Monday of the First Week After the Epiphany

January 13, 2025 Today's Reading: Isaiah 43:1-7Daily Lectionary: Ezekiel 36:13-28; Romans 4:1-25“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine” (Isaiah 43:1)In the Name of Jesus. Amen. With Scripture, context is important. This glorious passage in Isaiah is on the heels of God’s rebuke of His people for their failure to hear and see. Isaiah, like all the prophets, labors to bring Israel to repentance. He would preach a stern law in hopes people would see their sin, repent, and live. Read Isaiah, and you’ll find there’s no mistaking God’s threats and punishments for Israel’s deaf ear. Still, God’s mercy, love, and promises never disappear, as Isaiah reminds God’s wayward children of the LORD Who has created and redeemed them. The words “fear not” are Words of peace from the God reminding Israel, “I am the LORD our God, the Holy One of Israel, Your Savior.” Don’t be afraid; you’re in the hands of God as His child, His redeemed child brought from death to life, living by faith in He Who promises to take you through the fire. Verse 2 is clear: the fires will come. It’s not “if” but “when.” For Israel, exile is imminent for the impenitent nation, though God promises to be “their Savior.” He never abandons His promises in times of suffering and grief.In a fallen creation, suffering and grief are never distant. Many and various temptations besiege God’s people. A popular one now is despairing over an undesirable body. This powerful temptation assails many people who look at themselves and long to be something different when it’s God who forms and creates. The physical body, however “imperfect” it seems, is God’s Gift and work. Sin wrecks all flesh, to be sure, as everyone ages and decays. However, we should thank God for the bodies we have while hearing His promise: “I have redeemed you.” You have been redeemed, purchased, and paid for in full by the blood of God’s own Son. He calls you by Name, a Name put upon you in Holy Baptism at those words “in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” You live under the God Who reigns in the heavens and has the hairs on your head numbered. At the resurrection of the body when the Lord Jesus returns, there will be no discontent over who we are. God says it now: “You are mine.” You belong to God in Christ, Who died to obtain you for Himself. He will bring you through fire, and the rivers won’t overwhelm you. Since Jesus lives, so does His Church. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.“God’s own child, I gladly say it: I am baptized into Christ! He, because I could not pay it, Gave my full redemption price. Do I need earth’s treasures many? I have one worth more than any That brought me salvation free Lasting to eternity!” (LSB 594:1)-Rev. Ryan Ogrodowicz, associate pastor and headmaster at Grace Lutheran Church and School in Brenham, TX.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.What makes a church "good?" Come join the fictional family as they test out eight different churches in their brand-new town and answer this question along the way. Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? by Matthew Richard, now available from Concordia Publishing House.