 Be Ready35 “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Luke 12:35-40 This morning I attended the Men’s Breakfast at our church. The subject of discussion was the passage above and specifically “Readiness”. It was an edifying conversation that stuck with me and became the inspiration for this devotion. The imperative to be ready in this passage is set within a parable Jesus told about a master who was away for a wedding feast but would return at an unknown, unexpected time. Regardless of the uncertainty of his return it was the responsibility of the servants to be ready when he came back. All was to be ready for him when he knocked. Being ready is described with two metaphors. The first is to be dressed for action. While this involves physical clothing, it is more about the mental state of the servant than anything else. Think about it this way. The way you dress in the morning for your day is determined by what you plan to do (a mental exercise). If you are going to work in the yard you will put on work boots, jeans and a T-shirt. If you are going to the office you will dress professionally, a jacket, button down shirt, and slacks. If you are going to the gym…. Well, you get the idea. What you plan to do will determine your dress. Likewise, spiritually speaking, we are to be mentally prepared for what God calls us to do and dress appropriately. Following the dress metaphor into the rest of the Scriptures gives us a clue as to how to dress. First, we might think of the robes of Christ’s righteousness given to us in baptism. This reminds us that our dress is a gift of God’s grace. Here we find our salvation and identity as a child of God. Then we might think of other spiritual qualities that the Scriptures identify when they encourage us to “put on” various dress:
All of this clothing, also a gift from God, prepares us for action that we might serve until our Lord’s return and be ready to welcome him back. The second metaphor that describes readiness is to keep your lamps burning. In the Scriptures oil is often associated with the Holy Spirit. Likewise, a burning light is associated with active faith or good works. Jesus said, “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) Again, readiness is like a burning oil lamp, it starts with the Holy Spirit’s work in us and results in active faith in the world. It is noteworthy that the imperatives in vs. 35 are also in the present tense meaning that the action is to be ongoing or continuous action. So, stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning. This is a warning to avoid drowsiness, or laziness, or the failure to prepare. The Christian is to be always ready to serve and welcome home his/her Lord. Such readiness is met with blessing. In an unexpected twist, the servants that are ready and welcome home their master find themselves at table being served by the master! He dresses himself for service and serves the servants! Where else does something like that happen except in the kingdom of God. It illustrates that our Lord is a servant king who gives himself that we might partake of his riches. What a joy and blessing it is to be a servant in his kingdom. How eager we can be to be ready, to stay dressed for action and keep our lamps burning. District Update Congregational News
Events The Spring 2026 Pastor Conference will be held at the Erdman Center at Princeton Theological Seminary on May 18-20th. Dr. Joseph Terry (Ph.D., University of Nottingham), philosopher-theologian and educator in New York City, where he teaches at Kingsborough and York Colleges (CUNY) at the City University of New York, will be our speaker addressing the subject of The Church at the Crossroads of Theology and Technology. Registration materials will be sent out in January. SMP Koinonia. The Pacific Southwest (PSW) hosted a Koinonia event January 6-8 in Las Vegas around the topic of Pastoral Formation. Koinonia is the Greek word for “fellowship, sharing in common, or partnership”. The Koinonia Project is a method of bringing people together for discussion around a topic on which they have differing views. The topic of discussion at this event was whether training in residence (study while living at the seminary) or online training while in context (study online while living at home and serving in a parish, ex. SMP) is better for the formation of a pastor. Since the SMP Program is so important to the wellbeing of the NJD, we sent four pastors to be a part of the discussion; Pastors Dunbar, Hodges, Hass and Gewecke. The consensus coming out of the event is that we have a need for two pathways to ordination, one theoretical (residential, full Master of Divinity) and another practical (in context, half the credits hours but a quicker route to ordination). Disagreement came in the specifics of how, when, and who, as well as the concerns for a highly trained and well-formed clergy. The discussion was enlightening and encouraging but there is still much to be done to bring about agreement. Even though the event was in Las Vegas the saying “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” does not apply. Ask the pastors about their experience. I’m sure they will be happy to share. Upcoming SCC Events and Strategic Plan Task Forces Four additional congregations have indicated their desire to participate in Small Church Clarity (SCC). Participation will assist these congregations in ministry planning and prepare them for future Advanced Studies events and training. We are now half way through the training with our next events as follows:
The Strategic Plan Task Forces have been meeting and working on their goals. They will meet again Thursday March 12th at 7pm when finalized plans from the first step assignment will be shared. Synodical Convention 2026 The 2026 Synodical Convention will be held in Phoenix, AZ on July 18-23rd.
Conclusion
One might think of “being ready” as an Advent theme. Of course, it is, but the imperative to be continuously ready reminds us that we are to be ready in every season. So be ready in Advent and in Epiphany. Let your light, the light of Christ, shine. The Lord be with you, President/Bishop Gewecke  Time to Pivot29 And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. 30 And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 31 The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 32 And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” 33 They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” 34 And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him. Matthew 20:29-34 The college basketball season has begun and with it come some of the memories of when I first learned to play the game. One of the foundational skills was the pivot. The pivot did two things; one it anchored a player to a spot on the court and second it enabled the player to turn in many different directions in order to see and to pass the ball. So, while one foot remained in a particular spot the other foot could move around anywhere it wanted! At one moment the player could be facing the backcourt and the next toward the basket! The end of the Pentecost season and the beginning of Advent places us at an ecclesiastical pivot point. At one moment we are facing the 2nd Coming of Christ and in the next the 1st Coming, at one moment we are facing the final judgement and in the next the coming of salvation, at one moment a judge and the next a savior. It is a quick pivot but perhaps the scripture passage above can help us to think more deeply about it. The last weeks of the season of Pentecost always narrow our focus to the last days, the return of Christ, and the final judgement. Inherent in these matters is the recognition of our sinfulness. One cannot possibly think about a judgement without some self-examination and, if one is honest, the recognition that we have not lived up to God’s expectations for us. We could place ourselves on a morality scale and determine that we have done better than many but that is not the point, is it? Just one sin condemns. That rightly causes dread in the face of judgement. The passage above gives us hope and comfort. Jesus has come for us too. He has pity on us and asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” Our need in the face of the judgement is for the forgiveness of our sins. And what we find is that forgiveness is his greatest desire! In fact, it is the very reason that he came. Now, as we face his 2nd Coming, we do not do so with dread but in the sure and certain hope of forgiveness, love, and eternal salvation. Pivot! Now suddenly in Advent we face not a coming in judgement but a coming in grace with salvation. But before he comes we anticipate his coming. Into four short weeks we pack the whole OT period and thousands of years of waiting, yearning, praying, and hoping for rescue and the coming of a savior. Hear the people of God crying out “O come, O come Emmanuel”. So, in the season of Advent, as the events of years gone by are recapitulated in Word and song, we cry out in anticipation “Come Lord, Jesus.” The passage above is inspirational here as well. For like the blind man we cannot see spiritually. Even after we have been redeemed and regenerated our vision of Christ and spiritual things is clouded. What we need is to see Jesus and to see him more clearly. Our Advent prayer to Jesus is rightly, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” The better we see Jesus the more we receive the benefits of his love, salvation, forgiveness, comfort, and joy. The better we see Jesus the more we are enveloped in his arms and rest in his grace. The liturgical pivot of Pentecost to Advent is a blessing. It allows us in short succession to see both the end and the beginning, the 2nd and 1st Comings of Christ. It allows us to connect the one to the other in an unending circle of mercy and grace. We will continue to pivot, to tell again the story of salvation until our Lord comes again. District Update Congregational News
Events The Fall 2025 Pastor Conference was held at St. Paul, Flemington on October 28th. Rev. Dr. Heath Trampe from the Office of National Missions presented a number of the new resources that Synod has to offer congregations as they seek to build ministry and reach out to their communities.  Rev. Dr. Health Trampe addresses the NJD Pastor Conference Pranschke Retirement. Zion, Westwood celebrated the retirement of Rev. Thomas Pranschke on November 2nd. The day began with a celebratory service at which several of the choirs sang and during which they performed a song with Pastor Pranchke that he wrote himself. After the service the congregation moved to the school gymnasium where Pastor Pranschke was honored by the congregation and the town council. He was remembered for his active involvement in the community. He was also lauded for his ministry in the parish school and the congregation. The congregation expressed thanks with a generous gift and a Martin guitar. We pray God’s blessings on Pastor Tom, Anne, and his family as he moves to south Jersey.  Retirement dinner in Zion’s school gymnasium  Westwood Town Council Representatives thank and commend Pastor Pranschke  Zion honors Pastor Pranschke The November Council of Presidents was held at Concordia University, St. Paul, Minnesota. Each November the COP holds its meeting at a different one of our universities. It is an enlightening and joyful experience as we get to see the ministry and resources the Synod has to offer those who are seeking a college education. It is particularly encouraging to hear how there is a renewed emphasis on the Lutheran identify of our universities and on sharing the gospel. With each visit we hear about the growing numbers at many of our Concordias not only in the general student population but specifically in our church worker and pre-seminary programs. Our universities should be commended for the very generous tuition grants they are giving for those in church work and pre-seminary disciplines. It is important for us to reduce the loan debt our workers will have after graduation and to attract them to church work service. Next November the COP will be visiting Concordia, Mequon (Wisconsin). One frustrating discussion we had at COP was regarding the revised policy for the SMP Program. Let me simply say that our SMP Pastors are a blessing to us in this District and we give thanks for their service. We ought to be working to expand avenues to ordination rather than restricting them. Please keep all of our pastors in your prayers. Upcoming SCC Events and Strategic Plan Task Forces Four additional congregations have indicated their desire to participate in Small Church Clarity (SCC). Participation will assist these congregations in ministry planning and prepare them for future Advanced Studies events and training. Our next event will be the second session of the new cohort for Small Church Clarity.
Spring 2026 Pastor Conference The NJD Spring Pastor Conference will be a three-day event. The Conference Committee is currently working on putting this event together. Details and registration materials will be available in January. Synodical Convention 2026 The 2026 Synodical Convention will be held in Phoenix, AZ on July 18-23rd.
Conclusion
I have always enjoyed the season of Advent, its themes, its anticipation, and its hopefulness. My prayer for you is that, as you prepare for and celebrate the coming of our Lord, your eyes would be opened and that ever more clearly you would see Jesus. The Lord be with you, President/Bishop Gewecke |