We Lutherans Should Be as Bold as Harrison Butker
Today’s Bible Verses:
1 Corinthians 16:13-14 ESV
Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.
“I say all of this to you because I have seen it firsthand how much happier someone can be when they disregard the outside noise and move closer and closer to God's will in their life” - Harrison Butker
As news spread of the online petition to get Kansas City Chiefs placekicker Harrison Butker kicked out of the NFL for being a Roman Catholic Christian, I sat down and read his speech to the graduating class of Benedictine College in Kansas. You can read it here. The boldness with which he spoke of protecting life, family, and values in the secular world that mocks Christian beliefs was outstanding. As he is a Roman Catholic, he unapologetically defended his faith in God and the role of family. It made me proud to be a Christian and saddened that I don’t have as much courage to speak the same way and my faith.
See, as Butker stated in his speech, clergy people are sometimes some of the weakest when it comes to holding fast to the faith and our Scriptural beliefs. How many Lutheran pastors, including me, fail to stand up for marriage in counseling classes? How many couples have we married who were living together before saying, “I do?” Butker expressed that he wants more church leaders who are as committed to the faith as St. Damien of Molokai, who lived with lepers, rather than many church leaders who turn their eyes from the rot of culture. I wish I had Butker’s strength.
As we enter the church season of Pentecost this weekend, let us pray for the church, for church pastors, bishops, and our Synodical leaders to be as bold as the Kansas City Chiefs kicker. But we always want to pray for the laity that they, too, be as bold and courageous as the Kansas City Chiefs kicker in standing in the faith against a culture of sickness and godlessness. Be bold! Be proud to be one washed in the blood of Christ!
PRAYERS
Keep in Your Prayers:
The communities that are continuing to deal with difficult weather.
All people dealing with cancer
Those who reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
A Prayer for Today:
Lotf God, I pray this Friday for You to make me bold to speak Your truth into this world. Give me the courage to be a beacon of love and grace who is grounded in Your Word and in Your Son, Jesus Christ, through whom I pray. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
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