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⁴⁸ The Jews answered him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?” ⁴⁹ “I am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰ I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. ⁵¹ I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” ⁵² At this the Jews exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that if anyone keeps your word, he will never taste death. ⁵³ Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?” ⁵⁴ Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. ⁵⁵ Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word. ⁵⁶ Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” ⁵⁷ “You are not yet fifty years old,” the Jews said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!” ⁵⁸ “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” ⁵⁹ At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. John 8:48–59

When I read or hear passages like the Gospel reading for last Sunday, I am sometimes incredulous as to how the very ones through whom and for whom the Messiah came refused to see Him for who He was and is. He was right in front of them, but they could not and would not recognize Him as the Promised One. But then I remember that I have the advantage of hindsight. It can be very difficult to grasp things at first.

For example, consider this verse from the passage above: “I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” The Jews here did not think Jesus was God so they had not intention of listening to Him. But even those who knew there was something special and different about this guy would often misunderstand what He was saying. That is because we have the attitude, “just tell me what I have to do” with the emphasis on our effort, our activity. The same thing happens with this verse:

“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” Luke 11:28

While obeying God’s Word does result in blessings in the lives of believers, that is not how many hear these words. They think the blessings, including forgiveness, come as a result of their obedience, which is the exact opposite of what Scripture tells us.

The one who came to save us, God Himself who took on human flesh, has done everything necessary for us to be forgiven. He accomplished our salvation. He did all the work. All we have to do is believe that His death paid for our sins and His resurrection guarantees us entry into life eternal. All of Scripture points to Jesus as the way to life everlasting. Jesus said that Himself.

You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me. John 5:39

One of my favorite passages to share with people who misunderstand what Jesus meant when He said “keep my Word” or “obey” it is this:

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” John 6:28–29

The “work” we must do is believe in the one the Father sent: Jesus. When your put your faith in Christ and Christ alone, you will be blessed. You will receive everything He earned for you. It is His doing, not your own. That is why you can have the confidence that you will “never see death.” Physical death will come to us all – unless our Lord returns first. But eternal death is averted, having been conquered by Christ.

This past Sunday I heard a sermon on wisdom. It was based on the Old Testament lesson for Trinity Sunday this year, Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31. It was a message that made many good points and kept me thinking about the topic long after the service had ended. One very important question the preacher put before us, although not exactly in these words, was, “What is wisdom and where does it come from?”

Most of the time people are seeking the wisdom of this world. Even though Proverbs tells us wisdom comes from God, originated in God and was present even before Creation, fallen men in a sinful world have been trying to redefine wisdom ever since. The devil gleefully rejoices when we question God’s wisdom, try to rethink it and act as though we know better than the Creator of all things.

God’s Word tells us not to let sin control us. The world says to do whatever you want. And that’s when trouble comes. When I was in first grade, my brother was in fourth grade. A neighbor kid had just put up a dartboard on a tree in his backyard, and we went down there with a few other boys to check it out. I was by far the youngest one there. Everyone took a turn tossing those sharp metal darts with the blue and red plastic wings. They were all doing a pretty good job, too. And then came my turn. Toss after toss I completely missed the target. At first the others just snickered, but then they started laughing. As I stood there with only one dart left, they were all laughing at me. Including my brother. When I saw that, I was filled with rage. I rared back and threw that dart as hard as I could, straight toward my brother! Thankfully, he fell over backwards before it arrived. The guy behind him was not so lucky. The dart was stuck in his arm! It was the only thing I had hit that day. And I knew I was in trouble. I had a sick feeling in my stomach and ran away. I could almost hear the devil now laughing at me and the trouble I was in. All because I let anger control me instead of what I knew was right. Just so you know, I was appropriately punished by my parents. And by the way, did you know that the Greek word for sin in the Bible literally means “to miss the target.” I was the embodiment of the word on that day in more ways than one. I would have done better to follow the wisdom of God that was being taught to me by my parents.

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul spent some time discussing wisdom as well.

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians 1:20–24

The wisdom of God comes to us in Jesus. He taught us by His example how to live. He showed love and compassion in the face of ridicule and rejection. All this to accomplish our forgiveness and salvation. He came to right the wrong we did. He offered a sinless life as payment for the sins of everyone else. He did that when He was crucified. The world says, “That can’t be right,” but it was. Through the substitutionary death of the Lamb of God, something the world calls foolishness, our debt was paid and our sins are forgiven. It was the only way we could be saved.

Paul spends a lot of time talking about wisdom in 1 Corinthians. I’m going to spend some more time reading and digging deeper into that.

The congregation I was privileged to serve most of the years of my ministry was not perfect. None are. It was made up of sinful people who believed the message of God’s forgiveness in Christ, so that covered their imperfections in God’s sight. One of the things they did very well as a whole was welcoming visitors and new members into their midst. Again, they were not perfect, but they did this very well. Time after time when I visited guests or newcomers in their homes, they would tell me how everyone at Grace made them feel welcome. That is a tremendous asset for a congregation to have, to be known as welcoming.

My wife retired from teaching in the public schools two years before I retired. The week before she retired, some co-workers held a reception for her at the school on a Thursday afternoon at 3:30. She taught at this school the last four years of her career, and it was 30 miles from where we lived, so I didn’t know many of her colleagues, but I went to the reception and arrived a few minutes early. The doors to the school were locked. Several teachers were outside helping the kids being picked up by their parents. They saw me trying to get in, but no one offered to help. I rang the buzzer, but no one responded. I finally went over to one of the teachers and asked if she could help me get in. After telling her who I was and why I was there, she used her key card to open the door. I thanked her and went inside.  After going to the little window with the hole in it, bending over and telling the lady behind the counter who I was and why I was there, she buzzed me in the next set of doors and led me to the room where the reception would be held.  The lady who was setting up the room was someone I had met before, and she greeted me and went back to setting out the snacks and drinks. Over the next five or six minutes, about a dozen teachers made their way into the room. Each one came into the room, looked at me, and without saying a word, walked past me. They were soon visiting with each other, but no one made an effort to speak to me. I decided to go out in the hallway and wait for Cheryl to arrive. While I was out there, only one lady smiled and said hello as she walked past and went in to the reception. Cheryl finally arrived, and we walked in together. She introduced me to a couple of co-workers, who said hello, but were rightfully more interested in speaking to the guest of honor. By now there were about 35-40 people in the room. I took the initiative to speak to two different individuals. One of them spoke to me a couple of minutes. The other less than twenty seconds before walking away. And yes, I had bathed that day. To say it was awkward and uncomfortable would be putting it very mildly.

As all this was happening, I was thinking that this is exactly what if feels like to walk into a congregation as a visitor on a Sunday morning and no one bothers to speak to you. They may look at you, but they just speak to the people they already know. Since I retried, Cheryl and I have visited almost 50 different congregations, and we have experienced this far too many times. It is not pleasant.

Think about that the next time you are in worship and see someone you don’t know. Can you make them feel welcome? Walk over and say, “Good morning! I’m happy you are here today. I don’t believe we have met, have we?”  Then see where the conversation goes from there. When people come to worship to hear the message of our Triune God and His love for us and the forgiveness He gives for Jesus’ sake, they should know you are happy they have joined you.

This church is the people. Where two or three are gathered in Jesus’ name, He is there with them. We would all do well to remember that when we get bogged down with questions about pews or chairs or carpet or paint colors. That is not the church. When you attend a worship service or Bible study, look at the people around you. That is the church. And it is important to make others feel welcome in your midst.

We are the church not because we gather together in a building every week. We are the church because we believe in, follow and live for Jesus. We know the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and we rejoice in the forgiveness and life and salvation that He has given us freely through faith in Jesus Christ. We are His church. We won’t change the world by going to church. We will change the world by BEING the church, both when  you gather together and when we you go out into the world the rest of the week.

God help us to do this for Him.

John 16:12-15   12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

This passage points us to all three persons of the God who is Three-in-One, the only true God. Jesus, the God-man who is physically present with the disciples, speaks to them about both the Father and the Holy Spirit. He had promised earlier (14:26) that the Spirit would remind them of all He taught while He was with them. He will help them understand and believe, including things that had to do with the future. (16:13). Jesus reveals some of the intimate connection between the three persons of the one true God when he says that the Spirit will not speak on His own. What the Spirit reveals comes from the Son, and all that belongs to the Father belongs to the Son. There is a unity, an interconnection.

The message that the Spirit brings to us from the Father and the Son is that God can and indeed does forgive us. The Spirit guides us into all truth, truth that turns our grief into joy. We learn about our wonderful Triune God, the Father who made us, the Son who died in our place to pay for our sins, the Spirit who is at work to make us holy and keep us that way. The Spirit wants us to know the truth that God is good! Our Father loved this world that He made so much that He gave His Son to be our Savior from death. The death of Jesus in our place is your assurance that your sins are forgiven. Your faith connects you to Him in such a way that God will not hold you accountable.

I read about a young nun who claimed to have had a vision of Jesus. Her bishop decided to test her truthfulness. He ordered that the next time she had a vision, she should ask Christ what the bishop’s primary sin had been before he became a bishop. Some months later, the nun returned and the bishop asked if she had asked Christ the question. She said that she had. The bishop was a bit apprehensive when he asked, “What did Christ say was my primary sin?” The young nun replied, “Christ said, ‘I don’t remember.’”  That is the beauty of the forgiveness that is ours through faith in Jesus Christ. We have the assurance that God forgives and forgets. He said, “I will remember your sins no more.”

That is our certainty as believers. We have this message from God Himself in His Word.

On a cold winter night little Bobby and his father were slowly walking down a dark path to a neighboring farmhouse. Bobby was afraid, even though He was with his father and his father had a lantern. He was concerned because he saw that the light of the lantern reached only a short distance down the path. But his father reassured him that if they kept on walking, the light would keep on shining to the end of the road. That’s how it is with the Word of God, revealed to us in Scripture by the Holy Spirit. His Word is truth, it is the lamp for our feet and the light for our path. If we keep walking in the light of His promises, we will be sustained through this life all the way to the end.

There is nothing like the truth of God’s Word to take away our guilt, our fears, our sadness, our grief. It assures us that God is in control, that He loves us and wants the best for His children. Jesus did not leave us alone, but sent His Spirit, who comes to us in Word and Sacraments, assuring us of God’s love, forgiveness and presence. That is reason to rejoice. It is why we come together as the church. We believe and rejoice together in the mercy and grace that our Triune God has shown to us. That is why we, the church, gather together to worship and praise our Triune God.

“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25)

¹ Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. ² Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, ³ because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. ⁴ For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. ⁵ Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. ⁶ Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. ⁷ We live by faith, not by sight. ⁸ We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹ So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. ¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. 2 Corinthians 5:1–10

Our time here on earth is temporary. It wasn’t supposed to be. God created us to live with him forever. Sin changed all that. It brought corruption and decay and death to God’s creation. Yesterday’s devotion had the reminder:

…the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. Isaiah 51:6

Even though we live in a fallen, sinful world, man’s desire is to live. Whether people believe in God or not, their desire is to live. They seek diet plans and treatments and medications and all sorts of things to extend their lives. People don’t want to die, but live. And God created us to live. But as I said, sin changed all that. Well, everything but the desire to go on living.

The only lasting answer to life is found in Jesus. God made it possible through Jesus for man to be able to live forever as He intended. Every other effort to live will not succeed. The last part of the passage above from 2 Corinthians makes it sound as though our reward is based upon what we do. That understanding comes from not reading the entire message God shares with us. Just a few verses later Paul reminds us:

¹⁴ For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. ¹⁵ And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 2 Corinthians 5:14–15

He – Jesus – died for all. His death was the payment for all of us, so we “all died.” His death paid for the sins of the world. He died so we could live, which is the desire of our heart. And we know that we will live in a new place that He is preparing for us, our heavenly dwelling, where mortality will be swallowed up by life! Life with Jesus. Life forever. Life God wants for everyone. Life that has already begun when you live by faith and not by sight. Life even though we are temporarily clothed with the body and not yet with our heavenly dwelling.

Knowing all this is why the followers of Jesus strive to make it our goal to live lives that will please Him while we are at home in the body until the time we are away from it and with Jesus in that place He has readied for us.

With the warmer temperatures come bug and insects, including houseflies. I have a device that looks like it could be a large, yellow water pistol, as child’s toy. However, it is actually a pump action shotgun of sorts that shoots a small puff of table salt. It is very accurate and effective at killing flies five to six feet away from you and leaves just a few grains of salt on the floor. After using it to dispatch a few flies that had invaded our home, I was reminded of this passage:

…the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. Isaiah 51:6

I also remembered learning that the life span of a housefly is only 15-30 days, which made me think of another passage:

“Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. Job 14:1

I think about the aches and pains in my knees, shoulders, hands, and all over. I know my body is feeling the effect of sin and is wearing out. I think about the problems facing our nation and the world and wonder what will be next. I realize, like Job did, that my time here on earth is brief and filled with pain and trouble. Those words by themselves might be depressing. But that verse from Isaiah says more than I shared with you above:

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail. Isaiah 51:6

God promised salvation to His people long before Jesus was born. They were saved by believing God’s promise. You and I are saved the same way. We believe God’s promise. The difference is we know that it has already been fulfilled by what Jesus did when He came down here as one of us. He lived without sin. He died to pay for my sin. He rose to give me His victory over death. That will last forever and never fail. That gives me new hope and the attitude Paul wrote about.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16

I’ll share a bit more few more thoughts on this tomorrow.

I’ve written before about our “barn cats.” We have some outside only cats. The agreement is we feed them once a day on our back porch, and they keep the mice and snakes away from the house. It has been working out pretty well. We have the bowl positioned so we can see them come and go during the day. Most of them keep their distance from us. We have about six long term residents. Others seem to show up every once in a while. A new one came on the scene this week. Some just simply disappear.

We have only one that actually interacts with us. We call her “Momma Kitty.” When I wake up in the morning, she is sitting at the glass door at the back of our house, looking in, waiting for the daily ration of food. She waits for me to come out and pour it into the bowl, meows once or twice and then starts to eat. Some days she will rub up against my leg or even let me pet her.

She recently had another litter of kittens. We saw three of them up on the porch last week. This morning, two of them were sitting there waiting with her when I got up. When I opened the door, the little ones ran away, but Momma stayed and waited for the food.

Because I know there were three kittens, I found myself wondering where the third one was. Had something happened to it? Was it still alive? As I said, often a cat just disappears one day never to be seen again. I wish I could somehow reach out and find out what happened.

I know that happens with people in our lives, too. Sometimes we just lose touch with someone and don’t even realize it right away. “I wonder whatever happened to him?” That happens in the church, too. People seem to drift away and too often we let them slip through the cracks. Many times I tried to reach out to people like that, but they didn’t respond to my efforts. But every now and then I was able to reestablish the connection. Some of those times I discovered that the person was offended or upset with something I or another person had done, and I would not have known about it if I had not reached out. Being able to work through those situations was very rewarding.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32

It is important for all of us to reach out to our friends and acquaintances who suddenly “drop off the radar.” This can often be a signal that something is wrong. They may need the love and encouragement that we have to share in Jesus’ name. And He gave us the example. Luke 15:1-7 talks about the Good Shepherd leaving the 99 who are safe to seek out the one that was lost. And later, at Zacchaeus’ house, Jesus said very plainly:

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Luke 19:10

Jesus did the saving part with His payment for the sins of the world on the cross. He offers that to anyone who listens to Him and believes His message. But sometimes those in the fold wander away. We need to be sure we do more than just wonder what happened to them. We need to seek them out and see what we can do to restore them.

There is someone in your life right now that you need to seek out. Ask God to help you identify that person and then give you the strength to reach out to him or her. Do it for Jesus. Even if you don’t see any results, nothing done for Jesus is ever in vain. Give it a shot. Let the Spirit work through you.

First thing this morning I went to my ophthalmologist. I’ve had a lot of eye trouble over the last 6 years, so these visits are a regular occurrence in my life. They checked the pressures in my eyes, took pictures of my optic nerves, and then dilated them for the doctor to get a better look inside.  He looks through different kinds of scopes while shining a series of powerful bright lights into my eyes. The light allows him to see all the details inside the eye, all the scarring from previous surgeries and other damage.

The bright light the doctor shone in my eyes was exposing all the things that were wrong in there. That reminded me of this passage:

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)  and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.  For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. Ephesians 5:8–14a

Even though it hurts when the doctor shines the light in my eyes, I know it is to expose the problems and figure out the treatment I need. The light of Christ exposes my sin and shows me the solution He has provided through His life, His death to pay for my sin, and His victory over death that He shares with me.

I got a good report, made my next appointment, and then started to walk outside. It was overcast when I arrived, but now the sun was shining brightly. I thought I could make it to my vehicle and the wrap-around sunglasses that were in there, but I could not. I had to go back in the office to get some of those disposable sunshades just to be able to make it to my vehicle. That overwhelming light of the sun and how helpless I felt in the presence of that light made me wonder: Is that how non-believers feel when confronted with the light of Christ? They don’t understand it and it seems unbearable. But it is what they need in their lives. So those of us who know who Jesus is and what He did for everyone need to make sure we shine His light for those still in darkness.

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:4–6

Those in the darkness need the light, even though it may frighten them or seem painful at first, even those they don’t yet understand it. They need to see Jesus for the loving God and Savior He is, who wants nothing but the best for everyone.

Lord, help us to shine Your light into their lives today.

2 Thessalonians 3:11  For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies.

Socrates, the great Greek philosopher, was once stopped by an acquaintance as he passed through the markets. “I’ve something important to tell you,” he said. “It’s about your friend.”

“That’s very kind of you,” Socrates said. “But, don’t tell me just yet. I run all information through the Three Filters Test to ascertain if I want to know it.”

The man looked somewhat puzzled as Socrates continued, “First is the filter of truth. Whatever you want to tell me, have you seen or witnessed it first-hand?”

“Umm…I actually heard it from someone,” the man said, “and, it is from a trusted source.”

“Alright. But that does not pass my first test,” Socrates added, “since you don’t know whether it’s true.”

“Second is the filter of goodness. Is that a good statement you want to make about my friend?”

“Not really. That’s the reason I wanted—”

Socrates interjected, “So, you want to tell me something bad about someone but don’t know if it’s true.”

“The last is the filter of utility.” He continued, “Your statement about my friend, is that going to be useful to me?”

“Not really as such. I just wanted to share.”

“Well, if the information is not necessarily true, it is not good, and, it is of no use,” Socrates concluded, “please, I don’t want to know about it.”

(Source: Movemequotes.com)

If only we would all have that attitude. Unfortunately, we all gossip. I have heard it called “America’s favorite indoor sport.”  This includes both telling lies about your neighbor or telling the truth in order to hurt her/him. I always pointed this out to my confirmation students when going over the Eighth Commandment:

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.  What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way. (Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation)

I wonder what would happen if the followers of Jesus were more focused on sharing the Gospel than they were on sharing Gossip.  You and I have the best news ever to share with the world. We can tell them about the love of God that resulted in the Word made Flesh who paid for their sins so that they could have the certainty of forgiveness and life everlasting. Put the energy that you would normally use to spread gossip into spreading the Gospel. Can you even imagine what the results would be if the name of Jesus was on our lips as readily as gossip usually is? I know that the Holy Spirit would use us as the mighty army for God that we are supposed to be, bringing more and more people the Good News of salvation.

Luckily, gossip is a sin. I say “luckily” because being a sin, Jesus paid the price for it, too, when he died on the cross. And since the price has been paid, we can receive forgiveness even for the sin of gossip. Realizing the forgiveness that you have for Christ’s sake, resolve to spread Gospel, not gossip.