ST. JOHN LUTHERAN CHURCH
(The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod)
Alma, Kansas
A family united by faith in Christ gathering around God's Word and Sacraments.
To reach out in Christ-like concern and Christ-borne love to each other and to those without Christ!
In This Month's
St. John Witness
MAY WITNESS
Pastor's Message
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened” Romans 1:18-21
In “Yes, Lord!,”* there is a story about scientists who decided to develop a fish that could live outside of water. They took a healthy red herring, and bred, crossbred, and worked with hormones, chromo-somes and genomes, till they accomplished their goal. The now had a fish that could survive outside of water. But the project director was not satisfied. He suspected that though the fish could survive on land, it still had a desire for the water.
“Re-educate it!” he said. “Change its very desires!” So they went again to work, this time retraining the strongest instincts and reflexes. The result? A fish that would rather die than get wet. Even humidity would fill this fish with dread.
The director, proud of this triumph, took the fish on tour. He showed it off in many settings, displaying its air-breathing abilities and aversion to water. It was a marvel. But then it happened.
It was traveling across the Massachusetts Bay to another event with the project director, and was jostled off the boat into the water. The box that held it sank to the bottom of the bay and filled with water. As it sank, it’s eyes and gills clamped shut, afraid to move, lest it become wetter. And of course, it dared not breathe; it feared for its life. It dared not breathe, but alas, it could not prevent itself, breathe it must.
So the fish drew in a tentative gill-full. It used its gills again and its eyes bulged. It had to use them a third time and it flicked a fin. Once more, and it wriggled with delight. It darted away. The fish had discovered water.
With that same wonder, people who have been conditioned by a world to reject God, who abhor Him, and are afraid of Him, find that they were designed for Him, and are blessed according to His original plan, and are truly alive in Jesus Christ.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:8-10
Rejoicing as holy chuldren of God!
Pastor Grimm
*Yes, Lord!, Rev. Harald Bredeson, Baker Book House, © 1972
