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ST. PAUL LUTHERAN CHURCH
17200 E. 39th Street
Independence, Missouri 64055
THE VOICE
MARCH 2010 NEWSLETTER
Emphasis: “LENTEN JOURNEY---SUFFERING WITH CHRIST”
Legend says that it happened in the streets of Damascus. A merchant sent his servant to the market. When the servant returned, trembling and agitated, he said, “While I was at the market, I was jostled by someone in the crowd. I turned to look and saw that Death had jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture. Master, please lend me your horse so I can escape. I want to ride to Samarra. There I will hide so that Death cannot find me.” Later that same day the merchant himself was in the marketplace, and he also saw Death in the crowd. He said to her, “Why did you startle my servant this morning by making a threatening gesture?” Death replied, “That was no threatening gesture; it was simply a start of surprise. I was startled to see your servant in Damascus, for we have an appointment tonight in Samarra.” Death is true to all mankind. Even our Lord’s suffering and death was part of God’s plan to save us.
A veteran missionary was returning home to the U.S. after several terms on the field. Aboard a ship bound for New York harbor, a secularist challenged him by pointing out the futility of giving one’s life in missionary service. He continued by noting that no one on board ship was paying any attention to the veteran missionary, a sign they apparently considered his efforts quite wasted. The servant of God responded, “I’m not home yet.” The agnostic assumed the missionary was referring to a large crowd that would meet the ship, and he scoffed again when they disembarked—not a solitary person welcomed the missionary. Once again, the missionary said, “I’m not home yet.” A lonely train ride lay ahead as he made his trek from New York City to his small Midwestern hometown. Reaching his destination, the missionary could no longer fight back the tears as the train pulled off. Again, he stood alone. It was then that the inner voice of God’s Spirit brought comfort by reminding the faithful servant, “You’re not home yet.”
A wealthy man died, apparently without leaving a will. Consequently, according to law, the estate was to be divided among the several surviving cousins who were the next of kin. Also as prescribed by law, the deceased’s household goods and other items of personal property were to be converted into cash in a public auction. During the sale, the auctioneer held up a framed photograph, but no one bid on it, including the cousins. Later, a woman approached the auctioneer and asked him if she might purchase the picture for a dollar, which was all she had. She said it was a photograph of the deceased man’s only son. She went on to relate that she had been a servant in the deceased’s household when the boy lost his life trying to rescue a drowning person, and that she had loved him very much. The auctioneer accepted the dollar and the woman went home and placed the photograph on a table beside her bed. It was then she noticed a bulge in the back of the frame. She undid the backing and there, to her amazement, was the rich man’s will. The instructions in the will were simple: “I give and bequeath all my possessions to the person who cares enough for my son to cherish this photograph.” Do we cherish the son on the old rugged cross?
God did not save you to be a sensation; He saved you to be a servant. One of the greatest servants of Christ was Dr. Temple in England. A young clergyman who was being sent by Dr. Temple to a very difficult parish turned to him and said, “Dr. Temple, why do you send me there? Don’t you know how difficult it is? It’ll kill me if I go there.” You know what Dr. Temple’s reply was? “Well, you and I do not mind a little thing like that, do we? If what God has set for us to accomplish will require our lives, we should be willing to give our lives.”
Martin of Tours was a man in whom faith and works combined to make him a true Christian. One day he met a beggar who asked for alms. Martin didn’t have any money, but he saw that the beggar was freezing, so he gave him what he had. He took off his soldier’s overcoat, old and faded as it was, cut it in half, and wrapped half around the beggar. During the night Martin had a dream. He saw heaven opened, and Christ wearing half an overcoat. One of the angels asked, “Lord, why are you wearing that shabby old coat?” Christ answered, “Because my servant gave it to me.” It was only a dream, but it illustrates the truth that Christ taught, that whatever we do for others in His name, He accepts as a gift to Him.
One day as G. Campbell Morgan prayed, the Lord seemed to say to him, “Which do you want to be—a servant of mine or a great preacher?” Morgan replied, “May I not be both, Lord?” A spiritual struggle ensued as he thought, God may want me to be an unknown minister in an obscure place. Then Morgan submissively prayed, “O Lord, my greatest wish is to be a servant of Thine!” The Lord responded by making him one of the greatest preachers of his time.
A famous atheist once said, “I can stand all the arguing of Christian apologists, but I have a little servant who is a disciple of Jesus Christ, and her good, pure, honest, truthful life staggers me sometimes.” The one irresistible argument for the gospel’s power is a regenerated, consecrated life which is a demonstration of the life of Christ. The world may miss seeing the life of God in nature, but they cannot miss seeing it in the lives of those men and women who have the life of Christ. What a wonderful thought to know that we as human beings can become the carriers of the life of God and our lives can become the reflectors of His life.
If steel is to be used in a reliable manner, it must be tested and proven. So must the servant of Christ. Someone describes his visit to a steel mill as follows: “All around me were little partitions and compartments. Steel had been tested to the limit, and marked with figures that showed its breaking point. Some pieces had been twisted until they broke, and the strength of torsion was marked on them. Some had been stretched to the breaking point, and their tensile strength indicated. Some had been compressed to the crushing point and also marked. The supervisor of the steel mill knew just what these pieces of steel would stand under the strain. He knew just what they would bear if placed in a ship, building, or bridge. He knew because the testing room revealed it.” It is often so with us as God’s children. God doesn’t want us to be like vases of glass or porcelain. He doesn’t want us to be hothouse plants, but storm-beaten oaks; not sand dunes, driven with every gust of wind, but granite rocks withstanding the fiercest storms. To make us strong He must bring us into His testing room of suffering. Better the storm waters with Christ than the smooth waters without Him.
Join us each week as we focus on the final words of Isaiah from chapter 52 and especially 53 to see “Our SUFFERING SAVIOR”
03/03---3rd MidWeek “By His Wounds We Are Healed” Isaiah 53:4,5
03/10---4th MidWeek “Stray Sheep” Isaiah 53:6
03/17---5th MidWeek “Knowing When to Keep Quiet” Isaiah 53:7
03/24---6th MidWeek “Is There No Justice” Isaiah 53:8
04/01---Maundy Thur. “Bloodbath” Isaiah 52:14-15
04/02---Good Friday “A Rich Burial” Isaiah 53:9
04/04---Easter “Satisfaction Guaranteed” Isaiah 53:10-12
Worship times: 6AM/ 9AM
Breakfast from 7AM-8:30 AM
SS Easter Activities 10:30 AM
In Jesus’ name.
Pastor Gary D. Stolle
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