Mission, Storms, Fear and Faith

How many times have you read or heard the account of when Jesus calmed the storm?  (Mark 4:35-41)  I remember studying this in Sunday School, and being amazed at Jesus’ power.  The lesson we usually draw from the disciples’ experience deals with the two natures of Christ – the biblical teaching that Jesus is both true God and true man.  He sleeps, displaying weariness as a trait of his humanity, but he also calms the storm which shows his divine nature. 

As I was re-reading the account this morning, something jumped out at me that I didn’t grab onto before.  The account begins with these words, “That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go over to the other side.’” 

I can’t believe that I blew right past that!  Do you see the significance of this? 

This miracle takes place in the context of Jesus’ mission!  Why go over to the other side of the sea?  Why not keep teaching parables right where Jesus is?  He goes because there are people on the other side who need to hear the good news. (Take a look at chapter 5.  It begins with the exorcism of a Legion of demons from a man who was clearly lost.  That man became the first missionary Jesus sent to tell that whole region what Jesus had done for him.) 

I sometimes wonder why we don’t see the amazing things God used to do in the Bible.  Is it because, as I learned growing up, God just doesn’t work that way anymore?  Could it be that we don’t see what God is doing because we don’t follow the call to, “go over to the other side”? 

Jesus calls us to go with him in faith.  The same faith that allowed Jesus to sleep soundly in the stern of the boat, allows us to “go over” with him and see Him at work in His mission to seek and save the lost.  Perhaps we won’t see Lake Erie go from a pitched storm to glassy calm, but we will see the miracle of hearts coming to life through the power of the Resurrection. 

All too often our eyes get fixed on what we see going on in this world.  We’re on sensory overload, and we can quickly become overwhelmed.  Perhaps a closer look at our Lord going out in mission, sleeping in storm, and then rising up to calm the storm would lead us to be more overwhelmed by Him than by the world. 

It has been a big week here at church.  Monday was our Staff Retreat.  We met at the Hudson Library in where we learned from Pr. Jeff Stephens about living and leading from our strengths.  It was interesting stuff to see how God has blessed us with such a blend of strengths as we serve together as a team. 

Tuesday was Rudy Libertini’s funeral.  Thank you to all of you who brought food for the funeral luncheon.  It is such a blessing for the family to be able to come back to church after the committal to have a time of fellowship before they go their separate ways.  Please keep Bev and the whole family in your prayers. 

Tuesday was also the first day of our new ChristCare leaders training.  Bob Brantsch, Pastor and Ruth Koenig, and Jeff Moeller are all participating in this event.  While Bob, Pastor, and Ruth are leading the bulk of the training, I was excited to learn that some of our current ChristCare group leaders will also help with teaching the new leaders.  What a blessing it is to have so many people who can lead in our congregation!

Please keep Gloria Dei, our participation in Jesus’ mission, and our whole church family in your prayers!

Question to Ponder:

-          If Jesus said, “Let us go over to the other side,” to you, who would you meet?  A neighbor?  Someone you struggle to get along with?  Someone in need?  A sibling?  Pray for God to open your eyes to see who He might use you to reach with His love.

-          Verse 36 points out that Jesus left the crowd behind.  Everyone needs downtime to recharge and refuel mentally, physically, and spiritually.  How do you recharge and refuel?  All three of those areas matter, and please give thought to them all, but give a little extra time to think and pray about how you get refreshed spiritually.

-          When the disciples woke Jesus they asked him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”  (NIV) The original text asks if Jesus cares that they are dying or being destroyed.  When have you felt like you were dying, being destroyed, or like your life was just falling apart?  Did you talk to God about it?  Did you sound like the disciples?  How did God respond to your situation?

-          In verse 40, after Jesus calmed the storm, he asked the disciples, “Why are you cowardly?  Do you not yet have faith?” (Tritten Translation)  Do you ever feel cowardly or timid when it comes to following Jesus?  Have you ever questioned whether you really have faith?  How can confessing fear and lack of faith to God actually make you brave and more faithful?  What is the power of God’s forgiveness in your life? 

-          Fear is a reality of our lives.  What makes you feel afraid?  How does the progression of the disciples fearing the storm, to fearing for their lives, to being terrified asking, “Who is this?” help us overcome our earthly fears?  Is there a proper place for fear in our relationship with God? 

God's Kingdom and Growing Seeds

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Seeing children in church is a great and heartwarming thing.  I love hearing their voices when we pray and sing together.  It was a great blessing to have so many of our Vacation Bible School students with us on Sunday to celebrate the closing of VBS week.  It was a joy to hear them sing and to see them dancing with the songs they learned during the week. 

Our Gospel lesson came to us from Mark 4:30-34, where Jesus told us two parables about the Kingdom of God using images from the garden.  He talked about planting seeds and growing plants; something many of us do as a hobby, but which is truly at the center of our survival.  If farmers fail to plant their crops the seeds don’t sprout and they never reach harvest so we could starve. 

It is an interesting thing that Jesus chooses to use a garden as an image for the Kingdom of God.  When we hear the word “kingdom” we think in terms of political structures.  Kingdoms have kings, queens, princesses and princes.  There are dukes, lords, generals, subjects and servants.  Jesus’ original hearers would have understood these things – perhaps with different titles, but they knew king, emperor, and governor, and they knew they fell in the category of subject and even slave.  But instead of such a political picture, Jesus goes agricultural.  The Kingdom of God is not a dead political system, but a living, life-giving, gathering of those who have God’s Life within them. 

Often when we talk about the Kingdom of God today we think of the Church; and rightly so!  The Church is, in many ways, the visible manifestation of the Kingdom of God on earth.  The only problem with this is that so many of us view the Church more like a political structure than like a place where life thrives, is given, and is sustained.  The Church is seen as a building, the people who gather there as members, and its pastors and officers and the governing body. 

I’d like to challenge us to think a little differently about Church; to take Jesus’ parables to heart as we think about who we are in Him.  Here are some points for us to hold on to:

-          The Kingdom of God and its growth are not things we control.  God is at work, and, as His children, He gives us the privilege of enjoying His work and participating in it. 

-          The Kingdom of God is not a place.  Our congregation is an expression of the Kingdom in our location, but the Kingdom exists wherever people believe in Jesus, including our homes, neighborhoods, and workplaces.  God’s work is done far beyond 2113 Ravenna St., and we get to be part of God’s mission wherever we go. 

-          We are not members of a church as much as we are Jesus’ disciples.  Members choose to join an organization.  As Jesus’ disciples we are people who have had the seed (God’s Word) planted in our hearts so that it grows and gives us new life:  life we can share with others through the power of the Holy Spirit! 

-          The Kingdom of God is large (although it seems insignificant to those who do not believe in Jesus) and it welcomes anyone.  This life that we have is for all people, and we are called to share it, like planting seeds, so all may believe that Jesus has saved them from sin and death.  Which is also how we came to faith: God used someone to plant the seed in us and it has grown to faith which receives all of God’s good gifts. 

We are part of the Kingdom of God!  In the joy of that truth, let’s scatter the seed, sharing the Good News that God loves sinners and welcomes us all under the shadow of the cross. 

Questions to Ponder

-          What challenges you in regard to the Parable of the Seed?  Do you tend to view God’s Kingdom politically or organically?  Is it difficult to think of the powerlessness we have to make God’s Kingdom grow?  Where, ultimately, does growth come from?

-          Mark 4:29 says, “As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”  This is a reference to the Judgment Day.  How does this verse impact the meaning of the previous verses?  What do these passages say about God’s plan and design? 

-          What is going on in your life that is outside of your control?  How can this passage be a comfort to you?  How are you dealing with being “out of control”? 

-          In the Parable of the Mustard Seed, Jesus talks about the smallness of a mustard seed in contrast to the size of a mustard plant.  Part of what He is teaching here speaks to the world’s perception that God’s Kingdom is insignificant, and the reality that it is huge in its size, scope, and power.  Where have you seen that the Kingdom of God is seen as insignificant in the world?  Where have you experienced the greatness of God’s Kingdom? 

-          Jesus speaks of birds resting in the mustard plant’s shade.  We don’t normally welcome birds in our gardens.  What significance does Jesus’ welcome of the birds that we reject have?  How can we be more welcoming? 

-          What is God teaching you about His Kingdom?  Where is He challenging you to grow?  How is He helping you know His grace more profoundly? 

Trinity Sunday - Reflecting on God's Revelation in the Word

This Sunday was Trinity Sunday, which is always the Sunday following Pentecost. 

Trinity Sunday is a bit of an oddity in terms of the church year.  It acts as a hinge where themes change.  

The first half the Church Year (starting at the end of November with Advent) focuses on the life and ministry of Jesus.  In that part of the year we celebrate Christmas, the visit of the Magi, Jesus’ Baptism, His Transfiguration and Easter.  We also observe Epiphany which focuses on how Jesus’ miracles show that He is the savior, and Lent which walks us through Jesus’ sacrificial life culminating with His cross.  

The second half of the Church Year is known as, “The Time of the Church.”  It really begins on Pentecost, when God poured out the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, giving them the ability to proclaim the Gospel to the world.  However, for us to be God’s people, to be the Church, we must know who God is.  So the Sunday after Pentecost focuses exactly here:  Who is God?  What is His nature?  What does He do?  How do we know Him?  The rest of The Time of the Church will focus on our mission and life in Christ and will often revolve around the question:  How, now, shall we live?  

As we wrestle with such questions, we must ask ourselves, “Where will we find our answers?”  We all know that there are many opinions about God out there, and they often conflict and disagree.  Often we seek and find answers by observation and experience.  However, God cannot be known in this way.  The Bible teaches that apart from Christ all people, we included, are, “darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.” (Ephesians 4:18 ESV)  The only way to rightly know God is through His Word.  “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? ¹⁵ And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’ ¹⁶ But they have not all obeyed the gospel.  For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?’ ¹⁷ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:14-17 ESV)

To be sure there are many things in the Bible that are shrouded in mystery:  Creation, the Flood, how the prophets heard God’s voice, why God chose Israel and us, the Incarnation, miracles, and over them all the atonement for sin by Jesus’ death and resurrection.  Yet, these things are written that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, and, by believing, have life in His name.  (John 20:31)  The Word of God makes us wise for salvation through Jesus.  (2 Timothy 3:15)  Indeed, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV)

Ultimately it is in His Word that God makes Himself known to us by the working of the Holy Spirit, and it is a truly Trinitarian action!  He doesn’t always give us the gift to understand, but always calls us to trust.

I want to encourage you to spend some time in God’s Word.  Take 20 minutes and read a letter like Galatians, or a prophet like Joel.  Set aside a few minutes each day to read one of the Gospels.  Pick up Proverbs and wrestle with God’s wisdom.  

The key in this reading is this:  Let God speak.  Let His Word tell you about the reality of life, sin, death, love, salvation, mission, and more.  And pray for the Spirit to open your heart and mind to understand what God says to you, and to all His people.