#282 Confessing Seven Deadly Sins

Merry Christmas everyone! I'm going to keep my post simple this week and share some more prayers that I've written for use in church. Over the past couple months I tried writing some prayers of confession based on the Christian tradition of the seven deadly sins (pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, sloth). These sins are relatable and convicting because they deal with our hearts—our feelings, desires, and thoughts. While we can maybe tell ourselves we avoid stealing, it's pretty hard to say there's no greed or envy in our lives. I don't know that these prayers turned out quite as well as my prayers of confession based on the Ten Commandments, but hopefully they're still helpful in getting us to recognize our sinfulness, turn to Christ for forgiveness, and seek to live new lives through His power.

Heavenly Father, we confess before you that our hearts and lives are filled with pride. We brag about our abilities and achievements and do not acknowledge all your blessings and gifts to us. We deny our sins and faults so that we can believe that we deserve all that we want. We think that we are always right; we tell ourselves that our desires and concerns are more important than others’. We turn away from you, foolishly believing that we know better than you what is good and right for us. Please forgive us. Teach us humility so that we may recognize our dependence on you, care for others, and glorify your holy name. Through Jesus, who humbled Himself to the point of death on a cross for our salvation. Amen.

Heavenly Father, we confess before you the envy that lurks in our hearts and minds. We are envious of each other’s possessions―houses, vehicles, clothing, jewelry, tools, and toys. We want others’ success or talent or popularity or power all to ourselves. We complain that our looks, our relationships, our church, our job aren’t as good as what others have. Please forgive us. Teach us to desire and seek our neighbors’ well-being, and motivate us to celebrate their joys and triumphs with them. Make us grateful for all that you give us. Through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Heavenly Father, we confess before you that we are guilty of the sin of gluttony. At times we overindulge: eating too much, getting drunk, demanding delicacies and luxuries instead of being satisfied with meeting our needs. We waste food and drink while others do not have enough. Please forgive us. Teach us self-control. Empower us to gratefully enjoy your good gifts and be satisfied whenever we have enough. Help us learn to deny ourselves, abstain from excess, and care for those who hunger and thirst. In the name of Jesus, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Heavenly Father, have mercy on us sinners. Lust and impurity infect our imaginations and twist our desires. We confess our wandering minds and our lingering, longing stares. We fantasize about sex with people on our screens and down the street. We reduce others to their bodies and treat them like objects to use for our own pleasure. We make crude comments, turn to pornography, and pressure each other because we don’t control our desires. Please forgive us. Purify our thoughts and desires so that we honor you with our bodies. Empower us to live chaste lives, to enjoy your good gift of sex only within marriage, and to protect our own relationships as well as others’. Through Jesus our Savior. Amen.

Patient and merciful Father, we confess before you our sinful anger. So often we grow irritated and upset at others and lash out at them with hurtful words and even violent actions. We harbor hatred in our hearts and hold tightly to grudges, seeking ways that we can get even with those we dislike and those we think have wronged us. We become bitter and cranky when life doesn’t go according to our plans or expectations. Please forgive us. Teach us to be patient when things don’t go our way and not blow things out of proportion. Fill us with mercy for others and make us willing to forgive and show love. Thank you for your grace to us in Jesus our Savior. Amen.

Heavenly Father, have mercy on us. We confess that we are greedy people who often are not satisfied. We love money and often desire more and more than we need. We hoard wealth for ourselves while others struggle. We own more toys and clothes and tools and furnishings than we use and sometimes even more than we ever could use, and yet we still want and buy and ask for extra possessions. Please forgive us. Teach us to live simply and gratefully. Make us generous in sharing and giving to others. Help us put our wealth and possessions to good use for your kingdom, imitating Jesus our Savior who graciously became poor for our sake. Amen.

Heavenly Father, we confess that we often do not do good things we should do because we are lazy. We make excuses because we do not want to help others with difficult or time-consuming work. We ignore opportunities to bless others with our service or friendship or encouragement because we figure others will do it. We don’t seek you in prayer or spend time in your Word as we should because it’s easier to entertain ourselves. Please forgive us. Make us diligent in doing good and loving others and walking with you so that we may show you gratitude for your great love for us in Jesus our Savior. Amen.

Grace and peace,

BMH

#281 From the Future

As a pastor, a lot of my work each week is focused on the next Sunday. I'm writing a sermon and preparing other parts of worship, keeping in mind what part of the church year we're in. Sunday is so much on my mind that it sometimes feels almost like I'm living in the future. Normally being a few days ahead doesn't make much of a difference, but lately it's been a little tough. See, this next Sunday is Christmas Day. So my mind keeps thinking that it's Christmas, only to realize that there's something like five more days to go.

(A somewhat similiar, though less disappointing, thing happens right before Easter Sunday. I spend all of Holy Week writing my Easter sermon, thinking about the resurrection. Suddenly Good Friday hits, and I have to jump back to the crucifixion. It's jarring, but at least I've spent the whole week reassuring myself that Jesus lives again and is alive forever and ever.)

Now I don't only share this to give you a strange insight into the life of the pastor. I think there's something about this idea of living out of the future that relates to the Christian life. As Christians we believe we are citizens of God's kingdom. In some ways God's kingdom is here now, but in other ways we are still waiting for God's kingdom to fully come when Jesus returns. Then all other kingdoms will be done away with and disappear forever. We Christians are called to live the life of the kingdom now, to live according to God's standards of love and faithfulness, mercy and justice in the present day, even though our world so often doesn't operate that way yet. In this way we are a witness to Christ and the future that He is bringing. God has made His people new creations even as we wait for Him to make all things new. God is preparing believers for our future now. Through His power, let's live into what He calls us to be.

Grace and peace,

BMH

#280 Closeness and Comfort

As a general rule, I tend to feel closer to people I spend more time with. In my role as a pastor, I often spend a lot of my care time checking in with people who aren't able to regularly come to worship on Sundays. I'm calling and preferably sitting down with folks who don't get out of their own home or a nursing home much and/or have long-term health challenges. So as time goes on, I become really attached to these more vulnerable—and often older—church members. This is a great thing. Hopefully such people have family and friends that are looking after them, but I'm happy to be a(nother) person who cares for them if they're feeling lonely or forgotten.

However, elderly people in less than ideal health don't live forever. Again and again, some of the church members that I've spent the most time building a relationship with are the ones I end up doing funerals for. I had a funeral like that last weekend. A woman whom I'd been visiting twice a month for over a year died. She'd been living in a nursing home, and, largely due to all the COVID-related restrictions that were in place for months and months, I'd had more contact with her than all but maybe one or two other people in church throughout that whole period. She was only able to attend a couple services since I arrived. So when our congregation gathered for worship on Sunday morning, things didn't feel a whole lot different than any other week. But there's now a hole in my schedule and some grief in my heart. Thankfully I'm confident that my sister in Christ is with Jesus now. Even though it's difficult, I can go through this same process with others, because I serve the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him…. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words. - 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Grace and peace,

BMH

#279 Chatterbox

Lanie has long been a talkative little girl. Once she started talking, she never really stopped. Mia, however, seemed different. She understood what others were talking about, but she didn't seem interested in saying much. As far as we could tell, she was content to let her big sister do the talking. Then Lanie went to kindergarten. Suddenly Mia had her mom (and her dad on Mondays) all to herself for a huge portion of the week. It didn't take long for Mia to find her voice. This summer we could hardly get more than three words out of the girl. Now she's answering us in complete sentences and chattering away whether anyone's listening or not. Today Mia and I ended up sitting in the car for 15-20 minutes, waiting to pick up Tess from a doctor appointment after we'd dropped Lanie off at school. (Lanie had a late start this morning.) I think Mia talked the entire time we waited. I couldn't figure out exactly what she was jabbering about most of the time, but I don't think she cared. I guess she just likes the sound of her own voice.

Grace and peace,

BMH

#278 Here We Go Again

Tess and I are expecting our third child in May. We are incredibly excited! But we're also nervous. As longtime readers of this blog will remember, the birth of our second child, Mia, was an adventure. Seven weeks before Mia's due date we suddenly learned that she needed to be delivered ASAP. After that terrifying experience, we spent six weeks with her in the NICU before she was able to come home. For a while we weren't sure that we'd ever try pregnancy again. However, as Mia grew older, we started to think about expanding our family again. Before we shut the door on pregnancy, we decided to have Tess talk to her doctor. The doctor gave her plenty of reassurance, which made us feel confident enough to try again. Still, now that Tess is pregnant, it's not easy to completely push away our worries and fears. Mia—thank God!—turned out fine, but we're well aware of how easily things can go wrong. We have been and will be praying hard for this baby and for Tess, too. We'd appreciate your prayers. And I'll be sure to keep you updated if there are any important developments.

Grace and peace,

BMH

#277 Adventures in Baptizing

Yesterday, I preached at a different church. In our classis (regional group of churches), we pastors take turns filling in at churches that are between pastors. It's a good system. I get to meet some church members at one of our sister congregations, and they have a week where they don't need to find a preacher. The change of pace is almost certainly good for me and the church I serve. Plus, as an ordained minister, I can administer the sacraments at the other church.

So yesterday I baptized a baby at this different church. I've performed a handful of baptisms in my career, but baptizing a baby the day I met her and her parents was a new one for me. This little girl was a sweetheart. She was a little bit confused when I took her from her dad and told her, "For you Jesus came into the world. For you He died and conquered death. He did all this for you little one, though you know nothing of yet. We love because God first loved us." She started to fuss as I moved her over to the baptismal font. When I put the water on her forehead and said, "I baptize you in the name of the Father," she stopped and stared, giving me time to put the water on her head two more times: "and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." Then I gave her back to her dad.

I'm sure this baby won't remember yesterday. I don't know if her parents will tell her the story and explain why an unknown pastor baptized her. But I won't forget her. I pray that she grows to believe in Jesus Christ, accepting the promises God made to her in her baptism. Who knows? Maybe I'll meet her again down the road.

Grace and peace,

BMH

#276 Meaning

Christians sometimes wrestle with questions like "Why is Jesus waiting so long to come back?" and "Why does God have most Christians continue living their imperfect (though thankfully slowly growing in holiness!) lives for so long after coming to faith in Christ? My daughter Lanie asked me a variation of the first question earlier tonight. Generally Christians talk about witnessing and evangelism and the growth of the church. I think that's a good answer. I told Lanie that Jesus waiting to return means more people can come to believe in Jesus and live with Him forever. We who love Jesus have time to tell others about Him.

But I think there's another good answer that we can give in addition to that one. Let me explain. I've been preaching from the book of Ecclesiastes for a couple months. The author of this book, who identifies himself with a Hebrew word that means something along the lines of "the Teacher," is on a search for meaning. Again and again he concludes that nothing we humans do on our own can give meaning to our lives. Ecclesiastes argues that everything is meaningless without God. As the Teacher sees it, human life ends at death. All our possessions are lost; all our achievements fade and are forgotten. So nothing is ultimately gained; in the end nothing matters. (Remember that the Teacher is presenting us with life viewed apart from God.)

Here's where Jesus comes in. Jesus comes to save His people from death and sin and misery. Christ conquers death for Christians in His resurrection, guaranteeing eternal life for everyone who belongs to Him. This isn't some sort of otherworldly spiritual life: Jesus promises to resurrect and transform our bodies for eternal life. Our life after death and resurrection isn't completely separate or detached from our life now; in a very real sense it is a continuation of our current life. That's why some places in the Bible talk about Christians already having eternal life.

(Now to be clear, some parts of the Bible also talk about how Christ gives us new life, emphasizing how Jesus puts our old, sinful nature to death and raises our new, godly nature to life. The Holy Spirit makes Christians different than we were before, and when Christ returns, He will change us even more so that we no longer sin. Our life as Christians is never the same as it was before. But we shouldn't lose sight of the continuity. These are our same bodies that Jesus transforms. These are our same souls that Jesus purifies. Jesus saves us.)

I think the fact that our Christian lives continue in God's eternal kingdom is part of why Jesus doesn't whisk Christians away once He leads us to believe in Him. He wants us to see and understand that He is saving our lives. Our lives have meaning because they matter to Jesus. Our long, slow process of growth as Christians isn't a waste. It's moving us toward Christ's goal for us. Everything Christ does in and through His people now carries over into eternity. Everything Christ does in and through us now is a further sign of how much He loves and values us and our lives. In Christ our lives don't end. In Christ our lives have meaning.

Grace and peace,

BMH