MAKE THE MOST OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY

That is a theme that I heard twice during the same week – at both the LCMC annual gathering October 7-10 and the Lutheran CORE-sponsored, Spanish and bi-lingual ministries Encuentro on October 12.

Kent Hunter, founder of Church Doctor Ministries and keynote speaker at the LCMC gathering, was sharing how our nation as a civilization is showing deep signs of stress. Our culture is deteriorating from the inside. For the church of Jesus this undeniable reality is a great opportunity. If you were to ask unchurched people, “What do you think it is going to be like for your children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren?” their response is likely to be one of hopelessness. This hopelessness is a sign of receptivity to spiritual things. It is a lie from Satan to say that people today are not receptive. We are living in a season of receptivity. As a simple way in which everyone can respond to this season of receptivity, Dr. Hunter suggests that you ask the person who is waiting on you at a restaurant for their name, and then ask them if they have any concerns that you can pray for when you pray for your food. People are hurting. People are in need. People are receptive and will value and respond to your offer to pray for them.

I saw this principle illustrated a few days later at the Lutheran CORE-sponsored Encuentro in the Hermosa neighborhood of northwest Chicago.  The previous Saturday a two-year-old boy had been tragically shot and killed in an eruption of violence in the area surrounding the host church. The following Monday there was a neighborhood gathering with city officials and law enforcement personnel. Keith Forni, pastor of the host church, St. Timothy’s, as well as pastor of First/Santa Cruz Lutheran Church in Joliet, coordinator of the Encuentro, and member of the board of Lutheran CORE, was present at the gathering and was asked by a city official to lead in prayer. Keith told about the prayer gathering that had already been planned for the closing of the Encuentro the following Friday evening. This time of prayer out in front of the church was being held for the city of Chicago, which has seen so many homicides and so much violence, and for the victims of shootings and their families. This prayer gathering was announced in the Chicago Tribune, and cameramen from two local television news stations came to film the vigil and to interview participants. What an opportunity. What a moment of receptivity.

Pastor Forni also described the practice of Las Posadas as an opportunity for a congregation to do neighborhood ministry. Reenacting the search of Mary and Joseph for a place to stay for the night, Lutherans in changing neighborhoods can reach out to and take the first step in connecting with a neighborhood that they may have lost touch with.

IT IS ALWAYS A JOY

It is always a joy to represent Lutheran CORE at the annual LCMC gathering. These people are warmly welcoming, fervent in their love for Jesus, and passionate in their commitment to mission. They are innovative and creative in their seeking to share their faith in a twenty-first century world. They are not going to become discouraged. For example, I was talking with a man who has been president of his congregation in Texas. After their pastor retired, they found that they no longer had the numbers and resources to call a new pastor. Rather than close the congregation, the church council told the president that they wanted him to be their next pastor. That person is now pursuing theological training online so that he will be able to fill the role that has been given to him by the congregation. I was reminded of the number of times in the New Testament when the apostle Paul appointed leaders in churches after he had been there for only a short time, and then he wrote letters to those churches in order to teach them what they should believe and how they should live.

As I experienced at the NALC convocation in August, there were so many people at the LCMC gathering who came up to me or who came up to my Lutheran CORE table and told me how they read our materials and how much they value and appreciate the work we are doing. They particularly mentioned reading our recent correspondence with ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton about the ELCA youth gathering and our evaluation of Bishop Eaton’s response. We were mightily encouraged by all the expressions of appreciation and support from our friends in LCMC.

Attending the gathering also gave me abundant opportunity to tell people about the upcoming Congregations in Transition ministry initiative and the Rekindling Your First Love event.

CONGREGATIONS IN TRANSITION MINISTRY INITIATIVE

The Congregations in Transition ministry initiative is an effort to train (mostly retired) Lutheran pastors to serve as coaches to congregations whose pastor has retired or resigned to take another call. A very generous gift has been received to cover the travel and lodging expenses of pastors for a three-night, two-full-day training and relationship building event probably in early April 2019 in the Phoenix area.  The need for this initiative is greatly increased by the number of soon-retiring Baby Boomer pastors, declining seminary enrollment, increased student debt for those graduating from seminary, the loss of congregational momentum that can occur during an interim period, and the fact that interim pastors will not always be available.

In this initiative a congregation organizes a Leadership Team of a few key leaders (separate from the church council and the call committee), which then works with their coach, primarily online. The ministry arrangement begins with an initial onsite visit to introduce the coach to the entire congregation and that includes the coach’s spending a full day with the Leadership Team. The primary purpose of this ministry is for far more than simply offering encouragement to the congregation in a time of crisis. It also includes helping the Leadership Team maintain not just stability but momentum in regards to the congregation’s vital ministries during this transition time.

There is no financial cost for those who volunteer to serve as coaches. Their travel and lodging expenses for the training event are being covered by a generous gift. There are very few financial costs to the congregations. The trained coaches are active retired pastors who are willing to volunteer their time. The only significant expense for the congregation would be if they decided that they would like their coach to visit their church.

Please watch for more information about this ministry initiative in future issues of our newsletter, CORE Voice, and in future letters from the director. Please contact me at [email protected] if you are interested and/or if you would like to know more.

REKINDLING YOUR FIRST LOVE

Another one of our upcoming projects which I was very happy to be able to tell people about at the LCMC gathering is our “Rekindling Your First Love” event. This gathering will take place on Wednesday, May 1, 2019 in the Baltimore area and will be a full day of spiritual and emotional renewal for pastors. It will include presentations, discussion, processing, prayer, fellowship, worship, determining next steps, and personal ministry time. NALC pastor Tim Hubert will talk about “Rekindling Your First Love for Christ.” NALC pastor Wendy Berthelsen will speak on “Rekindling Your First Love for the Church as the Body of Christ.” ELCA pastor Brian Hughes will address “Rekindling Your First Love for Mission and Ministry as the Work of Christ in the World.”

The idea of the gathering is as follows. At the end of his letter to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul commended that church for their undying love. A generation later in Revelation 2 when John writes to the church in Ephesus he tells them that they have lost their first love. Many pastors – because of the demands of ministry, the painful experience of being hurt and even betrayed by congregational members, and having to deal with so much conflict – have lost their first love. If that is you, we want to invite you to rekindle and regain your first love. Please be watching for more information, which will be available soon.

PASTORAL FORMATION

We are also working with Perry Fruhling, LCMC coordinator for pastoral ministry, to identify congregations that have seen two or more people go to seminary recently and pastors who have seen two or more people go to seminary during their ministry. We will then work with these pastors and the leaders of these churches to identify the common factors that make a congregation and a pastoral ministry a good nurturing place for future pastors.

WE ARE VERY GRATEFUL

We are very grateful to Kim Smith for taking on the role of president of the board for Lutheran CORE. Kim has been serving on our board for a little under two years. She is the one who developed our new website and now is keeping it current. She is also editor of our newsletter. I was elected president of the board in early 2015. A year later I was also hired as part-time director. Because the ministry is ever-increasing, we are very grateful that Kim is willing and able to serve as president of the board while I remain as executive director.

We are also very grateful for all of our friends – individuals as well as congregations – who support our work. This is the time of year when many congregations are determining their benevolence budget and mission dollars recipients for next year. We urge you to speak with your pastor, and, pastors, we ask you to speak to your church councils about including Lutheran CORE in the list of missions which will receive financial support from your congregation next year.

As a partner with you in seeking to make use of every opportunity to share the love of Jesus,

Pastor Dennis D. Nelson

Executive Director of Lutheran CORE

909-274-8591

[email protected]

THE DEAL OF A LIFETIME
Devotional for October 14, 2018 based upon Mark 10: 17-31

Suppose someone very reputable says to you, “Go into business with me. It will be very expensive for you, but I guarantee you it will be worth it. Dig up whatever cash you can. Take out all the equity in your home. Cash in all your life insurance policies. Pay the penalty and take all the money out of your IRA’s. In every way you can, come up with all the cash that you can and invest it with me. I promise you that you will get back 100 times whatever you invest. If you put in $10, 000, you will get back one million dollars. If you put in $100, 000, you will get back ten million dollars.” Is there anybody who would turn his or her back on an opportunity like that?

Well listen again to the words of Jesus in our Bible lesson for this morning. “Truly, I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my safe and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age – and in the age to come eternal life.” That is quite a promise. Whatever you invest, you will receive a hundredfold return. Not a one hundred percent return, which would be only doubling your money, but a hundredfold return, which is getting back one hundred times your original investment. And Jesus is not just offering it. He is guaranteeing it.

A rich young man came up to Jesus one day, seeking the way to eternal life. “Keep the commandments,” Jesus said. “I have,” the young man replied, “since my youth.” Mark then tells us that Jesus said, “You lack one thing. Go, sell what you have and give it to the poor. Then you will have treasures in heaven.” And so Mark tells us that the young man turned away sadly, grieving because he had many possessions.

The Deal of a Lifetime. The rich young man turned down a one hundredfold return – the Deal of a Lifetime. Why do you suppose he did it?

First, I believe he turned down the deal of a lifetime BECAUSE HE COULD ONLY SEE WHAT HE WOULD BE GIVING UP, NOT WHAT HE WOULD BE GAINING. I am sure he was accustomed to the best of everything. He did not want to give that up. He valued financial success above everything else. Jesus said that if you do that, your odds for entering the Kingdom of God are equal to that of a camel squeezing through the eye of a needle. Which are pretty slim odds, indeed. Being forced to decide between Jesus and their wealth, most people would only be able to see what they would be giving up, not what they would be gaining.

Second, I believe he turned down the deal of a lifetime BECAUSE HE OVERESTIMATED THE VALUE OF MATERIAL THINGS. Andrew Carnegie was one of the richest men who ever lived. He was also very generous. Perhaps because as he once said, “Millionaires seldom smile.” I have read that Andrew Carnegie practically became allergic to money as he grew older and richer. He was offended, he said, just by the sight and touch of money. And he never carried any of it with him. One time he was put off a London train because he had no money with him to pay the faire.

Why make your greatest value something that will eventually rot or rust? Something that someday you will have to leave behind? Something that by itself cannot give peace of mind? The rich young man overestimated the value of material things.

Third, I believe he turned down the deal of a lifetime BECAUSE HE WAS NOT ABLE TO SEE THAT THE ONLY KIND OF RICHES THAT REALLY COUNT IS BEING RICH TOWARDS GOD.

Someone once said, “We cannot take it with us, but we can send it on ahead.” The great test of our faith is whether we really believe the promises of Jesus. Jesus has promised that anything we give to Him, He will return a hundredfold. Does that mean that if we tithe, someday we will be materially rich, just as some television evangelists have suggested? No, it does not mean that. But it does mean that the rewards for following Jesus far exceed the costs. It does mean that in following Jesus you will be making investments that will pay rich dividends for eternity – long after all of your material possessions will have deteriorated into dust.

Someday each one of us will move from this world to the next. We brought nothing with us into this world, and we will take nothing with us out of this world. If the promises of Jesus are true – and I believe that they are – then that means that our hands will be empty so that we will be able to receive from Jesus a hundredfold more than we left behind. Our hands will be empty so that we will be able to receive from Him blessings untold.

Dennis D. Nelson
Director of Lutheran CORE

JESUS WELCOMED LITTLE CHILDREN
Devotional for October 7, 2018 based upon Mark 10: 13-16

The Gospel writer Mark tells us, “People were bringing little children to (Jesus) in order that He might touch them” (10: 13), but the disciples spoke sternly to them. In contrast to the attitude of the disciples, Jesus welcomed little children. I can think of at least three reasons why.

First, JESUS WELCOMED LITTLE CHILDREN IN ORDER TO SHOW THEIR GREAT WORTH. The disciples were trying to keep people from bringing their children to Jesus. They may have resented this imposition upon the Master’s time and energy. They may have made the tragic mistake of believing that the needs of children are not very important. Which is amazing when you remember that just a few days before Jesus had told them how important it is to welcome children. In the previous chapter – in response to their arguing over who was the greatest – Jesus had taken a little child and said, “Whoever welcomes one such child in My name welcomes Me, and whoever welcomes Me welcomes the One who sent Me.” (9: 37) The way we treat children is the way we treat God.

But here the disciples were acting as if they neither heard nor remembered anything of what Jesus had said. Mark tells us that when Jesus saw the disciples’ attempts to keep children away, He was indignant. It displeases Jesus very much whenever we stand in the way of children coming to Jesus, for children are very important to Jesus. And so I believe that this story is telling us that whether or not we are parents or grandparents or great grandparents, and whether or not our own children or grandchildren or great grandchildren attend the church that we attend, all of us need to be investing time and energy in making sure that our church has ministry for children. We need to be a part of letting children know that we love them and how much God loves them.

Second, JESUS WELCOMED LITTLE CHILDREN IN ORDER TO BLESS THEM. It was very common in Jesus’ day for parents to bring their children to a godly rabbi and ask him to bless them. With the teaching and miracle ministry of Jesus, it was no doubt an exciting prospect for parents to have their children blessed by the Master.

Christian counselors agree on the importance of receiving your parents’ blessing. Christian author and psychologist Gary Smalley speaks of two kinds of people – blessed people and unblessed people. He tells of the good things that happen to people who have received their parents’ blessing and the bad things that happen to people who have not. No wonder Esau became so upset when he realized that his brother Jacob had tricked their father Isaac into giving him the blessing.

Third, JESUS WELCOMED LITTLE CHILDREN IN ORDER TO TEACH ABOUT SALVATION. A Christian organization that works with children estimates that 85% of Christians come to faith in Jesus before the age of 21. This is a staggering statistic. And many of those who come to faith in Jesus later in life do so as a result of seeds that were sown during their childhood. What childlike – not childish but childlike – characteristics did Jesus have in mind when He said, “Whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it”? (10: 15) I can think of three.

First, HUMILITY. I believe that it is no coincidence that Luke records this incident of Jesus and the children right after the story of the Pharisee and the sinner. The Pharisee was self-righteous, so therefore not at all righteous in the sight of God. The sinner humbly confessed his condition to God, so Jesus said that he was forgiven.

Second, children possess a simplicity of FAITH. They have a wonderful ability to trust and then to act on that trust. But those of us who are older have been lied to and manipulated and taken advantage of and taken for granted so many times that we have developed a tendency to doubt and be cynical and skeptical.

Third, children are WILLING TO RECEIVE A GIFT without suspecting that there may be strings attached. In contrast, adults do not want to be beholden to anyone. Adults do not believe that there really is such a thing as a free lunch – there really is such a thing as a “something for nothing” gift.

Parents were bringing little children to Jesus in order that He might touch them. This morning Jesus wants you to come to Him in order that He might be able to touch your life. Will you come to Him in humility and with a simple, child-like faith? Will you come and receive His love, forgiveness, and grace?

Dennis D. Nelson
Director of Lutheran CORE

CAN WE REALLY BE AT PEACE WITH ONE ANOTHER?
Devotional for September 30, 2018 based upon Mark 9: 50 and Ephesians 4: 31-32

We read about and feel the tone of American politics, the climate in our society, the acts of terrorism and violence all around the world, and the relational dynamics in so many marriages and families, and we wonder, How can we possibly do what Jesus said in our Gospel lesson for this morning? “Be at peace with one another.”

The truth is, we human beings – on our own – are not able to be at peace with one another. Basic human selfishness, self-centeredness, and sin make that impossible. But I believe that the apostle Paul – in his letter to the Ephesians – tells us how God can make us able to do what humanly speaking – on our own – we would never be able to do. Be at peace with one other.

Paul writes, “Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.”

The world is full – our society is full – of people who are bitter and angry. Angry at the world because it has not given them enough. Angry at God because they do not feel He has treated them fairly. Angry at their spouses. Angry at their children. Angry at their neighbors. Angry at their job. Here Paul gives us a survival message that says, “If you want to make it, you simply cannot live like that anymore. It will eat you up.” Then he gives us a way to get rid of our anger. To get rid of bitterness, wrath, anger, wrangling, and slander, there are three things we need to do. First, be kind to one another. Second, be tenderhearted. And third, forgive one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

First, BE KIND TO ONE ANOTHER. There are so many people who are just plain self-centered and rude. They are concerned only about themselves. They demonstrate no concern for anyone else. Paul wrote in his letter to his young friend Titus, “We ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another.” (3: 3) But then he says, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy.” (3:4-5) It is only because of God’s kindness and mercy that we are saved. If God reacted to us the way that we react to one another, He would have given up on us a long time ago. But instead He reaches out to us with love and kindness.

Second, BE TENDERHEARTED TO ONE ANOTHER. The word “compassion” means to feel with. Being compassionate simply means that your feelings are important to me and they have become a part of my life so that I have come to share and understand how and what you feel and what is going on inside of you.

And then, third, FORGIVE ONE ANOTHER. I believe that Paul had a reason to put this one last, because I really do not think that we can forgive somebody until we have first done the other two. Until we have first learned to be kind to them, and until we have become tenderhearted and compassionate towards them and have come to understand what is going on inside of them. But if we have first learned the lessons of kindness and compassion, then forgiveness can follow.

So how about you? Have you experienced – have you received – the kindness of God? Have you received His kindness so that then you can go out and share that kindness with other people?

Have you experienced – really experienced – how compassionate and tenderhearted God is towards you? He understands you. He knows and cares about what you think and how you feel. He knows all your worries, concerns, disappointments, and joys. Having experienced His tenderhearted compassion, are you tenderhearted and compassionate towards others?

Have you received and experienced the forgiveness of God? He wants to – and He can – forgive you all your sins. If you have received and experienced His forgiveness, are you now able to forgive others?

It is if – and only if – we have experienced His kindness, tasted His compassion, and received His forgiveness, that we are then able to really be at peace with one another.

Dennis D. Nelson
Director of Lutheran CORE

Editor’s Note: The article below by Pastor Dennis D. Nelson originally appeared in the September 2018 Newsletter.

Click here to read the article.

WHAT WERE YOU ARGUING ABOUT?
Devotional for September 23, 2018 based upon Mark 9: 30-37

It seems to me that there are two kinds of arguments. There are worthwhile arguments, and there are worthless arguments. Some things are worth arguing about, while other things are not worth arguing about. I am sure that Jesus – in our Bible story for this morning – was very disappointed with His disciples and what they were arguing about.

Jesus had just finished telling them that He would soon be handed over to evil people and be killed and on the third day would rise from the dead. But His disciples did not understand what He was saying. But rather than ask Him about it, they began arguing over which one of them was the greatest.

There will be times – even in the church – when we will disagree with one another. But Jesus is saying, Don’t go through life arguing about things that are not worth arguing about. If you are going to have an argument, make sure it is about something worth arguing about.

You can tell a lot about a person by the kinds of things he or she argues about. I think of some of the things that I have gotten into arguments about. As I remember and think about them, I am really embarrassed over them. And so Jesus, in our Bible story for this morning, asked His disciples, after they had arrived in Capernaum, “What were you arguing about on the way?” The Gospel writer Mark tells us, They would not tell Him. “They were silent,” because they had been arguing about which one of them was the greatest.

They had been caught red-handed, discussing a subject that only revealed how self-centered and petty they were. They had been carrying on an argument over who was the greatest in the presence of Him who is the greatest. In the presence of total self-lessness, they had blatantly revealed their self-ishness. In the presence of Jesus their arguments were pretty small and petty and worthless indeed.

“What were you arguing about on the way?” What do we argue about on the way? I think of some of the petty arguments at council meetings and congregational meetings that consumed time, wasted energy, divided people, and hindered the mission of the church during my years of ministry. Are the arguments that you get engaged (or entangled) in worthwhile arguments? Or are they worthless arguments?

Just think of how much it must have hurt Jesus to hear His disciples arguing about who is the greatest. For here is Jesus, trying to alert His closest friends to the gathering storm of suffering and death that He would soon be enduring. But while He was pouring His heart out to them, there they were, not really listening, but instead pursuing their own selfish discussion over who is the greatest. How much Jesus must have suffered over that. And how much He must suffer over the kinds of things that we argue about.

But notice something. Notice how Jesus deals with His arguing disciples. He does not become indignant with them and attack them, even though He certainly had reason and right to. He does not blast them with burning words, even though they certainly deserved it. He does not chastise them or correct them by Himself claiming to be the greatest, even though, with His supreme humility and sacrifice on the cross, He is the greatest. Rather He asked them a simple question, “What were you arguing about on the way?” And He turned that moment into a teaching moment, as He was and is so good at doing. He sat down with them and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”

The solution for worthless arguments does not come from stopping talking. For just as bad as a lot of arguing is the silence that can develop between people. The solution for worthless arguing comes from discussing things that are worth discussing, dealing with issues rather than attacking persons, and becoming a servant to other people.

There are some things in the church that are worth fighting for. I firmly believe that the kinds of issues that Lutheran CORE deals with – like the deity of Jesus, the authority of the Bible, salvation by grace alone, Biblical moral values, the priority of mission, and the imperative of evangelism – are worth fighting for. But some of the other things that we can have our biggest battles over – those things are simply not worth fighting over. Let’s make sure that what we argue about is worth arguing about.

I like the way that the New Testament letter writer James, the brother of our Lord and leader of the early church in Jerusalem, put it. “Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for human anger does not produce God’s righteousness.”

Why did God give us twice as many ears as mouths? It must be that He wants us to do twice as much listening as speaking. When it comes to talking, may God give us the courage to speak and the wisdom to say what is worth saying.

Dennis D. Nelson
Director of Lutheran CORE

TAKE UP YOUR CROSS
Devotional for September 16, 2018 based upon Mark 8: 27-38

Jesus never calls upon anyone to do anything that He Himself would not do and/or has not done. What He asks us to face, He Himself has already faced. Jesus has the right to challenge us to take up a cross, because He Himself has already taken up His cross.

But all that goes against the grain. The world tells us that anything that bothers us or becomes difficult we should seek to avoid. Jesus said, “If any want to become My followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me.” What does it mean to “take up your cross”?

First, TAKING UP A CROSS IS ALWAYS VOLUNTARY. Jesus calls us, and Jesus challenges us, but taking up a cross and following Jesus is always voluntary. A bad medical diagnosis, a personal tragedy, or a severe accident may all be a heavy burden to bear. But they are not a cross that you have taken up for Jesus, because you did not volunteer for them.

Second, TAKING UP A CROSS IS AN ACT OF LOVE. An act of love that we freely choose. It is a price we pay out of love. For Jesus taking up His cross meant going to Calvary to die. He did it because He loves us so much that He could not do otherwise. Taking up a cross means taking the love of God and touching the lives of other people, even those who are very difficult to love. Taking up a cross means denying and sacrificing and paying the price regardless of the hardships that we must endure.

Third, TAKING UP A CROSS IS HARD. In fact, it is so hard that whenever the message of the cross is preached, some people will object. They will say, “You cannot be asking me to do that. That would be too hard.”

Kind of like Peter in our Gospel lesson for this coming Sunday, when Jesus was talking about His impending death on the cross. Peter objected. “Lord, that is not the way it is supposed to happen.” A few years later the apostle Paul called the cross “a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Greeks.” Not much has changed, has it?

The cross was a stumbling block to Jews because it was not what they were expecting. It was not what they wanted to hear. As an oppressed people they wanted their Christ, their Messiah, their Anointed One to deliver them. It is not what we want to hear either. All of Jesus’ talking about taking up a cross bothers us. We lean back in our chair, wanting to take it easy, but we hear Him say, “Take up your cross and follow Me.”

This morning Jesus offers you a cross. Not a life of ease. Not a church that will always make you comfortable and happy. Not a guarantee of success on the job. Not a promise that everything will always go smoothly and exactly as you want for the rest of your life. Rather this morning Jesus offers you a cross. But along with a cross He offers you eternal life. For, as Jesus said, “Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for My sake and for the sake of the Gospel, will save it.”

Will you do what Jesus said and take up a cross?

Dennis D. Nelson
Director of Lutheran CORE

JESUS HEALS TODAY
Devotional for September 9, 2018 based upon Mark 7: 24-37

Our Gospel reading for this morning tells of a time when a group of people whom Mark calls “they” brought to Jesus a man who was both deaf and had an impediment in his speech.

The first thing this passage does for me is to raise the question, WHO ARE THE THEY? Whenever I hear someone say “they,” I always wonder, Who are the “they”? Who are the “they” who are supposedly saying certain things? Who are these unnamed people who are bringing their friend to Jesus?

Mark does not tell us, so they do not get any credit. And yet they still do it. They are among the millions of people who do what needs to be done simply because it needs to be done and because they care. They would never say, “That’s not my job. I’ve already done my share. Let someone else bring this person to Jesus.” They never get thanked during the announcements or in the church newsletter, but they still do it, simply because it needs to be done and because they care. God, may all of us be like them.

The second thing that strikes me is the condition of the man whom “they” brought to Jesus. He was BOTH DEAF AND HAD AN IMPEDIMENT IN HIS SPEECH. I am embarrassed when I think of the times when I have been so deeply focusing on my own, relatively small problems, and then I see someone like the man in our Gospel, who had not just one handicap, but two. At times like those I need to say, Forgive me, Lord. Forgive me for so focusing on my own problems that I have not been attentive and responsive to, in tune with, or even aware of someone else’s problems. Forgive me for being like the man who said, “I grumbled because I had no shoes. Then I met a man who had no feet.”

Third, I am struck with the way in which JESUS TOOK THIS MAN ASIDE IN PRIVATE, away from the crowd. He responded with great sensitivity to all of this man’s needs, including his need for privacy.

And Jesus is sensitive to our feelings and needs. He does not deal with us in front of everybody else, so that we would feel embarrassed and on display. Nor does He relate to us just as part of a crowd. Rather He relates to us individually. He knows our needs, and He cares about our needs – individually. Even though He has everyone else in the whole world to take care of, and even though there are several million other people all talking to Him at the same time as I am talking to Him, He still takes me aside privately and spends time with me individually. There is nothing cold or rushed about the way in which He does it. We all long for attention like that.

Fourth, JESUS PUT HIS FINGERS INTO HIS EARS, AND SPAT AND TOUCHED HIS TONGUE. All of which reminds us of how much we need warm, human touch. We cannot survive and be healthy emotionally without warm, human touch. From the moment we were born, we have had that need. If that need is not met, something goes wrong.

One thing that many people with terminal illnesses like cancer express is the need to be touched. And not just poked with a needle and have their temperature taken. They need to be touched with a warm, loving, human hand.

Jesus does not heal from a safe, aloof distance. Rather He got right up next to him and touched him. The one who came to Him with a crying need, He touched. Even the leper, the untouchable of all untouchables, much to the horror of the crowds He touched. And when we come to Him, He does not remain at a safe, aloof distance. Instead He reaches out to us and touches us.

Fifth, JESUS LOOKED UP TO HEAVEN AND SIGHED. What a beautiful, beautiful statement that is. When Jesus sees a situation of deep human need, He sighs. Like when E. T. saw that Elliot was hurting so he touched his own heart and said, “Ouch,” so when Jesus sees that we are hurting, He looks up to heaven and sighs and then touches His own heart and says, “Ouch.”

Sixth, after putting His fingers into the deaf man’s ears and reaching out and touching the dumb man’s tongue and looking up to heaven and sighing, JESUS SAID, “EPHPHATHA,” which means, “BE OPENED.”

We read in the New Testament of those marvelous times when Jesus opened the eyes of the blind, restored the lame, and cleansed the leper, and we say, “Jesus, why aren’t You doing the same thing today?” We all know people who need healing. And like the unnamed “they” who brought their friend to Jesus, so we would do anything we could if we only knew that our doing so would release God’s power to heal.

First of all, we need to realize that Jesus is healing and that Jesus can heal today. Sometimes He heals in spectacular ways. I am sure we all know people who have been healed in a spectacular way. We all know or have heard of someone who had been diagnosed with some kind of terminal, inoperable disease, and then, after God’s people prayed, was found to be healed of that disease. God made our bodies able to heal from all sorts of injuries, diseases, and infirmities. Sometimes our bodies need help from the medical profession, but all that is, is help. Help for the body to help the body do what God made the body able to do.

We need to remember that during Jesus’ ministry, He did not heal everybody. And everybody that He healed did eventually die of something else. But still, through His ministry of healing, Jesus gave us a foreshadowing of that time when we will be delivered from all sickness, sorrow, pain, and death, through the resurrection from the dead, which is our hope if we have faith in Jesus Christ. In the meantime, during our lifetimes, God will make our bodies able to heal many times. And there are other times when we experience the love and power and ability of God to heal us emotionally and relationally.

And so, in the meantime, our Gospel reading leads us to ask ourselves, WHERE DOES GOD WANT ME TO BE HIS INSTRUMENT OF HEALING? How do the words “Ephphatha,” and “Open up,” also apply to us? To whose cries of hurting do our ears need to be opened? To whose need for words of love do our tongues need to be loosened? Who is the person who is suffering from a lack of love that God wants me to love? Who is that scared, resentful, angry, and/or bitter person into whose life I can help bring God’s peace? With what specific person – where does God want me to be His instrument of healing?

And then, finally, what did all the eyewitnesses do once they had seen that a man had been healed? Jesus ordered them to tell no one, but THE MORE HE ORDERED THEM, THE MORE ZEALOUSLY THEY PROCLAIMED IT. They were astonished beyond measure. They had seen what Jesus can do. The Good News of what they had seen they simply could not keep to themselves. They had to share it. Too amazed to be silent, their tongues were loosened and they told everybody about it.

What a powerful example they have set for us. For we, too, in so many ways, have been or have seen someone else being healed. Like the crowds, may we be astonished beyond measure and then join with 999 other tongues to sing our Great Redeemer’s praise.

Dennis D. Nelson
President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

GIVE JESUS YOUR BOAT
Devotional for Labor Day weekend, September 2, 2018, based upon Luke 5: 1-11

I have heard that one-third of all Americans say that they hate their job. According to many, the worst part is the commute. Many feel that they are working in the wrong career. Many who have found success in their employment say that they have not also found – or no longer find – satisfaction.

In Luke 5 Jesus has a word for frustrated and unfulfilled workers. As Jesus is preaching, Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John are cleaning their nets. As the crowd grows, Jesus has an idea. He gets into one of the boats, the one belonging to Peter, and asks Peter to put out a little way from the shore. Then He sits down and teaches the crowd from the boat. Jesus does not ask Peter if He can use his boat. He simply gets into the boat, asks Peter to put out a little bit from the shore, and then starts using Peter’s boat as a pulpit. Jesus can do that because all boats belong to Jesus. Your boat – my boat – Peter’s boat – everybody’s boat. All boats belong to Jesus.

Your boat is wherever and however you spend your day, making a living and living your life. Your boat is the office you work in, the classroom you teach in, the department you manage, the family you feed and drive around, the things you volunteer for. All that is your boat. On this Labor Day weekend Jesus is tapping you on the shoulder because He wants you to give Him your boat.

And so Luke 5 tells us that when Jesus finished speaking, He says to Peter, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Peter answers Him, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet, if you say so, I will let down the nets.”

Who can blame Peter? His shoulders ache. The nets are put away. A midmorning fishing expedition has no appeal – especially after a fishless night. And yet he complies. In full daylight and in full sight of the crowd, he dips the oars into the water and hoists the sail.

Somewhere out in the middle of the lake, Jesus gives the signal to drop the nets. And when they do, they catch so many fish that their nets begin to break. They signal their partners in another boat to come and help them. They come and fill both boats so full that the boats begin to sink.

So here they are – Peter and his partners standing knee deep in fish. The size of the catch nearly sinking both boats. What is the message here?

Some would say, Take Jesus to work with you and you will get rich. The presence of Jesus should guarantee more sales, bigger bonuses, longer vacations, and earlier retirement. With Jesus in your boat you will be able to go from Galilean fishing to Caribbean cruising.

But that is not the message that Peter got. Surrounded by fish, Peter does not see dollar signs. Rather he sees his Lord. Mighty enough to control the seas. Compassionate and kind enough to help a very frustrated fisherman.

Suppose you do what Peter did and take Jesus to work with you and to wherever else you go. Jesus showed Peter where to cast the nets. Let Jesus show you where and how to do your work. Let Jesus be the reason you do your work. Because, you see, everything changes when you give Jesus your boat.

Dennis D. Nelson
President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

Editor’s Note: The article below by Pastor Dennis D. Nelson originally appeared in the Summer 2018 Newsletter.

Click here to read the article.