Pentecost 6

July 20 - 26

1 Samuel, Acts

This week, an illustration of a disobedient church and a gracious God. Time and again, God’s people set their own ambition and glory above his. The people of Israel carry the Ark of the Covenant into battle without the LORD’s command. They demand a king over the objections of the prophet Samuel. In the New Testament, the Jews in Jerusalem would rather cooperate with their Roman oppressors to punish Paul than actually hear the Gospel he is sent to preach. Others try to poach power from his ministry to cast out demons.

In this kind of church, God’s grace and mercy aren’t seen as gifts to be received, but commodities to be used, and Scripture shows us where this leads. God’s people crumble before pagans. The crown and lineage they demand are ultimately cut off. Confusion and false teaching set in like a thick fog. The glory of the LORD departs. His treasure is in the hands of the wicked, leaving the self-righteous and unrepentant to fend for themselves.

And yet, for those who will listen, he sends faithful prophets, missionaries and ministers into the heart of this greed and chaos. And there, the glory of the Lord is revealed - not in crowns, authority, or worldly esteem - but in ridicule, beatings, and martyrdom. In their apparent humiliation, Jesus’ servants reflect his glorious work by sharing in his suffering, declaring his resurrection, and living by faith.

This is the church the Lord sustains and cares for, where malnourished souls are filled by his Gospel, and even ministers swayed by false teaching submit to correction by the Word. His Holy Spirit is at work, and all that the church has is turned over to the Lord’s purpose and glory. May we all be eager to rejoice in our salvation and to work in service to the Lord of the church.

Pentecost 5

July 13 - 19

Judges, 1 Samuel, Galatians, Acts

The once mighty Samson, now blind and weak, slouches in his shackles between two stone pillars. His Phillistine captors subject him to great tests of strength, erupting in laughter and taunts when he inevitably fails. It is a grotesque celebration in honor of a false god, and it looks like a humiliating end for the man who had been set apart to save Israel from the Phillistines. In this seemingly hopeless moment, Samson prays to the true God to regain his strength, just this once, to save his people.

“Just this once” is an easy way to justify sin, too, though we love to use that phrase many times. It is also an ironic display of weakness. Our bold in insistence that the sin is okay this one time is really only a thin cover-up of our submission to the chains. Bound tightly to sin, there would appear to be no escape.

The good news: “just this once” also describes our salvation: Jesus pulled down the heavy stones of sin upon himself to destroy death, and rise again, one time, for all people. One baptism buries our sinful flesh and raises up a new person in service to God.

Still, on this side of heaven, the flesh and Spirit militate against one another. St. Paul’s astonishment at the Galatians’ straying faith is characteristic of us, too. It may seem easy to go back to our old, doomed spiritual ways. But our echo of Samson’s prayer for strength against sin is true and effective. Even if that prayer is our last, we can make it boldly, just one time, confident in the redemption won for us in Jesus.