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With the warmer temperatures come bug and insects, including houseflies. I have a device that looks like it could be a large, yellow water pistol, as child’s toy. However, it is actually a pump action shotgun of sorts that shoots a small puff of table salt. It is very accurate and effective at killing flies five to six feet away from you and leaves just a few grains of salt on the floor. After using it to dispatch a few flies that had invaded our home, I was reminded of this passage:

…the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. Isaiah 51:6

I also remembered learning that the life span of a housefly is only 15-30 days, which made me think of another passage:

“Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. Job 14:1

I think about the aches and pains in my knees, shoulders, hands, and all over. I know my body is feeling the effect of sin and is wearing out. I think about the problems facing our nation and the world and wonder what will be next. I realize, like Job did, that my time here on earth is brief and filled with pain and trouble. Those words by themselves might be depressing. But that verse from Isaiah says more than I shared with you above:

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail. Isaiah 51:6

God promised salvation to His people long before Jesus was born. They were saved by believing God’s promise. You and I are saved the same way. We believe God’s promise. The difference is we know that it has already been fulfilled by what Jesus did when He came down here as one of us. He lived without sin. He died to pay for my sin. He rose to give me His victory over death. That will last forever and never fail. That gives me new hope and the attitude Paul wrote about.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16

I’ll share a bit more few more thoughts on this tomorrow.

I’ve written before about our “barn cats.” We have some outside only cats. The agreement is we feed them once a day on our back porch, and they keep the mice and snakes away from the house. It has been working out pretty well. We have the bowl positioned so we can see them come and go during the day. Most of them keep their distance from us. We have about six long term residents. Others seem to show up every once in a while. A new one came on the scene this week. Some just simply disappear.

We have only one that actually interacts with us. We call her “Momma Kitty.” When I wake up in the morning, she is sitting at the glass door at the back of our house, looking in, waiting for the daily ration of food. She waits for me to come out and pour it into the bowl, meows once or twice and then starts to eat. Some days she will rub up against my leg or even let me pet her.

She recently had another litter of kittens. We saw three of them up on the porch last week. This morning, two of them were sitting there waiting with her when I got up. When I opened the door, the little ones ran away, but Momma stayed and waited for the food.

Because I know there were three kittens, I found myself wondering where the third one was. Had something happened to it? Was it still alive? As I said, often a cat just disappears one day never to be seen again. I wish I could somehow reach out and find out what happened.

I know that happens with people in our lives, too. Sometimes we just lose touch with someone and don’t even realize it right away. “I wonder whatever happened to him?” That happens in the church, too. People seem to drift away and too often we let them slip through the cracks. Many times I tried to reach out to people like that, but they didn’t respond to my efforts. But every now and then I was able to reestablish the connection. Some of those times I discovered that the person was offended or upset with something I or another person had done, and I would not have known about it if I had not reached out. Being able to work through those situations was very rewarding.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32

It is important for all of us to reach out to our friends and acquaintances who suddenly “drop off the radar.” This can often be a signal that something is wrong. They may need the love and encouragement that we have to share in Jesus’ name. And He gave us the example. Luke 15:1-7 talks about the Good Shepherd leaving the 99 who are safe to seek out the one that was lost. And later, at Zacchaeus’ house, Jesus said very plainly:

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Luke 19:10

Jesus did the saving part with His payment for the sins of the world on the cross. He offers that to anyone who listens to Him and believes His message. But sometimes those in the fold wander away. We need to be sure we do more than just wonder what happened to them. We need to seek them out and see what we can do to restore them.

There is someone in your life right now that you need to seek out. Ask God to help you identify that person and then give you the strength to reach out to him or her. Do it for Jesus. Even if you don’t see any results, nothing done for Jesus is ever in vain. Give it a shot. Let the Spirit work through you.

First thing this morning I went to my ophthalmologist. I’ve had a lot of eye trouble over the last 6 years, so these visits are a regular occurrence in my life. They checked the pressures in my eyes, took pictures of my optic nerves, and then dilated them for the doctor to get a better look inside.  He looks through different kinds of scopes while shining a series of powerful bright lights into my eyes. The light allows him to see all the details inside the eye, all the scarring from previous surgeries and other damage.

The bright light the doctor shone in my eyes was exposing all the things that were wrong in there. That reminded me of this passage:

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)  and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.  For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. Ephesians 5:8–14a

Even though it hurts when the doctor shines the light in my eyes, I know it is to expose the problems and figure out the treatment I need. The light of Christ exposes my sin and shows me the solution He has provided through His life, His death to pay for my sin, and His victory over death that He shares with me.

I got a good report, made my next appointment, and then started to walk outside. It was overcast when I arrived, but now the sun was shining brightly. I thought I could make it to my vehicle and the wrap-around sunglasses that were in there, but I could not. I had to go back in the office to get some of those disposable sunshades just to be able to make it to my vehicle. That overwhelming light of the sun and how helpless I felt in the presence of that light made me wonder: Is that how non-believers feel when confronted with the light of Christ? They don’t understand it and it seems unbearable. But it is what they need in their lives. So those of us who know who Jesus is and what He did for everyone need to make sure we shine His light for those still in darkness.

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:4–6

Those in the darkness need the light, even though it may frighten them or seem painful at first, even those they don’t yet understand it. They need to see Jesus for the loving God and Savior He is, who wants nothing but the best for everyone.

Lord, help us to shine Your light into their lives today.

2 Thessalonians 3:11  For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies.

Socrates, the great Greek philosopher, was once stopped by an acquaintance as he passed through the markets. “I’ve something important to tell you,” he said. “It’s about your friend.”

“That’s very kind of you,” Socrates said. “But, don’t tell me just yet. I run all information through the Three Filters Test to ascertain if I want to know it.”

The man looked somewhat puzzled as Socrates continued, “First is the filter of truth. Whatever you want to tell me, have you seen or witnessed it first-hand?”

“Umm…I actually heard it from someone,” the man said, “and, it is from a trusted source.”

“Alright. But that does not pass my first test,” Socrates added, “since you don’t know whether it’s true.”

“Second is the filter of goodness. Is that a good statement you want to make about my friend?”

“Not really. That’s the reason I wanted—”

Socrates interjected, “So, you want to tell me something bad about someone but don’t know if it’s true.”

“The last is the filter of utility.” He continued, “Your statement about my friend, is that going to be useful to me?”

“Not really as such. I just wanted to share.”

“Well, if the information is not necessarily true, it is not good, and, it is of no use,” Socrates concluded, “please, I don’t want to know about it.”

(Source: Movemequotes.com)

If only we would all have that attitude. Unfortunately, we all gossip. I have heard it called “America’s favorite indoor sport.”  This includes both telling lies about your neighbor or telling the truth in order to hurt her/him. I always pointed this out to my confirmation students when going over 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 with Explanation)

I wonder what would happen if the followers of Jesus were more focused on sharing the Gospel than they were on sharing Gossip.  You and I have the best news ever to share with the world. We can tell them about the love of God that resulted in the Word made Flesh who paid for their sins so that they could have the certainty of forgiveness and life everlasting. Put the energy that you would normally use to spread gossip into spreading the Gospel. Can you even imagine what the results would be if the name of Jesus was on our lips as readily as gossip usually is? I know that the Holy Spirit would use us as the mighty army for God that we are supposed to be, bringing more and more people the Good News of salvation.

Luckily, gossip is a sin. I say “luckily” because being a sin, Jesus paid the price for it, too, when he died on the cross. And since the price has been paid, we can receive forgiveness even for the sin of gossip. Realizing the forgiveness that you have for Christ’s sake, resolve to spread Gospel, not gossip.

Sometimes circumstances prevent you from attending corporate worship. It happens. Even in the lives of pastors, retired or otherwise. Today was one of those occasions for me. Our youngest daughter and her two children are here with us for a few days. But the fact that we could not attend corporate worship did not mean we “skipped” worship. We had church at home.

Being Pentecost, we sang some songs about the Holy Spirit. We read from Acts 2. I shared some thoughts from an old sermon about the Spirit working in us to lead us to faith in Christ and to help us live lives of response. I even had a children’s message using baking soda and vinegar to show how the Spirit should overflow in us to take the message of Jesus to others.  We confessed our sins and heard of the forgiveness we have for Jesus sake. We had church at home.

You might think, “That was easy for you. You’re a pastor!” But what I did anyone could do. Read or sing a hymn or song. Read God’s Word. Confess your sins. Remind each other God forgives you for Jesus’ sake. Talk about what God’s Word says to you in your life. Worship together. Have Church at home.

“For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20

While “Church at Home” is not our preferred manner of corporate worship, it was nonetheless valid. Lots of folks discovered they were able to do this during the pandemic. Some did something similar to what I described. Others participated in online worship with their congregations when they were unable to be physically present. Some of them are still doing so.

One of the things we did not have was the Lord’s Supper. There was a lot of discussion in our church body about whether or not that would be appropriate during the pandemic. Given the way the world is going, I think our Synod  should take a long, hard look at this, on the basis of God’s Word, as to whether or not Communion in “Church at Home” is a valid option.

My preference is to gather together with other believers for regular worship, to be fed the Word of God and the Sacrament of the Altar with my brothers and sisters in Christ. I want to hear a message about the forgiveness and life I have because of what Jesus did for me through His life and suffering and death and resurrection. I enjoy being in that fellowship of faith and will do so as often as I am able. It is for my benefit.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24–25

In my last devotion I wrote about following the example of Jesus. I want to continue that thought today on the basis of another passage.

Philippians 2:3-8 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!

This passage calls us to humility. We can boast in Christ, but not ourselves. We should follow His example of being humble and obedient to the Father. Being united with Christ should put an end to selfishness and conceit through repentance and forgiveness. The Scripture is full of the message of repentance. This message is repeated so often because it is something we all need to do. Being united with Christ means we will admit our sins, turn from them, and confess them to God so that we can be assured of His forgiveness for Jesus’ sake.

Another reason for humility is the recognition of who God is and who we are. Our faith in Christ as Savior tells us that He is the Son of the living God, who left the majesty of Heaven to pay for our mistakes. He lovingly laid down His perfect life to pay for our sins. He freely gives us pardon and redemption, a gift we could never earn and don’t deserve. God did it all. We simply receive the gift.

Being united with Christ turns things upside down. The ways of the world are no longer the ways we should follow. Our attitude should be the same as the one with whom we are united. He took the nature of a servant. He offered Himself in service to those around Him, and to all people. He spoke of this repeatedly with His disciples:

I am among you as one who serves. Luke 22:27

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Mark 8:34

the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Matthew 20:28

The way we show God’s love is by serving others. But many of the followers of Jesus never get to that point. They hear the Good News. They rejoice in the message of forgiveness earned by Jesus and given to us. So they fold their hands and come to worship. That’s good, and God wants your worship. But He also wants you to unfold your hands to welcome and reach out to others for Christ. Lives of service for Jesus take place when you unfold your hands and set out to serve Him by serving your neighbor.

It all centers in Jesus. If we are united with Him, our attitude will be like His. We will serve others and proclaim Jesus.

God, help us to be servants.

Joe was a drunk. There was no other way to put it. He had wasted much of his life until he finally stumbled into a Bowery mission, heard of the message of Christ as His Savior, and was changed. Prior to his conversion, he had the reputation of being a dirty wino for whom there was no hope, someone who had only a miserable existence in the ghetto. But all that was changed now. He really did have a new life in Christ. Joe had become the most caring person that anyone associated with the mission had ever known. He spent his days and nights hanging out at the mission, doing whatever needed to be done. There was never a task that he considered beneath him. Whether it was cleaning up the vomit left behind by a violently sick alcoholic or scrubbing toilets after careless men left the men’s room filthy, Joe did what he was asked with a smile on his face and what seemed to be gratitude for the chance to help out. He could be counted on to feed feeble men who wandered into the mission from the streets, and to undress and tuck into bed those who were too sick to take care of themselves. Joe was happy to do whatever was asked of him.

One evening, when the director of the mission was delivering his evening message to the usual crowd of wrecked humanity sitting there quietly with drooping heads, there was one man who looked up, came down the aisle to the altar, knelt to pray and cried out for God to help him change. The repentant drunk kept shouting, “O God, make me like Joe! Make me like Joe! Make me like Joe!” The director of the mission leaned over and said to the man, “Son, I think it would be better if you prayed, ‘Make me like Jesus.’” The man looked up at the director with a puzzled look on his face and asked, “Is he like Joe?”

Wouldn’t it be great if more of us were so much like Jesus that people confused us for Him? Joe was the embodiment of what Paul wrote about to the Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 11:1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

We are to follow Jesus to the point of being closely identified with our Savior, united with him. We should be identified with Him because we know that we have been saved by Him. We have a new life because we possess the righteousness of God through faith in Christ Jesus. You and I are a dearly loved part of God’s creation, precious to Him, people for whom He was willing to send His Son so that He could die to pay for sins and redeem us for His own possession. By His doing, we have been joined to Him, united with Him. We are to be more and more like him. That’s what Joe was doing. That is what you and I should be doing as well.

In a world where almost every area of our lives is impacted by visuals, pictures and videos, we sometimes forget the art of seeing Word Pictures. They can be very powerful. Some people have the ability to craft images in other people’s minds through the use of their vocabulary. And David, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, did that in the 23^rd Psalm. As you read this Psalm today, do so one verse at a time. Then close your eyes and see the word pictures in your mind as you process the words.

Psalm 23 (ESV)
¹ The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. ² He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. ³ He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. ⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. ⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

I wish I could see the varied and unique pictures you saw. I’m going to share a bit about two of the main Word Pictures in this Psalm. God pictures Himself as a shepherd, and he pictures us as His sheep. And the two things go together:  The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

When God describes Himself as a Shepherd, He is affirming that He will care for you in every aspect of your life. That is what a shepherd does – he takes care of the sheep. And he cares for them in every aspect, like a parent cares for a small child.

A few years back Cheryl agreed to keep our then two-and-a-half-year-old grandson for a week so our daughter and her husband could go on a Caribbean get-away. My darling bride agreed to do it but forgot that she had a Thursday through Sunday speaking engagement for LWML out of state that same week. That left Papa and Malachi alone. It just so happens this was the same time we were living in a 400 square foot trailer while our log home was being built. Thankfully, another daughter took pity on me and came to help out for part of the weekend. That experience reminded me of just how much care and attention a toddler demands.

Shepherds care for sheep like you would for a toddler. You make sure they have food and drink. You stay with them all the time, because if you leave them unattended, they will wander off and get into all kinds of trouble or danger. You protect them. You would give everything to protect them.

John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

The Lord is indeed the Shepherd who would do whatever it takes for His sheep. He provides for our needs. He stays with us ALWAYS. He offers us protection. And He gave everything for you, laying down His life so that you could have forgiveness for your sins and the certainty of life everlasting.

God gives us a word picture of Himself in this Psalm, but He also gives us a word picture of US! We are His sheep. By describing us as sheep, He is reminding us just how much we need him. We need care, we need safety, we need protection. He knows how easily we can wander off, become lost and how easily we are frightened. By describing us as sheep, He is reminding us why we need Him as our Shepherd. And we know that we have Him as our Shepherd! We can be certain of protection, provision, and His ongoing presence.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Luke 7:11-17  11 Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out — the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” 14 Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. 16 They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” 17 This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.

A man driving home from work saw a little league game being played and decided to stop and watch. He sat behind the bench on the first-baseline and asked one of the boys on the bench what the score was. “We’re behind 14 to nothing” the boy said with a smile. The man said, “Really? You don’t look very discouraged for being that far behind!” “Discouraged?” the boy said with a puzzled look on his face. “Why should we be discouraged? We haven’t even been up to bat yet!” To an onlooker, that team may have appeared to be “Without a Prayer.” But his attitude of that player was just the opposite.

Some would describe the widow in the reading above as being “without a prayer.” Her son had died, she was taking his body to be buried in a state confusion and uncertainty. The death of her son had profound implications for this widow. She not only lost her family, she lost her livelihood, her security and her dreams. She “didn’t have a prayer.” But Jesus helped her anyway.

The harsh truth of the matter is that under the Law, you and I really don’t have a prayer. Adam’s Fall into sin brought death to all mankind, including us. (Rom 5:12-21) Death is the result of our sin. And we have no ability to come to God on our own. This account gives us a good picture of that situation. The Widow of Nain was in despair, there was nothing should could do, nowhere to turn. Notice that she did not approach Jesus, but He came to her.

If you find yourself feeling without a prayer, you can take heart in the knowledge that God has taken the initiative and sent his Son to give you life, even without your prayer. God is good and kind and gracious to us certainly without our deserving it, and also without our asking for it! Luther affirmed this over and over again in his explanation of the Lord’s Prayer in the Small Catechism. A repeated refrain in that section speaks of God doing things even “without our prayer.”

Encountering the situation in Nain, Jesus touched the coffin. He reached out and took the initiative without a prayer requesting Him to do so. And what He did here was not just a trivial gesture or token show of compassion. It had implications. Touching a dead body made a person ceremonially unclean. It prohibited them from doing certain things, like going into the Temple, for a specified period of time. But Jesus wasn’t worried about that. The sinless Son of God did not remain aloof, but reached out and touched the coffin in order to help this widow in her grief. And it didn’t do her son any harm, either!

In a similar way, Jesus reached out and touched each of us. He was willing to take on Himself our uncleanness, our sin, and ultimately our death. He did not shirk from this task for which He had come into this world. He did not try to distance Himself from death, because He has assumed flesh and bone in order to confront death for us with His bare hands. And when He confronted death, He mastered it. Even though He died for sin, He was the victor! His resurrection is our guarantee that He won the war.

If you find yourself feeling without a prayer, in a hopeless situation or just not knowing what to pray, remember the touch of Jesus. His touch raises to life. His touch raised the widow’s son. His touch brings comfort and healing. His touch gives you eternal life, which transcends all grief. And His touch has implications for this world, not just the world to come.