Monthly Column

Dear Members and Friends of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church,

 

As I write this column, the news of yet one more lottery winner has been announced around the nation. This time it involves $448 million dollars and a ticket issued in Lexington, Kentucky. Who will the winner be?

 

I suppose that we would need to look long and hard to find someone who has never thought, even for a moment, of what they would do, if suddenly, such a large sum of money dropped in their lap. Why? Well, it would seem not only to be the moment when all of our earthly problems would come to an end, but also, a world of possibilities would open before us. Bills would be paid, work would cease, and all sorts of adventures would begin.

 

Of course the reality for lottery winners is a bit more complex than that. Yes, many problems are solved, only to be replaced by others. Possibilities do indeed present themselves but they are frequently accompanied by challenges as well. The internet is full of stories of lives ruined by lottery winnings.

 

But the thought is intriguing, isn’t it? What would life be like if we received great riches?
Well, we have indeed received great riches! In Ephesians we read that the “riches of [God’s] grace” (1:8) have been “lavished upon us”! What are those riches that have been lavished upon us by our Father in heaven? The “wisdom and insight [of the] mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (1:9-10).

 

What kind of riches are these? They are riches not unlike those of lottery winners. How so? Well, the lottery winners great win is freedom, isn’t it? With a bag full of money, he or she now determines what is to be done, and when it is to be done. No longer are bosses and banks and responsibilities controlling daily life. The one who has the riches is. At least until confronted by death.

 

So it is with the Christian. Being lavished with the riches of God grace, in particular the peace that passes all understanding which keeps our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, be there bosses or banks or responsibilities, there remains the freedom brought to by the wisdom and insight in Christ that this world is transitory, will come to an end, so our hearts need not be chained to it.

 

And what is more? There is a life to come, a heavenly existence, which will continue forever. It is there that we will be freed ultimately from the problems of this life. But even now, even though we are confronted by the challenges of life that we believe a lottery win could eliminate, the Holy Spirit can already confront them. How? By causing our hearts no longer to dwell on them, but on Christ.

 

Your Servant in Christ,

 

Pastor Strawn