Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: September 2024

Sunday, September 15, 2024

Psalm 16,5-11. Trinity XVI

Psalm 16,5-11 5024

16. Trinitatis. Trinity XVI 63

Nicetas the Goth, Martyr 372

15. September 2024

1. ℣ Have mercy on me, O Yahweh:

℟ For I cry unto You all day long (Psalm 85,3 vul lxx mas).

Miserere mei Domine quoniam ad te calmabo tota die. lxx mas

O Gracious and Merciful God, we are ready according to Your holy will … to suffer trials and crosses. Help us to delight and be refreshed in You; be to us a quiet Retreat and a pleasant place of Repose from the storms we endure in our Christian life and faith Amen. (Stark 378; English 271-72 paraphrased).

2. »Yahweh is my chosen Portion and my Cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set Yahweh always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol/Hades, or let Your Holy One see corruption. You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.«

3. The imagery of a /the cup is used 2 ways in Holy Scripture. »For in the hand of Yahweh there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and He pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs« (Psalm 75,8). This is the cup of Yahweh’s judgement and wrath upon unrepentant wickedness. The Flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the destruction of Jerusalem are event when Yahweh made wicked people drink His judgement.

4. »You prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; You anoint mine head with oil; my cup overflows« (Psalm 23,5). »Yahweh is my chosen Portion and my Cup; you hold my lot.« This is the cup of Yahweh’s mercy and blessing upon His people. Paul calls the blood of Christ we receive in the Lords’s Supper to be a cup of blessing (1. Corinthians 10,16).

5. We all deserve to drink from God’s cup of wrath. We’re all idolaters of our own desires. We want to drink and revel in wealth, the accolades of the world and earthly pleasures. We chase after success and our own righteousness at the expense of charity to our neighbors and fellowship with God. We think such things will please us and satisfy us. For a time they do, but the satisfaction is fleeting and our hearts and souls yearn to be filled once more. But what is missing, that emptiness, is communion with God, and only He can fill that longing.

6. We see throughout the pages of Scripture God drawing near to men and women. The tabernacle and the temple were ways in which Yahweh abided among His people. They knew where to find Him, and they went to Him for mercy and forgiveness. But that Sinai covenant revealed the presence of God in His raw, terrifying Glory. Sinful people cannot bear to stand in the presence of God’s Almightiness.

7. God the Father had a remedy for this: He would send His Son in human flesh to dwell among us. There were times when people would be struck with terror or awe in the presence of Jesus, but on a day to day interaction with Him people could be in the presence of God and not be overwhelmed by His Almighty Glory.

8. The Son of God became man to drink of the cup of His Father’s wrath. Sin must be judged; a sacrifice needs to be made; the cup needs to be drunk. Jesus was born to do this for fallen humanity. The wicked would not drink of this cup, but the Righteous One would, and in doing so He satisfied His Father’s judgment and wrath.

9. Jesus is the only one who could successfully drink the cup of His Father’s wrath, for in the drinking His Father’s wrath in full He exchanges the cup of wrath with a cup of blessing. Jesus gives us a new cup to drink, a cup of mercy and forgiveness. »In the same way also He took the cup after supper, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them saying: „Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My ✠ blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.“«

10. This cup that Jesus instituted is a coup of overflowing mercy. Whereas Yahweh’s wrath is intense and brief, His mercy is abundant and everlasting. Christ has pardoned our iniquity and given us double for all our sins (Isaiah 40,2). Christ has more than enough grace to cover our sins. His forgiveness runneth over in our cup.

11. Christ is our Portion and our Cup. „By the Cross, … by Him who vouchsafed to hang upon the Cross, all things are restored, all things are blessed, all things are covered with the dew of heaven. But above all, the human soul, which was barren, bitter, insipid, is made by the advent of the Savior fertile and sweet, and is endued with the salt of wisdom“ (Peter Damian, Sermon 48; Medieval Preachers and Medieval Preaching 69 © 1856).

12. Jesus lives! Of this I’m sure,

Nothing can from Him divide,

No gloom, no power obscure,

No grandeur, nor pain can hide.

He gives strength for every fight;

This is my confidence and light.

(Jesus lebt, mit ihm auch ich elkg 458,5 2021 Christian Fürchtegott Gellert 1757).

This is most certainly true.

13. Et pax Dei, quæ exuperat omnem sensum, custodiat corda vestra, et intelligentias vestras in Christo Jesu. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7). Amen.

14. Let us pray. O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom every family in heaven and earth is named, grant unto our friends, to all members of this household and to all the members of our different families that according to the riches of Thy Glory we may be strengthened with might by Thy Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith; that we, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, length, depth, height and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that we may be filled with all the fullness of God. Amen. (Trinity XVI, 2^nd Vespers Collect. The Daily Office).

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, Septuaginta, Vol. I and II 2. Revised Edition © 2006 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Sunday, September 8, 2024

Matthew 6,25-34. Trinity XV

Matthew 6,25-34 4924

Trinity xv 62

Nativity of Mary

Corbinian, Bishop of Freising, Bavaria, Apostle to Bavaria, ✠ 730

Elizabeth II, Queen of the UK, Northern Ireland and the Commonwealth, ✠ 2022

8. September 2024

1. ℣ O Yahweh, incline Your ear to me:

℟ O my God, save Your servant who trusts in You (Psalm 85,1a.2b vul mas).

Protector noster aspice Deus et respice in faciem christi tui: quia melior est dies una in atriis tuis super milia. lxx

Clipeus noster vide Deus et adtende faciem christi tui: quoniam melior est dies in atriis tuis super milia. mas

Blessed be Your Holy Name, because You have made us to abhor unbelief and sin, to mourn over them, to fight against them by prayer, and You have given us a heartfelt desire to live for you alone, to serve and obey You, O Christ Amen. (Stark 76; English transl. 210).

2. »Jesus said: „Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 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? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying: ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the reign of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.“«

3. Καταμάθετε. Let your (pl.) minds dwell on how the lilies grow. A perplexing imperative from Jesus, for what do lilies have to do with the reign of God? Jesus’ peers anticipated the reign of God as a restoration of the David’s Kingdom and driving out the Gentiles from Jerusalem, Judea and Galilee. That was the golden age in the mind of many first century Jews. Psalm 2 was a favorite: »As for Me, I have set my King on Zion, My holy hill« (Psalm 2,6).

4. But Jesus, the Son of David, points the crowds, and His disciples, to nature, specifically to a lily. „The lilies of our text are neither of those large, splendid white lilies that we know by that name nor the Easter lilies. These lilies don’t grow in Galilee. The lily of our text is a tiny flower that grows among the grass in the field“ (Nagel 213). Jesus picks one of these easily overlooked lilies and holds it up for all to see: even Solomon and all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

5. What does this lily teach us? It grows, lives and dies – all as a creation of God. The lily is content to be a lily doing its lily thing as God created it to do. Restless human beings, take notice of the lily. Striving for power, prestige and possessions is not what God created us to be concerned over. Our Lord spoke through the Psalmist: »Be still and know that I am God« (Psalm 46,10). Stop, breathe and ponder God’s majesty and mercy.

6. For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils (William Wordsworth, 1802).

7. As the lily was held in Jesus’ hand, so do we grow, live and die in Jesus’ hand. What the world ignores as insignificant, Jesus holds dear in His grasp and close to His heart. The lily and human beings live in a creation where sin brought the world into a cursed mess that only the Son of God could rescue them (Nagel 216). And rescue us he did!

8. Jesus entered His creation, lived in this fallen world and subjected Himself to live under the very curse He had imposed upon His creation. He himself bore the sin of the world and became a curse for us, for cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree (Deuteronomy 21,23; Galatians 3,13). Jesus lives, grew and died, just as the lilies do, just as each one of us do. But the lily, and all of us, can only be destroyed by death if Christ is destroyed by death (Nagel 216). This Jesus who holds each lily, man and woman in His hand was not destroyed by death; Jesus rose from the dead. His resurrection means our resurrection and also that of the lily (Nagel 216). At the last day when the new earth is created, lilies will cover the fields in vibrant colors proclaiming the beauty of Christ’s new creation. And we will be there to behold this splendor with our resurrected eyes and walking amongst the lilies in our resurrected bodies. Behold, this is the reign of God!

9. Do not to be anxious about tomorrow. The lilies live each day under Christ’s Providence. Learn from the lilies. Seek the reign of God and His righteousness in Christ Jesus. He provides for you this day and every every day.

10. If death should come for me,

Then dying is my victory,

For Christ is my Life and Guide,

To Him, I do confide;

If I die today or tomorrow,

My soul, He’ll keep from sorrow.

(Auf meinen lieben Gott elkg 540,3 2021 Lübeck 1590, Wittenberg und Nürnberg 1607)

This is most certainly true.

11. Et pax Dei, quæ exuperat omnem sensum, custodiat corda vestra, et intelligentias vestras in Christo Jesu. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7). Amen.

12. Let us pray. O God, in whom all fullness dwelleth, who givest without measure to them that ask, give us faith to ask and faith to receive all that Thy bounty giveth, that being filled with all Thy fulness, we may as Thy faithful stewards impart Thy gifts to all Thy children; for Jesus Christ sake. Amen. (Trinity xv, 2^nd Vespers Collect. The Daily Office.)

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

Thursday, September 5, 2024

Galatians 5,16-24. Trinity XIV

Galatians 5,16-24 4824

14. Trinitatis. Trinity xiv 61

Joshua 1399-1289 bc at 110

Aegidius aka Giles the Hermit, Abbot at Septimania (Visigoths), Languedoc, France ✠ 710

1. September 2024

1. ℣O God, our Protector, look upon the face of Your Christ:

℟ For one day in Your courts is better than a thousand (Psalm 83,10-11a vul lxx).

Protector noster aspice Deus et respice in faciem christi tui: quia melior est dies una in atriis tuis super milia. lxx

Clipeus noster vide Deus et adtende faciem christi tui: quoniam melior est dies in atriis tuis super milia. mas

O God, plenteous in mercy,we know from Your Holy Word that faith alone saves, and that without faith, no one is acceptable to You. Kindle in our spirits the light of faith so that we can rightly know You, the one true God, as You have revealed Yourself in Your Word, that we may with our hearts believe Your revealed Word, and with firm confidence and unwavering trust may receive the promises of Your grace and forgiveness of sins which Christ has won for us. Amen. (Stark 274; English 209).

2. »But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousy, wrath, rivalries, sedition, heresies, envy,drunkenness, orgies and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the reign of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.«

3. Augustine wrote in his magnum opus: „In occulto autem mali esse coeperunt ut in aperiam inoboedientiam laberentur. Non enim ad malum opus perveniretur nisi praecessisset voluntas mala. Porro, malae voluntatis initium quae1 potuit esse nisi superbia? Initium enim omnis peccati superbia est. Quid est autem superbia nisi perversae celsitudinis appetitus? The first human beings began to be evil in secret, and this enabled them to fall into open disobedience. For the evil act could not have been arrived at unless an evil will had preceded it. Furthermore, what but pride can have been the beginning of an evil will? Pride is the beginning of all sin [Ecclesiasticus 10,13a]. Moreover, what is pride but a craving for perverse elevation?“ (City of God XIV,13 334-35. Harvard University Press © 2024) Augustine is referring to the Apocrypha: »ότι άρχή ύπερηψανίας άμαρτία, καί ό κρατων αύτης έζομβρήσει βόέλυγμα. For the beginning of pride is sin, and those who cling to it will bring down abomination« (Ecclesiasticus 10,13a). Solomon wisely counsels: »Pride goeth before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall« (Proverbs 16,18).

4. Paul rightly diagnosis the human condition.: »None is righteous, no not one; none is good, no, not one« (Romans 3,10.12). We do not see world history as one that is making continual progress (Bayer Martin Luther’s Theology 103). The cure for proud vices is not an excess of virtues with the goal of tipping the scale in favor of more virtues than vices. The law of God does show us what virtues God desires from us, and that same law also accuses us. The law said what it meant and meant what it said, it damns everyone of us 100% (Harrison).

5. The gospel is the prescription to cure vices. The gospel promises what it gives and gives what it promises, it saves everyone us so that we shall live. Humility is the opposite of pride. Christ humbled Himself when He became human in the Incarnation, and His ultimate act of humility was in taking up the cross to redeem all humanity that is fallen through pride. Humility is the cure for fallen humanity turned in upon itself with pride (McInerney 105).

6. „Christ appeared among mortal sinners as the immortal Righteous One, mortal like humanity, righteous like God. Because the wages of righteousness are life and peace (Romans 6,23), being united with God by His righteousness He made void the death of justified sinners, a death which it was His will to share in common with [us]“ (Augustine Confessions X,xliii,68). The Humble Christ redeems proud humanity.

7. »We who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and..« Just bears the fruit of sanctification, the chief of which is love as the other virtues flow from it. Faith bears the good works that Paul lists in Galatians 5.

8. The exalted Christ humbles himself so as to overcome the ravages that lie in the wake of vices by bringing the virtues of love, grace and mercy to those shipwrecked by their own vices and the world’s. Christ exhorts us to follow His path: »Shine your light before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to our Father who is in heaven« (Matthew 5,16). May the Holy Spirit so sustain in us faith in Christ and produce in us the fruit of His Spirit so that by the power of the gospel our faith is active in virtues and we shine as the light of the world.

9. Even as the world fades away

with its pride and splendor,

no honor or goods remain,

which we so greatly adore:

we will at death

in the earth buried deep:

wherein we sleep,

until awakened by God’s breath.

(Von Gott will ich nicht lassen elkg 630,6 2021 Ludwig Helmbold 1563, Nuernberg 1569).

This is most certainly true.

12. Et pax Dei, quæ exuperat omnem sensum, custodiat corda vestra, et intelligentias vestras in Christo Jesu. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7). Amen.

13. Let us pray. O Heavenly Father, keep us each day in our bodies, as well as in our souls; let no accident befall us or ours; and whatever temptation crosses our path, may we be enabled to look upward and take courage, proving under every trial of faith that we are indeed faithful disciples and good soldiers of the Lord Jesus. Amen. (Trinity XIV, 2^nd Vespers Collect. The Daily Office).

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Sunday, September 15, 2024

Psalm 16,5-11. Trinity XVI

Sunday, September 8, 2024

Matthew 6,25-34. Trinity XV

Thursday, September 5, 2024

Galatians 5,16-24. Trinity XIV