40 Days of Prayer - Week 5

1 Corinthians 2:2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

Devotion: For some time now many of us have been worried about something called "gospel reductionism" wherein the fullness of the teaching of the church is thought to be unimportant, and that all we need to do is proclaim salvation by grace through faith. The revisionists in the ELCIC and ELCA have often asserted that questions of ethics and morality are of no real importance. That they are matters of personal preference and choice. And that as long as we are proclaiming Jesus, we need not worry overmuch about matters of sexual ethics.

We all know of the debates that have torn our Lutheran church apart. And I hope we can all agree that the fullness of the gospel must be preserved in a truly evangelical and catholic Lutheran church.

But we must beware as we form a new Lutheran denominational body that in seeking to avoid the trap of gospel reductionism, we instead fall into the trap of losing our center. We must not make our opposition to revisionist sexual ethics into our reason for being as a church. We must seek to keep "... knowing nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified ..." as the center of our faith. Jesus is the center. He is the hub of the wheel. To be sure, the hub has spokes attached to it, a rim, and a tire. But as important as all of these other parts are to the smooth turning of the wheel, none of them are of any use if they are not connected to the center, to the hub.

Prayer: Lord God, as the North American Lutheran Church is formed, we pray that we would seek the fullness of your counsel in Christ. And that we would always look to the crucified Lord Jesus as the center of our life together. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Today’s devotion and prayer is offered by The Rev. Karl Johnsen, Pastor of Calvary Lutheran Church, Edmonton, Alberta and Member, Society of the Holy Trinity.

Romans 14:7-8 We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.

Devotion: Let’s get back to basics. We have found disillusionment in the human institution of the church. We have been disappointed to see friends and others we respect find the unity of the church more important than the Biblical word. We have ached as we see congregations split their vote on leaving or staying. All of these things matter to us.

We have been excited seeing a new church, the NALC, beginning to rise this year. We have high hopes for the constituting convocation at the end of August. We rejoice to worship with others who share our love of God’s Word as the authority for our life. We thank God for newfound friends we have been able to work with on committees to formulate the mission and structure of the new church. All these things matter to us as well.

But Paul reminds us here that we are the Lord’s. We don’t live to ourselves, but to the Lord. We don’t die to ourselves, but to the Lord. Not only that, but our death happened long ago for many of us, over the font, when water was poured or dripped or wiped over us, when we were baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and we were named a child of God. We died then and became a new being in Christ.

So the disillusionments, the disappointments, the aching doesn’t define us, Christ does. The hopes, joys and thankfulness for a new church don’t define us. Christ does. We are the Lord’s.

We received heartbreaking news yesterday of a dear friend’s death in an automobile accident. An event like that focuses your mind on what matters. Of course we pray that the NALC will come into existence and be a home for those currently without a church that feels like home. Of course we pray that the NALC will reach out and speak God’s Word of grace to people who desperately need it. And we should do so. Yet, we live to the Lord, we die to the Lord, we are the Lord’s. Thanks be to God.

Prayer: We thank you, dear God, that you have chosen us, loved us, cared for us and sent us out to share your good news wherever we can. We pray that we can do that together in the NALC, that it will be a beacon to sinners and a place where forgiveness is heard and lived. And we thank you most especially that we are yours, in life and in death. Amen.

Today’s devotion and prayer is offered by Carolyn Nestingen, St. Paul, Minnesota, Member, Lutheran CORE Vision and Planning Committee.

Psalm 100 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth.

Worship the LORD with gladness; come into his presence with singing.

Know that the LORD is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name.

For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

Psalm 118:19-20 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD. This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it.

Devotion: The theme of these Psalms is "Pick up the Key, Unlock the Gates and Enter In!"

It's time for the people of God to approach God with sincerity. For sure God wants to restore His Church but the enemy is not happy. Many still doubt about a new formation and the others are still carrying a fear, doubt and uncertainty in them. In Psalm 70:4, David leaves no doubt in what he means. He says, "Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you!" He is telling us: "If you are seeking the Lord, rejoice and be glad.....and you will find Him.”

In another Psalm, David declares, "In your presence is fullness of joy..." (Psalm 16:11) There it is in God's Word, so we know it's true. Therefore, knowing that His presence is fullness of joy how can we expect to enter into that presence if we're carrying fear, doubt, speculation and other negative attitudes? Negative attitudes are not allowed to come in and corrupt the pure fullness of joy. In fact, negative things flee from His presence. So if we want to enter His presence, get rid of the negative baggage, get on our garment of praise and put joy in the lock. Joy will turn the lock and open the gate every time!

Prayer: Dear God, give us a light to know our failures and a grace to detest it in all our hearts and to confess it with sincerity. Grant us courage to know that in you everything is possible. Give us a discernment to accept the change that we are entering through and to rejoice with the Saints through the formation of the NALC. We cast out all spirit of doubt, fear and uncertainty and let the spirit of praise and joy continue to flow in our hearts and we must be able to pick up the key, unlock the gates and enter in your presence through this new formation. We ask you also to bless your servants, those who, day and night, are working to lead your people in defending the truth of your Word and to lift up your Kingdom. In the mighty name of our Lord Jesus we pray. Amen.

Today’s devotion and prayer is offered by The Rev. Diedone Diela (Didi) Panzo, Pastor/Mission Developer of One in Christ Worship Community, Telford, Pennsylvania and Consultant, African missions of French and Portuguese Speaking People through the African National Office of the ELCA.

Matthew 28:16-20 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Devotion: One year ago today the ELCA Churchwide Assembly passed the proposed Social Statement on Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, by an exact two-thirds vote. For some in this church body, this was the culmination of years of prayer and work, and was a time of great joy and hope for the future. For others, it was the dashing of hope and joy, and meant that supporting the ELCA, even remaining in her, would be increasingly difficult, if not impossible. The ELCA is not united behind the passage of this statement; indeed, the divisions within the body continue to cause pain, struggle, anger, and mutual renunciation. One question that is being asked by many who reject this action of a year ago is this: “Can a church body so divided over basic teachings regarding human sexuality still be a witness for Jesus Christ? Can the ELCA still fulfill the Great Commission, or must those of us who reject the Social Statement leave the ELCA in order to follow Jesus’ command?”

Different people in Lutheran CORE give different answers to these questions. But it is interesting to see that the group of disciples to whom Jesus gives the Great Commission are not united in their response to Jesus’ appearance to them. Some doubt. These are the eleven, the ones hand-picked by Jesus to be his disciples; but some of them doubt. Nonetheless, the doubters along with those who are confident are given the command to go, making disciples and teaching them to obey all that Jesus has commanded. How will they manage this? How can those who are faithful and those who are doubters fulfill this commission; how can they work together if their beliefs are not held in common?

We are not told the answer to this. The letters of Paul, the book of Acts, and other writings in the New Testament, as well as the writings and traditions that come to us after the close of the Apostolic age, will have to suffice as an answer. Some of us may marvel at how well the eleven, and those coming after them, managed to work together even when they were deeply divided over such matters as circumcision for Gentile believers. And others of us will see how quickly Jesus’ followers set off in different directions, and how their disagreements threatened constantly to undo the Great Commission.

Division in the church is not new. It existed even among the original disciples, even on a matter so central as what the appearance of the risen Jesus in their midst meant. But the command to go and make disciples in the name of the Triune God came then, and comes still, in spite of all our divisions, doubts, disappointments, and disbelief. The ELCA, as divided as it is, as wrong as many of us believe it to be, still stands in the tradition of the Apostles who received that command, and still can cling to the promise given by our Lord to his divided, doubting followers: “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Prayer: Faithful Lord of the Church, we pray for your servant, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America: Allow her, even in the midst of divisions and disagreements, to be your instrument for proclaiming the truth of your Word; enable those who question her decisions to serve within her with patient love and steadfastness; correct all within her that is in error; and strengthen all that is faithful to your command; for all authority has been given to you, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Today’s devotion and prayer is offered by The Rev. Erma S. Wolf, Brandon, South Dakota, Steering Committee Member, Lutheran CORE since November 2005, and Co-Chair of the Theological Education Task Force.

Luke 2:8-14 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"

Devotion: I know it is a little early to think about the Christmas story, yet at the end of these forty days we will be seeing the birth of something very new and, we pray, very holy.

If only we were so new and so holy!

St. Jerome, commenting on this text, said, “In heaven, where there is no discord, glory rules. On earth, where every day is warfare, peace prevails. Peace among whom? Among men. Why are the Gentiles without peace? Why, too, the Jews? That is exactly the reason for the qualification: Peace among men of good will, among those who acknowledge the birth of Christ.”

I think this means, when we soon gather in Columbus, that our prayer will be for the healing of our good will so that we may know the peace that passes all human understanding. Our prayer will be to embody the good will of our Lord that His will may be ours too. Our prayer will be to look forward not backward. Our prayer will be to exude graciousness, generosity, compassion, forgiveness, hope and hard work.

When I join you in Columbus, you will see that I’m not too new, and certainly not too holy. Nor will I see this in you. Then how will our new church be new and, hopefully, holy? When in prayer, Bible study and Evangelism we follow the Holy Spirit building a church that looks like the infant Jesus, who though small was Lord of all, who though born in a barn was praised by angels, who though new and weak was there at the creation of this world. We can do no better than to be small in Jesus!

Prayer: Dear, sweet Jesus! By the awesome power of your Holy Spirit, work in us, over us, straight through our objections, your own good will, that what we do together may be well done. Amen.

Today’s devotion and prayer is offered by The Rev. Dr. Timothy D. Hubert, Saint Joseph, Illinois, Chair, Seven Marks Society.

Luke 5:27-32 After this he went out and saw a tax-collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up, left everything, and followed him. Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house; and there was a large crowd of tax-collectors and others sitting at the table- with them. The Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his disciples, saying, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax-collectors and sinners?’ Jesus answered, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.’

Devotion: The Lutheran CORE has called faithful Christians to 40 days of prayers. Prayer is a sacred reverent petition made to God. St. Augustine remarked, “Our heart is restless until it rests in You” (St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, 354-430). This remark echoes Jesus’ call to repentance. He declared “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). The world is full of heavy burdens, but Jesus promised rest for souls of those who call upon his name. He is the divine friend who did not “come to call righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32). As many wrestle with moral dilemmas on the ELCA’s decision on human sexuality, one needs only to turn to God in prayer. The restless heart will find rest in Christ.

Prayer: God of grace and power, we thank you for the promise of salvation. We thank you for your care, love, and acceptance to carry our burdens. Stir the power of your Holy Spirit in us and guide the leaders of this church. We trust your wisdom will be the foundation of the new church, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Today’s devotion and prayer is offered by The Rev. Jordan Long, Pastor of Nile Sudanese Lutheran Mission, Rochester, New York.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

Devotion: I read a true story online several years ago and have told it many times…There was a busy 2 lane highway which was the main link between two communities. Like all roads, this one needed repairs and for weeks the road work created major delays. You know the drill – one flagger stops the traffic in one lane while another flagger allows the traffic in the other lane to proceed. All day long – open your lane – close your lane, open your lane – close your lane. There is a truck with signs on it saying “pilot car” which leads the proceeding traffic to the end of one lane area, then the driver of the pilot truck turns around and drives back with the traffic following him from the other side. This procedure continues while the work is being done so everyone can be safe. However, one day there was a lady short on patience after waiting for the pilot car to take other cars ahead of her. Oh, she waited until her lane was open and the pilot car came. However, since she was first in line behind the pilot car, her patience ended as she started to follow that pilot…and she decided to “floor it” and PASS the pilot car – bad idea! She crashed right into heavy road equipment which she could not see up ahead from behind the pilot car. The moral of this story is “Running ahead of the one you’re supposed to be following can lead to a crash.”

I was raised on the NJ Coast about 30 miles North of Cape May in a little coastal town called Somers Point between Ocean City and Atlantic City. When Dad wasn’t doing his pastoral duties, he would take my three brothers and me fishing out in the bay on our boat which was named the “Pilot Me.” My brothers and I got a lot of “God as our Pilot” sermons out on that boat. I remember he talked to us about how hard it was to be patient and not wanting to wait on God to answer our prayers, especially when we thought God was moving slowly – too slowly for our hopes, plans, and wishes….

Worthy Ministries sent out a devotional some time ago about this subject. They talked about Moses as a good example of running ahead of Pilot God. You know the story – God miraculously spared Moses as a baby and arranged for him to be raised in Pharaohs court. When Moses was 40 years old he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. That day he witnessed a Jewish worker being mistreated by an Egyptian Master. The Bible says he went to his defense and killed the Egyptian. Moses thought that his people, the Israelites, would think God used him to rescue them…but they didn’t!

Moses had to run away to the wilderness and he lived there for 40 years UNTIL it was God’s time for him to rescue his people not when Moses thought it was time. Only then was it right because it was GOD’S Time and GOD’S Plan for Moses to rescue his people the Israelites. Don’t misunderstand – Moses HAD the right idea, but he couldn’t wait for God to do it GOD’S way.

There are things we are waiting for God to do – and when we feel it’s not happening fast enough, we think we need to help God a little bit. We are tempted to pass God’s Pilot Car because God’s moving too slowly. But we could ruin it, by trying to rush. And if we aren’t careful we can move too fast – and push so hard we push right past God.

In February of 2010, a large number of our members left the ELCA and the congregation who voted to stay in the ELCA. On Sunday, August 8, 2010 we held our first worship service as “Word of God Lutheran Church.” Since February, we met on a regular basis and during that time prayed eagerly for God to let us know which road to take. There were a handful of people when we started and before we knew it, we had over 100 willing and committed people to start a new church by the school year. God brought everything to fruition and now we are moving so quickly, we have to remind ourselves to watch for God to lead and not get ahead of our Pilot.

Even though God hasn’t sent us an interim pastor yet, God has equipped our lay people to use their gifts and talents in Worship, Christian Education, Youth Ministry, Caring Ministry, Stewardship and Evangelism, Property, Communication, and Finance to begin our new church. It has been amazing to see how God has led our people to step forward as “the priesthood of all believers” and minister to each other. We wait for God to send the right interim pastor to shepherd us during this time of discernment. We anxiously wait for the convocation to hear what the NALC has planned. And then we will again wait for God to pilot and lead us in the direction we should go as people of THE WORD.

Prayer: Gracious God, It is good to be reminded by your Word that you will make everything suitable for its time. Help us not to get ahead of you Lord. Give us the wisdom to watch for your signals and grant us clear understanding and the confidence we need to see your will for our lives. Thank you for your perfect timing. In Jesus’ Name we pray together, Amen.

Today’s devotion and prayer is offered by Linda Lake, Peachtree City, Georgia, retired ELCA Director of Youth Ministry and lay leader spearheading, along with her husband, Larry, and other committed laypeople, the formation of a new congregation called "Word of God Lutheran Church."