Lent Devotion

“So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”
Hebrews 9:28

“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14). What does it mean to wait for the Lord? Oftentimes the waiting is the hardest part. We wonder if God will ever come to deliver us from our sinful flesh and all the pains that come as a result of the sin that came when Adam fell. We often act as if God were still far off and distant from the sorrow we suffer today in ourselves and in the world around us.

However, God is not far off. He already came down to us in the flesh and lived among us. Jesus Christ lived in this sinful world but was completely without sin. He was crucified for our sin and then was raised to proclaim victory over sin, death, and the power of the devil. He ascended so that He would continue to be with us. He is with us in His Word preached and in His Sacraments administered. Christ has already defeated sin, and we receive the forgiveness of sins by His work through faith that grasps onto Him.

Now we faithfully wait for that day when Christ will return and deliver us once and for all. While we eagerly wait, He continues to be among us. He edifies us with His Word preached. He washes us of our sin in Holy Baptism. He feeds us with His very body and blood in His Supper. In all these ways Christ serves us and we perceive Him by faith so that, on that Last Day, we may behold Him in His glory with our own eyes.

Let us pray: Lord God, heavenly Father, we cry to You by day and night to deliver us from the sin that plagues this world and our flesh. Grant us the peace that only You can provide that was won by Your Son on the cross and continues to sustain us through His Word and Sacraments. All of this we pray through the very same Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

(Garrett Buvinghausen, Sem IV)