Jesus' like trust Luke 4:1-11

I've been blessed for the last 4 days to have conversations with some non-believers. It's been an online conversation at a blog I keep on newsvine So far in 170 some comments I've seen comment from believers and non believe--some non-believers are angry and insulting. Some are wrestling with the question. "How do you experience God?" and their own bitter experiences of religion, church, and theology that just don't add up to a happy life in their minds.

I didn't expect to see so many non - believers come to deal with the question and I've tried hard to fairly answer all who have come. Some are ready to name the sins of the church past and present. Some want to talk biology or cosmology. Some just want to stir the coals. And in it all I find a moment of grace to share a little of my faith and I hope I am gracious enough that the true nature of God revealed in the person of Jesus might come through for all to see.

Looking at Luke 4:1-11 I think that Jesus can relate to the pesky and pointed questions. I sort of wish he were the one having these exchanges rather than me with my limited words and limited capacity to love. Right after Jesus Baptism Luke 4:1-11 says the Devil came at Jesus 3 times. In my own experience it doesn't take the Devil long to do a whole lot of damage--one angry conversation can be all it takes to tear a family apart. One moment of temptation can be all that's required to pull someone away from God.

When the devil challenged Jesus, "If you are the son of God..." in Luke 4:3 and Luke 4:9 the enemy made a bold assumption--that Jesus would try to prove his Divinity by taking up the dares. Jesus was the one the Devil challenged as in Luke 4:6-7 but the enemy was opening up himself to challenges as much as he was challenging Jesus.

Each time Jesus answered the Devil as one with faith in God unseen. Faith is a very curious part of a believers life. It moves people to do unreasonable things--and gives us peace this world can't give. A wonder of faith is that in Jesus we will find that same peace John 14:27. It moves men like Martin Luther King Jr and Desmond Tutu to be almost fearless in working for justice. It moves people facing great struggles to see something better even though the world says otherwise. Jesus showed us how to trust as he faced the enemy.

May the peace of God give us courage in the face all challenges. Amen. Peace to all, John

Feedback requested: Come to your Senses or How do sense God?

Have you ever been told to, "Come to your senses" For some deep thinkers it's a common accusation, "you are being to cerebral" or "you are not in tune with what's actually going on in the world right around you";
In the next month we'll be working in churches in Fairmont, Minnesota USA toward a shared Lenten Series entitled Come to Your Senses: A Lenten Journey with God.
A possible theme verse is, The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 NIV
I'm wondering how other people experience God through all five senses. I am most curious about the way you sense God in tangible ways through touch, taste, sight, hearing, and smell.
What has been your experience: How do you sense God?
What stories are you aware of that explore an experience of God's presence?
I am also very curious what scripture you point to as you explain experiences of God's tangible--incarnate--activity in the world.
thanks for your input. Pax, John.

Hope and Restoration Isaiah 62:1-5, John 2:1-11

If you can't find joy in yourself--its good to look to God. Reading scripture lately I've found great encouragement especially in the last 20 some chapters of Isaiah. Mixing the promise in the prophet's words together with the first miracle of Jesus, when he turned water into wine, gives me something to really celebrate. And at this moment in life I can say clearly that the words of Isaiah and the Good News of Jesus are good medicine for my soul.

So what's good in Isaiah today?
There's a promise that the prophet can't keep quiet about: salvation is coming (Isaiah 62:1). The prophet's message is simple and he keeps repeating this promise of salvation coming for Israel. But Israel isn't the only one God wants to redeem. Israel will be a light for the world. God will draw nations to this light (Isaiah 62:2) and Israel will be made ready by God a bride (Isaiah 62:3-5).

Isaiah's promise proceeded Jesus by 700 years; but when I read of the miracle in John 2:1-11, when water was turned to wine, I think of the hope of the faithful for the day when God would come to restore. The story deceivingly simple: a great wedding feast was underway and the wine ran out. Jesus' mother wanted him to do something--he resisted--but she told the steward to whatever his said (John 2:1-5).

Jesus has a way to make something out of nothing. He has a way--and we by faith live today celebrating this living promise that he who can make water into wine can work miracles in our lives. Jesus protested a bit to his mother that it wasn't His hour yet (John 2:4) but she was certain he could change the situation. Mary's faith can be a model for our faith--for our trust in God to work. She didn't say exactly what Jesus would or should do: but in faith she knew Jesus could take the problems and find ways forward that are beyond human reach. Coming to Jesus in faith opens us up to the possibility of miracle and new life: but in faith we know God is the one who chooses the way forward. Coming in faith means grabbing hold of the promises of restoration and hope that we meet together in the person of Jesus. This story of Jesus first miracle is a great reminder in our times of doubt of the joy and possibility for new life that we find in Jesus.
thanks for reading. Pax, John.

Heaven's open for business Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 Isaiah 43:1-7

Jesus came on purpose—on a mission devised in the council of the Triune God. And the day he was baptized (Luke 3:15-17,21-22) God's glorious plan came to light for all the world. This world changing plan of God was clear the night Jesus was born. Angels sang to shepherds about it. The shepherd left their flocks to come and see how this plan had come to life (Luke 2:1-22). It was clear as the magi came from the east to find Jesus, the new born king, that God's plan had come in flesh and blood (Matthew 2:1-12).

Except for a few moments scripture is quiet about the next 30 or so years of Jesus' story. Suddenly John the Baptist came reflecting the bright light of God in this world's darkness. He came baptizing (Luke 3:15) calling people to turn away from what was hurting themselves and their families (Luke 3:7-9). He was calling them to get ready to meet some one even greater sent by God.

John's message started with a call to turn away from your sins and be baptized. Baptism is the starting point for God to move. It's the starting point where new identity and new life starts. Baptism is God's way of moving us back toward the life that God intended from the very beginning. Reclaiming our baptismal identity is essential to every Christian's story.  In sin our true identity is hidden--but in repentence and forgiveness it's seen again and again.

John's ministry culminated as Jesus came forward asking to be baptized. It was the plan Jesus came to fulfill. He came as key figure in a restoration plan for the whole creation. Jesus came to start things over relationships and families, nations and even the relationships between warring nations: Jesus came to make us and all things new.

God the father rejoiced as Jesus was baptized and the Holy Spirit came down like a dove and voice echoed from heaven, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Luke 3:22 Jesus came to be God with us and God for us; and in this God the Father rejoiced. This is a plan built in love and grace. 

Jesus would transform baptism from the beginning of faith—to the beginning of new life itself. In baptism we join Jesus in his death and the rising. Isaiah wrote powerfully of the way God walks with his people (Isaiah 43:1-7). In Jesus we see exactly what God meant to do. No matter the depth of the river or the (Isaiah 43:1-2) or the great distance we might find our selves from God (Isaiah 43:5-7) God has a plan to restore his own. God's plan includes a call away from our fears towards the light (Isaiah 43:1-2,4-5).

The image of the dove coming down from heaven in Luke 1:22 ought never be overlooked as mere dramatic prose.  God was speaking then as he does now in often subtle signs of the new and better life he has planned.  Corrie ten Boom wrote in Tramp for the Lord of a morning when a fellow concentration camp prisoner collapsed during early morning role call.

In a moment a young woman guard was standing over her, a whip in her hand.

“Get up” she screamed in rage. “How dare you think you can lie down when everyone else is standing.!”

“I could hardly bear to see what was happening in front of me. Surely this was the end of us all, I thought. Then suddenly a skylark started to sing high in the sky. The sweet, pure notes of the bird rose on the still cold air. Every head turned upward, away from the carnage before us, listening to the song of the skylark soaring over the crematorium.”  ten Boom, Corrie and Buckingham, Jamie Tramp for the Lord (Revel, Old Tappan, NJ 1974) p83

Christian joy comes with us in faith and for us in the Word and presence of God in the darkest moments. In faith we hear God's voice of pleasure in his son and in us who have been baptized into his death and rising. In faith we trust that the Holy Spirit will come to give us strength for today's trials. Amen.
Peace and thanks for reading, John.

Christmas Hope Isaiah 9:2-7

Christmas has no meaning with out Christ.

Christmas has no hope to offer—nothing to sustain without Jesus coming into our midst. Christ came intent on changing us. He came to redeem us to make us different—not just for a day but for ever.

Isaiah spoke about it so plainly about 2700 years ago. He wrote about light coming to a people in deep darkness (Isaiah 9:2). 2000 years ago the world needed a savior. And looking around today we can see that we still need a savior. God planned to come into our world and Christmas is the moment.

To those outside the faith it's a great mystery to us why the one who made the universe would enter into time. To those who know Christ by faith the reason is simple—Christ really loves and care for us.

The light of Christ is coming into our darkness. Jesus is the Light. He is the one who exposes the truth both ugly and beautiful in us and our world not just as an example but to redeem and renew lost sinners like me. The ancient prophet Isaiah called him the prince of peace and the ever lasting father (Isaiah 9:6-7). The prophets spoke of one who would make a difference.

The question for me this year is very personal: Will I be different because of Christmas?
Will I choose the light or the darkness. Pax, John

Mary's Hope Luke 1:39-55

At Christmas our culture loves to tell stories. It's almost a time of collective reminisence--and also dreaming of the families and culture that we always we wish we were part of but really aren't. The gift the church brings at Christmas is the one story that brings hope. It's a story that starts with Mary. Mary was part of a much bigger story. She was never the central character--but she was always a part of the greatest story ever told: the story of our redemption.
The story started long ago--no human really knows when because no human was alive in that moment when God created the cosmos. God took great pleasure and joy in his creation (Genesis 1). And by faith we know God still values what he made--but it's somehow different. Those who populate the world today, while made in God's own image, have been broken away from God. If it wasn't so there would be no need for a savior and the hope he brings. If it wasn't so there would be no deep longing to belong to something significant.
The a vague sense that something's wrong is punctuated by acts of evil and injustice. People of faith see sin, death, and evil as everyday evidence that we need a savior (John 1:1-5, 14-15).
So where do we find hope? We find hope in the story of Christ's coming for us. If you are blessed to read Mary's story you drink in the details of God stepping into our lives (Luke 1:26-56).
Jesus, the very God who made heaven and earth, grew in the body of a young woman. A scandal grew as he grew. She wasn't married. The risk intesified for both child and mother. Her husband to be might abandon her or worse (Matthew 1:17-18). The particulars in this part of Jesus' story call to us from the deepest part human history and human longing. The tough parts of our lives hurt and hope; pain and promise are right there A young pregnant woman insists that God is somehow part of the story. Her husband to be prepares to leave her. And the woman open to the will of God gives life--and the will of God a chance.
It's easy to make Mary into a bigger than life sized human being. But the scandal of her pregnancy and openness to God's work have their greatest impact when we realize how surprising and wonderfully normal she was. So what set Mary apart?Could it be something as simple as cooperating with God's plan of salvation.
As you consider Mary's story look around you. How is God at work in the middle of ordinary life to bring eternal hope in the promise of salvation. May God bless us this Christmas with a clear vision of His coming. Pax, John

His Word will not pass away Luke 21:25-36

Jesus made a promise: his words will not pass away. Everything else we know--heaven and earth will pass away--but his words will not. There's a great truth and a word of hope to hear in these words. Jesus is making promises that last and in his promise we find an invitation to stand up and proclaim his Word and the hope we have found in Christ to the world (Luke 21:28).

One of the great joys of being a Lutheran is the way many churches join together pooling abiltities and resources to help after disasters. Truth is I am often most proud to call myself a Lutheran when gathered with Lutherans and other Christians in service to those who've endure tramatic events.

Over the past 15 years in church work I've been there with other Lutherans after tornadoes, floods, and hurricanes. Brothers in sisters in Christ come together to serve a couple days and even a couple years after disasters struck. It's a mission of rebuilding sometimes from the ground up.

Rebuilding in a broken world is an amazing calling for us as church--it's a calling to step in when everything has fallen away knowing that the One who won't fall away calls us into these situations to serve our neighbors. Great empires and cities might very will fall--but God's Word will remain and in that Word we find hope. The assurance we have that the Word of God will not pass away is it's guaruntor. The one who stands behind the is the Word is the One in the Cosmos who will not pass away.
Pax, John