An act of compassion

An Act of Compassion

              A few years ago I read a neat story about a room service waiter who worked at a Marriott Hotel.  The waiter, a fellow named Charles, learned that the sister of a guest unexpectedly passed away.  Charles went to the gift shop, bought a sympathy card and had all the hotel staff members sign it.  Then he sent it to the room of the grieving guest along with a piece of hot apple pie.

              Some time later the guest wrote a letter to the president of the Marriott Hotels.  It said, in part, “Mr. Marriott, I’ll never meet you.  And I don’t need to meet you.  That’s because I met Charles.  I know what you stand for…I want to assure you that as long as I live, I will stay at your hotels.  And I will tell my friends to stay at your hotels.”

              Just think – because of the compassion of a lowly waiter, the Marriott Hotel chain now has a customer for life!

              Acts of compassion are not soon forgotten.  Sacrifices made on our behalf by others always touch our hearts and melt our souls.  People like you and me should know better than anyone the meaning of compassion.  Every cross we see reminds us of the compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ.

              One of the joys of reading the Gospels is to see the compassion of Jesus in action.  A man suffering from leprosy approaches Jesus.  He says, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”  Jesus replied, “I am willing.  Be clean!”  And immediately the man was cured of leprosy.  A widow makes her way through the town gate to bury her only son.  Jesus sees her grief and sadness.  His heart went out to her and he told her, “Don’t cry.”  Walking up to the coffin, the Lord places His hands on it and says, “Young man, I say to you, get up!”  The dead man came back to life.  A mother and son are reunited.  

              These are wonderful examples of the love and compassion of our Lord.  Still, none of them compare with what Jesus did for you and me at the cross of Calvary.  Is it not compassion that Jesus offers in taking our sins upon Himself?  Is it not compassion that Jesus would become our substitute of sin and experience the pain and suffering we deserve for our disobedience?  Jesus saw our need for a Savior and He did something about it.  That’s compassion!

              The compassion of a room service waiter moved a woman to tell all her friends about the Marriott Hotels.  The compassion of Jesus moves us to tell all our friends about the forgiveness and new life that our Lord offers.  As we share the Gospel, Jesus makes friends for life, for eternity.  Sins are cleansed.  Peace is received.  And another person is a recipient of our Lord’s compassion.

              To whom can you show the compassion of Jesus Christ this week?  

Life wins!

The Fifth Commandment - God's gift of life

You shall not kill.  What does this mean? We should fear and love God that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical need.

From the Explanation

The living but unborn are persons in the sight of God from the time of conception.  Since abortion takes a human life, it is not a moral option except to prevent the death of another person, the mother.

Jeremiah 1:5 - Before AI formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.

Psalm 139:16 - Your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.

From Luther's Small Catechism, 1986 edition, Concordia Publishing House

A story about brotherly love

 

A Story about Brotherly Love

            Have you ever lived in a home with a basement?

            We hadn’t until I moved my family back to the Midwest in 1988.  Our home there had a finished basement which included a master bedroom, play room, laundry room and a workout room with Jacuzzi.  We loved having the extra space, not to mention that the basement was the best place to hang out during a hot and humid Midwestern summer.

            When I took my first call to serve as pastor to a church outside of St. Louis, we found a nice home with a basement.  With the help of a couple of young carpenters, we finished off the basement and created a place where we could work, offer company a place to stay or just settle down in front of the TV for a nice, quiet evening.

            All was well and good until early one Sunday morning when our kids woke us with these words: “There’s water in the basement.” 

            It’s not much fun to have to drive over to your 24 hour superstore at 1 am to purchase a wet-vac.  That’s what we did and we managed to get the water all cleaned up, only to have the basement flood again…and again…and again.

            After consulting with several experts we bit the bullet, so to speak, and put in a sump pump.  To do this, we had to empty the basement of every piece of furniture.  This was a hard job and my son and I had to put in for an extra order of Ben-Gay when we were all finished.

            A few weeks later, the sump pump was installed and our carpeting was reinstalled.  My son and I decided that we would meet one afternoon at 4 pm to move all the furniture back down stairs.  But neither one of us looked forward to that job.  We hadn’t quite recovered from our last assignment.

            At about five minutes to four, the doorbell rang.  That seemed odd – my son would just come into the house.  I opened the door and four guys from church were standing there.  A couple of cars pulled up in front of the house and three more guys came walking across the lawn.  They said, “We’re here to help you move your stuff back downstairs.  Where do you want us to begin?”

            One of our members, a dear friend named Ellen, had somehow heard about our moving job.  She took pity on me and my son and started calling men in our church and asking them to come give us a hand.  With all the help we had, all our furniture and other stuff was moved back in the basement in less than an hour.  A job that my son and I were dreading was taken care of with ease.

            The apostle Paul commended the Thessalonians for the brotherly love they showed each other and their neighboring churches.  Their love for the Lord’s forgiveness and salvation moved them to extend that love to their friends and neighbors.

            My son and I were on the receiving end of such brotherly love and we’ve never forgotten it.  So now I ask you to think about it – to whom can you show such love? Your next-door neighbor? A friend at work? Someone at church? In the words of the folks at Nike – just do it! Show some brotherly love today.

Biden's bike fitted with training wheels

Another report from the staff at The News You Might Have Missed

GREENVILLE, DELAWARE - An investigative report has confirmed that President Joe Biden's bike has now been outfitted with training wheels.

This took place after the President fell off his bike while greeting onlookers over the weekend.

Although the President was not injured in the fall, Secret Service felt it was important that the training wheels be added to his bike.

One unnamed agent remarked, "It was an accident.  Anyone could get their foot caught on a peddle.  Adding the training wheels is a precautionary measure only. The President might even amp up his speed a little bit with the extra help."

President Biden took the fall with good humor.  When asked what was the reason for the accident, he blamed the Putin Price Hike.

There is also an unconfirmed report that a large, orange haired man was seen around the bike a few evenings before the Biden accident.  That report was still being investigated at deadline.

Another thought about peace

"He who prepared in Jesus the perfect peace we need for our souls will also provide what we need for our daily lives."

Richard Lauersdorf, "Together with Jesus," January 3

A burden sharer

 

A Burden Sharer

            I was digging through a pile of discarded books one day and found an absolute gem.  It’s entitled, “Prayers for People Under Pressure,” written by Dr. Donald Deffner.  The book is nearly 20 years old and out of print, although you can probably find a copy at one of the on-line book dealers.  Deffner has written nearly one hundred prayers in a poetic form.  For those who are dealing with an inordinate amount of stress or need encouragement to persevere in difficult situations, Deffner’s prayers will offer care and help.  As I’ve used the book myself, again and again I’ve thought, “He has written these prayers especially for me!” 

            Let me offer you an example.  If you’ve ever been tempted to throw a pity party for yourself, Deffner’s prayer, “The Fellowship of Suffering,” would be very meaningful.  This is the prayer:

            O God, prevent me from the pretentiousness of thinking I am unique in my suffering and from a self-pity that I am alone in my struggle.  Move me by Your Spirit to seek out the fellowship of burden-bearers, my comrades of the cross.  Reveal to me my affinity with those distressed throughout the world, that we, knit together in love, may share in Christ’s sufferings and be like Him in His death.  Make me not only a burden-bearer but a burden-sharer.

            Deffner’s prayer reminds us of an important truth.  To cancel the invitation to a pity party, you need to get out of yourself.  In other words, by helping a family member or friends carry a difficult burden or trouble, you suddenly come to realize that your problem isn’t so bad or too great that it should crush or depress you.

            That was the apostle Paul’s simple admonition to the Galatians.  In chapter six, verse two, the apostle wrote: “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” 

            You know how much easier it is when you have an extra pair of hands to lug a bag of cement to your backyard or to carry a heavy sofa-sleeper upstairs to a second floor.  That kind of help is such a blessing.  You provide the same kind of help when you join another person and help them carry a burden or problem.  In this way, you make the burden your own.  You begin to pray for that person.  You ask how you might help them.  Before you know it, you’ve moved your burden to the back-burner, so to speak.  It doesn’t seem to be as nearly impossible to deal with as your first thought.

            One other blessing of being a burden-bearer is that you also become a burden-sharer.  You see how much you’ve helped others – you realize that you can be helped in the same way.  What a meaningful blessing it is to know that you’re not alone when a loved one is suffering, an unexpected bill zaps your bank account or a family member seems to be on a one-way trip to destruction.  You share your burdens.  Others share theirs with you.  Together, you love and support and care for one another.

            One more thing – Paul wrote that to carry each other’s burdens was to “fulfill the law of Christ.”  This doesn’t mean that Jesus laid down some kind of legal requirement for you to carry out.  In this case, what Paul is referring to is the model or example that Jesus sets for us.  Our Lord is the greatest burden-bearer the world has ever known.  He carried the heavy burden of our sins to the cross in order that we might enter the Kingdom of God.  Having received that gift by faith, Jesus sets the example for each of us to follow.  So why don’t you cancel those invitations to the pity party you were going to throw.  Instead, look for someone who might be blessed to have your two extra hands helping them with a heavy burden. 

What is peace?

This Sunday I'm preaching at St. Mark Lutheran in Phoenix on the subject of peace.  As I was paging through my journal I found a quote that I should share with the hearers.

Peace is not the absence of difficult circumstances, it is the presence of the Prince of Peace.  He often deals with difficult circumstances not by taking them away but by giving us more of Himself.

Jason Meyer, "Don't Lose Heart," page 141 

A Bonhoeffer Prayer

O Heavenly Father, I praise and thank You for the peace of the night.  I praise and thank You for this new day.  I praise and thank You for all Your goodness and faithfulness throughout my life.

You have granted me many blessings; now let me accept what is hard from Your hand.

You will lay on me no more than I can bear.  You make all things work together for good for Your children.  Amen.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)

From the pages of The News You Might Have Missed

 Local man caught looking at Women's Softball Game

GLENDALE AZ - Fred Johnson, a Glendale resident, was caught by his wife watching the College Women's Softball National Championship game last night.

Johnson, who is on record as saying that, "women cannot play sports as well as men," was found sitting on the couch, eyes glued on the game.  His wife cried out "Busted!" and  began to lambast him for his hypocritical stance regarding women's sports but Johnson said it was all a misunderstanding.

"I was walking through the living room," said Johnson, "and a commercial was playing on the television.  I thought the TV was on Fox News.  Tucker Carlson is my favorite and I appreciate his honest and even-tempered presentations.  It was an honest mistake."

When asked why he continued to watch the game, Johnson replied, "I was just trying to show my wife that I am open-minded and willing to give women's sports a chance."  Later, Johnson's wife reported that he was scrolling through the guide on his television and looking for WNBA basketball game.

What God's grace does

God's grace opened my eyes to see, my ears to hear, my heart to hold my Savior.

"Together with Jesus" devotional, October 19

A Behind the Scenes Look

 

A Behind the Scenes Look

            During our recently completed European trip, my dear sweet wife and I had the pleasure to take special tours of the famous Vienna Opera House and the Royal Albert Hall in London.  These two places have hosted the greatest performers in the world.  Maria Callas and Placido Domingo have wowed standing room only crowds in Vienna while every kind of music imaginable – from classical and opera to rock and reggae – have been performed in London.  Knowing all this made for a special and exciting time.

            We were promised a behind the scenes look and that what we got.  At the Vienna Opera House we got a look at how the stage was designed so that sets for various presentations could be changed in seconds rather than minutes.  We watched as set designers used ordinary pieces of cardboard in which huge looking boulders were created.  A special treat during our tour of the Royal Albert Hall was the opportunity to sit in the box that was adjacent to the Queen’s Box.  We weren’t allowed to go in her box – something about being not royal enough.  But we did visit the Queen’s Waiting Room, a place where she and her entourage can go to be served food and beverages before performances and at intermission.  I don’t know for sure but I hope I sat on the Queen’s chair.

            It is exciting to be able to see things that folks don’t normally see.  It makes us feel special and important.  2 Kings, chapter 6 offers to us a different kinds of behind the scenes look that was very meaningful for the servant of Elisha.

            The King of Aram was at war with Israel.  When he learned that Elisha, the man of God, was spoiling his plans, the King wanted Elisha.  When it was discovered that Elisha was in a place called Dothan, the King dispatched a large force of soldiers whose mission is simple – get Elisha.

            First one up that morning was Elisha servant.  I don’t know if he was going out to get the paper or what but the poor man couldn’t believe what he saw – not a few soldiers but an entire army had surrounded the city.  He quickly alerted Elisha to what was happening but the man of God to the servant, in so many words, “Don’t worry about it.”

            Why wasn’t Elisha worried? God had permitted him to see something the servant couldn’t see.  So Elisha asked God to give the servant a behind the scenes look.  The Scripture says, Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

            Wouldn’t you like to have that privilege just once, for the Lord to let you look behind the scenes of your financial struggle, your job search or your trials in raising children? The likelihood is that God is going to ask you to do something different but beneficial to your life with Him.  And that is to trust in Him.

            But as you live by faith, remember that this story teaches that God does work on your behalf, behind the scenes, so to speak, carrying out His will for your life.  In the process, God might allow struggles to come your way.  This struggles simply refine your faith and help you to realize just how much you need the Lord’s grace and mercy and care in your life.  And one more important thing – as relief came to Elisha and the servant, so relief will come to you in God’s timing and for your benefit.

            Yes, we’d love a behind the scenes look at how God is dealing with our needs and requests.  But we live by faith and not by sight so we remember this reassuring word from Hebrews, chapter 11: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  This week, trust Jesus – walk in the light of His love.