✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠
The Word of the Lord Endures Forever
se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ
Psalm 127,1-2; 128,1; 1. Peter 5,7 4817
15. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 060
Gerhard Sagredo, Bishop in Hungary, Apostle to Hungary, Martyr in Hungary, ✠ 1046
24. September 2017
1. О Lord Jesus Christ, our Trustworthy Refuge, keep us safe from the perils and tribulations of this fallen world, so that we may praise You and be of help to our neighbors when they are in need. Amen. (Gradual)
2. Cast all your anxieties on God, because He cares for you. Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; gives to His beloved sleep. Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways!
3. The Apostle Peter exhorts in today’s Introit: »Cast all your anxieties on God because He cares for you.« Our world is full of anxieties brought about by hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, terrorism, nuclear brinksmanship and a host of other events. The Apostle Peter encourages us to put our trust in God, and he himself heard this from the very mouth of God. Jesus teaches in today’s Gospel pericope: »Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or drink, nor about your body and what you will put on. Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?« (Matthew 6,25-26). Jesus’s question expects an affirmative answer: Yes, we are of more value than the birds, therefore know with certainty that God provides for us too.
4. It is possible to live a life in this world apart from God. Billions of people do so day in and day out. Not all of them are anxious worriers. People put their trust in something or someone to assuage their anxiety: their own wisdom or wealth, the government, a philosophy or a religion that helps them cope with all the tribulations in the world. The Psalmist declares that any reliance other than God is ultimately futile. You can build a house without the Lord, but you labor in vain. You can remain vigilant without the Lord, but you stay alert in vain. You can burn the candle at both ends to advance your career, but again you do so in vain. King Solomon wisely teaches: »All is vanity! What does a man gain by all the toil which he labors under the sun? I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind« (Ecclesiastes 1,2-3.14). A life lived apart from God is ultimately a life that is vain. What do we leave behind? Perhaps some wealth and wisdom for those who knew us. Some philanthropists have left great endowments to benefit generations later. But there is no certainty that such wealth, wisdom or endowment will be utilized, respected or further the betterment of others. People can reject or appreciate gifts given to them; they can also squander or utilize the opportunities afforded to them. This temporal life is a vain and tenuous existence.
5. Today’s Introit brings hope in the midst of vanity: »Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, and walks in His ways!« That verse nicely summarizes the message of the Bible. Many of the stories and events in the Bible revolve around a person undertaking a trek in discovery of God. Sometimes they failed miserably and at other times they succeeded beyond measure; in every instance God’s mercy and grace is on display in their lives, never giving up on them, calling people out of the darkness of their sin and oppression into the light of God’s forgiveness and loving-kindness. Thus, Jesus exhorts us: »Seek first the reign of God and His righteousness« (Matthew 6,33), for »where your treasure is, there your heart will be also« (Matthew 6,21). Solomon realized that the wisdom of the world is ultimately futile and leads to a nihilistic philosophy because worldly wisdom cannot answer the longing of the soul for its Creator. Is there more to this life than merely accumulating knowledge and stuff? What happens when I die? What is the meaning of it all? Solomon says there is something more to this life than simply obtaining worldly wisdom; he says to seek God for He answers the futility of wisdom; true wisdom is the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 9,10); Jesus taught the same. Jesus is God and the Righteous One of His Father. Jesus simply says: Seek Me and My righteousness, for I am the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14,6). Cast Your anxieties upon Jesus for His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11,30). You are created in the Image and Likeness of God; you are more valuable to Him than lilies and birds. He provides for you, watches over you and has redeemed you. Jesus lived and died for you; He declares you righteous by the very merit of His righteousness. Your life has meaning and value, for your life is connected to Jesus who loves the world and saved the world. Blessed is the one who fears, loves and trusts Jesus, for He is the Wisdom of God who makes you wise unto salvation in His Name. Amen.
6. Let us pray. O Heavenly Father, Thou Faithful and Benevolent God; bless us as our Refuge and Fortress, so that we remain at peace and safe in this world with its fallen perils. Amen.
To God alone be the Glory
Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm
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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.
ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2013 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern.
The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers, Vol. 4. © 1963 Henry Regnery Co.
VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2013 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands.
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