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Friday of the Third Week after the Epiphany
Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 11:4-17; 2 Timothy 4:1-18
The Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. (2 Timothy 4:17)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Paul had it rough near the end of his life on earth. Friends and fellow pastors had abandoned him, and some had abandoned the faith! He was imprisoned. Yet, in spite of it all, he was diligent in exercising his pastoral duties. He confessed: “The Lord stood with me and strengthened me.” This isn’t just so he could tough it out, so he could cope with the stress. No, it was for the sake of the Gospel: “That the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear.” This is what the Lord does: He makes pastors and strengthens them in their duties.
You and I are the Gentiles. We are the far-off ones, the ones outside the kingdom. Yet Paul’s preaching rang out, and that preaching creates faith. That’s how the Spirit works. Through the preaching of the Gospel, He creates, sustains, and strengthens faith. The Spirit used Paul’s preaching, which created faith in the hearers. Still more pastors through the ages proclaim the Gospel that “all the Gentiles might hear” —that you and I might hear. It may have been first to some ancient ancestor, your grandparents, parents, or maybe just to you, but some pastor has preached. The Spirit has used that Word to call you from unbelief, to give you faith in Jesus, who died for you and shed His blood for you on the cross for the forgiveness of sins, thus giving you the fruit of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Yes, the Lord makes pastors. For you. He’s given you one— one to baptize, absolve, preach, and give you Jesus’ Body and Blood. Paul was strengthened in his ministry by the Lord. May all our pastors be thus strengthened, and may there be an increase of laborers for the harvest so that the Gospel might ring out, that Christ and Him crucified might be clearly preached even in these latter days. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
O Spirit, who didst once restore Thy Church that it might be again The bringer of good news to men, Breathe on Thy cloven Church once more, That in these gray and latter days There may be men whose life is praise, Each life a high doxology To Father, Son, and unto Thee. (O God, O Lord of Heaven and Earth, LSB 834:4)
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By Higher Things®Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 11:4-17; 2 Timothy 4:1-18
The Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. (2 Timothy 4:17)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Paul had it rough near the end of his life on earth. Friends and fellow pastors had abandoned him, and some had abandoned the faith! He was imprisoned. Yet, in spite of it all, he was diligent in exercising his pastoral duties. He confessed: “The Lord stood with me and strengthened me.” This isn’t just so he could tough it out, so he could cope with the stress. No, it was for the sake of the Gospel: “That the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear.” This is what the Lord does: He makes pastors and strengthens them in their duties.
You and I are the Gentiles. We are the far-off ones, the ones outside the kingdom. Yet Paul’s preaching rang out, and that preaching creates faith. That’s how the Spirit works. Through the preaching of the Gospel, He creates, sustains, and strengthens faith. The Spirit used Paul’s preaching, which created faith in the hearers. Still more pastors through the ages proclaim the Gospel that “all the Gentiles might hear” —that you and I might hear. It may have been first to some ancient ancestor, your grandparents, parents, or maybe just to you, but some pastor has preached. The Spirit has used that Word to call you from unbelief, to give you faith in Jesus, who died for you and shed His blood for you on the cross for the forgiveness of sins, thus giving you the fruit of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Yes, the Lord makes pastors. For you. He’s given you one— one to baptize, absolve, preach, and give you Jesus’ Body and Blood. Paul was strengthened in his ministry by the Lord. May all our pastors be thus strengthened, and may there be an increase of laborers for the harvest so that the Gospel might ring out, that Christ and Him crucified might be clearly preached even in these latter days. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
O Spirit, who didst once restore Thy Church that it might be again The bringer of good news to men, Breathe on Thy cloven Church once more, That in these gray and latter days There may be men whose life is praise, Each life a high doxology To Father, Son, and unto Thee. (O God, O Lord of Heaven and Earth, LSB 834:4)