COME AND SEE – FOLLOW ME

Devotional for January 14, 2018 based upon John 1: 43-51

In our Gospel lesson for January 14, which tells of Jesus’ calling two of His disciples, there are two very short, very interesting, and also very significant phrases.  Jesus says to Philip, “Follow Me.” (verse 43)  Philip says to Nathanael, whom he wants to introduce to Jesus, “Come and see.” (verse 46)  Earlier in the chapter, Jesus says the same words to two of the disciples of John the Baptist, “Come and see.” (verse 39)

“Come and see” was Philip’s response to Nathanael when Nathanael questioned whether Jesus could have any significance for him if He came from such an insignificant little town, like Nazareth.  “Come and see” was also Jesus’ response to two of John the Baptist’s disciples when they asked a very basic question of and about Jesus, “Where are you staying?”  (verse 38)

“Come and see” are words of evangelism.  “Come and see” are words that you say to someone who is just for the first time hearing about Jesus or who is in the first steps of being introduced to Jesus.  “Follow Me” are words of discipleship.  They are words that encourage us to grow deeper and come closer and grow in our relationship with Jesus.

Every church needs to have “Come and see” events and ministries as well as “Follow Me” events and ministries.  “Come and see” events and ministries introduce people to Jesus.  They are something you invite people to who do not know Jesus and/or need a very basic introduction to Jesus.  Christmas Eve and Easter services, a Christmas cantata, a faith-based film showing in a local movie theater can be “Come and see” ministries.  “Follow Me” events and ministries can include more in depth Bible studies, discipleship groups, and classes about spiritual gifts.  Is there a good balance between “Come and see” and “Follow Me” in the ministries at your church?  If not, which one is stronger?  Which one is weaker?  What could be done to give your church a better balance between the two?

What about you?  Are your natural abilities and spiritual gifts more in the direction of “Come and see” or “Follow Me”?

Where are you personally in your spiritual life?  Are you just being introduced to Jesus?  Are you in the beginning stages of getting to know Jesus?  If so, then you are in the stage of “Come and see.”  Are you going deeper and growing closer?  Are you maturing in your relationship with Jesus?  If so, then you are in the stage of “Follow Me.”  Both stages are important.  Both stages are valid.  Which stage are you in?

One person once said, “Wherever you are, there you are.”  Every one of us is where we are in our relationship with Jesus and personal spiritual life journey.  May we all continue to advance and grow.  May our churches have a good balance between “Come and see” events and ministries and “Follow Me” events and ministries, because both of valid, both are needed.  And may be all grow into a greater knowledge of Jesus, a deeper relationship with Jesus, and a closer likeness to Jesus.

Dennis D. Nelson

President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

LIVING IN THE SOAK ZONE

Devotional for the Baptism of Our Lord, January 7, 2018

based upon Mark 1: 4-11

If you have ever been to Sea World then you know that there are certain sections in the seating that they always give you fair warning about.  If you sit too close – in fact, if you sit anywhere in the entire front half – at what used to be the Shamu show, you will certainly get wet.  And not only wet, you will get totally soaked.  Which is why they call that area the Soak Zone.

I remember going to the Shamu show at Sea World in San Diego.  Shamu and several of his friends lined up around the perimeter of the pool and then, with their heads down in the water, used their flukes to totally splash the people in the stands.  You just know that those whales were totally enjoying it.  But many of the people were not enjoying it.  Not only because they were now soaked to the bone and the water is very cold, salty, and smells like fish, but also because of all their non-waterproof and expensive camera and video equipment.  

But then there were the children and young people who had gathered right at the edge of the pool in the hope and expectation that they will get soaked.  They squealed with joy as the water drenched them.  Unlike the people with the expensive camera equipment, they took great delight in their cold, wet, salty, and smelly soaking by Shamu.

Through our baptisms, we have been called by God to Living in the Soak Zone.  And yet I notice that a lot of people want to avoid the Soak Zone, just like at Sea World.  What does it mean to live in the Soak Zone?  What all is involved with being baptized into Jesus Christ?  The apostle Paul wrote to the Romans, “We were buried with Him by baptism into death, so that, as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” (6: 4)  What does that mean?  What is it like Living in the Soak Zone?  I can think of three things.

First, LIVING IN THE SOAK ZONE – BEING BAPTIZED – IS ABOUT BEGINNING ANEW.  It is about having a fresh start.  According to the apostle Paul, we emerge from baptism to “walk in newness of life.”  Baptism transforms us.  Having been baptized, we are to think, speak, act, and live in ways that represent Christ to the world.  Living in the Soak Zone – baptism – transforms selfishness into generosity, prejudice into love, and hesitancy into boldness.  Does all that happen the moment we are baptized?  No.  But these are the kinds of things that happen to us as we continue to live in the Soak Zone.  The Christian life is an ongoing transformation in which we continue to be shaped by the presence of Christ within us.

Second, LIVING IN THE SOAK ZONE – BEING BAPTIZED – IS ABOUT BEING INCLUDED.  Through our baptisms we are included in the body of Jesus Christ.  Through our baptisms we receive a love that draws us in and holds us together.  It is a love that enables us to disagree without being disagreeable.  The waters of baptism are not only the means for the cleansing of sin. They also have the power to break down barriers between people.  Living in the Soak Zone, we share a common relationship with our Lord Jesus, in which old divisions and old designations no longer apply.  

Third, LIVING IN THE SOAK ZONE – BEING BAPTIZED – IS ABOUT BEING CALLED TO SERVICE.  With baptism comes the Holy Spirit, and with the Holy Spirit come gifts that are to be used in the service of God.  Too many view ministry just as something that the pastor and the other paid church staff do.  But according to the Bible, ministry is the work in which all baptized believers are to become involved in response to the call of God and Christ’s claim on our lives.  Baptism marked the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, and baptism also marks our call into ministry.  When we enter the household of God, we do so with the belief that God has called each one of us to some particular work that will utilize our gifts for building up the body of Christ and for making a better world.

And so, like the people at the Shamu show, we get a rather thorough soaking from the Holy Spirit at our baptisms.  Some will decide that they are not particularly fond of cold, salty, smelly water.  Especially if it costs them something – like their lives.  Which is a whole lot more costly than just expensive camera and video equipment.  And so they will do their best to move as quickly as they can out of the Soak Zone.  

Others will be like the children and young people, who gather at the edge of the pool and take great delight in being thoroughly soaked.  Even though the water is cold and salty and smells like fish, they will take great delight in following Jesus – even when following Him will take them out of their comfort zone into the Soak Zone of the Holy Spirit.

So how about you?  How do you feel about having been placed in the Soak Zone through your baptism?  Do you want to get out of it – and as quickly as possible?  Or do you take great delight in knowing that God is your Father, who gives you new beginnings, who has included you in His family, and who has called you into His service?

Dennis D. Nelson

President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

THE SECOND PRIME OF LIFE

Devotional for December 31, 2017 based upon Luke 2: 22-40

Something I really enjoy watching or listening to is someone totally using their best gifts in the prime of their life.  Whether it is in music or sports, or the chance to hear really great preaching, or whatever, I enjoy seeing, hearing, or watching someone function when they are at their absolute best.

But then there are others who will say, “I am past my prime.  My best days are over.  The best days have all come and gone.”  I wonder if Simeon and Anna ever felt like that.

By the time we meet them, Simeon is an old man.  When he was younger, Luke tells us, “It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.”  Can you imagine what that would be like?  To be told that you would not die until something really great had happened.   

And there must have been a time when Anna dreamed of a glorious life.  But Luke tells us that her husband died just “seven years after her marriage.”  Things had not turned out like she had planned.  Anna was now eighty-four years old.  You get the picture of an older widow and an older single man now spending most of their time hanging around church.  Luke tells us, Anna “never left the temple,” but worshipped there day and night.  Most people would say that their best days were over.  The best had come and gone.  They were long past their prime.

But the world defines “the prime of life” in a way that is very different from the way in which God defines it.  The world sees the prime of life as that season when we are most physically strong and mentally alert.  God sees the prime of life as the season when we are the most spiritually strong and spiritually alert.  Exactly what Simeon and Anna’s first prime of life looked like – to what extent it corresponded to the worldly version of youth, health, wealth, and influence – that we really do not know.  But we do know that these two people had clearly come into the second prime of life.

For one thing, they were truly FAITHFUL PEOPLE.  The Bible says that Simeon was “righteous and devout.”  Which does not mean that he was perfect.  But it does mean that he stayed close to God.  Luke tells us how Anna maintained her intimacy with God.  She was in the temple day and night.  She had established a daily rhythm of worship, prayer, and fasting that built up her spirit even when her body was breaking down.

Second, they were PERSEVERING PEOPLE.  For eighty years Simeon and Anna had kept trusting God.  Through tragedies like the early death of Anna’s husband, and through the long wait between God’s original promise to Simeon and its fulfillment on that first Christmas, these two people persevered in trusting God.

And third, Simeon and Anna were SPIRIT-LED PEOPLE.  Anna was a prophetess.  Which means that she was someone who expected to hear from God, and she was someone who dared to speak for God.  And the Gospel writer Luke tells us that the Holy Spirit rested on Simeon.

Which means that Simeon went places and did things as he sensed the Spirit was directing him.

It is hard to overstate just how much faithfulness, perseverance, and being responsive to the Spirit count with God.  But in this story we see that at a time when the world probably would have regarded them primarily as candidates for senior housing, God chose Simeon and Anna to do one of the most important tasks ever performed in all of human history.  They declared the true identity of Jesus.  They helped Jesus’ parents prepare for what lay ahead.  Simeon said to Mary, “A sword will pierce your soul also.”  And they passed on a blessing, which eventually was passed on to us.

So what about you?  No matter how young or how old you are today, you might be like Simeon and Anna were earlier that day – about to do the greatest and most important thing that you do in life.  Are you in your prime – your first prime?  Are you just coming into your first prime?  Are you in your second prime?  Or do you feel that you are past your prime?

Are you FAITHFUL like Simeon and Anna?  Are you practicing the spiritual disciplines of worship, prayer, and fasting?  Are you nurturing what Luke said Simeon had – a “righteous and devout” spirit?

Are you PERSEVERING like Simeon and Anna?  In spite of all your setbacks, doubts, and questions, are you still waiting for the one who is the hope of us all?  Are you helping others trust in the promises and the good plans of God?

Are you SPIRIT-LED like Simeon and Anna?  Do you have a good word from God that others need to hear?  Are you willing to go where God tells you to go?  Is God calling you, like He called Simeon and Anna, to declare the true identity of Jesus, to help others prepare for what lies ahead, and/or to pass on a word of blessing?

Whether you are just coming into your prime, in your prime, or in your second prime, never see yourself as past your prime.  Rather be like Simeon and Anna.  Faithful, persevering and following the lead of the Spirit wherever you may be in life.  

Dennis D. Nelson

President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

MARY, DID YOU KNOW?

One of the most beautiful of the contemporary Christian songs asks,

“Mary, did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of God?”

But how could Mary have known what was going to be happening to her when the angel Gabriel came and said to her, “Greetings, you who are highly favored!  The Lord is with you.”  What does it mean to be highly favored – or even favored – by God?  Evidently it does not mean that life is going to be easy. The angel continued, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.”

When told that she would bear a son, Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”  Good question.  Mary is not married, she is a virgin, and she is going to have a baby.  Is this something she should be happy about?  Mary and Joseph lived in a strict community that was regulated by strict religious laws and customs.  Mary could have been killed.  She could have been stoned for becoming pregnant while not married.  And imagine Joseph’s hurt.  Is she supposed to be happy about Joseph’s hurt?  Mary must have thought, God sure has an interesting way of showing His favor.

Years ago a psychologist by the name of Thomas Holmes developed a scale for measuring stress.  He assigned numerical values to events that cause stress, such as loss of a job, moving to a new community, and a new relationship.  Dr. Holmes even included Christmas on his stress list.  According to him, even a so-called “normal Christmas” is worth a hefty 14 stress points.

A writer by the name of Bridget Kuhns took Dr. Holmes’ stress scale and applied it to Mary.  Holmes calculated that any pregnancy earns 40 points.  For an unwanted pregnancy, add 20 more points.  A change in living conditions – Mary stayed three months with Elizabeth – 25 points.  Upcoming marriage to Joseph – 50 points.  A change in financial status – 38 points.

Surely there must have been some words between them when Mary learned that Joseph had not made reservations at the inn.  35 points for an argument with a spouse.  And then the birth – 39 points.  16 points for a change in sleeping habits.  15 points for a change in eating patterns.  Not to mention all the uninvited guests – the shepherds and angels and wise men from the east.

Psychologist Thomas Holmes says that people get sick when they reach 200 points on the stress scale.  Bridget Kuhns calculated that Mary’s ordeal earned her a whopping 424 stress points.  And that does not include the flight to Egypt, or more importantly, the experience of watching her beloved son die as a common criminal on a cross.  Is that what it means to be favored by God?  Evidently being favored by God does not protect you from high levels of stress.  

It is easy to say when things are going our way, “The Lord sure is blessing me.”  But have you ever wondered if it is actually when we are going through the most difficult of times – when we feel that we can barely hold on – that God is actually the closest to us?  The angel Gabriel, in saying that Mary was blessed by God, was not saying that God would make her life easy.  But he was saying that she would be used by God.  And in the long run, isn’t that what being blessed is all about?

How about you?  Can you say right now that you are blessed because you are being used by God for His special purposes?

In response to Gabriel’s telling her that she was favored by God and that she would bear a son, Mary asked a sensible question, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”  Good question.  The angel responded, “Nothing will be impossible with God.”

Is it any more difficult to believe that a virgin could give birth than it is to believe that Zechariah and Elizabeth could bear children in their old age?  Mary in her shame could have made up a lie about the visit of an angel.  But there was no way that Elizabeth, who was far beyond childbearing years, could make up a story about being pregnant.  It was a miracle.  And Jesus’ birth was a miracle.  Nothing is impossible with God.  Remember that the next time you are in a hard place.  Nothing is impossible with God.  

Be careful whom you called blessed.  Be careful what you call impossible.  And then, third, be thankful that this young woman said Yes to God.  

Mary was free to say No to God, just like we are free to say No to God.  God never forces Himself on anyone.  But when Gabriel gave Mary the news that she would bear God’s Son, she replied, “Here I am, the servant of the Lord.  Let it be with me according to your word.”  Mary became the mother of our Savior because she was willing to be obedient to God.  Obedience is out of fashion in our “I did it my way” world.  But obedience is still an important part of the Christian life.  Some blessings we will never receive until and unless we are obedient to God.  

Mary, did you know?  How could have Mary known where her encounter with the angel would lead her?  Just as how can we know where our encounter with the living Christ during this Christmas season will lead us?  

Be careful whom you call blessed.  Be careful what you call impossible.  And be thankful that a young, teenage girl said Yes to God.  For saying Yes to God is the key to living a life that is truly blessed.

Dennis D. Nelson
President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE
909-274-8591
dennisdnelsonaz@yahoo.com

Devotional for the Third Sunday in Advent, December 17, 2017, based upon John 1: 6-8, 19-28

“He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.”  (John 1: 8)

I have read that the Gospel writer John refers to Jesus as the light of the world no fewer than twenty-one times.  No wonder the star shone so brightly over Bethlehem.  No wonder our Christmas trees and our homes are decorated with hundreds of lights.  No wonder we light more Advent candles the closer we come to Christmas.  Light is what Christmas is all about.  Advent is a celebration of light coming into our very dark world.

When John wrote his Gospel, the world was in darkness, just like our world is in darkness today.  John wanted the world to know that a light had come that had penetrated the darkness.  Jesus is the light of the world.  That is good news for this Third Sunday in Advent.

The light of Jesus never stops shining.  Through wars and famine, through fire and flood, through all sorts of natural disasters, through good times as well as through bad, the light continues to shine.  Our parents and grandparents saw its glow in the darkest days of the depression.  Soldiers have seen it on distant battlefields.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.

The darkness of the world cannot extinguish the light of Christ.  It shines in hospital rooms and in funeral homes.  It shines in the midst of poverty, unemployment, hunger, despair, disease, death, and every other kind of heartache, hardship, or setback that you could ever imagine.  It shines in every one of the dark and discouraging situations that you have ever had to deal with.  Nothing can keep it from shining.

The greatest privilege in the world is to share that light with someone else.  “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine,” the song says.  John the Baptist was not the light, just like we are not the light.  His job was to bear witness to the light.  And that is our job as well.

The best gift to give someone who is in darkness is the gift of light.  That is our calling as followers of Jesus.  To let His light shine in us and through us.  To light up the world around us.

“This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.”  That’s what each one of us needs to do this coming week – this coming Christmas season.  Let the light of Christ shine through you.

Dennis D. Nelson

President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

E-MAIL FROM GOD

Devotional based upon Isaiah 40: 1-11

How many unwanted telemarketing calls, how much junk mail, and how many unrequested email messages do you receive every day?  While we are sorting through all of this clutter, it would be easy for us to overlook the encouragement mail e-mail that we receive from God.  On this Second Sunday in Advent your Heavenly Father is sending you some encouragement mail e-mail.  And He does not want you to miss it or delete it.

Many scholars believe that Isaiah 40 and following were written during the Babylonian captivity in the sixth century B. C.  Israel needed encouragement.  For fifty years they had been captive in Babylon – in present day Iraq.  They were living in tough times and were feeling displaced and discouraged.  So God through His prophet was sending them some encouragement.

We also are living in very tough times.  Many feel displaced and discouraged.  So God is sending us some encouragement e-mail.  “Comfort, O comfort my people,” the prophet begins.  And then he gives us four words of encouragement and comfort.

First, A WORD OF PARDON.  Verse 2 – “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, her penalty has been paid, she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”  Israel is like an inmate whose time in prison is about to be over.

For centuries before the Babylonian captivity, Israel had been unfaithful to their God.  They had been following after the false gods of their day and practicing a social injustice that only made the rich richer and the poor poorer.  They had been guilty of gross immorality.  So for the past several decades they had been paying the price for their sins.  They had been held captive in a foreign land, and were being compelled to serve a hated people.  They needed to receive encouragement mail from God.

And we also need to receive encouragement mail from God.  We also need the message that our God is a God who will forgive.  Realizing our sin, we cry for mercy.  We need to hear that God’s deepest desire is not to condemn but to forgive and to save.

Second, A WORD OF PROMISE.  Verse 3 – “A voice cries out: In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”  When we are in the deepest of distress, God comes to us with His greatest of help.  Like He did for the Israelites in Egypt, and like He will do for the Israelites who are being held captive in Babylon, God hears our cries and knows our misfortunes.  He comes to us at our time of greatest need.

This email from God says, “Get ready; get straight with God by repenting.”  One of the main messages of Advent is that one of the main ways in which we need to get ready for Christmas is by repenting.  Repent means to change your mind.  Change your mind about sin.  Stop doing what you need to stop doing, and start doing what you need to start doing.  Stop walking on the crooked path and start walking on the straight path.  For the e-mail from God to be encouragement mail, we need to repent.  And we need to repent today.

Third, A WORD OF SECURITY.  Verse 8 – “The grass withers, the flower fades; but the Word of our God will stand forever.”

Life is short.  You do not have as many years left as you once did.  As the beloved hymn says, “Change and decay in all around I see.”  The only thing certain is uncertainty.

This encouragement mail e-mail from God says, The only thing absolutely safe and secure is the Word of God.  God’s Word is as sure as God Himself.   God’s truth is an everlasting truth.  His Word contains His promises, and He always keeps His promises.

To have certainty in life and security in changing times, we need strong convictions based upon God’s Word.  We need to know what we believe and why.  Those who put their trust in God and His Word will find stability in life.

Fourth, A WORD OF HOPE.  Verse 9 – “Here is your God!”  He is coming in strength, and He is coming in love.  Verse 11 – “He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs in His arms; He will gently lead the mother sheep.”

People ask, Is there any hope?  This encouragement mail e-mail from God says, “Yes, there is hope.  Here is your God.”  He is greater than your problems.  He can hold your world together.  He is the answer to all of your needs.  There is no problem so complex that He cannot solve and no pit so deep that He is not deeper still.

A word of pardon, a word of promise, a word of security, and a word of hope.  Which word do you most need to hear from God today?  Whichever word you most need to hear God has for you today.

Dennis D. Nelson

President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

READY OR NOT, HERE I COME!

Devotional for First Sunday in Advent, December 3, 2017 based upon Mark 13: 24-37

When you were young, did you play Hide and Seek?  If so, where was your favorite place to hide, and were you able to find a place to hide where no one was ever able to find you?

In playing Hide and Seek, the person who is It will close his eyes, while everyone else runs and hides.  The person who is It counts to a hundred or so and then says, “Ready or not, here I come!”  In our Gospel lesson for the first Sunday in Advent Jesus is saying to the world, “Ready or not, here I come!”  But unlike Hide and Seek, this is not a game.  This is dead serious.  We are in the final countdown before Jesus appears on earth to judge the world and to gather the faithful.  Jesus concludes His talking about His return with the words, “What I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”  Ready or not, Jesus is coming.  We had better be ready.  We had better get ready.  But how do we get ready?  In our Gospel lesson Jesus tells us three things that we need to and can do to get ready.

First, JESUS TELLS US TO KEEP AWAKE AND WATCH.  

Now of course, we all need to be asleep part of the time – six, seven, or eight hours a day.  But this is not what Jesus is talking about.  Rather He is talking about the sleep of being unprepared.  The sleep of not caring about what is happening in the world.  The sleep of indifference and unconcern.  Like the cartoon that depicted a couple men talking at a party.  One rather unconcerned-looking man said to the other, “So what if it’s Armageddon?  It’s not the end of the world.”

We need to be awake to the fact that someday Jesus will return – to bring history to a close, to judge the wicked and to gather the faithful.  According to the Bible, there is no question at all as to the certainty of His return.  The only question is when.  A car accident can happen – an explosion can occur – like a bolt out of the blue.  Jesus said that His return will be like that.  Sudden and immediate.  We must be ready before He comes, because we cannot get ready when He comes.  We must wake up from our sleep of business-as-usual, because Jesus is coming – whether or not we are ready.

Second, JESUS TELLS US TO KEEP AWAKE, WATCH, AND PRAY.

But what does prayer have to do with being ready for Jesus’ second coming?  Through prayer we keep in touch with God.  If we daily keep in touch with God, we will not become careless about being ready.  We will always be ready for Jesus’ return at any time.

And then we also need to pray for those who do not know Jesus as their Savior and Lord.  We do not want these people to be found without faith if Jesus should return.  It is our responsibility to pray daily that they will be ready when Jesus returns.  

A young boy was fishing with his grandfather off the coast.  The young lad noticed a flashing light coming from the lighthouse even though it was mid-day.  The child said, “But I thought they used that light only when there was fog or a storm.”  His grandfather replied, “No, son, they use it all the time, because you never know when fog or bad weather might come up.  It’s better to always be prepared than to miss the opportunity to save someone’s life.”

Prayer is our taking advantage of every opportunity to save someone’s life.  In good times and in bad, in sunshine and in storm, we need to keep awake, watch, and pray that souls will respond to the love of God and get ready.

Third, JESUS TELLS US TO KEEP AWAKE, WATCH, AND WORK.

When Jesus returns suddenly and unexpectedly, what will He find you doing?  Jesus expects each one of us to be about His work, so that when He comes, He will find us doing what He wants us to be doing.

A traveler was visiting a castle in northern Italy.  The old gardener opened the gates.  The visitor stepped into the garden, which was being kept perfectly.  The visitor asked, “When was the owner last here?”  He was told, “Twelve years ago.”  “Does he ever write?”  “No.”  “Where do you get your instructions?”  “From Milan.”  “Does the owner ever come?”  “No.”  “But you keep the grounds as through your master were returning tomorrow.”  The old gardener replied, “Sir, I keep the grounds as though my master were returning today.”  As Christians we need to keep awake, watch, pray, and work as though Jesus were returning today.

Whether or not you are ready, Jesus is coming.  If you are not ready, you have reason to dread His return.  If you are ready, you have reason to rejoice.  For He is coming to be with us, to bless us, and to take us home to be with Him in glory.

Jesus is saying, “Ready or not, here I come!”  Are you ready?

Dennis D. Nelson

President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

FIRST WORDS AND FINAL WORDS

Devotional for Christ the King Sunday, November 26, 2017 based upon Matthew 25: 31-46

I retired on June 30, 2014, after serving as pastor of the same southern California congregation for forty years.  My final Sunday was June 29.  What I would say during the sermon on my final Sunday was very important to me.  There were certain things I wanted to be sure to say to the congregation, whom I had known and loved and been pastor for for forty years.  I spent a lot of time and prayer thinking through my final words.

Our Gospel lesson for Christ the King Sunday contains Jesus’ final words – His final message before the crucifixion.  I am sure that what He said during this final message was very important to Him.  What did He say?

In Jesus’ final message before the crucifixion He tells of the day when He will come in His glory.  All the angels will be there, and all the people who have ever lived will be there.  His first act as the newly crowned, rightful King of the universe will be to separate all people into two groups – sheep and goats.  To those on the right – to the sheep – He will say, “Come, you that are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom that was prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (verse 34)  Then he will give a whole list of human hurts and will describe the response of the sheep to those hurts.  The first act of Christ as the newly crowned King will be to applaud His people’s acts of compassion.  What Jesus makes the biggest deal of in this – His final message before His crucifixion – are the works of compassion of His people, who have received His compassionate work of salvation.  

Now if Matthew 25 contains the last recorded message of Jesus before the crucifixion – the last recorded message of His three-year public ministry – what about His first recorded message?  What did Jesus say during the first time that the Bible says He got up to speak?

To find the answer to that question we turn to Luke 4 – to a time when Jesus returned to His hometown of Nazareth.  He went to the synagogue – to that community and religious gathering place where He had gone many, many times while growing up.  He went back to the synagogue, where He had studied the books of Moses, the law, and the prophets.  The law He had come to fulfill, and the prophets who spoke of the day of hope when He would be coming.  Luke tells us, “He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him.  He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written. . . .” (Luke 4: 16-17)

As best-selling author Max Lucado, speaking on this passage, points out, this is the only time in the Bible where Jesus chooses a place in the Bible.  This is the only time in the Bible where it specifically mentions that someone handed Jesus a Bible and said, “Here, please pick out a passage for us.”  Imagine handing God a Bible and asking Him to pick out a verse.  Just imagine.  If you were to hand God a Bible and ask Him to pick a verse, what verse do you think He would pick?  What one passage from the entire Old Testament do you think He would select?  Luke tells us, “He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written. . . .”

You might think that He would have stopped at Isaiah 53 – the song of the suffering servant that speaks of Him so clearly – “He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities.” (Isaiah 53: 5)  But instead He kept on going until He got to Isaiah 61, where He read, “The spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor.” (Luke 4: 18)

Here we have the first sentence of the first sermon of Jesus recorded in the Bible.  The only time mentioned in the Bible where Jesus selects and reads a passage from the Bible, and whom and what does He read about?  He reads about the poor.  “The spirit of the Lord has anointed Me – has chosen Me – to bring good news to the poor.”  

The only time in the Bible where it is specifically recorded that Jesus reads a passage from the Bible – and a passage which He Himself chooses – and whom does He read about?  It must be those whom He must have a special heart for.  The poor.  And in the rest of verse 18, the captive, the blind, and the oppressed.  

If the first act of our Lord Jesus Christ – after He is crowned as the rightful King of the universe – is to separate the sheep from the goats.  And if the factor that makes sheep sheep and goats goats is the way their faith leads them to respond to the hungry, thirsty, sick, naked, and imprisoned.  And if in the first sermon that Jesus gave He talked about God’s concern for the poor, that must have a lot to say to us today, who live in a world where so many people are living in extreme poverty.      

If in His last recorded sermon and in His first recorded sermon, Jesus talked about God’s heart for the poor, we need to ask ourselves, What kind of heart do I have for the poor?  Do I have God’s kind of heart for the poor?  

Dennis D. Nelson

President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

USE IT OR LOSE IT

Devotional for November 19, 2017 based upon Matthew 25: 14-30

In the parable for this morning Jesus is talking about money.  But He is talking about something far more important than money.  He is talking about life.  In the parable of the talents Jesus is giving us four principles on how we should invest our lives.

First, WE ARE GIVEN OPPORTUNITIES ACCORDING TO OUR ABILITIES.  The servants were not given the same amount.  To one servant the master entrusted five talents, to another two, and to another only one.  Just like in life today.  We do not all get equal opportunity because we do not all have equal ability, and we do not all share the same level of commitment.  

So sometimes, instead of looking at all the opportunities that God has given us, we look at all the opportunities that He has not given us.  We look at what He has given to someone else rather than to us.  So then, instead of making the most of what we do have, we fret over what we do not have.  Instead, what we need to do is to take inventory of all that we have been given and then ask ourselves, Am I investing it, or am I burying it?  

Most of us probably feel like either the two-talent guy or the one-talent guy.  Very few, if any of us, feel like the five-talent guy.   The difference in what the one-talent guy and the two-talent guy started out with was not all that much.  But the difference in what they ended up with was substantial.  And why?  Because one took what he had and made use of it, while the other one took what he had and buried it.  If God has given someone else more than He has given you, that is never an excuse to waste it.

SECOND, FAITHFULNESS IS ALWAYS REWARDED.  Did you notice that the master spoke the exact same words to the man who had been given two talents as he said to the man who had been given five talents?  “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.”  Both had been faithful with what they had been given.  So both of them were promoted.  Even though their original resources were not equal, their effort and faithfulness were equal.  Whether you are faithful with a little or faithful with a lot, faithfulness is always rewarded.

God is looking for those who will be faithful in the little things so that He can entrust them with bigger things.  In God’s economy, one of the biggest rewards for doing a good job is being given a bigger job.  Being responsible always leads to more responsibility.  

Third, THE ONLY REAL FAILURE IN LIFE IS GIVING UP AND DOING NOTHING.  The servant who had received only one talent might have thought, “What if I were to take this money and lose it?  It’s a whole lot safer just to do nothing.”  So that is what he did – nothing.

The other two servants had doubled the master’s money.  Maybe that was something that the third servant was not able to do.  What could he do?  He could have taken the master’s money and put it into a low-risk, low-return account.  So when the master returned, he could have said, “I know my colleagues doubled your money.  I do not have the ability to do that.  So I did do what I could do.  I put your money into a safe account at a safe bank, and the amount has increased by 3 % a year.”  What do you think the master would have said then?  I believe that if that truly was the best that third servant could do, then the master would have said to him exactly the same thing that he said to the others – “Well done, good and faithful servant.”  The reason why the master was so angry with this third servant was because he had just buried the talent and had done nothing.  He did not even try.  

Someone once said, Our greatest regrets at the end of our lives will be all the missed opportunities.  We will grieve far more over what we did not do than over what we did do.  The only real failure in life is giving up and doing nothing.  Because when we do nothing, we close the door to the possibility of God’s doing something really special in and through us.

Today, as you look back on your life, do you realize that you have squandered some opportunities that God has given you in the past?  Do you realize that you have some ability that lies buried in the sand?  If that is the case, then get out that shovel and start digging.  Unbury what you have buried and put it to use.  Do what you can with what you have left.  For accomplishing a little is far, far better than accomplishing nothing at all.  The only real failure in life is giving up and doing nothing.

And then, fourth, USE IT OR LOSE IT.  In Jesus’ parable the master said, “So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents.  For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”  You have been given certain skills – certain abilities.  The more you use them, the better you will get at them.  But if you do not use them, you will eventually lose even what you do have.  

And then I would like to close by looking at five words that Jesus used to describe what the one who had been given the five talents did.  HE WENT OFF AT ONCE.  He went off at once and traded them and made five talents more.  He went off at once.  He got started immediately.  Whatever it is that you want to accomplish in your life – whatever it is in your life that you want to change – whatever it is that you feel God is calling you to do – do something about it today.  To finish it and to fully complete it may take days, weeks, months, even years.  Get started and do something about it today.  

Dennis D. Nelson

President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

WE ALL HAVE TO GET OUR OWN OIL

Devotional for November 12, 2017 based upon Matthew 25: 1-13

At one point all ten had brightly burning lamps. All ten had oil. But five ran out of oil. So five were not ready when the bridegroom came.

All ten had lights. Which probably were not some kind of small clay vessel with a little wick sticking out. Small clay vessels do not use much oil, but they also would not have been able to put out much light for a wedding party. They probably were torches – long poles with rags soaked in olive oil tied at the top. That kind of a torch produces a lot of light, but it also consumes a lot of oil, so the rags would have to be re-soaked in oil every certain number of minutes.

The oil that enables us to live our Christian lives is abundant. We can all be filled with the Holy Spirit every day. There is no energy shortage in heaven. And the oil is free. It has already all been paid for. But still, if we want our lives to keep on shining, we must receive a daily in-filling of God’s Holy Spirit. And so, in verse 4, “The wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.” The wise had reserve oil. The wise enjoyed a deep, personal experience of the grace of Jesus. The wise had a deeper prayer life – a deeper Bible study life. The wise had a depth to their faith – a depth in their relationship with Jesus – that the five foolish bridesmaids did not have.

Verse 5 tells us, “As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept.” All ten had thought that the bridegroom would have been there a lot sooner. But he wasn’t there. So they became drowsy and slept. Preparing for a wedding can wear you out. There’s a lot that goes into getting ready for a wedding. Not just the bride – and the bride’s mother – but also the bridesmaids spend hours and hours getting ready for the wedding. No wonder brides and bridesmaids get all stressed out and tired out. Even the five wise bridesmaids were so tired that they fell asleep because of the delay.

Spiritually are you asleep? Are you asleep even though you know that the King of kings is coming? True, there has been a delay. Jesus the Bridegroom has not come yet. And yet the longer the delay, the closer we are to the time of His coming.

Verse 6 tells us, “But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out and meet him!’” When did the bridegroom come? At midnight. Jesus will return at the darkest time of the night. Jesus will come to you in your darkest hour. Sometimes I wonder how much darker it could get than it is right now. The bridegroom will come at midnight. In our hour of deepest need – at a time of greatest spiritual darkness – Jesus Christ will come.

Verse 7 – “Then all the bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps.” All ten bridesmaids needed to refill their lamps with oil. But only the wise had brought along spare reserves of oil. What is that extra oil? It is an extra measure of God’s presence and grace in your life. It is the depth and strength of faith that you need to live in those toughest of times.

Christian parents and grandparents may wish that they could just give their faith to their children and grandchildren. And many Christian people wish that they could transfer their Christian faith to their non-believing husband or wife. But each person must go to the source for himself or herself. The Christian faith can neither be transferred nor sold. Each must get the saving oil straight from the source.

No one can be a Christian for you. Your parent or grandparent can’t. Your spouse can’t. Your best friend can’t. And even your pastor can’t. We all have to get our own oil.

In the same way, if you wait until you really need it to get that saving and strengthening relationship with Jesus – if you wait until midnight, you may have waited too long. The Bible says, Today is the day of salvation. Today is the day to restock on oil. Today is the day to make your life right with Jesus. If you wait until midnight, you may have waited too long.

What about you? Is your lamp getting dimmer? Is your light beginning to flicker? Is your walk with Jesus lacking or even non-existent? Are you spiritually asleep? Don’t wait too long.

In verse 13 Jesus concludes this parable by saying, “Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” I want to be there and ready. And I want you to be there and ready too. I want all of us to be seated at that table that will spread for miles in God’s great heavenly banquet room. Jesus, our Bridegroom and Host, will be there to welcome us. So what should we do? Before your lamp begins to go out – on a regular basis – stop and get a fresh supply. Daily repent of your sins and receive God’s grace. Daily renew your relationship with Jesus. And always remember – we all have to get our own oil.

Dennis D. Nelson

President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE