Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: July 2014

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

1. Peter 2,2-10. 6. Sunday after Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

1. Peter 2,2-10 4014

6. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 051

The Seven Sleepers, Virgin, Martyrs 250

27. Juli 2014

1. O Christ, we are baptized into Your death and now overcome death with Your death. Help us to believe all the blessings You promise to us in Holy Baptism, particularly the new life that has dawned upon us that transforms our perishable body into an imperishable body. (VELKD, Prayer for 6. Sunday after Trinity § 1). Amen.

2. »Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up into salvation, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to Him, a Living Stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: »Behold, I am laying in Zion a Stone, a Cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.« So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe: »The Stone that the builders rejected has become the Cornerstone,« and »A Stone of stumbling, and a Rock of offense.« They stumble because they disobey the Word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

3. In this morning’s Gospel lection, Jesus told His apostles to baptize and teach. This apostolic command is fulfilled in our lives: we have been baptized in the Triune Name of God and we are taught the words of Jesus. As young Christians, we were taught simple things, spiritual milk that nourished our faith, but as we have grown mature we are taught complex things, spiritual meat that strengthens our faith. The temptation is for Christians to want only the simple milk and to pass on the complicated meat. The Apostle Peter gives us some challenging doctrine when he writes in his epistle: »You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.«

4. The challenging aspect of these verses is that they teach contrary to what most people, Christians and unbelievers alike, believe about Israel. In the old testament, Yahweh had made this covenant with Abraham: his descendants would be blessed and chosen by God Himself. Abraham’s twelve grandsons became the patriarchs of the Twelve Tribes of the nation of Israel. Yahweh blessed Israel with land, sacrifices for the forgiveness of sin and the temple. Yahweh called Israel: »My treasured possession among all peoples, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation« (Exodus 19,5-6). For thousands of years, the old testament gave Israel Yahweh’s „most favored nation status“. Many believe the nation of Israel still has this favored status before the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Turn on the news and you will hear politicians and political pundits speaking eloquently about Israel as God’s chosen people. Almost every televangelist on TV will encourage you to support Israel because they are the chosen of God. The Apostle Peter, however, declared in his epistle that the Church, and Christians, now enjoy this favored status before God. The apostle transfers the blessings given to Israel onto the Church. The Apostle Paul agrees with Peter: »Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring. This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring« (Romans 9,6-8). »It is those of faith who are the sons and daughters of Abraham. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring, and his offspring is Christ. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise« (Galatians 3,7.16.29).

5. Did you ever wonder why Jesus chose from among all His many disciples only 12 to be named apostles? Jesus was fulfilling the old testament. Yahweh chose Abraham, the man of faith, and made 12 of his descendants the ancestors of the 12 Tribes of Israel. Jesus is the man of faith who chose the 12 Apostles of His Church. He commissioned these 12 to become establish the Church through baptizing and preaching (Matthew 19,28; Revelation 4,4). Jesus fulfilled the old testament and established the new testament in its place. The old testament promised land, forgiveness and a temple to His old testament Israel. The old testament was grounded in geographic property. God had set aside a swath of property on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, a bit larger than the size of the State of New Jersey, and gave this land to Abraham’s descendants. He established sacrifices for the forgiveness of their sins, and these sacrifices were performed at the temple where Yahweh’s glorious presence really dwelt. The new testament fulfills the promise of land in Jesus. Where He is, there are His people. This building and property are rightly called a church because we are gathered here in the Name of Jesus to worship and praise Him. Jesus Himself is also the sacrifice, once for all, that has forgiven the sin of the entire world. Finally, Jesus is the temple, for He destroyed His body in death and then raised it up again in three days. Jesus is God who became man, and He is the True Temple of His Heavenly Father. Jesus dwells among us, and thus God dwells among us in an even greater and more glorious way than He did in the most holy place of the Jerusalem temple.

6. There is only one covenant and one holy people. The old covenant with all its statutes has been fulfilled in Jesus. The new covenant is founded upon Jesus and has its own statutes. There is only one way to eternal life, and that is through Jesus who is the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Jesus (John 14,6). The Apostle Paul writes that the old dietary laws, the animal sacrifices and the festivals, all integral to keeping the old testament given at Mount Sinai, are all fulfilled in Jesus. Paul declares: »Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ (Colossians 2,16-17). Thus there are not two ways of salvation: one for the Jews and another for everyone else. Jews who keep the old testament are not saved, for that testament is now null and void. They have no land, no priests, no animal sacrifices and no temple. This is by God’s will, a will that He enforced in AD 70 when He sent the Romans legions to deport the Jews from His land, raze the temple to the ground and put an end, once and for all, to the old testament. O people will claim that the Jews have returned to their ancestral lands, and the nation of modern-day Israel encompasses much of the borders that Yahweh had given them after they entered the promised land of Canaan. The problem is, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and the eastern half of Jerusalem are all occupied territory that the Israelis took in violation of international law and the UN mandate that established the borders for Israel in 1947. In spite of all this, Israel does not control the most important piece of real estate in all the land: Mount Zion where the temple once stood. The Muslims control Mount Zion and in 691 built the Dome of the Rock mosque on the very site of the destroyed Jewish temple. There is no priestly caste in modern Israel, and there are no sacrifices performed as outlined in the Sinai covenant. The temple was destroyed 1944 years ago and has never been rebuilt. Israel claims the Wailing Wall as a holy site, but the Wailing Wall was never part of the old temple real estate proper.

7. All who believe in Jesus are properly referred to as God’s chosen people. The promises and the testament are fulfilled in Jesus. All Christians, whether they are of Jewish descent or Gentile descent, are children of God. Paul describes it this way: »The Word of God has not failed, for not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, (Romans 9,6-7) because there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing His riches on all who call upon Him, for everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved. (Romans 10,12-13). God has not rejected His Jewish people whom He foreknew, but He broke off some of the Jewish branches, and grafted in you, a wild Gentile shoot, among the others and you now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. A partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved (Romans 11,17.20.25-26). Yes, all Israel will be saved, and is now saved. Israel comprises those who believe in Jesus, just as it was for Abraham, David and the other old testament patriarchs who believed in, and looked forward to the revealing of, Jesus, and those today, mainly Gentiles, who believe in Jesus. Israel comprises both Jews and Gentiles who have been baptized, believe the gospel and are taught the truths of Jesus who fulfilled the promises given in the Bible. We call this Israel today the Church, but it is the same people: all those, regardless of ethnic background, who believe the gospel and trust in Jesus for salvation from sin, death and hell.

8. Thus you have been baptized in the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Your baptism has grafted you into the tree of Israel. Your family tree includes countless Gentiles, like Martin Luther, Olaf Tryggvason, Gustav Eriksson and Won-Yong Ji. Jews like the apostles, Mary Magdalene and New Testament disciples, Jewish kings like David and Hezekiah, patriarchs like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, matriarchs like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah, antediluvian believers like Shem, Noah, Enoch, Adam and Eve. You have been taught that all of Scripture speaks of, and points to, Christ Jesus. His death and resurrection have opened up the eternal life of salvation in God’s holy fellowship. You have the promise of God’s everlasting presence with and beside you, for Jesus promises to be with you always, to the end of the age. And when the end of the age arrives on that last day, when Jesus returns to resurrect your body with your soul, a new age will dawn, an age of the new heavens and earth where all creation will be pure and holy just as it was in Genesis and the Garden of Eden. Amen.

9. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, we will proclaim You in the midst of the congregation and we will praise You for calling us to faith and grafting us into Your family so that we may enjoy everlasting life with Your forever and ever. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

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

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

2. Thessalonians 3,1-5. 5. Sunday after Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

2. Thessalonians 3,1-5 3914

5. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 050

Elijah, Prophet, 900 BC

Bincent of St. Paula, ✠ 1660

20. Juli 2014

1. O Faithful God, You call us to follow You. You have given us mothers and fathers in the Christian faith. We thank You for them and their faithfulness to the gospel that they have passed onto us. We thank You for Christians who fight against the evil one today. Strengthen us and keep us grounded in the gospel (VELKD, Prayer for the 5. Sunday after Trinity ¶ 1). Amen.

2. »Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, so that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.«

3. Our Gospel Lection this morning concludes with these verses: »And Jesus said to Simon: „Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.“ And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.« Jesus had many disciples, Twelve He called Himself, like the four fishermen, Peter, Andrew, James and John, and these Twelve He later sent out as apostles to preach the gospel. In Luke 5 Jesus compared preaching the gospel to fishing. In this regard Jesus was comforting His new disciples. These four men knew fishing and they were good at their vocation as fishermen. Preaching the gospel was a new and different vocation for them. They were uncertain and unprepared for this new task, but Jesus assured them that it would be just like fishing: they would cast the net, and they would catch people; they would preach the gospel, and people would believe. Their success at preaching the gospel is grounded upon Jesus.

4. Not only does Jesus promise success in their preaching, but He also teaches them the message to proclaim. Jesus began His ministry by reading in the synagogue of Nazareth from the Prophet Isaiah: »The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.« Then He proclaimed: »Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing« (Luke 4,18-19.21). And again to the crowds: »I must preach the gospel of the reign of God to the towns and synagogues of Judea« (Luke 4,43-44). The gospel Jesus preached was what He preached to the paralytic: »Man, your sins are forgiven you. But so that you Pharisees may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, I say to you, paralyzed man, rise, pick up your bed and go home« (Luke 5,20.24).

5. The gospel that creates faith and draws people into the Church is the gospel that proclaims Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died and rose to redeem people from their sin, to rescue them from the tribulations of this cursed creation and to bring them unto eternal salvation in the presence of God, His angels and all who proceeded them in the Christian faith. This is the gospel Jesus preached, the apostles preached and pastors ought to preach today. The gospel is grounded upon Jesus and His work of redemption. Jesus’ word goes forth from His mouth, and it does not return unto Him void, but His word accomplishes that which He desires and prospers in the thing to which He sends it (Isaiah 55,11).

6. Christ’s word stands in stark contrast to man’s word. At the end of the 19. century, liberal theologians had exchanged the gospel of forgiveness through Jesus with a social gospel concerned more about curing all the social problems of the world. As the 20. century dawned, they saw their promise of worldwide utopia on the horizon. And then the Great War happened, and the „old liberal theology was buried in the mud of the trenches of the first World War. A secularized kingdom of God was not in the cards. And utopian Marxism gives way to Realpolitik. Not much of a future, not much hope, so grab what you can, while you can“ (Nagel 173,6). Worldwide attitude has swung back to where it was one hundred years ago. Peaceful negotiations have broken down in the Ukraine and Palestine, terrorism has risen in boldness again and the words of our politicians ring hollow and detached from the reality that is around us.

7. God’s word is certain and true; His word is grounded upon Jesus, and Jesus’ word is found in His Church. Early Christian artwork portrayed the Church as the ship of faith. Like a ship, the Church sails upon the waters, braving the tempests, to rescue people who have been shipwrecked by the wind and waves of the world. Luke 5 uses the image of catching people up in Jesus’ gospel net, but another image is to see the Church as ship that sails into disasters, throws out the life-preserver of the gospel, and hauls drowning people into the safety of the Church. In this image the Church and the gospel she proclaims is like the event described in Matthew 14 where Jesus walked on water. When Simon Peter saw the the wind and waves surging around him, he became afraid and began to drown. He cried out for Jesus to save him, and immediately stretched forth His hand, caught him and brought Peter into the safety of the ship (Matthew 14,30-31). The Apostle Paul told the Thessalonian Christians: »The Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.« He does this through the power of His word that is grounded upon His merits, for „for we are given His words that tell of Him and bestow what they say by the working of His words that tell of Him and bestow what they say by the working of His Spirit. Heaven and earth and all the evidences they may supply are not so sure as His words“ (Nagel 174,7). Jesus speaks, and His authority is grounded upon the fact that He was lifted up and cried: „»It is accomplished.« That fact holds through it all. The one who sits on the throne to judge is the same one enthroned on the cross. Jesus’ dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and His kingdom is one that shall not be destroyed“ (Nagel 174,9). His word promises it, secures it and fulfills it. You have been caught up in Jesus’ net and brought into the Church. Now you help ensure that the ship is seaworthy and the nets mended so the Church and her gospel can sail forth and catch more people into the faith of Jesus. Amen.

8. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus, You have made known Your salvation and have revealed Your righteousness in the sight of the nations so that we receive that gospel for our deliverance. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand.

Monday, July 14, 2014

Romans 12,17-21. 4. Sunday after Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Romans 12,17-21 3814

4. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 049

Margaretha, Virgin, Martyr at Antioch, Turkey, 275

13. Juli 2014

1. O God, Thou Source of life and Force for good. The evil ones seek to hinder the lives of our neighbors. Give us the hearts of love and strengthen us so that we may overcome evil with good (VELKD, Prayer for 2014’s 4. Sunday after Trinity § 1). Amen.

2. »Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written: »Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.« To the contrary: »If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.« Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

3. In our Gospel Lection Jesus said: »Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you.« These are some of the most misinterpreted verses in the Bible. You’ve heard it said by Christians and non-Christians alike: „Who am I to judge?“ or „Don’t judge me!“, but Jesus was not calling for the overthrow of the judicial system. Judges and laws exist to first, create and keep order, and second, to punish those guilty of reckless law-breaking.

4. The context of Jesus’ teaching is how the Jewish crowds and His Christian disciples should treat their enemies. Jesus teaches: »Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you and pray for those who abuse you« (Luke 6,27-28). Thus in the context of Luke 6 Jesus says: »Be merciful to your enemies, even as your Father is merciful to them. Do not judge your enemies, and you will not be judged; do not condemn them, and you will not be condemned; forgive your enemies, and you will be forgiven; give to your enemies, and it will be given to you.« »If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. But love your enemies, and do good, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons and daughters of the Most High, for He is kind even to the ungrateful and the evil« (Luke 6,27-28.32-33.35).

5. This is the opposite of how people act. Often we justify hating our enemies, ridiculing them and seeking to do harm to them. We are tempted to judge, condemn and not forgive our enemies. Those we love, however, in our best moments, we are willing to be merciful to, put the best construction on their words and actions and forgive them when they ask for forgiveness. Jesus, therefore, calls His Christians to a higher standard. He exhorts us to love all people, friend and foe alike. We are to put the best construction on everyone’s words and actions. We are to forgive all people, even when they have not asked for that forgiveness. There is only one way to do this.

6. Jesus says: »First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your neighbor’s eye.« „Our log is not only so large but also so near to us that it blocks our vision and we do not even see it. Jesus is the one who gives sight to the blind. He reaches out His hand to our log and pulls it out. ‘This must go. I want you to see.’ Jesus takes the logs out of our eyes. He drags them to Calvary, and on the timber that blinds and kills, He is killed. Jesus dies for our sins, and the wood we have supplied becomes, by His death, a declaration of that sin’s forgiveness. When the logs from our eyes have been through Calvary, we see. We see Jesus on the cross supplied by us, for us. We see ourselves as forgiven sinners. Then, when we bump into another sinner, we are able to help, for love comes sideways. We know the things that contradict Christ and the pain and ruin they work. We want each person we meet to be freed of them, and we are there to help him or her“ (Nagel 170,4-5).

7. Running these logs and specks through Jesus makes all the difference. »Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.« We see God’s mercy on full display at the crucifixion of His Son, for on that cross God’s mercy is revealed in the crucified Jesus. »Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;« God’s judgement and condemnation were poured out in full upon the crucified Jesus. He has born all our sinful judgement and condemnation under the law, suffered as one found guilty under the law. On the cross, God’s judgement and condemnation have been poured out, satisfied and fulfilled in Christ Jesus. How does God forgive? He forgives through Jesus who is the Certainty of our forgiveness and salvation. Thus the Apostle Paul can proclaim: »There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit« (Romans 8,1-4). »Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.« Is there any more a gracious giver than God? God gives to us abundantly through Christ Jesus. He holds nothing back, for He pours out His grace so that it overflows. Again Paul: »Sin reigned in death, but grace also reigns through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord« (Romans 5,21).

8. There is sin in our lives, sin as big and bulky as logs. But we have a Lumberjack who is good at taking logs out of peoples’ eyes and sending those logs down river to be disposed of at the cross „You have some logs to confess, logs to be pulled out and dragged to Calvary. Cleansed and forgiven, you may then see as a servant sees, as a burden-bearing Savior sees. Lord, take from us, though it hurts, all that blinds us and hinders the flow of Your love“ (Nagel 172,11).

9. And with the logs removed from our eyes we now see clearly God’s love for us and our neighbors. God’s love is a salve on our eyes and helps us to in turn love others. That love is manifested as the Apostle Paul describes it in his Epistle to the Romans: »Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.« This is the love that Jesus shows to us, and it is the love we in turn show to our neighbor. We first receive forgiveness before we forgive; before we are merciful, we must receive mercy from God (Luther 102,15). God shows us forgiveness and mercy through Jesus Christ. „Our Savior gives us all things, physical and spiritual, earthly and eternal, gratuitously [freely] and out of pure goodness“ (Luther 100,10). May the Holy Spirit move in our hearts to love others as Christ loves us and loves them. Amen.

9. Let us pray. O Lord, we give thanks to You and sing praises to Your Name, O Most High, bless us with Your love so that we in turn can share that love to our neighbors and be a blessing to them in this world that often oppresses people. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

Monday, July 7, 2014

Ezekiel 18,1-4.21-24.30-32. 3. Sunday after Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Ezekiel 18,1-4.21-24.30-32 3714

3. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 048

Isaiah, Prophet, 759-699 BC

Jan Hus, Reformer, Martyr 1415 in Konstanz, Germany

6. Juli 2014

1. O Merciful God of Life, Thou King of the world. Set Your eyes upon the lost, and open the hearts and ears of us who are secure. Remind us of Your grace. Show us that the the defenseless have dignity, too, and encourage us to use our blessings to seek out those who are lost. Use us to show them Your mercy (VELKD, Prayer for the 3. Sunday after Trinity ¶ 2). Amen.

2. »The Word of Yahweh came to me: „What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? As I live, declares the Lord Yahweh, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. Behold, every life is Mine; the life of the father as well as the life of the son is Mine: the person who sins shall die. But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all My statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord Yahweh, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die. Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord Yahweh. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord Yahweh; so turn, and live.“«

3. The Prophet Ezekiel exhorts men and women to: »Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin, for the person who sins shall die.« For this reason, the Divine Service is prefaced with the prepatory rite of Confession and Absolution. We confess our sinfulness, repent and receive God’s forgiveness. For people who were baptized and raised in the Church, this rite is second nature. The Lutheran Church falls into the Christian tradition that emphasizes confession and absolution, and this puts us in company with the Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican Churches. Other Protestant Churches place less emphasis on formalized rites of confession.

4. What we learned in the Church is often not known among those who have little or no contact with the Church. Such people are like the lost lamb in Jesus’ parable. They may not know that they are lost and in danger; they may know but do not care or they may know but don’t know how to get out of their lost situation. Jesus Himself goes out and finds the lamb who has wandered away and is lost in sin. This brings comfort to countless parents who lament over the children who have turned their backs on God, gotten themselves lost and don’t know how to return home. Such lost children are not forgotten, and the prayers of worried parents do not go unheard. Jesus hears. Jesus knows. Jesus acts.

5. At first glance, the action of the shepherd may seem a bit overdone. It is, after all, one lamb out of one hundred. A 1% loss can be written off as the cost of herding sheep. Some get lost or killed by wolves. A 1% loss is regrettable, but certainly nothing to fret and worry about in the long run. It is better to keep the 99 other lambs safe so profits can be maximized. That is how the corporate world thinks. Maximize profits, minimize losses and if the risk is too high, then cut your loses with the one lost lamb and carry on with business as usual. A political approach would come to the same conclusion, too. One voter will not tip the election one way or the other. It is best keep the majority safe and secure in your constituent pocket. We do, after all, follow a democratic process where the majority rules. One lone lamb can be sacrificed if it ensures the other ninety-nine are still favorable to you and support you. The Pharisees and scribes in Jesus’ day argued the same way. One lost lamb is not worth the expense or jeopardizing the safety of the ninety-nine. Jesus should just stick with the wealthy, respectable Jews who really care about the law and the covenant unlike the sinful rabble that Jesus has been spending His time with recently.

6. Jesus makes it clear in the Gospels that His method of saving the lost will not follow the economic, political or pharisaic way of logic. Jesus acts as a shepherd, and as our Good Shepherd He looks for His lost sinners out of great love for His fallen creation for you are the pinnacle of His creation. Love is the great motivation for leaving the 99 in order to find the 1. Love does not crunch the numbers, pander to the majority or weigh the good people to be of more worth than the rabble. Divine love urges Jesus to seek what is lost and to find it. This is so because Jesus created mankind to be in perpetual fellowship with Him, and He lovingly finds those who have separated themselves from that Divine fellowship. Jesus acts out of serious responsibility for His creation. Although it is our fault as sinners that we have wandered off, it is Jesus’ responsibility as our Shepherd and God to make sure you do not wander off, and if you do, to seek you out, find you and bring you back into His glorious presence. This love and Divine action is vastly different from what other religions say about God. The Greeks and Romans often understood the gods to be no morally better than humans. They saw the gods as petty and cruel who plagued mankind with suffering. It wasn’t much better in Judaism at that time, either. The covenant that Yahweh had made at Sinai had degenerated into the pagan belief that God loves the righteous and despises the sinner. If God did good, then God showered His love upon you, but if you were sinful, then He cursed you with all sort of tribulations.

7. Jesus showed up and turned all these misconceptions about God on their head. During His public ministry, Jesus tirelessly searched for His lost. How many a sleepless night or an exhausting day did our Lord experience while He was about His ministry? For three years Jesus traveled north and south, east and west, in the land of Judea searching for His lost. He was beset upon by many adversaries that meant to prevent Him: sicknesses and infirmities which He healed; His own religious authorities whom He silenced; demons whom He cast out; the dead flesh which He resurrected. He went first to the lost in Israel, but He also sought out the Gentiles, who were not sheep of His fold, and made them part of His flock.

8. In Gethsemane, Jesus was burdened with heavy grief. He sweated drops of blood. He stood before Pilate as His own people and religious leaders rejected Him and called for His death. He felt the scourge of the whip on His back and chest, the crown of thorns roughly pressed into His scalp, and the sharp nails in His hands and feet. With His crucifixion, Jesus suffered the agony of the cross because that was the means necessary to bring you safely home. You were His responsibility, and Jesus lovingly paid the price to redeem you back. Jesus bore the cross on His shoulders and carried you home to safety and salvation.

9. This Merciful and Active God was at odds with 1. century men and women, and He is at odds with people still in the 21. century. How many people view God as some detached, old man with a long white beard who sees what happens on the earth, but does very little to help those who are suffering? How many people view God as a stern judge who weighs our every action in His Divine scale, meting out justice upon those whose good deeds outweigh the bad, but metes out judgment upon those whose bad deeds outweigh the good? Jesus challenges these misconceptions about God and shows us how God really is. God is loving, merciful and caring. He looks for the lost one and leaves behind the ninety-nine who are safe and secure. Jesus acts. Wherever there is evil, wherever an innocent suffers, there is Jesus to rescue, to save and carry home on His Divine shoulders.

10. „On our wounds and injuries Jesus poured the balm of forgiveness, and for our hunger He gave the food of His Word and the fellowship of His family. If we are in the flock today, we must confess it is because Jesus has so often come after us and carried us back.

11. „When we stray, we know that it is we who stray; when we are brought back, we know it is He who has brought us back. It is of the Lord’s mercy that we can call ourselves “His” today and hereafter. Here is our reliance and our certainty, not in our respectability or decent lives or anything of us. It is only in the unfailing mercy of our Shepherd, so patient and so good.

12. „To be in the flock means to be guided by the Shepherd, to follow His bidding and example, and that means sharing His concern for the lost sheep. We may not, like the Pharisees, ignore the lost sheep and write them off as not good enough, not fit to be associated with Christ and ourselves. Nor may we, like the prodigal’s elder brother, resent the special effort for the lost son and claim that if anybody is to be bothered, it must be me.

13. „We know ourselves to have been so often lost sheep. We know what it means to be a lost sheep, to be found, and to be borne back to the flock on the shoulders of the Shepherd. We want other lost sheep to know that too. We do not have to look far to find lost sheep. Within the circle of our own family and friends we find them. Near us there are many wandering, lost from the Shepherd and the flock. There was one person who recently told the visitors, “We have seen people from your church go past on their way to church for years and years, but nobody ever invited us to come.”

14. „When we go after the lost sheep and seek them out, we show Jesus what it means to us that He has sought us out and brought us back to the fold. In doing this we are promised a share in the angels’ joy. This joy is God’s goal for us. Joy is never in isolation. Separate from Christ and His flock the is joy is lost to us. His joy is in us knit together, sharing the angels’ joy over lost people brought to life in Christ. This joy is ours in giving our lives to the Good Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep“ (Nagel 168-69 ¶ 12-16). Amen.

15. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus, You are merciful and gracious, find us when we become separated from You so that we trust once again in Your slowness to anger and Your abounding loving kindness. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

1. Peter 2,2-10. 6. Sunday after Trinity

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

2. Thessalonians 3,1-5. 5. Sunday after Trinity

Monday, July 14, 2014

Romans 12,17-21. 4. Sunday after Trinity

Monday, July 7, 2014

Ezekiel 18,1-4.21-24.30-32. 3. Sunday after Trinity