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Matins Devotion: January 23, 2025

Writer's picture: Pastor Hans FienePastor Hans Fiene

“And my people shall never again be put to shame.” So says God through the prophet Joel in our reading for this morning. And He says this concerning the restoration of Abraham’s children. God will pour out His wrath upon them for their idolatry and cover them in shame, in humiliation, in filth and misery. But out of His mercy, He will one day lift them up out of the hands of foreigners, cleanse them and bring them home. And when He does, they will never know destruction and sorrow again. They will never know pain or tears again. They will never know shame again.


So this promise is one that we are, in a sense, still waiting to see fulfilled. As children of Abraham who have been grafted into Israel’s tree, as the people of God, we are still waiting for the return of Christ and the judgment of the living and the dead. We’re still waiting for this world of sorrows to melt and for God to set the new heavens and the new earth before our eyes.


But, in another sense, we have that now because, through Christ, through his Word and Sacraments, we have forgiveness, life, and salvation. We have the righteousness of our Lord covering us. We have His victory of sin, death, and the grave coating every cell of our flesh which means that, in a sense, right now, we have already entered the kingdom where we will never again be put to shame.


So, if the world hates you, let it hate you. The world cannot make you ashamed, it can’t make you low and filthy and pathetic, because you have been covered in the blood of the Savior that has lifted you up, cleansed you, and made you glorious. If everyone on this earth insults you and berates you, let them. They cannot fill your heart with shame because your heart has already been claimed by the pierced Lord who will not let the shame of this world pierce you. Be at peace. No matter what hardships or persecutions you face, you never need to surrender yourself to shame. Jesus has already made shame surrender.

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