What Do I Say?

I am very excited about how this Community group is going. The discussions are lively and fun and a blessing to me. I pray that the same is true for you. The question that we will be looking at this weekend has to do with what we say when someone like Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses come to the door. I think we can expand this as well to talk about the ways that we are able to share our faith and how to live it out. So how do we share our faith with others in a way that is real and genuine and does not feel like a labored sales pitch?

Allow me to share two experiences that I had with some of the Mormon missionaries at two different times. One I am proud of, and the other, well, not so much.

When I was in college I ran across a couple of missionaries on campus one day. They asked if we could talk and I invited home for conversation. At the time I was living and working at my church so for them to come to my home was for them to come to my church. We had our initial conversation and they asked if they could come back. I told them that I would look forward to it. I then proceeded to learn everything that I could about Mormonism. I looked for all the inconsistencies in their doctrines and scriptures. I learned the ins and outs and soaked up all the information that I could find. When they came back, I raised objection after objection. The next week, two guys came back, one was different. Same thing. The following week three guys showed up. At which point I felt pretty good about myself, because they needed three guys to be able to talk with one of me. Yet, this is the story I am not proud of.

The second one occurred sometime in October. The missionaries came to the door. I told them that I was a Lutheran pastor and that because of such I was pretty much convinced of my beliefs. Therefore I had no intentions of converting. However, I love to talk with people and to especially have discussions about theology. I promised that they would find a conversation that was respectful and loving and would not demean or attack them. I offered to serve lunch and told them that they would always be welcome. Let's face it, most of the Christians they encounter can be pretty nasty, and I did not want to become part of that statistic. Of course they did not take me up on my offer, but this story I am much more proud of.

Our God has given us the greatest honor of all. He has sent us into the world to make his love, grace, mercy and forgiveness in Jesus known. That comes out in our actions as well as our words. I am looking forward to having this conversation with you and to hear some of your stories and experiences.

I pray that God's grace and peace in Jesus would be a constant source of comfort and strength for you.

Sincerely,
Pastor CJ

Why are there so many?

In our time together this weekend will be discussing why there are so many different kinds of Christians, in general, and Lutherans in particular. In other words we will be spending some time talking about the differences in denominations, why they are there and what are we to do about them or with them.

The really simple, maybe too simple, answer is that there are different denominations because there are differences of opinions. Different Christian denominations will interpret the Scriptures differently. Some have a more liberal approach to the Scriptures, others will have a more conservative point of view. There are disagreements as to number of sacraments and what exactly is it that makes a sacrament? Come to think of it what is a sacrament (I personally know the answer to this question, but ask it in order to point out that there are denominations that don't do a whole lot with sacraments)?

There are differences among Lutherans over Scripture, but also over the confessions. How do we read and understand them? Are they documents that have something to say to us today? Or are they documents that show how our ancestors in the faith dealt with the problems of their day and so we can, perhaps, apply some of those principles to our own situations.

Now I certainly do have a bias in my own answer to those questions, and the many others that go along with this topic, but it is a discussion that should always be held respectfully. So we don't have to like or agree with how others answer these questions, but we should always have the discussion in a way that is loving and respectful. The best way to approach a topic like this is with great humility and respect.

We will also spend some time talking about how the differences in denominations impacts the way we live out and practice our faith. I am looking forward to this discussion. I pray that it will be a blessing to you also. Feel free to begin the conversation here, just remember to keep it respectful.

God's peace and blessings in Jesus be yours this week and always.

Sincerely,
Pastor CJ




Future discussions in Community
1. What do I say when Mormons come to my door?
2. How was the Bible created?
3. If God is good, why does he allow evil?
4. How can Christians say Jesus Christ is the only way to God?
5. How could a God of love send someone to hell?
6. I live a sincere life and do good deeds, why do I need to go to church?

I am very happy with the conversation and all that took place during our time together on Sunday. Thank you to all who participated. Next Sunday we will be discussing the topic of Baptism in general, and specifically a Lutheran understanding of Baptism and how that differs from what some other churches teach about Baptism.

For Lutherans baptism is very important. This is so because we believe that baptism is something that God does for us. It is a gift where he is the main actor. Therefore, baptism is not dependent on us or on our ability to understand and articulate doctrine. Not that that isn't important because it is. Nor does this mean that we can live life any way we want to and say, "well, it's OK. I am baptized. I can do whatever I want, because I will be forgiven." That kind of mindset is cheap grace and does not truly appreciate what God's forgiveness is.

Baptism is a mystery. How God does what is done in baptism is beyond us, but because it is God who is working we trust that it is good and right. Baptism gives hope and comfort and security because we know that in baptism we are connected to the death and resurrection of Jesus. This is a very good thing.

Baptism is something that is simple yet profound, and even though it is an event that happens once in the life of a Christian, living in our baptismal identity and remembering our baptism is a spiritual practice that will carry us through the rest of our days. Those last two points will be a good discussion in and of itself.

So when you come on Sunday bring your questions and stories about baptism. You may also post questions on this blog that we can discuss during this week and on Sunday as well.

If you have any suggestions on how to best publish the list of topics for the week, I would be open to what you have to say.

God bless you this week, may the hope and joy of his presence in your life be a constant source of strength and comfort.

Sincerely,
Pastor CJ

Epiphany

Yesterday was Epiphany. This Sunday celebrates the baptism of Jesus. One of the blessings of the church year is that it allows us times and seasons to spend thinking about, praying about, meditating on, and celebrating the many mysteries of God. Epiphany is a time to celebrate that the Savior is not just for the Jews, but also for the gentiles. This is exceptionally good news for those of us who happen to be gentiles. But I wanted to touch a bit on the baptism of Jesus. This is a cool thing. Have you ever wondered why Jesus who was perfect, had to be baptized?

Jesus told John the Baptist that this was necessary in order to "fulfill all righteousness." But what in the world does that mean? It is really quite simple, and pretty cool too. We are sinners. That is nothing new. It is something that we hear quite a bit about. It is something that we are rather familiar with too. However, what we lose sight of is what it means to be a sinner. We lose sight of the fact that this means we need salvation, we need a savior, we need life. From a spiritual perspective we are dead in our sins and even enemies of God. This is the result of sin in our lives and is a sad state to live in. Since we are spiritually dead, we need God to help us. We cannot do anything on our own toward our own salvation or life. This means that we are unable to even repent on our own. To do even that is something that we need God to help us with. Thus we have the baptism of Jesus, because in this event Jesus is standing our place, living that perfect life we are unable to live, and he gives us credit for this life. We get his righteousness. Not because of who we are or what we do, but because of how gracious and awesome our God is. So in the baptism of Jesus we find what we need to know that even our repentance works, because we have the help of Jesus in this.

Cool? I think it is. I think it is an important perspective for the church to keep. May this be a source of joy and wonder and amazement for you this week. God’s peace in Jesus be yours.

Sincerely,

Pastor CJ