Daily Lectionary: Joshua 23:1-16; Acts 12:1-25
For the LORD Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth. (from the Introit for Trinity 7)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Some people like to get all hyped up over how powerful God is. God IS all powerful. And all-knowing. And He's present everywhere. And He's holy and perfect and just plain awesome! Except, what good does that do you? All those things teach us that He is God and you're not.
No, the big deal about God being “awesome” isn't that He is all-powerful and can blast people into ashes and do whatever He wants. No, what makes God “awesome”&
[ more ]
Daily Lectionary: Joshua 23:1-16; Acts 12:1-25
For the LORD Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth. (from the Introit for Trinity 7)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Some people like to get all hyped up over how powerful God is. God IS all powerful. And all-knowing. And He's present everywhere. And He's holy and perfect and just plain awesome! Except, what good does that do you? All those things teach us that He is God and you're not.
No, the big deal about God being “awesome” isn't that He is all-powerful and can blast people into ashes and do whatever He wants. No, what makes God “awesome” is that when His human creatures sinned, He didn't throw them out and start with a fresh batch, but came into this world as one of us to take our place and suffer and die for us. He came to rescue us from the sin-mess we made and to make us once again His children. God's “awesomeness” is not in what WE think of awesome, but in what the world despises: pain and suffering, in this case, for our sins.
So then what makes Him a “great King over all the earth?” Again, not that He is everywhere and all powerful, though that is true. He is the King over all the earth because His kingdom goes over all the earth. And His kingdom goes over all the earth because He has sent His Word to the ends of the earth in the mouths of His preachers. That is, by the preaching of the Gospel, the washing of new birth in Baptism, and the celebration of the Holy Supper among God's people—by these things Jesus extends His power and kingdom over all the earth. He doesn't show that He's a king who says, “You better shut up and bow down to Me!” He's the King who says, “I forgive you all your sins and I rescue you from the worthless despair of the devil's kingdom and bring you into My kingdom where grace and the forgiveness of sins are the rule.”
What makes God awesome? His mercy to us in Jesus Christ. What shows that He is King over all the earth? The Gospel sent to the ends of the earth. God is indeed awesome, because He is in Christ, bringing the world back to Himself. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
May God bestow on us His grace, With blessings rich provide us; And may the brightness of His face To life eternal guide us, That we His saving health may know, His gracious will and pleasure, And also to the nations show Christ's riches without measure, And unto God convert them. (LSB 824:1)
[ hide ]
