Notes from Pastor Renstrom |
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On this page, you can read selected Grace Notes articles from Pastor Tim Renstrom from past months and study them in closer detail. Enjoy!
JUNE 2021
On Discipleship…
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, (John 8:31 ESV)
Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (Matthew 16:24 ESV)
Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." (Matthew 9:37-38 ESV)
Here, I think, is one of the great challenges facing all of us who are baptized Christians: Now that government mandates and closures are relaxing as God is giving us relief from the Covid-19 virus through means of the techonology given us in vaccination, how do we bring people back “through the doors” into the fellowship that is Christian discipleship?
It is a question that I personally ponder daily. It is a question that dominates conversation in our Elders’ meetings. It is a question that irresistably arises in every group of gathered pastors. Will people once again gather together in fellowship to worship? Who will get lost in the transition?
It doesn’t matter if you are on the side trying to encourage people to physically come to hear God’s Word and receive the Sacraments, or if you are the side that is struggling as you consider whether or not to join others in worship. The response from either ‘side’ is a discipleship response.
The discipleship I’m talking about is being a follower of Jesus. The Bible teaches that, by virtue of Baptism, one becomes a follower of Jesus—a disciple. Disciples are not defined by what they do—they are defined by who they follow. Disciples can be identified by what they do: They will know that we are Christians by our love—to paraphrase of John 13:35. Still, we, as the baptized, are identified in our baptism as disciples of Jesus.
Still, disciples must ‘do’ something. So, if we follow Jesus, we do as he says—as Luther points out in his explanation to the second article of the Apostles’ Creed: “I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the father from eternity and true man, born of the virgin Mary, is my Lord” (emphasis added). A “lord” is one who has the right and obligation to tell me what to do and I must follow him. Like it or not, this is our confession. With that in mind, the verses above give us 3 rather basic directions from Jesus.
1. Abide in his word. To abide means to live in his word—some translations use ‘remain’. But the idea is that we never leave it, ‘it’ being—HIS WORD. To those who would like to ‘guilt’ disciples to return who are tempted to remain absent from gathering together for worship, this means that we allow God’s Word, not human manipulation, to do his work to call his disciples back together. To those who remain tempted to remain separated because “I can watch church on the internet or tv, etc.”, this means that all of God’s Word is calling and inviting you, including the commands to not ‘give up meeting together as some have done’, and especially the invitation to ‘take, eat; take, drink’ in the community of other believers for the mutual consolation and encouragement to be gained from being with fellow disciples.
2. Deny yourself. It’s not ‘all about me’ and my comfort or opinions or...anything. It’s about taking up our cross—bearing whatever discomfort there is for the sake of others. Frankly, it’s about dying. Dying to my desire to do whatever is distracting me from being “there” for others as well as myself. Dying to my desire to think more highly of myself that I ought because I am “here”.
3. Live as a harvestor. In his Word, dying to ourselves, we live as harvestors—gathering the crop that he has sown. Gathering with open arms the new disciples waiting to hear the words of Jesus from our mouths and actions… ‘here is true hope. Believe in me and be saved.’
The Rev. Dr. Mark Mattes wrote in an essay titled “Discipleship in Lutheran Perspective” (The Mercy of God in the Cross of Christ, edited by Ross Johnson and John Pless, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod © 2016, p. 517): “We have lost confidence in the Gospel; we have been so seduced by the world’s promises, whether they are the promises of therapy or politics or the economy. If we tend to the Word, there is promise that the Word itself will open us up from the inside out — just as it did at the time of the Reformation — and use us to change the world. To be wrapped up in the Scriptures and in their proclamation of good news may occasion the change which we seek. As Klaus Schwarzwaller puts it, we would move from kneeling (prayer) and sitting (study), as necessary as they both are, to enter the fray, fighting for the wellbeing of the world, cooperating with the Lord who is ever-creative of the world.”
Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Tim J. Renstrom
On Discipleship…
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, (John 8:31 ESV)
Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (Matthew 16:24 ESV)
Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." (Matthew 9:37-38 ESV)
Here, I think, is one of the great challenges facing all of us who are baptized Christians: Now that government mandates and closures are relaxing as God is giving us relief from the Covid-19 virus through means of the techonology given us in vaccination, how do we bring people back “through the doors” into the fellowship that is Christian discipleship?
It is a question that I personally ponder daily. It is a question that dominates conversation in our Elders’ meetings. It is a question that irresistably arises in every group of gathered pastors. Will people once again gather together in fellowship to worship? Who will get lost in the transition?
It doesn’t matter if you are on the side trying to encourage people to physically come to hear God’s Word and receive the Sacraments, or if you are the side that is struggling as you consider whether or not to join others in worship. The response from either ‘side’ is a discipleship response.
The discipleship I’m talking about is being a follower of Jesus. The Bible teaches that, by virtue of Baptism, one becomes a follower of Jesus—a disciple. Disciples are not defined by what they do—they are defined by who they follow. Disciples can be identified by what they do: They will know that we are Christians by our love—to paraphrase of John 13:35. Still, we, as the baptized, are identified in our baptism as disciples of Jesus.
Still, disciples must ‘do’ something. So, if we follow Jesus, we do as he says—as Luther points out in his explanation to the second article of the Apostles’ Creed: “I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the father from eternity and true man, born of the virgin Mary, is my Lord” (emphasis added). A “lord” is one who has the right and obligation to tell me what to do and I must follow him. Like it or not, this is our confession. With that in mind, the verses above give us 3 rather basic directions from Jesus.
1. Abide in his word. To abide means to live in his word—some translations use ‘remain’. But the idea is that we never leave it, ‘it’ being—HIS WORD. To those who would like to ‘guilt’ disciples to return who are tempted to remain absent from gathering together for worship, this means that we allow God’s Word, not human manipulation, to do his work to call his disciples back together. To those who remain tempted to remain separated because “I can watch church on the internet or tv, etc.”, this means that all of God’s Word is calling and inviting you, including the commands to not ‘give up meeting together as some have done’, and especially the invitation to ‘take, eat; take, drink’ in the community of other believers for the mutual consolation and encouragement to be gained from being with fellow disciples.
2. Deny yourself. It’s not ‘all about me’ and my comfort or opinions or...anything. It’s about taking up our cross—bearing whatever discomfort there is for the sake of others. Frankly, it’s about dying. Dying to my desire to do whatever is distracting me from being “there” for others as well as myself. Dying to my desire to think more highly of myself that I ought because I am “here”.
3. Live as a harvestor. In his Word, dying to ourselves, we live as harvestors—gathering the crop that he has sown. Gathering with open arms the new disciples waiting to hear the words of Jesus from our mouths and actions… ‘here is true hope. Believe in me and be saved.’
The Rev. Dr. Mark Mattes wrote in an essay titled “Discipleship in Lutheran Perspective” (The Mercy of God in the Cross of Christ, edited by Ross Johnson and John Pless, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod © 2016, p. 517): “We have lost confidence in the Gospel; we have been so seduced by the world’s promises, whether they are the promises of therapy or politics or the economy. If we tend to the Word, there is promise that the Word itself will open us up from the inside out — just as it did at the time of the Reformation — and use us to change the world. To be wrapped up in the Scriptures and in their proclamation of good news may occasion the change which we seek. As Klaus Schwarzwaller puts it, we would move from kneeling (prayer) and sitting (study), as necessary as they both are, to enter the fray, fighting for the wellbeing of the world, cooperating with the Lord who is ever-creative of the world.”
Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Tim J. Renstrom
May 2021
With Ascension Day coming up, May 13, I found the following to be an interesting devotion. It is from The Devotional Bible: Volume One © 1948, CPH. I have taken the liberty of updating the language a bit for our modern ears. Pastor Tim J. Renstrom
The Sign of the Prophet Jonah
Matthew 12:38-50
“Are you the Messiah?” How do we know? Jesus answered this vital question by saying that He would perform one great outstanding miracle. This would prove for all times to come that He was the promised Christ and Savior of the world. That sign was the sign of the Prophet Jonah. As Jonah was in the belly of a great fish for three days and lived, so shall He, the Son of Man, be put to death, placed into a sepulcher, and on the third day come forth out of the tomb.
The priest and the leaders of Jerusalem did not forget this challenging assertion. After Jesus had been placed in Joseph of Arimathea’s sepulcher on that Friday of the crucifixion, these men of the Sanhedrin went to Pilate and said: “Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while He was yet alive, After three days I will rise again” (Matthew 27:63). For this reason they made doubly sure that no one would come near the tomb to attempt to take the bodly. The tomb was officially sealed and then a detail of soldiers placed in front of it to guard it.
But this was to no avail. On the third day the tomb was empty, and Jesus was seen alive. By this miracle of miracles Jesus gave proof to the ages that He was God and that He had accomplished His task of redeeming the souls of men from the deadly clutches of Satan. But many do not believe. Therefore the inhabitants of Nineveh and the queen of Sheba shall rise in the day of judgment to testify against these unbelieving generations.
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you." But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation."
While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. But he replied to the man who told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."
(Mat 12:38-50 ESV)
Since Jesus is risen from the dead, unbelievers are without excuse. He has shown beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is God of God and the Savior of mankind. Those who reject Him in this present age and generation have not a foot to stand on in their inexcusable unbelief. If the Ninevites believed Jonah and the queen of Sheba accepted Solomon’s word, what excuse can any offer now since Jesus is risen from the dead?
How do we explain this obstinacy which refuses to accept the risen Christ? Satan has taken full possession of their hearts. They refuse to give Jesus the right of way in their lives. They reform but they refuse to turn to Christ. So Satan returns and, not finding consecrated but empty hearts, takes full possession. He allows them to be religious and good in the eyes of the world. Satan does not care how religious you are as long as you do not come to the sacred wounds of Christ and look up to the Cross for your salvation and eternal life. He does not object to respectability and self-righteousness. Satan does not want you to lean upon Jesus, but upon your own self.
And if we do seek heaven without Christ, we are closing the one door that opens the way to life. Thus many have ears and do not hear and have eyes and do not see that the labors of their hands are not sufficient to save their souls.
Blessed are they indeed who hear the Gospel and believe it. Peace comes to their heart as the risen Savior takes full possession of their lives and abides.
PRAYER: Lord, I am grateful to You that You have given to us the indisputable sign of Jesus’ resurrection and in this risen Christ the assurance of forgiveness of my sin, the hope of life everlasting, and the promise of a personal resurrection of this dying body. I know that my Redeemer lives, and because He lives, I, too, in my flesh shall see Him face to face in a life in which death and sorrow and decay cannot touch me. Praise to You, most gracious Father, for this blessed hope given to me through my risen and ever-living Savior. Amen
With Ascension Day coming up, May 13, I found the following to be an interesting devotion. It is from The Devotional Bible: Volume One © 1948, CPH. I have taken the liberty of updating the language a bit for our modern ears. Pastor Tim J. Renstrom
The Sign of the Prophet Jonah
Matthew 12:38-50
“Are you the Messiah?” How do we know? Jesus answered this vital question by saying that He would perform one great outstanding miracle. This would prove for all times to come that He was the promised Christ and Savior of the world. That sign was the sign of the Prophet Jonah. As Jonah was in the belly of a great fish for three days and lived, so shall He, the Son of Man, be put to death, placed into a sepulcher, and on the third day come forth out of the tomb.
The priest and the leaders of Jerusalem did not forget this challenging assertion. After Jesus had been placed in Joseph of Arimathea’s sepulcher on that Friday of the crucifixion, these men of the Sanhedrin went to Pilate and said: “Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while He was yet alive, After three days I will rise again” (Matthew 27:63). For this reason they made doubly sure that no one would come near the tomb to attempt to take the bodly. The tomb was officially sealed and then a detail of soldiers placed in front of it to guard it.
But this was to no avail. On the third day the tomb was empty, and Jesus was seen alive. By this miracle of miracles Jesus gave proof to the ages that He was God and that He had accomplished His task of redeeming the souls of men from the deadly clutches of Satan. But many do not believe. Therefore the inhabitants of Nineveh and the queen of Sheba shall rise in the day of judgment to testify against these unbelieving generations.
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you." But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation."
While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. But he replied to the man who told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."
(Mat 12:38-50 ESV)
Since Jesus is risen from the dead, unbelievers are without excuse. He has shown beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is God of God and the Savior of mankind. Those who reject Him in this present age and generation have not a foot to stand on in their inexcusable unbelief. If the Ninevites believed Jonah and the queen of Sheba accepted Solomon’s word, what excuse can any offer now since Jesus is risen from the dead?
How do we explain this obstinacy which refuses to accept the risen Christ? Satan has taken full possession of their hearts. They refuse to give Jesus the right of way in their lives. They reform but they refuse to turn to Christ. So Satan returns and, not finding consecrated but empty hearts, takes full possession. He allows them to be religious and good in the eyes of the world. Satan does not care how religious you are as long as you do not come to the sacred wounds of Christ and look up to the Cross for your salvation and eternal life. He does not object to respectability and self-righteousness. Satan does not want you to lean upon Jesus, but upon your own self.
And if we do seek heaven without Christ, we are closing the one door that opens the way to life. Thus many have ears and do not hear and have eyes and do not see that the labors of their hands are not sufficient to save their souls.
Blessed are they indeed who hear the Gospel and believe it. Peace comes to their heart as the risen Savior takes full possession of their lives and abides.
PRAYER: Lord, I am grateful to You that You have given to us the indisputable sign of Jesus’ resurrection and in this risen Christ the assurance of forgiveness of my sin, the hope of life everlasting, and the promise of a personal resurrection of this dying body. I know that my Redeemer lives, and because He lives, I, too, in my flesh shall see Him face to face in a life in which death and sorrow and decay cannot touch me. Praise to You, most gracious Father, for this blessed hope given to me through my risen and ever-living Savior. Amen
APRIL 2021
‘Tis the Season!
It is most often likely that when we hear the words “‘tis the season”, we think of Christmas—or maybe Easter—or some other “major holiday”. But April through May often ‘tis the season for—drum roll, please—confirmation.
I know. Some, and perhaps a growing number of churches which practice confirmation, are moving it to the fall. And I get it and really approve of the concept. The idea is to move confirmation away from the time of graduation, hoping that by doing so, the subconscious idea of graduating from church will disappear. However, I see no evidence that it has worked.
Now, back to ‘tis the season! Here at St. John’s and St. Stephen’s we offer the rite of confirmation to students who are prepared usually around April or May. But what is it? If it’s not graduation from church, what is it?
Our catechism (CPH 2017) answers it this way: “Confirmation is a public rite of the church preceded by a period of instruction in which baptized Christians learn about the confession, life, and mission of the Christian Church.” Our junior confirmation students may choose to answer it along the lines of: “Something my mom and dad make me go to and the pastor makes me memorize a bunch of stuff.” I often describe confirmation as an event when, after having learned about the faith one was baptized into, the baptized one says, “Yes, that faith my mom and dad had me baptized into—that’s my faith. I believe what God says.” And in doing so, the primary responsibility for faith growth and development (always it is God who is doing this but, humanly speaking) belongs to the confirmed. No longer can the baptized stand before God and use the excuse, “Well, my mom and dad didn’t teach me that.” Now God responds back to him or her, “You confirmed your faith. You took responsibility for your faith. Why didn’t you search for the “God” answer?”
The Rite of Confirmation contains a series of questions about life and faith after confirmation. Along with questions about belief in the Triune God, among them are:
· Do you intend to hear the Word of God and receive the Lord’s Supper faithfully?
· Do you intend to live according to the Word of God, and in faith, word and deed to remain true to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, even to death?
· Do you intend to continue steadfast in this confession and Church and to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from it?
I wonder if we realize how deadly serious these promises are? When we promise—to God in front of witnesses—these promises: to attend church and hear the word and receive the sacraments, to live and suffer whatever may come our way because of our faith; we are saying we’d rather die than to miss church or miss receiving the sacraments. And, yet, how many of us have fallen away for a time?
Matthew 5:37 (CSB): “But let your ‘yes’ mean ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ mean ‘no.’ Anything more than this is from the evil one.” These are the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. And in keeping with His teaching, the confirmands are instructed to answer, if they agree with the questions, “I do, by the grace of God” (my emphasis). Only by the grace of God.
The unholy trinity, the devil, the world and my sinful flesh, is constantly trying to pull me away from my simple “yes.” But, in and by the gifts the Holy Trinity gives me, God continues to pull me and hold me to himself. ‘Tis the season the devil paints a target on confirmation kids to yank them away from faith in the true God. But, in season and out of season, God has already marked them—marked us—as his own with the sign of the cross in Baptism, and “nothing can separate them from the love of God that is Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
As we witness our confirmands confirming their faith this year, let us rejoice with them and pray for them. We rejoice with them that God has opened them to believe Jesus is their savior. We pray for them that they can remain faithful to their promises.
Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Tim J. Renstrom
‘Tis the Season!
It is most often likely that when we hear the words “‘tis the season”, we think of Christmas—or maybe Easter—or some other “major holiday”. But April through May often ‘tis the season for—drum roll, please—confirmation.
I know. Some, and perhaps a growing number of churches which practice confirmation, are moving it to the fall. And I get it and really approve of the concept. The idea is to move confirmation away from the time of graduation, hoping that by doing so, the subconscious idea of graduating from church will disappear. However, I see no evidence that it has worked.
Now, back to ‘tis the season! Here at St. John’s and St. Stephen’s we offer the rite of confirmation to students who are prepared usually around April or May. But what is it? If it’s not graduation from church, what is it?
Our catechism (CPH 2017) answers it this way: “Confirmation is a public rite of the church preceded by a period of instruction in which baptized Christians learn about the confession, life, and mission of the Christian Church.” Our junior confirmation students may choose to answer it along the lines of: “Something my mom and dad make me go to and the pastor makes me memorize a bunch of stuff.” I often describe confirmation as an event when, after having learned about the faith one was baptized into, the baptized one says, “Yes, that faith my mom and dad had me baptized into—that’s my faith. I believe what God says.” And in doing so, the primary responsibility for faith growth and development (always it is God who is doing this but, humanly speaking) belongs to the confirmed. No longer can the baptized stand before God and use the excuse, “Well, my mom and dad didn’t teach me that.” Now God responds back to him or her, “You confirmed your faith. You took responsibility for your faith. Why didn’t you search for the “God” answer?”
The Rite of Confirmation contains a series of questions about life and faith after confirmation. Along with questions about belief in the Triune God, among them are:
· Do you intend to hear the Word of God and receive the Lord’s Supper faithfully?
· Do you intend to live according to the Word of God, and in faith, word and deed to remain true to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, even to death?
· Do you intend to continue steadfast in this confession and Church and to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from it?
I wonder if we realize how deadly serious these promises are? When we promise—to God in front of witnesses—these promises: to attend church and hear the word and receive the sacraments, to live and suffer whatever may come our way because of our faith; we are saying we’d rather die than to miss church or miss receiving the sacraments. And, yet, how many of us have fallen away for a time?
Matthew 5:37 (CSB): “But let your ‘yes’ mean ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ mean ‘no.’ Anything more than this is from the evil one.” These are the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. And in keeping with His teaching, the confirmands are instructed to answer, if they agree with the questions, “I do, by the grace of God” (my emphasis). Only by the grace of God.
The unholy trinity, the devil, the world and my sinful flesh, is constantly trying to pull me away from my simple “yes.” But, in and by the gifts the Holy Trinity gives me, God continues to pull me and hold me to himself. ‘Tis the season the devil paints a target on confirmation kids to yank them away from faith in the true God. But, in season and out of season, God has already marked them—marked us—as his own with the sign of the cross in Baptism, and “nothing can separate them from the love of God that is Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
As we witness our confirmands confirming their faith this year, let us rejoice with them and pray for them. We rejoice with them that God has opened them to believe Jesus is their savior. We pray for them that they can remain faithful to their promises.
Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Tim J. Renstrom
Hope in March 2021
(Those of you who have had an opportunity to attend our midweek Lenten services are aware that the theme for this year’s sermons is “Hope in a Dying World”. This article is intended to tie-in with this same theme.)
Last month celebrated a saint whose day I seldom recognize...March celebrates a saint day of a man for whom I have great respect: Patrick of Ireland. These days, much of the celebration of March 17 would likely reflect Patrick’s youthful behavior. According to George G. Hunter III in his book The Celtic Way of Evangelism (© 2000 Abingdon Press, Nashville), Patrick grew up during the late fourth or early fifth century in what is now northeast England. “His family was Christian; his grandfather was a priest. Patrick had acquired some Christian teaching, and he undoubtedly knew the catechism, but he became only a nominal Christian; he ridiculed the clergy and, in the company of other ‘alienated’ and ‘ungoverned’ youth, he lived toward the wild side.”
Sound familiar? I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to compare our culture to his. Barna Group, a Christian polling group, suggests that the fasted growing segment of American culture is the group—especially of young people—who, when asked to indicate a religious preference, indicate ‘none’.
Patrick was captured at age 16 and sold as a slave in what is now Ireland. During 6 years of slavery, the Holy Spirit awakened the latent faith in him and he became a devout Christian. Having escaped Ireland, he becomes a parish priest in England. As an old man of 48 (past the life expectancy of a man of that time) he was led by a dream to return to the land and the people who had enslaved him. He returns to Ireland in about 432 a.d. and begins the unpopular task of proclaiming the Gospel to the ‘barbarians’ who had formerly made him a slave. In doing so, the Holy Spirit, through Patrick and those with him and who followed him, brought the ‘whole’ island to saving faith in Jesus Christ.
All I can say each time I read and speak and write those words is “Wow!”
Hope.
A teenager who was rejecting the Holy Spirit brought to faith. An entire culture who did not know the saving message of salvation—by grace, through faith, because of the work of Jesus Christ—brought to saving faith in Jesus. All after a demoralizing life event that likely would have caused many of us to just ‘give up.’
But God reached out to Patrick, used him as his tool, and taught him some valuable lessons for our conversations with our marginalized family and friends. One of the most important of those lessons being, as Hunter puts it, “There is no shortcut to understanding the people. When you understand the people, you will often know what to say and do, and how. When the people know that the Christians understand them, they infer that maybe the High God understands them too.”
Because we have witnessed the love of God in Christ Jesus through his saving work in us, we, like God, desire all people to come to saving faith. And we pray, “thy kingdom come”, asking God to use us to spread his Gospel to those around us—family, friends, neighbors, and even enemies. But how? One important task is to understand the people with whom we are talking . And how do we understand people? By engaging them in conversation and listening to them with the purpose of understanding them (not just to answer them with our pre-formed answer).
It is thought that Patrick passed to the Church Triumphant sometime in the late 5th century. As we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this year, I think that it would be a good idea to take some time to reach out to someone in Patrick’s style—by trying to get to know them, to understand them rather than trying to ‘force-feed’ them the Gospel or throwing up our hands in frustration. Then, by the direction of the Holy Spirit, we can apply the hope we have in Jesus Christ to the trials and troubles that are theirs.
Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Tim J. Renstrom
(Those of you who have had an opportunity to attend our midweek Lenten services are aware that the theme for this year’s sermons is “Hope in a Dying World”. This article is intended to tie-in with this same theme.)
Last month celebrated a saint whose day I seldom recognize...March celebrates a saint day of a man for whom I have great respect: Patrick of Ireland. These days, much of the celebration of March 17 would likely reflect Patrick’s youthful behavior. According to George G. Hunter III in his book The Celtic Way of Evangelism (© 2000 Abingdon Press, Nashville), Patrick grew up during the late fourth or early fifth century in what is now northeast England. “His family was Christian; his grandfather was a priest. Patrick had acquired some Christian teaching, and he undoubtedly knew the catechism, but he became only a nominal Christian; he ridiculed the clergy and, in the company of other ‘alienated’ and ‘ungoverned’ youth, he lived toward the wild side.”
Sound familiar? I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to compare our culture to his. Barna Group, a Christian polling group, suggests that the fasted growing segment of American culture is the group—especially of young people—who, when asked to indicate a religious preference, indicate ‘none’.
Patrick was captured at age 16 and sold as a slave in what is now Ireland. During 6 years of slavery, the Holy Spirit awakened the latent faith in him and he became a devout Christian. Having escaped Ireland, he becomes a parish priest in England. As an old man of 48 (past the life expectancy of a man of that time) he was led by a dream to return to the land and the people who had enslaved him. He returns to Ireland in about 432 a.d. and begins the unpopular task of proclaiming the Gospel to the ‘barbarians’ who had formerly made him a slave. In doing so, the Holy Spirit, through Patrick and those with him and who followed him, brought the ‘whole’ island to saving faith in Jesus Christ.
All I can say each time I read and speak and write those words is “Wow!”
Hope.
A teenager who was rejecting the Holy Spirit brought to faith. An entire culture who did not know the saving message of salvation—by grace, through faith, because of the work of Jesus Christ—brought to saving faith in Jesus. All after a demoralizing life event that likely would have caused many of us to just ‘give up.’
But God reached out to Patrick, used him as his tool, and taught him some valuable lessons for our conversations with our marginalized family and friends. One of the most important of those lessons being, as Hunter puts it, “There is no shortcut to understanding the people. When you understand the people, you will often know what to say and do, and how. When the people know that the Christians understand them, they infer that maybe the High God understands them too.”
Because we have witnessed the love of God in Christ Jesus through his saving work in us, we, like God, desire all people to come to saving faith. And we pray, “thy kingdom come”, asking God to use us to spread his Gospel to those around us—family, friends, neighbors, and even enemies. But how? One important task is to understand the people with whom we are talking . And how do we understand people? By engaging them in conversation and listening to them with the purpose of understanding them (not just to answer them with our pre-formed answer).
It is thought that Patrick passed to the Church Triumphant sometime in the late 5th century. As we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this year, I think that it would be a good idea to take some time to reach out to someone in Patrick’s style—by trying to get to know them, to understand them rather than trying to ‘force-feed’ them the Gospel or throwing up our hands in frustration. Then, by the direction of the Holy Spirit, we can apply the hope we have in Jesus Christ to the trials and troubles that are theirs.
Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Tim J. Renstrom