September 23, 2024 

Today's Reading: Jeremiah 11:18-20

Daily Lectionary: Nehemiah 9:1-21; 1 Timothy 5:17-6:2

“But, O LORD of hosts, who judges righteously, who tests the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you have I committed my cause.” (Jeremiah 11:20)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. We are called to love our enemies, yet here is Jeremiah asking to see God’s vengeance upon those who are persecuting him. It is a desire that has been repeated by many of God’s people over the centuries. It is a desire that seems to come naturally to most people. Who doesn’t want to see their enemies get what is coming to them? This would seem to set up a disconnect between our reading and our prayer. How can we love and do good to those that we want to see God take vengeance upon? We pray for people; can we also pray against people? The answer to this comes from what we confess about the nature of God Himself. God has been revealed to us primarily as a God of mercy, but not as a God of mercy only. Psalm 94 even refers to Him as, “O Lord, God of vengeance.” God can and does take vengeance, but that is part of what is called His alien work. This means that God, who judges righteously and tests the heart and mind, is also the God who forgives sins and has made you one of His people. 

Salvation is God’s work alone, and vengeance is also His work alone. This is why Christians can pray against their enemies, as Jeremiah does in our reading. In doing so, we confess that vengeance properly belongs to God and not to us. We don’t need to act in God’s place to punish our enemies because those actions are His and His alone to take. 

At the same time, we also know that our present enemies need not be our eternal enemies. The cross that covers our sins also covers theirs. The Jesus that is for you is also the Jesus that is for them. The waters of Baptism that washed you can also wash them; the supper that is yours can also feed them. At any point, our enemies could hear the gospel, repent, and join us in the one true faith to life everlasting.   In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Almighty, everlasting God, You commanded us to love our enemies, to do good to those who hate us, and to pray for those who persecute us. Therefore, we earnestly implore You that by Your gracious working, our enemies may be led to true repentance, may have the same love toward us as we have toward them, and may be of one accord and of one mind and heart with us and with Your whole Church; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. 

-Rev. Grant Knepper, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church Modesto, California.

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

In Embracing Your Lutheran Identity, Author Gene Edward Veith Jr. will guide readers through that heritage, starting with the Early Church and moving through the Reformation to Lutheranism today. Readers will learn about key people in the history of Lutheranism, from two teenagers who were the first martyrs of the Reformation, through the Saxon immigrants who left everything behind so they could practice Lutheranism freely, to the Lutherans who have stood strong for the faith in our own day.