sadness

  • Daily Devotions. Day 12, Jesus Wept

    Image may contain: text

    Tomorrow the Gospel reading from John 11 contains the shortest verse in the Bible, just two words: “Jesus wept.” Confirmation students have joked for decades that they want this as their confirmation verse because, well, it’s short and easy to remember. Despite the brevity of the verse, its theological implications are deep enough to drown in.

    Jesus wept. He had emotions. He is truly human. He identifies with us in everything that we are going through. When we weep we are participating in an activity also done by the divine Son of God.

    Jesus wept. Since Jesus is sinless and Jesus wept, crying isn’t a sin. It’s not something to feel ashamed of.

    Jesus wept. The occasion for Jesus weeping is that His friend Lazarus had died four days earlier. Jesus knows He is going to raise Lazarus from the dead in a minute, yet He still weeps. This tells us that it is abundantly appropriate to weep and grieve when our loved ones die. Even though we know Jesus will raise us from the dead and we will be forever with Jesus, weeping is still the proper response to death even with the hope of the resurrection seconds or years or millennia away.

    Jesus wept. And yet, He will also wipe away every tear from our eyes for the time for mourning will not last forever. For Christ will raise us from the dead never to die again. And when death is gone, our tears will be no more. Jesus wept, but He won’t weep forever.

    God’s blessings on your day. Keep the faith.

    Pastor Andy

  • Hope and Thankfulness in the midst of Sadness

    Once a month, the LCMS pastors from the surrounding area gather for a time of worship, fellowship, and to discuss any issues that are coming up that we can help each other through. We typically meet on the second Tuesday of the month at one of the churches. This past week we met at Christ Lutheran in Martinez. I’m not sure how many of you are familiar with their story, but Christ Martinez is about to dissolve their congregation and close their doors for good. They have fewer than 10 members remaining. Their buildings are in need of some maintenance. They simply can’t keep the doors open.

    I was struck by several things while I was there. First, was a sense of sadness that the members of this church were going to lose their church home. Certainly, there are many other churches in the area, but there must be a distinct sadness that goes with closing the doors of a church.

    Second, was a sense of thankfulness. It’s easy to consider things a failure when it’s time for them to come to an end, but that isn’t always the case. Every congregation, ministry, business, nation, empire, and person has a life cycle. We don’t consider people failures when they die. We know death is inevitable in this sinful world. Likewise, when a congregation comes to its end, that doesn’t always happen because of failure. Sometimes circumstances lead God’s people to an understanding that the most faithful thing to do, the shrewdest way to act as God’s stewards, is to close a church. Yes, it is sad, but we can be thankful for all of the people who heard the Gospel at Christ Martinez. We can be thankful for all those who were baptized there, who received the Lord’s Supper there.

    Third and finally, I had a sense of hope. I don’t know what’s in store for the community of Martinez, but God knows. I’m not sure if First Lutheran can have any impact on that community in the next few years. I’m not sure what the religious landscape of California will look like in 50 or 100 or 500 years, but God knows. And God’s plans are better and higher and more wonderful than our own.

    Every week in the Lord’s Prayer, we pray “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” As we move forward in faith, let us continually look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter, the author and editor of our faith. Let us follow where He is leading, always eager to serve our Lord with joy.

    God’s blessings on your week.

    Pastor Andy

Facebook Image

LCMS logoFirst Evangelical Lutheran Church is a member of the California-Nevada-Hawaii District of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, a family of congregations focused on bringing Christ to the nations and sharing His unconditional saving Love within our community.

Give online to the ministry of First Lutheran Church
Simply Giving website

Go to top
JSN Boot template designed by JoomlaShine.com