Mr. and Mrs. Tinker on their wedding day in 1954.
Bible Readings and Devotion for August 12, 2020
Here are the references for the readings. Please look these up in your print Bible, your smartphone app Bible, or your online Bible:
Devotion for August 12, 2020
By Pastor David Tinker
Stories of our lives help us understand and remember who we are. My late father would tell certain stories to us throughout our lives to remind us of these things. One of these he told was about how my parents met.
It starts out in high school. My father struggled with English grammar. Then he decided to approach it as an engineering problem. With this new approach he finally got it, and he did well. As he approached college planning, he looked to pay for his studies with an Navy ROTC scholarship. This included taking a placement test for various subjects. He did exceptionally well in the English and Grammar text. At the University of Minnesota, he majored in Petroleum Engineering. The college engineering magazine editor was looking for good writers, so he got ahold of the list of students who had done well in the various English placement exams. He saw my father’s score, and he invited my father to write for this student publication. Some months later there was a need to hire a new typist for the articles. Only one person applied, and that was my mother. The editor told my father, “We have hired a new typist. Her name is Elaine. I think you will like her.” And the rest is history.
We continue to review this story over the years because it tells us what has gone before us, and help us clarify our identity as a family.
In our psalm today we have a grand review of the history of the people of Israel. They are reminded of God’s work, the Covenants, and so much more. They get to see again and again who they are and what the Lord has done for them. The final response to hearing this the people conclude the psalm with a resounding, “Praise the Lord!” or “Hallelujah!” depending on which translation you read. Hallelujah or Alleluia mean “Praise the Lord.”
As we review the saving work of God in Jesus Christ, we get to see everything which is noted in the psalm, plus so much more. We mostly focus on the distinct action of God in Jesus. His Incarnation, Birth, Baptism, Temptation, Teachings, Miracles, and then the events of Holy Week. We especially review the action and purpose of his suffering, death on the cross, placement in a tomb, and his rising from the dead. Our lives especially intersect with his at the point of his greatest love for us – his death on the cross and his rising from the dead.
The story of my parents meeting intersects in many and various ways with the work of Jesus. Most importantly is that they both had saving faith in Jesus, even before they met. They raised their children to know the Lord, and each of them had their own lives intersect with Jesus by faith and baptism.
Your stories of life and faith get to intersect with that of Jesus. All of us are invited to respond to God’s love by connecting with the greatest story ever told, that of Jesus and his love for us.
Prayer
Sovereign of the universe, your first covenant of mercy was with every living creature. When your beloved Son came among us, the waters of the river welcomed him, the heavens opened to greet his arrival, the animals of the wilderness drew near as his companions. With all the world’s people, may we who are washed into new life through baptism seek the way of your new creation, the way of justice and care, mercy and peace; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen
Martin Luther Lutheran Church 