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On our most recent RV trip, Cheryl and I make a big loop out through West Texas to places we had never been before, some of which were the Davis Mountains, Big Bend, and Seminole Canyon. While at that last place, one morning we hiked a seven mile canyon rim trail. It was cloudy when we started, but the sun was beating down on us by the last two miles. That was enough hiking for one day!

That afternoon we decided to take it easy, so we drove about 45 miles to Del Rio to do some shopping. It was a beautiful, clear day. While we were in Walmart, just about to check out, we heard the roof of the building begin to shake. Looking out the front doors, we saw all kinds of things flying through the air. A wind gust of what I was told was about 80 MPH blew through town. The power flickered off and on twice in the store, shutting down all the checkout lanes for about 25 minutes.

When we finally were able to make our purchase we went outside. The winds were still blowing well over 30 MPH, which made it interesting loading our groceries into our pickup. We got things stowed away and started heading back to our campsite on Highway 90. I felt the wind pushing us around and was glad I wasn’t towing our camper. I watched the semis struggling to stay in their lanes.

Then we came to a stretch of the road where they had cut through several hills to build the road. On either side of the highway, the limestone was forty to fifty feet high. In those places there was a row of semis parked on both shoulders up next to those rock walls. Cheryl mentioned that was a smart thing for those big rigs to do. They found a rock of refuge!

When we got back to our camper around 6 that evening, thankfully the high winds had done no harm to it. The electricity was off, but that was the only problem. The forecast said the worst was past and the winds would diminish and stop by midnight, so we decided to stay. We could have gone back to Del Rio and got a room, but much of the town had no power when we left. So we stayed in our camper. The winds stayed, too. The 30 to 40 MPH gusts shook our camper steadily until about 3:00 a.m. before they started to die down. About 30 minutes later the electricity came back on and by 4:00 a.m. the winds were gone.

While going through this, we prayed and talked to each other quite a bit. We talked about those truckers taking refuge by the rocks, and were reminded of our Rock of refuge as well.

2 Samuel 22:1–3a David sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior…

It was comforting to know that the same one who was with David, the same one who came down here to pay for our sins, was with us. I felt like we were sheltered by rock walls even though the winds were blowing. I know the Lord was and is our stronghold, refuge and Savior. No matter what comes, I am confident that I am in His loving hands.

Colossians 1:9–14 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Yesterday I shared some thoughts about submitting our lives to God’s will. Then last might I was reading Colossians and came across the passage above. Paul’s prayer was that the believers in Colossae would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, something that would come from spiritual wisdom and understanding. Why? So that they could live lives pleasing to God. If you are going to do God’s Will, you have to know what it is. That is the knowledge we need, and should pray for each other to have it.

I especially like how Paul reminds the Colossians and us of the reason we should make every effort to know and do God’s will. God has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The reason I want to do God’s will is because I know what Jesus did for me. He saved me. He took my sin on Himself and paid the penalty I owed. He was my substitute, and made it possible for me to be forgiven and assured of life with God now and life with Him always.

Knowing that makes it possible for me to say “Thy will be done” and actually mean it.

Part of praying for God’s Will to be done is setting aside our own desires, which can be a terribly difficult thing to do. We are used to having things our way. Burger King has used that slogan off and on since the early 1970s: “Have it your way.” I conducted a funeral for a non-member and the family wanted that Frank Sinatra song “My Way” (I did it my way) played. All I could think is that when we do things our way, we are bound for death and doom and destruction. Why would you want to brag about that? It is only because God sent Jesus to pay for sin that we can be assured of forgiveness and life. That should be our focus, especially at a funeral.

But getting back to the topic of “Thy will be done.” That was the prayer and attitude of Jesus is the Garden of Gethsemane.

Matthew 26:39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

So how do we follow His example and submit ourselves to God’s Will?

A man walks into a church in the middle of the week. He is by himself, which is perfect, because he wanted some alone time with God. He was resolved to turn his life around, and today was the day he was making a fresh start. He took out a piece of paper and started making a list. “I promise to be a better husband and father. I promise to be more faithful in church attendance. I promise to give a fair days work to my employer. I promise to…” and the list went on and on. After he had filled up the paper, he signed it, took it to the front of the church, placed it on the altar, then he sat down again. He waited. And he waited. And he waited some more. Then he heard a voice that said, “Go get the paper.” He walked to the altar, picked up the paper, and the voice said, “tear it up.” So he did that. Ripped it to shreds. Then the voice instructed him, “Take out a blank piece of paper, sign it, and put it on the altar.” He did that, and the voice said, “That’s what it means to pray ‘Thy Will be done.’”

Lord, help us to rejoice in being your children, part of your kingdom now and forever. Give us hearts that want to live according to Your will. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

A young Christian man got a job as a roughneck in the oil patch. A friend warned him that he might be surrounded by ungodly men who would give him a hard time when they found out he was a Christian. But the young man really needed the job, so off he went. A year later, the two men met again. The friend asked, “How did it go? Did they give you a bad time because you were a Christian?” “No,” the man replied. “They didn’t give me a bit of trouble. They never even found out!”

I remember once in my ministry after conducting a funeral, one of the deceased’s acquaintances was walking out of the service and said, “I never knew he was a Christian!”

Someone once posited the question, “If you were put on trial for being a follower of Jesus, would there be enough evidence to convict you?”

Matthew 7:16–20 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

That has a positive and a negative side to it, doesn’t it? You should be able to recognize believers in Jesus by how they live, just as you can recognize non-believers by their actions. Those who have taken to heart the message that Jesus paid for the sins of the world, including their own, will be changed. They will not be perfect, but they will live a new way, a different way, not like those who do not have faith. Rather than “trying to fit in” or sinking to their level, we should seek to bring them into a faith relationship with Jesus.

1 Peter 2:12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

There should be no doubt in the minds of others that you are a Christian. Let them see Jesus in you by the way you live.

Matthew 5:14–16 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Years ago I heard a story about old Jack and old John, two board members of the same Church who were always at odds with each other. They were constantly at each other’s throat, especially in board meetings. When one of them said “yea,” you could be assured that the other would say “nay.” So, one day old Jack dies and arrives at the pearly gate. He notices how St. Peter asks everyone a question before they were admitted. When it was his turn, St. Peter said: “Hi Jack, to see if you qualify for heaven, I need to ask you to spell “Jesus” for me.” “That’s easy,” says Jack, “J-E-S-U-S.” Peter said: “great, you’re in, but could you do me a small favor and take over here for a while; I just need to check on something. I’ll be back.” Jack didn’t mind and asked everyone in line to spell Jesus. Just then, old John was coming through the line. “What are you doing here?” asked old John. Said Jack; “O, I am just filling in for St. Peter asking everybody to spell a word before they can pass through.” So John says,  “Okay, what’s the word?” Jack said: “spell Albuquerque!”

Harboring a grudge is something we all know about. It is also something we should not do. When he taught His disciples to pray, Jesus added these words:

Matthew 6:14–15  For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Jesus wanted to stress the importance of forgiving each other, those who sin against you. He was not saying you have to earn your forgiveness by forgiving others. He would earn forgiveness for everyone with His life, suffering and death. What He was trying to teach us is that the refusal to forgive others is a sin that could keep you from being forgiven.

I have people who have done me wrong. Some hurt members of my family deeply. Others have cheated and stolen from me. Still others have falsely accused me of things. I felt strong anger towards these individuals and held onto it for a while. But I forgave them, whether they asked me to do so or not. That does not mean I excuse what they did. I just chose to let it go. I didn’t want to carry that burden around the rest of my life. And something else I did (and continue to do) is pray for them. When something happens to remind me of what those individuals did, I use that as an opportunity to pray that they have repented and are in a right relationship with Jesus. It is hard to remain angry with someone when you are praying for them. I truly want them to be forgiven by God. That is the forgiveness that really matters.

Is there someone you need to forgive and pray for today?

Last week I wrote about God using ordinary things like water, wine, bread and words to make Himself known and give us good things. I wanted to share some more thoughts about God’s use of words. Since we are considering words and language and how God uses them, I want you to think about the difference between abstract and concrete terms.

Abstract terms refer to ideas or concepts. For example, “good” is an abstract term. It is a common, familiar word, one we use every day. We recognize the word and therefore we assume that we understand what it means. But that may not be accurate. The meaning changes depending upon who is using the term and in what context. Someone might say, “Your children are so good” and mean that they are intelligent, well-behaved and a pleasure to be around. Someone else might describe an evening of over-drinking and illicit sex by saying, “We had a good time.”  And the meaning of good in that case is not at all the same.

Or consider the word “freedom.” The word is familiar enough, but if you say, “I want freedom,” what are you talking about? A teenager might mean he wants his own car. An overworked woman might mean she wants a vacation. Some people will say they want their freedom and mean they want a divorce. For others it means self-employment, to be debt free. For some it may mean they want their clothes to be loose fitting, but for others it means they want to be delivered from slavery and tyranny. The meaning of freedom is not constant.

That is how it is with abstract terms. Ideas and concepts are not uniform. Does that mean we should not use abstract terms? Of course not—we need them. We need to talk about ideas and concepts, and we need words that represent them. But we must understand how imprecise their meanings can be, how easily they can be understood differently by people in differing situations.

Concrete terms refer to objects or events that are observable and can be known by our senses. They are the opposite of abstract terms, which not observable or knowable with our senses. Examples of concrete terms are stapler, table, nose ring, red, hot. Because these terms refer to objects or events we can see or hear or feel or taste or smell, their meanings are fairly stable. If you ask me what I mean by the word spoon, I can pick up a spoon and show it to you. You can’t do that with an abstract. I can’t pick up a freedom or a good and show it to you. I can hold and measure sand, but I cannot give you a box of responsibility. (Sand is a concrete term, responsibility is an abstract).

While abstract terms like love change meaning with time and circumstances, concrete terms like hot pretty much stay the same. Table and puppy mean the same to you now as they did when you were four.

I have a purpose in taking you through this little discourse on abstract and concrete terms. In Jesus, we have the abstract Word made concrete for us. “In the beginning was the Word” is abstract, an idea, a concept. But “The Word became flesh and lived among us” is concrete and real and knowable and touchable.

John 1:14 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.

That is a description of the Word of God becoming real for us. The Word became flesh. God wanted us to understand Him and know Him and experience His love so much that He made His Word one of us. God took His Word, His promise, all of His Will for us and made them knowable and understandable when His Word became flesh. And in Him, we have seen the depth of God’s love.

The One who came to make God known would show us the extent of God’s love by taking our place in punishment and by that action pay the penalty our sins deserve, freeing us from condemnation.

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. ” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

God used His Word made flesh to give us what we don’t deserve – forgiveness, peace, life everlasting.

Jesus is the abstract word made concrete for us. God’s use of words is pretty impressive.

(Part of the discussion on abstract and concrete was found at http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/composition/abstract.htm in an article by John Friedlander, associate professor in the English department at Southwest Tennessee Community College. )

I have never been terribly interested in Astronomy. I thoroughly enjoy sitting out at night, away from city lights, looking at the unnumbered twinkling lights and marveling. But as far as being able to name and locate constellations and such, that just isn’t my thing. I do appreciate those who take interest in this, though, and share their discoveries with those of us who are less interested.

Cheryl and I were recently in the Davis Mountains. Two months before our trip I booked a “Star Party” at the McDonald Observatory just outside of Ft. Davis.  Unfortunately it was completely cloudy the night we were to look out the telescopes, which evidently doesn’t happen very often. Bummer. We were really looking forward to it. At least they said they would issue us a refund.

While I don’t take time to find and locate all the constellations, it is still fascinating. As I said earlier, I marvel at their beauty. And I know the one who made them all. Have you ever noticed in Genesis that the creation of the stars was announced as though it was not that big of a deal.

Genesis 1:16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.

Oh, yeah, He made the stars, too. But don’t think they are unimportant. Stars are mentioned throughout Scripture. Like when God was talking to Abraham.

Genesis 15:5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

Amos affirmed that the Lord made the stars by mentioning some constellations.

Amos 5:8 he who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns blackness into dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land— the Lord is his name—

When I observe the stars, I find myself in agreement with that fellow who wrote Psalm 8.

Psalm 8:3–4 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

There are hundreds of references to stars, and they are mentioned in most of the books of the Bible. But perhaps the one you know best is the star that led the Magi to the true star of Bethlehem, Jesus.

Matthew 2:2 “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”

The one who made all the things, including the heavenly lights, used one of them to herald the birth of the Savior of all people. (There is a fascinating documentary about this star by Rick Larson entitled “The Star of Bethlehem” that is well worth watching.)

Many people look to the stars and astrology for answers about their lives. They would be much better looking to the one who made the stars, because He alone has the answers that we need. He used a star to lead us to Jesus, who would provide the solution to sin for everyone.

On the Sundays in Lent this year, I want to share with you some hymns for this season of the year that help me in my preparation for Easter. We’ll start with “Jesus I Will Ponder Now.”

It speaks of the Passion, the suffering Jesus endured in order to make payment for the sins of the world. It wants us to recognize just how horrible it was for Jesus to endure the burden of the sins of all people, including our own. The goal is that we would repent and receive the benefit of all Jesus did, living with the confidence of forgiveness for His sake. This should also result in our striving to live each day in grateful response, turning from sin and to our loving Savior.

Jesus, I will ponder now On Thy holy Passion;
With Thy Spirit me endow For such meditation.
Grant that I in love and faith May the image cherish
Of Thy suffering, pain, and death That I may not perish.

Make me see Thy great distress, Anguish and affliction,
Bonds and stripes and wretchedness And Thy crucifixion;
Make me see how scourge and rod, Spear and nails, did wound Thee,
How for man Thou diedst, O God, Who with thorns had crowned Thee.

Yet, O Lord, not thus alone Make me see Thy Passion,
But its cause to me make known And its termination.
Ah! I also and my sin Wrought Thy deep affliction;
This indeed the cause hath been Of Thy crucifixion.

Grant that I Thy Passion view With repentant grieving
Nor Thee crucify anew By unholy living.
How could I refuse to shun Every sinful pleasure
Since for me God’s only Son Suffered without measure?

If my sins give me alarm And my conscience grieve me,
Let Thy cross me fear disarm, Peace of conscience give me
Grant that I may trust in Thee And Thy holy Passion.
If His Son so loveth me, God must have compassion.

Grant that I may willingly Bear with Thee my crosses,
Learning humbleness of Thee, Peace mid pain and losses.
May I give Thee love for love! Hear me, O my Savior,
That I may in heaven above Sing Thy praise forever.

(The Lutheran Hymnal #140)
Pondering the Passion of our Lord is a worthwhile endeavor.

Read the following sentences and think about what they mean.

• A woman without her man is nothing.
• A woman: without her, man is nothing.
• The man dropped the bullet in his mouth.
• The man dropped, the bullet in his mouth.

We communicate with words, but we don’t always to a good job of it. Sometimes the meaning of the words is uncertain – it can change depending on the way they are said or punctuated. Think about the two words “Yeah, right.” They could be an affirmation that something is true and correct. But if said sarcastically, they would mean the exact opposite. Language can be imprecise at times, leading to misunderstandings, but it is still the most effective means we have of communicating with each other.

Have you ever wondered why God chose language as the way to communicate His Good News to us? God conveys His message of love and a Savior to us with verbs and nouns, adverbs and adjectives, tenses and grammar, sentences and syntax, paragraphs and punctuation and parts of speech. Did you ever stop to think about why God did it that way? Maybe not. Maybe even now you are thinking, “If He didn’t tell us, how would we know?”

Language is a powerful tool, an integral part of our lives. It conveys thoughts, explains, describes, reveals, clarifies. We use words to make ourselves known, to share our heart, to express what we are feeling. We use words in order to understand the world around us when we listen and read. We express ourselves and get the perspective of others with the use of words.

God wanted to make Himself known to us. He wanted us to understand who He is, how much He loves us and what He wants for us. So He used words. But He took it a step further, as John explains.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ” (John 1:1–3)

The name applied to the second person of the Trinity here, the one we usually call “Jesus,” is “The Word.” Jesus came into this world to be the Word of the Father now in flesh appearing. He was sent here to explain and clarify and reveal God.

2 Corinthians 4:6 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.

God came down to us as the Word made Flesh to help us understand who He is, His love for us, and to accomplish what was needed for us to live with Him forever. And that is exactly what He did. The words of the Bible tell us about that. The Word made Flesh is how we best understand what God has done. He was trying to be precise.

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

I’ll share some further thoughts on God’s use of Words sometime next week.

Think about how way we encounter our God in worship. He comes to us through seemingly plain, simple, ordinary things: Word and Water, Bread and Wine. Both Baptism and Communion are nothing less than a mystery and a miracle. These Sacraments are truly awe-inspiring and demanding of faith. In Baptism, God connects simple water with the power of His Word and declares us cleansed of our sin. We are His children and heirs of eternal life. We are baptized, not were baptized, and thus are called to live a new life, reflecting our status as His forgiven children each and every day.

In Holy Communion, we celebrate the mystery and miracle of Christ’s true and very real presence among us: the presence of bread and also the body of Christ, the presence of wine and also the blood of Christ. There is a hymn in The Lutheran Service Book entitled “What is this bread?” That unleavened, pressed and seemingly tasteless wafer used by many for Communion is indeed still bread. And yet, in the upper room on the eve of Passover, Jesus took some similar, unleavened bread, broke it, gave it to His disciples to eat and said, “This is my body!” Yes, the same body beaten and broken on Calvary’s hill as the sacrifice for our sins. The power of God’s Word gives that to us in this meal.

The hymn goes on to ask, “What is this Wine?” If it looks like wine and tastes like wine and smells like wine, it must be wine, and so it is. And yet in that same upper room Jesus declared, “This is my blood, shed for you.”  Indeed, the same blood that flowed freely from His head as a crown of thorns was placed there, the same blood that hours later flowed from His hands and feet as nails pierced them, the same blood that flowed from His side when pierced by a sword, the blood that was the sacrifice for our sin – that is what Jesus gives to us in this sacred meal. The hymn goes on, “Yet is God here? Oh, yes! By Word and promise clear. In mouth and soul He makes us whole – Christ truly present in this meal. Oh, taste and see – the Lord is real.” (LSB 629:4)

The Lord is with us in a unique and special way through ordinary bread and wine. Christ’s real presence. A mystery and a miracle! In this Sacrament God is the one doing something. He is giving, we simply receive. God uses ordinary bread and wine to accomplish the extraordinary. He gives us what Jesus earned.

“Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? ” (1 Corinthians 10:16)

Bread and Wine are used for eating and drinking. That is something we need to do every day. Our bodies need to be fed, they need regular physical nourishment.The eating and drinking we do in this sacred meal remind us that we need spiritual nourishment as well, and that is what God gives us. His Word connected to these ordinary things makes them extraordinary. They become a means through which He gives us His love, His forgiveness, the assurance of life everlasting.

There is so much more that God does through these ordinary elements that we cannot cover it all at once. But let me point out just two more things today.

“Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. ” (1 Corinthians 10:17)

Communion binds us together, not just to Jesus but to each other. We have the comfort and assurance of knowing that we are united not only with all those communing with us physically, but also with all believers in Christ throughout the world and those who are already with Him in heaven.

Another element of this sacred meal comes from these words:

For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (1 Corinthians 11:26)

These words take us right back to the cross. As you approach the altar, each of you is preaching a powerful sermon. You are saying to everyone who sees you, “I believe that Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, died for me and a world of sinners. I believe that I am worthy to receive His body and blood with the bread and the wine only because of what Jesus did for me at Calvary. I believe that His love for me is nothing short of a miracle, even a mystery! I believe that God is doing tremendous and powe         rful things for me through His Word connected to ordinary bread and wine. ”

Is this for me? I am forgiven and set free! I do believe That I receive His very body and His blood. Oh, taste and see – the Lord is good.  LSB 629:5