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 Fullness of Christ’s Love

John 15:9-11

[Jesus says,] “I have loved you the same way the Father has loved me. So live in my love. 10 If you obey my commandments, you will live in my love. I have obeyed my Father’s commandments, and in that way I live in his love. 11 I have told you this so that you will be as joyful as I am, and your joy will be complete.”

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“When in Rome,” as they say, “do as the Romans do.” Sometimes that is spoken as a sort of acquiescence to a looser morality, or abandonment of sensibilities and inhibitions. There is, however, another manner in which this ought to be understood – especially as it relates to being and remaining in Jesus’ love. For to remain in Jesus’ love is to embrace his love for us. It also means that we embrace his love for the Father. That love is shown in obedience to the Father’s commandments. If we remain in Jesus’ love for us and for the father (for that is the fullness of Jesus’ love), we will embrace the joy of being loved and the joy of obeying God’s commandments.

Sometimes faith can be thought of assenting to a certain corpus of belief: Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is true God and true man. Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world. Jesus rose from the dead. All these are beautifully summarized in the words of the Apostles and Nicene Creeds. Faith, however, goes beyond mere ascent to these truths. Satan and the demons know who Jesus is. They and all flesh – even those who disavow, reject, and deny Christ – will acknowledge the truth of all of those assertions in the end.

The believer, however, acknowledges all these things and more. He or she will acknowledge that Jesus’ ways are good, that his obedience to the Father is the path of life, and that his love for us and his love for the Father are a wellspring of eternal joy. To remain in Jesus’ love is to rejoice in the favor and tender mercy of Jesus toward us. It is also to embrace his love for the Father – and to show all that by lives of faithful obedience. To think of Jesus’ love as a one-way flow of grace and kindness toward us is a flat and too-soon-depleted supply of joy spiritual junket, rather than a wellspring of life flowing to and from hearts made new by Christ’s love and expressing his love to God and neighbor.

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