Reflections

Today's Reading: Luke 8:4-15

Daily Lectionary: Job 15:1-23, 30-35; John 6:60-71

He said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.'" (Luke 8:10)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Jesus told a parable. He who has ears, let him hear, but even the disciples didn't get it, so we get a freebie. The parables contain the secrets of the kingdom of God. And we take from this one an assessment tool. What kind of soil are you?  

Never mind that Jesus couldn't avoid the devil, I'm sure I have. Never mind our worries about money and family and politics, and definitely don't mention that the cares and riches and pleasures of this life make up more of our prayers than any of the other petitions combined. And never mind if you're not sure which petition I'm talking about or couldn't list the Ten Commandments if your life depended on it. We go to church, so we must be the good soil. This is what's wrong with everyone else. Seeing, we do not perceive, and hearing, we do not understand. What the Lord actually gives us is a list of all the reasons this thing shouldn't work. 

Jesus explains all the reasons the Church shouldn't still be standing, all of the things we wrestle with, the enemies that assault every Christian this side of glory. But here we are. It defies the condemnation of the Law. It defies our reason and strength, or lack of both, because the Church doesn't stand on us, but on Christ and His work. When we take this parable to be nothing more than an assessment tool, we start looking at ourselves instead of Jesus. Worse, we start looking at each other. Stop looking for yourself, and start looking for Jesus. It will make more sense. An assessment tool is Law. By works of the Law no man will enter the kingdom of God. This is not about the Law, it's about the Gospel. 

It's about the sower who sows recklessly to those where no growth should happen. This is not just a warning to behave better and care less about the world. It's a promise for sinners who don't. God will not forsake you to the devil, your sins, or your earthly cares. He bears the Cross for you, forgives you, and dares to call you good. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O God, the strength of all who put their trust in You, mercifully grant that by Your power we may be defended against all adversity through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. 

-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 Sexagesima (Psalm 44:1-2, 7-8; antiphon: v.23, 25a, 26a)

Daily Lectionary: Job 14:1-22; John 6:41-49

Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever! (From the Introit for Sexagesima)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Sometimes the absence of everything we expected from God is so profound that even the devout begin to ask questions. Where is God? Is it real or is it all just a story? Did He abandon us? The questions seem so jarring to the piety that hangs decorative crosses in the living room and says table prayers by heart. Midwestern politeness that can't actually call attention to the thing everyone's thinking about is answered by Middle Eastern prayers of old. "God, it looks like You're doing a bad job. Get up and do what You promised."

The psalms that are full of anger and doubt give us not only the vocabulary to speak the questions we all think, but the permission to do so. God wanted you to pray this. "Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever!" Ask the question out loud, then listen to the same prayer as it speaks the answer. "But You have saved us from our foes." A past tense victory that seems as much an old story as it is evidence that there should be more cool stuff to see today. It looks bleak and empty, and even the devout are starting to wonder, but God has already saved us. 

A victory in the past that somehow affects even a bleak and empty present. An empty tomb contested by the devil, the world, and the reason of the sinful flesh, but marked in history the same as each tragedy that brought us to question it all. It's already finished. It doesn't need to be won again just for a little more pizazz today. Christ has already conquered sin, death, and the devil. The Holy Spirit has already united you to this victory in your Baptism. It might look like God is sleeping, but He's already won the victory. Why would He need to win it again just so you can watch?  

The quiet times when we start to wonder are not marks of God's absence, but evidence that He's already fought the fight. Now we find Him where He promises to be, in Word and Sacrament. I'd do it differently, but I'm not timeless or all-knowing, or even sinless. Maybe God's way of doing things differently than I would isn't proof that He isn't real, but evidence that there's Someone big enough to be smarter than I am, someone who would save me anyway. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

To us on earth He came to bring From sin and fear release, To give the Spirit's unity, The very bond of peace. ("Awake, O Sleeper, Rise from Death" LSB 697, 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.

Daily Lectionary: Job 13:13-28; John 6:22-40

Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." (John 6:29)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. They followed Him for miles hoping to see another miracle. They tried to make Him their king after He fed them in mercy because they were so far from home. And we mistake His compassion for His desire to prove Himself to us. We mistake the miracles for the love that motivates them. We lose sight of eternity for daily bread. And the Lord rebukes us along with the crowds. 

Jesus says not to chase the miracles. Don't try to earn them by your prayers or by your works. The crowd is eager, so Jesus answers. This is that work, that you believe in Him whom the Father has sent. I wonder if Jesus smirked as He made that point. We cannot by our own reason or strength believe. But the Holy Spirit calls us by the Gospel, enlightens us with His gifts, sanctifies, and keeps us in the true faith. 

The work that earns salvation is the work you don't do. It's not allowed to be on you. It's the will of Him who sent the Son to save you, that none given to Him should be lost. So not only does He win Your salvation on the Cross, but by Word and Sacrament He delivers this salvation to you in a way that gives the faith you need. So He makes your work His own work and gives you credit for it. He makes His works yours in return. He fulfills the Law perfectly for you, dies and rises to atone for your sins, then gives you His good works by faith. Your believing in Him whom the Father has sent is the work of God. 

We don't have to save ourselves, earn our salvation, or even choose to believe. The Father sent the Son, and the Father and the Son send the Holy Spirit. He preaches through your pastor, and He feeds you with the bread of life that is His Body and Blood. Your pastor holds it up and promises it brings the peace of the Lord that will be with you always. Eat it. Drink it. Believe, and rise with Jesus on the Last Day. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

My Lord, You here have led me To this most holy place And with Yourself have fed me The treasures of Your grace; For You have freely given What earth could never buy, The bread of life from heaven, That now I shall not die. ("O Living Bread from Heaven" LSB 642, 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: 1 Corinthians 9:24-10:5

Daily Lectionary: Job 13:1-12; John 6:1-21

And all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:4)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. I wish Paul didn't talk about Christianity as a race. I'm exhausted. My vocations pull against each other. Excelling at one thing only means falling short somewhere else. "Discipline your body," I'm told, but all the getting-things-done hacks only leave me with a neatly organized list of things I've thus far failed to do. "Run, that you may obtain the prize." I'm barely limping. Everyone feels it, knows it won't work, and still tries to do it anyway. Try harder to do the things you can't seem to get done so you don't go to hell and one day you'll go to heaven. But that's not what Paul is saying. That's of the devil. 

Christianity cannot be reduced into productivity. It cannot be motivation, either by carrot or stick. If that's all it is, you're the one doing the work to save, not Jesus. It's the not-Jesus path that so displeased God with the Israelites. That's running aimlessly, as Paul warns against. It's running with no goal. Get perfect grades, accomplish everything on the to-do list. Be so good at it nobody's ever disappointed in you. But to what end? The chance to do it all again, but this time with even higher expectations?  

We do not run aimlessly. We discipline our bodies and keep them under control, lest after preaching to others lofty goals of success, we ourselves should be disqualified. Sooner or later the greatest overachievers fall off that wagon. We don't run aimlessly. We run towards the Cross. 

There's work to do. You're not going to be perfect. It's because you're a sinner. Instead of trying to remedy that, lean not towards hopeless sloth, but run towards the Cross for mercy. The Rock that is Christ follows you and endures where you fail. It isn't measured in your best getting better. It's measured in your death and resurrection, in your Baptism, in your eating and drinking the Body and Blood of Jesus, and in His promise that the things that matter have never been your race to run. Jesus ran that race for you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Triune God, be Thou our stay; O let us perish never! Cleanse us from our sins, we pray, And grant us life forever. Keep us from the evil one; Uphold our faith most holy, And let us trust Thee solely With humble hearts and lowly. Let us put God's armor on, With all true Christians running Our heav'nly race and shunning The devil's wiles and cunning. Amen, amen! This be done; So sing we, "Alleluia!" ("Triune God, Be Thou Our Stay" LSB 505, 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: Small Catechism: Second Commandment

Daily Lectionary: Job 12:1-6,12-25; John 5:30-47

You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. (Small Catechism: Second Commandment)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The Second Commandment usually gets reduced to a rule against saying "damn" when you stub your toe or it gets twisted around into talk about ouija boards because of that little line regarding satanic arts in the catechism. Really, it's far more profound. God's Name has great power, and He gives it to you. 

The more powerful a thing is, the more rules get attached to it. There aren't a lot of laws surrounding feathers, but fireworks, cars, and guns have all kinds of regulations. It's not that any of those things are inherently evil. Some are just powerful enough that when used for good, great good can come from it, but when used for evil, great evil comes, too. God's Name is so powerful that He demands we don't misuse it, because sin breaks stuff, and God's Name is potent enough to cause great harm when used for evil. 

The chief way this happens is when we lie about who He is. We attach His Name to things that aren't true. That's called false doctrine. A doctrine is just a truth. We attach God's Name to falsehood, and then the way, the truth, gets diminished. Jesus, who calls Himself both of these things, gets diminished. Pray that it never happens, because that would mean life gets diminished, too. False doctrine is dangerous because it directs people to look for God where He's never promised to be. It points people away from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It isn't just, "What if God actually damned everything you asked Him to when you were angry?", it's "What if He wanted to see sin punished apart from the Cross?  What if we thought we were closer to Him by our works? What if we attached His Name to lies so people lost trust in His promises?"

He doesn't say we shouldn't use His Name. The Father teaches you His identity specifically so that you'll call upon Him in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks. He teaches you to know Him through the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. He reveals Himself in true doctrine through His Word by the Holy Spirit. He gives us His identity so that we would look to Jesus and find forgiveness, life, and salvation in Him and His gifts. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

"Do not My holy name disgrace, Do not My Word of truth debase. Praise only that as good and true Which I Myself say and do." Have mercy, Lord! ("These are the Holy Ten Commands" LSB 581, 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: Exodus 17:1-7

Daily Lectionary:Job 11:1-20; John 5:19-29

"Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink." And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. (Exodus 17:6)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The people were thirsty sinners. They complained they were thirsty. Moses would have threatened to turn the whole nation around and go back to Egypt, but they would have liked that. The issue isn't their frustration over going without the things God had promised. It's that in the face of this, they decided Egypt was a better thing to fear, love, and trust in above all things. The word for that is idolatry. The worry behind it is that God won't deliver on His promises, so we'd better look somewhere else for good gifts. 

So God commanded Moses to hit a rock. This doesn't make sense unless you're willing to see Christ in the Old Testament. Paul makes it easy. "For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:4). The people were sinners and idolators, so in response God commanded the Rock (which was Christ) to be struck down. That from His side would flow water. That through the water from the Rock, the people would receive and be delivered from death. 

Jesus was crucified for Israel's sins, and for yours, and from His pierced side poured out blood and water. The Baptism that you receive is a baptism into Christ, the living water, that you would thirst no more, that you would be saved. 

The Old Testament is Christ crucified for sinners, just like the New Testament. The Old Testament, just like the New Testament, doesn't make sense if you take out Jesus, the Cross, or the ways He delivers that Cross to you. We use Scripture to interpret Scripture, and we start with the simplest truths, that Christ Jesus came to save sinners. Even where everything seems weird and a guy hits a rock with a stick, it's about Jesus. The people sometimes miss it in their grumbling, wondering if the LORD is among us or not, but God is at work to save His people. The idolaters looked elsewhere, but the LORD still baptized them for salvation. He calls, gathers, enlightens, sanctifies, and keeps Israel, and you, too. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Life-imparting heav'nly manna, Stricken rock with streaming side, Heav'n and earth with loud hosanna Worship You, the Lamb who died, Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! Ris'n, ascended, glorified! Ris'n, ascended, glorified! ("Lord, Enthroned in Heavenly Splendor" LSB 534, 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.

Daily Lectionary: Job 10:1-22; John 5:1-18

Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you." (John 5:14)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you. It almost sounds like a threat. The man laid there paralyzed for 38 years with nobody to help him into the pool. Jesus walked up and took care of the whole thing with a few words. That's a long time to suffer when the cure is so easy. You'd think God might hurry it up a little. Better late than never, I guess. But when they meet later in the temple and Jesus only warns him to behave or else, even the mercy shown leaves a bad aftertaste due to the hanging implication of what might happen if he sins again. When he sins again. St. Valentine got his head cut off and I'm still more comfortable with that story than this one. Woe to those who think they preach better than Jesus, who would diminish His words or warning. The command to sin no more must not be ignored. 

The man sinned again. He has the same condition we all do. Something worse will happen to him after this story. He's going to die. It's the last great enemy. The wages of sin is death. Sin breaks stuff, so don't lean into sin. Sin no more. Woe to anyone who would say otherwise. 

But also, woe to those who ignore the promise connected to Jesus' words. Rise. Take up your bed, and walk. When God speaks, something happens. When He tells you to pick up your bed and walk, you can. When He forgives you your sins through your pastor, they're gone. When He calls you to the resurrection, you rise. So when Jesus healed a man by calling him to rise, there's more than just physical healing going on. 

The man died, but was called into the resurrection by the same Jesus who told him to get up the first time. The same Jesus who went into the grave because, even though He was completely serious when He warned us to sin no more, He also knew we would. He gives us a Law we cannot fulfill. So He fulfills it for us, dies for us, and calls us to life with the very same Word that gave this man the ability to go home. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Thy work alone, O Christ, Can ease this weight of sin; Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, Can give me peace within. ("Not What These Hands Have Done" LSB 567, 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: Matthew 20:1-16

Daily Lectionary: Job 9:1-35; John 4:46-54

"Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?" (Matthew 20:15)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Fair is the enemy of good. Nobody believes it because we're so desperate for fairness that we get tunnel vision. Fair is what looks at my sister's half of the cookie and decides it's bigger, so some of it should be mine. But the Lord's commandment says, "You shall not steal." Good goes a lot farther than fair. It is not just, "Thou shalt not steal," but more. We should fear and love God so that 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. 

Good doesn't change. It's spelled out in God's Law that you should love your neighbor in these ways. Fair gets flexible. The workers who agreed to a wage were perfectly happy with the denarius until they saw someone who did less work get the same wage. Then fair changed. They knew they should be getting more.

When it comes to the word "fair" what we usually mean is "we covet," but we found a nicer way of saying it. It probably says something about us that given the chance, we try to impose fairness before we ever think to impose goodness. But at the end of the day, God would rather be generous than fair. He could do fair and punish every sinner with the hell they deserve. Fair is your going to hell for your sins. The Lord is not fair, but He is good. Thanks be to God. He doesn't disregard justice but He takes it on Himself. He pays for you. He gets punished for your sins. The unfair sacrifice fulfills the Law, takes your sins, and dies that you would live. 

Stop worrying about what everyone else has got or what's fair. Start here, in this one place, where the Lord bore the unfair Cross for you and for all. Start here. Life isn't fair and we're on the better end of it. All of us. We can rejoice that God not only forgives our sins, but our neighbors', too. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O Lord, graciously hear the prayers of Your people that we who justly suffer the consequence of our sin may be mercifully delivered by Your goodness to the glory of 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. 

-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 Septuagesima (Psalm 18:1-2a, 27, 32, 49; antiphon: vs.5-6a)

Daily Lectionary: Job 8:1-22; John 4:27-45

The cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the LORD. (From the Introit for Septuagesima)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Septuagesima. About 70 days until Easter. We can't stay on the mountain of Transfiguration forever. Thanks be to God for good days, but the bad ones tend to follow. The snares of death confronted me. That's what the passion of our Lord is for. He rescues us from the evils that confront us, not by dangling a way of escape in front of us but by running ahead of us into every unsafe place we're afraid of. The gesima Sundays count down to Easter, but that means they also introduce Lent. These aren't Sundays meant simply to make you sad. They're to speak to every awful thing you pray never happens and every awful thing you pray will stop right now. 

The passion of our Lord gives us something to say to the not-so-great days. Jesus saved us from them. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and from heaven He heard my voice, but He didn't stay there. He descended to save. Our fortresses aren't the safe places that come and go or the heaven we hope for, but the Lord who goes into the unsafe places to die and rise to save. That's the thing about real comfort. It isn't a lack of bad things, but a presence of good things. A lack of bad things is just empty. The presence of a good so strong it overwhelms the rest and grants relief is true comfort. So Jesus descends from the heavens to save. 

Everything you're afraid of comes from sin, death, and the devil. Jesus conquered those. We don't have to run anymore. In your Baptism He has already united you with the victory over them. By His Word, He gives you strength to find comfort in the face of them.. He has equipped us with His strength, and even forgives us our sins where we fall short of using that strength. The gesima Sundays give us words of praise to sing to the God who won't stay on the mountain, because we can't stay there, either. Your fortress goes ahead of you and with you, so that wherever you are, your prayers will be answered. Sin, death, and the power of the devil lay defeated on the side. God has saved His humbled people. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Gone the past, unknown the future--Grace supplies my daily breath; Strong in Christ through death's dark valley, Firm and faithful unto death. ("All for Christ, I have Forsaken" LSB 753, 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.

Daily Lectionary: Job 7:1-21; John 4:7-26

A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." (John 4:7)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. I tried to find Jesus comforting the sinner in this story. But I couldn't quite shake the feeling that He was heckling her the whole time. Every response she gives is biting. She comes to see He has power, but never really finds mercy for her sins, and nobody got any water to drink. Each time that she recoils and rebuffs and retorts, she really only shows how much she doesn't want to be there. Jesus isn't berating her. He's pointing to something bigger. There's living water here. It's free. It's for her. But she's still so beat down she can't see it. 

She has to work herself up every time she goes out in public. She hears what she is whenever she goes out. She's not Jewish enough. Not married enough. She would rather not go to that well anymore. She actually confesses it. Give me the water. I don't want to have to come here anymore. I don't want to be what they stare at and talk about. I don't want to be the object lesson to nice little boys and girls about cohabitation. Because the actual sin is the one thing she's the least willing to talk about. You get explanations with every response until the last. "Go, call your husband, and come here."  

Jesus asked for water and never got any. He asked after her husband and never got an answer, either. Jesus asks after everything she needs and never gets it. She can't give it. But Jesus is there to do more than correct her. He's there to give. He doesn't wait until she feels appropriately sorry. Her biting answers toward Jesus say plenty about how she really sees herself. He just starts promising living water to bitter sinners. He's so blunt that the rest of us get as uncomfortable as the woman is. There's no condition. 

Because nobody is saved by measuring his or her sins. We're saved by Jesus, by the living water that comes from His side. For the sins you hide away, for the statistics you've become on purpose or by accident, for your guilt. . . Jesus died for you. Your sins are forgiven you. The abortions are forgiven. The attractions you struggle with are forgiven. Your browser history is forgiven. You are forgiven. You are baptized. You have the living water that Jesus promised. You are nothing less than what happened to you at this font. Clean. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O Lord, grant us in our Baptisms forgiveness of sins that never ends; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

-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.