Standing Before God 17th Day in Lent (Monday) Read: Romans 5:1-11 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.” Romans 5:1-2a (NIV) ‘Grace is the basis for our standing before God’. What does it mean to ‘stand before a King’? I enjoy reading the historical fiction books by Philippa Gregory. It is obvious in these books that there was a hierarchy in society in the Middle Ages. There was the upper class consisting of the kings/monarchs, nobles, knights, and clergy. Then the middle class tended to be the merchants, doctors, and those with important jobs; and then there was the lower class – the peasants and serfs who performed all the menial tasks and jobs. Firstly, to see the king you had to get through all the secretaries and make an appointment – only if you had an important issue. If it wasn’t important or considered necessary or beneficial to the kingship, there would be no way to stand in the king’s presence. Through the saving action of God in His Son Jesus Christ, God has allowed us to come directly into His presence and talk to Him freely. Back in the Old Testament times, the common people had to talk to God through the priests and offer sacrifices to make themselves worthy. Now we are reconciled with God. Reconciliation is talked about quite freely in society and between cultures and nations, but the essence of reconciliation is to bring people together with differences or conflicts and help them understand each other. Being reconciled with God means that He has come to us directly and made us clean through the act of Jesus on the cross. He opened Himself up for us to understand more of the nature of God. So, we can stand in His presence – the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We don’t have to ask for an audience from a priest or secretary. Through the grace of God, we can stand in His presence and ask Him for whatever is on our minds. We can understand and accept the grace and love that He offers us every day. Jesus’ act of suffering allowed us to stand before God. Prayer: Dear Lord God, thank you for your reconciling love and act of grace toward me. Being able to stand in your presence is humbling, helps me always to be appreciative. Amen. 2
Holy ground for unholy feet
by Noel Due
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Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground (Exodus 3:6b).
Read Exodus 3:1–6
Moses meets God not in a sanctuary but in the wilderness, not in triumph but while tending sheep – work that marks his exile and failure. But also that work and place which forms him into the person he needs to be for God’s sake. The burning bush draws him in, yet it is not spectacle for its own sake. The fire burns without consuming because this God is revealed by divine self-disclosure. Moses does not discover God; God interrupts Moses.
The first word spoken is restraint: ‘Do not come near.’ God is holy, utterly other. Lutheran theology insists upon this seriousness of God’s holiness, not as moral improvement, but as judgement. The command to remove sandals is not merely a ritual nicety; it is an exposure. Moses stands on holy ground not because he has made it holy, but because God has chosen to be present there. Holiness is not managed. It is given.
Yet this same holy God immediately reveals himself in mercy. He names himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – the God who makes promises and keeps them across generations. He is the Lord who remembers his promises. Moses hides his face, rightly fearing death before such holiness. And yet God speaks again – not condemnation, but compassion: ‘I have surely seen … I have heard … I know their sufferings.’
The burning bush confronts Moses with the law: God is holy; Moses is not. Fear is the proper response. But the gospel follows swiftly: God sees affliction and comes down to deliver. Redemption does not arise from Israel’s faithfulness or Moses’ readiness. It arises from God’s gracious initiative.
The bush that burns without being consumed points forward. God will later dwell with his people in fire and cloud (via the Tabernacle), and ultimately in flesh, bearing judgement without being destroyed, so that his people might live.
The God who reveals himself in holiness is the same God who hears your cries. Holy ground, then, is wherever God speaks mercy to sinners. And like Moses, we are called not first to understand, but to trust the One who comes down to save.
Dear Father, we thank you for the full revelation of your holiness and mercy in the cross. There, you open to the world your heart and arms, as we are crucified with Christ, only to also rise with him. Thank you for such love, and grant us an overflow of love in return. Amen.
Noel is a semi-retired Lutheran pastor, writer, teacher and professional supervisor. He is married to Kirsten, a medical doctor, and they have three children and nine grandchildren. They also have two cats.
Glory fades, the Word remains
by Noel Due
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This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him (Matthew 17:5b).
Read Matthew 17:1–9
On the mountain of Transfiguration, glory breaks through – but only briefly. Jesus shines with uncreated light; Moses and Elijah appear – the law and the prophets bearing witness. Peter, overwhelmed, reaches for permanence: tents, structures, something to hold the moment still. Yet before he can finish speaking, the Father interrupts. The cloud descends, the voice sounds, and the command is not to build, but to listen.
This is decisive. God does not first invite us to act, ascend or stabilise glory. He calls us to receive. Listen to him. Faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17), not by managing holy experiences. Peter’s instinct reflects the theology of glory – trying to grasp God on our terms, to preserve splendour without the scandal of the cross. But the Father redirects attention away from the dazzling scene and back to the Son’s words, which will soon speak of suffering, rejection and death. They had not previously listened to him on these things, so would they do so now?
Notice also that Moses and Elijah fade. The law that exposes sin and the prophets that announce judgement and promise both give way to Christ alone. This does not abolish them but fulfils them. The Father does not say, ‘Listen to them’, but ‘Listen to him’. Christ is not merely another messenger; he is the final Word. He is not one among many, but one of a kind! Salvation comes from outside ourselves, spoken to us by the Son, not discovered within us by mystical ascent.
When the disciples fall face down in fear, Jesus does not leave them there. He touches them and says, ‘Rise, and have no fear.’ Glory is not sustained on the mountain but carried down into the valley, where demons remain, crosses await, and faith clings to a promise rather than a vision.
The Transfiguration teaches us how God deals with his church now. We do not see Christ transfigured, but we hear him: in Scripture, preached and read. And that is enough. That same voice from the cloud still speaks forgiveness, life and salvation. Listen to him.
Dearest Heavenly Father, we thank you for the full revelation of your nature through your Son. Enable us to hear his voice by your Spirit that we may receive the blessings of faith and trust. Amen.
Noel is a semi-retired Lutheran pastor, writer, teacher and professional supervisor. He is married to Kirsten, a medical doctor, and they have three children and nine grandchildren. They also have two cats.
More than words
by Anita Foster
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, keep warm and eat your fill,’ and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead (James 2:15–17).
Read James 2:14–17
What a striking reminder James offers us of the importance of providing practical support, love and mercy to meet the needs of all people in a life of active faith. James is addressing Jewish Christians living outside of Jerusalem. These people knew about God. They knew about Jesus. They knew how to say all the right things, the right rituals, prayers and blessings. They could recite Scripture. I wonder if that describes some of us, too.
But James insists that a faith that is truly alive not only looks at what to say and believe, but what to do. It doesn’t show partiality toward those who are rich and influential or like-minded. But a living faith looks beyond to the needs of others and the world. It looks to the needs of the poor, the homeless, the sick and other injustices in our world. It’s not too busy or too stretched to help. To physically provide. To care and support. These actions of service, generosity and support are an outpouring of the love and care that God has lavished upon us. It is a way that others can actively experience the love of God through the work of our hands.
James invites us to live the kind of faith that reorients how we operate in the world. This can be challenging. I know that often I have good intentions in this space and don’t always follow through with action. This text invites us into a kind of faith that doesn’t just go along with cultural norms or expectations for enjoying life and looking out for ourselves, or even offering thoughts and prayers, but a faith that actively seeks to make a difference in the lives of those who need it most.
God of mercy, open our eyes to the needs around us and give us hands and hearts to serve. Help our faith be alive in compassion, generosity and justice. Amen.
Anita Foster lives in Melbourne’s outer east with her husband and three teen and tween daughters. She is the Director of Faith and Formation at Luther College in Croydon, and she loves teaching, theatre, being in nature and finding new ways to express her creativity.