November 2024
Devotion
Week of November 3, 2024 All Saints' Day (observed)
1 Corinthians 15:22
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
Recently I led a Bible study on Romans with my fellow deaconess students. To begin, I said, "We have to tackle the bad
news before we get to the Good News. What stands between us and God?" Silence ensued as my deaconess-in-training
sisters processed the question in search of theological precision. Finally, one student blurted, "Our icky, icky sin!" While
we all had a good laugh, her simple yet profound answer offered the springboard I desired for our discussion. As our
October 13 Scripture of the Week reminds us, "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). Because we've inherited Adam's
"icky, icky sin," we've inherited the darkness of death. On this All Saints' Day, we are reminded of those who have gone
before us in the faith. Death on this side of heaven remains the stark reality - it's 100% certain that one out of one of us
will die unless Jesus returns beforehand! But God's perfect plan was to clean up that "ick" of sin and death in Christ. He
has done it all for us. Our SOW this week is elegant in its simplicity. Nestled within an entire chapter devoted to the
resurrection in Paul's first letter to the Corinthian church, He who is "the fountain of life" offers His very own life on our
behalf so that no enemy remains standing between us and the love of our Creator (Ps. 36:9a). Paul states, "The last
enemy to be destroyed is death" (1 Cor. 15:26). The beautiful truth is that we are no longer God's enemies, but in Christ
we are heirs of His work, adopted as sons, and through Him, given the gift of eternal life. And He does more than give us
life and step away for us to manage the mess on our own. No, He nourishes this life in the Church, through Word and
Sacrament, washing away sins in Baptism and continually feeding His people with His very body and blood at the altar.
What are His people to do while they wait for the return of this Living One? Paul finishes his chapter on resurrection
with these words: "be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your
labor is not in vain" (1 Cor. 15:58).
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for giving me life in Christ and bringing me out of darkness and into
light! Forgive me when I fall short of your good and gracious will. Guide me to abound in good works for
the sake of my neighbor as I await your return in glory or the day that you will call me to yourself in
heaven. In the name of Jesus, our life, Amen.
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Devotion
Week of November 10, 2024 Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Romans 4:24-25
It will be counted to us who believe in Him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our
trespasses and raised for our justification.
Abraham believed the word of the Lord, and it was credited to his account as righteousness (Gen. 15:6, Rom. 4:3). Recall
the story - the Lord had promised to make of Abraham a great nation through whom "all the families of the earth shall
be blessed" (Gen. 12: 2, 4). Though it took many years - and a few difficult situations where Abraham and his wife, Sarah,
attempted to take matters into their own hands to hasten God's promise along - Abraham trusted the Lord's faithfulness
to give him an heir despite his inability to understand how this promise would come to pass (Gen. 17:17-19). Therefore,
"in hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations...He did not weaken in faith when he
considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the
barrenness of Sarah's womb" (Rom. 4:18-19). Paul goes on to say that he was "fully convinced that God was able to do
what he had promised" (Rom. 4:21). Likewise, for us. Only by believing in the finished work of Jesus - His perfect life,
death, and resurrection - are we accounted righteous. He has done it all, including the gift of faith itself! By the power of
His Spirit, "He calls, equips, gathers, and enlightens the whole Christian church on earth," where He nourishes that faith
through the body and blood of our risen and ascended Savior (Luther's Small Catechism, Meaning to the Third Article).
Can we understand how this life-giving promise works? Along with Abraham, the answer is no. But we can trust it, for
God never lies: "let God be true though every one were a liar" (Titus 1:2a, Rom. 3:4a). A dead Savior means nothing.
Even an empty tomb is meaningless without a risen and present for us Lord. In this letter to the Romans, Paul reminds
us that both of these truths are required - a Lord both crucified and resurrected - for God to declare us righteous. We do
nothing - but believe!
Lord God, thank you for delivering up Jesus for my trespasses and raising Him from the dead for my
justification. Though I am unworthy, you have called me by name in my baptism and continue to nourish and
sustain my faith through your word and sacrament. Strengthen my faith as you did Abraham's, that I may trust
your Word with my whole heart. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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Devotion
Week of November 17, 2024 Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as other do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so,
through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep.
There's a reason that Paul's first letter to the church at Thessalonica is bookended by the word
"grace" (1:1, 5:28) - God's people needed it in abundance! The Thessalonian church was full of
fearful followers of Jesus! Much time had passed since their Lord's ascension and people who had
been alive to see the resurrected Lord were beginning to pass away. Had they missed the
resurrection? Was there even going to be a resurrection, after all? Did they misunderstand the
teachings of the apostles? Paul's pastoral heart behind this letter to a fearful congregation is
obvious. He reminds them that they do not know the day or the hour when the Lord will come "like
a thief in the night" but that they will not be surprised by that day, when it does come, for they "are
all children of light, children of the day" (5:2, 4-5). He is not trying to give them new instructions
but to remind them of what they already know! "We ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you
received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so
more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus" (4:1-2). This
is sweet encouragement to turn back to the teaching that the Thessalonians had already received, to
trust its validity for not only their future, but their present! How are they to live in light of
eternity? The same way we are to live as we look back to the good and gracious Word of God that
He has caused to be written for our instruction and the building up of our faith. God's people are
called to faith rather than fear, trust rather than trembling, for "He who calls you is faithful; he will
surely do it" (5:24).
Heavenly Father, when my heart begins to fret about the future, remind me by the power of
your Holy Spirit that you are faithful to your Word. Thank you for giving me the hope of
eternity with you through Jesus. In His name, Amen.
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