Reflections

Today's Reading: Introit for the Second-Last Sunday of the Church Year (Psalm 85:1, 7, 9, 11; antiphon: Jeremiah 29:11a, 12)
Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 29:1-19; Matthew 26:36-56
Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky. (From the Introit for the Second-Last Sunday)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. That's a Last Day promise for you. The Lord is true to His promises, He keeps them, does them. The Lord is righteous and He looks down in mercy on those whom He's made righteous, and He will make His holy ones, His saints, spring up from the ground. He will raise their bodies from the dead. Death can't and won't win! This is the Lord's Last-Day promise.
This is a Last-Day promise because it's also a Jesus promise, a promise kept in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. He "came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man." He lives a righteous life FOR US, in our place. His righteousness is counted as ours. He "was also crucified FOR US under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried," placed into the ground. "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies it remains alone" (John 12:24). "The third day He rose again from the dead." True to His promise, His faithfulness, He sprung up again from the ground. That's Jesus alive again, never to die again.
This is a right-now promise, too. Tomorrow you'll gather for the Divine Service. There the Lord your righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6) will look down upon you in mercy, and He will pour out His righteousness upon you, His forgiveness for all your sins. His Word of promise, His faithfulness, will spring up, as it were, from the ground in His Word and Gifts. Worldly, physical things that deliver the Lord's faithfulness and righteousness to you so that you would become faithful and righteous in Him. Spirit-filled Word from the Bible. Spirit-filled forgiveness from your pastor. Jesus' Body and Blood that are delivered to you through the bread and the wine of Holy Communion.
So, in these last days we wait for the Last Day. The Lord will do what He says. He will save you. He will preserve you and keep you safe. He will raise you from the dead. Jesus' death and His empty tomb and His Word and Gifts tell you so. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch