Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran HourSaint Louis, Missouri, United States "Be Merciful to Me a Sinner" for Saturday, 24 January 2015

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran HourSaint Louis, Missouri, United States "Be Merciful to Me a Sinner" for Saturday, 24 January 2015

(Jesus said) "But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!'"[Luke 18:13]

Have you noticed that we seem to be living in a day and age where nobody is guilty of anything?
Search high and low and you will discover that everybody is innocent of all wrongdoing. People's refusal to admit they have done anything wrong can really get out of hand. Let me tell you what I mean.
Not so long ago, a California man sued two Las Vegas hotels because they allowed him to gamble away more than $1 million while he was drunk. Can you imagine? The man wasn't responsible for going into a place that exists solely for the purpose of separating him from his money. He wasn't responsible for drinking like a fish. He wasn't responsible for gambling. He wasn't responsible for any of it.
I would love to say he is unique. He isn't. We live in a world where everybody is innocent.
Not so long ago a commercial jetliner flew from Los Angeles to New York. As sometimes happens, the plane was thumped by some pretty strong turbulence. At least a few of the passengers were sure their end had come. It hadn't. They lived to sue the airline for the 28 seconds of terror they had endured. A jury gave the flyers $2 million.
Are you starting to get the picture? No? How about if I shared the story of
* the 270-pound, five-foot, ten-inch maintenance worker who sued four fast food chains for having jeopardized his health with greasy, salty food. He wasn't at fault for eating the stuff. They were the guilty ones;
* or the woman who sued the theme park in Orlando, Florida, because the park's annual Halloween haunted house was too scary and caused her emotional distress. She's not at fault for going to the fright fest, the park is;
* or the parents who threatened a teacher with a lawsuit because their young one wasn't going to graduate from high school -- failing grades, you know. No matter their child had plagiarized a test, skipped classes, failed to turn in assignments, didn't go to a make-up session, which might have raised her grade. No matter the teacher had sent home notes telling the parents what was happening, that the teacher had met with them, that the school administrators had met with the parents. No matter. Their child was innocent. It was the teacher's fault.
Although these are extreme examples, the reality is, since Adam and Eve blamed their sin on each other and a snake, humanity has powerfully, and rather pathetically, proclaimed its innocence. Now such a claim may succeed when made before other sinners, but God sees through our smoke and mirrors. He knows there is not a just man on the earth that does good (see Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23).
No, the Lord would much prefer we come to Him in humility and say, "Lord, be merciful to me a sinner." With such a repentant heart, the Lord can do great work. He can forgive, He can restore, He can encourage, He can direct such a saintly soul to the path of the Savior, whose redemptive sacrifice gives us eternal life.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, forgive my pride, arrogance and refusal to confess my weaknesses, shortcomings and sins. Let me acknowledge my limitations and that all good changes in my life will be a result of Your benevolence, which comes from Your grace and my Savior's sacrifice. This I ask in His Name. Amen.

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour^®
Lutheran Hour Ministries

Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read:
Job 38: The Lord Speaks
From Out of a Storm
1 From out of a storm,
    the Lord said to Job:
2 Why do you talk so much
    when you know so little?
3 Now get ready to face me!
Can you answer
    the questions I ask?
4 How did I lay the foundation
for the earth?
    Were you there?
5 Doubtless you know who decided
    its length and width.
6 What supports the foundation?
Who placed the cornerstone,
7     while morning stars sang,
    and angels rejoiced?
8 When the ocean was born,
    I set its boundaries
9 and wrapped it in blankets
    of thickest fog.
10 Then I built a wall around it,
    locked the gates, 11 and said,
“Your powerful waves stop here!
    They can go no farther.”
Did You Ever Tell the Sun To Rise?
12 Did you ever tell the sun to rise?
    And did it obey?
13 Did it take hold of the earth
and shake out the wicked
    like dust from a rug?
14 Early dawn outlines the hills
like stitches on clothing
    or sketches on clay.
15 But its light is too much
for those who are evil,
    and their power is broken.
16 Job, have you ever walked
    on the ocean floor?
17 Have you seen the gate
    to the world of the dead?
18 And how large is the earth?
    Tell me, if you know!
19 Where is the home of light,
and where does darkness live?
20     Can you lead them home?
21 I’m certain you must be able to,
since you were already born
    when I created everything.
22 Have you been to the places
    where I keep snow and hail,
23 until I use them to punish
    and conquer nations?
24 From where does lightning leap,
    or the east wind blow?
25 Who carves out a path
    for thunderstorms?
Who sends torrents of rain
26 on empty deserts
    where no one lives?
27 Rain that changes barren land
    to meadows green with grass.
28 Who is the father of the dew
    and of the rain?
29 Who gives birth to the sleet
    and the frost
30 that fall in winter,
when streams and lakes
    freeze solid as a rock?
Can You Arrange Stars?
31 Can you arrange stars in groups
such as Orion
    and the Pleiades?
32 Do you control the stars
or set in place the Big Dipper
    and the Little Dipper?
33 Do you know the laws
    that govern the heavens,
and can you make them rule
    the earth?
34 Can you order the clouds
    to send a downpour,
35 or will lightning flash
    at your command?
36 Did you teach birds to know
that rain or floods
    are on their way?[a]
37 Can you count the clouds
or pour out their water
38     on the dry, lumpy soil?
39 When lions are hungry,
    do you help them hunt?
40 Do you send an animal
    into their den?
41 And when starving young ravens
cry out to me for food,
    do you satisfy their hunger?
The Lord Continues
When Do Mountain Goats Give Birth?
39:1 When do mountain goats
    and deer give birth?
Have you been there
    when their young are born?
2 How long are they pregnant
3     before they deliver?
4 Soon their young grow strong
and then leave
    to be on their own.
5 Who set wild donkeys free?
6 I alone help them survive
    in salty desert sand.
7 They stay far from crowded cities
    and refuse to be tamed.
8 Instead, they roam the hills,
    searching for pastureland.
9 Would a wild ox agree
to live in your barn
    and labor for you?
10 Could you force him to plow
or to drag a heavy log
    to smooth out the soil?
11 Can you depend on him
to use his great strength
    and do your heavy work?
12 Can you trust him
    to harvest your grain
or take it to your barn
    from the threshing place?
An Ostrich Proudly Flaps Her Wings
13 An ostrich proudly
    flaps her wings,
but not because
    she loves her young.
14 She abandons her eggs
and lets the dusty ground
    keep them warm.
15 And she doesn’t seem to worry
that the feet of an animal
    could crush them all.
16 She treats her eggs as though
    they were not her own,
unconcerned that her work
    might be for nothing.
17 I myself made her foolish
    and without common sense.
18 But once she starts running,[b]
she laughs at a rider
    on the fastest horse.
Did You Give Horses Their Strength?
19 Did you give horses their strength
and the flowing hair
    along their necks?
20 Did you make them able
    to jump like grasshoppers
or to frighten people
    with their snorting?
21 Before horses are ridden
    into battle,
they paw at the ground,
    proud of their strength.
22 Laughing at fear, they rush
    toward the fighting,
23 while the weapons of their riders
    rattle and flash in the sun.
24 Unable to stand still,
they gallop eagerly into battle
    when trumpets blast.
25 Stirred by the distant smells
and sounds of war,
they snort
    in reply to the trumpet.
26 Did you teach hawks to fly south
    for the winter?
27 Did you train eagles[c] to build
28     their nests on rocky cliffs,
29 where they can look down
    to spot their next meal?
30 Then their young gather to feast
    wherever the victim lies.
The Lord Continues
I Am the Lord All-Powerful
40:1 I am the Lord All-Powerful,
2 but you have argued
    that I am wrong.
Now you must answer me.
3 Job said to the Lord:
4     Who am I to answer you?
5 I did speak once or twice,
    but never again.
6 Then out of the storm
    the Lord said to Job:
7 Face me and answer
    the questions I ask!
8 Are you trying to prove
that you are innocent
    by accusing me of injustice?
9 Do you have a powerful arm
and a thundering voice
    that compare with mine?
10 If so, then surround yourself
    with glory and majesty.
11 Show your furious anger!
Throw down and crush
12     all who are proud and evil.
13 Wrap them in grave clothes
and bury them together
    in the dusty soil.
14 Do this, and I will agree
that you have won
    this argument.
I Created You
15 I created both you
    and the hippopotamus.[d]
It eats only grass like an ox,
16 but look at the mighty muscles
    in its body 17 and legs.
Its tail is like a cedar tree,
    and its thighs are thick.
18 The bones in its legs
    are like bronze or iron.
19 I made it more powerful
than any other creature,
    yet I am stronger still.
20 Undisturbed, it eats grass
while the other animals
    play nearby.[e]
21 It rests in the shade of trees
    along the riverbank
22 or hides among reeds
    in the swamp.
23 It remains calm and unafraid
with the Jordan River rushing
    and splashing in its face.
24 There is no way to capture
    a hippopotamus—
not even by hooking its nose
    or blinding its eyes.[Footnotes:
38.36 way: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 36.
39.18 starts running: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
39.27 eagles: Or “vultures.”
40.15 the hippopotamus: The Hebrew text has “Behemoth,” which was sometimes understood to be a sea monster like Rahab (9.13; 26.12), Leviathan (3.8; 41.1), and Tannin (7.12).
40.20 nearby: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 20.]
Matthew 15: A Woman’s Faith
21 Jesus left and went to the territory near the cities of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Suddenly a Canaanite woman[a] from there came out shouting, “Lord and Son of David,[b] have pity on me! My daughter is full of demons.” 23 Jesus did not say a word. But the woman kept following along and shouting, so his disciples came up and asked him to send her away.
24 Jesus said, “I was sent only to the people of Israel! They are like a flock of lost sheep.”
25 The woman came closer. Then she knelt down and begged, “Please help me, Lord!”
26 Jesus replied, “It isn’t right to take food away from children and feed it to dogs.”[c]
27 “Lord, that’s true,” the woman said, “but even dogs get the crumbs that fall from their owner’s table.”
28 Jesus answered, “Dear woman, you really do have a lot of faith, and you will be given what you want.” At that moment her daughter was healed.
Jesus Heals Many People
29 From there, Jesus went along Lake Galilee. Then he climbed a hill and sat down. 30 Large crowds came and brought many people who were crippled or blind or lame or unable to talk. They placed them, and many others, in front of Jesus, and he healed them all. 31 Everyone was amazed at what they saw and heard. People who had never spoken could now speak. The lame were healed, the crippled could walk, and the blind were able to see. Everyone was praising the God of Israel.
Jesus Feeds Four Thousand
32 Jesus called his disciples together and told them, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been with me for three days, and they don’t have anything to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry. They might faint on their way home.”
33 His disciples said, “This place is like a desert. Where can we find enough food to feed such a crowd?”
34 Jesus asked them how much food they had. They replied, “Seven small loaves of bread[d] and a few little fish.”
35 After Jesus had told the people to sit down, 36 he took the seven loaves of bread and the fish and gave thanks. He then broke them and handed them to his disciples, who passed them around to the crowds.
37 Everyone ate all they wanted, and the leftovers filled seven large baskets.
38 There were four thousand men who ate, not counting the women and children.
39 After Jesus had sent the crowds away, he got into a boat and sailed across the lake. He came to shore near the town of Magadan.[e][Footnotes:
15.22 Canaanite woman: This woman was not Jewish.
15.22 Son of David: See the note at 9.27.
15.26 feed it to dogs: The Jewish people sometimes referred to Gentiles as dogs.
15.34 small loaves of bread: See the note at 14.17.

15.39 Magadan: The location is unknown.]
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