Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: March 2021

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Job 19,19-27 2021

Judica 028

Benedict of Nursia, Patron of Europe, Abbot at Monte Cassino, ✠ 547

21. März 2021

1. O Lord God, Heavenly Father, Your dear Son, our Redeemer Christ Jesus said: „Whoever remains in My word will never see death.“ Pour out Your Holy Spirit into our hearts that Your Son’s Word may come to us and that we may hear it, hold it and commit ourselves to it with our whole heart, and in the midst of death find comfort so that we will never see eternal death. Amen. (Veit Dietrich)

2. »All my intimate friends abhor me, and those whom I loved have turned against me. My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth. Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me! Why do you, like God, pursue me? Why are you not satisfied with my flesh? “O that my words were written! O that they were inscribed in a book! O that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!«

3. Job’s lament later became a lament and prophecy of what the Christ would endure: »My friends abhor Me and have turned against Me.« During Holy Week, or Maundy Thursday, Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus to the Jewish religious authorities. When they arrested Jesus, the other 11 apostles fled and deserted Jesus out of fear for their lives. »My bones stick to My skin and flesh« aptly depicts what a crucified man looks like hanging from a cross. The Suffering Servant passages in Isaiah also describe the traumatic appearance of the crucified Christ: »He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace and with His wounds we are healed« (Isaiah 53,5).

4. Throughout the book that bears his name, Job cries to Yahweh to judge him and vindicate him. Job pleads his innocene of any sin that would merit the severe punishment he has endured at the hand, and by the will, of Yahweh. Job’s cry is the cry of all who suffer and endure tribulation: vindicate me, O Lord, and save me! To the afflicted, it seems as if God has abandoned them. How many have thought this during the past year of pandemic? How many have suffered, lost friends and family, endure hardship and loss? Job’s words strike home for us: »How long will I be tormented and broken in pieces?« (Job 19,2). How long will Yahweh kindle His wrath against me and count me as His adversary (Job 19,11)? Likewise Jesus cried from the cross: »My God, My God, why have You forsakeen Me?« (Matthew 27,46)

5. Throughout his tribulations and sufferings, Job did not know the reason why he was afflicted but he nevertheless remained steadfast in his trust in Yahweh. He did not sin or charge God with wrong (Job 1,22). In his sighing, Job cried out to Yahweh to draw near to him and redeem him (Job 7,19.21). James tells us in his epistle: »We consider those blessed who remain steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is very compassionate and merciful« (James 5,11).

6. We see Yahweh’s compassion and mercy in Jesus Christ, His Son. Paul reminded the Corinthian Christians that we preach Christ crucified, for in that preaching we see God’s love, mercy and compassion. Jesus also taught us that »there is no greater love than that a man lay down his life for his friends« (John 15,13). Job’s cry for vindication is ultimately revealed in Jesus on the cross. God bearing the sin of the world, suffering and dying is His vindication of His fallen creation.

7. Job reminds us that God’s vindication does not conclude at death but in the resurrection. Job believed in the resurrection of the dead, when God ultimately undoes the curse imposed upon fallen humanity. People suffer; and sometimes that suffering is not resolved upon this temporal earth. The resurrection teaches that on the last day all unresolved suffering will be resolved in the eternal life with God.

8. Job proclaims: »I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God.« Jesus fulfills this with His resurrection, and Paul proclaims: »For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures« (1. Corinthians 15,3-4). Paul says this is the cornerstone of the apostolic proclamation of the gospel. Since Christ is the first fruits of the resurrection, in Him we all shall be made alive (1. Corinthians 15,20.22). With the resurrection, death is swallowed up in victory (1. Corinthians 15,54). Victory over death means victory over suffering, tribulations and sickness; the present fallen world will be restored to its created purity that God had originally made it. With the resurrection, Job is restored, all the saints of God are restored and we who believe in Christ will be restored. We confess with Job: »I know that You, O Yahweh, can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted« (Job 42,1-2). Amen.

11. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of Man; You gave Your life as a ransom for all people, so that at the resurrection You will raise us up and we will see You face-to-face. 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 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Judica Divine Service IV

Judica

Saturday, March 20, 2021

Ephesians 4,9-16 Bible study

Ephesians 4,9-16

John 12,20-26. Laetare

John 12,20-26 1921

Laetare 027

Matilda (Maud), Wife of Henry V, Empress of the Holy Roman Empire and England ✠ 968

14. März 2021

1. O Lord God, Heavenly Father, who by Your Son did feed five thousand men in the desert with five loaves and two fishes: We beseech You to abide graciously also with us in the fullness of Your blessing. Preserve us from avarice and the cares of this life, so that we may seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness, and in all things perceive Your Fatherly goodness. Amen. (Veit Dietrich)

2. »²⁰Now among those who went up to worship at the Feast of Passover were some Greeks. ²¹So these went to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him: „Sir, we wish to see Jesus.“ ²²Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³And Jesus answered them: „The hour has arrived for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, then it bears much fruit. ²⁵Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶If anyone serves Me, then he must follow Me; and where I am, there will My servant be also. If anyone serves Me, then the Father will honor him.“«

3. The event in today’s sermon text occurred during Holy Week. We hear that in Jerusalem, during the Passover, some Greeks went to the temple courtyard to worship. These Greeks were God-fearers; that was a name that Jews gave to Gentiles who worshipped the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but who did not follow all the customs and laws of Moses, in particular they were not circumcised. In Jesus’ day, a section of the temple courtyard was set aside for the God-fearers where they could worship and pray to Yahweh. John tells us that some of these Greek God-fearers wanted to see Jesus.

4. Bethsaida was northeast of the Sea of Galilee, and it was the hometown of Peter, Andrew and Philip (John 1,44). Jesus healed a blind man outside of Bethsaida (Luke 9,10–11) and fed the 5000 nearby (Luke 9, 12-17). The town was near Decapolis, the 10 cities-states northeast of Galilee that was a center for Greco-Roman culture in the predominantly Jewish culture of Galilee and Judea. It’s possible that the Greeks seeking an audience with Jesus approach Philip because they recognize him, as a native from Bethsaida, and he was potentially more open to hearing their request than the other apostles not from the region.

5. Notice how the request works its way to Jesus: the Greeks speak to Philip; Philip speaks to Andrew (one of the four apostles closest to Jesus); Andrew and Philip then speak to Jesus. And what answer does Jesus give? A: The hour has arrived for the Son of Man to be glorified. John tells us that Jesus uses the request to see Him as an opportunity to teach about His impending crucifixion and resurrection. John doesn’t tell us if these Greeks got their audience with Jesus or whether they were present as Jesus begins teaching. John’s concern is not to tell us whether these Greeks got their audience but that the request initiated the specific teaching that John recorded in chapter 12. Even if the Greeks were not granted their audience, it is probable that Philip returned to them and relayed the teaching of Jesus that their request had inspired.

6. The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) tell us just prior to the request of the Greeks that Jesus had, either the day before or earlier that same day, cleansed the temple courtyard and proclaimed: »My house shall be a house of prayer« (Luke 19,46). This statement by Jesus directly impacted the Greek God-fearers, for it was their space in the temple courtyard that bore the brunt of the cacophony and commotion of the money changers and the animal sellers while they gathered in their Gentile space to pray to Yahweh. Jesus is driving out of these businessman made it much easier for the Greeks to piously pray. Perhaps their audience with Jesus was to further inquire what this kind work entailed for them going forward.

7. The teaching of Jesus here addresses that inquiry. The temple was to be a house of prayer for all the nations. The same teaching given to His Jewish disciples and crowds likewise is given to the Greeks and Gentiles: The Son of Man is going to be crucified and rise again. From this act much fruit will bear, namely, Jewish and Gentile believers in Jesus. The Greek God-fearers are likewise to follow Jesus just as the Jews are exhorted to do. God the Father will honor everyone, Jew and Gentile, who follows Jesus, serves Him and obeys Him.

8. The Prophet Isaiah proclaimed: »And it will in that day that the Root of Jesse and the One arising to rule the Gentiles nations, on Him the Gentiles will hope, and His resting place will be a place of honor« (Isaiah 11,1). The Greeks and Gentiles rejoice, for they too are spiritual heirs of Abraham and receive the promise of salvation from Jesus the Messiah. Isaiah’s prophecy was being fulfilled in John 12 during Holy Week. This ingathering of the Gentiles into the harvest is the work of the Christ, a work He establishes at His cross and resurrection, a work that the apostles continue forward at Pentecost through the power of the Holy Spirit, and this harvest continues to this very day. Rejoice, for Jesus is raised as the Signal for the nations. Amen.

10. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, the Grain of wheat who fell into the earth and died; in Your passion You redeemed all the world, both Jew and Gentile, so that in Your rising from the dead the harvest of the salvation of the nations bears much fruit. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

Laetare Divine Service IV

Laetare video

Thursday, March 11, 2021

Ephesians 4,1-8 video

Ephesians 4,1-8 Bible study

Ephesians 5,1-2.8-9. Oculi

Ephesians 5,1-2.8-9 1821

Oculi 026

Perpetua and Felicitas, Martyrs at Carthage, 203

Thomas Aquinas, ✠ 1275

7. März 2021

1. O Lord God, Heavenly Father, who has sent Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to take upon Himself our flesh, so that He might overcome the Devil, and defend us poor sinners against the adversary: We give thanks unto You for Your merciful help, and we beseech You to attend us with Your grace in all temptations, to preserve us from carnal security, and by Your Holy Spirit to keep us in Your Word and Your fear, that unto the end we may be delivered from the enemy, and obtain eternal salvation. Amen. (Veit Dietrich)

2. »Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. ... for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light — for the fruit of light is found in all that is good, right and true.«

3. The images and themes of darkness and light are used by the apostles. Paul remind us that at one time we were darkness. This means we were separated from God, under the power of the Devil and committed to wickedness and sinfulness. We see an extreme example of this in our first lection today where Ahab, king of Israel, wanted to kill the Prophet Elijah, and Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, promised to have Elijah killed within one day (1. Kings 19,2). Our wickedness was not as extreme as that, but we were wicked nonetheless, and divided from God’s salvation. We confess this each Sunday: I, a poor, miserable sinner confess onto You all my sins and iniquities. In our Baptism, the pastor proclaimed: The Word of God also teaches that we are all conceived and born sinful and under the power of the Devil until Christ claims us as His own (LSB 268).

4. Holy Baptism changed us. The Father of all mercies and grace has sent His Son Jesus Christ, who atoned for the sin of the whole world, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (LSB 268). With our God-parents, answering for us, we renounced the Devil, all his works and all his ways; then we confessed our faith in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (LSB 270). When we were baptized, God gave us the new birth of water and the Spirit (LSB 271). We are now children of the light in the Lord.

5. Paul exhorts us to walk as children of the light. We are imitators of God, and we walk in love, love for God and our neighbors, as Christ loved. Paul reminds us that Christ gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. During Lent, we once again follow Jesus on His path to His Passion and the Cross.

6. Our eyes are ever toward Yahweh (Psalm 25,15). To overcome the darkness of sin, the Light of God must shine forth. Thus Evening Prayer opens with the Service of Light:

L Jesus Christ is the Light of the world,

C the Light no the darkness can overcome. [John 8,12]

L Stay with us, Lord, for it is evening,

C and the day is almost over. [Luke 24,29]

L Let Your Light scatter the darkness

C and illumine Your Church [2. Corinthians 4,6] (LSB 243).

and the Thanksgiving for Light:

L Blessed are You, our Lord our God, King of the universe, who led Your people Israel by a Pillar of cloud by day and a Pillar of fire by night. Enlighten our darkness by the light of Your Christ; may His word be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path; for You are merciful, and You love Your whole creation and we, Your creatures, glorify You, Father, Son and Holy Spirit (LSB 245).

7. The Apostle John exhorts us in his epistle: »If we walk in the light, as God the Father is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin« (1. John 1,7). We are with Jesus, and thus we walk with Him. Our Lord journeys up to Jerusalem during Lent, where He will suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised (Luke 9,22). Through His suffering and crucifixion, Jesus shines fourth as the love and mercy that His Father enlightens upon mankind. In the Suffering Christ we have a Gracious God who redeems us at great cost to Himself. Let us continue to follow Jesus up to Calvary during Lent. Amen.

11. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, our Gracious God; help us to keep our eyes focused on You and where You are going, so that by faith in You we are fit for the reign of God. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

Oculi video

Oculi Divine Service IV

Wednesday, March 3, 2021

Ephesians 3,14-21 video

Ephesians 3,14-21 Bible study

Isaiah 5,1-7. Reminiscere

Isaiah 5,1-7 1721

Reminiscere 025

The Nursing Martyrs who died caring for the sick during the Plague at Alexandria, 261-63

28. Februar 2021

1. O Lord God, Heavenly Father, grant us, we beseech You, by Your Holy Spirit, that He may strengthen our hearts and confirm our faith and hope in Your grace and mercy, so that, although we have reason to fear because of our conscience, our sin and our unworthiness, we may nevertheless, with the woman of Canaan, hold fast to Your grace, and in every trial and temptation find You a very present help and refuge. Amen. (Veit Dietrich)

2. »¹Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning His vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. ²He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; He built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and He looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. ³And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between Me and My vineyard. ⁴What more was there to do for My vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? ⁵And now I will tell you what I will do to My vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it will be devoured;I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled down. ⁶I will make it a waste; it will not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds so that they rain no rain upon it. ⁷For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His pleasant planting; and He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed;for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!«

3. The Prophet Isaiah describes Israel with the imagery of a vineyard. Yahweh had done everything to make Israel the best: good land, bountiful harvests, a crossroad for international trading, a beautiful temple with a covenant of gracious forgiveness and many other blessings. Q: What more was there to do for Israel? A: Nothing, for Yahweh had blessed His people abundantly.

4. Yahweh expected a people who feared, loved and trusted Him, a people who will be loving and virtuous to their neighbors. But the people in Isaiah’s day were wild and rebellious. Instead of justice they meted out bloodshed; instead of righteousness they caused their neighbors to cry out in sorrow. God sent Isaiah to call them to repentance, but Israel refused to listen to Isaiah and continued on with their wickedness. So Yahweh told them: I will remove My protective hand from you; I will turn My beautiful vineyard into a wasteland. I will drive out Israel from the land I had given them.

5. Just before Israel entered the promised land hundreds of years earlier, Moses reminded the people of the covenant: »If you obey the commandments of Yahweh your God that I command you today, by loving Yahweh your God, by walking in His ways, and by keeping His commandments, His statutes and His rules, then you shall live and multiply, and Yahweh your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, then I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, so that you and your offspring may live, loving Yahweh your God, obeying His voice and holding fast to Him, for He is your life and length of days, so that you may dwell in the land that Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, to give them« (Deuteronomy 30,15-20). By Isaiah’s day, Israel had chosen to consistently live contrary to that covenant, and Yahweh was now invoking the punishment clause, that is, the curse: exile from the land. Yahweh is merciful and long-suffering, but there comes a point when a person or a people has taxed Yahweh’s patience and He responds with disciplinary punishment.

6. One wonders if we, as humans on planet Earth, have reached this point with God. His Word and Gospel have been preached to the farthest corners of the globe, yet by and large people have rejected the gospel. Like Israel in Isaiah’s time, today justice gives way to bloodshed and righteousness yields to outcry. God is replaced with idols of our own making, the neighbor is ignored, morality and virtue are redefined. We can only challenge God’s patience for so long before He disciplines us.

7. Unless we repent, we will all like likewise perish (Luke 13,5). The Prophet Isaiah begins his book by declaring the Word of Yahweh: »Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before My eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause« (Isaiah 1,16-17). »Seek Yahweh while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to Yahweh, so that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon« (Isaiah 55,6-7). »Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become wool« (Isaiah 1,18).

8. Yahweh remembers His mercy and steadfast love (Psalm 25,6). Our sin is forgiven and the ransom price was paid by Christ on the cross. God’s grace is lavishly poured upon us. Christ has given us redemptive justice, and we now pray for justice to reign in our families, the Church, in our nation and throughout the world; as we are able, may God help us to bring such justice about. Amen.

10. Let us pray. O God our Heavenly Father, You have shown Your love for us in that Christ died for us while we were still sinners; send forth the Holy Spirit with this gospel of grace and mercy, so that all the world hears it and believes it. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

Reminiscere video

Reminiscere Divine Service IV

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Ephesians 4,17-32 Bible study

Job 19,19-27. Judica

Judica Divine Service IV

Saturday, March 20, 2021

Ephesians 4,9-16 Bible study

John 12,20-26. Laetare

Laetare Divine Service IV

Thursday, March 11, 2021

Ephesians 4,1-8 video

Ephesians 5,1-2.8-9. Oculi

Oculi video

Wednesday, March 3, 2021

Ephesians 3,14-21 video

Isaiah 5,1-7. Reminiscere

Reminiscere video