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Redeemer Lutheran Church - LCMS |
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A message From Pastor |
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Dear Members and Friends of Redeemer,
The end is near! The church year ends on November 22nd and a new year begins with the First Sunday in Advent on November 29th. With the church year drawing to a close I thought it would be salutary for us to talk about time this month.
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. Ecclesiaste 3:1
I’m not sure I’m in a agreement with the writer of Ecclesiastes. It seems that the fall of the year is one of those times when there isn’t time for every matter under heaven.
¿ The Timm family had seven soccer games in one week. (Thankfully two games were cancelled!) ¿ There were three funerals at Redeemer in the last two months ¿ The Saint Cloud Circuit hosted the Minnesota North District Pastor’s Conference. (I had to preach.) ¿ Redeemer hosted the “Planting Gospel Seeds” workshop and the Lutheran Free Conference. ¿ The leaves need to be raked and the fishing boat needs to be stored. ¿ There’s a new Vince Flynn novel that needs to be read. ¿ An Advent series of sermons needs to be planned. ¿ Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away. ¿ I volunteered to host the Circuit Pastors for a Winkel in November celebrating Luther’s birthday.
There rarely seems to be time for every matter under heaven, but I know the writer of Ecclesiastes is right. He was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write the true Word of God. When there isn’t enough time the problem isn’t time (God’s gift), rather the problem is we have filled our time with what matters to us.
The writer of Ecclesiastes has much to say about “time” and how we spend it. Like other Biblical writers he chides and chastises us for wasting our time on things that do not last. In that way the preacher of Ecclesiastes points ahead to Christ’s own warning, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” Mt 16:26 Our fear and anxiety about time stems from our unbelief. We falsely believe that our lives, our future, our families, depend on what we do with our time. On my calendar listed above did you notice the number of items that “needed” to be done? I have to do this or I have to do that. If I don’t, who knows what will happen?
Here are some of the wisest words found in Ecclesiastes, “I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him.” Ec 3:14 What the Lord has done in time is what lasts for eternity. What the Lord did in His time here on earth is what endures. His work endures. The righteousness that Christ accomplished endures. The salvation He won from sin, death, and the devil lasts. His death for our sin stands to this day. “It is finished.” Whatever God does endures forever.
There is even a commandment that deals with time. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. With this commandment God calls us to cease from our work, to stop the clock, and spend time hearing His Word and receiving His gifts. The Divine Service is a time when time stops. It is a time when the eternal God enters into communion with His people on earth and gives them gifts that last forever. During that hour on Sunday morning God’s Holy Spirit delivers gifts to you that will never wear out, break, or perish.
I once heard a pastor describe the church as a very patient institution. He commented that things change very slowly in the church and that the church often goes about her work with great deliberation. He said there is a reason for that—the church has all of eternity ahead of her. The pastor then contrasted that attitude of the church with the attitude of the world. He noted that the world is “running around with her head cut off.” She runs after this and runs after that. She never slows down. And then he asked us who were listening a rhetorical question, “Why does the world run so much?” He then answered, “Because she knows her days are numbered.”
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Our days are not numbered. Christ has died for our sins and won for us an endless life with the Father in heaven. Every Sunday, for about an hour, He enters our time with His eternal gifts. He comes to us in His Word and Sacrament to deliver to us the work that endures—His work. As the church year comes to a close and as we approach the even busier season of Advent and Christmas, my prayer is that we are a people marked by patience and peace, that we rest from our work (and our play) so that God make work on us in His time.
In Christ, Pastor Timm
In Conjunction with the annual Advent Tea we are celebrating an
Advent Sunday of Prayer
The service will include a special emphasis on prayer resources for your own prayer life information about the Prayer Chain at Redeemer praying the Historic Litany
Please join us for this service and the Advent Tea.
Encourage and invite your fellow members of Redeemer to attend.
9:00 am Divine Service, December 6, 2009
Lord, teach us to pray. |
