therefore, was most certainly part of American political history.
Despite the fact that our sweat and hard work come as a result of human sin, Almighty God gives human labor dignity and value. But He also gives us a day of rest. Sunday is the Christian "sabbath", the day when people can and ought to rest from their labors and take time for worship. An hour or two each week in God's house to receive God's Word and Sacrament is far more valuable than any amount of money we can earn during that time. And it's worth more than our "sleeping in" as well, for the rest God gives goes beyond bodily needs. It gives rest and refreshment to our souls.
Last week Carol and I joined a small mission church about 20 minutes from our home. It's the first church I've joined where I chose to. We really enjoy our new church and volunteered to take over a project there to develop a "home-made" pictorial membership directory. I mention this because to us, belonging to a church means doing something helpful there. Church membership is active, not merely passive. We receive from the Lord, but we also give back, out of gratitude. Offerings are part of worship, and part of our offerings are helpful activities.
Give thanks to God this weekend for the privilege of work. Most people no longer engage in the kind of heavy physical labor once common to all, but we still labor to earn a living and to help others in some day.
May all your labors be good.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
HELP FROM AN ANGEL
God always provides for us, often in surprising ways. It was sultry yesterday morning as I started walking to Dallas Love Field. I'd flown in the day before to help friends renew their vows on their 35th anniversary. They'd left me at my motel the night before, and it turned out to be a bit far from the airport and had no shuttle. My slip-on shoes, while good for airport security, were no good for walking, but I figured the walk would do me good, even in the heat.
It turned out to be a rough neighborhood with smelly trash and broken sidewalks. After I'd walked about a block, a car pulled over and a woman driver said, "Can I take you somewhere?" "Excuse me?" I replied. "Can I give you a lift?" she said. She was a Hispanic woman, neatly dressed, about 50, probably on her way to work, and she offered me a ride. And I accepted!
"Were you at my motel, the Red Roof Inn back there?" I asked as I got in. "No," she replied, "but I used to work there. They gave me a job when I needed one." "Why did you offer me a ride?" I asked. "You remind me of my father," she said again, "He left us long ago, but I think of him. Maybe he is like you now. I miss him." I thanked her profusely, as we drove and I realized my walk would have been 2-3 miles in the heat and humidity.
As we neared the airport I offered her $5 for the ride and she said, "No, no, no, I do this for you! I'm a Christian woman. My friends tell me, 'Carmen, stop doing that, somebody's going to kill you one day,' and I say, 'I'm going to die anyway, so it might as well be doing something good'. This I want to do." She dropped me off at the front gate and left me standing there amazed, with a lump in my throat. Why did she offer me a ride?
"She was just looking for a pickup," some might say, cynically. But at 8:30 AM? Most of you will think I was unwise accepting a ride from a stranger in a big city. "Think what could have happened," others might say. I prefer to consider this little unexpected episode as the kindness of a Christian woman, a little help from the Lord when I needed it. Her actions certainly improved my attitude about Dallas!
Perhaps Carmen is searching for her father, or maybe I looked like a pathetic old man who needed help. Or maybe she was doing her daily good deed and I happened to be there. But whatever the case, I appreciated it. God does move people to do surprising things, to take chances, even in this uncertain world.
Hebrews 13 tells us, "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it." Heaven knows I'm no angel, but I think Carmen was. Rather than question peoples' motives or actions, we should just accept their kindnesses. And then go out and help someone else.
Yes, there is evil in the world, but not around every corner. God still and always provides. He wants us to share our random acts of kindness with others, because there are all sorts of people out there who need them.
Thank you, Carman, and thank You, Lord.
It turned out to be a rough neighborhood with smelly trash and broken sidewalks. After I'd walked about a block, a car pulled over and a woman driver said, "Can I take you somewhere?" "Excuse me?" I replied. "Can I give you a lift?" she said. She was a Hispanic woman, neatly dressed, about 50, probably on her way to work, and she offered me a ride. And I accepted!
"Were you at my motel, the Red Roof Inn back there?" I asked as I got in. "No," she replied, "but I used to work there. They gave me a job when I needed one." "Why did you offer me a ride?" I asked. "You remind me of my father," she said again, "He left us long ago, but I think of him. Maybe he is like you now. I miss him." I thanked her profusely, as we drove and I realized my walk would have been 2-3 miles in the heat and humidity.
As we neared the airport I offered her $5 for the ride and she said, "No, no, no, I do this for you! I'm a Christian woman. My friends tell me, 'Carmen, stop doing that, somebody's going to kill you one day,' and I say, 'I'm going to die anyway, so it might as well be doing something good'. This I want to do." She dropped me off at the front gate and left me standing there amazed, with a lump in my throat. Why did she offer me a ride?
"She was just looking for a pickup," some might say, cynically. But at 8:30 AM? Most of you will think I was unwise accepting a ride from a stranger in a big city. "Think what could have happened," others might say. I prefer to consider this little unexpected episode as the kindness of a Christian woman, a little help from the Lord when I needed it. Her actions certainly improved my attitude about Dallas!
Perhaps Carmen is searching for her father, or maybe I looked like a pathetic old man who needed help. Or maybe she was doing her daily good deed and I happened to be there. But whatever the case, I appreciated it. God does move people to do surprising things, to take chances, even in this uncertain world.
Hebrews 13 tells us, "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it." Heaven knows I'm no angel, but I think Carmen was. Rather than question peoples' motives or actions, we should just accept their kindnesses. And then go out and help someone else.
Yes, there is evil in the world, but not around every corner. God still and always provides. He wants us to share our random acts of kindness with others, because there are all sorts of people out there who need them.
Thank you, Carman, and thank You, Lord.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
RAINBOWS AND THE RAIN
This past week I "came out of retirement" and assisted dear friends in saying goodbye to their 23 day old baby son. It's among the hardest things a minister will do, and it is, by far, the most difficult thing parents can experience. "The Lord has given, the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the lord," (Job 1:21) are true words, but they weigh heavy on the heart at such times.
We went to visit them one evening on a day with a slow rain. As we drove, the setting sun broke out, full and bright in the west, even as rain still sprinkled on us. And I'm sure you know what followed: a lovely complete rainbow appeared in the eastern sky. It was beautiful and so colorful.
After the rain comes the rainbow, God's promise of salvation. All daytime showers produce rainbows, yet we don't always see them, either because we aren't looking from the right direction, or we aren't looking at all. But after the rain, there are always rainbows. If there was no rain, there would be no rainbow.
Every good thing in life is a rainbow, a blessing from God, but we don't always recognize it as such. This is true either because we are seeing it from the wrong perspective, or else we are too busy to look for it. Sometimes we can only see the "bad" in every blessing (it's not just air, it's "polluted air," or it's not just the warming sun, it's the "cancer-causing sun.") But rainbows are still rainbows, no matter how we see them.
God gives rainbows after every rain, especially when we suffer the storms of illness, frailty, conflict or anything that causes grief. Thankfully, after the hard things pour on us, then follows the rainbows of health or strength or peace. Even if we can't see them right away, they are still there.
Trusting in Jesus Christ, we are given strength to endure whatever suffering we have. He endured suffering and death for us on the cross, and promises strength for every burden. His love helps us to enjoy rainbows here and unending heavenly joys there. Our Lord Jesus makes life worth living, and death worth dying.
Praise God for our everlasting rainbow of heaven.
We went to visit them one evening on a day with a slow rain. As we drove, the setting sun broke out, full and bright in the west, even as rain still sprinkled on us. And I'm sure you know what followed: a lovely complete rainbow appeared in the eastern sky. It was beautiful and so colorful.
After the rain comes the rainbow, God's promise of salvation. All daytime showers produce rainbows, yet we don't always see them, either because we aren't looking from the right direction, or we aren't looking at all. But after the rain, there are always rainbows. If there was no rain, there would be no rainbow.
Every good thing in life is a rainbow, a blessing from God, but we don't always recognize it as such. This is true either because we are seeing it from the wrong perspective, or else we are too busy to look for it. Sometimes we can only see the "bad" in every blessing (it's not just air, it's "polluted air," or it's not just the warming sun, it's the "cancer-causing sun.") But rainbows are still rainbows, no matter how we see them.
God gives rainbows after every rain, especially when we suffer the storms of illness, frailty, conflict or anything that causes grief. Thankfully, after the hard things pour on us, then follows the rainbows of health or strength or peace. Even if we can't see them right away, they are still there.
Trusting in Jesus Christ, we are given strength to endure whatever suffering we have. He endured suffering and death for us on the cross, and promises strength for every burden. His love helps us to enjoy rainbows here and unending heavenly joys there. Our Lord Jesus makes life worth living, and death worth dying.
Praise God for our everlasting rainbow of heaven.
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