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Thursday of the Third Week after the Epiphany
Today’s Reading: Romans 12:16-21
Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 10:1-11:3; 2 Timothy 3:1-17
Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. (Romans 12:17)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Do you carry a grudge against someone? Are you waiting to get even? You know the saying about payback! They did it to you. Something bad happens to them and we joke about “karma.” What goes around comes around. This is the world’s way of teaching us to deal with people who hurt us. Hurt them back.
Compare that to Jesus. He was arrested. He was tried. He didn’t even try to defend Himself. All He ever did was speak the truth. He was handed over, beaten mercilessly and swapped for a murderer. He hung on the cross while everyone made fun of Him for what? For nothing at all. Perhaps the world was most mad that He didn’t even try to stick up for Himself. But what the world forgets is that if Jesus HAD stood up for Himself, we would have perished eternally.
By not defending Himself, by not striking back, by not taking revenge, Jesus saves those who always want payback to happen. He saves you. Those sins of wanting to get back at others are what put your Lord on a cross. Yet, it is His being on that cross and dying for you that wipes out those wicked desires to see bad things happen to the people you don’t like!
And here are two promises the Lord gives. First is His promise that by your Baptism into His Name, your Lord forgives your desire for revenge and harm to others. Second, He promises by that same Baptism and through His Word and Sacraments to grant you the Holy Spirit to work in you the godly desires to overcome that lust for vengeance. The Spirit works in you to teach you the true way of living as a follower of Jesus: by NOT paying people back with what they deserve.
After all, the Lord does not deal with your evil by being evil back, but by being your Savior and forgiving your sins. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Lord let me win my foes With kindly words and actions, And let me find good friends For counsel and correction. Help me, as You have taught, To love both great and small And by Your Spirit’s might To live in peace with all. (O God, My Faithful God, LSB 696:4)
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By Higher Things®Today’s Reading: Romans 12:16-21
Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 10:1-11:3; 2 Timothy 3:1-17
Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. (Romans 12:17)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Do you carry a grudge against someone? Are you waiting to get even? You know the saying about payback! They did it to you. Something bad happens to them and we joke about “karma.” What goes around comes around. This is the world’s way of teaching us to deal with people who hurt us. Hurt them back.
Compare that to Jesus. He was arrested. He was tried. He didn’t even try to defend Himself. All He ever did was speak the truth. He was handed over, beaten mercilessly and swapped for a murderer. He hung on the cross while everyone made fun of Him for what? For nothing at all. Perhaps the world was most mad that He didn’t even try to stick up for Himself. But what the world forgets is that if Jesus HAD stood up for Himself, we would have perished eternally.
By not defending Himself, by not striking back, by not taking revenge, Jesus saves those who always want payback to happen. He saves you. Those sins of wanting to get back at others are what put your Lord on a cross. Yet, it is His being on that cross and dying for you that wipes out those wicked desires to see bad things happen to the people you don’t like!
And here are two promises the Lord gives. First is His promise that by your Baptism into His Name, your Lord forgives your desire for revenge and harm to others. Second, He promises by that same Baptism and through His Word and Sacraments to grant you the Holy Spirit to work in you the godly desires to overcome that lust for vengeance. The Spirit works in you to teach you the true way of living as a follower of Jesus: by NOT paying people back with what they deserve.
After all, the Lord does not deal with your evil by being evil back, but by being your Savior and forgiving your sins. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Lord let me win my foes With kindly words and actions, And let me find good friends For counsel and correction. Help me, as You have taught, To love both great and small And by Your Spirit’s might To live in peace with all. (O God, My Faithful God, LSB 696:4)