Shoes and Good News

This past week has been a unique one for me in ministry.  In addition to the regular activities of an ordinary week, of which preparing to preach on Sunday morning is probably the most important and most time-consuming, I also preached three funerals.  Two of those funerals were in our church building and one was a graveside service, and in all three I was at the cemetery for the burial. Three different groups of families and friends, grieving losses that were completely unexpected, plus one group of people gathered together for worship on Sunday. The one thing that joined them all, from my point-of-view, was that they heard the good news of Jesus proclaimed to them.

The picture is one of my "work shoes" this past week. From left to right: Tuesday, preaching from John 20:30-31; Friday, from Luke 15:1-7; Saturday, from Psalm 121; and this morning, from John 1:1-5. The Gospel presentation from those sermons was stronger in some than in others, again, from my viewpoint, but it was there nonetheless. The essence was that we are sinners in the presence of a holy God, and the only hope we have for rescue is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

In Romans 10:14-15 Paul writes:

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

My present calling is to be a pastor on a reservation, and so in Paul's words I have been sent here in order that people may understand the good news of Jesus and call on Him for salvation. Those are the shoes that cover my feet as I do this work.

But the greater truth is that all people who have faith in Jesus should grow as followers of Him, preparing for that moment when in the telling of their faith story they become the means that God uses to open someone's eyes to see the glory of their Savior as they come to faith in Him.

I showed my shoes because, frankly, no one wants to see a picture of my feet. But those shoes cover one pair of feet that are carrying the good news of Jesus to a world that desperately needs it. And by God's grace, be it in your home, your neighborhood, or across the globe, your feet can do the same. Amen.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Well Pleased

Mark 1:9-11

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.  And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Devotion

In these words of Mark we see the entry point of Jesus' public ministry.  Like the opening kick-off of a football game, the baptism of Jesus is the play that gets everything started.  And yet, while nothing seems to have actually happened on the part of Jesus, the Father declares that in Jesus He is "well pleased."  Could the pleasure of the Father somehow be misplaced?

As we pass through Lent our eyes come into sharper focus on the end of Jesus' ministry.  Although Mark doesn’t provide any details we can see that the preparation before the baptism has been sufficient training to carry Jesus through each and every step of His ministry, including that final, very painful one on the cross, where He cries out "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"  At this point is the Father still pleased with Jesus?  Mark is silent, but I believe the answer would be a resounding "Yes!"

The Nicene Creed reminds us that Jesus came to earth "for us and for our salvation,"  There is nothing about His life and ministry that does not contribute to that final outcome, salvation for all who will place their trust in Him alone.  The Father is pleased in the preparation of the Son, and He is pleased as the Son lives a life that accomplishes exactly what was intended, the removal of our sin so that we could know real peace with God and receive the certain promise of eternal life with Jesus, our Savior and our Lord. 

The Father is pleased at the baptism, and He must also be pleased at the crucifixion, for there could be no other way to reconcile sinners with a holy God but for Jesus to carry our sin away, clothing us in His righteousness.

Prayer

Lord God Almighty, Thank you for the pleasure of the Father at the baptism of the Son, and for the faithfulness of the Son as He traveled to the cross.  Clothed in the righteousness of Jesus, and filled with the Holy Spirit, shape our lives each day, so that they too would be pleasing to God. Amen.

Bio

Rev. Brad Kautz lives with his wife, Robin, their youngest daughter and two foster children, in Dulce, NM, on the reservation of the Jicarilla Apache Nation and where he serves as pastor of the Jicarilla Apache Reformed Church.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Good Samaritan, Applied To Life

"Hey Pastor Brad! Pray for us!"

"Would you like me to pray with you now?"

"No. Later."

"Okay. Have a good day."

That exchange happened recently when I was going for a run. I was passing the park and saw two people whom I have gotten to know a bit over the years. They saw me, waved, and we shared those words. 

I've prayed with them before, in that park, but that was not their preference this time. Prayer? Sure, but not now. Later. 

Why?

Without pressing the point I believe that it was because they had just left the liquor store and wanted to enjoy their purchase with a relatively clear conscience. 

Unknown to them was the fact that I had already prayed for both of them that morning, by name, and in particular that they might come to experience sobriety.  They are both on a list of names of people I know who struggle with alcohol. Some of those people desire to break free, and others have told me frankly that they don't.  That doesn’t matter to me.  I can see how destructive that particular pattern of behavior has been for them and so I pray for them, trusting God to deliver them as that fits with His overall plan.

I believe that God has a plan, and He has only given me a small glimpse of  it.  He has given me insight into some of the problems within this community, and given me personal relationships, albeit at various levels of closeness, with people in the depths of those problems.  And so it makes sense, at least to me, that at the minimum I should pray for these people, and then serve Him among them as He leads me.

That is where it gets dicey.  I could have come over to the two people who had called out to me and got in their face about their drinking. Or maybe done something else that was direct, without being confrontational.  One thing I have learned on the reservation is that I will see these people, again and again.  And one thing they have learned is that I am approachable.  And so in the small, day-to-day interactions I look for the opportunity to say or do something that may spark a  long-term change.  There are quite a few people's names on that list of those who struggle with alcohol and other addictions.  But there are also a half-dozen who I have good reason to believe right now are sober nearly every day.

Tonight in our Bible reading with the boys we read a young children's version of the parable of the Good Samaritan.  In explaining it the point I made to the boys was that when we have received God's love in Jesus we can then serve our Lord among people we might really find it much easier to avoid, be they injured travelers left along the roadside, or the people at the park who just left the liquor store.  

The Good Samaritan is an old story, and a good story.  And if Jesus is your Savior and Lord you'll see an opportunity within the week to put its principles into practice. Amen.

Longing

Today, very unofficially, is the first day of spring on the reservation. How do I know? It's because today was the first time I saw the man who buys antlers set-up at the gas station.  For the next two months, and perhaps a bit longer, there will be between one and three people there, buying antlers, every day.  After five winters on the reservation that is as sure a sign of spring as anything else.

This winter has been, by far, the mildest we have seen here.  Hardly any snow.  Cold temps, but not cold enough for long enough to freeze over a lake that every other year has been a frequent spot for ice-fishing.  I talked with my father this week and he said their weather was "pretty decent," with a high temp of 15 expected that day.  I know that tonight they are expecting another 8" of snow. 

Most years we might long for spring, with its warmer temperatures and many signs of new life, but not this year in Dulce.  Back in the Midwest it's another story, one that I still remember very well.  Come mid-February and the longing for spring there is very real.

This morning I read Romans 13, where the last half of verse 11 says:

"For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed."

Paul doesn’t mean salvation itself, as if he was still awaiting it.  By faith in Jesus as his savior he was already among those saved, a place from which one can never be removed.  What Paul was speaking of as drawing ever nearer each day was the final goal of salvation, the consummation of all things and the eternal presence of all God's children with their savior and lord. 

There are implication to the approach of the day of salvation that Paul brings out in the remainder of the chapter, but this morning I just had to linger over the idea that salvation itself is closer each day.

We can live each day with a longing for something that lies ahead. For children it might be the end of the school year.  For adults it might be a coming vacation trip, with it's respite from the routines of home and work.  I love my present job but now that I'm in my 60's the idea of retirement is not nearly as abstract or far off as it was in my 20's. 

Right now in our family there is a sense of longing for each of my examples.  The end of the school year will bring significant changes to our home school.  In a few months we are traveling for the wedding of one of our children. And farther off, years rather than months, will be retirement.  Yet I would gladly give up each of those longings for infinitely more precious, the return of my savior and the final goal of salvation: eternity in his presence.