Foundations for Our Future (50)

by: The Reverened Dr. Jon Shuler

Holy Innocents

Today is the fifth day of the Christmas season known as Christmastide. And this year another ancient feast is celebrated on a different day because of the calendar. The feast of the Holy Innocents (normally Dec 28th) recalls the terrible decree that went out from a fearful and tyrannous ruler, to slaughter all the male children born in Bethlehem during the previous two years. (Matthew 2:16-18) He clearly had heard that a child born to be a king had appeared in that region, and he was determined to destroy him, no matter what the cost. Once more it reminds us, even during this time of feasting, that we live in a fallen world.

This day first became very special to me when I made a midwinter retreat with several fellow clergy many years ago. This day fell while we were away, and the archdeacon of my diocese gave the homily at the morning service. He spoke from his experience as a black man of the widespread reality of innocent suffering, and his quiet passion and biblical exposition touched me deeply. I think I was forever changed.

Sometimes my daily prayers are overwhelmed with the knowledge of all the innocent suffering in the world. At those times I can only flee to the Lord Jesus. I rest in the solace that his grace and mercy will somehow make all things right. That is my confident faith in the one born to Mary, who is now King of Kings.

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by: The Rev. Dr. Jon Shuler

A Day to Ponder

The sixth day of Christmas has no saint’s commemoration. The 30th of December is a day without a celebration. How will you keep it?

The business of the world is usually stilled in the days between Christmas and New Year. Shops are open, but many are wrapping up their year with delayed tasks or extra social gatherings. Even in these days of Covid 19 this is true. Some businesses are desperately hoping for sales to help bring the year to a successful close. But for a Christian keeping the season, it is a time to reflect and ponder. How has this year been for me spiritually? Have I grown in any way as a follower of Jesus? How would I explain that to another? Could I?

When I was first learning to pray, it became very clear that I was asking for things, or for mercies. I was not taught to listen, only to speak. But as I have grown in faith through the years I have come to love times of solitude. Days without an agenda, and times to simply listen for the Lord’s voice. Prayer is meant to be a two way conversation. But some times it is just necessary to be still.

When the Archangel Gabriel announced to Mary the heart stopping news of the Incarnation, and all that soon followed, she is said to have “pondered all these things in her heart.” (Luke 2:51) What might you ponder today of the Lord’s goodness to you?

Foundations for Our Future (52)
By: The Rev. Dr. Jon Shuler

Year End

The seventh day of Christmas falls on the last day of December. It is a day of revelry for many, and a time to consider the coming New Year for most. Will you be among those who consider making resolutions for significant change? Will you make arrangements to be held accountable for living up to them? It is a well established fact that if we have another in our life to help us keep our intentions, the odds improve greatly.

Mary and Joseph had each other as their life with the newborn child began. They had been given very clear commandment that they were to name him Jesus, “God saves.” But what else did they know? He was destined for greatness in Israel. He would somehow be a Savior to his people. He was born through a supernatural intervention of God. Mary was told “a sword will pierce your own heart.” (Luke 2:35) As awesome as those things are, they still had to live their lives as ordinary parents do. They had to work, and pray, fret and laugh, just like us.

Will you take time this year end to realign your priorities for the coming year? Is there anything you have been putting off that you know should be undertaken now? Will you commit to the Lord to walk in his paths with new determination, and be accountable to another? These days are a gift from God, to prepare us for glory.

Foundations for Our Future (53)

by: The Rev. Dr. Jon Shuler

The Holy Name

Today is the eighth day of Christmas, and the beginning of a New Year in the modern calendar. It is also the day (the eighth after birth) on which all Jewish boys are circumcised in fulfillment of the covenant made with Abraham. It was the day they were given their name, a custom continued in the church when a child is baptized and named.

The child of Mary was named Jesus, and the mention of the name brings joy to all believers. Does it to you? It is almost never heard in public except to mock the Christian faith or to utter a curse. And yet we describe it, in the family of the church, as “the” holy name, the “name above all names.”

The description of our Lord’s naming is to be found in the gospel of Luke (2:21), where we see the Holy Family obeying the law of God given to Israel. There is not a hint of reluctance to obey in Joseph and Mary, but only a faithful and loving response to God and his goodness. How blessed are those children brought up in such a home!

Some years ago a clergy friend of mine was looking for a young assistant. When the best candidate had been found, he made a call to his boss, and asked only one question: “Does he say the word Jesus with joy?” The answer was affirmative, and he hired the man.

How we hear, pray, and say the name of our Lord reveals our hearts.

Foundations for Our Future (54)
by: The Rev. Dr. Jon Shuler

 Fun, Faith, & Football

Many a household is filled these days with the sound of football rivalries, and seemingly non-stop games and commentary. For some it is almost an addiction, for others just good fun, yet for not a few want to scream “stop.” Of course to true fans that last idea is insane. The non-fan has a different definition of insanity.

There is nothing wrong with sports being “good clean fun,” as folks used to say when I was a boy. Then came television, and soon after that cable and satellite broadcasting. My late father was a pioneer in those last two businesses, so I know them well. Sports became big business, and amateur athletics was forever changed.

Here we are on the ninth day of Christmas, and if I am not careful I will sound like a scold. I do not want to be. I love Army beating Navy. But I do want to ask a question of my brothers (and some sisters too) about where our deepest passions are? Why can we scream and holler (me too) at a football or basketball game, but be like stick figures when we attend worship? Is worship that dull? At the beginning grown men fell before Jesus and worshipped him. (Matthew 2:11) Shepherds, who were tough men, went back to work “glorifying and praising God.” (Luke 2:20)

What if this year we asked God to give us an even greater passion for him and his truth, than we exhibit for sports? Do we have enough faith?

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by: The Rev. Dr. Jon Shuler

Pipers & Lords

It is hard not to love the old English Carol the “Twelve Days of Christmas.” I looked today to see what happens on the eleventh day (Pipers Piping) only to discover that the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) says I am counting my days wrongly! They say that January 4th is the tenth day (Lords Leaping), and I think it is the eleventh. It takes a brave man to take on the OED.

What I do know for certain is that the day I gave my life to Christ I was filled with inexpressible joy. I wanted to shout, sing, jump, and praise. I couldn’t wait to tell those I loved. I became a witness.

As Christmastide fades away for another year (for many already a fact) I want to remind myself of the glorious excitement of those who were there at the beginning, but whom we some times forget. Zachariah and Elizabeth at the birth of John the Baptist. (Luke 1:57-64) Anna and Simeon in the temple at Jerusalem when Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to give thanks to God for his birth. (Luke 2:22-38) Witnesses all, even when old.

When the faith was new and the church was young, to be a Christian meant to be a witness. It is a fact, that whenever God in mercy revives the church, she is once again full of witnesses. Men and women who tell, in convincing and simple ways, of the Savior who is Christ Jesus their Lord.

May it be so again in 2021.

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by: The Reverend Dr. Jon Shuler

Building the Bonfire

The twelfth day of Christmas which, the Oxford English Dictionary notwithstanding, I reckon to be January 5th, is a final day of feasting. A custom grew in England to gather up the dried greenery from neighboring homes, and to build a bonfire that night on the eve of the Feast of the Epiphany. Around a roaring fire, believers would sing carols one last time until the following December.

Today we know this is not ecologically friendly, but the joy of a roaring fire on a cold night is still with us. It is a picture, too, of the character of the church when many are ablaze with the love of Christ. Though a small flame if only one, it becomes a strong  fire when many contribute. It is a picture of the church aflame.

At Nativityfest this year we saw over one hundred twenty examples of the first worshippers of the Lord Jesus. Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and the three Magi, all gathered around the manger. We can only imagine the reality of that time for Mary, but we can all recognize how much more wonderful it was to have Joseph and the others share her joy. It is the same with the local church.

Some plant, others water, but only God can give the growth. (I Corinthians 3:5-7) Let us pray this year that the joy believers have known in these twelve days will spread to others this year. May the Lord Jesus fan the flame of this parish into a blaze.

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by: The Reverened Dr. Jon Shuler

Epiphany

Whenever the church marks out a special day, she celebrates a truth revealed by God to us in Christ Jesus. There are seven of these principal feasts: Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, Trinity, All Saints, Christmas, and Epiphany. What are we celebrating every year on January 6th?

An epiphany means a “manifestation.” Something that was hidden is now revealed. Today is the day we remember that God purposed from all time to bring the gospel to the whole world. He first called one man and one woman, but he purposed to call a multitude no man can number. The moral law and godly life he first gave to Israel, would be shared with all the peoples of the earth. All would come to worship him. All would come to love him. All nations would obey him.

The gospel this day is always taken from Matthew (2:1-12). It is the story of the coming of the three Magi to Bethlehem to bring offerings and to worship the new born King. They are the first non-Jews, the first of the gentiles (which means all the nations of the earth who are not Jews), to begin to receive the gospel. The light of Christ has come into the world, and it is going to shine to every corner of the earth, and on this day we see that truth begin to spread beyond Israel.

The almost unspeakable joy that we remember today is this: the gospel of Christ Jesus has been manifested to us.

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by: The Reverened Dr. Jon Shuler

A Season of Mission

The mission of the church of Jesus Christ is limitless. It is not for a single day, or a single season, but is instead the very life of the people of God. God has a mission, and his mission has a church. We who believe are called to be on mission with our whole lives. Seeing the gospel go to others is the call to every Christian, not just a few. Nevertheless, the wisdom of the ages suggests that we all need reminders, and the season begun at Epiphany is given to us for this reason. It reminds all of us of our central calling.

Christian behavior has, for many, become only a small part of their life but not the center. Yet the gospel of Jesus makes absolutely clear that what God desires is our whole heart. The center of who we are, and how we live. When that becomes true, a man or a woman cares that others come to know God. Not only do they care, they begin to want to do their part in helping the truth revealed in Jesus to become known. They want to take their part in the mission of the church.

The word “mission” is for some, intimidating. They imagine behavior that is foreign, or trips to lands that are foreign, or great sacrifice that they fear to make. But what God wants us to imagine is joy. The joy that we will share when someone we love yields their life to the Lord. (Colossians 1:3-8)

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by: The Reverened Dr. Jon Shuler

Near & Far

Before returning to the Father, our Lord Jesus commanded the church to be engaged in his mission. What they had experienced and seen in his life they were to share. They would be his witnesses “in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) They would be the instruments for taking his life to all people, both near and far.

Obedience to Jesus is discovered close at hand. We are to bring the good news to people we already know and love. We are to share the life of Christ with others right where we live and work. We are to be available to God as his missionaries in the midst of our normal lives. To be on mission is to be alive in Christ, it is not a burdensome weight on our shoulders. 

Look at Jesus to see what I mean. He lived and worked like us. He ate and slept and made friends. He was available to the promptings of the Holy Spirit moment by moment. His life was attractive and winsome. He cared for others naturally. He practiced his faith day by day.

To be on mission with Jesus does not mean I become obnoxious. It does not mean I become insufferable. It does not mean I am priggish. It means I am alive on the inside with the life of God, and it is slowly changing me. It means I have an inner confidence in God’s love for me that I am ready to share.