WATCHWORD:
5 All heaven will praise your great wonders, Lord; myriads of angels will praise you for your faithfulness. 6 For who in all of heaven can compare with the Lord? What mightiest angel is anything like the Lord? 7 The highest angelic powers stand in awe of God. He is far more awesome than all who surround his throne. Psalm 89:5-7
This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So, Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day… John 6:50-71
Meditation:
Invisible Enemy Among Us
In the October/November issue of The Evangel, a publication of the Association of Lutheran Churches, there is an article by James Hoefer, entitled The Invisible Enemy. We may immediately think of the Covid 19 virus and how it has upended our lives and created isolation in our usually socialized existence. It would be hard to argue about that.
In his article, Dr. Hoefer speaks of the power of darkness. He makes this statement: “But a deeper dive into the Biblical portrayal brings some surprises! There we find that everything we see in the visible, physical realm is caused, provoked, or at least influenced by something in the invisible, spiritual realm.”
Spirits? Humbug! Everything can be answered with science or our five senses. Everything? Really? How about, who you are? Science? Why are you here, reading this? Let me get my two cents in here: How about an 80-year-old man writing a Christian book that gets published? Correction, two books. Hmm. How do you explain that with science or the senses? I can’t. In point of fact, I believe that my writings, or the writings of any author or journaling person, or painter, or sculpture, or composer, or singer, these are all the result of inspiration or gifts given by the Creator, King of the Universe.
I’ve mentioned Randy Alcorn and his writings multiple times. All of his writings are Christian, mostly nonfiction. One of his fiction books, Deadline, draws a vivid and believable and fantastical vision of heaven. But more than Heaven. He describes the spirit world. One of his main characters has died in a suspicious accident and has been greeted by an unusual character, that is neither spiritual nor angelic. This creature informs our hero that he has been with him since he was created, and every moment of his human existence. And now, he is the guide and teacher in his orientation to heaven, showing him around and bringing him face-to-face with Jesus and loved ones that went before him.
The story is a good read and you come away with a different and peaceful image of Heaven. The point is, we don’t really know nor do we fully understand the whole concept of eternal life. Yes, we read the Bible, and, maybe, carefully research it in great depth, but until we are there, face to face with our Creator God, we can’t really know.
Elie Wiesel tells of a conversation with a child: What are you writing, she asked. Stories, I replied. True stories? Stories about people we know? Some. Are they true? Some are. Well, if they aren’t true, they must be lies. Wiesel struggles with a response. How to explain the truth of story, when the content is made up or written to teach?
We are that child, and the stories are God’s story, His Holy Word. How do we understand His Word? Do we dig deeper. We may resist literal understanding of what we read in the pages of His Journal, our Bible. To me, there are three shades to understanding: If it is written in the Bible, I believe it, and I do. If it is written in the Bible, I believe it, but I struggle to understand it. Better yet, if it is written in the Bible, I want to understand it and I want God to help me find meaning. So, if you are like me, in the end, we talk to Him and He communicates with us. Right?
In the passage from John, quoted above, the learned Jews would struggle with what they were told and in their ignorance, they fumed. They did not understand, and that was their bottom line. They didn’t understand that their Messiah was standing there in front of them.
So, how does Wiesel answer the child? If a story is not true, yet teaches, is it a lie? How could a man become ‘living bread’, and feed us? How, indeed. That requires thought and prayer. Amen.
Bulletin Board:
For laughs, from Beth. This old lady handed her bank card to the teller and said “I would like to withdraw $10”. The teller told her “for withdrawals less than $100, please use the ATM.”
The old lady wanted to know why… The teller returned her bank card and irritably told her “these are the rules, please leave if there is no further matter. There is a line of customers behind you”.
The old lady remained silent for a few seconds and handed her card back to the teller and said “please help me withdraw all the money I have.” The teller was astonished when she checked the account balance. She nodded her head, leaned down and respectfully told her “you have $300,000 in your account but the bank doesn’t have that much cash currently. Could you make an appointment and come back again tomorrow?”
The old lady then asked how much she could withdraw immediately. The teller told her any amount up to $3000. “Well, please let me have $3000 now.” The teller counted out the money and handed her $3000, with a very friendly smile.
The old lady, took the money, put $10 in her purse and asked the teller to deposit $2990 back into her account. The moral of this story is…Don’t be difficult with old people, they spent a lifetime learning the skill.
Closing Prayer:
May the Lord bless us And keep us. May the Lord smile upon us and be gracious to us. May the Lord show us His favor and grant us and our nation, His peace. Amen.
