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).] "Rights or Wrongs" for Tuesday, September 13, 2016
"All things are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be dominated by anything.[1 Corinthians 6:12]
When our children were little, we taught them to respect the flag. When "Old Glory" passed by during a parade, we would rise in respect and put our hands over our hearts. During the National Anthem we actually knew and sang the words. Of course, there were others who did not.
Each of the children, at different times, asked, "Why is that football player talking during the anthem?" And lest I be condemned for picking on the NFL, in the previous sentence you can substitute athletes from almost any professional sports team. Yes, there were those who stood in respect and sang the anthem, but the camera always seemed to linger on the ones who didn't.
It appears things haven't changed much in recent years.
At the Olympics a gold-medal-winning gymnast didn't put her hand over her heart during the Anthem; a pro-football quarterback used the song to make a protest against our nation's unfair practices. Then, a school district in Leon County, Florida, sent home a permission slip which, when signed, allowed parents to excuse their children from the Pledge of Allegiance.
The reaction I get to those stories most often is "What is this country coming to?"
Only occasionally do I hear someone say something like "But when you have free speech, all of these people are within their rights." Even the school district in Florida was merely informing parents that they had the legal right to exempt their children from the Pledge.
Now there are two things that occur to me when I hear those things:
1. Neither our country, nor our churches are perfect. Any organization which is administered by sinners is going to have shortcomings and flaws. On the other hand, we need to take a look at the alternatives. Critics of America should examine those nations where freedom is a concept, but not a reality. Detractors of our churches ought to see the uncertainty of religions where Jesus has not provided forgiveness, peace and heaven.
2. Those self-appointed detractors of country and church ought to hear what St. Paul said to the Corinthian church (see 1 Corinthians 6:12). The apostle told his fellow believers, "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful."
It's true that in all of the cases I've mentioned, people were within their rights. But that doesn't mean that people should exercise those rights.
In country and congregation we need to ask, "If I do this, will I make things better or worse?" Those who want to use their rights need to find an answer to the question, "If I do this, will I be solving an old problem or creating a new one?"
Especially we who are of the family of faith need to remember how our Savior lived. So that we might be rescued from sin, death and devil, Jesus set aside His "rights" and allowed Himself to be crucified. Because of what He has done, we are forgiven and saved.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, may my life as a Christian and as a citizen be centered on honoring the Christ rather than demanding all my own rights all of the time. In Jesus' Name I ask it. 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 7-8; Acts 20:17-38
Isaiah 7:1 During the days of Achaz the son of Yotam, the son of ‘Uziyahu, king of Y’hudah, Retzin the king of Aram and Pekach the son of Remalyah, king of Isra’el, advanced on Yerushalayim to attack it but were unable to conquer it. 2 It was told to the house of David that Aram and Efrayim had become allies. Achaz’s heart began to tremble, as did the hearts of his people, like forest trees shaken by the wind.
3 Then Adonai said to Yesha‘yahu, “Go out now to meet Achaz, you and your son Sh’ar Yashuv, at the end of the aqueduct from the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderers’ Field; 4 and say to him, ‘Take care to stay calm and unafraid; don’t be demoralized by these two smoldering stumps of firewood, by the blazing anger of Retzin and Aram or the son of Remalyah; 5 or because Aram, Efrayim and the son of Remalyah have been plotting against you, thinking, 6 “We will invade Y’hudah, tear it apart, divide it among ourselves and appoint the son of Tav’el as king there.”
7 “‘This is what Adonai Elohim says:
“It won’t occur, it won’t happen.
8 For the head of Aram is Dammesek,
and the head of Dammesek Retzin.
In sixty-five years Efrayim will be broken
and will cease to be a people.
9 The head of Efrayim is Shomron,
and the head of Shomron is the son of Remalyah.
Without firm faith,
you will not be firmly established.”’”
10 Adonai spoke again to Achaz; he said, 11 “Ask Adonai your God to give you a sign. Ask it anywhere, from the depths of Sh’ol to the heights above.” 12 But Achaz answered, “I won’t ask, I won’t test Adonai.”
13 Then [the prophet] said,
“Listen here, house of David!
Is trying people’s patience
such a small thing for you
that you must try the patience
of my God as well?
14 Therefore Adonai himself
will give you people a sign:
the young woman* will become pregnant,
bear a son and name him ‘Immanu El [God is with us].
15 By the time he knows enough
to refuse evil and choose good,
he will [have to] eat
curdled milk and [wild] honey.
16 Yes, before the child knows enough
to refuse evil and choose good,
the land whose two kings you dread
will be left abandoned.
17 Adonai will bring the king of Ashur
on you, your people and your father’s house.
These will be days worse than any you’ve known
since Efrayim broke loose from Y’hudah.”
18 Yes, when that day comes,
Adonai will whistle for the fly
in the farthest streams of the Nile in Egypt
and for the bee in the land of Ashur.
19 They will come and settle, all of them,
in steep vadis and holes in the rocks
and on all thorn bushes and brambles.
20 When that day comes, Adonai will shave —
with a razor hired beyond the [Euphrates] River,
that is, with the king of Ashur —
the head and the hair between the legs,
and get rid of the beard as well.
21 When that day comes, a man will raise
a young cow and two sheep.
22 Will they produce in abundance?
No, he will [have to] eat curdled milk.
Indeed, everyone left in the land
will eat curdled milk and [wild] honey.
23 When that day comes,
wherever there once were a thousand grapevines,
worth a thousand pieces of silver,
there will be only briars and thorns.
24 One will go there [to hunt] with bow and arrow,
because all the land will be briars and thorns.
25 You won’t visit hills once worked with a hoe,
for fear of the briars and thorns;
it will be good only for pasturing cattle
and being trampled down by sheep.
8:1 Adonai said to me, “Take a large tablet, and write on it in easily readable letters; ‘Maher shalal, hash baz [the spoil hurries, the prey speeds along].’” 2 I had it witnessed for me by reliable witnesses — Uriyah the cohen and Z’kharyahu the son of Y’verekhyahu. 3 Then I had sexual relations with my wife; she became pregnant and gave birth to a son; and Adonai said to me, “Name him Maher Shalal Hash Baz; 4 because before the child knows how to cry, ‘Abba!’ and ‘Eema!’, the riches of Dammesek and the spoil of Shomron will be carried off and given to the king of Ashur.” 5 Adonai went on speaking and said more to me:
6 “Since this people has rejected
the gently flowing waters from Shilo’ach
and takes joy in Retzin and the son of Remalyah;
7 now Adonai will bring upon them
the mighty floodwaters of the [Euphrates] River —
that is, the king of Ashur and his power.
It will rise above all its channels
and overflow all its banks.
8 It will sweep through Y’hudah,
flooding everything and passing on.
It will reach even up to the neck,
and its outspread wings
will fill the whole expanse of the land.”
God is with us! [Isaiah 8:8 Hebrew: ‘immanu El]
9 You may make an uproar, peoples;
but you will be shattered.
Listen, all of you from distant lands:
arm yourselves, but you will be shattered;
yes, arm yourselves,
but you will be shattered;
10 devise a plan, but it will come to nothing;
say anything you like, but it won’t happen;
because God is with us [Isaiah 8:10 Hebrew: ‘immanu El].
11 For this is what Adonai said to me, speaking with a strong hand, warning me not to live the way this people does:
12 “Don’t regard as alliance what this people calls alliance,
and don’t fear what they fear or be awestruck by it;
13 but Adonai-Tzva’ot — consecrate him!
Let him be the object of your fear and awe!
14 He is there to be a sanctuary.
But for both the houses of Isra’el
he will be a stone to stumble over,
a rock obstructing their way;
a trap and a snare
for the inhabitants of Yerushalayim.
15 Many of them will stumble and fall,
be broken and trapped and captured.
16 Wrap up this document, and confine its teaching to those I have instructed.”
17 I will wait for Adonai,
who is hiding his face
from the house of Ya‘akov;
yes, I will look for him.
18 Meanwhile, I and the children
whom Adonai has given me
will become for Isra’el
signs and wonders
from Adonai-Tzva’ot
living on Mount Tziyon.
19 So when they tell you to consult
those squeaking, squawking mediums and fortune-tellers;
[you are to answer],
“Shouldn’t a people seek their God?
Must the living ask the dead
20 for teaching and instruction?”
For they will indeed give you
this unenlightened suggestion.
21 Distressed and hungry
they will pass through the land;
and because of their hunger they will grow angry
and curse by their king and by their God.
But whether they look up [to God]
22 or [down] at the earth,
they will see only trouble and darkness,
anguished gloom and pervasive darkness.
23 (9:1) But there will be no more gloom
for those who are now in anguish.
In the past the land of Z’vulun
and the land of Naftali were regarded lightly;
but in the future he will honor the way to the lake,
beyond the Yarden, Galil-of-the-Goyim.
Acts 20:17 But he did send from Miletus to Ephesus, summoning the elders of the Messianic community. 18 When they arrived, he said to them, “You yourselves know how, from the first day I set foot in the province of Asia, I was with you the whole time, 19 serving the Lord with much humility and with tears, in spite of the tests I had to undergo because of the plots of the unbelieving Jews. 20 You know that I held back nothing that could be helpful to you, and that I taught you both in public and from house to house, 21 declaring with utmost seriousness the same message to Jews and Greeks alike: turn from sin to God; and put your trust in our Lord, Yeshua the Messiah.
22 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Yerushalayim. I don’t know what will happen to me there, 23 other than that in every city the Ruach HaKodesh keeps warning me that imprisonment and persecution await me. 24 But I consider my own life of no importance to me whatsoever, as long as I can finish the course ahead of me, the task I received from the Lord Yeshua — to declare in depth the Good News of God’s love and kindness.
25 “Now, listen! I know that none of you people among whom I have gone about proclaiming the Kingdom will ever see me again. 26 Therefore, I testify on this day that I am innocent of the blood of all. 27 For I did not shrink from proclaiming to you the whole plan of God.
28 “Watch out for yourselves, and for all the flock in which the Ruach HaKodesh has placed you as leaders, to shepherd God’s Messianic community, which he won for himself at the cost of his own Son’s blood. 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you; and they won’t spare the flock. 30 Even from among your own number, men will arise and teach perversions of the truth, in order to drag away the talmidim after themselves. 31 So stay alert! Remember that for three years, night and day, with tears in my eyes, I never stopped warning you!
32 “And now I entrust you to the care of the Lord and to the message of his love and kindness, for it can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who have been set apart for God.
33 “I have not wanted for myself anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. 34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine have provided not only for my own needs, but for the needs of my co-workers as well. 35 In everything I have given you an example of how, by working hard like this, you must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Yeshua himself, ‘There is more happiness in giving than in receiving.’”
36 When he had finished speaking, Sha’ul kneeled down with them all and prayed. 37 They were all in tears as they threw their arms around his neck and kissed him farewell. 38 What saddened them the most was his remark that they would never see him again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.
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CHANGE THEIR WORLD. CHANGE YOURS.THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.
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