Today's Reading: Luther’s Small Catechism - Table of Duties: To Employers and Supervisors

Daily Lectionary: Job 5:1-27, John 2:13-25

“Do not threaten them, since you know that He who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him.” (Eph. 6:9)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. “My boss is such a jerk!”  This is a judgment we’re quick to pronounce. It’s socially acceptable.  And what did he or she do to earn that label?  Make you work Saturday when you’d rather sleep in?  Deny your vacation request?  Too often, we berate those in authority over us because they’re calling the shots and not us.

But when’s the last time you prayed for your supervisor?  I mean, think about the tasks and responsibility God has given to them.  Maybe they’re a business owner. They might have their manager breathing down their neck.  They are responsible for the schedules, productivity, and welfare of their staff.  But above even their manager, is a Master who is in heaven.  He is your Master, too, and there is no favoritism with Him.

When we remember who is the Master of us all, we realize how much trouble we all cause Him.  If you don’t believe me, just read the accounts of Israel in the wilderness!  Yet, look at how our Master in heaven treats us!  Worse than the gross-factor cleaning the public restroom, worse than the tedium of sorting the file room, harder than bearing a piano down five flights of stairs—is what the Son of God has done for us.  He became sin for us, wearing our filth and shame on the cross.  He agonized in Gethsemane and submitted to the Father’s will to save humanity. He bore in His own body the sins which merited the eternal wrath of God.  If this is how your Master in heaven acts, then maybe we can learn a thing or two from His example.  St. Peter teaches, “Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.” (1 Pet. 2:18)

Those in the seat of responsibility can also learn that they, too, are servants of God.  They are given their management for the good of someone’s business, for the good of those under them, and for how we all together are used by God to provide and maintain order in His world.  Remembering our heavenly Master who manages all for our good, we “commend ourselves, our body, soul, and all things” to Him.  In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

 Lord, help us walk Your servant way, Wherever love may lead, And, bending low, forgetting self, Each serve the other’s need.

 
You bid us bend our human pridem Nor count ourselves above, The lowest place, the meanest task, That waits the gift of love. Amen. (LSB 857:1, 4)

-Pastor Michael A. Miller is Pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR.,

Audio Reflections Speaker: Patrick Sturdivant, Development and Marketing Executive at Higher Things.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.