Reflections

Today's Reading: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Daily Lectionary: Genesis 1:1-9; Mark 1:1-13

"Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting." (Matthew 6:16)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. It's not hard to imagine what the social media accounts of the  Pharisees would have looked like if Twitter or Facebook had existed back in Jesus' day: Humble brags. Pre- and post-Sabbath Day selfies. More holy hashtags than spots on a dalmatian. Jesus' words here in Matthew 6 reveal that virtue signaling was just as popular in the first century as it is now. The Pharisees were obsessed with the man in the mirror. They loved showing off their holiness like Joseph and his coat of many colors. They liked to strut their righteousness like a peacock through the streets. 

The problem, however, goes much deeper. What Jesus was teaching His disciples then, and is teaching us now, is that the problem of our sin, and its solution in Jesus' sacrifice for sin, is far more than skin deep. Jesus warns His disciples then, and us today, that underneath those furrowed brows and disfigured faces there is a far greater, more disfigured sinful heart that is wicked above all things.

The problem, Scripture tells us, isn't just with the Pharisees. It's our problem, too. There dwells within each of us a little Pharisee, our Old Adam, as Luther called it. Behind all unrighteousness is self-righteousness. Behind self-righteousness is the First Commandment. We do not fear, love, or trust in God above all things. Like the Pharisees, we constantly look to our own thoughts, words, actions, and emotions to justify ourselves before others, and before God. That's why Ash Wednesday is a good day. We're reminded that we are dust and to dust we shall return. That all our righteousness is like a filthy rag. We're also reminded that though our sins were as scarlet, Christ has made them white as snow. And though our unrighteousness is great, the righteousness that is given to us in Jesus' life, death, and resurrection is far greater. Be of good cheer, yes, even in Lent. For your righteousness isn't found in the mirror or on your social media feed. It's found in Jesus crucified and risen for you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Almighty and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all them that are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of Thee, the God of all mercy, remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Collect for Ash Wednesday)

-Rev. Samuel Schuldheisz is pastor of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Milton, WA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Learn more about your favorite hymns and find the deeper meaning behind the text with Eternal Anthems: The Story Behind Your Favorite Hymns. The book includes devotional commentary and historical facts from forty different contributing authors on fifty different hymns. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.

Today's Reading: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Daily Lectionary: Job 32:1-22; John 10:1-21

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:7)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Love is all these things. Patient. Kind. All-bearing. It's almost a little intimidating. Because I'm not these things. I'm out at "patient." I'm not the embodiment of love. God is love. If I want to see a picture of love, I should start with my Savior instead of with my mirror. When you read this passage, don't think of the descriptions of love as hurdles to overcome. Replace the word "love" with the word "Jesus" and you'll be a lot closer to what Paul actually means. Love never ends. That's not a testament to the power of your relationships or the undying power of a Hallmark movie plot. It's the Omega. This passage is a description of what God is for you. 

For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son. The love that bears all things bore the Cross for you. This is a love that endures. Even the grave comes undone before this love can pass away. The love that God has for you is our everything. Paul is right: Even if we speak in the tongues of the angels themselves, but have not love, we are nothing but a noisy cymbal, and if we have all the powers of all the prophets, the knowledge of every mystery of the universe, and the faith to move mountains, if that faith is not in Jesus, it does us no good. When we look at ourselves, we see love in the mirror dimly, but to look at Him is to see love face to face. That's not a call to abandon love for neighbor. It's not a pass to ignore this text. It's a joy to know that even what we do in part will pass away before the face of Him who knows us fully and still loves us enough to save us where our works and love for one another cannot. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three. Your faith and hope are not discounted, but only because they are in Jesus, love made flesh to save you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

The King of love my shepherd is, Whose goodness faileth never; I nothing lack if I am His And He is mine forever. ("The King of Love My Shepherd Is" LSB 709, st.1)

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

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Discover new insights from each line of the Psalms in Engaging the Psalms: A Guide for Reflection and Prayer. Read, repeat, and return to the Lord as you walk through all 150 Psalms. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.

Today's Reading: 1 Samuel 16:1-13

Daily Lectionary: Job 31:1-12, 33-40; John 9:24-41

Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. (1 Samuel 16:13)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The Lord rejected Saul from being king over Israel. He tells Samuel to stop mourning him. He tells Samuel to anoint David. And the Spirit of the LORD remained on David from that day forward. David commits adultery and murder. Why David and not Saul? Why some and not others?  

It's part of the song Hannah sings over Samuel when he is still an infant. "He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail" (1 Samuel 2:9). It's in the word "wicked." Wicked doesn't mean "naughty." It means "unbelieving." David is a sinner, the same as Saul is. Maybe worse. David, when confronted with God's Word, clung to it in repentance. The Law worked contrition. The Gospel worked hope. Saul, when confronted with God's Word, ran and turned further inward on himself to avoid it. 

Faith isn't a measurement of obedience. It's the gift given by God through the means of hearing His Word. It's the trust given by the God who makes alive what sin would destroy. David heard the Word, and by the power of the Spirit, clung to it in faith as a sinner redeemed, and was guarded unto eternal life, even from himself. God speaks Law and Gospel to you. Both are good gifts for you to hear. Sinners hear Law and Gospel and say, "Amen." The wicked close their ears.  

It's our nature to avoid pain. Which also means it's in our nature to avoid the sting of the Law. God doesn't give the Law to reject us, though. He didn't will Saul's fall. It's in our nature to assume that the Law is bad and must come from a bad God. The Law is a good gift from God that interjects and pulls us away from the war we wage against God. He gives us His Law because the parts of us that flee from Him and His promises need to die. Sin needs to be brought to nothing on the Cross. Old Adam needs to drown so that the new man may arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever. Hear and believe that your sins, though many, are blotted out. Jesus has died for you. You are baptized, and in this faith God will guard and keep you forever. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Its light of holiness imparts The knowledge of our sinful hearts That we may see our lost estate And turn from sin before too late. ("The Law of God Is Good and Wise" LSB 579, st.2)

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

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Discover new insights from each line of the Psalms in Engaging the Psalms: A Guide for Reflection and Prayer. Read, repeat, and return to the Lord as you walk through all 150 Psalms. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.

Today's Reading: Luke 18:31-43

Daily Lectionary: Job 30:16-31; John 9:1-23

And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" (Luke 18:39)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The crowd is so offended that someone would actually need something from the Jesus who just promised to be crucified and rise from the dead to save sinners. One thing hasn't changed about the crowds who gather for the "Jesus Show." For all the talk about God's being our Savior, it's amazing how quickly we turn on each other when someone actually needs help. It starts inside ourselves with the shame we feel in having to depend on help ourselves. It's quite something to acknowledge that I actually am so broken that I need it. I'm not just here at church for the nice feeling, the community, or even just theology to study and understand. I need help. Enough to be desperate for it. Enough to beg for it. That's harder. 

Because it feels like the rest of the crowd is just here to lend their support, and you're the one guy in the whole place who's different, less, and sadly, even rebuked sometimes. We want to measure gain, not loss, and show that we don't need anything. The closer we get to that, the further we get from love. Honestly, the farther we get from God, too. 

Ours is a merciful God. It's a truth you hear and even sing every week. It is seen in the simplest prayer of the Church, the same one in this text: the Kyrie. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. This prayer is what the world doesn't understand about the Church. We have a God who helps sinners. The people who see more clearly than anyone are the ones in need, even if they're blind. 

The blind man saw something everyone else missed, and understood something that even the disciples didn't. God came to help those in need. Need, as in, you can't "just get better." Can't just quit. God came to be merciful, to the degree that He would be delivered over to the Gentiles, be mocked and shamefully treated, and spit upon. And after flogging Him, they would kill Him, and on the Third Day He would rise. This is what mercy looks like. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O Lord, mercifully hear our prayers, and having set us free from the bonds of our sins, deliver us from every evil; 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 Quinquagesima)

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

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Discover new insights from each line of the Psalms in Engaging the Psalms: A Guide for Reflection and Prayer. Read, repeat, and return to the Lord as you walk through all 150 Psalms. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.

Today's Reading: Introit for Quinquagesima (Psalm 31:1, 5, 9, 16; antiphon: vs.2b-3)

Daily Lectionary: Job 21:1-21; John 8:39-59 

In you, O LORD, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me! (From the Introit for Quinquagesima)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. If God is our rock of refuge, we are refugees. It's a humbling word. It isn't just that God is our security, which sounds nice in a vague sort of way. Refugees are people who can't stay in their homeland. It's not safe. They need help. Without it they'll die. It's a bleak picture of the world in which we try to build kingdoms. Our world is dying. We don't have a home here anymore. We don't have shelter anymore. We live hand to mouth. It's a long way from the white picket fence and happy family most people covet. Lent is coming. It's a chance to recognize that homes and picket fences are not the things that save us, and to fear, love, and trust in them above all things is a certain path toward destruction. Idolatry will not save you, no matter how pretty you paint it. 

But Lent also isn't a call to cast these things aside if you do have them. It was God who gave them to you. Having stuff is not a test to see whether or not you'll give them back in order to prove that you love God. It's just a reality that the stuff that makes up daily bread will turn to dust someday. Lay up for yourself treasures in heaven. Refugees migrate toward safety. The psalm is the prayer of the one who knows where true refuge lies. 

We cling to God's redemption. We cling to the Cross of Christ. We cling to the forgiveness of sins won, where the righteousness of God is given to sinners. When the wages of sin press down, we have a prayer that finds hope in that which sin could not destroy and death could not conquer. Even in this vale of tears, we have a rock of refuge, who is Christ. When all else crumbles, He is our fortress. Not just some day. The redemption has already happened. Today He makes His face shine on us. Today He leads and guides us. If we are refugees, we commit our spirits to the One who grants us a heavenly home and keeps us safe until we receive it, even Jesus Christ our Lord. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Jesus, refuge of the weary, Blest Redeemer, whom we love, Fountain in life's desert dreary, Savior from the world above: Often have Your eyes, offended, Gazed upon the sinner's fall; Yet upon the cross extended, You have borne the pain of all. ("Jesus Refuge of the Weary" LSB 423, st.1)

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

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Discover new insights from each line of the Psalms in Engaging the Psalms: A Guide for Reflection and Prayer. Read, repeat, and return to the Lord as you walk through all 150 Psalms. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.

Daily Lectionary: Job 20:1-23, 29; John 8:21-38

Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin." (John 8:34)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Words of slavery are always the most optimistic. When there's no escape, you don't have to waste time hoping for something realistic. Addicts say things like, "I'm fine. It's okay. I have a plan,"  all the while lying in a gutter and smiling about it. It's the ugly truth about the bondage of sin. The same kind of slavery happens under the Law in the name of religion. It doesn't look like it's the Law telling you what to do. It looks like it's you who can't keep from doing the stuff that's killing you. You can even dare to think that it's your job to fix it somehow. Those are the dreams that leave you wanting to love Jesus but hating yourself while looking for an excuse for everything you do that He says not to. When you can't describe yourself without balancing your accomplishments and failures on a lopsided hill, hoping nobody notices, you know. Anyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 

If your religion is just false optimism based on trying harder in the face of everything that hasn't worked yet, then Christianity has become a race towards not needing God. And that's not working. It's just the bold dreams of another addict. That's not okay with the Son. He sets sinners free. He is bound to the Cross in their stead. He bears the weight of the bondage of sin. He dies for you, and your sins are forgiven. Now you are bound to the Cross, too. That's where the real freedom is. It isn't license to do whatever you want. It's hope in an escape so rooted in reality that they buried Him in a tomb and three days later He moved the rock so you'd see. Jesus rose from death. You are free, indeed. You are free from having to fix this. You are free from being known by what the Law would call you. You are free from excuses that hide from wrath. You are even free to love yourself as God first loved you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

"This is the Christ, our God Most High, Who hears your sad and bitter cry; He will Himself your Savior be From all your sins to set you free." ("From Heaven Above to Earth I Come" LSB 358, st.3)

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

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Discover new insights from each line of the Psalms in Engaging the Psalms: A Guide for Reflection and Prayer. Read, repeat, and return to the Lord as you walk through all 150 Psalms. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.

Today's Reading: Acts 1:15-26

Daily Lectionary: Job 19:1-12, 21-27; John 8:1-20

In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said. . .  (Acts 1:15)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Have you ever thought about going to seminary? I don't think they introduce the topic by talking about Judas in the pamphlets. That's how Matthias is introduced, though. "Let's find a new pastor because Judas messed up so bad." I guess it sets the bar achievably low. Don't be remembered as "the one who betrayed him." It also doesn't paint a cheery picture for the new guy. Matthias' introduction has more in it about Judas than about him. None of it's good, either. It doesn't seem like a great introduction to the Office of the Holy Ministry.

But Peter is  preaching wisdom even before Pentecost. He stood up and said, "The Scripture had to be fulfilled concerning Judas." Even among the tragedy, God's will is done. It was not God's will that Judas kill himself. There's a specific commandment against that. It was not His will that Judas carry the burden of his own sin. Jesus bore the Cross for that. What Judas did was also not enough to thwart God's Word and promise. The Scriptures would be fulfilled. The Christ would suffer and die for the sins of the world. Nothing can stop that, and nothing should try. 

It's actually a gift to anyone who would ever consider standing in a pulpit. You can and will sin and fall short of God's command. You will not embody His Law. But you will be the one through which He fulfills His will anyway. Judas' fall led to Christ's sacrifice for him and for all. Matthias, called by the Holy Spirit, will be a tool of the same God who wants all to believe and be saved. Matthias bore witness to the resurrection. Jesus, who died, is risen. For Judas' sins, for yours, and for all. None of what went wrong can put Him back in the tomb. Matthias, who we know very little about, proclaimed what we know he saw. Christ is risen. Here, God's will is done, too. The Office doesn't rest on the man, but on the will of God to speak of the Good News. To preach the whole counsel of God. To give the Gifts that sustain even as they fulfill the Scriptures that promise life to you. The Scriptures have to be fulfilled. So when your pastor preaches to you, God works salvation. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

 For one in place of Judas, Th'apostles sought God's choice; The lot fell to Matthias For whom we now rejoice. May we like true apostles Your holy Church defend, And not betray our calling But serve You to the end. ("By All Your Saints in Warfare" LSB 517, st.13)

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

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Discover new insights from each line of the Psalms in Engaging the Psalms: A Guide for Reflection and Prayer. Read, repeat, and return to the Lord as you walk through all 150 Psalms. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.

Today's Reading: Small Catechism: Third Commandment

Daily Lectionary: Job 18:1-21; John 7:32-53

Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy. (Small Catechism: Third Commandment)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. God wasn't tired after making everything. The Sabbath isn't a chance to parrot God's catching His breath. The focus on abstaining from work on the Sabbath Day misses the point. The point of the commandment is in the word "holy." You will not be holier by sitting on the couch eating junk food. Jesus insists that the Sabbath was created for man, not man for the Sabbath, because this day was not given as a measuring stick for you to prove yourself to God by. . . doing nothing. It only serves to prove how sinful we are that we somehow fail at even doing nothing to the point that the Pharisees would pick at each other and even at our Lord. Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy. Instead of looking to your works, look to something actually holy. Look to Jesus. 

The Sabbath Day won't become holy to you who are unholy in your sins. There's nothing you can do to make the day holy. It's like trying to clean a table with a dirty rag. The Sabbath Day becomes holy for you when you're exposed to something holy. The Sabbath Day becomes holy to you when you do not despise preaching or God's Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it. Go to church. Receive God's gifts. He insists that a day be set aside to make you holy. The reason God set aside the seventh day wasn't because He was tired. It was so God could spend time with you. Our rest is found in receiving the Word and Sacraments that take away our sins and leave us holy. 

It's also why we celebrate the Sabbath on the first day of the week, not the seventh. This is the day Jesus rose from the grave. This is the day a holy God conquered unholy sin and death. It isn't about the day. It's about the gifts. He gives you His Body and Blood to eat and drink. He gives you His Word, promising peace, forgiveness, and joy. He sets aside time and insists that you join Him so you will not remain in your unholiness and sin. He would dwell with you to cleanse you and bring you with Him to the last great day when the Sabbath rest will be unending. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

"You shall observe the worship day That peace may fill your home, and pray, And put aside the work you do, So that God may work in you." Have mercy, Lord! ("These are the Holy Ten Commands" LSB 581, st.4)

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

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Discover new insights from each line of the Psalms in Engaging the Psalms: A Guide for Reflection and Prayer. Read, repeat, and return to the Lord as you walk through all 150 Psalms. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.

Today's Reading: 2 Corinthians 11:19-12:9

Daily Lectionary: Job 17:1-16; John 7:14-31

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Paul needs to work on the art of the humble brag. This stuff's a little over the top. I don't even know what the "third heaven" is. People wonder about the thorn in his flesh. Even though we know what the shipwrecks and beatings are, they're difficult to conceive of in detail. Okay, Paul. We get it. Chill.

He's writing to the church in Corinth, which was full of people who built themselves up by their works, their gifts, and at the expense of their neighbor. He's proving a point. If these works are a measurement of Christianity, Corinth can't brag. Paul clearly can, though. He just won't. It ruins the math. If Christ is our righteousness, and we boast in ourselves, we boast in taking something away from Christ. Paul, whose righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees, still isn't righteous enough to save himself. So instead, he focuses on those things that leave him unrighteous: his sinfulness, his weakness, his struggle against the devil, the world, and his own sinful flesh. There Paul finds the Cross and the victory won for him by his Savior. Where we cannot save ourselves, Jesus saves us. Where we cannot atone for our sins, Jesus dies for us. Where we cannot boast in our works, we can boast in His. 

It changes the rest of the equation, too. I still don't know what the "third heaven" is or what it feels like to be beaten with rods or lowered from a window in a basket. I honestly have trouble carving out enough time to do much more than these devotions each day. I sin in predictable and sad ways. And even these things aren't enough to separate me from salvation. Christ's victory is that sure. 

Where your spiritual discipline falters, where your works war against the Ten Commandments, Jesus has died for you. Boast in that. God's love for you is so powerful it would bear all of these things willingly to save you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

I come, O Savior, to Thy table, For weak and weary is my soul; Thou, Bread of Life, alone art able To satisfy and make me whole: Lord, may Thy body and Thy blood Be for my soul the highest good! ("I come, O Savior, to Thy Table" LSB 618, st.1)

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

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Discover new insights from each line of the Psalms in Engaging the Psalms: A Guide for Reflection and Prayer. Read, repeat, and return to the Lord as you walk through all 150 Psalms. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.

Today's Reading: Isaiah 55:10-13

Daily Lectionary: Job 16:1-22; John 7:1-13

"So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. God speaks. Stuff happens. His Word does what He wants it to. He spoke. Let there be light. Then it was light. And good. It's what you would expect from the Almighty. The power displayed within words only seems to magnify the simplicity of the Bible today. His Word doesn't seem so active anymore. The Bible is still ours to read, but it's dark down here, and far from good. For all the promises of Scripture, it doesn't look like they're true yet. Usually we just put them off into the future. Someday they'll be true. But not today. That's wrong. 

It's wrong because it calls God's Word effective only in terms of power. It looks to creation and sees only might, but never mercy. Isaiah promises that God's Word is effective not just in power, but chiefly in mercy. You can see it in a little word: instead. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress. It should be one way. But it's another. Your sins deserve death. Instead, Christ died for you, and you get life. God's Word insists that sinners be forgiven.

The Cross of Christ is an act of great power. It forgave the sins of all the world, but only by seeing the mercy can you appreciate the gift, because crosses don't look like much. The Cross looks messy and not ordered like creation was before the fall, but it does what God intends. It forgives sinners. His Word speaks of this Cross, and so the Bible is measured chiefly in mercy, not just in power. The words of Scripture paint a picture of the God who endures with you and for you, and promises the same resurrection He Himself has won. God's Word is not ineffectual just because it isn't acting according to the power of the Law. It's succeeding even now in bringing the Gospel to sinners. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Thy strong Word bespeaks us righteous; Bright with Thine own holiness, Glorious now, we press toward glory, And our lives our hopes confess. Alleluia, alleluia! Praise to Thee who light dost send! Alleluia, alleluia! Alleluia without end! ("Thy Strong Word" LSB 578, st.3)

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

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Discover new insights from each line of the Psalms in Engaging the Psalms: A Guide for Reflection and Prayer. Read, repeat, and return to the Lord as you walk through all 150 Psalms. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.