Reflection: Beautiful Feet for an Ugly World (March 5, 2015)

1 Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean. 2 Shake yourself from the dust and arise; be seated, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. 3 For thus says the LORD: “You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.” 4 For thus says the Lord GOD: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing. 5 Now therefore what have I here,” declares the LORD, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the LORD, “and continually all the day my name is despised. 6 Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.” 7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” 

Isaiah 52:1-7 

If the Lord were to ask you what part of your body you’d like for Him to make beautiful, you’d probably have a ready answer. Our world presses its own standards of beauty onto us and we are quick to embrace them. We want beautiful faces for all to see our beauty, beautiful hair to appear youthful, beautiful breasts to be alluring, and beautiful abs to convey our fitness and strength. But God chooses something better for us; He gives us beautiful feet.

Our feet are beautiful because Christ has fitted them with His Gospel of peace. But what makes having beautiful feet so important? In the first place He has given us beautiful feet to stand. As the people of God in the world, we must endure many difficulties, hardships, and even persecutions. The Lord gives us the feet to stand in the face of these things. But we are called to do more than stand; we are called to go. With our beautiful feet we carry the Gospel of Peace to our broken and dying world. As we go, our feet are reflections of the most beautiful of feet, the feet of Jesus.

The beautiful feet of Jesus are feet of flesh that brought God’s love into our world. They are dusty feet that walked the paths that we walk and experienced all of the hardships, troubles, and temptations that we experience. They are feet washed by the tears of one who had used her beautiful body in ugly ways welcoming those tears and washing them away. His beautiful feet are feet that served, even serving in the lowly way of washing others’ feet. Above all, His feet carried the Cross to Calvary and were pierced for our transgressions. The blood that flowed from the beautiful feet of Jesus has taken away the ugliness of all of your sins.

Your feet have been made beautiful to carry the Good News of Jesus to those who are perishing because they either do not know the Name of the Lord or they despise it. They may take you near or far. You may be shod with snow boots, flip-flops, or go barefoot in the places God has chosen for you. Wherever your beautiful feet go and whatever you may experience in those places, you can be certain that you will stand because your God reigns. Rejoice, be glad, be confident; God has given you beautiful feet.

Click here to play the audio recording of "Beautiful Feet for an Ugly World" (or right-click to download the MP3 file).

Devotion: Not What We'd Expect (Isaiah 11:1-10)

1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, 4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins. 6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. 9 They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.
Isaiah 11:1-10

Things often turn out differently than we'd expect them to end up. This is especially true when a great disaster or disappointment takes place in our lives. We have a hard time trusting that God is actually at work in such situations to bring about a good result for us. We expect that things will end up being bad for us.

Though we shouldn't be, we're often surprised when God doesn't do what we'd expect.

God has a long history of telling His people that He was going to do unexpected things. And God's people have a long history of being surprised when God does what He said He would do. Isaiah 11:1-10 is a great reminder of this.

Six hundred years before the birth of Jesus, God spoke through His prophet to tell His people what to expect. He told them that the greatness of the kingdom under King David would not be restored in their time. Instead their nation would become like a stump: cut-off and lifeless. But God would bring forth a greater Kingdom and a greater King from that stump.

This message was not what they expected — or wanted.

They wanted power, glory, security, peace, and riches in their lifetimes. They did not see how suffering and hardship could be of any value to them, let alone that it could work good for them.

They had expectations of worldly glory. God had a different idea about what makes for real glory.

We struggle with the same issues as God's people of old. We want things that make our lives more pleasant and much easier. We seek things that bring us worldly glory, power, security, and riches.

We surprisingly discover that God is willing to keep or take those things from us in order to give us a better future.

He wants us to experience His glory, power, security, and riches. But these things often come to us in the ways that we don't expect. It's when we are broken, hurting, desperate, and hopeless — like trees that have been cut down to stumps — that we are most likely to receive what God is offering us.

And it's in these things that we gain insight and understanding of what Jesus meant when He called us to live under the Cross with Him. When we join Him there we discover that what His Cross brings to us is much different and far greater than whatever it is that we would — or could — expect.

Reflection: Answering Our Shamelessness (November 30, 2014)

9 And Jesus began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while. 10 When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 12 And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. 13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ 14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ 15 And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” 17 But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written: “ ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? 18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” Luke 20:9-18

We are not people who are offended by shameful behavior. Instead, we tend to take the news of people doing shameful, reprehensible, and shocking things in stride. We've become numb to the shame of others and, as a result, unaware of our own shamefulness. The shocking behavior of the tenants in the parable Jesus told doesn't shock us in the way that it did the people who first heard this story. If if did -- or if we'd let it -- we'd be moved to action. Fortunately, our Savior answered our shamelessness for us. Freed from the shame that we tend to deny, we can live radical new lives in Christ that may even shock or shame the world around us.

Click here to listen to the sermon "Answering Our Shamelessness" (or right-click to download the MP3 file).

Reflection: A Question Worth Considering (November 18, 2014)

6 “With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” 8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?  Micah 6:6-8

Click here to listen to the homily "A Question Worth Considering" (or right-click to download the MP3 file).

Reflection: Salt Made Salty Again (November 08, 2014)

Matthew 5:13–16

[Jesus said:] “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Click here to listen to the homily "Salt Made Salty Again" given at the closing service of the 2014 Rural and Small Town Mission Conference hosted by the LCMS Office of National Mission. (Right-click to download the MP3 file)

Devotion: Shattering the Myths of Heaven (Revelation 7:9-17)

9 After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." 11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying: "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!" 13 Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes-- who are they, and where did they come from?" 14 I answered, "Sir, you know." And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore, "they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. 16 Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." 

Revelation 7:9-17

When people talk about heaven it becomes very apparent that we live in confusing times.

On one hand, many people in our culture talk about their dogs and cats having souls and living on in another life after they die.

On the other hand, just as many (or more) people embrace the idea that the human race is the result of millions of years of evolutionary mutations and that we are physical, not spiritual, beings with no existence after death.

It's even more mind-boggling that there are a good number of people who embrace both of these ideas!

The growing secularism of our culture has forced people to find new ways to deal with the deaths of friends and loved ones (and even pets). A casual reading of the obituaries in the newspaper or on-line reveals a number of these coping methods and the myths of heaven that have been formed around them.

Those who see humans as physical beings without souls have crafted a myth that there is no heaven, only nothingness. When a loved one dies, they seek comfort in the hope that the person will live on in the memories of those still alive.

Those who are "spiritual" apart from an "organized religion" promote the myth that heaven is an experience for every person of the human race. Thinking of their deceased loved ones as having entered into a cosmic oneness to which we are all somehow connected is supposed to help them cope with their loss.

The myth embraced by the millions of people in our nation who are culturally Christians, but not committed followers of Jesus, is that heaven is an upgraded and much improved continuation of this present life. Imagining their departed loved ones as newly minted angels who are watching over them is supposed to ease their grief.

As popular as these myths of heaven have become in our culture and in the American church, God's Word about heaven shatters them. The reality of heaven, though only given to us in small glimpses, eclipses all of our myths and brings us genuine comfort in the face of death.

The reality of heaven presented in the image of the saints of God dressed in white robes and gathered in His presence stands in vivid contrast to the myths of heaven crafted by our culture.

The reality of heaven is the fullness of life, not nothingness. It is being in the unlimited presence of the One who created all things, not an ambiguous connectedness to the cosmos. It is being free from the pain, sorrow, and suffering of this world, not condemned to observe it from afar.

Furthermore, it is centered not in us and our limited imaginings, but in the Lamb who is the author and essence of all that is real.

Best of all, the reality of Heaven awaits us and now belongs to those who have gone before us by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ whose blood has washed away our sins and whose righteousness clothes us so that we too may stand in the assembly from every nation, tribe, people, and language in His glorious presence forever.

Devotion: A Fort Made Of ... (Psalm 61:1-4)

1 Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; 2 from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, 3 for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. 4 Let me dwell in your tent forever! Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Psalm 61:1-4

Forts made up a big part of my childhood experience. My brothers and I, along with our playmates, were always building some kind of fort. In the wintertime, we made forts of snow. In the summertime, we hobbled together salvaged wood, cardboard, and plastic sheeting to build forts. When the weather was nasty and we were stuck indoors, we made forts out of blankets, cushions, and books. But the fort that stands out most in my memories was the fort I made out of bales of straw in the hayloft of my grandparents' barn. Secure in my fort, I successfully fended off the valiant assault of my two brothers in in the great corncob war. It was the stuff of legends.

The purpose of forts is to provide safety and security — or at least a sense of them. While they may have given us a feeling of being safe and secure, none of the forts of our childhoods could protect us from any real threat. A fort made of snow, salvaged building materials, or bales of straw, let alone blankets and pillows, cannot afford any protection against the people or things that would harm a child. Thankfully, most of us grew up without the need of stronger forts than those of our playtime. But now that we have grown up, we need a fort in our adult lives that can defend us against those things, forces, and people that are actively seeking to harm and destroy us. Unfortunately, many adults go through life constructing forts of proverbial snow or straw or blankets to fend off the pain and suffering of broken relationships, abuse, betrayal, crime, shattered dreams, and seemingly hopeless circumstances.

As we celebrate the 497th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation, we are reminded that we have a fort that is stronger than everything that assails us in this life. More than a fort of our own construction, this fort is a fortress that God has built for all who look to Him for their safety and security. It is not a flimsy fort made out of the materials at hand, but a fortress crafted according to God's eternal plan and hewn from the Rock of our salvation. When we take refuge in this fort we are assured that in it is "our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." This is a fort made of love, of grace, of power, and of promise. "The God of Jacob is our fortress."