Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Sunday, October 13, 2024

2. Corinthians 3,3-9. Trinity XX

2. Corinthians 3,3-9 5424

20. Trinitatis. Trinity xx 67

Colomann, Martyr in Stockerau (Vienna), Austria 1012

13. Oktober 2024

1. ℣ Yahweh our God is righteous in all His works:

℟ For we have not obeyed His Voice (Daniel 9,14b vul lxx mas).

iustus Dominus Deus noster in omnibus operibus suis: quae fecit non enim audivimus vocem eius. lxx mas

O Merciful and Loving God, let our hearts be emptied of all worldly, sinful and wicked thoughts. Fill our hearts with Your Holy Spirit, that He may create good impulses in us. Help us to remember Jesus Christ, and always to keep before our eyes the blood that He shed and His death. Amen. (Stark 405-6; English 293).

2. »And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the Living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new testament, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. «

3. The Apostle Paul uses the image of a letter in the 3^rd chapter of his epistle. The Greek Corinthians understood this image. Perhaps you learned in grade school how to write a letter; do they even teach children this nowadays? In Paul’s day, a standard Greco-Roman letter followed this general format: who it’s from, who’s the recipient, the reason for the letter, the text of the letter and a personal greeting at the end. Paul’s epistles follow this format, but he like to put a blessing at the beginning of his epistle and often had an extended greeting from himself and others at the conclusion. In his 2. Epistle to the Corinthians he wrote: »Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ« (1,2). That is a very fine greeting reminding the Corinthians who they are and whose they are: they are Christians, and they belong to Christ.

4. But the Corinthians had a number of sinful issues Paul needed to address. Most of them he writes about in his 1^st epistle; this 2^nd epistle is a follow up. He mentions a brief visit he had made earlier that did not go well. Someone had accused Paul and his companions of having ulterior motives for preaching the gospel to them. This caused Paul great pain and anguish of heart. Paul was not some peddler of God’s Word, but a man of sincerity. His only motive was to preach them the gospel of Christ and bring them the words of eternal life.

5. In Paul’s day there were competing messages of salvation. Some from the Jerusalem Church, the mother church of all the other daughter churches, were telling the Gentile Christians: the gospel is Christ’s crucified and risen from the dead and follow the covenant of Moses with its circumcision and dietary laws. Then there was every one else, including Paul, preaching: the gospel is Christ crucified and risen from the dead. Well, which is it? Christ plus the law, or solus Christus (Christ alone)? The council in Acts 15 addressed this issue and made it clear: the gospel is Christ alone. James, the brother of Jesus who was also the Bishop of Jerusalem, Paul and Peter all affirmed this. Case closed.

6. Well, not case closed. Our fallen nature is adept at reopening closed cases. It seems every generation in the Church has to deal with some faction that wants to add to the gospel. One of my seminary professors, Dr. Norman Nagel, called these additions „Christ clinchers.“ What do we want to add to Christ as evidence that can show that Christ really works (Nagel 159). These Christ clinchers are always something we must do, and our fallen nature takes great sinful pride in this. See, I’m helping Jesus! I’m doing my part! This is fine if it is regarding sanctification where we are doing good works for our neighbor, for in that the Holy Spirit helps us lead good Christian lives. But it never stays confined there; it always sneaks into the doctrine of justification, and once there it is a deadly toxin.

7. It manifests in different ways (and like a hydra when you cut off one head another one or two spring forth!). Christ started the process of my salvation, now I must finish it. Or, Christ has redeemed me, now I must work hard to prove I’m worthy of His redemption. What can I do to make Him love and forgive me more? „To insist on our merits is to rob Christ of doing it all for us. If we can do it, then Christ died unnecessarily, in vain. Paul would bring home to us the peril of diminishing or rejecting the completeness of Christ’s redemption, for if our reliance is not completely in Christ, then it is in ourselves and it is all up with us. If we are unwilling to receive all as a gift from God and would claim our due, then we shall receive the wages we claim, which is being left to ourselves by God, which is hell“ (Nagel 206).

8. „God has not given two ways of salvation—one of gift and promise and another of our getting achievements by the works of the Law. That is to make the Law contradict the gift-giving promises. God gives only the one way to His favor, which is the way of His giving and our receiving. His giving what we do not deserve is His grace. Our receiving what He gives is faith. Gods’ way is the way of gracious giving and the only response to that is our receiving, our faith“ (Nagel 206). Even our faith is not something that we have produced. Martin Luther teaches us in the 3^rd article of the Creed: I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith (Small Catechism). Yes, even our faith is God’s gift to us!

9. The repentant tax collector is one who fully trusted in God. »But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying: „God, be propitiated to me, a sinner!“ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified« (Luke 18,13-14a). The penitent insurrectionist crucified next to Jesus is another who put his trust completely in Christ. He was being executed for his heinous crimes, but sought salvation and mercy in Christ alone. »„Jesus, remember me when You come into Your reign.“ „Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise“« (Luke 23,42-43). Again Dr. Nagel put it so simply and powerfully: „No sin can now condemn us. When we ask: ‘Where are my sins?’, we look to the cross. That’s where my sins are, hanging on Jesus who answers for them and then He sees to it that His salvation is delivered to us through the means of grace: Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, Holy Communion“ (Nagel Easter 2014 interview).

10. Our Divine Service Setting III liturgy wonderfully teaches this to us. We say: I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto You all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended You and have justly deserved Your temporal and eternal punishment. And at Compline: I confess to God Almighty before the whole company of heaven and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned in thought, word and deed by my fault, by my own fault, by my most grievous fault (lsb 254). No getting around who we are and what we bring to Jesus—sinners and sin! Also no doubt what Jesus gives us—full and complete forgiveness. In Holy Baptism, He has washed away all your sins. In Holy Absolution, He forgives you all your sins. In Holy Communion, He puts His body and blood in you to eat and drink for the remission of all your sins. That’s the gospel! Nothing from us needs to be added to it, for what could we possibly add to the gospel? Nothing, because the gospel is sufficient and complete, solus Christus, in Christ alone. It was this pure gospel of Christ that finally liberated Martin Luther from the despair of his sin, and this same gospel delivers us just as completely.

11. You are saved. You are justified. You are sanctified. Christ has made it so. His gospel proclaims it. Believe it, for it is for you, in your Baptism, when you are Absolved and when you receive Holy Communion. The gospel is yours by grace and it is free on account of Christ. You can be certain of it, for Christ alone is your Savior and your Righteousness.

12. Since Christ has full atonement made

And brought to us salvation,

Each Christian therefore may be glad

And build on this foundation.

Your grace alone, dear Lord, I plead,

Your death is now my life indeed,

For You have paid my ransom.

(Salvation unto Us Has Come lsb 555,6 2006 Paul Speratus 1484-1551).

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 Lord, to Thy merciful providence we commend the wants of all mankind; cause the light of Thy glorious Gospel to shine throughout the world; bless Thy whole Church, heal the divisions of her and grant to her, the blessings of truth, unity and peace; bless our country, defend our President and all others in authority; give faith and diligence to the clergy; hear the cry of the poor and needy; bless the members, absent and present, of this household; be gracious to all our relatives and friends; and grant, O Lord, that we may all at length find rest and peace with Thy saints in Thine eternal kingdom. Amen. (Trinity XX, 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.

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Exodus 34,4-10. Trinity XIX

Exodus 34,4-10 5324

Trinity xix 66

Fides, Virgin of Agen, France and her companions, Martyrs 287

William Tyndale, English Reformer, Bible Translator and Martyr 1536

6. Oktober 2024

1. ℣ Say unto my soul, I am your Salvation:

℟ the righteous cried out, and Yahweh heard (Psalm 34,3b; 33,18a vul lxx mas).

dic animae meae salus tua ego sum: clamaverunt iusti et Dominus exaudivit. lxx

dic animae meae salus tua ego sum: clamaverunt et Dominus exaudivit. mas

O Great God, You see our condition, for nothing is hidden from Your all seeing eyes.… Our only hope is in You, for You are the Lord who heals us. Amen. (Stark 361; English transl. 260).

2. »So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as Yahweh had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. Yahweh descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the Name of Yahweh. Yahweh passed before him and proclaimed: „Yahweh, Yahweh, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in merciful steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping merciful steadfast love for thousands,forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.“ And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. And he said: „If now I have found favor in Your sight, O Adona, please let the Adona go in the midst of us, for it is an obstinate (קְשֵׁה, σκληροτραχηλος, halsstarrig) people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Your inheritance.“ And He said: „Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are will see the work of Yahweh, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.“«

3. That final statement by Moses sums up the fallen nature of humanity: »Your people, Israel, O Adona, are an obstinate people.« O how Israel grieved Yahweh from Egypt to Sinai! At the Red Sea they wailed: It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness (Exodus 14,12c). They grumbled for bread and meat, accused Moses of leading them into the wilderness to starve (Exodus 16,3). They tested Yahweh and grumbled: why did you lead us here to die of thirst (Exodus 17,2-3). They reach Sinai, receive the entire covenant – the 10 Commandments, how to build the tabernacle, what the sacrifices and declared: all the words Yahweh has spoken we will do (Exodus 24,3b) – and after Moses is gone 40 days to receive the stone tablets, they want Aaron to make an idol for them. Four months of bickering and second-guessing Yahweh and Moses; yes, Yahweh and Moses were very grieved by this.

4. Israel wanted an image of Yahweh, and Aaron made for them a golden calf – that’s Baal, not Yahweh; the covenant was clear: make no image to represent Yahweh. „When the Lord is replaced by an idol, no matter how much you pretend that it is still the Lord, the idol takes over. Here Baal takes over“ (Nagel 255).

5. What idols are in your life? In mine? It’s not difficult to identify our sins (Nagel 256). Just read through the 10 Commandments and Luther’s meanings in the Small Catechism – our sins will show be shown to us and our consciences convicted. God’s law does its work in us efficiently well. „The real job is probing the sins until you identify the idols in whose service you have done them. Who or what did you put in place of the Lord? To break any of the Commandments, you have to first break the 1^st Commandment »You shall have no other gods before Me« (Exodus 20,3) – one Lord, one sin, the root and total of all sins“ (Nagel 256). »O God, against You only have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight« (Psalm 51,4).

6. We cannot fool God, nor can He be mocked. He knows the idols we have, and more importantly He wants us to know the idols we have. He desires to be the one and only God in our lives.

7. Baal had not defended Israel from Egypt – Yahweh did. Baal did not make a covenant with Israel at Sinai – Yahweh did. The Psalms point us to Yahweh who acts for us. In the day of my trouble I call upon You, for You answer me (Psalm 86,7). Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit (Psalm 51,12). Save Your people and bless Your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever (Psalm 28,9). Will any of our idols give all of themselves to us and die for us? No, they will not. There is only one God who will do this – the Triune God: the Father sends His Son as our Savior, the Son laid down His life for us and the Holy Spirit daily points us to the Son of God. Jesus Christ suffered, died and rose for you, out of love for you, to redeem you. You are baptized in the Name of the Triune God. You receive the body and blood of Jesus. Your sins are forgiven; you are absolved.

8. As surely as you eat His body and drink His blood, you are in and are held by His covenant and His testament; you are His forgiven people (Nagel 256). These are the Triune God’s words and His promise to you. Jesus teaches that it is His Father’s will for us to be certain of His merciful steadfast love toward us. God promises us His grace and love. He ground this promise upon Christ. Et haec promissio non habet conditionem meritorum nostrorum, sed gratis offert remissionem peccatorum et iustificationem, sicut Paulus ait: Iustitia Dei iam manifestatur sine lege, id est, gratis offertur remissio peccatorum. Nec pendet reconciliatio ex nostris meritis. And this promise has no condition of our merits, but freely offers the remission of sins and justification, as Paul says: The righteousness of God is already manifested without the law, that is, the remission of sins is freely offered. Nor does reconciliation depend on our merits. (Apologia IV,41). Hear, believe and trust this promise, for it is yours in Christ Jesus.

9. Why let your mind be grim

And grieved each night and day?

Place your worries before Him

Who made you, come what may.

(Ich singe dir mit Herz und Mund elkg 581,15 2021 Paul Gerhardt 1653

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, the Giver of every good gift, we pray for our kindred and friends, and for all who are dear to us, that they may be preserved outwardly in their bodies and inwardly in their souls and that, doing Thy will and rejoicing in Thy mercy and love here, they may be partakers of Thy joy hereafter. Amen. (Trinity xix, 2^nd Vespers Collect. The Daily Office.)

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

Sunday, September 29, 2024

1. Peter 4,7-11. Trinity XVIII. Feast of St. Michael and all angels

1. Peter 4,7-11 5224

18. Trinitatis. Trinity xviii 65

Nicetas the Goth, Martyr 372

15. September 2024

1. ℣ Give a reward to those who support You:

℟ So that Your prophets may be found faithful day long (Ecclesiasticus 36,18a vul lxx mas).

Da mercedem sustinentibus te, ut prophetae tui fideles inveniantur. lxx mas

O God, rich in grace, You have granted us time to celebrate Your praises this Sunday. You give us Your Holy Word and Sacraments, that we should use them as the means of grace for our salvation. Grant that we may daily increase in stature, wisdom and piety, in the fear of God, in the knowledge of Your will and in favor with You and with all people. Amen. (Stark 39.42; English 13.14 paraphrased).

2. »The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.«

3. God the Father gives talents to every person. His intention is that we use these talents to be a blessing to, and for, our neighbor. How then do we, and will we, use the talents God gives us? Fallen men and women are prone to missuse their talents, seeking to benefit themselves at the expense of the neighbor. This turning in on ourselves corrupt us more and more over time. As the story of Cain and Abel teaches: sin crouches at the door of our heart, but we must rule over the desire of sin (Genesis 4,7). Cain let sinful desire so corrupt him that he did the unthinkable: he murdered his own brother. God exhorts us to be diligent in keeping sin from corrupting us.

4. But this is no easy task for even the most pious people in the Bible succumb to the corruption of sin which reaches its zenith when we convince ourselves that God is a harsh Diety and our enemy, rather than the gracious Giver of talents that He truly is. If we sink to this level of dispair, then the Devil dances with glee for he has turned our hearts away from the one Power in the universe that has always our best interest in His mind. Once a person perceives God the Father as a harsh enemy, then there is nothing that person won’t do to spite God.

5. Into this corrupted world where the self reigns supreme as the most important person to be benefited, the Father has sent His Only Son. This Son of God at first glance seems to be just your every day hard-working Jewish carpenter. But people quickly realized He had the wisdom of the Eternal God and the Divine authority to perform miracles. Jesus lovingly used His talents to help his neighbors.

6. The greatest gift God has given us is His very own Son who redeemed us back to His Heavenly Father by dying and rising again. On account of Jesus we receive the good gifts of this earthly life, and on account of Jesus we will receive the greater gifts of the eternal life yet to arrive. All that we do in this life: how we use the gifts God has given us and how we help our neighbor is ultimately done »in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, for to Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever!«

7. Christ Jesus is God the Father’s costly gift that He has given to us, and Jesus has redeemed us unto everlasting life. In turn, we now are Christ’s gifts to our neighbors so that they may see and know that God loves them, forgives them and is merciful to them. In all our stewardship of the gifts the Holy Spirit has given us, we glorify Christ who is the True Gift.

8. Another gift God the Father gives us is the Archangel Michael and all the angels. The Epistle to the Hebrews tells us: »Are the angels not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?« (Hebrews 1,14). The apostle asks the question and expects us to reply: yes, the angels are our ministering spirits. God’s angels love Him and delight in using their talents to serve us. They are exemplars to us of how to love God with all one’s being who minister to all His creation.

9. „The angels excel in strength. They have powers beyond our reach. They can do things we cannot even imagine. They do God’s bidding“ (Nagel 294). Have you ever had a sense of peace after praying? Or a surge of confidence and resolve during the day or night? A flash of insight or wisdom over some conundrum you’d been wrapping your brain around? God sent an angel to strengthen you, uplift you or guide you. Many times you probably didn’t utter a thought or prayer, but God sent an angel to minister to you because He knew you had a need.

10. Michael has a unique talent; he is tasked to defend God’s people. The Devil delights in tempting and thwarting Christians and Christ’s bride, the Church. When the Devil himself gets involved, Michael is also there to contend against him. The Prophet Daniel was told by an angel: »At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever« (Daniel 12,1-3).

11. Christian tradition lists 7 named archangels; some Orthodox have 8. Lutherans traditionally affirm to the first 4. Michael : Who is like God? A protector. Is found in both Testaments. Gabriel : God is my strength or Hero of God. A messenger. Is found in the Gospels. Raphael : God has healed. A healer. Tobit 12,15; 1. Enoch 20,3. He delivers prayers to God (Tobit 12,12). Is found in the apocryphal Book of Tobit. Uriel : God is my light. Is found in the apocryphal Book of 2. Esdras 4,1; 5,20

12. As Michael and the angels love and serve the Triune God, so do we love and serve the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul tells us: »Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. So now, faith, hope and love abide, but the greatest of these is love« (1. Corinthians 13,7.13). Love is the greatest, for love covers a multitude of sins (1. Peter 4,8). Jesus lived and died by this truth, for greater love has no one than this, but he lay down his life for his friends( John 15,13). (αγαπη/ν is the word used for love in these verses.)

9. Such unconditional love for our neighbor flows forth from our faith in Christ Jesus. May God send us His angels to help us protect our neighbors, proclaim the gospel to our neighbors, be of help to our neighbors and be the light of Christ to the world.

10. Now, Jesus, come and stay with me.

The work my hands have done

I entrust, dearest Savior, to Thee;

Help me finish what’s begun

For Thy Name be glorified,

And let me when it’s eventide

Receive the reward I desire.

(In Gottes Namen fang ich an elkg 769,7 2021 Salomo Liskow 1674).

This is most certainly true.

14. Let us pray. We beseech Thee, most tender Father, that Thy most living fire may purify us, that Thy most clear light may illumine us, and that Thy most pure love may so avail us that without let or hindrance of mortal things we may return to Thee in happiness and security. Amen. (Trinity XVIII, 2^nd Vespers Collect. The Daily Office).

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠