Rethinking how you think

One of the professors who influenced me the most in
Seminary was Dr. Norman Nagel.  I believe the reason for
that is because his teaching style was completely different
from the other professors.  He did not teach bits of information
or important dates that we needed to know.  He taught us how
to think.  He was able to follow a line of thought to its natural
conclusion, sometimes showing its flaws and sometimes
rejoicing in the wisdom of God.  He had catch phrases that
served as building blocks to the truth and the wisdom of
Scripture.  In order to get a feel for what I am talking about
take a look at page 6 in Lutheran Worship.  The first three
paragraphs were written by Dr. Nagel.

What is worship? In worship we say back to God what He
has said to us.  For that reason, so much of our liturgy comes
from Scripture.  But our worship does not end after the last
hymn.  Our life is a life of worship.  We say back to God what
He has said to us.  You are my child.  God spoke those words
to you when you were baptized.  Since then, your life
changed.  God placed his name on you and called you to a life
of service, which is your spiritual life.  For a couple of hours a
week, we worship God together.  For the rest of the week, we
worship God with our lives which bear His name.  When we
start the day, we remember that God is with us.  That is His
guarantee in baptism.  When we make mistakes, we confess
our sins, certain of forgiveness.  That is God’s promise in
baptism.  As we read the Bible or remember God’s promises,
God speaks to us, like He did at our baptism.  As we pray to
God for strength, healing, deliverance, or whatever, we know
that our Heavenly Father will listen to us, as He promised.  As
opportunities arise to share our faith, we boldly confess our
faith in our God who called us in our baptism.

Lent is one of those times of the year when the Christian is
called to rethink what we think.  We are called to repent, or
change our minds.  This change of mind takes place as we stop
listening to the voices that surround us that distance us from
God and start listening to the voice of our Lord.  Jesus was very
good at teaching his followers to rethink.  Look at the
Beatitudes in Matthew 5.  Paul also learned to rethink what he
thought he knew.  When Paul looked at God’s Word, he
understood the Law well, but the Gospel was veiled to him.  His
letters to the different churches demonstrate that after
rethinking what he had been taught.  That rethinking takes
place as we put all our perceptions on the table and let the
Word of God do the talking.  As that happens, we see how our
sinful nature and other voices have shaped our thinking.  
Another lesson of Dr. Nagel that helped me further appreciate
the titles of Jesus was “until the title of Jesus gets him nailed to
the cross, you don’t understand the tile of Jesus.”  So as this
Lent begins, there is a lot to reconsider.

Pastor Massey
Pastor's Message