Larry Devich
Friday, December 08, 2006
Help Vets
Please join me in supporting the veterans who've served our country by sending them a phone card so they can call their loved ones over the holidays.
Veterans Administration (VA) budget cuts in recent years have left many of our nation's veterans at VA hospitals without the means to call their families over the holidays. These long distance calls are generally not covered by the VA, and many vets just don't have the financial resources to call all their loved ones. Click on the red white and blue logo or click here to help out. ¶ 12/08/2006 03:45:00 PM 0 Comments
Please join me in supporting the veterans who've served our country by sending them a phone card so they can call their loved ones over the holidays.Veterans Administration (VA) budget cuts in recent years have left many of our nation's veterans at VA hospitals without the means to call their families over the holidays. These long distance calls are generally not covered by the VA, and many vets just don't have the financial resources to call all their loved ones. Click on the red white and blue logo or click here to help out. ¶ 12/08/2006 03:45:00 PM 0 Comments
Advent 1: Friday
Read Luke 19:28-40
"And if anyone asks you, 'Why are you loosing it?' thus you shall say to him,
'Because the Lord has need of it.'" (Luke 19:31)
The Lord has need of a donkey. He's about to enter Jerusalem triumphally,
and He has to borrow a donkey for the ride. Now, the donkey is necessary to
fulfill prophecy (Zechariah 9:9), so that part makes complete sense. But why
would the Lord, who created all animals in general and this donkey in particular,
need to borrow it? Why would the Son of God need to borrow anything?
We can draw at least two lessons from this. One is the ongoing humility of
Jesus, something that Martin Luther never lets us forget. Time and time again,
Luther points out that Jesus acts most humbly as He goes about saving us. Why
would He consent to be born of lowly Mary, then placed in a manger for His
first bed? Why would He grow up in backwoods Nazareth as the carpenter's son,
rather than the palaces of Jerusalem? Why does He take the role of the traveling
teacher rather than the powerful king—one who needs to borrow a donkey?
Throughout His incarnate ministry, Jesus lives as such a humble Servant that it
scandalizes many—for how could one so humble be the Son of God? The cross
is the climax: as He wins salvation for us, Jesus is executed in a manner reserved
for only the worst of criminals and most rebellious of slaves. This, too,
scandalizes many who refuse to believe in a Savior who saves by such a
shameful death. By faith, you know that this is how Jesus works: and therefore
you rejoice that He continues to forgive through humble means, like water, a
pastor's sermon, bread and wine. As He once came to save His people riding on
a donkey, He still comes to give salvation by means of His Word and His
Sacraments. This isn't scandal to you: it's the Lord's salvation.
Second, God gives and entrusts us with all that we have. He makes us
stewards and uses us as His instruments. Where Jesus could simply and rightly
summon a donkey to Himself, instead He has entrusted the beast to an
individual, and He uses the owner as His instrument. “The Lord has need of this
donkey,” say His disciples; believing the Word, the owner consents to the Lord's
need. Now, the Lord doesn't need anything from us—but He does give us the
privilege of serving Him by serving others. “As you did it to the least of these,
you did it unto Me,” He declares (Matthew 25:40). Those things that we have
are given so that we might serve those who are in need. And so we do, because
the Lord has first served us and saved us by His death and resurrection.
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!
A Helper just He comes to thee, His chariot is humility,
His kingly crown is holiness; His scepter, pity in distress.
The end of all our woe He brings; Wherefore the earth is glad and sings:
We praise Thee Savior, now, Mighty in deed art Thou! (TLH 73:2) ¶ 12/08/2006 07:31:00 AM 0 Comments
"And if anyone asks you, 'Why are you loosing it?' thus you shall say to him,
'Because the Lord has need of it.'" (Luke 19:31)
The Lord has need of a donkey. He's about to enter Jerusalem triumphally,
and He has to borrow a donkey for the ride. Now, the donkey is necessary to
fulfill prophecy (Zechariah 9:9), so that part makes complete sense. But why
would the Lord, who created all animals in general and this donkey in particular,
need to borrow it? Why would the Son of God need to borrow anything?
We can draw at least two lessons from this. One is the ongoing humility of
Jesus, something that Martin Luther never lets us forget. Time and time again,
Luther points out that Jesus acts most humbly as He goes about saving us. Why
would He consent to be born of lowly Mary, then placed in a manger for His
first bed? Why would He grow up in backwoods Nazareth as the carpenter's son,
rather than the palaces of Jerusalem? Why does He take the role of the traveling
teacher rather than the powerful king—one who needs to borrow a donkey?
Throughout His incarnate ministry, Jesus lives as such a humble Servant that it
scandalizes many—for how could one so humble be the Son of God? The cross
is the climax: as He wins salvation for us, Jesus is executed in a manner reserved
for only the worst of criminals and most rebellious of slaves. This, too,
scandalizes many who refuse to believe in a Savior who saves by such a
shameful death. By faith, you know that this is how Jesus works: and therefore
you rejoice that He continues to forgive through humble means, like water, a
pastor's sermon, bread and wine. As He once came to save His people riding on
a donkey, He still comes to give salvation by means of His Word and His
Sacraments. This isn't scandal to you: it's the Lord's salvation.
Second, God gives and entrusts us with all that we have. He makes us
stewards and uses us as His instruments. Where Jesus could simply and rightly
summon a donkey to Himself, instead He has entrusted the beast to an
individual, and He uses the owner as His instrument. “The Lord has need of this
donkey,” say His disciples; believing the Word, the owner consents to the Lord's
need. Now, the Lord doesn't need anything from us—but He does give us the
privilege of serving Him by serving others. “As you did it to the least of these,
you did it unto Me,” He declares (Matthew 25:40). Those things that we have
are given so that we might serve those who are in need. And so we do, because
the Lord has first served us and saved us by His death and resurrection.
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!
A Helper just He comes to thee, His chariot is humility,
His kingly crown is holiness; His scepter, pity in distress.
The end of all our woe He brings; Wherefore the earth is glad and sings:
We praise Thee Savior, now, Mighty in deed art Thou! (TLH 73:2) ¶ 12/08/2006 07:31:00 AM 0 Comments
