Category: Pastor’s Monthly Message

“Make known the deeds of the LORD among the peoples. Hallelujah!” Psalm 105:1, 45

Dear Redeemer Family:

Proclamation! Proclaiming what God has done. That is the task of the Church. It always has been. But what deeds? Well, the obvious one is Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. That should always be on our lips and minds. Our salvation is secured by that incredible work of God. We may also bring up the leading of the Israelites through the sea, and into the Promised Land. Those are also great deeds, which saved His people. What about other ones? There is the making of Creation itself. I mean, think about it, if God hadn’t created the universe, and us, we wouldn’t even be here to talk about it.

Yes, those are all great deeds of God. But the psalmist didn’t write, “great deeds.” He wrote, “deeds.” That would indicate everything that God has done. What “regular deeds” can we make known among the people? Martin Luther used to yell out of his window every morning, “I am baptized.” Aren’t most of us reading this? That is something which we might take for granted. But for Luther, it was something which he was sure of, and it was a rock of his salvation. It is of ours as well. Have we told anyone lately?

We are now in September. We are just about through a very hot summer. Many days were in the 90’s, and I saw an occasional 100 on thermometers. We are back to Creation. We made it. God got us through a couple of miserable days, and sometimes some nasty storms. I did hear some people talking about the weather saying, “Oh God!” But that doesn’t really count. And as we enter Autumn, we will get to see, and share, the prettiest season of the year here. Maybe that would make it easier to speak of God’s deeds to the peoples.

There might even be something as simple as saying grace as we eat out in public. Our food is a deed of God as well. God created the seed, the soil, the water, the farmers, workers, all. And all to sustain us.

Yes, it is not difficult to “make known the deeds of God among the peoples. Hallelujah!” We just have to remember them as such. And we are told to do so.

Pastor Rose

“You open wide your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.” Psalm 145:16

Dear Redeemer Family:
Just think, a few months ago, everyone was hoping for summer to arrive. It did! Now, some are hoping for winter! Human beings are a fickle lot. If as the Psalmist writes above, that God opens wide his hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing, then God must be very busy. Satisfying the one and then having to take it back to satisfy another. And that’s just in terms of the weather here!

But I don’t really think that the weather is what the Psalmist is getting at. Rather, I think that it is more along the lines of “Daily Bread” from the Lord’s Prayer. And the best explanation of that, of course, comes from Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. I quote from the two sections on Daily Bread from it, from an older translation:

“What does this mean? Answer: God gives daily bread indeed without our prayer, also to all the wicked; but we pray in this petition that He would lead us to know it, and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.
What then is meant by daily bread? Answer: Everything that belongs to the support and wants of the body, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes house, home field, cattle, money, goods, a pious spouse, pious children, pious servants, pious and faithful rulers, good government, good weather (yes, there it is!), peace, health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.”

Yes, I believe that is more in line with what the Psalmist is saying. These are all things that people desire. And they are all things that we should be praying for. And we do, although we may not necessarily consider them to be “Daily Bread.” But they are. And they are indeed ways in which God satisfies our human desires.

So let us remember always to pray and give thanks for God’s mercies rendered to us. For although we may not recognize it, God is always providing for us, even during the midst of a Missouri summer! Amen!

In Christ,
Pastor Rose