At the Missouri Synod Lutheran church’s Lenten service this week, the
pastor opened by mentioning that time is relative. 2002 seems like a
long time ago, but, for him, it could have been last week. In 2002,
Rick Warren’s bestselling book, the Purpose Driven Life, came
out. For some reason, the pastor seemed to believe that Warren held to
the Westminster Confession and believed that everything that occurs was
ordained by God for a purpose, and we should just buckle under and
accept what comes our way; the pastor said that Lutherans do not quite
see things that way. (Rick Warren is a Southern Baptist, and, from what
I perused online, there is diversity among Southern Baptists about
predestination.) Still, the pastor said that the success of the book
demonstrates that people are looking for their lives to have purpose and
meaning.
The pastor talked about how life is a vapor. We all have something
in common: that we will die (assuming Jesus does not return before
that). But so many of us try to find value in the life that we have,
and even to establish a legacy that will last after we die. We try to
establish our presence behind the curtain. But even the famous come and
go.
The pastor referred to a poster that his father had hanging in his
den. His father loved to collect posters, and the pastor related that
his father would probably have loved the Internet had it come out when
he was younger. It came out when he was old, however, and he was
baffled and confused by it. Anyway, one of his posters had a quote from
a missionary, which said that everything we do for Christ lasts
forever. The pastor said that such a mindset, when taken in a certain
direction, can become a burden, as we try to establish a legacy for
Christ. But the pastor thought that the focus on Christ was correct.
The pastor proceeded to share the Gospel of Jesus dying for our sins
and giving righteousness and eternal life to those who believe. How can
we be assured that we will have eternal life? The pastor said that we
hold on to God, but also the Holy Spirit holds on to us, sealing us for
our eternal inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14).
I’ll stop here. I know this is a summary, but it is all I feel like
writing right now. It is mainly for my records, anyway. It leaves me a
legacy of the service, to which I can return, whenever I wish.