Devotion for April 4

A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us… and The Lord opened her heart… and she and her household were baptized… Acts16:14

There was a stream crossing where the ancient Apian Way bisected the region of Macedonia. There Lydia, who worked with fine cloth and purple dye, would gather with others. On that shore, Paul witnessed to Lydia who became Paul’s first convert on European soil.

Today there is a shrine to Lydia and a small chapel beautifully constructed and adorned with icons where Lydia came to faith. These were beautiful to be sure. But the really moving moment came when I walked to the shoreline of this fast-moving stream. Some of the building stones from the old Apian Way are still there. In a bend in the river, we could imagine Paul and Lydia entering the stream where her faith was confirmed in baptism. With her were members of her household, Luke tells us. Whether they were only adults or included children is unknown. What we do know is that Lydia’s informed faith (she believed in the God of the Jews) was claimed by the Risen Messiah, Jesus.

Paul’s witness to Jesus and Lydia’s subsequent baptism were the very beginning of his remarkably successful missionary trip to Macedonia. Yet, these two events would have hardly been noticed if Luke hadn’t recorded them in the Acts of the Apostles. Now, two thousand years later, these barely noticed events continue to shape touch the lives of millions of Christians and shape the faith of countless Greek believers.

This shouldn’t surprise us. Our God takes the barely noticed and creates world transformation. The first Easter was barely noticed: some women and then, reluctantly, his disciples saw the Risen Christ. Yet these encounters – so lacking in being noteworthy at the time and, therefore, so easily dismissed – have shaped the course of human history ever since.

God is willing to take our lives – so easily dismissed and underestimated – and bring eternity into our mortal world. This Easter, let us simply be open to this great invitation from God – and Christ will rise in our lives. Amen

Devotion for April 7

I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under.  Luke 12:50

I can’t remember where I first read it, but I haven’t forgotten it. The lesson was about leadership and integrity. The writer was the first one who said that leaders with integrity never ask others to do anything that they hadn’t or wouldn’t do themselves. An effective leader is one who shares the worker’s duties and, thereby, understands the worker.

In the text above, we discover a Savior who willingly goes through the struggles of real life. This is not a God who stands above the crises of life; nor will his ministry lead him down the easy road. The Savior we have in Jesus of Nazareth not only will endure the trials of this life, but he faces them in distress. As the writer of the Book of Hebrews says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)

Jesus understands our lives because he has fully lived. He understands and sympathizes with us. When we sin, we do not have a disinterested or lofty Lord who executes judgment, but one whose judgment is always born out of his understanding and love. No wonder Christians believe that God will give us as many chances as we need!

The season of Lent is the time when we look to the suffering of the Savior. This has been traditionally a time of sacrifice for us by choosing to give up something as our Lord chose to give up his life for us. But this is also a time for us to remember that Jesus’ suffering brings his understanding and love for us.

No matter what we endure – the Savior has walked through it. Christ never asks us to do anything that he hasn’t already done… even in death.

Devotion for January 13th

You are the light of the world… Matthew 5:14

What a remarkable moment it was. Stacy had come to St. Mark with her fiancé, Taylor, to look for a church in which to have a wedding. After they worshiped with us, we met and they selected St. Mark. Both were received into member/discipleship a few months later. Then we learned that Stacy had never been baptized. I met with them and invited her to consider it – and acknowledged my mistake for not having brought it up before being received. She was eager and ready to do so. I waited for her to simply tell me when.

That’s when it got interesting- and fun! Stacy told her mother about her up-coming baptism and her mother, having never been baptized, asked if she might be baptized with her daughter. Of course I agreed. All that would be required, I told them, was a public affirmation of their faith.

So, last Sunday, at our late service, mother and daughter were baptized. The daughter had led her mother to the sacrament. The Holy Spirit had led them both to faith. And our congregation celebrated with joy the work that only God can do! When the baptismal candle was lit with the words of Jesus quoted above, the light of God’s love shone brightly in them and through them.

There are those who suggest that the Christian faith no longer had the power to transform lives. They miss the mark by a long shot. God is still at work. The Holy Spirit is working in the hearts and minds of countless people around the world – some of them, right in our midst. But if we do not have confidence in this truth, we will overlook them and miss the miracles. I am so glad to be a part of the Christian Church and see the power of God at work in our world. I hope you can see it too.

Lord Jesus, thank you for being present among us. Open our eyes to the miracles you are already doing. Amen

Devotion for August 5

Pastor Mike Foss is out of the office for the next few weeks, so other staff members will be writing the devotion in his absence.  This week’s devotion was written by St. Mark Lutheran Church’s Director of Youth Ministries, Jake Bouma.

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“Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” Colossians 3:9-10

With a new year of programming just around the corner (gasp!), the planning team and I have been doing lots of thinking about the nuts and bolts of confirmation. There is one issue, though, that refuses to stop rattling around in my head: Baptism. Specifically, what does it mean to live into your baptism? How is it possible that a one-time event can perpetually transform us?

It is not difficult to see how the above passage from Colossians influenced Martin Luther’s thoughts in regards to baptism. In his Large Catechism, which is broken into five sections, Luther spends the entire fourth section discussing the concept, theology, and practice of baptism. Towards the end of the section, Luther writes, ”Baptism [is] simply the slaying of the old Adam and the resurrection of the new man, both of which actions must continue in us our whole life long. Thus a Christian life is nothing else than a daily baptism, once begun and ever continued.” 

His gender exclusivity aside, Luther is employing Colossians 3:9-10 to make the case that baptism involves a daily recognition of the significance of our baptism, and from that recognition to make a choice between the “old self” and the “new self”. These two competing selves are described in toto in Colossians 3, providing us followers of Christ with a means to gauge our transformation from “old” to “new”.

Lest we believe that the process is ever complete, Luther reminds us that baptism is a daily event, one that Christians in general and myself in particular would do well to embrace. “The old man,” he says, “therefore follows unchecked the inclinations of his nature if he is not restrained and suppressed by the power of Baptism. On the other hand, when we become Christians, the old man daily decreases until he is finally destroyed. This is what it means to plunge into Baptism and daily come forth again.”

Will you take the plunge with me?