Life in the Lord’s house, His church, is no different. Everything we think, say, and do in our life together at Beautiful Savior goes in two directions. It all begins when God leads, draws, and gathers us around Jesus’ gifts of life and salvation in Word and Sacraments in Divine Service. And, having received God’s gifts, He calls, sends, and directs us to go out into our daily vocations in life to love and serve others. Every congregation has rituals. A good question to ask ourselves is, “Does the ritual serve the Gospel, proclaim Jesus Crucified, and point us to his saving work, or does it point us to ourselves and our work?”

Is it more reasonable not to believe that there is a devil? Whence then comes all the evil in the world? From whence comes all that really deserves to be called diabolical and satanic? How can people act as they do? And who knows more about these things than Jesus? Jesus says of His cross, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” And, “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”

The entire administration of the Holy Communion occurs within the context of catechesis, that is, with the preaching and teaching of Christ the Crucified. The "remembrance" of Jesus and the proclamation of His death, until He comes are rooted in this preaching and administration. Every Holy Communion is administered with the catechesis of the Word of Christ, and the disciples of Jesus are brought to a worthy reception of that Sacrament (in faith) by that catechesis.

Jesus speaking and you listening is not child’s play. It’s not a game. It’s a matter of life and death. Without Jesus speaking, you are dead already, hurtling toward the grave and hell. By Jesus speaking, you are forgiven, rescued from this world, death, and hell, and delivered into Christ’s eternal kingdom.

But you see and know the flesh, the world, and the devils for what they are. In faith, you arm yourself daily with God’s Word. Through confession and trust in your baptism, God plunges the Old Adam under the water, that he may daily drown and die with all sins and evil desires. You live in this world and yet not of this world, rejecting the world’s charms, enticements and lusts and living dependent on God, humble in faith, and steadfast in prayer. And when tempted and tried by the Liar of Liars and Murderer, you do not speak falsehood but tell the truth. You do not trust your eyes and experience, but believe the Word of Jesus. You do not subject yourself again to the Evil One, but reject all his works and all his ways. 

That which is different about God's word, as over against all human words, is its authority. God’s Word does what it says. And He often gives others to speak with His authority, so He acted also through the prophetic word. He sent his word forth in the mouths of the holy prophets to "pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” (Jeremiah 1:10) It is written that the Lord “has sent a word against Jacob" and that, "it will light upon Israel.” (Isaiah 9:8) When God speaks, His purpose and motive is clear. He tears down whatever is getting in the way of faith in Him. He builds and plants trust in Him which receives forgiveness in Jesus.

It's a demonic distortion to try to flatten the incredible God-given diversity and order of the world or the church. And to try to force an equal outcome on this world is to try to turn it into a flat, dull, and ugly place, a Christ-less “heaven” where you’ll own nothing and never be happy. And yet, Jesus says that our reward can be great in heaven. The fathers used to speak of this reward as the reward of grace, a pure gift since it is just as unearned and undeserved as the whole day's pay that the laborers in the vineyard received, even though they had only worked an hour.