January 24, 2025 

Today's Reading: 1 Timothy 6:11-16

Daily Lectionary: Joel 3:1-21; Matthew 24:42-47

I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Timothy 6:13-14)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Paul writes this Epistle to his friend and colleague, Timothy. If you remember from the Book of Acts, Paul first meets up with Timothy at the beginning of his second missionary journey. He takes off, along with Silas, to visit the congregations that were established during his initial journey. Timothy is in Lystra, a member of the congregation, brought up in the faith by his mother and grandmother. There is even a good chance that Timothy saw Paul stoned and left for dead outside of the city walls his first time around.

So Timothy knows what is at stake. He knows the dangers that he is going to undertake as he sets off with Paul and later becomes a pastor of congregations who need to hear of Christ and Him crucified…  Paul also knows what immense struggles and burdens await Timothy as he is called to stand in the stead of Christ, and so he sends him at least two pastoral letters to encourage him in his vocation.

The job of a pastor is to speak the Word. Listen to him as one who is set before you to stand in the stead of Christ, not despising preaching and the Word, but holding it sacred and gladly hearing and learning it. For your pastor is called to proclaim the Law in all of its severity and then proclaim the Gospel in all of its sweetness to you… Temptations will arise to commingle the two, to let the Law not be as severe as it should be, and to speak of the Gospel as anything but a pure and complete Gift. So Paul encourages Timothy, and in the same way, then, your pastor, to hold to the Confession of the cross for the sinner because that is what we poor sinners need to hear.

So we give thanks to the Lord above for Timothy and his faithful proclamation of the Word and the way in which he rightly administered The Sacraments. And then, in the same way, we pray for our own pastors that they would remain steadfast so that we might receive the forgiveness of sins through the preaching of the Word that comes from their lips.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, You have always given to Your Church on earth faithful shepherds such as Timothy to guide and feed Your flock. Make all pastors diligent to preach Your holy Word and administer Your Means Of Grace, and grant Your people wisdom to follow in the way that leads to life eternal; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

-Rev. Eli Lietzau, pastor of Wheat Ridge Evangelical Lutheran Church in Wheat Ridge, CO.

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

What makes a church "good?" Come join the fictional family as they test out eight different churches in their brand-new town and answer this question along the way. Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? by Matthew Richard, now available from Concordia Publishing House.