Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries
"Worthy of Fame and Worship"
Jan. 10, 2018
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
~ 1 Peter 1:3 (ESV)
Pam and I were standing in the Cairo, Egypt, railroad station when I noticed a lady staring at me and pointing me out to her two-year-old-son. I wondered if she had recognized me as the Speaker on The Lutheran Hour.
No such luck. She was laughing as she pointed to my silly looking bare knees in shorts.
I should share that it was 100 degrees, and she was covered from head-to-toe in black velvet, and her son was sitting in a galvanized wash tub, which she was balancing on her head. Even so, to her I was the funny one. Who knows, she may have been right.
I do know any thought of worldwide fame was left behind at that old railroad depot.
I'm not the first. In 1865, Thomas Sayers died. Have you ever heard of him? I thought not. His name might not be familiar to you, but Mr. Sayers, a bare-knuckle boxer, was the most famous athlete of Victorian England. When he died, more than 150,000 people came to his farewell at London's Highgate Cemetery. He once was famous, but now he's forgotten.
Fame. Recently, the BBC did a report on how to achieve lasting fame. They came up with advice which, they felt, might increase your chances of being remembered 1,000 years hence.
• They suggested things like emulating Alexander the Great of Macedon who took historians with him to record his conquests. Like him, they said you should try to manage your image.
• Choose your career wisely. Be a politician who will change people's futures over becoming a composer whose music can easily become unfashionable.
• Be lucky like Pharaoh Tutankhamen. Even though King Tut was a minor ruler who accomplished little, his grave was forgotten and left unplundered. Today, he is more famous than the many of the greatest of the pharaohs.
Before the BBC article closed, they said, and I quote: "Found a religion, There's mountains of evidence that Jesus Christ, Siddhartha Gautama (also known as Buddha), and many more religious leaders were real people, though they died many millennia ago ..."
Now I can't argue with the BBC. They are right. Jesus, like the others, did die a long time ago. But, unlike the others, Jesus didn't stay dead. Three days after His lifeless body was placed into a borrowed tomb, He rose from the dead and showed to the world that the Father's gracious plan to save humanity was completed.
With His resurrection from the dead, the Savior showed that He was unique in the history of the world. Not only should He be famous and worthy of remembering, He should also be worshipped. That's what Peter was saying when he wrote, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, we give thanks that Jesus, the Man, has not been forgotten by the world. Now, by the Spirit's power, may doubters believe in Jesus as God's Son -- their Savior. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen.
Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
Pam and I were standing in the Cairo, Egypt, railroad station when I noticed a lady...
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