June 16, 2025

Today's Reading: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Daily Lectionary: Proverbs 16:1-24; John 16:1-16

“‘To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man.” (Proverbs 8:4)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

There is an eternal Wisdom, begotten yet in existence before anything was. That’s kinda hard to get one’s head around. This Wisdom, involved in creation, is called a she by one known for wisdom. Which is kinda hard to get one’s head around. I honestly think the weirdest part of it all is that this Wisdom who found such joy in creation actually wants to call out to us who wrecked it with sin. Wisdom calls to us. 

To untangle the web, we run to the simpler, less weird stuff when Scripture gets too weird. Scripture interprets Scripture. If our interpretation of Scripture from Scripture disagrees with the Nicene Creed, we messed up somewhere and made a heresy instead. That’s bad. Let’s start with the simplest stuff. God so loved the world that He sent Jesus to die on the cross and rise from the dead to save you from your sins. This Jesus is God of God, light of light, very God of very God. God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. The cross was never a plan B. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. This all means there is a pre-incarnate Christ. Before Christmas, the second person of the Trinity was still active. His will was always to save sinners. Before the foundation of the world, the Lamb was slain.  

All this isn’t just to wrinkle your brain at God being more complicated than we can understand. All this is to wrinkle your brain at God being simpler than we can comprehend. He loves you. Nothing you do can change that. He who made you in love knew you would sin, rebel, and hurt not only yourself but the rest of His creation, His children. He still loves you with unchanging and unchangeable love. This love was manifest when He died on the cross to bear your sins to save you. But if all the past can’t change His love, it also means the future can’t either. Number yourselves among those saved by the Wisdom that calls out to man in love. 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Creator of the stars of night, Thy people's everlasting Light: O Christ, Redeemer, save us all And hear Thy servants when they call. (LSB 351:1)

- Rev. Harrison Goodman, Higher Things Executive Director of Mission and Theology.

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

In Clarifying the Great Commission, Rev. Daniel Christian Voth identifies common omissions from our collective understanding of Jesus’ farewell discourse—omissions that turn Christ’s promises of forgiveness, life, and salvation into a legalistic command. Come and discover a richer understanding of The Great Commission.