November 1, 2011

What does God do for a living?

Odd question, certainly! But I think it deserves an answer. From day to day, what is God up to? Most people would say that God created the world, and that somehow he will have a hand in the affairs of this planet from time to time. How about in ordinary time? Does he just sit on a throne and listen to his angels sing? Hardly.

Luther referred to God's work in two categories: Alien work and Proper work. It's an artificial distinction to be sure. I am sure God doesn't look at what he does in terms of Alien and Proper work. What Luther meant by God's proper work, is what we would expect God to do. God bless his kids, edifies the church, calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the church. What Luther meant by the alien work of God was the things that we would not expect God to be doing such as raising up nations, bringing down kings, affecting the weather and politics (all that 'secular' stuff). There's no distinction in God's head, this is just a distinction between what we expect God to be doing and what may surprise us with God's engagements in his world. Believers come to expect the first one and are surprised by the second one. So, lets look at that second one: God's alien work (as Luther called it). There is a very strong biblical precedent for this.

In Isaiah 45 God calls a pagan king his "chosen one" (which is" messiah" in Hebrew - recognize that word?) This is not a believer, in fact twice in this passage God says that Cyrus doesn't even know who God is! And yet, God calls him his "messiah" or "chosen one." God is choosing Cyrus to accomplish something in the so-called "secular" realm that will ultimately bless his people Israel. Scripture says that God holds the right hand of Cyrus to subdue nations, disarm kings, and open doors before him. In other words, Cyrus conquered that entire region with the help of Israel's God. God says of Cyrus, "I will go before you and level mountains. Bronze doors I will shatter and iron bars I will hack through. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stashed away in secret places, so you may recognize that I am the Lord." And then he says, "For the sake of my servant Jacob Israel, my chosen one, I call you by name." God has two purposes here: 1) God wants Cyrus to acknowledge him and 2) God wants to provide for Israel his chosen. That's the goal. To get to those goals, God empowers a pagan king to conquer nations and subdue kings.

Here’s the point God is working where we might not expect Him to be working.  It isn’t “alien” to God to work there, it’s “alien” to our way of thinking of God.  From God’s point of view it is all his “proper” work, it’s what he should quite naturally be doing every day of the week. 

So here’s the second point:  What is God doing now, around you, in your city and nation, in the world where He is hardly known at all?   Two things:  1) making Himself known  and 2) blessing his people.  So take a look around you and consider what hand God may be holding right now.  God doesn’t act alone.  He is holding someone’s hand to accomplish something.  You probably can only see the hand of someone doing something really wonderful.  And you probably cannot see God holding that hand to accomplish great things through them  (we tend to be blind to God holding someone’s hand when something wonderful is accomplished).    Give honor and glory to God today, for what He is doing in the world that you call “secular.” 

This is what FAITH is all about:  seeing the world differently than everyone else does.  You can see God holding someone's hand whereas everyone else can only see the human hand doing wonderful things. 

October 1, 2011

So," walk by faith and not by sight"

Remember that phrase? Paul said that to the Corinthians. He's asking them to look at things differently than they currently are. Currently, they see clearly there are differences in their community. Differences defined in part by who baptized each member, differences in the gifting of the various members, differences between weak and strong, etc. That's what it is like to walk by what you see. What differences do you see in people with whom you live, work, and walk? Some have a short fuse, others infinite patience; some have strong opinions and others are more reserved; some live a comfortable lifestyle, others struggle to put food on the table; some like classical music, others can't stand that stuff. ALL of us have things about us that cause us to differ from others around us.

Usually we walk by sight: we choose our friends on the basis of what we like and dislike. We consider it vital to know who's a democrat and who is a republican. We express our opinions and "friend" or "unfriend" those on Facebook based upon our personal opinions. We even choose the church we attend based upon our likes and dislikes (can't stand rock music, you say?). That's what it is like to walk by sight.

What would happen if we decided to rather walk by faith instead of sight? What if we did not choose our church by it's music, preaching, programs, architecture, landscaping, etc, and rather chose them because of the mission they were called to? What if we chose our friends on the basis of what THEY need and not what we want? What would happen if you chose your home on the basis of where you were most needed, not based upon convenience or comfort? It would be a whole new world, wouldn't it?

As I look across the landscape of life, I get the feeling that there are precious few Christians who walk by faith. They are certainly Christian, no question about that. The question has to do with the walk they have chosen. And on that score, I can't say that I am much different than all the rest. I can't say that I am any more faithful than the others I walk with. This is as much a challenge for me as it is for you!

August 1, 2011

Faith is a way of seeing.

In His Grip,

Pastor Mike

March 20, 2011

We are in the middle of the Lenten season, Easter is coming on April 24th this year.  As you probably know, the traditional themes of Lent are things like reflection, contrition, repentance, self-examination, spiritual renewal & disciplines.  I hope you will take the time to consider some of these themes during these 40 days of Lent.  One of them that I would like to highlight here is the spiritual discipline of giving, and tithing in particular. 

We call it a “spiritual” discipline because the primary result of tithing is a spiritual renewal in your daily walk with Jesus.  If you primarily think of offerings as a way to pay the bills at church, you are missing the blessing of this spiritual discipline!   Offerings do go to cover bills and help the poor, to supply the needs of ministry, extend the kingdom through missionary efforts, planting new churches, and a long, long list of other benefits.  A small portion of every dollar you give goes to directly aid impoverished people all over the world, but this is not the main reason that giving is central to the Christian faith.  It’s really a matter of being a Faithful Servant of the Lord Jesus.  Our Lord calls us to give.  You will find that all through the scriptures, parables and stories, letters to churches, history and poem, all speak to being a Faithful Servant.  I am not a pastor because it’s a great job.  I am a pastor because that is how God has called me to faithfulness.  It is first and foremost all about being faithful.  It is just the same for you as it is for me.  A tithe is an expression of our faithfulness to God.  In the early church a tithe wasn’t just a monetary contribution, tithing extended to everything, 10% of my time,  10% of my talent, and 10% of my treasure (including but not limited to monetary offerings to God). 

And scripture is very clear that there is a reward for tithing.  In Malachi God calls Israel to bring in the whole tithe and then says, “”Test me in this, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.  I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit.  Then the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.”  (Malachi 3:10)   You tithe, and the NATION gets blessed!  What a deal!   It’s the only place in the bible where God commands us to test him like this.  He doesn’t say, “jump off a cliff.”  He doesn’t say, “surrender all you have.”   But he did say, “bring in the whole tithe . . . and test me in this.”   He wants to show himself to you as a God who blesses your socks off!   He does most of his blessing without anything on our part.  Life, health and daily food are all his blessing.  But the tithe is a special kind of blessing.  It comes to you in many non-monetary ways, that you can measure in quality of life, health, wellbeing, prosperity, and the WORLD will recognize your blessings as a result!   No guarantees of being a millionaire as a result of tithing, it’s much better than that.  It’s peace, happiness, contentment, sufficiency, and greater responsibility in His kingdom.  

That last one (responsibility) is an important result of our faithful service:  according to the parable of the 10 talents, the reward for their service (and they gave 100% back to the Lord, not just 10%)   was increased responsibility, meaning their ministry expanded 10 fold!  Want to see things explode at Zion?   Tithe!  God will bless it. 

For some of you it would be difficult to immediately begin tithing, though not entirely impossible.  So often the church leaders talk of “stepping up to a tithe.”   Bishop Rogness is often spoken of this at conference and synod meetings.  “Stepping up” means making a plan to increase our giving incrementally each year until we reach the tithe, just like we plan in so many other areas of our life.  We can make a plan for our offerings to reach a tithe in 5 years.  That is one way of demonstrating our faithfulness as Servants of a living God.  And there are abundant rewards to those who tithe.  It’s actually an adventure, tithe and see what God will do.  “To the Tithe and beyond,”  as Buzz Lightyear would say ( if he were a pastor and not an cartoon astronaut).  Are you ready to step up “to the tithe and beyond?"

February 3rd, 2011

Why Do Church?

Isn't it kind of outmoded in this day and age to keep doing church, especially if it isn't the most contemporary and high tech possible? I am sure you have heard that before. Well, here's a good reason. The church is good for the world.

There are very few organizations today that can give assistance to those in need as cost-effectively as a church. If you want to help the poor, join a church. If you want to feed the hungry, join a church. If you want to help solve world hunger, join a church. Most other charitable agencies have vastly higher overhead costs, even the cost of collecting and managing donations cuts into the budget. Not so with a church. Since churches largely depend on volunteer help the savings are passed on to those in need.

Perhaps you had not thought about it, even your offerings feed the hungry and shelter the poor. Offerings do a lot of things besides keep the lights on. A portion of our offerings goes to Lutheran World Relief. I have a close friend who is the LWF director in Haiti right now. I know where my money is going! And I know she is using it effectively.

Locally, our church has regular fellowship events, usually around a food theme of one variety or another. It's all volunteer labor and all proceeds above the raw cost of the food goes to various community groups like the food shelf and Boy Scouts (among several). Join our church, we will put you to work helping those who need help.

Occasionally we get emergency calls from people who need a helping hand with one thing or another. I am not talking about a handout or meal ticket (our food shelf does that). I mean, help with moving, cleaning, sorting, packing, mowing, etc. We can always help out. If you want to help, join our church! The community will love you for it.

Church isn't just about what you get out of it (and you certainly do get a lot out of it). Church is also about providing a way for you to help out others in need, both here and all over the world. In fact, that is our mission: God's work, Our hands.

Pastor Mike

October 13th, 2010

Technology is moving faster every day! I am amazed at all the devices we depend on every single day. I remember when cell phones weighed a few pounds and resembled a WWII communications set. Now they are amazingly compact! Technology has always lead the way in society. In the early years it was really low tech, how to lap a flint stone into a spear or arrow point. That totally revolutionized the way people lived! It's hard to imagine a world without roads, and the impact when the Romans began actually BUILDING roads. Instantly travel across the empire was a reality, not something left to the imagination. The Roman Garrisons across the empire kept the roads safe, another amazing technological innovation. Early banking systems, trading systems, transport systems, and building techniques radically changed the way people lived their daily lives. AND it had a major impact on the spread of the Gospel, for all those apostles, prophets, teachers, pastors, and evangelists crisscrossing the Roman Empire. They could plant a dozen churches spread across a continent in a very short time.

Today technology continues to provide Christians a way to spread the Gospel through music, video, internet blogs and websites, simulcasts, web streaming, Facebook, Tweets, and dozens of other amazing technologies.

So the question is: How are we managing these new innovations to spread the Good News? Change happens slowly, and it changes the slowest in churches. We become easily accustomed to the way things have always been done. And the challenge of learning a new way to do things just isn't quite as exciting as it is scary. The society around us isn't slowing down! We are! Will there be a church in 100 years? What will it look like? Will it have pews? I rather doubt it.

I have hearing aids now. High tech one's actually. They can't be seen unless you look REALLY close to the clear wire near my ear. They are connected wirelessly to my phone as well. So I can receive a call and talk back without touching my phone! Kind of scary sometimes. Like the day I was in the grocery store and Elaine called me. I was standing in front of the eggnog display when she called. I just started talking. The older woman next to me thought I was talking to her. I politely told her that I was not talking to her, but to my wife. She looked around and there was no one else there as I kept talking. So, she talked to me again. I tried once again to convince her that I was talking to my wife and not to her. She must have thought is was insane!

So it is with new technology. When the church catches on, the rest of the world will be convinced we are crazy (especially those who have not kept up with technological changes). But that is where the church is going, if it is to go anywhere in the future. Can you imagine the Apostle refusing to use the Roman road system to get to Galatia? Inovation! Who needs it? Paul did. And so do we.

February 11th, 2010

This Sunday we are going to talk about the Transfiguration in Luke 9:28. Look at this passage very closely. There were many events in Jesus' life which were reported by the evangelists. In every case there was something theological that Jesus was communicating and the eye witnesses were reporting through the pen of the evangelists. But look at this one very closely: Jesus was discussing his immanent departure with Moses and Elijah. The witnesses were awake during that discussion, (though Luke says they were very sleepy). But apparently the discussion of Jesus' departure didn't register. The experience had overwhelmed all three of them. They report: a spectacular light show! An EXPERIENCE that was out of this world! An ENCOUNTER with dead people. GLORY inexpressible and the VOICE of God. The experience of God's presence superseded everything else. They had an experience. And that was worth reporting.

Have you experienced the presence of God? We usually call this a mountain top experience. There's not much content to report. But there is an amazing encounter with God. Furthermore, Jesus took his three friends along on this experience, not to teach them something but simply so they could experience something. That's worth a LOT. We tend to discount experience and emphasize theological distinctives. If it was important enough to the early christians to remember this experience and talk about this experience, and PREACH about this experience (because the gospel accounts are essentially exerpts of apostolic sermons arranged in story form), it should be important enough for us to do the same. Have you experienced some sort of divine encounter with a Holy God? Tell me about it. Today we are not accustomed to talking about our spiritual experiences and their significance. But in the early church it was worthy sermon material and useful for mutual edification. (as it was also among the Israelites who recounted the wonderful deeds of God throughout history). No theological statement is being made. Just the experience of God's presence.

Pastor Mike

January 26th, 2010

The very first sermon Jesus preached was based upon Isaiah 61:1 (quoting several verses from that chapter). Among other things he came to bind up the broken-hearted and release from darkness for the prisoners. It strikes me that this is also our mission. How many people do you know who are broken and bound up in some kind of darkness? Of one of the women Jesus healed he said that she had been bound by this illness her entire life! Do you know people like that?

There probably isn't a lot you can do to reverse the brokenness or bondage, in many cases. The loss of a loved one for example, hurts all the time. But you can come alongside these friends to offer them comfort and relief. Your prayers for their pain will be answered. Your offer of friendship will remind them that they are not alone in their grief. Very few people in America have someone that close with whom to share their burden. You might be the very first person to ever come to them and set them free from their isolation! You don't have to be a professional counselor to be a good friend. And for most of us, a good friend is all we need!

Pastor Mike

January 7th, 2010

We are nearly done with our visioning process, at the stage where we review all the ministries we currently engage in. The list right now is 60+ events long! Some of them are events that take place once a week, some are once a month, and some are once a year.

It has been amazing to me to see this list develop! I am relatively new around here, having just started here a year ago October. I knew of some of the things people did in ministry. But I had no idea it was this extensive. We have members working with the food shelf, shelters, bible studies of many different kinds, providing meals to those in need, raising funds for dozens of different outside groups, etc. And we are forming many more groups and events to engage members and non-members alike.

Do you like scrabble? We have a group for that. Do you like archery; we have a group for that as well. Perhaps your interest is more cullinary. Boy, have we got groups for you! The idea behind all these types of groups is to find ways of creating community at every level possible. And it's not just for members; it's for the whole community. We want to provide ways for everyone to find new friends and through those friendships to learn what Jesus taught his disciples when he said, "love one another."

Pastor Mike

November 24th, 2009

Our process of visioning continues. In the process we are creating a list of all the ministries that take place in and through Zion each year. Some of these are single events and others are weekly or monthly events and activities. So far the list contains 68 different ministries we are involved in.

Some of these are obvious, such as Sunday morning worship and Sunday School. But there are many that are lesser known, even to our members. We have an Zion archery club, a Scrabble club, a book club, and a card crafting club; all of which are new this year. Free guitar lessons are another new ministry this year! Being so new there are probably a lot of members who have yet to discover these. There are also ministries with unusual names such as Undie Sunday, which is new, donated underwear and socks for men, women and children. And our annual Mitten and Hat Tree in December. The list goes on and on. Soon we will have the list on our website, with contact info, so that you can get involved.

There are so many ways to make a difference in this world, and so many ways to build up the body of Christ. Many of these means of building community are quite new and inovative. I hope you will get a chance to try out several of them in the coming year. There's nothing quite like working together on a project of common interest. And the blessings that come to you through your engagement as well as the blessings that come to those we serve are way beyond what you might expect.

Make a difference in your world. You will not be here forever. But what you do for others will have a lasting impact.

Pastor Mike

October 1st, 2009

This has been a while since I last wrote something here! A LONG time!!! Sorry for the lapse.

We have been doing a lot of planning, concerning our vision or mission. We have come to a conclusion that God is not done with us. We are a work in progress. Our vision has two parts:

1) we are becoming Disciples. This is an ongoing process. While on the one hand we have declared ourselves to be followers of Jesus Christ, we are constantly seeking to follow His lead. We are never at a point where we can just sit down and refuse to budge. Jesus is constantly leading us on. So we are constantly on the move, following Jesus. It is a constant state of transformation.

2) We are becoming Disciples in a changing world. That second part is a tough one. Once-upon-a-time you might have been able to say that the world was rather static or constant. But now the only thing that is constant is change itself! And because of this we are constantly adapting to a changing world around us.

We want to see ourselves in the center of an ever-changing world and following a leader who is constantly on the move as well. What remains constant through all of this is our faith in our leader, Jesus Christ.

Someone once asked Jesus if he could become a follower. Jesus reminded him that "foxes have dens, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." He was constantly on the move and wanted this erstwhile follower to understand that. To follow Jesus means to be constantly on the move. Fortunately, we have a faithful leader to follow!

Pastor Mike

March 1st, 2009

I was just watching a video clip of street interviews asking the question, “If you could talk to God and knew he was listening, what would you say?” One of the more common responses was, “God, why am I here?”

So, what do you think? Why are you here? What is your purpose on earth?

Personally, I want to Glorify God. God does appear to be silent to a lot of people. And I know he is not silent at all, just not always easy to hear with all the noise around me everyday. God does appear to be doing nothing to a lot of people. And I know he is ALIVE and ACTIVE, but in ways I often don’t recognize because it isn’t always very flashy. So I want to Glorify God. That’s why I am here. I want to prove to others that there is a God, he speaks, and he acts.

For Israel, the Glory of the Lord was something they could occasionally see with their own eyes. But most of the time the Glory of God was something you could only see in his believers. Israel proved there was a God by their faith. They trusted that God would bless them, and he did! They trusted that God would help them, and he did! When they lost trust in God, that too reflected upon God and his glory was not seen. When I act in faith it makes God known. Faith is the evidence of things you cannot see. It is not a far stretch from that to believe that faith reveals the invisible.

I believe because I watched my parents trust in God. And I learned from them to trust in God, no matter what. And it made a difference. I hope that my children believe because they see my faith as well. The writer to the Hebrews knew this principle to be true. He listed the heros of the faith from the very beginning. They are examples that we can follow. Their example helps us to see God more clearly. They glorified God.

That’s a good purpose for Zion as well. Zion will glorify God in Cottage Grove. People will see their faith and know there is a God in their midst.

Pastor Mike