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WEEKLY DEVOTION SEPTEMBER 17
Tuesday, SEPTEMBER 17, 2024
Pastor Bruce Kischnick, Grace Lutheran Church, New Albany, IN
“Sons of the Father”
READING: Mark 10:35-40 – Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
Two weeks ago I celebrated my wife Becky’s birthday with a tribute to pastors’ wives and mine in particular. Today happens to be my brother Larry’s birthday. He is exactly two weeks younger than Becky to the day. I am the eldest child in our parents’ family. Larry is number two. Alan is third, and Sally is the only girl. Our sainted youngest brother Kurt rounded out the Bob Kischnick family.
We three oldest boys were together a lot. We did chores together. We hoed weeds together. When we got older and stronger we did men’s work at planting and harvest time. Nearly every Saturday morning found us mucking out the calf stalls together. Sometimes we were the “Three Musketeers” and sometimes we were the “Three Stooges”. We played together, we built “camps” in the woods together, we fished and hunted together, we fought one another, and sometimes we still laugh together so hard tears come to our faces. We talk often and see each other every chance we get. We are the sons of our father – “Bob’s Boys”, and we will be as long as we live.
When we were in “Three Musketeer” mode, we were inseparable. We worked together to achieve goals like building sledding hills in the winter or snow caves. We once spent a whole day in the straw mow, building tunnels and rooms amongst all the straw bales. We did such a good job that the next day our dad walked across the mow to throw some straw down onto the drive floor when without a clue he fell through into one of the rooms. We were ordered to pile all the tunnels shut again. We’ve often speculated about the look on Dad’s face when he went down into that cave we had built!
When we were in “Three Stooges” mode, we did nothing but irritate one another. The only person on the planet I ever had a fist fight with was Larry! Don’t know what the tussle was about, but we were doing the milking one evening and squared off with each other. He hit me in the mouth and busted my lip. At the same time I caught him with a body blow to the gut that knocked the wind out of him. We both retreated to our corners, the fight was called a draw, and we never did THAT again! There were also some battles while we were mucking out the calf stalls on several different occasions. When you have a fork full of manure in your hand and you’ve had enough of their stuff, well, you use it. Retaliation was always swift and in kind. Farm boys – what can I say!
I have always imagined that much of the same was true for the “Sons of Zebedee”, that is the “Sons of Thunder”. I imagine that they also were always together until they couldn’t get along. They probably had more than one “fish fight” in their day. They worked the boat and the nets together. They probably dreamt of doing something more exciting with their lives but also saw that their future together would be as fishermen and businessmen.
When Jesus said, “Follow me,” they went together. They were together at the Transfiguration and in the Garden of Gethsemane. They often enjoyed Jesus’ extra instruction and his more intimate feelings, emotions, and frustrations. He wanted them to lead, but sometimes, like in our reading for today, they failed him miserably because they sought their own glory in his. They completely misunderstood their own request. Jesus said, “You don’t know what you are asking.”
St. John in his gospel indicates that Jesus’ glory came upon the cross. When he was lifted up, he drew all men to himself. With that in mind he must also have realized that he and his brother were asking to be at Jesus’ right hand and left AT THE CROSS. Unwittingly they were asking to be crucified with Jesus. I’ve often wondered if this realization came to John as he stood with Mother Mary at the foot of Jesus’ cross and saw the malefactors hanging on their crosses to his right and to his left. “These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared,” Jesus had said. These brothers who had shared many things were spared from sharing that dreadful death.
So to Brother Larry, “Happy birthday, Knucklehead!” To the rest of you, give thanks that Jesus was willing to “drink the cup and be baptized with the baptism” that his Father had prepared for him. By his sacrifice you and I can be brothers and sisters in Christ, sons and daughters of the King, our gracious Father. Amen.
PRAYER:
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
1) MARY MILLER CRUISE through the Locks is set for October 19. Interest was such that the bus filled immediately. We are also taking the van, so a few seats might still be available. The cost of the cruise is $38 per person. If you are signed up, please send or bring a check made out to “Grace Lutheran Church” to the office or in an envelope in the offering plate.
2) GOLDEN SAINTS LUNCHEON, this Thursday, the 19th noonish. Bring a dish to pass.
Youtube Video: https://youtu.be/252V3XnobGg
PRINTABLE PDF: WDSept17.PDF
[email protected] — (502) 797-7407
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WEEKLY DEVOTION SEPTEMBER 16
Monday, SEPTEMBER 16, 2024
Pastor Matthew Woods from Grace Lutheran Church in New Albany, Indiana
“The Difference Between Waiting and Hope”
Waiting is no fun. Last week sat in my car getting ready to turn on to a busy road to come to church. The traffic was very thick and there was a driver in an big SUV ahead of me signaling a left turn. This road does not give up opening easily during morning rush hour so decent openings to turn left come after long waits. The driver in front of me, who was waiting to make a left hand turn, must have been sleep driving or playing with a phone, or maybe was too nervous to try it. Opening-no movement. Another opening—no movement. Ten stinking minutes—no attempts at all. I was wondering what kind of gap the driver was waiting for. Finally, thirteen minutes and twenty seconds in, the big SUV turned out leaving about five of us behind anxious to get going. It took me one minute to find an opening big enough.
Waiting is not a favorite to most people. Waiting in an ER…Oh who doesn’t like sitting in a room full of coughing, snotty, sick people. I often say the reason we call patients in hospital’s patients is because that’s what we have to practice, namely, patience. Waiting for important test results or for the next meal, doesn’t matter, waiting in the hospital is literally a drag. Perhaps the worst point of waiting in a hospital is when a doctor suggests that you might be going home today. In your mind, its time to get dressed and get out now. Not so fast cries another specialist. “Might need to do one more test.”
And who doesn’t love to wait at the BMV? It’s way better now than in my early driving days. Used to have to pack lunch when going. All the while I sit wondering if I had all the documentation needed for my stuff to get done. Waiting is not meant to be a time of worry and fear.
Here it is: At some point one has to leave the waiting room. At some point one has to make that left turn. At some point one has to make the decision for the procedure to be done or not to be done. Waiting can be helpful. Waiting can be crippling too. Waiting too long can build anxiety. Waiting just enough can build within us hope and anticipation. Waiting can give time for information to be weighed and considered. Waiting too long can become destructive. The difference is what is happening in the waiting. Waiting usually isn’t empty especially when one is waiting on the Lord as Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” The whole point of the wait is to go home or to the next thing. Waiting implies that something comes next which means that waiting is meant to be a transitory state, not a permanent place.
The word for wait here is Qavah, to wait, to hope, to expect. This is not a passive existence but a deliberate, proactive, and preparing for the next thing. For example, it is to trust in the Lord and love the Lord with all of your heart, mind, and soul. Waiting on the Lord is a conscience lifestyle that lives by the Word. It is propelled by hope in the resurrection. It is a hopeful, expectant waiting that anticipates eternal life as a certain thing.
Waiting renews our strength. Isaiah 40:31 says, “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Think of waiting as rehab time. When one is in rehab the whole point while waiting to heal is to strengthen oneself in the waiting. It is about renewing one’s strength after a sickness or a surgery. Even a soul needs some rehab from time to time especially after losing a loved one—one needs a time to mourn. While mourning eventually a point comes when one must renew their strength. Waiting in the Lord can do this.
It is also a waiting that calls us to renew our minds in the Word thus transforming us from being without knowledge to having more knowledge of those things that can shape us in faith and in our way of doing things. Waiting gives us time to meditate on the knowledge gained and then employ that knowledge. Waiting ponders the choices ahead of us and reasons out how those choices may play out. Examples may include what college to go to; to go ahead with a procedure; or to give your heart to a significant other.
Waiting should not be passive in opportunities that the Lord puts before us because as 1 Corinthians 15:58 reminds us nothing we do in the Lord is done in vain, not even waiting. Eventually, though, at some point we must summon the courage to make the left turn or get on with the next thing. At some point we must step out of the waiting places and into the opportunities that are placed before us, especially by the Lord.
When Peter saw Jesus walking on the water, Peter literally stepped out of the boat and walked on the water. Curiosity? Maybe. A challenge? Possibly. But Peter didn’t wait in the boat. Ephesians 5:6 tell us to “make the most of every opportunity…” Peter did what he could in that moment and for a brief few steps his trust in the Lord was wonderous. Yes, he sank, but Peter was the only one of those disciples to know what it was like to walk on water like Jesus. Opportunities may include meeting a person at just the right place and time who needs you to be there or they for you. Or in may lead to finding just the right person to call for a Music director at Grace. At some point it’s important to recognize an opportunity when it comes upon us.
Nobody likes to wait, especially when the waiting seems to be without purpose or meaning. Waiting is meant to hold within it, purpose, waiting for a reason; anticipating the next thing, especially in the Lord. Waiting in the Lord is meant to shape everything about us so much so that faith always holds its focus on the resurrection. Perhaps the most significant way we measure waiting of any kind is by what comes next. And Lord knows that experience has shown us that what comes next after waiting isn’t always good news or happy circumstances. We often get tired of waiting on doctors to make something happen. Yet waiting in the Lord is unique in that we are waiting for that which not of this world, built by the Lord. And that is what the Word of God wants us to keep focusing on.
So, wait patiently. Your waiting on the Lord is not in vain. Our waiting in the Lord holds within it the blessings of heaven.
Pastor Matthew Woods
John 3:30
PRINTABLE PDF: WDSept16.PDF
Youtube Video: https://youtu.be/82Uj4Pb8qm8
[email protected] — (502) 523-9327