Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: March 2019

Saturday, March 30, 2019

Jeremiah 20,7-11. Oculi

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ

Jeremiah 20,7-11 1919

Oculi 026; 3. Sonntag der Passionszeit „My eyes“

Gabriel, Archangel

24. März 2019

1. O Lord, Thou art merciful to the afflicted, look upon us and lift up our souls from despair, so that trusting in Thee we are born up with Thy salvation. Amen. (Introit, tlh)

2. »O Lord, You have deceived me, and I was deceived; you are stronger than me, and You have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me. For whenever I speak, I cry out, I shout: „Violence and destruction!“ For the Word of the Lord has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. If I say: „I will not mention Him, or speak any more in His Name,“ then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot. For I hear many whispering. Terror is on every side! „Denounce him! Let us denounce him!“ say all my close friends, watching for my fall. „Perhaps he will be deceived; then we can overcome him and take our revenge on him.“ But the Lord is with me as a mighty man of war; therefore my persecutors will stumble; they will not overcome me. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.«

3. In 627 bc, about a year after King Josiah of Judah had turned the nation toward repentance from the widespread idolatrous practices of his father and grandfather, Jeremiah and the other prophets encouraged Josiah to stand fast to his religious reforms. Josiah did stand fast, but after he died, the people quickly returned to the comfortable idols Josiah’s ancestors had introduced in the land. Jeremiah then preached a scathing message of the law, telling Judah that unless they repented of their idolatry, the greed of the priests and the false comfort proclaimed by the false prophets, then the Babylonians would conquer Jerusalem and carry the people into exile.

4. This politically incorrect message did not sit well with the king of Judah, Jehoiakim, or the people. They persecuted Jeremiah and imprisoned him. The Church finds herself in the same situation of Jeremiah. We live in a nation and a culture that prides itself with all forms of immorality. All this is the result of idolatry. The average American citizen does not see it as idolatry, but any religion that is not centered upon Christ Jesus the Cornerstone is an idolatrous religion. Much of American religious or spiritual life is idolatrous. This is an unpopular message, but it is the message that Christ’s Church and pastors proclaim.

5. Jeremiah remained a laughing stock and was mocked by many. His call to repentance fell upon deaf ears. The Jews of his generation were idolaters, and they rejected the Lord and His prophet Jeremiah. It is also true today: idolatrous people reject Christ and His Word. They reject the Commandments, live immoral lives, do not see themselves as sinners and thus they ignore the call to repent, refuse to confess their sins and miss Christ’s forgiveness. Furthermore, they reject the gospel and its free gift of grace and forgiveness on account of Christ. We live in this idolatrous culture and we are influenced by it. We are tempted to be idolatrous, refuse to heed to God’s Commandments and reject His gospel. The apostles exhort us: »Do not love the world nor the things of this world« (1. John 2,15), »and do not be conformed to this world« (Romans 12,2). The Christian life is a life of consistent repentance. We do so each week by confessing our sins and receiving God’s absolution; we may also do so daily by our individual Christian piety.

6. Jesus reminds us in today’s Gospel pericope that there is a cost for following Him. To be fit for the reign of God is to keep our eyes focused upon Jesus and not looking back longing for the things of this world (Luke 9,62). Jesus has set His face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9,51). That is where Oculi puts us today at the midway of Lent: Jesus’ eyes are focused upon Jerusalem and our eyes are to be focused upon Jesus.

7. At Jerusalem, Jesus would be delivered into the hands of men (Luke 9,44). Rejection, suffering and the cross await Jesus at Jerusalem. Jesus bids us to follow Him to Jerusalem. Our pastor asked us at our confirmation: „Do you intend to continue in this confession and the Church and to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from it?“ (Agenda 29) Jeremiah posed a similar question in his day: Do you trust the Lord? Do you believe He will deliver you safely through the threat of idolatry and the mighty Babylonian army? Eyes focused upon the things of this world cannot see nor comprehend the things of the Holy Spirit. Judah saw a mighty Babylonian army sizing them up; Judah knew all their neighbors had been beaten by this army, so they decided to trust in the gods of the Babylonians for deliverance, hoping they could secure peace. We see Jesus heading to Jerusalem; we know what awaits Him there: rejection, betrayal and death. Do we trust Christ? Do we have our eyes focused on the suffering and crucified Christ? He saw beyond the cross and the grave; Jesus saw the light of the resurrection that was beyond Jerusalem and His tomb. Do we trust Jesus to see the same in our lives too?

8. The world despises the cross, for it only sees it as weakness, shame and utter failure. So, too, does the world scoff at Christ’s resurrection; impossible, never happened, just the wishful thinking of his distraught disciples, they mockingly say. What good is a crucified Christ when evil still runs rampant across the world? The crucified Christ cannot even save his own people from suffering and death. What good is a suffering Christ who cannot even keep his Christians safe? So goes the wisdom and the mocking of the world.

9. The prophet Jeremiah reminds us that God often clothes His Great Glory in meekness. Jeremiah says it appeared to Judah that God had abandoned them, but in reality God was with them as a mighty man of war [μαχητής ισχύων]. The same is true when Jesus entered this world. He was incarnate of the virgin Mary, grew into manhood, studied carpentry from Joseph, travelled and taught. Many perceived Him to be a gifted teacher, prophet and healer. But Jesus was also bent on war, and His enemy was the Devil; Jesus had arrived to free all mankind who had been taken as spoils of war so long ago at the Garden of Eden. Jesus was going to defeat sin, death and the Devil, but His weapon would not be the weapons of this temporal world but His own life and shed blood. Jesus offered Himself up as a sacrifice and in doing so He purchased our redemption. The Apostle Paul explained it this way: »Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form/nature of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be held onto, but He deprived Himself of power, taking on the form/nature of a slave; being found in the likeness of men, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death on a cross« (Philippians 2,5-11). In doing this, Jesus became our Victorious Redeemer.

10. Our eyes see the suffering, sacrificing and crucified Jesus who in humble weakness appears defeated but in this very humbleness His Divinity shines forth in its greatest Glory as He redeemed the fallen world. Our eyes see the Suffering Christ who is the world’s Savior. Out of His love for all the world, Christ gave Himself over to the world to deliver it. Christ would have all people repent of their sins and to receive His forgiveness that He purchased for them. He would have all people bow before Him and kneel before Him in faith. Our eyes behold the Merciful Christ who is the friend of all people and the Savior of all sinners. Amen.

13. Let us pray. O Christ our Lord, You plant a harvest with Your gospel seed; send us the Holy Spirit, so that we remain focused on You and follow You to Jerusalem where You have purchased our redemption. 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 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

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

Thursday, March 21, 2019

John 3,14-21. Reminiscere

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

John 3,14-21 1819

Reminiscere 025; 2. Sonntag der Passionszeit „Remember“

Patrick, Apostle to Ireland, ✠ mid to end 5. century

Gertrude, Virgin, Abbess of Nivelles, Belgium. ✠ 659

17. März 2019

1. O God, You are merciful and full of loving-kindness, remember us who daily struggle with our sin, so that by the power of Your gospel through the working of the Holy Spirit we are delivered out of all troubles. Amen. (TLH Introit for Remeniscere)

2. »As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave his Only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but should have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but sent Him in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the Name of the Only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the Light has entered the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the Light and does not enter the Light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true enters the Light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.«

3. In the Gospel according to St. John, Jesus connected His ministry to Moses’ ministry. This ministry is a ministry of eternal life. In Numbers 21 (c. 1407 bc) the Israelites had become inpatient, spoke against God and Moses and accused them of bringing them out of Egypt into the wilderness to die (Numbers 21,4-5). God punished the Israelites by sending fiery serpents into their midst bit people and now people were dying (Numbers 21,6). The people confessed to Moses their sin and asked for deliverance from the serpents (Numbers 21,7). God told Moses: »Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live« (Numbers 21,8). Jesus used this event to teach that He must be lifted up like the bronze serpent was lifted up.

4. We all have felt the bite of the Fiery Serpent, the Devil, who through the snake tempted Adam and Eve to sin against God. We bear the curse of the poison of that Serpent in our bodies, for this original sin results in death. In spite of our sinfulness, God is merciful to us. He promised Adam and Eve a Savior from the Serpent, someone who would redeem and deliver humanity from the curse of sin and death. Jesus proclaimed that He is this promised Savior: »For God so loved the world, that He gave His Only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but should have eternal life.«

5. Many religions deal with the nature of sin and human beings. How do we reconcile ourselves to God? How do we cancel out our debt of sin? There are over 1 billion Hindus in the world. Hinduism revolves around the concept of dharma, which involves a way of living in harmony with the universe. By doing so, one helps enable social order, moral conduct and virtuous living. To undo the bad karma in one’s life, Hindus believe that they will be reincarnated again and again after they die to replace the bad karma with good karma, and when they have finally removed all their bad karma, then their soul is one with the universal soul or with God.

6. There are also over 1 billion Muslims in the world. Muslims believe Allah is merciful and one must submit to him and his will. Muslims stress that performing good deeds and avoiding sin is important, thus they submit to Allah by pursuing the 5 Pillars of Islam: 1. there is only Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet; 2. pray 5 times a day facing Mecca; 3. fast during Ramadan; 4. give money to charity and 5. make a pilgrimage to Mecca. Submitting to these tenets and trusting that Allah is merciful, a Muslim expects to be saved.

7. All religions focus on the person to merit forgiveness of sin. Only Christianity proclaims a message that God has done everything for the sinner and has paid the ransom price in full to redeem the sinner. Thus, John 3,16 is the gospel in a nutshell and is the foundation of every proper sermon: God the Father loves the fallen world and has thus sent His Son to bring eternal life to the world. As Jesus taught: »God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but sent Him to save the world.« To ground the certainty of salvation on anything other than the merit of Christ who went to the cross as our Savior is to build one’s certainty upon sand. Jesus spoke of this in the Gospel according to St. Matthew: »Everyone then who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods rose, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the its fall« (Matthew 7,24-27).

8. If our certainty is not grounded upon Christ, then uncertainty of our salvation easily takes hold in our conscience. Luther experience this and wrote about it. „First I saw this well, namely, that the free gift is absolutely necessary for obtaining the light and the heavenly life, and I worked anxiously and diligently to understand the well-known statement in Romans 1,17: »The righteousness of God is revealed in the Gospel.« Then I sought and knocked for a long time (cf. Matthew 7,7), for that expression »the righteousness of God« stood in the way. It was commonly explained by saying that the righteousness of God is the power of God by which God Himself is formally righteous and condemns sinners. This is the way all teachers except Augustine had interpreted this passage: the righteousness of God is equated to be the the wrath of God. But every time I read this passage, I always wished that God had never revealed the Gospel—for who could love a God who is angry, judges, and condemns?—until finally, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, I weighed more carefully the passage in Habakkuk (2,4), where I read: »The righteous shall live by his faith.« From this I concluded that life must come from faith. In this way I related the abstract to the concrete, and all Holy Scripture and heaven itself were opened to me. At this time, however we see that great light very clearly, and we may enjoy it richly. But we despise and disdain this jewel and heavenly treasure. Accordingly, if one day it should be taken away again, we shall cry and knock once more, as Christ says about the foolish virgins in the parable (cf. Matthew 25,11). But we shall cry and knock in vain. Therefore let us fear God and be grateful. Above all, however, my own example and the example of others should move you. We lived in death and hell and did not have the blessing so abundantly as you have it. Therefore occupy yourselves diligently with the doctrine of the blessing, and think about it, in order that you may be able to keep it yourselves and also to make it known to others. As for ourselves, we have done our duty“ (Luther 158; LW Vol. 5; WA 43,537).

9. We do well to remember the gospel as Luther exhorts is to, for it tells us God loves us, has mercy on us and forgives us on account of Christ. This gospel separates Christianity from all other religions, and the cornerstone of the gospel is Christ Jesus. Those who stumble over and reject Christ do so to their peril, for whoever does not believe in Christ is condemned but those who believe in Christ are saved through Him.

10. Jesus declared: »I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life« (John 8,12). Christ promises us that He brings us and restores us to fellowship with our Heavenly Father; Christ promises us that we can be certain that our Heavenly Father is merciful because the Son of Man has graciously saved us from God’s wrath. Christ is the certainty of our salvation „Anyone who regards God the Father as angry is not seeing Him correctly, but has pulled down a curtain and cover, more, a dark cloud over His face. But in Scriptural language „to see His face“ means to recognize Him correctly as a gracious and faithful Father, on whom you can depend for every good thing. This happens only through faith in Christ“ (Luther 37; LW Vol. 31).

11. Thus we confess with St. Patrick:

Christ with me,

Christ before me,

Christ behind me,

Christ in me,

Christ beneath me,

Christ above me,

Christ on my right,

Christ on my left,

Christ when I lie down,

Christ when I sit down,

Christ when I arise,

Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,

Christ in every eye that sees me,

Christ in every ear that hears me. Amen.

12. Let us pray. O Jesus Christ, the Crucified Savior who died for sinners; keep our hearts and minds focused on You, the gospel made flesh, so that we daily remember that God loves for us. 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.

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

Thursday, March 14, 2019

Hebrews 4,14-16. Invocavit

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ

Hebrews 4,14-16 1719

Invocavit 024; 1. Sonntag der Passionszeit „He will call“

Caius and Alexander, Martyrs at Apamea in Phrygia, Turkey 279

10. März 2019

1. O Lord, from You alone come modesty, admiration, love and adoration; work them in us and all who belong to this congregation. Be mindful of us! Give us repentance and forgiveness of sins, for You must do it all. All our striving, living and regretting is worth nothing. Help us, and then may our eternal gratitude be Yours. Amen, Lord Jesus! Amen. (Löhe 16)

2. »Since then we have a Great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.«

3. The Epistle to the Hebrews points out a number of Old Testament prophecies that Christ fulfilled. One is Christ is greater than the old testament covenant high priest. Under the Sinai covenant, the high priest performs the most important duties in the temple, particularly he was the only one who could enter the Holy of Holies once a year on Yom Kippur, the day of national atonement. On that day he burned incense and sprinkled the blood of a male goat upon the ark of the covenant, the very throne of the Lord. The high priest represented the nation of Israel and was the mediator between the Lord and His people. The high priest brought the sin offering before the Lord Himself for the forgiveness of the people.

4. The Apostle Paul tells us that Jesus is this great high priest who has mediated our forgiveness before God the Father. Jesus is simultaneously the high priest who presents the sin offering and the sacrificial animal whose shed blood covers the mercy seat of the Lord. St. Paul tells us that as our High Priest, Christ is able to sympathize with our weakness for He has in every respect been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Our Gospel pericope tells us of three temptations Jesus experienced shortly after His baptism. He was 1. tempted with food while He was fasting and hungry; 2. tempted to put His Father’s Holy Scripture to the test; and 3. tempted to worship a false God and be rewarded with temporal power and glory.

5. Notice that Adam was likewise 1. tempted with food from a tree forbidden by the Lord; 2. tempted to put his Father’s Holy Scripture the test: will you really die if you eat from this tree of knowledge?; and 3. tempted to become a god himself: when you eat you will be like God, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3,1-5). Adam failed to stop Eve from sinning, and then he himself fell prey to the master deceiver, the Devil. St. Paul tells us: »Just as sin entered the world through the first man, Adam, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned« (Romans 5,12). And again: »For as by a man, Adam, came death, by a man, Christ, has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive« (1. Corinthians 15,21-22).

6. The apostle exhorts us to hold fast our confession. St. Paul summarizes this confession to the Corinthians: »I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the 3. day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He appeared to the apostles, the 500 disciples, Peter, James and also to me, Paul« (1. Corinthians 15,3-8). This confession is the cornerstone of our great Western Creeds: the Nicene, the Apostles’ and the Athanasian.

7. We draw near to the throne of God’s grace with confidence, for there we find a kind, loving, forgiving merciful God. Christ has mediated our debt of sin with the Father; Christ has paid the ransom price with His own blood. Good Friday is the day of atonement for all the world.

8. „Dear brothers and sisters of our Lord Jesus Christ, on this day the Church begins the holy season of prayerful and penitential reflection. Our attention is especially directed to the holy sufferings and death of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9. „From ancient times this season of Lent has been kept as a time of special devotion, self denial and humble repentance born of a faithful heart that dwells confidently on His Word and draws from it life and hope.

10. „Let us pray that our dear Father in heaven, for the sake of His Beloved Son and in the power of His Holy Spirit, might richly bless this Lententide for us so that we may go to Easter with glad hearts and keep the feast in sincerity and truth“ (altar book 483).

11. The Apostle John tells us that the reason the Son of G appeared was to destroy the works of the Devil (1. John 3,8). Invocavit rightly showcased the Devil’s defeat with Jesus triumphing over His 3 temptations. Hymnist Paul Gerhardt poetically describes our affection for Jesus: „Your cords of love, my savior, Bind me to You forever, I am no longer mine. To You I gladly tender All that my life can render And all I have to You resign“ (KELG 64,8); LSB 453,6).

12. During Lent we remember that we are dust, and to dust we will return. But the Prophet Ezekiel assures us: »O dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you will live. I will cause flesh to come upon you and cover you with skin, put breath in you and you will live« (Ezekiel 37,5-6). Lent prepares us for Christ’s Passion where He died to redeem us from sin and rose again so we will also rise in Him when He returns. Amen.

13. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, You appeared to destroy the works of the Devil; send us the Holy Spirit to guide us along Your holy path throughout Lent so that by traveling with You to the cross we see the joy of eternal life that is pure gift to us. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

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

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Suffrages for Ash Wednesday

A Proper Liturgy

for

Ash Wednesday

6. March 2019

Dear brothers and sisters of our Lord Jesus Christ, on this day the Church begins the holy season of prayerful and penitential reflection. Our attention is especially directed to the holy sufferings and death of our Lord Jesus Christ.

From ancient times this season of Lent has been kept as a time of special devotion, self denial and humble repentance born of a faithful heart that dwells confidently on His Word and draws from it life and hope.

Let us pray that our dear Father in heaven, for the sake of His Beloved Son and in the power of His Holy Spirit, might richly bless this Lententide for us so that we may go to Easter with glad hearts and keep the feast in sincerity and truth. (altar book 483)

Suffrages LSB 282-84

P Holy God, holy and most gracious Father,

C Have mercy and hear us.

C Our Father who art in heaven,

Hallowed be Thy name,

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven;

give us this day our daily bread;

and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us;

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil. Matthew 6,9-13

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

C I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died and was buried.

He descended into hell.

The third day He rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven

and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,

From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy Christian Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life ✠ everlasting. Amen.

P I cry to You, O Lord;

C in the morning my prayer draws near to You. Psalm 88,13

P Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,

C and uphold me with a willing spirit. Psalm 51,12

P My mouth is filled with Your praise,

C and with Your glory all the day. Psalm 71,8

P Every day I will bless You,

C and praise Your Name forever and ever. Psalm 145,2

P By awesome deeds You answer us with righteousness,

C O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth

and of the farthest seas. Psalm 65,5

P Bless the Lord, O my soul;

C and all that is within me, bless His holy Name! Psalm 103,1

P He redeems your life from the pit

C and crowns you with steadfast love and mercy. Psalm 103,4

P Hear my prayer, O Lord;

C let my cry come to You. Psalm 102,1

P Let us pray.

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. (Ash Wednesday Collect)

Morning

Thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, so that all my dealings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body, soul and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, so that evil foe may have no power over me. Amen. (423) Small Catechism

Joel 2,12-19

¹²The Lord declares: „Yet even now return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping and with mourning; ¹³and rend your hearts and not your garments.“ Return to the Lord, your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love; and He relents over disaster. ¹⁴Who knows whether He will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God? ¹⁵Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; ¹⁶gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. ¹⁷Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say: „Spare Your people, O Lord, and do not make your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations.Why should they say among the peoples: ‘Where is their God?’“ ¹⁸Then the Lord became jealous for His land and had pity on His people. ¹⁹The Lord answered and said to His people: „Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.“

Confessional Address

1. We begin Lent today with the call to repentance, for the Prophet Joel speaks of a gloomy prognosis for the future. Joel proclaims that the advent of God at the day of the Lord is a day of ruin and the judgment upon the world. Joel uses some stark images.

2. He speaks of a locust plague that devastates everything. The land that once was as lush as the Garden of Eden becomes a desert wasteland (2,3). Then Joel talks about war and chaos. And finally, we hear that the stars are darkened, and the Lord sends His angelic host to inaugurate the judgment. The whole description ends right before our lection for today with the words: »Behold, the day of the Lord is great and full of terror, who can endure it?« (2,11)

4. Joel exhorts us to repent before the arrival of the impending judgment, for he reminds us that God is gracious and merciful to those who repent.

5. This call to repentance, love and fellowship is God’s attempt to bring His lost people back to their senses, so that in seeing His impending judgment upon sin we turn to Him and find His grace.

6. God calls His people to repentance. It is a call which derives from the heart of God Himself. With this call, God wants to arouse in us a repentance that is more than a superficial, symbolic act or a desperate solution to an embarrassing predicament.

22. The call to repentance is therefore not a Divine violation

against humanity, but a diagnosis that serves our salvation. Joel himself speaks of God’s time of grace when he promises that the repentant are dear to God’s heart.

23. Joel’s call to repentance is not based upon the wrath of God but upon the grace of God. »Turn unto the Lord your God! For He is gracious and merciful, long-suffering and full of mercy, and He soon relents of His punishment.«

27. For there on the cross we see sin and its consequences in a way that truly breaks our hearts. Before the face of Christ who is cruelly suffering for us and crucified, the stony heart of the sinner shatters into a thousand pieces. And when that happens, because the Father answers the request of His Son, and through His spirit He gives us a new, living heart that no more beats defiantly against God but sings with Paul Gerhardt: „I caused Your grief and sighing By evils multiplying As countless as the sands. I caused the wounds unnumbered With which Your soul is cumbered, Your sorrows raised by wicked hands“ (elkg 64,4; lsb 453,4). The one who sings like this has realized that our repentance has already gone to God’s heart before we have done it. The Lord has reached out to us long before the call to repentance, and Christ has become a salutary gift for us; He has become our Mediator with His Heavenly Father. Amen. (Wenz)

9. O God, You desire not the death of sinners, but rather that they turn from their wickedness and live. We implore You to have compassion on the frailty of our mortal nature, for we acknowledge that we are dust and to dust we shall return. Mercifully pardon our sins so that we may obtain the promises You have laid up for those who are repentant; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (altar book 485)

Congregants may proceed to the altar to receive the imposition of ashes.

P Remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return.

Confession and Absolution (left side) LSB 184-85

P O almighty God, merciful Father,

C I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto You all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended You and justly deserved Your temporal and eternal punishment. But I am heartily sorry for them and sincerely repent of them, and I pray You of Your boundless mercy and for the sake of the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to be gracious and merciful to me, a poor, sinful being.

P Upon this your confession, I, by virtue of my office, as a called and ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God unto all of you, and in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins in the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. John 20,19-23

C Amen.

P Let us bless the Lord. Psalm 103,1

C Thanks be to God.

P The Lord bless us, defend us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life.

C Amen.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

and in His Word I hope.

Psalm 130,5

,,A Proper Liturgy for Ash Wednesday“ is taken in part from the Lutheran Service Book and the Lutheran Service Book Altar Book. Copyright © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind, Editor Copyright © 2019.

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Saturday, March 30, 2019

Jeremiah 20,7-11. Oculi

Thursday, March 21, 2019

John 3,14-21. Reminiscere

Thursday, March 14, 2019

Hebrews 4,14-16. Invocavit

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Suffrages for Ash Wednesday