David Bahn – Reflections

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These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are 2 Chronicles 28, 2 Kings 16-17, Psalm 27.

2 Chronicles 28:8-15

The men of Israel took captive 200,000 of their relatives, women, sons, and daughters [from Judah]. They also took much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria. ⁹ But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded, and he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria and said to them, “Behold, because the LORD, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand, but you have killed them in a rage that has reached up to heaven. ¹⁰ And now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, as your slaves. Have you not sins of your own against the LORD your God? ¹¹ Now hear me, and send back the captives from your relatives whom you have taken, for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you.”

¹² Certain chiefs also of the men of Ephraim … stood up against those who were coming from the war ¹³ and said to them, “You shall not bring the captives in here, for you propose to bring upon us guilt against the LORD in addition to our present sins and guilt. For our guilt is already great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.” ¹⁴ So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the assembly. ¹⁵ And the men who have been mentioned by name rose and took the captives, and with the spoil they clothed all who were naked among them. They clothed them, gave them sandals, provided them with food and drink, and anointed them, and carrying all the feeble among them on donkeys, they brought them to their kinsfolk at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.

Imagine Jesus talking with Peter, James, and John.

I’ve been thinking about the day when the men of Israel took captive 200,000 of their own relatives—women, sons, and daughters. Do you remember that account from Israel’s history? They intended to carry them away and treat them shamefully. What a tragic day that was.

Of course, there is no record of Jesus ever saying such a thing. But he was there. Before his incarnation, the eternal Son of God witnessed it all. Their rage had reached to heaven. It was a horrific chapter in the history of God’s people—tragic, shameful, almost beyond imagination.

When I read passages like this, I find myself reacting the way I did as a child while watching The Wizard of Oz. When the flying monkeys appeared, my mother would gently remind me, “It’s not real.” Sometimes I read the Old Testament that way. Surely this couldn’t have happened. Surely people couldn’t treat one another so cruelly.

But they did.

Yet notice what happened next.

Some of the leaders of Ephraim confronted the victorious army, and the captives were released. Then we read these remarkable words:

“The men… took the captives, and with the spoil they clothed all who were naked among them. They clothed them, gave them sandals, provided them with food and drink, anointed them, and carrying all the feeble among them on donkeys, they brought them to their kinsfolk at Jericho…” (2 Chronicles 28:15)

Does that sound familiar?

Years later, Jesus would tell a story about a Samaritan who found a man beaten, robbed, and left for dead. He bandaged his wounds, cared for him, placed him on his own animal, and brought him to safety. I cannot help but wonder whether Jesus was calling to mind this remarkable account when he told the Parable of the Good Samaritan. In both accounts, God’s mercy interrupts human misery through ordinary people willing to act.

Notice who the heroes are. They are the ones who see a neighbor in need and act.

After all, this is what Christ has done for us. He took on our flesh. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, welcomed the outcast, and laid down his life for the sins of the world. He has clothed us with his own righteousness, and one day he will bring us safely home.

Until that day, he places people in our path who need the same kindness, compassion, and mercy he has first shown to us. Our acts of kindness and compassion do more than meet human needs—they reflect the very heart of God. Whenever we take the opportunity to relieve another person’s suffering, God uses us to interrupt human misery with his mercy.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Micah 5-7, Psalm 26.

Micah 5:2-5

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
    one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
    from ancient days.
³ Therefore he shall give them up until the time
    when she who is in labor has given birth;
then the rest of his brothers shall return
    to the people of Israel.
⁴ And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,
    in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great
    to the ends of the earth.
⁵ And he shall be their peace.

“Big gifts come in small packages.” Did you learn that growing up? I did. And, as a child, I wasn’t convinced. I wanted the big packages. Little packages might have held some supposed treasure—at least by adults’ standards—but not for me. Give me the biggest box under the Christmas tree.

When it comes to churches, many people think the same way. Surely the biggest churches have the greatest treasures to offer. Often they do—a large choir or outstanding praise band, vibrant children’s and youth ministries, thriving Bible studies, gifted staff, excellent facilities, and an abundance of volunteers. Good things often come in large packages.

And there’s nothing wrong with that. I served in a large congregation for many years, and the quality of the staff, programs, facilities, and depth of talent was remarkable. It was an honor to serve there, and God used that congregation to bless countless people in our community.

But the greatest gift ever given came wrapped in swaddling cloths, born in a little town that many overlooked and dismissed. The prophet Micah saw it coming seven centuries earlier:

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.

We read these words every Christmas. They appear in children’s Christmas programs and in Matthew’s account of the visit of the Magi. They remind us not only where Jesus would be born, but how God delights to work.

God works through his Word. At creation he said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. He promised Abram descendants beyond number, and he kept his promise. Through Isaiah he declared that a Son would be born, and seven centuries later the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace entered our world. When God speaks, things happen.

So out of this small, overlooked town came the One first promised in Eden—the ruler of Israel whose origins are from ancient days. In the form of a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths, the Son of God entered our world. He has come. O glorious day! He has come.

Jesus compares the kingdom of God to leaven hidden in dough. Quietly and steadily it works through the whole batch. He says faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains. He takes a little child and says that whoever would be great in God’s kingdom must become humble like one of these.

This is how God works.

So don’t despise the little things: a child, a whispered prayer, a quiet act of mercy, a single conversation about Jesus, or the seemingly ordinary gathering around Word and Sacrament. God delights to work through what the world considers small.

This is how God works. He who made himself nothing has become everything for all time. And he came from Bethlehem—just as Micah promised.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Micah 2-4, Psalm 25.

Micah 4:1-7

It shall come to pass in the latter days
    that the mountain of the house of the LORD
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
    and it shall be lifted up above the hills;
and peoples shall flow to it,
²     and many nations shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
    to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
    and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
    and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
³ He shall judge between many peoples,
    and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
    and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
    neither shall they learn war anymore;
⁴ but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,
    and no one shall make them afraid,
    for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.
⁵ For all the peoples walk
    each in the name of its god,
but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God
    forever and ever.

⁶ In that day, declares the LORD,
    I will assemble the lame
and gather those who have been driven away
    and those whom I have afflicted;
⁷ and the lame I will make the remnant,
    and those who were cast off, a strong nation;
and the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion
    from this time forth and forevermore.

If you’ve been reading through the Bible with us these past few days, these verses will sound familiar. Isaiah and Micah were contemporaries whose prophecies often echo one another. Together Isaiah 11 and Micah 4 paint a breathtaking picture of the peace and justice that will characterize the reign of the promised Messiah – a kingdom Christ inaugurated at his first coming and will bring to completion when he returns.

I especially love the imagery of verses 4 and 5:

“…they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken. For all the peoples walk each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever and ever.”

Whether or not you have a fig tree – or even wish to sit under one – doesn’t that sound delightful? The vine and fig tree became one of Israel’s favorite pictures of God’s blessing: a place of settled peace, abundant provision, and fearless rest in his presence.

Paul reminds us that we are already seated with Christ in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). Likewise, we stand in God’s grace (Romans 5:2) and will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever. What wonderful images of security, belonging, and peace!

These words of comfort and promise come after some scathing words of condemnation against the ungodly. They read like the words of a father whose child has been brutally abused. Such is the case here. God inspired Micah to express his righteous anger over the way his people had been treated. He will not remain silent. He will call to account those who believed they would never answer for their cruelty and those who ruthlessly abused the weak and needy.

Those words may be comforting to those who have suffered such evil. Yet they should also make us deeply sad – not only for those who have been mistreated, but for the broken world in which we live that allows such things to happen. I think of semi-trailers abandoned in the blistering South Texas heat, filled with desperate immigrants and left to die. I think of those trapped in human trafficking, treated not as people made in God’s image but as commodities to be bought and sold. Vengeance rightly belongs to God, and Micah announces that the day of reckoning will come.

How delightful, then, will be the peace of those clothed in the righteousness of Christ! We look forward with joyful anticipation to that day. Yet we must never become smug, even as we long for evil to be brought low. We, too, have been rescued solely by God’s grace. The Holy Spirit has called us to faith in Christ, set our feet on the paths of righteousness, and made us citizens of the kingdom Micah describes.

I’m ready for that fig tree! Are you?

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Isaiah 11-12, Micah 1, Psalm 24.

Isaiah 11:1-9

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
² And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
³ And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
    or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
⁴ but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
    and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
    and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
⁵ Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
    and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

⁶ The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
    and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
    and a little child shall lead them.
⁷ The cow and the bear shall graze;
    their young shall lie down together;
    and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
⁸ The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
    and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
⁹ They shall not hurt or destroy
    in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
    as the waters cover the sea.

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.” “To us a child is born.” Isaiah has already pointed us to the coming Messiah. Now he does so again with a different image:

“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.”

A stump is what remains after a tree has been cut down. It looks lifeless. Finished. That was Judah. God’s people had become spiritually barren, and judgment was coming. Yet Isaiah saw life where no one else would. From the seemingly dead stump of Jesse – the father of King David – a new shoot would emerge. God was not finished with his promises.

That shoot is Jesus.

Isaiah then describes the reign of this Spirit-filled King. Justice replaces oppression, and peace overcomes violence. He paints one of Scripture’s most beautiful pictures: wolves dwell with lambs, lions eat straw like oxen, and little children play safely beside poisonous snakes.

How can this be?

Only because of Jesus. When his kingdom comes in its fullness, the curse itself will be undone. Sin, death, violence, and fear will no longer have the final word. Creation itself will be renewed.

We do not yet live in that world. Wars rage. Injustice persists. Sickness and death still remind us that creation longs for its redemption. Yet Isaiah calls us to look beyond what our eyes can see. Nearly 750 years before Christ’s birth, he proclaimed this coming King and the restored creation he would bring. Today, we still wait with eager hope for his return.

Until then, we live as ambassadors of the kingdom that is coming. The Holy Spirit has brought us to faith in Christ and is shaping us into the likeness of our King. We seek peace in a violent world, kindness in a harsh world, justice in an unjust world, and forgiveness because we have first been forgiven.

The Shoot from Jesse has already come. He lived the righteous life Isaiah describes, gave himself on the cross for our sins, rose again in victory over death, and now reigns at the Father’s right hand. Because he has come, we know he will come again to make all things new.

That is our hope. And it is a hope worth sharing.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Amos 4-6, Psalm 21.

Amos 4:1-5

“Hear this word, you cows of Bashan,
    who are on the mountain of Samaria,
who oppress the poor, who crush the needy,
    who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’
² The LORD God has sworn by his holiness
    that, behold, the days are coming upon you,
when they shall take you away with hooks,
    even the last of you with fishhooks.
³ And you shall go out through the breaches,
    each one straight ahead;
    and you shall be cast out into Harmon,”
declares the Lord.

⁴ “Come to Bethel, and transgress;
    to Gilgal, and multiply transgression;
bring your sacrifices every morning,
    your tithes every three days;
⁵ offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened,
    and proclaim freewill offerings, publish them;
    for so you love to do, O people of Israel!”
declares the LORD God.

There are many reasons I don’t want to be called one of the “cows of Bashan”—and not just because I don’t want to be called a cow! The cattle of Bashan were the finest breed in ancient Canaan, raised and pampered in the rich pasturelands east of the Jordan. It would be like being called a wagyu bovine. No thanks!

But that is exactly Amos’ message to the wealthy people of Samaria: you have it all too easy. You may be pampered with wine and a life of ease, but you are headed for the slaughter. Look at the imagery Amos uses: you will be led away with fishhooks! That is not a desirable destiny.

Amos is scathing in his pronouncement. God had sent plague, famine, drought, blight, and military defeat upon the land, yet the people refused to repent. They neither sought his mercy nor turned to him for relief. They were smugly oblivious to their moral bankruptcy. They didn’t just suffer from delusions of grandeur; they suffered from delusions of adequacy.

As I read these chapters, I was struck by how intensely involved God is in the affairs of humanity. He cares how we treat one another. He sees when the poor and needy are ignored. He takes note when prosperity blinds us to the needs of others. He notices thanklessness and impenitence. Amos announces that God will judge such things.

Our culture has its own version of this. Some have called it Moralistic Therapeutic Deism—the assumption that God mainly wants us to be comfortable, happy, and basically nice. Amos shatters that illusion. God is far more concerned with repentance, righteousness, justice, and wholehearted devotion than with preserving our comfortable lifestyles.

It is not that God doesn’t want us to be happy, or that wealth in itself is evil. He wants something far better. He calls us to repentance and, through faith in Christ, declares us righteous by his grace. Then he frees us from the exhausting task of finding our security in what we possess, and then living with a thankless heart. We are free to seek first his kingdom, to love our neighbors generously, and to rest in the riches of Christ’s mercy.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Amos 1-3, Psalm 20.

Amos 3:1-7

Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:

² “You only have I known
    of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
    for all your iniquities.

³ “Do two walk together,
    unless they have agreed to meet?
⁴ Does a lion roar in the forest,
    when he has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from his den,
    if he has taken nothing?
⁵ Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth,
    when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground,
    when it has taken nothing?
⁶ Is a trumpet blown in a city,
    and the people are not afraid?
Does disaster come to a city,
    unless the LORD has done it?

⁷ “For the LORD God does nothing
    without revealing his secret
    to his servants the prophets.
⁸ The lion has roared;
    who will not fear?
The LORD God has spoken;
    who can but prophesy?”

“Say it ain’t so, Joe!”

The phrase is famously associated with the 1919 Black Sox scandal. As the story goes, a heartbroken young fan approached Shoeless Joe Jackson outside a Chicago courthouse and pleaded, “Say it ain’t so, Joe!”

That’s how I feel when I read the book of Amos.

Say it ain’t so, Amos! Surely Israel has not sinned so grievously. Certainly Judah is not corrupt. It can’t be that God’s people would give way to idolatry, injustice, evil, vile immorality, and great sin. Surely they would not hide their evil hearts and actions behind a veil of religious devotion. Yet that is exactly what Amos exposes. The people imagined that their religious activity somehow compensated for their lack of justice and mercy.

I don’t want to believe that because it has such troubling implications for us today. Could we admire churches for their worship attendance, generous gifts, impressive buildings, and well-funded ministries while overlooking the fact that they show little concern for the poor, neglect the weak, or compromise the truth of God’s Word in pursuit of relevance and cultural approval? It breaks my heart to think so.

What’s worse, such actions sully the name of Jesus, just as Israel’s and Judah’s actions became an ugly blemish on the name of the LORD. In fact, they violated both the First and Second Commandments. Israel, in particular, had fallen into blatant idolatry. They put false gods before the LORD—a direct violation of the First Commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me.” And in doing so, they dishonored God’s name, claiming to be his people while living as though he were not their God.

We will have to wait until the end of Amos to hear a clearer word of grace and hope. Yet even here, hidden beneath the prophet’s stern words, is God’s concern for justice and righteousness. God cares about the poor and the weak. He defends widows and orphans, the sick and infirm, pregnant women, and those who cannot speak for themselves. His judgment is not the opposite of his love; it is an expression of his concern for those who are being harmed.

When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he said, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” That means more than refraining from profanity or careless speech. It has everything to do with how we live, how we treat our neighbors, how we uphold the truth, and how we call upon God in prayer.

In light of today’s readings, perhaps the most fitting response is simply this:

“Lord, have mercy. Forgive our sins. Create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me. For Jesus’ sake and in his name. Amen.”

The previously published edition of this blogpost had incorrect links to the podcast. AND the podcast itself had not posted until 7:45 this morning. So now the links work, and the podcast is active. Blessings! – dlb

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Isaiah 6-8, Psalm 19.

Isaiah 6:1-7

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. ² Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³ And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”

⁴ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. ⁵ And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

I’m sitting in the chapel on the first day of classes. The room is filled with men singing “Hark the voice of Jesus crying, who will go and work today?” It ends with those resounding words, straight out of Isaiah 6, “Here and I, send me! Send me!” The men were my classmates – all studying to become pastors. The rousing refrain etched its way into my heart. I was following the call of God to go, sent by his grace, and by the power of his Holy Spirit and in the name of Jesus.

But who can serve such a high and holy God? The image Isaiah puts forth for us is strikingly awesome [better word or phrase]. His vision is not just of the LORD, but the LORD high and lifted up. There is smoke filling the temple – the prayers of the saints? Seraphim are flying back and forth, crying out in praise the the thrice-holy God. The train of God’s robe fills the temple. This is a glorious sight! And Isaiah is undone.

I am not a fan of minimizing the idea of the fear of the LORD – making it only respectful reverence. I like to think of the fear of the LORD as what Isaiah experiences here. He is suddenly and painfully aware of both God’s holiness and his own sinfulness. He cannot imagine a way to escape God’s presence, nor can he imagine how he can remain in it. He is a sinner living in a world stained, broken, and infected by sin. Standing before the Holy One, he is undone.

But he is not undone for long. For God has a means by which he will be cleansed. When the question is raised, “Whom will I send? Who will go for me?” he will be emboldened to say, “Here am I, send me.”

I’m a big fan of Martin Luther’s Sacristy Prayer—especially the part in which he prays concerning the ministry entrusted to him: “If it were up to me, I would have ruined it long ago.”

Some people believe they cannot be God’s servant if they don’t have all of life and faith figured out. Some believe no one should not talk to others about Jesus without a seminary education. I challenge that way of thinking. God’s grace has always reached cross the chasm of our unworthiness, for he has called many a broken person – from Moses who said he couldn’t speak well, to Jeremiah, who said he was too young, to Ananias who was afraid to go to Saul of Tarsus, to Isaiah who knows all too well his sin.

God may be calling you, asking, who will go? Whom shall I send? To your neighbor. Your husband. Your daughter. Your mom. Your coworker. Your best friend. They all need to know – or even be reminded of – God’s grace and truth in Jesus.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Isaiah 6-8, Psalm 19.

Isaiah 6:1-7

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. ² Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³ And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”

⁴ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. ⁵ And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

I’m sitting in the chapel on the first day of classes. The room is filled with men singing “Hark the voice of Jesus crying, who will go and work today?” It ends with those resounding words, straight out of Isaiah 6, “Here and I, send me! Send me!” The men were my classmates – all studying to become pastors. The rousing refrain etched its way into my heart. I was following the call of God to go, sent by his grace, and by the power of his Holy Spirit and in the name of Jesus.

But who can serve such a high and holy God? The image Isaiah puts forth for us is strikingly awesome [better word or phrase]. His vision is not just of the LORD, but the LORD high and lifted up. There is smoke filling the temple – the prayers of the saints? Seraphim are flying back and forth, crying out in praise the the thrice-holy God. The train of God’s robe fills the temple. This is a glorious sight! And Isaiah is undone.

I am not a fan of minimizing the idea of the fear of the LORD – making it only respectful reverence. I like to think of the fear of the LORD as what Isaiah experiences here. He is suddenly and painfully aware of both God’s holiness and his own sinfulness. He cannot imagine a way to escape God’s presence, nor can he imagine how he can remain in it. He is a sinner living in a world stained, broken, and infected by sin. Standing before the Holy One, he is undone.

But he is not undone for long. For God has a means by which he will be cleansed. When the question is raised, “Whom will I send? Who will go for me?” he will be emboldened to say, “Here am I, send me.”

I’m a big fan of Martin Luther’s Sacristy Prayer—especially the part in which he prays concerning the ministry entrusted to him: “If it were up to me, I would have ruined it long ago.”

Some people believe they cannot be God’s servant if they don’t have all of life and faith figured out. Some believe no one should not talk to others about Jesus without a seminary education. I challenge that way of thinking. God’s grace has always reached cross the chasm of our unworthiness, for he has called many a broken person – from Moses who said he couldn’t speak well, to Jeremiah, who said he was too young, to Ananias who was afraid to go to Saul of Tarsus, to Isaiah who knows all too well his sin.

God may be calling you, asking, who will go? Whom shall I send? To your neighbor. Your husband. Your daughter. Your mom. Your coworker. Your best friend. They all need to know – or even be reminded of – God’s grace and truth in Jesus.

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These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Isaiah 3-5, Psalm 18.

Isaiah 7:1-7

Let me sing for my beloved
    my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
    on a very fertile hill.
² He dug it and cleared it of stones,
    and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
    and hewed out a wine vat in it;
and he looked for it to yield grapes,
    but it yielded wild grapes.

³ And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
    and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
⁴ What more was there to do for my vineyard,
    that I have not done in it?
When I looked for it to yield grapes,
    why did it yield wild grapes?

⁵ And now I will tell you
    what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge,
    and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall,
    and it shall be trampled down.
⁶ I will make it a waste;
    it shall not be pruned or hoed,
    and briers and thorns shall grow up;
I will also command the clouds
    that they rain no rain upon it.

⁷ For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts
    is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
    are his pleasant planting;
and he looked for justice,
    but behold, bloodshed;
for righteousness,
    but behold, an outcry!

Well that didn’t last long. Yesterday we read about the grace and kindness of God, his rescue of those in distress, and the message of his righteousness going out to all nations. But that was yesterday. Today is today. And today we read of God’s great disappointment in Israel – his vineyard.

God had done everything for his people. He had rescued them from slavery in Egypt. He had brought them into the Promised Land. He had led them by Moses, Joshua, Judges, and Kings. But the nation had abandoned God’s ways, wandered from true worship, and righteous living. God cares about those things.

God cares about true worship because of his love for us – not because of his love for himself, or a need for his ego to be bolstered. Think of it: his name is “I AM.” He is the one who is and who needs no permission or acknowledgement of his being. Our worship of him is a matter of acknowledging the truth of this. But it is more, for the Bible also says, “God is love.” Jesus speaks of worship with the woman at the well in John 4. “God is Spirit,” he says, “And those who worship him must worship him in Spirit and in truth.” Worship is not some contrived exercise of religious fanaticism. It is the expression of praise to God for all he is and has done for us.

And because God loves us all, he cares about how we treat one another. Righteous living flows from faith — from the righteousness that comes from him. We express our love for one another by obeying God’s commandments and by living together in peace and grace. God does not need our good works; they could never avail before him. But our neighbor does. Having received God’s mercy, we are freed to show mercy. Having been loved, we are free to love. Righteous living is a matter of serving our neighbors with kindness, respect, and care.

But there is yet more to Israel’s fruit-bearing as God’s vineyard. The fruit God desires is that the whole world would know his majesty, glory, and grace. It is not enough that we are kind to one another within the fellowship of the redeemed. God’s love for us is to be reflected toward those outside the vineyard as well. Israel had lost sight of that calling. So God would remove the hedge, break down the wall, and scatter his people among the nations. Yet even in judgment, God’s purpose was not only to punish, but to proclaim. Scattered far and wide, his people would carry the knowledge of the true God to the nations.

We who are reading this today are among the fruit of that vineyard. The message has gone out into all the world. God’s Son has come and redeemed us so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. And now the Lord seeks fruit from us as well—not fruit that earns his favor, but fruit that grows from his grace: faith in Christ, love for our neighbor, and witness to the world. The vineyard still belongs to him, and his desire remains the same—that all people would know his saving love.