Dear Members and Friends of St. John,
This calendar year, 2017, is the 500th
anniversary of the nailing of 95 theses (statements for debate) to a church
door in the university town of Wittenberg, Germany, by a Roman Catholic priest
and professor. This seemingly innocuous
act on October 31, 1517, began a chain of events we know as The Reformation. This cataclysmic movement pointed people back
to God’s grace as the way our Lord saves sinful people through faith in the
life and death and resurrection of Jesus, instead of being saved through their
own good deeds. The Reformation pointed
people to Scripture for truth and authority, and changed the church and political
landscape of the world for all time.
The man responsible for stubbornly standing up for what
he read to be the truth of God’s word is Dr. Martin Luther. (This Luther is not the important 20th
century American civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King. This Dr. Martin Luther lived in eastern Germany
from 1483 to 1546.) Like all of us,
Luther had God given gifts. He also many
personal flaws and struggles.
Luther was prolific.
I have an “American Edition” of “Luther’s Works” on the shelf in my
office. There are 56 volumes in this set. But
the Weimar, or German edition, of Luther’s Works contains 150 volumes! One of the many quotations attributed to Luther
is, “If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write.” Obviously, Luther gave advice based on his
own experience.
Today I would like the busy people of 2017 America, and
Alaska, and God’s Christian people at St. John, to consider another quotation
from Luther. Dr. Luther is attributed with
saying, “I
have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” You may be
shocked. Three hours in prayer? How can
anyone find that much time praying, especially a busy person. But remember, Luther was busy enough to write
150 books which others still consider worthy of reading today. He was busy, but felt a need to start his day
with His Lord in fervent prayer.
I share this Luther saying
with you because I am often busy. On
Tuesday, June 6, I was at the gym with my trainer, Doug. But, on that day I had to stick to my
schedule with him and not go over our allotted time. I had a full calendar following my
workout. He asked about my schedule and
said, “You’re a busy man. I guess summer
is your busy time and winter let’s up.”
I told him that, “Summer is sort of my slack time.” However, my schedule is not slack right now.
I will also share with you
that I also try to follow Luther’s advice on the beginning of my day. No, I can seldom remember praying for 3 hours. But I do begin each day reading God’s Word, reading
some other devotions, and bringing the praise and concern of my heart to my
Lord in prayer. I begin each day in this
way not necessarily because of Luther’s words.
I spend time with my Lord each day because I believe what God tells me
about His Word. Please note the words
below in italics.
- “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard
through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)
- “14 But as for you, continue in what you have
learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you
learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All
Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting
and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly
equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:14-17)
- “For you
have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of
God.” (1 Peter 1:23)
As I prepare for a busy day,
I need faith. I need the assurance of
God’s forgiveness and salvation in my life.
I need teaching and correcting and training. Therefore, prior to beginning my tasks each day,
I let my Lord speak to me and answer the concerns of my heart.
Actually, Luther’s 3 hours of
prayer is not necessarily unheard of.
When I was pastor in Jacksonville, FL, I knew a disabled woman in
another congregation. She told me that because
she could no longer work, she considered prayer to be her vocation. Her goal was to spend the 8 hours of a normal
workday praying for others. Jesus
himself is often found in long periods of prayer throughout the gospels. (e.g. Mark 1:35, Matthew 14:23, Luke 22:39-41, John
17) If the Son of God spent time in
prayer, why would I think that I don’t also need that time?
In this year of the 500th
anniversary of the beginning of The Reformation I encourage you to take a
lesson from Dr. Martin Luther. Begin
your day with the Lord, in His word and in prayer. God will bless and strengthen you for the busy-ness
and important tasks ahead.
A
Child of God, Needing God’s Help to Face a Busy Day,
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. First Fruits –
Here are a few pictures of spinach I harvested on Saturday, June 3. Last year’s spinach went to seed at the end
of the year. Kathy and I have enjoyed a
number of salads with this gift of God we did not plant! https://goo.gl/photos/i2NUj2PfrGyGNVey8
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ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE
PASTOR’ - I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to
all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have. (I am regularly
adding new names of friends and members – in case you are just receiving this
e-mail for the first time.) However, if you do not want to receive this
e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for
this message.
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