Reflections

Join HT for a reading of the days Higher Things Reflection. A short devotion directed toward the youth of our church, written by the Pastors and Deaconesses of our church, clearly proclaiming the true Gospel of Jesus Christ! Find out more about HT at our website, www.higherthings.org

6h ago

Saturday of the Third-Last Week of the Church Year

November 14, 2026 Today's Reading: Introit for Trinity 24 - Psalm 95:1-4; antiphon: Psalm 95:6-7a Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 29:1-19; Revelation 14:1-20; Matthew 26:36-56 “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand” (Antiphon for the Introit for Trinity 24) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Come, worship, bow down, kneel before me. That is what my flesh says. Can’t you see how important I am, how hard I work, and how tired I have become? Arrange your schedule and your life around me. Incurvatus in se- I am curved inward, looking at myself instead of looking outward toward God or my neighbor. Augustine and Luther recognized this not just as a “me problem” or a “you problem,” but as a mankind problem. It is as old as sin- we thought we could be like God by eating, so of course, all people, all creation should come, worship, bow down, and kneel before me. But we’re not God. God is holy, and we are sinners. God is eternal, and our flesh is like the flower of the field; we wither and decay. God sacrifices Himself for the sake of His sheep, and we want everyone to sacrifice themselves for our sake. God calls out, “Repent. Turn away from the empty life of self-idolatry. You are one of My people, a sheep of My hand.” We hear this in Psalm 95 this Sunday and whenever we sing Matins. The Good Shepherd calls us to come into His presence to worship, bow down, and kneel before Him, but we also hear why we should, for this is the right response to His tender care for us. Your Good Shepherd, Jesus, laid down His life for your sake and picked it back up again to give you life abundantly. (John 10:11) He nourishes you in the green pasture of His Word as you come into His presence. He fills you full of forgiveness, life, and salvation through His proclamation, “Your sins are forgiven, your guilt is atoned for, your shame is covered!” He gathers you up into His arms and reminds you, “You have eternal life in me.” He defends you from the devil, the world, and your own flesh, promising that you are a sheep held tightly in His hand, and nothing can snatch you away from Him. O yes, let us come, worship, bow down, and kneel before our Good Shepherd who loves us and gave Himself for us. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. We sing to You, O Lord, making a joyful noise to You with songs of praise. Forgive us for the times when we’ve worshipped creatures, the creation, or ourselves instead of You. As our Good Shepherd continues to feed us in the pasture of Your Word and on Your Body and Blood, where we are forgiven, for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. Rev. Jeremy Swem, pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church, Grand Rapids, MI. Scholar and author A. Andrew Das bridges the gap between Bible commentary and daily devotional in this innovative exploration of Luke's Gospel. Through a creative narrative device—a dinner conversation with the physician and Gospel writer Luke himself— you will discover the radical message that turned the ancient world upside down.
1d ago

Friday of the Third-Last Week of the Church Year

November 13, 2026 Today's Reading: Jeremiah 26:1-19 Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 26:1-19; Revelation 13:1-18; Matthew 26:20-35 “But as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you. Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the LORD sent me to speak all these words in your ears.” (Jeremiah 26:14-15) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Jeremiah, the prophet of the Lord, was about to be put to death for proclaiming that Jerusalem would be like Shiloh. Wait, what? What’s the big deal with Shiloh? Shiloh was once the location of the Tabernacle of the Lord, the dwelling place of God on earth, but He had abandoned it because of the unfaithful priests Hophni and Phineas, the wicked sons of Eli. (1 Samuel 2-5) The Ark of the Covenant, the altar, and all the other items of the Tabernacle were eventually moved to Jerusalem during David’s reign, and Solomon then built the Temple of the Lord. Fast forward a few centuries, and you find the people again are unfaithful, so the Lord warned them through the prophet Jeremiah that unless they turned from their evil ways, Jerusalem would be desolate. Our flesh doesn’t like to hear the Law, so we can either remove ourselves from it or kill the messenger. The priests and prophets of Jerusalem responded by seizing Jeremiah to kill him. Jeremiah could have said “just kidding” or “I didn’t mean it.” Instead, he commended himself, his body, and all things into the Lord’s hands as he told them, “Do what you think is right, but if you kill me, you’ve brought innocent blood on yourselves.” The officials of Judah spared Jeremiah’s life, but the One who came after him would die. The priests and teachers of Jesus’ day responded to the Law He preached through the silence of death. The mob called for His crucifixion, and the official Pilate was unwilling to preserve Jesus’s innocent life. The crowd called out, “His blood be on us and on our children.” (Matthew 27:25) They were guilty of shedding His innocent blood, but so are we for every time we’ve ignored His Word because it was inconvenient or silenced His Word because it seemed our flesh had a better word. But, God be praised, that innocent blood shed for us is the very blood that cleanses us of our arrogance, pride, and self-centeredness. Jesus’ innocent blood takes away our unrighteousness. Jesus’ innocent blood poured into our mouths forgives us. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy, be gracious to all who have gone astray from Your ways and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of Your Word; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect, 3rd Sunday in Lent) Rev. Jeremy Swem, pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church, Grand Rapids, MI. Scholar and author A. Andrew Das bridges the gap between Bible commentary and daily devotional in this innovative exploration of Luke's Gospel. Through a creative narrative device—a dinner conversation with the physician and Gospel writer Luke himself— you will discover the radical message that turned the ancient world upside down.
2d ago

Thursday of the Third-Last Week of the Church Year

November 12, 2026 Today's Reading: Catechism: Table of Duties: To wives Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 25:1-18; Matthew 26:1-19 “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:22) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The Table of Duties includes passages of Scripture identifying the responsibilities of holy orders and positions, but not the ones that were thought to be holy in Martin Luther’s time. Gone are the vocations of priests, monks, and nuns who left the holy order of the family to serve themselves through man-made rule or code. Luther raised up the maligned vocations of father and mother, son and daughter, and husband and wife, for these are holy vocations given by God with good works clearly defined by the scriptures. Since Martin Luther’s reordering of things, marriage should have been highly regarded, especially in the church, for it is meant to be a beautiful picture of the relationship between Christ and His bride, the church. Still, it has not fared well in our day. Perhaps it is because, in too many marriages, we see the pain and suffering of hurt people hurting people. We could respond by saying, “What should we expect when two sinners are put together under one roof?” As Christians, we must expect more, and that more is found in repentance and Absolution, which provides restoration and reconciliation, and then direction from the scriptures in what the relationship should look like. Wives are to submit to their husbands. Initially, this may sound demeaning or humiliating, but it must be taken in the context of the relationship of Christ and the church. Look at the love of Christ for His church. He offered Himself up to abuse, rejection, and a bloody crucifixion to save the first wife, Eve, who didn’t submit to her husband’s instruction not to eat from the fruit of one tree, to the first husband, Adam, who should have defended Eve from the evil one. And then, He saves all of us who have chosen our own way and rejected His Commandments as good, right, and holy. He has risen to cleanse us with water and the word to present us as His spotless bride and nourish us as His own body. We submit to His love, receiving His Word, His forgiveness, His life. Submitting ourselves to our Groom is not demeaning or humiliating; it is His work to honor us. So also when wives submit to their husbands’ acts of love and self-sacrifice, they are being honored. When wives entrust themselves and their lives to their husbands, they are revealing the trust we in the church have placed in Christ. What beautiful, good, and holy work. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Heavenly Father, we give You thanks for giving us the vocations of sons and daughters. Bless all husbands and wives deepening their love for one another day after day. Strengthen all wives that they may submit to their husbands and all husbands that they like Christ would love and give themselves up for their wives through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Rev. Jeremy Swem, pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church, Grand Rapids, MI. Scholar and author A. Andrew Das bridges the gap between Bible commentary and daily devotional in this innovative exploration of Luke's Gospel. Through a creative narrative device—a dinner conversation with the physician and Gospel writer Luke himself— you will discover the radical message that turned the ancient world upside down.
3d ago

Wednesday of the Third-Last Week of the Church Year

November 11, 2026 Today's Reading: Jeremiah 23:21-40 Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 23:21-40; Matthew 25:31-46 “Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord?” (Jeremiah 23:28) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The cry of “Peace, peace” arose in Jerusalem, but there was no peace for the widow, the orphan, or the poor, for they were neglected by their kinsman. The slogan “the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord” was said as if they could worship false gods in the Temple itself instead of repenting of their sins and returning to the Lord who warned them of their destruction. These words of the ruling officials and the priests were straw, not wheat. Straw, while it is growing, looks a bit like wheat, but in the end, it isn’t even a close substitute. If you were to try to harvest some straw seeds and grind them up to make flour, you’d end up with pretty lousy bread. Staw is no more like wheat than cubic zirconia is like diamond, and you can’t exchange straw for wheat any more than you can exchange salt for sugar. The words “Peace, peace” and “the Temple of the Lord” were “straw”. They entrenched the people in their sins instead of turning them from their sin to God. In the end, the kings stood condemned; they would be cut off, and the Righteous Branch would be raised up to rule in their place. The priests stood condemned; they would be cast out, and the Good Shepherd would gather His people. The prophets stood condemned; the dreams they shared were from the imagination of their own hearts, but one day the Word made flesh would share the word faithfully. What are the “straw” words that you hear? In addition to your flesh and the devil, who cries “Peace, peace” or “the Temple of the Lord,” so that you would persist in your sin? Who wants you to be consumed by the desires of the flesh? Flee from them. Come hear faithful pastors who give you Jesus. They assure you that Jesus is God’s Son who was crucified for your sins and raised for your justification. Jesus is the grain of wheat who fell into the ground to bear much fruit in you. (John 12:24) Jesus is the true bread from heaven who gives life to you and the world. (John 6:33) Jesus gives you His body under bread and blood under wine to forgive you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Heavenly Father, Your name is holy in itself. Let Your Name be kept holy amongst us also as Your word is taught in its truth and purity. Give us Your Holy Spirit and strengthen us that we may lead holy lives according to Your word, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen (First Petition of the Lord’s Prayer, Meaning) Rev. Jeremy Swem, pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church, Grand Rapids, MI. Scholar and author A. Andrew Das bridges the gap between Bible commentary and daily devotional in this innovative exploration of Luke's Gospel. Through a creative narrative device—a dinner conversation with the physician and Gospel writer Luke himself— you will discover the radical message that turned the ancient world upside down.
4d ago

Tuesday of the Third-Last Week of the Church Year

November 10, 2026 Today's Reading: Philippians 3:17-21 Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 23:1-20; Matthew 25:14-30 “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.” (Philippians 3:17) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. There is an eight-year-old who imitates his older brothers. He wants to be like them, so he acts like them, though sometimes he does it to annoy them. Some say that imitation is inauthentic, so instead, strive to be the true you. Yet following that advice, we may just end up imitating them. Would Solomon use this as an example of the saying, "There is nothing new under the sun"? Paul doesn’t take issue with imitation. He directs us to imitate him by keeping an eye on those who walk like him in Philippi. Paul’s walking involves forgetting the things that are past (our failures and our sins) and looking forward to that which is to come (the resurrection of the body and the life which is to come), for the world and all things in it are passing away, but there is a day coming when all things will be made new. Not everyone walks this way. There are some, even ones who were once in the church, that have become enslaved to the desires of the flesh. “Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.” (Philippians 3:19) It is easy to fall into this type of imitation because we allow our eyes to be fixed on passing away things: phones, social media, the next event, task, or project instead of forever things given by Jesus. We are conformed to be citizens of this world when we should, by the work of the Holy Spirit through the Word, be transformed by the renewal of our minds. (Romans 12:2) So God says to us today, “Turn your eyes here and look at My Son.” Look at Jesus, who died for you yet did not see corruption in the grave. Look at Jesus, who rose for you and brought life and immortality to light. Look at Jesus, who showed His glorious body as proof to the apostles and you of the victory He has given you in your Baptism. Look at Jesus, who promises He will come again to transform your lowly body to be like His glorious body. Now it is a humble body, one that is corrupted by sin and so often drawn to things that pass away, but when Jesus comes again, whether we are living or in the grave, He will make our bodies like His glorious body. We will be free from the corruption of sin and never desire to sin again. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Lord Jesus Christ, forgive us for the times when we have allowed ourselves to be ruled by the desires of our flesh. Turn our eyes from the things that are passing away and fix them on You as we continue to strain forward to what lies ahead. Amen. Rev. Jeremy Swem, pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church, Grand Rapids, MI. Scholar and author A. Andrew Das bridges the gap between Bible commentary and daily devotional in this innovative exploration of Luke's Gospel. Through a creative narrative device—a dinner conversation with the physician and Gospel writer Luke himself— you will discover the radical message that turned the ancient world upside down.
5d ago

Monday of the Third-Last Week of the Church Year

November 9, 2026 Today's Reading: Proverbs 8:11-22 Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 22:1-23; Matthew 25:1-13 “[Wisdom said,] ‘Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver.” (Proverbs 8:17-18) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. What is wisdom, and where does it come from? When answering these questions, we may think about advice given by the world or from the experience of others that helps us make the right decisions when picking out classes, making and keeping friends, or planning a course for the future. Solomon, the writer of Proverbs, knew quite a bit about wisdom. At the beginning of his rule, God said he could ask for anything. Solomon requested an understanding heart that he would be able to “discern between good and evil” (1 Kings 3:9). The Lord granted him a wise and discerning heart so that no king before or after him should compare. In Solomon, we have an example that we should pray for wisdom, knowing God will answer and give us more than what the world expects- the ability to make decisions that will serve us well in life. The wisdom God gives enables us to rightly distinguish between good and evil. In addition to this, we should ask for the strength to choose the good and reject the evil. Solomon was wise, but the writer of 1 Kings notes, “Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done.” (1 Kings 11:6) Solomon, following the wisdom of the world, became rather foolish as he worshiped the gods of the Sidonians and Ammonites. While that was the case, in Proverbs 8, Solomon reveals something of critical importance for our understanding of true Wisdom. Initially, it appears that Wisdom is only being personified, as if Solomon is using a figure of speech to make it seem that Wisdom can speak and give counsel, insight, riches, and honor. But digging a bit deeper, we see that Wisdom is the Second Person of the Trinity, the Son of God. He is the Righteous One who has enduring wealth. The fruit of His death, resurrection, and ascension is finer than gold or choice silver. True Wisdom is not just discerning good and evil but knowing Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father, who has given us His righteousness in holy Baptism and has assured us that we are inheritors of the Heavenly Kingdom and have eternal life. Now, when you think about wisdom, move beyond the advice of the world, or experience, or Solomon, to Christ. Ponder His life, death, resurrection, and ascension, and all the Gifts He gives to you from above. To know Him is to be truly wise. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. O Come, Thou Wisdom from on high, Who ord’rest all things mightily; To us the path of knowledge show, And teach us in her ways to go. (LSB 357:2) Rev. Jeremy Swem, pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church, Grand Rapids, MI. Scholar and author A. Andrew Das bridges the gap between Bible commentary and daily devotional in this innovative exploration of Luke's Gospel. Through a creative narrative device—a dinner conversation with the physician and Gospel writer Luke himself— you will discover the radical message that turned the ancient world upside down.
6d ago

Third-Last Sunday of the Church Year

November 8, 2026 Today's Reading: Matthew 22:15-22 Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 20:1-18; Matthew 24:29-51 “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Matthew 22:21) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. It is said that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. So the Pharisees (who despised Herod, the Herodians, and the Romans) teamed up with their enemy (the Herodians) to trap Jesus. “Tell us what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” (Matthew 22:17) Jesus appeared to be between a rock and a hard place. He can be an enemy of the Pharisees by saying it is lawful or an enemy of the Herodians by saying it is not lawful. Jesus was not willing to be trapped; that will happen later. Jesus said, “Show me the coin for the tax.” (Matthew 22:19) Surprisingly, someone in the temple had an unclean coin to present. Jesus asked, “Whose image and inscription is this?” (Matthew 22:20). Now the tables were turned; instead of asking the questions, they must answer Jesus, so they responded that the coin bore the emperor’s image. Then Jesus said, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Matthew 22:21) Those who sought to trap Jesus were now entangled in His words. Jesus will not be formed into an image made by man. He wouldn’t allow Himself to be shaped like a piece of playdough into a Pharisee or Herodian, no matter how high the pressure got. They should have given up, but so should we. God is not to be formed into our image and likeness so that He has our political positions, our “modern” thinking, or our fleshly desires. Pay your taxes, Pharisees- render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and worship God and serve Him only- render to God the things that are God’s. Jesus entangles to release. He who is the image of the invisible God took on the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of man to destroy the true enemy, Satan. (Colossians 1:15, Philippians 2:7) He offered Himself up to Caesar’s judgment, where He was found innocent yet sentenced as guilty. He offered Himself up to the Father, where He endured the sentence of the guilty yet was proven innocent, having risen from the dead. And He did it all for the sake of those who were His enemies in their trespasses and sins- Pharisees, Herodians, us. Thanks be to God, we have been released, we are no longer His enemies but His friends, and one day He shall restore His image and likeness to us. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. O Lord, absolve Your people from their offenses that from the bonds of our sins, which by reason of our frailty we have brought upon ourselves, we may be delivered by Your bountiful goodness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect for Trinity 23) Rev. Jeremy Swem, pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church, Grand Rapids, MI. Scholar and author A. Andrew Das bridges the gap between Bible commentary and daily devotional in this innovative exploration of Luke's Gospel. Through a creative narrative device—a dinner conversation with the physician and Gospel writer Luke himself— you will discover the radical message that turned the ancient world upside down.
Nov 7

Saturday of the Twenty-Second Week After Trinity

November 7, 2026 Today's Reading: Introit for Trinity 23 - Psalm 85:1, 7, 9, 11; antiphon: Jeremiah 29:11a, 12 Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 11:1-23; Jeremiah 12:1-19:15; Matthew 24:1-28 “Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.” (Psalm 85:7) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. It’s interesting to me that the Introit for tomorrow’s Divine Service skips this; “Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints…” (Psalm 85:8). The truth is that the Lord has shown us His steadfast love in the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Christ. But that was about 2,000 years ago, and today we can’t actually lay eyes on Him, so we must “walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Therefore, we walk by hearing, for “faith comes by hearing” (Romans 10:17). The knowledge that Christ is Lord, and in Him is our salvation, we have by hearing in faith. We have heard He speaks peace to His people throughout the world. How does He do that? Your pastor is God’s representative, when he speaks peace, absolving His saints, it is the Lord Jesus you are hearing. Hearing the voice of the Lord in His Word is marvelous. In that hearing, steadfast love has been shown, salvation has been given, but we still haven’t seen it. Peter makes this clear: “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:8-9). So we rejoice that God the Father has spoken to us, and in speaking, He has shown us his steadfast love and granted us His salvation. This is the Gospel which the Father promised through the prophets. And this speaking, this showing of His salvation, this proclamation of the Gospel, He accomplished by the ministry of the apostles. He continues to deliver the Good News of salvation in the preaching of His Gospel in truth and purity through the Office of the Holy Ministry he has given the Church. Still, we haven’t seen it…or have we? If you want to see that salvation delivered to you, go to where the Lord has promised His presence is to be found. Be gathered with His people in the Divine Service. Go to the table the Lord has prepared for you, even in the presence of the enemy (Psalm 23:5). There you will hear Him speak, “This is my body, this is my blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins.” There you “taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8). In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heav’n to earth come down! Fix in us Thy humble dwelling, all Thy faithful mercies crown. Jesus, Thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love Thou art; Visit us with Thy salvation, enter ev’ry trembling heart. (LSB 700:1) Scholar and author A. Andrew Das bridges the gap between Bible commentary and daily devotional in this innovative exploration of Luke's Gospel. Through a creative narrative device—a dinner conversation with the physician and Gospel writer Luke himself— you will discover the radical message that turned the ancient world upside down. Rev. Jason Schockman, associate pastor of Saint Paul Lutheran Church in Oconomowoc, WI.

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4.6

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9 Ratings

Great start to my day

05/06/2024

JoyfullyRedeemed

Wonderful program. Great start to my day. Reminds me of what we we have in Christ. The transcripts are much appreciated. Thank you..