TAKE UP YOUR CROSS
Devotional for September 16, 2018 based upon Mark 8: 27-38

Jesus never calls upon anyone to do anything that He Himself would not do and/or has not done. What He asks us to face, He Himself has already faced. Jesus has the right to challenge us to take up a cross, because He Himself has already taken up His cross.

But all that goes against the grain. The world tells us that anything that bothers us or becomes difficult we should seek to avoid. Jesus said, “If any want to become My followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me.” What does it mean to “take up your cross”?

First, TAKING UP A CROSS IS ALWAYS VOLUNTARY. Jesus calls us, and Jesus challenges us, but taking up a cross and following Jesus is always voluntary. A bad medical diagnosis, a personal tragedy, or a severe accident may all be a heavy burden to bear. But they are not a cross that you have taken up for Jesus, because you did not volunteer for them.

Second, TAKING UP A CROSS IS AN ACT OF LOVE. An act of love that we freely choose. It is a price we pay out of love. For Jesus taking up His cross meant going to Calvary to die. He did it because He loves us so much that He could not do otherwise. Taking up a cross means taking the love of God and touching the lives of other people, even those who are very difficult to love. Taking up a cross means denying and sacrificing and paying the price regardless of the hardships that we must endure.

Third, TAKING UP A CROSS IS HARD. In fact, it is so hard that whenever the message of the cross is preached, some people will object. They will say, “You cannot be asking me to do that. That would be too hard.”

Kind of like Peter in our Gospel lesson for this coming Sunday, when Jesus was talking about His impending death on the cross. Peter objected. “Lord, that is not the way it is supposed to happen.” A few years later the apostle Paul called the cross “a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Greeks.” Not much has changed, has it?

The cross was a stumbling block to Jews because it was not what they were expecting. It was not what they wanted to hear. As an oppressed people they wanted their Christ, their Messiah, their Anointed One to deliver them. It is not what we want to hear either. All of Jesus’ talking about taking up a cross bothers us. We lean back in our chair, wanting to take it easy, but we hear Him say, “Take up your cross and follow Me.”

This morning Jesus offers you a cross. Not a life of ease. Not a church that will always make you comfortable and happy. Not a guarantee of success on the job. Not a promise that everything will always go smoothly and exactly as you want for the rest of your life. Rather this morning Jesus offers you a cross. But along with a cross He offers you eternal life. For, as Jesus said, “Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for My sake and for the sake of the Gospel, will save it.”

Will you do what Jesus said and take up a cross?

Dennis D. Nelson
Director of Lutheran CORE

JESUS HEALS TODAY
Devotional for September 9, 2018 based upon Mark 7: 24-37

Our Gospel reading for this morning tells of a time when a group of people whom Mark calls “they” brought to Jesus a man who was both deaf and had an impediment in his speech.

The first thing this passage does for me is to raise the question, WHO ARE THE THEY? Whenever I hear someone say “they,” I always wonder, Who are the “they”? Who are the “they” who are supposedly saying certain things? Who are these unnamed people who are bringing their friend to Jesus?

Mark does not tell us, so they do not get any credit. And yet they still do it. They are among the millions of people who do what needs to be done simply because it needs to be done and because they care. They would never say, “That’s not my job. I’ve already done my share. Let someone else bring this person to Jesus.” They never get thanked during the announcements or in the church newsletter, but they still do it, simply because it needs to be done and because they care. God, may all of us be like them.

The second thing that strikes me is the condition of the man whom “they” brought to Jesus. He was BOTH DEAF AND HAD AN IMPEDIMENT IN HIS SPEECH. I am embarrassed when I think of the times when I have been so deeply focusing on my own, relatively small problems, and then I see someone like the man in our Gospel, who had not just one handicap, but two. At times like those I need to say, Forgive me, Lord. Forgive me for so focusing on my own problems that I have not been attentive and responsive to, in tune with, or even aware of someone else’s problems. Forgive me for being like the man who said, “I grumbled because I had no shoes. Then I met a man who had no feet.”

Third, I am struck with the way in which JESUS TOOK THIS MAN ASIDE IN PRIVATE, away from the crowd. He responded with great sensitivity to all of this man’s needs, including his need for privacy.

And Jesus is sensitive to our feelings and needs. He does not deal with us in front of everybody else, so that we would feel embarrassed and on display. Nor does He relate to us just as part of a crowd. Rather He relates to us individually. He knows our needs, and He cares about our needs – individually. Even though He has everyone else in the whole world to take care of, and even though there are several million other people all talking to Him at the same time as I am talking to Him, He still takes me aside privately and spends time with me individually. There is nothing cold or rushed about the way in which He does it. We all long for attention like that.

Fourth, JESUS PUT HIS FINGERS INTO HIS EARS, AND SPAT AND TOUCHED HIS TONGUE. All of which reminds us of how much we need warm, human touch. We cannot survive and be healthy emotionally without warm, human touch. From the moment we were born, we have had that need. If that need is not met, something goes wrong.

One thing that many people with terminal illnesses like cancer express is the need to be touched. And not just poked with a needle and have their temperature taken. They need to be touched with a warm, loving, human hand.

Jesus does not heal from a safe, aloof distance. Rather He got right up next to him and touched him. The one who came to Him with a crying need, He touched. Even the leper, the untouchable of all untouchables, much to the horror of the crowds He touched. And when we come to Him, He does not remain at a safe, aloof distance. Instead He reaches out to us and touches us.

Fifth, JESUS LOOKED UP TO HEAVEN AND SIGHED. What a beautiful, beautiful statement that is. When Jesus sees a situation of deep human need, He sighs. Like when E. T. saw that Elliot was hurting so he touched his own heart and said, “Ouch,” so when Jesus sees that we are hurting, He looks up to heaven and sighs and then touches His own heart and says, “Ouch.”

Sixth, after putting His fingers into the deaf man’s ears and reaching out and touching the dumb man’s tongue and looking up to heaven and sighing, JESUS SAID, “EPHPHATHA,” which means, “BE OPENED.”

We read in the New Testament of those marvelous times when Jesus opened the eyes of the blind, restored the lame, and cleansed the leper, and we say, “Jesus, why aren’t You doing the same thing today?” We all know people who need healing. And like the unnamed “they” who brought their friend to Jesus, so we would do anything we could if we only knew that our doing so would release God’s power to heal.

First of all, we need to realize that Jesus is healing and that Jesus can heal today. Sometimes He heals in spectacular ways. I am sure we all know people who have been healed in a spectacular way. We all know or have heard of someone who had been diagnosed with some kind of terminal, inoperable disease, and then, after God’s people prayed, was found to be healed of that disease. God made our bodies able to heal from all sorts of injuries, diseases, and infirmities. Sometimes our bodies need help from the medical profession, but all that is, is help. Help for the body to help the body do what God made the body able to do.

We need to remember that during Jesus’ ministry, He did not heal everybody. And everybody that He healed did eventually die of something else. But still, through His ministry of healing, Jesus gave us a foreshadowing of that time when we will be delivered from all sickness, sorrow, pain, and death, through the resurrection from the dead, which is our hope if we have faith in Jesus Christ. In the meantime, during our lifetimes, God will make our bodies able to heal many times. And there are other times when we experience the love and power and ability of God to heal us emotionally and relationally.

And so, in the meantime, our Gospel reading leads us to ask ourselves, WHERE DOES GOD WANT ME TO BE HIS INSTRUMENT OF HEALING? How do the words “Ephphatha,” and “Open up,” also apply to us? To whose cries of hurting do our ears need to be opened? To whose need for words of love do our tongues need to be loosened? Who is the person who is suffering from a lack of love that God wants me to love? Who is that scared, resentful, angry, and/or bitter person into whose life I can help bring God’s peace? With what specific person – where does God want me to be His instrument of healing?

And then, finally, what did all the eyewitnesses do once they had seen that a man had been healed? Jesus ordered them to tell no one, but THE MORE HE ORDERED THEM, THE MORE ZEALOUSLY THEY PROCLAIMED IT. They were astonished beyond measure. They had seen what Jesus can do. The Good News of what they had seen they simply could not keep to themselves. They had to share it. Too amazed to be silent, their tongues were loosened and they told everybody about it.

What a powerful example they have set for us. For we, too, in so many ways, have been or have seen someone else being healed. Like the crowds, may we be astonished beyond measure and then join with 999 other tongues to sing our Great Redeemer’s praise.

Dennis D. Nelson
President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

GIVE JESUS YOUR BOAT
Devotional for Labor Day weekend, September 2, 2018, based upon Luke 5: 1-11

I have heard that one-third of all Americans say that they hate their job. According to many, the worst part is the commute. Many feel that they are working in the wrong career. Many who have found success in their employment say that they have not also found – or no longer find – satisfaction.

In Luke 5 Jesus has a word for frustrated and unfulfilled workers. As Jesus is preaching, Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John are cleaning their nets. As the crowd grows, Jesus has an idea. He gets into one of the boats, the one belonging to Peter, and asks Peter to put out a little way from the shore. Then He sits down and teaches the crowd from the boat. Jesus does not ask Peter if He can use his boat. He simply gets into the boat, asks Peter to put out a little bit from the shore, and then starts using Peter’s boat as a pulpit. Jesus can do that because all boats belong to Jesus. Your boat – my boat – Peter’s boat – everybody’s boat. All boats belong to Jesus.

Your boat is wherever and however you spend your day, making a living and living your life. Your boat is the office you work in, the classroom you teach in, the department you manage, the family you feed and drive around, the things you volunteer for. All that is your boat. On this Labor Day weekend Jesus is tapping you on the shoulder because He wants you to give Him your boat.

And so Luke 5 tells us that when Jesus finished speaking, He says to Peter, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Peter answers Him, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet, if you say so, I will let down the nets.”

Who can blame Peter? His shoulders ache. The nets are put away. A midmorning fishing expedition has no appeal – especially after a fishless night. And yet he complies. In full daylight and in full sight of the crowd, he dips the oars into the water and hoists the sail.

Somewhere out in the middle of the lake, Jesus gives the signal to drop the nets. And when they do, they catch so many fish that their nets begin to break. They signal their partners in another boat to come and help them. They come and fill both boats so full that the boats begin to sink.

So here they are – Peter and his partners standing knee deep in fish. The size of the catch nearly sinking both boats. What is the message here?

Some would say, Take Jesus to work with you and you will get rich. The presence of Jesus should guarantee more sales, bigger bonuses, longer vacations, and earlier retirement. With Jesus in your boat you will be able to go from Galilean fishing to Caribbean cruising.

But that is not the message that Peter got. Surrounded by fish, Peter does not see dollar signs. Rather he sees his Lord. Mighty enough to control the seas. Compassionate and kind enough to help a very frustrated fisherman.

Suppose you do what Peter did and take Jesus to work with you and to wherever else you go. Jesus showed Peter where to cast the nets. Let Jesus show you where and how to do your work. Let Jesus be the reason you do your work. Because, you see, everything changes when you give Jesus your boat.

Dennis D. Nelson
President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

Editor’s Note: The article below by Pastor Dennis D. Nelson originally appeared in the Summer 2018 Newsletter.

Click here to read the article.

PUT ON THE GOSPEL ARMOR
Devotional for August 26, 2018 based upon Ephesians 6: 10-20

One person said, “When I became a follower of Jesus, I thought that everything would be smooth sailing and that nothing would rock my boat. Since then I have found that becoming a Christian is actually like enlisting in the army. There is a battle going on.”

Yes, according to the Bible, there is a battle going on. There is an entire spiritual world that would like to bring you down. Satan is a real being, who has been roaming the earth since the Garden of Eden. And he is effective. So what kind of a position does that put us in? According to Ephesians 6, we are engaged in a life-and-death struggle against all the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Spiritual warfare is going on all around us. You do not need to look any further than the recent ELCA youth gathering to realize that there is a battle going on, including for the hearts and lives of young people. Satan, our enemy is real, powerful, deadly, dangerous, and devious. But, thank God, his power is limited and he is defeated. When our Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead, He won the decisive, turning point battle against Satan. But now, like a mortally wounded animal, which knows that it is dying, Satan wants to take us down as he goes down.

Because we have an enemy, we have been given armor. But it is critical that we wear that armor. Paul was in a Roman prison at the time of his writing. He was at least being guarded by, if not actually chained to, a Roman soldier. I can see him looking at the various pieces of the soldier’s armor as he is writing his letter to the church at Ephesus, telling them about what God has given them to put on.

First, the BELT OF TRUTH. Truth is like a belt that holds everything else in place. One of the things that was most disturbing about the recent ELCA youth gathering is the number of lies that were spread about human sexuality as well as the fact that the traditional view of human sexuality was called a lie.

Second, the BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. Like a bullet-proof vest, the breastplate protected the body from the neck to the thighs. Most importantly, it protected the heart. Are we sufficiently disturbed by the attack on Biblical heart-values that was made at the recent youth gathering?

Third, the SHOES OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE. In battle you need a good pair of shoes to keep you balanced and confident and able to move quickly. So a soldier put on a good pair of boots, to assure him of a good grip. The Roman soldier’s shoes also made him able to march over the toughest of terrain. If young people do not have a close relationship with God, how will they be able to endure the tough circumstances of life?

Fourth, the SHIELD OF FAITH. The Roman soldier covered his shield with animal hide, which could put out flaming arrows before they could destroy his shield. If young people are not given Biblical truth, they will not have a faith that even Satan – with all his flaming darts of accusations and doubts – cannot destroy.

Fifth, the HELMET OF SALVATION. Who would be foolish enough to go into battle without a helmet to protect the head, brain, and central nervous system? So why would anyone go to war against Satan without the helmet of salvation to protect their thought life? Are we sufficiently disturbed by the attack on the thought life of the young people who attended the recent ELCA youth gathering?

Sixth, the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, WHICH IS THE WORD OF GOD. With the sword of the Spirit, we can keep Satan at bay, just like Jesus did. Every time Satan tempted Jesus, He responded with the exact same answer, “Devil, it is written!” He kept on hitting him – and hitting him hard – with the same three words, “It is written! It is written! It is written!” until, bloody and beaten, Satan had to flee. How can we hope that young people will be able to repel Satan if they do not know, and if they have been taught to doubt and place less value upon, the Bible as the Word of God?

The armor will do us no good if we do not put it on. And we need to put it on and learn to use it before we need it. It is much more difficult to put on your armor after the battle begins.

After they shoot the gun, it is too late to put on the bullet-proof vest. In the same way, after Satan stabs you in your heart values, it is too late to put on the breastplate of righteousness. After you smash your toe on the circumstances of life, it is too late to put on the shoes of the Gospel. After Satan shoots a flaming arrow of despair at you, it is too late to pick up the shield of faith. After Satan knocks you in the head with a club of doubt, it is too late to put on the helmet of salvation. And after Satan starts swinging at you, it is too late to figure out how to use the Sword of the Spirit. Put your armor on today, and learn how to use the weapons today – before another temptation comes or another tragedy strikes.

And then one more thing. Even with our armor on, we still need an ally. So Paul concludes this passage by telling us that the Lord Himself is our ally and we have access to Him and His power through prayer.

It’s not just the armor. It’s also who is on our side, as well as whose side we are on. Whose side are you on? Are you fighting in the battle, or have you gone AWOL, hoping that someone else will fight the battle for you?

Dennis D. Nelson
President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

“PLEASE, LORD, SPARE THE CONGREGATIONS”

That was my prayer as I read a recent announcement from United Lutheran Seminary, the ELCA school of theology that was formed by the merger of two separate educational institutions in Gettysburg and Philadelphia. That announcement, which is dated July 12, 2018 and which can be found under “News and Events” on the seminary’s website, is about the appointment of Dr. Crystal L. Hall to the faculty as assistant professor of biblical studies. It reads, “Dr. Hall’s research and teaching address the call to justice with the human Other alongside the call to justice with Earth as Other.”

When I read that, my first thought was, “What in the world does that mean?” I decided to try to determine its meaning by breaking it down into three phrases – “the call to justice” (which obviously must be very important because it is in there twice), “with the human Other,” and “alongside . . . with Earth as Other.”

I certainly agree that the Biblical authors are concerned for justice. The Old Testament prophet Amos wrote, “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.” (5: 24) Another prophet, Micah, added, “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (6: 8) God is not satisfied with my merely being in favor of justice. I need to do justice. So Dr. Hall’s first emphasis – “the call to justice” – I completely agree with.

But what about that second phrase – “with the human Other”? I could not find references to “the human Other” in the writings of other Bible scholars, so I was left to my own devices to try to interpret it and understand it. Since the “O” is capitalized, I assume the human Other is Jesus. But how can we view calling Jesus the human Other as anything other than a lessening of Jesus? Jesus is not just the human Other. He is fully God as well as fully human. As the Gospel writer John tells us, He is the Word that has existed from all eternity who at a certain place and time became flesh and lived among us. As the apostle Paul wrote, “He is the image of the invisible God.” “In Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” (Colossians 1: 15 and 2: 9) Jesus is not just the human Other. He also is fully God.

And then that phrase, “alongside . . . with Earth as Other.” With the word “Earth” being capitalized and with Earth being referred to as “Other” in the same way as Jesus is “Other,” how can we view this as anything other than deifying a part of creation? How can we see it as anything other than placing a part of creation on par with the Creator? The apostle Paul had some very harsh words to say about people who do that. He said that they have “exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator.” (Romans 1: 25) What can we call placing a part of creation on par with the Creator as anything other than idolatry?

So as best as I can understand the language of the announcement, the newly appointed professor’s research and teaching emphasize justice (I completely agree with that one), de-emphasize Jesus (I have a major problem with that one), and promote idolatry (I also have a major problem with that one).

If emphasizing justice, de-emphasizing Jesus, and promoting idolatry are not what Dr. Hall’s research and teaching are all about, then I wish the announcement would have been made clearer and would have been worded in a way that even I can understand.

Speaking of being clear, the only part of that sentence that is clear for me are the four words “the call to justice.” And those four words must be the most important words because they are included twice. But is “the call to justice” really what should be the major emphasis of someone who teaches the Bible to future pastors?

Justice, Mercy and Grace

I like the following definitions of justice, mercy, and grace. Justice is I get what I deserve – no more, no less. Mercy is I do not get what I deserve. Grace is I get what I do not deserve. Justice talks about what God requires of me. Justice speaks of what I need to do. Mercy and grace speak of what God gives because of what God has done. Is the Christian faith primarily about what I need to do, or is it primarily about what God has done and about what God has to give?

Future pastors who are being taught to emphasize justice and de-emphasize Jesus and who are being taught that the Christian faith is more about what I need to do than it is about what God has done and therefore what God has to give are not being prepared to be shepherds for God’s flock.

If that is what our future pastors are being taught, my prayer is, “Please, Lord, spare the congregations.”

ELCA’s Next Generation Pastors

I had been concerned enough with the news from a few months ago that the LGBTQIA+ community at United Lutheran Seminary had forced the firing of the school’s president. When it became known that the president – about twenty years ago – not only had held a traditional view on human sexuality but had served as director of an organization that held a traditional view, the LGBTQIA+ community became so wounded, traumatized, hurt, and upset that the seminary leadership had to cater to them and fire the president. At the time I was thinking, if these poor students become so upset just because someone who agrees with them now believed differently twenty years ago, what are they going to do – how are they going to be able to handle it – when they receive their first call and attend their first council meeting – or even worse their first congregational meeting – and find that someone does not agree with them? The ELCA is raising up a generation of pastors who emphasize justice, de-emphasize Jesus, and who do not have the resilience and stamina to survive in the parish.

Excluded and Marginalized

That same announcement from the seminary also says about Dr. Hall, “She works to privilege voices that have historically been excluded from the classroom and the church.” But what actually are the voices that are being excluded from the classroom and the church? The voices that are being excluded are the voices of the historic, orthodox, traditional Christian faith. The voices that are being excluded are the voices that believe that the Bible is true, Jesus is God, the tomb of Jesus really was empty on Easter Sunday morning, and that the prime mission of the church is to proclaim Jesus as Savior and Lord.

That announcement also says, “Dr. Hall works to read the Bible prophetically with communities struggling against the structures that keep them marginalized.” But who are the communities that are struggling against structures that are keeping them marginalized? It is certainly not the LGBTQIA+ community. That community is not marginalized. It has taken over. That community was not only able to force the firing of the president of the seminary where Dr. Hall has been appointed. The agenda of that community was also fully promoted by keynote speakers at the recent ELCA youth gathering. The communities that are struggling against structures that keep them marginalized are the people still within the ELCA who hold to a high view of the authority of the Bible and a traditional view on such things as human sexuality. They are the ones whose communications bishops ignore. They are the ones whose view of human sexuality has been called – at an official gathering of thirty thousand ELCA young people – a lie from Satan that needs to be renounced.

We Are Very Grateful

Speaking of voices that have been excluded and communities that are being marginalized, we are very grateful for all of you. We are very grateful for –

• All who are sharing our letters and newsletters with others. Please continue to do so.
• Pastors who have shared our communications with their church councils and congregations.
• People who are asking to be added to our email or post office (paper) mailing list.
• People who filled out the survey and told us how they feel about the recent ELCA youth gathering.
• All those who have spoken to their pastors and/or written to their bishops with their deep concerns over the recent ELCA youth gathering.
• All who send us an encouraging word, telling of their agreement with our concerns and their support of our work.

Links

If you have not yet read them, here is a link to the letter we have written to Elizabeth Eaton, Presiding Bishop of the ELCA, about the recent youth gathering.

Here is a link to the letter we have sent to all sixty-five synodical bishops of the ELCA.

In the letters to Bishop Eaton and the ELCA synodical bishops we have called upon them to do three things –

• Exercise the authority of their office and hold the organizers of the youth gathering accountable
• Restore sanity to the ELCA’s teaching on human sexuality, beginning with rejecting the “We Are Naked and Unashamed” movement
• Publicly affirm that the traditional view of human sexuality is still an acceptable position within the ELCA rather than what one of the speakers at the youth gathering called it – a lie from Satan that needs to be renounced

Here are links to two sample letters that you might find helpful as you compose your own letter to your bishop. (here and here) It is not too late to write. ELCA leaders need to hear that there is a vast number of people who are horrified over what took place at the recent youth gathering.

Finally, here is a link to the names and mailing addresses of the sixty-five ELCA synodical bishops.

“That’s Just the Way Things Are Now”

One person told of speaking with an assistant to the bishop of one of the ELCA’s synods. That synod staff person rejected this person’s concerns by saying regarding the recent youth gathering, “That’s just the way things are now.”

What kind of a response is that? To be told that even though current ELCA behavior is in direct violation of ELCA agreements and commitments that are less than nine years old, “That’s just the way things are now.”

What if the federal government acted like that? What if ICE and the border patrol, after being told to reunite families, were to keep them separate and say, “That’s just the way things are now”? What if promises made to native Americans were broken with the justification that, “That’s just the way things are now”?

If either were to happen, can you even imagine how many ELCA bishops would write letters and how many ELCA synods would pass resolutions? And yet how does the ELCA seem to be justifying its totally ignoring and even violating the terms of the decisions made at the 2009 Churchwide Assembly? By saying essentially, “That’s just the way things are now.”

Please pray with us that the ELCA bishops actually read our letters to them. And then please pray that they will allow the Holy Spirit to convict them and that then they will make appropriate and needed changes.

Dennis D. Nelson

President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

dennisdnelsonaz@yahoo.com

909-274-8591

BE CAREFUL THEN HOW YOU LIVE
Devotional for August 19, 2018 based upon Ephesians 5: 15-20

In six verses the apostle Paul describes proper behavior for good living. He tells us to be careful how we live, and then he gives us three things that we must do. Be wise, be sober, and be thankful. It is a short list. But if we would just live our lives around these three things – being wise, being sober, and being thankful – what a difference that would make.

First, BE WISE. Paul says, “Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.”

Wisdom. How do you gain wisdom? The Biblical author James says that if we ask God for the gift of wisdom, He will be more than happy to give it to us. But, as usual, we need to be careful what we ask for, because God usually gives the gift of wisdom not immediately, but instead over a long period of time. We cannot download the gift of wisdom. There is no app that we can add to our cell phones so that we can immediately have the gift of wisdom. Rather people usually gain wisdom only over time – from many hard knocks, by learning from many mistakes, and through many tough experiences in life.

Paul says, “Making the most of every opportunity.” If we are not careful, we will miss out on many good opportunities. What good opportunities have you missed out on? What good opportunities are you missing out on right now? Every day we are bombarded with choices. We need the gift of wisdom to make the right and best choices.

And then Paul tell us why we need to be wise and to make the most of every opportunity. “Because the days are evil.” Wise people know that there is much evil and many evil influences and evil influencers in the world. Wise people have the ability to judge and discern and they will choose what is true, right, lasting, and good. Wise people will seek to live according to the will of God.

Second, BE SOBER. Paul says, “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit.”

The Bible is not against drinking alcohol. It was not grape juice, but wine, that Jesus made out of water at the wedding in Cana of Galilee. The same apostle who told the Ephesians not to get drunk also told his young friend Timothy to drink not just water, but also a little wine, because of his many health, including stomach, ailments. And at one of the most holy times in the life of our Lord Jesus – at the Last Supper – wine was served, and Jesus was the one who served it.

A little alcohol is not a bad thing, but people can make it into a bad thing. They can fill their lives with it. They can drown in its power. Paul tells us instead of filling our bodies with wine, to fill our lives with the Holy Spirit. For if we do, we will have life and we will have it abundantly.

Third, BE THANKFUL. Paul says, “Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Reminds me of the story of the man who went to his rabbi and complained, “Life is unbearable. There are nine of us living in one room. What can we do?” The old rabbi thought about it for a moment and then replied, “Bring your goat into the room with you.” The man was incredulous, but the rabbi insisted, “Bring your goat into the room with you. Do as I say and then come back in a week.” A week later the man came back looking even more distraught. “We cannot stand it,” he told the rabbi. “The goat is absolutely filthy.” The rabbi told him, “Now go back home and take the goat out, and then come back in a week.” A week later the man came back looking radiant. He explained to the rabbi, “Life is beautiful. We enjoy every moment of it – now that the goat is back outside and there are only nine of us in the house.”

It’s all a matter of perspective, isn’t it? We can be grateful, or we can be bitter. We can seek wisdom, or we can live as fools. We can be sober and learn what the will of the Lord is, or we can fill ourselves with wine.

It’s all a matter of how we live. We receive the consequences – the results – of the way we live. So Paul tells us, “Be careful how you live.”

Dennis D. Nelson
President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

JESUS IS THE BREAD OF LIFE
Devotional for August 12, 2018 based upon John 6: 35, 41-51

Every culture on earth has some form of bread, be it bagels, biscuits, baguettes, tortillas, pita, matza, or even lefsa. People get together to “break bread.” In the Arabic language the word for bread is the word for life. Bread is basic to life. It sustains, nourishes, draws people together, and both tastes and smells good. So much so that it can help you sell your house if you bake some bread soon before someone comes over to look at your house.

That is what Jesus was saying when He said, “I am the bread of life.” Jesus is essential to life. Everything that bread represents – sustenance, relationship, goodness, and delight – Jesus claims that He is.

Notice that Jesus did not say, “I can give you the true bread from heaven.” Rather He said, “I am the true bread from heaven.” “You can live without manna, Moses, and religion, but you cannot live without Me.”

And that’s what makes Jesus’ claim so outrageous for many people. That’s why it became such a problem for the crowd. Jesus was telling them that He is more important than anything else in life. That was more than the crowd could take. That is why many stopped following Him.

There is no middle ground with Jesus. You either stone Him or you serve Him. You either receive Him and revere Him or you reject Him. You either follow Him or you turn away.

The people in the crowd that day were impressed by the miracles of Jesus. They also admired the teachings of Jesus. But they did not want to have to admit that they needed Jesus. They would rather have manna. They would rather have a list of rules. They would rather be religious than to have to be in a relationship with Jesus.

And many people today stumble over the same thing. They would like to experience the miracles of Jesus. They admire and would like themselves and other people – especially their children – to live according to the teachings of Jesus. But they would rather take their chances and try to do it by themselves than to have to admit that they need Jesus.

Every time we come forward to receive communion, we confess that we need Jesus. We admit our need for a relationship with Jesus. We are saying that we cannot live without Jesus – in this life and in the life to come.

Maybe we do not fully understand the nature of our need and how it works. But we know we need something that we cannot provide for ourselves. We cannot obtain it in any other way except to come forward and receive it.

Jesus is the bread of life. We cannot earn it, buy it, work for it, or come to the point of deserving it. All we can do is to receive it as we believe in the one whom God has sent.

Dennis D. Nelson
President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

TRUST AND OBEY
Devotional for August 5, 2018 based upon Exodus 16: 2-4, 9-15

There was a song we used to sing when I was growing up entitled “Trust and Obey.” The words of the chorus went like this –
“Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.”

The story of God’s giving His people manna is a story of learning to trust and obey. God provided each day enough manna for that day. They could not hoard or stockpile manna, for any they did not eat that day would spoil by the following day. They had to trust that the God who provided enough manna for each day every day up until today will also provide for tomorrow. They had to learn to trust.

And they also had to learn to obey. On the sixth day, Friday, they were told to gather enough manna for two days, for there would not be any manna on the seventh day, Saturday. But, as is typical of human nature, Exodus 16 tells us that there were some people who did not obey. On Friday they did not collect enough manna for two days. On Saturday, they went out looking for manna, but they found none.

Exodus 16: 21 says, “Morning by morning they gathered it, as much as each needed.” Reminds me of the words to another song –
“Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand has provided.
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.”

Do you trust God that He will take care of you and provide for you? Or do you wonder if the One who has brought you this far might let you down now? Do you trust, and do you obey?

There is no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.

Dennis D. Nelson
President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

Lutheran CORE has sent a letter to ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton asking her to take action in light of some of the keynote speakers at the recent youth gathering. Click here to read it.