Monday of the Fourth Week After the Epiphany

February 3, 2025 Today's Reading: Jeremiah 1:4-10 (17-19) Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 14:1-21; Titus 2:7-3:15Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” (Jeremiah 1:9-10)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.It never fails. Moses feared the call of the LORD because he lived in fear of the inadequacy of his own speaking abilities. And today, Jeremiah feared the call of the LORD because he lived in fear of the inadequacy of his youth. In Holy Baptism, you have been given a Divine call to partake of the promises of God’s forgiveness, life, and salvation in Jesus. To live with confident hope in the blessed inheritance that is to come. But, you have also been called to obey all that Christ has commanded and taught with your very life and your very lips. And if we are honest with ourselves, this should make us feel very uneasy. Who am I to do this? Who are you? We are sin, dust, and ashes piled on garbage. Nevertheless, look at where our Triune God redirects Jeremiah’s focus: “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth…to pluck up and to break down…to build and to plant.” God moves Jeremiah’s attention away from his fleshly eyes, which only see weakness and inexperience, and to his eyes of faith, which move outside of his own self. Jeremiah is led now to see the work of God and the power of His Word. It’s as though God is saying, “It’s not about your youth, Jeremiah, it’s that I called you. It’s that my words are now in you, and these words are powerful.” Indeed, God’s Word rightly condemns all falsehood in this world, and God’s Word heals all sin in the application of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the Word that truly can tear down what is false and ugly through the work of the law and truly bring forth what is beautiful and good by the power of the Gospel. Yes, you have been called in your station of life (student, son, daughter, friend, employee, etc.) to represent Jesus Christ amongst the nations. You need not fear this call. You only need to get your eyes off of yourself and back on to Christ on the cross, Christ risen, and Christ exalted with all power and authority. You must fix your heart on the power of this Word in that it breaks what needs to be broken and heals what needs to be mended.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Thy strong Word bespeaks us righteous; Bright with Thine own holiness, Glorious now, we press toward glory, And our lives our hopes confess. Alleluia, alleluia! Praise to Thee who light dost send! Alleluia, alleluia! Alleluia without end!” (LSB 578:3)-Rev. Matthew Synnott, associate pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Peoria, IL.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.