Lent 2020 Our Beautiful Savior

Perhaps my favorite traditional hymn is Beautiful Savior. I must admit that it may be so meaningful to me because it is simple, easy to memorize and easy to sing. The first verse goes:

Beautiful Savior, King of Creation,
Son of God and Son of Man!
Truly I'd love Thee, Truly I'd serve Thee,
Light of my soul, my Joy, my Crown

The unknown writer makes direct and astonishing claims about Jesus. Jesus is King of all in the universe and is the son of God as well as humanity. These are what a Christian theologian would call credal formulas, they make a statement of what the community believes about God.  This is why I am using this simple song to frame our study together as a congregation this lent.  Lent was originally a time in the early church where new believers would be instructed to prepare for their baptism. The core of that instruction is found in the church's creeds. The hymn Beautiful Savior focuses on the most basic aspect of those creeds, which is that Jesus is Lord.  

Lord of My Life 

The stanza continues "truly I'd love thee, truly I'd serve thee". The hymn does not just make a claim about Jesus, it lays an imperative upon the believer.  It echoes the call Martin Luther made to the church when he explained the first of the Ten Commandments. "We are to fear, love and trust God above all things."  This is exactly how I like to frame Lent. It is our annual period of re-commitment to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We begin with Ash Wednesday reminding us of our own mortality and sinfulness, and we end with Good Friday where Jesus conquers those two things on the cross. 

The goal of the season is to remind ourselves to place God above all things once again. We set the time apart to do this, so that we make sure that we will do it.  If we don't schedule it, the cares of the world, the lure of wealth, the attraction of attention or seduction of self-absorption will crowd out what little space remains for our God in our lives.  If we neglect God we neglect life, so taking time to be with God means embracing a life of purpose, meaning, and peace.  Therefore, our practices effect God less than they do us. They have been given by the Holy Spirit for our benefit. 

Savior of All 

Jesus is the only hope we have when we look at the reality of the world we live in today. The second stanza makes the claim that Jesus is above nature. Nature worship is very common among people of all times and places in part because to the beauty God endowed it. The hymn writer continues. 

Fair are the meadows, Fair are the woodlands,

Robed in flowers of blooming spring;

Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer;

He makes our sorrowing spirit sing  

God's creation is indeed beautiful, but like human beings it has been subjected to sin and brokenness (see Romans 8). All one needs to do is see the headlines in one's news feed to see that this is true.  To depend upon nature to heal us is to put our trust in something mortal like us.To place our hope in Jesus is to hold out for God's healing. The third stanza will continue to show how Jesus is more powerful than the heavens, while the last stanza states: 

Beautiful Savior, Lord of the nations,

Son of God and Son of Man!

Glory and honor, Praise, adoration,

Now and forevermore be Thine!

As Lord of the nations, Jesus is more powerful than any human structure. In my lifetime, which is an historical blink of an eye, I have seen many things that were thought to be permanent come and go. Much of the distress I see in the lives of those whom I serve comes from the fact that jobs, institutions and ways of life thought to be stable were found to be remarkably fragile.  The concept of "disruption" is the contemporary darling of business schools and economists, what is that but the breaking down of that which people formally relied upon. It is why we must re-commit to our faith in the eternal, so we may have strength to help each other deal with the present. 

This Lent we are making an active call to love Christ above all things, and that be doing so we may serve and follow him no matter how uncertain life may seem to be. It is my hope that we can all confess with the apostle Paul "for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him." 2 Timothy 1:12 (NRSV) 

Be blessed

Pastor Knecht 

Go to Church, What's the point?

The question of the world to our church 

Gone are the days when church attendance helped you look good to your neighbors.   In the world of my
parents and grandparents people felt guilty if they were seen outside of church on Sundays.   Today people feel guilty if they don't workout.  They are more likely to say on a Sunday "Darn! I missed my bike ride ! (Or yoga class, golf, or whatever) than they would lament at not being able to worship.    There is no societal pressure in New Jersey to be a person of faith,  in fact it may be seen as a liability to some because it makes you less available to do the things that convey status these days.  I do think those who argue that we are persecuted today are grossly exaggerating.   I have personal friends who lived under dictatorships who were persecuted for their faith, and that is not what is going on in Union County New Jersey.   People are not presenting to me that they are hostile to those of us who practice our Christian faith, they are just... neutral.

Searching for the Answer

I personally think this is a great time to be the church, because in this atmosphere where people in the culture are neutral towards us, we have the blessing of being able to see the real answer to the question of what's the point without the blinders of popularity.  We can use the tools of our faith, scripture, prayer, conversation to uncover the Holy Spirit's true purpose of a life of faith and then spend some time talking about the question with those in our neighborhood an communities.   They answer that we will come up with will certainly be better than "everybody else is going."  It will be a real answer, that reveals a real purpose.

The Wrong Answer 

"I go to church to get fed!"  Well good for you.  So what? I can get fed at lots of places in the culture.   The person who stays in and gets up late to read on Sundays can honestly tell you the same thing.  So can the guys I see on the way to church on their road bikes, or running along the paths. (three things that I actually get fed by).   If this is our only answer to the question of what's the point?  Than I am sorry to say, that there would be no point.   Being fed is not enough of a reason to make the sacrifices we make to be the church. No neutral person in our culture would see the purpose of showing up at our door if that is our only answer. Now don't get me wrong, lots of churches do a lousy job of feeding people spiritually and physically. The decline of Christianity in our culture was aided by churches that just asked people to give without feeding and building them up in the first place.   Feeding people spiritually and physically is a good start,  but it is the start, not the goal, and certainly not the point.

The Bible's Answer 

"I will bless you.. so that you will be a blessing"  (Genesis 12:2) says God to Abram.  In this simple phrase we begin to see the answer that will not only give us something to say to the culture but to sustain ourselves as we journey in a life discipleship of Jesus Christ.  We are called by Christ to help, to serve, to proclaim, to build up, and to bless.   Yes this means to make a difference, but it is more than this.   Yes, this means to proclaim our faith, but it is more than this too.  Indeed it is to speak up for those who have no voice, but it will be more than this as well.  "Peace (shalom or wholeness) I leave with you, As the Father sent me, I send you" (John 20:21) says Jesus, when the disciples see him resurrected.   The Bible's answer is clear.  God calls us to go to be part of a church (or any Christian community) for the exact same reason that Jesus was sent to the world!   When we witness and experience the resurrected Jesus we are sent to bring peace (wholeness) to our neighbors.   That may mean food, or prayer support, or baby siting, or spiritual direction or any host of other things as long they do the work of Jesus to include, reconcile, feed, heal , cast out demons, and yes, even save.

Your Answer 

As the culture is neutral about the church, it is neutral about the Bible,  so just giving the above answer may not at first resonate or seem relevant to those we see on a daily basis.   The way they will see our purpose is by seeing it work out in our lives as we try to do the things Jesus showed us how to do.  This means finding a beautiful and creative way to make Jesus' story part of your story,  not in artificial or boilerplate way, but in a way that is real to you and evident to those around you.   We have word for this in Christian circles,  it is discipleship.   Disciples reflect their master,  they do the same work and have the same agenda.   They go about the work in their own way that reflects who they really are, but the purpose is the same. Disciples of Jesus
 confess that we do the work that Jesus was sent to do.  It is why Paul calls this gathering that meets somewhere near you on Sunday "the body of Christ". Jesus would also command his disciples to make more (Matthew 28:20),  not to build up some movement, or create an organization, or institution, but to carry on what He started at the Cross.

My Answer 

To become a disciple of Jesus Christ,  because like him, we do good for the world.


Keep the Faith,
Pastor Knecht

Coming this Lent to Holy Cross

Stories Around the Fire

Fridays in Lent 7-8:30PM

I don’t know about you, but I love a good camp fire! The stories seem better, the food somehow tastes bolder, and most of all the conversation seems richer. Join us Fridays in Lent for a time to tell our stories of God and life around a campfire in our courtyard. Each week, we will center the the around a different aspect of Jesus own story as told to us by John's Gospel. We are praying that this simple act can help us live the story of Jesus that meets our need to be in relationship with others. Bring a chair, maybe a bag of marshmallows, or a pack of hot dogs, along with your favorite beverage and let’s see how the Spirit moves us this Lent.

Week 1: March 14 I am the He: John 4
Week 2: March 21 I am the Bread of Life : John 6
Week 3: March 28 I am the Light of the World: John 9
Week 4: April 4 I am the Good Shepherd: John 10
Week 5: April 11 I am the Resurrection: John 11
Week 6: April 18 I am the Way the Truth and the Life *after good Friday worship

Lenten Sermons-Jesus’ Bible 

The Story of Jesus is intertwined with the story of the people of Israel. They were chosen as God’s people to bring a light to the nations of the earth. Jesus was sent to save all in the world. The stories of the Hebrew Scriptures have many touch-points, parallels, and common themes with the life, ministry death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In our sermons this Lent we will explore a small portion of these together. Jesus used the Hebrew Scriptures to teach people about the living relationship they can have with God that gives hope, healing and peace. Ever since followers and disciples heard Jesus teach, saw him heal, and witnessed his sacrifice they saw that he embodied the core of the teaching of their Scriptures. So come and don’t just become acquainted with the “Old” Testament, but learn about the Bible Jesus used to help make all things new.

March 9 Lent 1 Jesus’ Bible, Our Shame Genesis 3:1-10
March 16 Lent 2 Jesus’ Bible, Our Hope Genesis 12:1-4
March 23 Lent 3 Jesus’ Bible, Our Struggle Exodus 17:1-7
March 30 Lent 4 Jesus’ Bible, Our Heart 1 Samuel 16:1-13
April 6 Lent 5 Jesus’ Bible, Our Life Ezekiel 37:1-14


Hope you will come by Holy Cross for these!!  Be blessed and....

Keep the Faith,
Pastor Knecht