DAILY Lenten Devotions
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
February 10
“I Did It My Way.” How Did That Turn Out?”
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
Did you ever want to turn the clock back and do something over again? We easily get stuck in our regrets. This Lent we invite you to go farther. We’ll analyze our regrets as symptoms of our troubled relationship with God. St. Paul saw incisively, “What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). “Who” is Jesus Christ, and the turn to Him from the trap of your regrets is what we call repentance. When your computer needs a fresh start, you hit Control+Alt+Delete to reboot. Hence this year’s Lenten theme: “CTRL+ALT+DEL: From Regret to Repentance.”
“Regrets? I’ve had a few, but then again, too few to mention.” No, Mr. Sinatra, many times I did it my way and now I regret it. I can’t turn the clock back and do it over, but this Lent I’ll face myself honestly, and the Spirit of Christ will lead me from regret to the new start of repentance. That’s God’s way.
CTRL+ALT+DEL: Spirit of God, get me into a quiet place and move me from regrets to repentance. Amen.
February 11
CTRL+ALT+DEL: From Regret to Repentance
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
Yesterday many Christians received ashes as an outward sign of repentance. That’s fine, but I bet you see no ashes today. Back to normal? Ctrl+Alt+Del: Dear God, don’t let my repentance be superficial.
Did you ever have a medical test, the kind where you’re hooked up to monitors that reveal problems within you no one can see, maybe a serious condition you yourself didn’t even suspect? Here’s what God sees in you: “Evil things come from within, and they defile a person” (Mark 7:23). Great Physician, “the troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses!” (Psalm 25:17). “Create in me a clean heart, O God!” (Psalm 51:10).
Regrets are about how you feel about yourself, the world according to you. Repentance means being done with yourself, naked and exposed before the judgment of God (Hebrews 4:13). Given the shape you’re in, what can you do but turn to Him in repentance? “Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11). Now your prognosis is great!
CTRL+ALT+DEL: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life! (John 6:68). Amen.
February 12
“Jesus, Jesus, Only Jesus”
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
St. Paul’s introspection convinced him he was “a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.” “When I want to do good, evil is right there with me” (Romans 7:21, 23). That’s a deeply conflicted Christian!
Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “Paul said of himself that he was the foremost of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15); he said this specifically at the point where he was speaking of his service as an apostle. There can be no genuine acknowledgement of sin that does not lead to this extremity. If my sinfulness appear to me to be in any way smaller or less detestable in comparison with the sins of others, I am still not recognizing my sinfulness at all. My sin is of necessity the worst, the most grievous, the most reprehensible.” (Life Together, p. 96)
At the root of all regret is our personal lack of righteousness. It’s impossible for us to fix this fundamental flaw. Conflicted Paul turned to Jesus. “Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7:24-25).
CTRL+ALT+DEL: “The Lord is our righteousness.” Amen. (Jeremiah 23:6)
February 13
“Be Filled with the Spirit”
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
Remember the old joke? The parishioner greets the pastor at the church door and says, “Pastor, I’ve always enjoyed your sermons but today you went too far. You got personal.” Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and the message at church will be about marriage. It doesn’t get more personal than that! Whether you’re single, married, widowed, or divorced, talk about marriage brings up deep feelings, and no few regrets.
Our theme this Lent is “CTRL+ALT+DEL: From Regret to Repentance.” Through the Bible the Holy Spirit gives the people of Christ a special insight into marriage. God intends our marriages to be beautiful pictures of how Christ loves His Church. Because of sin, however, this picture can be distorted and, tragically, sometimes even destroyed. How do we recover the picture of love God desires and has designed for our marriages? Paul answers, “Be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).
“From heav’n He came and sought her to be His holy bride;
With His own blood He bought her, and for her life He died.”
CTRL+ALT+DEL: O Holy Spirit, in worship we pray that You will make the Scripture personal to me and to all. Amen.
February 15
“Beloved, If God So Loved Us, We Also Ought to Love One Another” (1 John 4:11)
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
In the wake of Valentine’s Day… Pause on that. “Wake” can mean after something, like after Valentine’s Day, but “wake” is also used for a visitation at a funeral home. You go to see someone who has died. Maybe your heart says, We used to be so in love those early Valentine’s Days, but love died and now I mourn at the wake of love that has passed.
The past is past, bury it, but make today different. Repentance trusts God’s promise that your sins are forgiven, and that includes forgiveness for any part you played in the death of love. Forgiveness leads to life changes, especially in relationships. “Be filled with the Spirit,” Paul says, and that’s through Scripture, worship and prayer (Ephesians 5:18-21). The Spirit fills you with new love in relationships, all your relationships, including husbands and wives in Christ. “A threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12). After Valentine’s Day, let your regrets, your “wakes” for love be buried with Christ. Today He lives; we love.
CTRL+ALT+DEL: Spirit of God, fill our relationships with the love of Christ. Amen.
February 16
The Engine of Marriage
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
Ever notice it’s easier to love someone outside your home than to love spouse and children whose faults you know so well?
C.S. Lewis: “Whatever people say, the state called ‘being in love’ usually does not last…. But of course, ceasing to be ‘in love’ need not mean ceasing to love. Love in this second sense—love as distinct from ‘being in love’ is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by the grace which both parents ask, and receive, from God. They can have this love for each other even at those moments when they do not like each other; as you love yourself even when you do not like yourself. They can retain this love even when each would easily, if they allowed themselves, be ‘in love’ with someone else. ‘Being in love’ first moved them to promise fidelity: this quieter love enables them to keep the promise. It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run: being in love was the explosion that started it.” (“Mere Christianity” in “For All the Saints” I, 271f.)
CTRL+ALT+DEL: Spirit of God, help our love be the love of Christ who lives in us. Amen.
February 17
“My Peace I Give to You” (John 14:27)
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
“So many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat” (Mark 6:31). How much truer in our digital age! You can “eat on the run” but is your busy-ness crowding out time for deep Lenten reflection, from moving past regret to the blessings of repentance?
“In repentance and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength” (Isaiah 30:15).
“He said to them, ‘Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’”
Our lives can get out of control! When Jesus tried to get some rest, needy crowds interrupted His plans. When the pace of life becomes too fast, how do we find rest? The short answer is not always by changing our pace, but by turning toward Jesus amidst the busy-ness. It’s not solitude that gives peace but Jesus. That’s the topic for today’s midweek worship. CTRL+ALT+DEL: “Only Jesus can impart balm to heal the wounded heart, peace that flows from sin forgiv’n… (LSB 611, 3). Please join us!
CTRL+ALT+DEL: “Come with Me.” O Lamb of God, I come, I come. Amen.
February 18
From Regrets to Repentance via Reflection
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
Welcome your regrets? Yes, here’s why. Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “I’m still discovering right up to this moment, that it is only by living completely in this world that one learns to have faith. One must completely abandon any attempt to make something of oneself, whether it be a saint, or a converted sinner, or a churchman (a so-called priestly type!), a righteous man or an unrighteous one, a sick man or a healthy one. By this-worldliness I mean living unreservedly in life’s duties, problems, successes and failures, experiences and perplexities. In so doing we throw ourselves completely into the arms of God, taking seriously, not our own sufferings, but those of God in the world – watching with Christ in Gethsemane. That, I think, is faith; that is metanoia; and that is how one comes a man and a Christian.” (“Letters and Papers from Prison”)
Metanoia is a change of mind after self-reflection. Sounds Lenten, doesn’t it? From people and problems come regrets, regrets lead to reflection, and reflection to repentance.
CTRL+ALT+DEL: Lord, teach me to welcome regrets as an incentive to reflect and turn to You in repentance, in metanoia. Amen.
February 19
“Teach the Children Well”
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
This Lent we’re looking at some of life’s most common regrets and talking about how repentance can bring forgiveness, hope, and comfort in Christ. Sunday’s message will turn to parenting.
I fondly remember evening meals when I was growing up. Every meal started with grace, and then we dug into whatever Mom had prepared. We also dug into conversation. Most of the table talk was mundane, quickly forgotten. But you know, that’s when God did – and still does – some of His best for a family. Those were times when we kids learned how Christian adults deal with life, although we didn’t realize that we were being schooled. Gathered around a meal, talking about everyday things, there was and still is opportunity to share a good word with one another from God.
You know our Lenten goal is to share the good word from God, not to beat you up for failures and sins (your regrets are already doing that). Is time with the kids, reflective time, teaching time, a place to reboot? “They grow up so fast…”
CTRL+ALT+DEL: Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest and let Thy gifts to us be blest. Amen.
February 20
Flawed Parents
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
Driving our daughter Elizabeth home from kindergarten, I was pulled over for speeding. The officer came up and Elizabeth saw her dad, the confident Sunday morning preacher, turned into a stammering, weak excuse of a man. These times come, times when children see their parents are flawed. Put it theologically, these are times when children raised in Christian homes start to distinguish between God and their parents as God’s representatives.
God gave the Ten Commandments on two tablets (Exodus 32:15). The first group of commandments tells us our duties toward God, leading with “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3). The second group deals with our duties toward our fellow human beings. At the head of that group God put, “Honor your father and your mother.” Martin Luther: “Next to God we give them the very highest place.”
As good as he was in so many things, King David regretted not acting as God’s representative to Absalom. You’ll hear about that tomorrow in worship, another incentive to reboot through repentance.
CTRL+ALT+DEL: Heavenly Father, for Jesus’ sake forgive our parenting sins. Reboot us to see these are Your children more than ours. Amen.
February 22
The Love from Self Set Free
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
It’s as complicated as a soap opera, but this story is real. David had a beautiful and chaste daughter, Tamar, who was raped by her brother Amnon. Another son of David, Absalom, nursed his anger for two years until he finally killed Amnon. Absalom fled, came back to Jerusalem three years later but David wouldn’t see him and wouldn’t attempt reconciliation. Many wrongs by many family members. The family pursued its own passions, and sin became “sinful beyond measure” (Romans 7:13).
So it still goes in families. Sin multiplies unless stopped by repentance and made real through reconciliation. Lent is our repentance, our “I’m sorry to God.” He forgives. “Should you not have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?” (Matthew 18:33). Never be too proud to say, “I’m sorry.”
“Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged” or worse (Colossians 3;21).
CTRL+ALT+DEL: O Spirit, who dost bind our hearts in unity, Who teachest us to find the love from self set free. In all our hearts such love increase that ev’ry home by this release may be the dwelling place of peace.” Amen. (Lutheran Service Book 863, 3)
February 23
For Those Tears I Died
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
When his son wanted time with dad, King David probably thought, “No, you hurt me. Besides, I have work to do.” “So Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem, without coming into the king’s presence” (2 Samuel 14:28). End result? Absalom’s rebellion and death. Oh, David did his job as king alright, quashed the rebellion, but lost his son. “My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!” (2 Samuel 2:18-33).
If you’re married with younger children, you’re oriented toward the future. If you’re older, you may be looking back with regret because you let something take you away from family. Sometimes regret is a heart-wrenching way toward repentance, but when you get to repentance, Jesus speaks to your broken heart. “I felt every tear drop when in darkness you cried / and I strove to remind you that for those tears I died” (“Come to the Water,” Stevens-Pino). Cry it out, let Jesus begin to wipe away your tears, and hope, always hope (Revelation 7:17; Psalm 43:5).
CTRL+ALT+DEL: Holy Spirit, “turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers.” Amen. (Malachi 4:6)
February 24
You Cannot Serve God and Money (Matthew 6:24)
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
“Jesus, grant that balm and healing in Thy holy wounds I find, ev’ry hour that I am feeling pain of body and of mind.” How can Lenten repentance for sin also free us from painful hours of financial fretting?
“I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” Unwisely we seek safety in things we can see. “The things you have prepared, whose will they be? So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:19-21).
Sin uses our desires to enslave us. Credit card debt, unsustainable life styles, financial fears, financial confidence…Those are symptoms of our bondage to sin. Jesus forgives our sin, our searching for fulfillment apart from God, but the Gospel of forgiveness does something more. It helps us reboot to a new attitude, a determined attitude to break financial bondage. “He breaks the power of cancelled sin” (Lutheran Service Book 528, 4) “For freedom Christ has set us free… Do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).
CTRL+ALT+DEL: Spirit of my Savior, help me seek first Your kingdom. Assure me that other necessary things will then be taken care of. Amen. (Matthew 6:33)
February 25
Do Not Desire Many Things and You Will Have What You Want (Epictetus, a Roman philosopher)
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
Think you can never have enough “dough?” When drought ravaged Israel, Elijah asked a poor widow for some water and bread. “Sorry,” she said. She only had enough for one last meal. Elijah pushed back with a promise: “Thus says the Lord the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” Hard as it must have been, she trusted God. “And she and her household ate for many days. The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord” (1 Kings 18:14-16).
Repentance means rebooting your feelings about money. “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Trust God’s promises more than you trust what you see in your accounts. “Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” (Hebrews 13:5)
CTRL+ALT+DEL: Our Father who art in heaven, give us this day our daily bread. Amen.
February 26
Count to Ten!
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
The widow I wrote about yesterday, the one who trusted God to take care of her when she had only enough food for one last meal… Her challenge is ours: Do I let myself be led by the promises of God or my emotions?
Think about your computer. Maybe you’re entering financial information, maybe typing a report, maybe work emails, when the computer goes goofy. Sanctified Christian that you are, you break out singing, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.” Far from it! Your emotions trigger a reaction that is, hmmm…. Let me say, “Less than holy.” Sooner or later you get rational. “I have to reboot.”
That illustrates our daily challenge as flesh and blood people. Sometimes our heart overrules our head to our hurt. Christian maturity means “having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth.” Why is it that we were taught to count to ten? “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter1:14).
CTRL+ALT+DEL: Jesus, help me abstain from desires that war against my soul. Amen. (1 Peter 2:11
February 27
Let Us God to the House of the Lord
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
Why go to church? Your feelings, that’s why! “We walk by faith, and not by sight” means monitoring your feelings against the Word of God (2 Corinthians 5:7).
For example, think about fear. Overwhelming things come your way, like cancer, financial worry, marital problems, you name it. “When all things seem against us to drive us to despair, we know one gate is open; one ear will hear our prayer” (Lutheran Service Book 915, 4). In the storm you need a safe place. “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid” (Mark 6:50). Faithful living is a weekly back and forth, back and forth between emotions and the solid Word.
The wonderful things you hear in church can evaporate pretty quickly. Come Monday when you begin to descend into the emotional swirl, the Spirit in you yearns to go back to the Word. “Let us go to the house of the Lord” (Psalm 122:1). Church is practical. Church is survival. “Lord, to whom shall I go? You have the words of eternal life!” (John 6:68).
CTRL+ALT+DEL: “When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.” Amen. (Psalm 94:19)
February 29
The Rest of the Story
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
Our regrets can be traced back to the serpent twisting the natural desires of Adam and Eve. “Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin” (Romans 5:12). Such an inheritance!
“The rest of the story,” as radio personality Paul Harvey used to say, is the undoing of sin and death by Jesus Christ. The Bible calls Jesus the “second Adam.” “If, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17). From the first Adam at the first tree come regrets. Repentance looks to the second Adam on the cross, so that, as an ancient line from church ritual, says, “the serpent who overcame by the tree of the garden might likewise by the tree of the cross be overcome.”
“Inscribed upon the cross we see in shining letters, ‘God is love.’ He bears our sins upon the tree; He brings us mercy from above” (Lutheran Service Book 429, 1).
CTRL+ALT+DEL: “Lord Jesus, think on me and purge away my sin.” Amen. (LSB 610, 1)
March 1
Pay Attention to What You Hear
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
When you hang out at a coffee shop, do you ever see dogs talking about their day? Of course not. We’re able to reflect on our day because the Creator gave us the ability to think. “In a sense, we have two brains, two minds—and two different kinds of intelligence: rational and emotional. How we do in life is determined by both” (Daniel Goleman).
Adam and Eve got us all into trouble by not balancing head and heart. Their devotion to God took second place to twisted desires. Satan knows that if he can twist your desires away from their godly use, he can imperceptibly pry you from your Savior.
Spirituality is very physical. The Word physically goes from your eyes and ears to your brain. There the Holy Spirit changes how you think and act, sanctifies you. “Pay attention to what you hear. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you” (Mark 4:24). Have a cup of coffee and think about it.
CTRL+ALT+DEL: Guard my first springs of thought and will and with Thyself my spirit fill. Amen. (Lutheran Service Book 868, 4)
March 2
Your Elevator Speech
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
When I was elected president of Concordia Seminary, my cousin John told me to select goals for my tenure. “How can I do that? I don’t really know the job.” “Just do it,” John said. I did and it’s guided me all the years since.
What are your priorities as a follower of Jesus in this season of your life? If you’re talking with someone on an elevator, can you tell them in a few sentences the specifics of why and how you’re following Jesus? What’s your “elevator speech,” your mission statement in this season of your heavenward way?
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40).
“Know thyself” was an ancient Greek proverb. How are the two great commands being prioritized in the present season of your life? Time to reboot your purpose?
CTRL+ALT+DEL: Spirit of God, teach me to number my days that I may gain a heart of wisdom. Amen. (Psalm 90:12)
March 3
Salvation Is Nearer to Us Now Than when We First Believed (Romans 13:11)
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
Dr. Thomas Troeger of Yale Divinity School tells about waking up in the intensive care unit after surgery. Groggy, not fully awake, he heard a loud pounding. Bam, Bam, Bam, Bam. “Oh, no! Hospital construction. That’s the last thing I need. Dear God, make that pounding stop!” Bam, Bam, Bam, Bam. Sometimes we don’t get what we ask for. Becoming more fully awake, he remembered what the surgeon had said. “We’re going to put an artificial valve into your heart. At first it will make a loud pounding noise, but it eventually it will quiet down.” Dear God, cancel that last prayer!
Then Dr. Troeger brought home the point of his story. Every beat of your heart is a gift. Every beat is a grace from God. “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). What are your priorities in this season of your life? You’re only one heartbeat away from eternity.
CTRL+ALT+DEL: “Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! Amen. (Psalm 139:23-24)
March 4
Bane and Blessing, Pain and Pleasure by the Cross Are Sanctified (Lutheran Service Book 427, 4)
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
In the 1800’s C.F.W. Walther taught future pastors, “In your sermons you like to treat subjects like these: “The blessed state of a Christian,” and the like. Well, do not forget that the blessedness of Christians does not consist in pleasant feelings, but in their assurance that in spite of the bitterest feelings imaginable they are accepted with God and in their dying hour will be received into heaven. That is indeed great blessedness.”
CTRL: Control your emotions. ALT: Get alternate priorities from the Word of God. DEL: Let the Spirit delete regret through repentance.
Walther again: “It is proper that in your sermons you depict the happy moments which occasionally come to Christians when they are given a foretaste of their future bliss. If the description of such moments of bliss is given in a proper manner, it produces neither anguish and grief nor doubt regarding one’s being in the faith, but a heartfelt longing for an experience such as the preacher is describing” (Law and Gospel, 312)
CTRL+ALT+DEL: Lord, through faith in Jesus let me rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory. Amen. (1 Peter 1:8)
March 5
When the Righteous Cry for Help, the Lord Hears ( Psalm 34:17)
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
A man had a very ill son. Today we might call it epilepsy. “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid…. If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us” (Mark 9:17-18, 22)
Jesus answers with a bit of gentle sarcasm, “‘If you can! All things are possible for one who believes.’ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’” (Mark 9:23-24)
That father spoke for me, and I assume for you as well. We believe, but oh! Doubts come. “Did God actually say?” (Genesis 3:1). Another opportunity for a Lenten reboot! Tomorrow’s message in church will be about the tussle of faith and doubt.
And Jesus said, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again” (Mark 9:25). “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19).
CTRL+ALT+DEL: “O God, forsake me not!” (Lutheran Service Book 731, 1)
March 7
“Report to John What You Hear and See”
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
John the Baptist got on board early. “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). As time passed, John began to wonder. “He sent his disciples to ask Jesus, ‘Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?’” (Matthew 11:2-3).
Faith has two aspects. One is internal, subjective, feelings. Most Americans talk about faith that way. Reboot! More basic in the Bible, faith is directed to something outside us, something objective. “Jesus replied, ‘Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor” (Matthew 11:4-5). Outside more than in us. Objective more than subjective. Regrets must turn from self to Jesus in repentance, otherwise true Easter will never come.
“Tenacity is the supreme effort of a man refusing to believe that his hero is going to be conquered” (Oswald Chambers).
CTRL+ALT+DEL: “When all things seem against us, to drive us to despair, we know one gate is open, one ear will hear our prayer.” Amen! (LSB 915, 4)
March 8
Talk with Your Hands
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
You’ve seen people who talk with their hands, literally. The Deaf use sign language to communicate what’s on their mind and heart. Most people use their hands, again literally, to gesture, to emphasize the words they’re speaking.
Faith is like a hand, not literally but figuratively, a “hand” that reaches out to hold onto Jesus Christ. “The merit of Christ’s suffering is not communicated to us, unless we grasp it by faith” (Lutheran Confessions, Apology IV, 390). This “hand” of faith “grasps” all the promises Jesus makes to us. Talk with your “hands”; let your grasp on the promises show in all you do! “We cannot but speak of what we have heard and seen” (Acts 4:20).
Martin Luther: “Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that the believer would stake his life on it a thousand times. This is the work which the Holy Spirit performs in faith. Because of it, without compulsion, a person is ready and glad to do good to everyone, to serve everyone, to suffer everything, out of love and praise to God who has shown him this grace” (Preface to the Romans).
CTRL+ALT+DEL: “Lord, give us such a faith as this!” Amen.
March 9
"Remember"
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
As I look back at my life, 70 next year, what most shaped me spiritually was memory work. In parochial grade school and Sunday School we were required to memorize and recite Bible passages, the catechism, and hymns. Years later the study of theology taught me that memory work gave God’s Spirit an opportunity to drive His Word down into my heart.
Here’s one we had to learn, Ecclesiastes 12:1, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, ‘I find no pleasure in them.’”
That’s depressing, like old people saying, “Enjoy it while your young; life gets worse.” It’s also realistic. For most of us life gets harder as we get older. When “the days of trouble come,” we need to take comfort in what we’ve learned about Jesus.
There’s a little red book I keep on my Seminary desk. It was given to me at my confirmation, that church ritual when young people publicly reaffirm the faith given in Baptism. The title of the book is “Remember.” Some memories should get better with age!
CTRL+ALT+DEL: Jesus, “who like Thyself my guide and stay can be? Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me!” (Lutheran Service Book 878, 2).
March 10
“He Went Out, Not Knowing Where He Was Going” (Hebrews 11:8)
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
Following Jesus or trying to lead Him where you want to go?
“Part of our human condition is that we crave security, because security gives us the illusion of control. When we feel secure, then we are confident in our ability to ‘handle things,’ whatever that might mean. Predictability gives us a sense of security. Money often gives a sense of security. Routine gives us a sense of security” (James Tino, “Meeting Ananias, Tri-Pillar, 50)
A rich young man asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said, “Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and come, follow me.” “When he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich” (Luke 18:22).
Lent shatters the illusion that we can find security in anything other than Jesus. Your security doesn’t sit still, and won’t leave you in the status quo. “He is going before you” (Matthew 28:7). “A life of faith…feels insecure. It begins with an openness to the Lord’s leading in your life, whenever and however that may come, and it ends in places that we would never expect” (Tino).
CTRL+ALT+DEL: Lord, we don’t know what the future holds but we know that You hold the future. Amen.
March 11
"Life Narrows Down"
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
I pray these little devotions in some small way lead you to yearn for Jesus as never before. Two of the most influential sentences in my life were written by Rev. Arnold Kuntz. “Life narrows down,” he begins. Isn’t that the truth? “The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away” (Psalm 90:10). Life brings challenges, health problems, financial loss, the passing of loved ones, and ultimately the approach of your own death. “Life narrows down.” A retired seminary professor, a man who knows Jesus, said at the visitation for his wife, “It gets personal.”
“We wish to see Jesus” (John 12:21). Lent is about rebooting, about reorienting your thoughts through repentance to Jesus. “One thing is necessary,” Jesus says (Luke 10:42). Dr. Kuntz: “Life narrows down, and crisis comes. Suddenly only one thing matters, and there, in the narrow place, stands Jesus” (Devotions for the Chronologically Gifted, 46)
CTRL+ALT+DEL: Jesus, midway through Lent, I’m tempted to slack off. Lead me to focus on You as I’ve never done before. Amen.
March 12
“I’ve Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart”
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
Kids can sing that happily on Sunday, but how deep is joy in your adult life during the week?
Jesus talks about joy in the parable of the sower. “The sower sows the word. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away” (Mark 4:10, 14, 16-17).
When trouble comes to you as a follower of Jesus, how deep are your roots in His word? Joy will be the topic tomorrow in church. “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4-5). Always? Long ago a man named Horatio Spafford suffered great loss but he didn’t get stuck in his regrets. Here’s his prayer; make it yours as you reboot to joy.
CTRL+ALT+DEL: “He lives—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought; my sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to His cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!” (Lutheran Service Book 763, 3).
March 14
“With Joy Will You Draw Water from the Wells of Salvation” (Isaiah 12:3)
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
It’s not just going from regrets to repentance. On the other side of daily repentance are blessings you’ll love, like joy. “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4).
Years ago I heard an old pastor talk about swimming in the farm pond when he was a kid. On the surface the water was sometimes disturbed, choppy, but when he dove down and opened his eyes, all was calm. Joy is like that. It comes from your deep down relationship with Jesus. “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11).
One of the most helpful pieces of advice I’ve received came from a university president, who had gotten it from another university president. School presidents often have this feeling, “I’m in over my head.” No doubt you know it in your life as well. Here’s the advice: “Accept chaos. Give back calm. Provide hope.” Chaos, choppy waters, these are especially times to practice joy. Draw it up from the depths of your faith relationship with Jesus!
CTRL+ALT+DEL: Jesus, remind me of joy, especially in the tough times. Amen.
March 15
“Helpers of Joy” (1 Thessalonians 2:20)
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
We Americans are conditioned to think individually. Repentance is indeed individual. Each of us confesses our sins; each hears the wonderful words, “Your sins are forgiven.” But countless times “you” in the Bible is plural. Joy is individual and plural; joyous believers gather and together the church experiences multiplied joy. Look at the plural dimensions of joy in this famous passage from Philippians 4.
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”
When individual members of the Body of Christ join our joy, our witness to Jesus is magnified.
CTRL+ALT+DEL: Jesus, make me a helper of joy in my church. Amen. (2 Corinthians 1:24)
March 16
“No Merit of My Own I Claim”
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
From regrets to repentance: Peter was filled with braggadocio. “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away” (Matthew 26:33). How did that turn out? In the courtyard of Caiaphas’ house, Peter “began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, ‘I do not know the man.’ And immediately the rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly” (Matthew 26:74-75). That’s regret.
Have you been there? This Lent we’ve examined some typical regrets. If you’ve only been thinking at the level of personal life regrets, you have not come to true repentance. Some regrets come from failures which are not necessarily sin. Other regrets come from sin, end results of our broken relationship with God. Do you cling to the notion that there’s something good in you that can save you? Reboot! Has this Lent brought you to Peter’s place, to total renunciation of yourself because you’ve not fully loved Jesus, you’ve cheated on Him?
That’s law. Gospel tomorrow.
CTRL+ALT+DEL: “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness; no merit of my own I claim” (Lutheran Service Book 346, 6)
March 17
The Only Thing You Can Give God Is Your Sin
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
“Christ says, “Give me all. I don’t want so much of your money and so much of your work – I want you. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don’t want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self…I will give you a new self instead. In fact I will give you myself, my own will shall become yours.” (C.S. Lewis, “Beyond Personality,” in “Sermon Illustrations for the Gospel Lessons,” CPH, 1982, p. 81)
Like Peter in his regret, we have nothing to offer Jesus except our sin. Not good intentions, not moral life, not church activity, nothing except our sin. Jesus takes your sin and gives you Himself. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Therefore, “we love him because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
CTRL+ALT+DEL: “Whom have I in heaven but You? And being with You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:25-26)
March 18
"Love is the Greatest"
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
“Do you love me?” The reconciliation was all Jesus’ doing. Peter had denied Him, “and the Lord turned and looked at Peter” (Luke 22:61). Then He gave Himself into death, rose, and “appeared to Cephas (Peter)” (1 Corinthians 15:5). It wasn’t out of the blue that Jesus said, “Do you love me?” Jesus asked three times, three times to draw out from Peter the totality of his love for Jesus. “Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ and he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you’” (John 21:17).
As the Spirit has its way, your love for Jesus becomes increasingly consuming. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5). God’s love to you and through you God’s love to others. “Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep’” (John 21:17). “Love your neighbor as yourself. Love is the fulfilling of the Law” (Romans 13:9-10). “God is love” (1 John 4:8). Is any of this coming to you out of the blue?
CTRL+ALT+DEL: Lord, Thee I love with all my heart; I pray Thee, ne’er from me depart!” (Lutheran Service Book 708, 1)
March 19
You're Looking at Me?
by President Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
From the time he launched His public ministry, Jesus attracted crowds, large crowds. He has the habit of singling individuals out of the crowd for his attention. Some he healed. Others got special attention, like Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10). Even those who might have thought they weren’t singled out, in fact were. He taught everyone in the crowd. He had compassion on all in the crowd because “they were like sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6:34).
Tomorrow is Paul Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week and crowds in church. Do you see Jesus, do you hear Jesus singling you out of the crowd? Americans are individualists, we like to do our own thing, but when it comes to religion, many Americans think we can blend into the crowd, hide in the conventional wisdom. We don’t see Jesus eyeballing you, me.
A device I’ve come to use in public speaking is to lock in on one individual in the crowd. While I’m speaking about whatever, I stop scanning the crowd and fix on that one person. Sooner or later you see the person think, “You’re looking at me, aren’t you?” As Palm Sunday and Holy Week bring you out with the crowds, do you see Jesus looking at you?
CTRL+ALT+DEL: Lord Jesus, look on me. Amen