Today's Reading: Introit for the 17th Sunday after Trinity

(Psalm 119:1-2, 5-6; antiphon: vs.124, 137)

Daily Lectionary: Malachi 1:1-14; Matthew 3:1-17

Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love and teach me your statutes. (From the Introit for the 17th Sunday after Trinity)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The Lord deals with you according to His steadfast love. This is love that does not fade or falter. This love does not depend on your condition or how you are feeling. The truth is that we might feel good about the Lord one day, and doubtful the next. Our plea then, is that He would deal with us according to His steadfast love, because ours just won't do the trick.

Martin Luther, in his 1518 Heidelberg Disputation, wrote that "the love of God does not find, but creates, that which is pleasing to it." The love that humans have for one another is usually based on some sort of quality that the other person has, and these can wax and wane over our lifetimes, causing our love for one another to increase or decrease. People sometimes fall out of love due to a change in another person.

Are you fearful that the Lord might stop loving you if you can't keep up with His demands? The Lord's steadfast love does hold onto you because you have done enough good, but because you are enough in Christ Jesus. He did not find you and measure whether or not you fit the bill. He found you and loves you just as you are. He has created you, and He loves that which He creates. Isn't it great to be a creature?

Paul speaks of this in Titus 3:5, that "He saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit." This is how the Lord has chosen to deal with you! He has come to you and loved you, and will not stop. There was nothing particularly loveable about you, other than you are you. You are His creation. Still not sure? He's baptized you, too, just in case you were wondering if His love might be for everyone else rather than for you. This love is most certainly for you, and is how He has chosen to deal with you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Lord, Your mercy will not leave me; ever will Your truth abide. Then in You I will confide. Since Your Word cannot deceive me, my salvation is to me safe and sure eternally. ("Oh, How Great Is Your Compassion" LSB 559, st.4)

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch