(The Lord said) "So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from My mouth, you shall give them warning from Me. If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand."[Ezekiel 33:7-8]
I think there are times when it must be hard to be a physician.
It has to be difficult telling parents their young child has cancer and there is nothing medicine or science can do. It must be hard telling the spouse in a long-term relationship their partner has a disease that is slowly going to erase their memories, until the time comes when they will, for that partner, become strangers. It must be trying to share the results of a simple test have produced tragic and life-changing results.
That being said, in my years as a parish pastor, I never saw a physician shrink from sharing the bad news with someone. They may have shared that bad news gently, kindly, in soft tones, and with a gentle voice, but they shared it. They may have waited a bit to find the right time and circumstance, but they were honest when they shared the news that no one wanted to hear.
Once I asked a medical doctor if he ever thought of keeping bad news quiet. He replied, "All the time, but I can't do that. It wouldn't be honest and, more importantly, it wouldn't help my patient prepare for the battle which is to come."
The passage above says the same principle applies to God's watchmen. It is their job to warn, to point to sin, to call for repentance, and offer the forgiveness which comes through Jesus' blood.
At least that's the way it should be.
Unfortunately, there are preachers who prefer to go a different direction.
Case in point: megachurch Pastor Joel Osteen who was asked, "Do you feel you're cheating people by not telling them about the hell part? Or repentance part?"
He replied, "You know, it's not hellfire and brimstone. I want them to come to ... our meetings and be lifted up, to say, 'You know what? I may not be perfect, but I'm moving forward. I'm doing better.' And I think that motivates you to do better." His wife, Victoria agrees. Some time ago she said, "Do good because God wants you to be happy. When you come to church, when you worship Him, you're not doing it for God really. You're doing it for yourself ...."
Well, if we are to measure a pastor's success and faithfulness by money and popularity, Joel and Victoria are doing just fine. Me, I prefer to stand with John and extend the Lord's warnings, His invitations and His promises of redemption. John said it this way: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, send Your Holy Spirit upon the pastors of Your church so they may call people to repentance and the assurance of sins forgiven through the Savior. This I ask in Jesus' Name. Amen.
I think there are times when it must be hard to be a physician.
It has to be difficult telling parents their young child has cancer and there is nothing medicine or science can do. It must be hard telling the spouse in a long-term relationship their partner has a disease that is slowly going to erase their memories, until the time comes when they will, for that partner, become strangers. It must be trying to share the results of a simple test have produced tragic and life-changing results.
That being said, in my years as a parish pastor, I never saw a physician shrink from sharing the bad news with someone. They may have shared that bad news gently, kindly, in soft tones, and with a gentle voice, but they shared it. They may have waited a bit to find the right time and circumstance, but they were honest when they shared the news that no one wanted to hear.
Once I asked a medical doctor if he ever thought of keeping bad news quiet. He replied, "All the time, but I can't do that. It wouldn't be honest and, more importantly, it wouldn't help my patient prepare for the battle which is to come."
The passage above says the same principle applies to God's watchmen. It is their job to warn, to point to sin, to call for repentance, and offer the forgiveness which comes through Jesus' blood.
At least that's the way it should be.
Unfortunately, there are preachers who prefer to go a different direction.
Case in point: megachurch Pastor Joel Osteen who was asked, "Do you feel you're cheating people by not telling them about the hell part? Or repentance part?"
He replied, "You know, it's not hellfire and brimstone. I want them to come to ... our meetings and be lifted up, to say, 'You know what? I may not be perfect, but I'm moving forward. I'm doing better.' And I think that motivates you to do better." His wife, Victoria agrees. Some time ago she said, "Do good because God wants you to be happy. When you come to church, when you worship Him, you're not doing it for God really. You're doing it for yourself ...."
Well, if we are to measure a pastor's success and faithfulness by money and popularity, Joel and Victoria are doing just fine. Me, I prefer to stand with John and extend the Lord's warnings, His invitations and His promises of redemption. John said it this way: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, send Your Holy Spirit upon the pastors of Your church so they may call people to repentance and the assurance of sins forgiven through the Savior. 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:
Joshua 22:1 Then Y’hoshua called the Re’uveni, the Gadi and the half-tribe of M’nasheh, 2 and said to them, “You have done everything Moshe the servant of Adonai ordered you to do and heeded what I said in all the orders I gave you. 3 All this time you have not abandoned your kinsmen but have obeyed your commission, as Adonai your God ordered. 4 Now Adonai your God has given rest to your kinsmen, as he told them he would. So you too, return to your tents in the land which is your possession, which Moshe the servant of Adonai gave you beyond the Yarden. 5 Only take great care to obey the mitzvah and the Torah which Moshe the servant of Adonai gave you — to love Adonai your God, follow all his ways, observe his mitzvot, cling to him, and serve him with all your heart and being.” 6 Then Y’hoshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. 7 (To the one half-tribe of M’nasheh, Moshe had given an inheritance in Bashan; but to the other half, Y’hoshua gave one among their kinsmen on the west side of the Yarden.) When Y’hoshua sent them away to their tents he blessed them, 8 saying, “Return with great riches to your tents — with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron and with great quantities of clothing; share the spoil of your enemies with your kinsmen.”
660 Mason Ridge Center Drive
St. Louis, Missouri 63141, United States
1-800-876-9880
www.lhm.org
---------------------
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read:
Joshua 22:1 Then Y’hoshua called the Re’uveni, the Gadi and the half-tribe of M’nasheh, 2 and said to them, “You have done everything Moshe the servant of Adonai ordered you to do and heeded what I said in all the orders I gave you. 3 All this time you have not abandoned your kinsmen but have obeyed your commission, as Adonai your God ordered. 4 Now Adonai your God has given rest to your kinsmen, as he told them he would. So you too, return to your tents in the land which is your possession, which Moshe the servant of Adonai gave you beyond the Yarden. 5 Only take great care to obey the mitzvah and the Torah which Moshe the servant of Adonai gave you — to love Adonai your God, follow all his ways, observe his mitzvot, cling to him, and serve him with all your heart and being.” 6 Then Y’hoshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. 7 (To the one half-tribe of M’nasheh, Moshe had given an inheritance in Bashan; but to the other half, Y’hoshua gave one among their kinsmen on the west side of the Yarden.) When Y’hoshua sent them away to their tents he blessed them, 8 saying, “Return with great riches to your tents — with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron and with great quantities of clothing; share the spoil of your enemies with your kinsmen.”
9 So the descendants of Re’uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M’nasheh returned; they left the people of Isra’el in Shiloh, in the land of Kena‘an, to go to the land of Gil‘ad, to the land they were to possess and which they already did possess — according to the order of Adonai through Moshe. 10 When the descendants of Re’uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe arrived in the area of the land of Kena‘an near the Yarden, they built an altar there by the Yarden, a large, impressive altar. 11 The people of Isra’el heard of it and said, “Look! The descendants of Re’uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M’nasheh have built an altar by the frontier of the land of Kena‘an, in the area by the Yarden, on the side that belongs to the people of Isra’el.”
12 When the people of Isra’el heard of it, the entire community of Isra’el gathered together in Shiloh to wage war against them. 13 The people of Isra’el sent Pinchas the son of El‘azar the cohen into the land of Gil‘ad to the descendants of Re’uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M’nasheh. 14 With him were ten leaders, one leader of an ancestral clan for each of the tribes of Isra’el; each one was a head of his ancestral clan among the thousands of Isra’el. 15 They came to the descendants of Re’uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M’nasheh in the land of Gil‘ad and spoke with them; they said, 16 “Here is what the whole community of Adonai is saying: ‘What is this treachery that you have committed against the God of Isra’el, turning away today from following Adonai, in that you have built yourselves an altar, thus rebelling today against Adonai? 17 Is the guilt we incurred at P‘or not enough for us? We haven’t cleansed ourselves from it to this day, even though a plague came on the community of Adonai. 18 Is this why you have to turn away today from following Adonai? If you rebel against Adonai today, he will be angry tomorrow with the whole community of Isra’el. 19 If the land you have taken possession of is unclean, then cross back over into the land which belongs to Adonai, where the tabernacle of Adonai is located, and take a possession among us. But don’t rebel against Adonai, and don’t rebel against us, by building yourselves an altar other than the altar of Adonai our God. 20 Didn’t Achan the son of Zerach commit a sin in regard to things set aside for destruction, and God’s anger fell on the whole community of Isra’el? He was not the only one who died for his crime.’”
21 Then the descendants of Re’uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M’nasheh answered the leaders of the thousands of Isra’el: 22 “The Mighty One, God, is Adonai! He knows, and Isra’el will know — if we acted in rebellion or treachery against Adonai, don’t vindicate us today! 23 We haven’t built an altar in order to turn away from following Adonai or to offer on it burnt offerings, grain offerings or sacrifices as peace offerings. If we have, let Adonai himself require us to atone for it. 24 Rather, we did this out of anxiety, because we thought, ‘Sometime in the future, your descendants might say to our descendants, “You don’t have anything to do with Adonai, the God of Isra’el, 25 because Adonai made the Yarden the border between us and you, so you descendants of Re’uven and Gad have no share in Adonai.”’ In this way your descendants could make our descendants stop fearing Adonai. 26 So we said, ‘Let us now make preparations and build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, 27 but as a witness between us and you, and between our generations who will come after us, so that we may perform the service for Adonai in his presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices and peace offerings — so that your descendants will not say to our descendants at some future time, “You have no share in Adonai.”’ 28 For this reason we said, ‘When they accuse us or future generations in this way, we will say, “Look! Here is a replica of the altar of Adonai which our ancestors made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.”’ 29 Far be it from us that we should rebel against Adonai and turn away today from following Adonai by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings or sacrifices other than the altar of Adonai our God which stands in front of his tabernacle!”
30 When Pinchas the cohen and the leaders of the community, the heads of the thousands of Isra’el who were with him, heard what the descendants of Re’uven, the descendants of Gad and the descendants of M’nasheh said, it satisfied them. 31 Pinchas the son of El‘azar the cohen said to the descendants of Re’uven, the descendants of Gad and the descendants of M’nasheh, “Today we know that Adonai is here with us, because you have not committed this treasonous act against Adonai. Now you have saved the people of Isra’el from the anger of Adonai.” 32 So Pinchas the son of El‘azar the cohen and the leaders returned from the descendants of Re’uven and Gad, from the land of Gil‘ad to the land of Kena‘an and the people of Isra’el, bringing word back to them. 33 What they said satisfied the people of Isra’el. The people of Isra’el blessed God and said no more about going to wage war against the descendants of Re’uven and Gad and destroying the land where they lived. 34 The descendants of Re’uven and Gad called the altar “‘Ed [a witness]” between us that Adonai is God.
23:1 A long time afterwards, when Adonai had given Isra’el rest from all their surrounding enemies, and Y’hoshua was old, with age taking its toll, 2 Y’hoshua summoned all Isra’el — their leaders, heads, judges and officials — and said to them, “I am old; age is taking its toll. 3 You have seen everything that Adonai your God has done to all these nations because of you, for it is Adonai your God who has fought on your behalf. 4 Here, I have allotted to you land for inheritance according to your tribes between the Yarden and the Great Sea to the west; it includes the land of the nations I have destroyed and the nations which remain. 5 Adonai your God will thrust them out ahead of you and drive them out of your sight, so that you will possess their land, as Adonai your God told you.
6 “Therefore be very firm about keeping and doing everything written in the book of the Torah of Moshe and not turning aside from it either to the right or to the left. 7 Then you won’t become like those nations remaining among you. Don’t even mention the name of their gods, let alone have people swear by them, serve them or worship them; 8 but cling to Adonai your God, as you have done to this day. 9 This is why Adonai has driven out great, strong nations ahead of you; and it explains why no one has prevailed against you to this day, 10 why one man of you has chased a thousand — it is because Adonai your God has fought on your behalf, as he said to you.
11 “Therefore take great care to love Adonai your God. 12 Otherwise, if you retreat and cling to the remnant of these other nations remaining among you, if you make marriages with them and have children with them and they with you, 13 know for certain that Adonai your God will stop driving out these nations from your sight. Instead, they will become a snare and a trap for you, whipping your sides and pricking your eyes, until you perish from this good land which Adonai your God has given you.
14 “Today I am going the way of all the earth. Therefore consider in all your heart and being that not one of all the good things Adonai your God said concerning you has failed to happen; it has all come to pass; nothing of it has failed. 15 Nevertheless, just as all the good things Adonai your God promised you have come upon you, likewise Adonai will bring upon you all the bad things too, until he has destroyed you from this good land which Adonai your God has given you. 16 When you violate the covenant of Adonai your God, which he ordered you to obey, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then the anger of Adonai will blaze up against you; and you will perish quickly from the good land which he has given you!”
24:1 Y’hoshua gathered all the tribes of Isra’el to Sh’khem; he summoned the leaders, heads, judges and officials of Isra’el; and they presented themselves before God. 2 Y’hoshua said to all the people, “This is what Adonai the God of Isra’el says: ‘In antiquity your ancestors lived on the other side of the [Euphrates] River — Terach the father of Avraham and Nachor — and they served other gods. 3 I took your ancestor Avraham from beyond the River, led him through all the land of Kena‘an, increased his descendants and gave him Yitz’chak. 4 I gave to Yitz’chak Ya‘akov and ‘Esav. To ‘Esav I gave Mount Se‘ir as his possession, but Ya‘akov and his children went down into Egypt. 5 I sent Moshe and Aharon, I inflicted plagues on Egypt in accordance with what I did among them, and afterwards I brought you out. 6 Yes, I brought your fathers out of Egypt: you arrived at the sea, and the Egyptians were pursuing your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the Sea of Suf. 7 But when they cried out to Adonai, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, overwhelmed them with the sea and drowned them. Your eyes saw what I did in Egypt, and then you lived in the desert for a long time. 8 I brought you into the land of the Emori living beyond the Yarden; they fought against you, but I handed them over to you. You took possession of their land, and I destroyed them ahead of you. 9 Then Balak the son of Tzippor, king of Mo’av, rose up and fought against Isra’el. He sent and summoned Bil‘am the son of B‘or to put a curse on you. 10 But I refused to listen to Bil‘am, and he actually blessed you. In this way I rescued you from him. 11 Next you crossed the Yarden and came to Yericho. The men of Yericho fought against you — the Emori, P’rizi, Kena‘ani, Hitti, Girgashi, Hivi and Y’vusi — and I handed them over to you. 12 I sent the hornet ahead of you, driving them out from ahead of you, the two kings of the Emori — it wasn’t by your sword or your bow. 13 Then I gave you a land where you had not worked and cities you had not built, and you live there. You eat fruit from vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’
14 “Therefore fear Adonai, and serve him truly and sincerely. Put away the gods your ancestors served beyond the [Euphrates]River and in Egypt, and serve Adonai! 15 If it seems bad to you to serve Adonai, then choose today whom you are going to serve! Will it be the gods your ancestors served beyond the River? or the gods of the Emori, in whose land you are living? As for me and my household, we will serve Adonai!”
16 The people answered, “Far be it from us that we would abandon Adonai to serve other gods; 17 because it is Adonai our God who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from a life of slavery, and did those great signs before our eyes, and preserved us all along the way we traveled and among all the peoples we passed through; 18 and it was Adonai who drove out from ahead of us all the peoples, the Emori living in the land. Therefore we too will serve Adonai, for he is our God.”
19 Y’hoshua said to the people, “You can’t serve Adonai; because he is a holy God, a jealous God, and he will not forgive your crimes and sins. 20 If you abandon Adonai and serve foreign gods, he will turn, doing you harm and destroying you after he has done you good.”
21 But the people said to Y’hoshua, “No, but we will serve Adonai.”
22 Y’hoshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen Adonai, to serve him.”
They answered, “We are witnesses.”
23 “Now,” Y’hoshua urged, “put away the foreign gods you have among you, and turn your hearts to Adonai, the God of Isra’el.”
24 The people answered Y’hoshua, “We will serve Adonai our God; we will pay attention to what he says.”
25 So Y’hoshua made a covenant with the people that day, laying down for them laws and rulings there in Sh’khem. 26 Y’hoshua wrote these words in the book of the Torah of God. Then he took a big stone and set it up there under the oak next to the sanctuary of Adonai. 27 Y’hoshua said to all the people, “See, this stone will be a witness against us; because it has heard all the words of Adonai which he said to us; therefore it will be a witness against you, in case you deny your God.” 28 Then Y’hoshua sent the people away, every man to his inheritance.
29 After this, Y’hoshua the son of Nun, the servant of Adonai, died; he was 110 years old. 30 They buried him on his property in Timnat-Serach, which is in the hills of Efrayim, north of Mount Ga‘ash.
31 Isra’el served Adonai throughout Y’hoshua’s lifetime and throughout the lifetimes of the leaders who outlived Y’hoshua and had known all the deeds that Adonai had done on behalf of Isra’el.
32 The bones of Yosef, which the people of Isra’el had brought up from Egypt, they buried in Sh’khem, in the parcel of ground which Ya‘akov had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Sh’khem for a hundred pieces of silver; and they became a possession of the descendants of Yosef.
33 Finally, El‘azar the son of Aharon died; and they buried him on the hill belonging to Pinchas his son, which had been given to him in the hills of Efrayim.
Luke 12:1 Meanwhile, as a crowd in the tens of thousands gathered so closely as to trample each other down, Yeshua began to say to his talmidim first, “Guard yourselves from the hametz of the P’rushim, by which I mean their hypocrisy. 2 There is nothing covered up that will not be uncovered, or hidden that will not become known. 3 What you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops.
4 “My friends, I tell you: don’t fear those who kill the body but then have nothing more they can do. 5 I will show you whom to fear: fear him who after killing you has authority to throw you into Gei-Hinnom! Yes, I tell you, this is the one to fear! 6 Aren’t sparrows sold for next to nothing, five for two assarions? And not one of them has been forgotten by God. 7 Why, every hair on your head has been counted! Don’t be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows.
8 “Moreover, I tell you, whoever acknowledges me in the presence of others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge in the presence of God’s angels. 9 But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before God’s angels. 10 Also, everyone who says something against the Son of Man will have it forgiven him; but whoever has blasphemed the Ruach HaKodesh will not be forgiven.
11 “When they bring you before the synagogues and the ruling powers and the authorities, don’t worry about how you will defend yourself or what you will say; 12 because when the time comes, the Ruach HaKodesh will teach you what you need to say.”
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Rabbi, tell my brother to share with me the property we inherited.” 14 But Yeshua answered him, “My friend, who appointed me judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 Then to the people he said, “Be careful to guard against all forms of greed, because even if someone is rich, his life does not consist in what he owns.” 16 And he gave them this illustration: “There was a man whose land was very productive. 17 He debated with himself, ‘What should I do? I haven’t enough room for all my crops.’ 18 Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and I’ll store all my wheat and other goods there. 19 Then I’ll say to myself, “You’re a lucky man! You have a big supply of goods laid up that will last many years. Start taking it easy! Eat! Drink! Enjoy yourself!”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night you will die! And the things you prepared — whose will they be?’ 21 That’s how it is with anyone who stores up wealth for himself without being rich toward God.”
22 To his talmidim Yeshua said, “Because of this I tell you, don’t worry about your life — what you will eat or drink; or about your body — what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. 24 Think about the ravens! They neither plant nor harvest, they have neither storerooms nor barns, yet God feeds them. You are worth much more than the birds! 25 Can any of you by worrying add an hour to his life? 26 If you can’t do a little thing like that, why worry about the rest? 27 Think about the wild irises, and how they grow. They neither work nor spin thread; yet, I tell you, not even Shlomo in all his glory was clothed as beautifully as one of these. 28 If this is how God clothes grass, which is alive in the field today and thrown in the oven tomorrow, how much more will he clothe you! What little trust you have!
29 “In other words, don’t strive after what you will eat and what you will drink — don’t be anxious. 30 For all the pagan nations in the world set their hearts on these things. Your Father knows that you need them too. 31 Rather, seek his Kingdom; and these things will be given to you as well.
The Lutheran Hour660 Mason Ridge Center Drive
St. Louis, Missouri 63141, United States
1-800-876-9880
www.lhm.org
---------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment