Romans 5,1-5. Reminiscere

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The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Romans 5,1-5 [6-11]    1516

Reminiszere (Remember)  025  

Agnes, Virgin, Martyr at Rome, 304 

21. Februar 2016 

1. O Lord God, Heavenly Father, grant us, we beseech You, by Your Holy Spirit, so that He may strengthen our hearts and confirm our faith and hope in Your grace and mercy, so that, although we have reason to fear because of our conscience, our sin and our unworthiness, we may nevertheless, with the woman of Canaan, hold fast to Your grace, and in every trial and temptation find You a very present help and refuge.  Amen. (Veit Dietrich for the Reminiscere Sunday) 

2. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Christ we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s Love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die – but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

3. The theme for the 2. Sunday in Lent is reminiscere: remember. St. Paul tells us in his Epistle to the Romans to remember: »Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Christ we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.« 

4. Earlier in his Epistle, St. Paul reminds us that: We are weak. We are godless. We are unrighteous and wicked. We do not merit Divine mercy and love. God’s holy law reveals our sins, our selfish attitudes and our lack of a moral compass; our deserved wages are death. 

  5. God, however, is not in the business of destroying people, but in saving them. God is not a slayer, but a savior. Our Heavenly Father sent His Only Son to earth not to be the Master, but to be our Doctor. Thus Jesus proclaimed: Those who are healthy have no need of a doctor, but those who are sick do need a doctor (Matthew 9,12) who will cure them. 

6. What then is the prescription Jesus gives to dying sinners? Jesus gives us Himself; He suffered, died and rose again to justify us and redeem us. This cure is given out in Holy Baptism, Absolution, the Lord’s Supper and preaching. These means of grace give us Jesus and His righteousness. Faith receives these means and believes: Jesus has redeemed and forgiven me. St. Paul tells us: »Through Christ we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.« 

7. This grace is not always well-received. In this morning’s Gospel parable Jesus teaches that the tenants of the vineyard rejected it owner, his servants and even his son. They desired to seize the vineyard for themselves and become its owners. Jesus used this parable to explain why the Jewish chief priests, scribes and elders rejected Him. Jesus’ preaching caused them to fear, and their fear lead to anger, and their anger lead to hate, and their hatred of Jesus lead to His suffering at their hands. Instead of Jesus’ gospel leading them to the light of grace, their rejection of His gospel caused them to descend into the darkness of rebellion. Thus Jesus told them: »The Stone that the builders rejected has become the Cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes« (Psalm 118,22-23; Mark 12,10-11). 

8. Instead of causing rejection, the gospel should be a cause for rejoicing. The Apostle Paul tells us: »We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s Love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.« The gospel is the enlightened path to God’s grace in Jesus Christ. The Stone that many of the Jews rejected has become the Cornerstone of the Gentiles’ Christian faith. Today we remember who Jesus is, what  He has done and how He is the Cornerstone of our faith and salvation.   Jesus is the path of everlasting life with God and all His host.  Amen.

  9. Let us pray. O Almighty God, who shows Your love for us in that Christ died for us while we were still sinners, send forth the Holy Spirit to nurture our faith so that in all the situations of this life, both the good and the bad, we remain steadfastly grounded upon Christ the Cornerstone and the foundation of the prophets and the apostles laid down for us in Your Holy Scriptures.  Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

Soli Deo Gloria

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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.  

Crossman, Samuel. „My Son Is Love Unknown“. Lutheran Service Book. Copyright © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. 

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2013 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2013 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands.