Reflections

April 18, 2024 

Today's Reading: The Lord’s Prayer - First Petition

Daily Lectionary: Exodus 38:21-39:8, 22-23, 27-31; Luke 8:1-21

Hallowed be Thy name. How is God’s name kept holy? God’s name is kept holy when the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and we, as the children of God, also lead holy lives according to it. (The Lord's Prayer, the First Petition, Small Catechism)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. God’s name is inscribed upon your forehead and heart in Holy Baptism. That’s an almost scary thing. God Himself has ‘marked you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified’ we say in the baptismal rite.

This means that wherever you go, you bear God’s holy name upon you. You go out into this dark, sin-wracked, and dying world with the mark of Almighty God Himself upon you. The demons see that and know whose side you are on immediately. That is also a scary thing because it makes you an easy target for their attacks.

And those attacks come in strange and mysterious ways. Sometimes it is a temptation from a friend. Or a random Instagram reel or TikTok. There are so many ways that the world, the devil, and yes, even your own sinful flesh, rebel against that mark of God’s holy name upon your forehead.

How do you keep God’s name holy in such a dangerous and sin-filled world? How can you lead a holy life when waves of sin constantly wash over you? By going to church, by receiving the Lord’s Supper. By participating in Bible Study. By spending time in daily devotions. By remembering your Baptism.

Sure, those all sound mundane (and probably even boring), but that is how God promises to be with you. That is how Christ Jesus promises to strengthen you and your faith. He uses the things of this world (which He created) to remind you that you have been recreated in Him.

Gather together where God’s Word is taught in truth and purity. Hear the preaching of that living Word of God. Taste on your tongue with joy the Gift of Jesus’s Body and Blood. Dip your fingers in the baptismal font’s living waters. Let God Himself remind you again and again of what he’s done for you.

Open your ears to those words. Let His Gifts wash over you and give thanks for what He has done for you in Jesus. Remember that you are baptized and you are safe in God’s hands. Live your life in the sure and certain hope that because Jesus lives and has saved you, that God’s holy name will always be with you until He comes again. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Your name be hallowed. Help us Lord, In purity to keep Your Word, That to the glory of Your name We walk before You free from blame. Let no false teaching us pervert; All poor deluded souls convert. (LSB 766:2)

- Pastor Duane Bamsch is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley, CA.

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 House.

April 17, 2024 

Today's Reading: Exodus 34:29-35:21

Daily Lectionary: Exodus 34:29-35:21, Exodus 35:22-38:20, Luke 7:36-50

And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the LORD’s contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. (Exodus 35:21)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. If you ask most pastors, they would be ecstatic if they never, ever, ever had to talk about money in the Divine Service ever again. It always feels a bit uncomfortable, because even though the Offering of the Church is a free gift from the people of God, it always feels a bit like ‘asking for money.’

At the same time, though, churches do need funding to keep the lights on, pay their church workers and support staff, and to make the worship space look like a place where the Most High God visits His people, regardless of the building where you gather.

When Moses asked the Children of Israel to bring offerings together, he was planning to build the Tabernacle to the Great I AM’s exacting specifications. There was a specific plan for the Tabernacle, which we don’t have to follow today in our churches since there isn’t one specific place on earth where Christ is present, but upon every altar where his Word is taught in its truth and purity and where His sacraments are administered according to His institution.

One way that we love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, and mind is by returning to Him a portion of all we earn as a way of thanksgiving and praise for all He has done for us. Offerings can be musical, or hands-on during a workday or servant event, or as an acolyte or usher. They primarily take the form of monetary gifts, though, in the offering plate. 

Has your heart been stirred or your spirit moved by what the Lord God has done for you in Christ? Are you thankful for the salvation Christ won for you on His cross? One response of praise and thanksgiving is to set aside some of your income (paycheck, allowance, etc.) to return to the Lord’s church on a regular basis.

It can be a wonderful feeling to return in joy to the Lord just a tiny portion of all that He showers upon us. It is just one more way to say thank you to the Lord for lifting you out of sin and death and setting you on the way of forgiveness and salvation. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

We give Thee but Thine own, Whate’er the gift may be; All that we have is Thine alone, A trust, O Lord, from Thee. May we Thy bounties thus As stewards true receive And gladly, as Thou blessest us, To Thee our first-fruits give! (LSB 781:1, 2)

- Pastor Duane Bamsch is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley, CA.

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 House.

April 16, 2024 

Today's Reading: 1 John 3:1-7

Daily Lectionary: Exodus 34:1-28, Luke 7:18-35

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. One of the hardest things for us to understand is what the resurrected life will be like. When we get to the New Jerusalem, the New Creation, how will we live? What will we look like? How does all of this work? After all, I’m not sure I’ll ever learn to play the harp while floating on a cloud and trying to keep my halo on straight!

Faith. Trust. Promises. These are words our sinful flesh has a hard time grasping and holding onto. And the best part about that is that we don’t have to try and grasp those things, because our faith does the grasping and believing!

Every day, faithful Christians wonder if they are good enough for Jesus to “take them to heaven.” And every day, that same Jesus encourages them through His Word that that isn’t the right question. 

We are God’s children NOW, St. John says. Because of your faith, given to you in your Baptism, you are now God’s child. Right now. This very minute. And that faith that He’s given to you in your washing and recreating is what grasps the promise that you have a future with Him in eternity.

We still can’t fully understand what that will look like, but that’s OK, because we have His further promise that we will see that future when He comes again for us. On that Last Day, on the day of the resurrection of all the dead, we will see what we’ve been waiting for, and it’ll be better than the greatest unboxing video of all time.

We are God’s children now, indeed. Live every day in that promise. Trust that promise, given to you, and rely on it when times are good, and especially when it is hard to believe, because Jesus has redeemed you, bought you back, wrapped you in His arms, and holds you near in a way that will be made so perfectly clear when He comes again for you.

You are God’s child now. He’s not going to let you go. Hold Him to that promise, because He holds Himself to it, because He loves you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

But, lo, there breaks a yet more glorious day; The saints triumphant rise in bright array; The King of Glory passes on His way. Alleluia! Alleluia! From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast, Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host, Singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost: Alleluia! Alleluia! (LSB 677:7, 8)

- Pastor Duane Bamsch is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley, CA.

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 House.

April 15, 2024

Today's Reading: Acts 3:11-21

Daily Lectionary: Exodus 33:1-23, Luke 7:1-17

And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. (Acts 3:16)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Jesus’s healing miracles can sometimes make us feel less than. They can make us feel left out or unimportant. Why does this person get to be healed, and here I am, still suffering from the thing I’ve prayed over and over again for God to heal or take away? Why doesn’t He do for me what He does for these people in the Bible, like the disabled man Peter healed? 

That’s a complicated answer beyond this brief page. But this fact remains: that man may have been healed, but he did eventually die. And that’s the thing about us all; we will all die unless Jesus returns first.

But that is where the comfort of this text comes in. We will all surely die, but we will also all be surely raised on the Last Day. And the faith that we have in Jesus now will lead to perfect health in the life of the world to come, and that life never ends.

That life is one that lasts forever. That perfect health will last forever. That newly-resurrected body will never give you the problems it does now. 

Your Baptism created within you the faith that gives perfect health. Your Baptism gave you life everlasting. It is something you have right now. You may not see or feel it, but that is Jesus’s promise to you: by virtue of your Baptism, you now have eternal life and you now live forever.

You can’t see the fullness of that just yet, none of us can, but it is yours. Oh, sure, your sinful flesh will want to deny that every single day. “There’s no way I can have eternal life, just look at me!” 

No! Jesus has said to you in your Baptism that you indeed are recreated to live forever. The promise of His Word, given through Holy Scripture backs that up. He has declared it, and you trust His Word, given into your ears.

That’s what faith is; trust created in you by Jesus to hear and believe His promises for you. Perfect healing is yours. Life forever is yours. Everlasting comfort is yours. Because of Jesus, because He loves you and wants you with Him forever. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Ev’ry wound that pains or grieves me By Your wounds, Lord, is made whole; When I’m faint, Your cross revives me, Granting new life to my soul. Yes, Your comfort renders sweet Ev’ry bitter cup I meet; For Your all-atoning passion Has procured my soul’s salvation. (LSB 421:4)

- Pastor Duane Bamsch is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley, CA.

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 House.

April 14, 2024

Today's Reading: Luke 24:36-49

Daily Lectionary: Exodus 32:15-35, Luke 6:39-49

“See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” (St. Luke 24:39–41)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. “Have you anything here to eat?” That’s the strangest thing ever to hear from the Risen Lord after the resurrection, isn’t it? But He has a good reason to ask: “a spirit does not have flesh and bones.”

This Jesus that appears to the disciples (hidden away behind locked doors, no less!) isn’t some spiritual apparition. He isn’t a figment of their imaginations. He stands before them in the flesh, and, as we all know, you have to eat to live in this world. The risen Jesus needed to eat just as much as you do, because He is a real, living person.

And that is the comfort in these words. That Jesus, risen from the dead—the one who bore all your sins in His body, who died a horrible death upon His cross, who descended into Hell and came back, who conquered death, who rose from the dead and lives even now—needed a snack. Even in His resurrection, He identifies so closely with His creatures, He is still so completely man (while being completely God) that He eats with his closest friends.

Truth be told, He kind of has to; because they are still a bit unsure if this is all real. St. Luke says they “disbelieved for joy.” That is, they were so absolutely stunned and overjoyed to see Jesus again that they couldn’t believe their good fortune. You know how that works, right? You get news about something that is so astounding and so earthshaking that you can’t believe it is real, even as you jump for joy upon hearing the news.

How does Jesus calm them down and remind them that He is indeed with them in the flesh? By eating with them. By doing the most human thing possible; sharing a meal with those He loves. 

Don’t forget in this Easter season of glory and Alleluias that your Lord Jesus needed to eat because He became man for you; to bear your sin, to wash you with His blood, to fulfill God’s Law for you, and ultimately to make a place for you at His eternal table. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O God, through the humiliation of Your Son You raised up the fallen world. Grant to Your faithful people, rescued from the peril of everlasting death, perpetual gladness and eternal joys; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Collect for the Third Sunday of Easter)

- Pastor Duane Bamsch is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley, CA.

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 House.

April 13, 2024 

Today's Reading: Psalm 30:1-5; antiphon: Psalm 16:11b

Daily Lectionary: Exodus 32:1-14, Luke 6:20-38

Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”(Psalm 30:5b, from the Introit on the Third Sunday of Easter)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The Psalm used for the Introit tomorrow is a Psalm of thanksgiving and praise. It expresses the joy of having been delivered from a terrible situation. However, we tend to get so wrapped up in the joy, that we forget how it must have felt in those moments before the Lord gave relief. 

This Psalm is written in the first person. That makes this Psalm my prayer. Before I was drawn up, I was at the bottom. The foes were about to have an opportunity to rejoice over me. I had to cry for help. My soul was in Sheol, down in that pit. There was a whole night of weeping. And from the moment it started, I wanted it to be over. But it was not over right away. It did not end at my first prayer. I had to endure the night. 

In this sinful world, there will always be something that I must endure. Running away from it often only gets me into more trouble, more suffering. Covering it up only takes the joy out of everything else. I must learn to endure many things in this life, because I need to endure.

But needing to endure is not a sign of the Lord’s absence. It’s a sign of His presence. Because Christ endures with me. And Christ endures even more for my sake. Because Jesus Christ died on the cross for me and rose for me, I have His promise that I will not have to endure forever. There is an end to what I suffer. It may not be this moment. It may not be this day. But there is an end to suffering. There is an end to what I must endure. 

And when that end comes, there is nothing so joyful in all the world. Especially with Jesus enduring with us. And that’s our Introit tomorrow. There is joy when we receive a hard fought victory. There is joy in getting the help we need. There is joy in being healed. There is joy in the resurrection. There is joy in the forgiveness of sins. There is joy in being named a child of God. And that such joy comes at the end of endurance only magnifies the joy to a level we could never understand without going through all that. Jesus Christ is our morning. He has endured all for you. And endures all with you too. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Though with a scornful wonder  The world sees her oppressed, By schisms rent asunder, 

By heresies distressed, Yet saints their watch are keeping; Their cry goes up, “How long?”

And soon the night of weeping Shall be the morn of song. (LSB 644:3)

- Pastor Eli Davis is pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Grants Pass, Oregon.

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 House.

April 12, 2024 

Today's Reading: Luke 6:1-19

Daily Lectionary: Exodus 31:1-18, Luke 6:1-19

And He said to them, "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” (Luke 6:5)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. In the New Testament reading from the daily lectionary today, Jesus and the Pharisees butt heads over the Sabbath. The Third Commandment is indeed, ‘Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.’ God did command that no work should be done on the Sabbath. But the word Sabbath in Hebrew means ‘rest.’ (It also means ‘seven.’) Abstaining from work is certainly one way to rest. But it is not the only way.

When Jesus’ disciples plucked grain and ate it, they received rest from their hunger. When Jesus healed the man with the withered hand, that man received rest from his affliction. When Jesus healed the diseases of the multitudes, and drove out unclean spirits, those people received rest from sicknesses and oppression. But the Pharisees were furious, and plotted together what they might do to Jesus. Because Jesus ignored the lesser rest in order that people might have a greater rest. 

We still do this today. We so want the lesser gifts that our Lord gives that we despise the greater. We pray about a test, or because we’re late, and we want to get through that moment well. But maybe missing that moment is something the Lord has for us in order to strengthen our faith, and teach us endurance. But we end up placing such importance on that moment, that we resent God for letting us go through that, and want nothing to do with the forgiveness of sins or eternal life. The Pharisees and we aren’t all that different.

Therefore repent. Turn to Christ and hand over your sin. Because He has done something truly remarkable with the Sabbath. In Genesis, on the seventh day, God rested from all His labors. Good Friday was the sixth day. And moments before sundown, which marked the beginning of the Sabbath, Jesus was placed in a tomb. And there He rested. The entire Sabbath Jesus rested from the work of giving us the greatest rest of all. Jesus rested from all His labors of the cross where He earned our forgiveness and salvation. Forgiveness even for failing to see the rest He has given us. 

Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. He gives the greater rest. Therefore find rest in Him. Find sin, death, and the devil conquered. Find all your greatest troubles and fears overcome. Find rest from your work, from your life, from everything you have been given to endure. Christ is our rest. So rest in Him. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,  “Come unto me and rest; Lay down, thou weary one, lay down 

Thy head upon my breast.” I came to Jesus as I was, So weary, worn, and sad;

I found in Him a resting place, And He has made me glad. (LSB 699:1)

- Pastor Eli Davis is pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Grants Pass, Oregon.

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 House.

April 11, 2024 

Today's Reading: The Lord’s Prayer - Introduction

Daily Lectionary: Exodus 25:1-22, Exodus 25:23-30:38, Luke 5:17-39

Our Father, who art in heaven. What does this mean? With these words God tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true Father and that we are His true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. We usually know Luke 15:11-32 as the parable of the Prodigal Son. But the person in the story who acts the least like we think he should is the father. The father in that story gives a reckless son his inheritance early, knowing he will squander it. The father should be stern and teach his son a lesson about respect when he finally returns. But instead he sacrifices his dignity to go running to him, sacrifices his property in order to fully restore the son to inheritance rights, and throws a feast for his son to let all his neighbors know that he will not let his son be shamed. Such actions cost a lot, both in money, and in social standing. But the father was willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of his son. 

This is how God the Father treats us. Our sin is an open rebellion against Him. And yet, instead of leaving us to die in our sin, the Father sacrifices His Son Jesus in order to save us. No price was too high, no shame too great, no loss too much when it came to saving us. God was willing to get His hands dirty in order to get us out of the dirt of our sin. He let that sin fall upon Him, rather than let us die forever with it upon ourselves. That’s what love does. And God loves us. Even while we were still sinners, God loves us.

Therefore we pray to God as children go and ask their own fathers for what they need. We might have a really good Dad that God gave us, we might have a Dad that isn’t so good. But our Lord is the perfect Father. The example for all fathers to follow. So we go and ask Him for what He has promised. And, like the crazy father in the parable, He plans to say yes to all of it. Every promise He has made. His name, His kingdom, His will, daily bread, forgiveness, deliverance, all of it. He wants us to call upon Him and ask for it. And He will give it. That’s a promise. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

- Pastor Eli Davis is pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Grants Pass, Oregon.

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 House.

April 10, 2024 

Today's Reading: Exodus 24:1-18

Daily Lectionary: Exodus 24:1-18, Luke 5:1-16

Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank. (Exodus 24:9-11)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. There’s a lot going on in the Daily Lectionary’s reading from Exodus today. The Lord renews His covenant with His people. Moses heads up Mt. Sinai. And just before that, at Sinai’s base, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders join Moses in seeing God. That’s really cool! Don’t you wish you could see Jesus like they did? 

We must admit that we don’t see Jesus in the same way. Jesus Himself told Thomas in last Sunday’s Gospel lesson, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29) And yet, our Lord has given us a place to go that’s very much like how they saw God in Exodus 24. 

When you’re in Church next Sunday, pay attention to the altar. What’s on it? You’ll find bread and wine. When Christ’s Word is spoken, that bread and wine are now also the body and blood of Christ. The same body that hung as a sacrifice on the cross. The same blood that was shed for your forgiveness. We see Jesus there. We behold God, and we eat and we drink. The same way they did at the foot of Mt. Sinai. 

The altar is the place where heaven and earth meet. It’s where God is seen. Maybe in a little different way than Moses, Thomas and the rest saw. But our Lord cares enough about you to rend the heavens and come down. He meets you where you are, down here in the dirt of your sin, and the grime of your fallenness. And He comes to cleanse you. Taking away your shame. Forgiving your sin. Comforting your grief. 

He doesn’t worry what will happen to Him, even when it’s a cross. You’re worth getting dirty for. You’re worth dying for. This is what Christ has done for you. And it’s what Christ continues to do for you. And we get to see it every time we’re in Church. We get to see Jesus. And not just see Him, but hear Him, taste Him, smell Him, touch Him. He engages all our senses so that we may know that He is here indeed, and here for you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Here, O my Lord, I see Thee face to face; Here would I touch and handle things unseen;

Here grasp with firmer hand the eternal grace, And all my weariness upon Thee lean. (LSB 631:1)

- Pastor Eli Davis is pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Grants Pass, Oregon.

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 House.

April 9, 2024 

Today's Reading: 1 John 1:1-2:2

Daily Lectionary: Exodus 23:14-33, Luke 4:31-44

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Last Sunday’s Epistle reading from 1 John has a familiar couple of verses if you’re used to using Divine Service, settings One or Two. As we prepare to confess our sins, we speak responsively verses eight and nine from chapter one. But have you ever stopped to think how strange it is that Christians regularly confess our sins? 

People without faith don’t generally confess to having done anything wrong. Our sinful hearts train us from birth to justify our every action. The toddler who knocks over the lamp blames his stuffed animal. When that excuse doesn’t work, he learns to make his self-justification more believable next time. Even at ten years old, he has learned to be ready to explain why he’s done every action, just in case anyone questions him. Self-justification is such a part of our lives in this world, that we expect it from everyone. 

No one confesses to having done anything wrong, at least not in any meaningful way. People might admit to doing something that everyone else does, or something that has no actual consequences. Someone famous, when caught doing something really bad, might make an apology tour. Not because they think they did anything wrong, but it’s the price to pay to retain their fame, money, or power. 

When someone does end up doing something that they can’t justify, it breaks them. They live the rest of their lives in regret, in grief, in despair. It drives them to madness, and they believe that they are without hope, without forgiveness, without mercy, because they recognize that they have sinned, and they cannot fix that. 

But Christians confess their sins all the time, and we don’t fall into madness or despair over it. Why? Because not only do we know we have sinned, we also know that God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Christ Jesus has taken all our sin away. He paid sin’s price. He died on the cross in our place. And He’s given us His perfect life in exchange. That good news overcomes our attempts of self-justification. That good news overcomes our despair. That good news is for you. And we trust our Lord enough to confess all our sins to Him, knowing that He has already forgiven all. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

I lay my sins on Jesus, The spotless Lamb of God; He bears them all and frees us

From the accursed load. I bring my guilt to Jesus To wash my crimson stains

Clean in His blood most precious  Till Not a spot remains. (LSB 606:1)

- Pastor Eli Davis is pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Grants Pass, Oregon.

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 House.