Greetings to you all in the blessed name of our Lord and Savior. It has been two weeks since I last wrote to you. Some of the major high lights of those two weeks include my family's visit, two successful weeks of teaching, and another great secession of Bible Study. Mom, Dad, and JoAnna were here from Thursday night through Sunday morning last weekend. Friday, Mom and JoAnna went to chapel with me, and then after my classes were done, we all went down to the Anheuser Busch brewery for their free tour. It was a lot of fun and it is a great tour. I highly recommend it if you ever get the chance. One out of every two beers sold in America is a product of Anheuser Busch; that's A LOT of beer! I thought it was really cool because after taking the Schlafly brewery tour twice now, both times they ended it with the fact that all the beer they make in a year, Anheuser Busch can make in four hours. I believe it after seeing the place. Then we went to Ted Dewes, a must do in St. Louis. The rest of the evening was just supper and then chilling. After they went to bed, a friend was having a birthday party in the cafeteria. It ended up being about thirty guys and two kegs, but it was a lot of fun. Then Saturday morning, Nate, Kari, and the nephews came over from Illinois, and we went down to the arch. It took four hours of waiting around, sitting around, and trying to entertain the boys, but they enjoyed the ten minutes they were at the top. Sunday they went home and I went to church. Bible Study after church went great. We had some of the original regulars come back, plus some of the new ones who tried it the week before came back. It was the first week we did not get through the lesson, and we did not even get half way through it. We got off on some major tangents, but they were incredibly important points for the chapter. The one guy who is now coming asks some great questions and it has been good to have him. Towards the end, James, the other seminary student came in and we worked well together bouncing ideas back and forth. It was kind of funny though because he was in the back and I was at the front so as we talked back and forth discussing exactly what we were trying to explain to the group, they looked like a crowd watching tennis, moving their focus back and forth. So this Sunday we will finish chapter four and hopefully make it through most of chapter five too. I have been so thankful that not only has the Lord given me curious members who ask great questions, but most of the time, I can draw back on things we discussed in class or with professors to help me be confident in my answers. I pray it keeps going well for all of our benefit.
Teaching six grade for the last two weeks has been so much fun. At first I was kind of glad that I did not pursue my teaching degree because I could see that I am much happier at the seminary and field work church than I was in the classroom. However, as I get to know the students more and more, and am getting more in depth in the lessons I am teaching, I really am remembering how much I love working with kids and being in the classroom. However, I still think I chose the best path because hopefully as a pastor I will get the best of both worlds. I will get to work with the kids in Confirmation classes and youth group, but still not be in a classroom all day every day. I have one week left, and to be honest I am going to miss both the time in the classroom and the kids. They are a great group of sixth graders. Their knowledge of their faith impresses me so much and has shown me the vital importance of sending your kids through the Lutheran education system if possible. As a sixth grader at public school, I didn't know a fourth of what these kids know about the Bible and the church. God is at work in these schools for sure and I pray He continues to bless all the students fortunate enough to be there.
Other than all of that, my life is going good. We are down to two weeks left of the quarter which just does not seem possible. I have a lot to get done in those two weeks, but I will survive. My thought for the day comes from Psalms and Writing class. We were discussing Psalm 23, which is a famous Psalm most of you probably know by heart, and looking at the 7 (a holy number) connections to the longings of the righteous in the Psalter. We read the book by Creach at the beginning of the quarter which discusses the life of the righteous longing to be in the presence of God. The 7 connections to Psalm 23 that correlate with this idea of longing to be with God are: (Some of these translations are according to the Hebrew)
1. Psalm 27 verse 4- One thing I ask of the Lord, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the
Lord all the days of my life
2. Psalm 73 verse 25- Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides
you.
3. Psalm 84 verse 10- For one day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere, I would rather be the
door keeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
4. Psalm 92 verse 13- They are transplanted in the house of the Lord, they flourish
in the gardens of our God.
5. Psalm 23 verse 1- The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not lack anything.
6. Psalm 23 verse 6- I shall return to the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
7. Psalm 23 verse 4- for you are with me.
The first 4 are the idea of the righteous longing for the Lord outside of Psalm 23. Psalm 92 directly correlates with Psalm 1, where the trees are not planted but transplanted by streams of running water. We see here God takes us from the world of sin and transplants us into His gardens next to streams of running water where we can flourish. Then in Psalm 23, there are the main three places that show the righteous longing to be with their Lord. All the righteous need is their Lord, when they are with Him, they literally need nothing else. Verse six goes back to being in His house like Psalm 84 and 27, but the verse is not simply dwell, but to return back to His house where we belong. Then in verse four is the most important part of the entire Psalm. Some commentaries say that this one line is the purpose or theme of the entire Psalter. There are 26 words (in the Hebrew) then these three words, and then another 26 words. Hebrew poetry has this style of putting the most important point exactly in the middle. The three words are (in Hebrew its three words): for you are with me. That is the message this Psalmist was trying to tell us is the most important point. Then like I said, some people believe this is the most important point of the entire Psalter: for I am with you. Three words in the Hebrew, five in English, but what more powerful words could there be than our God telling us, for I am with you. He is literally all we need, because with Him we have everything. Not because of anything we have done, but because He has done everything for us out of His free grace and mercy. He gives us our faith, our daily bread to strengthen and nourish that faith, our Savior that saves us from our sins, and our eternal life we already have in Him. He gives us everything including the very breath we breathe each and every day. What an amazing God we have, and we know we have Him with us because He specifically tells us in His Word, and in this Psalm, for I am with you. All Praise be to Him who gives us everything so that we lack nothing, and tells us, "for I am with you."
Thank you Heavenly Father,
For with You as our God we have everything we could possibly ever need and more. Give us Your Spirit to long for You, to long to be in Your presence just as the righteous of the Psalter did. Be with us each and every day and in all that we do, just have You have told us You will be with us. Thank you for the life we have in Your name, made possible through Your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment