Reflections

Today's Reading: Galatians 5:25-6:10

Daily Lectionary: 2 Chronicles 32:1-22; Colossians 1:1-23

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Bear one another's burdens? Carry someone else's overstuffed backpack? Listen to someone else's problems? Help somebody else with their problems? You've got enough to worry about with your own mix of school, work, and family challenges. How can you have time for someone else's problems and troubles? Plus, the Bible says that Jesus fulfilled the Law, so what's with this "fulfill the Law of Christ?"

Oh yes, Christ DID fulfill the Law. Even the Law that says you're supposed to love your neighbor! He fulfilled it, not only by doing it, but also by bearing the full measure of its judgment upon sinners when He suffered on the Cross. Your sins are forgiven. The Law of God no longer can condemn you.

But there is another law. It's the Law of Christ by which He, bearing the burden of our sins, teaches us to bear one another's burdens. This is not a Law given for YOUR benefit, as if you could work your way to heaven! That's taken care of by Jesus! No, this Law is for the good of your neighbor. Your parents, your brothers or sisters, your friends, coworkers and classmates--THEY need your help. They need your help bearing the burdens of their work and lives and struggles, too.

After all, it's why the Lord has rescued you. It's why He has baptized you and made you His own, so that you will belong to others in serving them. It's why He absolves you of your sins, so that you will not hold the sins of others against them. It's why He lives in you by His Body and Blood, so that you will be knit together with others in the Body of Christ, where you learn to love and serve others.

Oh, you won't always do a good job. You'll try to bear someone's burdens and end up dropping them on their foot! That's why we live in Christ, to be forgiven for what we mess up and to have Him do in us what we would never do on our own. Or, to put it another way, the Christ who has borne the burden of your sins now bears the burdens of others--through you! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O grant that nothing in my soul May dwell, but Thy pure love alone; Oh, may Thy love possess me whole, My joy, my treasure and my crown! All coldness from my heart remove; My ev'ry act, word, thought be love. ("Jesus, Thy Boundless Love to Me" LSB 683, st.2)

Today's Reading: Matthew 6:24-34

Daily Lectionary: 2 Chronicles 31:1-21; Philippians 4:1-23

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life. (Matthew 6:25)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Right from the start, Jesus gets to the heart of our problems. It is a First Commandment issue: "You cannot serve God and money!" When greedy hearts try to prove Jesus wrong, they only deceive themselves. Their devotion to money and possessions stops them from fearing, loving, and trusting in God above all things. The worship of money is often an uncertain anxiousness that acts as though life is only good when I have what I consider enough stuff. The Large Catechism says, "Those who have nothing doubt and despair as if they knew of no god at all. The desire for wealth clings and sticks to our nature all the way to the grave."

The highest worship of God is faith, to look to Him in our time of need, to trust in Him with the confidence that He is a loving Father who knows what we need (6:32) in both body and soul. "The Lord will provide" (Genesis 22:14). Consider the lilies of the field. They do not have bank accounts nor insurance policies. They have to compete with weeds and rocks, drought and floods. And even when they do survive it all, their beauty lasts only a few days before their flowers fall. Despite their temporary and delicate nature, God clothes them with glory. You, however, He has created not to be temporary, but to live forever with Him. If He provides in such wondrous ways for the lilies, don't you think He will put even more effort into providing for you so that you arrive there? For you are worth more to Him than the lilies or the birds, so much so He gave up His own Son to have you.

Your worry over money is a waste. It does not produce anything good. It cannot even add one single second to the length of your life. But what you cannot do, God has done. He adds eternity to your short life through the death of Jesus. He baptismally clothes you with the robe of Christ's righteousness so that He doesn't see the ugliness of your doubts underneath. He gives you to eat of His Body and drink of His Blood shed for the forgiveness of your false beliefs. In His Son, you seek and find God's Kingdom and righteousness for you forever. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O Lord, we implore You, let Your continual pity cleanse and defend Your Church; and because she cannot continue in safety without Your aid, preserve her evermore by Your help and goodness; 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 15th Sunday after Trinity)

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Today's Reading: Introit for the 15th Sunday after Trinity (Psalm 86:4, 6, 15a, 16; antiphon: vs.1a, 2b, 3)

Daily Lectionary: 2 Chronicles 29:1-24; Philippians 3:1-21

Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace. (Psalm 86:6)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. As the internet or TV might have already reminded you, today is the 20th anniversary of 9/11. When these horrific events happened, I had only been a pastor for 2 months. I clearly remember waking up to the terrible news and thinking, "The seminary never prepared me for this!" Not that I was angry with my professors--no one expected that attack. (The military never thought an airstrike could come from inside US borders, so the fighter jets went unarmed to intercept the terrorist-controlled planes. They had no time for weapons to be loaded.)

Thankfully, God granted comfort for my anxious thoughts. Eventually I realized that though He had never used my professors to address the specifics of the unimaginable terror of 9/11, the Lord had worked through them so I would be ready to serve as pastor in the days and weeks that followed. Just as they had taught me, I prayed while I searched the Scriptures to find words of comfort for God's people who were overwhelmed by grief.

Psalm 86 could certainly have been one of those passages. Here in our time of trouble David leads us in prayer to our God who is "merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness" (verse 15)--a loyal love that is no mere feeling that runs hot and cold, but a love that gives up His own Son for us. We ask the Lord to help us not because we deserve Him to rescue us (because we don't), but we ask Him on account of His grace in Christ Jesus (verse 6).

You might be overwhelmed by some personal problem or one that affects a lot of people. You might be troubled by something you are responsible for, or by something you have no control over. Or maybe you know someone else who is facing these situations. Instead of obsessing over the obstacles that confront you, fix your eyes on the Lord. Because of His steadfast love for you in Christ, He will not ignore your prayers nor fail to act for you. He is the God who took the terrible tragedy of the crucifixion of His Son and made it to be a blessed salvation for you. Trust that now He will work good from the troubles you need to pray about. In His time, He will gladden your soul (verse 4). In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Lord, this I ask, O hear my plea, Deny me not this favor: When Satan sorely troubles me, Then do not let me waver. O guard me well, My fear dispel, Fulfill Your faithful saying: All who believe By grace receive An answer to their praying. ("The Will of God is Always Best" LSB 758, st.3)

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Daily Lectionary: 2 Kings 9:1-13; 10:18-29; Philippians 2:12-30

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12-13)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. It’s always tempting to cherry pick. It’s a big book. Grab a little here and there and you can make the Bible support anything. It’s a bad sign when the book you believe to be the Word of God is quoted by the KKK. This is how that happens: They cherry pick, taking away the context and narrative, and by doing so, take away the truth.

It’s called idolatry. Idolatry is using God’s words to parrot your own instead of letting yours respond to His in joyful liturgy. Idolatry is using a book that expresses God’s will of salvation as a place to find bumper sticker slogans that express your own will. In doing so you lose any word from outside of yourself that would actually speak from God to you. And with it, any help, answer to something you didn’t already know, and any comfort He wishes you to have.

But idolatry is chiefly found in exactly what Paul won’t let stand by itself: the idea that we must work out our own salvation. Full stop. If that’s all there is, fear and trembling won’t be an issue. So he keeps going. It is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Not your words. His. Not your will. His. Not your works. His. For you. Through you.

His good pleasure is found here, in working out your salvation apart from you, but also through you at the same time. He won your salvation apart from you on a Cross thousands of years before you were born. That was even His fear and trembling as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that this cup might pass from His hands. He delivered your salvation to you in time and space in the waters of your Baptism. He sustains you in this salvation by faith. He supplies you through His Word that expresses His will. And now it’s your salvation even though He won it, and even the fear and trembling become no longer a place to find worry over salvation, but a place where the old idolater is drowned each day as the Lord raises the new man to live before Him in righteousness and purity forever. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen

Thy will be done, O LORD, that old Adam would daily drown and the new man arise, that the

Cross which redeemed us would be made to be the source of our hope, joy, and salvation, through Jesus Christ, Your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.

Daily Lectionary: 2 Kings 6:1-23; Philippians 1:21-2:11

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:4)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Martin Luther said, "The world is like a drunken peasant. If you lift him into the saddle on one side, he will fall off the other side." As Christians, we know that by nature we are selfish little monsters who do not want to help others unless we get something good out of it. Repeatedly we have heard the Bible command us to fight those impulses and care for other people without thought of reward. The sinful nature pushes us to "fall out of the saddle" one way by lying to us that we have loved the right people enough and God does not expect more from us. Or, or it uses an evil conscience to pound us until we fall the other way because we have not cared for others every moment of every day. Despair overwhelms us in this case over how much of a failure we think we are.

Philippians 2:4 defends that well-meaning Christian from this false belief. It does not say that you must only take care of the interests of other people. Rather, Paul specifically says you need to deal with your own needs, and also the needs of others. It is like when the airplane flight attendants tell parents that in case of emergency, they should put the oxygen mask on themselves first and then help their children.

An even better example is that of Christ, who humbled Himself to become a servant to us in His life and death on earth. Even when He became obedient to death on the Cross, Jesus looked after the worldly concerns of His mother Mary as He told John to take care of her (John 19:27). And yet, there were times when Jesus looked after His own interests, like when crowds wanted Him to heal their diseases, but He purposely went off by Himself to pray, rest, or eat.

The unbelieving world thinks, "If I do not look out for myself, nobody else is going to do it." Christ was able to die for our salvation because He trusted that God the Father was looking out for Him.

As sinners, you and I will not balance helping ourselves with helping other people correctly. But the same God who highly exalted Jesus in the resurrection now looks out for your interests by grace for the sake of Christ. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Lord of glory, You have bought us With Your life-blood as the price, Never grudging for the lost ones That tremendous sacrifice. Give us faith to trust You boldly, Hope, to stay our souls on You; But, oh, best of all Your graces, With Your love our love renew. ("Lord of Glory, You Have Bought Us" LSB 851, st.4)

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Today's Reading: Small Catechism: Baptism, pt. 4

Daily Lectionary: 2 Kings 5:9-27; Philippians 1:1-20

What does such baptizing with water indicate? It indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.

Where is this written? St. Paul writes in Romans chapter six: "We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." (Small Catechism: Baptism)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. "Return to your Baptism!" Before I was a pastor, I heard my Lutheran professors say this in class, my pastor preach it, and I read it in Lutheran magazines and books. I knew it was right to do, but what does it mean? Obviously they were not telling me to time-travel back to when the water went across my head and watch it happen, though that could be kind of cool to be able to do. But I was not entirely sure what they meant by it.

Luther gives us answers. In the Small Catechism, he says that you return to your Baptism by daily contrition and repentance. In the Large Catechism, he writes, "Even though someone falls from [Baptism] and sins, we always have access to it so that we may again subdue the old creature. Repentance, therefore, is nothing else than a return and approach to Baptism, to resume and practice what has earlier been begun but abandoned."

Ok, so to return to your Baptism is to repent, but what does that mean? It is not simply regret or a frustration with facing consequences. 2 Corinthians 7:10 refers to that as a "worldly grief [that] produces death." Godly repentance that leads to life is a whole different mindset. It is both sorrow over your sin AND it is faith in Christ's forgiveness. The word "repent" is from a Latin word that literally means "to re-think." You are now thinking in a different way about the sin you did AND about Jesus who died to take away that sin of yours. The Hebrew word for repentance means "to be turned." So it is not that you are turning yourself around, but your Savior God is turning you away from your sin and toward Him again. As long as you live in this old world with your sinful nature, each time you return to your Baptism the Lord will have an abundant amount of forgiveness there for you! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Merciful Lord, cleanse and defend Your people united to You in Baptism by Your sacrifice. Give us grace to receive the fruits of Your cross and daily follow in Your way; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Today's Reading: Galatians 5:16-24

Daily Lectionary: 2 Kings 4:48-5:8; Ephesians 6:1-24

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. (Galatians 5:17)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Well at least you don't have to say, "The devil made me do it." No, Paul explains why you think what you think, say what you say and do what you. Your sinful nature is at war with the new creation in Christ. Your sinful flesh fights against the Spirit and so you know the right thing to do but don't do it. It's why you don't love God and your neighbor like you should.

Now understand something: If you were on your own, your flesh would win. You don't have the free will to choose to love God and others. You are born into the slavery of sin and were it not for Christ, that's all you would do.

But you have been given the Holy Spirit. Christ died for your sins and rose from the dead and sent the Spirit into the world wherever His Gospel is preached. You have that Spirit by your Baptism into Christ and because you hear God's Word preached and taught.

And the Spirit isn't just there to be a cheerleader so you can overcome your sinful nature with a little nudge or push. No, the Spirit is there to remind you that this victory over your sinful nature has already been won. The Spirit is there to stand you before God as holy and perfect in His sight, not a sinner at all, because of Jesus.

Your flesh hates that. It hates that it can't do whatever it wants and so it tries to anyway. It hates the news that it will be once and for all gone some day and so it rebels. But know this: Your sinful flesh is done for. Even when it gets the best of you in this life, its works have been wiped out by the blood of Jesus.

And the fruit of the Spirit is. . . well. . . fruit, meaning you don't have to come up with it yourself. The Spirit grows and cultivates it in you by His Word and working. That means that your whole life is under the care and direction of the Holy Spirit, whose job it is to keep you in Jesus. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Rise! To arms! With prayer employ you, O Christians lest the foe destroy you; For Satan has designed your fall. Wield God's Word, the weapon glorious; Against all foes be thus victorious, For God protects you from them all. Fear not the hordes of hell, Here is Emmanuel. Hail the Savior! The strong foes yield To Christ, our shield, And we, the victors hold the field. ("Rise! To Arms! With Prayer Employ You" LSB 668, st.1)

Today's Reading: Proverbs 4:10-23

Daily Lectionary: 2 Kings 4:8-22, 32-37; Ephesians 5:15-33

I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in the paths of uprightness. When you walk, your step will not be hampered, and if you run, you will not stumble. (Proverbs 4:11-12)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Having a holiday today (for most of us) is nice, but tomorrow we have to go back to the routine. Both church and school are starting to be busy again. Some of you have already been in classes for a few weeks while others have your first day tomorrow. Sunday School, confirmation classes, and church meetings are resuming after a summer break. At some point this month or next, I will be already dreaming about what I want to do next summer. Maybe you are happier being busy, or maybe you are like me and will miss the slower pace of life.

Speaking as a father to a son, God tells us through the author of Proverbs that He guides us in the way of wisdom, describing it as a roadway of righteousness. Proverbs 4:12 reminds us that as we travel with the Lord, no matter whether the days are easy or packed full of work, He watches over us and keeps us from stumbling.

Note that the wicked have it as their goal to make other people stumble (verse 16). Unfortunately for them, because they are outside of Christ's light, they cannot understand that their own sin causes them to stumble (verse 19) until they finally fall into hell.

Even after you have received salvation from Christ, you still could choose to go back to the path of the wicked, but you must not do it (verse 14)! Why would you want to get tangled up in sin again? The way Proverbs 4 describes the wicked person who is obsessed with and controlled by their evil sounds like what Jesus says in John 8:34: "Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin."

However, you are free because the Son of God this very moment releases you from your guilt by the forgiveness He won for you on the Cross. He is the light of the world (John 8:12) who shines upon you to shatter your darkness, brighter and brighter until you get to the Last Day (Proverbs 4:18), when the busy schedules of this world will be done. And you know the way to get to that Day of rest and gladness in the Resurrection, when there will be no more darkness. Jesus is the Way. And the Truth. And the Life. Even though you die, you shall live forever in Him. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Lord of all creation, give us wisdom in all things, that we may rejoice in all that is good and be defended against all that is evil; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Today's Reading: Luke 17:11-19

Daily Lectionary: 2 Kings 2:19-25; 4:1-7; Ephesians 4:25-5:14

"Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?" (Luke 17:18)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Jesus DIDN'T say, "How come no one except the foreigner came back to say 'Thank you?'" This isn't about good manners, as if the Lord is offended because the other nine lepers didn't say "Thank You." No, to "give glory to God" means something other than just acknowledging God's gifts. True, we should be thankful to the Lord for all things. But to give Him glory means much more.

To give God glory means to RECEIVE what He has for you. It's a bit ironic that to GIVE God glory means to GET something from Him. What is that something? "Go your way, your faith has saved you." Jesus isn't telling the leper that his leprosy is gone. That already happened. No, Jesus is teaching the leper that his trust in Jesus is not misplaced. The leper knows that Jesus has healed him and is the only one who can give him salvation. So he wants to be where Jesus is. Then Jesus pronounces salvation upon this Samaritan, an Absolution in which he is declared clean before God in all ways.

The Old Testament says a leper has to show himself to the priest. What does the Samaritan do? He comes back to Jesus because he realizes Jesus is the only real priest there is. The High Priest. The One who can make him and all people clean. Jesus' perfect life and His suffering and death cleanse us from every stain of sin. In Baptism He pronounces us clean and by His Body and Blood He says that He has saved us and we "depart in peace."

The Samaritan leper teaches us what it truly means to give glory to God: not to simply tell God how great He is over and over but to receive the gifts He has for us in and through His Son. It is the greatest glory of God to save you and bestow that salvation upon you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O Lord, keep Your Church with Your perpetual mercy; and because of our frailty we cannot but fall, keep us ever by Your help from all things hurtful and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation; 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 14th Sunday after Trinity)

Today's Reading: Introit for the 14th Sunday after Trinity

(Psalm 84:1-2a, 4, 10b, 11b; antiphon: vs.9-10a)

Daily Lectionary: 2 Kings 2:1-18; Ephesians 4:1-24

How lovely is Your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. (From the Introit for the 14th Sunday after Trinity)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Does your soul long for the courts of the Lord? Or would you rather sleep in on Sunday morning? Do your heart and flesh cry out for the living God and His Word? Or do the other things that you have going on--your sports or friends or parties or whatever--come first and then church if there's time left over? How can we pray these words of the psalm when we don't really mean them? We know we SHOULD want Christ's gifts most of all, but we don't.

Good news! The words of the psalms are always first of all of Jesus' words! Jesus longs for the courts of the Lord, to be with His heavenly Father. Even when He was a boy, Jesus was hanging out in the temple where God's Word was being taught. Jesus loved nothing more than His Father's Word. And it's His love of the Father's Word that brought Him to earth in the flesh to die for sinners who could care less about His Word. Jesus is the Word made flesh who dies on the Cross of Calvary for those who have so many more important things to do than hear God's Word and receive His gifts.

When you go to church tomorrow, you're not going because you are trying to get all hyped up and really excited for God's Word. You might be happy to go to church tomorrow. You might be grumbling the whole way there, wishing you were back under the covers in your bed. But when you go, what the Lord has for you is not a program to get you all charged up for Him. Rather, He has gifts for you. There in the Divine Service, the Lord will cover you with Jesus, who loves the Father's Word. The Lord will announce that your despising His Word is forgiven. The Word Himself will fill you when you eat and drink His Body and Blood. There, filled with Jesus, you will learn to truly love and rejoice in the gifts that Christ has for you, because the One who lives in you is Jesus, who always loves the Father's Word. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

I love your kingdom, Lord, The place of your abode, The Church our blest Redeemer saved With His own precious blood. ("I Love Your Kingdom, Lord" LSB 651, st.1)