Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: March 2012

Friday, March 30, 2012

Numbers 21,4-9. Judica Sunday

In the Name of Jesus

Numbers 21,4-9 2112

Judika (5. Sonntag der Passionszeit) „Vindicate me“ 028

† The Annunciation of our Lord †

Dismas, the penitent insurrectionist at Christ’s right hand

25. March 2012

1. We beseech You, Almighty God, govern and preserve us, Your holy people, for the trials and tribulations of this world are numerous and great. Grant us mercy, and protect us from the world and the devil. May we show mercy to our neighbors in their time of need. Make our days good and peaceful. Amen.

2. From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses: „Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.“ Then Yahweh sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said: „We have sinned, for we have spoken against Yahweh and against you. Pray to Yahweh, so that He take away the serpents from us.“ So Moses prayed for the people. And Yahweh said to Moses: „Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, will live.“ So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

3. The Psalmist proclaims: »Vindicate us, O God, and defend our cause against an ungodly people, hope in God; for we will again praise Him, our salvation and our God.« (Psalm 43,2a.5). Throughout the pages of Holy Scripture the Heilsgeschichte (salvation history) of God is unfolded as He rescues and redeems His people from their enemies. Our First Reading this morning from Genesis 22 shows us how all the way back in history with Abraham, Yahweh intended to redeem the world through a human sacrifice. By commanding Abraham to offer up his only-begotten son as a sacrifice, Yahweh showed through Abraham and Isaac how He would one day redeem all of fallen humanity by sending His Only-begotten Son, Jesus, to be our sacrifice. Abraham and Isaac were a type of redemption that was fulfilled by God the Father and Jesus.

4. Another redemptive type is found in Numbers 21. The people of Israel had sinned against God and Moses. As punishment, Yahweh sent venomous snakes among the people and many were bitten and were dying. First Yahweh chastised His people with the law to show them their sin, then He sent them a savior from their sin and death. Thus Yahweh commanded Moses: »Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when they see it, will live.« The people were stricken in the Sinai Wilderness, but God saved His people from their sin. A thousand years later Jesus explained to Nicodemus the Pharisee how the bronze serpent in the Sinai will soon be fulfilled by a new savior outside of Jerusalem: »As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life and enter into the reign of God« (John 3,14-15.5). Later when entertaining some Greek visitors, Jesus proclaimed: »When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to Myself. Jesus said this to show by what kind of death He was going to die.« (John 12,32-33).

5. Behold, the redemptive price for your sin! The bronze serpent wrapped around the pole pointed the way to the Christ nailed to the cross. The Holy Gospels proclaim that Jesus was crucified. The Greek verb is ἐσταύρωσαν (Mark 15,25; Luke 24,20; John 19,18), σταυρώσαντες (Matthew 27,35 ) and ἐσταυρωμένον (1. Corinthians 2,2), and it applied to many different forms of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead. There were different methods of crucifixion from impaling on a stake, to affixing to a tree, to an upright pole (crux simplex) or a combination of an upright pole (stipes) and a crossbeam (patibulum). In some cases, the condemned was forced to carry the crossbeam on his shoulders to the place of execution. A whole cross would weigh in at 300 pounds (135 kg), but the crossbeam would not be quite as burdensome, weighing around 75–125 pounds (35–60 kg). The Roman historian Tacitus records that the city of Rome had a specific place for carrying out executions, situated outside the Esquiline Gate, and had a specific area reserved for the execution of slaves by crucifixion. The Holy Gospels also inform us that the Romans had established a crucifixion site outside the city walls of Jerusalem known as Golgotha, Calvary, the Place of a Skull (Matthew 27,33; Mark 15,22; Luke 23,33; John 19,17). Upright posts would presumably be fixed permanently in that place, and the crossbeam, with the condemned person perhaps already nailed to it, would then be attached to the post. Common cross shapes were T, X and Y. Frequently, the legs of the person executed were broken or shattered with an iron club, an act called crurifragium so as to hasten death.

6. Behold, Christ Jesus set upon a cross, and everyone who is dying from sin, when you look upon Him, you will live! Christ crucified is the payment for sin, and this payment is given out to you each Lord’s Day in the preached Word, in your Baptism in God’s Triune Name, in the forgiving words of the Absolution and in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. The bronze serpent in the wilderness only saved God’s people from one specific illness at a particular time in history. The crucified Christ outside Jerusalem saves people from every sin each and every day in the year, decade after decade, century after century, millennia after millennia.

7. »Abraham was to have sacrificed his only Son Isaac on Mt. Moriah, and thus he called the name of that place: »Yahweh will provide, forit is said to this day: „On the mount of Yahweh it will be provided.“« (Genesis 22,14). On Mt. Zion God the Father sacrificed His Only-begotten Son, and thus He called the name of that place: Yahweh has provided, for it is said to this day: „On the mount of Christ it has been provided.“„Thus Christ’s soul was grieved unto death so that we might rejoice forever. Christ sweated bloody sweat and struggled in the throes of death so that we need never despair in the agony of death. Christ was lead into captivity so that we would not have to be eternally captive to the Devil. Christ was bound so that He could rescue us from the bonds of sin and hell. ... Christ was falsely accused so that the law could not accuse us before God’s judgment. ... Christ was sentenced and condemned to death so that we do not end up in eternal death. Christ carried the burden of the cross so that He could lift the burden of eternal punishment from us“ (Gerhard 25-26).

8. This is the message of the gospel that we preach and proclaim unto our neighbors and the world. This is the message that saves people from their sins and grants them life everlasting. God in Christ has provided for you, and He will daily provide for you. Christ is your Redeemer and your Ransom. He is the New Isaac and the Ram of Moriah. Christ is your Providence and your Prudence.

9. God’s judgment has been satisfied in the crucified Christ, and He has vindicated you. Your sins are forgiven. The gates of heaven have been opened. Eternal life is now yours, and it is yours through Christ Jesus. I tell you the absolute truth, if you believe Christ’s word, then you will never see eternal death (John8,51). Amen.

10. Let us pray. O Jesus Christ, the Son of Man who serves mankind; help us to trust Your precious gospel that teaches us that You gave Your life as our ransom from sin so that we may endure the rants and ridicule of this world toward those who believe in You as their Savior. Amen.

One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you!

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

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Philippians 1,15-21. Laetare Sunday

In the Name of Jesus

Philippians 1,15-21 2012
Lätare (4. Sonntag der Passionszeit) 027
Alexander, Bishop of Jerusalem, Martyr 251
18. March 2012

1. O Gracious Father, whose Blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the True Bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this Bread, so that Christ may live in us, and we in Him (Book of Common Prayer). Amen.

2. Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

3. The city of Philippi was a unique city. The city was founded in Greek Macedonia by King Philip II in 356 B.C. The Romans conquered the city in 42 B.C., and Emperor Octavian (27 B.C. - A.D. 14) established it as a Roman colony with equal status to cities in Italy and free from direct taxation. Philippi soon became a popular haven where retired Roman soldiers chose to live. Paul visited the city during his second missionary journey (49-51), and a church was soon established. Paul returned to Philippi during his third missionary journey (52-55).

4. The Apostle Paul wrote his Epistle to the Philippians and three other letters (Ephesians, Colossians and Philemon) while in Rome as a prisoner. In 55, Jewish authorities arrested Paul in the temple. The judicial process lagged on for three years, and finally Paul exercised his right as a Roman citizen to have his case heard by the emperor himself. Once in Rome, Emperor Nero (54-68) waited another two years before he heard Paul’s case. While in Rome, Paul was under house arrest and chained to a Roman guard. He could thus travel about the city, receive guests and continue his ministry, all under the watchful eyes of his military guard.

5. As an apostle, Paul was living the very words Christ Jesus had spoken to His apostles: »Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life« (John 12,25). Paul was imprisoned on account of preaching Christ crucified, for he wrote the Philippians: »it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard, and to all the rest, that my imprisonment is for Christ« (1,13). As Paul awaited his judicial audience with Nero, Roman opinion of Christians began to simmer and then boil with antipathy. In his Annals, Tacitus (56-117) describes Christians and their faith as: „a class hated for their abominations ... and a most destructive superstition“ (Tacitus 15,44). A contemporary of Tacitus, Pliny the Younger (61-112) lists the abominable Christian practices as: gathering before dawn on Sunday to worship Christ as a god, promising to obey the Commandments and celebrating the Lord’s Supper (Pliny to the Emperor Trajan). Such were the tribulations the Church suffered in the middle of the first century.

6. The Apostle Paul knew that: »the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us, and that for those who love God all things work together for good« (Romans 8,18-28). If Paul lived, then it was more opportunity for him to preach Christ; but if Paul was executed, then he gained eternal life in heaven. Paul, therefore, saw his imprisonment as a win:win situation, and he used every opportunity at his disposal to preach Christ crucified.

7. Segments of American Christianity have forgotten that the gospel and the Christian life is all about Christ. We gather this morning in comfort and wealth without fear of being rounded up and thrown in jail for worshipping Jesus as the Christ. Many Christians in Asia, the Middle East and Africa do not enjoy such religious liberty. Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani has been in an Iranian prison for three years because he renounced Islam and converted to the Christian faith when he was a child. 50,000 Christians are killed each year (1.5 million since 1984) in Sudan by the Janjaweed (the Arab Muslim militia). Every year, 200 million Christians in over 60 countries are denied fundamental human rights solely because of their Christian faith (Yogarajah 86). Christians, therefore, are the most persecuted group in the world (D’Emillo).

8. In spite of trials, persecutions and martyrdom of Christians here and around the world, the Christian faith continues to spread and flourish. Christianity numbers more converts to the faith per year than any other religion. Truly, truly, I say to you: When the gospel is proclaimed, then the Holy Spirit creates faith. Persecuted Christians remain steadfast in their faith because Christ remains the Solid Cornerstone and Unshakable Foundation of His Church. Jesus speaks of His fidelity and faithfulness to His apostles: » The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Now My soul is troubled. And what shall I say? „Father, save Me from this hour“? But for this purpose I have arrived for this hour. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, then I will draw all people to Myself« (John 12,23.27.31-32). The hour Jesus spoke of was His crucifixion, and the ruler that was cast out was the devil.

9. Therefore, we should not be surprised that Christians are persecuted. Christ’s resurrection proved the devil’s downfall. His rule over sinners on this earth had been broken. He has been thrown out of heaven. The devil is angry, and he cannot regain what he has had taken away by Jesus. So the devil unleashes his fury against Christ’s people. He harasses them, persecutes them and martyrs them (Revelation 12) through his devils and the wicked people of the world.

10. We are not discouraged by the devil’s raging. Christ’s hour is the hour of His glory. What is Christ’s is yours. His hour is your hour of salvation. His glory is your glory of eternal life. Thus the Apostle Paul exhorts us that whether you live or die, are at peace or are persecuted, you are Christ’s (Romans 14,8), and as Christ’s He honors you in your body. While you live, you proclaim the grace of Christ. When you die, you gain entrance into Christ’s heavenly reign. The world with all its enticements cannot offer any gift so precious or invaluable as the gift of security and salvation that Christ gives to His Church. You are Christ’s, and He is yours. Rejoice and be glad, for in Christ you have life and peace, now and always. Amen.

11. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, the Heavenly Grain who fell into the earth and died; send us the Holy Spirit so that living in the reality of Your death and resurrection we bear the fruit of good works that are a blessing in this troubled world. Amen.

One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you!

D’Emillo, Frances. „Pope calls Christians the most persecuted“. 16. December 2010. Associated Press.

Yogarajah, Godfrey. „Disinformation, discrimination, destruction and growth: A case study on persecution of Christians in Sri Lanka“. International Institute for Religious Freedom, Vol. 1, Issue 1, 2008.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

1. Peter 1,(13-17) 18-21. Oculi Sunday

In the Name of Jesus

1. Peter 1,(13-17) 18-21 1912

Okuli (3. Sonntag der Passionszeit) 026 „My eyes“

Eulogius, Priest in Cordova, Spain. Martyr 859

11. March 2012

1. We beseech You, Almighty God, look upon the hearty desires of Your humble servants, and stretch forth the right hand of Your Majesty, to be our defense against all our enemies (Book of Common Prayer). Amen.

2. Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written: „You will be holy, for I am holy“ (Leviticus 20,26). And if you call on Him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

3. Our Gospel pericope for today ends with Jesus saying to those called to follow Him: »No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the reign of God« (Luke 9,62). Jesus applied an old farmer’s proverb to describe the reign of God. Perhaps a 21. century equivalent will make more sense to you: No one who drives a car by looking over his shoulder behind him is fit for the reign of God. Just as driving by looking behind you instead of forward is going to quickly lead to an accident, so also if one constantly looks back to where Jesus has been instead of forward to where He is going will completely make a wreck of his or her Christianity.

4. Luke 9,51 is the turning point in Jesus’ ministry: »When the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up, He set His face to go to Jerusalem«. While in Jerusalem, Jesus would be betrayed, arrested, condemned and crucified. The Apostle Peter explains Christ’s passion this way: »you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers«.

5. Men and women are born into futility. We are born sinners with original sin, and thus our three great sins are: we do not fear, love or trust God. We exchanged God’s holiness for our own. We love and trust ourselves at the expense of our neighbors. We look around at the moral fortitude of our society and lament how did things get so bad in America. „We have met the enemy, and he is us“ Walt Kelly famously punned in his 1970 comic strip Pogo. Kelly perfectly sums up the foibles of mankind and the nature of the human condition. The reason our nation lacks moral fortitude, and the world lacks godly virtues, is because we sinners have caused it to be this way; we have allowed evil and immorality to advance. „The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing“ (Edmund Burke). [When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle. Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents, 1770]

6. God the Father does not tolerate evil. He will not allow wickedness to triumph. God the Father, therefore, sent a good man to triumph over evil. God sent His very own Son to this earth to overcome evil. Jesus has not eliminated evil nor confined the devil to prison, but Jesus has overcome evil and the devil. Jesus has paid the ransom price to redeem us back to our Heavenly Father. Jesus did not use silver or gold to pay our ransom price. Our sinfulness is so great and our fallenness so devastating that there is not enough money in all the world to pay off the debt of sin we owe before God Almighty. The current American debt is over 15 trillion dollars. That’s an unfathomable, astronomical figure, and each person’s debt of sin is infinitely more than $15 trillion.

7. An infinite debt requires an infinite credit to pay it off in full. No mere man could carry such a debt, therefore God Himself, in the Person of His Son, came to this earth to shoulder mankind’s infinite debt of sin. Christ, our Lord, did not arrive upon this earth with the full treasury of heaven to buy our redemption. Christ brought to this earth something more precious than all the gold of heaven: Jesus was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary so that He became Man. Jesus’ Divine nature was personally united to His very human body and blood at the incarnation. As Man, Jesus could be the human redeeming sacrifice for all sins, and as God Jesus could pay the enormous debt of sin. You have been »ransomed with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot«.

8. Jesus arrived from heaven to fulfill the Law. In Leviticus Yahweh declared: »You will be holy, for I am holy«. Jesus will have nothing but perfection for His creation, and so He Himself ensured that His creation indeed is holy. The shed blood of Jesus has made you holy.

Luther summarizes this method of holiness in his Small Catechism: „I believe that Jesus Christ, True God, begotten of the Father in eternity, and also a true man, born of the virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, has purchased and won me from all sins, from death and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, so that I may belong to Him, live under Him in His reign and serve Him in eternal righteousness, innocence and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead and lives and rules eternally. This is most certainly true“ (BKS 511).

9. Christ Jesus is your holiness and your righteousness. He gives you all this freely by His grace, and you receive it by faith. The Apostle Paul writes: »The righteous will live by faith« (Romans 1,17). You are holy by faith. This faith clings solely to Christ and His blessed merits. The Apostle Peter is talking about this very faith alone in his epistle. He tells us that only Christ has redeemed us. And Christ hasn’t redeemed you with gold or silver, but He has redeemed you with His very own precious blood. Christ offered up His own life as the redemption price to set you free. Since you are justified by faith alone and you are made righteous on account of Christ’s vicarious atonement on the cross, therefore you are fit for the reign of God.

10. We are halfway through Lent, and Jesus is methodically journeying up to Jerusalem where His cross awaits Him. He has set His hands upon the plow, does not look back, but keeps His eyes forward toward the goal of redeeming men and women. Christ is the Light of the world, and He is therefore your light, so that in Him you may also walk as children of the glorious light of God. Yahweh promises in His word: »I forgive your iniquity and I remember your sin no more« (Jeremiah 31,34), for »as far as the east is from the west so far have I removed your transgressions from you« (Psalm 103,12). Truly His merciful eyes are upon each and every day. Amen.

11. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, who stretched out Your hands to be nailed to the cross, guide our hands and order our steps as we live in Your glorious reign so that we may be able to tell of Your wondrous love and gracious forgiveness to our neighbors. Amen.

One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you!

Isaiah 5,1-7. Reminiscere Sunday

In the Name of Jesus

Isaiah 5,1-7 1812

Reminiscere (2. Sonntag der Passionszeit) 025 „Remember“

Lucius, Bishop of Rome, Martyr 253

4. March 2012

1. O Heavenly Father, You gave us Your Holy Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, Your only and beloved Son, who paid for our sins on the cross. Your Church is tempted to usurp the vineyard from You and plant her own doctrine and practice that is centered on man rather than the Triune God. Send forth pastors to be prophets in Your Church who will call to repentance the Church and all Christians who have strayed from Your word and will. Bring them again with penitent hearts to be steadfast in the faith and to embrace the unchangeable truth of Jesus Christ, Your Son. Amen.

2. Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning His vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He 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. Now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between Me and My vineyard. What 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? And 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. I 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. For the vineyard of Yahweh Sabaoth 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 compared Israel to Yahweh’s vineyard. Yahweh had made Israel the choicest of His vineyards, and after all His meticulous care for the nation, Israel nevertheless yielded wild grapes instead of the expected grapes, meaning that Israel time and again rebelled against Yahweh and His prophets. Israel opted more often than not to worship the idols held in high esteem by the nations around them. The result was devastating: instead of justice, bloodshed flowed; instead of righteousness, the outcry of widows, orphans and the outcasts who suffered under the contempt of their neighbors.

4. Yahweh was not pleased with His precious vineyard Israel, for they were violating the covenant and harming their neighbors. So Yahweh sent Israel prophets and righteous kings to lead the nation back to His covenant. The people rejected His prophets and reveled in their idolatry, so Yahweh removed His protective hand from His chosen people. First, the ten tribes in the north, Israel, fell into Assyrian Captivity in 721 B.C.; then the two tribes in the south, Judah, fell into Babylonian Captivity in 587 B.C. Seventy years later, Yahweh replanted His vineyard in Judah.

5. Six centuries later, Judah’s intractable stance toward Yahweh and His prophets had again degenerated. O to be sure, the rites of the temple and the covenant were carried out, but when Yahweh sent new prophets, the Pharisees, rabbis and priests were apathetic towards John the Baptizer and Jesus.

6. Faith is created by the gospel of Christ crucified for the sin of the world. When this gospel is watered down, then faith suffers and works become wild and sour. We find this to be the sad state of reality in various areas of Christendom. In many places Yahweh’s precious vineyard, the Church, is just as corrupt as 6. century Israel. The builders have again rejected Christ the Cornerstone (Psalm 118,22).

7. The Church is constantly rent with heresies. Yahweh’s people keep telling Him how He should do His business, and His people are tempted to imagine that God is here to supply what they want and claim they deserve (Nagel 90). But Yahweh will not be such a God for us (Nagel 90). That would be the end of Him and the end of His people (Nagel 90). He did not bring us out of the slavery to sin, death and the devil so He could be a new slaveowner and have us as His slaves (Nagel 90). Yahweh would have you as His holy people, free and rejoicing in the confidence of His testament and His gospel (Nagel 90).

8. But we, the sinners we are, often re-enslave ourselves from that which our gracious Christ has set us free. When our eyes are diverted from the crucified Christ, all sorts of problems arise. Good morals may not be legislated by the U.S. Congress, and morality is not pounded into peoples’ hearts by a preacher thundering from the pulpit. The law will only keep us in line for a short time before our sinful nature reverts back to immoral behavior and ideals. For example, a police officer might pull over a driver speeding through a school zone and warn him or her to slow down. The driver will keep his or her speed in check for a few days or so, but a week later that same driver will be observed once again speeding through the school zone without a care for the children, parents and crossing guards whose safety his or her dangerous driving threatens. If people cannot follow simple speed limit laws, why should we expect far weightier matters such as the life of unborn children to be effectively legislated.

9. Good morality properly flows from the gospel. When the gospel is rightly preached, the gospel that proclaims the free forgiveness of sins only on account of the crucified Christ, then peoples’ lives are changed. The American institution of slavery was not abolished by Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in his 1863 executive order, but slavery began to unravel as Christian men and women who heard the pure gospel of Christ crucified realized that if Christ died to set all men and women free from sin, then how can men of good conscience allow such freed men to be enslaved by Southern plantation owners. Men and women who had the gospel of Christ crucified burning in their hearts petitioned their civil representatives and voted at their polling places for the institution of slavery to finally be brought to an end.

10. The gospel proclaims liberty to those held captive by sin; the gospel changes the lives of people and effects the course of society. This is the gospel: »For while you were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For God shows His love for you in that while you were still sinners, Christ died for you. Since, therefore, you have now been justified by His blood, much more shall you be saved by Him from the wrath of God. For if while you were enemies you were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that you are reconciled, shall you be saved by His life« (Romans 5,6-10).

11. The Prophet Isaiah describes how Yahweh gave His people every rich blessing, but Judah stubbornly did their own thing to God’s consternation. What Jesus speaks about in today’s Gospel parable is the refusal of God’s gifts, taking them over as if they were ours by right or by our measures and not as gifts (Nagel 91). Gifts cease to be gifts when we think in terms of „the inheritance will then be ours“ (Nagel 91). Lent reminds us that it is not about demanding our inheritance right now like the prodigal son. Lent reminds us that it is not about fasting or other pious activities done in order to please God. Lent is about looking to Jesus and following Him. Jesus teaches in the Gospels that His way is the way that ends at the cross with Jesus hanging lifeless on a Friday afternoon. This crucified Christ is God the Father’s most precious gift to us. The Prophet Isaiah calls Jesus the Suffering Servant and the one who bears all your sins. Many rejected this gracious gift in Jesus’ day, and many still reject this gift today. Jesus, however, is not deterred. He is the heir of His Father’s vineyard, and He will not give up His vineyard (Nagel 91). Jesus will not give up on you. Jesus says: I am yours, and you are Mine. His vineyard, and more than vineyard, deeper than into death for a friend, deeper than bread and wine (Nagel 92). Jesus is your sacrifice. It is His body and blood that He gives into you (Nagel 92). Come and receive His gifts, His forgiveness, His inheritance, in the sacramental feast of His Supper that has been prepared for you this day. Amen.

12. Let us pray. O Heavenly Father, You show His love for us in that Jesus Christ died for us while we were still sinners, may we never stumble over this proclamation nor reject this great gift of grace so that we may remain in the Christian faith unto eternal life. Amen.

One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you!

Saturday, March 3, 2012

2. Cornthians 6,1-10. Invocavit Sunday

In the Name of Jesus

2. Corinthians 6,1-10 1712

Invokavit (1. Sonntag der Passionszeit) 024 „He will call“

Nestor, Bishop at Sida in Pamphylia, Turkey. Martyr 250

26. February 2012

1. O Lord, our Refuge and Fortress, we live in a world twisted by sin and corrupted by wickedness. We can only blame our own sinful selves for this pathetic state. We are daily in sore need of You to rescue us, and we trust in You alone for You are our Shield and Defender against sin, death and the devil. Amen.

2. Working together with Christ, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For God says: »In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.« [Isaiah 49,8] Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as slaves of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights and hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit and genuine love; by truthful speech and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet we are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.

3. The Church entered the season of Lent this past week on Ash Wednesday. The average person associates Lent with fasting from meat or giving something up, but Lent is more than such pious disciplines. Ash Wednesday begins the Church on the path of Lent with its focus on the suffering and death of Christ that will culminate with Holy Week and the Triduum. On Invocavit Sunday, the First Sunday in Lent, the Gospel Reading shows us how Jesus suffered three temptations from the devil.

4. The Apostle Paul writes in his 2. Epistle to the Corinthians: »In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.« The holy apostle is quoting the Prophet Isaiah, the Holy Gospel describes how Jesus endured temptations as part of His ministry to save us. Lent, then, focuses our attention on Yahweh’s Heilsgeschichte (salvation history). Paul preached the gospel of this salvation throughout the Roman Empire, including the Greek city of Corinth. This proclamation was not easy, for Paul lists the dangers inherent in the apostolic office: great endurance, afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights and hunger. Such trials attended the apostles as they preached the gospel, but nevertheless the gospel created faith in each location the apostles preached.

5. Lent reminds us that trials and hardships are part and parcel for the Christian life. Our First Reading from Genesis reminds us that our trials began with the fall. »Yahweh God said: „Behold, the man has become like one of Us in knowing good and evil“« (Genesis 3,21). Yahweh had created Adam and Eve with a knowledge of good, for they perfectly knew and did the will of God. They were, however, blissfully ignorant of evil, and that was how God intended it at their creation. Mankind was not ready for the knowledge of evil, but Adam and Eve thought they were wiser than God and took for themselves that knowledge. Mankind had rebelled against Yahweh, yielded up original righteousness for original sin and thus became ensnared to the wily temptations of the devil.

6. In spite of Yahweh’s promise to redeem His fallen creation, Genesis and the rest of the Old Testament unfold one sin after another. Trials afflicted God’s people, temptations seduced them to the dark side of sin and the devil tirelessly worked to thwart Yahweh’s Heilsgeschichte. And yet, Yahweh’s plan to save mankind marched forward with each succeeding patriarchal generation. Then the Apostle Paul describes the fulfillment in his Epistle to the Galatians: »But when the fullness of time had come, God the Father sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we shall receive adoption as sons« (Galatians 4,4-5).

7. Born with human flesh and born under the law put Jesus, the Son of God, in our place complete with trials, hardships and tribulations. Jesus is the Son of God, but He was treated as an imposter and a blasphemer; He is the Word made flesh who dwelt among us, but He was not known as God by many people; Jesus is the Life of the world, but He was crucified, died and was buried; He brought the Heavenly Father’s pure grace and mercy into this fallen world, and yet Jesus’ spirit was sorrowful over the many who rejected the gospel; He is rich, yet Jesus became poor for our sakes; He has all the treasures of heaven, but He set them all aside for a time so as to come to this earth; Jesus was bruised for your iniquities and crushed for your transgressions.

8. In Genesis, the first Adam was from the earth, and Adam disobeyed God the Father; we bear his fallen image of original sin. The second Adam is from heaven, and Jesus obeyed God the Father in all things; we bear bear His Divine image of original righteousness (1. Corinthians 15,47-49). This is why Paul and the other apostles bore the back-breaking hardships of proclaiming the gospel, for they knew the greater joy that is our inheritance in Christ Jesus. »For as by a man came death, so by a man has come the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive« (1. Corinthians 15,21-22).

9. Yahweh did not give up on His fallen creation, and He does not give up on you. By the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve tried to become wise like God. This knowledge is imperfect and perverted in mankind. Worldly hardships, wars and devastation have resulted in mankind’s misguided rebellion. But now by the tree of the cross, Jesus gives you the gift of the tree of life, which is eternal life in God’s majestic presence.

10. The gift of Divine knowledge is not something Yahweh wanted to withhold from men and women. Yahweh created Adam and Eve in His Divine image and likeness. He did not want the Divine knowledge taken by mankind in rebellious selfishness as a right to be demanded, but the Triune God wanted to give His Divine knowledge to Adam and Eve as a loving gift to be received by them in loving thankfulness.

11. This gift is given to us in Christ Jesus our Savior. He was born into this earth to suffer hardship. He was tempted as you are, but He did not sin (Hebrews 4,15). He overcame every temptation thrown at Him by the devil, and in overcoming him released us from the the satanic death-grip the devil had on each one of us. So when the world, your fallen flesh and the devil tempt you to sin, turn to Christ who is your Strength. When you fall into sin, immediately turn unto Christ who is your Savior.

12. Behold the fruit of the gospel: »We are treated as impostors, and yet we are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything«. You have this gift in Christ. Amen.

13. O Lord Jesus, You appeared to destroy the works of the devil; send us the Holy Spirit to guide us along Your holy path during Lent so that by traveling with You to the cross we see the joy of eternal life that is Your pure gift to us. Amen.

One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you!

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Friday, March 30, 2012

Numbers 21,4-9. Judica Sunday

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Philippians 1,15-21. Laetare Sunday

Sunday, March 11, 2012

1. Peter 1,(13-17) 18-21. Oculi Sunday

Isaiah 5,1-7. Reminiscere Sunday

Saturday, March 3, 2012

2. Cornthians 6,1-10. Invocavit Sunday