The Joshua Victor Theory

The readings I selected for this midweek service are: Isaiah 46:3-13, Luke 1:67-79, and Psalm 77 spoken responsively. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. How does forgetfulness affect your life? There could be many different answers. Whether it’s our forgetfulness, or someone else’s—forgetfulness can be large or small—major or minor. While forgetting some trivial piece of information might be totally harmless; forgetting an important appointment, a special anniversary, or remembering to finish an important job or task, all might have major consequences. But what could be even worse than forgetting all these? In many passages through the Old Testament, this refrain echoes: that God’s people have forgotten the Lord their God. They have forgotten His mighty works and wonders. This kind of forgetfulness has much higher stakes. To forget God and His works is to forget our Lord and Savior. Quite often, the reason for this f...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Today is the last Sunday in the Church Year, and as our readings again focus on Judgment Day, we listen to the Old Testament reading from Malachi. The situation was that the Jews were complaining against God how unfair it was that the wicked prospered. As we study this reading, we’ll consider how we’ve complained against God, what God’s response is to the injustice of this world, and how that sets a pattern for us as Christians to respond to it as well. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. “But it’s not fair!” a child exclaims. “Life isn’t fair, kid; deal with it” the adult replies. It’s a pretty familiar exchange, and we’ve all been there. “When life deals you a bad hand, you do the best to play the hand you’re dealt,” goes a common proverb. Everyone has had times in their life when they grumbled or complained that things just seemed unfair. In the ...