Do you have Passion?
Fellow Redeemed,
We are in the midst of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you have passion? I have heard passion defined as “unrestrained effort”. That is the truth when it comes to the passion of Jesus. He would be unrestrained from attaining his goal of saving you from your sins, and going to the cross to die for them. Unrestrained, unrelenting and untiring are all adjectives used to describe a person of passion.
The French Foreign Legion had a saying, “If I fall, push me. If I stumble, pick me up. If I retreat, shoot me.” Now that is extreme passion, don’t you think? Passion does, passion tries, passion fires and then aims, passion is the engine that drives success. What is your passion? Do you have one? You should probably have three things about which you are passionate. How often do we find people with no passion at all? Listen to the Apostle Paul and see if he has passion. Philippians 3:12-14 “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ.”
What Paul is saying is a risky endeavor, here on earth. If we measure ourselves based on success or failure, well we are going to fall short every time, I mean, we are sinful. But, if success is passion and the desire to remain faithful to our calling, well then, we are willing to risk it all. And that is what passion is at the end of the day. Passion is the desire to risk it all for the kingdom of God. One of my favorite bands ever is the Irish rock group, U2. They had just come off a hugely successful album called the Joshua Tree, in the late 80s. The album was such a huge hit that they, as a band, questioned their ability to even try to top it. They were at a crossroads, professionally, and as artists. Bono, the lead singer of the group spoke of that moment. “In order to move from one expression of the band to another, we had to risk it all, and in between there was nothing.” Wow, what a scary place to be. The safe bet was just to put out a mediocre album. People would have understood. The passion of the band would not allow it. During the recording of the song “Mysterious Ways”, the Edge (U2’s guitarist) tried out a bridge with the chord progression Am, D5, F, G. Everyone in the room was taken back by the way that chord progression grabbed them. If you strum those four chords on a guitar, you will recognize the song “One”, which became their biggest hit ever. Passion drove them to keep trying and not to settle.
Jesus Christ does not settle. His passion drove him to the cross. There he saved us from our sins. If we have faith, then we have passion. If we have passion then we remain faithful and faithfulness is the desire to move from one expression of ourselves to another. As we make this move, we realize that it is fraught with danger, because we could fail at any point. But, true failure is to refuse to have passion, to refuse to try, to refuse to pursue failure. Ahh, there’s the rub. Success only comes when we step out in faith, which could be seen as a pursuit of failure. Then and only then do we realize true success, remaining faithful.
Amen!
Rev. Scott Burmeister
The Risk of Faith
When was the last time you took a risk? Was it when you climbed aboard a scary roller coaster or was it when you merged onto 169? Have you ever viewed the Christian faith as a risk? Since we live in a country that has freedom to express our religion, we do not feel the risk of faith that many in other parts of the world experience. It is heart breaking to hear the news of Christian persecution around the world. Being a Christian is starting to become a risky business.
Matthew 10:37-39 “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Now these words from Jesus are risky. When I think of risk, I think of the life work of Thomas Alva Edison. He was a hard worker who took risks. Just take a look at this list of facts from his life:
? Learned to read despite only three months of formal education.
? Sold apples and newspapers on the Grand Trunk Railroad at the age of twelve.
? Realizing that good news about the Civil War sold papers, he once telegraphed the news of the Union victory at Shiloh ahead of the train and sold a record 1,000 papers in a day.
? Lost all his money more than a dozen times by risking his profits on the next invention.
? Designed a cement production system that enabled plants to make five times the amount of cement previously produced.
? Watched his whole fortune go up in flames when his largest factory and research lab burned to the ground. Although his oldest son was devastated and felt responsible, Edison responded, “Oh shucks, it’s all right. We’ve just got rid of a lot of old rubbish. I’m 67, but I’m not too old to make a fresh start. Where’s your mother? Get her over here, and her friends too. They’ll never see a fire like this again!”
? At the age of 84 he fell ill and, realizing he would not be able to continue his laboratory work, Thomas Alva Edison died on Sunday, October 18, 1931. At the time he was working to free the U.S. from foreign dependence on rubber.
Sometimes faith takes risks. If we want to be disciples of Jesus Christ, then we are going to have to take risks with how we have approached faith. In order to move from one expression of faith into a deeper expression of faith as a disciple of Jesus, we have to be willing to risk everything, and in between those two expressions there is only Jesus. That is the true risk of faith. It’s a risk my family and I made when we moved to Tulsa to be your Pastor. Are you willing to take the risk of faith as we move forward together with CTR? If we do, all we will have is Jesus! That’s all that we really need!
Amen.
Grace Required
One of the most difficult things in ministry is to determine how much grace is required in a particular circumstance. I remember when I was a younger pastor, this was an area that I failed at more often than I succeeded. It happened more often than I care to admit that I treated a person, who needed extra grace as though they only needed moderate grace. I found myself cutting the person short, or not showing them the kind of care they needed at the time. It was not intentional, but, the result was never good. The person would go away feeling that they were not completely loved or that something else was more important than them.
So I have developed a little system whereby I try my best to figure out where a person is at, with regards to the amount of grace that is needed within a certain circumstance. I tend to gravitate to TLA’s (Three Letter Acronyms).
NGR – No Grace Required: These are individuals who are perfectly content with the grace they receive from God and do not have a need to be shown grace from others. Very often they appear very strong on the outside and on the inside they are in active communication with God concerning their needs. It could be the case that they are receiving grace from others and so there is no need for you to show them grace, within a given circumstance.
MGR – Moderate Grace Required: These are individuals that have had something happen to them and they need your grace right now. But, it is a moderate amount of grace and does not need to extend far into the future. They do get and feel the grace from God, and they need to feel that grace from you as well.
EGR – Extra Grace Required: These are individuals who are hurting very badly. They do feel the grace of God and know and understand his grace, but they need to feel that grace from you. This grace needs to extend beyond the normal parameters. People in an EGR situation need your undivided attention and your extended periods of time. There is no telling how much will be enough or how much time needs to be devoted to them.
It is the situation that people find themselves in that determine how much grace is required. These categories are not prescriptive of a person’s faith. All of us have, in our lives, moved from NGR to EGR in the blink of an eye. I remember when Leon got into his car accident on 71st Street on a Sunday morning. He went immediately from NGR to EGR. I stopped my bible study and went out, along with other members to help him. This is just a small example to show that these categories are extremely permeable and no judgment of faith levels should ever be associated with them.
So, as you are out and about in the world and functioning as Christian believers, ask yourself if the person in front of you is in need of extra grace right now, and then show them that grace. It could be the driver who just pulled out in front of you. It could be your child who is struggling even right now. It could be your spouse who needs your extra grace. Give it to them. Why? Because when we approach God with all of our shortcomings, He shows us not EGR, but AGR (Amazing Grace Required). Amen!
Merry Christmas
Fellow Redeemed,
Christmas is a joyous time of the year. It is the time when we contemplate the Virgin Birth. We see the love of God in the babe born in Bethlehem. It is the time when family and friends come together in celebration and fellowship. We see the lights and hear the hymns and sing the songs that are only really appropriate for Christmas. But behind the lights, sounds and songs there can be a somber side to the celebration.
I remember Christmas day, 2001. I was the Vicar at Messiah Lutheran Church in Tampa. I was given a vicarage in Tampa because my
mother had been battling cancer for about five years. On my days off, I would make the 180 mile trek to go see her and be with her. If you have ever cared for someone in the last stages of cancer, you know that it is a very ugly disease. Christmas that year was not like all of the other celebrations of our Savior’s birth. This one felt greyer than the others. At 10:30 in the morning on that Christmas day, I was preaching. I don’t remember the exact words that I had said. I do remember it being an uplifting moment for me, as preaching has always been that way for me. After the service was over, I went and checked my phone. My dad had left a voice mail letting me know that Mom was welcomed home to heaven. She had passed away right around 10:30. Denise and I rushed to Titusville, Florida. I don’t remember too much about that Christmas. I did find comfort in the realization that God loved my mother so much that He sent His Son to be born a man. God’s love for my mother continued in the sinless life that Jesus lived on her behalf. God’s unconditional love culminated in His death on the cross. And if that was not enough, God’s love continued for my mother in the empty tomb. Jesus
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
mother had been battling cancer for about five years. On my days off, I would make the 180 mile trek to go see her and be with her. If you have ever cared for someone in the last stages of cancer, you know that it is a very ugly disease. Christmas that year was not like all of the other celebrations of our Savior’s birth. This one felt greyer than the others. At 10:30 in the morning on that Christmas day, I was preaching. I don’t remember the exact words that I had said. I do remember it being an uplifting moment for me, as preaching has always been that way for me. After the service was over, I went and checked my phone. My dad had left a voice mail letting me know that Mom was welcomed home to heaven. She had passed away right around 10:30. Denise and I rushed to Titusville, Florida. I don’t remember too much about that Christmas. I did find comfort in the realization that God loved my mother so much that He sent His Son to be born a man. God’s love for my mother continued in the sinless life that Jesus lived on her behalf. God’s unconditional love culminated in His death on the cross. And if that was not enough, God’s love continued for my mother in the empty tomb. Jesus
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
My grey Christmas was transformed into something that I had so often missed. There has always been a joy on the front end of Christmas celebrations, but, I had missed the grey lining behind the birth of this babe in Bethlehem. He was born for one purpose, and one purpose only; that He might suffer and die to take away your sins, and my sins. This truth does not diminish the joy of the season. It is in fact the very reason for the joy that is our Christmas celebration.
There is not a Christmas that goes by, now, when I do not think of my mother. I give thanks to God that she knew Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. She knew that He came to take away her sins. She believed in Him and lived her life in service to Him. It is that faith that she passed on to me as her mini legacy. There you have it! Faith is the thing that makes Christmas, merry! So now I can say these words with a refocused joy.
Merry Christmas!