David Bahn – Reflections

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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.”

Heel-Grabbers Welcome

Genesis 28:10-13

Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep.12 And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! 13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac.

The Jacob Tree - an Old Testament symbol - shows Jacob's ladder, the first of four symbols for our attention this Advent at St. John.
The Jacob Tree – an Old Testament symbol – shows Jacob’s ladder, the first of four symbols for our attention this Advent at St. John.

In the years following Jacob’s encounter with God and the stairway to heaven, God identified himself as, “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” This is more remarkable than meets the eye. God is the God of Abraham, that is the God who calls and who counts faith as righteousness; God is the God of the faithful.

God is the God of Isaac, that is the God who keeps his promises even in the face of dismissive laughter. Both Abram and Sarai laughed when God told them that a child would be born to them. Isaac means “He laughs.” His name is a tribute to God’s willingness not to be dismissed or put off by the laughter of those who believe in him, but dismiss their own participation in his promise as too far-fetched. The thought of these two old people conceiving and bearing a son was funny. They laughed, but God was quite serious and when Isaac was born, his name was a testimony to God’s grace and their laughter.

Jacob, on the other hand, was a heel-grabber. That’s what his name means. Jacob’s name might be understood to mean deceiver! Chart the course of Jacob’s life and you will see a life of deception, trickery, and roguish behavior. This is a bit more remarkable: God is the God of a rogue such as Jacob?!? Better yet, will God be willing to be known as the God of such a one?

This is the Good News of God’s love and grace. For he will be known as the God of all who look to him. He will even work in their hearts to bring them closer to himself – just as he did with Jacob. For this heel-grabber becomes Israel, father of the twelve tribes of Israel.

The question for you today is this: Are you the one of faith, laughter, or heel-grabbing? Are you willing to come to God and follow his redemptive path? Are you willing to claim him as your God? He is fully willing to claim you as his child!

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