Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "The Rest of the Story" for Thursday, April 26, 2018
The rest of the story.
You don't have to be a genius to know, quite often, there is a rest of the story.For example, on May 9, 1957, a 23-year-old pilot, Lieutenant David Steeves, took off from Hamilton Air Force Base near San Francisco. Somewhere between there and his destination he disappeared. A search was made, and neither he nor his Lockheed was found. Eventually, his mother received a death certificate and Steeves' mourners tried to get on with their lives.
But there is a rest of the story: 54 days after he had disappeared, Steeves walked out of the Sierras.
He told of how something had exploded in his cockpit, how he had parachuted to safety. People were glad; at least most of them were. You see, there is a rest of the story.
A nation that was worried about Communism started to wonder. Some suggested Steeves had sold the jet to Russia; others said he had sent it in pieces to Mexico. No charges were ever brought against David Steeves, but he left the military under a cloud. Eventually, Steeves became a commercial pilot, but his free time was spent in the wilderness, looking for his plane. Steeves died in 1965, never having found the wreckage of his jet.
But there's more. There is a rest of the story.
In 1977, 12 years after Steeves had died, some Boy Scouts hiking in King's Canyon found a cockpit cover: a cockpit cover whose number matched Lieutenant David Steeves' lost Lockheed jet.
The rest of the story.
The Bible is filled with stories which should have ended but didn't. The story of Adam and Eve should have ended with them being expelled from the Garden of Eden. The narrative of Moses should have ended with him remaining a shepherd of the Sinai. But there was a rest of the story, and by God's mighty hand, His people were delivered from slavery. The tale of Noah should have ended with the flood; the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego should have concluded with them being toasted in the fiery furnace; and the account of Daniel should have finished in the lions' den.
But in each of these cases, and in many more, there was a rest of the story. By God's hand, and often in a miraculous way, God spared His representatives, and they accomplished a divine purpose; they made a godly witness. God's grace brought about a rest of the story.
As I read through the Gospels, there are so many times when Jesus' story should have ended, when His life -- if it had been a movie -- would have concluded with the words, "The End." Herod tried to kill Him. He could have been murdered by the super-strong Gerasene demoniac or thrown off a cliff by the folks of Nazareth. The Pharisees hatched numerous plots to take His life. No, there should have never been a rest of the story for Jesus.
But there was. It was a story which had Him live a perfect life during which He fulfilled the Law and resisted every temptation. His rest of the story had Him fulfill prophecies and carry our sins to the cross where He died. Jesus' rest of the story even includes how He defeated death with His resurrection.
Yes, Jesus had a rest of the story and because He did, so do we. For all who believe on Him will not perish but have everlasting life.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, because of Jesus, I am living a story of faith that will never end. For my eternity in heaven I give thanks, doing so in the Savior's 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: 1 Samuel 10-12; Luke 19:1-27
1 Samuel 10:1
Then Sh’mu’el took a flask of oil he had prepared and poured it on Sha’ul’s head. He kissed him and said, “Adonai has anointed you to be prince over his inheritance. 2 After you leave me today, you will find two men by Rachel’s Tomb, in the territory of Binyamin at Tzeltzah. They will tell you that the donkeys you were searching for have been found, and that your father has stopped thinking about the donkeys and is anxious over you and asking, ‘What am I to do about my son?’” 3 Go on from there, and you will come to the Oak of Tavor. Three men will meet you there on their way up to God at Beit-El. One of them will be carrying three kids, another three loaves of bread and the third a skin of wine. 4 They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you are to accept from them. 5 After that, you will come to Giv‘ah of God, where the P’lishtim are garrisoned. On arrival at the city there, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place, preceded by lutes, tambourines, flutes and lyres; and they will be prophesying. 6 Then the Spirit of Adonai will fall on you; you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man! 7 When these signs come over you, just do whatever you feel like doing, because God is with you. 8 Then you are to go down ahead of me to Gilgal, and there I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and present sacrifices as peace offerings. Wait there seven days, until I come to you and tell you what to do.”
9 As it happened, as soon as he had turned his back to leave Sh’mu’el, God gave him another heart; and all those signs took place that day. 10 When they arrived at the hill, and there in front of him was a group of prophets, the Spirit of God fell on him and he prophesied along with them. 11 When those who knew him from before saw him there, prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, “What’s happened to Kish’s son? Is Sha’ul a prophet, too?” 12 Someone in the crowd answered, “Must prophets’ fathers be special?” So it became an expression — “Is Sha’ul a prophet, too?”
13 When he had finished prophesying, he arrived at the high place. 14 Sha’ul’s uncle said to him and his servant, “Where did you go?” He answered, “To look for the donkeys. When we saw that they hadn’t been found, we went to Sh’mu’el.” 15 “Tell me, please,” said Sha’ul’s uncle, “what Sh’mu’el said to you.” 16 Sha’ul answered his uncle, “He told us that the donkeys had been found,” but said nothing to him about the matter of his being made king.
17 Sh’mu’el summoned the people to Adonai in Mitzpah. 18 He said to the people of Isra’el, “Here is what Adonai the God of Isra’el says: ‘I brought Isra’el up from Egypt. I rescued you from the power of the Egyptians and from the power of all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’ 19 But today you have rejected your God, who himself saves you from all your disasters and distress. You have said to him, ‘No! Put a king over us!’ So now, present yourselves before Adonai by your tribes and families.” 20 So Sh’mu’el had all the tribes come forward, and the tribe of Binyamin was chosen. 21 He had the tribe of Binyamin come forward by families, and the family of the Matri was chosen, and Sha’ul the son of Kish was chosen. But when they looked for him, he couldn’t be found. 22 They asked Adonai, “Has the man come here?” Adonai answered, “There he is, hiding, in among the equipment.” 23 They ran and brought him from there, and when he stood among the people he was head and shoulders taller than anyone around. 24 Sh’mu’el said to all the people, “Do you see the man Adonai has chosen, that there is no one like him among all the people?” Then all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
25 Sh’mu’el told the people what kinds of rulings should be made in the kingdom, then wrote it on a scroll and set it down before Adonai. After that, he sent all the people away, everyone to his own home. 26 Sha’ul too went home to Giv‘ah, accompanied by warriors whose hearts God had touched. 27 True, there were some scoundrels who said, “How can this man save us?” They showed him no respect and brought him no gift, but he held his peace.
11:1 Then Nachash the ‘Amoni came up and set up camp to fight Yavesh-Gil‘ad. All the men of Yavesh said to Nachash, “If you will make a treaty with us, we will be your subjects.” 2 Nachash the ‘Amoni replied, “I’ll do it on this condition: that all your right eyes be gouged out and thus bring disgrace on all of Isra’el.” 3 The leaders of Yavesh answered him, “Give us seven days’ grace to send messengers throughout Isra’el’s territory; then, if no one will rescue us, we will surrender to you.”
4 The messengers came to Giv‘ah, where Sha’ul lived, and said these words in the hearing of the people; and all the people cried out and wept. 5 As this was going on, Sha’ul came, following the oxen out of the field. Sha’ul asked, “What’s wrong with the people to make them cry like that?” They told him what the men from Yavesh had said. 6 The Spirit of God fell on Sha’ul when he heard this; blazing furiously with anger, 7 he seized a pair of oxen and cut them in pieces; then he sent them throughout the territory of Isra’el with messengers saying, “Anyone who doesn’t come and follow Sha’ul and Sh’mu’el, this is what will be done to his oxen!” The fear of Adonai fell on the people, and they came out with united hearts. 8 He reviewed them in Bezek; there were 300,000 from the people of Isra’el; the men of Y’hudah numbered 30,000. 9 To the messengers that had come they said, “Tell the men of Yavesh-Gil‘ad, ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will have been rescued.’” The messengers returned and told the men of Yavesh; they were overjoyed. 10 Then the men of Yavesh said [to Nachash], “Tomorrow we will surrender to you, and you can do with us whatever you like.”
11 The next day Sha’ul divided the people into three companies. Then they entered the camp of the ‘Amoni during the morning watch and kept attacking until the heat of the day, until those who remained were so scattered that no two of them were left together. 12 The people said to Sh’mu’el, “Who are the men who said, ‘Is Sha’ul to rule over us?’ Hand them over to us, so we can put them to death.” 13 But Sha’ul said, “No one will be put to death today, because today Adonai has rescued Isra’el.”
14 Then Sh’mu’el said to the people, “Come, let’s go to Gilgal and inaugurate the kingship there. 15 So all the people went to Gilgal; and there in Gilgal, before Adonai, they made Sha’ul king. They presented sacrifices as peace offerings before Adonai there, and there Sha’ul and all the people of Isra’el celebrated with great joy.
12:1 Sh’mu’el said to all Isra’el, “Here, I have done everything you asked me to do — I have made a king over you. 2 There is the king, walking ahead of you; but I am old and gray-headed. There are my sons with you, and I have walked at your head from when I was a boy until today. 3 So here I am; now is the time to witness against me before Adonai and before his anointed king. Does any of you think I have taken your ox or donkey, defrauded or oppressed you, or accepted a bribe to deprive you of justice? Tell me, and I will restore it to you.” 4 They answered, “You haven’t defrauded or oppressed us, and you have accepted nothing from anyone.” 5 He said, “Adonai is witness against you, and his anointed king is witness against you today, that you have found nothing in my hands?” They replied, “He is witness.”
6 Sh’mu’el said to the people, “It was Adonai who appointed Moshe and Aharon and who brought your ancestors up from the land of Egypt. 7 Now, hold still; because I am going to enter into judgment with you before Adonai regarding all the righteous acts of Adonai that he did for you and your ancestors.
8 “After Ya‘akov had entered Egypt, your ancestors cried to Adonai; and Adonai sent Moshe and Aharon, who brought your ancestors out of Egypt and had them live here in this place. 9 But they forgot Adonai their God; so he handed them over to Sisra, commander of the army of Hatzor, and to the P’lishtim, and to the king of Mo’av; and they fought against them. 10 But they cried to Adonai and said, ‘We sinned by abandoning Adonai and serving the ba‘alim and ‘ashtarot. But now, if you rescue us from the power of our enemies, we will serve you.’ 11 So Adonai sent Yeruba‘al, B’dan, Yiftach and Sh’mu’el and rescued you from the power of our enemies on every side, and you lived securely. 12 When you saw that Nachash the king of the people of ‘Amon was attacking you, you said to me, “No, we want a king to rule over us” — when Adonai your God was your king. 13 Now, here’s the king you have chosen, the one you asked for. See, Adonai has put a king over you. 14 If you will fear Adonai, serve him, obey what he says and not rebel against Adonai’s orders — if both you and the king ruling you remain followers of Adonai your God — [then things will go well for you.] 15 But if you refuse to obey what Adonai says and rebel against Adonai’s orders, then Adonai will oppress both you and your leaders.
16 “Now therefore, hold still; and see the great deed which Adonai will perform before your very eyes. 17 Now is wheat harvest time, isn’t it? I am going to call on Adonai to send thunder and rain. Then you will understand and see how wicked from Adonai’s viewpoint is the thing you have done in asking for a king.” 18 Sh’mu’el called to Adonai, and Adonai sent thunder and rain that day. Then all the people became very much afraid of Adonai and Sh’mu’el. 19 All the people said to Sh’mu’el, “Pray to Adonai your God for your servants, so that we won’t die; because to all our other sins now we’ve added this evil as well, asking for a king over us.” 20 Sh’mu’el answered the people, “Don’t be afraid. You have indeed done all this evil; yet now, just don’t turn away from following Adonai; but serve Adonai with all your heart. 21 Don’t turn to the side; because then you would go after useless things that can neither help nor rescue, they are so futile. 22 For the sake of his great reputation, Adonai will not abandon his people; because it has pleased Adonai to make you a people for himself. 23 As for me, far be it from me to sin against Adonai by ceasing to pray for you! Rather, I will continue instructing you in the good and right way. 24 Only fear Adonai, and serve him faithfully with all your heart; for think what great things he has done for you! 25 However, if you insist on doing wicked things, you will be swept away — both you and your king!”
Luke 19:1 Yeshua entered Yericho and was passing through, 2 when a man named Zakkai appeared who was a chief tax-collector and a wealthy man. 3 He was trying to see who Yeshua was; but, being short, he couldn’t, because of the crowd. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed a fig tree in order to see him, for Yeshua was about to pass that way. 5 When he came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zakkai! Hurry! Come down, because I have to stay at your house today!” 6 He climbed down as fast as he could and welcomed Yeshua joyfully. 7 Everyone who saw it began muttering, “He has gone to be the house-guest of a sinner.” 8 But Zakkai stood there and said to the Lord, “Here, Lord, I am giving half of all I own to the poor; and if I have cheated anyone, I will pay him back four times as much.” 9 Yeshua said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, inasmuch as this man too is a son of Avraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost.”
11 While they were listening to this, Yeshua went on to tell a parable, because he was near Yerushalayim, and the people supposed that the Kingdom of God was about to appear at any moment. 12 Therefore he said, “A nobleman went to a country far away to have himself crowned king and then return. 13 Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten manim [a maneh is about three months’ wages] and said to them, ‘Do business with this while I’m away.’ 14 But his countrymen hated him, and they sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to rule over us.’
15 “However, he returned, having been made king, and sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, to find out what each one had earned in his business dealings. 16 The first one came in and said, ‘Sir, your maneh has earned ten more manim.’ 17 ‘Excellent!’ he said to him. ‘You are a good servant. Because you have been trustworthy in a small matter, I am putting you in charge of ten towns.’ 18 The second one came and said, ‘Sir, your maneh has earned five more manim; 19 and to this one he said, ‘You be in charge of five towns.’
20 “Then another one came and said, ‘Sir, here is your maneh. I kept it hidden in a piece of cloth, 21 because I was afraid of you — you take out what you didn’t put in, and you harvest what you didn’t plant.’ 22 To him the master said, ‘You wicked servant! I will judge you by your own words! So you knew, did you, that I was a severe man, taking out what I didn’t put in and harvesting what I didn’t plant? 23 Then why didn’t you put my money in the bank? Then, when I returned, I would have gotten it back with interest!’ 24 To those standing by, he said, ‘Take the maneh from him and give it to the one with ten manim.’ 25 They said to him, ‘Sir, he already has ten manim!’ 26 But the master answered, ‘I tell you, everyone who has something will be given more; but from anyone who has nothing, even what he does have will be taken away. 27 However, as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be their king, bring them here and execute them in my presence!’”
(Complete Jewish Bible).
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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