Reflections

May 17, 2023

Today's Reading: Luther’s Small Catechism, Ten Commandments: The Eighth Commandment

Daily Lectionary:Numbers 10:11-36; Luke 16:19-31

“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:16, the 8th Commandment)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Alleluia! Christ is risen!  “Who is my neighbor?” the lawyer asks to justify himself (Luke 10:29). It’s easy to imagine standing up for our friends and family, or someone we have feelings for. But do you think of standing up for the reputation of those to whom you have no connection and maybe even disagree with?

If you see a boy dressed in girl’s clothes getting bullied, would you stand up for him? Certainly, you don’t agree with his behavior, but it’s also wrong for others to mercilessly ridicule another person. That boy is a person who is valued by God, and priced with the precious blood of Christ, so we are to have compassion on him. God sees him as a whole person, not just by the surface of outward appearance (1 Samuel 16:7b). Besides, how would we ever witness to other sinners if we, too, push them away?

The Catechism explanation teaches us, “A good name or reputation is important so that each of us may enjoy the trust and respect of others.” Think for a moment how important that is for your own life. With trust and respect, you’re able to make friends, take advantage of opportunities, and show your capability. Take that away, and others will see you only for your faults, be suspicious of trusting you, and lead you to doubt your own abilities. Isolated by this, many people despair and even contemplate suicide.

This is the damage people can do to each other’s reputations, but what are God’s ways? When Adam and Eve sinned, He gave them coverings for their nakedness. Specifically, it was with garments of skin, foreshadowing that such a covering for sin would come at the death of another (Genesis 3:21). We now know and believe that covering for our sins and others is the death of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

In the wisdom of Proverbs, He teaches us, “Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.” (Proverbs 11:13) This is the way of God: not to magnify faults and increase the damage of sin, but to cover a matter for the good of our neighbor. Yes, there are times when the safety of our other neighbors may require us to speak, but those are very specific. Rather than rushing to judgment, rush to the cross, where God has made the covering for the sins of all. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Almighty Father, it is Your gracious will to remove our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west by the atonement of Your Son. Grant us Your heart toward our fellow sinners, that we may deal graciously with them even as you have with us; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

- Pastor Michael A. Miller is Pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR.

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 16, 2023

Today's Reading: 1 Peter 3:13-22

Daily Lectionary: Numbers 9:1-23; Luke 16:1-18

“Have no fear of them, nor be troubled,but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy” (1 Peter 3:14-15)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Alleluia! Christ is risen! Imagine what it was like for Noah, those 120 years he was building the ark. People around him were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage. Meanwhile Noah was preparing for the upcoming destruction of the world. If we find it hard to be the only Christian we know at school or work, can you fathom what it was like to be one of the few on earth who feared God? Yet, Noah persevered.

See, Noah had hope in a world to come, which those who ridiculed him didn’t have. They were occupied with this present life. The Nephilim were interested in being powerful and feared. The sons of God who were marrying the unbelieving daughters of men were grounded by their family ties to this present life (see Genesis 6:1-4). But Noah, who had found favor in God’s eyes, also had hope that went beyond this present and wicked life.

We also can expect to be ridiculed by those who are perishing. The unbelieving around us say that this life is all you can hope for. They say follow your desires, and don’t let anyone tell you they’re wrong. When we deny that, they will call us names, pass us by in employment, or worse. Yet, they can really do no lasting harm.

Like Noah, we have found favor in the eyes of the Lord. In Holy Baptism, He has looked at us in His Son: “This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” We hope in this heavenly Word, and in the promise of “the resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come” (Nicene Creed).

As we still live among the unbelieving, we bear testimony to our God, who desires the salvation of all mankind. This world is passing away, and our gentle and respectful lives bear witness to that. Even if stubborn unbelievers cause us suffering, we let go of whatever we lose and pray to our God: “Because Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. For You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I will sing for joy.” (Psalm. 63:3, 7; LSB 286)

There is plenty of room in the ark of the Church. We pray that the Lord would grant repentance to our family, friends, and neighbors who are of the world. The end of the world is coming. The end of each of our lives is coming, and then comes judgment. God grant repentance that we might live before Him with a good conscience!  In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

To forgive our enemies, persecutors, and slanderers and to turn their hearts…and graciously to hear our prayers: We implore you to hear us, good Lord. (Litany, LSB 288)

- Pastor Michael A. Miller is Pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR.

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 15, 2023

Today's Reading: Acts 17:16-31

Daily Lectionary: Numbers 8:5-26; Luke 15:11-32

They should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. (Acts 17:27)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Alleluia! Christ is risen!  In seminary, I had a professor who said, “You need to exegete the culture.” Exegesis is what’s done when a biblical text is analyzed and application is drawn out from it. In the same way as you delve into God’s Word to draw out the message, look at the world around you.

It’s important to acknowledge that all people are God’s creatures. When we hear the far-fetched things that people outside the church are doing, it’s tempting to say, “I thank you God that I am not like them.” But just as you have compassion when you see an awful car accident on the side of the road, we ought to see those lost in false belief. In many ways, the unbelievers are not completely cut off from God (yet).

When Paul was in Athens, “his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.” He had compassion for these people who imagined that their life was in the hands of fate and moody deities. He started with what they sort-of had right: “I perceive that in every way you are very religious.” He even quoted where some of their poets saw the truth. Yet, Paul was clear to correct what they had wrong and would lead to them perishing eternally.

We can do a similar thing in our own day. Think of a person who is confused about their gender because of their emotions and onset of hormonal changes. He or she needs to hear that they were created purposefully by God either male or female. They need to be guided to see their body as good, but damaged by sin, and to find help from this God who loves him or her and has compassion.

The philosophy of Critical Theory is right to identify that people are flawed and commit injustices toward each other, and to want to remedy injustice and care for the oppressed. But, they need to be told of the God who “made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth.” That evil is not in white skin, masculinity, or oppressive power structures, but in each of our failures to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. Rather than upend society, we need to learn from Him who created and redeemed mankind.

It’s easier to simply isolate and be glad that we have the Gospel. But God who “made from one man every nation” desires “all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4)  In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

The world’s remotest races,  Upon whose weary faces The sun looks from the sky,  

Shall run with zeal untiring,  With joy Your light desiring That breaks upon them from on high. (Arise and Shine in Splendor, LSB 396:3)

- Pastor Michael A. Miller is Pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR.

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 14, 2023

Today's Reading: John 14:15-21

Daily Lectionary: Numbers 3:1-16, 39-48; Luke 14:25-15:10

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me.” (John 14:18-19)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Alleluia! Christ is risen!  One of the scary things about losing your parents is that you lose a connection to your roots. Your parents are a connection to where you came from.

In the Holy Gospel today, our Lord makes two reassuring promises: I will not leave you as orphans and I will come to you. In Christ, we are not orphans, cut off from our roots. We are adopted into a lineage that goes back all the way to Adam and Eve. Now, you can’t find it on a genealogy website. But it is one that is recorded in Holy Scripture. Every baptized believer is born into the Church. This Church began with the promise made to Adam and Eve after the Fall, and stretched all the way into eternity. Our roots transcend generations, span oceans, overcome death, and will never be severed!

And that’s amazing, but what about our day-to-day life in the body? That’s where the second promise comes to our aid: “I will come to you.” He’s not merely talking about His Second Coming. He is Immanuel, God with us, and that did not cease to be true when He ascended. Consider the ways He is with His Church, which we call the means of grace.

He gives us Baptism as a proof that “I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you” (Isaiah 43:1-2) He sends His Holy Spirit with Absolution to assure us that the forgiveness which the pastor speaks is valid on the Judgement Day (John 20:21-23). He is with us in His holy Word, which is why we are taught to say, “Thanks be to God” when it’s read and we stand for the Holy Gospel. And if that is not enough, in the Lord’s Supper, He gives to you His own true Body and Blood to strengthen and keep you.

If you get lonely, feeling like an orphan, go to church. If it’s a Tuesday at 8:45pm, go talk with your parents, or phone a brother or sister in Christ. If you’re away from home and can’t do that, read the Bible as your family history and pray to your Father because you are His dear child.  In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O God, the giver of all that is good, by Your holy inspiration grant that we may think those things that are right and by Your merciful guiding accomplish them; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

- Pastor Michael A. Miller is Pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR.

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 13, 2023

Today's Reading: Psalm 119:89-93; antiphon: Psalm 119:105

Daily Lectionary:Leviticus 26:21-33, 39-44; Luke 14:1-24

“Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.” (Psalm 119:89)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Alleluia! Christ is risen!  Our brothers in the Roman church often debate whether “sola Scriptura” (the all-sufficiency of Scripture) is taught in the Bible. If you ever want a strong case for that, look to Psalm 119, especially to these verses in Lamedh. Our God not only spoke creation into existence, but He also had it written down as an ongoing, trustworthy testimony for us. How can we have life if not for His commandments, recorded and faithfully handed down to us? Plus, as New Testament Christians, we have been blessed to know that life is through God’s Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

We will pray these words tomorrow, in preparation for hearing the great promise from the incarnate Lord Himself: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments…Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” (John 14:15, 21)

If we need something more than Scripture to know God’s salvation in Christ, we’re not told what it is or where to find it. Regardless of the fact the Reformers penned the idea of “sola Scriptura,” the Lord Himself has taught us that His forever-enduring Word is all the foundation we need to know Him. By it the heavens and earth were made, and remain to this day. He desires for us to find refuge and life in His Word.

Outside of the Word of God is only uncertainty, fear, and even death. Think of what happens when God’s Word is far from people. Our darkened imaginations run wild and myths creep in. This is certainly the darkness that loomed over common people when the Bible was only in Latin. Sadly, it still happens today in churches that minimize the Word of God itself, and overshadow it with doing “Christian things” like missionary work, social ministries, and hoping America will return to its supposed Christian roots.

But in the Word, there is certainty, perfect love, and life. Christ sends us the Helper, the Holy Spirit, to be with us forever, there is life and salvation—“By Your precepts you have given me life. I am yours; save me.” This is why we hold so joyfully to “sola Scriptura.” In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, giver and perfecter of our faith, we thank and praise You for continuing among us the preaching of Your Gospel for our instruction and edification. Send Your blessing upon the Word, which will be spoken to us, and by Your Holy Spirit increase our saving knowledge of You, that day by day we may be strengthened in the divine truth and remain steadfast in Your grace; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

- Pastor Michael A. Miller is Pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR.

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 12, 2023

Today's Reading: Leviticus 26:1-20

Daily Lectionary: Leviticus 26:1-20; Luke 13:18-35

“And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.“ (Leviticus 26:13)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Alleluia! Christ is risen!  There’s a certain strange comfort in believing that the world works like this: God is in control of everything. He gives prosperity and power to the good people. The bad people he sends calamity and weakness so bad they’ll wish they were good. In this nicely ordered world, how good you’re being can be told by your prosperity and lack of calamity.

This was the world of Job’s three friends. This is the world of televangelist Jerry Falwell, who, when the World Trade Center was attacked, blamed it on the immoral people of our country. It’s the world of Pat Robertson, when Haiti suffered a great earthquake, said it was a judgment for their practice of voodoo.

But this is not how God works. “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, who could stand?” (Psalm 130:3) It seems that is how he works, from these words of Leviticus, but look at the bigger picture. If calamity is the direct response to unbelief and wicked behavior, what about the godless who are enjoying plenty of earthly prosperity? Where is their disaster for spurning the Word of the Lord? So much for the neat, tidy world we can understand.

The wrong situation of this world can drive us to say with the psalmist, “Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.” (Psalm 73:12-13) So what is the answer for us?

The promises made to Israel are only realized through Christ. They are neither literal promises that our daily lives will be free from trouble, nor that diseases are direct punishments for unfaithfulness. It’s clear that Israel as God’s nation fell far short of the faithfulness which God promised to bless. Even when they were rebuked by curses, at best only a remnant repented.

What it takes is God’s Son, the Christ, to stand in the place of His people. He was the truly obedient one, who “[walked] in my statutes and observed my commandments and [did] them.” And yet, what Christ got in His passion was the curses our disobedience deserves. This is the only way for sinners to receive God’s favor.

That is also how He has broken the bars of your yoke to make you walk upright. It’s not our good behavior that needs to turn God’s heart toward us. While we were still sinners, Christ did this for us. We walk upright before God through faith in His Son.  In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

We implore You, O Lord, in Your kindness to show us Your great mercy that we may be set free from our sins and rescued from the punishments that we rightfully deserve; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

 - Pastor Michael A. Miller is Pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR.

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 11, 2023

Today's Reading: Luke 12:54 - 13:9

Daily Lectionary: Leviticus 24:1-23; Luke 12:54-13:17

 “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:5)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Alleluia! Christ is risen!  Perhaps you will be blessed to never have to cross the court system, but most of us will in some way. The courts exist to deal with our faults—from the parking ticket you got, to the taxes you thought you wouldn’t have to pay, to more serious crimes that involve sentencing. 

What’s our first reaction when we see that ticket on our windshield, the summons, or the police show up? It wasn’t my fault! They were being unfair! Look over there at how bad they are! Rarely is it, “I deserved that.” Why is it? Why can’t we be objective about our faults? It’s sin in us that resists and denies the truth. It reared its ugly head the minute God’s first accusation came, “Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you shall not eat?” (Genesis 3:11). If we can deny the truth of the guilt, then perhaps we can also get out of the deserved punishment. 

What Jesus is teaching in the Gospel reading today is both the sternness of the Law, and the comforting grace of what He has done for us. Interpreting the signs of the times is not an invitation to the next prophecy workshop, nor is the call to settle with your accuser practical legal advice. Both of these are declaring what St. Paul also says: “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God…Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians. 5:20, 6:2)

Today is the day to turn from your lame excuses and finger pointing. Repent of comparing yourself to others, and prepare for your own day before the judgment seat of Christ. The time our God has given us in this life is for continually hearing His Word and receiving His saving work. Though judgment is what you and I deserve, our Great High Priest intercedes for us.

In effect, He is like that vinedresser who says, “Sir, let it alone this year also” that even when we should be misled for a time, He might bring us back to repentance and bring forth its fruits. So, next time you smell manure, it can remind you of this Gospel. That’s what His sacrifice has done for us, that we might live.  In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Almighty and everlasting God, You despise nothing You have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent. Create in us new and contrite hearts that lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness we may receive from You full pardon and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect for Ash Wednesday)

- Pastor Michael A. Miller is Pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR.

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 10, 2023

Today's Reading: Luther’s Small Catechism Ten Commandments: The Seventh Commandment

Daily Lectionary: Leviticus 23:23-44; Luke 12:35-38

We do not take our neighbor’s money or possessions, or get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his possessions and income. (Seventh Commandment)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Alleluia! Christ is risen!  The age of information provides so many new opportunities. Never in history have so many people had access to vast amounts of information. If you want to know it, it’s probably available at your fingertips—without pay, instantly, privately.

The 2017 Catechism explanation wisely adds the question, “What else is considered to be our neighbor’s possessions or property today?” It points out things like ideas and writings, music, software, movies, and personal information. Our sin needs a curb when it comes to that much power.

When I was a young man, it was just being realized how easy it was to access intellectual property. At this time, before I knew the Lord, I had thousands of MP3’s and several pieces of software that I had not paid for. (After all, how could a college student afford such things?) To avoid getting in trouble, people became increasingly clever about how they shared the data. Peer-to-peer networks and servers in Sweden were among the most popular.

The question for a Christian to ask is not, “Can I do this?” but rather, “How does this impact my neighbor?” even if that neighbor seems distant on the other side of the screen. They put long, hard hours into this work. Content creators make a career out of the videos they post to support their families. Game developers are worked to the bone to meet their deadlines. Everyone listed in the movie credits needs to be compensated. Even website ad revenue, as obnoxious as it can be, is important because it pays for hosting costs.

Our very life is a testimony of the value God placed on us: “You were bought with a price, so glorify God in your body,” St. Paul writes (1 Corinthians 6:20). He did not consider it too costly to spend the precious blood of His Son to redeem us, even though we are filled with greedy desires. Baptized into Jesus’ death and resurrection, we now “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

Rather than looking out for our advantage, we desire to help our neighbor support his or her family, give a boost to those who are just getting started, and witness an honesty not found in vast swaths of the Internet. Where God gives us opportunity, we may even stand up for the good of our neighbor and encourage our friends not to pirate, or plagiarize, or obtain someone’s private information—all because we see the things of this life as gifts from God’s hand.  In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!  Morning by morning new mercies I see;

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;  Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me! (Great is Thy Faithfulness, LSB 809: refrain)

- Pastor Michael A. Miller is Pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR.

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 9, 2023

Today's Reading: 1 Peter 2:2-10

Daily Lectionary: Leviticus 23:1-22; Luke 12:13-34

 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:4-5)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Alleluia! Christ is risen!  The hope of many is to see the temple rebuilt in Jerusalem, a “Third Temple,” they call it. There is even a movement among some orthodox Jews to dress the stones for the future temple they hope to build.

Even more puzzling, there are also many Christians who are encouraged to support the Jews in this rebuilding fantasy. Those who hold to a so-called “literal” interpretation of the Bible believe that rebuilding the Temple is a major part in the fulfillment of Jesus' return.

How wrong we can be in our sinful blindness! The reading from St. Peter’s epistle teaches us to rightly understand the prophets when they speak of God establishing a house, of making His people holy priests, of building a place for His name to dwell. “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.” The prophet Isaiah was not speaking about a building, but Jesus Christ Himself!

As for us who believe in Him (not in a building), we are made like Him by the Holy Spirit: “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” This is how to look at the communion of saints we confess in the Creed: God is at work building His church, stone by stone. 

Each stone—each believer—is dressed by God working by His Word and Holy Spirit. Living daily in our Baptism, we are fitted anew into the temple of God’s design, according to Christ, the Cornerstone.

We are also called a holy priesthood, who offer spiritual sacrifices within this Temple of the Christian Church. It’s not that we have anything worthy enough to offer God. But out of what flows from the Lamb of God, we are made alive to give our lives: for building up our fellow stones, for offering prayer for them and for the world, for service within the temple and in our various vocations. In all of it, proclaiming “the excellencies of Him who called [us] out of darkness and into His marvelous light.”  In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

We are God’s house of living stones,  Built for His own habitation. He through baptismal grace us owns  Heirs of His wondrous salvation. Were we but two His Name to tell,  Yet He would deign with us to dwell  With all His grace and His favor. (Built on the Rock, LSB 645:3)

- Pastor Michael A. Miller is Pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR.

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 8, 2023

Today's Reading: Acts 6:1-9; 7:2a, 51-60 

Daily Lectionary: Leviticus 21:1-24; Luke 12:1-12

And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:56)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Alleluia! Christ is risen!  Today is the 78th anniversary of V-E Day, when victory was celebrated in Europe after over 6 hard years of fighting during World War II. Adolf Hitler, the Nazi Party, and the German army, had been a nearly unstoppable force. Over the previous 12 years, they had not only transformed the landscape of Europe through bombings and invasions, but they had convinced thousands that Hitler was a messiah figure who had come to establish a millennial kingdom. Under that deception, millions of Jews lost their lives by the claim that he was purifying the human race. No wonder V-E Day was such an occasion for celebration!

From the moment in time which we occupy, it can often seem like the evil powers are winning the day. Cultural Marxism is sweeping the country. The transgender political beast rages. Millions have left the church they grew up in, only to be catechized by social media.

In the time after Jesus’ Crucifixion, Death, and burial, it sure seemed like evil had won the day. After all, the murderous Sanhedrin had gotten their way. Jesus’ followers would eventually disperse, and Jewish life would get back to waiting for the “true” Messiah. But we know that is not the case.

That first day of the week, Jesus rose and appeared to His disciples. The truth spread over against the lies: Jesus is the Christ, who has conquered sin, death, and the devil! After forty days with His disciples, Jesus ascended to the right hand of God. He sent the Holy Spirit who equipped the apostles and grew the Church by the Word they proclaimed. The Holy Spirit gave boldness and words to Stephen to preach to these Jews—not simply to diminish their earthly influence—but to save their souls.

As the powerful and unbelieving were stoning Stephen, he was given a vision of the truth: Jesus is risen, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence, He will come to judge the living and the dead. Even though the mighty prevailed that day, the living Lord has won the battle for eternity. That victory belongs to every believer, delivered to you in your Baptism. Even though we see the wicked raging for now, the Holy Spirit keeps you in the truth: Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!  In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

But short was their triumph; the Savior arose,  And death, hell, and Satan, He vanquished His foes. The conquering Lord lifts His banner on high;  He lives, yes, He lives, and will nevermore die. (He’s Risen, He’s Risen, LSB 480:3)

- Pastor Michael A. Miller is Pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR.

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.