David Bahn – Reflections

Light from the Word and through the lens

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In 1968 Jerry Snell opened a door in the hallway outside our first hour chemistry class. He invited me into what I discovered was a darkroom. Soon I was on the school newspaper and annual staff as a photographer. Later I learned that Jerry was a Lutheran who was planning to become a pastor. A few years later I was not only a Lutheran, but I was heading off to seminary to become a Lutheran pastor, too. Jerry followed a year later and served as a pastor in Missouri until his untimely heart attack and death. I thank God for Jerry and enjoy photography still today – not to mention rejoicing in having served as a Lutheran pastor in congregations in Utah, Colorado, Arkansas and Texas. I’ve retired now and serve part time as a Congregational Support Specialist for the Texas District of the LCMS. I also provide coaching and leadership training through various PLI cohorts and with individual congregations and organizations. David Bahn is a follower of Jesus Christ, husband to Diane, father and grandfather. He is an avid amateur photographer. His photo website is “Flowers by God Photos by David” He also publishes a devotional blog DavidBahn-Reflections.com. He and Diane live in Cypress Texas and enjoy visiting their grandchildren who live in the United States and Germany. He graduated from Concordia Theological Seminary in 1979, and earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from Fuller Theological Seminary in 1991. Diane, his wife, is now retired from PLI (PLIleadership.org). They have offered presentations on Marriage and Ministry Partnership, Leadership, Changing Your Congregation’s Culture, and Missional Living. They look are working with PLI International training pastors and wives of the ELVD Diocese of the Lutheran Church of Tanzania. David’s personal mission statement is “Leading people to realize Jesus’ calling and plans for their lives.”

The Fifth “C”

Hebrews 12:26-29

At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for ourGod is a consuming fire.

Yesterday we looked at the cultural earthquake that has shaken our nation and our world. To some extent the damage seems irreparable. Islam continues its relentless march. Hedonism, greed, consumerism, materialism, and lawlessness loom large on every horizon. True religion is in critically short supply. The church in North America is clueless, or if not clueless then impotent. There may be islands of hope, health, and stability, but they are being shaken by the ebb and flow of modern godless culture and world view that we are all subjected to and to which we subject ourselves daily. Whether through work or entertainment we embrace the ideals of godless distractions or struggle to keep our heads above the flood waters of materialism.

Is there hope for us? Can we be saved? Jesus himself speaks to this issue when the disciples ask if it is possible for a rich man to be saved (the camel through the eye of the needle passage). With man this is impossible, but all things are possible with God. And that is our hope.

Those who have been ravaged by the cultural earthquake with its many panic-inciting aftershocks need compassion, community, a connecting story, and a moral compass. Those are the four “C’s”, all of which are embodied in Christ. Jesus Christ is the “fifth C” in this list, or perhaps better: the first “C” from which these four spring. But not only is Christ the first and last “C” he is the essential “C” and the victorious “C”. And we need a victor!

In the face of economic doom Jesus calls us to seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness first, “and all these things will be added unto you (Matthew 6:33). In the face of the ineffective and powerless church, Jesus promises that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church built on the foundation of the confession that Jesus is Lord. In the face of the shifting sand of moral relativism and immoral hedonism, Jesus promises that a life built on the solid rock of hearing and putting his word into practice will withstand the storms of life, and when we fall promises to forgive, renew, restore, and sustain those who look to him.

Jesus is the essential “C” and our only hope in the face of everything in this world that has been shaken or ever will be upended. He is the source of compassion, the center of true community, the glue of our connecting story (I once was lost but now am found), and the true north on the moral compass we all need. Thank you Jesus!

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