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And when [the Spirit] comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me;  about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer;  about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.  (John 16:8-11)

The Lutheran church should give daily thanks for Twitter.  Over the past five years, that steady, online stream of posturing, self-righteousness, and public shaming has done more than all of God’s preachers combined to expose our need for the Gospel.

The Gospel is simple: Jesus alone is righteous.  He returned to the Father and now rules with the Father in glory.  He is the judge, and thanks be to God, He has declared you righteous for the sake of His blood alone.

So what is Twitter but proof that the human heart would prefer a very different kind of judge and rule?  What do the dregs of human speech captured on that digital platform demonstrate but that we are far more ready than God Himself to condemn others and glorify ourselves?

The devil’s in pits; all the rest of you are forgiven for Jesus’ sake.  So says the Spirit, and so say I.  There’s no more wrong to prove, but only the Righteous One to follow.

LET US PRAY: I’m sorry, Father, for not loving my neighbor as You have loved me; and yet I glory in the blood of Your Son, shed for my sake and for the whole world.  By Your Holy Spirit, renew my mind, and thus also my speech, that whatever I speak may be spoken in love, as You are love; for Jesus’ sake.  Amen

Pastor Steven K. Gjerde

Zion, Wausau