Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: February 2015

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Devotional thoughts for Wednesday

Wednesday 25. February 2015

Invocavit

The 7. Day of Lent

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1,14)

This is the Annunciation Window in our church. One the left we see the serpent in the Garden of Eden who tempted Adam and Eve to disobey God and sin by eating from the forbidden tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Sin demands redemption by blood. First, the blood of lambs forgave the sins of Israel, but those sacrifices had to be repeated daily and yearly. Then God the Father sent His Only Son, Jesus, to be the promised Christ. Jesus took upon Himself human flesh and became a man. He was born to become the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. So great was this gift to mankind that God sent the angel Gabriel to announce His conception to Mary and Joseph.

Prayer: O LORD, stir up our hearts so that by meditating upon the birth of Jesus we may behold from the Holy Scriptures Your mind that desires to save all men and women from sin and the curse of the Fall. Amen.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Devotional thoughts for Tuesday

Tuesday 24. February 2015

The 6. Day of Lent

Jesus appointed twelve whom He named apostles so that they might be with Him and He might send them out to preach. (Mark 3,14)

Jesus is Israel reduced to one. He lives the life of Israel and does what Israel failed to do. Old Testament Israel had twelve patriarch who became the twelve tribes that comprised the nation. New Testament Israel likewise has twelve apostles who became the foundation for the Church.

Jesus called twelve of His disciples to be apostles. They were sent out to preach the gospel. They furthered the reign of Jesus. The Book of Acts tells us that when the apostles established new churches they ordained bishops to preach. We commonly call such bishops pastors today. The task of the pastoral office is to preach the gospel and in doing so to further the reign of Jesus.

Lent reminds us of what that preached gospel is: Jesus was crucified as the payment for our sin, and then He rose from His grave on the third day as the first fruits of our resurrection on the last day. The gospel assures us that sin, death and the grave have been overcome by Jesus. His victory is our victory.

Prayer: O Almighty and Eternal God, Your Son Jesus triumphed over the prince of demons and freed us from bondage to sin. Help us to stand firm against every assault of Satan, and enable us always to do Your will; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen. (B63, Treasury of Daily Prayer)

Monday, February 23, 2015

Matthew 4,1-11. Invocavit Sunday (1. Sunday in Lent)

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Matthew 4,1-11 (Mark 1,12-13; Luke 4,1-13) 1415

Invokavit 24

St. Peter’s Chair at Antioch in Turkey, 33 ✠

22. Februar 2015

1. O Jesus Christ, our Savior, You were tempted and were victorious over the devil. Strengthen us when we are tempted so that we testify of Your great mercy and support. (VELKD, Prayer for Invokavit § 1). Amen.

2. »Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him: „If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.“ But He answered: „It is written: »Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.«“ [Deuteronomy 8,3] Then the devil took Him to the holy city and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to Him: „If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written: »He will command His angels concerning you,« and »On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.«“ [Psalm 91,11-12] Jesus said to him: „Again it is written: »You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.«“ [Deuteronomy 6,16] Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him: „All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.“ Then Jesus said to him: „Be gone, Satan! For it is written: »You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.«“ [Deuteronomy 6,13-14] Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels arrived and were ministering to Him.«

3. Lent is a liturgical season of solemn preparation for the events of Holy Week that conclude with Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection. The theme of the 1. Sunday in Lent is invocavit: he will call, and it named for today’s Introit »When he calls to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him« (Psalm 91,15).

4. Our First Reading from Genesis 3 reminds us that we have had a dark adversary since Adam and Eve dwelt in the Garden of Eden. There Satan tempted our First Parents to rebel against God and take for themselves knowledge that God had forbidden them at the time. The First Adam’s failure to resist the devil’s temptation lead to mankind’s fall into original sin. We live with the consequences of that fall to this very day as the cursed creation and our own impending death remind us.

5. The knowledge wrought from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil has plunged this world into endless cycles of suffering, violence, warfare and death. The mainstream news media nightly shows us man’s inhumanity to man. We cannot escape this fallen cycle of pain and death, but as Lent reminds us: we set aside times for penitent reflection, repent of our sinfulness and trust in the mercy of God to redeem us.

6. Jesus shows us His Father’s loving heart. The Apostle Matthew tells us in his Gospel: »Then the devil left Jesus, and behold, angels arrived and were ministering to Him.« God promises to help His people. We were created in His Image and Likeness, and God does not forsake us. »No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, so that you may be able to endure it« (1. Corinthians 10,13). The devil tempted Jesus with temptations that he has used against men and women since Adam and Eve. We have been tempted to put physical needs ahead of our spiritual needs; and we have succumbed to those temptations. We have been tempted to put God to the test; and we have succumbed to those temptations. We have been tempted to trust in idols over God; and we have succumbed to those temptations. The temptations Jesus experienced in Matthew 4 are no different than what has afflicted mankind since our fall into sinfulness.

7. The difference is that where we continually yield to temptation, Jesus has successfully overcome temptations and has beaten the devil. Immediately after His baptism, Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Jesus had arrived vicariously for the nation of Israel, to be in its place and to repeat its history (Gibbs 193). When Israel went into the desert under Moses, God tested the people for faith and righteousness (Gibbs 193). Israel failed, however, falling into sin and gross idolatry time and time again (Gibbs 193). Now that the True Son has arrived in the place of Israel, He will be tempted to sin by Satan himself (Gibbs 193). Because the people of Israel failed their testing, Jesus must be subject to the tempting in their place (Gibbs 188). This is the Father’s good pleasure, and this Son will show His perfect Sonship by perfect obedience (Gibbs 193).

8. The Gospel according to St. Matthew tells us that Jesus is „Israel reduced to one“. This term was first coined by Lutheran theologian Dr. Horace Hummel in the 1970s, and was put into print in 1979 with his book The Word Becoming Flesh. Dr. Hummel explained the term this way: „That is to say that Old Testament history really is our history via Christ…. Since Christ is ‘Israel reduced to one,’ and since Israel’s inner history was all recapitulated and consummated in Him, the ‘new Israel,’ the church, expresses [her] identity and mission in terms of the promise given the old Israel“ (Hummel 17). Jesus was tempted by the devil, and He endured this temptation vicariously in our place.

5. In Jesus’ temptation, we see a dovetailing of two Christological themes found in the pages of Holy Scripture: 1. Jesus is Israel reduced to one standing in our place, 2. Jesus is the Christus Victor who triumphs victorious over our old, evil foe, the devil. Jesus was tempted as we are tempted, and Jesus overcame His temptations. His victory is our victory. What the First Adam could not do, the Second Adam has done, and Jesus has done it perfectly for us in our place.

9. The Apostle Paul explains it this way in his 1. Epistle to the Corinthians: »The first man Adam became a living being; the Last Adam became a Life-giving Spirit. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the Second Man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the Man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the Image of the Man of heaven« (1. Corinthians 15,45.47-49).

Jesus undid what Adam did vicariously. The Second Adam overcame the devil who tempted with knowledge of good and evil.

10. The Psalmist writes: »When he calls to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him« (Psalm 91,15). God did this for His Son, for »behold, angels arrived and were ministering to Him.« Jesus now answers and rescues us in our times of need. He sends the Holy Spirit to comfort and exhort us, and often the Holy Spirit does this through the Holy Scriptures. Jesus also sends His angels to attend us and minister to us. We may not even be aware of this, for as the Epistle to the Hebrews says: »some have entertained angels unawares« (Hebrews 13,2).

11. Jesus is our Victor. No matter how many times we fall to the devil’s temptations, Jesus has overcome the devil. Christ’s victory is our victory. We have it by our Baptism in God’s Triune Name. We have it by faith in Jesus. We have it by Jesus’ death and resurrection. We are saved, and Jesus did everything necessary to merit our salvation. Amen.

12. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, Thou Son of God who appeared to destroy the works of the devil, help us to trust in Your victory so that we rejoice in Your righteousness that You have freely give us by grace through faith. 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.

Friday, February 20, 2015

Devotional thoughts for Friday

Friday 20. February 2015

3. Day of Lent

I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recite all of Your wonderful deeds. (Psalm 9,1)

The Holy Scriptures show again and again the faithful loving-kindness of GOD to men and women. He promises to redeem them, and He does. He promises to send them the Christ, and He does. He promises to deliver us from sin, death and hell, and He has. All these promises find their answer in Jesus. He is the Yes of GOD's Word.

During Lent we might often focus on fasting, prayer and giving up something in penitential piety. Psalm 9 reminds us to also read and contemplate the mercy and grace of God on sinners like us. Part of our daily piety that flows from our justification by grace through faith is to be better comforted to the image and likeness of GOD, and that is to be people who love, show mercy and are gracious to others as GOD is to us.

Prayer: O GOD, You declare Your Almighty Power above all in showing mercy and pity. Mercifully grant us such a measure of Your grace that we may obtain Your gracious promises and be made partakers of Your heavenly treasures; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen. (H70, Treasury of Daily Prayer)

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Devotional thoughts for Wednesday

Wednesday 18. February 2015

Ash Wednesday

If You, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness, so that You may be feared. I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His Word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with Him is plentiful redemption. And He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. (Psalm 130,3-8)

Ash Wednesday begins us on the path of Lent and its steady walk up to Jerusalem where Jesus was arrested, crucified and buried. These were somber days for our Lord as the weight and suffering of the cross drew ever closer for Him. Lent, then, is not about what we do, what piety we showcase, what fast we undertake or what vice we give up for a mere forty days. Lent is about Jesus and what He did for us.

Jesus showed us the heart of God revealed in Psalm 130. God is a loving God who desires to forgive the sins of His fallen creation. He desires to redeem us. This is why God the Father sent His Only Son, Jesus, to be the Christ who suffered, died and rose again for our justification and forgiveness. We never need doubt His love for us or the certainty of our salvation, for we have the assurance through Jesus that we have been redeemed before God.

Prayer: O Almighty and Everlasting God, You despise nothing You have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent. Create in us new and contrite hearts so that lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness we may receive from You full pardon and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen.

Monday, February 16, 2015

Mark 8,31-38. Quinquagesima/Estomihi Sunday

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ

Mark 8,31-38 1315

Estomihi 22

Philemon, Bishop of Colossae, Martyr 70

Faustinus and Jovita, Martyrs at Brescia, 121. ✠

15. Februar 2015

1. O God, we hope in Your Fatherly love, O Christ, we long for Your heavenly peace, O Holy Spirit, we desire Your Divine wisdom; use us, O Triune God, to renew Your creation and by Your power establish Your reign through the gospel of the crucified Christ. Amen. (VELKD, Prayer for Estomihi § 1)

2. And Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And He said this plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But turning and seeing His disciples, Jesus rebuked Peter and said: „Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.“ And He called to Him the crowd with His disciples and said to them: „If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life? For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when He arrives in the Glory of His Father with the holy angels.“

3. Moments prior to today’s Gospel pericope, Peter (speaking for all the apostles) correctly confessed that »Jesus is the Christ« (8,29). Then Jesus teaches us what it means for Him to be the Christ. The title of „Christ“ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word „Messiah“; they both mean: God’s anointed and chosen one. To be the Messiah, the Christ, means that »it was necessary for Jesus to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again« (8,31). Jesus’ definition of being the Christ was at odds with the accepted Jewish understanding from their traditions. Traditional Jewish understanding in the 1. century about the Christ was that he would be an earthly ruler with charismatic powers who would restore Israel and launch an abiding earthly reign (Garland 179). First century Jewish Christological expectation had no room for a suffering and dying Christ (Gibbs 838). The Apostle Peter’s response of recoiling in horror arises out of the natural way that sinful humans think about how God would choose to work in the world (Gibbs 839). Jesus says the Christ must suffer, die and rise again, but Peter says that the Christ must be protected by the Heavenly Father and be exempt from suffering and death (Garland 180). Grace is not easily understood, and thus Mark 8,31 is the turning point in the Gospel according to St. Mark. From this point onward, Jesus teaches His disciples that to be the Christ is about the humiliating suffering on the cross and the glorious resurrection from the grave.

4. Jesus teaches us how to understand grace through:

I. confession

II. crucifixion

III. Christianity

5. We confessed this morning in the Nicene Creed that Jesus Christ was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, He suffered, was was buried and on the third day He rose again. St. Paul was so adamant about the priority of this confession that He told the Corinthian Christians: »I am determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him having been crucified« (1. Corinthians 2,2), and »Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruit of those having fallen asleep« (1. Corinthians 15,20). This confession is the Christian confession made by Peter and the apostles that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God (Matthew 16,16).

6. Jesus defines the ministry of the Christ that is consistent with the Holy Scriptures. The Prophet Isaiah describes the Christ as His Heavenly Father’s Suffering, Crucified Servant: »He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief: and we hid our faces from Him, for He was despised and we did not esteem Him. But He was wounded for our transgressions, and He was bruised for our iniquities, for the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and we are healed with His stripes. I will divide His portion with everyone, and He will divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His life unto death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He bore the sin of all people, and He makes intercession for the transgressors« (Isaiah 53,3-4.12). The Psalmist describes the Christ as descending into hades: »I have set Yahweh before Me, because He is at My right hand. Therefore, My heart is glad, and My whole being rejoices; My flesh also dwells secure, for You will not abandon my soul to hades nor let Your Holy One see corruption« (Psalm 16,8-10). »God will ransom My soul from the power of hades, for He will receive Me« (Psalm 49,15).

II.

7. Jesus was not interested in meeting the Christological expectations of His fellow Jews. Jesus did not arrive from heaven to be a worldly King with an army of zealots who would drive out the Romans from Judea and re-establish a Davidic kingdom. Jesus is concerned about us and our salvation. He suffered, died and rose again to justify us before our Heavenly Father, and, therefore, this is the heart and soul of God’s Word and preaching. To see how central this theology of the cross is, look around our church and count how many crosses you find: I have counted at least nine.

8. The cross is the only acceptable ransom for sin, and thus the crucified Christ is the only means of salvation. In Mark 8, Jesus begins to show the Divine necessity of His rejection, suffering, death and resurrection in Jerusalem (CTQ 218). Jesus had to suffer, die and rise again, for this is the only way for God to redeem fallen mankind. Such a Christ cannot be comprehended within the categories of the Second Temple Judaism in Jesus’ day and its eschatological, Christological expectation (CTQ 218).

9. God the Father is not going to be merciful to Jesus, but rather He will pour out all of His wrath upon Him on the cross. When Yahweh visits His wrath upon His enemies, it is like drinking a cup of foaming wine that makes one stagger and fall into shame, ruin and death (CTQ 221). Jesus utters words of complete desolation and abandonment when He cried out on the cross: »My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me!« (Mark 15,34) „The Father abandons the Son to rejection and wrath. This is the judgment day, as all the apocalyptic signs (the temple curtain tears, the earth quakes and the tombs are opened) break loose demonstrate. The judgment has come upon Jesus“ (CTQ 222). This is what it means to say „Christ crucified“, for He suffered the very wrath of God upon sin.

10. Jesus went to the cross where He suffered and died in the place of sinners. He assumed the condemnation of sinners and bore the punishment that God’s wrath poured out. He took your place and my place; He bore all of our sins; He hung on the cross in our place, and God struck Him down as the payment our sin had merited and earned. Yes, all of the petty sins we never give a second thought to, and all the big sins that we never seem to want to forget about, Jesus bore all of them and in doing so He saved us. There is no greater love shown to us than Christ crucified.

III.

11. Jesus exhorts us to take up our cross and follow Him (8,34). We know that a cross is a path of suffering and death. It is as if Jesus asks us: „Will you follow Me into fire, into storm, into darkness, into death?“ (Parliament of Dreams 22:01) This is the very path that Jesus walked, and He finished the journey. He suffered, died and was buried. He walked though the vale of death and emerged on the other side in risen glory. Jesus promises us the same victory, too. The Christ way is the Calvary way which is the theology of the cross way.

12. The only cross we take up is Jesus’ cross. His cross saved us. We need do nothing to merit salvation except believe that Jesus did it all for us and gives us forgiveness freely and without cost. Yes, we will suffer hardships and trials in this life as Christians. We will be tempted to do salvation our own way, water down the pure gospel and a host of other things to please people. But we need never yield to these temptations. We merely need to bear our cross and rely fully on Jesus and His grace because we know that the cross doesn’t end with death but with life.

13. Jesus died in our place and He also rose from the dead in our place (CTQ 225). Christians follow Jesus all the way through. We endure ridicule and heartache on account of our faith in Christ. We know that our sins are completely forgiven. One day we will lie down and die, but on the last day we will be raised up as a new creation. Jesus has saved us from our sins, from all the effects of our sins and promises to restore us in pure holiness and righteousness.

14. To take the cross is to walk the path of certainty that is grounded upon Christ Jesus. Nothing overcomes the crucified Christ. Sin, death and even the very gates of hades cannot prevail over the crucified and risen Christ Jesus. Those who are ashamed of Christ, or deny Him, in this fallen world will thus be denied by Christ on the last day. Sin, death and hades will receive them back once Jesus has pronounced judgment upon them. Christians will receive a completely different judgment. Those who are proud of Christ and confess Him in this fallen world will thus be received by Christ on the last day. Sin will submit to holiness. Death will yield to everlasting life. The pearly gates of heaven are wide open to receive us into the Divine reign of Jesus the Christ, for He promises: »whoever loses their life for My sake and the gospel’s will save their life.« Amen.

15. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, who accomplished everything written about You by the Prophets, help us to follow You to the cross and the empty tomb so that one day we will also ascend up to heaven and behold the everlasting salvation You have prepared for us. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

Gibbs, Jeffrey A. Concordia Theological Quarterly, Vol. 72, No. 3 (July 2008). „The Son of God and the Father’s Wrath: Atonement and Salvation in Matthew’s Gospel“. Copyright © 2008 Concordia Theological Seminary.

Monday, February 9, 2015

Luke 8,4-15. Sexagesima Sunday

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Luke 8,4-15 1215

Sexagesimä 21

Solomon, King of Israel 1000 BC ✠

8. Februar 2015

1. O Jesus Christ, the Father’s Word, You call into existence all that is. You call us too, and we live. Speak to us today, surround us Your Voice, comfort us, free us and give us Your Peace. We pray: Lord, have mercy. (VELKD, Prayer for the Sexagesimä § 1). Amen.

2. »And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to Jesus, He said in a parable: „A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.“ As He said these things, Jesus called out: „He who has ears to hear, let him hear.“ And when His disciples asked Him what this parable meant, He said: „To you it has been given to know the secrets of the reign of God, but for others they are in parables, so that »seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. [Isaiah 6,9] Now the parable is this: The Seed is the Word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard. Then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart and bear fruit with patience.“«

3. In this morning’s parable, Jesus teaches us about the Word of God and how that Word is treated in the world. He sends forth His Word to many diverse places with the result to bring in a harvest of believers. Then Jesus cryptically tells His disciples that the reason He teaches in parables is to confound the average hearer. Only the disciples are given the mysterious secrets of the reign of God, thus the reason why Jesus interprets this, and other parables, to the disciples in private.

4. The secret taught in the Parable of the Sower is that grace is passively received or it is actively rejected. This is shown by the types of soil upon which the gospel is cast.

5. The first type of soil had »some seed fall along the path but was trampled underfoot and the birds of the air devoured it.« These are people who hear the gospel, but it never has a chance to create faith because straightaway the devil arrives and snatches the gospel from them so that they do not believe and remain unsaved. The devil has many ploys to accomplish this in these people. He might send along someone who proclaims another religion or philosophy so that the person forgets about the gospel that had been preached to him or her. The devil may use a person’s cultural heritage to sweep the gospel aside. How difficult it is for a Jew or a Muslim to believe the gospel, because that person’s culture is already hostile to that very gospel and thereby lends itself as easy pickings by the devil to snatch the gospel away before it can do anything.

6. The second type of soil had »some seed fall on the rock, and as it grew up it withered away because it had no moisture.« These are people who hear the gospel, receive it with joy, but when trials or testings arise on account of the faith they reject the gospel because their faith has not yet taken root. We know people like this. Many will hear the gospel, receive it with great joy and believe, but the moment something bad happens to them or the moment a severe trial afflicts them they quickly blame God and reject Him and His gospel. The world is full of challenges to the Christian faith. Those who expect that once they become Christians that now their life will be one of happiness and ease are trusting in a fantasy dream that does not exist. Many times, Christians are the most troubled and vexed people in the world. A Middle Eastern Christian often lives in a country that is hostile to the Christian faith, and such Christians live knowing that they could be persecuted, tortured and executed on account of their faith. The Christian faith does not automatically ease family tensions or conflicts, but often times such tribulations become worse. The Christian faith is not a life of peace and ease, but one of hardship and trials. Jesus teaches that some who believe will lose their faith when hardship and tribulation arise.

7. The third type of soil had »some seed fall among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it.« These are people who believe, but the riches and pleasures of this world entice them to forsake their Christian faith. Compared to the treasures of the world, the sacrifices that Christians endure and the offerings that Christians put in the collection plate seems like an unfair trade. Some calculate the costs and decide to abandon the faith and give up the eternal treasures of the heavenly reign for the short-lived riches of this world. Their neighbors encourage them to eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die (Ecclesiastes 8,15; Isaiah 22,13) and that is what they do.

8. Finally there is the good soil where »some seed fell and grew and yielded a hundredfold.« These, by Jesus’ Providence, have not been snatched away by the devil, they have been tested with fire and passed through purified and they have not been drawn away by the wealth of the world. On the last day, when Jesus returns for the harvest of His Church, the true and faithful Christians stand tall and yield a bountiful harvest of their steadfast faith in Christ Jesus their Savior from sin, death and the devil. Their life was difficult and beset by many dangers. Many of their fellow believers had fallen away due to tribulations and wealth, but we endure unto the very end.

9. The Parable of the Sower teaches that grace is passively received. You didn’t go out seeking for Jesus. You didn’t make a decision for Him. Rather, someone brought the gospel to you. Jesus Himself went looking for you, found you and sowed the gospel upon your heart. You heard the gospel, and the Holy Spirit created faith in your heart. God has done it all, and we have merely received the gospel as the gift that it is.

10. The parable also teaches that grace is actively rejected. The gospel is not a popular message in the world, and people strive against it. Earlier in the Gospel according to St. Luke Jesus taught that during His public ministry the gospel is preached but everyone tries to force their way into the reign of God apart from the gospel (Luke 16,16). Furthermore, the generation in which Jesus lived mocked the gospel. They accused John the Baptizer of having a demon because he fasted and refrained from alcohol. Then they accused Jesus of being a glutton and a drunkard because He ate, drank and befriended tax collectors and sinners (Luke 7,31-35). Many today reject or ridicule the gospel and those who proclaim it. Our modern culture is enamored with spirituality and tolerance. All roads lead to Rome is the modern understanding of spirituality; all spiritual paths will lead to the same God. Furthermore, we are told to uphold every spiritual belief as equal to all others. So the world views the gospel as just another spiritual message among many other spiritual messages.

11. Jesus teaches that the gospel is the absolute truth: »I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one draws near to God the Father except through Me« (John 14,6). Jesus says there is only one path to God, and that Path is Jesus. He is the Only-begotten Son of God and the Only Word of God. Jesus alone speaks for His Father. The path to God is the path of of the gospel which says Jesus died and rose again for the world so that they are now saved, forgiven and redeemed. No other spiritual path or religion teaches this nor leads to God. The Apostle Paul proclaims: »For by grace we have been saved through faith, and this is not from ourselves, for faith is the gift of God« (Ephesians 2,8). Faith is the gift that Jesus graciously sows among the world. Many will reject the gospel for one reason or another, but some, like us and other Christians, will receive the gospel as a gift and it will germinate in us first as faith and then the fruit of good works will grow on our tree of faith.

12. The Holy Spirit has elected us to eternal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, who is our Savior and Redeemer, who was crucified and resurrected for our forgiveness and thus gives us the gift of eternal life. Faith clings to this Glorious Savior and believes that in Christ and on account of Christ we are elected and saved. Election, salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life are all gifts given to us through Christ, for great is our Heavenly Father’s love toward us and abundant is the Holy Spirit’s preservation in the Christian faith so that we endure unto the last day and receive the inheritance given to all who are God’s children through Christ Jesus alone. „May our dear Lord Jesus Christ grant us His grace so that we may diligently hear His Word, retain it in a pure heart, and bring forth fruit in patience“ (Luther 293). Amen.

13. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, Thou Voice of God the Father, send Forth the Holy Spirit so that we do not harden our hearts but believe Your gospel. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Devotional thoughts for Thursday

Thursday 5. February 2015

Septuagesima

The next day John the Baptizer saw Jesus walking toward him, and said: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1,29 ESV)

John employed a rich image when he called Jesus the Lamb of God. The old testament had numerous animal sacrifices in its rituals. Lambs were one of several animals that were sacrificed. At the center of this sacrificial system were sacrifices for forgiveness and atonement.

Jesus is the new testament and as such He fulfilled the old testament and became the Lamb sacrificed for our atonement. What Israel was required to do daily and yearly for atonement, Jesus did in one afternoon. His vicarious sacrifice on the cross as the Lamb of God has redeemed us back to God the Father. The law and the covenant have been fulfilled, and thus we live under the new testament of Jesus that is exhibited by faith and grace in His penal substitution.

Prayer: O LORD Jesus, Scepter who rises out of Jacob, Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, rule our hearts through Your suffering cross and forgive us our sins, so that we may become partakers of Your Divine Life; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen. (1140, Treasury of Daily Prayer)

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Devotional thoughts for Wednesday

Wednesday 4. February 2015

Septuagesima

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth arrived through Jesus Christ. (John 1,17 ESV)

John summarizes the two testaments of the Bible. Moses gave the law, which prepared the way for Jesus who brought grace and truth. This does not mean that Jesus never preached the law. On the contrary, Jesus began His ministry preaching: Repent, for the reign of heaven is at hand (Matthew 4,17). Jesus also revealed that He is the Word of God made flesh, and He is the very reign of heaven who is in our midst. This reign of heaven consists in salvation, and Jesus brought this salvation unto us. He brings us grace: God forgives us through the vicarious atonement of His Son. He brings us truth: Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one draws near to the Father except through Jesus (John 14,6).

Prayer: O Almighty and Everlasting God, who governs all things in heaven and one earth, mercifully hear the prayers of Your people and grant us Your peace through all our days; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen. (L14, Treasury of Daily Prayer)

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Devotional thoughts for Tuesday

Tuesday 3. February 2015

Septuagesima

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, ... waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the Glory of our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works. (Titus 3,11.13-14 ESV)

I read an article this morning from the British newspaper, The Guardian, that the Icelanders are building a temple to honor and worship the old Germanic and Scandinavian gods, Odin, Thor and Frigg. You can read the article here.

Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, high priest of Ásatrúarfélagið, said something interesting about this: “I don’t believe anyone believes in a one-eyed man who is riding about on a horse with eight feet. We see the stories as poetic metaphors and a manifestation of the forces of nature and human psychology.”

Many churches, pastors and lay people make believe the same about Christianity and Jesus: It is all a poetic metaphor and not really historical. Thus, many do not believe in the virgin birth, the resurrection of Jesus, or any of His miracles. We've had this deistic viewpoint for some time in our culture. Thomas Jefferson edited his Bible by cutting out all the things he thought were fanciful and untrue. His editing removed all the miracles and the resurrection of Jesus.

The Apostle Paul, however, encourages Bishop Titus to believe the exact opposite. He speaks of Jesus as a historical person who did spectacular deeds. In other epistles, the Apostle Paul is adamant that if we lose the reality of Jesus' resurrection, then we cease to be Christians and are just as hopeless as all the other pagans or atheists in the world.

Paul teaches that Jesus really exists. He is not some poetic metaphor meant to inspire us to be better people. Jesus is God who became man in order to redeem us from our sin. He did this through His death and resurrection. These are real events with real consequences. Since Jesus rose from the dead, then He will raise us from the dead too. That is the gospel, and it has real power, power to create faith and inspire us to be bear good works.

Prayer: O LORD, we pray that Your grace may always go before and follow after us, so that we may continually be given to all good works; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our LORD, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen. (H76, Treasury of Daily Prayer)

Monday, February 2, 2015

Matthew 20,1-16. Septuagesima Sunday

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ

Matthew 20,1-16 1115

Septuagesimä 20

Brigitta, Virgin, Abbess in Ireland, 6^th c. ✠

1. Februar 2015

1. O Jesus Christ, Thou Gracious and Loving God, Source and Light of Life, send forth the Holy Spirit to bring us grace and peace, so that we remain content with Your merciful gift of everlasting life. Amen. (VELKD, Prayer for Septuagesimä § 1).

2. Then Jesus said to His disciples: „For the reign of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said: ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them: ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him: ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them: ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman: ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying: ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them: ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.“

3. In today’s parable Jesus teaches that the practical wisdom of this temporal world does not apply to the Divine wisdom of the heavenly world. Jesus proclaims the gospel in this parable: we do not merit any extra reward from God based on how long we have worked in His kingdom. Whether you are a long-time Christian or a death-bed convert, eternal life and salvation are received purely by God’s grace and mercy as His gift to us, and this gift is only given through His Son Jesus Christ, whom we receive through faith. In the reign of heaven: the last are first and the first are last; everyone is equal in regards to salvation. This parable teaches us that grace is undeserved.

4. And yet, at first glance, it seems that this grace is rather unfair. Should not those who have worked the longest and believed all their lives get something extra for their faithful dedication? And in this parable, some of the ones who labored all day do find the graciousness and liberality of God to be unfair. Our sinful perspective clashes with Jesus’ way of doing things. No one is truly equal on this temporal earth. Some have more talent than others. Some are brighter or wealthier than others. Some are well compensated for their vocation, while others are not. There is a vast disparity between salaries and time spent working in every vocation. This is the way it is in the business world of vocations, and it is usually beneficial for the economy to have different levels of wage compensation based on experience, education, promotion and competition. But as Jesus cautions with today’s parable, the way things work well in this temporal world is not the way they work in the heavenly world. „God operates backward of the way we calculate“ (Nagel 63), and praise God that He operates this way!

5. For we sinful human beings try to force God into doing things the way we want them to be done. We are always tempted to put God in a box, and we become uptight when God doesn’t remain in the boundaries we have imposed upon Him. We are quite content with the deistic notion of God the Celestial Clockmaker. This is the view that God created the world with such meticulous precision that after He was finished He just sat back and lets creation run like a well-crafted mechanical watch. God has His boundary way up in heaven, we have our boundary down on the earth and God should stay up there ... unless there is something really important that needs His attention. This also fits well with the old-fashioned American Protestant ethic: God helps those who help themselves. God has given us all we need to believe in Him and we can work out our own salvation and earn more of His rewards by hard work in His kingdom.

6. This mindset is nothing new. The Pharisees argued with Jesus: we Jews have been the chosen people for thousands of years and therefore we should receive something extra in the heavenly reign compared to these late-believing Gentiles. The apostles also had this same mindset: we were the first of the disciples, therefore we should be afforded greater rewards in the heavenly reign than the rank and file disciples. Even in their own apostolic band, the apostles repeated ranked themselves in positions of importance for every one of them desired the coveted seats next to Jesus when He took up His throne. We even rationalize: life-long believers certainly deserve a little more gratuity, right Jesus?

7. Christ our Lord, however, remains steadfast, for from Adam until the last day: all who believe in Jesus Christ will receive the same wage. Whether one became a Christian as a baptized infant or was converted on his or her deathbed, all who believe in Jesus Christ will receive the same wage. Whether one is a prince or a pauper, a pope or a parishioner, all who believe in Jesus Christ will receive the same wage. The last will be first, and the first will be last; everyone receives the same wage: eternal life in the reign of heaven.

8. In the parable, the vineyard owner is very, very gracious with His wealth. This parable teaches us that: „God treats all those who are in the reign of heaven the same; owning to God’s grace, there is no distinction on the Last Day“ (Gibbs 988). „Everything is in the hands of the Lord and from the hands of the Lord. Here are no reservations, qualifications, or demands but discipleship, faith, being given happy generous gifts beyond calculation“ (Nagel 64). „Remarkably, all those who have left anything behind for the sake of Jesus’ name will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. In light of this promise, all comparing now must be put aside. For this is how it is in the reign of God. The last will be first, and the first will be last“ (Gibbs 993). Everyone is equal in the heavenly reign; everyone receives the same gracious gift of eternal life. And yet, even more, for Jesus promises that in His heavenly reign we will recoup one hundredfold what we suffered as loss in this temporal life! The gift of eternal life and the rich blessings that await us in Jesus’ presence are incomparable to all the wealth on this terrestrial earth. Do not despair. Be of good cheer. Remain steadfast in the faith that clings to Jesus alone for salvation and forgiveness. For the gift of eternal life by God’s grace is a treasure that surpasses all others. „God has His own way with each one of us. He is the Lord; we are given to by Him who is bountiful beyond deserving or calculation“ (Nagel 66). Indeed, everlasting life in heaven is like a pearl of great value, that when finding it, one would sell everything just to obtain it (Matthew 13,45-46). Jesus sees us as a pearl of great value and gave up His very life to ensure we would be redeemed back to God the Father. The eternal life He gives is beyond all comparison of earthly wealth, wages and reward, for what God gives equally to all who believe is a gift of such magnitude and graciousness that it will easily meet our meager expectations and have plenty left over for us to enjoy for all eternity in His Glorious Presence. Amen.

9. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, the First who became Last, help us to understand the way of Your heavenly reign so that we do not present our pleas before You because of our righteousness but because of Your great mercy, for in You alone do we find the heart of our Heavenly Father who is loving, giving and gracious, in abundance, to us His dear children. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Monday, February 23, 2015

Friday, February 20, 2015

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Monday, February 16, 2015

Monday, February 9, 2015

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Monday, February 2, 2015