Christian Reflection and Prayer

"The Light Blazes in Fury"
By Rev. Wayne Palmer

Read John 2:13-22. TEXT: "Making a whip of cords, He drove them
all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen ..." (John 2:15a). 

Lenten Devotion- you picture Jesus as a meek, gentle man you
might be surprised at what He does here in the temple. But you
shouldn't be -- the thicker the darkness, the brighter the Light
must shine. Our Savior knows animals must be sold for sacrifice,
and foreign currency needs to be exchanged for temple currency.
But His problem is where this is all taking place.

This trading is being done in the Court of the Gentiles, i.e. in the
back of the church. The Jewish worshipers aren't bothered, they
can move up front closer to the temple. But what infuriates Jesus
is the way the Gentile believers are being forced to worship and
pray in all this noise and commotion.

When Jesus shouts "Take these things away; do not make My
Father's house a house of trade," the Jewish authorities are filled
with a dark rage of their own. The darkness tries to overcome the
Light as they demand Jesus perform a miracle proving His
authority to cleanse the temple.

Jesus will provide that sign in His coming death and resurrection.
On the cross His enemies will destroy His body -- the true temple
and dwelling place of God. But on the third day Jesus will raise it
to life again.

Today the darkness still challenges Jesus. When we gather at the
Lord's house to worship, pray and receive Christ's gifts in Word and
Sacrament, the darkness fills our minds with all sorts of trade and
business concerns, as well as other worries, fears and distractions.
But the light shines in the darkness and draws our thoughts back
to our Savior.

THE PRAYER:

Lord, cleanse my heart and mind that I may hear Your words of
grace and forgiveness. Amen.

"The Darkness of Rash Judgment"
By Rev. Wayne Palmer

Read John 1:43-51. TEXT: "Can anything good come out
of Nazareth? ..." (John 1:46a).

Lenten Devotion- As we near the end of John's first chapter,
Jesus is gathering His twelve disciples. Even here we see
the battle rage between light and darkness -- in this case
it's the darkness of a preconceived notion. Before he ever
met Jesus, Nathanael arrogantly asks, "Can anything good
come out of Nazareth?"

That's what the darkness in us does. We sit as judge of
everyone and everything around us, jumping to conclusions
about people without knowing their whole story. And it's just
too bad for the person who doesn't fit into our nice neat
categories -- whether it's that nerdy kid at school who
doesn't dress like we do or that estranged family member,
quirky neighbor or congregation full of hypocrites. We even
do the same with God. We judge His holiness and
faithfulness by the circumstances of our lives. We don't
give God the right to be God.

Philip is wise. He doesn't try to argue away Nathanael's
prejudice. He gives his friend a simple invitation: "Come and
see." He is confident Jesus will shatter Nathanael's false
judgment, and Jesus doesn't disappoint him.

Lent is the time to humble ourselves and to come to Jesus
and admit our rash judgments. Jesus does something we
would never expect: He shines His grace, power and love as
He suffers from the darkness of human rejection, flogging
and a cross. Yet in that brutality, suffering and death Jesus
won our salvation. He gathers us together in congregations
around His Word and Sacraments to shatter our
preconceived notions and empower us to accept one
another and work together to show His love to all those
around us.

THE PRAYER:

Lord Jesus, forgive me for judging by appearances. Open my
heart to see You as You are and to share Your Name
everywhere I go. Amen.

"He Takes Away the Sin of the World"
By Rev. Wayne Palmer
February 19, 2015


Read John 1:19-34. TEXT: "The next day John saw Jesus coming
toward him and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away
the sin of the world!'" (John 1:29).

Lenten Devotion-  The teacher walks into the classroom and finds 
a broken vase. She's not sure who broke it, but she has a pretty
good idea. She singles out the one child who always gets into
trouble -- the scapegoat -- and though it's completely unfair, off he
goes to face the principal in place of the child who is truly guilty.

The word "scapegoat" comes to us from the Old Testament Day
of Atonement, the day God forgave the nation's sins. God
commanded His people to bring a goat to His altar. The priest laid
his hand on its head confessing the sins of the people of Israel.
The scapegoat took the punishment for their sins as it was led out
into the wilderness.

Here in the middle of John's first chapter, John the Baptist points
at Jesus and calls out, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away
the sin of the world!" John looks past Jesus' Baptism to Good
Friday when He will suffer the full wrath and punishment for our
sins. When we receive the assurance of God's forgiveness in
Jesus' body and blood in Holy Communion, we repeat John's words,
"Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world; have mercy on
us; grant us peace."

As we follow Jesus through this season of Lent, we will see how
brightly God's Light shines in our dark world.

THE PRAYER:

Lord God, turn my eyes to my Savior this Lenten season that I may
say with John the Baptist, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes
away the sins of the world" -- and my sins. In Jesus' Name. Amen.