Roger's Postings

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Psalm 1. How to be truly blessed!! 26/10/08

( 1) Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. {2} But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. {3} He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. {4} Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. {5} Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. {6} For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.


The blessed person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Oh, how we would so often like to be like that! The image is so clear and so uplifting. As one who grew up in the mallee scrub, amongst the stunted trees that struggled for the moisture and nutrients that they needed, it was always so refreshing to go up to the Murray River and see the majestic, fresh river red gums along the waters edges. Even though the climatic conditions were no different; no more rain, the same hot dry winds and harsh winter frosts, yet these trees were flourishing and healthy; huge and strong. Oh, how it would be, to be able live through life like that.

Yet so often we feel like the other image in this psalm: like chaff that the wind blows away: Tossed back and forth by the winds of life that we seemingly have no control over. We seem to live only a few short years, with many difficulties and tragedies and then we die: blown from history and all that we cling so desperately to. We strive to be something of substance and fulfilment, but we are tossed about to such an extent that we just cannot quite attain to that goal that we believe should be there in life for us. Even when we seem to gain something of this, all of a sudden the winds of life blow it all away. Oh, if only we could have this something more: if only it would all work out for us. If only!!

If only, we would drink in all the goodness that we need to grow healthy and strong. If only we put the roots of our lives deep into that which enables us to stand tall and strong in the midst of the storms and difficulties of life. If only we would be able to move in the right circles and gain that which is good and right. If only it would all work out as the world promises us that it will. If only.

Here we need to first of all remember that as long as we live in this world we will have to face the hot north winds and the hassles, difficulties and the tragedies of life. They will always be there. That is life in a world that has been corrupted by sin. There will always be droughts and flooding rains. Sickness and death will always be there. The harsh realities of one person making life very difficult for another will always be a part of life where selfishness and greed lives. We will be confronted with all kinds of philosophies and false teachings, peddled by people trying to make a name for themselves.

No matter how hard we try, or how good a system we can create, or how much money and material possessions we accumulate, sin will always make life difficult and tragic: always. We will never have utopia in this world. Instead it will be much more like the harsh realities of the Australian climate; tough and difficult. The stench of death will always surround us, nothing is surer.

So how can we be blessed in such an environment? How can we stand tall, strong and health in a world that is so corrupt? Well, here in this opening psalm we find that which is truly helpful and good. Here we are given some very sound advice as to how this blessing can be there for us in the face of a world that is far from ideal.

The real issue, however, will be, do we want to heed what is said here or not. It will be very difficult even for us to go against the grain of what is popular in our society. The thinking and philosophy of our world is at odds with this view, because it wants to live by and for itself, without regard for God and what he has to say. The world doesn’t want to fit in with God; and so without thinking, brews up storms and tempests all the time, because they fail to take the reality of God and sin into consideration. However we too, also get caught into this tempting way to live, and do not want to consider that our world is at fault.

As much as we do not think that we also are at fault, let us listen to what God has to say to us in this regard. Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. How often isn’t it that this is exactly what we do? Yet we are here told that the blessed ones will be those who do not seek the counsel and advice of those who are evildoers. Nor do they conform to the example of sinners. Nor do they most importantly sit around and associate with those who are actively mocking the things that are sacred.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. God’s Word is surely what enables us to be truly blessed.
God’s will give us the basis of all that we need for both this life and the next. Here let us hear again what God told us through the Old Testament reading: (Lev 19:2-18) 'Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy. {15} "'Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favouritism to the great, but judge your neighbour fairly. {16} "'Do not go about spreading slander among your people. "'Do not do anything that endangers your neighbour's life. I am the LORD. {17} "'Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbour frankly so you will not share in his guilt. {18} "'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the LORD.

Or listen to Jesus: (Mat 22:37-39) "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' {38} This is the first and greatest commandment. {39} And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.'

Seek to do all this and you will be blessed. Long to be this kind of person and you will find all that you need to get you through this life and into the next. Not that you will ever achieve living by the ideals that God has given us perfectly; but as you aim to you will realize your failures and be turned to look to Jesus Christ and his death on the cross for the forgiveness of sins: you will actively and regularly seek his guidance and help to live as he would have you do.

In fact you will sink your roots deep into the nourishment that he has for us. You will stay by the waters of your baptism, so that you can constantly receive the assurance and strength that you need in order to cope with the spiritual droughts and all the other difficulties that you face in this life. You will regularly listen to his Word and apply it to your life so that you can have the strength to withstand the storms of all the deception and evil that this world throws at you. Feed regularly on Jesus Christ’s body and blood in Holy Communion so that He can reassure you of his forgiveness; and strengthen you so that you can have the inner health and vitality that is needed in harsh climate of our current society.

As you do all this you will prosper: you will be blessed. Not as the world sees blessing and prosperity; but as one who has the absolute assurance of knowing that as they are connected to the Lord Jesus, and all that he has won for us and that he has given us to be and live. That surely gives you the confidence to hold your heads up and get on with being the kind of people that God here calls us to be. That peace and spiritual healthy and well-being that God nourishes you with is beyond understanding and it is seen by others around you.

So remember; Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze
Redeemer Lutheran Church
Toowoomba

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Isaiah 45:1-7. The Lord is in control?? 19/10/08

{1) "This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: {2} I will go before you and will level the mountains ; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. {3} I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. {4} For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me. {5} I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, {6} so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other. {7} I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.

This reading here this morning is a very good one for us to contemplate over and meditate on as we are faced with a huge, world-wide financial crisis. As much as we have not yet seen the full extent of its impact, we know that it will change many things and bring disaster for many people. This will, of course, raise many questions for people the world over. Much blame will be apportioned over it; and no doubt many have acted foolishly and greedily, bringing on this crisis. However, in light of this reading, perhaps God has a far bigger hand in this, than we might initially think.

Now, there is a question for us to contemplate! God involved in world affairs: in financial disasters; the rise and fall of nations? Surely he is a God of love and blessing, not of extending difficulty on people’s lives? Surely he would not want to bring disaster on our fine, upstanding western cultures? Why would he want to bring ruin on nations and individuals? Surely he is a God who wants us to be healthy, wealthy and happy? I am sure there are many other questions in this regard, as well.

It is here then, that I believe this text has much to say to us. Here, God says with regard to Cyrus a king of Persia that he will be helped to defeat nations and be given great wealth. He will be strengthened so that he can become a great and mighty king over much of the then known world. Here remember that Cyrus did not acknowledge the Lord or have any regard for him. Yet God tells that he will make him great; that he will use him for greater purposes. God is involved in human affairs; even of those who have no regard for him. Why?

What is going on here? Here listen again to what God has to say. I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other.. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.

The Lord is in control; even though Cyrus and all the people thought they could live without and apart from him. Cyrus’ god and the god’s that the nations had created for themselves, would all come to nought, even though the people looked to them and trusted them. The Lord would work through Cyrus and others, to use them for his greater purpose. So that people may know that he is the LORD, and there is no other.

Along with that we have his other great purpose for using Cyrus and the destruction of many other nations. He says: For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, he will ensure that Cyrus has the ability to do these things. For the sake of maintaining his promise of sending the Messiah to save mankind from its sin and rebellion he raises up Cyrus. So that the remnant of his people now held captive in Babylon might one day return to Jerusalem and maintain the peoples from which the Saviour would come, he uses Cyrus.

God controls history so that Jesus Christ could fulfil his promise of being the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world. His aim throughout is for people to look to him and know that they are forgiven and assured of eternal life in heaven. He brings prosperity and creates disaster in order to achieve this goal. He uses Cyrus in order to see that this happens. Here remember again that these words were said before these events even took place. The Lord is in control.

Again Israel was restored to Jerusalem, there the nation continued on even though they again and again turned their backs on the Lord. Jesus was born, lived, suffered and died, just had been promised with the express purpose so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me: That there in him alone is the forgiveness of sins and the assurance of life and salvation. He does it all so that we his creation who have rebelled against him may have and know the love of God in Christ Jesus: That we may know that he is what is central to our lives and all that we think, say and do.

That brings us now to today once again and the events that are unfolding before us. The same Lord and the same purpose is at work in our midst. Despite the fact that we again have rebelled against our God and turned to and trusted in our almighty dollar and the economic structures that we have created for ourselves, God seeks to draw us back to himself. Very much, the eyes of our western affluence has turned away from Jesus Christ and his death on the cross, and we have more and more trusted what we can create for ourselves. Selfishness and greed has been promoted as ideals that are to be strived for and to be achieved at all costs. We have made the almighty dollar that which is revered throughout our world and we have worshipped what it can do for us.

So we find as we look around us that we have more and more abandoned the Lord and all that he has done for us through Jesus and his death on the cross. We pay lip service to the Lord; and yet we all too often worship capitalism with our hearts and our lives. When we look to God and his Word we look with a mindset that is very much centred still on what our world has to offer. In many cases we find that the modern world, economic view has even shaped the teachings within the modern ‘chistian’ scene as well: the focus is not Jesus and his death on the cross, but something else.

Is it any wonder then that God will be at work in our world to bring down this false god that we have made for ourselves and which very much obscures that which is central for us and for our salvation. Without doubt he is surely wanting to use this situation that has been brought about by our greed and selfishness to help people once again to see and acknowledge that he is the LORD, and there is no other; apart from him there is no God.

We can be quite sure that God will not be acting any different today than he has throughout history. His focus and his reasoning for his involvement with our world will still be to ensure that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides him. For the sake of his people and in particular for the sake of his Son Jesus Christ and his death on the cross, he will be using, even people who do not acknowledge him, to do his work of ensuring that his people and his promised are not destroyed. Yes he has brought us prosperity, but now because we have become so corrupt in our use of it, he will be at work to create this disaster so that we not longer trust the creation but the Creator and Saviour himself.

Hear again what God himself says: I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things. So let us turn back to him once again and let us pray that he would help our world that has become so misguided to once again see and know that he is the only Lord; and that Jesus Christ and his death on the cross is what is central to our lives as we live them out every day. The Lord is in control so let us give him all glory and honour, now and always. AMEN

Pastor Roger Atze
Redeemer Lutheran Church
Toowoomba

Saturday, October 04, 2008

Matthew 21:33-46. Rejected?? 5/10/08

{33) "Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. {34} When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. {35} "The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. {36} Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. {37} Last of all, he sent his son to them. 'They will respect my son,' he said. {38} "But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.' {39} So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. {40} "Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" {41} "He will bring those wretches to a wretched end," they replied, "and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time." {42} Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: "'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone ; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes'? {43} "Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. {44} He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed." {45} When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus' parables, they knew he was talking about them. {46} They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.

As we think about what God has to say to us through this reading, we are surely challenged as to it application. What has the rejection and destruction of the church leaders of Jesus’ day got to do with us? Surely we here have not rejected Jesus Christ as our Lord and saviour; so how does this relate to us? Here let us not forget the Old Testament reading from Isaiah which had almost the same meaning, but to a different audience at a much different time: God’s pronouncement of the destruction of Israel whom are likened again to a vineyard, loved and cared for, but which failed to produce the ‘goods’. Certainly clear references to the fact the God will destroy those who openly reject God and what he has to say to us in his Word, whilst holding a very pious outward appearance.

Surely this needs to be something that is clearly etched in our minds as we go forward as God’s people. Just as in Isaiah’s and Jesus’ days, so also today, there is the danger that we take for granted that we are God’s people simply because we are connected to a church and go through certain rituals. When the emphasis is placed on us and what we are, do and think, then there is danger time. When it is all done without any reference to and faith in Jesus Christ, then we need to be aware that this is a rejection of Jesus Christ and God’s means of salvation. When that occurs, the end result is that the salvation that has been won for us will be taken away from us; this Rock will crush us.

Because we surely can see that this subtle and not so subtle rejection is happening very much in our present world and society, we need to be careful ourselves. Because the focus of life and even ‘christian’ life, is more and more turned away from Christ and his death on the cross to us and what we feel, think and do, this will surely make us even more alert and wary. We know that our sinful nature, which ever wants to shift the focus from Christ to us and the world around us, will make us ever so watchful as to what we listen to and follow. Because we know that we are so susceptible to being led to focus on ourselves we will make every effort to be where our God would want us to be so that he can keep reminding us of the things that are important and strengthening us for the task that is before us.

Here in this reading and from the history of what happened to these people that Jesus was speaking to, not long after this, as well as to the Israelite nation not long after Isaiah said what he said; we are reminded that God is true to his word. We can not take God and his word for granted. Let us then, not fall for some of the rot that is peddled about today that God is a loving God and so will not destroy us: Or where Hell and judgment is very much ignored, as if it were not a reality. God’s Word is very clear that if we think we can ignore and reject Jesus Christ and his death on the cross, then trouble is ‘just around the corner’.
This is then where we will take note of Paul’s attitude in that second reading here today, when he says; What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

He knows very well the dangers of pharisaism and the taking of our eyes off of Jesus Christ. Paul knew what he was like before God brought him to faith in Jesus Christ: how even though he was the very best from an earthly point of view, he persecuted those who were Christians; he had a vendetta against Jesus, that he now knows was terrible. Having come to know all that Jesus Christ had done for him through his life, death and resurrection, he now knows of that which is infinitely greater than what he was and did. His focus on his own righteousness was destructive rather than beneficial. He trusted in the wrong things.

So now the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, was that which he saw as absolutely important. Everything else was garbage compared to that; every effort of his own, to be a good person, was rubbish. He wanted to lose sight of every other focus so that he was not distracted from that which was vital for him and his salvation; being found in Jesus Christ: being found trusting in nothing other than Christ and the righteousness that he has won for us.

He now wants to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. His whole aim was to ensure that eternal life in heaven which was won for him by Jesus Christ, would be his. Being connected to Jesus Christ, here and in heaven, even if it meant suffering immensely in this life; in fact particularly so, because through suffering and death he was sure that his focus would be kept off of himself, and on him who is all important.

Because this is of utmost importance he continues: But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

No surely we here can grasp something of how immensely great and important Jesus Christ is; and that we too need to be connected to him. Surely we also recognise that our eternal salvation is only possible as we look to, trust, and are incorporated into the very being and life of Jesus Christ. That is why our baptism and our daily remembrance of it, is important. That is why our regular gathering around Word and Sacrament is so vital; that he can give us what we need in order to keep our focus where it needs to be.

That surely is also why we also will consider all this “I” focussed religion as just that; pure garbage, compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. All this modern day pharisaism needs to be considered as a loss compared to all that we have in our Divine Service and that God continues to do for us in and through our Lord Jesus. We too will want to be found in him having a righteousness which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

We too will surely want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. So forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, let us press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus.
To him alone be all glory and honour, now and always. AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze
Redeemer Lutheran Church
Toowoomba