Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: May 2014

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Revelation 15,2-4. Cantate

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Revelation 15,2-4 2914

Kantate 039 sing

Theodotus, Schenkwirth and their companions, Martyrs 303

Erik IX, King of Sweden, Martyr

18. Mai 2014

1. O Almighty God, who does make the minds of all faithful people to be of one will; grant unto Your people that they may love that which You command, and desire that which You promise; so that among the various and manifold changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed upon Your promise, whereas true joys are to be found (The Book of Common Prayer 141). Amen.

2. »And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: „Great and amazing are Your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your Name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed.”«

3. On Cantate, the 4. Sunday after Easter, the focus is on singing and praising the Triune God. In his Apocalypse, the Apostle John describes the Church triumphant singing the song of both Moses and the Lamb: »Great and amazing are Your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your Name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed.« Their singing is also their confession (lex orandi, lex credendi), and what they confess is Christ and His righteous deeds. There is much that we confess about God, but let us narrow it down this morning to the two points that Jesus highlighted in the Cantate Gospel Lection: »No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him. Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.“« (Matthew 11,27-28.30).

4. 21. century American culture prides itself on tolerance, particularly the tolerance of diverse opinion, unless of course, you view your opinion as the only truth, then American tolerance because rabidly intolerant to you and your view. For many people, this statement by Jesus is intolerant: »No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him« (Matthew 11,27). It is labeled intolerant because ingrained in our modern culture is the idea that there are many paths to God and salvation. Therefore, Christianity, Judaism and Islam are all legitimate ways to heaven, along with any other religions. The funny thing is: if you study Christianity, Judaism and Islam, then you will discover that those faiths teach a one way path to heaven. Christians say salvation is through Christ alone, Jews have their Sinai covenant and Muslims have their Five Pillars.

5. Part of our Western culture’s problem with tolerance and intolerance is that we have pigeon-holed Jesus as some nice, friendly teacher who taught about love, peace and understanding. Now Jesus is loving, peaceable and nice, but He is also divisive and harsh at times, for what Jesus says in Matthew 11 contradicts our warm and fuzzy view of Jesus. Jesus is very intolerant when He says: »My Father knows Me, I know the Father and if you don’t know Me, then you don’t know the Father either« (Matthew 11,27). Jesus makes it plainly simple: »I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me« (John 14,6). Now, American political correctness cringes at such absolute statements and will try to water it down to make it more palatable to the average American. But I tell you this, and other absolute, statements made by Jesus and the apostles are statements that define our Christian faith; we should be bold and proud of these statement. Do not shy away from them, but embrace them and graciously proclaim them to people you converse with.

6. Jesus makes other intolerant and absolute statements: »Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.« (Matthew 11,28-30). Only Jesus can bear our heavy burdens and bring respite for our weary souls. In this He shows us the loving heart of our Heavenly Father.

7. Such sentiments also go against the grain of our popular American ideals that look fondly upon the advice to „pull yourself up by your bootstraps“ and „God helps those who help themselves“. These sentiments are traditional 19. century American frontier practicality, but they are not very helpful when we experience the Anfechtungen (agonizing struggles) that Jesus has in mind in Matthew 11. There are many examples of faithful men and women in the Bible who experienced such agonizing struggles: Adam, Eve, Job, Leah, Abraham, Sarah, Naomi, Ruth, Hanna, David, Jeremiah, Mary Magdalene, Peter and Paul, just to name a few. I mention these faithful people because often we wistfully remember the great words and deeds they performed for Yahweh, but we tend to forget the great and agonizing struggles they endured and overcame by the mercy and power of God throughout their lives.

8. Such agonizing struggles are not pleasant, but our Lord Jesus Christ uses them to strengthen us as persons and Christians. Meditate upon the words of the Apostle Paul concerning the thorn in the flesh Jesus had put in his life: »But Jesus said to me: „My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.“ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong« (2. Corinthians 12,9-10). Paul can say this because he knows that »Jesus is gentle and lowly in heart, and in Him we find rest for our souls« (Matthew 11,29).

9. So when agonizing struggles bear heavy upon your body and soul, turn to Jesus, let Him take upon Himself your struggles, for His yoke is light and His shoulders are more than capable of bearing your soul-wrenching struggles and tribulations. Do not bear such things by yourself. Jesus is here for you, and he wants to bear your burdens. You are not bothering Him when you pray and ask Him to take your troubles upon Him. Jesus wants to do this for you. He bore all your sins upon the cross; He can handle whatever struggles you are over-burdened with.

10. Meditate also on this psalm of David: »How long, O Yahweh? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O Yahweh my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say: „I have prevailed over him,“ lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. But I have trusted in Your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to Yahweh, because He has dealt bountifully with me« (Psalm 13,1-6). Consider how David’s psalm is structured: 1. Why have You forsaken me, O God? 2. How long will this agonizing struggle run roughshod over my life? 3. I trust in Your steadfast love, and I rejoice in Your deliverance. 4. I sing to Yahweh because He has dealt bountifully and graciously with me.

11. How does David leap the gulf between God’s apparent abandonment in his life to trusting and rejoicing in God’s deliverance? David knows that Yahweh has a long, Scriptural history of saving and rescuing people (Heilsgeschichte). It begins in Eden, runs through the Flood, then through the Egyptian exodus and for David culminates in Goliath’s defeat and the routing of the Philistines from the Promised Land. Yahweh worked through His people and delivered them each time. All this paled in comparison to the deliverance accomplished by Jesus at Calvary and the empty tomb. Jesus is worthy to bear all our yokes and burdens. But this does not excuse us who bear His Name as Christians from walking alongside our brothers and sisters in the faith and helping them when they are burdened and heavy laden. The Apostle Paul exhorts us: »Let us not be weary in doing good, for as we have opportunity, let us do good unto all people, especially unto those who are of the household of faith. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ« (Galatians 6,9-10.2). If you see one in our midst distressed, offer them encouragement. Pray for those who are sick in our church. Help them bear their troubles so they know they do not bear them all by themselves. This is what Christ does for us, and we ought to follow His lead doing the same. »Christ alone is holy. Let us come and worship Him with our songs and deeds, for His righteous acts have been revealed.« Amen.

12. Let us pray. O Risen Christ, all the earth sings the glory of Your Name, we also give You glorious praise and we ask that You take from us our heavy burdens, shoulder them for us, and give us in return Your light burden which is manifested in the reality of Your resurrection, so that we are comforted and rest in the peace of Christian discipleship that teaches us to trust You in all things. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27. Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Acts 17,22-28a. Jubilate

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Acts 17,22-28a (28b-34) 2814

Jubilate 038 shout with joy

Gangulphus, Martyr in Avallon, France Rome 760

Cyril, ✠ 869 and Methodius, ✠ 885, BB., Missionaries to the Slavs

11. May 2014

1. O Almighty God, who shewest to them that are in error the light of Thy truth, to the intent that they may return into the way of righteousness; Grant unto all them that are admitted into the fellowship of Christ’s religion, that they may eschew [avoid] those things that are contrary to their profession, and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same. Amen. (The Book of Common Prayer 139).

2. »So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: „Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, so that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him. Yet He is actually not far from each one of us, for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; [1] as even some of your own poets have said: „‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ [2] Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent, because He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom He has appointed; and of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead.“ Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said: „We will hear you again about this.“ So Paul went out from their midst. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.«

3. Jesus teaches us in today’s Gospel Lection: »I am the True Vine, and My Father is the Vinedresser. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the Vine; you are the branches.« Jesus here teaches that He is the Source of both our physical and spiritual life. Jesus refers back to Genesis 1 and 2: »God created man in His own Image, in the Image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Genesis 1,27). Yahweh God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature« (Genesis 2,7). The Apostle Paul also told the Athenian Greeks: »In God we live and move and have our being; as even some of your own poets have said: „For we are indeed His offspring.“«

4. The Holy Scriptures teach that: 1. Yahweh God created mankind, 2. He created us in His Image and Likeness and 3. He created us to be in a relationship with Him. And yet, in spite of Scripture, poets and philosophers who profess a Creator God, many people downplay that God is our Creator or even deny His very existence. This is the old lie used by the devil in the Garden of Eden: you can be like God; yes, you can become your own God, just take the knowledge of good and evil and your eyes will be truly opened. Such knowledge did not give mankind the wisdom that had been promised. Instead, it set us up as adversaries against our Creator. We, the branches, had been severed from the Vine. Separated branches soon whither and die; when we are separated from God we are only fit to to be thrown into the eternal flames of hell and burned.

5. Yet there is the undeniable fact that men and women are created in the Image and Likeness of the Triune God. Hell was created to be the abode of the fallen angels, and as such is not a fit dwelling place for human beings. The Divine Image and Likeness that mankind was originally created in means something to God the Father. You and I are dear to our Heavenly Father’s heart. God’s plan of salvation history (Heilsgeschichte) involves renewal and resurrection.

6. The new, renewed creation is an effect of Christ having been crucified. The Apostle Paul proclaims: »Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation« (Galatians 6,14-15). »Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God« (2 .Corinthians 5,17-19.21). Christ crucified is the vicarious sacrifice for sin, and by His sacrifice all sin has been atoned for. Hell’s gates are torn down, the devil has been defeated and death has lost its sting.

7. This new creation is similar to what we have now, but it will also be radically different. The dead will no longer be dead, for everlasting life is the rule of the day. Again St. Paul: »Christ has been raised from the dead, and He is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man arrived death, by a Man has arrived also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the Image of the Man of heaven« (1. Corinthians 15,20-22.42-44.49). The Image of Jesus is righteousness, sinlessness and eternal life. This Image had been given to Adam and Eve at their creation, but paradise was soon lost; in Christ this Divine Image is given to us again through the waters of Holy Baptism and in the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper. The Baptismal waters are a life-giving washing of regeneration, and the Paschal bread and wine are the true body and blood of Jesus given and shed for our forgiveness. What had been lost, Christ now brings paradise restored. As John the Apostle reminds us: this renewal and resurrection is not merely about the last day when Christ takes us up to live with Him forever in His presence. The effects of the new creation are in force right now. Christ is the Vine, and we are the branches. „Jesus is what life is about. He is with us, and we are with Him, flesh of flesh, bone of bone. Jesus’ death is the ultimate connection of us and God, for in Him we and God go together. Jesus points His disciples forward to that death as a birth of new life. No Good Friday, no Easter. Or following the arrow of the life that God lives and shares, if Good Friday, then Easter, and if Easter, then Pentecost, and if Pentecost, then on and on past our little death that we have already left behind at Calvary and received in exchange a birth“ (Nagel 130,8).

8. Christ is the Vine, and we are the branches who yield grapes. We are nourished and sustained by Christ, and this yields good works. »You have been saved through faith by grace. And this salvation is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For you are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, so that you should walk in those good works« (Ephesians 2,8-10). Amen.

9. Let us pray. O Risen Christ Jesus, who has conquered evil, preserve the lives of Your baptized people so that in this temporal life we withstand the assaults of this fallen world upon our faith. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand.

[1] Circa 600 BC, Epimenides said: „A grave has been fashioned for you, O holy and high one, the lying Cretans, who are all the time liars, vile beasts, idle bellies; but you do not die, for you live and stand eternally, for in you we live and move and have our being.“ The quote comes from his poem Radamanthus and Minos in which he puts the words in the mouth of Minos, the son of Zeus, regarding Cretans who said Zeus had been ripped apart by a bull, buried and is still in his grave.

[2] Let us begin with Zeus, whom we mortals never leave unspoken.

For every street, every market-place is full of Zeus.

Even the sea and the harbor are full of this deity.

Everywhere everyone is indebted to Zeus.

For we are indeed his offspring.

Ἐκ Διὸς ἀρχώμεσθα, τὸν οὐδέποτ' ἄνδρες ἐῶμεν

ἄρρητον· μεσταὶ δὲ Διὸς πᾶσαι μὲν ἀγυιαί,

πᾶσαι δ' ἀνθρώπων ἀγοραί, μεστὴ δὲ θάλασσα

καὶ λιμένες· πάντη δὲ Διὸς κεχρήμεθα πάντες.

τοῦ γὰρ καὶ γένος εἰμέν. κτλ (Aratus, Phaenomena 1–5).

The poets Aratus and Cleanthus both made the assertion of stanza 5 in 300 BC.

Hebrews 13,20-21. Misericordias Domini

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Hebrews 13,20-21 2714

Misericordias Domini 037 mercies of the Lord

Monica, Widow, mother of St. Augustine, ✠ 387

Frederick Conrad Dietrich Wyneken, Pastor, Apostle, Synodical President, ✠ 1876

4. Mai 2014

1. O Almighty God, who hast given Thine Only Son to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin, and also an ensample of Godly life: Give us grace so that we may always most thankfully receive that His inestimable benefit, and also daily endeavour ourselves to follow the blessed steps of His most holy life (The Book of Common Prayer 137). Amen.

2. »Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good so that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.«

3. On Misericordias Domini, the 2. Sunday after Easter, we hear about the mercies of the Lord. The Historic Gospel Lection is Jesus’ Good Shepherd discourse. In John 10 Jesus teaches us: »I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. The Father loves Me because I lay down My life so that I may take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. I have received this charge from My Father.« Jesus uses the image of shepherd and sheep because often times the shepherd needs to put his life at risk, even to the point of death, to defend the helpless sheep from a ravenous predator. Jesus uses the image to discuss His death and resurrection.

4. We might be tempted to think that Jesus’ betrayal, arrest, trials, suffering, crucifixion and death all occurred by the will and at the hands of His adversaries. In John 10 Jesus teaches us that He alone was in control of the events at the end of Holy Week. Judas’ betrayal, Jesus’ arrest in Gethsemane, His trials before the Sanhedrin and Pontius Pilate, His suffering at the hands of the Roman legionnaires, His crucifixion and even His death all occurred under Jesus’ power and authority. No plan was formulated against Him and no hand was set upon Him that was not under His Divine direction. Jesus allowed His enemies to beset Him and overcome Him. Jesus emphasized: »I lay down My life so that I may take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord.« The Gospel according to John records the last moments of Jesus’ life: »When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said: „It is finished,“ He then bowed His head and gave up His spirit« (John 19,30). The crucifixion did not kill Jesus, but when Jesus had fulfilled redeeming sinful mankind by bearing their sinfulness He then yielded up His life and breathed His last. Jesus was in control of His life from beginning to end.

5. On Easter Sunday it is more of the same. Jesus took up His life again and raised Himself from the dead. As early as John 2 we read: »So the Jews said to Him: „What sign do you show us for doing these things?“ Jesus answered them: „Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.“ The Jews then said: „It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you will raise it up in three days?“ But He was speaking about the temple of His body. When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken« (John 2,18-22).

6. Since Jesus has authority over His death and resurrection, He likewise has authority over your death and resurrection. Every Christian death is a good death. Having been washed clean of sin in our Baptism, where we died to sin and were united with Christ in His death, when we take our last breath and die, we will do so in and under the Name of Jesus and we will die a good death. It does not matter if our death is tragic, sudden or the result of a long illness, for when we die, we die as a redeemed child of God the Father, in the presence of Jesus and His angels will bear us to Him in Paradise. On the last day we will be bodily raised in glory. It does not matter if our body has decayed into ashes indistinguishable from the dirt that covers us, or a fresh corpse still bearing the image of how we looked, for Jesus will raise our body up. We will have hands and feet, flesh and bone, mind and will. Our body will be restored to its former image but it will be made glorious for it will not be saddled with the corruption of original sin.

7. Karfreitag and Ostersonntag displayed the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ who was crucified and rose from the grave. Thus the apostle writes in his Epistle to the Hebrews: »Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good so that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.« Jesus is the Good and Great Shepherd for He has purchased our salvation with His blood of the eternal covenant. John the Baptizer proclaimed this eternal covenant when His eyes saw Jesus on the banks of the Jordan River: »Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!« (John 1,29). Jesus is the Shepherd and the Lamb who laid down His life and took it up again to redeem all fallen men and women from their sinfulness. Thus the heavenly hosts sing: »Worthy are You, O Lamb of God, for You were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation! Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth, wisdom and might, honor, glory and blessing!« (Revelation 5,9.12)

8. The crucified and risen Christ is not merely a past and future event. Yes, the crucifixion is done and in the past; yes, the resurrection is awaiting its future fulfillment, but right now, today, in the present, the crucified and risen Christ is our Good Shepherd, and He sends the Holy Spirit to work in us. The Spirit of God creates good works in us so that we give glory to God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. »For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God the Father prepared beforehand, so that we should walk in them« (Ephesians 2,10). What might these good works be? and what do these good works look like? Your good works are whatever you do throughout your day that helps and benefits your neighbor. This includes being diligent in your vocation, performing the duties of your stations in life, such as a good parent, an obedient child, an honest broker, a pious Christian and so forth. Christ’s vocation is to be the Good Shepherd, and His good work was to be the vicarious Lamb of God for our sin. Your good works are those you do for others. In all you do for your neighbor and your church, the Holy Spirit blesses and uses to glorify Jesus our Savior. All this stems from the Christ who was crucified and risen for our justification. Our good works glorify Him and give testimony to His crucifixion and resurrection.

9. Our Good Shepherd gives us this promise: »My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.« Truly, this is Misericordias Domini, the mercies of the Lord, for by His death and resurrection we have the mercy of God the Father. »Surly goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives, an we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever« (Psalm 23,6). To the Risen Christ be glory, honor and praise now and forever. Amen.

10. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, our Good Shepherd, send forth the Holy Spirit to our church and in our lives so that we know we are Your sheep and follow You in both faith and sanctified living. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

Isaiah 40,26-31. Quasimodogeniti

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Isaiah 40,26-31 2614

Quasimodogeniti 036

Anastasius, Bishop of Rome, ✠ 401

27. April 2014

1. O Almighty Father, who hast given thine only Son to die for our sins, and to rise again for our justification: Grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness, that we may alway serve thee in pureness of living and truth. Amen. (The Book of Common Prayer 136).

2. »Therefore, Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because He is strong in power not one is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel: „My way is hidden from Yahweh, and my right is disregarded by my God“? Have you not known? Have you not heard? Yahweh is the Everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength. Even youths faint and are weary, and young men fall exhausted; but they who wait for Yahweh renew their strength; they mount up with wings like eagles; they run and are not weary; they walk and do not faint.«

3. When Jesus had risen from the dead, His reception was met with skepticism by His apostles and disciples. The women initially left His empty tomb in fear. Peter and John then went to the empty tomb, but they did not understand what it truly meant. Today we heard in our Gospel Lection how Thomas refused to believe the testimony of his fellow apostles. The days surrounding Easter Sunday were muddied with unbelief.

4. Comforting, then, are the words of the Prophet Isaiah: »Yahweh gives power to the faint and increases strength to him who has no might. They who wait for Yahweh renew their strength; they mount up with wings like eagles; they run and are not weary; they walk and do not faint.« A pity Thomas did not remember those words when he heard the testimony from his fellow apostles: We have seen and touched the risen Christ! We discover, however, in the Holy Scriptures that seeing the risen Jesus is accompanied with hearing the Word of God, and with this combination the Holy Spirit creates faith. Consider the disciples who conversed with Jesus on their way to Emmaus on Easter afternoon. Only after He had taught them from the Scriptures that »it was necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory« (Luke 24,26) that they saw Jesus for who He truly is, for when He broke bread with them they realized they were in the presence of their rabbi and friend, Jesus. So it goes also with Thomas who believes after seeing and hearing the risen Christ with his own eyes and ears.

5. We are 2000 years away from the first Easter. Jesus has ascended and His post-Easter appearances has essentially ceased. For this reason John writes his Gospel 60 years after Jesus rose from the dead and ascended back to heaven. He gives us these comforting words spoken first to Thomas but practical for all who would hear the preaching of the apostles: »Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed« (John 20,29). You are among the 2.2 billion Christians around the world (of 7.2 billion) today who have not seen the risen Jesus and yet you believe in that risen Jesus.

6. So why do you believe in the risen Jesus? Let me give two apologetic pieces of evidence for you to consider: 1. The New Testament witnesses do not bear the stamp of dupes or deceivers, and 2. A saving knowledge of Christ crucified and risen is not the mere result of right reasoning about historical facts (Piper).

7. The apostles and evangelists are rational, honest men who report the teachings and miracles as ones who were eyewitnesses to the actual events in Jesus’ life or disciples of those apostles who had heard their teachings. They do not portray themselves as paragons of virtue or stalwart followers of Jesus. They present their faults and misunderstandings of Jesus for all the world to read. Furthermore, they do not de-emphasize Jesus’ humanity nor over-emphasize His Divinity. They tell how Jesus was tempted, wept and struggled with His impending crucifixion, and they also speak of His great miracles and teachings from the Scriptures. Luke begins His Gospel by saying: »it seemed good to me, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account so that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught« (Luke 1,3-4). Therefore, the apostles and evangelists were not men prone to hysteria, deception or over exaggeration. They were men who preached what they had seen and heard from Jesus, and they backed up such preaching with historical facts. Case in point: Jesus was missing from the tomb on Easter. What accounts for this? Someone could have stolen the body. The disciples could have gone to the wrong tomb. They might be deluded or irrational. Such theories were claimed in the days following Easter, but the problem was: if such things are true, then produce Jesus’ corpse. The way to stop the apostles in their tracks is to prove their preaching false by hauling out Jesus’ dead body. Try as they might, neither the Jews nor the Romans could produce the dead body of Jesus, and therefore the preaching of the risen Christ was proved to be the most reasonable, if unfathomable, explanation for the empty tomb on Easter.

8. Historical facts, like the empty tomb on Easter, and proper reasoning of these facts do not result in faith in the crucified and risen Christ. The Holy Spirit uses these facts preached and proclaimed by apostles, evangelists, bishops and ministers, and He creates faith. The Apostle Paul teaches that: »Faith comes from hearing the word of Christ« (Romans 10,17). This word of Christ is the account of the 66 books of the Bible, codified in the Three Creeds and preached from the Church’ pulpits. Baptism and Communion also create and strengthen faith in the risen Christ. The Holy Spirit uses these means of grace to create faith. Jesus said: »The Holy Spirit will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you« (John 16,13- 14). And again, Paul declares: »If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the Icon of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said: »Let light shine out of darkness,« has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ« (2. Corinthians 4,3-6).

9. Thomas heard the Easter gospel, saw the risen Christ and believed. The Holy Spirit created faith from unbelief, using the words of God and the Word of God made flesh to make Thomas a confessing Christian. The Holy Spirit has done the same to and for you through the Word and the Sacraments. He gives strength to the weary and life to the dying so that »the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus« (Philippians 4,7), for „Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining; have mercy, Victor King, Ever reigning! Amen. Alleluia!“ (Wipo). Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand.

Hebrews 13,20-21. Miscericordias Domini

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Hebrews 13,20-21 2714

Misericordias Domini 037 mercies of the Lord

Monica, Widow, mother of St. Augustine, ✠ 387

Frederick Conrad Dietrich Wyneken, Pastor, Apostle, Synodical President, ✠ 1876

4. Mai 2014

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Revelation 15,2-4. Cantate

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Acts 17,22-28a. Jubilate

Hebrews 13,20-21. Misericordias Domini

Isaiah 40,26-31. Quasimodogeniti

Hebrews 13,20-21. Miscericordias Domini