A Word From Pastor Mike - The Love of God

The foundation of the Christian faith is that God is love. You heard it in our lessons today:

• The lord has set his love on you and chose you..... Deuteronomy 7:7
• The Lord loves you..... Deuteronomy 7:8
• The Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love to those who love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations..... Deuteronomy 7:9
• Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? ..... Romans 8:35
• No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.... Romans 8:37
• Nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our lord... Romans 8:39

It is there in the Old Testament. It's there in the New Testament. God loves us. God loved Israel. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

What's not clear? God loves Israel. God loves the world. Case closed, right?

Well, sometimes people don't feel loved by God for one reason or another, but the Bible is clear. God loves us.

This past week Sue and I were in Montana for my Aunt Eleanor's Memorial Service.  Eleanor was 101 years old, close to 102. She died peacefully in her sleep. The foundation of her life was the love of God.

Eddie and Eleanor Harmon were my godparents. Eleanor was there when Sue and I were married and when I was ordained. She made the red stole I wore for my ordination. She was going to make them all but found it was so hard that she gave the rest of the material to Sue and said, "You can do it."

I said the foundation of Eleanor's life was the love of God. I want you to know that she held that conviction throughout her life but it wasn't always easy for her. 

Eleanor was born in Norma, ND.  Her parents were in banking when the Great Depression hit the U.S. in the 1930's. Her family moved West. She had to live in a tent in Hogeland, MT for awhile until a house was moved to town. 

My Mom said that she thought that Eleanor would never marry but then Eddie Harmon came along. He was a great guy. They got married.

Later, when I was in grade school, Eddie died while driving the tractor. Eleanor relocated and eventually married Bill Bickel and moved to Hamilton, MT. Later Eleanor would have an encounter with breast cancer and survived.  Eventually Bill died.

The last years were difficult for Eleanor. She was in assisted living. It was hard for her to converse but she could listen. Even so, I would say that Eleanor lived a good life, held to her faith and now rests in God's peace.

Although life wasn't always easy for her, she kept faith. She kept her foundation, that God is love.

Alvin Rogness was the President of Luther Seminary and many years ago he wrote, "The Bible is God's love letter to you...From the Bible, the most important thing you learn about God is that he loves you and is trying to reach you. God is searching for you. He loves you and you can't stop him from loving you and from running after you. You can try running away from him but you can not stop him from staying on your trail."

The problem is not a deficiency of God's love. We've already heard John 3:16. In Romans 8:31-32, "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will we not also with him graciously give us all things?"

The grand conclusion of this section of the Book of Romans and perhaps of the whole Bible is this, 

"Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

So the problem is not a deficiency in God's love. The problem is sin, the devil, the world, our sinful self. We live in a fallen world. There will be struggles. Yet Paul reassures us, "For God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

When I listen to people like Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer they say that people are always telling them that "God could never love me; you don't know what I've done." Then they proceed to tell them their list.

The problem is in us. The reality is God knows every bad thing we've done and still loves us. The reality is God is good at forgiveness. God is good at 2nd chances. God is ok with leaving the past in the past and starting over but we aren't.

One of the best things we can do is trust in God's forgiveness. "If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

The way forward is to build on the foundation of God's love, like my Aunt Eleanor and many other believers in the past. They knew they were not perfect but they confessed their sins and trusted in God's forgiveness and love.

Recently when I was back on our farm. I noticed this old building. It's listing now just a little bit. How much longer will it stand? I don't know, but you know what will remain even if the building falls? The foundation will remain.  You see it all over the homestead areas, the buildings may fall but the foundations remain.

How does Jesus end the sermon on the Mount?  With a story. "Everyone who heard these words of mine and does them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock, and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock."

I started this sermon with a bunch of verses about God's love for us. That's our foundation. God loves us. Come what may, God loves us. The way forward is to build on the foundation of God's love, keep trusting. Then, like my Aunt Eleanor, we will die in peace and awaken to God's glory.

A Word From Pastor Mike - AGAINST AND FOR

Another one of Mike's sermons from the past...

AGAINST AND FOR

We are a debating society.  We are encouraged to "weigh in" on issues or matters of importance.  Of course, we don't have to be an expert.  We can just have "strong feelings" about something  In our modern age technology allows us to get our opinion out into the world.

On YouTube you can watch something , see how many times it was viewed, and then give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down.  I've never weighed in.

You can watch a news report and then you are invited to be part of the poll...  Are you for or against this issue? 

A few weeks ago I tried to get interested in Facebook. I looked on Sue's Facebook page and Yikes! Some people were spewing out some awful stuff!  I didn't need to read that! I haven't been back so I hope Sue will let me know if something important happens.

So, surely it's safe to look at your favorite hockey team and read an article about the St. Louis Blues? They didn't resign their captain to a contract...ok, that's fine.  Then I looked at the "comment section". Two Blues fans were going after each other.  "The team's going in the right direction." "No! it's not and by the way you are a jerk!"

It appears that we aren't always civil with one another in our society.

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The truth is, we all have opinions.  Sometimes we get worked up over certain hot button issues.  We might not like a person because they hold a different view.  Maybe it's someone close to us who is the arbitrator.  Who gets to declare the winner?  Is it important?

During the Civil War President Abraham Lincoln was asked if God was on his side.  Lincoln replied, "Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side.  My greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right."

In our lessons today God weighs in.  God has some opinions and really, that should be the most important thing.  What does God say about a thing?  Culture may have an opinion.  The "experts" may have an opinion. But if we are believers, what God thinks should be our primary concern.

The intro to our first lesson in Amos tells us what God is against.  The Word of the Lord came to Israel and chided them for their feelings of superiority over other nations and peoples.  Woe to those who make their beds in comfort, eat sumptuous meals and sit idly enjoying all the good things in life. They didn't make changes.  They simply didn't care while their country was ruined.

The only thing God is for is for them going into exile.  And that's exactly what happened in 722 B.C. The Assyrian Army conquered the North Kingdom of Israel and hauled them away to become slaves. They had stopped caring about what God thinks.

In Paul's first letter to Timothy we find that God's Word is for good leaders who are held to high standards.  God has been FOR that throughout the ages.

Moses was a good leader for Israel.  He had high standards but he wasn't perfect.

There were many good and noble things about King David.  He was Israel's greatest King.  He had high standards and tried to follow God but he didn't always succeed.

I think the second reading is telling us that we want our Christian leaders to have high standards, but that should be true of all Christians.  I think God wants us all to have high standards.  Always considering, always asking what does God want me to do?

In our Gospel reading in Luke 16 I think it's pretty clear that God does not want us to neglect the poor.  God is AGAINST that. The rich man is a terrible example of not even helping one of his own.

It's interesting that in all the parables that Jesus tells, only in this parable does a character have a name.  His name is Lazarus, or "God is my help."

Lazarus is a pitiful figure.  He's laid at the rich man's gate; he can't even get there himself. He's a beggar. He has terrible sores. Dogs are licking him and he doesn't even speak in this parable.  Yes, he is part of the great reversal that Jesus talks about, "The first shall be last..."

So, God is AGAINST neglecting the poor but I heard in this reading that he is all FOR listening to Moses and the prophets.  And what were they saying... "love God with all your heart soul, mind and strength and be a good neighbor."

You and me, we are the 5 brothers of the rich man in this parable.  We are still here in this world. Lazarus won't come and pay us a visit but we do have Moses and the prophets.  We do have Jesus rising from the dead.  So, what are we going to do with that?  I hope we can do something beautiful  for God.

Let me explain what I mean.  Mother Teresa was a Catholic Nun who went to Calcutta, India, one of the poorest cities in the world.  Mother Teresa started orphanages and hospitals to care for the dying. She was greatly admired for giving her life to care for the poor.

As Mother Teresa became famous, people from all over the world came to Calcutta to meet her. When journalists would finish interviewing her she would look at them with a twinkle in her eye and ask, "So, you want to do something beautiful for God?"

Her point was not to be admired but to ask, "Why don't you join me in this quest to be a good neighbor.  Help these people.  They are struggling.  When you go back home, help the struggling people there."

The interesting thing in Mother Teresa's story is that she started out in Calcutta as a teacher in a nice, beautifully manicured convent.  At night she would look beyond the walls of her second story apartment.  She would see the poor and dying.  At first she would throw bread and money over the wall to the poor gathered there.  She finally asked her Mother Superior if she could do face-to-face ministry with the poor.  She was granted permission.  She walked across the street and touched the skin of a dying man.  Her life was never the same.  She did something beautiful for God.

Last week I said we probably won't christen a ship, have lunch with the queen, convert a nation or be burned at the state.  But the world of our neighbor is all around us.  It doesn't have to be a big thing but let's DO SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL FOR GOD in the world of our neighbors.  I think God is all FOR that.

Into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit

It's Good Friday.  Today I am thinking about a friend I met and worked with years ago.  Her name was Laurie and she was Jewish.  We were friends for a couple of years when we lived in the Seattle, WA area.  We lost track of one another after a few moves but for a time, we were close friends.  Laurie and her husband were hoping to one day live in Israel.  I wonder if they ever made that move?

Laurie taught me some things.  One day she was telling me how hard it was to be a little Jewish girl with little Christian playmates.  I was horrified when she told me that one year, around Easter, the other kids were angry at her and accused her of killing Jesus.  She said she was so upset; she didn't even know Jesus!  How could they think she killed anyone?  My heart hurt for the sweet little girl that faced those angry accusers.

Laurie's little friends were a bit confused, likely because their parents were confused.  At the very base of the Christian Faith is the belief that we are ALL responsible for Jesus' death.  We have ALL sinned.  We ALL needed to be redeemed.  Jesus and only Jesus was pure and because of this, he was the one who could manage to take on all our sin and take the punishment for it.  For that sacrifice, I am grateful.

(photo from Google Images and lakecitybaptist.net)

As Jesus died he said he was committing his spirit to God's hands.  What a perfect thing to say at the time of one's death.  I want to think I will say that as well.  Having a job where I attend deaths, though, I am aware that I may not be awake enough or strong enough to speak those last words at the time of my own death.  So, I'm saying it now.  God, please keep my spirit safe in your hands.