Wednesday, July 3

Out Of The Shadows

 

Psa. 30:4        Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints,

          and give thanks to his holy name.

5      For his anger is but for a moment,

          and his favor is for a lifetime.

      Weeping may tarry for the night,

          but joy comes with the morning.

 

     Rembrandt mastered the technique of using light and shadow in his paintings. One of Rembrandt’s most famous paintings is The Return of the Prodigal Son completed in 1669. To the right stands the older brother with his hands folded in judgment unable to understand and accept the compassion of the father toward his younger son. He cannot comprehend what’s going on. A little to the right of the older son sits a man darkened a bit more in the shadows. He could represent the wisdom of the culture judging the situation. Culturally, a son who would have disowned his father should in no way be welcomed back. Further back and darkened more by the shadows are two figures representing the crowd that was gathered. “What is this father doing? Why would he welcome back this reprobate?”

     Though the shadows and figures within the shadows are a part of the painting, the light is cast on the father and the prodigal son. In the light we see the father’s hands—one larger than the other. The right hand represents the nurturing hand of a mother, and the left represents that of a protective, loving father.

     In the light is also the prodigal son; his clothes worn and ragged, his sandals barely held together. Whatever else is going on in the shadows, it’s the father welcoming back his son that’s in the light. No judgment. No condemnation. Simply forgiveness, love, and compassion.

     God indeed disciplines His people. He doesn’t like sin because it separates Him from His creatures. It wasn’t God’s fault. It was our fault. We created the shadows in which we find ourselves in this world. In God’s anger He needed to pronounce judgment, and because of this there are times we find ourselves in situations where all we can do is lament and repent.

     The final shadow of this world is death and grave. No one can escape this. Even with all the modern medicine and technology available, we will all be engulfed in Death’s shadow.

     As real as this is it’s still merely in the shadow. The night always gives way to the light of the morning. It has to because light is stronger than darkness. From the shadows of suffering and tragedy God shines the Light of Jesus. In the shadow of the cross is the certain life of Christ’s resurrection. Shadow and light come together in Christ Jesus your Lord and Savior. Indeed, this world including you and me, must live under God’s judgment and discipline because of sin and death. Yet as King David proclaims in prayer:

For his anger is but for a moment,

          and his favor is for a lifetime.

      Weeping may tarry for the night,

          but joy comes with the morning.

Monday, July 1

All’s Well

Psalm 30:1        I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up

               and have not let my foes rejoice over me.

 

     Dateline: October 14, 1987. 18-month-old little Jessica McClure, known to the world as Baby Jessica, fell into an uncapped well on her aunt’s property. The well was twenty-two feet deep and only eight inches wide. Would she be found alive? If so, how in the world would they rescue Baby Jessica from such a perilous situation in time? This story made international headlines as for the next fifty-eight hours the world watched and waited on the edge of their seats hoping against hope.

     Oxygen was pumped down the well to keep Baby Jessica alive. The frightened and wailing toddler was comforted as rescuers sang nursery rhymes down the shaft. Fifty-eight hours later, after drilling a parallel shaft, Baby Jessica was brought out alive as the world rejoiced. She was scared, bruised, and scarred, but alive, nonetheless. The rescue was a success.

     King Dave extols the LORD. Why? Well, it’s because the LORD drew him up from the well in which he found himself. There’s a play on words in this verse. ‘Extol’ means to raise or draw up. ‘Drawn up’ is to draw water up from a well. David raises up the LORD in his life because the LORD had drawn up David and rescued him from the deep, dark well of his situation. Both Yhwh and the poet are moving up, but in both actions, the poet is, so to speak, on the bottom, and Yhwh is up top^[1]

     It’s easy to play “Monday morning quarterback” reviewing the Sunday’s plays after the fact. King David is not playing Monday morning quarterback here. As he was in the well David clung to the promises of God. He knew that one way or the other, God would come through. How would God come through? He didn’t know this. But David believed that God would come through. God’s rescue may have been according to David’s prayer, or His rescue might have been a different outcome. Nevertheless, David trusted God.

     When you’re in a deep, dark well you are not alone. God is there in the well with you. He’s comforting you. He’s experiencing the darkness with you. He draws you up. He points you to the ultimate Rescuer Jesus to give you hope.

 

 

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^[1] Timothy E. Saleska, Psalms 1–50, ed. Christopher W. Mitchell, Concordia Commentary (Saint Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2020), 492.

Learn A New Language:

     The readings for Proper 8B (June 30-July 6, 2024) this week have a common thread, and that thread is lamenting. So, what exactly is lamenting? Some might say that it’s whining and complaining. “Just suck it up and deal with it,” might be the advice given to someone who is lamenting. We might say this to ourselves as well. “Just suck it up and deal with it.”

     Well, what is the “it” with which the human must deal? The “it” is the human experience, and more specifically, dealing with the human experience of suffering and pain created and lived out in a fallen, broken, sin-filled world. Things are not as they ought to be. Situations and events happen in this world and in our lives that throw us off kilter. They disrupt our lives. They throw us from orientation to disorientation as we’re faced with a different or new reality.

     Lamenting is not a bad thing. In fact, lamenting is the language of faith as the Christian cries out to God from the midst of suffering, pain, or tragedy. The language of lament is really quite biblical. This language needs to be recaptured and taught within the Christian Church.

     Reasons why we lament are many: losing a loved one to death, unfulfilled dreams and regrets, injustice and suffering, existential and spiritual crises, social and cultural changes, natural disasters and tragedies, health issues, or cultural and historical memories. There’s no shortage of things that can bring people to a point of lamenting.

     There are two basic causes that move a person to lament:

1. A sin committed by the person, which produces guilt, shame, or remorse. Many times we make wrong choices as a Christian. In this case, the person must come to God in repentance. God gives us the gift of confession and absolution (forgiveness after confessing). In confessing our sins to God, it’s not as if we’re telling God what He doesn’t already know. He knows all things, and He knows our hearts.
2. There are times in life when evil things happen to a person. These are things that are existential. They’re out of our control, nevertheless, they happen to us and we suffer and are in pain because of them. “My dad is an addict. Why would God do this to my mom?”

God wants His people to come to Him and let God Himself deal with our pain and suffering. Sometimes people believe that they need to get rid of the pain or suffering before entering or returning to church, especially if it’s self-induced. We don’t need to get rid of the pain and suffering before coming to church. Church is the place in which to bring our pains and sufferings. God already knows everything about you—the good, the bad, and the ugly. The lamenting Christian comes before God not only because He invites us to do so. The Christian comes by His invitation because he knows and believes something about God. That belief—that faith—is that God makes promises, and He never goes back on His promises.

Then there are the things in life that happens to a person that comes out of leftfield. When things are incongruent in our lives according to what God has promised, the Christian comes before God, “Where are You, God? How come You’re not delivering on Your promise like you said?” The Christian possesses something that the rest of the world does not have, however. The Christian possesses the belief that God actually can and does make things happen even in the here and now.

     God knows your laments. He’s actually experienced them Himself. God personally knows and experienced the human condition when He enfleshed Himself in the person of Christ Jesus. Jesus Himself laments over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-44). The Son Himself was truly abandoned completely by the Father on the cross (a real mystery of which no one can comprehend). The death and resurrection of Son has ushered in God’s plan for salvation and hope. The Christian knows this. The Christian believes this because God has promised it. It is that future grounded in Jesus’ death and resurrection that makes all the difference in the world, and this is the language the Christian speaks even in the midst of suffering and lamentation. God is there with you in the margins of life.

COLLECT OF THE DAY

Heavenly Father, during His earthly ministry Your Son Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead. By the healing medicine of the Word and Sacraments pour into our hearts such love toward You that we may live eternally; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

     The Collect of the Day is a prayer the Church prays in recognition of Christ’s earthly ministry. As important as the cross and empty Easter tomb is for humanity, we should not forget about His earthly and healing ministry. Christ’s “healing and raising from the dead” ministry shows the world what things will be like on a universal scale when He returns in all His glory and majesty. Christ’s future certain return gives the Christian hope in the present, even in the midst of suffering, pain, and tragedy.

Lamentations 3:22-33

     Unbelief causes us to look at God through our circumstances, and this creates hopelessness; but faith enables us to look at our circumstances through the reality of God, and this gives us hope.

Look at yourself and you’ll be depressed.

Look at circumstances and you’ll be distressed.

Look at the Lord and you’ll be blessed!

2Corinthians 8:1-9, 13-15

Mark 5:21-43

Good morning Family!

This is the Sixth Sunday/Week of Easter. And every day is Christmas and Easter for the Christian.

Do you ever have those days where you feel a sense of defeat? Life seems blah. The world’s events are out of control and you think to yourself, “Is anyone in control of what’s going on?” Do you wake up some days (or MANY days) feeling defeated and deflated? Well guys, the Bible gives us certain hope including VICTORY. The Christian lives each day in and through the victory of Jesus’ Easter resurrection.

Readings for Easter 6B: Acts 10:34-48, Psalm 98, 1John 5:1-8, John 15:9-17

Click here for the program and message

Have a GREAT DAY Family! I love you guys! Dad