Reflections Higher Things

July 26, 2024

Today's Reading: Catechism: What is the Sacrament of the Altar?
Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 10:1-27; Acts 22:17-29

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? (1 Corinthians 10:16)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. What is it?! That’s the question I hear children ask their parents at the Communion rail all the time. I’ll admit that I’ve heard a wide range of answers whispered into those little ears in response. There are a few I’ve heard that have left me thinking, “Don’t cringe!” Recently, I heard an answer that actually made me grin. “He’s right here,” said the little boy’s grandma, as she held the host in her hand, “and in heaven, too.” Perfect. I love it. Praise God. We shouldn’t budge an inch on this. “What is this bread?” one of our hymns asks… “Christ’s body risen from the dead!” comes the answer! We have here, from our Lord Jesus, the food from the table He prepares before us— the meal from the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom. When Jesus instituted this Blessed Meal, He did so that we might receive the great benefits of His Gospel in a tangible way through one of the most common experiences we can imagine: eating and drinking. Bread is a nearly universal staple of mankind; this began with Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Eden. “By the sweat of your brow, you will eat bread,” God told our first father. Bread is the food of the Fall. It requires multiple steps, processes, and preparation to create, and it is fleeting. Israel learns that man can’t live by bread alone in the wilderness, and the manna God gave them spoiled in a day’s time! But Jesus takes this food and repurposes it. Just as man lives by the Words that proceed from the mouth of the Lord, we are given daily bread that will never spoil but endures to eternity! Just as Christ’s body is given for us Christians to eat, so also is His precious blood poured out for us to drink, trusting His words. Paul reminds us that eating and drinking the bread and the cup is a participation in the Body and Blood of Jesus. We are connected to Christ through eating and drinking in faith. So come, dear Christian, to the altar. It is Christ. It is for you! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O Lord, our God, in Holy Baptism You have called us to be Christians and granted us the remission of sins. Make us ready to receive the most holy Body and Blood of Christ for the forgiveness of all our sins, and grant us grateful hearts that we may give thanks to You, O Father, to Your Son, and to the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
-Rev. Dustin Beck is pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Corpus Christi, TX.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

Your favorite study Bible is now available in a simple, intuitive app on your device! Distinctively Lutheran notes on the full ESV text, helpful articles, and custom user settings offer an engaging experience in God’s Word anywhere you go. Download The Lutheran Study Bible App.

July 25, 2024 

Today's Reading: Mark 10:35-45
Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 9:1-27; Acts 21:37-22:16
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. I think it’s fair to say that James and John act and behave in the way that we likely would if we had no filter. What I mean by that is most of us would have a little restraint before we asked Jesus something like James and John did in Mark 10. They effectively ask, “What’s in it for us?!” Most of us were raised better than that! Right?! Maybe the sons of Zebedee’s raising should be called into question since, in Matthew 20, in a very similar situation, James and John’s mother made the same request of Jesus, only on their behalf. If we’re being honest, I think we all want some sense that what we get out of something will be “worth it” in comparison to what we’ve put into it. It only makes sense that the result and reward would line up with the sacrifice required. But that’s why the Christian faith is earth-shatteringly different from every other religion in the world. What you put into it doesn’t have any bearing on what you get out of it. All of your works, whether wicked or righteous, are filthy in the eyes of God. But the same is not true of Jesus. His works are perfectly pleasing to God. His works are exactly what God has commanded of His creation. And His works are exchanged to all who trust in Him for salvation. Jesus wasn’t concerned with giving out seats at His left or His right. He was concerned with preparing places at His wedding banquet. And that’s the beautiful thing about our Lord! He came to serve US! We all too often get things backward. Jesus sets things straight by coming not to be served but to serve. To give His life as a ransom for many—even for all! What’s left is for us to look all the more to Jesus, not asking for more, but trusting that He has in store for us exactly what’s best for us. Lord, give us such eyes of faith to see! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O gracious God, Your servant and apostle James was the first among the Twelve to suffer martyrdom for the name of Jesus Christ. Pour out upon the leaders of Your Church that spirit of self-denying service that they may forsake all false and passing allurements and follow Christ alone, Who lives with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. 
-Rev. Dustin Beck is pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Corpus Christi, TX.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

Your favorite study Bible is now available in a simple, intuitive app on your device! Distinctively Lutheran notes on the full ESV text, helpful articles, and custom user settings offer an engaging experience in God’s Word anywhere you go. Download The Lutheran Study Bible App.

July 24, 2024 

Today's Reading: Jeremiah 23:1-6
Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 8:1-22; Acts 21:15-36

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23:5-6)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. One of my favorite introductions in the Bible belongs to King David. You probably remember the scene. Saul had been rejected by the LORD, and Samuel was sent in secret to Bethlehem, to Jesse, and each of Jesse’s sons passed before him. None of them were pleasing in God’s eyes. “You have any more of those sons, Jesse?” You can almost hear the worry in Samuel’s voice…this was supposed to be the place, right?! But there was one more—he was watching the sheep. That boy would become the King of Israel. He would shepherd God’s people, and he would own the words of the 23rd Psalm, taking comfort by confessing, “The LORD is my Shepherd!” By the time the prophet Jeremiah lived, Israel had been ruled by a long line of kings who were anything but shepherd-like. So God intervenes. God Himself would step in to shepherd His people. He would gather them from the places they were scattered. He would lead them and feed them. But then He would raise up other shepherds. Better shepherds. Well, One Shepherd in particular. Jesus came as the fulfillment of this prophecy, and where David and the rest of the kings of Israel failed by sinning, Jesus didn’t. He came to bring righteousness to all who believed in His name. He came to be the righteousness of God through His perfect life, innocent death, and glorious resurrection. All of this He did for YOU! Think about it like this: God surveys the scene of those who have been set apart to serve as His shepherds. One by one, He sees that their lives are marred by sin, and they themselves have wandered like sheep! God’s great love sent Jesus to be the last and ONLY shepherd we’ll ever need. He has been through the valley of the shadow of death. He has emerged on the other side, alive again forever…and you, His dear sheep, will live in His house forevermore! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Savior, like a shepherd lead us; Much we need Your tender care. In Your pleasant pastures feed us, For our use Your fold prepare. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, You have bought us; we are Yours. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, You have bought us, we are Yours. Amen. (LSB 711:1)
-Rev. Dustin Beck is pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Corpus Christi, TX.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.
Your favorite study Bible is now available in a simple, intuitive app on your device! Distinctively Lutheran notes on the full ESV text, helpful articles, and custom user settings offer an engaging experience in God’s Word anywhere you go. Download The Lutheran Study Bible App.

July 23, 2024 

Today's Reading: Ephesians 2:11-22
Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 6:19-7:17; Acts 19:23-21:14; Acts 19:1-22

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. (Ephesians 2:19-21)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. This is going to be a dangerous rhetorical question…Have you ever felt like you didn’t fit in? Just so that question doesn’t hang out there in the void, I’ll answer: YES! YES! A thousand times, yes! There were times when I tried doing the popular things, and sometimes it worked, other times it didn’t. There were times when I didn’t do the popular thing, opting for what I knew to be the right thing, and that didn’t make many friends, either. In our reading today, we’re reminded of a distinction that existed in the first century that we don’t really experience today: Jewish vs. Gentile Christians. There are, unfortunately, divisions among Christians today, but it’s hard to imagine the kind of animosity that existed among those who had the promises, the covenant, the lineage, the Scripture—you get the idea. From their perspective, these Gentiles had always been unclean, even idolaters and enemies of God. And now they were just going to receive the same salvation as God’s people of old?! Without any kind of sacrifice?! Without any obedience to the law of Moses and the traditions of the elders?! But that’s the beauty of Jesus’ perfect, innocent blood. It brings people into the family of God. It tears down the division lines between those of Abraham and those of every other family on earth (remember that they would be blessed in Abraham’s offspring, too! Genesis 12:3, 28:14). Paul continues by saying that not only are Gentiles brought into the family of God through the blood of Christ, but God is using all believers to build Himself a house, a Temple, in which His glory dwells, established on the preaching of the apostles, with Christ Himself as the cornerstone, and you and me and all Christians fitting perfectly into the places that God has intended for us from before the foundation of the world! With a place like that, who could ever hope to fit into this world that’s passing away?! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Paschal Lamb, by God appointed, All our sins on Thee were laid; By almighty love anointed, Thou hast full atonement made. All Thy people are forgiven Through the virtue of Thy blood; Opened is the gate of heaven, Reconciled are we with God. Amen. (LSB 531:2)
-Rev. Dustin Beck is pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Corpus Christi, TX.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.
Your favorite study Bible is now available in a simple, intuitive app on your device! Distinctively Lutheran notes on the full ESV text, helpful articles, and custom user settings offer an engaging experience in God’s Word anywhere you go. Download The Lutheran Study Bible App.

July 22, 2024 

Today's Reading: John 20:1-2, 10-18
Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 5:1-6:3, 10-16; Acts 18:1-11, 23-28

Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her. (John 20:18)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Mary Magdalene gets an unfair rap if you ask me. Scripture tells us that Jesus had driven seven demons out of her (Luke 8:2)—she may have been the sinful woman who anointed Jesus’ feet (Luke 7:36-50), but that’s speculation. Church tradition suggests some other sinful things about her past, and I’m not really here to disagree with the Church’s handed-down tradition, but let’s remember Mary Magdalene for what she got right—it’s really important. Mary, not to be confused with any of the other Marys in the Gospels, was there at Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection! While the disciples were running, hiding, and denying, she stood by and watched it all happen! While the disciples were in a grief-stricken stupor early in the morning on that first day of the week—and indeed the First Day of the new life that is in Christ for all who believe—she made provisions and journeyed to the tomb. No doubt, she was stricken with grief, eyes weary from tears, and when she saw the stone rolled away, she ran and told Peter and John. After they saw the empty tomb, they went their own ways. But not Mary. She stood there, lost in thoughts of what this could possibly mean, and then she saw Jesus. She knew Him when He called her name. Isn’t that just the greatest thing? Blinded by grief and unfamiliar with the resurrected face of Jesus, He calls her by name. He names us, too. That’s the blessing of Baptism. Your name is spoken out loud, not so that the congregation can hear it, and certainly not because God needed to hear it…but because you do. Yes, Christ appoints pastors in His stead and by His command, but Jesus calls your name as you are baptized into His name—and His death and resurrection, too! And our response is just the same as Mary’s: we go, we run, we spread to anyone and everyone we can find, and we joyfully announce that Christ—who was crucified, dead, and buried—is alive again forever! Or, as Mary so beautifully put it to the apostles whose hearts were broken: “I have seen the Lord!” In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

We sing Your praise for Mary, Who came at Easter dawn To look for Jesus’ body And found her Lord was gone. But, as with joy she saw Him In resurrection light, May we by faith behold Him, The Day who ends our night. Amen. (LSB 855:11)
-Rev. Dustin Beck is pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Corpus Christi, TX.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

Your favorite study Bible is now available in a simple, intuitive app on your device! Distinctively Lutheran notes on the full ESV text, helpful articles, and custom user settings offer an engaging experience in God’s Word anywhere you go. Download The Lutheran Study Bible App.

July 21, 2024 

Today's Reading: Mark 6:30-44
Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 4:1-22; Acts 17:1-34; Acts 16:23-40

When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. (Mark 6:34)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Sometimes, I read a passage of Scripture, and it’s so familiar to me that I struggle to hear it as if it were the first time. Does that ever happen to you? Sometimes, we’re afflicted by an “I already know how this one ends” attitude. One of the things I’ve found helpful over the years is to zoom in on the details of a familiar account, not losing sight of what the main point is, but giving special attention to the way the Spirit moved the authors to tell their story. Today, we take up Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000. It begins with Jesus inviting the disciples to join Him in a desolate place that they would reach by boat. The crowds had been intrigued by Jesus, and it seemed as if Jesus was trying to give His guys a breather. But the crowds followed them anyway…into a place where there wasn’t any food. Jesus cared for them the way a shepherd cares for sheep, showing compassion. After a back-and-forth conversation about who should give the folks something to eat, Jesus instructed them to give them something to eat. “200 hundred days’ wages couldn’t feed this mob of people!” They replied. “What have you got?” He asked. He gave thanks over the five loaves and the two fish…and then the disciples distributed them so that everyone had their fill. There were twelve basketfuls of leftovers, one for each disciple. Just like the disciples, we get worked down by the circumstances of this life. We are hard-pressed on every side. But Jesus has not left us alone nor desolate; like a shepherd, the Good Shepherd, He has compassion on us. He gives us more love than we can even fathom. His forgiveness and provision know no bounds. And the desolate place turns out to be the place called the Skull. How can there be life in such a place as this?! Look to the cross—to the place where the Shepherd lays down His life for you. Flowing from that innocent death are life and salvation, life overflowing into eternity. The Lord provides. Taste and see that He is good! Or, better put: take and eat, take and drink. This Shepherd’s Body and Blood are yours as a guarantee! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Heavenly Father, though we do not deserve Your goodness, still You provide for all our needs of body and soul. Grant us Your Holy Spirit that we may acknowledge Your Gifts, give thanks for all Your benefits, and serve You in willing obedience; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
-Rev. Dustin Beck is pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Corpus Christi, TX.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

Your favorite study Bible is now available in a simple, intuitive app on your device! Distinctively Lutheran notes on the full ESV text, helpful articles, and custom user settings offer an engaging experience in God’s Word anywhere you go. Download The Lutheran Study Bible App.