✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠
The Word of the Lord Endures Forever
se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ
Psalm 34,2.5.9-11; 34,22 3417
1. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 046
Marcus and Marcellianus, Martyrs at Rome, 286
18. Juni 2017
1. О Lord Jesus Christ, Thou art gracious and merciful, in our day of trouble, heal us and forgive us, so that we learn to fully trust in You who is the blessed of those poor in spirit. Amen. (Gradual)
2. The Lord redeems the life of His servants; none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces will never be ashamed. O fear the Lord, you His saints, for those who fear Him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. Draw near, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
3. Jesus’ Parable of the rich man and Lazarus reinforces the truth proclaimed in today’s Introit: »The Lord redeems the life of His servants; none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.« The Lord saves people through the Holy Scriptures. He promised Adam and Eve a redeemer who would save them from their fall into rebellion and sin. He saved Noah and his family from the great Flood. He called Abram out of Mesopotamia and a life of idolatry, changed His name to Abraham and revealed Himself to be the One and Only True God. He returned Jacob to his homeland and redeemed his brotherly relationship to Esau. He vindicated Joseph in Egypt and rationed food out to those starving from seven years of draught and famine. He freed Israel from slavery, revealed Himself at Sinai and gave them the land promised to Abraham: Canaan. He rose up judges, kings and prophets to lead His people and call them in repentance back to God. 400 year before the first Christmas, Malachi prophesied: »Behold, Yahweh will send you the Prophet Elijah before the great and awesome day of the Lord arrives. He will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers« (Malachi 4,5-6).
4. The Epistle to the Hebrews proclaims: »In many and various ways, God spoke to His people of old by the prophets, but now in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son« (Hebrews 1-2). The new testament unfolds God the Father speaking to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. St. Mark the Evangelist writes: »The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God, saying: „The time is fulfilled, and the reign of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.“« (Mark 1,1.14-15). Jesus is the promised rest for the people of God (Hebrews 4,8-11).
5. Jesus teaches in His parable that Lazarus received his Sabbath rest in Paradise at Abraham’s side (Luke 16,22). Jesus declares that believers will receive this rest in God’s presence, for they have listened to Moses and the Prophets, therefore longing for the arrival of the Christ; they also have listened to Jesus and the Apostles who declared that the promised Christ has arrived and Jesus is this promised Christ.
6. Lazarus epitomizes the words of today’s Introit: »My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces will never be ashamed.« Abraham and Lazarus are in fellowship together in the Lord’s Paradise. The Apostle Paul tells us why Abraham is a giant among the patriarchs: Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness (Romans 4,3), for he was fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised (Romans 4,21). Lazarus is at the side of Abraham because he has the same faith as Abraham: God has promised us a savior and He will fulfill that promise. As it is for Abraham and Lazarus, so it is for us: righteousness will be credited to us who believe in God the Father, who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our righteousness (Romans 4,24-25).
7. »Those who seek the Lord lack nothing,« for Jesus promises: »Seek first the reign of God and His righteousness, and food, drink and clothing will be added to you« (Matthew 6,33). Abraham was a wealthy man blessed by the Lord; Lazarus was a man who was dirt poor and deathly ill. Both trusted in the Lord and sought His righteousness; both now enjoy the Sabbath rest of Paradise as they await the resurrection of the body on the last day. Jesus promises us this, saying: »I Am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die« (John 11,25-26).
8. The Introit exhorts us to fear the Lord. Solomon tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1,7), and from continually seeking the Lord we learn to know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight and to receive instruction in wise dealings, in righteousness, justice and equity (Proverbs 1,2-3). When we fear the Lord, our eyes are focused upon God and His Word, which is manifested before us in Jesus Christ. The Spirit of the Lord rests upon Jesus and His delight is in the fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11,2-3). People go to the house of the Lord to be taught His ways and to learn to walk in His paths (Micah 4,2).
9. And so on this, the Lord’s Day, we gather to hear His Word and receive His comfort. Our eyes are upon the Lord Jesus Christ who died and rose to make us righteous. On account of Christ we are not slaves, but sons and heirs through God (Galatians 4,7). The riches of heaven are our inheritance. Abraham and Lazarus await our arrival where the poor in spirit are blessed, for theirs is the reign of heaven, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed, for they shall be satisfied (Matthew 5,3.6). Amen.
9. Let us pray. O Lord, Your testimonies are righteous forever; give us understanding so that we may productive lives here on earth and receive eternal life by Your grace in heavenly glory. Amen.
To God alone be the Glory
Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm
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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.
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.
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