May 29, 2024 — The Dollar Spot Devotions
Slinky – Even Fun Has Its Ups and Downs!
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die;for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” Genesis 3:1-11
“It’s Slinky; it’s Slinky. For fun it’s a wonderful toy.
What walks down stairs, alone or in pairs, And makes a slinkety sound?
A spring, a spring, a marvelous thing! Everyone knows it’s Slinky.
It’s Slinky; it’s Slinky. For fun it’s a wonderful toy.
It’s fun for a girl and a boy.”
I can hear that commercial in my head, and I haven’t heard it for thirty years or more. The slinky is still sold in the Dollar Spot section of my favorite store – unbelievable but true. I must say that the times I remember playing with a slinky, it did not last for hours and hours. And, with animals in the house, they usually became chew toys, getting so twisted that they never would slink anywhere.
We know from the creation story, and from the story of the Fall of Adam and Eve that the snake was a creature created by G-d, along with all of the other creatures. Eve, Adam and the snake are creatures created by G-d, and they are all created and looked upon as “good”. And yet, they all turn out to become rebellious and turn against G-d – at least G-d’s plans for the goodness of creation. For you see, all creatures created by G-d are placed into the garden to be close to G-d – and to be within the influence of G-d. But all good things can also become bad, disobedient, if not downright evil. It is that reason alone that makes me rethink the whole interaction between Eve, Adam and the snake. We come to this story thinking that Adam and Eve have this relationship with G-d, and so therefore have more “reasoning ability” than the other creatures. But the snake seems to have them beat on the “reason and intelligence” scales. The snake seems more able to reason, to influence, to control, and to deceive. Is the snake the embodiment of evil, or a representation of how intelligence can be turned inward to become selfish and controlling?
It begs the question, “Is human reasoning the enemy of obedience?” What is human reasoning after all? It is looking at things from the human perspective—consciously or unconsciously – and in the process leaving G-d out of the picture. Reasoning is trying to figure out spiritual things on our own. It is looking at the trials of this life with just our physical senses—without “seeing” the unseen hand of G-d at work in our lives. Human reasoning can even assume that G-d sees things as we see them.
Faith, on the other hand, means that we rely on G-d, the one we have not seen (unlike Adam and Eve), and rely on G-d’s nature and plan for all people, which are revealed in Scripture. Without the Holy Spirit, the human mind cannot grasp that level of thinking. That’s why it takes faith to believe what G-d says and does – and not allow evil to slink into our thoughts, our ideas, and our faith – at least in the manner of our own perceptions if they are found to be against G-d’s will.
Look, this life will not always be as fun as a slinky – but our trust, faith and obedience to G-d will help us to ride the ups and downs of life.
Pastor Dave
May 30, 2024 — The Dollar Spot Devotions
Pop-Up Speakers – Can You Hear Me Now?
“and he (Jesus) came down with them, and stood on a level place, and a great multitude of his disciples, and a great number of the people from all Judaea and Jerusalem, and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases; and they that were troubled with unclean spirits were healed. And all the multitude sought to touch him; for power came forth from him, and healed [them] all. And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said…” Luke 6:17-20
As we acquire more and more devices, we have also been offered more and more accessories to go along with these devices. And since the devices seem to get smaller and smaller, there is a need for assistance in hearing them, especially if we want to use them to play music and we have no headphones. Thus, as I was looking around my Dollar Spot section, I noticed “Pop-Up Speakers”. These speakers are about the size of a small tomato, but when you extend them about an inch, and plug them into your phone or other device, you get a “Big Sound” as the advertisers would want us to think.
Did you ever wonder how people heard Jesus when he delivered a sermon on a mountain (Matthew 5) or in a boat (Luke 5)? I have always wondered how he did it. Were there people placed it the crowd who would repeat what Jesus said so those in the back could hear? Did he speak in places where the sound naturally would have been projected out to the crowd? There is no way to know for sure, but the people flocked around him to listen to what he had to say, and somehow everyone heard it.
Today, the problem is not having the technology to get the sound of G-d’s word out, it is the fact that too few people want to speak it. If we are not proclaiming from the rooftops the words G-d wants us to say, then who will? G-d is looking for people who will serve as the “Pop-Up” speakers in our communities today. Are you ready?
Pastor Dave
Lutheran Schreff 