Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: September 2014

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

30. September 2014. Trinity 15

Tuesday 30. September 2014. Trinity 15

Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your father who is in heaven. (Matthew 6,1 ESV)

Jesus exhorts us to be humble in practicing our righteousness. He criticizes those who make loud and public spectacle of themselves when praying. Instead, Jesus tells us to pray simply and in secret. He then gives us the Lord's Prayer.

This prayer is simple yet profound. It may be simply prayed as is, or we can take each petition and offer additional prayers specific to the petition.

Notice that the conclusion is absent in Jesus' account. There is no: "For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen." This conclusion was formulated by the Church as the response to the the Lord's Prayer when prayed in the Divine Service. It is based on King David's temple prayer: Blessed are You, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. 11 Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head above all. 12 Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all. In Your hand are power and might, and in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. 13 And now we thank You, our God, and praise Your Glorious Name. (1.Chronicles 29,10-13 ESV)

Prayer: O Lord, God of truth, Your Word is a lamp to our feet and a light on our path. You gave Your servant Jerome delight in his study of Holy Scripture. May those who continue to read, mark and inwardly digest Your Word find in it the food for salvation and the fountain of life; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (1093, Treasury of Daily Prayer)

St. Michael and all angels. 29. September 2014

Monday 21. September 2014. The Feast of St. Michael and all angels

At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who's name shall be found written in the book. (Daniel 12,1 ESV)

Today is the feast of St. Michael and all angels. Michael is one of two angels named in the Bible. Gabriel is the other. Raphael is a third angel named in the Apocrypha, specifically the Book of Tobit.

Michael's name translates as "who is like God?". He is considered the leader of the angelic host who is specifically tasked to watch over God's people: Israel in the Old Testament and the Church in the New Testament. As such, Michael is in charge of the Church throughout the world to this very day.

The angels all have specific tasks that they undertake on behalf of God. Some, like the cherubim and the seraphim, serve as a heavenly choir singing praise to the Triune God around His throne. Others, like Michael and Gabriel, are understood to be archangels. And then there is the unnumbered host of angels.

Often the angels perform their tasks unseen. One a few occasions they make their presence known, such as when Gabriel spoke to Mary and Joseph about the birth of Jesus or when Michael appears to Daniel.

Although angels are very powerful, they are not the crown of creation. Mankind was made in the image and likeness of God. This puts men and women as the pinnacle of God's wonderful creation. The angels serve us according to God's will. They are an expression of His love and providence for His creation.

Prayer: O Everlasting God, You have ordained and constituted the service of angels and men in a wonderful order. Mercifully grant that, as Your holy angels always serve and worship You in heaven, so by Your appointment they may also help and defend us here on earth; through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen. (F29, Treasury of Daily Prayer)

Monday, September 29, 2014

Genesis 2,4-9. 15th Sunday after Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ

Genesis 2,4b-9 (10-14) 4914

15. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 060

Lioba, Virgin, Abbess ✠ 779

Eustochium, Virgin, ✠ 419

28. September 2014

1. O Lord Jesus, Thou who bears all our cares, forgive whatever we have done against You and our neighbors, purify us with the gospel and make us new people so that we live as Your stewards of Your creation (VELKD, Prayer for the 15. Sunday after Trinity ¶ 1). Amen.

2. »These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh Elohim made the earth and the heavens. When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for Yahweh Elohim had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground—then Yahweh Elohim formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And Yahweh Elohim planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground Yahweh Elohim made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.«

3. Jesus exhorts us: »Seek first the reign of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.“« As Jesus reminds us, we live in a world beset with troubles, trials and tribulations. We have the threat of ISIS and conflict in Iraq and Syria. We have economic woes, unemployment and underemployment that continue to plague our nation. We struggle with illness and infirmity. Added to this is the persecution we face as Christians; for some of our brothers and sisters in Christ, this persecution ends in their martyrdom and death. With all these foes arrayed against us, Jesus promises us that our Heavenly Father will provide for us.

4. We see Yahweh’s Divine Providence at the very beginning in Genesis 2: »Yahweh Elohim planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground Yahweh Elohim made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.« Here we see that Yahweh provided for both our temporal needs (He made to spring up every tree that is good for food) and our spiritual needs (He planted the tree of life in the midst of Eden). This bliss did not last long, for Satan disguised himself, tempted Eve and brought mankind into rebellion against Yahweh.

5. Satan used the infamous phrase: »Did God really say ...?« Satan did not encourage Adam and Eve to eat from the trees that provide physical nourishment. Nor did Satan encourage our first parents to eat from the tree of life. Instead, Satan zeroed in on the forbidden tree of knowledge, and he tempted Adam and Eve to partake of this fruit. In doing so, Satan sowed the seed of doubt. He tempted mankind to doubt Yahweh’s Providence, for lying behind his question is: God has not fully provided for you. He has kept from you an important piece of knowledge: you do not know what evil is, and, therefore, you are not fully in the image and likeness of God, for He knows both good and evil. Take, and eat, from the tree of knowledge and you will become like God; you will take unto yourselves the responsibility to provide for yourselves.

6. In a twisted way, Satan tempted Adam and Eve with a perverted ideal of what Jesus exhorts in our Gospel pericope this morning: »Seek first the reign of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.« Satan tempted our first parents to seek the reign of God, yes, but to overthrow God and take that reign for themselves. Once you are like God, then you can do anything you want: no law will bind you for you will make all the rules and live as you please. How beguiling this temptation is to this very day. Satan daily tempts us to also doubt God’s providence in our lives. Does God really provide for you? Then why are you unemployed, why are you sick and dying, why is your family in shambles and a host of other tempting questions. If God cares so little about you and your physical life, then surely God does not care about your spiritual life. Make your own way, be your own god and forge your own path of righteousness. The path of self-righteousness is the path of rebellion that sets us up as our own god just as surely as Satan tempted Adam and Eve to do. And the results are just as devastating, for we cannot serve two masters: either God makes us righteous or we do.

7. Jesus said: »Seek first the reign of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.« It is Yahweh’s good will to give us the blessings of the tree of life. He had planted it in the midst of the garden and placed no prohibition upon it; its fruit was there for Adam and Eve to eat. For a time, Yahweh had to bar access to the tree of life because its gift would come at a terrible cost if sinners ate of it and lived forever. But Yahweh promised mankind would have access to the tree of life once more.

8. Yahweh promised through the Prophet Isaiah: »There shall come forth a Shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of Yahweh shall rest upon Him. With righteousness He shall bring justice to the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. In that day the Root of Jesse shall stand as a signal for the peoples, and the nations shall inquire of Him and His resting place shall be glorious« (Isaiah 11,1-2.4.10). Jesus Christ is this promised Root of Jesse, and in Him the Gentiles hope (Romans 15,12). A root grows into a tree, and Jesus is the True Tree of Life that grants everlasting life. Christ our Lord was crucified on the cross whose beams were carved from a tree. Jesus won your hearts on this cross and His fruit is righteousness (Proverbs 11,30). The tree of life stood in the middle of the Garden, and Jesus is the Great Central Tree who stands in the middle of the universe. He is the Axis of the world, the World Tree who holds up the skies, and the Tree of Life. He unites and separates the heavenly realm where God dwells in His great hall and Middle Earth where we live in our smaller halls (Murphy 8). The cross stops stop the mouth of the dragon-snake Satan by providing for the resurrection of the dead (Murphy 15). The cross becomes a tree of life that extends its Fruit, Jesus Christ Himself, for us to partake and live forever. The curse of the tree of knowledge is overturned, death yields to life, sin yields to righteousness, and all this through Christ Jesus.

9. Christ now stands once again in the midst of the reign of God, and He bids you to go and partake of this Tree of Life. Do not be tempted by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for its fruit cannot give you righteousness. The wisdom of this world cannot grant you salvation. Your own merits cannot earn you forgiveness. Only Jesus the Tree of Life can give you the righteousness that He would have you receive. Seek Jesus and His righteousness, and you will have eternal life as He intends for you to have. His balm is for your healing. His Providence flows from His righteousness and He will satisfy all your earthly needs. Amen.

8. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus, Thou Life-giving Tree, bid us take refuge in You so that we are safe and sound in this world and borne to Your heavenly reign. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

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

1. Thessalonians 5,14-25. 14th Sunday after Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

1. Thessalonians 5,14-25 4814

14. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 059

Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist, Martyr in Hierapolis, Turkey or Ethiopia 60

21. September 2014

1. O God, Thou Bringer of Everlasting Peace, give us Your Spirit of faithfulness and keep us ever mindful of our Holy Baptism so that we daily rejoice as a child and an heir in Your holy family (VELKD, Prayer for 14. Sunday after Trinity § 1). Amen.

2. »And we urge you, brothers and sisters, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.«

3. This morning’s Gospel pericope mentions Jesus healing ten lepers. These men were physically alienated from both their community and the temple presence of Yahweh. They lived in isolation and the conventional wisdom of the day thought such men were outcasts of Yahweh’s providence, love and mercy. Jesus healed them. He restored them to their community of friends and family, and He restored them to access to God presence and mercy manifested in the temple. They all went straightaway to the temple to be given a physical checkup and declared cured of leprosy by one of the priests. But one man reversed direction and thanked Jesus for what He had done. This man recognized Jesus to be the True Priest who makes people healthy and whole. Jesus told this lone Samaritan whom He had healed that his faith had saved him. The Gospel pericope heard at Austin’s Baptism also speaks of faith: it uses the word „receive“ and speaks of faith as receiving the gifts God gives. Jesus exhorts us to believe in the reign of God like a child believes: with simplicity and full trust. Thus the Apostle Paul writes in his 1. Epistle to the Thessalonians: »Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.«

4. Pay attention to that last verse from St. Paul: »He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.« The apostle emphasizes Jesus’ faithfulness. The apostle does this because he knows that men and women are often faithless. O to be sure, we have good intentions to be faithful, but when trials and temptations weigh heavily upon us, our faithfulness may falter. We live in a world where oaths are violated, promises are broken and trust is betrayed. Perhaps we are not phased by these faithless actions, but in the midst of these chaotic situations the Word of God stands like an immoveable monolith. The Bible speaks of God’s steadfastness. The Psalmist writes: »The works of Yahweh’s hands are faithful and just; all His precepts are trustworthy« (Psalm 111,7), and the Apostle John writes: »God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness« (1. John 1,8-9).

5. God’s faithfulness is bound to His Word, and His Word is His promise. God promises to forgive your sin, and His Word does what it says. Yahweh said to the Prophet Isaiah: »My Word that goes out from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish that which I purpose, and will succeed in the thing for which I sent it« (Isaiah 55,11). God says to you, through His Word, in your Holy Baptism and in the Lord’s Supper: Ego te absolvo! I absolve you of your sins! These Divine words constitute a reality: God says you are forgiven, and thus you are forgiven (Bayer 53). These words of absolution are a Verbum efficax: an effective, accomplishing Word (Bayer 53).

6. This effective Word was performed again this morning in Austin’s Baptism. Q: What is Baptism? A: Baptism in not just plain water, but it is water connected with God’s command and connected with God’s Word (The Small Catechism). Q: What does Baptism give? A: Baptism works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil and gives eternal salvation to all who believe what the Word and promises of God declare (The Small Catechism). Luther described it this way: If the gospel is heard as gospel, then the Spirit is there as well and forgives sins; then the Sacrament of Holy Baptism works faith: „If you believe then you will have.“ (Bayer 266). But do not take this to mean you have a „Get out of hell pass“. Baptism does create faith in the one who is baptized, but that faith can be choked out by the world, by others or by the person themselves if such faith is not nourished in the Church by means of the Word and the Sacraments. Baptism is not a guarantee of salvation, but Baptism is the action of God in the life of this person, which continues to have its effect and behind which we can never go (Bayer 269). Thus the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg encourages the following in her Baptismal Rite: Therefore pray, dear parents and God-parents, so that your child will come to his (her) own faith and will be able to rejoice in his (her) own Baptism (Bayer 267).

7. Holy Baptism creates faith and brings us into God’s family, which is the Church. We call the Church the ship of faith, and, unlike the ill-fated Titanic, the Church is unsinkable. However, it can certainly happen that you could go overboard at some time (Bayer 268). But by means of the lifesaver of the Word and faith you are hauled back aboard ever and again into this ship (Bayer 268). If you have fallen out of the Church, you can still be brought back onboard. Jesus and His Church are waiting for you and will welcome you back with open arms. God the Father is merciful and forgiving. »He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.« You are His through Holy Baptism, and you cannot undo your Baptism. His Son bled, died and rose from the dead for you and your salvation. You have His sincere promise that all sin is covered; yes, every single sin is forgiven you. Jesus told the Samaritan: »Your faith has saved you.« These are God’s words, and they are certain words of the reality that now exists between God and you.

8. What the Church proclaims, what Holy Baptism imparts and what the Lord’s Supper gives is simply Jesus Christ. I leave you with one more thing. An old Evangelical-Lutheran hymn summarizes God’s gift to us very succinctly:

God said to His Beloved Son:

It’s time to have compassion.

Then go, Bright Jewel of My crown,

And bring to all salvation.

From sin and sorrow set them free;

Slay bitter death for them that they

May live with You forever (LSB 556,5). Amen.

9. Let us pray. O Faithful God, as a father shows compassion to his children, so You show compassion to those who fear, love and trust You, help us to receive Your Word and Sacraments as the means of grace that they are so that our troubled souls are assured of Your Fatherly love and mercy You have for us. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

Monday, September 15, 2014

Luke 10,25-37. 13. Sunday after Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Luke 10,25-37 4714

13. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 058

Holy Cross Day, 629

14. September 2014

1. O Lord Jesus, who heals the wounded and binds up the broken-hearted, our needs never end. Pour out Your love an mercy upon us so that we are comforted that no cry, no complaint, no pain, no tears escape Your gracious attention in our lives (VELKD, Prayer for the 13. Sunday after Trinity ¶ 1). Amen.

2. »And behold, a lawyer stood up testing Jesus, saying: „Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?“ And Jesus said to him: „What has been written in the Law? How do you read it?“ Then he answered: „You will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and you will love your neighbor as yourself.“ [Deuteronomy 6,5; Leviticus 19,18]. And Jesus said to him: „You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.“ So wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus: „And who is my neighbor?“ Jesus replied and said: „A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and was seized by bandits, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him about to die. And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he was compassionate, and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring olive oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own donkey, and brought him to an inn and cared for him. On the next day he took out two day’s wages and gave them to the innkeeper and said: ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’ Which of these three do you think has been a neighbor to the man who was seized by the bandits?“ And he said, „The one who showed him mercy.“ Then Jesus said to him: „Go and do the same.“«

3. The question discussed in this morning’s Gospel pericope deals with the topic of eternal life. The lawyer had asked Jesus what should he do to inherit eternal life. Jesus then asked him what does the law say about this. The lawyer responded with the Golden Rule: love God and love your neighbors; he reasoned that by doing these things then one earns eternal life. Interestingly, the Holy Scriptures he quoted from Deuteronomy 6 and Leviticus 19 say nothing about meriting eternal life. In fact Deuteronomy 6 goes on to say that the Ten Commandments (which is what the lawyer had argued merits eternal life) were given to fear Yahweh, for our good always, so that He might preserve us (Deuteronomy 6,24). Deuteronomy continues to say that the Ten Commandments mean that it was Yahweh who had redeemed them from Egyptian slavery, brought them out with a mighty and miraculous hand and lead them into the promised land of Canaan (Deuteronomy 6,20-23). Go back and read Exodus 20 and you will not find any cause and effect between doing the commandments and earning eternal life. Only the 4. Commandment extends a promise: Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that Yahweh your God is giving you (Exodus 20,12). That is a promise of temporal long life for them in the Promised Land, not a promise of eternal life. Again, Exodus 20 puts the context of the Commandments with the Exodus, saying: »God spoke all these words saying: „I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.“« (Exodus 20,1-2), and then Yahweh lists the Ten Commandments for the people. Jesus therefore tells the Parable of the Good Samaritan to show the lawyer that even he cannot keep the law and therefore cannot merit his eternal life.

4. The Ten Commandments and the Parable of the Good Samaritan show what righteousness looks like and that it is manifested in good works for the neighbor. Both the Commandments and the parable also teach that while the law shows what righteousness looks like the law cannot empower us to act righteously nor can the law assure us that we have the promise of eternal life. Paul says: »The righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, for the righteousness of the God is manifested through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe« (Romans 3,21-22). To be righteous is to have the promise of eternal life. Thus Paul continues: »What then shall we say was gained by Abraham? For if Abraham earned eternal life by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was merited to him as eternal life.« (Romans 4,1-3).

5. The question is then: What did Abraham believe? Whom did Abraham believe in? Jesus said: »No one has seen the Father except He who is from God; I have seen the Father« (John 6,46). »I and the Father are One« (John 10,28.30). »And this is eternal life, that they know You the Only True God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent« (John 17,3). From this we conclude that Abraham believed in Jesus. Not only did he believe in Him, Abraham conversed with the Son of God several times during his lifetime. »Now Yahweh said to Abram: „Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing“« (Genesis 12,1-2). »And Yahweh appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day« (Genesis 18,1). »After these things God tested Abraham and said to him: „Abraham! Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.“« (Genesis 22,1-2).

6. Here we see the connection Jesus makes with Abraham: Just as Jesus told Abraham to sacrifice His only son, Isaac, unto God, so Jesus would be sent by God the Father to be the sacrifice unto God. Jesus said: »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 (John 3,14-15). When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to Myself« (John 12,32). Jesus draws our eyes to the cross, thus the doctrinal axiom: Allein das Kreuz ist unsere Theologie. (The cross alone is our theology.) [1] Not the cross itself, for we do not need the true cross that St. Helena found and placed in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 335. Our focus is on the one who was crucified upon that cross 300 years earlier. How many Jews had the Romans crucified that year alone before they got to Jesus in early April? We do not know, and it is not important to our salvation in any event, for it is the sacrifice of one particular man, who is also the Son of God, that made the cross important because that particular man, Christ Jesus, purchased our eternal life on that cross.

7. The Apostle Paul says the one crucified on the cross is a stumbling block and foolishness to many people (1. Corinthians 1,23-25). Isaac was a stumbling block to Hagar who was dumbfounded that the promise would go through Sarah’s son rather than her firstborn. Hagar’s Ishmael was the true and rightful firstborn son of Abraham. But Jesus had specifically told Abraham that it was not son of Abraham and Hagar who would get the promised covenant but rather the son of Abraham and Sarah who would be the heir of the messianic promise. Jesus is the Second Isaac, and He was also a stumbling block; Jesus was a stumbling block to pious Jews and others. On one occasion they called Jesus „a Samaritan“. That was a derogatory name, much like an Israeli calling someone a Palestinian today. And yet, Jesus is unconcerned about being associated with the Samaritans. In today’s parable, Jesus makes the Samaritan the virtuous hero over the pious priest and Levite. Jesus tells the story and then drops the shocking clincher: you must let this Good Samaritan save you, too. For you see, the Good Samaritan in the parable is a type of Jesus. The Samaritan saw someone left for dead and he bound his wounds and saved him. This is what Jesus did on the cross: He takes us who deserve the cross, suffers it in our place, bears its wounds for us, dies the death we deserve, is buried in the grave that has our names inscribed on it and descends to Hades where all who are separated from God abide. By doing so He has taken possession of the keys to Hades, has burst asunder the grave’s coffin, conquered sin, overturned death and and has shown you mercy.

8. Thus we return to the question asked by the lawyer, for it is a question that everyone asks throughout their life: „What shall I do to inherit eternal life?“ The answer is: absolutely nothing! This is shocking, and how many stumble over this simple answer because it removes from us any claim to self-righteousness before God. The reason the answer is „absolutely nothing“ is because Jesus has done everything to merit our eternal life. And this is nothing new or innovative. Page through Bible and you will discover from the very beginning, from Adam and Eve onward, that it is God in Christ who is redeeming His fallen creation, meriting their righteousness and leading them on the path of everlasting life that finds its Source and Certainty in Jesus alone. One person, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Son of Mary, earned your eternal life and He gives it to you as a gift born out of love and mercy for you. That „for you“ is imperative, for it makes the blessing personal: it is yours, and it is yours because Jesus says so. Jesus doesn’t let us wiggle out of the joy of the promise by hanging our heads in sorrow mumbling „O that is true for everyone else, but that gospel is not for me.“ Jesus is for you. His gospel is for you. His promise is given to you through the means of grace. Believe that promise and receive it with great joy, for Jesus has done it all for you. It is true! You have eternal life, yes, Jesus’ very life, and that is in accordance with His will for you. Amen.

8. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus, whose Name is praised throughout the earth, bless us and our names so that we may live bountiful and respected lives to the glory of Your Name. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

Martens, Gottfried. A sermon preached on 22. August 2009 (11. Trinitatis) in Berlin-Zehlendorf, Germany on Luke 18,9-14. Copyright © 2011 St. Mary Church in Berlin-Zehlendorf (SELK). All rights reserved. The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind, Tr. © 2011.

[1] From the Latin: Crux sola est nostra theologia.

Monday, September 8, 2014

1. Corinthians 3,9-15. 12. Sunday after Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

1. Corinthians 3,9-15 4614

12. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 057

Regina, Virgin, Martyr in Burgundy, France ✠ 251

7. September 2014

1. O God, Thou our Foundation that sustains us, Thou our Haven that saves us, we trust You and we worship You, O God, Thou our Love and Life. Instill in us a desire for Your mercy, so that we gratefully receive Your grace for our justification (VELKD, Prayer for 12. Sunday after Trinity § 1). Amen.

2. »For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw – each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.«

3. Our Gospel Lection tells us the account of Jesus healing a man born deaf and mute. We see in this miracle that „What God says, God does. The reverse is also true. What God does, God says; His doing is not ambiguous. God’s work is God’s speech. God’s speech is no fleeting breath. It is a most effective breath that creates life, that summons into life“ (Bayer 43). St. Mark the Evangelist reported the response of the crowd: »He has done all things well« (Mark 7,37). Since He has done all things well, then Jesus has also spoken all things well.

4. Thus, the Apostle Paul exhorts us: »Now if anyone builds on the foundation which is Jesus Christ with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw – each one’s work will become manifest, for the last day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.« The holy apostles teaches two fundamental doctrines in these three verses of his 1. Epistle to the Corinthians: 1. there is only one foundation, and that foundation is Jesus Christ; 2. use good building materials on this foundation. The apostle speaks here of justification and sanctification.

5. St. Paul teaches that there is only one foundation which survives the test of judgment, and that is the foundation which is Jesus Christ. In another epistle, Paul expounds on that foundation saying that the foundation is the apostolic and prophetic teaching of the old and new testaments with Christ Himself the Cornerstone of that foundation (Ephesians 2,20). Paul says that apostles and prophets proclaimed Christ Jesus for He is the most important stone in the foundation. In any building project you have to get the foundation right. If you build a solid foundation, then you will withstand the forces of nature and time. Consider the pyramids in Egypt: they have stood for thousands of years because their foundation is rock solid. A weak foundation, however, will soon succumb to the tempests of nature. Thus Paul says the only trustworthy foundation that brings the certainty of salvation is the one that is built upon the preaching of the apostles and prophets that is centered upon Christ crucified for sinners. This foundation of redemption is secured by Christ who has redeemed us from sin, death and hell. No force can shake this foundation, not even the forces of Hades (Matthew 16,18). Salvation and justification are only through Jesus, who said: »I Am the Door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture« (John 10,9); »I Am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades« (Revelation 1,18).

6. „In our modern age, influenced by Pietism and the Enlightenment, our thinking is shaped by what is subjective, by the life of faith, by our inner disposition and motivation, by our inward impulses and the way they are shaped. When we think and live along these lines, sanctification is a matter of personal and individual development and orientation…. But this approach [by means of personal responsibility] is secondary. ‘The Word of God always comes first. After it follows faith; after faith, love; then love does every good work, for … it is the fulfilling of the law’“ (Bayer 58). Paul tells us that there are two types of works: those that are precious and those that are stubble. The good, precious works will survive while the cheaper works will be burned and discarded.

7. Good works are performed in three estates: the Church, the household and in politics (Bayer 60) and sometimes these three estates overlap into each other. In the Church our works revolve around two offices: the episcopacy and the diaconate. The episcopacy is the pastor office with its attending works of preaching and administering the Sacraments. The diaconate is the serving office with its attending works that meet the physical needs of people. THe diaconate can be divided into two additional works: the ecclesiastical works and the temporal works. Ecclesiastical works are spiritual and involve encouraging one another, praying with and for each other, attending worship, singing and learning from the Word through the Scripture readings and the sermons. The temporal works are collecting offerings to fund the paying of salaries, paying the bills for electricity, heat and water, ensuring the preaching of the gospel is upheld, attending to the janitorial tasks of repairs, upkeep and cleanliness and a host of other works that go with have property and a building.

8. In the household there are many works that need to be done. Being a husband, being a wife, being a father, being a mother, attending to finances and bills, upkeep of the home and yard, studying, working, cleaning, caring for our family and neighbors by helping them in their needs and general stewardship of creation. The estates of Church and household overlap a bit for part of our good works involve ensuring we and our family are raised in the Christian faith, exhorting our neighbors to be attentive in Church and inviting our neighbors to join us in Church if they are lax in attendance or have no Church home.

9. There are numerous good works to be done in the political estate. Obviously, we can run for any number of public offices to serve our borough, State or nation. Such consideration for these offices is important because often politicians are stereotyped as pariahs concerned only about government pork, amassing power for themselves and liars. All the more reason for good Christians to hold public office who will be honest, faithful, good stewards of the public treasury and putting the interests of their neighbors when they make decisions. Political offices offer many opportunities to help our neighbors whether it be in direct ways as a politician, a police officer, a firefighter, a crossing guard or some other public works duty. Indirectly the political estate helps the neighbors by ensuring that all are treated fairly and equally, the public services are maintained for the good of all and establishing programs that offer assistance to particular needs in the community. Other works fall under the political estate, such as being an informed voter who actually votes, military service, volunteer organizations, hospital work and other institutions that exist to assist people in their needs.

10. Underpinning this sanctification, the salvation that God imparts today guarantees the approaching consummation of the world on the last day and enables us to experience with sorrow the contradiction between the suffering and sighing creatures of the old world and the creation that is promised, the original world (Bayer 64). „It is difficult for us – influenced as we are by the legacy of Pietism – to think of the world and its history in this way. According to our obstinate misunderstanding, based upon our modern presuppositions, any talk about God’s preservation of creation is hard to relate to talk about the future that we can expect from God, if not totally in contradiction to it. And yet this misunderstanding can be resolved“ (Bayer 64). The key to living in this world lies in the promise of God (Bayer 65). The Lord Jesus Christ speaks and acts; He acts and speaks. Jesus speaks and makes all things new. This begins in our Baptism where the holy Word was spoken over us: „I baptize you in the Name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.“ That Word brings us into God’s family and justifies us through the merits of Jesus Christ. The old is drowned and the new rises from the baptismal waters. „In the relation of our new nature to the old we do make progress“, for we begin and make some progress in that which shall be perfected on the Last Day (Bayer 65). This progress is the works that we built upon the foundation of Christ and faith in Him. The Apostle Paul tells us that some of these works will survive while others will be burned away. „We do not merit the reign of God by working for it. It has long since been prepared.“ Jesus said: »Inherit the reign prepared for you from the foundation of the world« (Matthew 25,34). „The concept of progress is no longer a salvation concept“ (Bayer 66). We live in a fallen, corrupt and cursed world, but we do not flee from this present world with the dream of hoping for better times in this world’s history (Bayer 67). Rather, we look to the promise of God in Christ Jesus. He lived in this world among us and He overcame the fruit of this fallen, corrupt and cursed world. He saw a deaf man, and He made him healthy and whole. He saw dead Lazarus, and He raised him up to new life. He Himself died, was buried in the grave and descended into Hades, but on the third day Jesus rose from the dead, walked out from His grave and had unlocked the very gates of Hades. Jesus gives us this victory of justification in our Baptism. We believe His words, take comfort in His promise and faith yields the good works of sanctification for the benefit of our neighbors. „The reign of God is not being prepared but has been prepared, while the sons and daughters of the reign are being prepared, not preparing the reign; that is to say, the reign of God merits the children, not the children the reign of God“ (Bayer 76-77). God alone is righteous, and He has given us His very righteousness through His Son Jesus Christ. This is our hope and our faith for it rests upon Christ and His gospel promise to us. Truly, Jesus has done all things well. Amen.

11. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, You alone are worthy to be blessed and praised at all times, strengthen our faith in You so that we rely upon You alone for salvation and hope in the new creation to arrive at Your second advent. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

2. Samuel 12,1-10.13-15a. 11. Sunday after Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

2. Samuel 12,1-10.13-15a 4514

11. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 056

Isabella, Virgin ✠ 1270

31. August 2014

1. O Lord Jesus Christ, Savior of the downtrodden, like the tax collector, our sinfulness makes us the stranger before You, nevertheless, we and we come to You, convicted of our sins and seeking Your mercy. Look upon us with grace and transform us through Your Spirit so that we receive Your mercy (VELKD, Prayer for the 11. Sunday after Trinity ¶ 1). Amen.

2. »David said to Nathan: „I have sinned against Yahweh.” And Nathan said to David: „Yahweh also has put away your sin; you shall not die.“«

3. In Jesus’ day, people went up to the temple in Jerusalem to pray twice a day because „public prayer was permitted in the temple in the morning and evening during the atonement sacrifices, which was made at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.“ (Just 681). In this parable, the Pharisee and the publican have gone to the temple, where Yahweh was present, precisely at the time of the atonement sacrifice, and atonement was the reason for the temple’s existence (Just 682). With the lamb sacrificed, the blood of the lamb now covered the sins of Israel for that day, and then incense was burned and filled the air as the Psalmist notes: »O Yahweh, let my prayers rise before You as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice« (Psalm 141,2). The people prayed to Yahweh in the context of worship and redemption, for as the incense went up as a sweet fragrance to Yahweh so too did their prayers.

4. Furthermore, the theme of this parable is how is one made righteous? Under the old testament, righteousness was imparted upon people through the blood of the lamb and was received by faith in what the sacrifice gave. The morning and evening sacrifices assured people that their sins had been atoned for and forgiven. So then, how is that righteousness received?

5. First, the Pharisee boasts of his righteousness! I am a holy and pious man! I don’t cheat anyone, I live a moral life and I only worship Yahweh. I am everything that this tax collector hiding in the shadows is not! The Pharisee boasts in his own self-righteousness rather than the righteousness that is given to him through the sacrificed lamb as a gift from the God he claims to worship. If this Pharisee cannot understand nor receive the righteousness as it was instituted in the old testament, is it any wonder why he and most of his fellow Pharisees failed to receive the righteousness that the Lamb of God promised to bring through the new testament? If this Pharisee rejected the Levitical lamb’s sacrifice for his salvation, then he also rejected the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice for his salvation.

6. Second, there is the tax collector who is ashamed of his unrighteousness. He knows he is the worst of sinners, as correctly tabulated by the pious Pharisee. That tax collector is everything the Pharisee claims he is not. That tax collector acknowledged that he is a wicked man. He cheats his neighbors by overcharging them for their taxes and makes himself rich in the process. He lives an immoral life that is full of scandal and derision. His only help is Yahweh. The tax collector throws himself onto the mercy of Yahweh. He takes comfort in God’s righteousness that covers him like a new garment as the Prophet Isaiah promises: »We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like filthy rags. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. But now, O Yahweh, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are our potter; we are all the work of Your hand« (Isaiah 64,6.8). The work of our Heavenly Father’s hand is to make us righteous.

7. So the question is: how do you merit your righteousness? Will you merit it like the Pharisee, who, contrary to both the old and new testaments, trusted in his own righteous life, or will you merit it like the tax collector, who trusted in Yahweh as all the faithful do in the old and new testaments? The righteousness of the Pharisee, the righteousness of our own good works, is not even a viable way of righteousness. Jesus said: »The Pharisee went down to his home having been declared unrighteous, for he had exalted himself and was thus humbled.« Not that the Pharisee would have noticed, because he still saw himself as righteous on account of his exemplary life. God, however, saw something different, and it is God’s view that matters in the realm of righteousness. The Apostle Paul gazes into all our hearts when he says: »No one is righteous, no, not one. All have turned aside; no one does good, not even one. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. For we hold that one is righteous by faith apart from works of the law« (Romans 3,10.12.23-24.27-28).

8. „Our Lord neither condemns the exemplary life of the Pharisee nor does He commend the disreputable life of the publican. The crucial point is that the Pharisee negotiates with God, does a deal, calculates, and tells God the answer. God is expected merely to nod approval. God has no choice but to accept and admire this splendid man. The publican surrenders every claim and calculation. The decision rests with God. He gives God the right to condemn him; hence God has the possibility of showing mercy. Mercy is only possible when you surrender yourself into the hands and decision of God. Where there is not God’s mercy, there is only hell“ (Nagel 199,20).

9. But where this is God’s mercy, there is full forgiveness. When the Prophet Nathan showed King David his manifold sins committed against his neighbors, »David said to Nathan: „I have sinned against Yahweh.” And Nathan replied to David: „Yahweh has put away your sin; you shall not die.“« Nathan proclaimed the gospel that is grounded upon righteous Yahweh who makes propitiation for sin.

10. Too often the temptation is to pit the tax collector against the Pharisee and praise the tax collector’s humble repentance while vilifying the Pharisee’s arrogant boasting. We should rightly praise the tax collector’s attitude, for we should always come to God in humble sorrow, confess our sins and rely on His rich mercy that He has shown to us in Christ Jesus our crucified and risen Lord. We should also acknowledge all the good the Pharisee did. He was a man of solid reputation. He was an excellent neighbor and always willing to help when in need. We could trust him with our possessions and our lives and he would do his best to preserve both against robber or murderer. Would that our good works that bear fruit from faith in the gospel were as bountiful as the Pharisee’s! Our church would be full of people, our offering plates would overflow with money and our neighbors would have so much help that they would have to turn us away because they lacked need.

11. Jesus’ parable shows that there are two ways to stand before God the Father: either boasting of our righteous deeds or humbly seeking His mercy to cover our unrighteousness. „We stand before God, and He does not determine our righteousness because of what we do and how we compare to what others do, but He solely determines our righteousness on the merit of the one sacrifice of the Lamb, who bore the sins of the world, and we rely solely on Christ and His death on the cross. We stand before God with empty hands, with hands that we can only use to beat our breast in sorrow and confess our sins. And then we must also here today in the Divine Service experience this miracle anew so that we leave this church building as justified people, as people who are judged by God to be good and righteous in His eyes – because He applies to us what Christ has acquired on the cross for us. It is precisely this verdict, that you are righteous, that you have heard the absolution that was spoken after your confession, and that this verdict shall be the same again upon you when you see Christ the Lamb of God and receive His own body and blood in the Holy Supper. And now you may return home to your everyday life knowing that, like the tax collector, your sin and guilt have been forgiven. Now you you return to your everyday life and may be quite confident that: God is merciful to you, despite your guilt, despite your failure; for He has promised you, and you can count on Him. This allows you to live each day well as a Christian ...!“ (Martens § 14). Amen.

12. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus, the Righteous One, we give thanks to You and proclaim Your deeds among the peoples, so that they may hear of Your mercy and be certain that even their sins are forgiven. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

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