Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
"INSTEAD, BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT!" These are the words that will we look at in more depth this Sunday as we see how we are to be "imitators of God therefore as dearly loved children, living a life of love!" We
continue our journey through the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians
and find out that in chapter 5 he is inspired by the Holy Spirit to
write about how we BELONG to GOD as members of the "kingdom of Christ and of God" (Eph 5:5). We are to live as children of the light and expose the darkness. We are to be sanctified and holy. We are to not get drunk with wine which leads to debauchery
(how often do you use the word "debauchery") He is comparing the
satisfaction of a world running after the desires of the flesh "eat,
drink and be merry!" to being filled with the spirit. I guess we should
not be surprised since the disciples were accused of being drunk at 9am
on Pentecost! I guess Jesus must have been joyful and filled with the
spirit when they accused him of being a drunkard and a glutton: "John the Baptist came neither eating nor drinking, and you said, "He has
a demon!" The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you said, "Look a
glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!"
(Matthew 11:18-19, Luke 7:33-34) Some say it was because of who he
associated with drunkard and sinners, this is a reasonable argument but I
often wonder since we are to experience joy in the presence of our God,
that maybe it was his attitude? St. Paul is contrasting Light and
darkness, good and evil, wise and foolish, wine and Spirit. It is
important to be sober but when we compare as we did last week Paul's
letter to the Colossians chapter 3 we recognize the similarities in what
he shares:
1 Since, then, you have been raised with
Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the
right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.5 Put
to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature:
sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is
idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[b] 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But
now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage,
malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here
there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian,
Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. 12 Therefore,
as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with
compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let
the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one
another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual
songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And
whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of
the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
We will look at how St. Paul says we will act and experience being
filled with the Spirit: Ephesians 5: again similar to Col 3...
15 Be very careful, then, how you live —not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. 19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
With Joanne leaving her position as my assistant to do
our restructuring, we were moving pictures around in the narthex
(lobby) this week. Because of this I had room to put my college and
seminary degrees. I also found that my wife had framed my Confirmation
Certificate. It was amazing to remember that day. I did the prayers in
this large packed church and my leg never stopped shaking:) What I
remembered most is how the reverence we had was devoid of outward
enthusiasm. It was frowned upon to say "amen," never allowed to clap,
even smiling after communion was suspect. And NEVER EVER raise your
hands when you pray or sing so as to draw attention to yourself. Our
church was a good pietistic, reverent, Norwegian Lutheran Church. It
always struck me that the Pentecostals had way more fun! We prided
ourselves on respect and tradition but I think it was lacking in zeal
and enthusiasm. I am not judging the faith of my fellow believers. They
were devout faithful believers in Jesus Christ but they would definitely
not be accused of being drunkards or having fun with great enthusiasm
especially at church. The rest of the week, well I don't know?
For this reason I love how Paul seems to contrast the actions
that we are encouraged to participate in when filled with the spirit as
up against being drunk with wine, which the world outside thinks is fun?
May I suggest that once we know WE BELONG and know what it means to
BELIEVE in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior who saves us by his grace
through HIS BLOOD not by what we do but now we BECOME imitators of God
and in our life being wise and finding out what pleases the Lord
we would be enthusiastic in our worship and faith life! Both Ephesians 5
and Colossians 3 help us to remember as we grow UP in our relationship
with God and IN relationships with other believers we will not be able
to help but go OUT with the joy and peace of the Word dwelling in us and
being filled with the joy and power of Christ's Holy Spirit!
Please join me tomorrow at our EMU site at 9:30 to pray and ask
the Lord to allow us to be filled with the Spirit and be filled with
God (EN THEOS)! I think it is a great experience when the Holy Spirit
fills those who worship the Lord and experience HIS REAL PRESENCE in
WORD and SACRAMENT!
A few reminders. With the restructuring we are
accepting names of people who are gifted in Administration for the new
position of Administrator here at Cross and Res. Also please note with
the restructuring and Johannes away this week, please call Paul and I on
our cell phones since Angela is going to be having surgery on Tuesday
and so Paul will be out of the office and I will be happy to take calls
on my cell: 734-474-1626.
Please keep Paula Butler, Nancy Bowling, Tristan (Rosemary and
Jim Fry's grandson) and Gary & Betty Masch and their family,
especially his mother Norma, (as Gary's father passed away in his sleep
last night) in your PRAYERS. Also on Wednesday night many
joined Chris Kleimola, David and James to remember the one year
anniversary of Rachael's entry in the Kingdom of Heaven! Please remember
this family as James is moving to be here on Campus.
Join Paul Knickelbein at the Heritage Festival, he has been there yesterday and today and he will be there tomorrow. He drove the UPward float in the Parade this morning.
Cynthia Weipert has graciously offered to help with the bulletin and announcements, as a volunteer, while we restructure. She can be emailed at cweipert@crossandres.org
Please remember to keep praying for the students that will be coming and if you are here please volunteer to help over the September 1-3 weekend.
We will have a table out front for move in day and we will be doing
many things to interact with the students and their parents as they come
to EMU as Freshmen.
Please keep Wednesday family nights on your calendar as they start in a month...
Please check out the announcements at: www.crossandres.org
May God richly bless you as you grow in your relationship UP, IN and OUT.
Love in Christ who wants us to be filled to overflowing with His Spirit each day,
Pastor Bryan
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