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FEBRUARY 11,
2010 # 474 FEBRUARY
25, 2010 # 476 FEBRUARY
18, 2010 # 475 JANUARY
27, 2010 # 472|
Home |
FEBRUARY 11,
2010 # 474 |
| FEBRUARY
25, 2010 # 476 |
|
| FEBRUARY
18, 2010 # 475 |
JANUARY
27, 2010 # 472 |
Pastor Duane writes a weekly e-mail devotional. If you would like to receive his devotional please e-mail him at trinity@midstatesd.net
MARCH
12, 2010 # 477
The Chamberlain High School performed "I Never Saw Another Butterfly" for the state one act competition. This play brought to life some of the atrocities forced on the Jews and especially the children by the Nazis. As I watched the play I remembered "The Hiding Place" by Corrie Ten Bloom, a book I had read over 30 years ago. I still remember the ending of "The Hiding Place" where Corrie struggles to forgive one of the soldiers from the concentration camp, but with God's help, she is able to forgive. All of us have been victims of wrongs that have been inflicted upon us and I am sure most of us struggle with forgiving the person or persons who have wronged us. Forgiveness is never easy. One thing that has always been striking to me about Jesus parable of the prodigal son is the father's ability to forgive. Craddock in his commentary on "Luke" in the Interpretation Commentaries writes "Judaism and Christianity have clear provisions for the restoration of the penitent returnee, but where does it say that such provisions include a banquet with music and dancing? Yes, let the prodigal return, but to bread and water, not fatted calf; in sackcloth, not a new robe; wearing ashes, not a new ring; in tears, not in merriment; kneeling, not dancing. Has the party canceled the seriousness of sin and repentance?" (p. 188) We want wrong doers to pay for their crime, that is, until we realize that we are the wrongdoers. Then a party of fine wine and dancing sounds better than water and kneeling. But maybe we need a little of both. Kneeling at the altar rail helps to remind us of our sinfulness. But also receiving at the rail the fine wine of forgiveness reminds us of the great lengths God the Father went to in order that our sins might be forgiven. So we can party, thanks to Jesus death on the cross, instead of wallowing in our guilt.
Jesus said to them "Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are
sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen
gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!"
Luke 13:34 (NRSV)
I'm not a big fan of crowds. Maybe I'm a little claustrophobic but I do not like to be in places where I'm really close to other people. Crowded elevators, airplanes even crowded church pews make my blood pressure go up. I mention this because Jesus gives us a view of the church as a brood of chicks gathered under her wings. We are not talking about 1 or 2 chicks but a whole bunch packed in like sardines. A hen would never sit on just one or two eggs; it would have to be at least a dozen. So the image we have here is a dozen or so chicks trying to seek safety under two wings. The only way they could do that is to crowd close together. At our conference pastors meeting on Tuesday Herman Fink from Delmont showed slides and told stories of his trip last November with a delegation from the South Dakota Synod to our companion synod in the Cameroons. He attended the installation service of the new bishop. The service lasted 6 hours and the church was packed with people both inside and outside. I believe he said that over 6,000 people attended. He shared how choir after choir came marching into the church singing their hymns of praise. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to enter Trinity's sanctuary on a Sunday morning and have trouble getting to the front because the church is so packed with people coming to worship. But I think when Jesus gave us this picture of the church he was concerned about more than just physical closeness. What about spiritual closeness? Emotional closeness? A small number of Trinity members have expressed how much they like the Saturday evening worship service. I wonder if one of the reasons is that with the small number in attendance you have the opportunity to greet and welcome everyone who attends? I wonder if another reason is that specific prayer request are asked for and then prayed for? I wonder if the fellowship of the pot-luck helps draw members closer together? No we are not physically crowed on Saturday night but there is a closeness that is experienced that may be like that of chicks under the wings of a hen.
Jesus,
full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in
the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. Luke 4:1-2 (NRSV)
What is the difference between tempt and test? I ask this question because the Greek word that is translated as "tempted" can also be translated "tested". I believe there is a difference. When a teacher gives a test, the teacher is not trying to flunk anyone but instead is trying to discover what the student knows. We are told that God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son (Genesis 22:1). In Dt. 13:3b we read "For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you indeed love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul!" In other words test is more positive. To tempt has a more negative connotation. When you are tempted someone is trying to make you sin or make a mistake. Luther makes it very clear that God is not in the business of tempted his children when he writes in the 6th Petition of the Lord's Prayer - "God tempts no one to sin, but we ask in this prayer that God would watch over us and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful self may not deceive us and draw us into false believe, despair, and other great and shameful sins." Let me give you a personal example. I first received a call from the SD Synod Office in Jan. 1999 asking if I was interested in interviewing in Chamberlain. I believe this was a test to see if I would listen to God and his desire for me to serve as a pastor in Chamberlain. But I failed the test believing that financially I could not move to Chamberlain and purchase a house, while I had a son in college. Satan was tempting me to not trust in God, to use my common sense, to be concerned only about me. It took the voice of Pastor Haase to hear the call from God that God wanted me to begin a new ministry in Chamberlain. When I decided to interview I was surprising how quickly God was able to work. A house became available that we could afford and a door was opened so Margie could gain employment. So what is the difference between tempt and test? Anything that helps us grow in our faith and relationship with Jesus Christ is a test from God while anything that tries to draw us away from God and God's wonderful love for us in Jesus Christ is from the devil and thus becomes a temptation. My hope and prayer is that the difficulties you experience in life become for you a test rather than a temptation that destroys your faith.
While Jesus was praying, the appearance of his
face changed. Luke 9:29 (NRSV)
Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" Luke 9:35 (NRSV)
The video series "Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage" was shown at Trinity last month. In the video Pastor Mark Gungor describes how men tend to do only one thing at a time. So if they are reading the morning paper and their wife is telling them something important since they are focusing on the paper they will not hear what their wife is saying. Women on the other hand are very good at multitasking. They will be talking to their husband while doing house cleaning. They will continue talking as they leave the room their husband is in and believe their husband will hear what they are saying even when are in a different room. Mark in his humorous way demonstrated how married couples do have trouble listening to each other. The three disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration were told by the voice of God to listen to Jesus. Unfortunately the disciples had difficulty listening to what Jesus was telling them, especially about his death in Jerusalem. The voice from heaven is also telling each of us that we need to listen to Jesus. In our world of busyness we have trouble taking the time to worship. Yet, it is during worship that Jesus speaks to us in the readings from the Bible and the sermon. In our world filled with noise where we have to have our iPods or radio on at all times it becomes almost impossible to hear the "still small voice" speaking to us. Yet, it is the quite time of reading our Bible and sitting quietly in meditation that Jesus speaks to us. In our world of face books, e-mails and blogs we become so busy communicating with others that we don't take the time to communicate with Jesus. Yet, as Jesus was changed while praying, prayer also has a way of changing us. Prayer, scripture reading and worship are important ways that we can "Listen to Jesus". My hope is that each of you not only realizes how important it is to "Listen to Jesus" but also take the time to do so.
Jesus
said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will
be catching people." Luke 5:10 (NRSV)
As most of you know I love to eat fish but I hate fishing. When I was a child our family would occasionally go fishing for bullheads in stock ponds. Once when I was at a continuing education event near International Falls, Minnesota, Margie wanted to go fishing so we hired a guide. We paid big bucks and he assured us that he had never been skunked. As far as the success of our fishing outing, let’s just say the guide can no longer make the claim he had made to us. Maybe it’s because of my lack of patience or maybe because I believe sitting and waiting for fish to bite is a waste of valuable time. What ever the reason, I just don't care to go fishing. Simon was a fisherman. His livelihood depended on catching fish. After fishing all night, he ended up skunked. But Jesus showed up and helped Simon and his partners fill their nets and boats with fish and provided them with a fishing story they would never forget. Jesus used the opportunity to give Simon a new task of catching people. All baptized children of God have also been called to leave our boat (church) and go out into the world and start catching fish (people). Most Lutherans respond to evangelism with about as much interest and enthusiasm as I do to fishing. They believe that they have a boat (church) let the fish (people) jump into the boat. Why put forth the effort. More often than not Lutherans end up getting skunked and someone else will catch the fish. Others believe we have a professional hired to do our fishing for us and it’s up to him to catch the fish. Yet the command of Jesus to go and make disciples is as important today as it was in Jesus day. Jesus continues to call all the baptized to go and catch people. Remember there are many ways that we can catch fish. We can invite, we can share our faith, we can live a life of faith. There is no one way or right way to fish. Finally, we need to remember that it is only through the Holy Spirit's work that fish are caught. The Holy Spirit can use us and through the Holy Spirit’s help we will not be skunked.
All (people of Nazareth) spoke well of him and
were amazed at the gracious words that came from
his mouth. They said, "Is not this Joseph's son?" Luke 4:22 (NRSV) When they
heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. Luke 4:28 (NRSV) 
Two local boys from the Mitchell area, Mike Miller and Chad Greenway have made it into profession sports and are earning big bucks. Mike Miller has played a number of seasons in the NBA while Chad has had a very successful year with the Minnesota Vikings. When those two stars return to the Mitchell area, they are welcomed back and are especially praised when they contribute money to local needs. A few years ago Miller gave a substantial gift to a hospital in Sioux Falls and was criticized by some for not helping his local community. Those same expectations were present when Jesus returned to his home town of Nazareth. The local residents have heard of Jesus preaching and healing in the surround area of Capernaum and now he had come home. They were expecting Jesus to bring fame and fortune to his home town. But Jesus reminded his home town people that his ministry was not just for the little town of Nazareth. His ministry was not just for the Jews. In fact God's concern was also for the Gentiles and he illustrates this by using examples from the lives of Elijah and Elisha (see verses (24-27). The home town people’s response turned from praise to rage. The same conflict continues to be present in the church. Some members believe the church exist only to serve its own members and not outsiders. Forget about mission and outreach, if we don't take care of our own church no one else will. They also believe the pastor is called to be a "shepherd of the flock" and they become concerned when the pastor spends two much time serving as a "missionary to the community". Some members believe the pastor should spend his time visiting his own members and not those in Hospice. Or the pastor spends too much of his time involved in synod committees instead of starting new programs. The conflict between in-group loyalties and outreach was one the Jewish nation struggled with, that Jesus confronted and one that the church is still dealing with today.
This page was last updated on 03/12/10
