by Rachael Stelzer
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Read Luke 5:1–11
Peter and his brother and friends had been fishing all night. And they had caught nothing all night. These simple men had not even caught enough fish to feed their families, much less enough to sell to make a profit.
And now this stranger, this itinerant preacher, was telling them to try again on the other side of the boat. It beggared all common sense. What did he know about fishing?
And yet, something about the way he spoke drew Peter in. There was something about him. And Peter figured he had nothing to lose. So, he talked the others into trying again.
And suddenly, they reeled in a catch like they had never seen before. So many fish that they were nearly swamped! They called for reinforcements from the other boat, and both almost sank under the weight of the fish!
And Peter knew without a doubt that something more than an abundant catch was being provided here. Peter recognised the power at work in this man. And his own imperfection. And the fear of God moved him to speak.
‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’
But the stranger did not turn away. Instead, he calmly said, with a twinkle in his eye, ‘Don’t be afraid. From now on, you will be catching people.’
And Peter was hooked from that moment.
Dear Lord, when we recognise the abundance you bring into our lives and communities, we are hooked. May our lives tell the story of your welcome, your leading and your rich love so that others will also be attracted to the abundant life you offer. Amen.
Rachael Stelzer is Primary Head of Faith and Spirituality at Coomera Anglican College near Brisbane. She is a member of Our Saviour Lutheran Church in Rochedale.
Jealous of how God works in others
by Charles Bertelsmeier
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When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, ‘Why have you come down here?’ (1 Samuel 17:28a).
Read 1 Samuel 17:17–30
As I write this, our church is doing a series on the life of Joseph, the son of Jacob. It is interesting to note some of the parallels. Joseph, the youngest adult son, was anointed by his father with a special coat and by God with vivid predictive dreams. David, the youngest son of his father, was anointed by Samuel (and God) as the next king of Israel. In both cases, the brothers had strong negative feelings (including jealousy) against their younger brother.
The parallels continue. The older brothers are away from home working, with the youngest still safely at home. In the case of Joseph, the older brothers are tending the flock of sheep – searching for good pastures. For David, the older brothers are away fighting a war against the Philistines. In each case, their father sends the youngest brother to see how the older brothers are faring. In each case, we see the jealousy of the older brother(s) express itself.
Considering these parallels, I was reminded of times I have felt jealousy towards other Christians in whom God was working in powerful ways. Why was God not doing wonderful things through me?
One valid answer was that I was not really surrendering my life to God, giving him full freedom to call me to follow him, with the assurance I would follow (I had lots of excuses for why I couldn’t). However, I would like to pick up on another reason that relates back to St Paul’s description of each of us being a different part of the body of Christ. God really has a different plan and purpose for each one of us. When we surrender to God’s plan and purpose for us, it is to trust that he knows what he is doing and to faithfully follow his leading.
We may not get any glory, honour or even acknowledgement for our efforts, but that is the point. We don’t follow God’s calling for what we will get from it, but because of all that God has already blessed us with. The glory, honour or even acknowledgement all belong to God for what he is doing in and through us.
So, each time we feel the first pangs of jealousy about God working in others, an immediate antidote is to praise God for what he is doing in that person’s life and to thank God for all he is doing in our lives. And to pray to God that he would help you see more clearly how he is working in your life to bring his healing and good news to those in need. Maybe, even to re‑surrender your life to God’s will and purpose for you.
Heavenly Father, thank you for having a unique plan and purpose for my life. Please help me to concentrate on your call and not compare myself with others whom you have called for a different purpose. Amen.
Charles is a retired engineer who has worked on communications projects for the air force, army and navy. He lives in a retirement village in the outer north-western suburbs of Sydney with his wife, Diane. Together, they have four children and eight grandchildren, all of whom they love spending time with. Charles keeps busy caring for their pot plants and a community vegetable garden, researching his family history and volunteering in the community and at LifeWay Lutheran Church.
The question of evil forces
by Charles Bertelsmeier
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Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him (1 Samuel 16:14).
Read 1 Samuel 16:14 – 17:11
You may struggle with reading this verse. I did and had to do quite a bit of research to better understand it. Does God really send evil spirits to torment people?
When we first meet Saul and he is anointed as king, the Bible says that ‘… the Spirit of God came powerfully upon [Saul] …’ (1 Samuel 10:10). But as we read yesterday, Saul was not prepared to follow God’s leading in fulfilling his role as king of Israel.
So, God selected a new king, David, and took his Spirit back from Saul. Although God rejected Saul as king, he didn’t reject Saul as a person and kept working in Saul’s life to draw him back to the relationship God wanted to have with Saul. Since God’s Spirit was no longer living in Saul, he was open to being ‘tormented’ by evil forces. It wasn’t that God was calling these evil forces to torment Saul; it was something these evil forces wanted to do anyway. It was that God temporarily removed some of his protection from Saul to help him understand that when we reject God’s purposes for us, the alternative is not a nice place to experience. As we surrender our lives to God, we live under his protection against the powers of evil.
When we go further in our passage for today, we read, ‘Whenever the [evil] spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him’ (1 Samuel 16:23). God had not rejected Saul as a person. God’s Spirit was in David, and when David came to Saul when he was being ‘tormented’, the Holy Spirit in David would drive the evil powers away and bring relief to Saul.
I personally take from this that we should see God working in all situations in our lives to draw us closer to him. When we observe evil in our lives and in the lives of those around us, we should not view this as punishment from God. Instead, we should open our hearts and lives to what God is doing and trust in his promise to be with us wherever he leads us.
I was struggling with a personal issue, something in my life that I knew God was not happy with, but which I seemed unable to deal with alone. Of course, I prayed about it and gave it over to God. Seemingly independently, my life was impacted by external issues that consumed much of my time, and I had to do things I knew I had to do but didn’t enjoy. Sometime later, I realised that the personal issue had lost its hold over me. God knows intimately how we tick and how best to bring about the changes he wants to happen. We just need to keep trusting in his promise that he will never stop loving us.
Awesome and loving Heavenly Father, thank you for the way you are working in my life to change me into the person you want me to be. Please help me to grow in trusting your love so that I can fearlessly follow where you are leading me. Amen.
Charles is a retired engineer who has worked on communications projects for the air force, army and navy. He lives in a retirement village in the outer north-western suburbs of Sydney with his wife, Diane. Together, they have four children and eight grandchildren, all of whom they love spending time with. Charles keeps busy caring for their pot plants and a community vegetable garden, researching his family history and volunteering in the community and at LifeWay Lutheran Church.
Healing leading to a changed life
by Charles Bertelsmeier
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One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice (Luke 17:15).
Read Luke 17:11–19
Elias lived in Palestine about 2,000 years ago. You could say his life was going quite well. He had a happy family, with a wife and several children who were performing well in school. His grocery store was doing well, and he had plans to expand it. He believed in working hard and even pushing the boundaries of ethics just a little to get ahead. Whenever he wasn’t too busy, he would try to take his family to the synagogue on the Sabbath.
Then, one day, he was diagnosed with an infectious skin disease. This required him to be expelled from the community so that he wouldn’t infect others. What would happen to his grocery store now? Who would look after his family? Where would he live? What would he live on? Eventually, he found a group of men in the same situation and was invited to join them. They were an interesting group of men from diverse religious, political and social backgrounds; however, they were bonded together through their common sufferings.
Then they heard about an itinerant Jewish rabbi travelling around the countryside preaching and healing people. They went as a group to catch him while he was travelling near them and asked to be healed of their infectious skin disease. The rabbi advised them to visit the priest for a certificate that they had been healed, which was surprising since they hadn’t yet been healed, but they went anyway. But on the way, they found that all evidence of their infection had vanished. Elias was so thankful that he couldn’t wait to rush home to his family and his grocery store. He could now return to the life he had before and keep building up his business.
However, one of the members of this ragtag group of infectious men – a foreigner, in fact – was so intrigued by this Jewish rabbi that he went back not only to say thanks but also to find out more of what he was teaching. A new life of possibilities was opening up for him.
If we think about it, we are like this ragtag group of infectious people, deserving to be expelled from God’s family due to the very contagious disease of sin that we suffer from. Now that we have received our healing from this same itinerant Jewish rabbi, what will our response be? Will we return to living for ourselves, or will we leave our old lives behind and follow this itinerant Jewish rabbi, accepting his invitation to be part of his own ragtag group of people now motivated by his love, grace and mercy for all people?
Heavenly brother, Jesus, like the Samaritan in today’s reading, I want to say thank you for the healing you have given me. I also want to follow where you want to lead me as one of your ragtag group of followers. Thank you for the Holy Spirit, working in my life to achieve this. Amen.
Charles is a retired engineer who has worked on communications projects for the air force, army and navy. He lives in a retirement village in the outer north-western suburbs of Sydney with his wife, Diane. Together, they have four children and eight grandchildren, all of whom they love spending time with. Charles keeps busy caring for their pot plants and a community vegetable garden, researching his family history and volunteering in the community and at LifeWay Lutheran Church.