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A student survey conducted at one of our local schools determined that young people see the church as being full of old people and pews. And they think that the pews have to go. There’s some good news in that survey, they didn’t say the old people should go, only the pews.
Think for a moment: How does their perception match reality?
We might immediately begin to defend the pews. They've been good enough for generations. They keep us awake. They haven’t killed anyone.
Or we might be offended that they’ve labelled us as old. We might argue that we’re not nearly as old as our grandparents were at the same age.
We might want to join James and John to ask Jesus whether we should call down fire from heaven and destroy them.
But before we get too defensive, these young people are crying out for the church to recognise and value them. They don’t think the church cares about them, they don’t think we care. They think the church is only interested in the people who’re already involved, which to them means old people.
I wonder whether they’re any different to those of any age who aren’t connected to our churches. Would the whole ‘unchurched’ and 'previously-churched’ community agree that we don’t care. Would they contend that we’re only interested in ourselves.
If we’re so busy polishing and defending our pews then they have to go. If there’s anything in our church that uses up our time at the expense of living our lives for Jesus then it has to go.
Even more urgently we have to go. Not leave the church, the community of God’s people, but go with the good news that because God loves and cares for every single person in this world so do we.
“As you go”, Jesus says, “make disciples of all nations.” Jesus cares about this because he has ‘skin-in-the-game’. He died for each and every one we encounter as we go about our lives.
How do we, as individuals and a church, need to change so that no one in our community will feel that we don’t care about them?
Security in God
by Faye Schmidt
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
You will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay (Psalm 16:10).
Read Psalm 16
If anyone ever needed a safe place, it was David. He spent half his life on the run from people who wanted to kill him. First, it was King Saul, then foreign kings and leaders and even his own son Absalom. David knew his vulnerability, but he also had his safe house: God. God was David’s refuge, his safe place.
David says he has a beautiful inheritance awaiting him, and it’s safe because it’s not held in an investment bank, but by God himself. So, what is this inheritance? What David is talking about is the priceless inheritance God has reserved for his children. It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay (1 Peter 1:4).
At the end of his psalm, David makes an incredible statement. He says in verse 10, ‘You will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay’. He is prophesying about someone else. Who is the faithful one who has seen no decay? David is, of course, speaking of the Messiah who was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. He was resurrected on the third day and is in heaven at the right hand of God.
Jesus is our refuge, he’s our inheritance, and we are heirs of all that belongs to him and only because of him. It is all made possible through Jesus. We can be fully secure, not in our own ability or in anything this world can offer us, but in what Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross of Calvary. He is all that we need. He is our refuge. He is our inheritance. He is our hope.
Almighty God, you are my refuge and strength. Hold me always secure in your love and grace. Amen.
Faye Schmidt continues her diaconal calling through governance, having served on the Vic–Tas District Church Board, the General Church Board and currently as chair of the Standing Committee on Constitutions and her congregation, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Adelaide. Having lived and worked in many locations in Australia and overseas, Faye has a heart for the stranger and the newcomer and for being open to new ideas, learning from others and responding to needs.
Suffering well – the example of Jesus
by Faye Schmidt
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
And this water symbolises baptism that now saves you also … by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand (1 Peter 3:21,22a).
Read 1 Peter 3:18–22
Peter is writing to people who are in exile and suffering persecution, just as Noah and his family were exiled on the ark. God was to enact his judgement on the people, and the ark on the water was the saving means of avoiding this judgement for Noah and his family. The readers were fellow believers, and they knew of Noah and the importance that water played in their salvation. For us, it is not just the water, but the word of God together with the water of our baptism that is our salvation.
Peter reminds his readers that Jesus was also persecuted and suffered. Jesus is the one he points to as the people, the one who overcame not just persecution, but death. And on his resurrection, he ascended into heaven.
Suffering comes to all of us in various ways. Much of our suffering is hidden from others and not always acknowledged by ourselves. When we see someone undergoing cancer treatment, we know they are suffering. But when someone is struggling spiritually, mentally or emotionally, it is hidden from us. What we do know is that because Jesus suffered, our suffering is not hidden from him. He knows us and all our weaknesses.
Our text today is a triumphant one. Regardless of what suffering we may face, we are not alone. Jesus is with us. The vision we may have is of Jesus walking beside us or of Jesus holding us in the palm of his hand. The promise and comfort are that we are not alone.
Our baptism reminds us of our victory and the assurance of our triumphal resurrection when Christ returns.
Heavenly Father, as the water saved Noah and his family from judgement, we praise and thank you that through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are saved through your gift of the water of our baptism in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Faye Schmidt continues her diaconal calling through governance, having served on the Vic–Tas District Church Board, the General Church Board and currently as chair of the Standing Committee on Constitutions and her congregation, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Adelaide. Having lived and worked in many locations in Australia and overseas, Faye has a heart for the stranger and the newcomer and for being open to new ideas, learning from others and responding to needs.
Living stones
by Faye Schmidt
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood (1 Peter 2:5a).
Read 1 Peter 2:1–10
There are many references to stones in Scripture. For example, Jesus being tempted to turn stones into bread, Stephen being stoned to death, and Jesus stating that the temple will fall and not a single stone will be left standing.
We think of a stone as useful, particularly when building something. Scripture also refers to Jesus as the cornerstone – the stone from which all others are measured.
So, the one thing we know about stones is that they are inanimate – they have no life. Yet we are called to be living stones. But stones we are, on our own and without the power of the Holy Spirit, inanimate and subject to use by others for a variety of purposes.
As a ‘living’ stone, we have had the Spirit of God breathed into us. We are no longer inanimate but of value to God to be a witness to him and his grace.
But we don’t do this alone. For the living stones to thrive, they need to be connected to other stones, building a house – a church formed of those brothers and sisters who turned from stone to life.
Our text refers to us forming a holy priesthood. This is a collective. It recognises the togetherness of believers as we offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus. A single stone on its own has no clear identity or purpose. But when gathered, connected and built upon, we not only have a defined identity, but that identity reflects our purpose.
The church at which I worship is made of stone. It is a beautiful building. But the true beauty is inside, where I gather with fellow living stones that have been built into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood. Praise God.
Heavenly Father, you have gifted me to be a living stone, a member of a holy priesthood. I pray that the sacrifices of my heart and the works of my hands be acceptable to you through Jesus Christ, my Lord. Amen.
Faye Schmidt continues her diaconal calling through governance, having served on the Vic–Tas District Church Board, the General Church Board and currently as chair of the Standing Committee on Constitutions and her congregation, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Adelaide. Having lived and worked in many locations in Australia and overseas, Faye has a heart for the stranger and the newcomer and for being open to new ideas, learning from others and responding to needs.