Reflections

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...

"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food."  (Isaiah 55:1-2) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The ways of t...

And [Jesus] said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves."  (Luke 10:2-3) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Jesus sends out the 72. It's kind of like a dry-run for Pentecost. The disciples are to go out and preach the...

"Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find." And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, "Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment...

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, his holy mountain. We have thought on your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple. (From the Introit for the 20th Sunday after Trinity) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Let us pray: Lord God, Heavenly Father, You alone are worthy of our praise. You have made Your goodness known to Your Church, Your salvation is proclaimed...

"This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. …  But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear." (Matthew 13:13, 16) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The parable of the sower is often one of our favorites. We love to hear about the reckless sowing of the seed and how the sower scatters indiscrimi...

But [Jesus] answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."  (Matthew 12:39-40) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. What is the will of the Father? That...

What is the benefit of this eating and drinking? These words, "Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins," shows us that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation. (Small Catechism: Sacrament of the Altar, pt. 3) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Why do we eat and drink t...

Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. (Ephesians 4:25) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. You have a new life in Christ. That is the gift of your Baptism. Christ's Cross has been brought to you. His victory over sin, death and the grave has been splashed down upon you in the wet Word of the font. You have been bur...

Today's Reading: Genesis 28:10-17 Daily Lectionary: Deuteronomy 9:23-10:22; Matthew 11:20-30 "Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." (Genesis 28:15) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Jacob is on the run. He is in fear for his life. He had tricked his father into giving him a bl...

Today's Reading: Matthew 9:1-8 Daily Lectionary: Deuteronomy 9:1-22; Matthew 11:1-19 "For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, ‘Rise and walk'?" (Mathew 8:5) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. We need Jesus to be more than just a miracle worker, more than just some carnival barker who sells us snake oil medicine out of the trunk of his car, more than some magic genie who is rea...