Month: June 2017

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PWTE Daily Devotion

When There is Loss

Praising God in the Midst of Loss.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.  The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”
Job 1:21

Friday was not a good day.

I was working on our new house down the road, when a neighbor came driving in.  “Your garage is on fire!” he yelled.  “They have called 911!”

This explained the large plume of black smoke coming up from the direction of my Dad’s little house, and it explains what this photo is about; a pile of ashes, where the garage stood, and a scorched house.

After the fire trucks were gone and the neighbors had all gone home, I surveyed the damage and the loss.  Damage to the siding and the windows on the house, loss of everything in the garage, and damage to a nearby shed storing many of our household items.  My heart sank.

The next morning as Margaret and I were moving boxes and furniture from the shed, she noticed how upset I was.  “Are you mad at me?” she asked.  “No,” I said, “I am so upset I don’t know how I feel!”

However, by that night, after the shock had worn off, I found myself in a calm and peaceful place.  What had happened?

Job said it well in the verse above.  Faced with devastating loss, he said, “The Lord gives, the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.”

In the midst of loss and grief, God’s people can still praise Him and thank Him, not just for the happy things, but for the sad things.  We can still praise Him in the midst of loss and pain.

Because God has loved you and me in Jesus, because our eternity is secure in Him our Savior, we will bless Him even in the midst of sadness.

Have you experienced loss or pain?  The Lord still reigns, and he still loves you.  He who gave up His own life, who lost all for you and me, still has you in the palm of His hands.

In the midst of loss, yes, blessed be the name of the Lord!

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, CO

Categories
PWTE Daily Devotion

It’s a Start

Growing Where Planted.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud Link.

“I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted….” 
Amos 9:15, New International Version

I had the raspberry starts, and a newly-built raised bed that was only partially filled because, among other things, that’s all the soil I had at the moment.  However, the plants needed to be in the ground.

I feel like this bed at times.  Unfinished, but still functioning.  You have likely seen that bumper sticker that says something like, “Be patient, God isn’t done with me yet.”  I’m not done with this raised bed, or its neighbor which is now attached to the open left end.  I still need to finish filling it with soil.  However, the soil that’s in it can still be working to nourish those raspberries.

We wait too long, sometimes, in our spiritual journey.  We think we aren’t smart enough, we don’t pray enough, we don’t have enough of the Bible (or the Catechism) memorized, we aren’t full enough of something important, or what we really can’t say.

God has planted you where you are.  Your spiritual roots are in the rich soil of Jesus the Messiah.  You have spiritual mothers and fathers, and sisters and brothers surrounding you with prayer and encouragement.  The Lord himself waters you with the continuing power of Baptismal grace.  You are planted firmly in the garden of the Lord’s own heart.

The raspberries in this picture will bear fruit next year.  You will bear fruit today.  Your smile, the gentle grace of your prayers for another, the heart that beats in you with the beating of God’s own love, the song of joy and wonder that is the product of your own journey with Christ and His with you—they join together and produce the fruit of righteousness, the fruit of grace and mercy, the fruit of a forgiving spirit, and the fruit of acceptance and generosity. They join together so that you, uniquely new in God’s new creation, will bless others with the fruit of your life in Jesus.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, CO

Categories
PWTE Daily Devotion

With All the Saints

Going Home.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud Link.

“I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.'” 
Psalm 122:1

Coming back to Saint Louis Seminary for the first time since my graduation in 1982, I experienced many emotions.  Memories of hard work, good friends, spiritual highs and lows all mixed with both my joy and my grief.

The highlight of the visit was the first morning we worshiped in the new Chapel of Saint Timothy and Saint Titus.  There had been no chapel when I was at seminary, just an auditorium converted for that purpose.  As I stood in the midst of faculty, students, and guests in the beautiful worship space, we began to sing the Te Deum.

“The glorious company of the apostles praise You.
The goodly fellowship of the prophets praise You.
The noble army of martyrs praise You.
The holy Church throughout all the world does acknowledge You…”

As I sang, it was as if I was standing with all the saints of 2000 years, all those who had gone before me and who would come after me.  I thought of dear loved ones who are singing in heaven, dear friends scattered throughout the world preaching the Good News of Jesus, and children yet to be born who will praise Him.

I began to weep.  Not just a little “misty eyes,” but full scale sobbing and weeping.  I was sad, yes, at those who have passed, but mostly I was overwhelmed by the joy and gladness of being in the presence of the Lord Jesus with all the saints.  I was so glad to be there, so glad to praise Him, and so overjoyed to be part of the great multitude of saints.

I realized how good heaven must be.

“I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.'”  And so we shall praise Him forever and ever. Amen.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, CO