Reflections

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil. . . Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. (Jeremiah 29:11a–12 ) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. When you are having a challenging day--a day when you get bad news, the internet goes down, or you can't find your way out from under a challenging project--you may forget that Go...

Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. (Jeremiah 25:5)  In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Jeremiah must have felt as if he was talking to himself. The people of Judah, to whom he was sent to preach, had a long history of ignoring God's Word. And they weren't about to listen to what J...

Then the King will say to those on his right, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." (Matthew 25:34) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Born into a pagan family in what is now Hungary around the year A.D. 316, Martin grew up in Lombardy (Italy). Coming to the Christian faith as a young person, he began a career in the Roman army....

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. It always seems a little dicey for a pastor to write about what the Small Catechism Table of Duties calls "What Hearers Owe Their Pastors." It's dicey because so much sin colors the discussion. Pastors feel that they are underappreciated and would welcome a few more digits added to their paychecks. They also know the Word of God directed to preachers, that they should...

For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. (1 Thessalonians 4:15-16) In the Name + of Jesus. Am...

And the Lord said to Moses, "Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'" (Exodus 32:7–8) In the Name...

"For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man." (Matthew 24:27) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. How many predictions of the end of the world have you lived through? I'm so old that I remember predictions from the 1970s and a false prophet named Hal Lindsey. Some other old folks will remember the Y2K scare of 1999. Isn't it funny how...

In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me!  Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me! (From the Introit for the 23rd Sunday after Trinity) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. "Why is the Internet so slow?" we ask when the webpage doesn't load in a nanosecond. "What is wrong with these peopl...

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. There is often much of life that seems incomplete. There is always some academic assignment or work project waiting for its completion. If we are single, we think that we would be finally complete with a spouse. If we are given a spouse...

With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? (Micah 6:6) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Of all the prophets identified as "minor" in our Bible commentaries, perhaps Micah is the "minorist."  You do know one famous line from this prophet, from the fifth chapter. "But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth...

He [the pastor] must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. (Titus 1:9) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The Table of Duties of the Small Catechism gives shape to the life of the believer. We are not left to make our own way in determining the contours of our holy orders and positions. Are you a p...

"So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." (Matthew 18:35) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Yikes! The words of Jesus at the end of today's reading devastate my old sinful and self-righteous self. I know it is the same for you. We shouldn't be surprised that we will need to forgive others and receive forgiveness, too. Jesus embedded t...

And he opened his mouth and taught them saying. . . "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." (Matthew 5:2,4) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. In the Revelation to John, the apostle is given to see what we can now only trust to be real. He sees an ever-expanding vision of heaven starting with the throne of God, heavenly creatures, 24 elders, the Lamb who was slain, thousands and tho...

The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. (Romans 3:22–25)  In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Ask your non-Lutheran C...

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Tomorrow the Lutheran church celebrates Reformation Day. The first Lutheran confessors were brave men. They lived in the confidence that the words of Psalm 119:48 were true. Were they to confess the truth of God's Word before the rulers of their age, they believed that they would not be put to shame. And what truth did they confess? How about this from the Introit for...

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:6) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Moses was tired. Like a 120-years-old kind of tired. He had been a faithful saint and sinner servant of the LORD his God. From his leading of the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt, to Mount Sinai and...

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you." (John 15:16) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Faith bears fruit. The fruit of which Jesus speaks is first the confession of His saving Word to the world and faith that prays with boldness and confidence. T...

But that person is worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words: "Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins."  (Small Catechism: Sacrament of the Altar)   In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. In his teaching on worthy reception of the Sacrament of the Altar in the Large Catechism, Luther writes: "Whoever now accepts these words and believes that what they declare is true has forgiveness...

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. (Ephesians 6:10-11) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. I spent eight months in the country of Afghanistan as a United States Navy chaplain. Nearly every day for those eight months I had to put on a 17-pound protective armored vest and a three-po...

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Everything that is, was created by God. You must take this personally. You are not an accidental being. The God who by His Word spoke creation itself into existence and marked times and seasons, created you. Every part of your being is the creative work of God. Your mind, your emotions, your physic...

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Two miracles occur in the reading for today. The first is obvious: The son of an official is brought from the point of death by the Word of Jesus. The second miracle is seen by faith: A fearful father is rescued from his faithlessness. I'm sure the father of the dying boy didn't think much about his wobbly faith as he approached Jesus that day in Capernaum. He had fai...

After they finished speaking, James replied, "Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name."  (Acts: 15:13-14) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. James of Jerusalem, the brother of our Lord: What a turn around this guy did! If you read the Gospels you will come upon the occasional instances when Jesus is milling around His home c...

And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. (Deuteronomy 21:22-23c) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. This seems to be a bit of a throw-away line. It doesn't make much sense in the context of the rest of Deuteronomy 21,...

Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:19-21) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Paul lays out how it is we are to serve our neighbor, how we are to love them as...

How can bodily eating and drinking do such great things? Certainly not just eating and drinking do these things, but the words written here: "Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins." These words, along with the bodily eating and drinking, are the main thing in the Sacrament. Whoever believes these words has exactly what they say: "forgiveness of sins." (Small Catechism: Sacrament of th...