ST. JOHN LUTHERAN CHURCH
(The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod)
Alma, Kansas
Sharing the Gospel through Word and Sacraments to inspire Christ-centered living!
In This Month's
St. John Witness
AUGUST WITNESS
Pastor's Message
Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Back in the 1980’s, Dave Dravecky pitched for the San Diego Padres and the San Franscisco Giants. In 1988, his arm hurt, and they discovered a tumor in his arm. In 1991, his pitching arm had to be amputated. In his autobiography When You Can’t Come Back, Dravecky wrote about the losses he personally felt:
“I miss doing things with my own two hands, and of course, I really miss baseball. There is a scene in the movie Field of Dreams where Shoeless Joe Jackson – one of the eight players banned from baseball for conspiring to lose the 1919 World Series – said, ‘Getting thrown out of baseball was like having part of me amputated. I’d wake up at nigh with the smell of the ballpark in my nose, the cool of the grass on my feet. Man, I did love this game.’”
Dravecky explained: “That scene had a powerful effect upon me. I missed those feelings too. The feel of stitched seams as you cradle a new ball in your hand. The smell of seasoned leather as you bring the glove to your face. The sound of a bat cracking out a base hit. I’d have played for food money. I’d have played for nuthin’.”
It is painful to lose what we love. Yet, in this fallen world, our lives are touched by loss over and over again. We are reminded that our loves are sullied by our fallen nature. and our desires have been stained by sin. We cannot attain goodness. We cannot manufacture joy. We cannot love as we were intended to love. We need to have sin removed as it grows in our lives.
Only Jesus Christ, God’s Son, can take away the cancer of sin. Only He can restore to us what He intended as perfect and complete. Heaven cannot be bought, earned, or traded. Eternal life is a gift from our maker, who is also our Redeemer.
This is not about growing old, this is about the losses from sin, that is, guilt and shame – which includes growing old. Sin continues to degenerate our bodies and souls. It brings decay, and speeds us toward destruction and to hell, away from the one perfect love of our life: God Almighty, who saved us and gives us eternity with Him. Trust His mercy, in the face of your losses!
Rejoice for God’s grace! Pastor Grimm
