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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion March 9, 2006 Do I Belong? |
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Frontline Devotion for Thursday, March 9, 2006 by Rev. John L. Kallerson
“…it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham.” Romans 4: 16
How do you know you belong to anything much less the church and ultimately to God? This is one of the major questions that people tell pollsters they wrestle with. It is one thing to ask, “Who am I,” but it does you no good to try to answer that question if you do not move on to the seekers question. We are “built” to seek our place, a location where we get the feeling that we belong. I hear young marines and soldiers talk about belonging to a unit and that identification becomes part of who they are. So, I ask, “How do you know you belong to God?”
When I was a kid, my dad went to serve in Vietnam and I moved with my mother and brother to live near my grandmother in California. I found myself living in San Pedro, the harbor area for Los Angeles. It was quite a shock to go from rural Kansas to the big city and I often found myself wondering how I would fit in. I found it hard to become part of the ‘surfer scene’ when I didn’t even know what a surfboard was. But, I tried that, the school band, the swim team, track, scouts, and who remembers what else. I enjoyed all of them to various degrees but I still did not really find a community where I felt I fully belonged. It all changed with a simple invitation to church.
My family was not religious for reasons that call for a different story. Needless to say, church was not where I thought I belonged. Then one day a friend who knew my dad was in Vietnam invited me to his church. It was a Lutheran church that overlooked the Pacific Ocean and probably held about 100 people in it. I thought why not, it had a great view. I told him I would meet him there the next Sunday and rode my bike up the hill just in time to make the service.
I was immediately made to feel welcomed by everyone who met me. I was shocked. I asked Richard if he told them about me. He said he had not. Then the pastor welcomed me and to my surprise he did not ask about my parents. It was me that he focused his attention on. He made me feel welcomed because ‘I’ was a child of God; a child of Abraham’s. I didn’t know what that meant but I knew it felt good! I found that I belonged to a community that I did not fully understand and I was positive everyone there knew I did not understand the ‘rules’ of faith. What I learned was it didn’t matter. I was identified by something far greater than myself and that community started my education on the playing field of grace. Pastor Peterson gave me my first Bible and on that day, he told me I belonged to God for all of eternity. I still wrestle with that statement. I belong, you belong; we all belong to God based on a promise that is grounded on grace. I pray that you hear the words, “You belong to God,” and know the joy that comes from belonging to a family that is bigger than we can possibly comprehend. But that is the gift of faith; we will never fully comprehend what it means this side of eternity but we have God’s promise that we do belong. Welcome my brother and sister to the family; the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - our family.
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All are welcome to join and share in our Devotional Ministry on the "Frontlines" of the world. Frontline Devotions are sent via email daily. Sign up by clicking on the box to the left. Pastor Dave welcomes feedback. Contact him at pastordave@goodshepherdonline.org. |
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