Devotions for the Sixth Week after the Epiphany

O Lord, graciously hear the prayers of Your people that we who justly suffer the consequences of our sin may be mercifully delivered by Your goodness to the glory of Your name; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

She grieved. Her physician had confirmed her worst fears. She would not be able to have the child she so desperately wanted. She loved her husband. They both wanted children. But she was unable to get pregnant. An earlier life of disregard for God’s moral injunctions had resulted in multiple lovers, one of whom had given her an infection. It was treated and she was no longer infected, but the damage was done. She was infertile.

We pray that God hears our prayers. But the prayer goes to acknowledge that we are suffering the just consequences of what we have done. Is there a person-sized hold in your life where a thoughtless word or deed has ruptured relationships beyond repair? My friend had a child-sized hole in her life which would never be filled by her own child. We all have the hole, that brokenness, that something which is the just consequence of our sin, of my sin, and of your sin, your own, personal sin.

Our Lord heard the prayers of my friend. There were many joys, abundant forgiveness, and a beautiful marriage to a loving husband which God gave her. But God is not done giving her mercy. He has said he dries every tear. I cannot know just what Jesus will do; but having helplessly watched her shed her tears for a child whom she could never hold, I eagerly look forward to what Jesus has in mind for her. It will be good.

Tuesday of Epiphany VI – Jeremiah 17:5-8

5 Thus says the LORD:

“Cursed is the man who trusts in man

and makes flesh his strength,

whose heart turns away from the LORD.

6 He is like a shrub in the desert,

and shall not see any good come.

He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,

in an uninhabited salt land.

7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,

whose trust is the LORD.

8 He is like a tree planted by water,

that sends out its roots by the stream,

and does not fear when heat comes,

for its leaves remain green,

and is not anxious in the year of drought,

for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

After revising the constitution of ancient Athens, Solon, considered the wisest man of his time went on a ten-year vacation. He had forced into the revised constitution that it could not be emended, except by him, for the next ten years. He was determined that the fickle people of Athens should live with their new constitution before they made any changes.

In his journeys he came to the fabulously wealthy kingdom of Lydia and its powerful king Croesus. Today this kingdom would be found in the country of Turkey. The earliest coins we have ever found are Lydian coins. We think they invented money. Croesus, aware of Solon’s wisdom and travels, showed him the magnificent wealth of his palace and land. Then he turned to the famous philosopher and asked him, “Who is the happiest man you have ever met?” Croesus was expecting to be that man. Solon thought for a moment and mentioned some guy nobody ever heard about in Athens. This man, explained Solon, had fought honorably in defense of his country, succeeded in business, was happily married, and welcomed his grandchildren to his lap before he died. Somewhat crestfallen, Croesus asked, “Well, then, who is the second happiest?” Solon went on to discuss twin boys who had died in service to the god Apollo. Croesus was not getting the point. Finally, Solon enlightened the king. He could not declare a man happy until he knew his whole life. It might change in a moment. The happy man might be undone, reduced to poverty, shamed, or something else.

In fact, this is exactly what happened to Croesus. His great wealth attracted the attention of the Persian empire, his kingdom fell, and he became one of the many kings who meekly begged for daily bread within the court of the Persian emperor. This was one of the emperor’s bragging points: He had a whole gaggle of former kings who begged him for food every day.

Jeremiah records a word of the Lord which speaks another sort of wisdom than that of Solon, for it would let us declare a man or woman blessed today. The man who trusts in the Lord is blessed and will be blessed. It may not look like the sort of blessing that Croesus or Solon expected, but it will be the real blessing which showers upon the man or woman who trusts in the Lord. We even know how the story ends for them – eternal life in the pleasure of God’s kingdom. They endure droughts and suffering, but they are never really overcome by them. God is the source of their joy and their blessing. Nothing can take that away.

Wednesday of Epiphany VI – Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the man

who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree

planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

4 The wicked are not so,

but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

6 for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

This little psalm has a curve ball for the observant reader. Did you catch it in the final verse? All along the psalmist compares the blessed man with the wicked fellow. In the last verse, however, it is not the wicked which perish, but the way of the wicked perishes.

In the third chapter of I Corinthians Paul says that he has laid a good foundation but now it is up to those who follow to build the structure. He wonders whether they will build with stone, gold, gems, and the like or will they build with straw and hay. At the end that paragraph, however, he also surprises us. They are both saved. The house of one man stands on the day of judgment. The other person escapes like a man who flees a burning building, lucky to be alive and with nothing left. But both are saved.

David and Paul seem to see something here which is good for us Lutherans to remember. This life in which we live right now is important and has eternal ramifications. God saves us, it is true, despite our sins and foolishness. But is that a license to be foolish? God looks upon the way of the righteous man, the man who lives according to commandments and wisdom. Yes, it is by grace we are saved, but God still looks upon this life. The way of the wicked perishes. Do not invest your life in those things which have no place in heaven. They will all pass away. You will be saved, but like a man who escapes a burning building. That way will perish. Rather, invest in love, in service, in the praise of God and the building up of people. Those things are a way which endures in the judgment, a house of precious gems, sturdy timbers, and mighty stones which shall not be shaken.

Thursday of Epiphany VI – I Corinthians 15:1-20

1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

On the highway which skirted the little town in which my father preached, his congregation had placed a sign on some property owned by a member of the parish. It was made up of long, wide individual boards, each of which had been painted with a single line of text. The sign announced the name of the congregation, service times, etc., but on one of those boards it proclaimed, “We preach Christ crucified!”

That is, if you are not aware, a quote from I Corinthians 1:23, but it is only part of the sentence. In the rest of it, Paul goes on to say that this is a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the gentiles. For the one who believes, however, it is power and wisdom of God. But would Paul have put that out on the highway? I am not sure. Reading this passage and hearing Paul’s sermons in Acts, it seems to me that he would have preferred that we say, “We preach Christ resurrected!”

Paul does not deny the crucifixion. He mentions it here too, but it was the resurrection of Jesus which knocked him off his horse on the road to Damascus. It was Jesus’ power over death which gave Paul the impetus to do a thorough re-reading of his Torah and come to re-understand the death of Jesus as a fulfillment of the Jewish sacrifices. I am glad we have a cross on top of our building and that has long been the symbol of Christianity. But our sermons, our lives, and our message is that Jesus has risen. That is the point on which this whole Christian enterprise stands or falls. Jesus, crucified for our sins, has been raised. His sacrifice has paid the price. Hell has no hold over him or us who have been baptized into Him.

Friday of Epiphany VI – Luke 6:17-26

17 And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.

20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.

“Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

In the 16th century the richest man in Europe was Jakob Fugger. He was not a king nor a prince of any sort. In fact, he was not from the nobility at all. He was primarily a banker but also held interests in several mining enterprises. Most of the kings and princes of the time owed him money. The Holy Roman emperor was so indebted to him that he became the de facto host of many imperial events. The Augsburg Confession was first read at a gathering of leaders within the halls of Jakob’s massive palace in Augsburg in 1530.

Jesus draws a sharp line today between the rich and poor. Jakob heard those words and feared that he was on the wrong side of our Lord’s balance sheet. Before he died, Jakob established a house for the poor. 350 poor people were to be given an apartment to live in within the building which he built. They would pay rent of one thaler per year. (A thaler is the origin of our term for a US dollar.) Jakob was a very astute businessman. His bank still operates. You can find “Bank of Fugger” ATMs in Germany to this day. He shrewdly established a foundation to support his project and today his poor house still exists. 500 people are given a place to stay for the cost of one Euro per year within its facility.

Had he listened to that Augsburg Confession read within the great hall of his palace, Jakob might have acted differently. The Lutherans spoke of justification by grace and not by works. God’s favor cannot be bought. But be careful. It may well be my own selfish greed which suggests that since God’s favor cannot be bought, I have license to give nothing. I wonder, had Jakob heard and believed that message of grace, would he have done even more? Do you do more because God loves you? Does that question make you wonder which side of Jesus’ ledger you are on? Wealth is never yours, not really yours. It is entrusted to you by God. How will you use it?