Tag: Life Everlasting

MIRACLE OF ALL MIRACLES

As Christians we are supernaturalists. We acknowledge that there are dimensions of reality that transcend the material universe. In fact, it may perhaps be that the “dark matter” and “dark energy” of modern quantum physics and cosmology are indications of what ancient people simply referred to as the “spirit domain” or the “heavenly realm.” In any case, Christians hold to the reality of the Spirit of the Eternal and Almighty God who transcends and infuses all that is, both seen and unseen. Therefore, we profess and assert that our existence is simultaneously natural and supernatural, material and ethereal, physical and metaphysical.

In his book Miracles, C.S. Lewis wrote the following: “The central miracle asserted by Christians is the Incarnation. They say that God became Man. Every other miracle prepares for this, or exhibits this, or results from this.” In other words, the Eternal became temporal; the Heavenly became earthly; the Immortal became mortal; the Imperishable One became perishable for a time for our sake. That is, God the Son became a man so that we might become sons and daughters of God. Such a mystery of mysteries! A wonder of wonders! The miracle of all miracles!

Thanks be to God we are heading into the time of year when we commemorate the birth of the One: the Messiah of God who is our peace, and who inspires and empowers our ‘grace-fullness’ and ‘peace-fullness’ in the world. It is the commemoration of the First Advent of Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Christ) over two thousand years ago; the One who is Yeshua Ben David (Jesus the Son of David), Yeshua Ben Miriam (Jesus the Son of Mary), and Yeshua Ben Elohim (Jesus the Son of God)…

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David [Bethlehem] a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

(Luke 2:10-14)

This is GOOD NEWS indeed! It fuels true joy and peace, just like Simeon of Jerusalem, who was devout and looked forward to the consolation and restoration of Israel. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that “he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.” So, guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the Jerusalem Temple, and when Joseph and Mary brought in the child Jesus to do for him what was customary under the biblical law of the Torah, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God…

“Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”

(Luke 2:29-32)

Like Simeon, may we also be filled with this inner peace and joy as we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the perfect Almighty God redeems an imperfect humanity. For we have forgiveness of sins and life everlasting in, with and through Jesus our Savior! He is our salvation, the Light of the World (John 8:12), so let us pray and seek and work for a more peaceable world in the name of our Lord Yeshua.

Good Advent & Merry Christmas!!! Pastor Tim

CROSSES OF ASHES

The Church Season of Lent starts with the words “Remember that you are dust…”

On the day we call Ash Wednesday, we hear this annual reminder of our mortality in order to encourage us to turn toward God in self-reflection and repentance. In addition, this special day begins our annual spiritual journey of increased devotion in preparation for the coming of Holy Week and Easter. And of course, the seventh Sunday following Ash Wednesday is Easter Sunday, which celebrates the glorious good news of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I have to say that there’s something truly amazing about Ash Wednesday; something deeply compelling that draws us together for a special midweek service every single year. It’s more than just religious observance, and somehow more than just the beginning of Lent, because what we do and say on this special Wednesday has power. There’s gospel power for our souls when we receive the imposition of ashes on our foreheads and the proclamation of those solemn words, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

With this simple phrase on Ash Wednesday, we are reminded that we are mortal. Or as a very matter-of-fact social media post I’ve seen states, “We all came here by birth and we all will leave here by death.” Or in traditional poetic terms, we say we are “Ashes to ashes and dust to dust.” And as if hearing this were not enough, these words are literally rubbed into our faces! With an ashen cross upon our foreheads, our mortality is strangely visible for all to see, including for ourselves in the mirror — and all of this seems like bad news. So how is there gospel power for us on Ash Wednesday? How is there good news in all of this?

Firstly, we need to begin with the ancient past, with the Christian theology that we and the entire universe are intelligently designed and created by Almighty God. In other words, the universal scrambled eggs of the Big Bang did not just unscramble themselves without the cosmic fine-tuning of God over the eons. In fact, every fundamental constant of our universe (from the very first moment of the Big Bang) needed to be exactly tuned for all matter and life to exist. If anything was off by even the smallest infinitesimal degree, then we and all life would not exist. Therefore, the “dust” of our ancient beginnings is not a cosmic fluke. It was and is orchestrated, and fine-tuned on a razor’s edge, to produce the beautifully complex universe in which all life can flourish. So our lives are 100% wonderfully-made gifts from God, nothing less.

As the late Pope Benedict XVI famously wrote: “We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary.”

Because the energy, matter, space and time of the universe are continually shaped and molded by God our Supreme Maker, this means that our ancient evolutionary dust is a sacred and holy dust. And God’s grace and love from before the beginning of this universal creation shall carry us through our physical disintegration and death unto an immortal embodiment beyond this present life.

Secondly, these ashes on Ash Wednesday are not just randomly smeared on our foreheads without design. They are intentionally placed on us in the form of a cross. Therefore, with the symbol of the cross on our flesh, we mortals are connected with the eternal love of God expressed on Good Friday and the eternal life of God revealed on Easter Sunday. On Ash Wednesday we remember the promise that, just as we have come from cosmic stardust to occupy this mortal life, we shall also arise from the dust of death unto glorious immortality with Jesus our Savior and Lord! Yes, to dust we shall return, but THROUGH this dust and ashes we shall rise up to life everlasting in Jesus Christ!

Consequently, crosses of ashes on our foreheads are actually good news for us. Crosses of ashes point us toward the love and life of God, both at the beginning of all things and at the end of all things — from the Alpha to the Omega, from everlasting to everlasting. And crosses of ashes remind us that, because of this wonderful good news, we are called to self-reflect, repent, and to turn toward the Lord more fully in our daily lives.

The good news of Ash Wednesday centers on God’s love that is at the very heart of the entire cosmos itself, and that is most fully revealed through the cross and empty tomb of Jesus our Savior. So as an ashen cross is smeared upon your forehead, let this be a sacred occasion to return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful.

Blessed Lent to all of you!  Pastor Tim

AN ECUMENICAL PEOPLE OF GOD

While staying with our son, daughter-in-law and grandkids this past August, we were able to see many of our national shrines and memorials in Washington DC and the surrounding area. We were blessed to be able to visit the giant obelisk monument to the Father of our Country, George Washington, at the National Mall area. We also visited Mount Vernon, George Washington’s beloved home in Alexandria VA, of which he famously said, “I’d rather be at Mount Vernon with a friend or two about me, than to be attended at the Seat of Government by the Officers of State and the Representatives of every Power in Europe.” We were also able to see the Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Capitol Building, the Supreme Court, the Smithsonian Museum of American History (which displays the actual Star-Spangled Banner of our national anthem), and the Smithsonian Museum of Air & Space. In addition, we visited the US Naval Academy and harbor area of Annapolis MD, and we saw Fort McHenry (of Star-Spangled banner fame) in Baltimore.

As we traveled around these amazing historical sites, one thing I took note of was the fact that our national founding (although imperfect) was deeply rooted in biblical faith. However, our Founders made sure that our establishment was nonsectarian. While they repeatedly appealed to God in our founding documents (speaking of our “Creator” and our “Lord”), and while they regularly addressed God in our founding traditions (Congressional prayer, oaths of office, and so on), they also made sure that there would be no establishment of a state-run religious denomination. Therefore, I observed during our trip a clear Judeo-Christian rootedness on display at all of our national shrines and memorials, but this was accompanied by a clear interdenominational, nonsectarian and ecumenical emphasis according to the clear direction of our Founders.

By the way, the word “ecumenical” (oikoumene in Greek) literally means “the whole inhabitable earth” — but it refers to the concept that the entire Christian Church of all its various denominations should work together to develop closer relationships and to promote Christian unity according to the biblical High Priestly Prayer of Jesus in John, chapter 17, verses 20-26.

So all of this stuff got me thinking about our ecumenical relations right here where we live as Mt. Olive Lutheran Church. I think of Via De Cristo (VDC), the spiritual retreat ministry our congregation participates in. While it’s mostly a retreat ministry involving Lutherans, rooted in the covenantal and sacramental theology of the Lutheran branch of Christianity, VDC also draws in people from many different denominations of our Lord’s Holy Church. I also think about the Lift Up Crescenta Valley ecumenical association we are a part of, as well as all the various ecumenical partnerships we support like the Bailey Human Care Center.

Like the ark of the Prophet Noah and the fishing boat of the Apostle Peter, all the denominations of the Christian Faith constitute the holy life raft for all believers and followers of Jesus Christ in a world deluged with the floodwaters of hopelessness and spiritual death. In fact, the Christian ecumenical movement is often symbolized by a boat, representing that all the people of all the denominations of the Church of Jesus Christ are in the same spiritual boat together.

So essentially, the various branches of the Christian Church are UNITED IN THE ESSENTIALS of our Christian Faith: 1) Jesus of Nazareth was and is more than a man, even much more than a prophet or priest or king, 2) Jesus is the only-begotten divine Son of God, 3) Jesus freely gave of himself in sacrificial love to be the once-and-for-all-time offering of atonement for our sins, 4) Jesus was crucified, was dead, was buried, then he rose from the grave and ascended into heaven, 5) Jesus is our Lord and Savior, 6) We proclaim the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life by the blood of Jesus, and 7) We do good works of lovingkindness and service in the name of Jesus. However, we also have DIVERSITY IN THE NON-ESSENTIALS of our Christian Life: that is, diversity of denominational practices related to sacraments, ordination, worship, piety, organizational structures, etc.

Therefore, as the various branches of the Christian Church have diversity in the non-essentials but unity in the essentials, we should also have CHARITY IN ALL THINGS. We can have a joyful and charitable spirit with one another as we agree to disagree regarding the non-essentials, because we share together in the all-surpassing seven Christian essentials I listed above.

“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one — I in them and you in me — so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:22-23)

Together in Christ,  Pastor Tim