Monday, April 26, 2010

God's First Feast


By Rev. William Dohle

On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare
a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine—
the best of meats and the finest of wines.

On this mountain he will destroy
the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
he will swallow up death forever.

The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears
from all faces;
he will remove the disgrace of his people
from all the earth.
The LORD has spoken. Isaiah 25:6-8

Last night, our Confirmation class of 2010 celebrated their time together by having a great banquet. A feast of Italian food, bread, and a choice of punches gave us reason to gather as we watched a video of our time together and handed out awards.

We are use to feasting at the end of things. At the end of a sporting season, the team throws a party. At the end of a successful season, you might have a feast. Even in church, we celebrate Jesus LAST Supper with his disciples.

But the feast described by God here in Isaiah isn’t just a feast of endings, but also a feast of a beginning. Here on this mountain, God is throwing a feast, inviting all peoples, indeed all nations, to the feast. And there He will serve up the best of meats and the finest of wines. It will be a feast to end all feasts. A feast to celebrate the end of life as we know it.

But this feast will also be a beginning too. A new beginning in fact. This feast marks the beginning of a whole new existence for us, when the Lord will swallow up death forever. When the Sovereign Lord will be present for us in a way he never has been before. When he will wipe away the tears from all faces and finally set the wrongs of the world to right. This feast isn’t just an end...but also a beginning.

As I look out upon our Confirmation students and their families, busily munching away at their meals, I wondered if they realized the irony of our feast together. True, we were celebrating the end of their years of Confirmation, lifting up what they learned together and the experiences shared, but we were also sharing a feast of a new beginning as well. For what was birthed at our feast last night was a brand new group of young people at our church. A group of post-confirmation students. And, though they are unaware of what that new beginning will look like, that era of their lives has begun. What will they do with that new beginning is between them and God. What that new beginning will look like is a question and a wonder as well. But however that beginning turns out becoming, a new beginning has been born in the ashes of the old.

So what endings have you celebrated lately? What things have you toasted to and put an end to? And what new beginnings is God preparing you for? We too celebrate endings with feasts all the time, but we seldom remember the new while we're putting away the old. What new things is God preparing you to face? For remember, at every end, even the end of life itself, there is always a whole New Beginning awaiting us! Amen.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Learning to Accept Apologies



By Rev. William Dohle

Growing up my parents taught me an important skill: How to say sorry. They taught me that, when I had done something wrong, that it was right to apologize and say that I was sorry.

Of course I used that well to my advantage, mostly to calm the waters if I had done something and perceived I had done something wrong. It took the firm guidance of my wife to break me of the habit of apologizing for everything.

As an adult, I have learned apologies aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Apologies rarely do anything, other than affirm that something has come between you. To work, apologies require the assent of both the wrongdoer and the victim. They require, as it were, both parties to admit that something happened. And that’s not always so easy.

Most times when I’ve apologized I’ve heard nothing but silence. No “I forgive you”, no “It’s alright...”. Not even an affirmation that wrong was done. Nothing! Knowing I am a sinful, imperfect human being, I have apologized to numerous people and have received, what I call, the silent treatment. Not a word spoken or returned, as if I really ceased to exist on earth after the whatever wrong was done.

For some the apology has been denied, mostly with words like: “You don’t need to apologize.” That response does nothing if the relationship is still broken. There is always something worth apologizing for. The question is: Is the victim willing to accept the apology and forgive? Another variation on this theme is the apology accepted, but the wrong never fully forgotten. In this case, the party says: “I accept your apology...” and yet can never get over the wrong that was done. The sin hangs over the sinners head as long as the relationship continues.

For a few, a very few, apologies have actually worked. For these people, the wrong is forgotten and doesn’t affect the relationship. For them, the blessed words: “I forgive you.” are uttered and a new dawn arises between them. In my experience, if a relationship(ANY relationship) can survive and see through this type of apology, there isn’t anything that can come between them.

Jesus speaks on forgiveness quite a bit and on the responsibility of both the forgiver and the forgiven. To those who do wrong, he counsels:"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. “Matthew 5:23-24
Before we do anything for God, we must apologize to our brothers and sisters for the wrong we have done to them. It isn’t right to ask God for forgiveness when we haven’t asked our neighbor for theirs. Admit you’re wrong, Jesus says. Apologize!
But then, most of the rest of Jesus’ words are to the victims. Including the answer to a certain question Peter asks him.
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
Jesus is clear on one point. When it comes to forgiving others, there is NO excuse not to! If the other has apologized(and even if he hasn’t) there isn’t any excuse to keep what they’ve done hanging over their head. No excuse at all! In fact, the forgiveness we give others is returned to us as well. “Forgive us our trespasses AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US.” Do we want God to listen and respond to our apologies in the same way we respond to the apologies of others? Do we want God to remain silent, or keep our sins hanging over our heads, or tell us that we have no need to apologize despite how we feel? Absolutely not!

What we want to hear from God is. “You’re forgiven!” ... “Your sins have been washed clean!”... Or, as the Father tells the Prodical Son, “Come! Let us celebrate! For this son of mine was dead and now is alive! He was lost and now is found!”

May we accept others’ apologies in the same manner, freely giving the forgiveness that God in Christ has so freely given us! Amen!

Monday, April 12, 2010

You...A Prayer Magnet


You... A Prayer Magnet!
By Rev. William Dohle

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. - Philipians 4:6

We’ve started calling her our Germ Magnet.

Our youngest daughter, Lynne, can get sick at the drop of a hat. So far, since Christmas, she’s been healthy only one or two weeks! The rest of the time she’s had a runny nose, a sore throat, a cough that just won’t go away.

And I know why too. The girl can’t keep things out of her mouth. No matter how much we tell her, she still puts pencils and crayons and everything else that could possibly contain germs in her mouth.

The funny part is...she’s actually afraid of germs too! Washes her hands two or three times after she’s gone potty. It’s really quite entertaining!

Her “condition” though made me think what if such a condition affected us spiritually. Only instead of leaving germs everywhere we went, we left prayers.

Think about it. You go to the store and see a few people walking in with you. Instead of ignoring them or avoiding them, you start praying for them. “Lord, let them have a good day...”

You run into an old friend of yours as you’re walking along and you pray: “Lord, lead him today.”

You see a few more people walking into the store and you pray: “Give them a heart of love.”

And as you leave, you smile and the cash register and pray: “Lord, let them see you in my life.”

Think about how many places you go and how many people you see in a single day. What if you prayed for each of those people. Not because you know what’s going on in their lives. Not because you’re somehow a “Spiritual Giant” but because Jesus told you to “Love others as I have loved you.” and you think that’s how Jesus might want you to love them.

What if you approached everything in your life in prayer. The ride home from work. The people you see on television. The ones you pass you at your home. What if we took each phone call, each email, and every contact we received as an opportunity to pray for them! What would the world look like then?

Today I am praying for you. I am praying that God is present in YOUR life. I am praying that God would show his face to YOU. And that YOU would find a home to worship him in. I pray that God would be present for YOU and love and cherish YOU as only He can.

You know what? My prayer is even now being answered! What a good and gracious God we have! Amen!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Business as Usual?


By Rev. William Dohle

Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” John 21:12

Well, Easter is over.

Another year of chocolate bunnies, Easter dinners, family gatherings, and sunrise services is behind us. The Easter lillies are blooming. The parties are over. Now we buckle back into reality, back into the daily grind. Now we prepare for summer and the excitement we have planned there, not really thinking that anything important in our lives has changed.

That is what the disciples thought too. Days after Jesus rose from the dead, Peter decides that it’s back to business as usual. “I’m going fishing,” Peter announces. It is, after all, what he was doing before Jesus called him on this crazy adventure. It’s what Peter does best. And the other disciples decide that’s the best thing to do too. “We’ll come too,” they say.

So, Peter, Thomas, Nathaniel, the Zebedee brothers, and a couple other disciples decide to go back to the boats, back to life as it was before Jesus of Nazareth came on the scene. They get in and they throw their nets out for a catch. Peter relaxes into his familiar patterns and the disciples go back to life before Easter.

Only things are not the same. Everything is different! Christ is risen from the dead! So, while they are out fishing, Jesus appears on the shore. He calls out to the boat and asks if they’ve caught any fish. “Of course not!” Thomas answers.

“Then throw your nets over to the other side!” Jesus replies.

The disciples shrug and move the nets over to the other side of the boat where, in a repeat of an earlier miracle, they catch more fish than they can handle! John cries out, “It’s the Lord!” And Peter jumps out of the boat and rushes on shore where he finds Jesus, cooking breakfast for the disciples. “Bring some of the fish you caught,” he says. “The coals are perfect!”

So, the disciples sit there with their food in their hand stunned. Stunned because they expected nothing to change when everything had. Stunned because the Lord they expected to be living in heaven is sitting there in their midst. They had expected to go back to life before the resurrection. They found out they could not. Easter had come upon them and everything had changed!

Everything has changed for us too. Easter has come upon us and Christ’s resurrection has turned the world completely on its head. No, things look pretty much the same. Your job is still waiting for you. The same boss will greet you this week. The work load hasn’t disappeared. The same problems sit unresolved in your family. And the physical pain you’re experiencing hasn’t gone away.

But despite how it may appear, what truly matters in life has changed because Jesus is risen from the dead! And we see that change in Christ’s presence among us. Jesus is here with us even now. He isn’t in the grave! Jesus is risen! And he’s sits and stands amongst us. He is there in the hospital bed you are cleaning and among the patients you are caring for. He’s there at work when you’re frustrated with your boss and on the road with you as you journey home. He’s there amongst your family and friends waiting for you at home, at church with others who praise His name. He’s there, meeting you on the shore, with breakfast already at hand. The eternal host of the meal, cooking up your breakfast, making sure the wine is filled, serving up forgiveness and grace along with the fish and bread he’s prepared.

Jesus is risen and everything has changed. For He is there now wherever two or three are gathered in His name.

So let us rejoice in Christ our Savior, who meets us wherever we may be to turn our world, and the universe, completely on its head. Amen.