Guidance

The last line of Proverbs 13:25 really caught my attention this week.  It reads:  “The righteous eat to their hearts’ content, but the stomach of the wicked goes hungry.”  These are the kinds of lines that have made this series unique and challenging all at the same time.  This verse brings eating, righteousness, and the wicked all together.  This week I spent time with a new friend who has a passion for healthy eating.  He believes that many kids in the United States are starving in their homes--homes no one would expect.  It could be for many reasons: debt, lost jobs, or just lack of parental care.  He also believes that many kids are obese.  That conversation made me think about a lot of things.  First of all, it reminded me of how blessed I am.  Secondly, it reminded me of a story from my past.

An old friend of mine believed that you could be on any diet and lose weight.  She wanted to prove that no matter what food you selected, it could be considered diet food.  So she started on a donut diet.  She ate nothing for breakfast, lunch or dinner except donuts.  She LOST weight!  I remember talking to her about it.  She said, “Yeah I proved you could do it.  I am malnourished, but I did it.”  Sometimes the outside world can perceive things inaccurately.  Even though my friend appeared to be healthy, she was actually starving on the inside.

In our world we have so many choices of food that we can eat.  Most of the quick, unhealthy options are cheap and easy.  In our busy lives, it is easy to fill our bodies up with food that ultimately can hurt us if we consume too much of it.  Solomon was wise--even for our generation.  He envisioned things that were coming in the future.  He foresaw the way we would fill ourselves.  While to the outside world, the food that is unhealthy may be coveted, but the food that will fill us will allow us to eat as much as we need of it.

This series has taken us on a journey where we were able to see how Solomon’s wisdom was totally a gift of God; but we also learned through examples in his life.  As we finish our series, we focus on the guidance of Jesus.  Unfortunately, even living as forgiven people, we will still make mistakes.  Those mistakes are seen with our own eyes; we still act on them and they consume our bodies.  This week Solomon talks about consuming the righteousness into which the Holy Spirit leads us.  He has challenging topics like disciplining our children; watching what comes out of our lips; and listening to correction.  Our human nature has a hard time hearing these things, but our redeemed souls rejoice in God’s amazing power to rescue us, and put us on the right track.  This week we pray that through the saving power of Jesus, we can understand how His wisdom can guide and direct our lives to eat all we want of the saving words of God.

Joy

Joy!  Seriously, define joy for me!  Well, let me tell you how our world defines it:  new cars, good food, good drinks, money, and yes, even family time.  Just look at the ads on television, and you will find a million people explaining why the newest thing they have acquired brings them joy.  Joy is also shown by people enjoying a vacation or a time of relaxation--not to mention that joy is also Christmas, presents, and family time.  Honestly, some of the most stressful times are said to be joyful; yet, as Christians, we know that Jesus gives Joy, so what does that mean?

As a boy, I remember adding up every dollar I was going to make by mowing lawns.  I also figured out how many MLB hats I was going to have at the end of the summer.  I just liked so many of the logos and thought the hats would make a joyful statement.

During my high school summers I woke up at 5 a.m. to take my 108-pound body up to a cold weight room to lift weights.   Yes, skinny little Will, who barely weighed more than the bars did, regularly went to the weight room.  It was all for the anticipated joy of making the public school basketball team, which I did not make.  When I moved to Lutheran High School I loved being on the JV team, but I thought I would find even more joy being on the varsity team.  However, I found most of my days sitting on the bench!

In college I was waiting for the day when I was going to be married.  I felt like marriage and ministry would be my true joy.  I spent hours concerned about the person I would marry.  And the list goes on, but doesn’t it for all of us?  Look back at how much time we waste seeking the joy we presumed we would find through things, ideas, programs, institutions, and whatever else you want to mention.

This weekend we talk about joy.  How do we find real joy?  Where did the wisest man who ever lived find joy?  So we will examine the concept of joy—something we all want, but have failed in trying to find it.

Well Being

There was a period in my life when I experienced an unwelcome sense of isolation.  I was about to begin my vicarage.  My family had just left me in my apartment in Tennessee, and suddenly I was alone!  One of my biggest struggles back then was with feeling like a victim, and those thoughts were running rampant through my soul.

            This was also during the time when the social media scene had begun, and I sometimes found myself on MySpace looking for friends.  Sure, I had a new church, and met some new people, but in that scenario I was this vicar person, not just Will—and I thrived on being just Will.  Consequently, I realized it was time to figure out who Will really was.  I decided I needed to assess the state of my well being. 

            I began to search for a formula for well being.  I set up a demanding workout routine, started eating healthier, scheduled devotional times, and learned how to play the guitar.  During this time, I became aware that I was spending a lot of moments with God.  I found that these moments helped shape the development of some new disciplines.  These habits would help build a solid foundation in preparation for the next seven years, which would prove to be hectic and crazy!

            After my vicarage year, I got married, moved five or more times and found myself serving in three different churches.  The foundation that was developed during my period of loneliness provided me with the understanding of well being that God had prescribed, and that Proverbs described.

            So often this assessment of my well being is disappointing to me, because the first thing I look at is sin.  If you’re like me, you look at the faults, but not at the source of well being.  This weekend we take the next step on our journey of Wisdom for Youth and Children by examining the components of well being.  Solomon says, “Let love and faithfulness never leave you.”  These words might resemble some self help instructions until you realize that these two words describe our Lord and Savior.  He is Love, and He is Faithful.  He is the One who connects us with our Creator and Sanctifier.  He helps us trust in God’s love, faithfulness and provision.  This week we talk about how these words form the solid basis of well being.

Wisdom

As I began to ponder how to approach our next series, I went in many directions.  At the beginning of last year, as a small group, we put together some ideas for various sermon series.  One of those ideas was to talk about youth and children, and bring us back to focus on our future.  As I spent time preparing for this, I came across a book that is not used as often--Proverbs.  Proverbs was written by the wisest man ever, Solomon.  Yet when reading it we often can feel like children or youth.  Proverbs contains wise guidance for our youth and children, but also for us.

I once heard it said from a PhD who was familiar with kids, that he felt like childhood was one of the most challenging periods in life.  I remember hearing this comment and struggling with it.

Over the next several weeks we will broach the tough topics from this book by Solomon.  These subjects are difficult for our naturally sinful ears to hear, but they bring us into a deep understanding of how the wisdom that God had granted Solomon could help our children, youth, and us.  We will spend the next several weeks digging into this book, and praying that we can be God’s tools to speak the words of wisdom from the Holy Spirit into a world that is struggling to see the Truth of God.

Thinking through the years of good memories from my childhood, I found it hard to relate; but yet on the other hand, reflecting on the counsel I needed to work through some of the tough situations during my childhood, his statement made sense.  Then I also  reflected on my own kids.  A good majority of my focus as an adult is guiding and directing them.  The biggest parental issue today is that many parents tend not to take responsibility for providing this guidance.  Kids that are neglected don’t feel the love and care God intended for them to receive in a family.  The same can be said of our church kids.  I believe we need to talk with them often, provide them with wise guidance, and bring them into leadership roles.  This is the very wisdom of Solomon.  If we are able to impart this wisdom to our kids from the very beginning, we will find God’s Word has soaked into their very bones.

Heaven is for Real!

This week we conclude our heaven is for real study.  The overachievers did it last week.  (Just kidding--their pastoral leader knew he was leaving for vacation.)  The 9:15am class will take a break as we head into the fall.   We will be regrouping and will have a new study for the fall.  My 8am class will continue our study on John.  But I felt like this week it was time to step back and reflect on our study over this summer.

            I am not quite sure, but I did expect the conversations to be as deep as they were.  I guess I just thought things would be debated, but there was some great discussion over these topics.  I was privileged to be in two of our classes. I  got the

8am class and spent time in youth.  Honestly, I think I would have liked to be a fly on the wall in all classes.  We talked about all kinds of things:  the image of Jesus, how angels work, and some much needed end times talk.  Such discussions help to combat other denominations from putting so much emphasis on them.  Yet, God provides a timely example of our study.

            Since coming to Mt. Calvary I have been faced with death more and more.  I think as a youth pastor I saw the funerals; sometimes participated; and did officiate at some; but I was more often faced with the reality of death here.  Wednesday I was hit with some shocking news:  the passing of our dear brother Russ Conrad.  Russ was such a quiet man.  As I began to learn names at Mt. Calvary he was one of the last.  Not on purpose--just because of his quiet demeanor, he avoided all my normal tactics to learn names.  I remember the day I said his name, he shook my hand and smiled.  Wednesday I was sad.  This was one of those deaths you didn’t expect.  Not that you ever expect death, but most times as a pastor you get a warning sign or two. I was told Russ experienced a great day full of family time, dinner, and then he went to bed and he passed.  We, in our worldly terms, call this peaceful; however, Scripture does teach us there is nothing peaceful about death, but we rejoice that there was no long suffering for Russ.  One thing I do know about peace is that Russ has it now, as he finds out that Heaven is for Real.  Russ was a faithful brother, giving, and caring for many in his quiet manner. I  will miss seeing him.  I am saddened that pastorally I had no closure, no moments at his bedside with prayer.  God has allowed that with almost all of our members who have passed since I have been here.  But I rejoice that my brother will be with me in heaven.  I am thankful for his giving heart.

Over the last several months we spent a lot of time on details of heaven, but now with our brother Russ we are reminded of the closure of this study and the point of our faith:  Heaven is for real!  And now Russ knows that.  And so do we.  So we press on doing exactly what Russ did; we faithfully worship our Lord and love our neighbor.

Love 1 Savior

The practical distinctions of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod may not seem that different from many other denominations.  Those distinctions become evident once you get past explaining why communion and baptism are different in our church; why confession and absolution stand as key elements of our service; and how Law and Gospel are necessary pieces.

            As people have moved farther from understanding membership, or have not seen the need for it, we have seen the Church driven in a different direction.  Some of this formulates itself in “prosperity Gospel,” meaning, believe in God and He will give you riches, wisdom, and so much more.  But it also comes in another format.  That format is “self-help Christian work.”  This has been the new preaching movement in churches, and yes, even some of our Lutheran friends have fallen into a practice more like this.

            The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod is founded on three basics keys: Faith alone, Scripture alone and Grace alone.  Grace and faith bring us to today.  By the very grace of God and faith worked in us by the Holy Spirit, we hear the wonderful Word of God.  This weekend we talk about Mary and Martha.  Mary sat by the feet of Jesus while Martha complained that she was the servant.  So who was right?  It is such a simplistic story that brings out one of the deepest theological points--does love create service?  Or does service define your love?  Simple to answer?  Hardly!  That is because this is the product of our human nature and spiritual nature colliding.

            When we first developed our discipleship model a year ago there was much debate about the essential pieces.  What are the pieces that people need to know about being a discipleship of Christ?  Is this model self-help?  Well, that would be a great question.  But the key elements are founded on the very work of God and our response to Him, so it is not a self-help model.  It is a scriptural model.  First our Worship 1 is a moment to grow in that relationship.  Read 1 is growth in the very Word of God.  But the other two parts were much debated.  I first proposed Love 1 and Serve 1.  A couple people came to me saying that was the same thing.  I was stubborn at first, arguing its plausibility in any way possible.  But it surfaced time and time again.  I let my stubbornness chill and found the truth in their statement.  How can one serve without a Love 1, meaning loving others?  It made it clear there was a much other important piece of discipleship, which is prayer--often something that can be skipped over.  All of these pieces became elements when God sent His Son to redeem us, and out of that comes this response.

            But this brings us back to the Love 1 Serve 1 debate.  When we separate love from service we move into our own self-help ways of being a Christian.  We come back to the check marks that make us a “good” Christian.   Instead of who makes us good, and as a result of God’s making us good, comes the response and work to serve others.  Out of the depth of His love, and our response in love, come the very labors of our hands.  The Mary and Martha story illustrates this beautifully, and this weekend we talk about just that.  We find out who we want to be--Mary or Martha.

Playing by the Rules

 When I was a boy we spent some summers in Florida.  I loved the beaches and have fond memories of making sandcastles with an overly tan grandpa who spent hours in the sun.  During our vacation we would always play Bingo. It was one of my grandma’s favorite things to do.  She had all these prizes wrapped up and ready for when you called “Bingo.”  Everyone had to get a prize and fair was something that runs in my mother’s blood, (inherited from my grandma) so it was always a fair game.  You weren’t allowed to touch the prize table until you won a prize.  It was weird how I knew the rules and they are still ground into my head.  These rules never felt like bad rules.  They actually made the game more fun.

           

As a dad deciding what rules I make day-to-day is based on a particular action.  I am sure it is frustrating when I tell my little boys that blankets and pillows are not toys, but when they start bombing their sister with them I don’t appreciate it.

           

Often times it seems Leviticus is a big book of rules that God made up along the way. One time in a Bible study we read a book about a guy who said he was going to follow all the Levitical laws for a year.  There are some crazy stories about him-- not shaving his beard, eating certain foods and even getting his wife pregnant.  It was certainly an interesting topic and an odd take on Leviticus.  But it did bring back to the surface a book that is often overlooked.

           

Leviticus is criticized for its harsh and sometimes even weird laws.  So what was the point?  God is Love; this is what the Bible speaks about God.  He shows it by sending His Son to rescue us.  If God is Love, then all His laws are pointed to that.  This is easy to see with His commands:  Do not murder, do not steal and the like.  But what was the purpose of some of the other laws?  This weekend we dive into this.  We take a look at the depth of the laws of God and how they relate to His love for us.