God Pause for Friday, 6/27/2014
/Luther Seminary God Pause
Friday, 6/27/2014 Reading: Matthew 10:40-42
For fifteen years I lived and worked as a pastor in Utah, where the percentage of "Lutherans" was 0.29%. Becoming a welcoming church was important. Whenever I was out in the community people asked me many questions, especially when I was dressed in my clerical garb. It became apparent that the greatest gift I could bring was a word of God's love, freely given. One woman forthrightly expressed to me how she never felt she lived up to the perceived demands of the God she'd known, sensing that God was always "mad at her." God helped me sooth her tears with words of grace. On another occasion someone knocked on the church door but was unwilling to step inside because he "wasn't good enough to enter." Again, only in hearing about God's grace was he freed up to join our community where there was much evidence of shattered lives. The gospel of Jesus carries an ultimate welcome, and in offering it, we ourselves receive the gift. Funny how that works!
Welcoming Lord, amidst our shattered lives your love is poured out, always embracing us despite our unworthiness. Amen.
Steve Wigdahl Senior Pastor, Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Naples, Fla. Master of Divinity, 1984
Matthew 10:40-42 (NRSV)
40 "Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; 42 and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple--truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward."
Please forward this e-mail to a friend! http://send.luthersem.edu/public/webform/renderform/default/848eff8bea7092a93dfabe641c758499/ftaf/jcygk51rv7pgytti1o5iqlj3q6x7o/awkjqyagioojaeuoghrcjpwijsutbca?tid=3.NX4.ChNR1A.GyCD.Ah5XLQ..Aykkhg.b..l.Ayzt.n.U608w.U608_w.5bJH0Q
This God Pause daily devotion is brought to you by alumni/ae of Luther Seminary.
Luther Seminary educates leaders for Christian communities across the country and around the world. It is the largest of the eight seminaries in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
We invite you to join us online for our daily chapel service.
Luther Seminary Faith Resource Spotlight
You are currently subscribed to these God Pause daily devotions as pbm+saint-marks+3icvrj@squarespace.com
Manage your email preferences: http://send.luthersem.edu/public/webform/renderform/default/848eff8bea7092a93dfabe641c758499/manpref/jcygk51rv7pgytti1o5iqlj3q6x7o/awkjqyagioojaeuoghrcjpwijsutbca?tid=3.NX4.ChNR1A.GyCD.Ah5XLQ..Aykkhg.b..l.Ayzt.n.U608w.U608_w.5bJH0Q
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
For best viewing of future e-mails, please add communic@luthersem.edu to your Safe Senders List or Address Book.
If you no longer wish to receive these emails, please click below to Manage Email Preferences and uncheck the God Pause list. http://send.luthersem.edu/public/webform/renderform/default/848eff8bea7092a93dfabe641c758499/manpref/jcygk51rv7pgytti1o5iqlj3q6x7o/awkjqyagioojaeuoghrcjpwijsutbca?tid=3.NX4.ChNR1A.GyCD.Ah5XLQ..Aykkhg.b..l.Ayzt.n.U608w.U608_w.5bJH0Q
Unsubscribe from all messages, not just God Pause: http://send.luthersem.edu/public/webform/renderform/default/848eff8bea7092a93dfabe641c758499/unsub/jcygk51rv7pgytti1o5iqlj3q6x7o/awkjqyagioojaeuoghrcjpwijsutbca?tid=3.NX4.ChNR1A.GyCD.Ah5XLQ..Aykkhg.b..l.Ayzt.n.U608w.U608_w.5bJH0Q
This email was sent to pbm+saint-marks+3icvrj@squarespace.com by Luther Seminary 2481 Como Ave. | St. Paul | MN | 55108