Based on Micah 5:2-5a

The morning I put together this devotion, I woke up to this news headline: Rebels seized the Syrian capital of Damascus. President al-Assad and his family flee to Russia. The prime minister of Syria has agreed to hand control of the government over to the rebel-led “Salvation Government.” That is somewhat ironic because this rebel group known as HTS is a designated terrorist organization.

This transfer of power comes after 13 years of civil war and 50 years of brutal rule by the Assad family. And it ends a war that has killed thousands and has displaced millions and has left an economy that has been hollowed out by global sanctions.

On top of it all, we still have more than 900 United States war fighters that are stationed in Syria, fighting alongside Kurdish-led forces.

But there’s more: 2.6 percent of the population in Syria is Christian, which accounts for just over 500,000 people in Syria who are Christian. And their future is uncertain because Al-Qaeda has urged the HTS rebels to turn against the crusaders. It’s a pejorative term for Christians.

I wonder how these Christians, our brothers and sisters in Christ in Syria, will be celebrating Christmas this year. What will their celebrations look like as they welcome Jesus coming in the flesh to be their Savior?

But this is how it has always been for God’s people. The prophet Micah lived about 700 years before Jesus took on human flesh. And maybe you know the passage I’m going to quote—maybe it’s very familiar to you. Or maybe it’s not. But this is one of those passages from Micah chapter 5 that you’ll hear read in church on Christmas Eve or at a children’s Christmas service. It’s the one that talks about Bethlehem being the place where the King would be born.

You may know this passage very well, but the verses that follow are ones that maybe you haven’t really heard before. Right after Micah points out the fact that the coming King will be born in Bethlehem, he says this: “He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be our peace when the Assyrians invade our land and march through our fortresses” (Micah 5:4,5a).

Did you catch that? Micah didn’t say if, but he said when the Assyrians march through our fortresses. The foreign army, the Assyrians who lived in modern-day Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and you guessed it, Syria, would come and attack the northern kingdom of Israel and completely destroy it. And they would march against the capital city of Jerusalem in the south.

But in spite of that, what does the coming King promise to do for his people? Even when enemies march through their fortified cities? He will stand and shepherd his flock, and he will be their peace.

You see, when God talks about peace, it doesn’t mean he is always going to bring peace between warring nations. It doesn’t mean you and I will always have a peaceful feeling. It doesn’t always mean that there’s going to be a peace even for God’s people in foreign countries, or even in this country.

What it does mean is that in spite of war and uncertainty and persecution for Christians, in spite of the war that may unfortunately rear its ugly head in your home as family members argue and fight, in spite of war that may separate you from family members this Christmas because they’re serving far away from you overseas, in spite of family members and friends who don’t share the same reason that you do when you celebrate Christmas and maybe have some choice words for you because of it—in spite of all of that, the King born in Bethlehem promises to be your strength. He promises to be your shepherd and promises that you will rest securely and that he will be your peace. This peace is knowing that Jesus is with you.

In spite of all of the things that are going on in the world and in spite of the things that are going on in your personal life, you have the peace of knowing that God will use his almighty strength and power to be your shepherd, to protect you and keep you safe.

You have the peace of knowing that Jesus came as the King in Bethlehem, and he came to die on a cross and to rise again from the dead so that you know that no matter what happens in this world or in your personal life, you have peace with God through the forgiveness of your sins. This means that God is at peace with you. And it means that you can be at peace with yourself and at peace with others.

You have the peace of knowing that there is an eternal peace in heaven, and it is yours. Yes, there is peace even in the middle of war. Jesus is that peace. He is your peace.

Prayer:

O Lord, we ask that as our U.S. Space Force celebrates its fifth birthday today on December 20th, we ask that you be with those who protect us from the growing threat of near-peer competitors who seek to threaten our commerce, our financial and economic stability, and disrupt our infrastructure. Continue to raise up men and women who are wise and knowledgeable in this vocation so that we might live in peace. In your saving name we pray. Amen.

Written and recorded by Rev. Paul Horn, WELS National Civilian Chaplain to the Military, San Diego, California.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Note: Scripture reading footnotes are clickable only in the web version.

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Based on Zephaniah 3:14-17

Do you sing? And if so, where? I’m guessing at church. Or maybe you sing in the car when you’re riding solo and you crank the tunes and belt it out because number one, no one else is in the car, and number two, those songs just take you back.

Or maybe it’s when you’re in the car and the car is loaded full of kids, and you have your favorite tune from your high school days cued up. You’re ready to crank it and belt it out at the top of your lungs to embarrass your kiddos.

What about at a military ceremony formation? Do you sing there? For a change of responsibility or a promotion or a change of command or a graduation, and the band kicks in with that familiar military march, and you’re ready to belt it out with the gusto of a Marine at the birthday ball? Or maybe you quietly mumble along because it’s the 220th time that you’ve heard that march.

How many of you are familiar with the march “Always Ready, Always There!”?

I’m guessing that if you’re in the National Guard, maybe you are familiar with this march. And if you’re in the Guard, maybe you still haven’t heard of it because it’s fairly new. It’s only eight years old. “Always Ready, Always There!” is much younger than the National Guard, which celebrates its birthday today on December 13th.

When you listen to this march, it just makes you want to stand up and belt it out with gusto.

In our devotion today, the Lord God gives us as Christians good reasons to stand up and burst into song. Through his prophet Zephaniah, he encourages his people with these words: “Sing, Daughter Zion; shout aloud, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem!” (Zephaniah 3:14). Those proper names Zion and Jerusalem are pictures that are used of all believers.

So what was the occasion that prompted the Lord to tell us to burst into song with the gusto of a Marine at the birthday ball? Well, he says this through his prophet in verse 15: “The LORD has taken away your punishment.” More festive than celebrating a birthday. More congratulatory than a promotion. More celebratory than a retirement is this declaration: Your sins are forgiven.

Zephaniah says there is no punishment waiting for you because you’ve sinned against your holy God. He’s saying to you that there is nothing evil that happens to you in this life because God is somehow using that evil to get back at you for the things that you’ve done. No, he’s taken it away forever. God doesn’t punish you. He punished his Son Jesus on the cross in your place. It’s done. It’s finished. That’s why God says to you and me, “Sing, shout aloud, be glad and rejoice with all your heart.”

But now in an interesting spin, the prophet Zephaniah then says this: “The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing” (verse 17).

Did you catch that? It says that God sings, and he sings because of you. And God’s song for you is prompted by the joy and happiness in his heart because your sin no longer separates you from him. He has this song of joy in his heart because he has won eternal life for you through his Son Jesus. He sings a song of joy and happiness because he has saved you forever, and he sings his song because he knows that you will spend eternity with him.

So, my friends, sing your glad songs to God for his saving work for you, and then listen as God sings his song because of you.

Prayer:

Written and recorded by Rev. Paul Horn, WELS National Civilian Chaplain to the Military, San Diego, California.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Note: Scripture reading footnotes are clickable only in the web version.

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Based on Luke 3:1-6

December 7th, 1941, a day that continues to live on in infamy.

On that single day, 2,403 souls perished, and almost half of them in one battleship. If you ever have the chance to get to Hawaii, make sure you stop by Pearl Harbor and take the ferry out to the USS Arizona. When you get there, you’ll find it’s a very somber place. As you think about all the souls that perished there, as you stop to listen to the waves as they gently lap up against the memorial, you can both smell and see the oil that continues to float up to the surface from the Arizona. They call those “the black tears of the Arizona.”

All of this is a reminder of that awful day when lives were lost. As we think about tragic days like that, or 9/11, or the one-too-many violent shootings in our country, we turn to God and we ask, “Why?” What does this all mean?

Before Jesus publicly went out preaching and teaching in the region of Galilee and Jerusalem and through Judea, God sent John the Baptizer to prepare the hearts of the people for Jesus. And people went out to the wilderness around the Jordan River to hear John preach and teach and baptize. And they went out to John with their questions for God. And some of those questions were, “Why? What purpose does this serve?” John’s reply to them? “Repent.”

God doesn’t always give an answer to our questions of “Why?” God doesn’t need to, even though we think that he does. But God’s answer through John the Baptizer redirects our hearts and our minds so that we see what is really needed in our lives: not an answer from God, but for us to do an about-face, to repent.

John says to you and to me, “Repent!” Do an about-face, because that’s really what repentance means. Repentance in the original language of the Bible means to change your mind, to change your heart and your mind about your sin, to do an about-face in regard to your sin. To change your mind about the things that you do that violate God’s will for your life. To change your mind about those things that you fail to do, how you fail to joyfully and faithfully carry out God’s will for your life.

Do an about-face. That means to no longer find pleasure in sinning, to no longer find pleasure in the laziness to carry out God’s will for your life. To change your mind about those things so that you no longer think that simply by trying your hardest or doing your best to be a good person that somehow this will cause God to do an about-face toward you.

John says to you and to me, “Repent for the forgiveness of your sins.” Do an about-face and turn from your sin—but turn toward something, toward someone—to that person who has sunk into the depths of your sin, your guilt, your death, and your hell, and who has left it entombed in his grave forever.

Just as the Arizona in the waters of Pearl Harbor serve as a reminder of that awful day of death, so also the waters of your baptism serve as a reminder of that awful day of what Christ did for you: that he has drowned your sin, your death, and your hell. Let the waters of your baptism be that very real reminder of the promise that Christ has made you not just to drown your sins and your death with him on the cross, but also to raise you up to new life.

Repent, turn from your sin, turn to the cross, but then turn again. Do another about-face to go and live that life of forgiveness that Christ has earned for you.

And so when you consider the events of December 7th, 1941, or you consider the events of a 9/11 or whatever disaster comes to your mind, let it be a reminder to you and to me to do an about-face, to repent, so that when Christ calls us home to heaven, however he decides to call us home to heaven through death, you and I will go through life confident and unfearingly knowing that when we meet our Maker and see him face to face, he will welcome us home to heaven with a smile because of what Christ has done for us.

Prayer:

Written and recorded by Rev. Paul Horn, WELS National Civilian Chaplain to the Military, San Diego, California.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Note: Scripture reading footnotes are clickable only in the web version.

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Based on Philippians 1:3-6

This is Thanksgiving weekend, and I wanted to take some time to express thanksgiving for all the things God has blessed me with and the ways I’ve seen him bless you in your lives and your vocations.

To do that, I’d like to look at the apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians. In chapter one, in the first few verses, he says this: “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:3-6).

The things that the apostle Paul shares with this congregation in Philippi are the things that I want to share with you—that every time I think of you, as Paul says, I thank my God for you. For the partnership that we enjoy in the gospel, the fact that we are united by one Baptism in one Lord Jesus Christ, in that one true faith, united by that one hope of eternal life in heaven and having the sure certainty of that resurrection from the dead.

And the unity that we enjoy, that partnership in the gospel that we have as believers in Christ, is shown in the way that we worship together, the way that we pray together and pray for each other, the way that we encourage one another, the way that we study God’s Word together, and the ways that we love each other.

I’ve written out a list of things that I’m thankful for from this past year, and I want to share those things with you. First of all, I’m thankful for the number of people that God has put into my life this past year through personal visits, phone calls, e-mails, and video chats. I started to count, and I lost track.

I’m thankful to God for the number of active duty, reserve, and National Guard troops; veterans and civilians; and lay people who have been trained as distinctive religious group leaders and religious lay leaders. I’m thankful that you have the strong desire to make sure that God’s Word is provided in places that I can’t go and that our WELS pastors can’t go. You’re making that happen.

I’m thankful for the number of parents who have filled out referrals for their children through our website, because that says to me that you desire Word and sacrament to be provided for your child as they begin their vocation as a warfighter in our nation’s military. And I’m thankful for the number of high school seniors that have filled out that referral for themselves because that says to me that you want to stay connected to Christ as you go through basic training, through your individual training afterwards, and wherever God leads you through the military.

I’m thankful for the number of warfighters who update their contact info when they PCS, when they deploy. Because, again, it shows me that you are concerned about the spiritual care that you receive. By updating your information through our website, that helps us keep you connected to our WELS pastors or to other WELS members to stay connected to Christ. I’m thankful for that.

I’m thankful for the number of veterans who have reached out who are thankful for these devotions. I didn’t know this, but there’s a group of veterans who meet regularly for coffee in a restaurant, and they either watch the devotions or print them off and they discuss them as part of their group encouragement to one another. I’m thankful that these devotions are being used that way.

I’m thankful for you, the warfighters and spouses who have trusted me enough to share your story with me and have shared your weaknesses and your failures and your joys and your victories. And I’m thankful for the number of families who have let me in and have made me part of your family.

I’m thankful for the number of single warfighters who have brought me in as part of their life and have entrusted their story to me, so that we might enjoy mutual encouragement through the Word of God.

I’m thankful for the number of spouses who have sacrificed their careers to support their spouse during their military career and have found joy in the honorable and often overlooked and underappreciated vocation of homemaker. My prayer for you is that you continue to find strength and joy in that honorable vocation.

I’m thankful for the number of veterans and warfighters who have been so patient with me, taking me by the hand and patiently instructing me so I can better understand the military mindset, so I can better serve you and equip our pastors and our congregations to better serve you with Word and sacrament.

I’m thankful for the number of doors that have been opened for me, for our pastors, and for our congregations to reach military members and their families on post, on base, and in our communities.

I’m thankful for the number of military chaplains who have opened doors for me and our WELS pastors and our congregations, so that again, our people can be better served by Word and sacrament.

I’m thankful for the number of gifts that have been given by thankful hearts, not only to our ministry but even to me personally—like the Rangers coffee mug that I recently received as a gift. Every time I use it or other gifts that I’ve received, it gives me the opportunity to pause and pray for this person and the people that support this person. So thank you for those gifts.

And thank you also for the number of prayers that have been spoken on behalf of this ministry, that have been spoken on behalf of me and my family, that have been spoken for our pastors and for our congregations.

I’m thankful for the number of letters and e-mails and texts. They are so encouraging, and I thank you for them.

I’m thankful for the number of experiences that God has allowed me to have this past year. There are too many to list, so I’m going to pick just one. It’s jumping from 12,500 feet with the U.S. Army Golden Knights in Fayetteville, North Carolina. I thank Larissa and her pastor, Pastor Glende, for making that happen.

I’m thankful for the number of people that you have introduced to me—people whom you’ve identified as people who need to hear about Jesus. And I’m thankful for the number of people that you have led to Jesus—the number of spouses and battle buddies and children and parents and friends that you have brought to hear about Jesus. I pray that you continue to scatter that seed of the gospel so that many more souls might be touched by the gospel, and I pray that God would make those seeds grow.

And finally, I’m thankful for our Commander-in-Chief, Jesus Christ, who continues to lead us in spiritual battle, who continues to lead us through spiritual battle, who will continue to lead us until we reach those peaceful shores of heaven.

I want to close this devotion today with the words of the apostle Paul.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, this weekend we also celebrate the birthday of our nation’s Civil Air Patrol. From before their official creation in 1948 and continuing through today, members of the Civil Air Patrol have carried out emergency services and disaster relief missions around our nation. Keep these citizen volunteers faithful and safe as they search for and find the lost. Provide comfort in times of disaster and work to keep our homeland safe. In your name I pray. Amen.

Written and recorded by Rev. Paul Horn, WELS National Civilian Chaplain to the Military, San Diego, California.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Note: Scripture reading footnotes are clickable only in the web version.

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Based on Jude 20, 21

As I’ve listened to our war fighters, those who are both deployed and preparing to deploy, one of the things they’ve shared with me is that there’s a sort of pivot when it comes to battle planning—that training for battle and planning for battle looks a little bit different than it has in the past. We’ve seen this in the war between Russia and Ukraine, between Israel and Iran and the Houthi rebels in the Gulf of Oman with drone warfare.

This has changed the way we plan for battle. While our Marines and soldiers pound the ground, our Air Force and Navy and Space Force look to the skies. How do we deal with this new threat of drone attacks?

All this talk of war and preparing for war reminds us of Jesus’ words that in the end times there will be wars and rumors of wars. But he says this should not alarm us. He says instead to use these events as reminders to keep our eyes on the skies, not looking for incoming drone attacks, but looking to the skies for his salvation, for our salvation for eternal life. To look to the skies for Jesus to come with his angels and bring us to everlasting life, where there will be no more wars and no more killing and no more death, but only peace and to be with Jesus forever.

The way we keep our eyes on the skies is by keeping ourselves busy with those things that remind us of that great day that is to come. Our encouragement today is from the book of Jude, and I encourage you to read the entire book. It’s only 25 verses, but I want to focus on just two of the verses, verses 20 and 21. There Jude tells us, “Keep yourselves in God’s love” (verse 21).

You might ask the question, “Well, how can I keep myself in God’s love? Does God love me less at times? Are there things that I need to do so God might love me more?” Is that what Jude is saying when he tells us to keep yourselves in God’s love? Not at all. God loves you unconditionally, and that is seen in his Son on the cross.

But sometimes we forget that. So keep yourselves in God’s love, Jude tells us. And he tells us to do that by doing three things: by building, by praying, and by waiting.

First of all, he says, keep yourselves in God’s love “by building yourselves up in your most holy faith” (verse 20). You see, your enemy, the devil, loves to dive into your world just like an enemy drone would dive in from the skies so he might bring chaos into your life. And as you focus on that chaos, your eyes are distracted from Jesus’ love for you. So Jude says to build yourselves up in your most holy faith. How do we do that? Read the Word, listen to the Word, study the Word, sing the Word, share the Word, remember the Word. For it is in the Word that God reminds you again and again of his unconditional love for you in Christ Jesus.

Secondly, Jude says, keep yourselves in God’s love by “praying in the Holy Spirit” (verse 20). God speaks to you in his Word. Respond to him and talk to him in your prayers. Are you anxious about wars and rumors of wars? Then pray about it. Pray to him in confidence. Pray knowing that you pray to the King of kings and Lord of lords, the God, the Lord who loves you unconditionally, who will come again in the skies with his angels to bring you home to heaven, who loves to listen to your prayers and to act on your behalf in response to your prayers.

So keep yourselves in God’s love by building, by praying, and finally, by waiting. Jude writes, “Wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life” (verse 21). It often feels that this world is careening toward self-destruction, from the awful things that we as human beings do to each other to the destructive forces of natural disasters. It doesn’t feel like there’s much we can do to stop any of it.

So, Jude says, just wait. Wait for God’s love for you. Wait for that day when he comes from the skies in his love and mercy to bring you home to eternal life in heaven. Keep your eyes on the skies by building, by praying, and by waiting.

Prayer:

But Lord, in your wisdom, we know that you have used nations and leaders in wars and conflicts to advance your kingdom of grace. And so in the midst of these conflicts, we pray, open doors for your people to bring the hope of Christ to those who are suffering the ravages of war.

And now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

Written and recorded by Rev. Paul Horn, WELS National Civilian Chaplain to the Military, San Diego, California.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Note: Scripture reading footnotes are clickable only in the web version.

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Based on Daniel 12:1-3

I’m writing this devotion on November 5th. And since this devotion will be sent on November 15th, you probably voted in the recent election. And either you went in person or, like me and my wife, voted a couple weeks early. We received our ballots in the mail and dropped them off in a box in San Diego County.

So you know the outcome of the election already since it’s now November 15th. How do you feel about the outcome?

I was in Washington, D.C., a couple of weeks ago, and I asked a senior officer that same question about the election. I said, “Can I ask you a question? Don’t feel that you have to answer it.”

And he said, “No, I’m glad you asked it because, yes, I do pay attention to the election because of my job in counterintelligence and the assets that we have in near-peer competitor countries. We need to let them know what’s going on because this determines troop movement, and it determines where our people are because other countries react differently to different administrations in the White House.”

You know the outcome already. How do you feel about that?

You might have mixed emotions, depending on which side of the aisle you are on, depending on if you watch a lot of Fox News or CNN or MSNBC. Or maybe you try to stay in the middle and find a news agency that just reports the facts, which doesn’t lean one way or the other—but then that’s hard to find.

How have you reacted? This is what I do. The month before a major election, I read the book of Daniel, because it reminds me that God already knows the outcome. As you read the book of Daniel, you sit back in amazement and see how God moves and shakes and shapes nations to do his will. Daniel reminds me that no matter who is in charge—or who thinks they’re in charge—it is our God, the King of kings and Lord of lords. He uses his faithful people in his service in government to help carry out his will and serve faithfully in that vocation in the government.

Allow me to share the reading for this coming Sunday, Daniel chapter 12: “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever” (verses 1-3).

What God tells us in the book of Daniel is that things will be bad for God’s people. They’ve always been bad. Since the time of the Garden of Eden, there’s been animosity and enmity between God’s holy people and those who oppose God’s holy people.

And you’ve experienced this in your own family, among your friends, among the people that you work with, even in our government. There will always be people who oppose God’s will and God’s people.

But in the end, God knows the outcome. He tells us that in the end, the archangel Michael, the commander of the angel armies of heaven, will arise and protect his people. He will deliver us.

God’s got his angels watching over us and protecting us, no matter what happens in an election year. But here’s the other thing. It says, “There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then” (verse 1a). This shouldn’t alarm us when these things happen, because God has told us they will right in his Word.

But here’s the thing. God knows the outcome. He says, “At that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered” (verse 1b). That’s you, and that’s me. You know your name is written in God’s book because he has told you so, and you believe it, and you trust it. Because in the waters of your baptism, God has taken your name and has written it down in his family ledger.

It reminds me that a couple of generations ago, it was very popular to have a family Bible. And in the front of that Bible was the family tree. When a new infant was born, that name was written in the front of that family Bible and then passed on to the next generation. Your name was part of the family

God has done that for you, but in his book, in heaven, that is you. And everyone whose name is found written in that book will be delivered. And here’s what he says: “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life” (verse 2). That’s you. You already know the outcome of what’s going to happen to you. Your body will rise from the dead, and then he says that you will shine like the brightness of the heavens, like the stars forever and ever. You know the outcome.

You already know the outcome of the election as I sit here and write this devotion on November 5th. You already know the outcome with what’s going to happen to nations at the end of time. You already know the outcome of what’s going to happen to you. So rest in those promises. No matter how you feel about the outcome of this election, rest in those promises.

And my encouragement to you is to go back and read the book of Daniel this month. And if in reading the book of Daniel with all of the visions, you’re trying to figure out what it all means, then I encourage you to order the People’s Bible commentary on the book of Daniel from Northwestern Publishing House. Go to nph.net and search for the People’s Bible: Daniel.

Read Daniel this month, and rest in those promises that God knows the outcome.

Prayer:

Written and recorded by Rev. Paul Horn, WELS National Civilian Chaplain to the Military, San Diego, California.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Note: Scripture reading footnotes are clickable only in the web version.

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Based on 2 Corinthians 8:1-9

It’s a story of startling generosity.

The apostle Paul had been traveling around what is modern-day Greece and Turkey, visiting the Christian churches there and presenting an opportunity for them to be generous. You see, the Christian churches back in Jerusalem were suffering, and these gifts were being gathered to help them in their physical needs.

The apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Christians in Corinth to encourage them to put their faith into practice and to practice the spiritual gift of giving. He wrote this: “And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us” (2 Corinthians 8:1-5).

How were these Christians able to be so generous, when by all human standards they were so poor?

Well, because they had put their trust in a heavenly Father who promises to provide daily bread. They put their trust in their Savior, Jesus, who promises that when his children seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, that all the things they need will be given to them as well.

So it is true for you and me that we have received generosity from God—startling generosity. God, who is so gracious as to forgive us for our stinginess and greed and selfishness. So we are people who know that we have been set free from these sinful attitudes of our heart. We’ve been set free to be generous to others.

I’ve witnessed this startling generosity in you, our active duty service members and their families, and in our veterans and their families, and in civilians who support ministry to the military.

Years ago when I served a church in Kentucky, I traveled once a month to Evansville, Indiana. I was the closest WELS pastor to a man who was a World War II veteran. Once a month, I brought him the Lord’s Supper and had a devotion and prayer. And every month, he slipped me a $100 bill and said, “Use this to pay for your rental car and for gas.”

I did this once a month for a year and a half. Then God called him home to heaven. About six months later, I received a letter in the mail with a check for several thousand dollars. It was from a church in Wisconsin. This man had officially been a member of this church in Wisconsin, and the letter said, “You probably don’t know this, but the man that you had been serving was very wealthy, and he left quite a substantial amount of money to our church and school. We’re actually going to be able to build a gymnasium for our grade school children. But we wanted to send a portion to you and your church to thank you for your generosity to this man.”

I recently traveled to the East Coast and spent some time with some members of a congregation there that’s full of veterans and active duty service members. Many of them are leaders in the congregation. One of them shared with me that they’ve been blessed with the gift of giving in that congregation—so much so that at the end of the year, they have extra money from offerings. And they don’t keep it for themselves. They look for a need in the churches in their area, and they give it to them. Or they’ve given to our WELS Christian Aid and Relief organization that is assisting with flooding relief efforts in the Carolinas.

Or I heard that the Organization of WELS Lutheran Seniors, or OWLS, has recently given $58,000 to support the European chaplain ministry, through which my counterpart, my brother in the ministry Chaplain Rob Weiss, travels to the military bases in Germany and Italy and Spain, serving our warfighters and their families with God’s Word and sacrament.

It’s through stories like the Lutheran Military Support Group. It was started nine years ago by veterans who saw a need to serve veterans and active duty members and their dependents. And one of the ways they raise funds for this is through their Ammo Can Campaign. If you reach out to them on their website, they’ll ship you an ammo can for free, and they ask that you put it out at Veterans Day weekend or Memorial Day weekend. The funds that they raise through that Ammo Can Campaign are used to host events like a spiritual retreat for Christian warriors and their battle buddies.

They also use that money to support my ministry, so I can travel around the United States and build up our pastors and our congregations as they seek to serve our military members and their families. They use those generous gifts to support the training of Lutheran pastors who serve near military installations.

How has God been generous to you? How might he use you to be generous to others to support their physical needs? And how might he use you to be generous to them so that their spiritual needs might also be met?

My encouragement to you today is this. Spend some time in God’s Word this weekend and read 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9. And through prayer and prayerful consideration, ask God how he might use you to give with startling generosity.

Prayer:

This coming week, the United States Marine Corps will celebrate its 249th birthday. Lord Jesus, the Marine Corps has served to fight our country’s battles in the air, on land, and sea. Continue to raise up faithful men and women to serve in the Corps, so that we might enjoy the freedoms of our great nation and live our lives in peace and safety.

As our nation pauses this week on November 11th to honor our veterans, we thank you for raising up brave men and women who were willing to engage our enemies, who have provided humanitarian aid for those who suffer, who attentively protected our borders.

Bring healing to those veterans who still carry unseen scars of trauma through your lifegiving promises. Use us to show the love of Christ to them when days are difficult. I pray this all in your name, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Written and recorded by Rev. Paul Horn, WELS National Civilian Chaplain to the Military, San Diego, California.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Note: Scripture reading footnotes are clickable only in the web version.

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Based on John 11:32-44

The airman watched as the aircraft lowered its ramp, and he peered in and saw the flag-draped boxes.

They huddled together and flinched as the volley of guns echoed over the hallowed ground, and the sound of the bugler playing “Taps” brought tears to nearly every eye. They stood there on that hallowed ground and saw nothing but white headstones.

She stared at the urn on the shelf because it stared back at her, and she was sad.

It’s that picture of your loved one or your loved ones who smile back at you in perpetuity, but it makes you sad because you know that you can’t talk to them anymore or hold them or hug them.

It’s the black metal that rubs against your wrist and you look down to see the names that are etched into that memory bracelet, and you realize with sobering reality that these are battle buddies that are no longer with us.

All of these are sobering reminders that at some time in the future, someone will stand over your grave and my grave and be sad. That they will stare at our pictures as we smile back at them, and they will be sad knowing that they can no longer speak to us, talk to us, hold us, or hug us. Someone once said that grief is the price that we pay for having loved so much on this earth.

But Jesus knows. And more than that he completely understands because he’s been there. He stood in a cemetery, and through his eyes he saw the effects of sin in the tear-stained faces of his friends and loved ones. He looked at the grave of his loved one, his dear friend Lazarus, and he wept because he was sad. He had felt the effects of sin’s consequences in his own life.

But he did something about it. With his robe he wiped the tears from his face. He cleared his throat and with the power of his voice, he told death and grave that today they would not win the victory. And by raising Lazarus from the grave, he gave his friends and us a preview of his own victory over death, so that they and we might believe that he is the resurrection and the life—and that by believing, we might live forever.

So it is true for you and for me and for all who have died trusting in him who is the resurrection and the life. The remains in that flag-draped box, the remains in that urn, the dry and dusty bones beneath those white headstones—they will hear his voice, and the grave and death will have no choice but to capitulate.

In the bugle call, the angels will not sing out “Taps” but will play “Reveille.” It’s time to wake up, never to sleep in death again, for Jesus has swallowed up death forever.

I pray that this is your comfort and your sure hope in your grief.

Prayer:

Send your holy angels to guard and protect the men and women of our armed forces who are currently deployed to the Middle East, for those who are anxious as they wait and wonder. Calm their hearts with your presence and your promises. Bring peace to that region of the world so that our warfighters might return home safely and live their lives in peace. In your name, Lord Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Written and recorded by Rev. Paul Horn, WELS National Civilian Chaplain to the Military, San Diego, California.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Note: Scripture reading footnotes are clickable only in the web version.

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Based on Psalm 4

How is God testing your patience and your faith today?

You might be saying to yourself, “How isn’t God testing my patience and my faith today?” So much so that you can’t even sleep at night. So much so that at night you cry out, “Answer me when I call to you. . . . Give me relief from my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer.” Well, you’re not alone.

These cries for mercy and relief from distress are direct quotes from King David’s Psalm 4. When King David writes, “Give me relief from my distress,” literally he’s saying, “I’m in a tight spot. I’m in a narrow place. It feels like the walls and the ceiling are just slowly coming down and pressing in around me and making me feel that I’m crushed.”

So what is it that’s going on in your life right now? Or in the life of your family or parents or children or battle buddies or our nation? Maybe you’re thinking ahead to November 5th, and all of it makes you feel like the walls and the ceiling are just caving in on you, and you echo the words of King David and say, “Answer me, Lord. Give me relief from my distress. Give them relief from their distress. Have mercy on us and hear our prayer.”

And is there so much going on in your world right now that you look around and you ask, “Who can show us anything that’s good right now?” That’s exactly what people were asking King David in this psalm. In spite of all the distress in his life and in the lives of the people under his care and protection as king, he says this at the end of the psalm: “In peace I will lie down and sleep” (verse 8a).

How in the world could David be so confident? He says, “I will do this. In peace, I will lie down and sleep.” How can I have restful, peaceful sleep with all of this crying out for mercy and relief from distress?

Well, David answers that question by saying this in the psalm: “You alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety” (verse 8b). When we are asking who can show us any good, King David shows us the Lord.

And he tells us who the Lord is. In verse six, King David says he is the one who shines the light of his face on us. This is such a cool picture. In the Bible, when it talks about God shining his face on us or turning his face toward us, it’s a picture that God is showing favor on you. He smiles with approval on you. He keeps you and all the circumstances and situations in which you find yourself before his eyes. He knows about them. He knows about all of it.

And because of that, he is the God who is near to us, not distant. And because he shines the light of his face on us, that means that he blesses us in spite of our hardships and sometimes through our difficulties and hardships.

It means that because he turns his face to us, he not only hears and listens to our prayers but answers all of them according to his will. It means that he has mercy on us when we cry out for mercy. It means that he will give us relief from our distress because we cry out to him for relief from our distress. If not in this life, then in the life to come.

So my challenge to you this week is this: to read Psalm 4 out loud tonight before you go to bed. And not just tonight, but every night this week before you go to bed. And then, lay your head on your pillow in peace, knowing that the Lord is your God. In peace, knowing that the face of the Lord shines on you with all of its brilliant, glorious light. In peace, knowing that God not only listens but answers your prayers according to his mercy, that he does have mercy on you, that he will give you relief from your distress—if not in this life, then in the life to come.

Allow that peace to push out those walls and that ceiling that feel like they are crushing down around you. Let that peace surround you, and have a peaceful sleep tonight in the Lord.

Prayer:

My friends, the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord look on you with favor and give you peace. Amen.

Written and recorded by Rev. Paul Horn, WELS National Civilian Chaplain to the Military, San Diego, California.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Note: Scripture reading footnotes are clickable only in the web version.

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Based on 1 Corinthians 9:19; Mark 10:45; Isaiah 53:12

Which freedoms are you willing to give up?

If one day your government came to you and said, “We are repealing these amendments to the Constitution and rewriting the Bill of Rights for the good of the Republic,” how would you react to that?

You’d probably protest a little bit and maybe not be so willing to sacrifice those freedoms, because as citizens of the United States of America, that would be a difficult thing to do. We would say, “Well, we have these freedoms, and these are our rights. They’re written down. This is what the founding fathers of our country fought for and what we continue to fight for.”

Which freedoms are you willing to sacrifice for the sake not of the Republic, but for someone else’s soul? That’s what the apostle Paul wants us to consider when we look at our reading in 1 Corinthians chapter 9. I encourage you to read the whole chapter. Paul says that he’s willing to give up something that in his eyes—and actually in our eyes—he rightly deserved. In fact, it was scriptural that the worker deserves his wages.

So for those who devote their full time to gospel ministry, to sharing the good news of Jesus and administering the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, God says they should be paid and supported by doing that.

But the apostle Paul said, “I’m willing to sacrifice that right and that freedom as a Christian if it means that I can win more people over for the gospel.” What the apostle Paul did was work a side hustle to support himself in addition to doing all the things that were required of an apostle and a pastor and a congregation.

He said, “I’m willing to be a slave to these people, to step in their sandals, to understand them better, so as not to put an obstacle in the way of them hearing the good news of Jesus.” Because people were walking through towns, proclaiming to be preachers or pastors, only to become wealthy from it. Paul said, “I don’t want to be that. I want to set this aside, even though I have the freedom to do it, so I can win more for the gospel.”

That’s a difficult thing to do—for us to set aside the freedoms and the rights that we have as Christians in order to walk in someone else’s shoes. And sometimes that means to get into the messiness of their lives just so we can show them the freedom and the hope that they have in Jesus.

So how was the apostle Paul able to do that? To say, “I am free, but I’m going to make myself a slave for all these people”?

It’s for the same reason that we will follow the apostle Paul’s example. You hear this from Jesus in Mark chapter 10: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (verse 45). And the prophet Isaiah said this over 700 years before Jesus was even born: “He poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12).

Jesus put himself in my shoes—actually in my flesh and bones—into my sin and my hell and my death. Into yours. Into our selfishness. For all the times we were unwilling to sacrifice for others, Jesus put himself in our shoes—not just so he could understand us better, but so he might set us free from our selfishness. To set us free from our sin and our death and our hell so we might be set free to be servants to all people.

Because Christ did this for me, I want to do this for other people. And I know that you do too. To do that, to better understand other people, that sometimes means being willing to meet them where they’re at. And sometimes that can be messy.

So my challenge to you this week is this. Take out a piece of paper and a pen or take out your phone and write this down in your notes. Think about all the people that you interact with on a daily basis—this is your community. Write down the names or the places where you interact with people during the week. After you do that, stop and think, How can I be present in their life? Which means maybe scheduling this time. That when you go to the gym, maybe you’re going to schedule an extra 15 minutes before and an extra 15 minutes after so you can be present in the lives of the people there that you interact with. Or when you walk your dog, maybe you schedule extra time to do that to be with those people and be persistent in those interactions.

Just ask them, “How are things going?” Just be prepared because the answer could be a little bit messy. But that’s okay. Be persistent in those messy conversations and in their messy lives and say, “Hey, I hear you. When can we get together for coffee? When can we have you over for dinner so I can hear more and we can be a support for you?”

This is what it might look like in your life—to be all things to all people, to selflessly sacrifice for them, to win as many as possible, so they might come to believe and trust in the One who sacrificed absolutely everything for them. So they might be free from their sin and their guilt just as we are. And so they might have all things just as we do in Christ Jesus. That’s selfless sacrifice.

Prayer:

Written and recorded by Rev. Paul Horn, WELS National Civilian Chaplain to the Military, San Diego, California.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Note: Scripture reading footnotes are clickable only in the web version.

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