Dear
Fellow Children of God,
What would you say if Jesus showed
up at your home? Your work? Your school?
Would you be glad to see Him?
Perhaps you might be somewhat frightened to be in the presence of the
holy and almighty Ruler of all. How
would you react if Jesus came personally to you?
It does seem shock was the reaction
of Moses in Exodus 3, when God called to Moses from the burning bush to lead
the people of Israel out of Egypt. Here was Moses’ reply. "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of
Egypt?" (Exodus 3:11) Isaiah, in his book reacted in fear to having
a vision of the throne of God. "Woe to me! . . I am ruined!
For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and
my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." (Isaiah 6:5) When
Peter was confronted with the miraculous catch of fish, he confessed his sin to
Jesus, "Go away
from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" (Luke 5:8) What if Jesus, if God, showed up in your
everyday life?
I ask this question because the
Christian Church is now in the season of “Advent.” We are in a time of waiting and preparation
for Jesus to come to us. We prepare for
the Christmas celebration of when the Son of God himself did come to earth to
live and to die and to rise as our Savior.
Advent is also a season of preparation and awaiting Jesus’ coming again
on the last day to judge the world, and to deliver His people from the pain of
this lifeto eternal life in heaven. But,
that is preparation for the past and for the future. What if Jesus was present right now? What if Jesus
was in your world and in your life today? HOW would you react?
The truth is, while Christians do celebrate the loving
miracle of Jesus’ birth 2000 years ago, and while Christians do prepare for and
await Jesus’ second coming, He IS with us, right now. When Jesus began His ministry, we are told what
He proclaimed and taught at first. "The
time has come, . . . The kingdom of God is near." (Mark 1:15) The Greek word for “is near” in the original
language of the Bible can also be translated “is at hand.” Another appropriate translation of this verse
is “The kingdom of God HAS COME.” With Jesus in our world, God’s
kingdom is not just coming, it is
here right now, because Jesus is here.
Do you remember what Matthew says about the angel’s
message to Joseph before the first Christmas?
“22 All this took place to fulfill
what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 ‘The virgin will be with child
and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’--which means, ‘God with us.’" (Matthew 1:22-23) Jesus is
Immanuel – God WITH us! Or, do you remember what Jesus taught and promised His disciples
as He left the world? “ . . . surely I
am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:20) You see, Jesus really is here with His people right now! He is here by His
Spirit, through His Word, in the water and the bread and wine of the
sacraments. Jesus IS here! So, since Jesus is here, how should we react? Are we afraid of the presence of the holy
Lord of all? Do we ignore Him?
Actually, when Jesus
began His ministry He instructed people on how to respond to His presence. "The time has come, . . . The kingdom of God is near. Repent
and believe the good news!" Repentance and faith are still appropriate reactions for God’s people to
the presence of Jesus in our world and our lives today. Jesus is holy and righteous, without sin, and
we are all sinners who have offended the Lord of the universe. We have not always loved God with our whole
hearts. We have not loved our neighbors
as ourselves. Fear can be crippling, but
repentance is a godly response of faith.
When a person repents, they admit their failings, and seek God’s help to
change their lives. In truth, repentance
is practical. When we act in sinful ways,
we not only sin against God, we fail ourselves.
We are not all God created us to be.
For example, it is not wise to keep driving a car with mechanical
trouble, hoping it will go away. We want
to identify and address the issue. When
we repent, with the help of God, we identify and address the issue of our
failure and our sin.
But,
thankfully, we don’t just respond to the presence of Jesus with repentance, we
also ‘believe the good news.’ We believe the good news that Jesus knew
our sin, and came to this world in love, anyway, to save us. We believe the good news that Jesus lived a
righteous life so that His death could pay for our sins. We believe the good news that Jesus rose from
death and is victorious over our enemies in this world; the enemies of sin, and
Satan, and death. Since Jesus is victorious, we can live as God’s
children in faith, trusting Him to guide us, to forgive us, to save us. We can boldly and courageously proclaim Jesus
and His kingdom in our words and in our actions because, in Jesus, the kingdom
of God is here! Right now! In OUR lives!
So, how would you react
if Jesus
showed up at your home, your work, or your school? Perhaps a better question is “How do you
react, since Jesus is here?” Really,
that is good news. And, Jesus tells us
how to react. “Repent and believe.” How are
you responding?
A Child of God, Responding to the Coming of
Jesus in My Life – TODAY!
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. Kathy and I
celebrated Thanksgiving in Alaska with our family here for the first time in 3
years. It was a joyful gathering. Here are some pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/LVZkhCKGg1dK7HYR7
P.P.S. Since
returning to Alaska, I finally did to fishing.
I went ice fishing with friend, Wayne Mize, on the Kenai Peninsula at
Egumen Lake. Egumen Lake is a
non-stocked / native lake. But I did
catch a nice 14” rainbow trout. Wayne
caught a small fish too. Here are some
pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/f9DmvBca5ovJ8oom6
P.P.P.S. The state
of Alaska is amazingly beautiful, all year round. Both those living in Alaska, and those who
live outside, can and do enjoy God’s created beauty. Here are some pictures I have taken of the Alaskan
Winter since returning. https://photos.app.goo.gl/3C8mEb6oR9BuNBC58
*****
ABOUT THIS DEVOTION - I retired at the end of August 2019
from serving as senior pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Palmer, AK. I was writing a weekly devotion previously
entitled, "Thoughts from the Pastor."
When I retired many asked me to continue writing these devotions. So I have continued writing. However, with life's changes I now call this
weekly devotion "Journeys Through Life as a Child of God." Since I am no longer senior pastor at St.
John, I felt it right to only send this message to those who asked to receive
it. (Though I am now serving again
part-time at St. John as assistant to the pastor.)
So, if you
stopped receiving these devotions and wondered why, now you understand. And, if you are now receiving these devotions
and do not wish to receive them, please let me know, and I’ll gladly remove
your name from my distribution list. My
e-mail address is jonrock53@mtaonline.net.
My prayer
is that these devotions help each of you in your daily walk with our Lord,
Jesus.
*******
Jonathan Rockey
Child of God
Husband, Father, Son, Grandfather
Pastor Emeritus, St. John Lutheran Church
E-Mail: jonrock53@mtaonline.net
“1 John 3:1 How great is the love the
Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that
is what we are!” (1 John 3:1 a)
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