Tag Archives: Luke

Jesus is the Son of Man

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on November 20, 2015
Tags: Luke   

Sins, Which Are Many, Are Forgiven — Rev. David J. Schreffler

 

image          November 20, 2015

“One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.” Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Teacher,” he replied, “speak.” “A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt.” And Jesus said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Luke 7:36 – 50

“He had given much thought to this, and was persuaded that the shortest way to come to G*d was by a continual exercise of love, doing all things for His sake. That we ought to make a careful distinction between acts of the understanding and those of the will, for the first were of little account when compared with the second. Our business is simply to love and be happy in G*d. That all possible mortifications would not serve to blot out a single sin, unless they were grounded in the love of G*d.” Brother Lawrence (1611 – 1691) The Practice of the Presence of G*d, “For All The Saints” volume II (p. 1021)

“That we ought to make a careful distinction between acts of the understanding and those of the will, for the first were of little account when compared with the second.” Brother Lawrence is making a wonderful distinction. He goes on to say that if our actions are not grounded in the love of G*d, they will have little effect on our salvation – I would say that this is true because G*d is love and our salvation is grounded in the love of G*d that comes to us as a gift, and without love, our relationship with G*d is of little account. We can try to intellectualize this relationship, but our reasoning will never trump love. We are closest to G*d when our will is tied to G*d’s love – and our actions flow out of love, not out of earning or achieving.

Have you ever witnessed someone doing something ordinary or even extraordinary and wondered why they did it? Just recently there was the story of a former soldier who during the campus shooting in Oregon, rushed toward the shooter rather than run away, and that was after he directed others to run away to safety. Why did he do it? Was it training? Eventually he was shot five times – he literally risked his own life for complete strangers. Why did he do it? Was it his faith, or was it something else emanating from deep within him? Is it possible for you to do something extraordinary in the name of love for people you do not know? Normally we do something for money, regularly we do something out of obligation, often we do things for people we love. And then, there are those times we do something only because we love Jesus.
Be on the look out this week for those actions you do out of love: those that are because you love someone, and those that are because you love G*d.

Pastor Dave

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on November 13, 2015
Tags: , , Luke,   

Showing Mercy — Rev. David J. Schreffler

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November 13, 2015

“(Jesus said) “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” Luke 10:36-37

“Most of the time babies crying in church don’t bother me. Crying is what babies do. The only exception to this rule takes place when

1. the crying becomes regular and repetitive, and
2. the crying goes on so long I can see the people in the pews around that baby wincing to the rhythm of the crying.

No, I don’t mind babies crying in church, but in an airplane, that is a different matter. It’s different because the parents can’t take the baby out to deal with the problem, and it’s different because the people around the upset child can’t escape either. This is why I can be sort of sympathetic for two of the people on the 5:30 a.m. flight from Michigan to Alabama. They were already situated when Rebekka Garvison sat down with her four-month-old child, Rylee. When the plane revved up its engines, Rylee did the same. Seeing the discontent on the faces of those around her, Rebekka asked if she could move to another row where there was only one person whom her baby might bother. Rebekka and the still-crying Rylee moved to a new location. This time, rather than receiving a stare of disapproval, Rebekka got a smile. More than that, her new seat mate, Nyfesha Miller, asked if she could hold Rylee and try to calm her down. The switch of holders made all the difference in the world to Rylee. She began looking out the window and soon she fell asleep. Rylee stayed asleep for the rest of the flight and was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when she saw her father, a serviceman stationed in Alabama.

Now the reason I share that story is because it rang a bell. Many years ago, Pam took all three of our children to visit her parents in Arizona. She was traveling alone and our youngest, Kris, was a baby — a baby who got air sick. That day, a man, the embodiment of a Good Samaritan, asked if he might help. He took two-year-old Kirsten and entertained her so Pam could deal with Kris. Although the Bible doesn’t exactly say so, I think there must be a special place in heaven for people who step out of their comfort zones and do that which needs to be done. (“Showing Mercy”, October 14, 2015, Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries)

How can you ago forward today and be the good neighbor? It may be difficult. You may have neighbor’s who don’t wish to talk with anyone – yet there are always ways to do good deeds that do not require asking permission. Or, you may have neighbor’s who do not like you – there are ways to extend a courtesy or a kindness without them knowing it was you. With the advent of the Internet, and places like Face Book, we can see many examples of ordinary people doing random acts of kindness over and over again. Join the revolution of kindness, when you see someone who you know is being stretched to their limit, or you know your mean neighbor is in need, find a way that you might be able to do something simple and be a good neighbor.

Pastor Dave