Dear Pastor, dear brother, that was a great end of year-what-not-mail :D I loved reading it and will use some of it for my brothers and sisters and my own family.
What I love most about your ministry is the fun that is combined with sound theology! Hard to find these days - the joy of theology - you rekindled that little flame in me. Thank you. And many greetings from Germany, I hope to see you while you are travelling here next year :) With God's Love and Peace. Marlene
Great comments about hope. In Robert Benne's "Ordinary Saints" he has a good section about hope..."Hope if it is to be solid must take into account the persisting sin in self and world. Further, hope must be founded on something more than an optimistic temperament which is given to some and not others. Neither can hope simply arise from a rosy view of our earthly future which is distinctly not rosy for any of us. We decline and die. Rather, rest on something far more trustworthy, on the continuing grace, sovereignty, and power of God. Authentic hope is able to be sustained in the face of those stark realities that tend to dash it. If it cannot be sustained in those conditions it is a little more than shallow optimism." (p. 119)
I want to drop a little ditty in here regarding the command to "redeem the time."
In both passages you mention, it is paired with wisdom and juxtaposed to the evil of today.
I would like to suggest that "the fear of the LORD" is wisdom...
And "the fear of death" is what is evil in this world.
By having wisdom, we are redeeming (buying back/ freeing) our own Time FROM this fear that strangles and attempts to snuff out the hope, faith, love, and grace that we need to fulfill God's will for us here during our short time on the earth.
I am reminded of a short excerpt from "A Severe Mercy" where Sheldon Vanauken wrote about time:
“…if we complain of time and take such joy in the seemingly timeless moments, what does that suggest? It suggests that we have not always been or will not always be purely temporal creatures. It suggests that we were created for eternity. Not only are we harried by time, we seem unable, despite a thousand generations, even to get used to it. We are always amazed at it - how fast it goes, how slowly it goes, how much of it is gone. Where, we cry, has the time gone? We aren’t adapted to it, not at home in it. If that is so, it may appear as a proof, or at least a powerful suggestion, that eternity exists and is our home.”
Dear Pastor, dear brother, that was a great end of year-what-not-mail :D I loved reading it and will use some of it for my brothers and sisters and my own family.
What I love most about your ministry is the fun that is combined with sound theology! Hard to find these days - the joy of theology - you rekindled that little flame in me. Thank you. And many greetings from Germany, I hope to see you while you are travelling here next year :) With God's Love and Peace. Marlene
Your 3 hopes are a wonderful comfort. Thank you!
Great comments about hope. In Robert Benne's "Ordinary Saints" he has a good section about hope..."Hope if it is to be solid must take into account the persisting sin in self and world. Further, hope must be founded on something more than an optimistic temperament which is given to some and not others. Neither can hope simply arise from a rosy view of our earthly future which is distinctly not rosy for any of us. We decline and die. Rather, rest on something far more trustworthy, on the continuing grace, sovereignty, and power of God. Authentic hope is able to be sustained in the face of those stark realities that tend to dash it. If it cannot be sustained in those conditions it is a little more than shallow optimism." (p. 119)
Pastor,
I want to drop a little ditty in here regarding the command to "redeem the time."
In both passages you mention, it is paired with wisdom and juxtaposed to the evil of today.
I would like to suggest that "the fear of the LORD" is wisdom...
And "the fear of death" is what is evil in this world.
By having wisdom, we are redeeming (buying back/ freeing) our own Time FROM this fear that strangles and attempts to snuff out the hope, faith, love, and grace that we need to fulfill God's will for us here during our short time on the earth.
Also a great time to consider the Daily book of Concord - I have gone through this past year as an almost Lutheran - very enlightening. https://open.substack.com/pub/dailyboc/p/week-52-reading-reflection?r=fcyuk&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
I am reminded of a short excerpt from "A Severe Mercy" where Sheldon Vanauken wrote about time:
“…if we complain of time and take such joy in the seemingly timeless moments, what does that suggest? It suggests that we have not always been or will not always be purely temporal creatures. It suggests that we were created for eternity. Not only are we harried by time, we seem unable, despite a thousand generations, even to get used to it. We are always amazed at it - how fast it goes, how slowly it goes, how much of it is gone. Where, we cry, has the time gone? We aren’t adapted to it, not at home in it. If that is so, it may appear as a proof, or at least a powerful suggestion, that eternity exists and is our home.”
Dear Pastor Wolfmueller, I have enjoyed learning and re-learning through your insights, teaching and encouragement for a long time!
Thank you for reminding us of the many gifts God has given us to help us keep our focus on him and neighbor until Christ returns!
Another dandy 👍🏻👍🏻 - God’s blessings always. Special thanks for the Hope Sandwich. Happy New Year
Thanks for your pithy questions to ask yourself! I'll be using this with my family.
A new way to see time, the year ahead and the year past. Great read for this last day of 2022 plus the “hope sandwich” was fulfilling. See ya in June.
This was a lovely, helpful, and thought-provoking meditation. Thank you!