The way to heaven barred by excuses

And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’  Luke 14:17-20 '

It is interesting to ponder the fact that those who kept themselves away from this banquet - excused themselves. Note that the host did not excuse them, but they excused themselves.  In so doing, they made themselves equal to, and in fact superior to, the host in that they decided what was a valid excuse for their refusal to receive the blessings of the host.  Such excusing of self is old as sin. Were there not excuses on the lips of both Adam and Eve's to justify their refusal to attend the banquet of life that the Lord had prepared for them, so that they could attend the banquet offered them by the lie of Satan and consumed by their own hands. 

It is said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  It can and ought be equally said that the way to heaven is barred by vain and empty excuses. 
What excuse will stand before the face of God? 
Imagine on the last day when the Lord asks why you refused to receive, refused to participate in the worship of the Lord, refused to receive the blessed absolution and sacrament as often as it was offered?  How trivial will your excuses of fatigue, personalities, style of worship, etc appear to even yourself on that day?
Understand that no excuse will stand before the Lord today or on the last day.  The only thing that will avail is forgiveness.  With the Lord there is forgiveness for all sins, even the inexcusable. 

Come to the banquet, everything is ready. 

-pmwl / Hammersten

Love Your Pastors

A excellent article on the relationship of congregations and their pastors.

Thank you President Harrison!

The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod - The Lutheran Witness

To baptize or to teach ... ????

It is a both/and command, not an either/or suggestion.

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matt 28:18-20 (ESV)

Baptism is the foundation God lays and teaching the Scriptures is the building that God erects upon the foundation that Himself has laid. The one who is baptized has received the right and responsibility of discipleship. For the one who is baptized IS into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
To be baptized in the name of the Father gives to the baptized, God as He above all else desires to be and give everything that God as Father can be and give to one created in His image.
To be baptized in the name of God the Son gives to the baptized, the life, the death, and the resurrection of God the Son, Jesus Christ and all the blessings He has won for all by His incarnation through to His ascension.
To be baptized in the name of the Holy Spirit gives to the baptized all the works of God’s Spirit by which the baptized is called, sanctified, and kept in one true faith through the Word of God, until such time as the Holy Spirit shall present the baptized holy and righteous at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
While the blessings of baptism and the name of God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit that is placed upon us are rarely apparent to the human eye, this is no proof that the Word of God and the water of baptism have failed to give and work the works of the Triune God upon the baptized.
What is to become of those who having been blessed with baptism and have been denied the teaching that must follow upon the blessed gift of baptism due to apathy and neglect on their part or that of their parents? How shall they be kept from growing up in the spirit of this world and its ungodliness.
What a blessed gift of God in baptism that though the baptized may fall away from the Lord, the Lord’s promises to not fall away from the baptized. These promises are secure because they are made and kept by God and not the baptized. When the baptized do fall away, they become again a lost child to the Father. The prodigal son could never have gone back to a home where he was not once a child. May the Lord work a blessed remembrance of their baptism in the hearts and minds of all the baptized that have fallen away so that a blessed return may be easier and more quickly accomplished for all.

“Baptized into Your name most holy,
O Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
I claim a place, though weak and lowly.” LSB 590

- pmwl

Where the love of God in Christ is and is not ...

Where the love of God in Jesus Christ is found, it will find a way to express itself because this love is Christ – resurrected and living to live, to love and to serve through faith in Jesus Christ.
If one would know where this love of God in Christ is not found, let that person listen, and they will hear any and every excuse for not letting this love have its way in the life and living of the person who claims to have it.

- pmwl

DRINKING FROM MY SAUCER

I’ve never made a fortune

And it’s probably too late now
But I don’t worry about that much
I’m happy anyhow.

So often I can get caught up

In all that others have
Then the eyes of holy faith
Sight for me my true riches
As I am drinking from my saucer
‘Cause my cup has overflowed.
 
And as I go along life’s way
I’m reaping better than I sow
I’m drinking from my saucer
‘Cause my cup has overflowed.

Haven’t go a lot of riches

And sometimes the going’s tough
But I’ve got loving ones around me
And that makes me rich enough.

I thank Christ’s for his blessings
And the mercies He’s bestowed
I’m drinking from my saucer
‘Cause my cup has overflowed.

O, Remember times when things went wrong

My faith wore somewhat thin
But all at once the dark clouds broke
And sun peeped through again.

So Lord, help me not to gripe
About the tough rows that I’ve hoed
I’m drinking from my saucer
‘Cause my cup has overflowed.

If Christ gives me strength and courage

When the way grows steep and rough
I’ll not ask for other blessings
I’m already blessed enough.

And may I never be too busy
To help others bear their loads
Then I’ll keep drinking from my saucer
‘Cause my cup has overflowed.

I offer this poem that a now sainted man named Vernon Fuchs gave me while serving in my first congregation, Zion Lutheran Church in Farmersville, Illinois.  Thank you Vernon

 

pmwl

When God is gone ... fairy tales arrive

"With every theorizing, 'Did God say?' we place ourselves outside the truth ...  'When God is gone,' says Luther, 'the fairy tales arrive.'  When His word is no longer understood as a demand, a threat, a challenge, but is regarded as speculative truth, then man becomes a fool in his wisdom (Rom 1:18) and his wisdom becomes foolishness to God ... By the catagories of our thinking we remain bound to this empirical world and end in irreconcilable, inescapable theoretical and practical contradictions, that indeed point to a domain beyond these limitations which, however, can never be grasped by actual experience. ... On the ruins of perished glory humbled man learns to seek the word of the Gospel."  

A. Koberlie - God's Judgment on Man's Self-sanctification, The Quest for Holiness p. 40, 41 & 47

Considering a thought, an action, or a word by asking:

This study note from Proverbs 6:1-19 speaks well of the examined life of the baptized that always leads us to take our old Adam, i.e. sinful nature back to our Lord in repentence that it be put to death and the new life in us come forth. The questions are excellent for anyone seeking actively live the faith they confess. 

"God’s Law shows us not only our sins but also their motivations and consequences.
Consider a thought, an action, or a word by asking:
Why am I doing this?
Where could it take me?
Can I do this in the name of the Lord?
God hates sin so deeply that He sent His Son to take away sin’s power—its curses and its eternal consequences.
In Christ, we are forgiven and empowered to overcome sin.
Good-for-nothings are made into God’s precious and valuable sons and daughters.
Lord, You know my heart. Forgive those times when sin, not Your grace and Spirit, has motivated me. Take my words, Lord, my hands, and my feet, and use them for Your good purposes. May all who follow You speak well of one another and know the peace that comes with wisdom rooted in Your Word. In Jesus’ name. Amen."
Concordia Publishing House (2009-10-31). The Lutheran Study Bible (Kindle Locations 74238-74243). Concordia Publishing House. Kindle Edition.

For your thoughts and considerations!!!
 
pmwl