The Church is not in despair

{1 Peter 2:11-17. John 16:16-22}

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Accounting

lighthouseLast Monday being Tax Day, no doubt, you felt relief. Relief because you had already filed your tax return, because you mailed it off that day, or because you requested an extension for time to file. On the other hand, if you owed taxes with your return, perhaps you weren’t feeling relief so much as exasperation.

April 15th, or thereabouts, is the day we’ve learned to dread every year. We either dread it because our bookkeeping is behind and we know it will be a monumental task to get it all together; or we dread it because we’re afraid to see the last number on the return: will it be positive or negative?

We all know that this settling of accounts is coming around each year. The wise consider how their actions throughout the year will affect their tax liability. The foolish live in the moment, oblivious to how what they do now will impact their future.

My work in accounting has shown me that the field is aptly named. Sometimes, there is a daily accounting of the financial situation; at other times, there is a monthly or quarterly accounting, and there is always the annual accounting that follows the close of the fiscal year. In working with a lot of small businesses, I’ve learned that the number one reason businesses fail is because of a lack of capital. I’ve also learned that businesses fail for another reason, closely related: a lack of accounting. That is, the business fails because the owner goes along thinking all is well when he really has no clue; he hasn’t examined the books well enough to know whether he’s actually turning a profit. This man is often found driving a Mercedes while living with his wife and children in his mother’s basement.

How shall we live?

In the reading from St. Peter’s epistle appointed for today, we see the apostle admonishing the followers of Christ. He describes how Christians should walk uprightly, bringing honor to the Lord. He exhorts believers to embrace the disciplines of the Christian faith. He does so by expounding the virtues of the Christian life, the demands of the Christian life, the necessary behavior of the man committed to the cause of Christ.

We must abandon the works of evil. Those who are committed to the cause of Christ must forsake all that is of this world, all that is fleeting and ephemeral, all that is selfish and self-righteous, all this is opposed to the holiness of our Lord. Instead, we must embrace those things of Christ’s kingdom, that which is lasting and eternal, that which is selfless, and that which brings humility before the majesty of God. Continue Reading →

An unbroken Church

Church ruins
Church ruinsGorse Fox / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

Lots of folks believe the Church is broken these days. Some of the words they use to describe it: messy, a failure, irrelevant, archaic, and more along this line. And those descriptions come from people who identify themselves as Christians.

I don’t know what church they’re talking about, but it’s certainly not the Church founded by Christ. After all, he speaks of his Church as a spotless bride, a pure virgin waiting for her beloved to take her to the wedding feast.

Sure, men are flawed. Men have failed. Men have used God’s gifts in perverted and sinful ways. But the Lord’s Church is unbroken because it is founded upon Christ. The Church doesn’t rise and fall with sinners. It triumphs because of Christ. The Church isn’t made by men and can’t be destroyed by men. The Church is animated by Christ.

Those who think the Church is broken have truly only discovered their own brokenness. They are broken by the sin of pride and selfishness, the sins that beset all men. Quite easily, they project their own sins upon the Church, claiming that there’s no right way to worship, no perfect way to follow God, no way to overcome the brokenness. And in the latter, they are right: there is no way that men can overcome their brokenness. Instead, they must be overcome by God.

The Spirit of the Lord still leads his Church. Christ said quite plainly that the gates of Hell would not prevail against his bride. The Church isn’t broken, men are.

The darkest day in American history

{Genesis 1:26-31}

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Introduction

Perhaps you’ve heard the old saw that goes like this. A man turned to his friend and said, “Do you know that the two greatest problems in our country today are ignorance and apathy?” To this his friend replied, “I don’t know and I don’t care.”

That is, perhaps, a most fitting assessment—and especially on this day. This day marks, among all others, the sins and failures of mankind. In this regard, it is not unlike other days. But this day marks a great darkness, a great evil, a great forwardness, a rebellion of the hearts of men against their Creator. This day marks what is most assuredly the darkest day of all in our American history.

Forty long years were God’s people in the wilderness after Moses led them out of Egypt. In fits and starts they followed him and obeyed his commandments. Sometimes, they honored him; sometimes, they complained against him, accusing him of injustice. At least once, they turned to worship a false God.

Likewise, for forty long years, the Church in America has largely ignored the darkness of the murder of innocents in our land. Too many Christians sit comfortably in their churches without regard to the blood of the unborn being shed around them every day. In fits and starts has the Church, too, honored the Lord’s commandments. At times, Christians have spoken plainly of God’s truth and honored him in deeds. At other times, and in critical times, we have preferred our own convenience.

Photo_110705_011.jpg
blatch / Foter.com / CC BY-SA

Those of you who are older than I may remember the political struggle over abortion in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The argument was that abortion was a medical necessity. A handful of states began to legalize abortion. In 1973, the Supreme Court declared it to be legally acceptable to murder children in the womb. Since that time, the argument for medical necessity has virtually disappeared, while we kill children in the womb for the sake of our convenience.

For 40 years, the courts have declared acceptable that which God has condemned. Since 1973, more than 50 million children have been murdered in the womb. Our chief executive, before he took office, stated that he was in favor of killing children after they were born.[1] This is the state of our nation after 40 years. We have embraced a culture of death. Continue Reading →

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