by Pastor Douglas Brauner

Standing Firm as Ministers in the World

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“You will be called priests of the Lord, ministers of our God.”
Isaiah 61:6a New Living Translation

This traffic pole is experiencing and identity crisis. I don’t know how long it has stood at the corner of North Sheridan and West Loyola in Chicago, but it has become more than a signal to cars and pedestrians. Over time people have used it as a sign post advertising events or making political statements.

Do you feel like this traffic pole? Are you confused about what your purpose is in life? The world tries to stamp its statements on us telling us what we should be. We often feel used by others in a way that makes them feel good about themselves. And at times we treat people in the same way. We also put our stamp on others.

Through Isaiah, God reminds the Israelites that he was the One to determine their purpose. From the very beginning, when God made a promise to Abraham that the world would be blessed through his offspring, he declared them to be his priests. However, they had lost their way, paying attention to the signs stamped on them by the nations around them, telling them that they were to worship false gods. Unfortunately, in the confusion, they listened to those voices and lost their identity.

Through Christ, through our burial and resurrection with him in baptism, we have been grafted into this promise given to God’s elect. We have been declared to be priests in service to his mercy at work in the world. Yes, we are tempted to listen to people who want to stamp their statements on our lives, but the only voice that matters is the voice of Jesus. We have a purpose, a singular purpose, to serve Christ.

Notice that his pole is a sturdy pole. Knowing that we have been declared God’s priests will cause us to stand like this pole, no matter what happens.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado