Zechariah 10.1-11.3, 2 Timothy 3.1-17 - Lectionary for 1/31/10

Today's readings are Zechariah 10.1-11.3 and 2 Timothy 3.1-17.

In today's reading from Zechariah we see our Lord seemingly stop and reflect on his work and on the distinction between his chosen people and those who have persecuted them.  While we can mine the passage to see what is on God's heart, I'd like to take a different tack.  I realize that, like God himself, it is good for his people to reflect on the way the Lord has blessed them and on the way he has withheld his blessing from some others.

Does this lead to a holier-than-thou attitude?  I hope it doesn't.  Rather, I hope it leads to a deep sense of gratitude for God's mercy.  After all, we confess that Jesus died for everyone's sins and that all people who believe in this work of Christ see that they are adopted as sons of God and joint heirs of the heavenly realms.  Our desire is that all should believe, just as our Lord's stated desire is.

So how has the Lord blessed us?  As we think we can count innumerable blessings.  If there's anything good that has ever happened in our lives, that is a blessing from God.  It has not happened without his providential care.  For that matter, we can look on our troubles and see that ultimately they are all evidence of the reality of sin in the world, of the fact that we are prone to suffer and that we need someone to ransom us from this suffering.  

What perspective is the unbeliever left with?  Sadly, if we think we are the arbiter of our life, we see that suffering is something with no lasting benefits.  We take the ultimate glory for anything good that happens, though many things, we must realize, simply happen without our control.  We find that life is transient, ephemeral, and that we have no ultimate anchor in our lives.  This is a sad situation indeed, a position which is hard to imagine.  Yet that is the ultimate outcome of any faith that looks inward, to the individual, to the culture, or to one's own goodness in the world.

It's the same world, the same reality.  So which is true?  Is everything meaningless?  Is there someone lovingly governing the world and all its affairs to bring us to him and the delight we can have in him?  History clearly seems to show that the events around Jesus' death and resurrection are based in reality, though they are doubtless claims to a supernatural.  There are more or less contemporary records of eyewitnesses who had nothing to gain by giving the testimony they did falsely.  The evidence is quite as reliable as the evidence for countless other events in antiquity.  Why do we dispute it?  Why do we not rather realize and believe that Jesus did exactly what the Scripture says - died for our sins and lives for our righteousness?  Let us look to him in faith.

Zechariah 9.1-17, 2 Timothy 2.1-26 - Lectionary for 1/30/10

Today's readings are Zechariah 9.1-17 and 2 Timothy 2.1-26.

Through Zechariah God pronounces his judgment on the enemies of Israel today.  I think one of the most striking marks of God's judgment shows up in the second portion of verse 5.  "Ekron also [shall see God's judgment and writhe in anguish] because its hopes are confounded" (ESV).  We are very much the same way.  We see God's judgment and find that our hopes are confounded.  If we have built our hope on our ability, if we have built our hope on our wealth or safety, our economic or moral potential, our hopes are confounded by God's judgment.  We see that God proclaims all our efforts to be worthless.  He proclaims that all our efforts are sin because they are founded on our own desires, corrupted by Adam's sin.  We think we can replace the living God by our own imaginations and actions.  God reminds us that we cannot.

How else does our Lord controvert our ideas of honor, glory and power?  See what happens in verses 9-17.  The Lord comes.  The king enters Jerusalem.  Is he a great and mighty warrior?  He is humble.  Is he on a war horse at the head of a mighty army?  He is sitting on a young donkey.  Does he speak judgment to the rulers?  He allows them to judge him.  Does he slay his accusers?  He rather dies on a cross.  Yet on the third day he shows that he is the victor over the enemies none of us can conquer - death, hell and the grave.  He shows that he is the bringer of eternal life as he demonstrates that he is the resurrection.  He is the one who sets the prisoners free.  He is the one who shows the impotence of his enemies.  This is our Lord Jesus Christ.  He has confounded the hopes of all who hope in themselves.

May we hope in our Lord today.

Zechariah 8.1-23, 2 Timothy 1.1-18 - Lectionary for 1/29/10

Today's readings are Zechariah 8.1-23 and 2 Timothy 1.1-18.

What does our Lord promise through Zechariah today?  We see a promise of a return from captivity.  Just as the Lord is able to send his people into captivity and scatter them throughout the world, he is able to gather them into their homeland again.  In fact, the Lord says specifically that he is just as able to keep them in peace and safety as he is to cast them away.  But his desire is to keep his people in peace and safety.  That has been his desire since the foundation of the world.  That will always be our Lord's desire.

It is difficult to conceive of a God who deeply loves his people and is able to do anything, yet at the same time who allows them to separate themselves from him by their selfish desires.  Yet that is exactly the kind of Lord we see in the Scripture.  If we can keep this in mind, it may make more sense of some very difficult statements in the Scripture.  For instance, we read that God does not wish that anyone would perish but that everyone would come to repentance.  The fact that he doesn't make everyone come to repentance is rooted in the idea that God does allow people to flee from him due to their own desires.  What about the statements that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the whole world?  There are many universalistic statements in the New Testament.  Yet we see not everyone is saved from their sin.  This is also explained by the idea that people are able to flee from God's ways and try to make their own way.

The fact remains, though, that Jesus gave himself as a ransom for the sins of the whole world.  He boldly died to pay the penalty of God, to appease the wrath of the righteous God against sinful man.  Jesus, the second Adam, died for the sins of the first Adam and all of his descendants.  He has purchased our salvation.  Do we flee that?  Or do we  trust that.  

Lord, let us run to you in trust, realizing that you are able to keep your people forever.  Amen.

Zechariah 6.1-7.14, Romans 16.17-27 - Lectionary for 1/28/10

Today's readings are Zechariah 6.1-7.14 and Romans 16.17-27.

Today we see our Lord sending his messengers out into all the world, calling people together to him.  God's presence is exemplified in the presence of his high priest, Joshua.  Notice that Joshua and Jesus are parallel names, just like, for instance, Roberto and Robert.  God's call goes out into all the world.  He tells the people what to do.  And see how all these things he says to do in chapter seven verses nine and ten are things we would agree are good.  Most of us even think we do them pretty well.  But our Lord points out that "pretty well" is not good enough.  To be acceptable to the perfect God we must be perfect as he is perfect.  This we will never do.

What is our response to this giving of the Law?  Do we harden our hearts as the people of Israel did?  Do we try our best not to hear?  Do we try to minimize the force of the Law so it won't kill us?  We, like those Israelites, tend to do that very thing.  We try not to hear God's Law which condemns us.  We try to evade the full impact of his commands.  This is what we dare not do.

What then do we do?  We look to Joshua, God's high priest, Jesus, the prophet, priest, and king, who has given a sacrifice for us, once and for all, on our behalf, becoming himself both the priest and the sacrifice.  We look to the risen Lord in hope.  We confess that Jesus in fact died as a substitute for us.  He also lives as a substitute for us.  When our Lord looks at us, he sees Jesus.  When God looks at our behavior, he sees the behavior of Jesus.  When God pours out his judgment and wrath on the world, he has already poured it out on Jesus.  We simply look in faith.

Do we then live however we want?  Do we settle for "pretty good" or decide that even that doesn't matter?  No.  We do not wish to grieve our Lord who has given himself on our behalf.  Do we really want to inflict pain on the one who has borne all our grief?  May it never be.  Yet as we go around doing the acts of kindness that our society needs, the things we can do to serve and love our neighbors, let us remember that it is not these which save us.  It is only Jesus standing in our place, working on our behalf who saves us.

Lord, give us the grace to realize the difference between doing works of kindness to show our neighbors some of your kindness and doing works of kindness to try to earn your favor.  May we serve our neighbors and delight in being used as vessels of your grace.  May we look to your perfect life, death, and resurrection on our behalf to rejoice in the life you have prepared for us.

Zechariah 4.1-5.11, Romans 15.14-33 - Lectionary for 1/27/10

Today's readings are Zechariah 4.1-5.11 and Romans 15.14-33.

Our Old Testament reading today makes me think it was a difficult bit of self-discipline to plan on writing about the Old Testament readings.  This passage in Zechariah seems difficult.  It is full of highly symbolic language.  Yet I think once we get beyond some of the symbolic language we will see a prophecy full of power and encouragement.

First, notice the lamps and the oil.  Oil and lamps are frequently signs of God's presence and provision.  They bring light, warmth, and all manner of blessing.  Notice the number seven associated with the lamps and recall that things presented in sevens often indicate completeness.  So we open with a sign of complete provision.  In the midst of that sign we see the human king completing the building project he has going on.

After the sign of God's provision and human prosperity and peace we see another scene.  A scroll with curses on evildoers will go through the land.  There is a verbal aspect to God's judgment.  With his word, our Lord will judge and defeat all evil, even as he provides his blessing on his faithful king and the king's subjects.

We then see the sign of the evil woman in the basket.  She is sealed up so she cannot get out and spread her evil.  She is deported to a land far away - the land of Shinar, Babylon, where all manner of evil is kept.

What does this have to do with us?  We see that our Lord has promised to provide for his people and to build a kingdom.  Through the death of Jesus on our behalf he has provided for eternal rescue.  He has built his kingdom, a kingdom without borders, through the Church.  He shines all the light the world needs, providing for everyone.  His curse has fallen upon evil, which he purges and deports.  One day he will put a final end to evil through his coming in judgment.  And we cannot but think of the narrative in Revelation where Babylon is depicted as an evil lady.  She is judged and defeated.

Christ has defeated sin and death.  We can trust in his provision.  Yet at the same time we can look for his final judgment on sin and death.  How do we stand in the day of judgment?  Only by trust that our Lord has in fact accomplished what he has said.  Let us then look to him in faith and rejoice in his victory.

Zechariah 2.1-3.10, Romans 15.1-13 - Lectionary for 1/26/10

Today's readings are Zechariah 2.1-3.10 and Romans 15.1-13.

There are some situations in life that make people wonder what is happening to them.  I have experienced very few of these, thankfully.  But I think of the Christians in times and places where to name the name of Christ is criminal.  I think of people who are in areas that have experienced great natural disasters, such as the people of Haiti in the past two weeks.  Just when you think you might be alive, just when you think you might start to breathe again, you are confronted with yet another attack, yet another aftershock, yet another devastating situation.  What is a person to do?

Quite frankly, without the hope we find in Christ, if we are convinced that this world is all there is, that we are either impermanent or that our permanent state depends on some sort of irrational process, there is no reason whatsoever for hope.  When confronted with a very serious situation, we may think it would be better just to roll over and die.  Our world is quickly developing a culture of suicide where people who decide this world is all they have will choose to leave their life rather than face difficulties or allow themselves to burden others.  Yet they do this at their own peril.  The Scripture plainly says that all people have an eternal life, either in the blessed presence of God by faith in the death and resurrection of Christ, or in the agonizing absence of God by faith in our own doings.

What hope does the Christian have?  Look to the third chapter of Zechariah and see.  When we are accused, when we are attacked, when we face every sort of oppression, we are standing in the presence of God and his holy angels.    Our Lord and Savior is telling the enemy not to lay a hand on us.  Our God promises that we will be protected, that ultimately no harm will come to his people.  No harm?   Right, no harm.  Though I lose all I have, including my health and my very life, no harm will come to me in Christ.  I am perfectly safe in the arms of my Lord and Savior, who has given all on my behalf.  There is none who can harm me.  Now there's confidence.

Zechariah 1.1-21, Romans 14.1-23 - Lectionary for 1/25/10

Today's readings are Zechariah 1.1-21 and Romans 14.1-23.

How long will the Lord allow his people to suffer?  This is the cry which has been raised in every age since the beginning of time.  As the people of Israel have been taken captive and gained their release, time and again, their cry rises up to the Lord.  How long will we be in bondage?  How long will we be in suffering?  Likewise, those persecuted for their faith in Christ have called out in eager expectation for the deliverance yet to come, full and final redemption of body and soul together in heaven, the resurrection of all who believe on Christ.  

Our Lord assures his people.  He has returned with mercy.  He has come to judge the nations.  He fully understands the plight of his people.  He fully understands the situation of those who oppress his people.  And he fully understands what will happen to the oppressors when he comes in judgment.  Our Lord will come in judgment to deal with those who have rejected him.  From that judgment there will be no deliverance.

Lord, grant your people patience to wait on you.  Grant repentance to those who persecute your people.  Remind us of your mercy and grace.

Joel 3.1-21, Romans 12.14-13.14 - Lectionary for 1/24/10

Today's readings are Joel 3.1-21 and Romans 12.14-13.14.

See today our Lord's call to the unbelievers through Joel.  We see as we look at his claims upon them that we too often act as unbelievers.  Do we think we will provide what we need?  Do we think we enter into service to God in order to supply what he needs?  Do we view ourselves as doing works that are pleasing to our Lord in and of themselves?  Do we give to God so that he has what he needs?  This is entirely backwards.  It is a work to earn our own salvation.  In the end it earns not salvation but condemnation.  What does the Lord say to us when we strive to bring ourselves into the good graces of God?  He says we are welcome to try.  He has provided all we need for life, hope, salvation through Jesus Christ.  But if we wish to pay him back, if we wish to earn his favor, he will allow us to try.  Sadly, tragically, we realize from Scripture that we are utterly unable to succeed in this attempt.  

Do we wish to earn our salvation?  The Lord allows us to try and to go to heaven based on our merits.  Yet we will never do so.  Our attempt to pay our own way is entirely futile.  It is an offense to God, who has provided our way in Jesus Christ.  Yet he has left it to us.  If we insist, as the pagans do, we may try to earn our forgiveness, instead earning our condemnation.  The final analysis is whether we trust ourselves or we trust in our Lord.  

Lord, you who have perfectly paid the penalty for our sin through living a sinless life, giving yourself to death on our behalf, and showing yourself victorious over death, hell and the grave, grant that we also may trust in your righteousness for eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

Joel 2.18-32, Romans 11.25-12.13 - Lectionary for 1/23/10

Today's readings are Joel 2.18-32 and Romans 11.25-12.13.

After Joel has depicted Israel being brought down by the enemies they cannot possibly combat, he moves into a poetic proclamation of what the Lord is going to do for his people.  As the people turn to God in repentance and faith he makes these promises - to provide them with the grain, wine and oil that they need.  He will pour out on them abundance of all they need.  Their crops will be so abundant they will not be able to use all they have.  Not only will the Lord pour out all the food and drink they need, but the Lord will pour out his Spirit on his people.  They will be prophets, they will see the heavenly things, they will speak of God's person and revelation.

We see in the beginning of the book of Acts where this has been fulfilled.  Our Lord has poured out his Spirit.  He has created a new place of forgiveness and nurture for his people, the Church.  He incorporates people into the Church by faith, through the work of hte Holy Spirit, with repentance, confession, baptism, and the apostles' doctrine.  He has raised up a mighty army, mightier than the invading locusts, bringing blessing to all the world.

Our Lord has done all this to bring glory to himself.  He has done all of it to remind all nations that he is in fact the one in whom all the world holds together, the one who supplies all the needs of this world according to his good pleasure.  Do we live in the light of this?  Let us realize it and turn to our Lord in confession of who he is, in delight for his provision, and in hope that he will in fact bring to pass all that he has said.

Joel 2.1-17, Romans 11.1-24 - Lectionary for 1/22/10

Today's readings are joel 2.1-17 and Romans 11.1-24.

We continue seeing this army Joel depicts, attacking Zion.  As we remember from chapter 1 it could be locusts or it could be a human army, metaphorically described.  It seems from this passage that he is referring to literal locusts.  See how they destroy everything and "eat stubble."  They blot out the sun by making a great cloud.  Humans burning and plundering can do that, but it's very much less likely before the time of gunpowder.  These attackers enter through windows and doors, while human attackers are much more likely to storm a building and enter through doors or even breaking down walls.  Yet the walls of the city and the buildings seem to remain intact.

What's the response?  Blow a trumpet.  Sound an alarm.  Fight back, but realize your fight will be unproductive.  You cannot resist the enemy God has brought against you.  The Lord's servants cannot be stopped.  Blow a trumpet and call for repentance.  These enemies have come to draw you closer to the Lord.  These enemies show you that your life consists in depending on the Lord rather than on your own wealth, toil, and resources.  None of what we have provided for ourselves can withstand a time when the God of the universe takes everything away.

Do we turn to our Lord in faith?  Do we trust that Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, has truly given his life as a ransom for ours?  Do we realize daily the folly of our self-centered opinions, our dreams, our goals?  Do we come to our Lord in repentance to ask forgiveness for our haughty attitude?  Do we submit our plans and our future to our Lord, knowing that it is he who is coming one day to judge the living and the dead?  Do we trust that our Lord's desire is for our good, not for our evil?  Do we realize that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ?  Let us look to him day by day, moment by moment.  Sound a trumpet call to repentance and faith.

Joel 1.1-20, Romans 10.1-21 - Lectionary for 1/21/10

Today's readings are Joel 1.1-20 and Romans 10.1-21.

Joel faces a terrible situation.  His homeland has been ravaged.  Is it a plague of locusts?  Is it a plague of invaders being pictured as locusts?  We don't know.  What we do know is that his homeland has been ravaged, time and again, until there are no resources.  Those who remain are dealing with famine and disease.  The society is shattered.

What hope is there?  If our hope is in this world only we are quickly out of hope.  An earthquake, a flood, a landslide, a drought, a medical condition - anything can happen.  We are in an uncertain position, all of us.  We are all quite vulnerable, no matter how many walls of defense we build, no matter how many insurance policies we hold, no matter how we have stockpiled our resources or sought to become self-sufficient.  We all are in a precarious position in this life.  Our health and safety can be taken away at any time through all sorts of means.  If our hope is in this world only, it perishes quickly.

Where then is our hope?  As with the people to whom Joel spoke, our hope is also in the Lord.  Our Lord who does not perish, our Lord who was victorious over death, hell and the grave, our Lord the one crucified for our sins and raised for our justification - our hope can be in him.  He, the deathless one who graciously rules heaven and earth, has called a people by his name, has delivered them in and through all their troubles, and will bring them safely to their eternal home.  Our hope is not in this world only.  Our hope is in the Lord of heaven and earth.  All our struggles in this temporal life should lead us to look to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Lord, give us faith to trust you rather than ourselves and our circumstances.

Ezekiel 47.1-14, 21-23; Romans 9.19-33 - Lectionary for 1/20/10

Today's readings are Ezekiel 47.1-14, 21-23 and Romans 9.19-33.

Look today at the water which flows from the temple of God.  Ezekiel sees it coming out, first a trickle, then a stream, then a mighty river.  This water, flowing from God's altar, is water which takes that which is unclean and unusable and makes it clean, pure, a blessing to every nation, the hope and sustenance of all people who come in contact with it.  It brings food and water in the desert places.  It cleanses the people.  It is mightier than the other water it contacts, even purifying the sea water.

What is the point of this narrative in Ezekiel?  What have we seen?  Most obviously we see that throughout Ezekiel salvation is of the Lord, by his plan, according to his qualifications.  It begins and ends with the proclamation of God.  So how are we saved?  Our Lord Jesus Christ gave his life to appease the wrath of God against unrighteousness.  He lives so we might live only by trust in his work.  And he has commanded his apostles to go, discipling by baptizing and teaching.  It is difficult to avoid the idea of a washing with water here.  God has appointed a washing with water to heal his people.  

Have we been baptized into the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, according to the Scriptures?  We can have confidence that our Lord has claimed us.  We can live confidently in the hope of the resurrection, knowing that our resurrected Lord has died for our sins.  We can look to this cleansing of baptism as something which will affect our entire life as we will be reminded of our Lord's work to purchase a people to himself. 

What of people who have believed but have not been baptized?  We have every confidence that they too are Christ's people.  But we would ask why they have not been baptized.  That is the pattern we see in the New Testament.  All people who realize Christ has died for their sins are baptized.  It is something our Lord and Savior has given us.  It is not to be neglected.

Rejoice that the Lord has given himself for the cleansing of the world!

Ezekiel 44.1-16, 23-29; Romans 9.1-18 - Lectionary for 1/19/10

Today's readings are Ezekiel 44.1-16, 23-29 and Romans 9.1-18.

Our Lord has established eternal blessedness for those who are his people.  Yet see how he has appointed a way we receive that blessedness, through Word and Sacrament.  We do not have the authority to proclaim a different way of salvation.  We do not have the authority to proclaim any different Gospel than that which our Lord and Savior has proclaimed in Scripture and by his perfect life and death on our behalf and his glorious resurrection as the firstfruits from the dead.  Anything else is our working out our salvation on our own terms by our own righteousness.  God has specifically forbidden that.  We dare not contradict him in this.  As Ezekiel sees, there is one way of access to the Lord, and it is the way he has created and proclaimed to us.

What is our response?  Is God narrow-minded?  No, he is specific.  That is much different.  There is no other way that is appointed to us that we should be saved but by faith in Christ, the living God.  This is the right way.  There is no other.  It is the way that our Lord has graciously prepared.  And see what a way it is!  It does not require us to earn our salvation.  It does not require us to do enough good works to be counted as righteous.  It does not require that we make sacrifice after sacrifice.  Unlike paganism, it does not require that we guess what might be pleasing to God.  Unlike humanism it is not mediated by our errors.  Unlike naturalism it is rooted in something that we cannot see so we do not need to worry when our natural world looks like it isn't working too well.  Salvation is of the Lord, according to the grace he has given and the pattern he has revealed.  Rejoice in God's working.

Ezekiel 40.1-4, 43.1-12; Romans 8.18-39 - Lectionary for 1/18/10

Today's readings are Ezekiel 40.104, 43.1-12 and Romans 8.18-39.

Ezekiel sees the temple of God, holy to the Lord.  In his vision he sees something that we cannot build, something we cannot express.  He sees the real presence of the Lord with his people.  In effect, he sees the invisible Church.  It is the place, the gathering, the presence of the triune God, our Lord and Savior's purchased people, gathered for his glory, purchased out of every nation to live for God incarnate, Jesus Christ the Lord.  In our fellowship with Christ we are gathered together in the holy name of the Lord.  We have put aside the idolatry which we once served.  We have been brought into the true fellowship of Christ.  This is the body that is holy to the Lord.  It is the living temple of God.

Do we realize we are the living stones in the temple of God?  Do we realize that we are the home of the Holy Spirit?  Do we realize that when we extend our hands in service we are doing the very service of our Lord?  Do we realize that this is the fellowship our Lord has purchased by his blood and which he binds together by baptism and holy communion?  

May the Lord impress this image on us.

Ezekiel 39.1-01, 17-29; Romans 7.21-8.17 - Lectionary for 1/17/10

Today's readings are Ezekiel 39.1-10, 17-29 and Romans 7.21-8.17.

Ezekiel's prophecy points out something that runs completely counter to what our modern version of Christianity would think.  See how God is going to exalt himself?  He is going to exalt himself by bringing enemies against his people.  He is going to exalt himself by showing his people that they are not able to overcome their enemies.  He is going to exalt himself by bringing victory over the enemies of his people, and by gathering his people out of adversity.  He does not exalt himself by keeping them from all adversity but rather by delivering them out of adversity.  This is the work of the Lord and it is good.  This is deliverance, not that we avoid all troubles but that our Lord rescues us from trouble. 

For this reason, confession and absolution are central to our life in Christ.  Daily we confess that we are sinners.  Daily we confess that we are without hope except that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has laid down his life for us.  Daily we confess that we cannot earn forgiveness by ourselves.  And we daily confess that Christ in his mercy has forgiven us.  We daily confess that Christ has given himself, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God.  We receive deliverance because we need deliverance.  We are rescued from very real sin.  We are brought out of very real condemnation into the very real forgiveness of God.

Have we received this forgiveness?  Let us then live in hope.  Let us rejoice that our Lord has in fact rescued us.  Let us confess that we have been gathered from bondage into the freedom given us by our Lord.  Let us rejoice that we have received this deliverance from real sin, that we could not deliver ourselves, and that our Lord has done all that is needed for us.

Ezekiel 37.15-28, Romans 6.1-23 - Lectionary for 1/15/10

Today's readings are Ezekiel 37.15-28 and Romans 6.1-23.

Our Lord gives Ezekiel a sign - the sign of two divided sticks brought together to be one stick.  Though the sins of Israel have scattered them, cast them through all the world, ruined their unity as a people, the Lord is going to bring them together into one.  They will once again be unified.  See that God's servant David will be their king.  This is clearly a messianic prophecy.  In the fullness of time, when Christ has come, he gathers the people together from every nation, tribe and tongue.  He gathers them into one people.  He is their shepherd.  He is their caretaker, their savior, their ruler.  It is in Christ that we find unity.  It is in Christ that we find safety.  It is in Christ that we are gathered from where our sins have scattered us.  It is in Christ that we find our unity and our identity.  Let us look to Christ, the king who sits on the throne of David, an everlasting throne, the ruler of an everlasting kingdom.  Let us trust in his mercy and his governance.

Ezekiel 36,33-37.14, Romans 5.1-21 - Lectionary for 1/14/10

Today's readings are Ezekiel 36.33-37.14 and Romans 5.1-21.

Ezekiel has been hammering people with God's Law.  He is putting for God's righteous requirement that they act in a holy manner and that they engage in living belief that is in accord with that behavior.  I put those two statements in that order on purpose.  Israel, like many of us, knew that God's holy people need to act in a holy way.  They realized their failure.  Undone sacrifices, priests who were not working as priests because they were finding their other careers more lucrative, Sabbaths ignored, all manner of failure to keep God's requirements.  Yet even more importantly, they were starting to realize that their failure ran deeper than their behavior.  They were condemned for being unbelieving.

We also realize, if we take a moment, that our actions are replete with sin and error.  When we consider it, we see that our actions are rooted in unbelief.  We know how we should believe, that we should love and trust our Lord with all our heart.  Day after day we realize and confess that we do not love and trust our Lord in all things.  We also realize that we are unable to do so.  What rescue is there for us?

Look at what Ezekiel says today.  There is nothing that is so dead that  cannot bring it to life.  There is nothing so desolate that he cannot plant it to be a fruitful garden.  There are no skeletal remains that are so ruined he cannot give them integrity, flesh, and life.  There is nobody, nothing, that is outside of the ability of our Lord and Savior to bring redemption.  And how does he redeem this world to himself?  He does it through his Word.  Jesus Christ, the living Word of God, speaks himself into our hearts and lives, brings us repentance, purchases our forgiveness, makes us no longer disjointed skeletal remains, but turns us to people who are truly living in him.  He takes our barren wasteland and makes it a fruitful garden.  He does this through his Word.  Look to the Scripture, God's record of the Word of God incarnate.  Look to baptism in which we are joined to our Lord through the washing of regeneration.  Look to communion in which we become partakers of the living Word of God.  In him we live and move and have our being.  In him all things hold together.  In him are all the riches of the Godhead in bodily form.  This is our great Lord and Savior. 

Lord, let us look to your fullness, not to our brokenness.

Ezekiel 36.13-28, Romans 4.1-25 - Lectionary for 1/13/10

Today's readings are Ezekiel 36.13-28 and Romans 4.1-25.

Today through Ezekiel our Lord condemns Israel for their unfaithfulness.  Why?  Because it is destructive to them?  Only in part.  See that our Lord's complaint is that Israel in bondage brings shame to the name of God.  Just look at these people.  They are sinful and in bondage, and they are supposed to be God's people.  He must not be the kind of God they say he is.  He must not be the kind of God I'd want to depend on.

We see very much the same situation in modern Western society.  One of the prime reasons I've run into that people don't wish to believe in Christ is quite frankly the way Christians act.  And it isn't because of their genuine piety, faithfulness, longsuffering, and desire to seek the truth in Scriptures.  It is because of the way our cultural Christianity acts.  It is because of the stereotype of Christians as people who are selfish, lazy, narrow-minded, and concerned primarily with looking good and overeating at their fellowship dinners.  Alas, this stereotype comes from somewhere.  It comes from actual practices of our cultural Christianity.

Let us flee this kind of behavior.  It brings shame to Christ.  Yet in our flight, let us look to the promises God gives through Ezekiel near the end of today's reading.  Do we flee this idiocy in our own strength?  Not at all.  Our Lord is giving us a heart to understand, a heart to repent, a heart to turn to him in faith.  We flee this culture which brings shame to Christ not in our own power but in the power our Lord has promised us.  We flee this Christian ghetto by the power of the Holy Spirit, living and active in us.  We flee it through the power of the resurrected Christ, who has borne our sin and shame to his death, giving us life.  Will our world criticize us for our love and faithfulness?  Yes.  Let them criticize away.  They criticized our Lord and Savior for the very same things.  But if we incur reproach, let it be for a genuine Christian life, that life which does actually bring honor to our Lord.

Ezekiel 34.1-24, Romans 3.19-31 - Lectionary for 1/12/10

Today's readings are Ezekiel 34.1-24 and Romans 3.19-31.

What kind of shepherd does our God desire for his flock?  In today's reading Ezekiel the priest and prophet condemns the situation he sees in Israel.  He and his brother priests, the children of Aaron, have failed in their God-given shepherding task.  They provide some comfort for the flock, but not much.  They care for the flock just enough to get what they want from it - - their food and drink.  This is the work of a bad shepherd.  This is the work of a bully among the flock, not of a good custodian of the flock.  Our God will not endure such neglect.  He will cast out he bad shepherds.  He will prevent them from eating from the flock.  He will gather the flock to himself and appoint a new shepherd, the shepherd David, who will nurture the flock and give himself for their care.

This passage is sometimes used to suggest that ministers of the Gospel should not receive a living from their work.  But that is not a good reading of the text.  Our Lord nowhere condemns the minister receiving his full support from the flock.  Here what our Lord is condemning is those who are not caring for the flock receiving their support at the flock's expense.  That is quite different.  The pastor should work, and work hard, for the good of the flock, building them up.  But he should receive his care from the hands of the flock he shepherds.  This is good and right.

This passage is sometimes used to suggest that there should be no "full-time" pastors since Christ, the Son of David, is the good shepherd.  Yet Christ himself appointed apostles and had them appoint others, passing on the gift and the authority to minister in his Name.  Pastors act on the command and in the name and authority of Christ.  When performing the pastoral work, they are serving as Christ, by his Spirit and in using his word to confront sin, to encourage and to comfort.

Do our shepherds fail?  Most certainly.  All of us, pastors included, are sinners.  Yet all of us have access to God the Father through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit, access in repentance and reception of the forgiveness our Lord has provided so freely.  He is indeed the good shepherd who will gather and protect his flock.,  Let us run to him for mercy.

Ezekiel 33.1-20, Romans 3.1-18 - Lectionary for 1/11/10

Today's readings are Ezekiel 33.1-20 and Romans 3.1-18.

Ezekiel continues to call people to repentance and restoration.  But a new challenge arises for him at chapter 33.  Rather than calling foreigners to repentance, he is now calling upon his own people, the people of Israel.  As God's chosen people Israel is very likely to reject Ezekiel's call.  After all, if you are already God's chosen people what need is there for repentance?

Do we, people in Christ's Church, act the same way?  But which of us is clean?  Which of us is without guilt?  Who has truly fled unrighteousness?  If we read the commandments can we get beyond the first one?  What is our need for repentance?  It is enormous.

What promises do we have?  Does not our Lord plead with us to turn to him in faith?  Does he desire the death of the wicked?  Not at all.  His desire is our repentance.  His desire is to bless us and care for us.

Let us turn to our Savior, again and again, as many times as we see our sin, day by day.  Let us trust his forgiveness and his grace.

Ezekiel 18.1-4, 19-32; Romans 2.17-29 - Lectionary for 1/10/10

(Forgot to put the post in)

Today's readings are Ezekiel 18.1-4, 19-32 and Romans 2.17-29.

"The soul that sins must die."  Ezekiel pounds the nails into the coffin lid, shutting it securely.  Again and again he hammers away at this theme.  We receive according to our sin, not someone else's sin, not someone else's righteousness, according to our sin and wickedness.  Sin brings death.  Our blood is on ourselves.  We are completely responsible for our death and condemnation.  There is no doubt left about it in this passage.  Does God condemn sinners to hell?  Yes.  Does he desire that sinners be condemned?  Not at all.  He did not choose us for condemnation but for life.  He did not create us for destruction but as his delight.

What is the cure?  How do we see the nails removed from the coffin, the lid raised, and ourselves brought from death to life?  We repent and believe.  We turn from our sins.  We seek and desire righteousness.  And all who desire to live a godly life in Christ will receive life and hope.  This is God's promise.  He does not desire our death and condemnation.  He does not take delight in death.  He calls all to turn and live.

Does this erroneously put the burden of salvation on us rather than on God?  Not at all.  We would have no knowledge of the hope in Christ without Christ's work on our behalf.  We would have no knowledge of the hope we can have in Christ without a proclamation of the Gospel.  We would have no desire for righteousness without the move of the Holy Spirit upon us.  Salvation is of the Lord, not of our own volition.  Salvation beings and ends with Christ crucified for sinners  It is not a matter of our choice but of his divine power and love.

What do we think when we turn from sin to righteousness, when we desire to trust in Christ, and yet we enter into sin?  Our Lord confronts us with the same call.  Turn, believe, and live.  Time and again we are restored to our Lord.  As many times as we realize our faithlessness, our need for repentance, so many times and more does our Lord and Savior call us to repentance.  He does not delight in anyone's death.

Lord, let us look faithfully to the living Savior, Jesus Christ, in whom is life.

Ezekiel 3.12-27, Romans 2.1-16 - Lectionary for 1/9/10

Today's readings are Ezekiel 3.12-27 and Romans 2.1-16.

"It's a matter of life and death!  You need to support our cause."  I thank the person and hang up the phone.  What is the cause?  Is it fighting hunger?  Is it fighting domestic abuse?  Is it providing low-cost housing for the poor?  These are good.  They are important.  But even more so, Christian ministry is a matter of life and death.  It is not to be taken lightly either by ministers or by those to whom they minister.  Look at Ezekiel's calling.  He is responsible to warn the people, to exhort them to righteousness.  They are responsible to hear and respond.  Of course, it is God who calls our hearts to repentance, who convicts us, who forgives us.  But he uses his human servants in the process.  The proclamation of the true Law and Gospel is a matter of life and death.  

Woe to those servants of the Lord who do not speak the truth clearly.  They condemn themselves and their hearers.

Thanks be to God in Christ who gives repentance, forgiveness, restoration, and courage to speak the Word boldly.  May he ever work in His Church.

Ezekiel 2.1-3.11, Romans 1.18-32 - Lectionary for 1/8/10

Today's readings are Ezekiel 2.1-3.11 and Romans 1.18-32.

See today how God's word comes to Ezekiel.  He has from God's own hand a written word.  He hears a spoken word.  He eats the word of God.  Likewise we have the written Word, the proclaimed Word, and the Word on the communion table, the true body of our Lord.  We, like Ezekiel, are called to consume this Word of God.

Is it sweet?  Is it bitter?  Does the Word of God encourage and strengthen us?  Do we run afoul of God and end up crushed and broken by the Word?  Is it healing?  Is it deadly?  The answer to all these questions is, of course, "Yes."  Our Lord confronts our sin with the living Word, Jesus Christ.  He presents himself, dead for our sins, living as the resurrected one, a stumbling block for some, foolishness for others, life and hope f or all who believe.

What's the effect of the Word?  Lord, have your way with your people.

Ezekiel 1.1-14, 22-26; Romans 1.1-17 - Lectionary for 1/7/10

Today's readings are Ezekiel 1.1-14, 22-26 and Romans 1.1-17.

In Ezekiel 1 we see a divine interruption in the everyday affairs of Ezekiel, an exiled priest.  There's no reason to expect Ezekiel was doing anything unusual.  His activities are not mentioned.  In all likelihood he was going about his daily business, fulfilling his vocation.  Yet in the midst of this apparently unremarkable day, Ezekiel is interrupted by a vision from God.

We could make arguments from the symbols mentioned in the vision.  Many have done so.  Is there some fruit in this kind of practice?  Probably so, but it isn't where we want to go today.  We see that in this vision God interrupts Ezekiel and shows him something of heavenly reality which seems quite foreign and difficult to express in human terms.

We could try to describe the appearance of God as the person seated on the throne.  Of course, in this we would be as fruitless as Ezekiel, who tries to describe the human form he sees on a throne, but comes up with a description which bears very little resemblance to you or me.  God's presence in Ezekiel's vision is so astounding he cannot find words to describe what he sees.

Here's what I would like to look at today, though.  How does God interrupt our lives?  When we are going about our routine, mundane affairs, does our Lord interrupt in some way?  Does he do something breathtakingly divine?  Consider the way our Lord and Savior has communicated with his people in Word and Sacraments.  Consider the natural revelation of his divine power all around us.  Consider the way the Lord has created and is actively sustaining the world.  Every breath we draw, every thought or emotion we experience, it is all evidence of the presence of our Lord.

Jesus Christ has created this world.  He has redeemed it to himself through his incarnation, his life, his death, his resurrection.  In this time of Epiphany, are we intent on seeing the Lord who has appeared to us?  Or maybe we are too busy with dwelling on our mundane life to see the divine context in which we live that life.

May the Lord grant us eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to respond when he interrupts.

Isaiah 66.1-20, Luke 3.21-35 - Lectionary for 1/6/10

Today's readings are Isaiah 66.1-20 and Luke 3.21-35.

In Isaiah 66.3 we see that people have chosen their own way.  God calls it an abomination.  It is not the way God has revealed.  Even following the patterns God has prescribed but without repentance is not acceptable.  If we try to build God's kingdom in the way that we have devised it is abhorrent to our Lord.  

It is in fact the Lord who brings his kingdom.  he is the one who has redeemed people from his own wrath, purchasing a people out of his righteous judgment to be a people pleasing to him.  It is through Christ's sacrifice, not ours, that we have obtained mercy.  It is through Christ's obedience, not ours, that we are called obedient children of our heavenly father.

This is not something we would devise.  It comes only from God's self-revelation.  God is angry with our sin so he pours out his wrath, but pours it out on himself.  God requires death for sin so he dies, in the person of his son, Jesus Christ.  God promises to adopt and provide for a people he has chosen, so he makes them adoptable.  All this is not what we are able to do, but entirely what he does.  This is the Gospel of our Lord.

Isaiah 65.8-25, Luke 3.1-20 - Lectionary for 1/5/09

Today's readings are Isaiah 65.8-25 and Luke 3.1-20.

As we read Isaiah 65 today we see that God does not cast out sinful Israel.  He has revealed himself to them, giving salvation.  We know from the New Testament specifically that this salvation is by belief on Christ crucified for sinners.  All who come to him in repentance and faith are gathered to him.  There is no sin that is not covered by the death and resurrection of Christ.  

Verses 10-16 of Isaiah 65 show some parallel blessings on the repentant and curses on those who trust in themselves.

The repentant have safe pasture.  The unrepentant have sword and slaughter.

The repentant eat, drink and rejoice.  The unrepentant are hungry, thirsty, and covered with shame.

The repentant sing.  The unrepentant are crying in pain.

The repentant are called blessed, forgetting their troubles.  The unrepentant are called a curse.

What's the difference?  See that blessing doesn't come from our having safe pasture, eating, drinking, rejoicing, singing, or forgetting our troubles.  No, all those attributes come from the blessed life God gives to those who repent of their sin.  Repentance is more than just sorrow.  It is sorrow which looks to God for blessing and relief from sin.  It is sorrow for sin which looks to Christ as the savior.

God's people are redeemed for joy, to receive blessing and honor.  They are redeemed only by the death of Christ on their behalf, received by belief in Christ's sufficient atonemtn.  This is truly the Gospel.

Isaiah 63.15-65.7, Luke 2.41-52 - Lectionary for 1/4/10

Today's readings are Isaiah 63.15-65.7 and Luke 2.41-52.

What are the fruits of sin?  In our sin we find that we cannot find God.  God has turned his face away from sinful man, who then, trying through sinful man's methods, cannot approach him.  It seems that part of the penalty for sin is that we end up sinning more.  The repentant cry out for the Lord to reveal himself.  Yet those who trust in their own ability go on with their shows of holiness, wisdom, and religiosity all in vain.  Our man-made holiness is in vain because it is tainted through and through with our sinful desires.  Our man-made wisdom is mediated by our sinful desires.  It is finite.  We cannot see or understand all that is around us so we are ultimately blind in our wisdom.  Our man-made religiosity is fruitless.  It does not approach the true and living God because it does not do so on his terms, but on ours.  We put ourselves on the throne that belongs to God so as to decide what would be right.  

What hope is there then?  We see the fruitless attempts we can make at approaching God.  But we also see in this passage that the Lord reveals himself suddenly, unexpectedly, in a way which confronts and contradicts all our efforts at religiosity.  Our Lord and Savior has come.  He has given us his Word which shows us how we approach him on his terms, not on ours.  He has revealed himself to us.  He is found by those who did not seek for him.  He is found where he is not expected.  He is the God who has revealed himself and made eternity visible.  And he has done it through the person and work of Jesus Christ, his only son.

Do we look for salvation through our own holiness and wisdom?  Or do do we look for salvation through this baby born in Bethlehem, living at least for a time with the livestock because of lack of space?  Do we look for salvation through the perfect man who gave himself for the sins of all mankind?  Do we look for hope in the bodily resurrection?  Do we see our Lord in water, bread, and wine?  In short, do we look for our Lord where he has promised he can be found?  Let us ever look there in hope.  The Lord has revealed himself in an unexpected way.  He is there to be found.

Isaiah 63.1-14, Luke 2.21-40 - Lectionary for 1/3/10

Today's readings are Isaiah 63.1-14 and Luke 2.21-40.

The color is red.  It's a symbol of royalty.  A symbol of a harvest and wine-pressing celebration.  Red symbolizes joy, delight, favor, drink for the coming year.

At the same time, we see a double, even triple meaning.  God's enemies, those not chosen, are signified as "Edom," the brother of Israel, whose name also means "red."  And in this passage we see God's winepress as the place where he tramples his enemies, bringing their destruction.

Whose blood is on whom?  Does God bring simultaneous mourning and delight?  How has our Lord ans Savior penalized sin and unbelief?  His is the blood of the nations, crushed by the wrath of God.  His is the suffering which brings delight.  His is the hand which will finally call all men to account, either being covered with his shed blood or with their own shed blood, as he brings all nations to their end.

Life is in the blood of Christ, shed for the sins of all the world.  Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has entered the winepress of God's wrath himself.  He has given himself over to death on our behalf.  From his life poured out we receive the wine of joy.  We receive the royal delight.  We receive lifegiving drink which will last for eternity.  Let us then receive with joy the blood of Christ, poured out from God's winepress, our hope of salvation.

Isaiah 62.1-12, Luke 2.1-20 - Lectionary for 1/2/10

Today's readings are Isaiah 62.1-12 and Luke 2.1-20.

Our text in Isaiah 62 focuses on those who are recipients of God's favor.  We see verses 1-5 describing our Lord's chosen people.  Verses 6-10 interrupt to tell about salvation in general.  Then in verses 11-12 we see special names given to those favored by God.  

In verses 1-5 we see that the people who have the Lord's favor are shining in righteousness.  They are visibly distinct from the rest of the world.  They have been named by God.  They serve as his royal standard.  They are no longer forsaken or desolate, but they are the delight of God.  He compares them to a bride he has taken in marriage.  These people are rejoiced over by God.  What can this mean, though, except that those outside of God's favor are quite the opposite.  We need only to be observant to see that some people don't have lives that shine.  Many are downtrodden, even visibly so.  There are those in our society who don't seem to have a clear identity formed by God.  They seek their own way, their own identity.  Rather than flying the flag of our Lord and Savior they seek to fly their own standard.  These people are in fact forsaken and desolate.  They bring shame to God.  They are facing a future outside of the loving and protective care of God.  

Lest we think too highly of ourselves, we should observe that we all fall short of the description our Lord has given us in verses 1-5.  Though God has called us and set us apart in his mercy, we consistently live as though he did nothing of the sort.  Then when we occasionally find ourselves living out the identity our Lord has imputed to us we exalt ourselves and fall into trusting ourselves rather than our Lord.

What is our hope then?  We see in verses 6-10 that we are invited to call on God to fulfill his promises.  Waht is the promise of the Lord?  He promises provision.  He promises to call people to honor him.  And in verse 10 we see that our Lord has called all people to himself.  He has done this, of course, through the perfect life, death, and resurrection of Christ, God incarnate, on our behalf.  He has been lifted up.  He draws all men to himself.  That means you, that means me.  He calls us to come to him in belief.  Has he called us righteous?  We are righteous, despite all evidence to the contrary.  Has he called us his royal standard?  Then we are his royal standard.  Has he said we are his delight?  Then we are his delight.  Let us look to him in faith, trusting that he will fulfill his promises.

What are the names our Lord leaves us with?  He calls us "Salvation comes."  He calls us "The Holy People."  He calls us "Redeemed."  He calls us "Sought Out."  He calls us a "City Not Forsaken."  These are the names our Lord has given us through Christ's work on our behalf.  These are the names he has purchased for us through his blood shed.  These are the promises he has given us.

Lord, may we walk as partakers of your promises today.

Isaiah 61.1-11, Luke 1.57-80 - Lectionary for 1/1/10

Today's readings are Isaiah 61.1-11 and Luke 1.57-80.

As we start the new calendar year, let's spend some time looking at our Old Testament readings in particular.  I'll try hard to bring out the overall Law/Gospel themes within the readings. 

In Isaiah 61 today we see a passage which, if we needed to classify it as either Law or Gospel, we'd say is almost entirely Gospel.  Yet there are two chilling statements.  See in verse 2 how this is the time both for God's favor and his vengeance?  Our God is the God who rightly takes revenge.  Our wrong does not go unnoticed.  The evil of mankind is not without its recompense.  Though our Lord seems slow to punish sin, he does promise vengeance.  In verse 8 we see that our Lord hates "robbery and wrong."  He will judge them at the appropriate time.

This ought to be enough to silence our arrogance.  It ought to be enough to remind us to look for God's mercy and not to think we can flee his anger by ignoring him.  The God who is faithful to his promises will keep those promises, including his promise to pour out his wrath on evil.  And he defines evil as everything which is not in conformity to his love, all which is not true to his character.  Indeed, all of us fail.  We are all condemned under the curses mentioned in verses 2 and 8 of Isaiah 61.  The weight of the Law in those simple statements is sufficient to crush each and every one of us.

What hope is there then?  In this Gospel-filled passage, we see that our Lord is proclaiming good news to the poor.  He binds up the broken-hearted.  He gives captives liberty.  He releases from prison.  He pours out his favor.  He gives relief to those who are mourning.  He plants God's people where they can take root, grow and flourish.  When we confess that we are sinners and that he is, in fact, our righteousness, we see we are recipients of all this favor.  We read on in verse 4 and see that our Lord repairs our ruins.  We see that we are used by the Lord to provide for others.  We see that God's people are sustained and blessed by foreigners, who also receive blessing.  Our Lord has prepared an everlasting covenant, an enduring heritage for his people.  He has clothed us with royal robes of salvation. He makes righteousness and praise grow where before there was nothing but loss and destruction.

Thanks be to God that he has done all this through our Lord, Jesus Christ, who gave himself to bear the weight of the righteous condemnation of God in our place so we could turn to him in belief.  May he ever conform our lives to his Gospel promises, making us his chosen people forever.