November 9, 2024
Today’s Reading: Introit for Pentecost 25 – Psalm 107:1-2, 41-42; antiphon: Psalm 107:8
Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 22:1-23; Matthew 25:1-13
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble… Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!… but he raises up the needy out of affliction and makes their families like flocks. The upright see it and are glad, and all wickedness shuts its mouth. (Psalm 107:1-2, 8, 41-42)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Do you want to see the devil shut his mouth? In teaching us to pray the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus gives us the Petition, “Deliver us from evil.” We are praying for delivery not just from some general, abstract evil or bad stuff, but from the Evil One, from Satan. As the Large Catechism gives it, “Since the devil is not only a liar, but also a murderer (John 8:44), he constantly seeks our life. He wreaks his vengeance whenever he can afflict our bodies with misfortune and harm. Therefore, it happens that he often breaks men’s necks or drives them to insanity, drowns some, and moves many to commit suicide and to many other terrible disasters. So there is nothing for us to do upon Earth but to pray against this archenemy without stopping. For unless God preserved us, we would not be safe from this enemy for an hour.” (Large Catechism, 7th Petition, in Concordia, The Lutheran Confessions, CPH, 2005.)
The demons afflict our conscience, accusing us of sin (but not telling us the Gospel!) and bringing us into doubt and despair. Wouldn’t it be nice to see the devil shut his mouth?
Psalm 107 gives us words extolling our Lord’s steadfast love and redemption of the sinner (Psalm 107:1-2) and rejoicing in the Lord raising up sinners out of affliction and making the wicked one finally shut his mouth (Psalm 107:41-42).
What makes Satan shut his mouth? The Gospel. The Gospel is the Word of Christ crucified, of all sins forgiven, and everlasting life. The Gospel rips all accusations out of the mouth of Satan, for where sins are forgiven, who can accuse?
While we still live in our sinful flesh, of course, we will continue to be under the accusation of the Law, terrified by Satan. Yet, the Gospel creates the New Man (Paul calls him the New Adam). The New Man, the life of faith, hears the promise of the Gospel. In that promise, we know the defeat of Satan now by faith; in the resurrection, we will know that defeat of Satan by sight. He will have no more voice by which to accuse and afflict us, bringing us into shame. His mouth is shut.
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Father in Heaven, let your Name be holy among us as you make us holy with your Son’s Gospel. Deliver us from the evil one, and lead us away from all temptation. Amen.
-Rev. Warren Graff, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Albuquerque, NM
Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.
Spend time reading and meditating on God’s Word throughout the Church Year with the Enduring Grace Journal. Includes scripture readings, prayers, prompts, and space for journaling. The Church Year Journal, Enduring Grace, now available from Concordia Publishing House.
