Dear Fellow Children of God,
When
my children were young, when we rode together somewhere in our vehicles, I had a
number of regular messages or sayings I would speak. Some of those regular conversations were just
sort of nonsense, a kind of playing which showed that I was thinking of them
and giving them attention. For example, one
of those conversations went like this. “Are
you ‘a mess?’ No, you’re an ‘A #1 mess-a-rino dino.’” Yup, nonsense.
But,
one of my regular questions to my children was more intentional, where I intended
to teach a faith lesson. That conversation sounded this way. “Is life about being happy?” I listened for the answer and then responded,
“No, life is really about serving God.”
I would also then try to teach that serving God is what truly gives
peace and joy.
There
are many Scripture verses which tell us that our lives are not to revolve
around ourselves, but that God, our Creator and Lord, is the real center of our
lives. Perhaps my favorite such verse
and lesson from Scripture comes from Matthew 20. We are told that Jesus was with His disciples
and they had an argument about who is the greatest. Here is how Jesus responded to them. 25 . . . “You know that the rulers
of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority
over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you
must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave-- 28
just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his
life as a ransom for many."
(Matthew 20:25-28) Jesus’ plan is
that His disciples, His followers, His children, live lives of service to
others. We are not ordered by God to a
life of serving. Instead, God Himself
serves us as Jesus gave His life for us.
Service to God and service of others then should flow naturally from
people who know that Jesus died and rose for them. (See also, Mark 12:30, 1
Corinthians 10:31, 2 Corinthians 5:15, Colossians 3:17, 23, etc.)
I
began thinking these thoughts as I had a conversation on Tuesday with fellow
pastor, Pastor Craig Schultz. We were
discussing how God’s church does ministry.
Obviously, Christians and Christian congregations serve the Lord by
loving and serving others. But, how do
Christians learn to serve? One of the roles of the pastor, or shepherd,
or teacher, is to equip God’s people for service. “11 And he gave the apostles, the
prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip
the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, (Ephesians
4:11-12) But, God doesn’t
call pastors or shepherds to lead square pegs into round holes. Our Lord gifts each of us with talents and with
abilities so that we can serve, for the good His Church, and for the good of
others. “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given
for the common good.” (1 Corinthians
12:7)
Getting
back to the question I asked my children, if life is about living for God and
serving the one who gave His life for us, then What are your gifts? How can you
or how do serve? Where do you perhaps need
to grow? Have you served a long time a
do you need a break, or a Sabbath rest?
How will you then return to service, so that your rest is not simply quitting
on the one who served us and died for us?
July
is the month when Americans celebrate Independence Day. We remember the words of the Declaration of
Independence. “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created
equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Unfortunately,
such pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness, can and often does turn into
selfishness rather than service.
So,
let’s say you and I are riding together in our vehicle and just talking, and I
ask you, “Is life mainly about being happy?”
How would you answer? And, if you
know that life is really about serving the One who gave us life in Creation,
and about serving the One who saved our life through the Sacrifice of His Son, how
are YOU doing in serving Him, and serving others?” That is a question worth pondering.
A
Child of God, Seeking to Live in Joy by SERVING the One Who Served and
Sacrificed Himself for Me!
Pastor
Jonathan
P.S. I am on call for jury duty from July 10 - 22. So I stuck close to home. I especially worked on my yard and garden. Here are some pictures.
·
July
14 garden pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/zN7yfgewhJ8rP8wY9
·
July
16 raspberries and strawberries: https://photos.app.goo.gl/fLDEnPawABGsmo5SA
·
July
18 garden. https://photos.app.goo.gl/zN7yfgewhJ8rP8wY9
P.P.S. I did some fishing. I went fishing twice in canoes with St. John
member, Chris Guimond. Here is a picture
of Chris as we fished on July 14. https://photos.app.goo.gl/vfq3qfaHk2MuHzVs7
*****
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
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)
No comments:
Post a Comment