Saturday of the Second Week After Christmas

January 11, 2025 Today's Reading: Introit for Baptism of our Lord - Psalm 2:7-11,12c; antiphon: Isaiah 42:1aDaily Lectionary: Ezekiel 33:1-20; Romans 3:1-18Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights. (Isaiah 42:1a)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.God delights in whom He chooses. This phrase is a comfort to us because we know that God chose to give His only-begotten Son for the entire human race. Not just to some. Not just to those who would choose Him back (as if any sinful human being could apart from the Holy Spirit). But to all. That includes you. God delights in you!This is a marvelous thing to ponder. God chose to love sinful human beings, even though they turned from His desire for them and even turned on one another. The Psalmist lays it bare in Psalm 2: entire nations rage, people plot and scheme– but it is in vain. The love of God remains freely given to all. This is the good promised when we yield our will to God’s will, and permit Him to do the choosing.Unfortunately, we like to be ‘choosy.’ It makes us feel powerful, like God. Sometimes, we even convince ourselves that we have chosen to follow God of our own ‘free will.’ This is nothing but the Old Adam within us, attempting to deny the brokenness of the human will apart from Jesus. It wants to claim some part, however small, in choosing Him. Drown that fellow in the memory of your Baptism each day. Because the fact is that we are not as ‘choosy’ as we think. Apart from Christ, our will is bound to sin. But we know that we are not apart from Christ. He has taken the part of the Servant, suffered and died for our sins, and now is upheld by God to all eternity! Praise be to God that He alone is the ‘Chooser!’ Luther describes the daily victory God wins within us: “For He slays our will in order to establish His own will in us. He puts to death the flesh and its lusts in order to make alive in us the Spirit and the things that He desires.” In moments of weakness, turn to your Baptism, that moment when God chose you. Remember that He sees in you His Servant whom God upholds, whom He Himself has chosen, in whom He is well-pleased. Find your delight in Him, too.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Lord, 'tis not that I did choose Thee; That, I know, could never be; For this heart would still refuse Thee Had Thy grace not chosen me. Thou hast from the sin that stained me Washed and cleansed and set me free And unto this end ordained me, That I ever live to Thee. (LSB 573:1)-Rev. Donald Stein, pastor of Saint Andrew Lutheran Church in Rockton, 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.