Yesterday, I read this article about John Paul II being beatified at a Vatican Mass. The original title was "John Paul II takes a step closer to sainthood." In response, I made the tongue-in-cheek tweet of: "Man... it's hard to be sainted in the Roman Catholic Church. I was just dragged kicking and screaming to the baptismal font."
People have all kinds of questions about God and what He is like, but they need only look to Jesus to find out. And they need only hear the preaching of the apostles proclaimed from the Scriptures in the church to see Him.
That preaching proclaims that God is all about saving sinners. There's no “keeping score” with God. He sends His Son in the flesh to be pierced for sinners. To bleed for sinners. To die for sinners. To rise for sinners. Everything Jesus does is for our salvation. And everything in the church, from the washing of Baptism, to the Supper of Christ's Body and Blood is Jesus showing us the Father and being God for us.
So, what's the difference? John Paul II being sainted by the RCC is all about him - what he did. Philip and James were sinners confessing Christ (sometimes they weren't very good at that either). Cries of "santo subito!" (sainthood now) have been heard since John Paul II's funeral. In the end you and I DO have sainthood now! We're baptized! Saint and sinner at the same time. The sinner part is pretty apparent to us and those around us the majority of the time. But we are also saint - not because of our bold confession or because we've done anything miraculous at all. Because we are baptized into the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. We have been clothed with Christ! Nothing to do with us. But everything to do with Jesus for us!
We give thanks for the example of St. Philip and St. James and their preaching that God is all about saving sinners.
You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer! O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD hears when I call to him. Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD. There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!” You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
- Psalm 4 (ESV)
Danger Will Robinson! Danger! Danger! The world is falling apart! There are protests and riots in Egypt. New Zealand has been torn apart by an earthquake. Libya is plagued by violence. Even here in the US, protests become more frequent. Elected officials are running away from their vocations.
It doesn’t even stop there. Maybe your own life is falling apart too. You’re stressed about about what comes next in your life. Friends are going through problems that you just can’t seem to fix. Your boyfriend or girlfriend broke up with you, leaving you feeling worthless and unlovable. There are arguments with your parents, siblings, and friends. Close friends just seem to be growing more distant. School isn’t going as well as you hoped it would. Those who you love are being laid off and can’t find work. Someone you know is going through a divorce or ugly break up. That one sin continues to eat at you. You get caught in the sin that you thought you would be able to get away with. Even when surrounded by a bunch of people, you just feel alone.
Of course, new governments will be set up. Buildings will be rebuilt. Eventually, even the violence and protest will settle down. Your life and future always have a way of working themselves out. You meet new friends to replace those who have walked out of your life. You meet a cute girl or boy who makes you feel worth something again. You are forgiven by family members and friends and you forgive them. Maybe you ace that big test; maybe you don’t.
The Psalmist reminds you that you have hope. You even have peace in a world that is falling apart. You have peace even when things don’t work themselves out. You have a peace that is out of this world and doesn’t rely on you either. That peace is found in the LORD, the God who commands the armies of angels. That same God who sent His only Son to die for you, to forgive you all your sins. That peace, that safety, that the psalmist lies down and sleeps in is unfailing. It was poured over your head at your Baptism. It is delivered into your ears when you hear the Word read and preached by your pastor. That peace is placed into your mouth at the Lord’s Supper. That peace is the peace of Jesus, freely given to you.
Trials and tribulations continually vex us. There is really nothing we can do about it. They don’t go away if we live “our best life, now” - our best is never good enough. We can try our hardest to fix everything, but it never works. But there is one person who is consistently and continually our refuge. That person is Jesus!
You do have peace in the midst of those trials and tribulations, whether you realize it or not. You are baptized, whether you remember your baptism or not. The Lord hears your prayers and your cries unto Him. He makes you dwell in safety, and you lie down in peace and sleep - both at the end of the day and the end of your life.
Earthquakes and volcanos will come. You may even see a time when dogs and cats live together. Through it all, you have a Heavenly Father who loves you and gave His Son for you; that you may lie down and sleep in peace.
Today is the day! February 14th, 2011. One of the happiest days of the year! No, not because it's Valentine's Day. Not even because it's Statehood Day for Arizona and Oregon.
Today is the day that Pitchers and Catchers report and Spring Training begins! The only day that beats this day is Opening Day! This year is the Cubs' year! (Of course every year is the Cubs' year at this point in the season. Realistically, I expect the Brewers to do really well in the NL Central this year.) So go eat a hot dog, buy some peanuts and Cracker Jack and rejoice in the fact that baseball season is here!
Here's a quote from the movie "Valentine's Day" for your enjoyment:
Teacher: "And now for a little history about Valentine's Day"
Franklin: "Valentine's Day was a massacre in Chicago where they shot everybody and put a curse on the Chicago Cubs"
Teacher: "Thank you for sharing, Franklin, but this is a different Valentine's Day."
Angelic minds, they say, by simple intelligence
Behold the Forms of nature. They discern
Unerringly the Archtypes, all the verities
Which mortals lack or indirectly learn.
Transparent in primordial truth, unvarying,
Pure Earthness and right Stonehood from their clear,
High eminence are seen; unveiled, the seminal
Huge Principles appear.
The Tree-ness of the tree they know-the meaning of
Arboreal life, how from earth's salty lap
The solar beam uplifts it; all the holiness
Enacted by leaves' fall and rising sap;
But never an angel knows the knife-edged severance
Of sun from shadow where the trees begin,
The blessed cool at every pore caressing us
-An angel has no skin.
They see the Form of Air; but mortals breathing it
Drink the whole summer down into the breast.
The lavish pinks, the field new-mown, the ravishing
Sea-smells, the wood-fire smoke that whispers Rest.
The tremor on the rippled pool of memory
That from each smell in widening circles goes,
The pleasure and the pang --can angels measure it?
An angel has no nose.
The nourishing of life, and how it flourishes
On death, and why, they utterly know; but not
The hill-born, earthy spring, the dark cold bilberries.
The ripe peach from the southern wall still hot
Full-bellied tankards foamy-topped, the delicate
Half-lyric lamb, a new loaf's billowy curves,
Nor porridge, nor the tingling taste of oranges.
—An angel has no nerves.
Far richer they! I know the senses' witchery
Guards us like air, from heavens too big to see;
Imminent death to man that barb'd sublimity
And dazzling edge of beauty unsheathed would be.
Yet here, within this tiny, charmed interior,
This parlour of the brain, their Maker shares
With living men some secrets in a privacy
Forever ours, not theirs.
“And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.” Matt. 2:11
“When anyone brings a grain offering as an offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour. He shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it and bring it to Aaron's sons the priests. And he shall take from it a handful of the fine flour and oil, with all of its frankincense, and the priest shall burn this as its memorial portion on the altar, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.” Lev. 2:1-2
There has been a lot of talk about incense recently. Probably due to yesterday being the Feast of Our Lord’s Epiphany (one of the magi’s gifts being frankincense and all). Unfortunately, all the discussions I hear about incense seem to be missing something. They seem to be missing the gift!
There are a slew of people who can’t stand the smell of incense. Just the sight of a thurible can send them into a mad fit of coughing. Perhaps, that is because they associate all smoke with the smell of not-so-good smelling smoke. Perhaps they have better reasons. On the other side, there are people who use entirely too much incense for the space and ventilation of the area they are burning it in. That’s not very helpful and could send many more people into fits of coughing.
Let’s put all of that aside and assume that everyone can sit in a sanctuary where at least a very little incense was burned before a service or during the singing of Psalm 141. Now what? Why use incense?
Before I go on, you should know that I love incense. A couple years ago, I was talking with a friend and found out that an organist, who couldn’t stand incense, was the reason we didn’t have incense at one of the evening services we both attended. To which I responded, “I hate people!” (I haven’t been able to live that one down yet.) I knew that I liked incense but I wouldn’t have been able to give you a good answer as to why. I probably would have said the same things that many incense advocates say now. “Shouldn’t church smell like church?” “It visualizes our prayer before God” “It’s biblical. The Psalms say, ‘Let my prayer rise before You as incense.’” “People just don’t like it because they think it’s too Roman Catholic.” Not that any of those are completely terrible answers, I suppose. They just still don’t get to the gift of incense.
Then, a couple months ago I heard someone say, “If you ask someone why they like incense in worship and their answer has nothing to do with Jesus, they’re probably better of without it.” That’s what I was missing! Jesus! That has been sitting in the back of my mind since then. Sometimes, I even thought that I was better off without it. I just liked incense for incense sake. I thought that’s how the liturgy was REALLY suppose to be done! There’s no gift there. No gift at all.
Then comes Epiphany. (You could say that I had and epiphany on Epiphany). The magi bring Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. We always hear a lot about the gold and myrrh - how they are fitting gifts. I just don’t remember ever hearing much about the frankincense. (It is perfectly possible that I just wasn’t listening.) The gift of frankincense.
What was frankincense used for? It was used with sacrifices to make the aroma pleasing to the Lord! My Hebrew knowing, pastor, friends tell me that in the Old Testament when God was angry the text literally talks about His nose burning. The incense was meant to soothe the nose of God so that the Israelites might be in his favor once again.
Now, it probably isn’t so hard to see the gift of incense. The magi give frankincense to Jesus pointing us to why he was born in the first place. Born to be the ultimate sacrifice, the final sacrifice for them, and for you! So, now? Now, it serves as a reminder to us while pointing to Jesus. The gift of incense is that it reminds us that God is angry no more. Incense proclaims that there was a sacrifice who’s aroma was pleasing to God. Jesus, on the cross, taking upon Himself the sin of the world, for you! No longer will God’s nose burn against you. Jesus has taken up all the anger having it focused on Himself, so that you may have forgiveness and everlasting life!
That’s the gift of incense. Always pointing to Jesus, whether we like it or not.
Yesterday, I read 
Today is the day! February 14th, 2011. One of the happiest days of the year! No, not because it's Valentine's Day. Not even because it's Statehood Day for Arizona and Oregon.
