Permit The LORD To Deliver You

As noted in my previous post, the devil has a multitude of weapons with which to tempt and lead us away from faith and trust in God and into misbelief, despair and eternal death. This is why the LORD Jesus instructs us to pray and to pray specifically, "deliver us from the evil one" (Matt. 6:13). The challenge is for us to allow the LORD to do the delivering, as indeed He always will. A Biblical story from 2 Kings 18-19 serves to illustrate this important fact about our prayers for deliverance. 

Hezekiah was a descendant of Israel's great King David and reigned over Judah toward the end of the 8th century B.C., during the time when the Assyrian empire was consolidating its control of Palestine and Syria. In spite of his father's pledged loyalty to Assyria, King Hezekiah led a rebellion against the Assyrians and gained the support of the Egyptians. Of course, Assyria under King Sennacherib (705-681 B.C.) returned to retake Judah. Sennacherib finally put down the rebellion in 701 B.C., overrunning Judah and taking 46 of its walled cities. 

Hezekiah sought to spare Jerusalem from capture by paying a heavy tribute of gold and silver to the Assyrians. This was in vain. The Assyrians demanded unconditional surrender and moved on the city. This is where the story really picks up. Sennacherib's emissaries came to Jerusalem, threatening Hezekiah and the people in the city, mocking their trust in the LORD, the God of Israel: 

And the Rabshakeh said to Hezekiah's emissaries, "Say to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? Behold, you are trusting now in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. . . Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master's servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? Moreover, is it without the LORD that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it! . . . "Thus says the king (Sennacherib): ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my hand. Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria’" - 2Ki 18:19-29 ESV

This taunt was Sennacherib's fatal mistake. It is always Satan's error and one we must take to heart again and again. Temptations to doubt, to follow the desires of our sinful hearts or the wishes of the sinful world will always come. We will be attacked. We cannot fight them alone. In that hour remember again the Apostle's instructions to put on the full armor: truth, righteousness, Gospel of peace, faith, salvation and the Word of God (Eph. 6:11-12). When the LORD arises to battle the devil must flee. And then remember this story as an illustration of what the LORD is able to do. 

By challenging the Lord of all creation, the Assyrian king found himself like an ant challenging an elephant. God's comforting words to King Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah were these: 

"Say to your master, 'Thus says the LORD: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.'" - 2Ki 19:6-7 ESV

King Hezekiah prayed fervently for the LORD to deliver them. The LORD spoke further through Isaiah: 

"Whom have you mocked and reviled? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes to the heights? Against the Holy One of Israel! . . . "Have you not heard that I determined it long ago? I planned from days of old what now I bring to pass, that you should turn fortified cities into heaps of ruins . . . But I know your sitting down and your going out and coming in, and your raging against me. Because you have raged against me and your complacency has come into my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will turn you back on the way by which you came. . . . By the way that he came, by the same he (Sennacherib) shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the LORD. - 2Ki 19:22, 25, 27-28, 33 ESV

That night, an angel of the Lord struck down 185,000 in the Assyrian camp. Jerusalem was spared. The Assyrians had to retreat. When Sennacherib returned home to Nineveh, as he was worshiping in the house of the Assyrian god of agriculture, Nisroch, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place. - 2Ki 19:37 ESV

As we have seen, the LORD permits Satan and his forces to attack us. He puts us to the test. Will we or will we not put our entire trust in Him? If we learn to do that, then Satan and his forces will be defeated. The LORD Jesus taught us that when the devil attacked him in the wilderness at the beginning of his public ministry (Matt. 4:1-11)

Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'" Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. - Mat 4:10-11 ESV

We have the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. We have the shield of faith and we have the sure promises of our LORD, promises that Satan sought to twist and misuse when he tempted Jesus. 

For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. - Psa 91:11-12 ESV

Make No Mistake, The Devil Is Real

The final petition in our LORD's prayer asks not merely for deliverance from some vague general evil in this world, but specifically for deliverance from the evil one. So we read in the NKJV, NLT, NIV, ASV and HNV.

And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.

Of course there are those who reject the very thought of the evil one or the Devil. For instance, Dherbs.com confidently announces,

The Devil really only exists in the mind, the mind of man. The Devil is the concept and construct of man. That's who made the Devil. The mind of man made the Devil (idea and image) just as the mind of man made God (idea and image of).

And again Kevin Williams  webmaster of Near-Death.com, writes,

Evil and the devil do not exist. What people consider evil is really ignorance. Hitler was not an evil man. He was just so incredibly ignorant that he was practically retarded at a spiritual level. Such people are to be pitied and our unconditional love should extended even to him, because it is hard to hate a retarded person. 

Of course, to maintain that position you will have to argue with most of the authors of the Bible as well as the LORD Jesus Himself. Repeatedly Jesus referred to the devil as a real being. Matthew records what Jesus surely shared about what happened at the beginning of his ministry when he "was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil "(Matt. 4:1-11).

At the end of Jesus' ministry, the devil tempted Judas to betray Jesus. Jesus knew it was Judas and said as much to John, who had been urged by Peter to ask Jesus to whom he had referred.

Jesus answered, "It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it." So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "What you are going to do, do quickly." - Jhn 13:26-27 ESV

Judas then went off to tell the plotting priests and Jewish Sanhedrin where Jesus would be found.

This powerful being is the leader of the rebel spirits that seek to control this world. You may find more about Satan and his demonic host in earlier posts and links under The God Of This World. In my post about Lucifer I wrote,

One thing is certain. The devil is real. He is truly the "ruler of this world" and the source of evil, death and rebellion against God. Jesus met him head on when the henchmen of the Sanhedrin captured Jesus and dragged him to their mock trial. He said, "But this is your hour, and the power of darkness"(Luke 22:53). The ruler of this world had no claim on Jesus, of course (John 14:30). In that hour that same ruler was defeated on the cross. And now we who have been called to faith in Jesus are delivered "from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of the Father's beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). 

As we await our final deliverance, freedom and resurrection, we continue to pray, "Our Father, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen."

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

Daily bread? Why bread? Why not, say, broccoli or carrots or cake? Why does our LORD teach us to pray, Give us this day our daily bread (Matt. 6:11) ? 

The fourth petition of the prayer our LORD taught us has a history, like everything else in the Bible. It goes back to the Exodus of the Children of Israel from bondage and slavery in Egypt in the 13th century B.C. Once they made it to the wilderness area between Egypt and the promised land they believed they were in big trouble. And they immediately began to complain about it.

And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, "Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger." - Exod. 16:2-3 ESV

The LORD's response to this grumbling disbelief was to "rain bread from heaven" for them. Every day they were to "gather a day's portion"—no more—so that the LORD might test their faith in Him and whether they were willing to walk in His commands. On the sixth day they were to gather twice as much, for on the seventh day they were to rest (Exod. 16:4-7, 21-27).

And what was this strange food that appeared with the morning dew? No one could tell. This is why they said to one another in Hebrew, "Man hu?" What is it?
Moses reply was simple and to the point,

"It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat. This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an , according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.'" - Exod. 16:15-16 ESV 
omer

An omer was equal to a couple quarts in our terms. Some gathered more, some less, but they discovered that whoever gathered much had nothing left over for the next day and whoever gathered little had quite enough nevertheless. Some tried to save it over to the next day, but they soon found that it bred worms and stank. And they also learned that it melted in the sun's heat. So it was a day by day existence. They were completely dependent upon the blessings of the LORD, for there was little else to eat in that wild, deserted area.

Many have offered guesses about Manna, but they remain but guesses. Here is one such, based upon a 2010 NY Times article.

The Bible describes it as being “like coriander seed,” and “white, and its taste was like wafers with honey.” 

But as miraculous as its biblical apparition may seem, manna is real and some chefs have been cooking with it. 

The dozens of varieties of what are called mannas have two things in common. They are sweet and, as in the Bible, they appear as if delivered by providence, without cultivation. 

Most of this manna is either dried plant sap extruded from tiny holes chewed out by almost invisible bugs, or a honeydew excreted by bugs that eat the sap. 

Rarer are the mannas not from sap, including Trehala manna, the sweet-tasting cocoon of the Larinus maculates beetle from Turkey; and manna-lichen (Lecanora esculenta), which occasionally dries up and blows around to form semisweet clouds out of which manna settles into drifts from western Greece to the central Asian steppe. 

Mannas form best in extremely dry climates — like the Middle East’s — where sap oozes at night and dries up in the morning. The favored theory on what the Israelites called manna is the sap of a tamarisk tree. 

In Calabria and Sicily, Italian farmers cut the bark of the flowering ash (Fraxinus ornus) to get the dried sap, the only domesticated form of manna. Italian apothecaries used it for centuries as a laxative, and other mannas have been used for medicinal purposes.

I suppose its OK to claim to know what Manna was. The real point is that it was always there for them throughout the 40 years before they claimed the land promised to Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 13:14-18).

Jesus' prayer for today's bread has all this in mind. More about this in my next post.

CIA—Christians in Action: Your Will Be Done

Just days after the horrific attacks of 9/11, a team of seven CIA agents snuck into northern Afghanistan and began to lay the groundwork for war. Dubbed operation "Jawbreaker," their goal was to take out al Qaeda, break the Taliban, find Osama bin Laden, and kill him. National Geographic Channel has a show about this, CIA Undercover. 

The program is both fascinating and frightening. And I certainly admire the courage and commitment of those in the CIA for the work that they have been doing. Actually I don't want to know what they are doing much of the time. Their work was part of what finally led to the killing of bin Laden as now documented in the 2012 movie, Zero Dark Thirty. 

All this reminds me that we Christians are also in the business of overthrowing an alien and unwanted government. The second petition of the LORD's prayer points to that as we pray, Your Kingdom come! And now in the third petition we repeat the prayer, committing ourselves to carrying out our King's complete overthrow of the god of this world (John 12:31; 16:7-11). "Your will be done!" we pray. 

The will of God is sharply set against the ruler of this world. War is on! And has been on since the Garden of Eden. But the true and rightful Ruler has come among us to make clear that His will was to pay the ransom that has set all of us free. So the Apostle urges his protege, the young pastor Timothy, 

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. - 1Ti 2:1-6 ESV

Keep in touch with headquarters. God will teach you what next to do on the road to a peaceful and quiet life for all mankind. But know also what we are up against. We're winning; that is certain. Satan has lost his power, but the war isn't over—yet. In his second letter Paul writes,

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men. - 2Ti 3:1-9 ESV

Pretty scary stuff indeed, but they will not get very far!

Hang in there. Keep in touch with headquarters each and every day. Do the work assigned to you as God's CIA—Christian in action. Total victory is just around the corner. Meekly and confidently put your trust in the LORD and together we shall inherit the land.

But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace. 

The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him, but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming. The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose way is upright; their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. - Psa 37:11-15 ESV 

Teach Me To Do Your Will, O LORD!

So far in our study of our LORD's prayer we've looked at how He guides us to pray each day that His holy and precious NAME be honored by us and that His kingdom and reign prevail among us. Yet as we pray, we are also aware that we live in a world set against the will of God and under the control of the god of this world. In this regard King David instructs us to pray.

Deliver me from my enemies, O LORD! I have fled to you for refuge. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground! - Psa 143:9-10 ESV

David made many enemies on his road to serving as Israel's greatest king. His enemies came at him from without and from within his kingdom. He never had a time of rest. That's why he said to his son  that it was inappropriate for him to build the proposed temple. David had been a man of war. His son, whose very name means peace, could build it in a time of true peace. David had a will to build, but he had to submit his plan to the will of the LORD.

David said to Solomon, "My son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the LORD my God. But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth. Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies. For his name shall be Solomon (peace), and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. He shall build a house for my name. He shall be my son, and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.' - 1Ch 22:7-10 ESV

As you pray the prayer our Lord Jesus has taught us, follow David's example. Pray that the LORD teach you to do His will not your own. It is pleasing to Him that you desire to do great things for Him and His kingdom. It is most pleasing that you desire to honor His Name and all that He has revealed to us through His Word. Now what does that mean for you specifically? Just as God had a plan for both David and for his son Solomon, so He has a plan for you. So each day pray David's prayer,

"Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!"

 Here are a few guidelines for praying that prayer and for learning the will of God.

• Focus on today. It is useful to map out the future as far as you can see. It is appropriate to make plans, but we never have more than today. So Jesus teaches us to ". . . seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." - Mat 6:33-34 ESV

• Never stop praying to God. So the Apostle teaches, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."- 1Th 5:16-18 ESV

• Keep the eyes of your faith open to what God is doing in your life. When Jesus gave you new birth in Holy Baptism, He also gave you eyes to see, as He taught Nicodemus, Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." - Jhn 3:3 ESV. But now you can see. See Him at work sustaining your faith and others. See Him at work sending His Spirit into the hearts of many. See Him at work expanding His kingdom. See what He is doing through you. 

• Join then in God's work on this day. Following Jesus' example learn to say, "My Father is working until now, and I am working." - John 5:17 ESV. Look about you. You have specific gifts and specific opportunities today. They are before you. Get to work. He will bless you as you submit to His will. 

• And so be at peace. As Jesus teaches, "Tomorrow will be anxious for itself."

The Name Above Every Name

Sometimes I definitely feel that the writings of the Apostle Paul need to be de-coded in order to be understood. And I often feel that I have not quite cracked the code. So it is when I read the first chapter of his letter to the Ephesians where he writes about the mysterious Name of God to which I referred in my previous post, the Name above every name . Listen to what he says.

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. - Eph 1:16-23 ESV

Of Christ, he writes,

He is seated at the Father's right hand in the heavenly places,  far above . . . every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come (Eph. 1:21; Phil. 2:9). 

What does it possibly mean to you and to me that Christ is now seated at the Father's right hand in the heavenly places? And that He is far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named? In what way is that Good News? Are we talking about some place to which Christ was raised and seated? What is the secret code here? About what do we need enlightenment? Permit a little rambling.

In the USA there is currently a huge controversy among citizens and politicians about the National Security Administration's (NSA) surveillance practices. How much information about any or all of us is being collected from the electronic media we all use—including the one on which this is being written? And now much should the government know about us, where we live, what we say, where we go, who our friends are and even what our thoughts and opinions may be? Such knowledge is power and such power may easily be misused or corrupted.

We have all had marketers and various other devious people use the media, seeking (phishing) to obtain information about us, like our bank account numbers, social security numbers and phone numbers, together with any other information about where we live, what we eat, who our friends are and where we have been. This is used to target us with an endless array of ads aimed at getting us to buy this or that product or reveal where we keep our assets and how they may get them from us.

All this information is wrapped up and hidden in my name! That's a ton of information and with that a lot of power. If you have it in your hands you can do whatever you want with me. And many try to do just that, especially if they are able to steal my identity—and all the information wrapped up in my name. With that information you could utterly destroy me and my family.

Now imagine that you have access to every name that is named, both now and yet to be. Imagine that you know all about that information and the people represented by those names. Imagine that you have some super, unlimited, all-powerful computer that easily and immediately provides you with all that information and all those names, enabling you to do whatever and whenever you want. Now multiply that power by a trillion and you have a tiny glimpse of what it means that Jesus is at the Father's right hand in the heavenly places.

And now consider that Jesus is your Big Brother, with full access to the Father by whom all these hings have come into being and for whom all things exist in this age or in that to come. As a reborn member of the family of Jesus, a child of God, a fellow heir with Christ, you are invited to come to the Father unafraid. You are permitted to call this Great Father "Abba! Father!" (Rom. 8:15-17). Ask whatever you will in Jesus' Name, and be assured that He listens carefully and with love to your petitions.

So we are taught to pray, "Father in the heavens, hallowed be Your Name." And with that in our hearts and minds we are confident that He both hears us and is able and ready to answer our prayers and fulfill our every need in the best possible manner. Let His Name indeed be held holy by all of us.

Why God Revealed Himself As Father And Not Mother

In the previous two posts I wrestled with what our Lord Jesus meant by telling us to pray to our Father who is in heaven or in the heavens. That still leaves us with the question of why we pray to our Father and not to our Father/Mother who is in heaven. A couple years ago, while visiting a small Lutheran congregation here in Texas (not Missouri Synod), I heard the pastor lead the congregation in just such a prayer to our Father / Mother ! Needless to say, I abruptly stopped praying with him at that moment.

In a search of the Internet for help in explaining why some of us Lutherans (certainly not all), Roman Catholics, many Evangelicals and the Orthodox churches all agree that God is our Father and not our Mother, I came across a very good article  by Mark Brumley, editor of Ignatius Press's Modern Apologetics Library and the Managing Editor of The Catholic Faith Magazine. I encourage you to read it carefully and prayerfully: WHY GOD IS FATHER AND NOT MOTHER

In the article he corrects

• false claims behind the idea that in calling God Father Jesus was in fact "historically conditioned."
• that we can only speak of God in metaphors, understood as convenient, imaginative ways to describe our experience of God, rather than God Himself. 
• that Christ's teaching and practice compel us to accept inclusive or gender-neutral language for God, even though Christ Himself never explicitly called for it. 

 He goes on to tell us

• why the Bible uses masculine language to begin with
• what the difference is between metaphor and analogy
• what the difference is between fatherhood and motherhood
• why this difference is crucial for the Fatherhood of God
• what is the distinction between God's transcendence and His immanence
• how the doctrine of the Trinity reminds us that God is the Father

His final section deals with why we rejoice to call God our Father, as Jesus taught us. I quote from his article at length. His use of the Biblical word grace is questionable. As a Lutheran I would have to rewrite it, but his point about the Father willing that all be saved is important. Read the entire article yourself and draw your own conclusions.

 Fatherhood of God by Divine Adoption and Regeneration in Christ

We come now to God and humanity. Is God the Father of all mankind? In a sense He is, because He created us and, as we have seen, to create is like fathering a child. Yet God also made rocks, trees and the Crab Nebula. How is He Father of man but not also Father of them? Granted, humans are spiritual, as well as material, beings, which means they are rational beings—capable of knowing and choosing. In this, they more closely resemble God than the rest of visible creation. Nevertheless, human beings, as such, do not share God’s own life, as children share the life of their fathers. Thus, we are not by nature "children of God" in that sense, but mere creatures. And, as a result of sin, we are fallen creatures at that.

Yet Jesus tells His followers to address God as Father (Mt 6:9-13). He says the Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask (Lk 11:13) and that the Spirit of their Father will speak through them in times of persecution (Mt 10:20). He tells His disciples to be merciful as their heavenly Father is merciful (Lk 6:36). He speaks of being "born from above" through baptism and the Holy Spirit (Jn 3:5). On Easter Sunday, He directs Mary Magdalen to tell the other disciples, "I am going to my Father and your Father . . ." (Jn 20:17).

Elsewhere in the New Testament, God is also depicted as Father to Christians. Through Jesus Christ we are more than mere creatures to God; by faith in Him we become the children of God (1 Jn 5:1), sharing in Jesus’ own Divine Sonship, albeit in a created way (Rom 8:29). God is our Father because He is Jesus’ Father (Jn 1:12). What God is for Jesus by nature, He is for us by grace, Divine Adoption (Rom 8:14-17; Gal 4:4-7; Eph 1:5-6), and regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit (Tit 3:5-7).

Behind this language of Divine Adoption and regeneration is the idea that God is our Father because He is the "source" or "origin" of our new life in Christ. He has saved us through Christ and sanctified us in the Spirit. This is clearly more than a metaphor; the analogy with earthly fatherhood is obvious. God is not merely like a father for Christ’s followers; He is really their Father. In fact, God’s Fatherhood is the paradigm of fatherhood. This is why Paul writes in Eph 3:14-15, "For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named . . ." (RNAB). It is not that God the Father is earthly fatherhood writ large; rather, earthly fatherhood is the faint copy of Divine Fatherhood. This is why Jesus says, "Call no man on earth father. For you have but one Father in heaven" (Mt 23:9). In other words, no earthly father should be seen as possessing the fullness of patriarchal authority; that belongs to God the Father. All earthly fatherhood is derivative from Him.

Thus, God is not Father of those who have not received the grace of justification and redemption in the same way as those who have. Yet they remain potentially His children, since the Father wills the salvation of all (1 Tim 2:4) and makes sufficient grace necessary for salvation available to all. God desires that all men become children of the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit, hence the universal mission of the Church (Mt 28:19-20; Mk 16:15; Acts 1:8). We can speak, then, in general terms of God as the Father of all men, inasmuch as He created all men to be His children by grace and makes available to them the means of salvation.

Praying To Our Father In Parallel Universes

A couple years ago I heard a lecture at Texas A&M U. by Dr. Hugh Ross. He was talking about the relationship between the Bible and science on the topic of creation. During his talk he said that Christians have long believed in some kind of a parallel universe. Its called heaven. I like his comment. It fits in with the very popular discussion in science—and science fiction—about parallel or multiple universes. I've touched on the topic frequently in earlier blogs:

• Heaven and parallel universes
• What and where is heaven?
• Where shall we live? 
• After death, paradise
• Glory to God in the highest (angels from heaven)

In the Matthew version of the prayer our Lord taught us, we read:

Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. - Mat 6:9 ESV

Why does our Lord wants us to pray to our Father in heaven. Does heaven also include the possibility of multi-verses or multiple universes? That question is not addressed directly in God's self-revelation other than in a mysterious manner like this:

Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. - Deu 10:14 ESV

"You are the LORD, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. - Neh 9:6 ESV

The Lord's prayer in the original actually says "our Father who is in the heavens (plural). The point made is that our Father is in it all, whether there is one or an infinite number of heavens. And yet He is beyond and outside it all, as Solomon acknowledged when he built his majestic temple.

But who is able to build him a house, since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him? Who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings before him? - 2Ch 2:6 ESV

Scientific studies during the past century have radically broadened our concepts of the universe or universes. So much, so very, very much remains unknown. We have only to read books like The Hidden Reality—Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos by Brian Greene to realize how little we know and how vast creation may be.

And yet . . . Jesus teaches us that this great and eternal Father is our Father and we may approach Him as little children approach their Daddy's, their Papas. This is how Jesus prayed during his final hours in the Garden of Gethsemane as he used the familiar Aramaic word for Daddy.

And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." - Mar 14:36 ESV

And because of Jesus' victory over sin and death we too may now pray to our Father in this most personal and familiar manner, as the Apostle teaches,

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" - Rom 8:15 ESV

And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" - Gal 4:6 ESV

We may indeed be fascinated by the things physicists are opening up for us. There are some cautions as we place their speculations against God's revelation in Holy Scripture, but the descriptions of what there may be remain humbling and mind boggling. This is one of the reasons I remain an avid fan of some science fiction.

And yet there is great comfort in knowing that we may come to this Father, our Father in Christ Jesus, for we are His children. And He listens to and always answers our prayers in the best possible manner. So Jesus teaches,

And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. - Luk 11:9-10 ESV

Pray In Freedom And With Joy

Dear Tim, 

As I told you last week, there are a few words of encouragement I want to pass on to you as a young pastor. This week I want to say something about prayer and as I do, it seems to me that I could go on for days. This is such a huge topic. 

At the outset I do not want you to  be burdened by guilt for your failures in this regard. I would have to join you there, because quite often during my ministry I failed to pray when I should have. Yet we who follow Jesus do so with joy and freedom and not from fear and guilt. Aware of our failings we return to the bottomless well of love and forgiveness in Christ. I keep going back to what the Apostle taught the Colossians. After reminding them that Christ cancelled the record of debts we owe to God he wrote, 

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. - Col 2:16-17 ESV

In our risen Lord, present in His Word and in the Sacraments we have peace and forgiveness at all times. Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of how or when to pray either. The Law does indeed pass judgment upon us in this regard. Our failure to worship and pray is lifted up in the Commandment to remember the Sabbath (Exod. 20:8). Behind the Sabbath laws are all sorts of other laws about when and how to worship and pray to God (Exod. 16:23-27; 31:13-14; Lev. 19:3, 23:3; etc.). These commands rightly judge the old man within us, the old man who wants to get involved in everything but prayer, praise and thanksgiving.

The Jews developed the custom of prayer three times a day. That custom was based upon the three temple services at first light, afternoon and nightfall. In the Psalms, for instance, we read of David observing those three hours.

Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice. - Psa 55:17 ESV

The same was true for pious people like Daniel, even though exiled to Babylon. He got down on his knees three times a day and faced toward Jerusalem to pray and gave thanks before God (Dan. 6:10). The early Jewish Christians also observed these hours of prayer. So we hear of Peter and John going to the temple at noon, the hour of prayer (Acts 3:1). Peter's decision to take the Gospel to the Gentiles arose from his vision while praying at that same hour of the day (Acts 10:9-49).

You and I can learn from these and many other examples, as did the early church. Personally, I was never very good at using one of the many prayer books that are available for pastors with prayers and readings. There are many. You may have your own preference. And yet I've always believed in the importance of prayer. Many have written about prayers in the Bible in great detail. I only encourage you to make prayer a vital part of your ministry. In the next part of this letter I'll have more to say about what to pray for. For today let me share a favorite old prayer, Saint Patrick's Breastplate Prayer

Prayer Upon Arising.  Psalm 5 may added.

I bind unto myself today

The strong Name of the Trinity,

By invocation of the same,

The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this day to me for ever.

By power of faith, Christ's incarnation;

His baptism in the Jordan river;

His death on Cross for my salvation;

His bursting from the spicèd tomb;

His riding up the heavenly way;

His coming at the day of doom;*

I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power

Of the great love of the cherubim;

The sweet 'well done' in judgment hour,

The service of the seraphim,

Confessors' faith, Apostles' word,

The Patriarchs' prayers, the Prophets' scrolls,

All good deeds done unto the Lord,

And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today

The virtues of the starlit heaven,

The glorious sun's life-giving ray,

The whiteness of the moon at even,

The flashing of the lightning free,

The whirling wind's tempestuous shocks,

The stable earth, the deep salt sea,

Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today

The power of God to hold and lead,

His eye to watch, His might to stay,

His ear to hearken to my need.

The wisdom of my God to teach,

His hand to guide, His shield to ward,

The word of God to give me speech,

His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,

The vice that gives temptation force,

The natural lusts that war within,

The hostile men that mar my course;

Or few or many, far or nigh,

In every place and in all hours,

Against their fierce hostility,

I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan's spells and wiles,

Against false words of heresy,

Against the knowledge that defiles,

Against the heart's idolatry,

Against the wizard's evil craft,

Against the death wound and the burning,

The choking wave and the poisoned shaft,

Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,

Christ behind me, Christ before me,

Christ beside me, Christ to win me,

Christ to comfort and restore me.

Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love me,

Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,

The strong Name of the Trinity;

By invocation of the same.

The Three in One, and One in Three,

Of Whom all nature hath creation,

Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:

Praise to the Lord of my salvation,

Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Persecution of Christians Continues Around the World

Last Sunday, many of us worshippers heard our Lord Jesus tell us through the Gospel lesson that we would be persecuted as we go out into the world around us to share the good news of Christ's salvation. 

"If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. ... Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. - Jhn 15:18, 20-21 ESV 

They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. - Jhn 16:2-3 ESV

In the 20th century Christians were driven from their homes and churches and even murdered by the millions. The past 100 years saw more Christians killed than in any previous. 

Here's an article from SHARING, the 2009 Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod's World Relief and Human Care newsletter, providing information on how local churches care and protect persecuted Christians who have fled for their lives.

Van K’Pa*, 10, and his family are Montagnard refugees who came to the U.S. in 2005 traumatized from years of persecution for their Christian faith. Like thousands of other “mountain people” from hill tribes of Vietnam, they resettled in North Carolina, making it the largest Montagnard population outside of Vietnam.  

“They have lost a child, relatives, friends, homeland, culture, and almost all worldly possessions,” wrote Sheila Eichert, Neighborhood Outreach Director for Resurrection Lutheran Church, Charlotte, N.C. Van is one of about 120 refugee children who live within walking distance of outreach centers operated by the church

Following is also one of numerous articles on the website: Persecution.org - International Christian Concern - Your Bridge to the Persecuted Church - The site offers information and opportunities to file petitions for related issues in various countries. There are also opportunities to support families, children, women, and pastors, as well as to help rebuild communities devastated by persecution.

China Orders Closure of House Church in Inner Mongolia  Persecution News:

China Orders Closure of House Church in Inner Mongolia ICC Note: Yet another house church has been forcibly closed by the Religious Affairs Bureau in China. It's possible this closure is part of a larger plan by the Bureau to eradicate house churches across China over the next ten years. The Communist Party requires all churches to join the government controlled "three-self" church. Christians who continue to worship in unregistered churches are technically involved in illegal activity and may be arrested or fined. 

05/11/2013 China (ChinaAid) -Local religious affairs authorities in Inner Mongolia have banned a house church, giving it a deadline to shut down and to register with the local government-sanctioned Three-Self church to participate in its activities.

These and numerous other organizations encourage us to pray for our fellow Christians and support efforts to rescue and support them. The links above will get you started. There are many others offered on the Internet.
  

Who Is The God In Whom We Americans Trust?

As  noted yesterday, I do not plan to participate in any so-called ecumenical National Day of Prayer tomorrow, regardless of where it is located. That's not because I'm unpatriotic or do not believe in prayer. It has to do with more basic beliefs.

We Americans have our own unique religion. That was recognized and lifted up by Robert Bellah's essay, "Civil Religion in America," published in the Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in the winter of 1967. Bellah starts,

While some have argued that Christianity is the national faith, and others that church and synagogue celebrate only the generalized religion of "the American Way of Life," few have realized that there actually exists alongside of and rather clearly differentiated from the churches an elaborate and well-institutionalized civil religion in America. This article argues not only that there is such a thing, but also that this religion—or perhaps better, this religious dimension—has its own seriousness and integrity and requires the same care in understanding that any other religion does.[i]

Writing against the background of President Kennedy's Inaugural address of January 20, 1961, Bellah continues,

It might be countered that the very way in which Kennedy made his references (to God) reveals the essentially vestigial place of religion today. He did not refer to any religion in particular. He did not refer to Jesus Christ, or to Moses, or to the Christian church; certainly he did not refer to the Catholic church. In fact, his only reference was to the concept of God, a word that almost all Americans can accept but that means so many different things to so many different people that it is almost an empty sign. Is this not just another indication that in America religion is considered vaguely to be a good thing, but that people care so little about it that it has lost any content whatever? Isn't Dwight Eisenhower reported to have said "Our government makes no sense unless it is founded in a deeply felt religious faith-and I don't care what it is,"[ii] and isn't that a complete negation of any real religion?

Bellah goes on to quote from Benjamin Franklin's autobiography and George Washington's Farewell Address to point out that religion, particularly the idea of God, played a constitutive role in the thought of the early American statesmen. Then he continues,

What we have, then, from the earliest years of the republic is a collection of beliefs, symbols, and rituals with respect to sacred things and institutionalized in a collectivity. This religion—there seems no other word for it—while not antithetical to and indeed sharing much in common with Christianity, was neither sectarian nor in any specific sense Christian. At a time when the society was overwhelmingly Christian, it seems unlikely that this lack of Christian reference was meant to spare the feelings of the tiny non-Christian minority. Rather, the civil religion expressed what those who set the precedents felt was appropriate under the circumstances. It reflected their private as well as public views. . .  

. . . But the civil religion was not, in the minds of Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, or other leaders, with the exception of a few radicals like Tom Paine, ever felt to be a substitute for Christianity. There was an implicit but quite clear division of function between the civil religion and Christianity.

Read the essay yourself. I think Bellah is correct. We Americans do have a "civil religion" with some fundamental beliefs about us being God's chosen nation with a destiny to preserve and spread democracy in the world. Our president is almost our national high priest whose duty it is to call us as a nation to pray to "God" at least once a year. Further, we believe that "all men are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights" and have a right to equal protection under our laws. We sing "God bless America," and close our political speeches with that same phrase. We even put the phrase "In God we trust" on our money.

But who is this God in whom we trust? 

My allegiance is to but one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And when I pray I am guided by these words of my God, my Savior and my Lord,

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. - Jhn 14:6 ESV

How then can I pray to some other God or gods or join in with those who reject my Lord and God? I shall pray for my nation. I do pray for my nation, but I will not pray to any other god than the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, regardless of what law is passed!

My Questions About National Day Of Prayer

My calendar shows May 2, the first Thursday in May, as National Day of Prayer. I'm all in favor of prayer, but this business of a so-called ecumenical prayer service troubles me. I wonder if you ever think about it like I do. Here's some background.

In 2009 President Obama opted not to have an ecumenical prayer service in the East Room of the White House. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, added that Obama would sign a proclamation to recognize the day. "I think the president understands, in his own life and in his family's life, the role that prayer plays," Gibbs said.

President Truman signed the first National Prayer Day proclamation, and President Reagan made it a permanent occasion. Under President Bush, the day was a political event, confirming a conviction that religion was a core tenet of Republican politics.

In 1775 the Continental Congress allocated a time for prayer in forming a new nation. Over the years, there were calls for a day of prayer, including from President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. On April 17, 1952, President Harry Truman signed a bill proclaiming the National Day of Prayer into law in the United States. President Reagan amended the law in 1988, designating the first Thursday of May each year as the National Day of Prayer.

The National Prayer Committee was formed in the United States in 1972. It went on to create the National Day of Prayer Task Force, with the intended purpose of coordinating events for the National Day of Prayer.

According to the Legal Information Institute, the president shall issue each year a proclamation designating the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups, and as individuals.

Through the efforts of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, more than 35,000 prayer gatherings will be conducted by about 40,000 volunteers across the United States. Several million people are expected to participate in this call to prayer.

So here are my questions—shared also by others I might add.

• Whose God are we praying to when we gather for these ecumenical prayer services? 
• Does it even matter that some do not believe in the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit? 
• Are we Americans praying to God with the understanding that there are many paths to God? 
• Am I being unpatriotic if I choose not to join with others in my community on this National Day of Prayer? 

I don't know what you believe. I'd like to hear. I'll be taking up this topic again tomorrow.

Jesus' Name Of Power

This week I write about Jesus' ascension and return to power and glory at the Father's right hand. But  I want you to understand that I do not write as an academic. You see, I am 78 years old and this weekend the doctors will operate on my heart for the second time in just over four years. Granted, they tell me I'm in relatively good physical condition and that the replacement of my aortic valve stands a 90% + chance of being successful and without complications. Nevertheless, something unforeseen could happen. So I turn to my faith and invite you to meditate with me upon the promises of God's Word that I hold dear.

The Apostles' Creed says, "He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty." As Jesus prepared to leave, He spoke these words to His disciples, "I AM with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). Those are exceedingly comforting words.

Any and every I AM statement Jesus made links Him to the Name of God revealed to Moses on Mt. Sinai.

Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" - Exd 3:13-14 ESV

Some translate: I will be what I will be or I am what I am.

This is the name shared by every person of the Trinity. It is the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Whenever and wherever that Name is invoked, there is power, the power  Jesus demonstrated again and again in His earthly ministry. He is the great I AM who listens to us, identifies with us and answers our every prayer.

The Gospel of John calls Jesus demonstrations of His power signs. The God whose name is I AM, who delivered His people, fed them in the wilderness and brought them into the promised land, is among us, writes the Apostle.

This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. - John 2:11 ESV

Thus I rejoice that Jesus has come among us to free us from anxiety. He is quite capable of caring for me as I face this operation. He is ready to care also for you in every crisis you face today. Ponder with me seven signs John records, signs that point to Jesus' power.

• John 2:1-11 - He turned water into 190 gallons of the best wine. Consider His control over all sources of food, all plants and animals and everything we need to feed, nourish and heal our bodies and bring joy to our hearts. 
• John 4:46-54 - As He healed a nobleman's son, He is ever ready to hear our pleas for help and healing. 
• John 5:1-9 - Even a helpless paralytic was healed at the Bethesda pool. However helpless we feel, Jesus is ready to rescue and restore us. 
• John 6:1-14 - If He could feed over 5,000 with five loaves of bread and two fish, He can surely provide for us this day. 
• John 6:15-21 - As Jesus calmed the storm on the sea of Galilee, so He comes to us in the midst of our extremities to remind us of His presence and power to make everything calm. 
• John 9:1-12 - Jesus healed even a man blind from birth
• John 11:1-44 - And above all, behold how He raised Lazarus from the dead. Here is a wondrous sign to us that we who are in Christ will never die, even though we set aside this body. 

For behold, Jesus rose from the grave Himself! All that I have written above hangs on this. If Christ is not risen, then your and my faith in Christ is empty, pointless and foolish. Everything flows to and follows from this greatest of all signs. When attacked by His earthly contemporaries Jesus said, 

"An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. - Mat 12:39 ESV 

And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. ... An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah." So he left them and departed. - Mat 16:1, 4 ESV

Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, essentially dead and without hope of life (Jonah 1:17). But then the fish vomited him out on dry land. Likewise Jesus was dead and for three days He was in the belly of the earth. But on the third day He rose from the dead. No one can and ever will be able to prove otherwise. As Paul says, 

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. - 1Cr 15:14-20 ESV

This is the same Jesus who meets us all as we gather in His name to worship Him. He is with us to heal our wounds and bind up our broken hearts with His word of forgiveness and His promise to bring us safely to our Father's home. This is my faith as I face yet another operation. This is my comfort amidst all dangers and doubts. I pray that it is yours as well. 

Doubts Are Not Unbelief

Do Christians doubt what they believe? Is doubt the same as not believing at all? Will we Christians ever come to the place where all doubts disappear? In order to deal with these questions I revisit the brief story of the Apostle Thomas, about whom I wrote a year ago. He is called Doubting Thomas with good reason.

Thomas insisted on tangible proof of Jesus' resurrection. Unless he could see and touch the mark of the nails that bound Jesus to his cross and place his hand into his side where the Roman soldier had driven the spear, he would never believe (John 20:25).

When Jesus appeared eight days later and permitted Thomas to do what he demanded, the Lord said to him, "Do not disbelieve, but believe" (John 20:27). And he did. He answered Jesus, "My Lord and my God!"

So back to my question. Are doubts a form of unbelief? And what exactly are we doing when we struggle with doubts? Let's look at some places in the Bible where the actual doubt word is used.

When Joseph's jealous brothers sold him into slavery they needed to convince their father that he was dead, killed and devoured by a wild beast. So they brought Jacob a bloody robe and asked him if this was his son's robe or not? Jacob concluded that it was indeed Joseph's robe and said—according to most translations—"Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces" (Genesis 37:33).  The interesting thing is that the Hebrew text doesn't use a word for doubt. The text repeats the 'torn to pieces' verb twice, intensifying it. This is a way of saying that Jacob believed without doubt that Joseph was dead.

In Matthew's Gospel we read of Peter walking on the water with Jesus in the midst of a raging storm on the inland Sea of Galilee. "But when he saw the wind he was afraid and beginning to sink cried out, 'Lord, save me.'" Jesus did of course give Peter his hand, but he also rebuked him, saying, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt? (Matthew 14:30-31). The Greek verb here is distazoh, a verb that only occurs one more time in the Bible, at the very end of Matthew's Gospel.

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. - Mat 28:16-17 ESV

From this brief study I conclude that there are times when you are so convinced by the evidence that you have absolutely no doubt in your mind and heart. Such was the case of Jacob as he looked upon his son's bloody tunic. He was without doubt. He truly believed that Joseph was dead.

But you can and will have doubts even while you have faith. Peter believed that he saw Jesus out there and that Jesus was indeed walking on the waves. That was why Peter was able, at least for some seconds, to  accept Jesus' invitation to join him and actually walk on the water. However, he took his eyes off Jesus to focus instead upon the wind and the waves. At that moment his experience as a fisherman took over. Walking on water was simply not possible. He was going to drown.

Some of Jesus' disciples were still struggling with the reality of Jesus' resurrection and its implications some 40 days after Easter Sunday. They were unable to absorb and integrate that event into their belief systems. How could all this be so? They believed. They had seen him, heard and talked with him. And they did after all go to Galilee as Jesus had directed. They did kneel before him in worship and adoration. But they had doubts.

And so do we all. It is not wrong or evil or even sinful to have doubts. Jesus our Lord understands this. Whatever your doubts are, admit them. Place them before him as you pray to him. Search your Bible. Open yourself to the guiding of his Spirit. Go to your pastor or a trusted friend in the faith. Let them help you. You will receive help. You will find peace. Jesus promises,

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. - Mat 11:28 ESV

When Being Married Hurts

Making a lifelong commitment is wonderful on your wedding day when you are in love. But then come the difficult days and 'this ain't fun no more'! In truth, divorce and getting out seems the only real alternative. But is it—really? The danger in those moments is to give up. Its not working out. It never will. Its too hard. There has to be another option.


There is. In faith a Christian couple takes hold of this promise: 

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). 

To know is to trust in the promise of the Savior who has redeemed you both. With prayer and the help of fellow believers, perhaps your pastor and maybe even a professional counselor, the pain of your deteriorating relationship can be relieved. New ways of communicating can arise, new understandings. You can learn the meaning of forgiveness and patience.


We who have been married for a long time—in my own case over 50 years—know that it isn't always easy. The pressures and the temptations come from our own selfish and careless desires. They come from the godless and idolatrous world around us. They come from within the Christian community. They even come from our families—all too often, it seems. In those times our hearts scream out, "Get me out of here. Oh God, now!" But it seems that He doesn't hear. He ignores our prayers and leaves us to grapple and struggle with the situation.


Why? We love Him. Why does He leave us? Why doesn't He answer?


In those moments I urge you to take hold of His promise: all things work together for good.  All things? Yes, He is using even this for your good. In those moments we are with Jesus again in the Garden. "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me." The wine was bitter. It was vinegar and He did not want to drink it. "Please, oh Father please. Must I?"


And then came the moment of submission. ". . . nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will" (Matthew 26:39). And in that nevertheless the path to our salvation became secure. He carried the grief of our rebellion and disobedience. He was willing to be separated from His Father. He was ready to endure the hell before Him. He was prepared to die.


That's what marriage is all about. In this relationship we are given, yes, we are gifted with an opportunity to be faithful to that one person in particular whom God has given to us. And in accepting that opportunity we are saying back to God that we believe in Him, that we trust Him. We are acknowledging that He is and always will be faithful to us and to all His children redeemed upon the cross. In marriage we have another opportunity to follow Him, another wondrous opportunity to share His redeeming love. That's why the Apostle writes these words,

"Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband" (Ephesians 5:31-33).

This is the pattern, the template, the model, the design for marriage. There is no other love like this anywhere. In forgiveness and in faith we learn about His love again and again. In forgiving our spouse and in accepting forgiveness for our own stupid failures, we rediscover what Paul writes about. We discover and rediscover time and time again the profound mystery of God loving us in Christ. Nothing, nothing at all can or ever will separate us from that love. This time of trouble cannot. Nor can our failures, our financial or physical distress, not even the danger of death we may have to face (Romans 8:38-39). In His love we discover the power and the strength to commit ourselves to the well being of our spouse and nothing short of death can break that bond.


Yes, I know. I'm speaking about an ideal that is not always there. Marriages, also marriages of Christians break up. Christians divorce. I need to say something about that another day. For now, think about what I have written. 

 

Pray Only To Our Lord

Yesterday we visited the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, a major Roman Catholic place of pilgrimage with the only copy of Michelangelo's Pietà (the original is in the Vatican City). The basilica is also known as a place of miracles. One of the builders of the original church, Louis Guimont, helped build the church despite having severe scoliosis and needing the aid of a crutch. When the church was complete, he was able to walk independently. Subsequent visitors to the church who have prayed have left their canes, crutches and walking aides behind as testament to their healing. The main wall when you first walk into the basilica is now completely covered with crutches.

I do not question the many testimonies to healing. Without a doubt, God reaches out with grace and love to all. As our Lord Jesus said, "For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matthew 5:45). For this we all owe Him our praise and thanks. 


What troubled me as we walked about this magnificent structure, is the encouragement all around to pray not only to St. Anne, but also to a whole crowd of other 'saints', as if they hear our prayers and have some kind of special influence upon our gracious God. Holy Scripture clearly teaches that our prayers are to be directed to God alone and not to the saints. We are indeed encouraged to pray, but nowhere in all of Scripture are we ever taught to pray to anyone other than to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Yet here is a building filled with one altar after another and one chapel after another in which believers are urged to pray to Anne and various other saints rather than most directly and frequently to our Lord.

"All our information concerning the names and lives of Sts. Joachim and Anne, the parents of Mary, is derived from apocryphal literature, the Gospel of the Nativity of Mary, the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew and the Protoevangelium of James. Though the earliest form of the latter, on which directly or indirectly the other two seem to be based, goes back to about A.D. 150, we can hardly accept as beyond doubt its various statements on its sole authority. In the Orient the Protoevangelium had great authority and portions of it were read on the feasts of Mary by the Greeks, Syrians, Copts, and Arabians. In the Occident, however, it was rejected by the Fathers of the Church until its contents were incorporated by Jacobus de Voragine in his "Golden Legend" in the thirteenth century. From that time on the story of St. Anne spread over the West and was amply developed, until St. Anne became one of the most popular saints also of the Latin Church. . . 

"In Canada, where she is the principal patron of the province of Quebec, the shrine of St. Anne de Beaupré is well known. St. Anne is patroness of women in labour; she is represented holding the Blessed Virgin Mary in her lap, who again carries on her arm the child Jesus. She is also patroness of miners, Christ being compared to gold, Mary to silver."

Jesus invites us to come to Him in prayer and promises to hear us. "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," Matthew 11:28. That is encouragement enough. We may indeed rejoice that those who have gone before us to heaven do pray for us. We may find encouragement from the study of their lives, but we must also always be guided by the revealed Word of God. Our prayers belong to Him alone. 

Give Us Tomorrow's Bread

For a variety of reasons I have been anxious and troubled of late. Perhaps it has to do with age. It has nothing to do with health, for the Lord continues to grant me good health. Yet I find myself projecting into the future with such thoughts like, How long have I yet to live? Will I grow ill one day and die from the illness? Will someone have to care for me as my strength ebbs? And other nonsense such as this.

So I return each day to the Lord's Prayer and pray again, "Give us this day our daily bread." Yet as I do so I wonder if I really understand what I am saying. What is this daily bread for which I am asking?

I am quite content with Martin Luther's explanation of daily bread. It is everything that belongs to the needs of the body, such as food, clothing, good weather, health, home, wife, children, good government and so forth. So it was that Joseph invited his brothers to his home to eat bread with him long after they had sold him into slavery and he had become chancellor of Egypt (Genesis 43:24). Bread is all that we need to care for us. My concern is not with what the word bread refers to, but with the fact that I and others find ourselves being anxious and troubled about tomorrow's bread and the bread we'll need years far into the future.

Jesus addressed this in His Sermon when he said,

And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

 "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble (Matthew 6:27-34).

As I read this admonition I thought about the Manna that the Israelites were provided during the 40 years of their wanderings in the wilderness and Paul reminding us that this history was written for our instruction (I Cor. 10:11). One of the things that struck me was that they were forbidden to search for Manna on the seventh day, the Sabbath, the day of rest. Then I recalled that Jesus died on Friday, the sixth day, as He said, "It is finished." He rested from His labor on the seventh day, the Sabbath. From His completed work we have received the bread we need for our journeys. Jesus is our living bread of God come down from heaven (John 6:51).

On the night Jesus was betrayed, as the sixth day began with the setting of the sun, He took bread and gave it to His disciples, saying, "Take eat. This is my body"(Matthew 26:26). In turn, John invites us to reflect on how Jesus fed thousands in the wilderness with a boy's lunch. Later Jesus rebuked the crowds that followed as He said,

"Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on Him God the Father has set His seal" (John 6:27). 

In this faith and with this Word, I return to the prayer and the phrase daily bread. The word daily must refer to the most immediate day before us, the day we are about to come upon. So Luke, using the same Greek phrase, wrote in Acts

"So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis" (Acts 16:11). 

So we may pray to our Father to give us the following day's bread and know with certainty that He will, because we are His children in Christ, the true Bread of life. We are children of the Kingdom. He will take care of tomorrow. On the day before us our Father will provide. We are free to focus upon the troubles and challenges of today. That is all we need to concern ourselves with. Knowing this, anxiety melts away. 

The Blessed 40 Days of Lent

In this next week millions of Christians will begin their 40-day journey toward the celebration of the first and greatest of the Christian festivals, the Feast of the Resurrection. This Feast is so important because, as St. Paul wrote, "If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain." He goes on to point out that he is a false prophet if this is not so. If there is no such thing as a raising of our bodies from death and the grave, we are still guilty as sinners who must answer to God. And those who have died before us have most certainly perished and gone to hell. What pitiful wretches we are. Everything about life is therefore without meaning and the only thing left is to grab as much of life's treasures and pleasures as you can before you die. (1 Corinthians 15:14-19; Ecclesiastes 6:1-12).

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead. That is both our faith and the most irrefutable fact of human history. We challenge anyone, any where to prove otherwise. And we look forward with great eagerness to that day when death, the final enemy, will be destroyed (1 Corinthians 15:20-26).

In preparation for this celebration the Church has encouraged believers from the beginning of the Christian era to set aside 40 days to meditate upon God's Word, pray and fast. Why 40 days? 40 is the number closely connected with cleansing, penitence and preparation for new beginnings. Consider the following:

• When the Lord saw that all mankind had rejected Him, He determined to destroy them all with a great flood. Noah and his family and the animals floated safely upon the waters in the Ark as it rained upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights (Genesis 7:12). The flood continued for another 150 days before the Ark settled on the mountains of Ararat. On the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible. Noah then waited another 40 days before opening a window in the Ark (Genesis 8:6). 
• After Moses led the Children of Israel out of bondage and slavery in Egypt and across the Red Sea, they came to Mount Sinai. The LORD then called Moses up to the mountain and spoke with him for 40 days and nights, giving him instructions about the Tabernacle and its furnishings, the priests and the Sabbath (Exodus 24:12-18). 
• While on the mountain, large numbers of the Israelites gave up their trust in the LORD and in Moses. They forced Moses' brother Aaron to create a golden calf, most likely the Egyptian goddess Hathor, who was represented as a holy cow and considered the goddess of love, sex, fertility, beauty and motherhood. They worshipped this goddess with sacrifices, feasting, music and ribald lust. When Moses came down from the mountain he was filled with anger and called upon the Levites to slaughter the revelers. Some 3,000 died that day. Then Moses returned to the mountain for 40 days, to fast and to plead for the people, fearing especially that the LORD would destroy them all (Exodus 32:1-35). 
• Later Moses sent spies from all the tribes to scout out the promised land for 40 days. This was the land they all longed for. This was the land they hoped to possess (Numbers 13:17-25). 
• Because they rejected the opportunity given to them to take the promised land, the LORD sent the Israelites back into the wilderness for 40 years, one year for each of the 40 days they had explored the land (Numbers 14:33-34). 
• Many years later, the prophet Elijah fled to the wilderness of Sinai after challenging and slaughtering the prophets of the god Baal. Strengthened by an angelic meal, he went on for 40 days to Mount Horeb where he heard anew the voice of the LORD (1 Kings 19:1-18). 
• In perfect obedience to His Father and ours the LORD Jesus, led by the Spirit, went for 40 days into the wilderness to fast and pray. At the end of His fast He hungered and was tempted by Satan to disobey His Father (Matthew 4:1-11). 

 So we follow these great examples and set aside 40 days to ponder our lives here upon this earth, to remember that we also are disobedient sinners and deserve nothing less than the eternal judgment of God. But we also rejoice that our LORD Jesus endured all this for us and lived for us that perfect life of obedience, finally offering up that most precious life for us all and rising again on the third day.

I'll say more about the temptations our LORD endured for us while in the wilderness in the days ahead.