Reflections

June 5, 2023

Today's Reading: Genesis 1:1-2:4a

Daily Lectionary:  Song of Solomon 1:1-2:7, John 5:1-18

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Ever wondered where in the Old Testament you hear about the Holy Trinity? Just two verses into the book of Genesis and God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are already at work. God the Father is there creating, as we confess in the Apostles’ Creed. “I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.” Moses also tells us that the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, was there in the beginning as well. But what about the Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity? Where’s Jesus? Don’t worry. He’s there too. 

Fast forward from Genesis 1:1 to John 1:1 and we hear these familiar words. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.”

John is telling us that all the way back in Genesis, the Word of God, the second person of the Trinity, was there too. In the New Testament this second person of the Trinity is Jesus. In the Old Testament He is named the Word, the one through whom all creation was made. This is a great and gracious mystery. Just as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit were present in the beginning of creation and active in the work of creation, so too, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are active in the work of your salvation.

In creation, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit created out of nothing. God said, “Let there be light,” and it was so. God’s Word creates faith in your heart the same way, out of the nothingness of sin, God speaks, “Let there be faith and life” and it is so. When God speaks, whether it’s in creation or salvation, His Word does what He says and gives what He promises. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Gracious Lord, You brought all creation into being out of nothing by Your grace, loving kindness, and Your creative, life-giving Word. By Your Son, Jesus the Word made flesh you redeemed and saved all creation by Your grace. Help us, as Your baptized children, to live by Your grace and mercy in our daily lives and vocations as we continue to live daily by Your grace; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen. 

-Pastor Samuel Schuldheisz is Pastor at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Milton, WA

Audio Reflections Speaker: Jonathan Lackey is an LCMS seminarian.

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.

June 4, 2023

Today's Reading: Matthew 28:16-20

Daily Lectionary: Numbers 35:9-30, Luke 24:28-53 

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (Matthew 28:19)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Stay on the path. That’s one of the most basic rules of hiking. Those are also wise words for Trinity Sunday, a day when we celebrate one of the great paradoxes of the Christian faith.

Today is Holy Trinity Sunday, the day we celebrate this great paradox and mystery of the Christian faith, namely, that God is both three and one at the same time. Three persons in One Divine Essence, One Divine Essence in three persons. Strange? You bet it is. Understandable? Of course not. So we confess it. As we will in the Athanasian Creed. A summary of about four hundred years of the church struggling to say it just the right way. 

And even then, we can only come to an approximation, as though looking through a dirty window pane. We can describe God using words like “person” and “being” and “essence” and “substance” but we can’t really explain God. How can something be both three and one? 

The trick to all paradoxes, is like the basic rule of hiking: stay on the path. Don’t subtract God’s Word. Don’t add to God’s Word. Confess what Scripture teaches. We worship three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in one being or essence called “God.” It’s as simple as that. As we confess in the Athanasian Creed, the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods, but one God. 

The triune life of God is also our life in Holy Baptism. We are baptized into the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. We live, move, and have our being within this Trinity, worshiping the Father in the Spirit and in the truth who is Jesus, having God as our Father, Jesus as our brother, and the Spirit as our Advocate and Guide. We are loved by the Father in the beloved Son who bears our humanity and are drawn by the Spirit.

It is God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – who leads, guides, saves you, and reveals himself in this great triune paradox that we might rejoice and confess, “Blessed be the Holy Trinity and the Undivided Unity. Let us give glory to Him because He has shown His mercy to us.”  In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Almighty and everlasting God, You have given us grace to acknowledge the glory of the Trinity by the confession of a true faith and to worship the unity in the power of divine majesty. Keep us steadfast in this faith and defend us from all adversities; for You O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, live and reign, one God, now and forever. Amen.  (Collect for Trinity Sunday) 

-Pastor Samuel Schuldheisz is Pastor at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Milton, WA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Jonathan Lackey is an LCMS seminarian.

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.

June 3, 2023

Today's Reading: Introit for Holy Trinity Psalm 16:8; antiphon: Liturgical Text

Daily Lectionary: Numbers 32:1-6,16-27, Luke 24:1-27

Blessed be the Holy Trinity and the undivided unity; let us give glory to Him because He has shown us mercy.  (Liturgical Text)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. I don’t know about you, but I enjoy a good mystery. Solving a riddle. Reading Sherlock Holmes. Watching Scooby Doo, Shaggy, and the gang unmask another dastardly villain.

Tomorrow on Trinity Sunday we celebrate one of the great mysteries of the Christian faith, the Holy Trinity. 

Tomorrow we join the Scriptures in celebrating not so much an event, like Jesus’ birth at Christmas or His resurrection at Easter, but God’s revelation of himself. That God is Three in One and One in Three. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. And yet there are not three Gods, but one God. A singular plurality and a plural singularity.

Tomorrow we celebrate not a when, but a who. Today we rejoice in the mystery of the Holy Trinity. That…We worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the substance. 

Tomorrow is Trinity Sunday, and there’s a mystery afoot. Ultimately, however, this mystery of the Holy Trinity isn’t a riddle to unpack, a puzzle to solve, or even a question we can fully answer, much less understand. Rather, the Holy Trinity is revealed in Scripture that we believe, teach, and confess. 

As we give thanks and praise the Holy Trinity, we also give thanks and praise that the God who is beyond our understanding reveals himself in words we can hear and understand. The uncreated God comes to us by means of his creation revealing his saving love in simple words, plain water, ordinary bread and wine. The incomprehensible God becomes comprehensible for us as he accomplishes the most incomprehensible, yet gracious act of all, as he goes to the cross to die for you. 

Yes, indeed, we confess a great mystery in the Holy Trinity. But it is a gracious mystery from our good and gracious Lord. Blessed be the Holy Trinity and the undivided unity; let us give glory to Him because He has shown us mercy. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Almighty and everlasting God, You have given us grace to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity by the confession of a true faith and to worship the Unity in the power of the Divine Majesty. Keep us steadfast in this faith and defend us from all adversities; for You, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, live and reign, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Collect for Trinity Sunday) 

-Pastor Samuel Schuldheisz is Pastor at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Milton, WA

Audio Reflections Speaker: Jonathan Lackey is an LCMS seminarian.

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.

June 2, 2023

Today's Reading: Acts 2:1-21

Daily Lectionary: Numbers 27:12-23, Luke 23:26-56

And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Acts 2:21)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. In Exodus 20:24, when God instructed Moses to build the tabernacle, He promised, “In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and I will bless you.” With God’s name comes His peace, presence, and promise. It was true for Israel in the tabernacle. And it is still true for you in the true and greater tabernacle not made with human hands, Jesus, the Word made flesh who dwelt among us, who literally tabernacled among us.

Now wonder the Hosanna crowds rejoiced! Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Not only does Jesus bring the peace, presence, and promise of God, but as true God and true Man, Jesus is God’s peace, presence, and promise. 

This is what St. Peter preaches to the crowds gathered at that first Pentecost. The rushing wind. The tongues of fire. Speaking the good news of Jesus crucified and risen in the native languages of people gathered. The pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the Church. It’s all part of God’s plan to give and reveal the saving Name of His Son Jesus once again, this time on and in the Church for the life of the world.

In the Church, once again, God’s name is given. God causes his name to be remembered, to be present, and to bless His people once more. You are baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. You live in this faith in the name of Jesus who promises to be with you always. You hear, read, mark, learn, and confess His name in the Scriptures. You are absolved of all your sin in the same holy name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In Divine Service you are gathered by the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who prepares the table of the altar for you with Jesus’ body and blood. And there in His and by His word, Jesus peace, presence, and promise is with you as you gather in His name. Blessed are you who come in the name of the Lord and call upon His holy name! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Gracious Lord, we give thanks that in Holy Baptism we receive forgiveness of sins, deliverance from death and the devil, and eternal salvation. Grant that we who are baptized into Your holy name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, would continue to live in the faith into which we have been called, and boldly confess Your name; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

-Pastor Samuel Schuldheisz is Pastor at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Milton, WA

Audio Reflections Speaker: Jonathan Lackey is an LCMS seminarian.

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.

June 1, 2023

Today's Reading: 

Daily Lectionary: Numbers 24:1-25, Luke 23:1-25

But they all cried out together, “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas”—  a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder.  (Luke 23:18-19)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. When we hear the word martyr, the first thing that most likely comes to mind is a Christian who dies for the sake of their faith in Christ, like Stephen in Acts 6 or Justin, Martyr, whose death at the hands of Roman persecution (A.D. 165) we remember today. This is one meaning of the word martyr, but there is also another meaning.

The word martyr literally means witness. To be a martyr is to give witness to something or someone. So the women and the disciples at the foot of Jesus’ cross and around the empty tomb and in Jesus’ resurrection appearances were all martyrs. They were witnesses to Jesus’ death and resurrection. Later, all of the apostles, except for John, would also become martyrs in dying for the sake of their confession and faith in Christ. Martyrs in life and martyrs in death. 

This is also what our Lord Jesus did for us. His very life, death, and resurrection was a witness to God’s love, grace, and mercy towards us. Jesus’ death on the cross is the ultimate martyrdom, where he, the innocent one, was taken away into death for us who are guilty. Where Jesus the one who knew no sin became sin for us. Where Barabbas who deserved death walked away while Jesus who did not deserve death faced it on our behalf. 

This is the faith that Justin the apologist and martyr for the Christian faith bore witness to in his life, writings, and his death. Thanks to the work of Justin, Martyr, we know a great deal about the liturgy used in the second century Christian Church. Justin writes and gives witness to the early church pattern of gathering for teaching, preaching, and receiving the Eucharist on the Lord’s Day. His apologetic writings also give witness to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Today we join the Church in thanking God for martyrs like Justin who teach us how to be faithful witnesses in our day for the sake of Jesus crucified and risen. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Almighty and everlasting God and Father, You sent Your Son to take our nature upon Himself and to suffer death on the cross that all should follow the example of His great humility. Mercifully grant that we may both follow the example of our Savior, Jesus Christ, in His patience and also have our portion in His resurrection; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

-Pastor Samuel Schuldheisz is Pastor at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Milton, WA

Audio Reflections Speaker: Jonathan Lackey is an LCMS seminarian.

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.

May 31, 2023

Today's Reading: Table of Duties Luther’s Small Catechism: Tenth Commandment

Daily Lectionary: Numbers 23:4-28, Luke 22:47-71

We should fear and love God so that we do not entice or force away our neighbor’s wife, workers, or animals, or turn them against him, but urge them to stay and do their duty. (Explanation to the Tenth Commandment)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. God is the God who calls. God first calls us to faith in His Son, Jesus. He calls you to life and salvation in the waters of Baptism. This is the vocation, or calling, of every Christian, to live daily in God’s gifts of repentance and forgiveness. 

God also calls us into various vocations, or callings, throughout our life where we are given many responsibilities and opportunities to love and serve our neighbor, and to love and serve God through our vocations. Martin Luther called these vocations in life the masks of God, where God would hide in us to serve others, and where we would serve God through the needs of others all at the same time. So God calls us into the vocation of the Christian life in His Church. God calls us into vocations within the home and family. God calls us into vocations in daily labors of life in a civil society. 

This little word, vocation, is one of the ideas that connects the Small Catechism’s teachings in the Table of Duties and in the Tenth Commandment. Both reveal our responsibilities in our various vocations, or callings, in life. The Table of Duties highlights three areas where we love and serve our neighbor, the home, the church, and in society. The Tenth Commandment, likewise, highlights our relationship with our neighbors and the various vocations which are a part of his household and life.

Like all human relationships and vocations, we sin in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and left undone in the home, the church, and society. This is part of the reason God gave us the Scripture passages that are found in the Table of Duties and the tenth commandment, to serve a mirror that shows our sin in our many callings in life. 

Thankfully, for all the times we fail and sin in our vocations in life, we rest on and are forgiven in the perfect life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, whose calling it is to be your Savior. We live in service and love to our neighbor knowing that Jesus perfectly feared, loved, and trusted the Father in all things he said and did for you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Lord God, You have called Your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with courage, not knowing where we go but only that Your hand is leading us and Your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

-Pastor Samuel Schuldheisz is Pastor at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Milton, WA

Audio Reflections Speaker: Jonathan Lackey is an LCMS seminarian.

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.

May 30, 2023

Today's Reading: John 10:1-10

Daily Lectionary: Numbers 22:21-23, Luke 22:24-46

The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.  (John 10:3-4)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Where do you go to hear God’s voice? Some would direct you inward to your desires; “Search your feelings,” they say. Some would beckon you to the ways and whims of this fallen world like Ulysses and the siren’s call. Some would tempt you to find God’s voice in the things of this creation, like Satan tempting Adam and Eve. To find God’s voice you need not look inward to your sinful flesh, nor outward to the fallen world, nor to the devil’s lies.

Where do you go to hear God’s voice? Go where He promises to speak to you in His Word through the voice of His Son Jesus. If you want to hear God’s voice look no further than the voice of Jesus who speaks, teaches, preaches, calls, leads, and delivers you in His holy Word. As sheep of the Good Shepherd we could start by listening to Jesus’ voice in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But don’t stop there. Read the book of Acts and hear the voice of the Good Shepherd leading, guiding, and saving His church. Go on further and read the epistles written by Paul, Peter, Jude, James, John just to name a few, and hear the voice of the Good Shepherd declaring His promises to you over and over again. 

The New Testament is full of the voice of Jesus the Good Shepherd, but don’t stop there. Wherever you turn in the Old Testament, whether it’s the Psalms, prophets, or books of Moses, you will find and hear the voice of Jesus the Good Shepherd. Wherever you read God’s word, from Genesis to Revelation, you are listening to the voice of the Good Shepherd. 

In God’s word in your Baptism the Good Shepherd calls you by name. In God’s word of absolution the Good Shepherd calls you out of darkness and into His light and life. In God’s word joined to bread and wine, the Good Shepherd feeds you His body and blood. In God’s word  Jesus the Good Shepherd speaks, calls, saves, leads, and goes before you.  In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Almighty God, merciful Father, since You have wakened from death the Shepherd of Your sheep, grant us Your Holy Spirit that when we hear the voice of our Shepherd we may know Him who calls us each by name and follow where He leads; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Collect for the 4th Sunday of Easter) 

-Pastor Samuel Schuldheisz is Pastor at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Milton, WA

Audio Reflections Speaker: Jonathan Lackey is an LCMS seminarian.

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.

May 29, 2023

Today's Reading: John 3:16-21

Daily Lectionary: Numbers 22:1-20, Luke 22:1-23

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:17)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. It’s a safe guess that most of us know John 3:16. It rolls off the tongue easily. It’s memorable for and memorized by many. It’s a great summary of the good news that in Christ God is reconciling the world to himself. 

But what if someone asked you to quote John 3:17. Could you do it without looking it up? John 3:17 is also a beautiful, comforting, memorable passage filled with good news for you in Jesus. Notice how John beautifully weaves these two memorable passages together.

“For God loved the world in this way, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

These two verses contain more goodness than a mega-stuffed Oreo. Listen to all the things God is doing in these two verses. God the Father loves. God the Father gave His Son. Jesus, the Son of God in human flesh saves from death. God gives eternal life. God the Father sends His Son. God the Father saves you through His Son. But did you notice the one thing God does not do in these two passages? God does not condemn you. In Jesus, you are saved from condemnation.

Old buildings are condemned. People guilty of crimes are condemned to their sentence. But not you. In Jesus you are not condemned. To be sure, because of our sin we deserved condemnation. But because the Father loves you, because the Father gave and sent Jesus, because the Father desired to save you and give you eternal life, Jesus was condemned on the cross in your place  and you were set free. Jesus died in our place to win eternal life for you. Jesus is sent into the world, not to condemn the world, or you, but to save you in His compassion, His crucifixion, and His glorious resurrection from the dead. So, the next time you feel weighed down by guilt, shame, sin, or death, remember this good news in John 3:17. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, because of Your tender love toward us sinners You have given us Your Son that, believing in Him, we might have everlasting life. Continue to grant us Your Holy Spirit that we may remain steadfast in this faith to the end and finally come to life everlasting; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

-Pastor Samuel Schuldheisz is Pastor at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Milton, WA

Audio Reflections Speaker: Jonathan Lackey is an LCMS seminarian.

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.

May 28, 2023

Today's Reading: John 7:37-39

Daily Lectionary: Numbers 21:10-35, Luke 22:1-23

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:38)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. There are certain things in life that are meant to go together, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or bacon and, well, just about anything. And if this is true with some of our favorite things in the kitchen, imagine how much greater it is in Holy Scripture. 

There are many things in God’s Word that are meant to go together. Law and Gospel. God’s gifts of Word and Sacraments. Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The cross and the Christian life. The list could go on. 

Here in John 7, Jesus reveals another one of Scripture’s  sacred combinations, the Holy Spirit and water. This connection between God the Holy Spirit and water goes back to creation. In the beginning, in Genesis 1, the Spirit hovered over the waters as God began his creating work. Fast forward to the beginning of the four gospels and once again, you water and the Holy Spirit, as the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus at His baptism in the Jordan River. 

In John 7, Jesus is at the Feast of Booths - the Old Testament feast remembering Israel’s wilderness wandering and living in tents -Jesus joins brings water and the Holy Spirit together again. “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 

John tells us that  Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit who would be  poured out at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit who dwells with believers. The Holy Spirit who calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies you in Jesus’ death and resurrection. This is the same Holy Spirit Jesus gives you, and who in turn, gives you Jesus. Jesus makes this connection personal. He takes water and His Holy Spirit and gives them both to you in your Baptism.

Remember the words spoken at your Baptism,  as the living water of the Holy Spirit and water were poured over you. I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. There it is again. Water and the Holy Spirit. Jesus joins them together so that you would be joined together with Him forever. For you, our Lord brings together the greatest combination of all, water and the Holy Spirit to forgive, save, rescue, wash, and restore you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O God, on this day You once taught the hearts of Your faithful people by sending them the light of Your Holy Spirit. Grant us in our day by the same Spirit to have a right understanding in all things and to evermore rejoice in His holy consolation; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Collect for the Day of Pentecost) 

Pastor Samuel Schuldheisz is Pastor at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Milton, WA

Audio Reflections Speaker: Jonathan Lackey is an LCMS seminarian.

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.

May 27, 2023

Today's Reading: John 14:15-21

Daily Lectionary: Numbers 20:22-21:9, Luke 20:45-21:19

John 14:15: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments”

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Jesus said, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my commandments”.  Faith, of course, is presupposed.  I guess that’s good…we assume Christians believe.  But also, when we take faith for granted, all that’s really left to talk about is what we want to come out of it.  We assume the most important part of what Jesus said, then leave all of the stress on something that wasn’t ever given to carry the weight.  We focus on the word keep.  We assume it’s ours to carry as obedience and call it proof we love God. The problem, of course, is that when this is our hope, our lack of obedience can really only be proof we hate Him.  

Don’t presuppose faith.  See it for what it is.  The gift of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost celebrates that.  God wants to speak and give good gifts to sinners.  He sends the Spirit to bring faith, to bring to remembrance the teachings of Good. Not just to know them.  To remember them. To love them. To treasure them.  That’s what keep means.  Keep isn’t measured in obedience but in love.  Love what the world loves not.  Love the cross and all it brings.  Love the place God puts to death all evil and saves you from yourself.  Love the life He gives that only comes on the other side of the tomb, but already belongs to you in your Baptism. And so love the commandments too, as they paint a picture of the Lord who saved you by fulfilling them in your stead and then dying that you would live.  

In the promise Jesus makes, you who love the Lord do treasure His words.  The word speaks and it shapes us. Each day it forgives, and each day it ties us to the great promise He makes us. The promise we cling to and keep because we love Him who has first loved us.  Rise. Let us go from here. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Almighty and ever-living God, You fulfilled Your promise by sending the gift of the Holy Spirit to unite disciples of all nations in the cross and resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ. By the preaching of the Gospel spread this gift to the ends of the earth; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

-Pastor Harrison Goodman is Content Executive for Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Jonathan Lackey is an LCMS seminarian.

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.