December 15, 2023  

Today's Reading: Revelations 3:1-22

Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 30:27-31:9; Revelations. 3:1-22

And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. ‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” (Revelation 3:1)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. From the whitewashed tombs of the Pharisees to the tax collectors and sinners in the Kingdom, the heavenly band isn’t what we’d expect.  And it leaves us plenty of opportunities to turn that on to each other.  There’s too much conflict in church.  Especially considering that this applies to ourselves more than it does anyone else.  This isn’t just a warning not to trust anything too polished, to question authority, and to roll your eyes at anyone who says “we’ve always done it this way”.  

If you’ll allow it, it’s a chance to reflect upon the secret things that are killing you from the inside out that you hide from everyone else.  They’re not actually measured in the battles you lose against vice, nearly so often as they are the things you don’t want to call wrong in the first place.  The things you excuse yourself from, but are still too uncomfortable to talk about among the sanctified, because you tell yourself they’re just not enlightened enough to understand.  We hide the things that are killing us because what else do you do with the things you can’t get rid of and you’re not even sure you want to?  

John has instructions to the walking-dead-inside.  Remember. Keep. Repent. Remember what you received. Past tense. Already, before you quit the vice you won’t call a vice. You are already free from it. It’s drowned in the font. You received it in Baptism.  Keep it.  That means realize it’s valuable enough to keep you.  Treasure it.  This isn’t a battle for self control you lose. It’s an identity already won on a cross for you.  It’s worth clinging to because it’s at least honest, even if it’s every bit as confusing.  This is who you are. Dead to sin. Alive to God.  It’s called repentance.  You live a life of repentance every day. You live a life of Baptism every day. Not marked in improvement, but in death. Every day you call sin what it is, even if you can’t get away from it. Every day you hear God’s promises.  Every day you’re turned back towards the one who forgave you because that Baptism you treasure is worth more than the vices you hoard.  Repentance isn’t what you quit. It isn’t how sorry you are about what you’ve done. It isn’t about a promise to quit you’re not sure you can keep.  It’s what brings the dead inside back to life.  It’s a Spirit carried hand toward the cross that swallows up what you bury and a promise that you’re already joined to the same empty tomb that Jesus burst free from. No matter how you feel inside. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Amen. 

-Pastor Harrison Goodman is content executive for Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.