Pastor David Nehrenz
FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK
Dear Fellow Saints in Christ,
This month I am sharing with you what I wrote for the Norman Transcript devotional page on July 18.
Title: “THE GOOD PORTION”
Dinner or supper time is a way for family members to enjoy food and engage in mutual conversation. We all love to eat and we all love to talk! One or more persons cook, prepare and serve the food. Everyone eats, drinks and receives nourishment from what is placed on the table. This is the common experience of people all around the world.
In Luke 10:38-42, we read about dinner time in the first century. Jesus went on his way, and entered a village. A woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving.
Mary and Martha, along with their brother Lazurus, became close friends of Jesus. They lived in Bethany, a village near Jerusalem. They understood that Jesus was a Rabbi who taught the Word of God in truth. They would come to believe that Jesus was the promised Christ and Messiah.
While Jesus was in their house, Martha went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” If you were raised in a family where everyone was assigned dinnertime chores, you understand why Martha was perturbed!
Jesus was also raised in a large family in Nazareth. He understood that everyone needs to help in the home. But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
There are times to talk and times to listen. There are times to serve and times to receive. There is food for the body and food for the soul. Mary realized that listening to Jesus was more important than constant hustle and bustle in the house. Certainly, she would end up helping Martha. But for the moment, it was more necessary to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to God’s Word.
The same is true for us. Many of us have devotional time around the Word of God and prayer at the dinner table. “Portals of Prayer” is booklet that assists families in doing this. The common table prayer is “Come Lord Jesus, be our guest, and let these gifts to us be blest. Amen.”
That prayer has a three-fold meaning. Come Lord Jesus be our guest at our dinner table. Come Lord Jesus be our host and guest at the table of the Lord’s Supper at church. Come Lord Jesus be our host at the Lamb’s marriage banquet and eternal feast in heaven.
Jesus and his Word of forgiveness, life and salvation are indeed the truly “good portion!”
In our Lord Jesus,
Pastor Nehrenz
Notes: These are special days in the liturgical year for our meditation:
AUGUST 15th
MARY, MOTHER OF OUR LORD
Psalm 45:10-15; Isaiah 61:7-11; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 1:46-55
AUGUST 24th
BARTHOLOMEW
Psalm 121; Exodus 19:1-6;
1 Corinthians 12:27-31a; John 1:43-51
AUGUST 29th
THE MARTYRDOM OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
Psalm 141 ; Jeremiah 1:17-19; Mark 6:17-29
Vicar Seth Horn
FROM THE VICAR
2To know wisdom and instruction… To perceive the words of understanding… 5a wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel. 7The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…
Proverbs 1:2, 5, 7 (NKJV)
Where do we go to find wisdom? What do we do to “increase in learning” and “perceive the words of understanding”? It all begins with the fear of the Lord as King Solomon tells us. For what better source of Wisdom is there other than the one who is the author of Wisdom? And God has chosen to bestow upon us this divine wisdom in no other place than in His Word. The Scriptures contains all that one needs to live the life that God wants for all humanity. But it contains not just everything we need for this earthly life but also eternal life. The entire Gospel story is the ultimate wisdom that God wishes for all of us to believe.
So, what was the point of all that? The point of using this passage in Proverbs was to state the few expectations I have for the year that I am here. The first being that I would grow in wisdom of both the Earthly kind and the Eternal kind. This being achieved by diving into the Scriptures and the Confessions and through listening. Through these means, I hope to learn all the things that are stated in Proverbs 1:2-7. My only other expectation, besides working hard, is growing attached to all of you as a pastor would and to proclaim the promises of God to you. This is the thing I am looking forward to the most!
We have a whole year to get acquainted so I will not speak extensively about myself, but I would like to give some background. I was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, I’m 27 and the youngest of three siblings. My family was Pentecostal for most of my life until 2017 when we made the jump to Lutheranism. To explain why we made this jump would extend this newsletter far beyond its scope but put simply: we heard the Gospel pure and true. We heard that Jesus loved us, and our sins were forgiven. As I learned more and more, I felt as though God has called me to be a Lutheran pastor, proclaiming forgiveness to both the saint and the sinner. After several years I finally made it to seminary and, by God’s grace, I am now honored to be here at Trinity to serve all of you!
I look forward to my time here with all of you, and to using this year to grow as a pastoral candidate but also personally. May God be with all of us this year and His hands be on all that we do for without Him, it is all in vain as the Psalmist says in Psalm 127: Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.
