Saint Louis, Missouri, United States -Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour Opinions" Monday, 4 August 2014 For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."(Romans 1:16-17)
It is a rare week when our dinner hour isn't interrupted by
somebody who calls us to ask our opinion. Those questions are diverse. In the last two weeks we have given our opinions on home security systems, our political preferences, and where would we most like to go on vacation. I have tried very hard not to be rude.
Opinions. We all have them.
Name a recent president, and most people will be vocal as they share their opinion about him. We have opinions on the garbage collector, the children's teachers, the preacher in the pulpit, the auto mechanic, the next-door neighbor, and the check-out person at the grocery store. We have our opinions, and we're usually not afraid to say what we think; unless, of course, we believe the individual we're talking about might hear us or a spy might tell on us.
After all, we don't want anybody to talk badly about us.
Almost 500 years ago, Martin Luther said, "It is a common evil plague that every one prefers hearing evil to hearing good of his neighbor; and ... we cannot suffer that any one should say anything bad about us ... everyone would much rather that all the world should speak of him in terms of gold, yet we cannot bear that ... spoken about others." Luther knew. We like to talk about others, don't we?
Now, the rest of this devotion could be an encouragement to "defend our neighbor, speak well of him and put the best construction on everything." Yes, we could do that, but we won't. We have other fish to fry.
Instead, let me ask, have you ever noticed how often people have an opinion of, and are willing to talk about, others? Have you also noticed that many of those people don't have an opinion about Jesus? Almost as bad, if they do have an opinion, they aren't going to talk to others about Him.
Isn't that amazing? How could anybody not be vocal in expressing their opinion on Jesus?
Jesus stands alone. Jesus is absolutely unique. Shakespeare may be brilliant in his writings, but there are others like Homer who would not be embarrassed to stand by his side. Alexander the Great was a genius in battle, but Caesar, Napoleon, Rommel and Patton could command, too.
But Jesus Christ is special. He's one of a kind. More than anyone else, Jesus is the world's exceptional, extraordinary Person. He has changed the way the world thinks, the way humanity lives, and He alone is the way to forgiveness and eternal life.
All of this motivates me to offer this bit of advice: if you must talk of someone, let that someone be the Savior. Let others know how you feel about the Lord who gave His life for yours.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, guard my tongue from saying wrong about others and guide my tongue to proclaim the wonders of Him who has called us out of darkness into the Lord's marvelous light. This I ask in Jesus' 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:
Psalms 123: A Pilgrim Song
1-4 I look to you, heaven-dwelling God,
look up to you for help.
Like servants, alert to their master’s commands,
like a maiden attending her lady,
We’re watching and waiting, holding our breath,
awaiting your word of mercy.
Mercy, God, mercy!
We’ve been kicked around long enough,
Kicked in the teeth by complacent rich men,
kicked when we’re down by arrogant brutes.
A Pilgrim Song of David
124:1-5 If God hadn’t been for us
—all together now, Israel, sing out!—
If God hadn’t been for us
when everyone went against us,
We would have been swallowed alive
by their violent anger,
Swept away by the flood of rage,
drowned in the torrent;
We would have lost our lives
in the wild, raging water.
6 Oh, blessed be God!
He didn’t go off and leave us.
He didn’t abandon us defenseless,
helpless as a rabbit in a pack of snarling dogs.
7 We’ve flown free from their fangs,
free of their traps, free as a bird.
Their grip is broken;
we’re free as a bird in flight.
8 God’s strong name is our help,
the same God who made heaven and earth.
A Pilgrim Song
125:1-5 Those who trust in God
are like Zion Mountain:
Nothing can move it, a rock-solid mountain
you can always depend on.
Mountains encircle Jerusalem,
and God encircles his people—
always has and always will.
The fist of the wicked
will never violate
What is due the righteous,
provoking wrongful violence.
Be good to your good people, God,
to those whose hearts are right!
God will round up the backsliders,
corral them with the incorrigibles.
Peace over Israel!
2 Thessalonians 3: Those Who Are Lazy
1-3 One more thing, friends: Pray for us. Pray that the Master’s Word will simply take off and race through the country to a groundswell of response, just as it did among you. And pray that we’ll be rescued from these scoundrels who are trying to do us in. I’m finding that not all “believers” are believers. But the Master never lets us down. He’ll stick by you and protect you from evil.
4-5 Because of the Master, we have great confidence in you. We know you’re doing everything we told you and will continue doing it. May the Master take you by the hand and lead you along the path of God’s love and Christ’s endurance.
6-9 Our orders—backed up by the Master, Jesus—are to refuse to have anything to do with those among you who are lazy and refuse to work the way we taught you. Don’t permit them to freeload on the rest. We showed you how to pull your weight when we were with you, so get on with it. We didn’t sit around on our hands expecting others to take care of us. In fact, we worked our fingers to the bone, up half the night moonlighting so you wouldn’t be burdened with taking care of us. And it wasn’t because we didn’t have a right to your support; we did. We simply wanted to provide an example of diligence, hoping it would prove contagious.
10-13 Don’t you remember the rule we had when we lived with you? “If you don’t work, you don’t eat.” And now we’re getting reports that a bunch of lazy good-for-nothings are taking advantage of you. This must not be tolerated. We command them to get to work immediately—no excuses, no arguments—and earn their own keep. Friends, don’t slack off in doing your duty.
14-15 If anyone refuses to obey our clear command written in this letter, don’t let him get by with it. Point out such a person and refuse to subsidize his freeloading. Maybe then he’ll think twice. But don’t treat him as an enemy. Sit him down and talk about the problem as someone who cares.
16 May the Master of Peace himself give you the gift of getting along with each other at all times, in all ways. May the Master be truly among you!
17 I, Paul, bid you good-bye in my own handwriting. I do this in all my letters, so examine my signature as proof that the letter is genuine.
18 The incredible grace of our Master, Jesus Christ, be with all of you!
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