Dear Fellow Children of
God,
One the greatest gifts I have received in my life is my
heritage of faith and freedom. My
extended family was regular in attendance and leadership in our Lutheran
Christian congregations. Our participation
was not motivated by forced obligation or by guilt. Our involvement flowed from our faith. The Rockey (originally Raake) family believed
that we are created by God. We are saved
by our Lord through Jesus’ life, and death, and resurrection. Living in the love and mercy of our Heavenly
Father, it is natural to want to respond to our Lord’s blessings with thankful
lives of faith.
I also grew up in a country which reflected my
faith. Many of our laws can be traced to
the “Judeo Christian ethic.” Our
founding documents, our culture, and what I learned in school taught a life of
faith and freedom. We were “one nation,
under God, with liberty and justice for all.”
Or, perhaps you remember the Boy Scout “God and Country” award?
Therefore, on the one hand, I am thankful for my heritage
of family, faith, and for a nation which continues to bless me today. However, I am also saddened to see the
headlines in today’s news. I am
concerned about leadership on both sides of the aisle. I am concerned about lawless mobs with
seemingly no sense of personal responsibility.
I am concerned about news I hear concerning the decline in houses of
faith, including the decline in participation for Christian churches. A friend commented to me the other day, “What
kind of world are we leaving for our children and grandchildren?” The answer to that question is troubling.
What kind of behavior would I like to see in our leaders,
in our citizens, in our churches? On
Sunday, February 1, the assigned Old Testament reading was Micah 6:1-8. Verse 8 gives an answer to behavior which our
Lord desires, and behavior which blesses God’s people. “ 8 He has told you, O man,
what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to
love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”
How would our world change if our leaders followed
this guidance from our Creator and Lord: “ . . . to do justice, and
to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”? How would our country
change if people interacted with one another using these principles “ .
. . to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your
God.”? What if the leaders and people of God’s family, in the Christian church,
took this lifestyle seriously “ . . . to do justice, and to love
kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”?
Our world would be a better place!
If people lived in this manner, there would be a positive future for our
children and our grandchildren.
Lutheran Christians believe that God’s law tells us what
we should do. Unfortunately, we
ALL fall short of His law! (Romans 3:23)
We don’t have to look at the world around us to see behavior which
steals the blessings God gives. We only
have to look at our own selfishness, our prejudice, our anger, and our weakness. We know what we should do. Unfortunately, it is our own lack of doing
justice, of loving kindness, and of walking humbly with our God which brings
trouble to our lives and the world around us.
However, there is ONE who did live this way. Scripture teaches that Jesus was just. He lived a life without sin. (Matthew 5:17, Hebrews 4:15, 1 Peter 2:21-23,
1 John 2:1) He called out the sin of the self-righteous. However, Jesus also showed mercy and
kindness to Matthew (Mark 2:14-17), to Zaccaheus, (Luke 19:1-10), to the
woman of the city (Luke 7:36-50), the tax collectors and sinners (Luke 15:1-3),
the woman at the well (John 4), and many others. In fact, Jesus tells us that his mission was
one of mercy and salvation. “God did
not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the
world might be saved through him.” (John 3:17) In addition, Paul best describes Jesus’ humble
attitude and actions in Philippians 2. “
. . . Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not
count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied
himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the
point of death, even death on a cross.”
(Philippians 2:5-8) Jesus lived a just, kind, and humble life. I am thankful that, even if the world does
not know it, Jesus is “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” (Revelation
19:16) He is my King and Lord!
Yet, Jesus is not just an example for our lives. Jesus’ life blesses and saves us. The obedient life, the sacrificial death, and
the victorious resurrection of Jesus offers forgiveness, love, peace, joy,
hope, and eternal life to all who believe in Him. When we follow Jesus, in spite of our past failures,
we want to live justly, kindly, and humbly ourselves.
If we want to make our world a better place, if we desire
to make our churches sources of love and hope, then we watch Jesus, we believe
in Jesus, and we follow Jesus. He is the
one who truly “did and does justice. Jesus is the one who acted mercifully
and loves kindness. Jesus walked
humbly with God.” What a blessing
when we follow Him!
A Child of God, Following Jesus to Live a Life of Acting
Justly, Loving Kindness, and Walking Humbly my Lord!
Pastor Rockey
P.S. I am now in Gainesville, FL, serving as
assistant to Pastor Chris Kollmann at First Lutheran Church.
First Lutheran Activities
·
STEPHEN MINISTRY - We will be restarting
Stephen Ministry soon at First Lutheran. Stephen Ministers are trained
Christian care-givers. A Stephen Minister is not a pastor, and not
a counselor. But they Christians who are trained to bring Jesus
and His love to another Christian person facing a difficult time.
Open Arms
Director, Angie Burr, is a trained leader. We are looking for one or two
more people to go through training to help Angie lead in this ministry.
We do have a 7
people who have committed to train and serve as Stephen Ministers, as Christian
care-givers. We hope to offer training beginning on Thursday, February
12, at 6:00 p.m. for these folks so they can begin serving as Stephen Ministers
at First Lutheran.
THEREFORE, if
you are interested in serving as a Stephen Ministry Leader, or interested in
serving as a Stephen Minister, please contact Angie Burr or contact me (Pastor
Rockey).
·
Pastor Kollman and I are teaching separate
Sunday Bible classes on Sundays.
o Pastor
Kollmann is teaching a Lutheran Hour Ministry Class on “How we Got the
Bible” in the Besalski Fellowship Hall.
o I
am teaching a study of the book of Ephesians in the Schwiebert Library
and Conference room.
· Young
People Activities at FLC
o YOUTH
ACTIVITIES - We held a short meeting in the sanctuary after worship on
Sunday, February 1, with parents and youth. Our first youth activity will
be a bonfire at the Kollmann residence.
(In April we plan to attend the Orange and Blue Game. 😊 ) If
your children are going into 3rd grade, or older, please consider
attending this meeting and participating in these fun activities of
growth.
o ACOLYTE
TRAINING - We will also be offering acolyte training again tentatively on
Saturday, February 21, at 10:30. Now that we have families and children
we want to give these youth an opportunity to grow and serve our Lord.
After the training we will take a trip to the nearby McDonalds! 😊
Other Activities of Faith:
· I
have again started my two year journey with my Lord. On Tuesday, February
3, I read Genesis 47-48, about Joseph.
Feel free to
join me again if you wish. You may also contact me at 907-841-4066 if
you have any questions about these readings. Or send an e-mail question
to jonrock53@mtaonline.net I
have received questions and comments about the readings. It is always
good to consider our Lord’s love and guidance. I will TRY to answer, but some
things only God knows!
P.P.S. Family Fun and Fishing! Since Tuesday,
January 27 we have experienced morning temperatures at or below freezing. That
is duration of cold is unusual for Florida. And, when the water temperature
drops, the bite from fishing slows down. I did not go fishing this last week.
·
I did golf with Rick Armstrong on Thursday and
Friday, January 29 and 30. Here are some
pictures of gators on the course. https://photos.app.goo.gl/FxdFeVNjhiguCTsz6
·
Kathy and I visited with long-time friends,
Pastor Rick and Kris Armstrong January 29-31.
(They introduced us about 50 years ago.)
One thing we did was visit the manatees at Blue Springs State Park. The sign out front said there were 778
manatees in the Spring that day. (Who
counts???) Here are some pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZyCnRsFcpyRr7WDX6
*******
ABOUT THIS DEVOTION - I retired at the end of
August 2019 from serving as full-time 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. (However, I am currently as Assistant to the Pastor for First
Lutheran Church in Gainesville, FL.)
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
Assistant to the Pastor , First Lutheran Church,
Gainesville, FL
Pastor Emeritus, St. John Lutheran Church, Palmer, AK
“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)
