Aging Well

 This week, began a third small group Bible study about "Senior Spirituality."  It was the study of my dissertation 24 years ago.  Back then the over 55 group was the fastest growing segment of our population in America with 31 million.  Today that number has doubled to 62 million.  Our culture teaches us to fight aging- coloring our hair, hiding wrinkles and age spots, contacts or laser surgery to replace glasses, etc.  But despite our putting on the brakes, the car keeps moving forward.  Often we expect curriculum to be graded for kids (curriculum for K, 1, 2, 3, etc.) and even teens or young adults.  But we do not look at scripture the same when we were  5 as when we are 15 or 25.  But we also shouldn't just group people into "adults."  God is the same for all ages, but how we view and need God changes with our circumstances, but also with our age.  Psalm 23 was different for most in confirmation class than when we had our first child to when we had our first grandchild.  

Older adults have specific gains and losses. From a secular point of view older adults are seen as losing a lot.  In our culture of valuing making money, being productive, looking beautiful/handsome, and having energy- we only see older adults as having lost these things.  We forget that older adults have experience, often more money (though older adults have a deep disparity between those who have nothing and those who have way above average), and they have more leisure/flex time and peace than the younger adult.  Yet there are clear losses.  For Christians, each loss is like a cross to bear in which we can learn but also grow closer in dependence and love for God.  Each loss is an opportunity.  John Calvin talked about the first and hardest part of the Christian life is what is called "mortification."  Mortification is dying to our pride (like our sense of indispensability), and realizing we will have to give up everything in this life eventually.  Jesus said "If anyone follows me, let them deny themselves, take up their cross daily and follow me" (Lk. 9:23).  Part of denying ourselves (our living for our own comfort), is to recognize our losses can be opportunities for spiritual awakening (vivification).   When we truly can let go of our losses and adapt to them as opportunities to adapt to what God is doing in our lives, we can come alive to Him.  Below is a chart of older adult gains, losses, and spiritual opportunities.  Part of aging well, is recognizing where we are in life, adapting to that, and living the best life where we are.   

This is a prayer to age well by Teillhard de Chardin- the famous Christian French Philosopher: 
When the signs of age begin to mark my body, and still more when they touch my mind; When the illness that is to diminish me or carry me off strikes from without or is born within me; When the painful moment comes to which I suddenly awaken to the fact that I am growing ill or growing old; and Above all at the last moment when I feel I am losing hold of myself and am absolutely passive within the hands of the great unknown forces that have formed me, In all these dark moments, 0 God, Grant that I may understand that it is you—provided only my faith is strong enough— who is painfully parting the fibers of my being in order to penetrate to the very marrow of my substance and bear me away within yourself.

Early Efforts to Unite Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches

 "My prayer is that they would be one, even as we are one." John 17:17

Certainly the Protestant Reformers did not want to start their own denomination.  Most- Luther, Bucer, Calvin, wanted reforms for the church.  
Most believed the medieval church was corrupt.  There was simony (selling of offices- or appointments to religious positions for money), nepotism (giving special appointments to relatives), all kinds of sacerdotalism- so that the priest alone could absolve sins, the priest alone could read scripture (and only in Latin), the priest alone could say how many years someone would spend in purgatory (or getting out of it), and the priest alone ruled the church (no elders, deacons, boards).  
     In hindsight, we may think such efforts would be futile.  Nowadays it seems that the differences (between Roman Catholic and Protestants) are sharp.  But before the Council of Trent that condemned the Protestants (yet accepted some of their ideas about stopping corruption),  there was a real chance at reconciliation. Many thought that the oneness of the church was important until Trent (1545-63). 
      The Diet of Speyer 1526 was held by the Holy Roman Emperor as a way to make peace.  He was out of favor with the Pope, and the Turks were pressing upon Austria.  Charles V wanted to have a peace so both sides of the reform issues could fight the Muslims together.  His solution was to suspend the edict of the Diet of Worms (condemning Luther and his followers) and that each prince could declare their area's religious preference.  So, Saxony and Hesse could be Lutheran.  
     So there were several discussions or colloquies to try to bring the Roman Catholics and Protestants together.  Hagenau in June/July 1540; Worms November 1540; and Regensburg 4/1541 (and the Regensburg book of Bucer and Gropper). In the end Regensburg came up with a common article of Justification by Faith.  The reaction was that there was vast disappointment that common agreement on a union in all things in the church was not reached.  The emphasis was not on the one point of agreement. Johannes Gropper (Catholic) and Martin Bucer (Lutheran then Reformed) recognized each other as Christian and had mutual respect for each other.  There was another colloquy in Regensburg in 1546 but the catholics rejected their compromise and emphasis of justification through Christ in the sacraments. 
    There was also the Peace of Augsburg 9/25/1555 between Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire and the Schmalkaldic League (German Protestant princes).  This  basically allowed rulers (and thus their regions or subjects) to choose between Roman Catholicism or Lutheranism.  Calvinism was not allowed in the Holy Roman Empire though there were certainly elements of it- Prussia was primarily Calvinistic.  One of the problems with this peace is that many who were not Lutheran or Roman Catholic still found themselves in danger of being charged, tried, and condemned with heresy (Zwinglians, Calvinists, Anabaptists).  It was only after the Thirty Years War and the Peace of Westphalia of 1648 that there was religious peace.  Religious Freedom and the sovereignty of states (including the Netherlands) was recognized.  But with all the fighting came disillusionment with state-run religion that still effects Europe today.  
     My contention is that this Thirty Years War was caused mostly by those who wanted power and physical resources (land, castles, money).  True religion goes against such things.  Jesus would rather have the cross than cause a rebellion against Rome or the Bureaucracy of the Jewish rulers.  His desire for oneness was not only not heeded, it was totally forsaken and rebelled against.  Luther said, "Love God and do what you will."  But then he did not show that love toward those who differed with him (nor did the Pope, nor did Zwingli). 
     Today, the church is again divided.  It has become so argumentative that many would rather not be affiliated with any denomination lest they be 1) Seen as contentious; 2) Have someone else encourage them to think differently in the name of unity.  We say we value truth over love.  But love is the truth.  God is love as well as light.  They are not incompatible.  When we choose only "truth" or "light" we fall into the darkness of disunity and even hatred of those who will one day be with us in heaven- who believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  If the church cannot teach us to be united above our differences, then it is no better than the worst political divisiveness.  
      One of the great things that has happened were the ecumenical councils that began in missionary efforts (Edinburgh 1910).  But Vatican 2 (1962-65) began to recognize Protestants, encouraged the liturgy and the reading of the Bible in the vernacular.  In 2015 Pope Francis declared division among Christians as "the work of the father of lies" and declared the oneness and brotherhood of those who believe "whether they are Evangelicals, Orthodox, Lutherans, Catholics, of Apostolic."  In 2016 Pope Francis celebrated the Reformation and even had a Vatican stamp made with Luther and Melanchthon kneeling before the cross. 
     The great sin of our day is not what we believe about justification- or celibacy.  The great sin of our day is a lack of love and unity.  

Prayer: Lord, let me be a peacemaker.  I believe what you said, "blessed be the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God."  Help me to sacrifice my pride and my all to be true to you- in truth and love.  

Marburg- Protestant Beliefs in Common

"I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that al of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that  you be perfectly united in mind and thought."  (1 Corinthians 1:10)

Philip of Hesse called the Reformed and Lutheran Protestants together to see if there could be unity among the Protestants.  He was also hoping, if there was unity in theology to have some kind of mutual defense agreement against the medieval catholics.  There was so much agreement.  The agreement, I believe, was mainly by the Holy Spirit.  Zwingli claimed his reformation began (almost simultaneously) in Zurich as the reformation began in Wittenburg for the German-Holy Roman empire.  
     At Marburg not just 14 of 15 statements were agreed upon.  But against the medieval papal notion, bot the priest and the people were encouraged to take the bread and cup (as the disciples did in the Bible).  Hus had earlier been condemned for this idea (utraquism).  They also agreed that the Lord's Supper was important and should be given more often than the medieval practice of once or twice a year (Easter and Christmas).  The meaning of the Supper (eucharist) was the rub.  The Roman Catholics believed that when the priest blesses the bread (or cup) the elements become transformed into the physical body and blood of Christ (transubstantiation).  Luther said that the presence of Christ is physically there- in with and under the elements.  Luther said it was like when you stick a rod into a fire and cannot tell which part is fire and which part is the rod when it glows- so we cannot tell which part is bread and which part is Christ (sometimes labeled consubstantiation).  Zwingli said the supper was an ordinance- a command: "Do this in remembrance of me."   He said that the bread symbolized the body and reminded us of the body- but Christ was not sacrificed again (there is only one sacrifice necessary- Hebrews 10:12).  The point boiled down to the phrase Luther repeated "This IS my body."  Zwingli pointed out that Jesus said, "I am the door" but that didn't mean he was a door, or a gate, or a light.  Bucer (and later Melanchthon and Oecolampadius and Calvin) emphasized that it is a spiritual presence of Christ in the bread and cup.  But neither Luther nor Zwingli were in a mood to listen to a mollifying position.  Yet, there was so much agreement.  In 1988 LWF and WARC suggested all Lutheran and Reformed churches should enter into fellowship.   In 1997 the Evangelical Lutheran Church and three Reformed churches (PCUSA, RCA, UCC) joined in a "Formula of Agreement" that recognized full communion with each other.  This meant that the divisions of the past were over- and Lutheran pastors could serve in Reformed/Presbyterian pulpits and the people could share communion freely in each others' churches.  In 2017 the LWF signed the Wittenburg Witness with the WCRC (World Communion of Reformed Churches) affirming the call to continued renewal and cooperation to "fully express the communion we already have in Christ."  

 At Marburg the Reformed and Lutherans agreed (this is a summary): 

1) That there is one God described in the Nicene Creed. 
2) That Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary and was without sin. 
3) That Jesus died, buried, rose again, ascended to heaven and will come again.  
4) All people are born into sin (original sin). 
5) Belief in Christ's death on the cross for our sins is the only way to salvation (not any good works)
6) Faith is a gift of the Spirit and not of works or merit. 
7) Such faith is our justification before God- in which we are made righteous and enjoy salvation and life.
8) The Holy Spirit gives faith not apart from the Word of God but with it.  
9) Baptism is a sacrament- not just a sign.  It supports our faith through which we are saved. 
10) Our faith, given by the Spirit, produces in us good works- love, prayer, endurance, et al. 
11) Confession to a pastor should not be coerced but is free and useful. Absolution comes from the Gospel. 
12) That secular authorities (rulers, courts, laws) are not forbidden but correct and proper.  Those who rule can be
 saved to salvation as anyone else (this is contrary to the Anabaptists or some papists). 
13) Christian traditions can be followed or abandoned as long as they are not contrary to the Word of God in order to keep the peace fo the church. 
14) That infant baptism is correct and the baptized children are granted God's mercy and accepted into the church. 
These are the beliefs agreed upon by both Reformed and Lutheran scholars and clerics. 
15) The Lord's Supper is a necessary part of the Christian life.  In contrast to the papists the people should receive both bread and the cup.  That we take part in the true body and spirit of Christ when we take part.  
The Reformers added this: "And although we have not been able to agree at this time, whether the true body and blood of Christ are corporally present in the bread and wine [of communion], each party should display towards the other Christian love, as far as each respective conscience allows, and both should persistently ask God the Almighty for guidance so that through his Spirit he might bring us to a proper understanding. Amen."

While many say this was a failure of unity, in some ways it- along with Augsburg spelled out what it meant to be a Protestant.  Sadly, because there was not complete agreement, the Lutherans, Swiss, and some French (Alsace and Huguenots) would not enter into a defense compact. This meant Zwingli would be killed in the battle of Kapel where Zurich was attacked by the Papists.  

August Noak- Religious Speech in Marburg 1529

Lessons on Unity from the Reformers- Martin Luther

 Having just come back from a study trip of the Continental Reformers, I hope to give my little thoughts to what we can learn from them about the church.  Specifically, in this age of divisions, what we can learn from a time (500 years ago) in which the church split into major groups.  Too many today use the Reformation as an example of splitting.  Unfortunately, the demise of the Reformation is an ongoing lack of unity and belief that we can somehow keep kicking others out, or leaving to form our own church, or just getting mad at one church and walking away without any hint that it may be sinful.  

The first 1,000 years of church history, there was one orthodox church.  Then in 1054 there were two.  Then, not withstanding the Waldensians and Hussites there were about five (Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Lutheran Protestant, Reformed Protestant, and Anglican), though Lutheran and Reformed churches were often subdivided by state or ruler.  Today there are over 45,000 Christian "denominations."  There are now more non-denominational (meaning independent or unable to unite together) then denomination churches in America.  I am grateful for non-denominational churches because when denominational churches are all wrapped up in themselves and lose the vision for their own existence or propogating themselves,  many are starting non-denominational churches without restrictions.  However, what we are missing is the ability to work together for the kingdom of God, working cooperatively to make His kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.  

Luther- Luther did not want to start a new church.  When he nailed his 95 thesis to the castle church door in Wittenburg he wrote in Latin- the language of the scholars and priests- but not the language of the people.  He hoped for a discussion.  It was translated and printed in German and went to the population who for the most part agreed with it.  It was a sharp discussion of the idea that you can give money (an indulgence) to the church to get yourself or relatives out of purgatory and of the power of the clergy to decree their penalty or lack thereof.  There were debates with Eck and others that made it clear the bureaucracy of the church did not want to hear the criticism.  After three debates the pope sent a bull against Luther's teachings banning and encouraging the burning of them. Luther burned the bull.  Here things got testy.  Luther was excommunicated 1/3/1521. He then had no choice- if he was going to continue to worship God- to worship and lead outside of the Roman Catholic church.  When Luther and his followers were declared outlaws worthy of death at the Diet of Worms 5/26/1521  Luther was forced to retreat and reform the church himself.  

Luther wanted to keep the German Protestant church united.  He spurned the peasant rebellion as being too radical and dividing the church between royalist and peasant. He condemned the Anabaptist extremes as going too far.  He even condemned Reformed thinkers- saying that reformed folk were too rationalistic to the point of heresy.  Luther was a prophet- who was easy to criticize but he was not a builder.   He agreed with 14 of 15 points with the reformed but could not agree to disagree on the eucharist.   He criticize everyone including Bucer and Melanchthon for trying to unite the Protestant ideas.  Yet he wrote Bucer encouraging him to keep trying to bring unity.  Luther wanted others to be united with him in his beliefs.  But he had a hard time agreeing to disagree.  After Marburg, because the Lutheran and Reformed could not agree, the Romans from Lucerne attacked Zurich and Zwingli died. 
However, both Calvin and Zwingli saw Luther's important role in not only the ideas of the Reformation, but the one who could shape it.   Zwingli said after Marburg: "There are no people on earth with whom I would rather be at one than the [Lutheran] Wittenbergers."  Calvin even called him, "The Apostle of the Reformation."  Most of the early reformers in the 1500s were called "Lutherans."  Calvin, Bucer, and Karlstadt considered themselves Lutherans at first.  So there was a type of unity of thought if not in organization of the Reformation. 

At Marburg and later at Augsburg, effort were made at both definition, distinction and unity.  In the end, the groups were more united than most inside a denomination are united today.   But Luther and Zwingli specifically, could not appreciate how united they were.  They were expecting complete agreement against the medieval papist catholic church.  Luther specifically held the tension of wanting unity and wanting to stay true to orthodoxy (and tradition), to scripture, and to the mystery of faith. 

 

Prayer: Lord, give me grace to hold to my teachings with great conviction but also to seek the unity of the Spirit with fellow believers.  

The Need to Re-Form

 

"The Need to Re-Form" Ps. 85:6; 51:7; 19:7  Sermon by Ben Sloan at EPC

Will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you? Ps 85:6
  [the word "revive" may be translated awaken, renew, re-form]
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.  The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy making wise the simple. 

I don’t know about you, but I have found myself drawn to watch the Olympics whether I wanted to or not as have 41.5 million- almost doubling the Tokyo Olympics’ viewership.   But the Olympics have changed over the 3,000 years of their existence.  Originally the Olympics were held each time In Olympia Greece and was a religious exercise- and it was only one event- the stade- a 192 meter race. Then combat and horse/chariot races were added.  Today there are 70 sports and 17 days of games.  Women were not allowed to compete until 1900.  Can you imagine the Olympics today without Simone Biles or Suni Lee?  No professional athletes were allowed to compete until about 50 years ago.  It is projected the Olympics would mean the hiring of 150,000 jobs and raise about $10 billion. The first athletes were required to train their soul for the event as well as their bodies- taking music and philosophy classes in preparation.  One lesson the Bile’s withdrawal in the Tokyo games should have taught us is that you can be good physically, but if you don’t have it together inside of you- you may fail.  The Olympics are a far cry from the Olympics of 3,000 years ago, but we can still learn from their original call for unity through sports and that the body also needs the mind and soul to be in the best of shape. 
If we were to reform the Olympics, it might look something like- cut down on duplicate events and silly games (for example tug of war was eliminated from the 1920 games and speed walking from this year’s Olympics).  But maybe add not an event but a requirement on stress and soul management that does not exclude religion, but sees religion for what most people on this earth see it as- important.  90% of the people in the world believe in God.  72% in America say faith is important and 51% say it is very important.  Yet we do all these herculean efforts to play down faith.  People are amazed when I say more people will be in church on Sunday than at Clemson, Carolina, or all the college football games combined in South Carolina.  If you add all the stadium capacities up- you will get about 300,000.  The latest Pew poll estimated 57% of South Carolinians and some say that has dropped 3% to 54%= 2.7 million.  Yet every night on the news we hear about football.  Faith is the most meaningful best-kept secret in the world!  We TRY hard to keep it a secret.  We don’t hear about the guy who left alcohol and drugs to stay with his wife and raise his kids because of his faith.  We rarely hear about all the charity work that goes on around us.  Where were the cameras when 17 churches dedicated the Habitat House last week?  Are we really trying to snuff faith out of our lives?  We need a reformation. 
The Soviet Union and eastern Europe tried to kill all religion out between 1917 and 1989.  In the end, the shipworkers at Gdansk Poland held prayer rallies; The Romanians held a Christmas Candlelight service that brought down Cecescue.  The people of Eastern Europe know the value of freedom of religion and treasure it.  When the polish Pope visited Poland, when Billy Graham visited the USSR and eastern Germany they had a huge impact on the fall of communism- that is played down even today.  Why are we hiding such things? 

But the church needs to change too.  Phyllis Tickle, an author famously wrote that it seems the church has a reformation every 500 years.  Abraham was 2,000 BC, Moses was the next, David’s reign was about 1,000 BC; 500 BC was about the time of the exile to Babylon that reformed the people of God.  Then Jesus was born 500 years later.  Then Rome fell 500 years later; then the east and west schism 500 years later; then the Reformation 500 years later, then here we are 500 years later again.  She pointed out that before each major change there was a decay in enthusiasm and I might add in immorality.  She was saying it is similar to a caterpillar turning into a chrysalis turning into a butterfly. But what she downplays is that each reformation does not just move forward- but also goes back to the foundation to the roots- scraping off all the old veneer and trappings that added rule on rule and it gets back to the heart of worship.  The other thing that she missed is that Reformation does not begin from the bureaucracy of the church.  It usually begins with lay people.  The east west schism was indeed a huge change in the church- but it was not a Reformation.  Most of the Great reformations began with a good deal of prayer, a desire for change and repentance among both the people and some of the clergy. 

I.  WE NEED UNITY- Unity is not I will get along with you as long as you agree with me.  Unity is that we will get along with you no matter what.  Today, we get this idea that the only thing that is hurting the church is differences about morality.  The truth is, the church has done something the Bible has continually begged it not to do- and that is divide against each other.  The nation of Israel never divided over morality or lack of spirituality ever.  It divided over tribalism the 10 tribes against the 2.  But the nation had descended into Baal fertility worship until God raised up Gideon.  Perhaps you remember that Elijah said he was the only prophet left who didn’t worship Baal.  Yet even then the nation stayed together.  Corinth was full of immorality.  Today you can go to Corinth and from anywhere in the city see the Mountain with the Temple to the goddess of Love- Aphrodite on top.  But Paul begged the Corinthians not to divide and they did not.  For the first 1,000 years of the Christian church’s existence there was only one denomination.  Then 500 years later there were about five. Today there are 45,000 Christian denominations.  We need to Re-form in the classic sense.  Not just reunite in some structure, but showing respect and love to each other- working together for the glory of Christ.  The three reformers that got it right that were not heard were Bucer, Calvin, and Melanchthon who wanted the unity of the church.  See both Bucer and Calvin were basically Lutheran before they fine tuned into reformed thinking.  Neither Luther, Bucer, or Calvin wanted to form a new denomination.  They were excommunicated by the bureaucracy of the church, and then each was declared an outlaw.  Only when the choice was to rejoin the church without changes, to die, or to form a new denomination did they form a denomination.  Today Lutherans and Presbyterians recognize each other.  Out own Emily Mooneyhan preached in a Lutheran church and a Presbyterian church before coming to Eastminster.  The Reformation we need today is a reformation of love and unity- not divisive schismatic pride.  Jesus is not divided there is one faith, one Lord, one baptism.  When we get to heaven we will see people from every tongue, every nation there. 
Jill Jackson looked at all the sadness, hatred and division in the world and tried to commit suicide but failed.  From that moment she began to feel that God left her here for a purpose.  She said she felt God’s unconditional love.  At an inter-religious retreat she and her husband introduced what is now a world-reknown song, “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.”   The unity of the church is not up to the clergy.  The peace and reformation in the church begins when people start staying where they are and learning to love- even when we disagree.  If the church cannot love- it will indeed die- only to be reborn in some way because God is alive and will always be at work in the hearts of people. 
Steve Sjogren wrote a book called “Conspiracy of Kindness.”  He started a church in Cincinnati Ohio in 1985 that grew to an average attendance of 6,000.  Their motto is “Small things done with great love are changing the world.”  Things like paying for a stranger’s meal or giving a thank you note to a clerk—makes the world a better place.  Now he has started new churches all over the world.
     Many people are saying “the church is dying.” They say there is a trend of death for the church.   I could say the same about me or anyone of you.  To be alive means a part of you is heading toward death in this life.  Every day the human body 500 million skin cells each day.  330 billion cells are produced each day.  So you basically get a new body every 80-100 days.  Unfortunately most of your brain, heart and eye cells stay the same.  Basically we die and are not the same person we were every three months.  We do not need to abandon hope.  This is the place where you find hope.  Some act when you come into church, “Abandon Hope all you who Enter here.”  But that is not us- that’s the other place.  We are the place where we learn to put our hope, trust, and love in the eternal. 

     The world will not tell you when the church succeeds.  It will not tell you about people getting hope, getting strength.  Part of it is that this stuff is hard to measure. But part of it is that we are more careful not to offend people who may not believe the way we do.  We would rather not offer them hope than offend them.  I find that offensive, and self-destructive.   That is like saying I don’t want to tell my toddler he needs to drink something when it is so hot because he might have a tantrum.  But the world will tell you every time when the church fails.  When a minister resigns because of some moral failure.  The world will remind you we are not in heaven yet when the church is perfected.  So will the church die because of this conspiracy of silence?  Some say yes.  We are quick to point out the rising number of teens who reject the faith- the “nones.”  But let us not forget the power of God.
   Last night the power went out in our neighborhood It would be easy to say after an hour or so, “Will our power ever come on?”  We had to wait on the power.  It came and it relieved us.  It refreshed us with air conditioning and lights and our food survived in the fridge.    
 So Ezekiel was brought to a valley of dry bones and asked, “Son, can these bones live?”  They were dry bones.  It seemed as if there was no hope for life.  The answer is God knows and He can make them live again.    But He does so when we want to repent of our failures and instead turn toward kindness and grace and the hope of Christ.  But that has happened before.  Remember Abraham who was but one.  Remember Gideon and his 300, or Elijah and his 7,000 who have not bowed the knee to Baal.  Remember Jesus and his 12.  Remember what one man, Patrick, did in Ireland; what Boniface did in Germany.  Remember the peace, hope, love’s spread does not begin with someone else- it begins with you.   Invite a friend to join you in worship.  Do your best to be a light of kindness.  Reform your heart- and if we all do it- guess what?  The church becomes a new- reformed place where there is hope. 

Secular Lessons from Europe

 We just got back from a trip to continental Europe.  There were some things there that as a Protestant Christian and as an American were shockingly different.  The parts we toured- Rhine valley northern Germany, Strasbourg France, and Switzerland were still deeply affected by Christian faith- in some ways more than America is today.  

Here is a verse for our thoughts: "This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it."  (Isaiah 30:15). 

I  think when I was a child, I might say America was generally a step above Europe in many ways.  We had purer sexual mores- adultery was rare and taboo.  We still rested on Sundays (at least in the South)- and everybody rested- whether we wanted to or not (kind of like the two year old in day school who is told to lay down on their mat because it is "naptime/quiet time whether you'd like it or not."  There was very little violence any where.  While alcohol was being abused (as it is in many cultures- even back to Bible days), drugs were not a problem.  Racism was and still is a problem in the American south- as it is in parts of Europe today in different ways (evident in attitudes toward immigrants).  

One sharp contrast was what happens on Sundays.  Church attendance in Europe is pretty dismal in some. places, but there are still large pockets (in the country around Wittenburg, and parts of Zurich for example) where church attendance is still relatively high and Christian mores are practiced.  American church attendance has been in sharp decline since 911 and then sharper decline since Covid.  There has been a sharp turning away from God by young people as the older (baby boomers) have made faith clearly optional and unimportant.  Whereas 50 years ago the government clearly favored Christian mores, this has also been in decline.  
However, in Europe, hardly anyone works on Sundays. You can't go normal shopping on Sundays.  It is just a clear cultural rule.  Perhaps this is a leftover from the church being a part of the state in most of Europe (not France).  Europe clearly is less frantic and a bit more focused on doing good as a society.  So there is sharply less litter on the roads- people take responsibility to make the world clean; there is a more environmental care; people eat together outside (a la fresca) not just whoofing down a burger (though McDonalds complete with brotwurst is everywhere now).  Hundreds of thousands sit outside in cafes late at night for hours- not watching TV, not surfing the internet- or social media,  not with their headphones on or their cell phones glued to their face, but actually talking.  I would commend this.   We could learn a lesson from their ability to be with each other and to take a rest.  

Europe has been devastated and ravaged by wars in the 15th-20th centuries.  Some would blame religions on this.  But clearly it was the princes, dukes and kings that have been fighting for power- even going further back.  The problem was that you would think religion would have stopped the wars in Europe.  But the sin of medieval catholic clergy was that they wanted to be in control and even rule as dukes and princes (like a bishop in a chess game).  
The religious side of the wars was aggravated by popes both excommunicating leaders and even interdicting whole sections of Europe with crusades.  So Jan Huss of Prague was promised safe conduct and was told he could express his views.  But instead he was imprisoned shortly after arriving in Constance and the Emperor in 1415 allowed him to be burned at the stake.  Then the Pope declared five crusades against Bohemia of the Hussites- promising forgiveness and heaven for those who fought.  This brings out, even more, the Protestant idea that we should not add (nor take away) from scripture.  Where in scripture does it promise forgiveness for those who fight?  Where does it say a religious leader can call for a fight?  The Prince of Peace would be aghast.  Tyndale was strangled for translating the Bible into English.  Wycliffe was persecuted and then had his bones exhumed and desecrated.  The Waldensians were exiled into the high Alps. 
Originally the efforts were to reform the church in the Protestant Reformation- and remain in the church.   But the popes at the time thought they could do to Luther, Zwingli, Bucer and Calvin as they did with Huss.  So Luther was excommunicated and then declared an outlaw by Charles V- so he could be killed on sight as a blessing to the church;  Calvin fled for his life from his house in Paris, was robbed, and was hunted.  He had the previously seen a monk burned at the stake for  his Lutheran testimony.  Zwingli was killed at the battle of Kapel.  Strasbourg was defeated and Bucer was threatened with death and fled at night to England.  Today we see that many of the ideas of the Reformation have been adopted by the Roman Catholic Church.  The Bibles are translated into the vernacular and worship and singing is in the vernacular;  There is an easing toward justification by faith; There is an allowance by Roman Catholics to let laity (at least sometimes) receive the cup.  Vatican II even recognizing Protestants as "separated brethren."  If Christians had valued unity and love over power- both Protestant and Roman Catholic- unity could have been kept, and so many wars could have been avoided (or at least the religious wars could have been less likely).  In America there has been a recognition that freedom of religion is important- and there has been an avoidance of wars.  The American church has been devastated by leaders who will not believe the scriptures.  So many will just ask the question, "Why bother?"  The sin of the church in fighting and disbelief is devastating and frankly avoidable.  Martin Bucer was a rare example of someone valuing unity (with both catholics at first, and then trying to unite Lutherans and the Reformed).   We could learn from Bucer and follow in his footsteps for the glory of God.  In America, secularly we have freedom.  But religiously- there are still super power struggles (even though most ministers get paid a modest salary).  People fight over church property (witness the Presbyterian and United Methodist fees paid to leave).  

I guess my point is we could learn lessons from each other.  The lesson of keeping a day of rest to hold onto our mental and physical health; the lesson of valuing unity more than power (often disguised as an attempt at truth); and the lesson of holding onto scripture- not to expert opinions, or individual consumerism.  

Prayer: Lord, may we find our rest and unity and love in you.  Help us to repent of our lack of love and lack of faithfulness.

Is it okay to be blessed?

 "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing."  (Genesis 12:1,2)

Thoughts:  Some have the idea that we all should be the exact same- same wealth, same name recognition, same clothes, cars.  No one, they say, should be blessed or have more than anyone else.  The problem with this is that it does not fit the reality of life.  Even when communism is tried for years (think Cuba, USSR) it seems the ruling class becomes the government- and they become the ones to tell us how to be equal.  The other problem with that is that when governments become the totalitarian say of what is right or wrong- things like the Cultural Revolution in China happen (where 60 million were killed), or the Killing Fields of Cambodia, or the Gulags of the USSR (where another 5-10 million died).  If there is no God- then there is no ultimate reality to tell you killing is wrong.  The other problem is to think that blessings only have a physical dimension.  Blessing well up inside of us thanksgiving, and help us to live for the One who blesses.  God is, we say, the ultimate reward and the ultimate rewarder.  As James says, "Every good and perfect gift comes from above" (1:17).  A gift is not just a physical answer to prayer, but also things like patience, grace, love, peace, self-control.  
The other side of this is that some claim more variety than reality allows. The truth is we really can't be anything we want to be- we are limited by who we are and what we are.  We cannot become God.  There is only One, though we can imitate Him.  
But this all leads up to the idea- is it okay to be blessed?  Some religions say no.  But others say that the blessings of this life are only temporary and cannot be grasped for long.  Christianity has always had its ascetics, hermits, and vows of poverty.  Sometimes the gold of the Vatican goes parallel to these. 
     There is a danger in blessings.  Deuteronomy 8 says when you eat and are satisfied, build fine houses, and your work prospers (flocks and herds) and your portfolio (silver and gold) increases, our heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God.  So it is important to praise, thank, and worship God who is the Blessor.  We should not think because we were born on third base we hit a triple, or even be envious because we are on first and others are on third- that they are somehow evil.  It is wrong (part of our selfishness and envy) to think that just because someone has a bunch that they are by nature wrong.  There are many who are generous.  But the hoarders who are blessed but do not share the blessing and build bigger and better and more storage sheds (barns) need to rethink before the giver of every minute of life requires life of them.  
It is not wrong to ask to be blessed.  Jabez did it: "Bless me indeed and enlarge my territory.  May your hand be with me.  Keep me from evil that I may cause no harm" (1 Chron. 4:10,11).  It is okay to ask for blessings- God can say no.  In saying no, God may teach us to be content with what we have- and to curb our ambition or seeking to be God in place of God.  
Blessing and being blessed is not wrong.  In some ways, Jesus was the most blessed- more know His name today than any other.  Yet Jesus was born homeless (in a stable/cave), and said that he had no home ("foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head").  Yet Jesus was anointed with the most expensive oil.  He was welcomed into important places. But He kept little physically- but was blessed emotionally and spiritually.  Perhaps we should seek more to be blessed like Jesus.  
But when Jesus heals someone- some may wonder why He doesn't heal all.  Sometimes it was lack of faith or prayer but other times there were just limited healing.  When God blesses someone, why doesn't He bless everyone.  Does this mean He does not love?  This is indeed a mystery.  But just because it is a mystery does not mean we should not trust God.  We can learn to trust God whether we are on the cross, in the valley, or on the mountaintop.  Perhaps it is trusting God no matter what that is more important than the physical, mental, and emotional blessings we have?  

Prayer: Lord help me to trust in you with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding.  Help me to be patient and wait on you, believing in your ability to bless in this life or the next.