Category: Uncategorized

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

Ingenious Dock

and Illegal (a ‘Bob’)

for All Sorts Of Reasons

But

That Hardly Stops Them/Us!

Psalm 44:9

You have rejected us and abased us, and have not gone out with our armies.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-17

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing.

Words of Grace For Today

Bob had struggled to find his way through school. Early on he discovered that he was faster than almost everyone else, so in the school races he always came in first. That was his one success. He did not fit in with the other kids. He learned early on that he could rat out other students. When someone tried to take advantage of him he simply told the teachers and the other student would be made to pay. As he got older he learned that he did not need to report the exact truth, but if he was creative with his tales on students who he did not like, they would get worse punishments. As a teenager his creativity grew, always connected to bits of truths, so that he was rightly feared by other students and by his teachers. Then he learned to rat out his parents to the police, except the ‘rat’ was not at all true, though the police believed him. His parents feared what he would do next. His siblings loathed him.

Bob’s story was riddled with gaining advantage over others by ‘reporting’ them to the police. It was not long before the police figured out the lies were just that, but Bob was ahead of them with his ‘reports’ about the police to the security forces that dealt with all threats to national security. There, the 2^nd in command recognized Bob’s ‘gift’, recruited him to be a regular ‘informer’, and Bob had found his calling, fighting for his country by ‘routing out the corruption from within.’ Except what Bob really did was ruin anyone who questioned the security forces and more specifically to the 2^nd in command, who soon replaced the security forces commander.

Bob’s ‘war’ bought him privileges and luxuries enjoyed by only a small few. He was promised he’d be able to study as a doctor, his childhood dream. He would study, and then practice medicine, and continue to ‘rat’ out the corruption all around him. His ‘war’ would advance the security of the country.

Then, as is always wont with corruption so rife in totalitarian states, the state failed. Fortunately it was not isolated and left to become a haven for international terror and horrors. Once a part of a rather successful country, that country voted to reintegrate the failed state back into itself. The security informers, so well practised in their perverse reports about neighbours and friends and even family, had no purpose any more. Bob was suddenly left swinging in the wind, medical school was out of reach, and even his family would have nothing to do with him. So he emigrated to another country that would receive him. He lied about anything he needed to in order to get ahead, including his training as an RN to gain a job. In reality he had been allowed to train as a nurse’s aide. He moved to a province where RN’s were desperately needed, falsified his training records (claiming the school records no longer existed after the fall of his childhood state), and sat a written exam to qualify to work as an RN. He’d passed, barely. But now he had a profession as a registered nurse. His exploits did not end there. He continued to threaten and ruin people around him in order to get ahead. More than one person died as a result of his ‘work.’

This was Bob’s history.

This kind of history, this kind of ‘fighting a war’ by sending out ‘armies into battle’ is the kind of ‘army’ that the Psalmist writes about saying: God, You have rejected us and abased us, and have not gone out with our armies. God does not ‘go out’ with any such effort to gain advantage for oneself at the cost of everyone else one encounters.

God’s way for us is on an entirely different route: it is to Rejoice always, pray without ceasing. We can live this way, no matter the challenges we encounter, when we realize that our lives are not given to us for us to use for out own advantage. We receive life in order that we can exercise God’s Grace for others, and often exercising that Grace for others requires that we sacrifice everything we would want from life.

At that point, when we have nothing left, when life is as good as gone from our hearts, minds and bones, then … and only then it seems … can we surrender to the life-saving grace that gives us new life. Then our lives are not our own, but we live fully aware (as much and unfortunately as intermittently as we are able) that we are saved by Grace alone and we owe everything to God. So we ‘pay it forward’ to those God sends our way.

We live, thus, as the saints of light have lived since the beginning of time: as reflectors of God’s truth, light, grace and love. In this way we GET to Rejoice always, pray without ceasing.

Wednesday, September 15, 2021

Real Fear

or

God Ensured Peace,

It Comes With the Territory We Choose to Traverse

Isaiah 54:14

In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you.

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

Words of Grace For Today

Today in Canada we live in a country that operates according to a democracy, with a system of law, with police and a court system to enforce the law. We can go about our business without interference or unjust results, right!?

No, not really.

While we can assume that the democracy runs fairly, or as fairly as it can …

While we can assume that the system of law enforced by police and courts is just, or as just as it can be …

They are most certainly not.

We must be vigilant or

we will be caught in our own assumptions of false comfort, lied about by our families even, the RCMP recruiting false reports from community people we’ve barely met, RCMP officers falsifying reports, making false arrests, and lying in court, family perjurying themselves in court, lawyers making a show of defending us but avoiding the essential evidence that would shed light on the lies, the essential pieces of truth that would exonerate us, and falsely convicted by judges who lie about the evidence provided, avoiding evidence and altering transcripts to exclude evidence that would make convictions impossible, and even then lying about the evidence and making irrational leaps of logic to falsely convict us.

Ah, you say, this could never happen in Canada!

And I respond, I have seen it first hand, been to jail for crimes I never committed, and with the ease of how it is all done, and in conversation with others in jail, it is clear this is done routinely, habitually, and it is all well covered up. It ought to be in the news each day, until the system is scoured clean of the corruption, barbarism, and cruel bullying that is standard fare.

Of course, if you have not been caught by this injustice, you certainly can bury your head in the sand and hope it never happens to you or yours.

God promises in many and various ways to walk with us, that In righteousness we shall be established; we shall be far from oppression, for we shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near us.

This is not yet so in Canada, and assuming it is does not make it so. In fact assuming it is so, allows the cruel, barbaric injustice to continue. And continue it does!

Where are God’s promises?

Jesus says: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

This peace is not based on the reality that other humans work against us and others.

This peace is based on what God provides: no matter what corrupt, barbaric, and cruel people do to us, we know that God knows the truth, that God will bring the truth to light, and those who do not amend their lives will be judged by God. Though we proclaim and count on God’s justice to be merciful and gracious, as God’s choice is to adopt as God’s own children is, we also know that as we live in righteousness and truth,

those who live dishing out injustice and lies to others, in daily life, in church life, in our communities, and in our ‘justice’ system, with their own actions they create for themselves great cause for fear. At any moment their crimes and sins can come to light, and then they will suffer as others turn on them with their own corrupt, barbaric, and unjust methods.

That is to live in fear constantly. The fear is that the false security achieved by falsehoods will turn on them and destroy them as fast as possible.

We, who live in the righteousness God provides to us, who live by truth and grace, need not fear that destruction, for our lives are secured by what no human can take from us: God’s love and grace.

This is to live in true peace.

Saturday, January 23, 2021

It all points to the Truth:

Not Cold, nor Storms, nor Wind, nor Foe

Nothing Separates Us From God’s Grace

and Our Home in the Land of Faithfulness!

Jeremiah 32:41

I will rejoice in doing good to them, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.

Luke 19:10

For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.

Words of Grace For Today

The case where we find ourselves in our stories after we sin, yet again:

To be lost.

To be lost in despair.

…

To be lost in despair as the rest of the world seemingly peers down on us as nothing.

The case where God’s story takes over ours and becomes ours:

To be found.

To be found worthy.

To be found worthy and given all that can be dreamed of.

…

If we have not known the first circumstance as our own, each day many times over … if we continually hide the truth from ourselves and we cannot and do not admit how lost we are, then the second circumstance can hardly mean anything.

The Son of Man did not come to heal the self declared ‘healthy’ nor to rescue those that claim not to be ‘lost’. God’s Son came and comes, sought out and seeks out those that are lost, found and finds us and restores us to the fullness of life, found and blessed.

God blesses us by planting us in this land in faithfulness. What a land that is: no fake news, no relative truths, no deception, no getting ahead at others’ cost, no rules using Covid as a cover for corruption and no rampant evil run amok. This land in faithfulness is a land where everyone has a home, a good home. And everyone is faithful to each other and to God.

…

Of course when the world around us gangs up on us for things we have not done and tries to Gaslight us in to believing that we are worthless, then it certainly helps to know the first case very well as it is actually true for ourselves, AND to know the second case (God’s Grace) to be true for us at the same time. Because then the Gaslighting, no matter how persistent nor long, will not destroy us. Then we benefit for God has planted us in the land of faithfulness. We know how humble we must be, how broken and lost we are, and how blessed we are that God claims us as God’s own children.

In the land of faithfulness all people prosper, contribute, and share blessings, especially with those in need. All the possible dreams of being blessed by God are made to come to be, for us all.

No Covid 19, restrictions, loneliness, covidiots, storming unrighteous and foolish mobs, or threats to our well-being can separate us from God’s blessing.

… So we lay ourselves to sleep each night confident that God’s will can be done also among us, and we will sleep in safety.

… So we rise up in the morning each day confident that God’s will can be done also among us also by us, and we shall live in safety, boldly acting as agents for the Son of Man, seeking, finding, and rescuing the lost … rescuing them with the same Grace that daily saves us.

That’s reality. That’s truth. That’s love.

What a life! God gives us all blessings possible!

I listened to two sermons. Both excellent …

except they did not proclaim the Gospel when it was right there to be proclaimed,

so instead of being adversely effected by this let down, I decided to provide an outline or draft for a sermon worth preaching and hearing.

What is missing is the colour of the sunset and sunrise, the stories of heart and strength, the accounts of the saints in light, which guide us to embrace God’s Grace. Maybe I’ll find time to insert some.

The Gospel for this day: Matthew 35: 31-46

‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,* you did it to me.” Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’

We might say: the End of Time, loved ones’ deaths or our judgment before Christ, or even the end of the church year provides clarification of what is truly important. Yet clarity is rarely the result of grief.

Rather grief, as the loss of one’s child (our losses that reflect God’s loss of Jesus) rips the innards of our lives right down to the foundation and leaves us totally discombobulated. Meaning and language and words do not organize. Chaos overtakes any order we used to have in our lives.

Clarity at the end of time, for loved ones, for ourselves, is not guaranteed. Rather it is rare.

Clarity about our judgment day reflected in the passage for today’s Gospel reveals that everyone (not denying their actions – a rather foolish attempt it would be before God)… everyone (all sheep and all goats) is surprised … because they did not see Jesus … in the outcasts, the poor, the homeless, the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, or in the imprisoned.

Any sane person is going to be frightened at the thought of facing Christ on our judgment day. Goats to the left into eternal perdition with the devil, and Sheep to the right into eternal life with Jesus.

And how is the determination made? It is determined by what we have done for the least of God’s people (all people.) Did we care for the outcasts, the poor, the homeless, the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, or the imprisoned?

Whether we are motivated to do these things by love, by passionate compassion, or by anything else, matters not one iota!

On the simplistic reading of the passage, our eternal path is determined by what we have done or not done for the least of God’s people!

Still, in this profoundly misguided, disturbing, and Gospel-less reading of this passage of scripture, we MUST DO what is right, OR we end up with the goats on the left.

If that is the ultimate determination for all of us, we are all lost into perdition, for by our own confession as faithful Lutherans, we confess that we are all bound to sin (and cannot by our own do what is right – including, by whatever means, care for the outcasts, the poor, the homeless, the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, or in the imprisoned. Therefore we are all lost into perdition – and great consternation or grand denial can be our only response to this passage. Surprise! When we thought we might get into heaven because we did a few things right, even profoundly right, instead we ALL get the goats path to perdition! That’s a hell of a surprise!

Thankfully our confession of faith is simpler and far more profound: We not only confess that we are all damned sinners. We also confess that we are God-made saints. That is we also confess that we are all saved (sorted out to be with the sheep) only by Faith through Grace (God’s gifts us faith!) and NOT by our works (by what we have done or do or will do!)

So how can we possibly read and respond to this passage, given our simple confession of faith: Everything relies on God’s Grace?

If left to our own deeds, we are all sorted with the goats. We all do not care for all the least of God’s people. Even if we think we did what God requires of us (whenever we saw Jesus, but we rarely saw Jesus at all), and even if we can throw evidence at the wall of judgment, nothing will stick, because we have already failed so many times in so many ways that nothing can make up for our wholesale sins. We all have failed, do fail and will always fail to see Jesus where Jesus surprises us with his presence!

Doch! We confess we are not left to be judged by our own deeds. Rather, Surprise! Jesus places his record in place of ours as we are judged. Therefore we will not know when we cared for the outcasts, provided for the poor, gave homes to the homeless, fed the hungry, gave clean water and drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, nursed the sick, or visited the imprisoned.

We will be sorted with the sheep, not because of what we have done or not done. We are sorted with the sheep because of how Jesus lived, and because Jesus gives us his record in place of ours!

It’s all grace! It’s all gift! Our judgment does not depend one iota on us and what we think, say, or do.

Instead it depends only on God, and God is sure, steadfast in unconditional love forever!

So, we are sorted with the sheep! Phew! We dodged an eternal bullet of damnation there!

So back to our cozy, mixed up, sinful lives?! Right! We are getting away with whatever we do, good and bad, heaven and hell that we create for others, great ambitions to do right and little follow through. Nothing really matters in the end or even now! Right!? So let us celebrate, eat, drink, and be merry in the days God gives us. Right!?

Doch!

Once Jesus’ record is in place of our own, we are free.

And what are we free from? We are free from our sins strangling us, binding us, keeping us from recognizing we live not to provide for ourselves, but as Christ provides for us.

What are we free for:

We are free to recognize others’ needs, endless as they are. Empowered by Christ’s example of forgiveness for us and the renewed life we receive daily from Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can provide for others. We GET to care for the outcasts, the poor, the homeless, the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, or in the imprisoned.

Gosh golly gee, for sure that’s passionate compassion. That is living to provide justice for all. That’s being transformed to embody Christ in this world.

As the wretched sinners that we are, we certainly are surprised that God gets us to do such good things!

Of course, it is not something we can do ourselves, or choose for ourselves. We cannot choose to be passionately compassionate, or live for justice, or be Christ embodied in the world! We simply cannot on our own choose to do what God requires of us in order that we can be saved at the day of our judgment.

Surprise! It is only possible because of God’s Grace for us!

Now that’s Good News, because anything that depends on us is wholly unreliable.

Doch, what relies solely on God is as sound as the music of the spheres, the music of the strings that make up the universe. It is as sound as God, our rock and salvation, the Creator, all powerful. So sure is our salvation and the gifts that enables us for, in spite of being sinners, we are also simultaneously God-made saints.

We get to reflect Christ’s Light in all our days!

That is the clarity that we receive and can reflect to others. It comes rarely as we face the end of times. More often it comes as a complete surprise, in the ordinary, mundane suffering and challenges of life. During Covid 19 there are more than enough of those to go around, and hit us from behind again in the second wave.

Even when it hits us again and again, what matters is the surprise of what Christ does for us, and by Grace through us for others.

What Christ does for us and through us is the only and the everything that is important. What Christ does determines our judgment day, and all of every day in all the universe! Now that is sweet music to our ears

as we sing, Take my life that I may be consecrated Lord to thee!