Great stories of the Bible: Ruth: Part 6

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Ruth

Joel S. Heckendorf

It’s fun to dream about the future. Where will you live ten years from now? Where will your kids live? Will you be a grandparent?

Perhaps Naomi’s dreams reflected the meaning of her name—“pleasant.” She’d fall in love. Get married. Have sons to take care of her in her old age. Her sons would find some nice Jewish spouses. She’d be a grandma, and they’d live happily ever after.

What was reality? The book of Ruth tells us. Naomi falls in love and marries. She’s blessed with two sons. But then famine forces the family to move to a foreign land. Her husband dies. Her sons marry foreign women. Tragedy strikes again. Both sons die. Naomi is stuck in a foreign country with no husband, no legal heirs, and two daughters-in-law that are not bound to her. She laments, “Don’t call me ‘Pleasant’ anymore. Call me ‘Bitter’ ” (cf. Ruth 1:20).

Fast-forward and you soon learn that our God is not a God of percentages. Against all odds, Naomi’s daughter-in-law, Ruth, accompanies her to Bethlehem and becomes a believer in the true God. Against all odds, a God-fearing Israelite, Boaz, buys Naomi’s land for a generous price. Against all odds, Boaz marries Ruth, and they have a son who would be the legal heir of Naomi’s late husband, assuring that she’d be taken care of in her old age.

When the local ladies saw Naomi bouncing her grandbaby on her lap, they preached a wonderful sermon, “Praise the Lord, Naomi. The Lord has not left you” (cf. Ruth 4:14). When famine drove Naomi to a foreign land, God didn’t say, “I stop at the border.” When Naomi’s husband and sons died, God did not forget her.

That boy on Naomi’s lap was God’s testimony that the Lord never stopped working. That boy would also be God’s promise that he wouldn’t stop working in the future. Twenty-eight generations later, that boy would have a descendant named Jesus.

Naomi’s life is not unique. Look back on your life. We’ve had our famines and our funerals. But God was working, wasn’t he? He worked to help you trust his promises in every setback and tragedy. You may even remember how God seemingly miraculously provided you with a month’s mortgage or next month’s tuition.

So where will you live ten years from now? Where will your kids live? Will you be a grandparent? Whether the picture you imagine ever fully develops, I can’t tell you.

But this I can say with certainty, “The Lord never stops working.”

 

Exploring the Word

1. Tell the story in your own words. Then read the account. Which details did you omit or mistakenly add?

Answers will vary. If studying in a group, split up into smaller groups and see how many different details are included in the exercise. Why do you think some details made every list and other details didn’t make any lists?

2. Why do you think this story is one of the most popular stories included in children’s Bibles?

This story has so many emotional “hooks.” Three widows, a faithful daughter-in-law, a love story, a happy ending. All play into this account’s popularity.

3. Work through the mental exercise described in the article. Think of situations where God never stopped working and turned you from “bitter” to “blessed.”

Answers will vary. Relating our story to Naomi’s story helps us appreciate and trust God’s providence.

4. List as many passages as you can that demonstrate how God continues to work in our lives.

Answers will vary. Examples include Romans 8:28; Jeremiah 29:11; Psalm 50:15; and 1 Corinthians 10:13.

Contributing editor Joel Heckendorf is pastor at Immanuel, Greenville, Wisconsin.

This is the sixth article in a ten-part series on the top ten stories included in children’s Bibles and how they apply to our lives today. Find answers online after May 5.

 

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Author: Joel S. Heckendorf
Volume 103, Number 5
Issue: May 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

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One in Christ: one purpose Part: 3

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Paul reminded the Ephesians that they are saved by grace alone, but he also reminded them—and us—that God puts us here for a purpose.

James R. Huebner

If someone walks up to you on the street and asks, “What’s your purpose in life?” you might be hard pressed to come up with an answer on the spot. But a little review of Ephe-sians chapter 3 will help. In this chapter, Paul zeroes in on three purposes for our life on earth.

GROW CLOSER TO HIM

The apostle experienced the warm and welcoming power of God’s undeserved mercy, his grace. The Lord God had forgiven Paul fully and freely for his bad past and for his future failures. That happened in only one way. Jesus had paid for his failures and covered him with full and complete forgiveness.

God has done that for sinners like us too. He does not count our past or future sins against us. Because Jesus is our substitute we are free from the burden of the consequences of our sin. “In [Christ Jesus] and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence” (Ephesians 3:12). God desires us to draw close to him. That only happens as we use the Holy Spirit’s power tool, the words and promises of Holy Scripture. As we study the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit strengthens us and comforts us. Our faith grows!

The synod’s 2014 Statistical Report indicates that 15 percent of WELS communicants participated in Bible class. Can we do better? Of course. It’s obvious that pastors and congregational leaders will always be striving to encourage more members to participate in some form of Bible study. On this we agree: One purpose for our life on earth is to grow in faith, and that happens only when the Spirit is using his means of grace on our hearts.

If someone walks up to you on the street and asks, “What’s your purpose in life?” one part of your response will be, “God wants me to grow closer to him, and that happens when I dig into and ponder his Holy Word.” That purpose in life is true for all of us.

SHARE THE LOVE OF JESUS

If you are lost in the woods but finally see a path with a few fresh footprints, you will be thinking, Whew! At least there’s someone nearby who can help me. If you follow those tracks and come across all kinds of footprints that go in every direction, you will jump out of your skin with excitement because now you are near civilization and all kinds of people. You are safe!

God’s love for us works like that. There’s so much to chew on, to celebrate, to revel in. When we ponder one aspect of his love, it connects us to another and another, and we can hardly contain ourselves.

That’s what Paul means with the words “unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8 ESV). He had been given God’s love in Christ and was bursting with joy at the depth, width, height, and length of Christ’s love. That love filled him with a powerful desire to give it to others. Good thing God put him to work in ministry. Paul might have exploded if he didn’t have an outlet to share God’s love with others.

The joy of Christ’s love fills all of us with a desire to share it with others. You don’t have to leave your career, sell your worldly goods, and set out on a trek through the barrios of Barcelona or the alleys of Atlanta or the jungles near Jakarta. God has placed us where we are, and there we can share his love. What we do individually as witnesses for Christ is multiplied exponentially when we pool our resources and work together with fellow Christians. Our mission efforts depend on us working together. Christians working together serve as a beacon to cut through the fog of spiritual uncertainty and to guide many more who are headed toward shipwrecking their lives on the reef of unbelief to the safe haven and harbor of God’s own heart. Reports from WELS World Missions always open our eyes to the global opportunities for proclaiming Jesus to the millions who don’t know him and don’t believe in him.

There are other opportunities closer to home. The 2014 Statistical Report indicates that 531 of our 1,269 WELS congregations had zero adult confirmands and another 173 had only one. That’s 55.5 percent of our congregations. Can we get better at our personal witnessing and congregation evangelism efforts? Of course. While it’s obvious that some congregations are located in small towns or rural areas with a population density far less than a city, I believe that in every WELS congregation someone has to know someone (a spouse, a relative, a neighbor, a friend) who needs to hear about Jesus. So, we flee to the cross for forgiveness for our lack of good-news-proclaiming zeal and for encouragement and strength to share the love of Jesus.

If someone walks up to you on the street and asks, “What’s your purpose in life?” one part of your response will be, “God wants me to share his love with you so you can be with him now and forever.” That purpose in life is true for all of us.

WORSHIP AND HONOR OUR SAVIOR

We know that there is no biblical prescription as to when Christians are to gather for worship and what they are to do when they gather. However, over time and many centuries, Christians have developed patterns and language in which God comes to us in Word and sacrament and we go to him with praise, prayers, and gifts. What I find instructive about those patterns is that even the “God comes to us” parts reflect the praise, hymns, and prayers of Scripture. They are not merely acclamations of God’s greatness, majesty, and power but also proclamations of what God did for us. Even those psalms that are considered “praise psalms” (e.g. Psalms 145–150) include language that proclaims why we praise God. Whatever the form or pattern, one thing is clear: Worship is not optional.

The day and time of day are not what makes worship God-pleasing. The style of music and instruments enhances the message but is not what makes worship God-pleasing. Worship is not primarily about what we do. Instead, it is a review and retelling of what God has done for us.

If someone walks up to you on the street and asks, “What’s your purpose in life?” one part of your response will be, “God wants me to worship and honor him every moment of every day and especially when I gather with fellow Christians.” That purpose in life is true for all of us.

No matter how old or young you are, no matter how tall or short you are, no matter the amounts and distribution of melanin pigment in your skin, no matter where you live, we are one in purpose as we grow in faith, proclaim the good news of Jesus’ love, and privately and publicly worship him. No disagreements or dividers here. That’s what it means to be one in Christ.

James Huebner, pastor at Grace, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is the first vice president of WELS.

This is the third article in a four-part series based on the 2015 synod convention essay entitled “One in Christ.”

 

 

 

 

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Author: James R. Huebner
Volume 103, Number 4
Issue: April 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

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Heart to heart: parent conversations: Money management

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Our authors this month are at three very different stages in their parenting journeys. Yet each one offers valuable advice for helping children learn how to manage money in a God-pleasing way. Do you have advice on this important topic? E-mail [email protected] to share your thoughts and experiences.

Have you visited Heart to heart’s website lately? The site offers webcasts and podcasts on each month’s topic, as well as expanded versions of the articles printed in this column. Some months, additional articles are also posted that complement what is shared here. Visit wels.net/ forwardinchrist today.

Nicole Balza

HOW DO WE TEACH KIDS TO MANAGE MONEY IN A GOD-PLEASING WAY?

 

A few years ago, our church offered a Christian financial planning program that focused on helping people get in control of their money. The class changed everything money-related in our marriage (for the better!) and made us much more conscious of what habits we wanted to impart to our children.

We ordered a junior financial planning kit for our daughter, Anna. One of the main points in the junior program is that a weekly allowance is out because then kids learn that they get money for nothing. The program favors a chore/commission approach instead.

We created a chore chart for Anna with age-appropriate chores and associated commissions for each one. If she did the chore that day, she’d get paid; if not, then no money. At the end of the week, we’d tally up how much money she had earned and pay up. She sorted her weekly pay into three pouches. She used one for saving, one for spending, and one for giving. The giving envelope came with us weekly to church for the offering. Any time we went to the store, she could bring her spending money.

We have admittedly fallen away from following this as closely as we did in the beginning. But the principles we learned from that program have endured. I’ll offer the kids chores to do, or I’ll support a lemonade stand in the summer if they ask for spending money. They both love putting money in the offering tray on Sunday mornings, and gathering contributions for the offering has become part of getting ready for church in our house.

My rule for shopping with the kids is if they want something that isn’t on my list, they better have brought their spending money. And if they forgot, then we can bring it next time. This has worked surprisingly well at squashing a lot of the begging that occurs on our shopping expeditions.

I feel like Andy and I have established a fairly good base of teaching our kids to manage their money, but there is still a lot we want them to learn. I want to teach them about budgeting and living within their means; about saving strategically for future and potential emergencies; about credit cards not being the key to freedom I thought they were in college; and about giving generously, using their gifts from God to benefit others.

Kerry Ognenoff and her husband, Andy, have a daughter in second grade and a son in preschool.

 

 

As I sit down to write this article, my oldest son is beginning his final semester of college. Our time of instructing him in our home is nearing an end. I’m pretty sure it was only yesterday that I took his little hand and led him into his kindergarten classroom. On that fall day 16 years ago, and on the many days that followed, it seemed like our years of parenting would stretch on forever. It seemed like there were unlimited days left for teaching opportunities in our home. Now I am facing a bittersweet ending, a closing of a chapter in our parenting lives.

So I have a confession to make. In hindsight, one of those teaching opportunities that my husband, Thad, and I often failed to be intentional about was modeling a God-pleasing attitude toward money and possessions, and better yet—a focus on living out of gratitude for the Lord and all he’s blessed us with. We thank God that, in Christ, he forgives our shortcomings as parents!

Here are some important lessons that Thad and I have learned and are still working to teach in our home regarding our attitude toward money and possessions:

• Everything we have—from the comfortable house we live in to the stray paper clip at the bottom of the junk drawer—is a gift “from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights” (James 1:17). We are simply the blessed and undeserving recipients of these gifts. When we have that attitude, we start to view our possessions as a “privilege,” instead of a “right.”

• We need to show our kids how to give sacrificially to God in response to all our blessings and verbalize why we give. As parents, we must model how to earmark the first portion of our income to support God’s work. It is a very intentional response to our blessings, and it serves others—and becomes more meaningful than just a few coins hastily shoved into the little Sunday school envelope five minutes before the service begins. (And yes, we did this.)

• We need to model how to do an honest day’s work—for which we earn an honest wage. We can’t raise the next generation to do nothing and yet expect something in return. When we have to work hard for something, it carries a higher value.

• Our value is not dependent on how much money we have in the bank or what brand of car we drive. Quite simply, our value is dependent on who we are in Christ. We are redeemed children of God, and nothing on earth is worth more than that.

Is it too late for Thad and me to teach our kids these lessons in our home? No. Although our boys are legally adults, they are still our children. We are still Mom and Dad, and it is still our number one responsibility to instruct them in God’s truth and in how to view our lives—and all we have—as gifts from a loving heavenly Father.

Ann Jahns and her husband, Thad, have three sons, two in college and one in high school.

 

Laughter. Uncontrolled. “The parenting column wants you to write about teaching kids finances?” My wife’s question was punctuated by gasps for air. “Do they know you haven’t written a check in decades?”

When she regained her composure, I meekly asked, “Wife, would you help me write this article?” Thankfully, she agreed. Sharon’s tips are intended to start the conversation about the financial training of children.

MAKE USE OF TEACHABLE MOMENTS

“Can we go out to eat tonight?”

“No, Sweetie, we don’t have money in our budget for that.”

“Can’t we just go to the bank and get some more money?”

Use these teachable moments to talk about

• your spending priorities (“We can’t afford that right now, but we are saving for it”),

• getting the best deal (“Is the better buy at Amazon or eBay?”),

• judging quality in what you buy (“This coat is less expensive, but will that more expensive coat last longer?”), and

• resisting impulse buying (“Why do you suppose stores put candy and snacks next to the checkout?”).

SHOW HOW YOU MANAGE YOUR FINANCES

“What are you doing, Mommy?” my daughter asked when she was in grade school.

“Paying bills, Honey. That check is for your school. This one pays for that new coat we bought you last month. But there are lots of bills I don’t have to write checks for. We pay many of our bills with money that comes right out of our checking account. That’s how we pay to live in this house and how we pay for our car. But do you see that check over there? That’s the first one I write because I want to make sure there is always money for it. That’s our offering to Jesus.”

EXPLAIN HOW YOU HANDLE YOUR FINANACES

• Show them what happens when you scan your church’s QR code to make a donation.

• Walk them through your family budget sheet.

• Let them sit with you as you electronically transfer money between your savings and checking accounts or set up automatic withdrawals. Of course, keep passwords secure.

• When they are in junior high, help them set up a joint checking and savings account with you. Monitor how they manage that responsibility.

• Talk about the percentage of income you give to your church and other charitable organizations. Emphasize how God’s grace prompts you to be as generous as possible.

• When money is tight, remind them that because Jesus is your Savior, your heavenly Father will continue to care for you. Tell them family accounts of God’s providence.

James and Sharon Aderman raised three daughters and are now enjoying their eight grandchildren.

 

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Author: Multiple
Volume 103, Number 4
Issue: April 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

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Time to think

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Andrew C. Schroer

My mom texted me the other day. For most people, this statement is neither shocking nor extraordinary. Millions of mothers text their children every day.

I, however, was shocked. Let’s just say my parents have never been at the vanguard of technology. In fact, I still remember when my father was dragged, kicking and screaming, into the world of e-mail 20 years ago.

“It allows people to respond too quickly,” he complained.

My father made a rule for himself. If he received an emotionally charged e-mail, he would write a response but not send it for 24 hours. Sometimes, after thinking about it, he would edit what he wrote. Other times, he wouldn’t even send the e-mail. His rule was not to respond for 24 hours.

“They can wait,” he told me as I rolled my eyes.

I recently read an article by Alan Jacobs, a professor at Wheaton College, about the demands of social media. In the article he referenced the old Jack Benny radio show. One of Jack Benny’s classic routines featured him being robbed by a mugger. Now, you need to understand that Jack Benny’s character was infamous for his stinginess. In the skit, the mugger pulls out a gun. “Your money or your life,” he demands. Jack Benny stands frozen in silence. “I said, ‘Your money or your life,’” the mugger growls impatiently. “I’m thinking it over,” Jack Benny whines, as the audience roars with laughter.

Jacobs equates the Internet to the mugger. But instead of demanding money, it demands our attention and reaction . . . and it wants them right now. “I’m thinking it over” is not an acceptable answer.

Our world wants, expects, and demands an instantaneous response. The responses are often unmeasured, emotional, or uninformed. I have counseled numerous couples whose problems and arguments have escalated through the heated exchange of text messages.

I recently participated in a Facebook thread in which people immediately disparaged a new church because, in the posted pictures, the sanctuary had no altar or cross. It was later discovered that the pictures were taken before the cross and altar were installed.

The problem is that once words are said, once a post is shared, once you hit send, the damage is done. A wise man once told me that words are like toothpaste. Once it’s out of the tube, you can’t put it back in.

So what’s the answer? Should we never text? Should we never tweet? Should we never post or respond on Facebook? I don’t think that’s the answer. Social media is a part of the world in which we live. It can be a wonderful tool to share and communicate.

In the end, however, my father was right. Wisdom says wait. James put it this way, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” (James 1:19).

If you are texting with someone and the conversation turns emotional or confrontational, type your response, but then wait five minutes, a half hour, or even an hour to hit send. Or better yet, wait until you can speak with the person face to face.

If you have something controversial or provocative you feel you need to share on Facebook or Twitter, make sure you have all the facts first. It won’t hurt to wait a day or two. After some time thinking about it, you may decide it’s not even worth sharing.

As we seek to speak the truth in love, wisdom says wait. It’s okay to say, “I’m thinking it over.” Measure your words. Get all the facts. Take your time.

They can wait.

Contributing editor Andrew Schroer is pastor at Redeemer, Edna, Texas.

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Author: Andrew C. Schroer
Volume 103, Number 4
Issue: April 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

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Hope in a cemetery

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Because Jesus has risen from the dead, death no longer is a dead end.

Steven L. Lange

Margaret. Will. Evelyn. Clarence. These are just some of the names of the people whose graves I have stood over during the 17 years I have been blessed to serve as a pastor.

TEAR-FILLED JOURNEYS

I still can remember every journey to the cemetery. I remember how it was pouring down rain when I accompanied Sharon’s family to the cemetery. I remember what a beautiful spring day it was when I stood with Helen’s family at the cemetery.

I remember the tears. I remember the tears shed over a godly woman who had faithfully served her Savior for decades. I remember the tears shed over a baptized child of God whom God took to himself after only one month of service here on earth. It’s impossible to make these journeys to the cemetery without tears. Even Jesus wept at the tomb of his friend Lazarus.

Yet, what I remember most about these many journeys to the cemetery is not the weather or the tears. What I remember most is that even as we traveled to this place filled with death, we had hope.

JOURNEYS FILLED WITH HOPE

This hope comes, ironically enough, from a tomb. It comes from Jesus’ tomb. As the women made their way to Jesus’ tomb early on that first Easter morning, they did not understand it yet. After all, they were not traveling to Jesus’ tomb to greet their risen Lord. They were going to finish anointing his dead body so that he could remain buried there in peace.

But when they arrived at Jesus’ tomb, they found not his lifeless body but an angel who told them that Jesus was alive. Then, as they ran back to Jerusalem, Jesus himself met them. They saw with their own eyes their risen Savior. They felt with their own hands his resurrected body. The angel at Jesus’ tomb had told them the truth. Jesus truly was alive!

During the next 40 days, as they listened to the risen Jesus explain the Scriptures to them, the women and Jesus’ other disciples began to understand what Jesus’ resurrection meant for them. One of the things it meant was that they had hope. Because Jesus had risen from the dead, death no longer was a dead end for them. No, Jesus’ promise to them was true: “Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19). And when they stood by the graves of their loved ones, they had no need to despair. No, Jesus meant what he said when he told Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die” (John 11:25,26).

This is the hope of all God’s people whenever they must journey to the cemetery. Even in this place of death, we have hope, because Jesus is alive. One day, I will again see Margaret, Will, Evelyn, Clarence, and every other child of God whose graves I have stood next to over the years. And together we will rejoice with all God’s children in that great reunion that Jesus’ resurrection guarantees for us.

This hope does not remove all our tears as we bid farewell to our loved ones. But it does soften the sorrow with expectant joy. For we know that in Christ, our loved ones live even now. For all who live and believe in Jesus never die.

Steven Lange is pastor at Hope, Louisville, Kentucky.

 

 

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Author: Steven L. Lange
Volume 103, Number 4
Issue: April 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

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Our hands, God’s harvest

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Recently I saw a statistic that is both surprising and disturbing. In a presentation on how to reach out to the community with the saving gospel message, the presenter noted that in one recent year 51 percent of the 1,270 WELS congregations had one adult confirmation or less. More than 500 had zero. Those are some sobering and significant numbers.

We know that the mission or health or success of the church is not measured in statistics. Only the Holy Spirit, working through the gospel, converts sinners and brings them into God’s family. We know from Jesus’ parable of the sower that faithful proclamation of the Word does not always bring people to faith. Three of the four places where the seed fell did not produce what we might think of as the “right” results. In fact, sometimes faithful proclamation of the Word repels and hardens people rather than attracting and winning them. A church that is faithful to the Scriptures needs to recognize that such faithfulness sometimes leads people to leave rather than to join.

But statistics, while never an accurate measure of the impact or “success” of the gospel (the gospel always succeeds in doing what God wants it to do), can be a measure or an indication of our own stewardship of the means of grace. In other words, statistics, while never calling into question the power of the Word, can and should lead us to ask, “Am I faithfully using those means that God uses to build his church?”

When we see a church or a synod in apparent decline, we are tempted to conclude that we need to come up with some way to turn that around. With all good intentions, people sometimes look to innovative methods and programs to attract people to the church. Maybe if we offered a less-threatening worship experience, maybe if we find ways to make the church seem more relevant to the everyday lives of people, maybe if we did more research to find what people are really looking for in a church, maybe if we laid it on the consciences of people to become involved in organized evangelism and outreach programs—maybe then the church will grow and the numbers will increase. An entire industry focuses on providing ideas and methods to “make the church grow.” Sad to say, many are attracted to well-packaged programs that appeal to the eye but have little impact on the heart. All too often the programs offer people what they want rather than what they really need.

Faithful stewardship of the means of grace does not focus on statistics and will not look for easy “fixes.” But it should lead us to ask whether or not we are doing all we can to bring the gospel to as many as possible. That can certainly happen through organized programs such as an early childhood education center or a Lutheran elementary school. It can happen as congregations do all they can to interact with visitors and to help guests feel welcome in their worship practices. It can happen when congregations find ways to connect with their communities. Most important, though, it happens when congregations and members find ways to develop relationships with people. Such relationships enable us to communicate, to show genuine personal concern, and to gain the trust of those whom we will invite to learn more about the Savior.

If we are faithful in planting and watering, we know that God will make it grow—as he graciously determines and as he wills.

 

 

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Author: Mark G. Schroeder
Volume 103, Number 4
Issue: April 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

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You haven’t changed a bit!

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John A. Braun

Life takes us on different paths, and sometimes those paths recross after a few years. Then we see the faces and eyes of former friends we respect and care about. After looks of recognition and warm smiles, one or the other says, “You haven’t changed a bit.” We sometimes respond, “Neither have you.” Sometimes those comments cannot stand the test of truth. Instead, it’s wishful thinking or a sincere compliment that comes close to meaning, “It’s so good to see you.”

It’s different than seeing someone daily or even looking at ourselves in the mirror every day. We don’t notice the little changes that take place. The person staring back is the same person who was there yesterday and the day before. But seeing someone after a long absence is different. That person is the same person, but at the same time that person is not the same. Paths lead through time, and time changes us all.

We might hold on to the illusion that we haven’t changed a bit, but, if you want a dose of reality, jar your memory with photos taken a few years ago. I’ve done it. I can do that because it’s been a few years since I was a young father and pastor. Looking at the photos, I become aware that I’ve changed. Go back and look at your own pictures. It doesn’t have to be a long time ago. Just a few years. It’s not an exercise only for senior citizens.

Whether we admit it or not, we don’t think the way we used to either. Life has brought lessons that altered the way we look at things. But the daily, monthly, and annual lessons somehow get mixed into the large pot of our experiences. We taste the new ingredients, but the soup remains pretty much the same.

So we change. We don’t always notice until we try to match our youthful memories with the faces that have grown old over the years. Maybe it’s just that we get too busy with life that we don’t notice the changes. Maybe it’s because we don’t want to admit we are changing and growing older. Maybe it’s a bit of both.

Whether we want to admit it or not, every day is a day closer to the end of our days. The faces we see—our own and those we care about—are all headed in the same direction. We can’t change that stark—and sometimes harsh—reality. Is it possible that we are so busy denying the end of our lives that when we think about it we somehow think life will go on just as it has? We won’t change a bit; we’ll just go on.

Not so, of course. But that’s why Easter is so important. Here on Earth, we change, grow old, and eventually are included in the obituaries. Medical science may cure diseases but cannot cure death. But because of Jesus we have a cure for death. He willingly died to bring us forgiveness and peace with God. But he did not stay dead. He rose and promised that because he lives so will we (John 14:19). That’s our hope, based on the empty tomb and the words of the One who overcame death.

And change. Think about the promise we have about how we will change. We will rise from our graves, and Jesus “by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21).

Then we can say, “You have changed for the better.”

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Author: John A. Braun
Volume 103, Number 4
Issue: April 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

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Confessions of faith: Hughes

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Weighed down by the law, a man discovers true freedom in the gospel.

Julie K. Wietzke

Brandon Hughes is no stranger to religion and different religious teachings.

“What I’ve been used to for 30 years of my life are the drastic highs and lows of the American evangelical experience. I had the worst of everything from Calvinism, Roman Catholicism, mysticism, and the law-based American evangelicalism,” he says.

But through all that, he never found the peace given through the saving message of the gospel. Instead he felt pressure to live a perfect life—something he knew he was incapable of doing.

Then he discovered Lutheranism. “I went to a Lutheran church where they just preach God’s Word and people just live their lives,” he says. “When they speak about the gospel, when they speak about church or the Bible, none of it is forced—it is who they are.”

That gospel message ended his harried search for a way to gain salvation.

He continues, “It’s really wonderful having that peace and being able to rest.”

WEIGHED DOWN BY THE LAW

Hughes was raised as a Southern Baptist in Austin, Tex. “It was very law heavy and performance based,” he says.

He discovered the same heavy emphasis at the popular nondenominational church he started attending when he was in college.

After working a few years in the oil business, he had the opportunity to live overseas in Indonesia. Although he was nervous about how the largest Muslim country in the world was going to react to practicing Christians, he discovered that the city he lived in was open to all types of religious beliefs. He ended up joining a Charismatic church. “I was pretty freaked out the first few times I saw people get hit on the head, fall over, and start doing the flop,” he says. “Without a firm biblical foundation, I had no idea what to think about that. Is this real? Am I a doubting Thomas? Am I not opening myself up to this?”

Hughes says it wasn’t that he was unfamiliar with the Bible—he had read it cover to cover as a teenager. But he said he always was focusing on himself while he read. “Was it Luther who said, ‘If you don’t understand the distinction between law and gospel, the Bible is a closed book’?” he says. “It was very closed to me because I was looking in the Scriptures for myself.”

Not completely happy with his church, Hughes began downloading sermons from popular pastors in the United States. Some were Baptist, and some were Calvinistic. “I would listen to four or five sermons a day,” he says. “I was kind of overdosing in these law-based, performance-based teachings mixed in with the worst of Calvinism and double predestination.”

His failures began to drive him away from the Bible and religion. “I would do well for a while and then I would fall into whatever sin,” he says. “And after repeatedly being faced with my sin, I started doubting my salvation because I didn’t see this gradual improvement in my life. I came to the very difficult conclusion that I was one of the non-elect—I was predestined to hell.”

He says he began to despair. He would read the Bible but would hate what he read. “I was in the process of walking away from Christianity,” he says.

FUELED BY THE GOSPEL

But God had other plans. Though Hughes had never met a Lutheran or been in a Lutheran church before, he—“by the grace of God,” he says—stumbled on a Lutheran podcast about a liberal religious book he had just read. “[The pastor] presented the gospel in all its sweetness, and it’s the first time I can remember in my life hearing the gospel and believing,” says Hughes. “I wasn’t left with something to do. It rocked my world.”

Hughes began downloading Lutheran books and podcasts. He also began reading the Bible again. “Now that I understood law and gospel, it was a completely new book for me,” he says.

While he was thrilled about the new teachings he was discovering, he was also angry and confused because he felt betrayed by pastors and teachers whom he had trusted for years. “All the beliefs that I’ve held in my life—that I had been taught—were crumbling before my eyes.”

He continued reading, buying stacks of Lutheran books when he returned to the United States for his yearly visit. He left the Charismatic church and began holding Bible studies in his home to share his newfound discovery of the gospel with his friends.

His friends noticed the difference in him, and they didn’t like it. After he shared what he had been learning about the gospel, they not only rejected the teachings but also told him he needed to go back to being the person he was before. Hughes began having doubts.

The next time he returned to the United States, he decided to visit a Lutheran church for the first time to make sure he was headed down the right track. “I can’t describe what I felt when I stood among the other believers and sang hymns to God,” he says. “It was a true fellowship with believers—I had never experienced that before.”

Feeling lonely and ostracized by his old friends in Indonesia, Hughes decided it was time to return permanently to the United States. Although he had never heard of WELS, he found Faith, West Newton, Pa., online and began listening to sermons posted on the congregation’s website. He decided to visit.

It was not what he was expecting. “I was still in that evangelical sermon mode and looking for an engaging lecture,” Hughes says. “When I visited the church for the first time I thought a) That was really short and b) That wasn’t exciting.”

He began visiting other denominations closer to where he lived, but he kept finding that old self-help message from his past. He decided to return to Faith, the church that gave him the message of the gospel.

“What I absolutely love—it sounds silly—is that Pastor preaches what the Bible says,”—a practice Hughes wasn’t used to. He says he appreciates it when pastors go through Scripture verse by verse in their sermons instead of using the text as a springboard into popular contemporary issues.

Hughes started taking Bible information class at Faith and was confirmed in 2013.

“The thing that struck me the most is how normal everyone was in church,” he says. “It’s just normal people living normal lives, fueled by the gospel.”

Julie Wietzke is managing editor of Forward in Christ magazine.

 

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Author: Julie K. Wietzke
Volume 103, Number 4
Issue: April 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

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Unexpected love: Part 4

/in ,

Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned to him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord.” And she told them that he had said these things to her. —John 20:10-18

Jesus turns the sorrow and confusion of Mary Magdalene into joy and hope.

Theodore J. Hartwig

Among the best known paintings of Jesus’ resurrection is the one of Mary Magdalene meeting with Jesus at the empty tomb. Mary Magdalene became a popular figure in the Middle Ages. In the gospel of Luke (8:2,3) she is described as having been freed from seven demons and as one of the women who supported Jesus “out of their own means.” Although it is not certain, many adopted the belief that Jesus had rescued her from a flagrantly sinful life. If she could be delivered from evil, then there was hope for even the worst sinners. So she became a popular subject in painting and sculpture. In recent years she again has become a popular subject of attention, this time in such profane productions as Jesus Christ Superstar, The Last Temptation of Jesus, and The Da Vinci Code.

Mary Magdalene was one of the women who stood near the cross during the last hours of Jesus’ life (Matthew 27:55,56). She was with the other women—including Mary the mother of James (the other Mary), Salome, and Joanna—who made their way to the tomb early on Easter morning with their spices to anoint the body of Jesus (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:1-3; Luke 24:1,10).

These accounts of the resurrection include Mary, but John’s account features Mary prominently. The resurrection of Jesus was an astonishing event to the women and to the disciples of Jesus. The eyewitness accounts of that unusual morning reveal the shock and confusion that the Lord’s resurrection caused. We have to compare and combine all the gospel accounts to get the entire picture.

MARY’S IMPORTANT DISCOVERY

John puts Mary Magdalene at the tomb, but this is the second time she has been at the tomb on Easter morning. She had come with the other women when they found that the stone had been rolled away. She might have jumped to the conclusion that the body of Jesus had been stolen, quickly left the other women, and ran to tell Simon Peter and the other disciples: “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” (John 20:2). Peter and John ran to the tomb to verify her news. Mary slowly followed them back to the tomb. It seems she arrived after Peter and John looked inside, saw the grave clothes, and left the tomb.

Mary stood outside the tomb crying. Still thinking the body of Jesus had been snatched during the night, she even took a look inside. She saw the place where the body of Jesus had been. There John tells us were two angels—one at the head and one at the foot where Jesus had been. They asked Mary why she was crying. Mary’s mind was so focused on one thing she couldn’t imagine anything else. She said, “They have taken my Lord away and I don’t know where they have put him” (v. 13). It was not a question but, for her, a statement of fact.

She turned away from the angels inside the tomb before they could offer any different explanation. Then she saw Jesus, but in her tears and anguish she did not recognize him. She assumed he was a gardener, perhaps employed by wealthy Joseph of Arimathea. After all, it was in his new and unused tomb they had laid the dead body of Jesus three days earlier (Matthew 27:57-61). She pleaded, “Tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” A gardener of Joseph might know.

One word from Jesus broke through the fog of her despair: “Mary.” John makes it clear that Jesus said her name the way it was pronounced in their mother tongue (Aramaic)—Miriam. This no doubt had a familiar, informal ring to it. It was the way family and friends would address her. In our setting today, it would be like saying “Annie” instead of “Ann.” His “Miriam” led to immediate recognition from Mary.

Joy. Surprise. Relief. All these things suddenly changed her attitude. She recognized her teacher, Lord, and Savior: “Rabboni.” As John explains in the text, Rabboni is the word for teacher in the Aramaic language—an informal term of respect instead of the more formal Rabbi, my dear teacher.

By trying to clasp Jesus’ knees, Mary assumed that the old teacher-disciple companionship had been restored. But Jesus directed her thought to a different relationship by saying, “Do not hold on to me.” This is one of two key expressions in this story. Jesus is telling Mary that the temporal relationship of the past will be exchanged for a more intimate spiritual relationship in the future. With this new spiritual union Mary would no longer take hold of Jesus outwardly with her hands. Far better, he would be grasped inwardly by faith. He would live in Mary and she in him.

MARY’S IMPORTANT MESSAGE

In the other significant expression of the story, Jesus gave Mary a message to bring to his disciples. Peter and John had been at the empty tomb before Mary arrived, but, in another example of God’s choosing the unexpected, a woman would be one of the first heralds of the resurrection.

In Mary’s message to the disciples, Jesus called them “my brothers.” Thereby he assured them that the old teacher-pupil relationship had been replaced by a new more closely-knit brother relationship. They had sat for three years at the feet of the Master Teacher. But now they would be personal witnesses of his resurrected body. They would receive the fullness of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The years of their preparation were finished. As Jesus’ brothers they would be fully qualified to serve as the foundation of the New Testament church, “with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20). All of this is embraced in the new name of brothers which Jesus gave his disciples. And as beneficiaries of this new relationship, they were assured that their Lord and Master would always be with them in their exalted ministry, even to the end of the world.

Theodore Hartwig, professor emeritus at Martin Luther College, New Ulm, Minnesota, is a member at St. John, New Ulm.

This is the final article in a four-part series on the gems of John.

 

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Author: Theodore J. Hartwig
Volume 103, Number 4
Issue: April 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

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Lean on God

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Instead of questioning God’s will when tough times hit, we need to turn all things over to the One who already has won heaven for us.

Christine Rindfleisch

If you watch children out on a playground, you may hear one of them shout, “It’s not fair.” If you were to listen in on a family squabble between two siblings fighting over who got the bigger piece of pie, you may hear the words again.

Unfortunately, this immature behavior follows us into our adult years. The will of God is difficult for us to understand. Why does he seem so unfair? We are unable to comprehend the ways of an infinite God with our finite minds. So how do Christians submit to the will of God when our sinful natures tell us, “It’s not fair”?

Fair means to be just, equitable, or honest. No one is capable of perfectly following through with these qualities because our sinful natures get in the way. Sin has infected us, and all our seemingly righteous acts are corrupt. We fall into the trap of believing that we have control over the outcomes in our lives based on what we do. Life seems fair when that happens. But when life seems to be dishing out unfair treatment, we are quick to point fingers. When the life-altering challenges happen, we ask God why he would allow such things to happen.

When we question the will of God, we are reverting back to our childish behavior on the playground and basically telling God that we think he is not fair. But who are we to question a perfectly just God? God did not promise that life would be fair according to our idea of equality. However, God did promise that he will always be there in times of trouble.

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

My husband and I recently had a lesson of our own regarding control. This past June, we heard the news that no one wants to hear: “Sir, I’m sorry to tell you, but you have cancer.”

Oh, the emotions and questions that flashed through our minds. How bad is it? Is chemotherapy necessary? How will we pay for this? How do we tell the kids? What did I do to get this disease? What didn’t I do that I got this disease? How many tumors? Did it metastasize? Is it curable?

Then came the question, “God, why is this happening to us?” Notice what happened. We initially thought about all of the things we could do to gain control of the situation. Once we realized that we did not have control, we questioned God. It seemed that God became the problem when we lost control.

We soon realized that we needed to push all of these earthly worries aside; all that we truly needed was God. He is the one in control and has promised to work all things for the good of those who love him, according to his purpose.

Cancer taught us that we have a long road ahead, but we are confident in God’s plan for us. We have been blessed beyond measure in so many ways. God’s providence became apparent in the people and circumstances that God prepared to help us handle this terrible time in our lives. We are able to look beyond the cancer and see what God has set in place for us. People who are able to help. Self-sufficient children. Short-term disability at work. Skilled doctors. Summers off from teaching. Family that lives nearby.

God provides and continues to bless his people. “Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me” (Psalm 50:15). “Deliver us” does not necessarily mean that my husband will be cured, but God already delivered us from sin and eternal death. The more we focus on heavenly things, the easier it becomes to put our trust and hope in Jesus and turn all things over to him. We find peace and confidence in knowing that although we are in the midst of a battle on earth, Christ has won the ultimate battle for us. That’s what matters.

GOD’S LOVE IS UNCONDITIONAL

Do I think a cancer diagnosis isn’t fair? Not really. I’ll tell you what’s not fair. We have a God that loves us unconditionally. He chases after us even though we continually turn our backs on him. When we don’t get our way, we doubt his will for us. We deny him when we are pressed by unbelievers. And yet he still loves us.

Do you know what else is not fair? The fact that Jesus died for every single one of our sins although he lived a perfect life and did not deserve the punishment. It’s just not fair that he should take our punishment for us.

I always thought that testing faith meant that God allows something to happen to us so that he can see if we will remain faithful. It took a crisis for me to see that God allows things to happen to us so we have the opportunity to test our own faith. He knows if the life events will make us or break us well before the situation happens. We have the option to turn to God when we are in trouble or turn away from him. I do have many times when I feel distraught over the thought of living this life without my husband or envisioning my children living without their father. But as hard and painful as it is, I am sure that God will get us through any situation. His will is for us to come to him. He is always there, waiting, with his arms wide open.

What good can come from cancer? It drew my husband and me closer to God and closer to each other. It made us see all of the earthly blessings that we took for granted because we were too busy wishing for more. Knowing that we do not have control over cancer showed us that God is in control and his ways are best.

On the day of the first appointment with the oncologist, we brought God with us as we began this new journey. We pulled into the parking garage, turned off the engine, held hands, and read our wedding verse: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7). We entered that office knowing that the two of us did not have to go through this alone. We trust in God’s promise that he will never leave us or forsake us.

During our darkest times, when we thought we couldn’t handle it anymore, we have learned to lean on God. He is the only one who can calm our fears, give us strength, and fill us with his peace.

Christine Rindfleisch is a teacher and a member at St. John, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.

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Author: Christine Rindfleisch
Volume 103, Number 4
Issue: April 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

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Teen Talk: Never hold back

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Let your light shine even when someone is trying to dim it.

Krystal Taylor

I was having a relatively good day. Work was going fine. We were not busy, but we were also not completely dead. I thought the day was just going to be like any other day: help customers, eat some ice cream, and chat with my coworkers for a bit. That is until my coworkers, who are both 17, started talking about their sex lives.

Now, I don’t want to judge what people talk about, but I was getting very uncomfortable, so I asked if we could talk about something else. I thought they would let it go and move on, but one of them turned on me and said, “That’s right. You’re a Christian. You don’t know anything. Get real.”

I was honestly blown away. All I could utter was “Yes, I am,” but nothing else came out.

Has something like this ever happened to you? You are just going about life, and it seems for no apparent reason you are being judged for what you believe and you don’t know how to handle the situation. Sure, people get judged all the time for what they wear or how they look, but this is deeper than just style choices. This is something that many of us are not used to and have never truly thought of what to do if it ever did happen.

As children, many of us went to church regularly, and even though sometimes we did not quite understand what was being preached, we knew that Jesus was our Savior. We—myself included—never thought of what it would be like to be called out for our faith. We knew that not everyone agreed with what we believe and might openly confront us about it. It just never hit home that it really could happen.

That type of situation may not seem like a good thing, but in reality it is a blessing from God himself. This is a chance to bring another person closer to Jesus. “Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:12).

When facing a situation like this, never forget that Jesus went through the same exact thing, along with his disciples. Jesus was certainly not accepted by all, and he still isn’t. Yet he always kept his head high. He continued on and tried to help all who confronted him—and all others too. Some of the disciples were stoned and put to death, yet they stuck to God and are now enjoying paradise with him.

God is always with us and will never forsake us. I now know what I should have done in that situation: Speak up and proclaim what I believe. We need to be bold in what we say and do and not think of it as a task that hurts but as an opportunity to open someone’s eyes. “However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name” (1 Peter 4:16).

Krystal Taylor, a junior at Lakeside Lutheran High School, Lake Mills, Wisconsin, is a member at St. John,Jefferson, Wisconsin.

A new resource for teens is now available on the WELS website. These weekly teen devotions offer God’s guidance for the unique situations teens face. Check out the devotions at wels.net/transformed.

 

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Author: Krystal Taylor
Volume 103, Number 4
Issue: April 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

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Light for our path: Religion vs. Relationship?

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“I don’t want a religion; I want a relationship.” I have seen this quote quite a bit lately. Is there any risk in me using it?

James F. Pope

There is always some risk in being misunderstood when we use language and phrases that might be used in ways different from our intention.

 

IS RELIGION A BAD THING?

From the sound of it, the quote seems to say that religion is bad. Is it?

Dictionary.com offers several definitions of religion including “something one believes in and follows devotedly,” “a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects,” and “the practice of religious beliefs; ritual observance of faith.” There is nothing bad about religion from those definitions unless a person does not want to be locked into a “set of beliefs and practices” or has an objection to certain worship practices.

And that is precisely what can lead some people to say, “I don’t want a religion.” They may want to believe only what they think is best. Or they may want freedom from organized religion and its forms of worship. “I can worship God in nature” replaces “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD’ ” (Psalm 122:1).

ISN’T TRUE RELIGION ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS?

“I don’t want a religion; I want a relationship.” From the sound of it, that quote seems to say that religion and relationships are worlds apart. That is not at all the case. True religion is all about relationships. True religion, that is, Christianity, means enjoying a relationship with God and having the privilege of calling him our Father. The opening words of the Lord’s Prayer illustrate that truth. True religion means enjoying a relationship with Jesus and having the privilege of calling him our Brother. “Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters” (Hebrews 2:11).

True religion, Christianity, means enjoying additional relationships. God’s design is not that his people become hermits and live far removed from society. No, God’s intention is that his followers interact with fellow human beings, encouraging fellow Christians and serving as light and salt to the unbelieving world. Interestingly enough, the Bible even pairs the word religion with human relationships. “If a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God” (1 Timothy 5:4).

True religion, then, is all about relationships, isn’t it? The relationships people enjoy with God their Father and Jesus Christ their Brother as well as the relationships people experience with others. Without question, true religion, Christianity, is all about relationships—the vertical and horizontal kind.

So is there any risk in your use of the quote “I don’t want a religion; I want a relationship”? Sure, there is always a risk in being misunderstood if you use an expression that others use for their own purposes. There will be no mistaking what you mean if you say, “If you want a religion and a relationship, you will find both in Christianity.”

Contributing editor James Pope, professor at Martin Luther College, New Ulm, Minnesota, is a member at St. John, New Ulm.

James Pope also answers questions online at wels.net/questions. Submit your questions there or to [email protected].

 

 

 

 

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Author: James F. Pope
Volume 103, Number 4
Issue: April 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

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Real People Real Savior: Part 9: Zerubbabel

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Matthew chapter 1 lists the ancestors of Jesus. You will learn more about your Savior as we trace through segments of his family tree.

Facing a desperate and hopeless situation? God has power to bring life!

Thomas D. Kock

Perhaps it was the most amazing day of Ezekiel’s life. God set him into the midst of a valley that was full of dry bones. Then God asked what sounded like a crazy question: “Son of man, can these bones live?” (Ezekiel 37:3). The answer would seem to be patently obvious: “Of course not!”

CAN YOUR DRY BONES LIVE?

Sometimes you and I are faced with “Ezekiel moments.” I mean, there are times when life can feel oh-so-hopeless. Perhaps it’s a health issue, or a job loss, or the death of a loved one, or some combination of the above—and more. It can feel like we’re in the middle of the valley of dry bones. I can almost hear: “Son of man, can these bones live?” To put it differently, “Son of man, can I bring blessing to you in spite of the current circumstances or even because of the current circumstances?”

I fear that often our answer is, “Of course not!”

Ezekiel’s answer was amazing: “Sovereign LORD, you alone know” (Ezekiel 37:3). The answer is profound! And, it’s true.

DRY BONES LIVE!

In Ezekiel’s case, God caused that valley of dry bones to come to life. Bones reconnected to form skeletons, flesh and skin covered them, eventually breath entered into them, and they stood on their feet! Could those dry bones live? Oh yes, they could!

And so God can cause your “dry bones” to live too. In other words, yes, God can bring blessing to you no matter what your circumstances.

But there is more. God had a specific reason for giving Ezekiel this vision. The prophet served the exiles who lived in Babylon, far from their homeland in Judah. They thought their hope was gone and their bones were dried up. But God promised, “My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. . . . I will settle you in your own land” (Ezekiel 37:12,14).

And the man who would be the primary leader of those returning exiles? Zerubbabel! He would play an important role in leading a group of exiles back to the land of Judah and rebuilding the temple. In short, Zerubbabel was God’s instrument in a “resurrection,” as God brought his people out of their “graves” in exile in Babylon and back to the Promised Land. (Read more about Zerubbabel in the Old Testament books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah.)

What a critical promise! Why? Because the Savior was to be born in Bethlehem, in the land of Israel! He can’t very well be born there if there were no Jewish people living there. Jesus was born of the line of David. If the Jews didn’t have a recognizable nation, it would have been very hard to ascertain Jesus’ descent.

I doubt that Zerubbabel will take center stage in many churches this Easter Sunday. But Zerubbabel set the stage for the greatest event of all time, when Jesus rose from the dead. God brings life! He brought life to his exiled people; Jesus came to life; we have life too. It’s just as he promised.

The real people Matthew mentions in his opening chapter were all part of God’s plan. All God’s promises are amazingly and graciously fulfilled. And he did it for real people like you and me.

Contributing editor Thomas Kock, a professor at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, Mequon, Wisconsin, is a member at Atonement, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

This is the final article in a nine-part series on people in Jesus’ family tree.

 

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Author: Thomas D. Kock
Volume 103, Number 4
Issue: April 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

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Mission stories: Bulgarian Lutheran Church

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Grace among Europe’s most mistreated

John F. Vogt

“The knowledge of God—for me this is the best thing that has come since the fall of communism. Living a life without God is worse than living a life like a beggar.” This is how Iliyan Itsov, a pastor in the Bulgarian Lutheran Church, answered the question: What good has come since the fall of Communism?

Itsov, who is a Roma (a.k.a. gypsy), says his first contact with the saving gospel came through the efforts of a WELS missionary. “In 1998 my father met a man from the USA named John Roebke. The purpose of the meeting was to ask [Roebke’s] help in getting textbooks for our village school. When they met, my father found out that he was a Lutheran missionary. This man came to our house and asked us if we wanted some Bible lessons. We agreed. I learned about Jesus, and my family and I became Christians. My life became calmer and easier. The Lord blessed me.”

View and download a PowerPoint featuring the mission work in Bulgaria.

View PowerPoint

The Lord’s blessings continued. “My father asked Missionary Roebke to help him start a church in our village,” says Itsov. “After a year of Bible lessons, the missionary baptized 50 Roma people in one service.” During the time Roebke served the congregation, the weekly attendance grew to about 150 people.

Itsov describes what it’s like to be a gypsy: “The Roma people in Europe today are treated generally as in the past—like people who don’t deserve to exist. No matter what kind of school degree a person has or how much knowledge he or she has, that person will be treated as something less than others if the color of the skin is darker or somebody recognizes him or her as a gypsy. Sometimes we need to deny our ethnicity in order to find any job.”

The impression is that Roma people are always moving from place to place. However, “nowadays the Roma people are part of the societies of the countries, living there and having houses. Their reason for migrating today is economical. . . . Most of the families in my town have one, if not more, of their family working outside of Bulgaria. My mother, for example, has worked for eight years in Italy.”

Itsov prepared for the ministry through training provided by WELS in coordination with St. Sophia Lutheran Seminary in Ukraine. He was ordained in September 2015. He tells of difficulties he encountered along the way: “I was in seventh grade and wanted to continue my high school education in the Gymnasium for Foreign Languages. One of my teachers said that she would do everything to prevent my study in that school (in those times, no Roma children were students there). She gave me low marks, but I managed to pass the entrance exams. I became the first Roma in that school. My schoolmates didn’t know that I was Roma until one of the mothers told her son. When he told the others, they stopped having any contact with me, which made me angry, so I doubled my efforts to show them that I can study better than they. My father and my mother became unemployed in 1995 when I started high school, and it was a great challenge to finish because of the fees. But thanks to my grandfather, I managed to graduate third in my class.”

Itsov credits Missionary Roebke with helping him get into the university. Through his education and work experiences, Itsov has learned to speak ten languages—a unique qualification for the call he has now been given by the Board for World Missions.

Itsov was called to coordinate a new mission project called Outreach to Roma (OTR). It’s an effort to share the gospel with the western world’s most mistreated ethnic group, a group numbering about 10 million people who are scattered all across Europe. “The fact that I am a Roma makes me uniquely suited because I know the psychology of the gypsies,” says Itsov. “I think it will be easier for them to listen to me than to a nongypsy.”

However, even for a Roma like himself, the work is challenging: “There are still prejudices,” says Itsov. “If I need somebody [who is not Roma] to help me in my outreach work, it is hard to get him to agree. Working with Roma people is also a great challenge because they find it hard to trust you.”

OTR is now working in three villages near Itsov’s home. “An average of 30 people from those villages are transported each week to services,” he says. “I have also located interested individuals in two other Bulgarian cities where I hope to begin serving. The translation of The Promise in Romani is done and about to be published.”

Itsov is married and has two children. “My family supports me now,” he says. “In the beginning it was hard for them. We had problems with my traveling [to Ukraine for pastoral training], but through the years they have come to understand that this work is important.”

Itsov’s travel continues. He has been asked by WELS sister churches in Sweden and Germany to help them reach Roma workers and immigrants in their countries. That could be just the beginning. “My plans are simple—to spread the gospel wherever possible. I don’t want to segregate the project only in Bulgaria. I have great opportunities also in Romania, Hungary, Macedonia, Spain, Italy, France, and even England. A lot of effort will be needed to do all this, but I will not give up.”

Itsov has found another man willing to help. “I am working with Sorin-Horia Trifa. He served as a preacher in the liberal Lutheran Church, but his understandings are confessional. So the idea of a Confessional Lutheran Church in Romania is his. Right now we are registering with the government, and Sorin is looking for a house to rent near the biggest gypsy neighborhood, where we could meet and where I can stay while in Romania. I expect and pray that, by the time you read this, we will have started work in Bucharest. Please pray for the project and the Roma people.”

John Vogt is WELS regional coordinator for Eastern Europe.

 

Editor’s note: April 8 is International Roma Day, a day to remember the killing of thousands of gypsies in World War II’s holocaust and to raise awareness of the continuing difficulties Roma people face.

BULGARIAN LUTHERAN CHURCH

Year mission work began: 1994
Baptized members: 155
Average weekly attendance at worship: 94
Congregations: 4
National pastors: 6
Pastoral students: 3
Resident missionaries: 0

Unique fact: Pastor Radoslav Radkov, the leader of the BLC, is perhaps the only pastor of our fellowship to have had a face-to-face meeting in Rome with the Pope. Rado was one of eight Catholic youth invited for a 20-minute audience with Pope John Paul II in 1997, soon after Communism fell.

 

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Author: John F. Vogt
Volume 103, Number 4
Issue: April 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

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A pleasure? A privilege. And a promise!

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I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. John 13:15

Joel C. Seifert

I spent more than a decade waiting tables. As people thanked me for bringing them food and clearing away their dirty dishes, the answer would roll off my lips automatically: “My pleasure.”

Spending time in a hot, muggy kitchen; juggling orders from a dozen tables; memorizing specials; and taking away scraps—I was grateful for my job, but do you think it really was a pleasure?

SERVING ISN’T ALWAYS A PLEASURE

Imagine being in the room with the disciples on that first Easter evening. They saw their Savior, risen to life and victorious over death. Their friend really did have power over everything; God himself was on their side, and he called them to follow him. You’d think that kind of life would bring the greatest joy!

Perhaps that’s why, the last time they had seen him, Jesus taught them one last lesson: he washed their feet (John 13:4-7). The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. That meant raising a dead girl to life and being overcome by the hugs of her grateful parents and sitting at Zacchaeus’ table as the host rejoiced to bring out his best dishes. And it meant days of exhaustion as the needy lined up outside his door and cold nights in the wilderness when he was chased out of towns.

It meant beatings and a cross. Serving so often means lowering yourself further than you thought you could go. Service is the Son of God scrubbing the toes of sinners.

It’s good to live in the joy of Easter, but don’t let that joy give you a false impression of what it means to serve. True service isn’t found in picking the tasks that give us fulfillment or bring us respect. It’s reaching further down to help those who need it.

SERVICE IS A PRIVILEGE, BACKED BY gO

Service isn’t always a pleasure, but it is a privilege. When we serve others, we’re following in our Savior’s footsteps. And he gives us a promise as we do: “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them” (John 13:15-17).

On Easter Sunday, we sing our songs of victory. Everything God has promised us is true. Since Christ rose from the dead, our sins are forgiven. Heaven is our home. All things do work for our good.

And serving others in humility brings blessings. Every dirty diaper changed. Every church meeting that runs long into the night. Every floor mopped. Every door we nervously knock on. In every act of service that calls us to stoop down low, God takes our eyes off of our own importance. Then we marvel at the truth that God himself stooped even lower to pay for our sins—and all out of love for us. That’s a privilege.

Victorious Christian, serve others with Easter joy. It might not always be a pleasure, but it will always be a privilege that God blesses. Your risen Savior promises it.

Contributing editor Joel Seifert is pastor at Shining Mountains, Bozeman, Montana.

 

 

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Author: Joel C. Seifert
Volume 103, Number 4
Issue: April 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

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Great stories of the Bible: Part 5: Daniel and the lions’ den

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Joel S. Heckendorf

“God bless our native land. Firm may she ever stand.”

A Massachusetts native penned those words in 1835. But the words are a free translation of an 1815 German song. Apparently, the tune was first sung in England in 1740. In between, it was used for political songs in Denmark, France, Austria, and Russia. So which “native land” is God supposed to bless?

When we hear Daniel, a word association game may follow up with the words lions or prayer. Certainly those are major themes of this popular story (Daniel chapter 6). But don’t miss how Daniel was a blessing for the governments—yes, governments—he served.

Showing leadership potential at a young age, Daniel was ripped away from his country to serve a king hundreds of miles away. Instead of kicking and screaming, he served the king and was a blessing for a government that threw his God-fearing friends into a fiery furnace and that consulted sorcerers and astrologers.

When that Babylonian government was overthrown by the Persians 60 years later, Daniel didn’t protest, “I’m too old to help.” He didn’t grumble, “I don’t have enough energy to learn this new Medes and Persians system.” No. He served. He served so exceptionally that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

This month, we have an obligation to pay taxes to our government. While grateful for our government, our gratitude is often challenged. It’s especially challenging when a government makes decisions and implements laws that don’t always reflect God’s will for our lives. What should we do when some laws make it more difficult to be honest about what God’s Word says? God gives us an option, “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile” (Jeremiah 29:7). In other words, as you live in “Babylon,” continue to be faithful to your God and show your love for “Babylon.”

That’s what Daniel did. “He was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent” (Daniel 6:4). He was a blessing to those around him. He let his light shine. His light was faithful, diligent service to his adopted country. He made enemies; they tried to destroy him in the lion’s den. But his light also caused some to notice his faith and his God. Darius even issued a decree saying that “in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel” (Daniel 6:26).

Perhaps it’s not the main point of the story. But as you pay your taxes this month, may the story of Daniel lead you to wrestle with these thoughts: How can I be a blessing to those in authority? How can my deeds lead others to glorify God?

 

EXPLORING THE WORD

1. Tell the story in your own words. Then read the account. Which details did you omit or mistakenly add?

Answers will vary. If studying in a group, split up into smaller groups and see how many different details are included in the exercise. Why do you think some details made every list and other details didn’t make any lists?

2. Why do you think this story is one of the most popular stories included in children’s Bibles?

As with many popular stories, the “good guy” lives and the “bad guys” die. In addition, the miracle of surviving an overnight stay in the lions’ den would seem to be a remarkable feat for children.

 

3. Agree or disagree: We encourage too much time to be spent with fellow Christians instead of letting our light shine for others.

Your personal situation will differ. Point is, we will want a balance. God warns, “Bad company corrupts good character,” but also encourages us to be light to the world. Looking at how Daniel was able to positively influence the king is a model for us to be a shining light in society.

4. Name at least three lessons you can learn about prayer from Daniel’s example?

Answers may vary. Perhaps most amazing is the content of Daniel’s prayer. He “gave thanks, just as he had done before.” Through Jesus, we have reason to give thanks in all circumstances. Other lessons to learn from Daniel include his humility (kneeled) and his regular prayer life (three times a day).

 

Contributing editor Joel Heckendorf is pastor at Immanuel, Greenville, Wisconsin.

This is the fifth article in a ten-part series on the top ten stories included in children’s Bibles and how they apply to our lives today. Find answers online after April 5 at wels.net/forwardinchrist.

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Author: Joel S. Heckendorf
Volume 103, Number 4
Issue: April 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
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Confessions of faith: Young

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A man who helps share the gospel around the world started with his own journey of faith.

Julie K. Wietzke

Sean Young says he’s not much of an adventurer. He doesn’t even really like to travel.

Yet since he took the job as director of missions operations for WELS in 2012, he has been to the jungles outside Kumba, Cameroon; to Red Dirt Village in the mountains of Thailand; and to Kiev, the largest city in Ukraine—all to help plan how to spread God’s Word around the world. “It’s crazy that the Lord saw fit to put me here to help with that,” he says.

But Young will be the first to say that going to these exotic locales hasn’t been his greatest journey. His greatest journey has been one of faith—a trip that gave him true freedom through the gospel.

Growing up in an Irish family in Milwaukee, Young was raised in the Catholic Church, which included going to confession, serving as an altar boy, and being a Christian Youth Organization representative on the church council.

It was during a church council meeting that he started questioning the congregation’s priorities. The group was discussing an annulment request that came with a monetary gift—a request that came from the parents of one of Young’s friends. When the council began talking about how to use the money, Young raised the question, “Shouldn’t we be talking about the marriage?” His question was ignored and when he brought it up again, he was asked by the priest to step out into the hallway. When he told the priest that he couldn’t go to a church like this, the priest said, “Don’t worry, you’ll learn the ways of the church.”

“I left and never went back,” says Young. He was 18 years old.

Even though he left the Catholic Church, Young wasn’t giving up on religion. He began attending worship on Sunday at other denominations—United Methodist, Presbyterian and the Free Church. “Eventually when you’re church shopping, you end up sitting in the back so you can get an easy exit in case something goes wrong,” says Young. “I wasn’t finding truth anywhere.”

During the week, Young had to travel cross town by bus to get to his high school. One day he was heading home from school and stopped outside St. Lucas to look at the church service times. “I thought, This looks like a big old Catholic church—I should try this,” says Young. “I had no idea what Lutheran was, much less WELS.”

As he was looking at the times, a hand came down on his shoulder. “I heard someone say, ‘Looking for a church, son?’ ” says Young. “[The pastor] started talking to me and invited me inside. I asked him all sorts of questions, and before I knew it, three hours had gone by.”

That Sunday Young took the bus to St. Lucas to attend worship. As in the past, he sat down and had his exit strategy ready when in walked the girl he was dating and her family. They sat right in front of Young. After some initial confusion, Young sat with his girlfriend and her family for the service.

At this church, Young found what he was looking for. “My perception was that in the Catholic Church, the priest was telling you what the Bible said. Here the priest—I didn’t know he was called a pastor—was reading from the Bible,” he says.

“The sermon blew my socks off. It scared the snot out of me. He had me going to hell the one minute, and the next minute he told me why I had eternal salvation. It was the best sermon I ever heard,” says Young. “In 20 minutes, he opened my eyes. I was blown away. I thought, I have to get more of that.”

After the service, the pastor invited Young to Bible information class (BIC). Young agreed, and his girlfriend, Kirsten, offered to go with him.

Two years later, Young became a member. “I went from a two-time BICer to a confirmed adult,” he says. “I went twice not because I was a slow learner but because my commitment to my faith was huge and I didn’t want to go through what I just went through at [my old church].”

Young’s becoming a Lutheran didn’t sit well with his family. His mom, a strong Irish Catholic, had him excommunicated from the Catholic Church, kicked him out of the house, and didn’t talk to him for close to three years. “If you’re brought up Catholic, anything other than Catholicism is considered a cult,” Young explains. “She wanted me to be a priest.”

His grandmother finally helped convince his mom to rekindle the relationship—about five months before his wedding to Kirsten.

After that Young shared his faith often with his mom before her death. “Our first conversation was about having to go to confession,” he says. “Growing up a Catholic kid, you dreaded going into the box. I was telling her that this isn’t something she needs to do. The Lord is not asking this of her—for her to demonstrate her faith. That [discussion] went on for years.” He continues to witness to his brothers and sisters, who still don’t all know the truth. “I know their eternal salvation depends on it, but all I can do is plant the seed and leave it up to the Lord.”

His family aren’t the only people whom Young has told about the gospel’s saving message. “I’ve been on the evangelism committee of every church I’ve ever been at because we have to share this,” he says. “Growing up Catholic, I didn’t have this kind of faith. I didn’t have this kind of relief. I didn’t have this kind of joy in my faith. It was all the black marks on the soul. It was all the heavy lifting you had to do to stay ahead of it. And you just can’t do it. Here it’s just the truth; it’s just the gospel.”

Being part of WELS Missions is giving him an opportunity to spread that good news even further—though he didn’t immediately apply for the job. At the time, he was running a construction company and doing quite well. “I was making money. My plan was all set—here I am, still thinking it was my plan!” he says.

Several pastors kept encouraging him to apply. “Two and a half months later [my family] took a big step off the cliff, not knowing, and God instantly caught us and kept providing for us,” says Young. “It was like a rebirth. [Before] I was living for the dollar; I wasn’t living for my family or for my faith. This was a nice way for God to slap me upside the head and say, ‘Hey, let’s get back to doing what you love.’ ”

Doing what he loves means sharing the freedom the gospel provides by helping plan mission opportunities around the United States and the world and helping administer the gifts the Lord has provided for outreach. It’s a fitting next leg in his journey of faith.

And though we can’t all be part of the day-to-day work of WELS Missions, Young reminds us that we all have mission work to do. “We have to stay vigilant,” he says. “We have to make sure that we don’t just rest on the Word and be comfortable with it. We have to understand that our purpose is to share that gospel message with folks because there’s not a lot of time left.”

Julie Wietzke is managing editor of Forward in Christ magazine.

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Author: Julie K. Wietzke
Volume 103, Number 3
Issue: March 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

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Words—and actions—that drive out fear

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Mark G. Schroeder

What are you afraid of?

I’m not talking about the kind of fear that comes suddenly with an approaching severe thunderstorm. Not the kind of fear that grips you in an instant when it feels like you are skidding on an icy winter highway. Not the kind of panicked fear you experience when you realize your little child has wandered away from you in a busy crowd.

The fear I am asking about is the ongoing, relentless fear that takes hold of you over time and doesn’t seem to let go. It’s the kind of fear that lurks in your consciousness when your company is downsizing and you wonder whether you will still have a job next week. It’s the kind of fear that settles into your thinking when you hear about increasing terror attacks—not somewhere across the world but right where you live. It’s the kind of fear that comes when you look at the direction in which society is heading and you wonder what kind of world your children will inherit. It’s the kind of fear that gnaws at you when you know that you have a family history of cancer or heart disease or Alzheimer’s and you are convinced that you will be an inevitable victim of that disease. It’s the kind of fear that creeps up on you in the quiet night, the fear that comes from knowing that you are a sinner and that someday, sooner or later, you will face the deadly wages of that sin.

You could, no doubt, add your own fears to that list. But just as those fears threaten to overwhelm us and drive us to despair and hopelessness, we hear some of the sweetest words ever spoken. They were words spoken more than once on the first Easter Sunday. When the women arrived at the tomb of Jesus, an angel appeared to them and said, “Do not be afraid!” A little later, the risen Jesus himself met the women, and he delivered the very same message: “Do not be afraid!”

These were not just empty words. These were not just words intended to offer cosmetic and momentary comfort in a hopeless situation. These were not words that were intended merely to distract people from some very frightening realities.

No, these were effective and powerful words—words that could be spoken and proclaimed with full authority and promise because of what had happened earlier that morning. The lifeless body of a crucified Savior came alive by his own power. In rising from the dead, he defeated death itself and showed himself to be the One who makes and always keeps his amazing promises.

So when we find ourselves fearing the future and all of the uncertainties in our lives, the One who secured our eternal future by his resurrection tells us we have no reason to

fear, and he proved it by his exit from the tomb. When we find ourselves concerned about the church and its mission, the living Savior promises us that the gates of hell itself will not prevail against his church. And when we fear the results of our own sin and failings, the same resurrected Savior assures us, “As far as the east is from the west, that’s how far I’ve taken your sins from you” (cf. Psalm 103:12). Then he adds, “Because I live, you also shall live” (John 14:19).

What are you afraid of? Whatever it is, Christ’s Easter victory assures us that we do not need to fear anymore.

 

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Author: Mark G. Schroeder
Volume 103, Number 3
Issue: March 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

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One in Christ: Together as one church Part: 2

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Paul reminds us that, although we are all different, God draws us together in faith to work as one.

James R. Huebner

It is important to remember that God did not single us out to be his own because we are so wonderful or because we have such great qualities. No! He chose us by grace. He redeemed us to be his own dear children.

For the apostle Paul, redemption was not an abstract theological term dug out of an old, dusty doctrine book. Redemption is the only way out for people in prison because it involves two things: a payment is made, and then captives are set free. At the time he wrote to the Ephesians, Paul was under house arrest and had no idea whether someone would be able to make a ransom payment so that he could go free. But he did know that whether he was under house arrest or just walking the streets of Rome or Corinth or Ephesus, Jesus had already made the ransom payment for all the sins of all sinners. Jesus paid the ransom with his own blood. With that payment we sinners were set free from the prison of sin and the chains of guilt and declared to be one with God.

We are no longer corpses, nor are we scratching and clawing to get away from God like a trapped raccoon. We are God’s dear children, grateful for his love, wanting to do what he wants because all of what God did for us in Christ becomes ours personally through faith.

Faith is trust that what God says about us is true. Faith is passive. It is the empty bowl which God created in us by his powerful words of promise and love. It catches all the good things God pours into our hearts. It is not the reason he loves us. It is the result of his love for us.

But faith is also active. It is alive and produces the fruits of faith like an apple tree produces apples. “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).

BUILT ON ONE FOUNDATION

One way to track the history of your congregation is to note the building projects. But you don’t want to overlook another building project that has been going on in your church, the building of the holy Christian church. And when we talk about the holy Christian church, we can’t help speaking about its chief architect, designer, and engineer, Jesus Christ. He is the foundation for our faith and the cornerstone of our faith. Jesus unites us in faith.

You don’t have to be an expert builder to know that a firm foundation is essential for any building. But what about your congregation? What about our synod? If our church body were built on human qualities and capabilities, it would have collapsed long ago. We make mistakes. We sin. Some days we do what God wants, and some days we don’t. It’s a good thing that God doesn’t build his church on sinners like you or me. Instead it is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20).

Martin Luther couldn’t sleep at night. In fact, he nearly killed himself trying to beat sin out of his body. He knew that “God is holy, and I’m not, and I have to be as holy as God is if he’s going to open heaven’s gates for me.” His superiors were afraid he’d go nuts. So, to keep him busy, they had him study to be a parish priest and also got him a job as a university professor. Of all things, they asked him to teach the Bible. For the first time in his life, he dug into Holy Scripture. What he found there astounded him.

What he found is what a young man in our Bible information class found. He said, “Pastor, the thought of judgment day scares me. I’ve tried to be as good as possible at home, at work, and with friends, but sometimes I can’t sleep at night because I’m going to be at the pearly gates one day, and St. Peter might not let me in.” Ever have a thought like that pass through your brain? I told him what I’m going to tell you. If we think we have to get in by being good, we’ll never make it because we can’t be good enough on our own. That’s why God sent Jesus to be perfect in our place. And here’s the incredible news of the Bible. God credits what Jesus did to your account and mine. He treats us as though we never sinned even though we do all the time, because we are covered by the rightness of Jesus. The young man looked at me and said, “Now I can sleep tonight. I’ve got the golden ticket.” That good news of Jesus’ rightness draped over us is the foundation for our faith.

PART OF GOD’S DWELLING

Buildings often have a cornerstone to mark the date of construction. In ancient times the cornerstone not only held up and supported the building, but it also aligned the walls so that they’d fit together just so. The Christians in the congregation of Ephesus weren’t fitting together. They had a hard time finding common ground and working together. My grandma used to say, “Es gibt allerlei Menschen in Gottes Menagerie” (“There are all kinds of people in God’s zoo”). She was actually saying what the apostle Paul taught: “You are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of God’s household” (2:19). When the diverse people of Ephesus were filled with the good news of Jesus’ mercy, it didn’t matter whether they were Jews or Romans, Greeks or Egyptians. There could be harmony and oneness among sinners of all shapes, ages, and colors.

Are we any different than the Ephesians? Have there been disagreements among WELS Christians in the past 165 years? Of course. We have disagreed on building projects, mission efforts, where to build schools, whether or not to close schools. The list is long. How in all the world can a synod with people who have differing opinions work together?

The answer is that we are all parts of one spiritual building. Some of us are the bricks, some the mortar, some the light bulbs, some the doors. But we are all joined together to form one functioning building. The apostle looks at you and me today and says: “In [Christ] you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22).

No matter how old or young we are, no matter how tall or short we are, no matter what the amounts and distribution of melanin pigment in our epidermis, no matter where we live, we are one in faith, trusting in Jesus Christ. No disagreements or dividers here. That’s what it means to be one in Christ.

James Huebner, pastor at Grace, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is the first vice president of WELS.

This is the second article in a four-part series based on the 2015 synod convention essay entitled “One in Christ.”

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Author: James R. Huebner
Volume 103, Number 3
Issue: March 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

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One real champion!

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One real champion!

John A. Braun

I read the comics when I was younger: Superman, Batman, and others too. Now I even confess an addiction to reading Prince Valiant in the Sunday papers. I always want to know how he will vanquish new enemies and return to Camelot victorious, waiting for the next challenge.

Movies have taken things a step farther. New heroes have emerged: Thor, Flash, the Hulk, Spiderman, Captain America, and others with special powers. They seem invincible, but they are not. Superman has always had to worry about kryptonite. But in the fantasy of the superhero they are ageless. Prince Valiant hasn’t grown one grey hair in all the years I’ve been following his adventures.

With special effects the movies make sure that the heroes defeat their enemies even though the enemies are menacingly evil and also have special powers. The world seems to teeter on the brink of tyranny and evil until the final battle or struggle. Then all is back to normal. Peace reigns. Joy fills every heart. We can go on with our lives safe from threats, at least until the next episode or movie.

We cheer for these heroes. The stories of their exploits are distractions that imply that all will turn out in the end. I’ll spend a few dollars for a couple of hours of fantasy that allow me to dream of the ultimate success. Of course, it’s not real, and the solutions offered are only the creation of someone’s imagination and dazzling and exciting special effects.

When I come home, I face the reality of another day, sometimes without realizing two important shortcomings of these distractions. First, they change nothing. Yes, they are only imagination. When the smoke clears and the explosions disappear, everyone is back to the same world with its evil, sorrow, pain, and misery. They simply wait for the next evil to arise. Then another hero—or the same one—must arise to meet the next challenge. Prince Valiant just keeps going on and on, and when they threaten to remove him from the comics a storm of protest arises.

Second, the superheroes are often quite limited. Some disguise themselves as normal humans and cannot confront every problem. They only wait for the worst of the problems. But even then they sometimes need the help of other superheroes to be victorious. And the problems and challenges they face are themselves a distraction from the larger problems we face in this life—death, sorrow, pain, evil. Those problems remain after the credits of every tale.

Now you know where I’m going, I think. It’s Lent, and soon it will be Easter. One real hero emerges from the pages of Scripture—Jesus. He has become like us—actually, one of us, true human—but he is also true God. His mission was to take our place and overcome our worst enemies. He did that. He changed the forever. He changed the world of every sinner from an endless procession of guilt and death to forgiveness and life. He took away sin with his bloody sacrifice and smashed death with his triumphant resurrection. No other hero has come close.

It’s no surprise that so many people spend money to go to the movies as entertainment. But should these distractions and so many others keep anyone from taking the real Hero—this Savior—seriously? Maybe this Hero is dismissed because there are no special effects. Perhaps some would rather be entertained and distracted than forgiven and filled with hope. I’ll go to the movies and read the comics, but I will not forget to honor and worship the one true Champion who is not a fantasy.

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Author: John A. Braun
Volume 103, Number 3
Issue: March 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

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Throwing God’s money after good

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Jeffrey L. Samelson

If I had $10 million, I wouldn’t give it to start a new mission overseas or even a new congregation here at home, endow a new program, or start a new scholarship program.

Why not? It’s not that any of those ideas are unwise or unworthy; it’s that I have become convinced that in many cases “new” money could actually do much more for the kingdom supporting “old” concerns that struggle for funding than by following what is fresh and exciting.

I would start by talking to our district presidents, mission boards, circuit pastors, and maybe even the WELS Church Extension Fund to identify congregations that are doing everything they can to keep their mission and ministry moving forward but who have mortgage or other payments due every month that are so large they have little or nothing left over to spend on actual mission work. Then I would take my $10 million and use it to help pay down the debts of the congregations where I thought it would make the biggest difference. I wouldn’t pay them off entirely. Knocking $400,000 off a $1.5 million debt here or $250,000 off of $900,000 there would free up thousands of dollars in those congregations—money that is already being given by their members—for new, fresh, and exciting efforts where they are already established and have connections. I think their hearts would thrill to see the gospel on the move where they are. No, $10 million wouldn’t take care of every church’s debt, and yes, some congregations’ bad decision-making would make them poor candidates for such debt relief. But I love to imagine the difference that such a gift could make.

“Throwing good money after bad” is an old expression that some might use to counsel against helping pay down someone else’s debts, and I can even think of some examples of churches that don’t seem to make outreach or excellence any kind of priority. Yet as a general rule, things like keeping the church doors open so that the Word of God can be preached and heard; freeing up funds for outreach and excellence; and, yes, paying church workers the wages they deserve, are good things that God approves of, even commands. Remember also who that money in our bank accounts really belongs to: not us, but God. He’s just entrusted that money to our care.

Now, I don’t have $10 million, and I doubt I ever will, so don’t bother hitting me up for donations. But I hope this exercise reminds us that we shouldn’t assume that what’s new and exciting is automatically more worthy of our gifts than what is familiar or long-standing. I don’t want us to forget that something as “boring” as paying down a mortgage can have church-growing implications of the greatest kind.

Chances are that you don’t have $10 million either, but what do you have? And what are you doing with it? Too many people hold back from giving to their churches because budgets and bill-paying don’t excite them. Don’t let that be you. You can still give to missions, new church starts, and ministries that you feel a passionate connection to, but don’t forget the “old” opportunities around you, and don’t dismiss less-than-thrilling giving. It’s throwing God’s money after good.

Contributing editor Jeffrey Samelson is pastor at Christ, Clarksville, Maryland.

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Author: Jeffrey L. Samelson
Volume 103, Number 3
Issue: March 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

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Unexpected Love: Part: 3

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Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

—John 12:1-8

Jesus defends an extravagant gift of devotion.

Theodore J. Hartwig

This dinner in honor of Jesus happened six days before the Passover, and, as Matthew reports in his gospel (26:6-13), the host was Simon the Leper. Undoubtedly, Jesus had healed Simon of a disease that had made him a social outcast for many years. So it is not unusual that “leper” became fixed to his name, an enduring reminder of his gift from Jesus. This dinner was a special occasion for Simon, a way to show his gratitude to Jesus and to invite others not only to share in his joy but also to show Jesus honor and praise themselves.

MARY’S SPECIAL GIFT

Mary and Martha’s brother, Lazarus, was a guest at the meal. The previous chapter recorded the astonishing miracle of his return to life after being dead four days. We know nothing about the state of his existence during his four-day sleep in the tomb. As might be expected, Martha was busy at her specialty of preparing and serving the meal. It was a chastened Martha. We hear not a word of criticism that Mary was not helping her. Jesus was the focus of attention at the banquet. His disciples as well as other guests were also there for this dinner in honor of Jesus.

With her expression of loving devotion for Jesus, Mary unexpectedly became the center of everyone’s attention. The perfume she poured on his feet was generous, an entire pint. It was also of highest quality. That its fragrance penetrated the room evidences its high value. It was derived from nard or spikenard, a bush native to the far-away Himalayas. Mary spent a great deal of money for this special gift for Jesus.

Then we come to Judas Iscariot, the villain of the story. Supported by the other disciples in Matthew’s account, he criticized Mary for what they called her prodigal use of costly perfume. Judas was from the town of Kerioth in Judea and may have been the only non-Galilean of the Twelve. He may also have been the most educated, which could account for his having been entrusted with keeping the common purse used for the gifts gathered from Jesus’ admirers. Judas certainly seems knowledgeable about the value of the perfume, which was worth a year’s wages. But his concern for the poor was sham talk. His fingers dipped habitually into the purse, not to cover the cost of expenses but to line his own pocket. It seems that the disciples were not yet aware of it, and though Jesus knew “what was in each person” (John 2:25), he did not use his authority to veto Judas’s office. Let the disciples discover this mundane truth at its own good time.

We feel the full impact of Judas’s fault-finding when we put ourselves into Mary’s place. When criticized by Judas and the others, she must have wanted to crawl into a hole. At huge cost to herself, she had shopped for a gift that would express the dimensions of her gratitude to this man who was her Savior. He deserved the very best from her. And, throwing all Jewish conventions to the wind, she let down her hair in public to dry the feet she had anointed. Yet what reward had come of it from the bystanders? Grating on her ears and sensibilities, Mary was crushed by the critical voice of Judas and seconded by the other disciples. More than everyone else in that dining room, these men should have known better.

JESUS’ IMPORTANT MESSAGE

In the highly charged atmosphere around the table, it was vital that Jesus come to Mary’s rescue. Judas had rendered a judgment that for the practical-minded guests must have seemed common sense. Jesus might have scored Judas for his accusation. He might have said to Judas as he said to Peter for contradicting Jesus’ prediction of his death, “Get behind me, Satan” or, in this context, “Get behind Mary, Satan.”

But Jesus spoke on a far higher plane than defending Mary for her human devotion. Of course the poor for whom Judas seemed so sympathetic needed the service of others, and poor people are always present to be helped. But Jesus will not always be at hand. On its higher spiritual plane, Mary’s perfume anointed Jesus’ body for burial.

Such words, however, ran counter to the hopes and aspirations of most guests at the table. True to human nature, their minds were set on earthly things, not on things above. They expected Jesus to liberate them from their Roman masters and, like David, to establish another glorious Jewish kingdom on earth. At least they wanted him to be always with them to speak of God’s grace and to perform miracles like the one performed for Simon. They did not want to hear Jesus speak about his burial.

In the face of this negativity, Jesus kept to his message and mission. He did not flinch from his Father’s assignment. Of this determination, Isaiah writes of Jesus in his prophecy: “I have set my face like flint.” (50:7). Despite all the wrong ideas about his mission harbored by friends and followers, Jesus remained faithful to the mission he had come to complete. He was determined to go to Jerusalem to suffer, die, be buried, but also to rise again. In Matthew’s account of Mary’s devotion, Jesus enhances his defense of Mary with this forecast: “Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her” (26:13).

Commendation does not come any higher. And it remains as Jesus said: This episode still holds a high place among the four gems from John.

Theodore Hartwig, professor emeritus at Martin Luther College, New Ulm, Minnesota, is a member at St. John, New Ulm.

This is the third article in a four-part series on the gems of John.

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Author: Theodore J. Hartwig
Volume 103, Number 3
Issue: March 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

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Retracing the steps of the Lenten journey

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The annual reading of the passion history offers us an opportunity to see our sinfulness and our salvation.

Peter M. Prange

Since about the fourth century, Christians have read the gospel accounts of the Savior’s suffering and death annually. Perhaps no other Christian tradition has been more beneficial to the life of the church. The Scriptures don’t command us to do this every Lent. But we would be spiritually poorer if we left the passion history unread in public worship during the 40 days leading up to Easter.

LAYING THE FOUNDATION

A small minority might argue that there’s no reason to repeat this tradition year after year because Christians already know the story so well. But how did we come to know it so well? Probably from the yearly reading of the passion history in worship! And while we might know the story well, every new generation of Christians needs the same regular exposure to this central biblical account.

So can those of us who know the story so well simply “check out” during that part of the service, putting up with it for the sake of those who don’t know it as well? Is there any benefit for us to retrace the steps of Jesus’ Lenten journey?

Simply put, it’s necessary and beneficial for every Christian because the passion history—along with the gospel accounts of Jesus’ victorious resurrection—form the very foundation of our Christian faith-life of repentance. These readings are both the ABCs and the 123s of our lives. We can never ponder them enough.

TAKING A NECESSARY JOURNEY

If we don’t receive any benefit from retracing those steps with Jesus, the problem isn’t with tradition; it’s with our hearts and ears. In a sermon preached around 1520 entitled “The True and False Views of Christ’s Sufferings,” Martin Luther highlighted how Christians often fail to weigh the passion history properly, merely considering it a matter of routine reading. “Christ’s Passion must be dealt with not in words and a show,” he asserted, “but in our lives and in truth.” He instructs us how to retrain our hearts and ears so we can receive the benefit the Holy Spirit desires to give us when we hear the story again.

First, hearing the passion history should lead us to ponder both the depth of our sinfulness and the enormity of our sins. When God’s faithful people carefully contemplate how much wrath the eternal Father poured out on his sinless Son because of our sin, “they become terror-stricken in heart at the sight, and their conscience at once sinks in despair.” If God should treat his perfectly obedient Son in this way, how would he have dealt with me, a sinful slug?

But the pondering of the passion must never end there, otherwise you will “miss the opportunity of stilling your heart . . . [and] never secure peace.” It does us no good simply to hear the account only to wallow in self-loathing and sinful despair. Instead, “when we see that [our sins] are laid on Christ and he has triumphed over them by his resurrection and we fearlessly believe it, then they are dead and have become as nothing . . . they are swallowed up by his resurrection.”

Retracing the steps of Jesus’ Lenten journey produces “godly sorrow” which “brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret” (2 Corinthians 7:10).

We may think we know that journey well, but it’s a journey worth retracing every year and every day with ears and hearts open each time.

Peter Prange is pastor at Living Word, Gray, Tennessee.

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Author: Peter M. Prange
Volume 103, Number 3
Issue: March 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

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Heart to heart: Parent conversations: Responding to children with special needs

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Most of us have been “that person”—the one who doesn’t know what to say or do when she meets a person with special needs. We don’t want to ask the wrong questions or make the wrong assumptions. We want to show we care, but we aren’t sure if offering our help might be interpreted as an insult. When our children are present, it just ups the ante. Now we really have to make sure we get it right so that we can model the best behavior for them.

This month, Heart to heart contributor Wendy Heyn shares her thoughts on best practices when meeting a person with special needs. Wendy’s second child, Liam, was born with a rare genetic neurodevelopmental disorder known as MECP2 duplication syndrome.

Nicole Balza

 

How should we and our children respond to those with special needs?

 

“Why does he have that chair?”

“What’s wrong with him?”

These are questions that children often ask about my son, Liam. Sometimes they ask me directly. Sometimes they ask their parents. Sometimes they yell the questions to any listening ears. Many children stop in their tracks to stare. For our family every grocery store trip, library visit, church event, or walk in the neighborhood brings us into contact with people who have questions.

People notice Liam’s chair. They notice that he cannot talk. They hear him make loud noises. They see that his body moves very differently than most. I understand their curiosity. Liam is different, and people just want to understand.

Children are honest and open in their curiosity. I appreciate that they ask questions. Certainly there are days when I want to avoid stares and questions. I want to blend in with the crowd. Yet I know that it is a great service to Liam when we use every teachable moment. If people can become comfortable with Liam and can learn to interact with him appropriately, all of our lives will be richer.

Children’s questions are often intercepted by chagrined parents. The parents apologize and pull their curious children away from Liam without allowing us to say hello or answer their questions. This leaves everyone feeling awkward.

Ironically, when I am out with only my daughters and we meet individuals with special needs, I have trouble knowing how to behave. It is so difficult! The social cues are confusing, any assumptions that I have made are usually wrong, and I overthink every word that I say. Being Liam’s mom has helped me to think about these situations and how we can all respond better. I have found following these guidelines to be helpful for introducing children to someone new who has special needs:

1. Remember that people with disabilities are people first. The disability is certainly a part of them, but it isn’t who they are. They have feelings, ideas, wishes, and hopes just like you do. I explain this to my children, and we talk about what each of my children likes, thinks, hopes, and wishes. We talk about how every person is similar in these ways even if he cannot communicate this or if she looks or moves differently.

2. Start by smiling and saying hello. Even if your child started the interaction with a loud question, parents of children with disabilities understand that this happens. We are human. Our kids are too. Don’t lose this teachable moment because of your own embarrassment. A smile and a kind hello are so much friendlier than pulling your child away. Most days, we will even take a minute to explain the wheelchair to your child or to introduce Liam.

3. Acknowledge Liam, not just his family. Liam won’t answer you. He may not even look at you, but say hello to him. Look at him. Use your regular voice. You don’t need to talk extra loudly. He is a school-aged kid, so baby talk is unnecessary. I will help you out by interpreting his response. Liam is so valuable and worthwhile, and your hello to him helps both him and me see that you know this.

4. An “I’m not sure” is better than a wrong or made up answer. This is always the truth with kids, and it certainly applies to answering their questions about special needs. While “God made him that way” is certainly true of Liam’s inability to talk and walk, it oversimplifies Liam’s differences. It doesn’t answer the child’s questions. It is not true of why he is in a wheelchair (which is usually what kids want to know). Liam wasn’t born with a wheelchair. For a small child, an age-appropriate response that might be better would be to explain that Liam’s brain doesn’t send the right messages and so his body never learned to walk or talk the way that most children do.

5. If you and your child are talking with Liam, tell your child a few things that are similar about him and Liam. “Do you like books? Liam loves to listen to books.” This helps your child to see Liam as a little boy. Conversations like this are a great way to become Liam’s new friend. They also help your child understand that Liam is similar to him in so many ways.

6. Examine your own responses. When I interact with others who have special needs, I am always worried about doing or saying the wrong thing. My kids pick up on this no matter how kind my words are. The easiest way I’ve found to overcome my own fears has been to get to know real people with special needs. Every single person is different, and my comfort with differences grows as I get used to being with all sorts of people.

7. Reassure your child. Recently a girl told my daughter, “Your brother is just creepy.” What people don’t understand feels scary to them. It may seem obvious, but children need to be reassured that children like Liam are not scary. They are actually very much like every other child. They like to play. They want to have friends. They want to be loved. Explain to your child that children can be born disabled or become disabled from an accident. You cannot catch disability from another child. Being friends with them is perfectly safe.

8. Do not reward or congratulate your child for being friends with another child who has special needs. Being a friend to someone with special needs is not a charitable act or an act of kindness. It is a mutually beneficial relationship and should be treated as such. Typical peers often learn and grow through such friendships in huge ways.

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). Helping your child lovingly interact with others is a natural part of Christian parenting. In his explanation to the Eighth Commandment Luther says that we are to “take [our neighbor’s] words and actions in the kindest possible way.” If each of us strives to approach situations with this attitude, we can truly become comfortable with interactions involving all kinds of people. As you encounter children with special needs, imagine how you would want to be treated. Just as your child and my Liam have many things in common, so do you and I. We are parents doing our best to nurture and love the children that the Lord has entrusted to us—probably more alike than different.

Wendy Heyn and her husband, Juerg, have three children.

Advice from Liam’s big sister, Sophia

Sophia Heyn is a creative 10-year-old who enjoys reading historical fiction and acting out the scenarios that she learns about from Laura Ingalls Wilder, the American Girl series, and other beloved books. Because her father was born and raised in Germany, she has traveled to Europe many times, and this gives her a different perspective on the world. Perhaps having a brother with a genetic disorder that causes severe cognitive and physical disabilities has also contributed to the mature way that she carries herself.

I sat down with Sophia over a cup of hot chocolate to hear her perspective on how other children should treat her brother.

Q: What do you like to do with Liam?

Sophia: I play Thomas [the Tank Engine] with him and help him get a drink. He likes me to set up his Thomas cards so that he can wreck them.

Q: When people meet Liam for the first time, what kind of questions do they ask?

Sophia: Some people ask, “What’s wrong with him?”

Q: How do you answer when people ask that?

Sophia: I tell them that he has a disability and his brain doesn’t work the same way that ours does. I like when they ask questions. Some people just stare, but I think it’s better to ask questions.

Q: How does it make you feel when people stare or treat Liam differently?

Sophia: I don’t like it.

Q: What would you like to say when that happens?

Sophia: It’s okay if you have questions.

Sophia encourages people of all ages to talk with her family about Liam. Her love for her brother shines through as she talks about him, as does her sense of protection. Like most big sisters, Sophia wants children to be kind to her brother. As you help your children learn how to respond to those with special needs, consider sharing Sophia’s thoughts with them.

Nicole Balza

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Author: Nicole Balza
Volume 103, Number 3
Issue: March 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
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Living a nightmare

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How one man’s faith gave him strength when his life went from a dream to a nightmare—twice.

Linda R. Buxa

When Chris Nowakowski was a junior in high school, a friend pulled up unexpectedly and asked if he wanted to go for a ride. “I jumped in the back, and there was Laura,” he says.

They dated on and off through high school and freshman year of college but then went their separate ways. Senior year he kept thinking about her, but he couldn’t muster up the courage to call her. “My roommates kept egging me on, and I finally gave in. But as I went to pick up the phone to dial her, it rang. It was Laura calling me,” Chris says. “After over two years of no contact, we were calling each other at the same time.”

They married on August 26, 1995, and spent the next years working, raising children, and being active in church. “On Dec. 23, 2009,” he says, “we went to bed with what I would describe as a near perfect earthly life. Good careers, wonderful home, beautiful children, incredible family and friends.”

A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE

He woke up in the morning and found her dead—not dying. He performed CPR for 12 minutes while their children, ages 10 and 8, watched.

In the ambulance, the paramedics restored a heartbeat, but Chris was told Laura had so little heart function that she would never survive. They put her into a medically induced coma, and he fell asleep holding her hand, going from living the dream to living a nightmare.

Then a miracle happened. On Christmas Day, she fought through the induced coma, and “she woke me up by squeezing my hand!” he says. Two days later she received a pacemaker to prevent her heart from stopping again. A follow-up visit in March 2010 discovered her heart had normalized. “We went from meeting with transplant teams to being told she was perfectly fine. We received a miracle,” he said.

Her pacemaker remained in case this ever happened again. She fully recovered and life returned to normal. Laura served as president of the parent/teacher association, volunteered to serve her children’s youth swim team, taught Sunday school, and was studying for her master’s degree.

A SPIRITUAL STRUGGLE

Three years later, they woke to the sound of her pacemaker beeping. Laura was fine; a wire from the device had failed. But as she underwent the procedure, things went horribly wrong. There were obvious reasons to suspect safeguards, and standard of care were not followed. There would be no miracle this time. Laura died on Feb. 27, 2013.

While Chris was grieving for his wife, attorneys were telling him that any award from a trial would be based on Laura’s fixed companionship worth—an amount set by the state, plus her annual income as a substitute teacher and stay-at-home mom, two jobs that don’t pay well. Yet they would subtract “value” because Chris would no longer have to provide her food and clothing. “Can you imagine they would say that to someone who lost their wife under very questionable circumstances?” he asks. “It was horrible, insulting, and infuriating.”

In addition to legal battles, he found himself struggling spiritually. “After she passed away, I had a very difficult time talking about 2009 anymore. When you see a miracle, it is hard to want anything else,” says Chris.

“I had a searing anger with God. I called him horrible, shameful things, yet he was with me in ways I could never have imagined. He got me through such terrible, difficult times, and all I ever felt back from him was intense love,” says Chris. “I wish I could have behaved more like Job. Job questioned God in the midst of his sorrows, but he did not demonstrate anger toward God like I did.”

Returing to their home church wasn’t easy either, but he remembered his children’s example from Christmas Eve in 2009. While Laura was in a coma, Christyna and Patrick asked to go to their Christmas Eve program because that’s where their mom would want them to be. “Ultimately I believe getting right back to church was the best thing for us, but I cannot tell you how difficult it was to go. To go to communion without my wife. To see somebody else leading the children,” he says. “It was incredibly painful and took some time before it didn’t hurt so much.”

The members of the congregation lent enormous support during the funeral, provided six months of meals, and gave the children rides when Chris needed help. “The compassion I have received from our church family gave me hope and helped me remember there are good people in this world even when you are in the midst of dealing with some very bad people.” Christyna became more active at church. At age 14, she became a Sunday school teacher because “she was concerned about the void in teachers when her mom died,” he says.

It also helped him to remember the day he talked to Laura about her first cardiac arrest. “I asked her if she had a near-death experience back in 2009,” he says. “She responded she did not, but didn’t need one. ‘God will take me when he is ready,’ she told me. I was so impressed with what she had been through and how incredible her faith was.”

A STRONGER FAITH

Three years have now passed since Laura’s death. “Though I am still but a sinner, I have stayed in the Word, continued attending church with my children, and my faith is stronger than I think it has ever been—even if I don’t always act like it,” he says. “I feel like I have grown closer to God than I knew was possible.”

Chris has also been able to forgive the medical staff. When he realized that one day those responsible for Laura’s death would be held accountable, “my anger toward them turned to pity. I was able to pray for them and eventually forgive them,” he says. “I know it is possible to forgive, but still seek justice. The two are not incompatible.”

As he continues moving forward, Chris also sees blessings in the ways God has used his suffering to help others. He realizes that, back when he was living the dream, he couldn’t relate to those who were suffering. Now he does, and reaches out to others who are hurting. “That was actually the first step toward my own healing was learning how to help others again,” he admits.

As he helps others, he shares his story and the depth of his awe about God. “I cannot tell you how deep I was in a dark pit of anger, depression, sadness, frustration, and despair,” he says. “I have learned that our God is true to his Word and is with us always and loves us always—even when we are not capable of seeing it.”

Linda Buxa is a member at St. Matthew’s, Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.

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Author: Linda R. Buxa
Volume 103, Number 3
Issue: March 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

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“What is truth?”

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Pilate’s age-old question still rings true today. But God’s answer also remains the same.

Glenn L. Schwanke

“What is truth?”

The words rip us back in time to very early on Good Friday morning at the residence of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, where Jesus had been led like a lamb to the slaughter by the Jewish leaders and their temple guards. They needed Pilate’s permission for the death sentence against Jesus.

You might expect their request would come after a thorough, legal review of the case against Christ. But none came. Rather there were only feeble attempts to avoid handling the case and two brief exchanges between Pilate and Jesus.

The first of those exchanges led to three of the most infamous words ever spoken.

‘You are a king then?’ Pilate asked.

‘You say that I’m a king,’ Jesus replied. ‘I was born for this, and I have come into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.’

‘What is truth?’ said Pilate (John 18:37,38 HCSB used throughout).

We shudder at those three words, because in our hearts, we hear the mockery in Pilate’s voice. And we weep at what follows. Jesus—mocked. Jesus—scourged. Jesus—sentenced. Jesus—crucified. And Pilate? He does nothing but wash his hands of the affair (Matthew 27:24).

“What is truth?” When I hear those words, I think of Pontius Pilate. But I also think of millennials, a generation whose worldview has been dramatically shaped by television, movies, computers, tablets, and smartphones; Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter; Siri, Cortana, and “OK Google.” A generation always connected with an overwhelming flood of information that is just a voice command or a few keystrokes away.

Unfortunately, far too much of that information stream is little more than snake oil, a slick but poisonous repackaging of Pilate’s snide comment, “What is truth?” This is particularly true when it comes to issues of morality or matters spiritual and questions about life, death, and eternity.

Is there absolute truth? The skepticism of our modern age boldly shouts, “Absolutely not!”

Is Jesus the only Savior, the only way to eternal life? How are millennials expected to believe that when a 2015 Barna Group study found that only 48% of millennials believe that Jesus was God! On the other hand, 56% of millennials believe Jesus committed sins while he was on earth. Hardly the makings of a Messiah. So it’s not at all surprising when that same Barna study concludes, “Millennials are less likely to believe that Jesus is the path to heaven than are other generations.” As Barna Group President David Kinnamen comments, “Jesus is a friend of sinners, but many millennials are ‘unfriending’ him at a time when their lives are being shaped and their trajectories set toward the future.”

“What is truth?” I think of the college students I serve in Campus Ministry. I see no sneer on their face. I detect no mockery in their tone. What I do see are young Christians who are constantly being inundated by the worldview around us. I do hear doubt, and I do see confusion written on their faces. I think, “So much has changed since I was their age!”

But, thank God, the answer remains ever the same. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

“This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’—and I am the worst of them” (1 Timothy 1:15).

Glenn Schwanke, pastor at Peace, Houghton, Michigan, serves as campus pastor at Michigan Technological University.

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Author: Glenn L. Schwanke
Volume 103, Number 3
Issue: March 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
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Moments of reflection

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Working in a cemetery brought time to think about death, life, friends, and the cross of Jesus.

James A. Mattek

It was a pretty typical day in the cemetery . . . until she wouldn’t leave. So, we just waited and watched from a distance.

I was the teenage caretaker for the church cemetery . . . not a bad job for someone paying his own way through a Lutheran high school. With a hand shovel, I had dug the grave the day before. Those I stood with were from the vault company that had lowered the open cement vault into the hole, covered the pile of dirt I created with green carpet that was intended to resemble grass, and then set the device in place that would lower the casket into the vault once the mourners had left.

But one stayed. From a distance she appeared to be in her 40s. I could see her wipe her eyes. She was having a hard time. At first the vault crew looked at their watches in irritation; they wanted to get this over with and go home. Then, with me, they just watched in silence. There’s something about death that makes most people stop and think. “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).

Finally, she placed her hand on top of the casket and then slowly made her way to her car and was gone. I walked to where she had stood for so long. The name of the deceased and her birth year were already etched on the stone. She had died young—I guessed she was about as old as the woman who had just said her good-bye. Was she a good friend, a high school classmate, a cousin, a sister? Death severs bonds with a cruel dull knife. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:32).

As I stood there, the crew backed the truck up. After lowering the casket, they would cover it with the cement lid. Then they could pack up and finally go home. That’s when my work would begin, shoveling the dirt back into the hole.

In the years that followed, it dawned on me that I had witnessed things about death that most people don’t. As dignified, respectful, and sterile as we attempt to make death appear, there is still something rather ugly about it. Those bodies were once warm and alive with hopes and dreams, work and play, family and friends. Then it all stopped, and they were put in the cold earth. “The living know that they will die” (Ecclesiastes 9:5).

As the casket slowly descended, I noticed it. The casket had a decorative cross on its cover. That was the very place where the woman had laid her hand. It’s been 44 years, but I can see that cross like it was yesterday. The message of the cross and what occurred on the third day changes so many things . . . about death, life, and cemeteries. “Death has been swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54).

I recall that the tedium of my job at the cemetery began to change too. I began to notice things that I had missed and to appreciate things I had taken for granted. As I drove the Ariens rider for countless hours between the gravestones, I started to notice names and do the math. Some had lived long lives, others only months or days. Some died as teenagers, which really hit me and made me think. Maybe I wasn’t as indestructible as my young mind imagined. What if that happened to me? Was I ready? Good Friday and Easter had been important to me for as long as I could remember. The events of those days now took on additional meaning—and the setting was a church cemetery on hot summer afternoons. It’s amazing how our Lord inspires introspection and budding spiritual maturity in the oddest places. “For dust you are and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:19).

My mind-numbing job gave me time to think. As I rode along on the mower, I recall thinking about my mother who led evening devotions for the family while my father was in meetings at church. There were the Sunday worship experiences. I remembered the names of the fine Christian teachers I had in the Lutheran grade schools I attended and the high school I was enrolled in. The importance of things spiritual began to click—the hymns I sang; the Scripture verses I memorized; the Bible stories I learned and relearned; and the Christian example of my teachers, some who I now realize helped me more than they know. “Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

I remember a few gravestones in particular. I asked an old-timer from the cemetery board about the woman who died young. On her stone was the word baby. “She was a good church-going woman,” he said. “She died in childbirth, and the baby died a bit later. The pastor got there in time to baptize him. In the casket the baby was in her arms.” The events of Good Friday and Easter—a mother forgiven through the shed blood of God’s Son, and a baby washed in the spiritually medicinal water of Baptism. Together their souls entered glory to enjoy the embrace of their Father. I cut the grass around their stone with extra care and contemplation. “Whoever lives by believing in me will never die” (John 11:26).

Today, when I get back to the area, I try to visit the cemetery and take a stroll. I’ve noticed the names of three friends from my grade school days. We played football together at recess. I want to believe that they remembered the Bible stories we were taught . . . stories about Job and others. “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth” (Job 19:25).

Word has filtered back to me that a number of my high school classmates have already been taken by car crash, farm accident, even congenital disease. We had sat together in religion classes for four years. Did they hold on to what they were taught and believed? I want to think so.

After a recent visit, I made one last stop at the place where she had stood for so long. I could still see the cross in my mind’s eye . . . where she had laid her hand. Then I looked out over the cemetery and tried to imagine what it will be like. No, not what it will be like to lie in my grave, but what will this place look like when our Savior returns and calls the dead back to life? What a sight!

“After my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes. . . . How my heart yearns within me!” (Job 19:26,27).

 

James Mattek, director of ministry at WLCFS-Christian Family Solutions, Germantown, Wisconsin, is a member at Trinity, Watertown, Wisconsin.

 

 

 

 

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Author: James A. Mattek
Volume 103, Number 4
Issue: April 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
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Great stories of the Bible: David and Goliath: Part: 4

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Great stories of the Bible: David & Goliath

Joel S. Heckendorf

Rudy. Hoosiers. Moneyball. Miracle. Karate Kid. Cool Runnings. Rocky. What do all these sport movies have in common? Against all odds, the underdog wins.

We love such movies. But we don’t just love the big-screen stories; we also cheer for the underdog in life. We cheer for the “Cinderella” team in the NCAA basketball tournament. Underdog victories are heartwarming and motivational.

David and Goliath is the ultimate underdog story (1 Samuel chapter 17). Standing at six cubits and a span (about 9’6”), Goliath towered over David by about four feet. The giant’s 126-pound armor weighed almost the same as his opponent. The iron tip of his spear was as heavy as a bowling ball. David had five smooth stones from a stream. To say the Vegas odds were against this sling-shooting shepherd is quite the understatement. And Goliath knew it. Shaking his massive head in disbelief at the boy coming to meet him in the valley, the Philistine’s pride pumped his armored chest out just a bit more.

But you know what happened next. Pride goes before the fall. One stone. That’s all it took. One stone to the head, and the giant fell.

David vs. Goliath isn’t just a clash between a boy with a peach-fuzzed face and a man’s man. It wasn’t just a battle between a sling and a sword. The battle didn’t belong to David. “The battle is the LORD’s” (1 Samuel 17:47). Goliath’s sarcasm was true . . . he was a dog in this battle. Against the Lord, Goliath was the underdog.

We often go through life with an underdog mentality. With chips on our shoulders we are out to prove something. We want to “be a David.” Self-help books encourage us to “be a David” as we face our giants. But this popular story is not about being the hero. If David walked into the valley alone, he would have died there. Don’t try to be a David; rather see David’s greater Son. See Jesus, the Son of David.

Although he didn’t look like much, Jesus, the Son of David, has taken down bigger giants than Goliath. When the devil tempted him in the desert, Jesus slung the smooth stone of his Word at this mighty foe. When sin towered over Jesus and pinned him to the cross, what did Jesus do? With his words, “It is finished,” he hurled a stone and struck sin in the head, knocking it to the ground. Three days later, when death thought it had Jesus defeated, Jesus burst through the stone of the tomb and cut off death’s head.

The big giants have been defeated. Therefore, little giants in our life don’t stand a chance. No matter what you are facing, you are always the favorite because “the battle is the LORD’s.”

Exploring the Word

1. Tell the story in your own words. Then read the account. Which details did you omit or mistakenly add?

Answers will vary. If studying in a group, split up into smaller groups and see how many different details are included in the exercise. Why do you think some details made every list and other details didn’t make any lists?

2. Why do you think this story is one of the most popular stories included in children’s Bibles?

We are inspired by David because we often see ourselves as the underdog. But hopefully we now see that with the Lord we are never the underdog.

3. What can we learn from David when Saul told him he couldn’t fight Goliath (1 Samuel 17:33)?

David looked at victories he had in the past. So, too, as we look at the challenges of our future, may we remember how the Lord has provided in the past.

Contributing editor Joel Heckendorf is pastor at Immanuel, Greenville, Wisconsin.

This is the fourth article in a 10-part series on the top ten stories included in children’s Bibles and how they apply to our lives today. Find answers online after March 5.

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Author: Joel S. Heckendorf
Volume 103, Number 3
Issue: March 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
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Louder than words

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When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. Matthew 1:24,25

Joel C. Seifert

I’ve never been comfortable with public speaking.

As a pastor, that’s not the easiest thing for me to admit. I’m grateful for every chance I get to stand in the pulpit or in front of a class and talk about what God has done for us in love, but there’s always a fair dose of self-consciousness, fear, and nerves that I’m never able to shed. I am not better than other Christians, and so many of them quietly serve God so well.

Maybe that’s one of the reasons I’m grateful that God tells us about Joseph, Jesus’ human stepfather.

The Bible’s accounts only mention Joseph a little bit, but in that little bit God tells us so much. Joseph went through with his marriage to Mary, even though he knew she was pregnant with a child that was not his. Can you imagine the whispers and the glances that would have greeted him everywhere he went? Then he left behind everyone and everything—perhaps including his business as a carpenter—in order to take Mary and the infant Jesus down to Egypt when Herod threatened Christ’s life. That couldn’t have been easy.

TRUE IMPORTANCE IS FOUND IN GOD’S WORD

Read through the accounts of Joseph, and you’ll find wonderful things. But there’s one thing you will never hear—Joseph speak. Joseph played an incredibly important role in God’s plan of salvation. But it wasn’t his words that spoke so loudly. It was his actions.

We tend to notice people who speak powerfully and lead well: a powerful preacher, an influential voice in a meeting, the person who always seems to have the great insight in a Bible class or knows the perfect thing to say to someone who’s struggling. Joseph didn’t speak a word that was recorded for us, but he listened to God’s message. He trusted God’s promises, and he followed God’s will. And God did incredible things through him.

GOD WORKS WONDERS THROUGH SILENT SERVANTS 

The quiet people don’t often get noticed in this world. Maybe they don’t often get noticed in our own churches either. But they’re so important in God’s plan. They are women and men who don’t stand in pulpits or in front of great groups of people. They might not even be the most comfortable in one-on-one conversations. But they listen to God’s Word. They trust his promises, and they seek to follow his will.

And through them God does wonderful things. Children are raised to know their Savior. Offerings are given to support the spread of the gospel. Church buildings are cleaned and schedules organized. The poor are shown love, and countless prayers are offered on behalf of the sick. These Christians might not say a word, but their actions speak volumes about God’s love.

Many Christians celebrate the Festival of St. Joseph on March 19. Consider taking time that day to think about those men and women who do so much to serve God and his people. They don’t say much, but they listen and they let their faith shine by their actions. Let them hear the same thing we’d want to tell Joseph: Thank you for the way you listen to God’s Word. God speaks loudly through your actions.

Contributing editor Joel Seifert is pastor at Shining Mountains, Bozeman, Montana.

 

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Author: Joel C. Seifert
Volume 103, Number 3
Issue: March 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

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Mission Stories: Cameroon

/in ,

A bumpy road made smooth

Karen S. Kroll

While traveling on the road, my son observed that driving in Cameroon “isn’t so much driving as it is fighting with cars.” It’s true—driving in Cameroon is a unique experience. One hears a symphony of sounds: a constant hooting of car horns; taxis revving their engines; and the occasional “spirited” conversation between drivers, each of whom believes he has been cut off. It seems that the person who pushes the hardest, hoots the most, or speaks the loudest wins.

This is especially obvious in what is referred to as the “third lane.” When driving on a two-lane highway, the aggressive driver pulls out to pass with the expectation that the other cars will go onto the shoulder to accommodate him.

The temper of drivers in Cameroon sometimes seems to run as hot as the weather or the “pepe” (Scotch Bonnet Peppers, found in most of the food here). A friendly conversation can sound like a heated argument; pushing, posturing, and promoting oneself is championed; and showing weakness or humility only opens the door for others to take advantage.

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Colossians 3:12).

Maybe it’s this stark contrast that makes Sabina stick out of the crowd. Sabina is the wife of Pastor Ewang Njumbe Joseph, the current president of the Lutheran Church of Cameroon. Sabina is a humble woman with a servant’s heart. She follows well the Lord’s example from the night he was betrayed—a real foot washer. She is that go-to person who will always come through when no other volunteers can be found to cook a meal for a meeting or who will welcome someone to her wide open home, whether from a different town, tribe, or nation.

She doesn’t complain or get frustrated about what others aren’t doing . . . she just works to serve the Lord. She may be sick or have heard bad news, but after she utters the traditional “Ashia” (“Sorry to hear . . .”) with her ready smile, she pauses and giggles and, with a wave of her hand, moves on with her tasks.

Like most Christian attributes, they spring up from the gentle rain of the gospel and grow in response to affliction. As God reminded the children of Israel “I have tested you in the furnace of affliction” (Isaiah 48:10). So it was with Sabina. When she and Pastor Joseph wanted to marry, there was a problem: Pastor Joseph’s father had recently died, and there were no other relatives to ask for assistance to pay the “knock door” (bride price). And so Sabina waited until Joseph could raise funds to pay the amount owed to her family in accordance with Bakossi custom.

Marriage and children are “wealth” in African culture so when Sabina and Joseph could not conceive, it was another problem. In Africa, the question isn’t what caused this but rather who caused this, and almost always, witchcraft is involved. These are the times when relatives whisper and begin placing blame, a time when there is talk of annulling the marriage and finding a more suitable partner. These are the times when African Christians have to put their trust in the Lord, knowing that he knows what’s best. This often involves standing up to tradition and family—serving God rather than man. And so they patiently waited and trusted in the Lord. God heard Joseph and Sabina’s prayers, and after four long years he gave them a son and then another and then another.

In the meantime Joseph had graduated from the seminary and had been assigned to serve at Nyandong congregation. Things finally seemed to be going well, until one day their firstborn son collapsed when walking to school and began shaking. It was determined that their son had epilepsy. The “village diagnosis” was that witchcraft was involved and that Joseph and Sabina should leave Nyandong. But they didn’t. They waited and patiently served the Lord, knowing he was in control.

Are you getting the picture? With challenge after challenge the Lord himself produced a quiet, humble, servant for himself. Sabina’s quiet demeanor exemplifies what Peter’s first letter calls “the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit” (3:4). I’ve never heard her suggest that she didn’t deserve these difficulties or brag about how much time she spends serving the Lord. She sees beyond those in front of her to know whom she truly serves and the reason why.

I sometimes wish I could be more like Sabina. Instead I often live my Christian life in the same way people drive in Cameroon. Sometimes I push when I should be thinking of others first. When wronged, I become angry and indignant and loudly proclaim the injustices against me. I too often and too easily look at others with proud thoughts of how much better I am than them and how they should be serving the Lord like I am.

Do you also struggle with quietness and humility? Do you become impatient with those with whom you work and worship? Do you sometimes feel that others should be working as hard as you do in the church? Do you need to be thanked for everything you do at church and feel “put out” when you are not? Do you feel pride when your service in mentioned in a newsletter or bulletin? Do you feel you’ve served “enough years” on a certain committee and others should jump in and serve as faithfully as you have?

Whether we’re pushing ahead while driving in Cameroon or putting ourselves ahead of others in America, the problem is sin. Sin causes us to puff up, promote, and posture. Especially now, during the Lenten season, we appreciate Jesus’ willingness to do the opposite. Since he “did not come to be served, but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28), we can celebrate that such sins are forgiven in Jesus. Because of his death and resurrection, we have a different view on life. We still struggle with our sins, but knowing that they have no power to condemn us helps us to relax and leave matters in the hands of our almighty Savior.

If somebody were to write Sabina’s life story, it would not be as exciting as a heroine in a novel nor as spirited as a driver making a third lane. Outside of those reading this article, Sabina will never be famous. But I do thank God for not only coming into the world to save us from our sins but also for this wonderful example of a faithful fellow believer named Sabina.

Karen Kroll, wife of Missionary Daniel Kroll, lives in Kumba, Cameroon.

 

Lutheran Church of Cameroon

Baptized national members: 640
Number of congregations: 32
Preaching stations: 1
National pastors: 10
Preseminary students: 13
Certified assistants: 14
Missionaries: 1

Unique fact: Due to the remote locations of some of the congregations, it is not uncommon for the pastors to trek one to four hours to get to church. “I recently did a study . . . where a woman trekked four hours to get to the Bible study and then turned around and trekked four hours back,” says Karen.

SUBMIT YOUR STORY

Do you have a manuscript, idea, or story from your own life you’d like to share for use in Forward in Christ or on wels.net? Use our online form to share it to our editorial office for consideration.

SUBSCRIBE TO FORWARD IN CHRIST

Get inspirational stories, spiritual help, and synod news from  Forward in Christ every month. Print and digital subscriptions are available from Northwestern Publishing House.

 

Author: Karen S. Kroll
Volume 103, Number 3
Issue: March 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

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