Reflections

June 27, 2024 

Today's Reading: Catechism: The Sacrament of Holy Baptism - 3

Daily Lectionary: Joshua 2:1-24; Acts 8:26-40

Certainly not just water, but the Word of God in and with the water does these things… - Dr. Luther, SC, Baptism 3

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Dr. Luther lays it all out so plainly: “For without God’s word the water is plain water and no Baptism. But with the word of God it is a Baptism…” This is not just a washing or removal of dirt from the body (1 Pet. 3:21) but, as Luther says, “a life-giving water, rich in grace, and a washing of the new birth in the Holy Spirit.”

Just as Christ instituted, the disciples, now apostles, should go out through all the world, baptizing and making disciples of all nations. He doesn’t give specific step-by-step mandatory instructions or how one must perform a Baptism. He says you baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. 

This is so that, throughout your life here on earth, if the water and the Word of God were used at your Baptism, you could have the utmost confidence that the benefits of Baptism are yours. Do not let anyone trouble you otherwise with method if you were baptized with the means (the water and the Word) as Jesus Himself instituted them.

This is the Gospel for you, where you have had God’s name put on you. God claims you in the waters of your Baptism as His child. What a beautiful blessing Baptism is. From it, we receive the Holy Spirit, faith, and the blessings and benefits of the Gospel in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Again, have no doubts of your salvation and place before God. You are His beloved child, marked in the waters of your Baptism where the water was administered and the word of God proclaimed, marking you as a member of the body of Christ, your crucified and risen Savior.

Baptism is not just plain water, but water and the Word for you, to give you what the words and promises of God declare. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

All who believe and are baptized Shall see the Lord's salvation; Baptized into the death of Christ, They are a new creation. Through Christ's redemption they shall stand Among the glorious, heav'nly band  Of ev'ry tribe and nation. (LSB 601:1)

- Vicar Justin Chester, Vicar at Shepherd of the City, Fort Wayne, IN

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

A Complete Guide to Christian Symbols This collection of over 600 hand-drawn Christian symbols by artist and author Edward Riojas will teach you the extensive history of the imagery of the Church. Each symbol is a beautiful and historical connection to generations of Christians that have worshiped before you. A Complete Guide to Christian Symbols. Now available from Concordia Publishing.

June 26, 2024 

Today's Reading: Job 38:1-11

Daily Lectionary: Joshua 1:1-18; Acts 8:1-25

Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. (Job 38:3)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Let’s face it: Job has been through a lot.

However, God has heard enough. God Himself comes on the scene, so all must be well. Job’s problems are over. Not quite.

While God allows the suffering and attacks to come upon Job and his family, God will assure Job that He is the one who will deliver Job from this. It’s easy for us to blame God when life doesn’t go our way. Job certainly has much to complain about, but God has come to remind Him, a simple man, not to peer into the knowledge of God.

Now God is hiding Himself? How can I trust Him?! Yet, it is exactly in the God who hides Himself, veils Himself, rather, so that we can stand before Him and cry out to Him as Job does. 

Job encounters God, hidden, hearing His majesty and power displayed in all that He has done and proclaimed, but it's this awe-inspired, humbling debate Job has with God that puts it all in perspective. Job cannot deliver himself from his afflictions. 

God works through your suffering to turn you to where He is revealed to you. This is not God showing only His good side, but God fully revealed to you. See God and His love for you, despite the sin, despite the fallenness of the world, revealed to you in Job’s redeemer, your redeemer, Jesus. 

When your suffering seems great, and the world around you feels like it is collapsing. When you feel like God is far from you or punishing you. Don’t look to the world or inside yourself. Go to the Word that comforted Job—the same God of His word who delivers and preserves you. No suffering, no crisis, no outcome is too much for your God to deliver you from. Just as God has fulfilled His promises to Job and His people of old, His promises are all for you.

Your God, the one who created all things, laid its boundaries, and established the limits of the universe, cares for you. His Son, Jesus, the crucified one, who has suffered in every respect of his humanity as we have, is interceding for you at His Father’s right hand. He has not forgotten you, and He will not forsake you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Frail children of dust and feeble as frail, In Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail. Thy mercies, how tender, how firm to the end, Our maker, defender, redeemer, and friend! (LSB 804:5)

- Vicar Justin Chester, Vicar at Shepherd of the City, Fort Wayne, IN

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

A Complete Guide to Christian Symbols This collection of over 600 hand-drawn Christian symbols by artist and author Edward Riojas will teach you the extensive history of the imagery of the Church. Each symbol is a beautiful and historical connection to generations of Christians that have worshiped before you. A Complete Guide to Christian Symbols. Now available from Concordia Publishing.

June 25, 2024

Today's Reading: 2 Corinthians 6:1-13

Daily Lectionary: Proverbs 31:10-31; John 21:1-25

We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities… (2 Corinthians 6:3-4)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The day of salvation is not far off, but now St. Paul tells us. Paul, as a servant of God, has told the Corinthians before that he is all things to all people for the sake of the Gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:22-23) This not only applies to Paul but to all Christians. 

Now, Paul is not giving a license to sin, to be lazy, or to be slothful. What he is saying is that in whatever situation God has placed you in life and whoever God has placed in front of you, you are to love and serve them as we have been loved by God through His Son Jesus.

This is not on you. God will put people and these works at the proper time, and we pray that we would be faithful witnesses of the Gospel and love our neighbors. In all afflictions, hardships, and calamities that come our way, we may commend ourselves to God and endure these things to the end of our lives. 

The Corinthians were a stubborn people, and our world is not so different. The Gospel is offensive to those who do not believe it. However, we do not shout at the world or run from its sinfulness and stubbornness. We also don’t seek out trouble for ourselves, either. Rather, we live out our lives according to the roles God has given us. As students or workers. As parents or children. As husband and wife. We love one another and bear one another’s burdens. We protect those who cannot protect themselves. Because, just as Paul says, the Christian is free to do these things. “Through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as imposters, and yet are true;” (v. 8)

Thanks be to God that He has delivered us from bondage to sin and united us to His Son and His life-giving resurrection, given not to serve the passions of our flesh but free to love one another and widen our hearts for the sake of the Gospel.

The sanctified life is the life of one justified before God in Christ Jesus. The daily life before your neighbor will follow. Remember your Baptism. The Holy Spirit is active and at work to keep you in the one true faith and move you where God desires you to be for your neighbor. This is the cruciform life of the Christian. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Be still, my soul; the Lord is on your side; Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain; Leave to your God to order and provide; In ev’ry change He faithful will remain. Be still, my soul; your best, your heav’nly Friend Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end. (LSB 752:1)

- Vicar Justin Chester, Vicar at Shepherd of the City, Fort Wayne, IN

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

A Complete Guide to Christian Symbols This collection of over 600 hand-drawn Christian symbols by artist and author Edward Riojas will teach you the extensive history of the imagery of the Church. Each symbol is a beautiful and historical connection to generations of Christians that have worshiped before you. A Complete Guide to Christian Symbols. Now available from Concordia Publishing. 

June 24, 2024

Today's Reading: Luke 1:57-80

Daily Lectionary: Proverbs 30:1-9, 18-33; John 20:19-31

“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins” (Luke 1:76-77)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. John was special. I mean, being the cousin of the Messiah is pretty distinguishing. It was more than that, though. He was the one who his father Zechariah sang, “will go before the Lord to prepare His ways.” (v. 76) We can certainly learn a lot from John the Baptist. Maybe not fashion, and I don’t recommend switching to a wild honey and locust diet. However, he was the one who came crying out in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. (Luke 3:3) 

We learn what it means to faithfully witness against sinful people like the religious leaders of John’s day and even against political leaders like King Herod. What John did best was point people to the one who would come after him. John is the opener for Jesus. We could say this about all the prophets of old, really. They are preparing the people of God for the one who will save them from their sins. Who will rescue them from their enemies.

The disappointment for the people of John’s day and in our own day is that this is not a guarantee of prosperity or political freedom in this life. John is sent to preach repentance to point people to their need for a savior. Jesus, our Savior, comes to rescue you from your enemies of sin, death, and the devil. While we sojourn here in our earthly lives, we will suffer much for the sake of the one John paved the way for.

We suffer knowing that we have a much greater reward than earthly treasures. We pray that God would give us all that we need to support this body and life and that, if the time comes, we are faithful witnesses of our Savior. We will struggle against sin and the enemies of this world, but we will not be overcome. You can be certain as John was that nothing in this life can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. John’s birth foretells the Messiah’s birth, His baptism, and the beginning of His earthly ministry. John, as the prophet Isaiah and Micah foretold, points you to Jesus, who would, from the start, be on His way to fulfilling God’s plan of salvation to his people for the forgiveness of their sins. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Almighty God, through John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, You once proclaimed salvation. Now grant that we may know this salvation and serve You in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life; through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

- Vicar Justin Chester, Vicar at Shepherd of the City, Fort Wayne, IN

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

A Complete Guide to Christian Symbols This collection of over 600 hand-drawn Christian symbols by artist and author Edward Riojas will teach you the extensive history of the imagery of the Church. Each symbol is a beautiful and historical connection to generations of Christians that have worshiped before you. A Complete Guide to Christian Symbols. Now available from Concordia Publishing. 

June 23, 2024 

Today's Reading: Mark 4:35-41

Daily Lectionary: Proverbs 27:1-24; Proverbs 28:1-29:27; John 20:1-18

And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:41)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Jesus doesn’t have a smile on His face, and the disciples don’t seem like they have a handle on what just happened. After all, a storm of monumental proportions just occurred. They were goners, done for; the boat was filling with water. While the disciples are panicking, Jesus is…sleeping?

This storm is nothing to Jesus, so why should He be worried about this? His disciples could just call on Jesus to handle this. But they don’t. In fact, the disciples fail, and their fear sinks their faith entirely. But He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” (v. 38) Hold on a second; this is Jesus, the man who cleansed lepers, healed a paralytic, and restored a man’s withered hand. He has clearly shown He is Lord over all creation.

Jesus does care, so He gets up and rebukes the wind and tells the sea, “Peace! Be still!” (v. 39) And to the disciples' astonishment, they realize there’s more to this Jesus than just healing miracles and exorcisms. 

This Jesus is the one who, despite their unbelief, saves them and ensures their safe passage. Hindsight is 20/20, and, looking back, the disciples had to have seen how foolish they were. We can feel quite comfortable in their shoes. The moment something goes wrong, a diagnosis from the doctor doesn’t sit well, the car won’t start, you bombed the test you prepared for all week, you said something you didn’t mean to your sibling or parent. The whole world can seem like it’s spinning out of control. 

Let me tell you, friends. The Jesus who commands the winds and the sea has come into our human flesh for you. He’s come to live under the Law and fulfill it perfectly for you. He’s come to see your struggle against sin and take its yoke from you. He’s come to die for you that you might not taste the sting of death. He rose for you and ascended for you, that you might know He is at your heavenly Father’s right hand, ruling over all things for you. Jesus, the Lord over all creation, the manifestation of God’s love and mercy, has come and will come again on the Last Day for you. 

And until that day, you have your fellow brothers and sisters to bear the burdens of this life, as well as the Means of Grace that Christ has promised to be there for you as often as you run to receive them. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Almighty God, in Your mercy, guide the course of this world so that Your Church may joyfully serve You in godly peace and quietness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

- Vicar Justin Chester, Vicar at Shepherd of the City, Fort Wayne, IN

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

A Complete Guide to Christian Symbols This collection of over 600 hand-drawn Christian symbols by artist and author Edward Riojas will teach you the extensive history of the imagery of the Church. Each symbol is a beautiful and historical connection to generations of Christians that have worshiped before you. A Complete Guide to Christian Symbols. Now available from Concordia Publishing.

June 22, 2024 

Today's Reading: Introit for Pentecost 5 - Psalm 107:29-32; antiphon: Psalm 107:28

Daily Lectionary: Proverbs 25:1-22; Proverbs 26:1-28; John 19:23-42

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. (Psalm 107:28)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Truly, as the Psalmist says, “Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever!” (Psalm 107:1) Although a man’s faithfulness waxes and wanes, the love of the Lord certainly does endure forever. This introit points us to the scene of our Gospel reading for Sunday.

They cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress. (v. 28) Jesus is awoken by His disciples and does exactly as the Psalmist says, “He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.” (v. 29) All leaving the disciples scratching their heads wondering, “And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’” (Mark 4:41)

Our Lord is over all the chaos and the calamity of our world. He calms the storms and quiets the seas of our suffering and hardships in this life. We may suffer and cry out, “My God, when will the storm end?” Your God is there for you. He will not leave you or forsake you to the storms of your daily life. Cry to the Lord in your trouble; call upon the one who commands all of creation in the heavens and the earth. The one who created all things has created all things new in Christ Jesus. God Himself came into our flesh and suffered as we have. He brings you through the pain and tough times to the other side of the sea, to your desired haven (v. 29) so that you would see the steadfast love of your God and give thanks and praise to the one who has delivered you.

No, Jesus is not calming seas and storms in front of you. However, He’s still present for you, working the forgiveness of sins, comforting your doubts, and calming your despair. He’s present for you where He’s promised to be found- in His word proclaimed by your pastor. He’s present, giving you life and salvation in the words of the holy Absolution. For where there is forgiveness of sins there is also life and salvation.

Christ Jesus calms the storms of sin and death by uniting you to His death and resurrection in the waters of your Baptism. He’s given for you to eat and to drink and strengthen you in your faith that you would weather the storm and know that the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Evening and morning, Sunset and dawning, Wealth, peace, and gladness, Comfort in sadness: These are Thy works; all the glory be Thine! Times without number, Awake or in slumber, Thine eye observes us, From danger preserves us, Causing Thy mercy upon us to shine. (LSB 726, 1)

- Vicar Justin Chester, Vicar at Shepherd of the City, Fort Wayne, IN

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

A Complete Guide to Christian Symbols This collection of over 600 hand-drawn Christian symbols by artist and author Edward Riojas will teach you the extensive history of the imagery of the Church. Each symbol is a beautiful and historical connection to generations of Christians that have worshiped before you. A Complete Guide to Christian Symbols. Now available from Concordia Publishing. 

June 21, 2024 

Today's Reading: John 19:1-22

Daily Lectionary: Proverbs 24:1-22; John 19:1-22

Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” (John 19:19)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The circumstances of this were cosmic and eternal. Jesus is at His coronation. It's not all the bells and whistles like you would see at Buckingham Palace. Jesus’ coronation takes place as a criminal trial. Now Pilate does his best to get Jesus off. However, it’s no use; the political situation and the religious leaders are stacked against Pilate.

Little did he know he would send the King of Kings to His throne to be unveiled for the world to see. Jesus is unlike any other king. Who, instead of a crown of jewels, wears a crown of thorns. The robe He wears is not meant to honor but to mock Him. What king would rule a people this way? What God would allow Himself to be treated this way by the ones He created? Your God does.

Jesus bears the scoffing, the mocking, and the pain of each hour of Good Friday. Then Pilate washes his hands of Jesus and delivers Him over to be crucified.

The time comes to deliver the King. Jesus, lead to the cross, like a lamb to the slaughter and uncomplaining forth He goes. Nailed to the cross lifted up high on a tree for all the world to see. Pilate’s inscription, those provocative words that make the Jewish people turn up their noses, proclaim that Jesus, Mary’s son from Nazareth, is crucified for being the King of the Jews. Cursed is anyone who hangs on a tree (Gal. 3:13), yet by Jesus’s crucifixion, His coronation is complete. Taking on your enemies of sin, death, and the devil; in death, He is victorious. The crucifixion of Jesus is not a gloomy wake but a glorious exaltation of the Lamb of God, who, by death, conquered death and rests in the tomb to rise again on Easter morning.

The circumstances were cosmic and eternal. Jesus goes to the cross for you so that you would cling to His cross as a source of light and life in the darkness of this sinful world. Risen and ascended at His Father’s right hand until He will come again in glory to take us into the life of the world to come. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

What fading flow’rs His road adorn; The palms, how soon laid down! No bloom or leaf but only thorn The King of glory’s crown. The soldiers mock, the rabble cries, The streets with tumult ring, As Pilate to the mob replies, “Behold, behold your King!”  (LSB 444,3)

- Vicar Justin Chester, Vicar at Shepherd of the City, Fort Wayne, IN

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

A Complete Guide to Christian Symbols This collection of over 600 hand-drawn Christian symbols by artist and author Edward Riojas will teach you the extensive history of the imagery of the Church. Each symbol is a beautiful and historical connection to generations of Christians that have worshiped before you. A Complete Guide to Christian Symbols. Now available from Concordia Publishing. 

June 20, 2024 

Today's Reading: Catechism: The Sacrament of Holy Baptism 2

Daily Lectionary: Proverbs 22:22-23:12; John 18:15-40

It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare. - Dr. Luther, SC, Baptism 2, Question 1

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. What benefits does Baptism give? Baptism now saves you… (1 Peter 3:21) and in it, you are united to Christ’s life-giving death and resurrection. (Romans 6:3-4) If you ever need assurance of your salvation, that your sins are forgiven, that you are God’s child, and the devil has no claim on you, then turn to the words from God Himself. It is in His words and promises that God reveals to you how much you mean to Him.

Baptism defines your life as a Christian. It is not a starting point but the daily reality of your Christian identity. In the waters of your Baptism, the death of your life to sin and your new life united to Christ are present. This paradox of being simultaneously sinner and saint begins. But the comfort of the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation with the words and promises of God joined to the water is the daily reminder as we get up each day and wrestle against our old Adam.

The words and promises of God in the last chapter of Mark are of great comfort, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16) This is not meant to cause you to speculate on your faith and worry about you and your place in your salvation. Rather, it is to drive you to Christ, your savior, the One who your forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are founded in. He has rescued you from death and the devil and gives to you His child eternal salvation as the words and promises of God declare.

Rejoice in your Baptism, and remember daily that you are a baptized child of God. There is no more peaceful, grander reality than this. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O Christian, firmly hold this gift And give God thanks forever! It gives the power to uplift In all that you endeavor. When nothing else revives your soul, Your Baptism stands and makes you whole And then in death completes you. ( LSB 596, 5)

- Vicar Justin Chester, Vicar at Shepherd of the City, Fort Wayne, IN

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

A Complete Guide to Christian Symbols This collection of over 600 hand-drawn Christian symbols by artist and author Edward Riojas will teach you the extensive history of the imagery of the Church. Each symbol is a beautiful and historical connection to generations of Christians that have worshiped before you. A Complete Guide to Christian Symbols. Now available from Concordia Publishing. 

June 19, 2024 

Today's Reading: John 18:1-14

Daily Lectionary: Proverbs 22:1-21; John 18:1-14

So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” (John 18:1-14)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. They were afraid, yet he addressed them calmly. Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” These men led by Judas to come and arrest Jesus of Nazareth came armed with torches, lanterns, and weapons. The disciples were afraid. Their beloved teacher, the One whom Peter confessed as the Christ, the Son of the living God, would soon be taken away from them, and they would be scattered, just as Jesus said they would.

So Peter goes down fighting, lopping off the ear of a servant, and then with all of his brother disciples, they high tail it off to where they can safely watch the Lamb of God be led to Golgotha to take away the sin of the world.

They were afraid. Yet the One who knew all that would happen to Him goes willingly. The sham of a trial, the mockery and beatings He would endure. The rejection and ridicule by His own people. Yet He endured it all for you. The cup that the Father had given Jesus would be consumed by Him. To Peter and Pilate’s shock, it would not be kept away by force. Jesus would usher in the fullness of time and the kingdom of His Father. This is exactly what God had promised, yes, at the Garden of Eden after the Fall, but also from the beginning. 

The Word that through all things were created would be put to death. Yet by His death, eternal life is secured for all who believe. Through the ugliness of the cross on Good Friday, the serpent's head is crushed, death is swallowed up forever, and you and I are met with the welcoming hands of our crucified and risen savior. Doubts and fears may discourage us in this life, but know that Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the living God, has come to put your fear at ease. He suffered for you, died for you, and rose for you so that you might take on all uncertainty in this life with the peace that He freely gives. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

He died that we might die to sin And live for righteousness; The earth is stained to make us clean
And bring us into peace. For peace He came and met its cost; He gave Himself to save the lost; He loved us to the uttermost And paid for our release. (LSB 432, 2)

- Vicar Justin Chester, Vicar at Shepherd of the City, Fort Wayne, IN

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

A Complete Guide to Christian Symbols This collection of over 600 hand-drawn Christian symbols by artist and author Edward Riojas will teach you the extensive history of the imagery of the Church. Each symbol is a beautiful and historical connection to generations of Christians that have worshiped before you. A Complete Guide to Christian Symbols. Now available from Concordia Publishing.

June 18, 2024

Today's Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Daily Lectionary: Proverbs 20:5-25; Proverbs 21:1-31; John 17:1-26

For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. (2 Corinthians 5:4)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. We groan through the daily grind of our earthly lives. This tent that Paul speaks of, our bodies, gives us constant reminders of how fragile and temporal we are. The effects of sin on us and creation take its toll. If not like Paul through the bodily harm and threats from persecution, we see this long term through the aging and frailty of our own bodies.

We do not suffer this as those who are unprepared or found naked, as Paul says. We, the baptized, are united to Christ Himself and made new creations. As we grapple with the suffering and times of despair in our earthly lives, we remember that we are in this tent of our bodies for a time. That’s not to say that we will leave our bodies for a spiritual reality, but that God Himself has prepared a body for you clothed in the glory and righteousness that is bestowed upon you in Christ Jesus.

Even though we may see pain, injury, and ultimately death, we do not despair as the world does. We have the daily reality of our Baptisms to fall back on. In your Baptism, you were united to Christ’s death and resurrection. United to Jesus, you give thanks for the days here in our earthly tents, so to speak, but rejoice that all has been prepared, and when our mortal bodies meet death, they will be swallowed up with life.

On the Last Day, we and believers of every tribe and nation will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. As the Lamb ushers in the end of time and reigns from His throne, the old tent will pass away, and life in eternity with our God will be the reality. Come, Lord Jesus. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

All who believe and are baptized Shall see the Lord’s salvation; Baptized into the death of Christ, They are a new creation. Through Christ’s redemption they shall stand Among the glorious, heav’nly band Of ev’ry tribe and nation. (LSB 601, 1)

- Vicar Justin Chester, Vicar at Shepherd of the City, Fort Wayne, IN

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

A Complete Guide to Christian Symbols This collection of over 600 hand-drawn Christian symbols by artist and author Edward Riojas will teach you the extensive history of the imagery of the Church. Each symbol is a beautiful and historical connection to generations of Christians that have worshiped before you. A Complete Guide to Christian Symbols. Now available from Concordia Publishing.