Daily Lectionary: Deuteronomy 31:1-29; Matthew 19:16-30
"Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you." (Deuteronomy 31:6)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. What are you afraid of? The dark? Hearing “no” from the person you ask out? Your parents getting divorced? Your boyfriend or girlfriend breaking up with you? That you failed a class? That someone you love will die? There are lots of things we fear. The Israelites feared lots of things, too: the enemies who hated them lived in the land, the departure of Moses who had led them for so many years, the uncertainty of settling in a new land. But the Lord tells them not to be afraid, because He will not leave nor forsake them.
When Jesus was on the cross, He cried out, “My God, my God, why have your forsaken me? Why have you left me? Why have you abandoned me?” The Father turned His back on the Son so that the Son could suffer the horror of the judgment of God against our sins. Why? So that His words to you will always be true. He forsakes Jesus so that you will never be forsaken.
It sure feels like God has left the building some days, doesn't it? When it's all falling apart and going to pieces and everything's going wrong, it feels like God has up and left.
But your Baptism says He hasn't. Your Baptism says He's marked you as His own child and will never leave you. Absolution says that there is no sin you have that will cause God to abandon you because they’ve all been laid on Jesus and are forgiven. The preaching of Jesus on the cross is His promise that He won't leave you because He Himself came into this world to die for you. Jesus' own body and blood in you are the certain promise that He can't leave you because He lives in you and you in Him.
When everything around you makes you afraid and worse—makes you think God has gone away—then look to the water, to the word and to Christ's body and blood. They stand as Christ's own unbreakable promises and certain guarantee that He will never leave you nor forsake you.. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
I walk with Jesus all the way, His guidance never fails me; Within His wounds I find a stay When Satan's pow'r assails me; And by His footsteps led, My path I safely tread. No evil leas my soul astray; I walk with Jesus all the way. (LSB 716:5)