Who Taught You?

“Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you.

Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.”

Hebrews 13:7

This past weekend, Trinity in Frankfurt celebrated its 60^th anniversary with a banquet on Saturday night, then a festival worship and reception on Sunday.  It was a great weekend.  One of the highlights of the weekend for everyone, myself included, was the fact that three former Trinity Pastors were in attendance – Pastor Larry Myers, Pastor Sam Wolff and Pastor Bob Flohrs.  As part of the banquet on Saturday night each of them was given the chance to bring greetings to the congregation.  They each shared great stories from Trinity’s history.  But what really stood out to me was how much they loved the people of Trinity and how much the people of Trinity loved them.  For me it was a reminder of the close intimate bond that forms when you share Jesus with people and teach them God’s word.  As a teacher of God’s Word you become an integral part of their lives.  You literally become family to them, and they to you.  On Saturday night the members of Trinity were living out the words of Hebrews 13:7 - “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you.  Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.” 

So, my question to you this week is, “Who taught you the Word of God?”  Who have been the significant spiritual leaders whom God has used in your life? What stands out in your memories of them? For me there have been many. One was Pastor Ty Miles who taught me in confirmation instruction.  He made learning about Jesus interesting and fun.  He was a great preacher.  I will never ever forget how he cared for our family when my sister died.  He has been my model for ministering to the grieving ever since.  Another is Ralph Iverson, the layman who taught our Sunday School class in 7^th and 8^th grade.   I learned that anyone could love the Bible, not just Pastors.  He showed me that a man could teach Sunday School… it’s not just for women.  That’s important for a young man to see.  Another man was Pastor Koch.  He was the campus pastor when Linda and I were students at Concordia Milwaukee.  Although I have never belonged to one of his congregations, David Koch became my Pastor – marrying us, ordaining me, preaching at my dad’s funeral, and being my spiritual mentor until the day God called him home.   His wife, Ruth is another one.  I still call her for advice and counsel.  Or there was Mr. Werner Engelmann, the German born layman who gave up every Friday night for 4 or more years, to meet with us teenagers and teach us about Jesus.  I could go on and on, because the list of people God has used in my life is a long one.

Who are they in your life?  Who spoke the Word of God to you?  What did you learn from them? That’s the second part of the verse from Hebrews 13. We are to do more than remember them.  “Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.”    In the seminary I learned a lot of Theology.  However, most of what I learned about being a Pastor, a husband, a father, and more I learned from watching and imitating others.  My dad taught me the joy of being a dad, the value of hard work and more.  He taught me by showing me… by being a good dad and a hard worker.  Because of all the time Mr. Engelmann spent with us teens, youth ministry has always been a high value to me.   I learned from Pastor Koch how to lead, how to teach, how to preach, how to be a pastor.  I learned by watching him. 

Now all of that sobers me up a bit, as it should sober up everyone who teaches God’s word.  People are watching us, listening to us, learning from us.  I had one person tell me they had their second child because I urged them too.  I thought, “Oh my!  People take my words seriously.  I better be careful.  I certainly need to pray.  I have clay feet and make all sorts of mistakes.  Lord help me!”

I guess that is my point to all of you this week.  Take a moment to think about those who have taught you the Word of God.  What have you… what can you learn from their faith and life?  Then take a moment to thank God for whoever they are… and pray for them.  Oh yeah, and even if I don’t happen to be one of those people – please pray for me anyway.  I need all the help from the Lord I can get.  Amen.   

A Meal You Never Want to Miss

“He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna,

Which neither you nor your fathers had known,

To teach you that man does not live on bread alone

But on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”

Deuteronomy 8:3

As you can readily tell by looking at me, I almost never miss a meal.  In fact, if the truth be told, if you consider snacks and so forth – I go above and beyond the call of duty in my eating habits.   Indeed I am somewhat puzzled by those who almost never eat breakfast. That’s supposed be the most important meal of the day.  Or what about those who are so busy they don’t take time for lunch?  If I do that, I get the “hangries.”  The evening meal is my favorite, especially because that is when Linda and I eat together and because she is a fantastic cook.  I hear about families where everybody fends for themselves at dinner time, but that just doesn’t seem right to me.

There is however one meal… one that I should never miss… that far too often I skip – my daily time in the Word of God.  My suspicion is that this is also the case for many of you.  There are many excuses – “I was tired so I slept later.” “I was in hurry to get going.” “I was just too busy today.”  We are hurting ourselves.  Skipping the time in the word is as unhealthy spiritually, as skipping breakfast is physically. The text for today from Dt. 8 makes that clear – “Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”

Friends, daily time in God’s word is a gourmet meal you never want to miss.  “Come,” is the invitation in Isaiah 55, “ Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.  Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?  Listen, listen to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fair.”  Here you meet Jesus, for as He said of Scripture “these are they that testify about Me.”  Through His word God works in our hearts “to make us wise unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ...”  Through Scripture God works to change hearts, to equip us for “every good work.”

I was reminded of all of this as I listened online to the funeral sermon for Dr. John Saleska.  I didn’t really know him well but I did have a chance to listen to him to teach the Word.  He had a great sense of humor.  More importantly he knew the Scriptures backward and forward.  After you sat in a class he led, you left full to overflowing, like you just got up from your Thanksgiving feast.  In the sermon, the Pastor noted something very important about Dr. Saleska – that his love of the Word of God was more than a scholarly love.  Through God’s word God worked in his heart – convicting him of sin and grace, changing his heart and life.  Through His Word God invited him to know Him, into a personal relationship of faith in our God and His Son Jesus.  That’s what God wants to do in your life through His word – to fill your heart to overflowing with the joy of knowing Him.  That’s why His word is a meal you never want to miss.

There is a prayer I want to offer you today, one I learned as I grew up in church.  This prayer summarizes the point of today’s blog. I offer it to you as a prayer for you each day before you take your time in God’s Word.  Although a newer wording is found in the Lutheran Service Book on page 265, I offer you the one I learned -

“Blessed Lord, You have caused all Holy Scripture to be written for our learning.  Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them that, by patience and comfort of Your holy Word, we embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, Your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.”

Faith Like a Palm Tree

“So then just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, Strengthened in your faith just as you were taught.”  

Colossians 2:6-7a

The last couple of weeks I have spent a lot of time watching news reports of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.  Those were two powerful and destructive storms.  Many, many people have lost everything in Texas, Florida, and the Caribbean.  Our hearts go out to all who are hurting and our prayers go up to God.  If you are looking for a way to help, I would send you to the website of the Texas District of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod  (www.txlcms.org).  You will find a link there that will tell you how you can help the victims of Hurricane Harvey.  I imagine you would find a similar link if you went to the website of the Florida-Georgia District of the LCMS.

Watching the news clips of the storms, you can’t help but be amazed by the powerful and destructive winds.  This time, however something caught my eye in those clips – the palm trees.   What amazed me is how many of them took the beating of the hurricane and survived.  Watching them blown in the wind, some bent over to the ground by the wind, I wondered, “How is it that they don’t break?  Why aren’t they uprooted?”  I know that some were broken and uprooted.  But many were not.  Watching how strong those storms were, I wondered – what is it about palm trees that enables them to withstand terrible storms?  So, like all good modern-day knowledge seekers, I googled it.

Here is what I learned.  “There are two main advantages the palm tree has over other trees, the roots and the shoot structure.  Unlike other trees, the roots can fare well in both very wet and very dry soils.  Generally preceding the heavier storms, the soil gets very wet.  Whereas, this allows most trees to slide easier (and thus fall over more easily), with the palm tree this actually makes the roots attach to the ground better and stronger… The shoot of the tree is strong and yet flexible, with few branches for the wind to catch – helping the tree to bend but normally not break.  There you have it – the two things that make a palm tree strong in a storm – good roots and a strong core.

Those same two things also make all the difference for you and me when it comes to weathering the storms of life – having good roots and a strong core.  Storms in life – big and small will come.  Like hurricanes they will have many names – death, cancer, divorce, failure, job loss, among others.  You live in Florida you will have sunshine and hurricanes.  You live in a sinful world, you will have good days and stormy days.  You can’t expect every day to be sunny and easy.  You need to be prepared for the storms. One friend, describing the impact of Hurricane Irma, thanked God that her home had been built to the latest hurricane standards.    In the same way, if you want to be ready for life’s storms, you need to set down strong spiritual roots and strengthen the core of your faith in Christ.   That’s Paul’s point in Colossians 2 -  “So then just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthen in your faith just as you were taught.”    A growing faith in Jesus… a faith fed on the word of God, faithfully receiving God’s grace at the Lord’s Table – that is a faith being more and more rooted and built up on Jesus. That’s how God grows in you and me faith like a palm tree – faith that can bend in life’s storms but will not break and will not be uprooted… no matter how bad it gets.  Jesus Himself explained what a difference such faith makes – “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  The rain came down, the streams rose , and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.”   

Things You Should Never Take for Granted

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is pure

Whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy –

Think about such things.”  Philippians 4:8

You never really appreciate what you have until you don’t have it anymore.  This is a lesson I have had to be taught again this week.  I have had growing pain in my knee all summer as the result of a small injury in early May.  That pain reached a climax on Tuesday night when I didn’t sleep at all, all night.  You never realize how great a good night’s sleep is, until you can’t sleep all night.  On Wednesday, I went to a doctor who concluded that by compensating for the pain in my right knee, I have caused inflammation to the tendons of that knee.  The result is, I now have crutches, a brace, and medicine.  I can’t climb the steps to my office at Trinity, for a while. Putting shoes and socks on my right foot is now quite a challenge.  You never know what a blessing a healthy knee is till you have to do without one for a while.  Watching the aftermath of hurricane Harvey also brought this home.  We take for granted our homes, our cars, our highways and more.  They will always be there when we need them.  They people living in and around Houston would tell you that is not true. There are many blessings in life we should never take for granted.

My purpose in this is not to be negative.  My purpose is to take seriously the words of St. Paul to the Philippians.  “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy –think about such things.”  I’ve had a lot of time the last couple of days to do just that. 

The first is Linda, my bride.  As always, she has been amazing… sitting with me all day at the hospital yesterday.  She then drove me down to get the brace, into a part of Frankfurt where she hates to drive.  She has been patient and compassionate as I have groaned about my pain.  She has helped me get socks and shoes on my right foot, gone and gotten things for me rather than me having to get the crutches so I can get up.  The list of things she is doing for me and I know will do for me is too long to list here.  Thank you, Lord, for Linda and thank you Linda for all you do.

There are also my colleagues at Trinity- the staff I work at.  Marion is always ready to help me.  I called her at 6:30 am yesterday to help me figure out what I could do.  She also helped Linda get to where I was in the hospital.  Johanna came over and helped Linda find the way with the car to pick me up and take me home.  Kendra will be helping us with Molly, our dog.  I have a great team!  Then you add in the members of the church – Dr. Dany Doc who took me to the hospital and set up a meeting with a Dr. there, Kristen Ruesges who helped me get in to get the first MRI early this summer, members who have been sending emails, offering to help, offering prayers.  Then there are our kids who are so concerned, friends and others who are sending notes and offering prayers. Yesterday while skyping with our kids, our little granddaughter Hailey, without any prompting, asked me if I was okay… was I hurting? I have a lot of praiseworthy things to think about, and to be thankful for.

My point is – so do you!  It’s easy to sit around, feel sorry for yourself, to moan and groan.  Believe me, I know.  I have been doing a lot of that.  Yet the truth is that even at the worst moments God has been very good to you and me.  So, I would join with Paul in urging you and urging myself - “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy –think about such things.”