Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "Was He Serious?" for Friday, September 22, 2017
Luke 14:25-27 - Now great crowds accompanied Him, and He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple."
Over the years, I've heard a number of Christians say most sincerely, "Oh, if only I could have been there when the Savior walked the earth. I would love to have heard Him preach. I'd give just about anything to have seen some of His miracles. I would, I think, have stayed awake with Him as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. I'm pretty sure I would have shouted for His release when He was unfairly tried. I certainly wouldn't have called out for Pontius Pilate to release the criminal Barabbas." I neither question nor disagree with the sincerity of those words; most of the time I agree.
Still, there are times when I am glad I wasn't there. I'm glad I wasn't there because I don't know exactly what I would have done and how I would have reacted. I'm not entirely sure I would have always understood some of the things Jesus was saying and doing.
Today it's fashionable to think of Jesus as being gentle, kind, mild-mannered, gracious, and loving. Too often we forget that Jesus had another side, a deeper side, a side that is sometimes difficult for many of His followers to understand.
For example, listen carefully to what Jesus said, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple."
Did you hear that? Those words don't sound like something that would come out of the mouth of the Prince of Peace, the Christ who told us to love our enemies.
I know many Christians who try to minimize those words, try to change them, even ignore them. They say, "Oh, Jesus really didn't mean what He said. Not really. Jesus just wanted the folks in the crowd to know that following Him wasn't something to be taken lightly."
Me, I think Jesus was serious.
The disciples thought He was serious. They left their boats, their places of business, their families, and they followed Him. Two-thousand years of martyrs have thought Jesus was serious. History has two millennia filled with Christians who were exiled from community, family, and friends because they loved the Christ.
Are we really ready to tell them that Jesus was just joking? Jesus knew what He was saying. Jesus meant what He was saying. He meant every word that He said to the crowd that day.
He meant it every bit as much as the Heavenly Father meant it when He said, "You shall have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:3). It's a question of priorities and our faith-motivated willingness to follow the Savior who gave up His throne in heaven and His life here on earth -- so we might be forgiven and saved.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, grant that my love for You may reflect the love and commitment the Savior has shown for me in His sacrifice which saves. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
In Christ I remain His servant and yours,
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Today's Bible in a Year Reading: Isaiah 30-31; Romans 2
Isaiah 30:1 “Woe to the rebellious children,” says Adonai.
“They make plans, but the plans are not mine;
they develop alliances, but not from my Spirit,
in order to pile sin upon sin.
2 They go down to Egypt but don’t consult me,
seeking refuge in Pharaoh’s protection,
seeking shelter in Egypt’s shadow.
3 But Pharaoh’s protection will bring you shame,
shelter in Egypt’s shadow will lead to disgrace.
4 Though his princes are at Tzo‘an,
and his envoys have reached Hannes,
5 they all are disappointed
with a people that doesn’t help them,
who give no assistance and no advantage,
only disappointment and disgrace.”
6 A prophecy about the animals in the Negev:
In a land of trouble and anguish,
of lionesses and roaring lions,
of vipers and poisonous flying serpents,
they carry their riches on donkeys’ backs
and their treasures on camels’ humps
to a people who will not help them.
7 For Egypt’s help is worthless, pointless;
so I call her “Arrogance Doing Nothing.”
8 Now go, inscribe it on a tablet,
write it for them in a scroll,
so that on the final day it will be
a witness forever and ever.
9 For this is a rebellious people;
they are lying children,
children who refuse to hear
the Torah of Adonai.
10 They say to the seers, “Do not see!”
to those who have visions, “Do not tell us
the visions you have as they really are;
but flatter us, fabricate illusions!
11 Get out of the way! Leave the path!
Rid us of the Holy One of Isra’el!”
12 Therefore here is what the Holy One of Isra’el says:
“Because you reject this word,
trust in extortion and rely on deceit,
13 this sin will become for you
a crack bulging out high on a wall,
showing signs it is ready to fall;
then suddenly, all at once, it breaks.”
14 He will break it like a clay pot,
ruthlessly shattering it into pieces
so tiny not even a potsherd remains
for taking fire from the fireplace
or scooping water from the cistern.
15 For this is what Adonai Elohim,
the Holy One of Isra’el, says:
“Returning and resting is what will save you;
calmness and confidence will make you strong —
but you want none of this!
16 ‘No!’ you say, ‘We will flee on horseback!’
Therefore you will surely flee.
And, ‘We will ride on swift ones!’
So your pursuers will be swift.
17 A thousand will flee at the threat of one,
you all will flee at the threat of five,
until you are left isolated,
like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,
like a banner on a hill.”
18 Yet Adonai is just waiting to show you favor,
he will have pity on you from on high;
for Adonai is a God of justice;
happy are all who wait for him!
19 People in Tziyon, who live in Yerushalayim,
you will weep no more.
At the sound of your cry, he will show you his grace;
on hearing it, he will answer you.
20 Though Adonai may give you but bread and water,
and not very much of that;
your teacher will no longer hide himself,
but with your own eyes you will see your teacher.
21 With your ears you will hear a word from behind you:
“This is the way; stay on it,
whether you go to the right or the left.”
22 You will treat as unclean your silver-covered idols
and your cast metal images plated with gold;
you will throw them away, like menstrual cloths;
you will say to them, “Get out of here!”
23 Then he will give you rain for the seed
you use to sow your land;
and the food that comes from the ground
will be rich and abundant.
When that day comes, your cattle
will graze in spacious pastures.
24 The oxen and donkeys that work the land
will eat a tasty mixture,
winnowed free of chaff,
spread by pitchfork and shovel.
25 On every high mountain and lofty hill
will be streams and flowing brooks,
on a day of great slaughter,
when the towers fall.
26 Moreover, the light of the moon will be
as bright as the light of the sun;
and the light of the sun will be seven times stronger,
like the light of seven days [in one],
on the day Adonai binds up the wounds of his people
and heals the bruise caused by the blow.
27 Here comes the name of Adonai from afar,
his anger burning, in thick rising smoke.
His lips are full to the brim with fury,
his tongue a consuming fire.
28 His breath is like a racing torrent
that rises up to the neck,
to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction,
and put a bridle in the peoples’ mouths to lead them astray.
29 Your song will be like one that is sung
on a night when a holy feast is kept,
and your hearts will be happy,
as if walking to the sound of the flute,
to the mountain of Adonai,
to the Rock of Isra’el.
30 Adonai will make his glorious voice heard,
and he will reveal his arm descending
with furious anger in a flaming firestorm,
with cloudbursts, tempests and hailstones.
31 For Adonai’s voice will terrify Ashur,
as with his scepter he strikes them down.
32 Every sweep of the punishing rod
that Adonai imposes on him
will be to tambourines and lyres,
as he brandishes his arm against them in battle.
33 For the Tofet fire pit has long been ready,
prepared for the king, made large and deep,
with plenty of wood and blazing with fire;
like a stream of sulfur, Adonai’s breath sets it aflame.
31:1 Woe to those going down to Egypt
expecting help — relying on horses;
trusting in chariots, because they have many,
and in the strength of their cavalrymen —
but not looking to the Holy One of Isra’el,
not consulting Adonai.
2 But he too is wise and can bring disaster,
and he does not take back his words;
he will rise against the house of evildoers
and against the help of those who do wrong.
3 Now the Egyptians are men and not God,
and their horses flesh and not spirit.
So when Adonai stretches out his hand,
both he who helps will stumble,
and he who is helped will fall;
both will perish together.
4 For here is what Adonai says to me:
“As a lion or lion cub growls at its prey
and isn’t frightened away by the shouts
of hordes of shepherds called out against him —
their voices do not upset him —
so likewise Adonai-Tzva’ot will descend
to fight on Mount Tziyon, on its hill.
5 Like hovering birds, Adonai-Tzva’ot
will protect Yerushalayim.
In protecting it, he will rescue it;
in sparing it, he will save it.
6 People of Isra’el! Return to him
to whom you have been so deeply disloyal!
7 For on that day everyone will discard
his idols of silver and idols of gold,
which you made for yourselves
with your own sinful hands.
8 Then Ashur will fall by a sword not of mortals,
a sword, not of humans, will devour him;
he will flee before the sword,
and his young men will be put to forced labor.
9 His rock, out of terror, will pass away,
and his panicked officers will desert the standard.”
So says Adonai, whose fire is in Tziyon,
whose furnace is in Yerushalayim.
Romans 2:1 Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, passing judgment; for when you judge someone else, you are passing judgment against yourself; since you who are judging do the same things he does. 2 We know that God’s judgment lands impartially on those who do such things; 3 do you think that you, a mere man passing judgment on others who do such things, yet doing them yourself, will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or perhaps you despise the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience; because you don’t realize that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to turn from your sins. 5 But by your stubbornness, by your unrepentant heart, you are storing up anger for yourself on the Day of Anger, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed; 6 for he will pay back each one according to his deeds.[Romans 2:6 Psalm 62:13(12), Proverbs 24:12] 7 To those who seek glory, honor and immortality by perseverance in doing good, he will pay back eternal life. 8 But to those who are self-seeking, who disobey the truth and obey evil, he will pay back wrath and anger.
9 Yes, he will pay back misery and anguish to every human being who does evil, to the Jew first, then to the Gentile; 10 but glory and honor and shalom to everyone who keeps doing what is good, to the Jew first, then to the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism. 12 All who have sinned outside the framework of Torah will die outside the framework of Torah; and all who have sinned within the framework of Torah will be judged by Torah. 13 For it is not merely the hearers of Torah whom God considers righteous; rather, it is the doers of what Torah says who will be made righteous in God’s sight. 14 For whenever Gentiles, who have no Torah, do naturally what the Torah requires, then these, even though they don’t have Torah, for themselves are Torah! 15 For their lives show that the conduct the Torah dictates is written in their hearts.[Romans 2:15 Jeremiah 31:32(33)] Their consciences also bear witness to this, for their conflicting thoughts sometimes accuse them and sometimes defend them 16 on a day when God passes judgment on people’s inmost secrets. (According to the Good News as I proclaim it, he does this through the Messiah Yeshua.)
17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rest on Torah and boast about God 18 and know his will and give your approval to what is right, because you have been instructed from the Torah; 19 and if you have persuaded yourself that you are a guide to the blind, a light in the darkness, 20 an instructor for the spiritually unaware and a teacher of children, since in the Torah you have the embodiment of knowledge and truth; 21 then, you who teach others, don’t you teach yourself? Preaching, “Thou shalt not steal,”[Romans 2:21 Exodus 20:13(15), Deuteronomy 5:17(19)] do you steal? 22 Saying, “Thou shalt not commit adultery,”[Romans 2:22 Exodus 20:13(14), Deuteronomy 5:17(18)] do you commit adultery? Detesting idols, do you commit idolatrous acts? 23 You who take such pride in Torah, do you, by disobeying the Torah, dishonor God? — 24 as it says in the Tanakh, “For it is because of you that God’s name is blasphemed by the Goyim.”[Romans 2:24 Isaiah 52:5, Ezekiel 36:20] 25 For circumcision is indeed of value if you do what Torah says. But if you are a transgressor of Torah, your circumcision has become uncircumcision! 26 Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the Torah, won’t his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? 27 Indeed, the man who is physically uncircumcised but obeys the Torah will stand as a judgment on you who have had a b’rit-milah and have Torah written out but violate it! 28 For the real Jew is not merely Jewish outwardly: true circumcision is not only external and physical. 29 On the contrary, the real Jew is one inwardly; and true circumcision is of the heart, spiritual not literal; so that his praise comes not from other people but from God.
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Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
CHANGE THEIR WORLD. CHANGE YOURS.
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.
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CHANGE THEIR WORLD. CHANGE YOURS.
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.
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