The Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States [Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).] "It Seems Unfair" for Wednesday, June 29, 2016
(Jesus said) "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."[John 13:34-35]
Dane Rusk was minding his own business as he drove down a street in Regina, Saskatchewan.
That was when he saw "this homeless guy holding a sign," near an intersection: an intersection that had a stop sign. Finding himself to be in a humanitarian frame of mind, Rusk decided to give the man a few bucks.
He unbuckled his seatbelt so he could get at his cash, and handed the man $3.
Apparently, that was the wrong thing to do.
You see, the man's sign hadn't asked for a job, nor did it say he was homeless, nor did it suggest he was hungry. On the contrary, the placard simply read, "Not broke. Not hungry. Have a nice day." That last line was a nice wish, but that wish didn't come through for Rusk.
That's because the down-and-out homeless fellow was an undercover policeman involved in a sting operation. The officer radioed ahead to his fellow officers, and they pulled Rusk to the side of the road. In short order he was given a citation: a ticket for $175.
Can you guess the charge? Simple. According to the police and the letter of the law, Rusk had been operating a motor vehicle without wearing his seat belt. He was not alone. In less than an hour more than 40 others were ticketed the same way.
Considering the whole episode, Rusk might easily say that "no good deed ever goes unpunished."
If Rusk feels the injustice of the situation, imagine how our Savior must have felt. He had come into this world to save humanity from its damnable, sinful condition. The perfect Savior's life was an unprecedented act of love, which the Lord had set into motion to bring about our rescue.
In spite of Jesus' good intentions, almost from the moment He was born, He was hated. He was still a Child when the first attempt was made to murder Him, and He was yet a young Man when the last effort succeeded in nailing Him to a cross.
In between the beginning and end of Jesus' earthly life, He was misunderstood, maligned, mistreated and hated. He was falsely accused, called vicious names, was beaten, spit upon, whipped, and crowned with thorns.
Looking back, Jesus might also have said that "no good deed goes unpunished."
Amazingly, I have never heard Jesus say that. I hope that when He looks at us -- when He sees the hundreds of millions whom the Holy Spirit has saved through His sacrifice -- Jesus is pleased. I hope He thinks to Himself that all His good deeds have been blessed.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, forgive me for the times when I take Your suffering and many acts of kindness for granted. Let the Holy Spirit give me the ability to lead a life of thanksgiving and praise for Your suffering, sacrifice and glorious resurrection. In Your Name I ask it. Amen.
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
Today's Bible in a Year Readings: Ecclesiastes 4-6; Acts 9:23-43
Ecclesiastes 4:1 But I turned away and thought about all the kinds of oppression being done under the sun.
I saw the tears of the oppressed,
and they had no one to comfort them.
The power was on the side of their oppressors,
and they had no one to comfort them.
2 So I considered the dead happier, because they were already dead, than the living, who must still live their lives; 3 but happier than either of them is the one who has not yet been born, because he has not yet seen the evil things that are done under the sun.
4 Next I realized that all effort and achievement stem from one person’s envy of another. This too is futility and feeding on wind.
5 Fools fold their arms together
and eat their own flesh away.
6 Better an armload with tranquillity
than both arms full of effort and feeding on wind.
7 Then I turned my attention to something else under the sun that is pointless: 8 the situation in which a solitary individual without a companion, with neither son nor brother, keeps on working endlessly but never has enough wealth. “For whom” [he should ask], “am I working so hard and denying myself pleasure?” This too is truly pointless, a sorry business.
9 Two are better than one, in that their cooperative efforts yield this advantage: 10 if one of them falls, the other will help his partner up — woe to him who is alone when he falls and has no one to help him up. 11 Again, if two people sleep together, they keep each other warm; but how can one person be warm by himself? 12 Moreover, an attacker may defeat someone who is alone, but two can resist him; and a three-stranded cord is not easily broken.
13 Better a youth who is poor but wise
than a king who is old but foolish,
no longer willing to listen to advice.
14 True, he rose from prison to be king;
yet, while ruling, he became poor.
15 I observed that all who live and walk under the sun took the side of the youth mentioned first who would rule in place of the king, 16 and that no limit was set for the number of his subjects. Nevertheless, those who come afterwards will not regard him highly. This too is certainly pointless and feeding on wind.
17 (5:1) Watch your step when you go to the house of God. Offering to listen is better than fools offering sacrifices, because they don’t discern whether or not they are doing evil.
5:1 (2) Don’t speak impulsively — don’t be in a hurry
to give voice to your words before God.
For God is in heaven, and you are on earth;
so let your words be few.
2 (3) For nightmares come from worrying too much;
and a fool, when he speaks, chatters too much.
3 (4) If you make a vow to God, don’t delay in discharging it. For God takes no pleasure in fools, so discharge your vow! 4 (5) Better not to make a vow than to make a vow and not discharge it. 5 (6) Don’t let your words make you guilty, and don’t tell the temple official that you made the vow by mistake. Why give God reason to be angry at what you say and destroy what you have accomplished? 6 (7) For [this is what happens when there are too] many dreams, aimless activities and words. Instead, just fear God!
7 (8) If you see the poor oppressed, rights violated and justice perverted in the province, don’t be surprised; for a high official has one higher watching him, and there are others above them. 8 (9) But the greatest advantage to the country is when the king makes himself a servant to the land.
9 (10) The lover of money never has enough money;
the lover of luxury never has enough income.
This too is pointless.
10 (11) When the quantity of goods increases,
so does the number of parasites consuming them;
so the only advantage to the owner is
that he gets to watch them do it.
11 (12) The sleep of a working man is sweet,
whether he eats little or much;
but the overfullness of the rich
won’t let them sleep at all.
12 (13) Here is a gross evil which I have seen under the sun: the owner of wealth hoards it to his own hurt.
13 (14) Due to some misfortune,
the wealth turns to loss;
and then if he has fathered a son,
he has nothing to leave him.
14 (15) Just as he came from his mother’s womb,
so he will go back naked as he came,
and for his efforts he will take nothing
that he can carry away in his hand.
15 (16) This too is a gross evil, that in every respect as he came, so will he go; thus what profit does he have after toiling to earn the wind? 16 (17) All his life he eats in darkness, in frustration, in sickness and in anger.
17 (18) This is what I have seen to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, drink and enjoy the good that results from all his work that he engages in under the sun for all the days of his life that God has given him, for this is his allotted portion. 18 (19) Also, everyone to whom God has given riches and wealth, along with the power to enjoy it, so that he takes his allotted portion and finds pleasure in his work — this is a gift of God; 19 (20) for he will not brood over the fact that his life is short, since God keeps him occupied with what will bring him joy.
6:1 I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on people: 2 the case in which God gives someone riches, wealth and honor, so that he lacks nothing that he wants; but God does not give him the power to enjoy them, and some stranger gets to enjoy them — this is meaningless, evil, sick.
3 Suppose a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that he has a long life, but he fails to enjoy himself; then, even if he were to [live indefinitely and therefore] never be buried, I say that it would be better to be born dead. 4 For the arrival of a stillborn baby is a futile thing, and its departure is in darkness; its name is [forgotten,] covered in darkness; 5 and although it has never seen or known the sun, it is more content than he is, 6 without enjoying himself, even if he were to live a thousand years twice over. Doesn’t everyone go to the same place?
7 The purpose of all toil is to fill the mouth,
yet the appetite is never satisfied.
8 What advantage has the wise over the fool,
or the person with experience, if he is poor?
9 Better what the eyes can see
than meandering desire.
Yet this too is pointless
and feeding on wind.
10 Whatever he is, he was named long ago,
and it is known that he is merely human;
moreover, he cannot defeat
what is mightier than he [death].
11 There are many things that only add to futility,
so how do humans benefit from them?
12 For who knows what is good for someone during life,
during the days of his pointless life spent like a shadow?
Who can tell what will happen under the sun
after a person is gone?
Acts 9:23 Quite some time later, the non-believing Jews gathered together and made plans to kill him; 24 but their plot became known to Sha’ul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to do away with him; 25 but under cover of night, his talmidim took him and let him down over the city wall, lowering him in a large basket.
26 On reaching Yerushalayim, he tried to join the talmidim; but they were all afraid of him — they didn’t believe he was a talmid. 27 However, Bar-Nabba got hold of him and took him to the emissaries. He told them how Sha’ul had seen the Lord while traveling, that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Dammesek Sha’ul had spoken out boldly in the name of Yeshua. 28 So he remained with them and went all over Yerushalayim continuing to speak out boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He talked and debated with the Greek-speaking Jews, but they began making attempts to kill him. 30 When the brothers learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.
31 Then the Messianic community throughout Y’hudah, the Galil and Shomron enjoyed peace and was built up. They lived in the fear of the Lord, with the counsel of the Ruach HaKodesh; and their numbers kept multiplying.
32 As Kefa traveled around the countryside, he came down to the believers in Lud. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas who had lain bedridden for eight years, because he was paralyzed. 34 Kefa said to him, “Aeneas! Yeshua the Messiah is healing you! Get up, and make your bed!” 35 Everyone living in Lud and the Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.
Now in Yafo there was a talmidah named Tavita 36 (which means “gazelle”); she was always doing tzedakah and other good deeds. 37 It happened that just at that time, she took sick and died. After washing her, they laid her in a room upstairs. 38 Lud is near Yafo, and the talmidim had heard that Kefa was there, so they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come to us without delay.” 39 Kefa got up and went with them.
When he arrived, they led him into the upstairs room. All the widows stood by him, sobbing and showing all the dresses and coats Tavita had made them while she was still with them. 40 But Kefa put them all outside, kneeled down and prayed. Then, turning to the body, he said, “Tavita! Get up!” She opened her eyes; and on seeing Kefa, she sat up. 41 He offered her his hand and helped her to her feet; then, calling the believers and the widows, he presented her to them alive. 42 This became known all over Yafo, and many people put their trust in the Lord. 43 Kefa stayed on in Yafo for some time with a man named Shim‘on, a leather-tanner.
-------CHANGE THEIR WORLD. CHANGE YOURS.
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.
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