What's you favorite way to say, "Thank you"? Flowers? A card? A gift? The words alone? What's your favorite way to be thanked? Are the two the same?
Food and affection are two of my favorite ways both to thank and be thanked, but it depends on the person. Our congregation recently received quite a large gift of money from a relative of some of our members. I didn't send the donor food, and since he lives in another state, I couldn't give him a hug. I probably wouldn't have done that, anyway. I simply wrote him a letter suggesting the possible effects his gift might have on the congregation and its ministries.
Which reminds me: one of the ways that I say "Thank you" to God is through my gifts to the church and others who can put the money I give to use in the service of others. And one of the ways I might say "Thank you" to God for some new thing I have been able to purchase is to use it for the benefit of God's work in the world. For example, when our family got our new "media center" computer a couple of years ago, the first "media thing" I did on it was to make a DVD for a worship service. I didn't really plan it that way; it just happened. Granted, I have a calling that makes things like that more likely to happen, but it could happen to others, too.
You buy a new car, and the first thing you do with it is give someone a ride to the doctor's office who doesn't have a car of their own. You buy a new video game console, and first thing you do is to share it with your youth group. I had a counsin who used to invite Bible college students out to their lake cabin. There are certainly a lot of ways one can say "Thank You"--to God and to anyone else who happens to have blessed your day.
Blessings to you.
John
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
MIRACLES HAPPEN AS WE DO OUR JOBS
They're calling it "Miracle on the Hudson," the landing of a United Airways plane safely in the Hudson River after its engines were disabled by birds in flight. The captain is being hailed as a hero; he maintains he was just doing his job. That's often the way it goes.
Healing events that would have been considered miraculous even fifty (perhaps even twenty) years ago happen routinely today because doctors, nurses and researchers do the work they were trained to do. Mental illness that once may have been labeled as demon possession can now often be miraculously treated with drugs and/or therapy. A runner's pair of amazing prosthetic legs caused a stir when they were deemed an unfair advantage by his opponents. Just as it was said of Jesus, the blind receive sight, the lame walk, and the sick are healed, all because of people who day after day, simply do their jobs.
Certainly the unexplainable continues to happen: the untreatable illness that suddenly disappears, the unavoidable collision that is avoided, etc. But miracles large and small also happen when people like you and me use the gifts God has given us and the roles God has give us to do the work God has called us to do.
You see, we are God's hands in this world. We were put here to do God's holy work in the midst of God's creation. It's a miracle, they say, every time a baby is born. But it's a miracle, too, when you think of it, every time that same little child grows up to be a happy, healthy, responsible adult, because of the gentle guidance of a loving parent or guardian. It may have been a miracle that that airliner landed in the Hudson, but it's also a miracle that more such emergency landings do not occur--a miracle due in no small part to the skills practiced by those who design, build, test, maintain, inspect, fly and guide those planes. Sometimes it seems a miracle that one can put a teenager through a drivers'-training course and have him/her come out able to guide a ton of metal, plastic and rubber safely down the road. All too soon I will have to trust that the miracle will, indeed, occur for our own children, through the work of someone who is just doing his/her job.
So thank God for the unexplainable miracles, to be sure, but also for those that happen through the ordinary work that you, I, and others do day after day, with the miraculous help of God.
Healing events that would have been considered miraculous even fifty (perhaps even twenty) years ago happen routinely today because doctors, nurses and researchers do the work they were trained to do. Mental illness that once may have been labeled as demon possession can now often be miraculously treated with drugs and/or therapy. A runner's pair of amazing prosthetic legs caused a stir when they were deemed an unfair advantage by his opponents. Just as it was said of Jesus, the blind receive sight, the lame walk, and the sick are healed, all because of people who day after day, simply do their jobs.
Certainly the unexplainable continues to happen: the untreatable illness that suddenly disappears, the unavoidable collision that is avoided, etc. But miracles large and small also happen when people like you and me use the gifts God has given us and the roles God has give us to do the work God has called us to do.
You see, we are God's hands in this world. We were put here to do God's holy work in the midst of God's creation. It's a miracle, they say, every time a baby is born. But it's a miracle, too, when you think of it, every time that same little child grows up to be a happy, healthy, responsible adult, because of the gentle guidance of a loving parent or guardian. It may have been a miracle that that airliner landed in the Hudson, but it's also a miracle that more such emergency landings do not occur--a miracle due in no small part to the skills practiced by those who design, build, test, maintain, inspect, fly and guide those planes. Sometimes it seems a miracle that one can put a teenager through a drivers'-training course and have him/her come out able to guide a ton of metal, plastic and rubber safely down the road. All too soon I will have to trust that the miracle will, indeed, occur for our own children, through the work of someone who is just doing his/her job.
So thank God for the unexplainable miracles, to be sure, but also for those that happen through the ordinary work that you, I, and others do day after day, with the miraculous help of God.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
AN OPPORTUNITY FOR WITNESS
We buried a young man from our congregation today who leaves behind a wife and four children. It was cancer and its effects that claimed his life. Because he had been attending another congregation in town, I wasn't the one who had to lead the service. I'm glad, actually. The other pastor obviously knew the man better than I did. He even added some Lutheran touches, at my request. Besides, some of the circumstances hit a little too close to home--like a son age seven, the same age I was when my own father died.
What can one say under those circumstances? What can one say to comfort the mourning? What can one say to reassure a family who has suffered so untimely a loss of a husband, a father, a brother, a son? Three things stand out for me as one who was priviledged to be an observor. First, the pastor and others testified to the faith of the man. He did not ask why--at least out loud. He did not express fear. He did express his love for his family and his Lord. Secondly, there was talk of heaven, and the wonderful things awaiting those who die believing in Jesus. Third, there was talk of the love and support available here on earth from family and friends who surrounded the family with a blanket of caring.
Around four hundred people attended the funeral. Around three hundred attended the prayer service last night. All heard words of assurance proclaimed in Jesus' name. They heard, as well, an invitation to renew their faith in Christ. It makes one wonder if this death was planned as an opportunity for witness in ways that are often not possible while someone is alive. Surely it shows how instances of loss and sorrow can be used as opportunities for witness, just as Jesus used the death of his friend Lazarus as an opportunity to witness to the power of his Father in heaven to raise the dead to new life.
Just as surely, if such a sad occasion can be used to glorify God, we who are fortunate not to be mourning can use every opportunity available to us to glorify the one who gives us every blessing we experience here on earth, even as he promises life everlasting with him in heaven. It's sad that such opportunities should so often escape us in this life--that we should so often let them slip through our fingers.
I'd like to think that my own death should be an opportunity for people to witness to the power of almighty God. How much better, though, if I should take the opportunity to use my life as a witness, as well. While I still have it.
Blessings,
John
What can one say under those circumstances? What can one say to comfort the mourning? What can one say to reassure a family who has suffered so untimely a loss of a husband, a father, a brother, a son? Three things stand out for me as one who was priviledged to be an observor. First, the pastor and others testified to the faith of the man. He did not ask why--at least out loud. He did not express fear. He did express his love for his family and his Lord. Secondly, there was talk of heaven, and the wonderful things awaiting those who die believing in Jesus. Third, there was talk of the love and support available here on earth from family and friends who surrounded the family with a blanket of caring.
Around four hundred people attended the funeral. Around three hundred attended the prayer service last night. All heard words of assurance proclaimed in Jesus' name. They heard, as well, an invitation to renew their faith in Christ. It makes one wonder if this death was planned as an opportunity for witness in ways that are often not possible while someone is alive. Surely it shows how instances of loss and sorrow can be used as opportunities for witness, just as Jesus used the death of his friend Lazarus as an opportunity to witness to the power of his Father in heaven to raise the dead to new life.
Just as surely, if such a sad occasion can be used to glorify God, we who are fortunate not to be mourning can use every opportunity available to us to glorify the one who gives us every blessing we experience here on earth, even as he promises life everlasting with him in heaven. It's sad that such opportunities should so often escape us in this life--that we should so often let them slip through our fingers.
I'd like to think that my own death should be an opportunity for people to witness to the power of almighty God. How much better, though, if I should take the opportunity to use my life as a witness, as well. While I still have it.
Blessings,
John
Monday, February 2, 2009
THREE WORDS CAN CONQUER A DEMON
In one of the first stories in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus casts a demon out of a man with just seven words: "Be silent and come out of him" (Mark 1:25). Now, seven is a biblical number symbolizing completion. You might say, then, that Jesus completely drove the demon away. However, I have a three-word sentence that also is potent against demons. Three is also a biblical number, and one that symbolizes the wholeness and relationship of God to Godself in Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Those three words are, "I love you."
Of course, you may not want to use those three words with just anyone. They tend to work best with family members or people you really care about. Think of what would happen if in the middle of a brutal argument with your spouse, one of you were to stop for a moment and say those three words: "I love you." What would happen to the argument?
Or suppose your teenage daughter gets mad, because you won't let her use the car, and she runs to her room screaming, "I hate you!" And you holler back, "I love you!" What might that do to those demons running rampant inside her young body that even she doesn't completely understand?
What about others? Well, I suppose you have to be careful. When the class bully, standing six feet four and weighing 240 pounds, comes looking for you, you might not want to tell him you love him. On the other hand, those three words could just send him running for cover! Or to tell the principal. In which case you might have some explaining to do.
There are other situations, though, where showing a little love might not hurt. One woman actually told me that she didn't believe that God loved her. I called my wife to my side and rebuked the demon of doubt within that woman by turning to John 3:16 and by taking her to the baptismal font to renew God's promise of love and commitment to her.
On another occasion, a young woman told me that she was pregnant by a boyfriend who didn't want anything more to do with her or the baby. It's an all-too-common occurrance. We talked; she wept; we prayed. She wondered aloud how she could have messed up so badly. I wanted to tell her that I loved her, not as another "boyfriend" might, which would have been wrong, but as a parent would, or a fellow Christian traveling on life's bumpy road. Instead, as I prepared to leave, I asked if it would okay if I hugged her. Even that's not always the smartest thing to do these days, but I did it, anyway. She said yes; we hugged; she wept again, and I told her that God loved her, a safer and even more powerful sentence under the circumstances. One has to mean it, of course. It can't be something that you just throw out there. But neither can the other three words.
Last night I had a dream. I was talking to a local businessman who seemed at the time somehow possessed by an unscrupulous demon, when I was moved to utter those three little words: "I love you." Suddenly stuff started to ooze out of him. It was weird! It was a dream, of course.
If the situation doesn't allow you to actually tell someone you love him/her, simply doing something nice can work just as well. Paul suggested responding to your enemies by giving them food and something to drink if they happen to be hungry or thristy, thereby heaping hot coals upon their heads (Romans 12:20). Nothing says "I love you"--to a man, anyway--like a good, hot meal or a glass of cold water (or some other cold beverage) offered on a hot day. And there is probably little that could drive a demon so wild, as it tries to figure out why you're being so doggone kind!
Remember these things, then, the next time you are confronted by someone with a demon.
Blessings,
John
Of course, you may not want to use those three words with just anyone. They tend to work best with family members or people you really care about. Think of what would happen if in the middle of a brutal argument with your spouse, one of you were to stop for a moment and say those three words: "I love you." What would happen to the argument?
Or suppose your teenage daughter gets mad, because you won't let her use the car, and she runs to her room screaming, "I hate you!" And you holler back, "I love you!" What might that do to those demons running rampant inside her young body that even she doesn't completely understand?
What about others? Well, I suppose you have to be careful. When the class bully, standing six feet four and weighing 240 pounds, comes looking for you, you might not want to tell him you love him. On the other hand, those three words could just send him running for cover! Or to tell the principal. In which case you might have some explaining to do.
There are other situations, though, where showing a little love might not hurt. One woman actually told me that she didn't believe that God loved her. I called my wife to my side and rebuked the demon of doubt within that woman by turning to John 3:16 and by taking her to the baptismal font to renew God's promise of love and commitment to her.
On another occasion, a young woman told me that she was pregnant by a boyfriend who didn't want anything more to do with her or the baby. It's an all-too-common occurrance. We talked; she wept; we prayed. She wondered aloud how she could have messed up so badly. I wanted to tell her that I loved her, not as another "boyfriend" might, which would have been wrong, but as a parent would, or a fellow Christian traveling on life's bumpy road. Instead, as I prepared to leave, I asked if it would okay if I hugged her. Even that's not always the smartest thing to do these days, but I did it, anyway. She said yes; we hugged; she wept again, and I told her that God loved her, a safer and even more powerful sentence under the circumstances. One has to mean it, of course. It can't be something that you just throw out there. But neither can the other three words.
Last night I had a dream. I was talking to a local businessman who seemed at the time somehow possessed by an unscrupulous demon, when I was moved to utter those three little words: "I love you." Suddenly stuff started to ooze out of him. It was weird! It was a dream, of course.
If the situation doesn't allow you to actually tell someone you love him/her, simply doing something nice can work just as well. Paul suggested responding to your enemies by giving them food and something to drink if they happen to be hungry or thristy, thereby heaping hot coals upon their heads (Romans 12:20). Nothing says "I love you"--to a man, anyway--like a good, hot meal or a glass of cold water (or some other cold beverage) offered on a hot day. And there is probably little that could drive a demon so wild, as it tries to figure out why you're being so doggone kind!
Remember these things, then, the next time you are confronted by someone with a demon.
Blessings,
John
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