PROVIDENCE
Providence of God 8th S. after Trinity
Today's prayer ( collect) expresses some very powerful ideas:
"O GOD, whose never-failing providence orders all things both in heaven and earth; We humbly beseech Thee to put away from us all hurtful things, and to give us those things which are profitable for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
Luther said it this way:" "...my salvation is in God's hand and not my own. He will be faithful to His promise to save me, not on the basis of what I do but according to His great mercy."
Martin Luther
Bondage of the Will
God's providence ( pro- video---He sees before it happens) never fails. All things in heaven and earth are ordered by God.
" Not only when thou wast born into the world did Christ love thee, but His delights were with the sons of men before there were any sons of men. Often He did think of them; from everlasting to everlasting He had set His affections upon them....If He had not loved me with a love as deep as life and as strong as death, He would have turned from me long ago...." Spurgeon
Both the epistle and the OT reading today from Zechariah point out to us that without the Spirit of God we cannot understand the above or succeed to do God's will ( This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit," saith the Lord of hosts" ch. 4 )
( the Gospel reminds us that "not every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven , but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven.")
Many Christians do not hold to the view of the prayer we prayed this morning, and I am quick to point out that when I first went to seminary, I did not either. God created the world, and us, of course, but He left many of the details to us. But He orders all our steps does He not? Would He be unjust if He was in charge of all the tragedies ( we see them as that do we not?) of our lives?
God is all powerful and all-knowing, and all seeing; therefore He is charge. We do not see this very well. We live in the flesh, and it takes difficulites and tragedies ( things we cannot explain) to remind us that He is our God at all times, in control, and as the old collect says, " whose never-failing providence orders all things both in heaven and in earth."
The epistle from Romans reminds us that we cannot just live in the flesh. There is more to life than the flesh and the here and now. We must "mortify", that is put to death the deeds of the body "through the Spirit." It takes the Spirit's help to get it right.
When we look at the events of the news in our world we are often reminded that things that occur make no sense to us in our own view. But as Paul reminds us so aptly we now see in a glass darkly. We are encouraged to listen to such verses as these: " The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together." Romans 8
So while we may fail, God never does, and His providence is all-knowing and all seeing . Things do happen. God makes all things happen and works all things for our good and His glory. That is the Christian perspective on difficulty and suffering. They are things that happen to us, these sufferings and difficulties, and they happened to Jesus. But one day if we suffer with Him now, we will also glorified with Him. That is our hope. That is our calling as Christians.
Our calling as the epistle says is to be a joint-heir with Christ. Christ was not always popular, and He often took positions that were neither in the majority or "happy." That does not mean we have to go around with a " you are going to hell" look at everyone who does not agree with us. It does mean however that we do have a unique calling as Christians. That calling is to represent Christ here with people who neither know Him or love Him. That is a privilege.
People will know what kind of person we are by what we do. " Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit...wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." What are the hallmarks of a Christian? Faith, and that is what we have been talking about ( God is in control), and good works.
Good works is a mouthful. People of character and conviction who represent Christ in today's society ...we are to be people of compassion as was Christ. None of this possible without the Spirit of God. The Spirit helps me to be what Christ wants me to be here and now. I cannot do it by myself. I must have the Spirit's help.
So as we hear of events in the world that trouble us greatly, this is something we need help with. These occurences call us back to faith ( in the God who orders all things in heaven and in earth)...and fruit...the fruit of a Christian character molded by Christ and the suffering He experienced.
A morning prayer Psalm was Psalm 90. This has always been one of my favorites. " LORD, thou hast been our refuge...before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth and the world were made, thou art God from everlasting, and world without end.
For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night...In the morning it is green, and grown up, but in the evening it is cut down, dried up, and withered...
Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."
Every day is a gift, and how we use it is important. The people and the families that are near us are important. How will we use the gifts we have been given?
Today's prayer ( collect) expresses some very powerful ideas:
"O GOD, whose never-failing providence orders all things both in heaven and earth; We humbly beseech Thee to put away from us all hurtful things, and to give us those things which are profitable for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
Luther said it this way:" "...my salvation is in God's hand and not my own. He will be faithful to His promise to save me, not on the basis of what I do but according to His great mercy."
Martin Luther
Bondage of the Will
God's providence ( pro- video---He sees before it happens) never fails. All things in heaven and earth are ordered by God.
" Not only when thou wast born into the world did Christ love thee, but His delights were with the sons of men before there were any sons of men. Often He did think of them; from everlasting to everlasting He had set His affections upon them....If He had not loved me with a love as deep as life and as strong as death, He would have turned from me long ago...." Spurgeon
Both the epistle and the OT reading today from Zechariah point out to us that without the Spirit of God we cannot understand the above or succeed to do God's will ( This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit," saith the Lord of hosts" ch. 4 )
( the Gospel reminds us that "not every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven , but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven.")
Many Christians do not hold to the view of the prayer we prayed this morning, and I am quick to point out that when I first went to seminary, I did not either. God created the world, and us, of course, but He left many of the details to us. But He orders all our steps does He not? Would He be unjust if He was in charge of all the tragedies ( we see them as that do we not?) of our lives?
God is all powerful and all-knowing, and all seeing; therefore He is charge. We do not see this very well. We live in the flesh, and it takes difficulites and tragedies ( things we cannot explain) to remind us that He is our God at all times, in control, and as the old collect says, " whose never-failing providence orders all things both in heaven and in earth."
The epistle from Romans reminds us that we cannot just live in the flesh. There is more to life than the flesh and the here and now. We must "mortify", that is put to death the deeds of the body "through the Spirit." It takes the Spirit's help to get it right.
When we look at the events of the news in our world we are often reminded that things that occur make no sense to us in our own view. But as Paul reminds us so aptly we now see in a glass darkly. We are encouraged to listen to such verses as these: " The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together." Romans 8
So while we may fail, God never does, and His providence is all-knowing and all seeing . Things do happen. God makes all things happen and works all things for our good and His glory. That is the Christian perspective on difficulty and suffering. They are things that happen to us, these sufferings and difficulties, and they happened to Jesus. But one day if we suffer with Him now, we will also glorified with Him. That is our hope. That is our calling as Christians.
Our calling as the epistle says is to be a joint-heir with Christ. Christ was not always popular, and He often took positions that were neither in the majority or "happy." That does not mean we have to go around with a " you are going to hell" look at everyone who does not agree with us. It does mean however that we do have a unique calling as Christians. That calling is to represent Christ here with people who neither know Him or love Him. That is a privilege.
People will know what kind of person we are by what we do. " Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit...wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." What are the hallmarks of a Christian? Faith, and that is what we have been talking about ( God is in control), and good works.
Good works is a mouthful. People of character and conviction who represent Christ in today's society ...we are to be people of compassion as was Christ. None of this possible without the Spirit of God. The Spirit helps me to be what Christ wants me to be here and now. I cannot do it by myself. I must have the Spirit's help.
So as we hear of events in the world that trouble us greatly, this is something we need help with. These occurences call us back to faith ( in the God who orders all things in heaven and in earth)...and fruit...the fruit of a Christian character molded by Christ and the suffering He experienced.
A morning prayer Psalm was Psalm 90. This has always been one of my favorites. " LORD, thou hast been our refuge...before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth and the world were made, thou art God from everlasting, and world without end.
For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night...In the morning it is green, and grown up, but in the evening it is cut down, dried up, and withered...
Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."
Every day is a gift, and how we use it is important. The people and the families that are near us are important. How will we use the gifts we have been given?
Comments
Post a Comment