May the Great Goodness of God's Love for your life bring joy to you today and always.
We are entering into a particularly busy time of the year. Here at American we are celebrating birthdays, doing a pumpkin pie fellowship time after our 10am worship service this coming Sunday as we give thanks to God for the abundant blessings of our nation. The Sunday after Thanksgiving finds Lutherans at the end of the Church Year. On that Sunday we celebrate Christ the King and look forward to our period of waiting called Advent. This is the time of the new church year when we are called to prepare our hearts and minds to receive and celebrate the birthday of Jesus. St Nicholas Day arrives quickly on December 6th, and on Sunday, Dec 3rd we have our Gospel Music Sunday. If you are a Scandinavian Lutheran, you may celebrate Lucia on Dec 13th. On a personal note, the following Sunday, the 10th, will be the day on which Melody and I celebrate our 52nd anniversary with a treat for the worshiping community after service. We will decorate the church for Christmas on the 17th after the late service, we will share treats and come with joy as we get our worship space ready for the Big Birthday Party on Christmas Eve, Sunday Dec 24 at 7PM. Then in December, for good measure, in addition to our wedding anniversary, three of our eight children have birthdays, and my 39th anniversary of ordination is on Dec 30th.
Today's passage from Mark is certainly appropriate for the times that our world and nation are in right now. This is another of Jesus' independent sayings which are recorded sequentially in Mark, even though they are not necessarily related content-wise to one another. "There is nothing that will not be hidden." These words of Jesus speak most directly to the nature of God's Truth. We might look at this passage as just another bit of wisdom from Jesus, but there is hardly a more important statement of how God's creation, which includes all of us, responds when someone attempts to hide, or misinform, or deny the power of God's love and intent for His Children. Basically, what Jesus is saying is that this most important of all Truth will break free of the sin of humanity and be revealed. I really think that the early Church, about 350C.E, had a good handle on this Truth. In that time period the Church of the day gathered in Council to make a succinct statement of God's Truth. We repeat it together every Sunday during worship. In the Apostle's Creed we clearly state our authentic faith in the very Trinitarian nature of God, and His Omnipotence that tells us that His Truth will not be hidden. We have come to understand our God as Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of Life, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As you and I know, in the world, we ask, "Whose Truth?" and we frequently have a counter comment, or some doubt about it being anywhere near absolute. We see it all of the time in political divisions in our great nation and experiment in democracy. No matter how much proof is provided, some will always choose to doubt its veracity. That happens most frequently when people find that they must defend their "truth" in the face of it being disproven. God's Truth, of course, is at a completely different level, yet people are often in denial about God as well. Some see Him as an angry vengeful judge who fails to love His creation at all, while others deny His existence, and still others doubt God's motives, while some in Christ's Church are opportunistic when it comes to placing power and money as their primary god, while removing more and more references to our Savior. However, Jesus makes it clear that in spite of people's approach in understanding God, His Truth will be revealed, and in fact, has been revealed in Christ Himself. God's gift of faith, and His willing Sacrifice of His Beloved Son are truly signs of the Truth that will always win its way against those who tear it down.
In the same way as God's Truth, the truths of our lives will also ultimately find their way to the light of day. What we may think has been well hidden almost always finds its way to revelation at some point. This Word about Truth and truth, bring us to the reality that anything that has been covered will be uncovered. So, we ought to be able to see that there is great power in truth, God's, and ours. Truth is innately filled with a power to find its way into being revealed by means that are not yet obvious.
Tomorrow we will move forward in chapter 4 of Mark to verse 25.
God Bless You Today.
In Christ's love, Pastor Kim.
Yorumlar