Luke 12:35-38 Stay Alert!

Luke 12:35-38  Stay Alert!

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Jesus said to his disciples:  “…Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.    Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.”

 

I have to admit that I no longer find it surprising when the academic world hides the truth from others; or better yet, when they decide to airbrush the truth away.  Even though the ultimate purpose of our schools is to teach the truth, more and more are caving into political correctness and religious intolerance. 

 

Yesterday, I read the following headline:  Holy Photoshop!  LSU erased Christian football fans’ crosses.

 

Now you may be thinking:  With all the important things going on in the world, why in the world waste a meditation on such a benign subject?  The answer should be obvious by to everyone:  Lying is never a benign issue.  It is a growing problem.  It is what the devil does best.  He is the prince of lies, remember? 

 

It turns out that Louisiana State University (LSU) officials published a photo of “The Painted Posse”, a student led organization that is very much devoted to LSU football and to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  At every home game, these students show their school spirit by painting their bare chests with their school colors and a small cross.  The school officials loved it and posted a picture of them for all the world to see.

 

But when these same kids saw it, they were horrified.  They couldn’t believe what they were seeing.  Actually, they couldn’t believe what they were not seeing:  the little cross.  It turns out it had been airbrushed out by school officials. 

 

It seems to me that these same school officials love the Painted Posse’s spirit …but not the Holy Spirit.  They love the fact that these kids love their school…but not their Savior. 

 

Why did they do it?  Officials responded by saying, “We don’t want to imply we are making any religious or political statements, so we air-brushed it out.”  So…instead of worrying about making a false statement, they worried more about making a political or religious statement.  What a bunch of cowards!  How sickening.  How pathetic.  What liars.  They prefer to distort the truth than to face reality.  These officials are still lying.  They did not have to make any political or religious statement when they published this picture.  All they had to do is describe the picture and state the facts below it.  That’s it.

 

Atheists would love for believers to believe that our nation is abandoning God.  But since that’s not true, they resort to sabotage.  They try to airbrush Christians away.  But in reality, they are airbrushing the truth away and painting for us a better portrait of whom they are and what they will resort to. 

 

Be aware!  Be attentive!  Stay alert!  History tends to repeat itself. 

 

No God = No Heaven, just Hell on earth.

 

Where is God?  Why doesn’t He come to our rescue?  A week ago, our seventh grade students at St. Monica finished reading “Night”, the memories of Elie Wiesel’s experience in a Nazi concentration camp.  I asked the kids if they believed (like Mr. Wiesel) that God had abandoned His people.  After all, the evidence seemed to point in that direction.  The kids didn’t know.  So I asked them some difficult questions:  Why did the Holocaust happen in the 1940’s?  Why not centuries before?  How in the world could the Nazis have gained so much power?  Why was it so easy for Hitler to convince the German people that they were superior to others?  Why did all of this happen in Germany?   

 

They did not know.

 

I continued:  What was going on in the 1900’s?  What were people reading back then?  What did they believe in? 

 

I then wrote on the board four names:  Darwin, Marx, Feuerbach, and Nietzsche.  [It’s amazing how science and philosophy translate into politics and life.]

 

Right before Hitler and the Nazis appeared, and the Holocaust and World War II began, certain theories and philosophies were receiving wide attention and acceptance in Germany.

 

People in Germany were beginning to place their faith in man, in science and atheism.  They were beginning to believe that man should return to the animal kingdom where he belongs; to rule where there are no rules and where only the strongest survive.  They believed in survival of the fittest and preying on the weakest (Darwin).  They believed that religion was the opium of people (Marx) and that there was no need to worry about right and wrong because there was no heaven or hell.  They believed they had finally succeeded in ridding the world of the greatest myth:  God; of killing Him (Nietzsche) and replacing him with His rightful owner:  man (Feuerbach). 

 

And it was all good; In fact, it was “very good”. 

 

Did God abandon man or did man abandon Him?  The kids knew the answer. 

 

God did not abandon man.  Man abandoned Him.  And even today, we continue to airbrush Him out of our lives…out of reality. 

 

"Brothers and sisters: You were at a time without Christ...without hope and without God in the world" (cf. Ephesians 2:12-22).

The Holocaust was not a test of faith.  It was a taste of atheism...and (I think) of things to come.

Luke 9:57-62 The Would Be Followers

Luke 9:57-62  The Would Be Followers

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As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go?”  Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”

Amanda Clayton had it all.  Her life had become a rags-to-riches story.  The story of Cinderella had finally come true!  

For years Amanda collected welfare benefits.  But that all changed in September of last year when she won one million dollars in the Michigan state lottery.  But one year later, almost to the date, she was found dead of an apparent drug overdose.  Her former boyfriend told a reporter, “The Amanda I knew was a caring person….She went down the wrong path, she got the money, got the freedom and felt like she could do whatever she wanted.”   Let’s keep her in our prayers.

Poverty kills.  Wealth does too.  But money is not the root of all evil.  Sin is.  Sin separates our heart, our mind, our will, our worth and our dignity from our Creator.  And when that happens, evil happens.  And that evil can lead us to the worst possible separation ever, the worst divorce ever:  hell.

Job was a very special man.  He was found worthy of God’s graces.  Yes!  God’s graces!  Even though his possessions were put through fire, his servants put to the sword, and his children swept away, he never found it in his heart to curse God!    Job was a man of deep faith and not of deep understanding.  Even when his mental faculties were tested and his body afflicted, he refused to try to explain why God would do this to him.  Through it all, Job never lowered his dignity; never forgot his Creator.

I say that Job was a man found worthy of God’s blessings because he was.  When this beautiful story of faith and fidelity was circulating among the Jews, he was the closest imitation to the real, yet unknown, person of Jesus Christ. 

Job is the prototype, the forerunner, of Jesus Christ.  But where Job lost everything, Christ gave everything.  Why?  Because it was worth it. 

Scripture scholars continue to debate whether or not this story is true.  I don't know why!  Give me a break.  Don’t they know people who have gone through “hell”, who have lost everything they had and everyone they loved?  Who cares if Job is a fictitious or anonymous name.  The facts speak for themselves.  The name “Job” may have been created, but we don’t need to be very creative to come up with this narrative.  We have seen it for ourselves!  Maybe we have lived it ourselves!  I know plenty of people who have gone through very dark times.  What makes all the difference in the world is how they respond to it; how it can get much better or far worse! 

Lord, I will follow you wherever you go!  How immature!  What nonsense.  Someone came up to the Lord and said, “I will follow you wherever you go?”  Sure, the first day, the days of excitement, are the best and easiest days.  But when days become years…  This poor guy didn’t know what he was talking about.  Job lost all that he had because the Lord stripped it from him.  This would-be-disciple thought he could bring it all.  Little did he know the Lord would ask him to strip down (physically and pride-fully) to nothing!  Poverty, chastity and obedience have a way of doing that to people.  My oh my!!!  But don’t feel too sorry for priests.  All commitments, even marriage vows, have a way of doing that to people! 

Love is all about giving and receiving…and in that order, and not always receiving on time.

It is immature to think the Lord will do what we tell him to do if we pray to him.  It is highly irrational to think that God’s protection means I will not experience dark days.  It is pure fantasy to think with God on my side, I will be rich and healthy.  Sorry folks, I just don’t see that anywhere in Scripture.

God is not very much interested in helping us settle down on earth.  He is very much interested in uprooting us and making His home our dwelling place.  This isn’t a “pie-in-the-sky” faith.  This is mission impossible - Delta force and Navy SEALS - work on earth!  Why would anyone risk their lives like these people do?  Because they consider it worth it.  They have been called to serve. 

We've been called too.

Job reacted in a way that none of the “would-be-followers” of Christ did.  When he experienced the loss of family and friends, Job did not look back:  The Lord gives and the Lord takes, blessed be the Lord now and forever!  What a declaration of faith!

Our faith and prayer life are very important for our survival and holiness.  We may lose our treasure on earth, but we can never lose the treasure of our faith.  The glitter and confetti of life’s pleasures will eventually fall…fall flat on the ground, but our hearts and minds must remain firmly planted on that which never changes.  When autumn approaches, let us prepare for winter.  When our enthusiasm for God evaporates faster than our possessions, do not grind your teeth and cast the Lord aside. Instead, hold firm to the faith of our Fathers.

Luke 6:27-38 The High Road

Luke 6:27-38  The High Road

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Jesus said to his disciples:  “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

On a day of mourning to remember our fallen heroes of one of the most cowardly and vicious attacks on civilians, Islamists, from around the Middle East, began to surround our embassies (and consulates) and attack and kill our staff.

I have yet to hear a single cleric or religious figure of any importance in the Islamic world apologize on behalf of the Muslim people for the September 11^th, 2001 attack on innocent human life.  And yet, while ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, was being dragged (dead or alive we do not know) across the streets of Benghazi, the Administration of the United States of America was quick to apologize for a film attacking the prophet Mohammad and Islam. 

One would hope we were taking the higher road, the more “Christian” road.  But I doubt it.  I seriously doubt it.  I seriously doubt it because we have done everything humanly possible to make ourselves as much as possible a non-Christian nation.  Wake up America!  We are still strong, but for how long?  We are in debt, tremendous debt, a debt that will eventually cripple us.  Our children grow up weak, pale, alone and confused because they live in homes (families) where there is no strong foundation to keep them from sinking; no values or morals holding them up; no absolute truths to keep them grounded; no dad AND mom to building them up; no God to keep them going; no authentic and supernatural love to pick them up!     

We don’t need Muslims to tear our flag!  We’ve been doing it ourselves, and not just symbolically, but really!  We’ve been tearing our nation apart by tearing marriage, family and children apart.  We’ve been tearing God out of our nation.  Can you believe that He was actually booed, for the first time in American history, at a national political party convention?  Individual victories are becoming national defeats!  When an entire classroom cannot pray because one student does not want to pray, that's a national defeat!  When a entire football team cannot pray because one fan does not want to pray, that's a national defeat! 

We've been tearing up our nation for a long time now: “Separation between Church and state!” [RIP] “No prayer or moment of silence allowed in our schools!”  [RIP]  “No religious displays, no Christmas carols, no Christmas greetings on public property!” [RIP, RIP, RIP] 

Do you really think our government is “turning the other cheek”, or “loving” our enemies out of love for God?  Give me a break!  If religion is to play no role in our national affairs, then what drives our government leaders to apologize?  Isn't it a little obvious?  We didn’t apologize because we took the higher road, we apologized because we will do whatever it takes to accommodate our immediate interests.   This is not the world of diplomacy.  This is the world of failed diplomacy. 

Secular countries are weak countries.  Spain is a secular country and as soon as it was attacked by terrorists, it withdrew.  France is one of the most secular countries in the world.  It elected a weak man, a socialist.  And yesterday it passed a law that taxes the rich by as much as 75%!  Why so much?  Well, how else could the government continue to spend even more than it has? 

What egalitarian or parasite wouldn't elect a socialist?  Who wouldn’t elect someone who promises them everything…and for free!  But nothing is for free.  If there is a hand that feeds you, then you better raise your hand in support of that hand!  No one bites the hand that spoon-feeds them. 

The Lord did not speak these words of paradox from a position of weakness.  He spoke them from a position of strength.  When He picked up His cross; when He died on the Cross, He showed the world that He would not compromise, under any conditions or circumstances, His principles, His morals, His values, His teachings, His Father, His God, His mission, His life!

That is what we should be insisting on when we dialogue with our enemies.  We should speak from a position of strength, not of fear!  We should seek to understand while at peace and never when attacked.  We should never give our enemies the impression that violence pays.

It appears as though we deal with our national debt the same way we deal with a crisis in foreign policy:  poorly.  If we do not pay now (or pay attention now), than others will pay.  And boy will they pay! 

Carrying the Cross is paying the price and taking the high road!

Luke 5:33-39 What To Do To...?

Luke 5:33-39 What To Do To...?

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The scribes and the Pharisees watched [Jesus] closely to see if he would cure on the Sabbath so that they might discover a reason to accuse him…they discussed together what they might do to Jesus.

If you spend some time with someone, you are bound to get to know them.  Once you get to know them, you are bound to get upset with them.  From a distance, they can do no wrong.  Up close and personal, all they seem to do is wrong. 

This is the paradox of friendship.  In order to make a friend, you have to get to know them.  Once you get to know them, you know everything about them.  Once you know everything about them, you can easily get annoyed by them.  That’s why very few brothers or sisters are very good friends.  It’s not because we didn’t get to pick them.  It’s because we got to know them! 

To be a friend means to love a friend.  To love a friend means to forgive a friend.  A friend is not someone you find.  It is someone you forgive.   

This morning I told a group of high school senior girls that the best way to prepare for College life is to invite their little sister back into their room.  What better way is there to prepare for dorm life; for a roommate you didn’t pick!  What a great way to prepare for someone who will snoop into your affairs; complain night and day; and have little to no respect for your property, feelings or ideas.

Friends do not make us better prepared for college life (or life).  Family does! 

The scribes and Pharisees were watching the Lord closely to see if they could accuse him of something, anything.  Boy, that must have taken a lot of work!  It couldn’t have been an easy task.  And there lies the irony of it all:  the scribes and Pharisees were working hard, harder than the Lord, on the Sabbath!

But they couldn’t find anything.  So what to do? 

Rather than looking to be better or holier, the scribes and Pharisees looked for something – anything - to accuse the Lord of.  And the Lord knew it.  That’s why He went along his way and spent very little time with them.  Sure, He talked to them and dealt with them, but He gave very little of Himself to them, and this irritated the hell in them!  While the Lord continued to cure the sick and heal the sinners, the scribes and Pharisees continued to attack Jesus: viciously and aggressively.  They called him names.  They twisted his actions.  They distorted his messages.  In the meantime, the Lord continued doing what He did best.

What do you do when someone does you wrong?  Do you leave them alone?  Do you try to help them?  Or do you strike back in a vicious manner?  We all know what the Lord did.

What do you do when someone doesn’t fall into your trap?  Do you leave them alone?  Do you learn your lesson?  Or do you strike back in a vicious manner?  We all know what the Pharisees and scribes did.

Does name calling or throwing mud at someone’s name or reputation make you a better person?  Does calling someone a bigot, a racist, an extremist or a chauvinist make you feel any better?  Would it have made the Lord any better?  Did it make the Pharisees any better?

There are some people in this world that, regardless of how much you try to help them, will end up attacking you.  Christ knows!  The perfect man experienced it himself.   Would you expect anything different; especially you being imperfect?

Honest people make mistakes and give us a great opportunity to rise above the mud and forgive… just as we hope to be forgiven.    

To forgive someone does not require a lot of time.  Don’t expect too much time to be given.