Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "We Are Waiting for It to Begin" for Wednesday, May 23, 2018
1 Peter 1:3-7 (excerpts) - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is ... kept in heaven for you. ... In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith ... may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.On July 11, 1944, Vilma Grunwald wrote an extraordinary -- a one-of-a-kind -- letter to her husband Dr. Kurt Grunwald.
In part, this is what she said:
"The famous trucks are already here and we are waiting for it to begin. ... You, my only and dearest one, do not blame yourself for what happened, it was our destiny. We did what we could. ... Take care of the little golden boy and don't spoil him too much with your love. Both of you -- stay healthy, my dear ones. I will be thinking of you and Misa. Have a fabulous life, we must board the trucks."
I said the letter was extraordinary and one of a kind. Here's why that's true:
1. John, Vilma's oldest son, had a limp and couldn't pass the tests which would have allowed him to stay with his father and brother. That meant his mother's letter was written just moments before the two boarded trucks which took them to the Auschwitz's gas chambers.
2. Vilma passed her letter to one of the Nazi guards at the camp and asked him to deliver it to her husband. That he did as she requested is remarkable.
3. The tone of the letter is remarkable. Vilma does not curse the government which had destroyed her family and would, in a few moments take her life, along with that of her son. She didn't complain about the injustice of her situation, nor does she throw accusations at her husband for not having tried to escape when they could. Instead of being preoccupied with the negatives, Vilma expresses her love, her support, her encouragement to those members of her family whom she prays will survive. (They did make it through the Holocaust. Dr. Grunwald died in 1967 and their son, Misa, who goes by the name of Frank, lives in Indiana.)
Now I tried to think what I would say to my family if I knew that the rest of my life was going to be defined in hours, or even minutes. I encourage you to do the same. No doubt we would narrow down the scope of our writing. We would divest ourselves of the trivial and concentrate on those things which would be of primary importance.
Looking at what Vilma had written, I believe I would add only one thing: do not let what you are going to see and experience destroy the living hope of salvation that you have in Jesus. His work and sacrifice have given you an inheritance in heaven which cannot be destroyed by even the most evil of men and the most severe of trials.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, the salvation I have been given is the most precious gift I have. In difficult and troubling times, may I hold fast to my Savior. This I ask in Jesus' holy Name. Amen.
The above devotion was inspired by a number of sources, including one written by Kate Seamons for Newser on May 5, 2018. Those who wish to reference that article may do so at the following link, which was fully functional at the time this devotion was written: http://www.newser.com/story/258566/auschwitz-letter-thought-to-be-only-one-of-its-kind.html
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Today's Bible in a Year Reading: Psalms 9, 11; John 8:1-27
Psalms 9:1 (0) For the leader. On the death of Labben. A psalm of David:
2 (1) I give thanks to Adonai with all my heart.
I will tell about all your wonderful deeds.
3 (2) I will be glad and exult in you.
I will sing praise to your name, ‘Elyon.
4 (3) When my enemies turn back,
they stumble and perish before you.
5 (4) For you upheld my cause as just,
sitting on the throne as the righteous judge.
6 (5) You rebuked the nations, destroyed the wicked,
blotted out their name forever and ever.
7 (6) The enemy is finished, in ruins forever;
you destroyed their cities; all memory of them is lost.
8 (7) But Adonai is enthroned forever;
he has set up his throne for judgment.
9 (8) He will judge the world in righteousness;
he will judge the peoples fairly.
10 (9) Adonai is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a tower of strength in times of trouble.
11 (10) Those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you have not abandoned those who seek you, Adonai.
12 (11) Sing praises to Adonai, who lives in Tziyon;
proclaim his deeds among the peoples.
13 (12) For the avenger of blood remembers them,
he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted:
14 (13) “Have mercy on me, Adonai!
See how I suffer from those who hate me;
you raise me from the gates of death,
15 (14) so that I can proclaim all your praises
at the gates of the daughter of Tziyon
and rejoice in this deliverance of yours.”
16 (15) The nations have drowned in the pit they dug,
caught their own feet in the net they hid.
17 (16) Adonai made himself known and executed judgment;
the wicked are ensnared in the work of their own hands. (Higgayon; Selah)
18 (17) The wicked will return to Sh’ol,
all the nations that forget God.
19 (18) For the poor will not always be forgotten
or the hope of the needy perish forever.
20 (19) Arise, Adonai! Don’t let mortals prevail!
Let the nations be judged in your presence.
21 (20) Strike them with terror, Adonai!
Let the nations know they are only human. (Selah)
11:1 (0) For the leader. By David:
(1) In Adonai I find refuge.
So how can you say to me,
“Flee like a bird to the mountains!
2 See how the wicked are drawing their bows
and setting their arrows on the string,
to shoot from the shadows at honest men.
3 If the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?”
4 Adonai is in his holy temple.
Adonai, his throne is in heaven.
His eyes see and test humankind.
5 Adonai tests the righteous;
but he hates the wicked and the lover of violence.
6 He will rain hot coals down on the wicked,
fire, sulfur and scorching wind
will be what they get to drink.
7 For Adonai is righteous;
he loves righteousness;
the upright will see his face.
John 8:1 But Yeshua went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At daybreak, he appeared again in the Temple Court, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The Torah-teachers and the P’rushim brought in a woman who had been caught committing adultery and made her stand in the center of the group. 4 Then they said to him, “Rabbi, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5 Now in our Torah, Moshe commanded that such a woman be stoned to death. What do you say about it?” 6 They said this to trap him, so that they might have ground for bringing charges against him; but Yeshua bent down and began writing in the dust with his finger. 7 When they kept questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “The one of you who is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Then he bent down and wrote in the dust again. 9 On hearing this, they began to leave, one by one, the older ones first, until he was left alone, with the woman still there. 10 Standing up, Yeshua said to her, “Where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, sir.” Yeshua said, “Neither do I condemn you. Now go, and don’t sin any more.”
12 Yeshua spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light which gives life.” 13 So the P’rushim said to him, “Now you’re testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.” 14 Yeshua answered them, “Even if I do testify on my own behalf, my testimony is indeed valid; because I know where I came from and where I’m going; but you do not know where I came from or where I’m going. 15 You judge by merely human standards. As for me, I pass judgment on no one; 16 but if I were indeed to pass judgment, my judgment would be valid; because it is not I alone who judge, but I and the One who sent me. 17 And even in your Torah it is written that the testimony of two people is valid. 18 I myself testify on my own behalf, and so does the Father who sent me.”
19 They said to him, “Where is this ‘father’ of yours?” Yeshua answered, “You know neither me nor my Father; if you knew me, you would know my Father too.” 20 He said these things when he was teaching in the Temple treasury room; yet no one arrested him, because his time had not yet come.
21 Again he told them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin — where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 The Judeans said, “Is he going to commit suicide? Is that what he means when he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 Yeshua said to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 24 This is why I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not trust that I AM [who I say I am], you will die in your sins.”
25 At this, they said to him, “You? Who are you?” Yeshua answered, “Just what I’ve been telling you from the start. 26 There are many things I could say about you, and many judgments I could make. However, the One who sent me is true; so I say in the world only what I have heard from him.” 27 They did not understand that he was talking to them about the Father. (Complete Jewish Bible).
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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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