Category: Lectionary - Wittenberg Door Campus Ministry

Luke 19:41-48 - Lectionary for Trinity 10

8/13/2020

8/13/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

In this week’s readings we have seen the idea that God is the savior, that he provides for his people, and that salvation is according to his plan, not according to ours. The application of this concept shows up in our Gospel passage, Luke 19:41-48. Here Jesus is weeping over Jerusalem. The city will lie in ruins and its enemies will destroy not only the city structures but the people as well. Why will this happen? Because Jerusalem refused to recognize Jesus, the one who visited them with salvation.

Is this a sign that God is weak and unable to rescue his people? Couldn’t God just bail out Jerusalem, smite the Romans, and call it finished?

God is not weak. But he doesn’t work according to our plans or our rules. He works according to his own plans and rules. Salvation is by grace through faith, not of our works. The only way Jerusalem will be rescued from her enemies is by believing that the true God, the God of the Bible, is the rescuer. The only way they will fight off the enemies is by trusting in God and waiting on Him. They can’t do it in their own strength. It is God’s plan, not ours, which will prevail.

And it makes God weep when his people depart from his ways. That’s the kind of God he is. He has given us freely a way of life, hope, and salvation, yet we have despised the gift and the giver. God reacts to this in sorrow, knowing that his mercy will be rejected and people will prefer to use their own means, means which will surely fail. Yet he allows it. God is God. His ways are not our ways. He has opened a way of life, but we reject it.

This is why we pray for ourselves, our church, our family, and our world. To walk in the way of life is not something we can do by our own strength. May God give us grace that we would not make him grieve.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Romans 9:30-10:4 - Lectionary for Trinity 10

8/12/2020

8/12/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

God works by God’s rules, not by our inclinations. We find this over and over again in Scripture. Today’s reading from Romans 9:30-10:4 is no exception. God is working by his rules and principles.

The big picture, the one which virtually everyone will miss, given enough opportunity, is that salvation is by grace through faith, not of our works. That’s the idea that the Gentiles were able to grasp. In fact, they found it amazingly liberating. Really? You mean all the sacrifices that we have done in the past, trying to appease one deity or another, trying not to be noticed by those we didn’t sacrifice to, keeping our heads down in hope that we will slip by without being noticed by some angry god or another, all that was useless? Exactly. All it did was to add to your anxiety and fear.

Salvation by grace through faith leaves fear behind. It takes away all the reason for fear and doubt. It leaves salvation up to God’s goodness, not up to my goodness.

Where do we go wrong with this? It’s a matter of our natural desire. We always seem to want to earn our own way, prove our own goodness, show that we are really a lot better than God seems to think we are. Romans 9:31 points out that the Jews, by trying to keep the law and earn their way to heaven through the law, failed in exactly that way. God’s law was to lead to righteousness, but it is a standard which only Jesus could ever keep. The law of God points us to our failure, not to our success. It points us to our need for a savior.

Trusting in Jesus is the only way of salvation. There is no other. We should find this to be a liberating message. We receive salvation in the way God has described it. We don’t have to make up our own system and outdo God at his work. We are recipients of his mercy. So we allow it to be by mercy, not by our effort.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Psalm 92 - Lectionary for Trinity 10

8/11/2020

8/11/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

It is good to give thanks to the Lord! Psalm 92 reminds us that He is the one who is worthy of praise, steadfast in all his faithfulness.

In a world full of other voices, urging us to trust in ourselves, to sing our own praises, or to sing the praises of other humans who we recognize as fallen creatures, the Christian turns to sing praises to the Lord of all.

We may be tempted to praise ourselves and our accomplishments. But how much more worthwhile to praise the one who created, redeemed, and sustained the heavens and the earth? He is the one who knows all this intricate world inside and out, better than we have been able to discover in thousands of years of scientific investigation.

We might like to honor those who are consistent. It’s a great thing to see someone who can be relied upon, who is faithful with all he does. But those people, when lifted up as ultimate examples, will all fail us. It is only God who can live up to the claim of never failing his people.

Who will we praise, then? Yes, we give some praise, as it is due, to those around us, who we know as examples, who are able to accomplish great things and live consistent lives. And we want to imitate them. Yet more than all, we want to give praise, unbounded praise, to the Lord of all. He is the one worthy of imitation.

It is good to give thanks to the Lord.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Jeremiah 8:4-12 - Lectionary for Trinity 10

8/10/2020

8/10/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

Jeremiah 8:4-12 speaks a piercing rebuke to the people of Jerusalem at Jeremiah’s time. In doing so it also condemns our modern Western society. The priests and other religious leaders had been speaking words of peace and comfort. Yet those words of peace and comfort were not adequate.

Verse 11 diagnoses the poor treatment given to God’s people. “They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace” (ESV). Those in our world today who speak of peace and reconciliation are quick to condemn Christians as people who neglect justice, who engage in all sorts of abuse, and are essentially ignorant and boorish people interested only in worldly gain.

Time and again, these same people, the priestly class of the secular culture we live in, will insult Christianity in unknowing ways. Meanwhile they pursue policies which bring harm to the weakest in society. They seek to abort unborn people, saying they are unwanted. They try to affirm lifestyles which, even when greeted with encouragement, are tied to a far higher rate of depression, violence, and suicide than the lifestyles historically advocated by Christians. They try to create an unnatural separation between spirituality and physicality, thus damaging the essential unity of body and soul which makes for a whole person. They proclaim peace, blame others for interfering with peace, then proceed to cause physical harm to those who would disagree with them, destroying and stealing personal property in doing so.

This ought not to be. Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in the time of Jeremiah, partly as a result of false teaching of this type. The wounds in society were “healed lightly” and it resulted in their falling open, becoming infected, and risking the death of the society.

What does Jeremiah call us to do? Return to the truth. Turn from folly to seek the forgiveness that comes only from God in Christ. Seek the Lord while He may be found. Do not fall prey to false teachers. Trust in the Lord.

This is a difficult thing. We don’t know at present if we will be able to carry it off. But it is God’s call. God is waiting. Will we turn back to him? That’s what we were created to do.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Luke 16:1-13 - Lectionary for Trinity 9

8/6/2020

8/6/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

Luke 16:1-13 has often had headings applied to it by editors. Sadly, those headings, in an attempt to capture the essential idea in a brief and memorable way, normally heap abuse on the “manager” or “steward” in Jesus’ teaching. This is especially sad, since that character is a portrayal of us.

The accusation against the man is that he is not using his master’s resources effectively. If we consider this in light of God’s Commandments, it seems he is violating the 2nd Commandment by misusing the name of his master, who is a figure of God.

What is the master’s priority? He has been doing business with these people and he wants to continue doing so. He wants them to acknowledge his bill, but he apparently realizes that they are not actually able to pay the bill. Does this sound familiar? God has been working in our world, with us sinners. He is caring for our needs by using his resources. He wants us to recognize that we owe a debt to him, though we are never going to be able to satisfy the debt. We can never repay all our sin. So he holds his Son, Jesus, responsible for the full payment. Yet the debt we owe to God is something that He has commanded and that he commanded for a reason. How are we going to deal with that? We do what we are able to, as well as we can, now.

At the moment of negotiation, the steward takes on the role of Christ. He says he will take care of everything else. Leave it with him.

How do we act like the steward? We are representing God in his dealings with the world. People recognize the bill they have, their outstanding balance of righteousness. They are troubled by it. When the come to Christ’s Church, asking for help, our response is to acknowledge that they owe a debt of righteousness. They can’t pay it. We say it is taken care of by Christ’s sacrifice on their behalf. Does God let them off free? Well, in a way, he does. But in another way, we are called to live a life of what righteousness we are able, a life of repentance, a life of belief in God through Jesus. That’s what we call our world to do also.

May the Lord of all continue to work in His people for the good of the whole world.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

1 Corinthians 10:6-13 - Lectionary for Trinity 9

8/5/2020

8/5/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

Our reading from 1 Corinthians 10:6-13 centers on a handful of times when the people of Israel violated God’s commands and found themselves under the fierce displeasure of their Lord. We are well warned by these situations. Yet we should ask ourselves if there is an underlying principle. Then we can understand not only not to enter into those particular sins, but we can also see how God would enable us in a righteous life.

The common theme which ties all these troubles together is fairly simple. In each instance, the people of Israel chose to think of themselves as superior in some way to God. They trusted in their wisdom, their strength, their ability to discern good and evil, their desires, and their understanding of what is right and wrong. In each instance, the human way which God’s people chose to follow led them directly into sin, condemnation, and shame.

What are our desires? All that are not within the will of God are desires that Jesus has already given his life for. All that would bring us the glare of God’s displeasure are already atoned for, as Jesus cried out to His Father, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The death we deserve was served up to Jesus. The life he deserved has been served up to us.

At the end of our passage we are reminded that we should expect temptation. But with that temptation to sin, God has given us a means of escape, through trust in Jesus. Our help is in the name of the Lord. We look to him, not to ourselves. In him is life.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Psalm 51:1-12 - Lectionary for Trinity 9

8/4/2020

8/4/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

Against whom did we sin? Psalm 51:4 makes a startling confession. David confesses that he is concerned about the fact he has sinned against God. He isn’t worried about any of that other stuff. Bathsheba? Her husband, Uriah, the friend, advisor, and lead warrior whom David arranged to have die in battle? And what about all the other people who were doubtless harmed in the months that led up to the birth of the child of David and Bathsheba’s relationship, the child who was taken ill and died in infancy? No, none of that seems to matter to David.

What kind of a clodhopper is he, anyway? David is no kind of clodhopper in this. Is he concerned about the living, who have been harmed? Yes. But at the root of all is his sin against God. He didn’t trust God’s revelation of what a good marriage looks like. He didn’t trust God’s Word which defined the right relationship between Bathsheba and Uriah. He didn’t respect the love God had for his children. He was willing to misuse the truth itself in order to get his way. He was guilty as guilty can be before God.

David knew better. He understood that what he was doing was sin. He pushed ahead with it anyway. He loved his pleasure and his power more than he loved God or his neighbor. David knew better.

Many of the people we sin against will never know that we did anything. But God knows. So we also call out before the Lord, “We have sinned against you, and you only.” And in his mercy, our Lord grants forgiveness and restoration. Sometimes he also brings other matters to our understanding. We realize that we are called to repentance and that there are humans against hom we have sinned, actions which call for forgiveness and restoration. But it’s got to be rooted in our acknowledgement of our sin before God.

May we have grace to keep our priorities in order.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

2 Samuel 22:26-34 - Lectionary for Trinity 9

8/3/2020

8/3/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

2 Samuel 22:26-28 describes God’s personality in a surprising way. He shows himself as merciful with those who are merciful. The blameless see God as blameless. People may well see their positive characteristics in God. It’s what He shows them. We can take encouragement from this idea, because when we are on the right track living the Christian life, God himself shows his pleasure by reinforcing those character qualities.

The tone shifts just a bit in verse 27. With the purified God deals purely. Here we notice that the purity we have is not of our own making or inclination. It is something we receive. The purity of a Christian is not something the Christian does. It is something that the Holy Spirit has placed upon the Christian. Yet in God’s personality it is entirely different. He is pure by nature. He can’t receive purity. But he deals purely. Do we live a life of moral or ethical purity? God, who is pure anyway, makes sure we will receive purity. It doesn’t always happen, but for the most part if we deal well with others they will deal well with us. The husband who is pure and loving with his wife is likely to find himself with a wife who is pure and loving with him. It’s what God does in all his dealings with us, and He makes those dealings easily understandable.

What about with crooked people? God shows himself as tortuous. This is a word we don’t use all that much in English. It means “twisting” or “tangled.” The importance of this statement is that when we try to pull a fast one on God, he is always one or two steps ahead of us. When we try to live by deception, we end up being deceived ourselves. When we try to cheat God we find that we never understood him in the first place.

God is the God who humbles the proud, including those who would try to act crookedly. They will eventually be brought low. But he raises up the humble who are trusting in him. This is to God’s glory, as he works out his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Matthew 7:15-23 - Lectionary for Trinity 8

7/30/2020

7/30/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

Matthew 7:21-23 issues a stern warning to us. Here Jesus says that not everyone who calls on him or even does miracles in his name will be a partaker of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus says this not to plant doubt, or to call people to do more good works in his name, but to urge his children on to do “the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

What is God’s will if it isn’t the kind of work detailed in verse 22? All that prophecy, casting out demons, and doing mighty works? What are we supposed to do that will be better than that?

Consider for a moment how Abraham was counted as righteous before God. He believed God and he was accounted as a righteous person in God’s eyes. Christians confess, with the apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter two, that we are saved by grace through faith, not by works of any kind. The action that pleases God is believing him, taking him at his word, knowing that he is the God who brings forgiveness, life, and salvation.

By no means does this say that we don’t have an obligation to live a holy life before God and our neighbor. Those works of righteousness are good. They are pleasing to God and they serve our neighbor. But they won’t save us from sin. We can’t possibly do saving works. God is the one who has done that, by having Jesus, God the Son, bear our sins and earn our salvation through his perfect righteousness on our behalf. We don’t do that. We receive it. Then God makes us to be the good tree, bearing good fruit, for the glory of God.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Romans 8:12-17 - Lectionary for Trinity 8

7/29/2020

7/29/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

Okay, I admit it. I’m really tired of the way my world is functioning right now. In my country, we are suffering from deep divisions between those who are fearful for their lives, their livelihoods, and all things in the future and those who are probably not careful enough of their lives, their livelihoods, and all things in the future. But what has me really provoked is that there are so very many who, in Paul’s terms from Romans 8:12-13, are living according to the flesh and have placed all their hopes, dreams, and fears in this earthly life.

Christians are to be operating in a different world, an altogether different world. Yes, we’re told to love and serve our neighbor, and we need to take that very seriously. But at the sae time we are to recognize that our hope is not in this world, in our safety, in our health, in our bank accounts, our governmental stability, or any of that. It all passes away. It’s really useful in the here and now. And we don’t want to leave a mess for our children, our grandchildren, or anyone else’s children or grandchildren. But if we are wanting to talk about matters of life and death, we need to understand those things rightly.

The apostle Paul tells the Romans that Christians find their security, their worth, their value, in Christ. The Christian is an heir of God. God’s kingdom is a place of mercy and grace. It operates in this world through that very Gospel promise, that Jesus has taken the place of sinful humanity by living a perfect life and dying a perfect death on the behalf of those who hate him. Any message less than the Gospel is ultimately going to be worthless.

So what do Christians do in a time of pandemic? We confess that we live in a world in which the curse of sin has brought death into being. We recognize that there will always be suffering and death. We love and serve our neighbors. If that means wearing a mask to try to protect our neighbor, we put the mask on. If we think the mask will bring some comfort to our neighbor, we put the mask on. If we think the mask is causing anxiety because our neighbor is going to be afraid of death, maybe we take the mask off and speak words of life. We need to be speaking those words of life through a mask or without a mask. We go to work, as it is a way of loving and serving our neighbor. We keep things clean because we think there are certainly some illnesses, whether COVID or something else, which would be bad for our neighbor. But above all, we live and speak according to the Gospel.

What hope is there for those who are suffering from illness, from isolation, from depression, from fear? The very same hope of the Gospel. Jesus came to live, die, and rise from the dead in your place, as the firstfruits of the resurrection, so you, believing on him, could have eternal life and hope. We are not of this world. It doesn’t define us. God defines us.

I hope all my readers will look to Jesus, the Christ, as their hope. Go to church, whether in person or online. Receive the Word of God faithfully. As the opportunity presents itself, receive the Sacraments, tactile administrations of God’s Word. And let your value be tied up in the presence of the living God, who has loved you and chosen you to be his heir. This world and its dysfunction isn’t eternal. Look to the eternal.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Psalm 26 - Lectionary for Trinity 8

7/28/2020

7/28/30
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

How does human nature treat the presence of God? The answer to that question may well depend on two factors. First, are we talking about a human nature that is fallen and sinful, or are we talking about human nature which is sinless, as God created it to be before the Fall? The second factor is exactly which god’s presence we are talking about.

Let’s imagine for a moment a relationship with one of the gods of folk religions, maybe a sky god, an earth god, a water god, some sort of a powerful spirit that is able to provide or withhold resources. If we are talking about that kind of a god, from an earthly standpoint we ought to be really scared. These deities of the folk religions are uniformly capricious and self-serving. They enjoy inflicting pain and suffering on humans, especially on those who violate their desires. The Christian might not be frightened of the spiritual power, but there is something decidedly troubling about spiritual forces, sometimes showing real power, who other than the true God. They normally bring trouble in their wake.

Let’s imagine, on the other hand, a relationship with the true God, the one described in the Bible. This God is holy, loving, just, all-powerful, and wise. The part about “justice” might bother us if we realize that we are not always characterized by justice. Yet on the whole, since this God is consistent with himself, we don’t have to worry about capricious actions. However, when dealing with the true God, we do have to think about the two issues of human nature.

The human who is not fallen has nothing to fear before God. There is no separation. That person is just, God is just. That person is righteous, God is righteous. It’s really not a bad situation. Prior to the Fall, Adam was used to talking with God when God would take a walk in the Garden in the cool part of the day.

What of the fallen human? Since the events in Genesis chapter three, we confess that all humans are sinful by nature. Can the sinful person stand before the holiness of God? Not at all. We would fear and tremble, flee and hide. This would be the most normal and natural reaction we could imagine, since that which is unholy can’t stand in God’s presence.

Since we are fallen humans, and God is the God described in the Bible, thanks be to God, He has provided a savior, Jesus, to break the wall of separation between humans and God, to be a mediator for us, to bear our sin and be our savior. In this situation, we are able to stand before God and not flee in terror. We can stand with confidence knowing God is our God and we are His people. Thanks be to God.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Genesis 2:7-17 - Lectionary for Trinity 8

7/27/2020

7/27/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

When we read the beginning of Genesis 2 we are compelled to wonder what it would be like to care for the garden that God has planted. In antiquity the term was used more for a park-type place than for a place to grow food. Think of trees, shrubs, park benches, fountains, flower gardens, border gardens full of things to eat, and, prior to the Fall, no difficulties. There’s no mystery fungus killing the tomatoes. The rabbits only graze where they should. There’s no need to preserve food because there will always be plenty, in all the seasons. There may have been precious little for the man to do except enjoying the garden, though he was the caretaker.

God’s people have remained in this world, and we remain the caretakers of the garden God has given us. However, since the fall into sin it is a world full of hurt. Not only do the rabbits eat all the pea plants, but people harm, steal, and kill. The work of the garden is difficult and often yields little reward. We grow thorns and thistles by the sweat of our brow. Yet we remain gardeners in God’s world.

The text mentions the natural resources, including some which are probably primarily used for trading. It mentions water resources. It speaks of geographical realities. We still get to deal with all these. Extraction and stewardship of valuable products from the earth are included in the very human work of caring for God’s garden. Dealing with water even in this world of drought and flood is part of the work laid before us. And food, don’t forget the food. Since not all parts of the world are equally productive, and since there are seasons that produce food and seasons of dormancy, not only do we produce food, but we do so in such a way as to keep some all year round and to distribute it equitably to places all around the world.

God has placed his people in an amazing world, rich in all manner of resources, but we find now it is a fallen world. Our mandate remains - care for the garden. By God’s grace we hope to do exactly that, for the glory of God and the good of our neighbor.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Jeremiah 23:16-29 - Lectionary for Trinity 8

7/27/2020

7/27/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

In the time of Jeremiah the prophet there was a plague going on among the people of Israel. It was a plague of misinformation, of false teaching, of enthusiastic preaching that resulted in condemnation and destruction. Jeremiah 23:16-17 warns about this in no uncertain terms.

We don’t have to look around us very carefully to see the same kind of false teaching, both inside Christianity and outside of it. Several allegedly Christian leaders have been teaching and preaching about “casting vision” and even placing ideas in a “vision book” or on a “vision board,” telling their follower that if they put their dreams up in a concrete form, then pray about them regularly, God will bless them with the fulfillment of those dreams, whether they are financial or social desires. In the end, the person who is posting those ideas on a vision board exalts himself to the position of God, effectively commanding the entire universe to comply and grant his wish. It is false teaching, to be avoided like the plague.

Among non-Christian elements in society these ideas are rampant, which shouldn’t surprise any of us. People are told to pursue their dreams, that there is nothing they can’t do, and that everything will go according to their plans and desires.

Of course, from an earthly perspective, sometimes our desires work out just fine, especially if they are appropriate desires. I want to have productive work in a particular field, it is a field that offers opportunities, I can get the training or education needed, and I find that I am enriched by having a fulfilling line of work which pays me well. It’s perfectly reasonable. Or I am interested in having a very positive relationship with my wife, so I decide that I am going to steadfastly treat her well, with patience, kindness, love, and all the rest. As time goes on, usually that relationship will blossom and turn out quite well.

What if we try to pursue visions which are not compatible with what God has given us, or if we try to push an earthly agenda on our own authority and it isn’t one that will work? I won’t even mention the fact that I would love to be a star basketball player except that I don’t have any reasonable ability or athletic inclination. And I’m well under six feet tall. And in my fifties. God isn’t going to change my height or my career in that direction. It isn’t God’s fault, it is a problem if I decide that’s my agenda and God owes it to me.

On the earthly front, what happens when, for instance, we start realizing that people treat other people badly, that we can’t always change it, and we think we should always be able to make it happen? Or, worse yet, we think that someone else should be able to make people stop treating others badly? We become angry, frustrated, and often treat someone badly.

When we decide to take things into our own hands and run them, we’re setting ourselves up for failure, for frustration, and for condemnation before God, because we are taking on the role that only God has. Rather than pursuing our own course, let us ask what God in His Word has said he is going to do for us, for our neighbors, and how He would have us live in recognition of his mercy and grace.

In Jeremiah’s time, the nation of Israel fell captive to the Babylonians. The prophets who were saying everything would be all right were dead wrong. Or were they? God used this time of captivity to show that He can preserve a people for his name even when those people are deported and enslaved. He later set the people free physically, then spiritually as he sent Jesus, God the Son, born of a line preserved through the time of captivity, to set all who believe free from sin and death. Everything turns out all right, but it is in God’s plan, not our plan.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Mark 8:1-9 - Lectionary for Trinity 7

7/23/2020

7/23/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

It’s easy to view Mark 8:1-9 from the perspective of the miraculous feeding of the multitude. About four thousand people (v. 9), all fed to the point of satisfaction, when before they ate there was concern that they wouldn’t make it back home before fainting from lack of food, and all of it happening starting with seven loaves and a few fish. Certainly, this is a powerful miracle.

However, I’d like us to look at the passage from a slightly different perspective. What were the people doing? Jesus had been going here and there, healing and teaching. We don’t really have information about the occasion or the overall context of this gathering. But it’s significant that the crowd, apparently this crowd, had been gathered for three days. We can only assume they were hearing Jesus’ teaching and that those who were sick were coming to him for healing.

Would this take a while? No doubt. I have had instances of working with a crowd of people, but the biggest one I have ever worked with in this way, praying for individuals, hearing problems and bringing biblical teaching to them in a public space, and trying to show care outside of a formal setting was much smaller, perhaps four hundred people, not four thousand. This is an enormous crowd of people, all with different needs. And the amazing thing is that they stick around. It’s entirely different from having a Bible study or conference in which there are set presentations and people come and go.

It probably isn’t late in the day. You don’t send a crowd of pedestrians away to go home when the day is already over. You send them home in the middle of the afternoon. But they can’t go home without eating something. They will pass out on the way. This indicates to us that they may have had some food on the first day, and maybe a little on the second day, but it is gone. They didn’t plan, maybe couldn’t plan, to be with Jesus as long as they were. If Jesus were to extend the gathering, it would result in hunger again, as well as loss of ability to care for any family at home. The crowd needs to eat and be sent away.

What’s amazing here is that the crowd stayed with Jesus as long as they did! Their food ran out, they had been hearing him, receiving healing, receiving strength. Jesus was caring for people. But when you’re hungry and thirsty you start thinking about going home. The second day you will almost certainly decide to go home. But this is a third day.

Jesus is giving the people words of life. They are eager to receive those words. They need to hear that God’s kingdom is with them, that God’s merciful reign is present in Jesus, and that he is able to care for them all the days of their life, into eternity.

In these last days, God has provided for his people. We can hear God’s Word over and over again through books, church services, studies in person and even online. We can receive the teaching of Jesus. But are we willing to stay with him? What if it were a whole day? Two? Into a third day?

Jesus has the words of life. He is willing to provide them for us. He can provide for all our physical needs as well, but what he’s really there to do is to bring us reconciliation with God, forgiveness, life, and salvation. May we, like this crowd in Mark 8, be ready to hear from our Lord.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Romans 6:19-23 - Lectionary for Trinity 7

7/22/2020

7/22/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

The Bible pictures all of humanity as being in some sort of servitude. Speaking to the Romans, a culture where slaveholding was very common, the apostle Paul uses the very familiar terms of slavery. When the Romans were in sin, they were slaves to sin. They have been purchased out of that condition and are now slaves of God. He doesn’t picture the Christians as entirely free agents. That would be to say they serve themselves and thus are still slaves to sin, as the world became a slave to sin in the Fall.

When we are purchased by God, we no longer serve sin. We serve God. Rather than working for evil we work for good. Rather than working for unrighteousness we work for righteousness. Rather than receiving wages of sin, which lead to death, we receive wages of righteousness, leading to sanctification - being holy before God.

By the way, from an historical perspective, it was perfectly normal for slaves in the Roman world to receive some wages. They weren’t that much, but a person who was careful could usually purchase his own freedom after several years’ servitude. Slavery was not race-based but was culturally and politically based. Nations threatened or overcome by Rome would send slaves to Rome.

The beauty of being a slave of God is the value God has placed upon us. He gave his life, in the death of Jesus, God the Son, to purchase you and me. He gives us freedom from the tyranny of sin. He gives us eternal life as opposed to eternal death. And there is no reason why anyone in his right mind would want to buy his way out of such a situation. We have the riches of God in Christ. We are presented before him in holiness.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Psalm 33:1-11 - Lectionary for Trinity 7

7/21/2020

7/21/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

It’s always hard to make predictions. Often it is even difficult to evaluate our current situations. Yet I think Psalm 33:10-11 may just have a strong application to our lives today. “The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations” (ESV). Who would have thought, a years ago, that our nation would be in the midst (at least I hope we are not near the beginning) of a health crisis, that we would have nearly tripled unemployment, and that financial markets would have gone reeling in the first half of this year? There weren’t really many warning signs about that. Yet we are where we are.

Is God in the process of bringing international plans to nothing? Is he frustrating our plans? Some will ask whether this is God at work! The Bible describes God as the one who knows all our hopes, all our dreams, all our plans, all our cultures, all our finances, and all our weaknesses intimately. Not one of them escapes his eye. And in none of them are we separated from God (Romans 8).

Verse 11 reminds us that our plans are subject to change, but that God’s eternal plan and purpose doesn’t change. His plan is to convict the world of sin, to turn people to faith in Him, and to reconcile the world to himself. This he accomplishes through Jesus’ perfect life, death, and resurrection. His Word says it is for you.

If we want our plans frustrated, we can depend on ourselves or on anything other than Jesus. Or we can look to the Lord, acknowledge that he is the redeemer and Lord of all. We can know that his plan, his intent, is sure, and that it is for our good.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Genesis 2:7-17 - Lectionary for Trinity 7

7/20/2020

7/20/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

I think it’s really significant that, in Genesis 2:15, before the fall into sin, God gave the man he had created a job - to work the garden and keep it. We don’t really know what this included, but we can get a reasonable picture of it based on what a wilderness is like after the fall. There are lots of plants. This is a fertile place, well watered, and rich in natural resources. God intends his people to do some caretaking. There are plants that provide food, plants that provide shelter, warmth, and the ability to cook (I think the first humans knew about cooking, tools, and creating shelter. They were created in God’s image. They didn’t need to invent everything from scratch. They were inventive and instinctively knew a good bit about how to take care of themselves.). The goal was not to leave “nature” to itself. It was to take care of nature, to intervene when appropriate, and to use resources for good.

At times, Christians have forgotten that they still have a divine mandate to care for their surroundings and use them for good. Some have engaged in plunder and careless use. Some have decided that temporal things don’t matter and can be squandered. On the other hand, some have adopted the view of the Romantic environmentalist movement which says we want to leave nature entirely to itself and avoid human interaction of any sort.

The biblical view is somewhere in between. We are to use our environment, but carefully and gently. There’s a sort of sustainability which comes from good stewardship. Since the fall into sin, it’s harder to keep everything in order. The plants that provide food are under more active attack by plants and animals that could kill them. Plants that are overcrowded don’t mature to their full potential. However, the crowded plants might be very useful for cooking, heating, and even building. Animals that are overcrowded become sick and even starve. Animals that are over-hunted become rare and can die out. Meanwhile, we try to persuade most of the wildlife to stay in their homes (outside) and out of our homes (inside).

God gave his people a mandate to keep the garden. As human population has spread, that mandate has remained unchanged. We tend the garden where we live. And as we keep it and nurture it, we’ll have a good and pleasant place to live, abundant with food, shelter, and all sorts of interesting things to explore. The work is good.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Matthew 5:17-26 - Lectionary for Trinity 6

7/16/2020

7/16/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

The law always condemns. It certainly does more than condemning us, but it always condemns. Jesus, in Matthew 5:17-26, speaks highly of the Law of God. It will not pass away. Jesus’ role is to fulfill the Law, not to destroy it. God’s Law is great. However, lest we make any mistake in this regard, Jesus goes on to show some of the implications of God’s Law.

Murder is bad. It’s a terrible thing. It not only ends another person’s life, but it does so willingly and places the murderer in the role of Gd, who gets to decide when life begins and ends. The vast majority of people on the planet will affirm that murder is a bad thing and will be able to say quite honestly that they have never murdered anyone.

Jesus shows that our internal attitude toward others can be an act of murder. If we wish someone were dead, if we are hostile toward someone, if we are insulting, we have placed ourselves in the role of God as the judge over that person. In effect, we have done the very same kind of sinful thing that is done in murder, except the person’s life isn’t irretrievably lost. It may, however, be lost to us and to others who value our opinion, in a practical sense, because a reputation and social interactions are critical pieces of life.

So how are we doing at keeping God’s Law? Jesus keeps turning up the heat and telling us the underlying implications of the Law. And the more he does it, the more quickly we fall under condemnation.

What’s the point of all this? Jesus tells his hearers to repent and to seek peace with those they sin against. The same applies to us and, no doubt, one of the people we have sinned against is God himself. As we seek reconciliation, and as we realize that Jesus is the one who has reconciled us to God, we are declared not guilty. By God’s grace, though the Law would convict us, the Gospel has set us free, free to live at peace with God and with others. The call of God’s Law is to turn to the Gospel, since we realize our need.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Romans 6:1-11 - Lectionary for Trinity 6

7/15/2020

7/15/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

Romans 6:1-11 always caused me problems before I was a Lutheran. It’s one of the passages that Lutheran theology brought into focus for me. Here’s why. With a non-sacramental view of baptism, thinking that the water can’t actually do anything, and thinking that baptism is our declaration of grace God has previously given us, the idea of baptism as death and resurrection doesn’t make much sense. If it’s our work, then we are saying that we are able to rise from the dead, presumably without God’s help.

Sorry, but that which is dead never brings itself back to life. It’s rare enough for someone to die and another person’s work to bring life again. But if you die you are not capable of bringing yourself back to life. If baptism is a symbol of death and resurrection, we can’t possibly be the ones accomplishing it. It must be done by someone else.

In Romans 6 the Christian is the passive recipient of God’s work of baptism.

I remember well belonging to a Baptist community in which people would speak of “following the Lord in baptism.” This makes baptism into an act of my obedience. Yet the idea of following the Lord is right. The hope of our baptism has a lot to do with the fact that Jesus has been raised from the dead. This gives us the hope that we will also be raised from the dead. But again, we don’t raise ourselves from the dead. Jesus is raised by the power of the Holy Spirit. So are we. We follow Jesus as passive recipients.

Does baptism need to be by immersion? After all, it signifies burial. However, there are examples in Scripture of large numbers of people being baptised in areas where water might not be superabundant. There is also that one troublesome variant reading that speaks of Jews baptising their dining couches.

If, however, baptism is a consecration, similar to the anointing with oil or the sprinkling of blood received by the priests in the Old Testament, it makes perfect sense to sprinkle or pour some water onto the person. It doesn’t completely ruin the symbolism of death and resurrection, though it makes sense to dip the person under water if possible.

What’s critical here, though, is that in baptism we are united (passive) with God in Jesus’ death and resurrection. It certainly appears that something is being accomplished. Not to seem too scholarly, but that would seem to be the natural point of the verb type used. It seems to be a coinage around the time of the New Testament, and it’s what we call an “inceptive” verb. The “ize” in it (in the Greek also) is used normally to indicate an action which starts a different process or way of life. The word isn’t used for dipping a cookie in a cup of tea. It is used for putting someone in water to start that person’s Christian life.

Does God change us through baptism? Romans 6:1-11 certainly indicates that. We can know, then, as baptized children of God, that we have been placed under God’s protective hand and are partakers of his promises. It is not of ourselves. It is done by God.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Psalm 19 - Lectionary for Trinity 6

7/14/2020

7/14/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

Psalm 19:4 compares God’s Word to a measuring line. It is the standard by which we can evaluate all our life - our attitudes, our desires, our words, our actions - everything. Even nature follows God’s law. The sun, moon, and stars are appointed to keep track of times and seasons. They certainly do that adequately. This is a work of God’s law.

What happens when we try to violate God’s Word by our attitude? Two ways of doing this show up in the Psalm. Verse 12 speaks of hidden faults, things we maybe are unaware of. Verse 13 speaks of presumptuous sins, times when we decide we know best, no matter what God has said. The Psalmist responds to both scenarios the same way, by praying that the Lord would keep him from such sins. Yet when we fall into sin and error, we come before the Lord in prayer, trusting that He is able to bring us forgiveness and life.

Whether we are aware of it or not, God has measured our world and our lives. He lovingly corrects us, often by showing us his glory in the world around us, but mostly by his revealed Word which we cn read and hear preached. Christians live according to the measuring line God has given us, as long as we are able, and we ask God his forgiveness when we fail. Thanks be to God, He sent his Son to atone for sin on our behalf, to restore us to God.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Exodus 20:1-17 - Lectionary for Trinity 6

7/13/2020

7/13/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

We seem to have a love-hate relationship with laws and requirements. Oddly enough, even people who are “proud Americans” and want to make an issue of their freedoms become confused when they can’t figure out the traffic flow patterns at a counter in a shop. We want freedom - but we also want to know which way the line forms.

In Exodus 20:2 God identifies himself as the Lord who brought his people out of the land of slavery. He has rescued his people. They are free. So why is he giving them commands in this chapter?

Humans have an innate need for law and order. We thrive when we have boundaries. We need to know where we are safe and where we are not. We need to know how society will function. This is something that Western Civilization has recognized for millennia, encoded or not. It’s what we would call the “rule of law.” If we don’t know what we can do, what we should do, what we should avoid, we are at a loss. We confront all sorts of anxiety as we realize that we need to invent everything.

The New Testament tells us, in John 8, Romans 6, and many other places, that we are either a slave to sin or a slave to righteousness. In the end we are going to serve someone or something. The question is what kind of a someone or something we are going to serve. God rescues us from slavery to the Egyptians, a picture of the world of sin and death. He then gives us liberty to trust his law, which he has given for our good and for the good of our neighbor. We are truly rescued from slavery, so as to love and serve our neighbor and bring delight to God.

In the final analysis, the law we don’t like is the law we want to fight against. God’s Word shows us what law is for our good and what is for our harm. Let’s follow the good.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Luke 5:11-11 - Lectionary for Trinity 5

7/9/2020

7/9/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

There are a few elements we should especially notice, even in this well-known Gospel passage from Luke 5:1-11. First, Luke portrays this as essentially the first time Jesus had met Simon Peter. There are no signs of previous familiarity, though somehow Jesus knows enough about Simon and Simon enough about Jesus that they can end up in Simon’s boat.

Simon Peter is clearly tired, and reports having worked hard all night with very disappointing results. He doesn’t seem to like being told by a rabbi what he should do, and with good reason. He is a professional fisherman, and a successful one.

Most of us don’t like it much when Jesus tells us what to do. Yet what can we observe about this encounter between Simon and Jesus? First, Jesus apparently does know what he is talking about. Even when he says something counter-intuitive or that goes against our experience and training, we should take him at his word. Second, Jesus’ command is for the good of those who hear it and obey it. The large catch of fish represents not only food for Simon Peter and his co-workers, but also for the crowd of people who have gathered that morning to hear Jesus. It also represents economic stability. I find it hard to imagine that Simon and company would give all the fish away. They were professional fishermen and their livelihood came from selling fish. The crowd likewise probably had nothing against paying for the fish they would consume. It certainly was fresh! Finally, Jesus often redirects us in order to do some greater good in our lives and, through us, to others. Here he took the fishermen and redirected them into lives which would bring the food of eternal life to those they met. When we are confronted with Jesus’ commands, we should ask what he is going to do with us.

Jesus comes to each of us in His Word. He guides our lives, he puts us in contact with people, and he shows us how to be his servants in our world. This is always a good thing, even at the end of a long night’s work.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

1 Peter 3:8-15 - Lectionary for Trinity 5

7/8/2020

7/8/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

In 1 Peter 3:13 the apostle asks, “Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?” (ESV). Actually, there are plenty of people ready to bring harm on those who are zealous for what is good. It’s a tragically widespread issue. Our Western society these days seems to have long waiting lines of people, eager to engage in hate and to show anger. They call what is evil good and what is good evil, then they attack anyone who pursues truth, beauty, and goodness. It’s sad.

Even if that hatred and abuse is poured out on us, though, we can know that the Lord is good. We don’t fear those who would persecute us for righteousness’ sake. We know that Jesus is the holy Lord and that he has given us a living and eternal hope.

What is our calling, in light of this passage? We are called to do good, to hope in what is good, and to realize that all good centers in Jesus, the savior of the world. He is the holy one in whom we find the hope of the resurrection to eternal life. Nobody can take that away from us.

In light of that knowledge, also, we guard our tongues and pursue peace, as we read in verses 10-11. This is for the good of our neighbor, as it shows the hope of the Christian even in this lost and evil world. Will there be opposition? Certainly, but we can know that Jesus has overcome his opponents and leads the way to eternity.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Psalm 16 - Lectionary for Trinity 5

7/7/2020

7/7/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

Psalm 16, our reading for this week, speaks to the security found in God. He is the refuge of his people (v. 1), the only actual good we have (v. 2). There may be some things which are good in an earthly way, but they eventually run to sorrow (v. 4).

The Psalmist draws a sharp distinction between allegiance to God and allegiance to the gods of this world. Some will say that all religions are essentially the same. Not so in Psalm 16. The religions of this world have offerings and significant words to say, but the Psalmist will have none of it (v. 4). Those offerings and incantions go with bondage and sorrow. Rather than pinning our hopes there, the Lord holds our lot. He is our portion and cup (v. 5). This is a pleasant hope.

Some will view Christianity as something burdensome, as bondage to rules and regulations. The opposite is true. In God’s word, with God as our inheritance, we find freedom. It is a pleasant place, a beautiful inheritance, a place of stability.

Why is this? In verse 10, applied in Acts chapter 2 to Jesus, we have a savior who was not abandoned to the underworld. He rose again to show us the hope we can have in eternal life, the life of the resurrection. This is the hope found only in Christ. It is indeed a message of security.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

1 Kings 19:11-21 - Lectionary for Trinity 5

7/6/2020

7/6/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

Our Old Testament passage for this week, from 1 Kings 19:11-21, has been used for so many very inadequate or misleading sermons, I admit I hardly know where to begin. Elijah has been hiding out in a cave. He is fearful and tired. God calls him out of the cave and shows him his power in wind, earthquake, and fire. The Scripture says “the Lord was not in” any of those.

Careless interpreters then see that God speaks to Elijah gently, so they say that God is in the small whisper, that we need to find the whisper of God, that we need to look within to perceive rightly. Sadly, that’s where the sermons go off the tracks and cause a train wreck, which makes a very big noise, lots of wind, an earthquake, and possibly catches on fire.

Picture, if you will, God saying that he is on his way. He makes a big show of it so Elijah knows that he is showing up. If we stay with the train metaphor, he lays on the horn a mile from the station, he brakes and you hear the squealing and rattling. He blows a huge cloud of steam and smoke. Everything is hissing. He pulls up, then, not a train at all, but the engineer, he walks into the station and sits down for a cup of tea with Elijah. This is still God talking, but now rather than making a show of his great power, he sits down with his prophet. It’s a quiet chat. The noise is gone. Elijah doesn’t look within himself, and we don’t see God supernaturally present in the quiet. He’s just stopped to have a talk with Elijah.

What does he tell his prophet? He first asks him what’s wrong. Elijah is distressed because people have been deserting God. They seem hostile to God and his prophet. God’s response to Elijah is that he has a job to do. He is to anoint a terrible individual as king of Syria. He will oppress God’s people and kill many of the unbelievers. Elijah is also to anoint a terrible individual as king of Israel. He will oppress the rest of God’s people and kill many more unbelievers. This doesn’t sound too encouraging so far. Elijah will further anoint another prophet, Elisha, to come after him. Elisha will kill more of the people who have bowed to Baal. In the end, though it seems there wouldn’t be many people left, God says he is reserving thousands for his name who have not bowed down to the false idols.

We don’t know how God departed. We are spared any news about smoke, fire, earthquakes, or hurricanes. But the instructions are done and Elijah gets about his business. He knows that God has a plan and that the plan will work.

God’s plan and process of preserving a remnant for his name shows up again and again in the Bible. We could even say that the history of Israel is a history of God’s preservation of a remnant, the line from which the Messiah will come. In these last days, since the resurrection of Christ, we realize that the Lord will always preserve a people for his name, and that he has lovingly invited us to be among those people. Whether we were there for the big show of the train arriving, we realize that our Lord has sat down with us and told us about the future and his care for his people. There’s no need to fear.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.