Pastor's Corner

Unchanging God

"For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed." Malachi 3:6 God never does change. He is the same, "yesterday, and today, yes and forever," Hebrews 13:8.

In this devotion, I would like us to focus on some specific aspects of the glory of God's grace. I have in mind God's immutability, the freeness of God's grace, and its? benevolent nature. We can see all three of these aspects in Malachi 3:6, "For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed." Here we see God's freeness, immutability, and mercy. These are all aspects we are to consider when we think about God's grace in the realm of what we know or do not know.

Change, change, and change. Living in Montreal, I'm only too well-aware of changes every day since we moved here a decade ago! Good ones, bad ones. New stadium going up for the Impact. Montreal Canadians hockey club?s sale to the Molson family. New celebrities--let's see, who has their "15 minutes of fame" right now?

Powerful political leaders resign due sometimes to politics, sometimes to wrongful behavior on their part. Computer technology -- whew! We "need" Pentium this or that, or faster computers. Marriages end and start. Friendships end or change. We are transferred to a new job location.....Get the picture?

sn't it nice to know that there is Someone Who never changes? Someone Who is always loving, just, dependable -- Jesus Christ. He never changes: Heb 13:8 ?Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.? When relationships, jobs, situations in our lives seem overwhelming -- seem to swirl over us like a big wave, we need to remember that God is always there. He is always the same; we can count on Him. He will never let us down:

Psalm 62:2 He alone is my Rock and my salvation; He is my Fortress, I will never be shaken. If we access His strength, His resources, we will never be shaken. Of course, being human as we are, we will try to depend on ourselves or on others. Then we will be shaken. God uses our friends; He never meant for us to live the Christian life alone, without fellowship. But even the very best of friends -- can let us down. But God never will.

During a recent visit with one of my parishioners, in the course of our conversation, this question was raised. ?Pastor, how can God send ?good? people to hell?? With a moment of silence and reflection, I responded by saying God never intended for anyone to go to hell, it was not God?s original purpose for humanity. That is why God sent Jesus Christ to invite us into God?s Kingdom. It is like a couple celebrating their Golden wedding anniversary, Invitations were sent to all their friends to come and share in this joyful occasion. But for whatever reason some responded and others did not. So it is with God's invitation to his kingdom. This is offered to all people and choice is up us. God's grace is free. It is as free as air. The freeness of God's grace is not inconsistent with the sovereignty of God. The promise in the Bible is that God's grace is for all who will come. It is for whosoever. And God's Word is His revelation to us and part of His sove-reignty. One of the amazing things about God's grace is that it is free. The freeness of God's grace is one of our great encourage-ments to tell others of the wonders of God's grace. If they can breathe, then they can have God's grace, because it is as free as air.

The glory of the grace of God is the benevolent nature of it. God's grace has done great things. Or we might put it in the negative. What hurt has the grace of God ever done? There has never been a living soul who can blame God for the ill they have received by His grace.

There are many who have not been saved by God's grace, but there is not one who can point to God's grace and speak of all the wrongs they have suffered under it.

God's grace gives us the chance to one day see God face-to-face and not be consumed. It is one of the wonders of Heaven, but it is possible because of God's grace. There are many wonders that will be revealed in Heaven, but one writer talked about three in particular that are related to each other. The first wonder is that we will see so many in Heaven that we never expected to see there. The second is the wonder of those we expected to see there and do not see there. The third wonder is to see ourselves there. That is the wonder and glory of God's grace. It is unchangeable, it is free, it is benevolent, and lastly, that it was ever bestowed upon us. What a wonder that God's grace in Christ is for whosoever, and there is noone reading this to whom that term whosoever does not apply. Such is the wonder and glory of God's grace.

And His word (invitation) is the same forever, also. He won't change the rules on us mid-stream. Our culture has a way of changing its idea of "right and wrong." When I was growing up, there was a general sense of "right and wrong, even among nonbelievers." Now there is "relativity" in some places. Of course in some ways, this has been true for thousands of years.

It is amazing that when everything else we can think about changes at some time or another, God never does change. He is the same, "yesterday, and today, yes and forever," Hebrews 13:8. When God gives us His grace, He never, never, never takes it away. His grace, once given, is something we can stake our lives on, and many Christians have, and still do so.

When we face the changes in our lives, may we remember the unchanging Lord whom we serve.

Have a wonderful summer, and until Fall may God richly bless your days.

Yours in Christ,
Pr. Samuel King-Kabu

Christian Principles?
(Editor's Reflections)

"...having a form of godliness but denying its power" (2 Tim 3:5).

Christian principles! Are we to follow them? Or should we be called to live in a relationship with the living God, Jesus Christ. I wonder if one of the weaknesses of our Church today is that we are quick to teach people principles without the relationship.

Sometimes I think the western church is big on ten step programs, "how-to" methods and acrostics to illustrate memorable ideas. Granted there is a place for establishing principles to change negative behaviour. However, we are not called to have a relationship with principles, but a living God.

Living by principles is the equivalent to living by the law in the Old Testament. It is rooted in the Greek system of learning and is dependent upon our strength instead of being led and empowered by the Holy Spirit. I believe Principle-based living is powerless living. I fear this makes our Christian experience a religion instead of a relationship. "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law" (Gal 5:18).

We have just finished studying (superficially for the first try) the Book of Acts in this past session of Bible Study. We read about principle- based followers in the book of Acts, "The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon's Colonnade. No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people" (Acts 5:12-14). There was a group of followers who liked being taught but never entered the game.

The prophet Jeremiah tells us about the nature of God and His desire for every believer. This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

Friends, I leave you with these thoughts. What kind of life are you leading? One based on principles or one based on knowing the One who authored the principles? The Holy Spirit is here to guide you through these reflections. May you all have a blessed summer!

Submitted by Rosemarie Grabs

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St. Ansgar's Lutheran Church - Montreal