Roger's Postings

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Acts 17:22-31 The Unknown God??? 27/4/08

{22) Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. {23} For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. {24} "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. {25} And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. {26} From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. {27} God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. {28} 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' {29} "Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone--an image made by man's design and skill. {30} In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. {31} For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."

Today we have many people acknowledging AN UNKNOWN GOD. Most people will say they believe in God; but they do not really know him; who he is or what he is like; or take him all that seriously. This god is someone out there who has set the world in motion and then left it to run by itself; and is a god who will receive them all into heaven when their time is up here on earth.

Sadly we also have many today who claim that there is no God. They have hardened their hearts to such an extent, that their egotism will not allow even their conscience to remind them of the reality of the God who is there. They seek their meaning for existence in the goodness of humanity, but are all left in wonderment and despair.

However, just as in Athens of Paul’s day, so also we today have many objects of worship, but to the people who worship them, they have little connection to the true God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. On Friday there was great reverence and crowds of people, all remembering the heroics of great men; and seeking to gain strength and courage for our nation from this. This is good, up to a point. We need to be thankful for those who lived and died for their nation. All Australians look up to and see many things as being that which will give us what we need for this life and beyond. However, all these form of reverence and idealism that do not have their basis in the One true God, are a problem and will leave us short of what we really need.

On top of that we have people religiously following Allah, Buda and many other similar gods and new age thinking. The thinking is that here is the one who should be worshipped. However, they are not the true and only God: The one who is the Lord of heaven and earth. So we cannot accept them as being on the same path to heaven, or tolerate them as a real expression of Christianity. They are religious, but worshippers of God Almighty himself.

Sadly, too often, even within Christian circles there are many people who are religious; but who do not know God. They know all kinds of facts about him, but they do not know him. Others believe and speak of a god and worship him, without understanding and accepting Jesus Christ as the Son of God who came and died on the cross for our salvation. Others acknowledge God; but they make no attempt to listen to or heed what he has to say. Others think that the only way they will be acceptable to him, is to live up to a certain standard of “Christian life”

Here in the face of all of this religious thinking, the true God, through Paul, is proclaiming very clearly who he is. He is the Lord of heaven and earth. In other words he is the one and only true God that can be found anywhere. He is the Almighty God who is supreme over all. There are no other Gods besides him. He alone then is the one who is to be worshipped and glorified. He alone is the one who is to be looked up to and followed. Every other object of worship is a worthless idol and a distraction from what is right and true and in the end will prove disastrous.

This Lord of heaven and earth we are reminded here is not a God who is limited to churches, statues, books or anything else at all. As much as he is there in all of those things, he is much more and beyond anything that we could possibly make him to be. He is not a God who conforms to our limitations and thinking. He does not even need us to serve him. He is one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Eph 4:6) He is as we learnt in our confirmation lessons; omni almost everything; unlimited by time, space, and in power, knowledge and understanding. His greatness is way beyond human understanding.

Yet as we heard in our Gospel reading today; he chooses to live with you and will be in you. (John 14:17) That is all who believe, trust and desire to live in him. Jesus goes on to say; I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. (John 14:18-20) This great God has chosen to dwell with and in us human beings; his creation. Isn’t that something amazing!

Particularly when we remember that we are not the centre of the world. The world does not revolve around us; but the Almighty God is the centre of it all. He himself gives all men [all people] life and breath and everything else. And not just gives us life, but he determined the times set for us and the exact places where we should live. God did this so that all people would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. Even though he the Supreme Being he is at work in our lives and is close to us.

Even though we have sinned and chosen to go our own way, he allows troubles and hardships to be a part of our lives so that we would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him. He does not erase us from the face of the earth because of our selfish egotism, but works through all the mistakes we make and difficulties that are imposed on us by a sinful world. He is constantly seeking to draw us to himself; trying to make us aware that we need him and the forgiveness and salvation that Jesus won for us through his life, death and resurrection.

Through Jesus and his death on the cross and our connection to him and his death and resurrection, through our baptism we are assured that we are now God’s children. His Spirit now lives in us and goes with us as we live out our life day by day. We are God’s offspring.

Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone--an image made by man's design and skill. Since he has done all of this for us and continues to live with us and in us, now we surely will treat him with much respect. We will trust him and take him seriously. He will mean much more to us than our money, material things and technology. We will not treat him as a possession or as one who should do what we want him to do.
Surely we will look up to him; wanting to live in a close personal relationship with him; wanting to be where he wants us to be and to do what he wants us to do. What is important to him will be important to us. He will be our Lord and our God.

Here let us not forget those other words that he spoke also. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead. So we are reminded that he does look closely at who we are and what we think, say and do. His Son Jesus, who came into our world and died on the cross for us, will also come and judge us all on that last day. He knows if we have taken him seriously or not. He knows what we believe and whether we trust him and all that he has done for us. Take note; he knows and he judges.

So take heart; here we are reminded again that our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit is for real. He is the Almighty Lord of heaven and earth. He is the only true God and he seeks to be not far from each one of us. He loves us, forgives us and made us his very own. Believe him. Trust in him; and take him seriously. For to him alone belongs all glory and honour, now and always. AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze
Redeemer Lutheran Church
Toowoomba

Saturday, April 12, 2008

1 Peter 2:19-25. Bearing up under suffering 13/4/08

{19} For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. {20} But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. {21} To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. {22} "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." {23} When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. {24} He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. {25} For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Here in this reading our Lord through Peter seeks to encourage us as we go forward as his people: Particularly as we go forward having to deal with suffering and difficulty. Here as in many other places, he reminds us and promises that, as his followers, life will not be a bed of roses: that we will still face all kinds of hardships and suffering; in fact more so because we are Christians. He tells us in Matthew that we have to take up our crosses in order to follow him. Yes, life will not be easy - especially as a Christian.

Yet here he has something most surprising to say to us in this regard. It is good thing that we suffer! He says; For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. Again in Matthews Gospel we are told that 'blessed are those who suffer." Here he tells us that if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called… Now that surely stands much of our thinking about suffering on its head and gives us a whole new thinking with which to face life and its difficulties; and helps us to be far more positive as we bear up against even the worst of what life dishes up to us.

Now if that is the case, we need to think a little more deeply at what he has to say to us here. Peter in this reading is firstly talking to house-slaves who where obviously being given a hard time by their bosses simply because they had become Christians. But in Peter’s letter it would seem that as Christian many of them were coming under severe persecution, and facing other difficulties as well. They were not yet at the point of being fed to the lions; but things were progressing in that direction.

Now today we may not be facing open persecution for being a Christian. However, more and more those who try to stand up for the truth are being given a hard time by the people around about them. It is becoming increasingly difficult to be able to stand by the truth of God’s Word and the real Good News of the Bible without coming under some pressure. On top of that we are living in a society which is increasingly loosing its way morally and ethically, and where this is creating enormous hardships for many, many people.

As well as that, many of us are struggling with difficulties and suffering which many times we bring on ourselves. We too, are often the source of our own suffering. Here Peter says there is no credit due to us when we suffer in those situations. We could say, it is our own stupid fault. A few simple examples would be: we drink and get drunk, then we must expect to have a hang over. Or we slack off at work and pilfer the till, or not give the service that is expected, then we can not be surprised if we get into trouble and lose our job? Or we treat others poorly and are disagreeable and quick to anger, is it any wonder that people will avoid us. Time and time again we bring suffering on ourselves in many different ways, and here there is no credit for us in this for having to bear it. There all we can do is to seek for forgiveness and ask for God's help to improve.

But there is another suffering that we often face in life and that is when we do right and suffer for it. This is what we find difficult to handle. A person works hard and makes a success of their business, and gets ridiculed for it; stories are spread and lies are told. Or a boss yells and screams at you and gets you to do all the ‘yuck’ jobs because you are young and a threat to their position. Or you are a good person – honest, caring, hard working, with no enemies, and yet as a young person you get struck down with cancer or some other illness. I am sure that you all could add other examples; and it is these that get to us.

However Peter tells us that when in the midst of this suffering we are conscious of God this is a truly commendable thing. When we take what is thrown at us and bear up to it in a Christian way, knowing for sure that God is with us, this is something very good. This is what we are called to as Christians. Through endurance in what is good, in the face of difficulty, commendation comes of it.

How can that be? How can we bear up to the pain of unjust suffering in this way?
Well here we are reminded that we have a great and glorious example in the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose steps we are called to follow. But most importantly, he went through it all: suffered and died so that we might be forgiven for our sin and have the assurance of eternal life with our God for ever. No one, and nothing, can take that away from us. So even if they take our physical life from us, they cannot take eternal life with God from us.

But before we go too far here, let us look to Jesus and what he went through. Here we are told first and foremost, that Jesus was one who committed no sin and no deceit was found in his mouth. When people hurled insults at him, he did not retaliate. When he suffered, he made no threats, but simply entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He in no way deserved any of what came his way, yet he bore everything that was thrown at him; placing himself before his heavenly Father's will.

Even though it cut him to heart and sweated blood over what was before him. And even though he cries out in agony and pain on the cross - he bears it all. He bears yours and my sins on himself and takes all the punishment that we deserve on himself. He goes to the cross and is forsaken by his heavenly Father. All so that we now can have forgiveness of sins, life and salvation: so that we can have healing - true healing: the healing and peace that we really need.

Yes, we have now been returned to the great Shepherd and overseer of our souls. Jesus did it all. He took it all for you and me. He took it because of God's love for us all. He wants us to be his very own and to be able to live the way he wants: the right way for us to live at peace with each other and with our Lord: And so that we can have the assurance of eternal life in heaven.

Now then, we can die to sin and live to righteousness. We can face everything that is thrown at us; and instead of falling into sin - now as we are conscious of all that Jesus has done for us we can bear it all: we can cop in on the chin. We can live for righteousness - live the right way in the midst of suffering. Instead of getting angry and upset by injustices to us, we can follow Jesus example, because we know that in and through him we now have it all. It doesn't matter what is throw at us. As we follow his way and example, and bear up to it; we now have the assurance of his grace to help us and his commendation as we do.

But more than that, through bearing up under suffering, we are allowing God to use that situation to make others think about that which is important in life. As others see that, as a Christian, we are able cope it all on the chin, knowing that in Christ we have everything that is important, God is able to work in these people’s lives, to see that Jesus Christ and his death on the cross is important to them also.

So, in conclusion, as you face your suffering, be strong; look to Jesus as your example and follow his example. All the while now remember that through Jesus and his suffering and death you have been returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. You are now safe and secure because of and in him. To him then be glory and honour now and always. AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze
Redeemer Lutheran Church
Toowoomba