Dear Fellow Children of God,
Years ago I met regularly with a group of local pastors to
discuss upcoming sermons. I had some
disagreements with a pastor in that group from a different congregation and
different denomination. Often we had
totally different ideas about how Jesus’ Church should act. We had different views on missions, different
views on social issues dealing with God’s stated plan concerning human
sexuality, and different views on how a person is saved. My wife heard my frustration, so at her
suggestion, rather than talk about this
younger pastor, I talked with him. We met for lunch to see if we could come to
some agreement. We discovered that the
root problem seemed to be a different understanding of what Scripture is. I believed, and still believe, that the Bible
is the inspired word of God Himself, and is therefore the authority for what
God’s church is to believe, and the authority for how God’s church is to act. His view was different. He listened to Scripture, but did not
necessarily think it was the Word of God himself, nor that it was authoritative. No wonder we had so many disagreements.
I find that, when I disagree with someone, if we can find
some area where we do agree, a “lowest common denominator,” we can build on
that agreement and possibly find some way we might work together. That is my
hope, and my intended practice. However,
in my devotional readings on Sunday, August 28, the Gospel lesson was from Mark
3. Consider, please, Mark 3:22-26. “22 And the teachers of the law who came down from
Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he
is driving out demons." 23 So Jesus called them and spoke to them in
parables: "How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided
against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against
itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is
divided, he cannot stand; his end has come.”
Did you hear those words of Jesus? Abraham Lincoln heard Jesus and quoted
Him. “24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that
house cannot stand.” Do you worry about God’s church? Does this warning sound familiar in regard to
our country? I wish for agreement in my world and in my church. I also believe that our selfishness and sin will
unfortunately continue to cause division in our world. And, perhaps the individual nature of a
social media world causes more division.
I want to share with you two areas where I suggest we can
all hopefully agree. First, every one of
us have problems. We all have pain. We all
suffer. I believe, and hope you see,
that we can empathize with others who suffer, because we do. Christians believe that all suffering is a
result of the rebellion of the human race against their Creator. Christians are among the rebellious, and have
acted in selfishness, and have sinned. So,
all Christians share with everyone else the reality of suffering and the problems
in our world, problems which we helped to cause.
Secondly, everyone with trouble and suffering can use
help. We cannot overcome these problems
on our own. In truth, we need a savior
for our sin. I believe, we all need
God’s Son, our Savior, Jesus!
I met with the young pastor years later in a different
part of Alaska. We were friendly, and
even fished together. But, we found new
areas where we had large disagreements because of different views on God’s
word. Nevertheless, we were able to
speak with one another. In the midst of
our disagreement we recognized there were some areas of shared values and
shared need. We treated each other in a friendly
manner.
Remember the words of Jesus. “24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that
kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is
divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” Division is deadly. Our shared suffering from sin, and our shared
need for a Savior can form a “lowest common denominator.” I pray that the houses of our churches and
our nation may not fall.
A Child of God, Praying for Agreement Through Christ in
the Midst of Houses Divided,
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. Fishing has
been good recently. Here are some recent
fishing pictures.
·
On Friday, August 26, I took St. John member,
Chris Guimond, fishing. We did well! https://photos.app.goo.gl/o2S3FtARkoyafqxu8
·
On Sunday, August 28, after church and Bible
Class, I took Greg Walaszek and Kym Miller fishing for one last AUGUST
trip. It was a good day. Here are some pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/5iAQh9ysGvsjH2CS9
P.P.S. LUTHERAN HOUR MINISTRIES WILL SPONSOR A
SPECIAL ALASKAN EVENT on Sunday, September 11, at Beautiful Savior Lutheran
Church, 8100 Arctic, in Anchorage.
Here is information on the event and speaker. https://photos.app.goo.gl/gHi6rFJnGXdX5THv8
(I’ve been told to ignore the cost. Anyone can attend. Donations are accepted at the door.)
·
Morning
worship will be held at Beautiful Savior at 10:30 a.m, for those who wish
to attend. Rev. Gregory Seltz, former Lutheran Hour Speaker and current
Executive Director of the Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty in Washington
D.C. will preach
·
Dr. Seltz will then present about the challenges
of our church in Today’s World
o 1:30
p.m. “Christian Confidence When World Views Collide”
o 2:45
p.m. “Set Free to Live Freely”
o 4:15
p.m. “Two Kingdoms – One Mission”
·
5:15 p.m. Dinner
will be held
·
6:30 p.m. WA
AK District Business Meeting with Elections will be held
·
(Gerry Zellar is the LHM representative for St.
John.)
*****
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)
