Pastor's Message

This Year I Want To…
New Year’s Resolutions!

This time of year it is easy to get swept away with the idea of New Year’s resolutions. We believe that we have a new year before us. It is clean slate and we can write a new chapter of our lives on it. We have the experience of last year and all our years before to draw on. We make a list: “This year I want to … spend more time with the family… get a new job… lose weight… read the Bible more… go to Bible study…” and the list goes on and on. For the most part, we must rely on ourselves and others to find the areas we must improve in and provide the motivation, tenacity, drive and skill to bring about these changes and stick to our New Year’s resolutions.

Do you believe that God has some suggestions for New Year’s resolutions? I do! I believe that God wants me to be more loving, live a more joyous life, be a peacemaker, be more patient, gentle, kind, and good, be more faithful to my high calling in Christ and be more self-controlled. Just listen to what the Apostle Paul said to the church in Galatia. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. (Galatians 5:22-25). Paul gave the Galatian church the same list of New Year’s resolutions. Paul also gave the Galatians the source of sticking to their New Year’s resolutions. Paul promised that the Holy Spirit would produce fruit in the Galatians that they would become loving, kind, patient peaceful, self-controlled people, if they let go and let God. That is, they let go of their own thinking and substituted with God’s thinking, which comes from the Word of God.  

God gives all people in the church the gift of being able to love God and other people. God motivates His people to sacrifice their time, talents and what is important to them in order to worship God and to give up things for others. This is a gift from God. God gives us this love; He plants it in us. One of the first deacons of the church, Stephen, is an example of sacrificial love. He was accused by fellow Jews of preaching blasphemy, when he taught about Jesus the Messiah. He was arrested and spoke boldly of God’s love for humanity in Jesus. In a great speech, Stephen revealed how stubborn, sinful and unrepentant the Jewish people had been, even to the point of persecuting the prophets of old and, finally, God’s only Son Jesus - and yet God loved them. The people reacted this way to Stephen’s words:

When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."  At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 7:54-60)
  
Stephen loved God so much that he was able to boldly proclaim the Gospel to a hostile crowd. While he was being stoned, God gave Stephen the grace to forgive those who were murdering him. He was able to do this because God and Jesus loved Stephen so much that Jesus died for him. Stephen then was able to love God and even those who were murdering him.

God gives all people in the church the gift of being able to express joy in the most difficult situations and to pass this joy to others. Paul was often arrested and beaten for preaching the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Pagan and Jewish rulers were always afraid that if their subjects were converted to Christianity they would lose power. It is for this reason the rulers of the day sought to silence the church. Paul and Silas were beaten by the authorities of the city of Philippi. The jailor was told to watch Paul carefully, so the jailor took Paul and Silas and chained them to the most secure cell in the jail.   “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. (Acts 16:25)Paul and Silas were able to express joy when others would simply hang their heads and cry. Paul and Silas knew that their lives were in God’s hands. They had experienced God’s salvation in Jesus. In the Beatitudes, Jesus told Christians:  “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:10-12). Paul and Silas rejoiced in their persecution for Jesus’ sake and their joy influenced their fellow prisoners. They could not believe Paul and Silas; they listened to them in amazement. Then an unexpected thing happened.

Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"  (Acts 16:26-28).

When an earthquake hit and opened all the jail doors, none of the other prisoners escaped. Paul and Silas preached the Gospel to the Philippian jailor and they were converted to Christianity.  The account of the Philippian jailor ends with joy. “He [the jailor] was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family. (See Acts 16:34) Paul and Silas’ joy spread to the jailor and his family.

God gives all the people in the church the gift of peace. Jesus Christ made peace between God and humanity. The way Jesus made that peace became clear when Jesus appeared to his disciples in the upper room on the first Easter Sunday. “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.” (John 20:19-20).  The words of Isaiah were fulfilled: “ Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.  But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:4-5). It is through faith in God’s grace embodied in Jesus’ sacrifice that we are saved.  Because we are forgiven by God, we too can forgive others. We can live out the words of the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  By forgiving others, God makes us peacemakers.  By forgiving others who have wronged us, we can give them peace.    

God gives all people in the church the gift of patience. “Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near.” (James 5:7-8)  We live in a society that wants everything immediately. James reminds us that it takes time for things to happen; it takes time for people to change. God has to give us the patience to wait for things to happen. God works on the world and the people of the world in His own way. We have to be patient and wait on God.

In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus reminds us that the word of God is like a seed and our hearts and minds are like soil. When this seed falls on good soil, a repentant heart, it grows a plant and bears fruit. James reminds us that the Gospel seed needs time to mature in our own hearts and minds and in the minds of others. Jesus’ most passionate desire is for the church to continue to sow the Gospel seed in others by proclaiming the Gospel to them. Jesus wants us to wait patiently for that seed to mature and bear fruit. If we come to grips with the reality of the working of the Gospel in our lives, namely, that it takes time, God’s time, we can ask God for the patience to wait for the Gospel seed to bear fruit in us and in others. God will grant this wish.

God gives all the people in the church the gift of kindness. The Philippian jailor described above showed Christian kindness to Paul and Silas: “The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"  They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household." Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family. (Acts 16:29-34). When the Philippian jailor heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it softened his heart and it caused him to wash Paul and Silas’ wounds and make them more comfortable. He was kind to them. Moments before he was a mean taskmaster, who had these beaten and bloodied men chained in the innermost jail cell. He did not care for their comfort; however, when he came to faith, he cared for them and he acted with kindness. The Holy Spirit changed a hardhearted jailor into a kindhearted child of God. I know the Holy Spirit can work the same transformation in us through the proclamation of the Gospel.

God gives all the people in the church the gift of generosity. The account of Lydia is an example of Christian  generosity: “On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us.” (Acts 16:13-15). God opened Lydia’s heart and let Paul’s message through. The Gospel encouraged Lydia to be kind to Paul and his companions and allowed them to stay at her home and use it as a base for their ministry. Lydia could have accepted the message and left it at that, however, the Holy Spirit moved Lydia to be generous, and to be gracious and open up her home to people she did not really know. God blessed her act of generosity and a church was started at Philippi as a result. God can inspire all of us to be as generous as Lydia.

God gives all the people in the church the gift of faithfulness. The Disciples, the Apostle Paul and those that followed them as leaders of the church for the past some 2,000 years were faithful to the God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In every century, Christian people were martyred and continue to be martyred for their faith. This faithfulness to God is a gift from God. Paul experienced it most profoundly when he became puffed up and conceited, when God told him profound secrets that no one should hear. God put a “thorn in Paul’s flesh”; that is, gave him a physical or mental problem he could not fix. He prayed for God to take it away. Jesus came to Paul and said,  "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Paul responded with, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-12). Paul came to see that things that would seem to force him to stop preaching and teaching, like insults and the meanness of other people, were actually opportunities for God’s power to take over his life and get him through the tough times. I know that Jesus’ promise to Paul is a promise to me and all other Christians, namely, to embrace us and carry us through the most difficult times in our lives. 

God gives all the people in the church the gift of gentleness. Isaiah 40:11 promised that the Messiah,  “… tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.”  Jesus, our Messiah, fulfilled these words in these verses: “People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.” (Mark 10:13-16). That is why, for centuries, the church has opened its doors to children. Churches have built orphanages and have taught Sunday School and treated children with great gentleness. When we reach out to children, Jesus holds them close to his heart through us. We become his arms.

God gives all the people in the church the gift of self-control. The Apostle Paul’s appearance before the Jewish Sanhedrin is an example of Christian self-control. Paul had been preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem. The Jewish leaders wanted to silence him. He was arrested and brought before the highest authorities in the Jewish faith, the Sanhedrin. Paul was a Jew who had become a Christian. The Jews accused him of defiling the temple by bringing some Gentile people into a place that was forbidden to Gentiles. Paul declared his innocence. The High Priest told a man to slap Paul on the mouth (thereby declaring him a liar). Paul protested. He said. "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!" Those who were standing near Paul said, "You dare to insult God's high priest?" Paul replied, "Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: 'Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.'"(Acts 23:3-5). Paul quoted Exodus 22:28, which forbids cursing God or rulers of the people. Paul had every right to be angry with the high priest; Paul had done nothing wrong and was punished despite his innocence.  The high priest had insulted Paul in the most horrible way.  When Paul realized who the man was, he exercised self-control. He admitted his ignorance, and further admitted that if he had known the man who ordered the slap was the high priest, he would not have spoken to him in that way. Despite all the injustice, evil, anger, hurt and emotion, Paul let the Word of God control the situation. God permitted Paul to admit his fault in the situation. Now that is Christian self-control. I pray that God will give me the grace to act as Paul did in situations where I may feel that I am treated unjustly.  

I thank God for the New Year’s resolutions our brother Paul gave us, and I pray that we will feast on the Word of God in this next year and will let the Holy Spirit make us more loving, kind, faithful, generous, self controlled, patient, peaceful, joyful and faithful.

Happy New Year!

Pastor Ed

© Grace Lutheran Church Kelowna 2006
Grace Lutheran Church is a member congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada