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.”
Days and months and seasons and years

Days and months and seasons and years

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Galatians 4:1-11

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years! 11 I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

Showy Persian Onion | Belgrade, Romania | April 2024

It will soon be New Years Day as I write this. Many parties will have been attended, celebrations marked, and resolutions made. Some will have toasted the New Year with Champagne. Others will have sealed it with a kiss. Some will have gone to bed early. Some will try to sleep in this morning as you read this.

Then there is the matter of the various sports seasons. The year end football frenzy is upon us: college football bowl games and NFL League Championships will capture household TV screens – which grow bigger and brighter and with growing resolution (8K Ultra High Definition is now 7680 x 4320 pixels. This equates to approximately 33 million pixels, providing four times the detail of 4K UHD TVs and sixteen times that of Full HD (1080p) TVs!!!) Do I need a new TV so I can see the hairs on the chinny chin chins of the defensive linemen? I’m thinking not. But football season is in full swing now. Basketball is front and center for many. March Madness is just around the corner.

The United Nations has named 2025 the International Year of Cooperatives. While also suggesting 2025 as being the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation. Or how about the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology? Another UN designation.

Days and seasons and years: we all have our ways of marking them. And while there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with football season, or Ultra High Definition TV, or even cooperatives or glaciers, there is a better way to consider days, seasons, and years.

Let’s start by reclaiming the phrase, “the year of our Lord.” This is the meaning of AD when we append those initials to the date: 2025 AD. Let’s not only reclaim the phrase, let’s seek to remember that our time is in God’s hands (Psalm 31:15). This (and every year) is the year of our Lord.

“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom,” Moses reminds us in Psalm 90. Our days are numbered. We may not know their number. But we must remember that there is an ending of them for each of us. While many people seem more afraid of living as the end grows near, and the pain increases, and the troubles pile up, we must learn to live each day unto God. “This is the day the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it!” By the way, that’s from Psalm 118, which is used on Easter Sunday, coming right after, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord‘s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes” (Psalm 118:22-23). Jesus was the stone rejected by the builders who rose from the dead and secured our eternal salvation.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

2 a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

-Ecclesiastes 3:1-4

We do not know what tomorrow will bring. But we do know that God is in every moment and place, situation, and event we experience. Jesus urges us to watch and wait for his appearing, recognizing his grace and goodness in every moment, and rejoicing in his goodness and mercy all the days, seasons, and years of our lives.

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