Lenten Friday

It is Friday. Does that mean that you will eat fish today? Are you of the tradition that eats fish on Friday during Lent? I am not. That being said, I have often gone to a Friday fish fry. I don't now because I don't eat fried foods. Don't pat me on the back and say, "Well done." I don't eat fried foods because of not having my gall bladder. Fried foods do some terrible things to me now. It is also good that I don't since I have had some heart thingys. I know, no a word, but I am using it anyway.

There are many Fridays that have a fish fry. Here at St. John, we will have one on Friday, March 27. Don't miss it! That fried fish is good. For those who like it, enjoy it! I am not going to tell you it is wrong or you shouldn't do it.

I remember growing up in Decatur, IL and going to the Lutheran School Association from kindergarten through 8th grade. When we were at St. Paul's school for 5-8 grade, we had fish on Fridays. Either that or macaroni and cheese. We may have had it in 1-4 grade at St. John's but I don't remember that. Memory. You know, I really didn't start remembering things until after 5th grade and even then it was sketchy. Mrs. Werning in 3rd grade. Mr. Ponivas in 4th grade. Do I remember anything else? Yes, the janitor at St. John's shared his peanut butter crackers with me one day when I wasn't in class. Probably went for a drink or something and he was a friendly old guy. He might not have been that old either, but when you are a kid, everyone looks old.

Hmmm, where was I going with this? I don't remember. There is that memory thing again.

Anyway, it is Friday in Lent. We are 3 days into the season. How is that going for you? Doing the Lenten things? Giving up something? Extra devotions? Prayers? Isn't it amazing how we can be so sincere about something and then it seems so easy to forget or move away from it? 3 days. And maybe I won't continue those devotions because I am too busy. Temptation is too great for me to give up that chocolate and I really want it, so what difference does it make? Jesus already died and saved me and I have forgiveness for not holding to what I was going to do. (FYI - I did NOT give up chocolate for Lent.)

It isn't a sin to go against what you decided to do during Lent. It isn't a law. God won't damn you because you ate what you gave up or ate beef instead of fish on Friday.

What this does show us is how greatly we need a Savior. If we can give in to something like that, think of how easily we give into temptation. And temptation does lead us to sin. And sin is condemned by God. And because of that sin we deserve damnation.

Which is why we find ourselves going through the Lenten season because we have our eyes on Jesus Christ, the holy Son of God who has became man, born of the virgin Mary, the One who will be arrested for no crime, who will be tried for no reason, and who will be condemned though He did nothing wrong. He goes through this because it is the will of the Father and it is how the Father has said that He would save mankind. He would give His one and only Son for our salvation. He would suffer and die for us, paying the price of the law for us, and then would rise from the dead on the 3rd day. All for us! All to save us!

Then He will give this to use through faith in Jesus Christ. He will give us faith through the power of the Holy Spirit working in water and the Word, in Baptism. He will make us His children. And we will be saved! Can I get an "amen"?

That is what we see in Lent. Not us but Christ. Thank You Lord for giving Yourself for me and for my sins. Thank You for being my Savior. I need You and You came for me.

This Lenten season, do your Lenten fast, your Lenten actions, your act of pious devotion. Why? Because it will be a good discipline for you. (Just as it is for me.) But remember, the only thing that helps you to grow in faith in the Word of God and His Sacraments. He draws you in. He gives you faith. He saves you.

Yes, it is the first Friday in Lent. Now, what was I going to talk about?

The walk

So Lent began yesterday, in case you missed it. Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the season. How did that go for you? Did the season begin with a big bang? Or did it come in with a whimper? Last night was a powerful time of worship as we focused on the work of Jesus Christ and our need for all that He offers to us through faith. We joined together in worship. I give thanks to the Lord for all that He has done for each one of us.

But today is the next day. I wonder to myself, what impact did Ash Wednesday have upon my Thursday? In many ways, it is like the day after a funeral. On the day of the funeral, every one thinks about the fact that death is possible each day. You think about how you need to spend more time with family. You need to call family and friends that you haven't called lately. You think that because of your mortality, you need to make the most of every day. Then you go home, and life returns to normal. You go back to the way it was before the funeral. Life slips back into the normal routine.

Has that happened to you today? Is today any different from the day before Ash Wednesday? When you face your sinfulness, do you still plan on trusting the Lord, and following His guidance so that you will overcome those temptations that come your way. Special devotions, reading the Bible, saying extra prayers, and so on. Does that continue today or are you too busy? Will you start your day with the Lord, with the Lenten focus? Or will the day be too busy for you to do those things?

I know, it is challenging. Am I using guilt to get myself to follow through with the things I said to myself yesterday? No. The Law doesn't motivate me to do anything. I will follow through because I know how much I need the Lord to be with me today. Being in Lent doesn't add anything to my need. My need was the same on Tuesday as it was on Wednesday and as it is today, Thursday.

I need the Holy Spirit to guide me. I need the Holy Spirit help me to overcome temptation. I need the Holy Spirit to strengthen my faith. And I know this one thing: The Spirit is with me and will strengthen me in all that I do.

I am walking down the path of faith today. Today, Thursday, is a day in which I will focus on the Lord and not on myself. Hold Thou the cross, before my eyes today!

Lent Begins - a Journey

Today is Ash Wednesday. That means that we are beginning the 40 day journey to the cross. Those of us who are liturgical, who follow the Church Year calendar, find ourselves entering into a "somber" season. As we go into this season, there are a variety of practices that take place in the lives of us Christians.

During this Lenten season, I am going to try to blog regularly. This is meant to be journey to the cross. I don't have an outline to follow. It will be just a talk about what this means for me.

Ash Wednesday. The beginning. Every journey needs to have a start and today is that day. What does this day mean to me? I am reminded that I am a sinner. I am reminded that because of that sin, I am mortal. Yes, mortal. That means that one day, I will breath my last. I don't like to think about that. Today reminds me that I am a sinner, and as a sinner, I know that the wages of sin is death. The Lord tells me that in Scripture. Do I like to face that? No.

Thanks Ash Wednesday, for reminding me of who I am and what I deserve. Do I need ashes to do that? No. I know that there will be those faithful Christian who will receive the imposition of ashes at some point of through this day. For some, they find it very beneficial. It doesn't do anything for me. In fact, I feel like it takes my eyes off of my Lord and places it upon myself. I listen to Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount when He tells me to not put my acts of piety out there in front of people but instead to do my acts of piety privately, so that it helps my walk of faith. I know that there will be those who disagree with me. That's OK. I did not grow up in a Lutheran Church that used ashes. Through the years of my childhood, they were never used. Even at the Seminary we did not use the ashes. It was not seen as a necessary for the walk of faith. In these last 30+ years, I have focused on the cross of Jesus Christ, on the walk of faith which rejoices in what He has accomplished.

So here on Ash Wednesday, my focus is upon Christ not my acts. I look to Him, to His cross, to His taking upon Himself my sinfulness, to His death upon the cross in my place, in His time in the grave and then in His resurrection. My eyes look to Jesus. Do I do acts of piety? The answer to that is that I will point you to the actions of my Lord. Look to Him.

As I walk through this day, I will look up to the cross of Jesus. I know that should I breath my last today, I am a forgiven child of God. I have been forgiven for my sins, not because of what I have done but because of what He has done. How wonderful is that? Thank You Jesus! Thank You for loving me so much that You were willing to come into this world as a man to take my place under the law, to pay the price of my sins, to suffer and die for me and to rise for me. Thank You.

I am Jesus' little lamb. Be my Shepherd as I walk these 40 days of Lent. On this Ash Wednesday, show me the wonder of what You have done for me and my salvation.

One day, one step, one day into the season. Here I go!

Ramblings on a Thursday morning

As I ramble, I want to start to with the thought that this is not a political statement. It is not saying that one party is right and one party is wrong. The fact is that the sins of all can be pointed out if one was to be honest.

I was thinking about the impeachment. Was the President "perfect" in what he did? Of course not. Could he have done things better? Yes he could have. But wait, the fact is that no one, that is NO ONE, is perfect or acts perfectly. Why does he claim it for himself? Don't we all? When something goes on, we always work to show how we are perfect in our actions and the innocent victim in the situation. Obviously he was not charged with any crime. That is a fact. He was charged with doing some things that weren't necessarily a crime but were not the smartest thing to do. Well, duh. Which president is perfect? Which member of congress is perfect? Which one of you reading this is perfect? Come on folks, realize that the only perfect One was Jesus Christ. Every one of us is imperfect and make bad decisions and do bad actions. Did President Trump deserve to be impeached for making a bad decision? Of course not. Unless you just don't like him. Be honest. If you like him, you didn't want him impeached. If you don't like him, you wanted him impeached. That is the reality.

I sit here and think to myself what a mess we all are. Republican, Democrat, Independent - we are all a mess. We are not thinking straight. We never think straight. Sin guides us. It destroys us. It deceives us. It makes it so that we do not act right in many different situations.

I was also thinking about Romney saying that he was voting a certain way because of his faith in God. Does that mean that the others didn't follow their faith? Is he the only one that did that? That is such a ridiculous statement. I remember when I did prison ministry, there was a clerk in one of the offices who was caught taking things off of one of the desks. He said, "God wanting me to take that and get caught in order to show me how to act." Really? God told you to steal? When does God do that? We play that card when we don't want anyone to question our actions. If God tells me to do it, then you cannot question me. You have to accept that I acted right. Which may well mean that you did not act right because you were acting opposite to what God told me. 

I also thought about this. Why is it when one party acts one way, they are following their heart. But when the other one acts one way, they are being political? The fact is, both may be following their hearts. And both may well be political. Since when is it exclusively one or the other. It is probably both things - following the heart and being political.

All right, remember, I am just rambling. Is it political? I guess it is, to a degree. Am I supporting one party over the other in this blog? Nope. Both have their good points and both have bad points. I just felt that it was hypocritical for people to rant and rave without being honest about their own motives. My motive? It wanted to get this off my chest. That was my motive. Judge me. Condemn me. Whatever. Just my ramblings.