On April 1 and 2 I attended a church meeting
in Portland, Oregon. I flew back on
Saturday afternoon and evening from Portland to Orlando. My plane was scheduled to arrive at 11:59
p.m., after which I would drive 2 hours to our Florida home. There were complications surrounding this
flight. However, we landed in Orlando
early, at 11:36 p.m. But, for many of us on this flight, our luggage did not arrive
with us. I was third in line to make a
claim. The first lady was incensed. She had an important business meeting the
next day, and her materials were in her luggage. She let the agent know what she thought of
the airline, what she thought of him, and what she thought of the shoddy (she
said) service. The agent informed the
woman that her luggage should arrive by 5:00 p.m. the next day. She then
forcefully informed him that, whatever it took, he was to get her important
materials there earlier. As this woman
stormed out of the baggage office, she left the agent with a blank look of
shock on his face.
The next man in line shared that he had paid
extra for priority luggage handling of his luggage. (I’m not sure why he did this.) This man also expected his luggage to be
found. The agent, who had not personally
lost the luggage, shook his head, apologized, and informed the passenger who
had paid extra that his luggage would hopefully arrive by 5:00 p.m. the next
day. This man also left the office sputtering
angry words.
I was the next in line of about 20 more
people. I could tell that the luggage
agent was shell shocked, and that he saw the long line of disappointed people
awaiting him. However, my situation was
different from the other travelers. I
was returning to my FL home. I wanted my
luggage, but I didn’t need what was in my suitcase right away. I gave the man my information and wished him
a good night. I told him that I could be
patient. I saw the relief in his eyes as
he thanked me.
The other passengers had been hurt. They needed the luggage they had brought to
fulfill their plans for their trip, and now their belongings were missing,
damaging their hopes and their plans.
Because these fellow passengers had been hurt, they wanted to return
their pain. So, they took out their
anger and their frustrations on the agent at the luggage counter. However, that is not how God calls His
children to act. In Romans 12 God
inspired Paul to instruct the church, “17 Do not repay anyone evil for
evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18 If it is possible,
as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge,
my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to
avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is
hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this,
you will heap burning coals on his head.’
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:17-21)
As Christians, we are not to seek revenge, nor to return evil for
evil. When we are hurt we are to “overcome evil with good.” It is easy to read this verse, but it is very
hard to do what it says. I saw evidence of
that difficulty on Saturday night – Sunday morning.
How can God expect us to act in a manner that
is so contrary to our natural impulses?
Listen to what Peter wrote. “21 To
this you were called, because Christ
suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 22 "He committed no sin, and no deceit
was found in his mouth." 23 When
they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he
made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins
and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were
like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer
of your souls.” (1 Peter
2:21-25) Instead of retaliating
against those who crucified Him, Jesus prayed for them. (Luke 23:34) 1 Peter 2 teaches that Jesus
trusted Himself to His Father, to our Heavenly Father. And Jesus’ eternal Father raised Him up and
seated Jesus at His right hand in heaven.
Jesus’ death paid for the sin of those murdering Him. Our sin is part of the reason for Jesus’
death. Jesus could have retaliated and
punished us. Instead, Jesus died for
us. Then, His rising from the dead offers
eternal life to all, through faith in Him.
We are not Jesus. Learning not to retaliate is a difficult lesson. Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah, did not
commit any sin. But, we are not so
perfect. My wife will tell you that I
can use help in this area at times. Nevertheless,
because Jesus loved us when it was our sins that helped put him on the cross, because
He paid for our sin and rose to offer us eternal life, we can act
differently. “Do not
be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21)
My luggage did not make it to Orlando with me
on Saturday night. It did not arrive at my
Florida home on Sunday, but I do have other clothes. Neither did my bag arrive at 8:00 a.m. on
Monday, as I was informed that it would.
But, around dark on Monday night, about 2 days later, a courier
delivered my suitcase. I thanked
him. “Do not
be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21)
A Child of God, Seeking Not to Return Evil
for Evil, but to Overcome Evil with Good!
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. Gators, gators, everywhere!
·
Because of traveling
for 4 days, I did not fish very much.
But, I did play 9 rounds of golf in Portland with long-time friend, Pastor Ted Werfelmann, and I did golf with my
brother, Pastor James Rockey, on Monday, April 4. These gators were our companions on the golf course. On the first hole, my ball landed near the
biggest of the gators. I played another
ball. https://photos.app.goo.gl/MkN9q1WMa72dZm1K8
·
Because I was out of
town, I only went fishing once. But, when
I arrived to fish at the Suwannee River, it was high because of recent rains,
and moving more quickly than normal. In
addition, the wind was blowing in the opposite direction as the flow of the
river. It was a tough day to fish. I had one bite, and caught no fish, but did
see more gators. https://photos.app.goo.gl/vjDDkB4CrWyvC34y8
*****
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 3:1a)
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