Reflections

Today's Reading: Matthew 7:15-23

Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 9:1-27; Acts 21:37-22:16

A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. (Matthew 7:18)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. So I know we're the grumpy church. It's what others say about us. It's what our own members say about us. We're too picky. Unloving. We can't get along with anyone. We can't even compromise. Why does it matter? Because it would be easier if we would just relax. Major in the majors, get along.

Believe it or not, I don't have fun being the grumpy pastor. I'm not entertained by having folks mad at me. I'm not encouraged by my own members' grumbling. I hate it. The thing is, if someone says 2+2 is 4 and someone else says 2+2 is 5, they can't both be right. If someone speaks visions of their own minds and not of the Lord, they are wrong. Here's the thing: They're not harmless. Wolves are in sheep's clothing, not other sheep. Wolves devour the sheep. "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord' shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but He who does the will of My Father in heaven."

It's not about how much you can accomplish. Prophesying, casting out demons, even doing great wonders is not enough. The will of our Father in heaven is that we believe. That's it. Hear the true Word and cling to it. It really saves.

If it's going to be good, virtuous, if it's going to have any chance of helping us in this mess of a world with the mess of our problems, it has to be true. We can't expect to be saved based on a lie, not even a soothing one. And there are false prophets out there, dressed in sheep's clothing, telling soothing lies, who inwardly are ravenous wolves. Their lies do not save. Good trees make good fruit, and bad trees make bad fruit. even if it's done in the Name of Jesus.

You don't expect grapes from thorn bushes. You don't expect good fruit from a bad tree. You don't expect salvation from a false preacher. The bad trees are cut down and burned. The only tree that matters is the Cross. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree'" (Galatians 3:13).

The good fruit of the Cross is forgiveness. All other trees will be cut down and thrown into the fire. There is no other Name by which men will be saved. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O Holy Spirit, our delight And source of consolation, Protect us from the devil's might Through Jesus, our salvation, Who by His death upon a tree Has rescued us from misery: To this we hold forever. ("All Glory Be to God on High" LSB 947, st.4)

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Today's Reading: Introit for the Eight Sunday after Trinity

(Psalm 48:1, 3, 11, 14; antiphon: vs.9-10)

Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 8:1-22; Acts 21:15-36

Let Mount Zion be glad! Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments! (From the Introit for the Eighth Sunday after Trinity)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. We recoil at a God who sits in judgment of our actions. It's so hard to reflect on those vulnerable moments of our past without explanations to go along with our mistakes. Those excuses are called self-justification. We want to add something to our actions to make them seem less wrong. An excuse. A blame directed at someone else. A reason why. We try so hard to justify ourselves that the idea of being judged skips right over terrifying and leaves us either despairing or furious. But it's not a question of if we will be judged. We confess it in the creed. On the Last Day, the Son will come again to judge the living and the dead. I didn't read anything about Jesus' taking into account our excuses, either.

Still, we can't help it. We self-justify like we breathe. We dive into every awful day and insist that our explanations for what happened change what actually did happen. We're chasing after a favorable judgment. We're trying to find a way to hear the word "judgment" without cringing. That won't come from excuses. That will only come from the Gospel.

Only within Mount Zion, within God's temple, do God's judgments become something other than a need to justify your sins. They become a source of joy. Within Mount Zion, we hear that the Lord's judgments were rendered against the Son upon the Cross. He has judged Him guilty of all your sin. He has judged you innocent, righteous, and holy. Your self-justifications are laid down, and your cross is taken up. Your excuses are cast aside for forgiveness. Let Mount Zion be glad!

This is why we preach and sing in the temple. It isn't a chance to earn points with God that we can cash in for heaven. It's to tell, over and over, of the Cross where the judgment happened. Of what it looked like. Of whom it's for: you. You have been judged innocent. We think on that steadfast love. We praise His righteousness for us, and not our own. The Cross silences our excuses and leaves judgment as a hope and not a fear. This is our God, forever and ever. Never will you be judged. Always, Jesus is your justification. Let the daughters of Judah rejoice! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

He blotted out with His own blood The judgment that against us stood; For us He full atonement made, And all our debt He fully paid. ("The Death of Jesus Christ, Our Lord" LSB 634, st.2)

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 6:19-7:17; Acts 19:1-22

And he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." (Acts 19:2)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The Church needs constant teaching. Woe to those who think they've learned it all in confirmation! Imagine if the disciples who Paul met by Ephesus responded as we do today. "What do you mean Holy Spirit? I've been in this synagogue all my life and never heard of that." Also, woe to those who think theology is about winning arguments rather than teaching. Imagine if Paul replied the way stubborn clergy do: "I went to seminary. You didn't. I know better than you. We're doing it this way now."

Instead, Paul taught. He catechized. For months. Then years. Miracles happened. Not just the healings from afflictions. Even greater. People believed. They were baptized in the name of the Triune God. They taught others. Even unbelievers were given hope.

The doctrine of the apostolic faith is unchanging, but the visible Church on earth is always in the process of learning it. If you look around and see nothing but ignorance, rejoice, because that is daily being overcome by the patient teaching of God's Word. Also, relax, because this teaching is done by the Holy Spirit, whose job it is to create and strengthen faith. It's His to accomplish in His time. If you look around and find something you haven't learned yet, compare it to God's Word. Go back to your catechism. You might be a part of something wonderful, the spreading of the true Word of God and the strengthening of His kingdom. It happens slowly, sometimes over generations, but the Holy Spirit is at work wherever the Word is taught in its truth and purity. If you can't find these new teachings in God's Word and your catechism, reject them.

The visible Church will have ignorance and schism until the Last Day. It will also have the Holy Spirit daily destroying those things with the light of the true Gospel of Christ. When things look bleak, don't look for miracles or an overnight growth in understanding. Just return to the Word, where the Body of Christ is always being built up. Rejoice that God has promised to accomplish this work, and that none given to Him will be lost. This is why God blessed you with a catechism, that you would return to the same teachings over and over. Don't put the book down after confirmation. Reread it, and year after year, God's Word will correct, reprove, and give hope. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Help us Your holy Law to learn, To mourn our sin and from it turn In faith to You and to Your Son And Holy Spirit, Three in One. ("Lord, Help Us Ever to Retain" LSB 865, st.2)

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Today's Reading: John 20:1-2, 10-18

Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 5:1-6:3, 10-16; Acts 18:1-11, 23-28

Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" (John 20:17)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Part of me wants to focus on Mary's announcement. She gets to tell the disciples the good news. Christ is risen! It feels like a redemption story. From the often-assumed belief that she was the prostitute who worshipped at Jesus' feet (that woman isn't named in the Bible), to fiction about her marital status (not in the Bible at all), to her confusion of the risen Lord with a gardener (that one's in there), Mary Magdalene gets a lot of the focus, but rarely in a good way. We want her to turn her life around, and then share the good news.

The truth is, we don't know the name of the prostitute who worshipped at Jesus' feet. A pope named Gregory the Great decided that it was this Mary. We know Jesus wasn't married. Fiction writers have decided otherwise. So much of what we want to believe about Mary Magdalene has to do with what people assume she did. Most of it is wrong. All of it misses the point. Jesus doesn't know her by her deeds or her past, but by her faith. He says something to her. "I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." She has the same Father as the Son of God does.

If you want to know who Mary Magdalene was, set aside myth and hold to the Word of God. She is a daughter of the Father. She is a saint by faith in Christ. It's true for you, too. You are not known by what people say about you, true or not. You are not known by your past. You are known by the same thing Mary is known by: your identity is a child of God. You have the same Father as Jesus and Mary. You are baptized. In this water, you are united with Christ just like Mary. You are an heir to the kingdom of heaven. You are so precious to the Son that He who redeemed you from sin and death only talks about you as His brother or sister. People talk. Most of them get it wrong. Christ is still risen. You are still baptized. You have a Father in heaven. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

We sing Your praise for Mary, Who came at Easter dawn To look for Jesus' body And found her Lord was gone. But, as with joy she saw Him In resurrection light, May we by faith behold Him, The Day who ends our night! ("For All the Faithful Women" LSB 855, st.11)

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Today's Reading: Small Catechism: Lord's Prayer, Fifth Petition

Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 4:1-22; Acts 16:23-40

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. (Small Catechism: Lord's Prayer, Fifth Petition)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. This is one sentence we wish could be divided into two separate things. Having my forgiveness and my willingness to forgive others linked together is a damning thing. Still, Jesus is clear. In Matthew 6:14–15 He says, "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." It sounds like my grudge from the sixth grade is enough to undo my Baptism. It sounds like my heart is enough to undo the Cross.

That's because looking in my heart for forgiveness never goes particularly well. Ask the kid I still don't like from middle school even though I can't remember his last name anymore. Forgiveness doesn't come from your heart. It comes from the Cross. Always. The forgiveness for your sins comes from the Cross, not from your asking for it. Jesus died 2,000 years before you could ask Him to forgive you. Faith clings to this forgiveness and finds comfort there. Forgiveness from the Cross addresses your heart.

It works that way for your neighbor, too. Forgiveness for their sins comes from the Cross to address your heart. When we stop looking at the Cross for forgiveness, there's a problem. We pray in this petition that we would see our enemies the same way Jesus sees them. Died for. Either there's forgiveness for sinners or there's not. Saying there's no forgiveness for sinners isn't going to work well for you. Taking your grudges to the Cross and seeing that your neighbor's sins against you were so vile that He had to bleed to cover them is a gift. That is where your neighbor's sins are punished. That is where wrath is abated. Seeing that justice was done lets you see your neighbor as someone who doesn't owe you anything anymore. Jesus paid it.

Forgiveness isn't about what we deserve. It's about what was given. You don't earn your forgiveness by forgiving others. Instead, you get to see the God who forgives whether you're angry or not and you can say, "Amen." This is true. I'm angry, but they're still forgiven. Lord, address my heart with comfort so that I can find peace in your Cross, forgiveness for my sins, and forgiveness for my neighbors', too. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Forgive our sins, Lord, we implore, That they may trouble us no more; We, too, will gladly those forgive Who hurt us by the way they live. Help us in our community To serve each other willingly. ("Our Father, Who from Heaven Above" 766, st.6)

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Today's Reading: Romans 6:19-23

Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 3:1-21; Acts 16:1-22

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Only someone who has spent all their life under slavery can be set free and ask, "What do I do now?" If you don't know what freedom really looks like, how would you know what to do when you're free? Only someone born under the threats and coercion of the Law can imagine that "freedom" looks like Netflix and a whole tub of ice cream just because serving your neighbor can be hard sometimes. What do you really gain from the bottom of the ice cream tub? What hope is found in ignoring your problems to binge-watch junk? I am speaking to you in human terms, because of your natural limitations.

You are free from the Law's demands. It cannot condemn you in Christ Jesus your Lord. You have the free gift of God, eternal life, purchased by His death upon the Cross. When you return to pet sins, Jesus still died for you, your sins are still bled for and forgiven. That's not the question. The question is "Do those things actually help?" When we get stressed or angry, scared or just bored, we go looking for hope in something familiar, and we return to the things that held us captive. Real hope is never found there, though.

Christianity is not asking the question, "Can you do whatever you want?" Instead, the question is "Where is hope which endures?" Christ endured death and rose again. Hope in something that leads to holiness and eternal life. Hope in something that isn't just numb. Everyone's owned by something. Either we're owned by our passions and our sins and we're not free to rise above them and build something that's more than comfortably numb, or we're owned by the God who purchased us with His own life so that He can keep us and shelter us now and to eternal life. One leads to death. The other to life.

The free gift of God, eternal life, is given only to sinners. It's given to you. You don't have to earn it. You're free from sin. Free from death. Allowed to ask, "What do I do now?" It's answered by the God who simply says, "Live." Live in the things that produce hope. Live in the Law of God, free from its curse, because you were made alive in the Gospel, which promises that hope is a gift, not an escape. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

No son of man could conquer death, Such ruin sin had wrought us. No innocence was found on earth, And therefore death had brought us Into bondage from of old And ever grew more strong and bold And held us as its captive. Alleluia! ("Christ Jesus Lay in Death's Strong Bands" LSB 458, st.2)

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Today's Reading: Genesis 2:7-17

Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 2:18-36; Acts 15:22-41

"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2:17)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. God made everything and it was good. He made Adam of the dust of the ground. Eve would be there soon. Very good. He put them in the Garden, full of every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. Awesome. The Tree of Life was there. Dope! Also the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil: If you ate from it you died. Good?

God calls it good. The issue is we're pretty sure it's not. We consider the tree, at best, a test from the all-knowing God who would have seen this coming.

When we don't like something God is doing, we figure He either messed up or is trying to test us. Because we know good and evil now, we just get the two mixed up, so our motives seem purer than the God we call holy. The tree was never a test. It was where God instituted His Church. This was for worship. It was the one place Adam could see God as bigger, and could worship the mystery of God. It wasn't there to hurt him and Eve, but to help them. To ward off the idea that they know more than God. To remind them to fear, love, and trust, and to give them a chance to practice it. The tree was good. The problem started when we decided it wasn't. Because if the tree isn't good, what do you think of the God who put it there?

God knows more than we do. . . but what if we can't trust Him? Eve grew afraid of the tree and wouldn't even touch it. She explains it to the devil. Not "Don't eat it," but "Don't touch it. Don't even go near it." Except "it" is church.

God knew it would happen. Adam's sins. Eve's. Yours, too. The Tree of Knowledge showed the problem, but not how to fix it and live. But that was never the job of that tree. Salvation was never a test. We fell by the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, but God saved us by the tree of the Cross. His intent was always to save and to love. This was never His backup plan. The Tree of Life was always a Cross. It just took a few thousand years to see the Son hanging on it. But it was always intended for Adam, Eve, and you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Now from that tree of Jesus' shame Flows life eternal in His name; For all who trust and will believe, Salvation's living fruit receive. And of this fruit so pure and sweet The Lord invites the world to eat, To find within this cross of wood The tree of life with ev'ry good. ("The Tree of Life" LSB 561, st.4)

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Today's Reading: Mark 8:1-9

Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 1:21-2:17; Galatians 6:1-18

"I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat." (Mark 8:2)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. There's a difference between a father who spends time with his kids and one who avoids them by being at work. There's a difference between kids who get As and kids who get detention. There's a difference between the doctor saying there's a cure or telling you that you have only weeks left to live. All the world measures. It's how things work. Literally everywhere. And it's exhausting. It's depressing. Because I know which father I am. . . maybe better than a few, but still not great. You know which kid you are. We know because there are standards. We call it the Law. A picture of good. Anything less. . . just isn't. Everywhere else in the world we live and die by laws. Do enough. Be enough. Have enough. We see the shortcomings here just fine. Laws measure. They point out where things aren't enough, and so we do, too. So any miracle that defies the word "enough" catches our attention, like when Jesus feeds 4,000.

It's so easy to miss the greatest part of it. Get lost in the details. In the numbers. In the crowd. In the miracle. It all flows from one thing. He had compassion on them. For all we measure here, we miss the point. We want to measure. How much do we need? Is there enough? You measure it on the Cross, where the word "enough" sounded like "It is finished." He shed His blood for the forgiveness of all your sins. Not portioned, but poured out for forgiveness. For you. The Law measures. The Gospel just gives. All your sins.

You can interject that you don't need it because you just got that in Absolution. You're already baptized. Shut up. Here's more mercy for you. The Law says, "Do this." The Gospel says, "It is finished." Over and over again. It covers all sin. All shortcomings. All failure. There is no measuring here.

We will be a Gospel church. Without His compassion we will faint along the way, but know that it is yours, it is boundless, and it accomplishes all that is needed. Gather up all your failure and sin and dump it at the Cross. For everywhere that you don't measure up, for every place you're insecure, for every place you compensate or bargain or cheat, there is mercy for you. Your sins are forgiven. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O God, whose never-failing providence orders all things both in heaven and earth, we humbly implore You to put away from us all hurtful things and to give us those things that are profitable for us; 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 Seventh Sunday after Trinity)

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Today's Reading: Introit for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity

(Psalm 47:3, 6-8; antiphon: vs.1-2)

Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 1:1-20; Galatians 5:1-26

He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet. (From the Introit for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. It's hard to sing praises to our King who puts all nations under our feet when we're not even happy with our own country. It would be a gift to the Church if we cared about false doctrine the way we care about the faults of the other political party. It would be a gift to your conscience, if you considered what it looked like when all things were put under Christ's feet, especially if

you've been unhappy with the leaders God has given you at one time or another.

"He worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all" (Ephesians 1:20-23).

Christ rose from the dead and Pilate still ruled Jerusalem. Christ was risen when the Church hid in catacombs. Christ is risen when the president you'd never vote for is in office. All things are under His feet. If you can only imagine God being able to reign over nations you approve of, you'll have to discount most of Scripture, where even evil kings are used for God's purposes, not to build a utopia on earth, but to save sinners from the last great enemy, death.

His kingdom is not of this world. Please. Stop responding with, "But what if we build it" and start saying, "Amen." If you want to see your God upon His throne, look to the ascension, not the 24-hour news. You can't find a country on earth where God isn't capable of forgiving sins. You can't find a leader on earth who can keep you in the tomb when God says "rise." Even where the Church faces persecution, the Word cannot be bound. Our prayers are not just for peaceful times, but for comfort in the knowledge that even if we've been unhappy with politics in the last few years, our God is still working forgiveness, life, and salvation. Christ is risen from the dead. All things were put under His feet. You are united with Him in this resurrection, so in the same way, all the nations are put under yours. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

And when in pow'r He comes, Oh, may our native land From all its rending tombs Send forth a glorious band, A countless throng, With joy to sing To heav'n's high King ("Before You, Lord, We Bow" LSB 966, st.5)

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Daily Lectionary: Judges 16:4-30; Galatians 4:12-31

So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman. (Galatians 4:31)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Abraham had two sons: Ishmael of the flesh, by Hagar, his wife Sarah's slave, and Isaac of the promise, by Sarah. Full stop. Think about how humiliated Sarah had to feel giving her husband to her servant. She trusted God. He promised Abraham a child. She believed Him. She just figured she had to help. Ishmael, born of people trying their best. Your little league trophy lied to you. Trying your best isn't good enough. The flesh is humiliating.

To stand before God based on what you can do is to live according to the Law. It is to live in slavery to what you cannot do, what you cannot be, what you cannot achieve. It is to exist in slavery to sin and death. Sinai is not a mountain of hope. It is not a promise of salvation. It is a bargain over earthly trinkets, and the inability to hope for something that outlasts them.

But Jerusalem above is free. She is our mother. You are free from the Law. You are free from slavery to the best you can do, to the strings attached. You are not a child of God based on what you can do or how you can help. You are a child according to the promise. You are a child of the Gospel. God has promised you adoption. A place of honor. A place not earned but given. A place for you. After all, you are baptized. This isn't about your contributing, but about God's delivering a promise.The forgiveness of sins. Rescue from death. Salvation. The hope of something that endures where everything else in this world fails. An identity apart from the humiliation of the Law, but in the glory God gives His beloved.

This isn't a someday promise to finally receive when you leave this world. It's a now promise. It's a here promise. It's a for you promise. It's a Baptism. It isn't just heaven that's clothed in white robes. The Church militant wears them, too. The saints on earth are children of God. You have already been purchased from slavery, not with gold or silver, but with the holy and precious blood, the innocent suffering and death of Christ. Do not submit again to the yoke of slavery under the Law. Do not submit to the yoke of doing your best and the humiliation and death it brings. Live in the promise of freedom, given through your Mother Jerusalem, the Church, where God sustains you according to the promise. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

In the water, in the Word, In His promise, be assured: Those who are baptized and believe Shall be born again. Father welcomes all His children To His fam'ly through His Son. Father giving His salvation, Life forever has been won. ("Father Welcomes" LSB 605, st.2)

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch