March 23 Too Good to Be True

Mark 16

And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. (Mark 16:13)

“We’ve seen the Lord! He’s alive!”

“Yeah, right, you guys.”

“No, seriously! We talked to him!”

“Shut up. You did not.”

Mark doesn’t tell us how that conversation went. But it’s amazing to think that the men who had witnessed so many of Jesus’ miracles were so skeptical of their fellow disciples’ report. Maybe they didn’t want to open themselves up to getting hurt again. Maybe they just lacked faith.

Sometimes, people who know and trust you will reject news that seems too good to be true. The disciples that Jesus appeared to went straight to the people who they thought would rejoice at this news and  were met with unbelief. What did they do? Did they begin to doubt what they had seen? Perhaps they just hoped that Jesus would appear to the others, too.

What do we do when people don’t believe what we tell them about Jesus? We believe. We watch. We pray that the Holy Spirit would grant faith in His own time. That can be hard when the unbeliever is someone dear to us, like watching a sick person refuse medicine.

The disciples that saw Jesus didn’t convince the other disciples that Jesus had risen. Seeing Jesus themselves, did – and He rebuked them for their unbelief! Be grateful that Jesus has revealed Himself to you and continue to share your faith with others.

Prayer: Merciful Jesus, grant me so much faith that I cannot contain it.
Give me the courage I need to proclaim it at all times and in all places. Amen.

March 20 Resist!

Luke 8

The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes
 and takes away the word from their hearts,
 so that they may not believe and be saved. (Luke 8:12)

The devil is a liar. We all know this. But, the devil’s lies are more than just half-truths; they are death blows. By luring people into doubt, and even into unbelief, he is removing the instrument through which God saves us – our faith. The devil is a murderer. He has been from the beginning.

The devil knows he’s lost, but he’s not going down without a fight. He’s going to devour as many people as he can. He has the perfect, time-tested tool to do it, too: “Did God really say…?” It works like a charm.

There are variations on this, of course. The devil is a wily foe. “The Bible is boring,” he’ll say. “It’s a dusty, old, irrelevant book. Nobody who’s seriously studied it thinks it’s actually true.” When he has you believing that, he’ll point you toward something else. Work. Money. Sex. Entertainment. Next thing you know, you haven’t opened that dusty old book in months, and your faith has all but disappeared.

St. James tells us “resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (4:7) It is good to have The Lord’s Word in our eyes, in our ears, and on our lips at all times for this purpose. We don’t have to defeat him – Jesus did that on the cross – we need only to resist him. Your faith is a precious, saving gift from God. Use God’s Word to feed it and defend it. The devil will flee.

Prayer: Almighty God, keep me steadfast in Your Word.
Grow my faith so that I might resist the devil and all his murderous lies. Amen.

March 18 Promises Kept

Numbers 14

And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me?
 And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?”   Numbers 14: 11

What the Lord said to Moses could easily be something He is wondering today!  “There is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9) The Lord had delivered His people out of slavery and drowned an army of Egyptians that pursued them.  He had made a place for His presence to reside and the means to communicate with them.  He made His presence visibly known in a dark cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night. He promised them a home, but since waiting for the fulfillment of that promise turned out to be full of hardship, the Israelites began to think they’d be better off going back into slavery!

It’s often tempting to retreat to our comfortable old sins so that we don’t have to struggle in resisting them.  It’s hard to keep trusting in a promise when it feels like so much of the world decries it as nonsense. The world makes its own promises, but they are rather bleak compared to the promises of God. God’s word is true. We are His adopted children. Christ is truly present in the Eucharist. Christ is risen! He will never leave us or forsake us! We will live forever with Him. These are the promises. They do not cease to be true just because life gets hard. God made good on His promise to the Israelites. He’ll keep His promise to us, too.

Prayer: Almighty and merciful God, You keep Your promises.  Help us remember that when we struggle.   Amen.

March 13 – You Can’t Do It

Galatians 2:16

“…yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” (Galatians 2:16)

Let’s say, hypothetically, that you committed a sin. Just a little one. Maybe you looked at someone with a little too much interest (let the reader understand). Now, imagine that we are justified by our works. What would you have to do to blot out that sinful act? Put a few extra dollars in the offering plate? Volunteer to do more at church? Start crossing yourself at every opportunity during the divine service? Maybe rub soap in your eyes? What is it going to take to pay off that sin debt? You committed four new sins since then!

You don’t have enough time or energy to justify yourself. It can’t be done. No matter how many good things you do to make up for the bad things, your sin will never be covered. You’ve misplaced your faith. Your faith belongs to the One who gave it to you in the first place. We trust in Him to cover our sins, to wrap us up in His righteousness, and to present us fully justified to the Father.

It is an act of pure mercy that we are righteous through faith alone. The only one who can live a sinless life did so, and He did it for you, because you simply can’t. There is no good work you can do that isn’t contaminated with your sin. Why bother, then? Because our neighbors need our good works! We do them with the confidence that Christ has forgiven us for trying to do what only He can.

Prayer: Most Merciful God, I thank You for covering my sin, and giving me the righteousness I did not earn. Amen.

March 12  He’s With Us In Suffering

“For it has been granted to you, that for the sake of Christ, you should not only believe in Him
but also suffer for His sake…” (Philippians 1:29)

It’s a common objection to the existence of God: “If God is good and loving, why is there so much suffering?” A good and loving God does exist – and He suffered! For you! If Christ, the Suffering Servant, endured suffering, why would we expect anything less? God doesn’t waste suffering. He uses it to sanctify us.

We are mistaken when we assume that we are distant or neglected by God because we are enduring trials. It is in suffering that He shows His closeness to us. He is shaping us, encouraging us to seek Him for comfort. This is a difficult thing to believe. We suffer for our faith. Our belief in Jesus is an offense to this fallen world. Our suffering, then, is proclamation; we suffer in faith, for our faith in the One who gives faith. He is with us through all of it.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, be present during our suffering that we may grow and live by faith. Amen.

March 10 – No Shame

Genesis 2:17

For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16)

We’ve all been in situations when we had a clear opportunity to share the Gospel but didn’t. It’s easy to think of excuses not to. There’s not enough time. They are too upset. I’m not smart enough. They could get offended. And so on. In truth, we’re afraid to be embarrassed.

In certain situations, people opposed to the Christian faith may even try to shame you for what you believe. There’s a distinction to be made between embarrassment and shame; embarrassment is the feeling you get when you make a mistake, and shame is the feeling you get when you think you are the mistake.

You are a Christian. The world hates you. (Mark 13:13) The world despises the ones who are set apart – who are holy. It will not abide the ones who live in “the power of God for salvation.” The world would much rather have you fall in line. Keep in step. The world loves to shame those who don’t toe the line.

Christ knows shame. Any shame we feel pales by comparison. Our King endured spitting, mocking, beatings, and finally being nailed naked and bleeding to a cross for all to see. This is the shame we deserve to feel for our sin, but Christ endured it on our behalf. Now, when we experience embarrassment or shame for believing in this perfect sacrifice, we can rejoice. When you experience shame for the Gospel, you are in fellowship with Christ Who took that shame to the cross and left it there.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, I believe in Your Gospel.
Forgive me for feeling embarrassed or ashamed by it
and grant me the courage to share it with everyone. Amen.

Feb. 19 – Believe the Words

 John 5

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” (John 5:39-47)

It isn’t controversial to say that sometimes Scripture is unclear or hard to understand. Occasionally, to really glean an understanding of a difficult text, it requires work and study. Oftentimes, people are unwilling to do that kind of work – it’s easier to make a text mean what we want it to mean, rather than consider its context, author, audience, and so on.

The Pharisees stood there, looking the fulfillment of Scripture – Jesus – in the eye, and rejected Him. He didn’t fit what they had come to expect; and even worse, He threatened their authority.

The sad reality is that many people reject the authority of Scripture to reveal who Jesus is, and try to make Him into something He is not. A Democrat. A Republican. A cheerleader. A hippie. Your discomfort with what the Scriptures say about Jesus does not give you the authority to recreate Jesus in your own image. Your discomfort comes not from the Bible being old and out of date, but from your refusal to acknowledge your sin, and repent of it.

Jesus stands before you in His Word. Don’t let your personal opinions usurp what the text says. He wants to adorn you in Righteousness; to lavish you with mercy. It is yours to receive. Repent and believe the Gospel.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, help me to receive and believe what your Word says,
even when it is confusing or makes me uncomfortable. Comfort and instruct me in all things. Amen.