September Thoughts

Taken from my monthly newsletter article I write for my parish...

A Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness…

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ @Emmaus -

September is one of my favorite months. Why? Because my favorite season begins in September - Autumn! The air turns cooler; the trees are adorned in their spectacular array of crimson, lemon-yellow, burnt-orange and brown; Jonathan apples are ready at Adrian Orchards; pumpkins reach their fruitful orangey ends; days grow shorter and shadows lengthen; sleeping with the windows open is a breath of fresh air  - I could go on and on and on.

You may say, “That’s all well and great, but honestly pastor, what does this have to do with GOD and church and sin and forgiveness?”

EVERYTHING!!!

GOD created all of this - for you! The spying of a harvest moon, the smell of nights around the bonfire, the good feeling of a hooded sweatshirt, the taste of s’mores, the wonderful sound of the crunch of leaves beneath our feet - all of this is for our great pleasure to enjoy as the children of GOD! Remember, this is First Article stuff here…

What does this mean? I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life. [2nd Chief Part of the Small Catechism, The Apostles’ Creed, 1st Article]

However, as grand and glorious as this seems, it's all tainted by sin. The colors are muted, the smells are stale, the tastes are bland, the touch is rough, the sounds are dissonant - in this fallen world. We are “lost and condemned creatures.” [2nd Chief Part of the Small Catechism, The Apostles’ Creed, 2nd Article]

But the Father redeems His Church through the glory that is His Son Jesus Christ! Through His life lived perfectly for us, not deserving death, but nevertheless receiving it; His miraculous resurrection for us, our eyes, ears, hands, noses and tongues [along with the rest of our bodies!] have been redeemed! One day these will be perfected, when we reach Heaven.

But this happens only for those who believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior.

So how do we receive these good gifts of GOD? Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Who calls you by name to follow Jesus…

What does this mean? I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. . [2nd Chief Part of the Small Catechism, The Apostles’ Creed, 3rd Article]

Remember what St. Pauls says in his first letter to the Corinthians…

“No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.” [12.3b]

So the Holy Spirit calls to us to follow Jesus, and when we do - we have EVERYTHING!!!

Isn’t that wonderful? Just imagine that first Fall in the new Heaven and the New Earth [Revelation 21.1], with our perfected bodies ready to take it all in - AHHHH! Thank you LORD!!!

It is a privilege to be your pastor.

‘Living Out Christ-Centered Lives’ -

Pastor Ray

John 1:29

"Time Stand Still..."

Riding home from church last night, the sun was still shining, however, just below the horizon. The faint remnants of a few wispy clouds brushed across the western sky, shades of pink and goldenrod reflected below, while the cornflower atmosphere above was starting to fade to black as it ran to the east.

I stared out the window reflecting on a day filled with the usual crests and troughs, some good some bad, some merely an annoyance. I gazed across fields and meadows at the splashes of colors in the dying day’s direction, watching some colors washing away, while others intensified…

Suddenly the reverie was broken by the greens and blacks of a fencerow overgrown with trees. The weight of the saturated air mixed with that earthy scent of dirt and leaves was strong and good. The rush of the foliage was quick as we drove within feet of the racing trees. Bits and pieces of the sky beyond made the silhouettes of this bramble look like an old flip-book with its herky-jerky motion.

Then as suddenly as this wall of branches and trunks and greenery had sprung up, it just as quickly vanished, leaving the now darkening horizon pop back into place, same clouds, same sinking sun, seemingly unchanged from the last time it was spied just a quarter mile back. Venus was a hand and a half above the line to the west. She was dazzlingly white as she streaked to the horizon, seeming to gain on the sun it painstakingly and futilely chased.

Another fence row charged up, as if a hunting animal was about to pounce on its prey, then without reason or understanding  deciding to run alongside for a while, pacing its next meal.

Just as mysteriously as it ran up, once again it disappeared without warning, and again the setting sun was visible. The clouds no longer reflected the heavenly glow. Now they were just shadows, painted across a fading light. Stars and planets began to wink in, above and further to the east.

Yet the sky seemed to stand still compared to the swift moving fencerows. As if it were mired in some heavenly quicksand.

It occured to me in that moment, this must be the grand difference between my waxing and waning years.

During my youth, time seemed to drag, as if it were trying to walk through some bog. It took supreme effort to plod through the stumps and weeds and water. Feet sank deeply into the bottom muck, threatening to pull my boots right off with each time-ridden step.

Now older, beginning the twilight years of my life, it seemed that life was moving at a breakneck pace. Children had grown and long since moved out. Grandchildren were beginning to appear. Though my younger years were filled with thrills and fun and laughs, they seem, from this backward glance, to have been shallow. Now that’s not to say in a negative, superficial way. No, these were important and noteworthy as well. But these later years seem to run deeper; the breaths are drawn in great, large, giant inhalations of air that are exhaled slowly and deliberately. What once was a dreaded abhorrence, is now a sought after desire. I want the slowness of my younger years, and yet, I possess the opposite. I blink and a year seemingly flies by.

We are an unsatisfied lot, we humans, we sinners. Nothing is ever good enough. No water slakes our thirst. No meal satisfies our bellies. No taste tickles our taste buds. We are forever complaining that things are too hot, too cold, too little, too much - the list is long and distinguished.

Thanks be to GOD we are saved from this insatiable life by the satible Jesus Christ, Who works to appease the Holy Father with His life lived satisfied, for us. We stand before GOD in our Oliverian clothes and echo, “more please.” Christ also asks for more, but not from the pot of stew simmering in the corner, but from GOD’S Cup of Wrath - meant for you and me. He stands resolute and stalwart in the faith and drinks it down during His life, upon the Cross and in the Tomb, so that by His suffering, pain and death, we might gain heaven itself.

In this life, I’m afraid I will always be unsatisfied to one degree or another. I pray that through the power of the Holy Spirit, I can be more and more satiated by the unfaltering Word of GOD and His precious Sacraments - that bring His forgiveness, life and salvation. LORD help me...

"The Sky is Falling - No Really..."

I just finished reading a blog by Father John Hollowell [ http://on-this-rock.blogspot.com/2018/09/the-battle-of-our-age.html?m=1 ] in regard to how many things, and many people seem to be talking about the the End of the World. From my vantage point, I would agree.

Whether you call it the End Times,  Armageddon, The Final Judgment, or by its more academic and theological name - Eschatology - it seems the thoughts in our heads, that passes our lips and finds fertile soil in others’ ears is the idea that the world is breathing its last, dying gasps; that indeed, Christ is coming, and soon. Many think that He is in the advanced stages of planning His one last descent from Heaven into this world. He is mustering the Angels to send them flying to the four corners of the earth, scythes in hands, ready to separate, at long last, the wheat from the tares. The Angelic trumpeters and choirs are readying their lips and voices that have been hardly used since one cold night in Bethlehem. We seem to be on the brink of the End.

Why does this seem to be on everyone’s lips? Why does it seem that every blog, magazine clipping and journal article is concerned with the End?

The world, for one, seems to be coming unglued. Everywhere you turn there are those “wars and rumors of wars [Matthew 24.6ff].” The persecution of Christians seems to be on the rise. Natural disasters seem to have stepped up. It sure sounds like what the Bible talks about when it speaks of the 2nd Coming.

But it’s not just individual Christians, the Church Herself seems to be caught between the crosshairs in a way that it hasn’t for sometime - right here in the United States. Yes, the Church and her many denominations has been declining for decades in the U.S. However, people in our country are no longer willing to walk away from the Church and let Her be. Now it seems that it is Open Season on hunting the Church down and eradicating Her from every street corner, every neighborhood.

Yes, I do believe we are getting closer and closer to that D-Day, where the visions of Daniel and St. John the Apostle become the realities that is our lives.

But Jesus told us this was coming. St. Luke writes…

25“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” Luke 21

The Disciples knew. We know. Jesus IS coming again. When He does we have nothing to fear for He tells us…

28Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Luke 21

We’ve NOTHING to fear when that Last Day comes. For we are found in Him. We are grafted into Him [Romans 11.11ff]. We abide in Him and He in us [John 15]. We are square with the Father through His Son, Jesus. No, we have nothing to fear. We must remain vigilant, prayerful, intentional, evangelical, ever watchful.

That said, the days ahead for Christians and the Bride of Christ - the Church. We must be prepared for battle, and St. Paul eloquently tells us…

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. [Ephesians 6.10-20].

These wonderful Gifts of the Holy Spirit will see us through to the Last Day. But we must put them on in order to be prepared for the battle. We must be in Christ - prayer, devotion, reading, attending church - these are how we put on the Armor of Christ.