50 Years! Wah!

For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. (Eph 5:31 KJV)

Fifty years! I am trying to process how we have managed to be married for fifty years today. I don't feel old enough to have been married that long. Yet, I am. There have also been many days when I've wondered how we actually managed to put up with each other in order to stay together that long. The answer is simple: by the grace of God.

We have considered how to celebrate this milestone anniversary; but, have not come up with anything. Although, the desire is there we both find that what we once may have enjoyed doing is just really pretty tiring for us. We just don't have the inclination to battle the traffic or crowds that we would encounter at doing most things. So it will be an early dinner out so that we can get to bed at our usual times. I have not drank alcoholic beverages in almost thirty years. But, if I don't get to bed at my usual time I wake up feeling hungover. I don't like that feeling because the whole day ends up feeling wasted. It will be an early evening as usual.

It was a pretty rocky beginning. Not many people thought we should get married. Thank God for my Grandma Mary Dalback as she seemed to be about the only family member from either side of the family who was truly supportive of the marriage. Even fewer thought that the marriage would last and it almost didn't on more than one occasion thanks to both of us acting badly and only considering ourselves rather than each other. But, by a miracle from God it has lasted and we have had each other to grow old with through better and through worse times; through sickness and health.

Marriage can be pretty rough. It can be challenging. But, when God joins two people together you can be assured that he will help you through those rough times if you let him; if you listen to him.

Fifty years of marriage! Wah! Thanks be to God for his grace and mercy! Thanks be to God for his good gift of love!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Feed Them

And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him.

And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.

And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed:

Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat.

He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?

He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.

And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.

And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.

And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.

And they did all eat, and were filled.

                                                                                                         (Mark 6:33-42 KJV)

Multitudes followed Jesus out into the desert to hear him speak. So he fed them with the word. They were listening to him for so long that he knew that they not only needed to be fed spiritually with the word but that they also needed to be fed physically. 

The disciples were reluctant to feed them even as so many pastors and congregations are often wary about feeding people who knock on their church doors. They are wary for many reasons. Maybe the visitor will use the financial assistance they are given for alcohol or drugs. Maybe they are just con men or women who make their only living by knocking on church doors. Maybe that person knocking on our church door is here to attack the secretary or maybe even the whole congregation or set fire to the church. But, Jesus, the Good Shepherd,  did not question the multitudes need to eat. He told the disciples to feed them. That ought to remind us that we too are to feed the hungry both spiritually and physically. After all, if someone is starving for sustenance for their bodies they will more than likely be focused on their stomach and not able to hear Good News of eternal life in God's Kingdom; his presence, that we would share with them. 

How good is the Good News if we ignore the fact that those we preach to go without food for physical survival?

God help us to feed your sheep!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Two Are Better Than One

Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. (Eccl 4:9-10 KJV)

We do not live in a vacuum. It may sound cliche'; but, people need people. God reaches out to us through those who care about us. 

We are exhorted to: 

"Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another.." (Rom 12:9-10)

But, it is a very sad thing then the people around us are not filled with the Spirit of Christ; but, with spirits of evil devise. It is a sad thing when a mother would scheme to protect herself and bring harm to her child. It is a sad thing when a spouse puts their own pleasures before the commitment they made with the one they claim to love. It is a hurtful thing when anyone would bring false accusations against a friend.

King Saul became jealous of David which led to his fear of David. Saul persecuted the man who he once trusted and cared for. There was no reason for the persecution except that Saul wrongly perceived that he had to protect himself and his reign from David.

Job lost everything and when he did everyone turned away from him or against him. He said:

My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me. They that dwell in mine house, and my maids, count me for a stranger: I am an alien in their sight. I called my servant, and he gave me no answer; I intreated him with my mouth. My breath is strange to my wife, though I intreated for the children's sake of mine own body. Yea, young children despised me; I arose, and they spake against me. All my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me.  (Job 19:15-19)

There are multitudes of people around us who find themselves alone. It is a shame that those who claimed to love them may have turned their backs on them. But, God has not. He loves you and will be with you always.

St. Paul wrote: 

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)

Love the Lord your God for He is with you always. There will always be two when you are in relationship with the Lord. He will never leave you. 

May God help each of us to love others even as He loves us; to be kind to one another; and to deal justly with the people around us.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Where Two Or Three Are Gathered

Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matt 18:19-20 KJV)

I have not yet found a permanent place to worship since my retirement. I have resisted leading Worship or Sunday School in my home - until yesterday. There were three of us including a young girl who has also been wanting to be able to learn more about Jesus. Our scripture lesson was from Matthew: the two greatest commandments according to Jesus. We also discussed how those two commandments cover all ten that were given to Moses. 

We are a small group. It reminds of my time serving Keweenaw Lutheran Ministries as a mission developer in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in 1990's. I led worship at four or five different locations every week in addition to a couple of Bible Studies. Attendance could get very low. There was one time that Eva Komula (keyboard musician) from Mohawk and I were leading worship at the historic Lutheran church in Jacobsville. It was the first service after the church was opened in the spring. The snow was still on the ground and it was cold! We had to walk in to the church from the road because the driveway was still too snowy to drive in. We were the only one's there. Eva insisted that we should worship even though there were only two of us. We did. What a wonderful, faithful companion in the ministry she was! There were only two of us in the flesh present that evening; but, Jesus was with us as he is whenever two or three are gathered in his name; as he is all of the time. Fortunately, the following Sundays were a bit warmer and less snowy and attendance grew. 

There were three of us gathered to hear the Word of the Lord yesterday morning: three plus Jesus. If it is God's will, we will grow. But, in the meantime where two or three are gathered Jesus is there so we will continue in the knowledge that he hears our prayers and answers.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Communicate Truthfully

Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;

But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses,

And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.

                         (Matt 26:59-61 KJV)

Jesus was crucified, not on any real evidence of blasphemy because there was no evidence. But, that did not stop false witnesses from coming forward and twisting Jesus' words to make them sound like the words meant something that they did not mean. He was speaking of his own death and resurrection. But, those who wanted him gone accepted it to mean that he was able to and going to destroy the Jewish Temple and if he chose would miraculously build it up in three days. No one could do that except God. It was God's temple to do with as He pleased, not Jesus'; therefore, blasphemy...

Scripture requires two or more witnesses and that would mean reliable eye-witnesses, not false witnesses, to find a person guilty. Perjuring yourself to assist in finding another person guilty of a crime that was not committed is a sin. It is definitely against the law. Well; that is, it is a crime in a court of law. Whether that law is valid in every hearing today is a bit questionable. 

Apparently, lying about others isn't so bad if you haven't taken an oath to tell the truth. We hear it and read it all of the time in the various forms of media. We even hear it after someone takes the oath. Perjury, as previously noted, is illegal and could get you jail time yourself.

One of my pet peeves is the lack of ability to communicate; especially the inability to understand what others actually mean. This country is diverse whether everyone wants to acknowledge it or not. Diversity includes people from many ethnic backgrounds; from many cultures; from different generations; from various regions. The words one person uses to say something does not always mean the same thing to the person who hears it. 

One of my granddaughter's uses the words "passed out" to mean she fell asleep. I guess that is how many in her generation describe being so tired they fall asleep without trying. I've asked her not to use those words to describe falling asleep as to me and to many of my generation it means got so drunk they fell asleep or "passed out." I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea about her. 

As we are so diverse, maybe it's time before we jump to judgment on what someone is saying that we begin attempting to understand who the speaker is and where the speaker is coming from. That seems to be a much better solution to some of the communication issues in this country than slandering the speaker and ending up a false witness to what was actually said.

None of this is not to say that we should not speak the truth. The truth does need to be communicated. Let us communicate it plainly without false accusations. And... if what you are relating is a joke or satire; please, present it in a way that people know that it is. 

May God help us to refrain from passing false judgment on those whom we are unable to understand or relate to. 

God's Peace - Pr. J.

The Eighth Commandment

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way.

                                                                 (Luther's Small Catechism)

The Word; A Two-Edged Sword

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Heb 4:12 KJV)

For the past twenty plus years I have preached the Sermon on the Mount at least annually. I do not edit it. I do not preach anything other than the exact words according to St. Matthew (usually the NIV). The first year that I did this was at a youth correctional facility. The congregation was made up of teen-age felons mainly from Wayne County, MI. The next day I was called into the head office. It had been reported that I had said that one of the youths' mothers was going to hell. I had said no such thing. 

The Sermon on the Mount for the most part; at least the Beatitudes, has always seemed to me to be comforting. However, there are parts of Jesus' sermon that will strike at a guilty conscience quite severely. It is not as though Jesus pointed a finger at any specific person. He merely points at what is right and at what is wrong. 

The word of God is like a two edged sword. The two edged sword is swift to destroy with both sharp sides. But, the sword can be used for two purposes on the battlefield. The first, most obviously, is to destroy. The second, with today's modern warfare, is not so obvious. When heated, the metal  blade of the sword was used to cicatrize wounds; to seal open blood vessels as well as other wounds. 

On the one-hand the word of God can bring us quickly to our knees as our spirits discern the judgment we have brought upon ourselves by daring to stand against the word of God. But, the word of God has a much more gracious purpose. Once wounded by the word, we are healed by the same word of God who desires nothing less than the good for you.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Praying Often; Always

And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. (Matt 14:19 KJV)

Most of you have probably heard the story about how Jesus fed the multitude on five loaves and two fish. They were so fed heartily with this meager meal, after Jesus prayed over the the food and the disciples shared it with the people, that there were leftovers. 

We are encouraged to pray and give thanks to the Lord not just on Sunday but always for everything and everyone. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: "Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (1 Thess 5:16-18)

The other evening after shopping my husband and I stopped to eat at "Steak and Shake," an almost fast food hamburger restaurant. Service is really quick; but, you actually get a friendly server and a few minutes to look at the menu. While waiting for our meal, I saw something that I don't get to see too often. It was a family of five (with at least two teens) holding hands and praying before they ate. There were no cell phones at the table.  What there was after they prayed was quiet conversation as they ate. I don't get to see many people praying publicly so it caught my attention. I pray that God blesses every member of that family with faithfulness all the days of their lives. Those young people are off to a good start...

May God help us all to remember to pray often, even unceasingly, giving thanks for all that He has done and continues to do for us through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

God's Peace - Pr. J

One Master

“No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." (Matt 6:24 NRSV)

You cannot serve God and wealth or anything else. As Christians, there is no priority greater than serving the One who created us. There is to be no greater priority that loving the one who loves us so much that He willingly gave His Son to die for us.

When my sons were young they, as most young children, would often tell me that they loved me with their whole hearts or more than anyone else. My response would be that if they did not love God more than me then they did not love me enough. Some might say that my response was cruel. But, the truth is if we do not love God more than anyone or anything else then we do not have the genuine ability to love or serve anyone else as much as we would think we do.  

Wealth cannot save us. We cannot save us. Only Christ saves; therefore, we love the and serve the one who first loved us. We serve because Christ first served us by dying on the cross for us. God is best served when we serve others according to the great love God has for us and we for Him. We can do this only by the power of the Holy Spirit.

God's Peace - Pr. J

False Witnesses

“One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established." (Deut 19:15 NKJV)

"Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses." (1 Tim 5:19)

In spite of the many false witnesses who testified against Jesus, Herod found him to be innocent. But; because Herod worried about his own future, Jesus was crucified anyway.

Lives can be and often are destroyed by slander; by false witnesses. It has most likely been so since the beginning of time; otherwise, why would the law of Moses have insisted upon at least two witnesses? Why would Paul recommend that an accusation not be heard if there are not at least two witnesses? 

Evil abounds. Let us not contribute to evil by repaying evil with evil. May God help us to discern what is good; do what is right; do what is just; and not what is profitable for ourselves. If others act unjustly, we must remain just. 

Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

                                                            (Romans 12:19-21)

May the Lord protect us and keep us. (Num 6:24) May the Lord deliver His servants from the evil one. (Matt 6:13)

God's Peace - Pr. J