Nov. 27, 2011 "Happy New Year 2012: Lacking Nothing!"

Happy Thanksgiving! Happy New Year! Last week we spent time looking at all the Lord has done, is doing and will do as we ended the Church Year,  A.D. 2011. Today we celebrate the First Sunday in Advent, our 4 weeks of preparation for the Nativity of our Lord, and the New Year of the Church.  This Sunday we will contemplate the words of St. Paul which he shares with the followers of Jesus Christ in Corinth: 

1 Corinthians 1:3-9

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I always thank God for you because of His grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in Him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

This is an amazing introduction to the church that St. Paul spent 18 months with, as recorded in Acts 18. He shares with them how thankful he is for them! He reminds these Christians, who live in an extremely affluent community that is 5 times the size of Athens and is extremely important because for centuries it has been the city between the ports connecting western Greece with the East, what is truly important. Corinth, this 4 miles of isthmus that when crossed saved 200 miles of sailing from East to West, is a very important city. It was also a very cosmopolitan city with the multiple temples in the market and the Acrocorinth, the hill that historically was known for the worship of many gods, for it is no mistake that one of the Greek verbs for fornicating comes from the name of Corinth. It is said that there were over 1000 prostitutes for the worship in the temple of Aphrodite. I only reference this because as I watched Black Friday with the lines, sales, etc.. pepper spray used in Walmart. I thought we have so much to be thankful for in North America. Probably the way the Corinthians thought of their place in the Empire. From a worldly perspective they had it ALL.

Yet the Apostle Paul brings them back from the contemporary perspective of the world around them, to focus them on the truth of how they should recognize what is really important. More important than the deals on Black Friday, more important than the victory of our U of M Wolverines over Ohio State (I have been waiting for this since I moved here!), more important than even the birth of my first grandson "Levi Timothy Schindel" this afternoon!!! It is hard to imagine that even as I feel so thankful I could bust, the Lord speaks and shares the most important words for us as we enter into the next year of the Church: we have been "ENRICHED" in every way and do not "LACK" any spiritual gifts! We enter into this New Year knowing what Mordecai shared with Esther, (which I read in my devotions this morning) in Esther 4: ¹⁴ For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" This was a huge eyeopening event for Esther. We know that it helped her to do the right thing and gave Esther the opportunity to put things into perspective and appreciate God's plan!

Brothers and sisters do we know that even when we put too much emphasis on those things that seem so important to us from our human, sinful, worldly perspective; because of his love for us, the Lord is constantly calling us to repentance. Today the Lord has given us the opportunity to confess this sin and receive the grace and forgiveness won for us on the Cross of Calvary and freely given to those who belong to God. We can then recognize the privilege of serving him NOW, rejoicing in the opportunity to appreciate and celebrate that we have been enriched in every way and lack nothing as we move forward in HIS ministry. We have the gift of refocusing and prioritizing what is TRULY IMPORTANT! We know we belong to God and believe in his plan and his power because we were created for such a time as this! May we become who the Lord wants us to be and move forward with confidence and boldness knowing we lack nothing and are called to work together as the Lord directs us. St. Paul says that the Lord will keep us STRONG to the end as we eagerly wait for His return. It is fascinating to me that the Lord sent two disciples to get the colt in our Gospel Lesson in Mark 11. He understood the importance of us working together as a family to support one another and see what the Lord will DO! St. Paul reminds us that we are in fellowship with God, as well as one another. He reminds us that "God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son our Lord Jesus Christ, is faithful!" The point is God is faithful and He has called us to this moment to do what He wants to be done and He is faithful to keep us strong and enrich us with all we need! What a way to enter this New Year of the church!
May we pray: "thy kingdom come among us and your will be done on earth, among us, as it is in heaven!"

Nov. 20, 2011 Christ the King: "Those who belong to him!"

Christ the King Sunday is the last Sunday and the New Year's Eve of the Church Year. It is the day to celebrate the truth of the final days! Today we celebrate and contemplate the urgency of Christ's command to be ready for the end and to share the truth with all the time we have left.

St. Paul shares what the essence of this day is in

1 Corinthians 15:20-28

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when He comes, those who belong to Him. Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For He “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under Him, it is clear that this does not include God Himself, who put everything under Christ. When He has done this, then the Son Himself will be made subject to Him who put everything under Him, so that God may be all in all. 

The truth of this text is for us to CELEBRATE that we are the "firstfruits" as St. Paul says we are "those who belong to HIM!" This is why as we gather in this last Sunday we hear of the future, the victory, heaven, judgement and the destruction of Sin, Death and Satan! We look back at what the Lord has done in this last year: new fellowship hall, new small groups, new work with students and our partnership with UCO, gas buy down, many many meals, new color sign on order, 3 full time and one part time paid staff as well as great volunteer staff and so many faithful partners in the gospel! We are the priesthood of all believers and we know the our God reigns!! We look forward to the New Year of the Church and that the Lord has left us here while HE "puts everything under his feet" so that we have more opportunities to build relationships, UP, IN and OUT, knowing Christ and making him known by belonging, believing and becoming who our Lord wants us to be! I am excited to be in ministry here at Cross and Resurrection to see what the Lord has done, is doing and will do! I pray that we look forward, if the Lord doesn't return before next Sunday, to ringing in the Church Year of our Lord 2012 next Sunday! 

May we never forget that the day of victory is coming soon! We will be there celebrating as Jesus states in our Gospel lesson: Matt. 25:46, how those who were hypocrites and did not belong, believe or become will receive punishment in contrast to us who belong to HIM: "the Righteous" "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Praise the Lord! Alleluia! Amen!