Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: August 2012

Monday, August 20, 2012

Galatians 2,16-21. 11th Sunday after Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

Galatians 2,16-21 4412

11. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 056

Gebald, hermit near Nürnberg, 8^th or 11^th c.

19. August 2012

1. O Triune God, our Fount of mercy. We ask You: Come and dwell among us. Come and create new life. Have mercy on Your Church. Live among us and speak through us. Have mercy on all, those who are baptized, the bishops and pastors. Come and breath upon our congregation, for the spiritual and diaconal communities in Your Church, for the Church throughout the world. Breathe upon us the righteousness of Jesus. Amen.

2. We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because no one will be justified by works of the law. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

3. The Apostle Paul is perhaps the most eloquent of the apostles in speaking about justification. Paul’s words are simple yet deeply profound. Can he state it any clearer? »A person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ«. This pure message of the gospel grates and irritates our human pride. We enjoy being in control and having a say in our lives. Our minds falsely reason: if I have sinned against God Almighty, then it is my responsibility to merit His forgiveness by my good deeds and intentions. We don’t even have to invent our own works, for God’s law clearly tells us to love God and love our neighbors. Did not Jesus Himself tell the rich young man: do these works of the 10 Commandments and you will merit eternal life (Matthew 19,17)?

4. Paul clearly teaches that we cannot earn righteousness by obeying the law. The Commandments clearly give us a God-pleasing guide for righteous living, but those same Commandments are an unrelenting taskmaster that always demands more and more from us. Jesus taught the same. The rich young man prided himself in perfectly keeping the law, but Jesus exhorted him to an even higher legal standard: well and good, now sell all your wealth, give it to the poor and follow Me. The apostles asked Jesus how many times a day should they forgive someone who has wronged them. They offered the gracious number seven. Surely seven times a day is sufficient forgiveness to extend to a sinner, but Jesus raised that legal number exponentially higher: no, not seven times a day, but forgive him 490 times in a day! Read the Beatitudes. There Jesus demands ever higher standards of law-keeping. We should love our friends; yes, Jesus responds, but even more should you love your enemies. Skin for skin, right Jesus? Do unto others as they do unto you. Jesus declares, no: if someone slaps your cheek, offer the other one to be stuck too. If someone asks for your shirt, give them your coat also. If you are asked to help someone for a mile, go another mile to get them help. We cannot earn righteousness by doing the law, because once we think we have mastered all that is required, Jesus raises the bar ever higher.

5. Those who seek to earn God’s good favor by their good works of the law are destined for a great fall and a searing judgment. When a person, no matter how well-intentioned, seeks to merit righteousness and justification, then he or she is found to be immediately at odds with Jesus and His way of meriting righteousness upon men and women.

6. The way of righteousness, the way of justification, is the way of the cross. Jesus merits our righteousness. Jesus justifies us, and He does so by suffering and dying on the cross.

7. Christ crucified answers the age-long question: What does God think of me? If God does not reveal Himself to fallen humanity, then we do not know where we ultimately stand before Him. Is God angry at us? Will He overlook our sinfulness? And how will He do this? What is my part in this as I stand before Him? When God is hidden, then there is uncertainty, and uncertainty leads to fear of God and what His ultimate judgment may be.

8. The crucified Christ shows us the revealed God in all His wonderful, merciful love. God thinks so much of us that He punished His own Son so that our salvation would be secured. God is no longer angry at us, for His anger has been poured out in full upon Jesus, and Jesus shows us the friendly heart of our Heavenly Father. God has and will overlook our sinfulness because Jesus has paid the ransom price for our sin. Our part is to stand before God’s throne with humble thanks as we receive by faith His final verdict that we are righteous in His sight on account of Jesus.

9. „Jesus did not come to add one legalistic straw to camel’s back; he came to die for us and to bring new life in the resurrection. We do not have to believe Jesus or his teachings because he is divine or sent from God. That would make him only a new Moses. Jesus is our Savior. Believe is not a matter of „have to“. Jesus is not a law-giver. He is the one who comes to set us free so that we will want to believe. So he comes to die under the law to redeem those who are under the law“ (Forde 81).

10. God would have us righteous. The law teaches a righteousness of „do this, and live“, but that same law brutally reveals that we cannot do these good and holy commandments, therefore we shall not live eternally. The gospel reveals the very same righteousness of the law, but the gospel tells us to believe in Jesus the Righteous One and you will live eternally. The Apostle Paul said it this way: »The Son of God loved us and gave Himself for us«. And again: »The gospel is the power of salvation to everyone who believes. For the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel beginning and ending in faith, as it has been written, »The righteous will live by faith.«« (Romans 1,16-17). This faith hears the absolution of God, I forgive you, and believes that the forgiveness purchased on the cross is for you.

11. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, our Righteousness, make known Your saving work of the cross and the empty tomb so that we may call upon Your name and give thanks to You, our Justification. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

✠

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.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Romans 9,1-5.31-10,4. 10. Sunday after Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

Romans 9,1-5.31-10,4 4312

10. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 055

Clara of Assisi, Italy, Abbess, † 1253

12. August 2012

1. O Heavenly Father, You loved humanity in spite of our rebellious nature. You exhort us to pray, but many times we do not pray as we should. We know, however, that our borough desperately needs our prayers. Guide us, then, and teach us to pray for our community and neighbors. We begin with the Lord's Prayer and offer up specific petitions for the needs of those in our midst so that Your mercy and love are are manifested to Your great glory. Amen.

2. I am speaking the truth in Christ﹣I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit﹣that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. But Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written: »Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.« (Isaiah 8,14) Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

3. The Apostle Paul uncovers the false premise in all the world religions: »Being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness«. In Paul’s day, Judaism wrongly merited righteousness based upon the works of the law. In Paul’s day, the scribes and Pharisees taught this very obedience to the law unto righteousness. Their premise was: since Yahweh gave us the law at Sinai, He intends for us to perfectly keep this law. To ensure that the Ten Commandments were kept, the Pharisees enforced the 613 statements and principles of law, ethics and spiritual practice contained in the Five Books of the Bible. If all these hundreds of laws were kept, then one would merit the perfect obedience of the law. But it was worse. In Paul’s day the Pharisees argued about such minutia as how many tassels should hang from one’s garment? Was it three or four? Furthermore, how long should these tassels be? What constituted work on the Sabbath? Could you pull your cow out of the ditch if she got stuck? The Pharisees allowed this action, but they criticized Jesus when He healed people on the Sabbath.

4. Such strict enforcement of the law eventually leads to two outcomes. One either becomes despondent at the utter inability to keep the law perfectly day after day and year after year. Or one becomes so convinced that keeping the law is possible that one becomes a Pharisee who outwardly follows the laws and takes great pride in this daunting accomplishment. Needless to say, not to many Pharisees became Christians, but hundreds and thousands of destitute sinners did.

5. Luke records the multitudes of Jews converting to Christianity in the first months and years of the Church. »So those who received Peter’s word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved« (Acts 2,41.47). »But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand« (Acts 4,4). »And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women« (Acts 5,14). »And the Word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. (Acts 6,7)«

6. Did you catch that last phrase from Luke? Many of the Jewish priests became Christians. These priests realized that the crucified Christ is the fulfillment of the sacrificial laws that governed the temple. The Lamb of God has taken the place of all the lambs of God. His blood has purchased the world’s forgiveness.

7. Unrighteous sinners need the righteous of God. This righteousness cannot be earned by obeying the commandments. This righteousness cannot be merited by doing things we think are pleasing to God. This righteousness is given only by God in Christ. The Apostle Paul summarizes it this way: »Righteousness is pursued by faith, for Christ is the end of the law so that all who believe shall be justified« (9,32.10,4).

8. In Christ, we see that God the Father desires to save every one, whether that person is a Jew or Gentile. God doesn’t designate some to damnation and others to salvation (Epitome 11¶19). The reason for condemnation lies in that people don’t hear God’s Word at all, but willfully despise it, plugging their ears and their heart and therefore block the Holy Spirit’s ordinary path, so that He can’t carry out His work in them, or if they have listened to it, they toss it to the wind and don’t pay any attention to it. The fault, then, doesn’t lie with God, His Word or His election, but the fault lies with their own guilty spite (Epitome 11¶12).

9. Here we see the great mercy and love of our God. The Holy Spirit has brought the gospel into our midst. We have heard God’s Word and the Spirit has created faith in our hearts. We are God’s people, individuals who are a part of Israel, or as the apostles call it in in the New Testament, the Church. We can rejoice with the many blessings God has given us. This is our Bible, our stories and our ancestors in the faith. The adoption as sons, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the Divine Service and the promises are ours because we are Israel. We have the Divine Word, Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We have been saved by grace though faith (Ephesians 2,8). This forgiveness and salvation is God’s gift to us through His only-begotten Son. We have been brought into the family of Israel by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2,13). He has reconciled us to our Heavenly Father through the cross (Ephesians 2,16). We are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, and Christ Jesus is the Cornerstone (Ephesians 2,19-20).

10. Righteousness and justification are based upon the merit of Christ Jesus. God gives it to us as a gift, and therefore He has elected each one of us unto eternal salvation. In this beneficial doctrine of election we know how we are chosen to eternal life in Christ out of pure grace without any merit of our own, and we know that nobody can tear us out of Christ’s hand, how He not only promised such a merciful election with mere words, but He also affirmed it with the oath and has sealed it with the Holy Sacraments, so that in our greatest trials we remember and comfort ourselves and thereby we can quench the fiery darts of the devil (Epitome 11¶13).

11. You are righteous and justified by faith, faith in the crucified and risen Christ. Christ is the end of the law and the source of the gospel. By grace you are saved by faith. Rejoice and revel in the righteousness Christ freely gives you. Amen.

12. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus, You are our God and we are the people of Your pasture and the sheep of Your hand. Bless our house of prayer so that we may worship here in solemnity and be refreshed by the gospel of our forgiveness and encouraged to share the same with our neighbors. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

✠

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

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Jeremiah 1,4-10. 9. Sunday after Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

Jeremiah 1,4-10 4212

9. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 054

Nonna, mother of St. Gregory of Nazianzen, 4^th c.

Oswald, King of Northumbria, England, Martyr 642

5. August 2012

1. O God of Love, in these days of summer, remember Your universal Church, along with her bishops and preachers. Put Your words in their mouths: the law that is bitter in our stomach and Your gospel that is sweet. Give to Your Christians the brave witness to the soothing gospel of Christ crucified, and bless all who have taught us Your Word. Bestow on them Your mercy, O Gracious God, we pray (velkd.de). Amen.

2. Now the word of Yahweh came to me, saying: „Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.“ Then I said: „Behold, the Lord who is Yahweh! Alas, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a young man.“ But Yahweh said to me: „Do not say: ‘I am only a a young man’; for you will go to all to whom I send you, and you will speak all that I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares Yahweh.“ Then Yahweh put out His hand and touched my mouth. And Yahweh said to me: „Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. Behold, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pull up and to tear down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.“

3. Yahweh had some important words to speak to His people in the 6. century, and He had chosen Jeremiah to be one of His foremost prophets. At the time, Judah was in a state of flux. The Assyrian Empire to their north-northeast, the Babylonian Empire to their east-northeast and Egypt to their southwest were all flexing their political and military muscles. Many in Judah feared that ground zero in the superpower showdown would be the land of Palestine. The people were concerned about an impending war, but many prophets had arisen and comforted the nation with words of peace, prosperity and Yahweh’s providence.

4. 21. century America finds herself in a situation similar to 6. century Judah. Civl unrest sill threatens to engulf the Middle East, bringing America into the vortex. Our economy remains shaky. Civility and virtues continue to slide further away from Christian piety. We have our own preachers of prosperity and success who comfort the downtrodden and distressed with the hope of God’s good favor.

5. It does our nation no favors to ignore or cover up the manifest immoralities that afflict our land. Yahweh sent the Prophet Jeremiah »to pull up and to tear down, to destroy and to overthrow, but to also build and to plant«. Jeremiah chastised his contemporary self-proclaimed prophets for giving the people false hope. He overthrew their comforting words and told Judah the straight truth: Yahweh is angry at you, O unrepentant Judah! »You have committed a great evil: You have forsaken Yahweh, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for yourselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water« (Jeremiah 2,13).

6. Yahweh makes the same complaint against many of His churches today: »I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place, unless you repent« (Revelation 2,4-5). Many churches and many Christians have abandoned Christ and replaced Him with other idols, new priorities, in their lives. The empty pews and the paltry offerings bear testimony to their idolatry in our church and in many more across this nation.

7. In the midst of rampant idolatry, Yahweh promises deliverance: »I will repay double for their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted My land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and have filled My inheritance with their abominations« (Jeremiah 16,18). The Apostle John proclaims this deliverance to the Church: »Grace to you and peace from Jesus Christ the Faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead and the Ruler of kings on earth. To Jesus who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen (Revelation 1,4-6). For Jesus is worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for He was slain, and by His blood He ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and He has made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth, saying with a loud voice: „Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!“« (Revelation 5,9-10.12).

8. The »double repayment for our iniquity and sin« is not the bitter law with its judgment but the sweet gospel with its justification. To be sure, the temporal consequences of breaking the law are still in force. Fines and sentences are still handed down by earthly judges upon those who murder, steal or purger, but the Divine punishment is commuted. God the Father will not punish us for our sins because He has already punished Jesus for them. The crucified Christ is the double repayment for the sin of the world. Jesus bore the law’s judgment upon sin and sinful humanity. Jesus was forsaken and cursed in your place. His shed blood was the perfect, atoning sacrifice that has cleansed sinful, fallen humanity in full.

9. This gospel is preached into your ears, planted in your hearts and placed in your mouths by the Word and the Sacraments. „God has given us His sure Word: a word of throwing down and rebuilding. That God ultimately wills to build and plant rather than destroy is seen most clearly in Jesus Christ. ... See God’s Son destroyed on the cross for us. See Him rebuilt on the third day for us“ (Raabe 438). We have the gospel of Christ which we know and believe is the only way to forgiveness and salvation. Christ’s death and resurrection assures us of that forgiveness and salvation.

10. We have a great opportunity ahead of us as God’s people here in this congregation. We must remain faithful to God’s holy Word. We must ensure that the gospel is preached year after year for generations to come. And for us to do this today, we must first rededicate ourselves to Christ Jesus. We must rely on Him alone. We need to be faithful to Him. We must put all of our trust upon Christ. We need to gather around His Word and His Sacraments so that we are assured of our forgiveness and strengthened for the tasks to come as His holy people.

11. We also need to rededicate ourselves one to another. We need to see each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. Each one of us here today is a redeemed and forgiven child of God. We are a family, and we need to act as a family of God. The Holy Spirit has brought each one of us here for a reason. He has given each one of us gifts and talents. We need to use these blessings for the edification of our congregation and for the strengthening of our fellowship together.

12. When we receive the Lord’s Supper in a few moments, let it not only be a meal in which each one of us is assured by the Holy Spirit that He forgives us through Christ. Let it also be a meal in which we forgive one another and acknowledge the fellowship we have together as Christians. And let it furthermore be a meal in which the Holy Spirit strengthens each one of us to be brothers and sisters to one another as we faithfully use our gifts and talents for the edification of our church. God has brought us together and we are stronger in our unity than we are individually. Let us move forward as a church dedicated to building and planting.

13. Christ Jesus is the Almighty Son of God, and His gospel has authority. We are built on the foundation of Christ’s gospel, and upon this foundation we will remain secure, forgiven and justified. Let us spread forth this great gospel and let us rejoice in the blessings that the Holy Spirit will bring our way as His holy people through the Word and Sacraments. Amen.

14. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, who rightly bears the praise: „Great is Yahweh!“; send us the Holy Spirit with His means of grace so that we remain glad in You and love Your salvation now in the hour of our need and yonder in Your everlasting reign. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

✠

1. Corinthians 6,8-14.18-20. 8. Sunday after Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

1. Corinthians 6,8-14.18-20 4112

8. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 053

Mary, Martha and Lazarus, John 11

Olaf I Tryggvason, King of Norway and Apostle to Norway. Martyr 1000

29. July 2012

1. O Heavenly Father, for whom Jesus is Spokesman, You have spoken to Your people in many times and in various ways upon the mountaintop. Since we are unable as sinners to ascend up to You, You have descended upon us to draw us into Your holy and glorious presence. You give us Your law and gospel so that we are taught by Your Holy Words, and in receiving Your Words we are blessed beyond measure. By the power of the Holy Spirit You dwell in us; we ask You to change our hearts so that we may be humble, merciful, pure in heart, pursuing righteousness and peace, as Jesus, Your Divine Word, promised to make us once on a mountainside. Amen.

2. But you yourselves wrong and defraud﹣even your own brothers! Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the reign of God. And such were you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. „All things are lawful for me,“ but not all things are helpful. „All things are lawful for me,“ but I will not be enslaved by anything. „Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food“﹣and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

3. The Apostle Paul does not let any of the Corinthian Christians off the hook. He summarizes the Decalogue, and bluntly states: You were sinners such as these. Some were idolators, others sexual deviants, still others thieves. Some were all of the above, and more. The Corinthians were sinners. Their deeds bore fruit the truth of this sinfulness.

4. We are no different from our Corinthian brothers and sisters in the faith. We are greedy, revilers and swindlers. We are sinners through and through. We were born sinners, and we will die sinners. The Prophet condemns each one of us: »The person who sins will die« (Ezekiel 18,4). The Apostle Paul tells even worse news: the unrighteous sinner will not inherit the reign of God. You and I are not fit to live in God’s presence.

5. The law reveals us to be sinners and rightly condemns us. The sad lot of men and women is to live as sinners in this wicked world. Paul unfolds or condemnation: »None is righteous, no, not one. Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For no person will be justified in God’s sight by the works of the law, since the knowledge of sin comes through the law« (Romans 3,10.19-20).

6. Thus far the Word of the Lord, and it has been all bad news for us. God’s holy law condemns us, but His law is not His final Word.

7. God speaks another Word, the word of the gospel, a word of forgiveness. This gospel is the very Word of God made flesh, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus speaks this gospel to the sinners He encounters during His life. To the idolatrous Samaritan woman, Jesus says: „You are forgiven.“ To the woman caught in adultery, Jesus says: „You are forgiven.“ To the thieving tax collectors, Jesus says: „You are forgiven.“ To the Apostle Peter who reviled Christ at His trial, Jesus says: „You are forgiven.“ To the homosexual, the lesbian, the greedy, the drunkard and the swindler, Jesus says: „You are forgiven.“ To you with your sins, Jesus says: „You are forgiven of all your sins.“ Truly no other word spoken to those ashamed of their sins sounds as sweet. Paul writes it beautifully: »You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God«. And again: »For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord« (Ephesians 5,8). Yet again: »Now the righteousness of God has been manifested through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe, and all are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus« (Romans 3,21-22.24). Still again: »We have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us. And the life we now live in the flesh we live by faith in the Son of God, who loves us and gave Himself for us« (Galatians 2,20). Thus far justification: We are forgiven and made righteous by the merit of Christ Jesus.

8. Sanctification follows justification. The Apostle Paul exhorts us, saying: »You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body«. The law, which cannot save us, now guides us in holy living. Thus Jesus calls you the salt and light of the world. God does not need your good works. You do not need your good works, but your neighbor needs them. By your holy living, by your good works, you are a blessing to your neighbors. When you love your neighbors and are a help to them, then you are being salt and light to them.

9. Christ declares you to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matthew 5,13-14) because He Himself is the Salt and the Light. The Gospels tell how throughout His public ministry Jesus was the Salt and Light to His neighbors. He healed the sick, comforted the distressed and forgave people of their sins. By His crucifixion, Jesus preserved you unto eternal salvation. By His resurrection, Jesus revealed the light of everlasting life with a holy, resurrected body.

10. You are now the salt and light to your neighbors because Jesus is your Salt and Light. You now deliver the gospel of Jesus to your neighbors. Jesus has given you an incredible responsibility to your neighbors. He sends the Holy Spirit to enable you to be the salt and light to your neighbor. Christ is a blessing to you, and you are thus a blessing to others. He gives you His Word which you now pass on to others in whatever situation or trial you find them in.

11. Jesus has taken you, perfectly ordinary people (Martens § 15) to show the world how His grace and forgiveness touches individual lives for the better. Therefore, Jesus doesn’t want you to hide your light under a bushel basket and deny who you are, rather He wants you to let your light shine so that people see Jesus in you. Jesus is a wonderful Lord and a marvelous hope (Martens § 16), and He wants you, His redeemed Christian people, to point the way to Him as the Savior of the world. Amen.

12. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, whose Name is glorious, help us live sanctified lives so that by our works we may show Your loving kindness and Your faithfulness to those who need Your gospel. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

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Martens, Gottfried. A sermon preached on 2. August 2009 (8. Trinitatis) in Berlin-Zehlendorf, Germany on Matthew 5,13-16. Copyright © 2011 St. Mary Church in Berlin-Zehlendorf (SELK). All rights reserved. The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind, Tr. © 2011.

Philippians 2,1-4. 7. Sunday after Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

Philippians 2,1-4 4012

7. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 052

Mary Magdalene, † mid to late 1^st c. W

22. July 2012

1. O Heavenly Father, Divine Providence for the world, help us to put aside the poor role-models of this wicked world that entice our greedy hearts, and instill in us the desire to emulate Godly Christians, both past and present, so that we are encouraged by their holy lives to leave the banks of the sinful life. Strengthen our desire, and make us satisfied, to be conformed in Christ’s image in the sanctified life we now enjoy by the merit of His justification through the gospel. Amen.

2. So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, then complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

3. These words of the Apostle Paul are in stark contrast to how life is often lived in America. We encourage rugged individualism over unity in thought and mind. Our jobs are often cauldrons of rivalry and pride, so much so that our stress levels are often elevated. In school, the workplace and sports humility is ridiculed as people strive to beat others up the ladder of success. Our interests take precedents over the interests of others.

4. All these attitudes are opposite the gospel that the apostles and their successors proclaim. These attitudes are counterproductive to the message of Christ crucified. Today’s sermon text from Philippians 2 ends short of Paul’s thoughts. Paul continues: »Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the nature of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be held onto, but deprived Himself of power, taking on the nature of a slave; and being found in the likeness of men, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, yes, death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Jesus and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven, upon the earth and under the earth, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father« (Philippians 2,4-11).

5. We sinful human beings chaff at Paul’s admonition to be humble and united in thought with other Christians. Our very fallen nature rebels against these apostolic words, therefore Christ humbled Himself. He humbled Himself for us, and in our place, in order to redeem us back to our Heavenly Father. Jesus does what He says: He puts His Father’s allegiance and will first and foremost, performs what we in our sinful nature cannot do, and walks to Jerusalem, to the cross, into death, is buried in the tomb, descends into hell and rises again as our Victorious Redeemer. Jesus did this willingly and lovingly for the world, and for you. He sends you the Holy Spirit with the gospel to create the love, unity and humility that He exhorts from you through the Apostle Paul.

6. It may seem an impossible task for the gospel to change people’s lives; it may seem to take forever. Yet many examples of this very sanctified life are showcased for us in the Holy Scriptures. For this reason, the Lutheran Church follows the Church tradition of highlighting the lives of the disciples as paragons of sanctification. 22. July is set aside for Mary Magdalene. She is a faithful disciple of Jesus. The Gospels tell us that she was from the town of Magdala, which is believed to have been between Capernaum and Tiberias in Galilee, thus her descriptive name of Magdalene: one from Magdala. Jesus exorcised seven demons from her (Mark 16,9; Luke 8,2), and she is not the adulterous woman of John 8 (Pope Gregory I (590-604) identified her as the prostitute of Luke 7,37-38, but this opinion has essentially been rejected by the Roman Catholic Church). The Gospel according to Luke tells us that she traveled with Jesus as a disciple and provided for their needs from her possessions (Luke 8,1-3). Tradition says that Mary was young, attractive and came from a wealthy family. Three of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark and John) list her by name as being at Jesus’ crucifixion, and all Four Gospels list her by name as one of the women at the tomb on Easter Sunday. She was the first to see the Risen Lord, and subsequently announced His Resurrection to the apostles. Accordingly, Hippolytus writing about her in Rome around 200 in his commentary on the Song of Songs calls her „the apostle to the apostles“. Ambrose and Augustine refer to her as the „new Eve“, and Augustine also calls her „the apostle to the apostles.“

7. Tradition relates, that in Italy Mary Magdalene visited Emperor Tiberias (AD 14-37) and proclaimed to him Christ’s Resurrection. According to tradition, she took him an egg as a symbol of the Resurrection. Tiberias responded that no one could rise from the dead, anymore than the egg she held could turn red. Miraculously, the egg immediately began to turn red as testimony to her words. Tradition also states that she remained in Rome until the arrival of the Apostle Paul, and for two more years still, following his departure from Rome after the first court judgment upon him. From Rome, Mary Magdalene, already bent with age, moved to Ephesus where the Apostle John lived as the last of the living apostles, and was writing his Gospel. There Mary finished her earthly life and was buried.

8. Her bones were transferred in the 9. century to Constantinople, and were placed in the monastery Church of Saint Lazarus. During the Crusades they were transferred to Italy and placed at Rome under the altar of the Lateran Cathedral. Some of Mary Magdalene’s bones are located in Marseilles, France, where Saint Maximum’s Basilica was built over them at the foot of a steep mountain in her honor (http://www.thenazareneway.com/mary_magdalene.htm).

9. The Greek Orthodox Church maintains that the Mary Magdalene retired to Ephesus with the Virgin Mary and there died, that her bones were transferred to Constantinople in 886 and are there preserved. Gregory of Tours (De miraculis, I, xxx) supports the statement that she went to Ephesus. However, according to a French tradition (see Saint Lazarus of Bethany), Mary, Lazarus and some companions came to Marseilles and converted the whole of Provence, France. Magdalene is said to have retired to nearby La Sainte-Baume, where she gave herself up to a life of penance for thirty years“ (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09761a.htm).

10. Churches around the world are named for her, including St. Mary’s Church (Marienskirche), which is the Lutheran Stadtkirche of Wittenberg has existed on the same site since the 13. century. Luther did much of his preaching there. He was married there, and he baptized all six of his children there, along with the children of Melanchthon and Cranach.

11. The Confessions of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church exhort us to remember with thanksgiving those who have gone before us in the sign of faith. The Confessions also exhort us to imitate the life and faith of the apostles, disciples and martyrs. We give thanks for the faithful witness that Mary Magdalene gave to the Christian faith. Mary Magdalene loved Christ Jesus and the apostles. Mary and the Twelve were in full accord and of one mind. She did nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility counted others more significant than herself. She looked to the interests of others.

12. Mary Magdalene lived such a sanctified life solely on account of the gospel. She is an example of how we should love Jesus and live a life of service to Him. Just as Jesus changed Mary’s life with the gospel, so does He change our lives with the gospel. By the gospel we are empowered to live sanctified lives of love, unity and humility for the glory of God and the service of our neighbors. Amen.

13. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, from the rising of the sun to its setting, Your Holy Name is to be praised! You provide all our earthly needs, so also remind us that You daily give us all our spiritual needs as well, so that we never forget that You are our both our Creator and our Redeemer. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

✠

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Monday, August 20, 2012

Galatians 2,16-21. 11th Sunday after Trinity

Monday, August 13, 2012

Romans 9,1-5.31-10,4. 10. Sunday after Trinity

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Jeremiah 1,4-10. 9. Sunday after Trinity

1. Corinthians 6,8-14.18-20. 8. Sunday after Trinity

Philippians 2,1-4. 7. Sunday after Trinity