December 20, 2024 

Today's Reading: Introit for Advent 4 - 1 Samuel 2:1b, 2, 5b-7; antiphon: Luke 1:46b-47 

Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 40:18-41:10; Revelation 8:1-13

The LORD kills and brings to life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. (1 Samuel 2:6)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

The Lord Kills and makes alive. He brings down to Sheol and raises up. The Lord gives, the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. If you can’t first see those things fulfilled in the Son, you can never receive them as Gifts when He does them to you, too.  

It isn’t just because it’s easier to account for what’s taken than what’s given or because it's easier to find things to complain about than to thank God for. It’s because what the Lord takes, we can’t get back on our own, and deep down, we know it. All our best plans and efforts can fall apart in minutes. A life can end in the blink of an eye, and no amount of preparation, fitness, or cautiousness can change that fact.  

And He has every right to do it. To kill. To cast down. To take. Lay your justifications aside. The wages of sin is death. At the core of your heart, where you hide the anger, the lust, the greed, God sees who you really are. He sees someone destroying His creation and harming His children, often in secret. Some things that are broken can’t be fixed. They can’t be balanced out by trying harder at something else. So the best we can do is run from death, run from loss. 

But these were first borne by the Son. He was killed and made alive. He descended into Hell and rose from the grave. He who was God was stripped of all honor and glory for you to enter a creation made sinful by men in order to save the very same sinners. You. Me. And in His loss, death, and resurrection, He has not only forgiven you all your sins but carved a path through death and loss for you as well.  

It means we don’t have to escape anymore. And it means what’s taken is not gone. When you see things taken, you can know not just that they can be given back, but that they will. Christ is risen. We will rise. And more, it isn’t arbitrary. It isn’t callousness that drives our Lord. It’s purpose. It was purpose that sent the Son to the cross. And so too with you. In your loss, there is purpose. In your gain, there is purpose. Even in your death, there is purpose, and you can look forward to your resurrection. 

Blessed be the Name of the LORD because that’s the thing that’s been stable this whole time. He doesn’t change. He is always working for your salvation. 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

The will of God is always best And shall be done forever; And they who trust in Him are blest; He will forsake them never. He helps indeed In time of need; He chastens with forbearing. They who depend On God, their friend, Shall not be left despairing. ( LSB 758:1)

-Rev. Harrison Goodman, content executive for Higher Things.

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

What makes a church "good?" Come join the fictional family as they test out eight different churches in their brand-new town and answer this question along the way. Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? by Matthew Richard, now available from Concordia Publishing House.