Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: May 2024

Sunday, May 26, 2024

Ephesians 1,3-14. Holy Trinity

Ephesians 1,3-14 3424

Trinitatis. Tag der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit 46

Quadratus, Bishop of Athens, disciple of the Apostles, Apologist, ✠ 126

Coptic Martyrs (28+) in Minya, Egypt ✠ 2017

26. Mai 2024

1. ℣ Blessed be the Holy Trinity and the Undivided Unity:

℟ Let us give glory to Him because He hath shown His mercy to us. (Liturgical text).

Holy, Holy, Holy is Yahweh Sebaoth; the whole earth is filled with His glory. With tese words, it is fitting for us … to praise Your Exalted Name, O Adorable God…. O grant us grace to accomplice our purpose! Amen. (Pieper 186; English 107).

2. » Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory.«

3. The Triune nature of God is found throughout the pages of Holy Scripture. We hear God declare in Genesis 1: »Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness. So God created man in His own Image, in the Image of God He created him; male and female He created them« (Genesis 1,26a.27). In these verses God uses the 1^st person plural and the 3^rd person singular pronouns for Himself. The Hebrew word for God in 1,26 is אֱלֹהִ֔ים (Elohim), and that is a common masculine plural noun. When God creates man in His Image and Likeness, He creates a male and a female; Adam is a man comprised of body, soul and spirit; Eve is a woman who is also comprised of body, soul and spirit.

4. A person has a name, and names have a meaning and tell us something about the individual. Adam : man, mankind; Eve : life-giver. God’s name is Yahweh : I am who I am. One of my seminary Hebrew professors, Horace Hummel, taught us that God’s name probably highlights omnipotence more than pure being, and His Name expresses the uniquely Biblical accent on a personal God. (Hummel 71).

5. When God appears physically in the Scriptures, sometimes it is Yahweh, other times it is the Angel of Yahweh and yet again it is the Spirit of Yahweh that appears. Each of these 3 are clearly identified as God, but Yahweh, the Angel of Yahweh and the Spirit of Yahweh are each distinct Individuals from the other two. Jesus clearly teaches throughout the Gospels that there is 1 God who is comprised of 3 Persons of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thus we confess in the Athanasian Creed: For the Father is one Person, the Son is Another and the Holy Spirit is Another. But the Godhead of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is One: the Glory equal, the Majesty coeternal (§ 5-6).

6. Another seminary professor, Norman Nagel, said: „What is God like? So to the question what God is like, the first and immediate answer is Jesus of Nazareth. Here was a man who claimed to be God, said things that only God can say, did things that only God can do, and accepted worship that belongs only to God. Some called Jesus a blasphemer, which was near the truth. The only other possibility was that he actually was God, God confronting people as man. Here was God expressed in human terms, which is what the Scripture says of Jesus. He is called the Word, that is, the active statement, the expression, the revelation of God. He who was God from all eternity now shows Himself in human terms to us. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (John 1:14). God was seen and heard and touched. To know Jesus is to know God. Here is the answer to the question what God is like. We beheld His glory, the glory of the only-begotten of the Father full of grace and truth, and the height of that glory was the cross. God became a man, went to the cross, and the agony of the hell that is sin’s punishment. Jesus died for the ungodly. He died for those afraid of God and fleeing from God. He died for sinners. He died for you and for me. There is no greater love and imaginable, and that, my friends, is what God is like, abundant in mercy. God loves you“ (Nagel 152.153-54).

7. At the beginning of his Epistle to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul mentions each Person of the Triune God is involved in our salvation. The Father sent His Son to redeem fallen humanity. The Son redeemed us by becoming our vicarious sacrifice on the cross. The Holy Spirit creates and sustains our faith in Jesus.

8. We can and should know and be certain of our eternal election and salvation (Pieper III 481). The assurance of our election we can and should gain from the Gospel (Pieper III 483). „For the substance of the Gospel is that the grace of God in Christ is for all sinners without exception, and that this grace is actually grace, contingent on nothing whatever in man. When a person hears and believes this blessed truth, we cannot but be assured that for Christ’s sake, there dwells in God’s heart not wrath, but only ardent love for us, the sinner“ (Pieper III 483).

9. We are certain of our salvation because God is the one doing the saving. If salvation is dependent on fallen and fallible men and women then there is always the possibility of doubt: did I do enough? is what I did appeasing to God? There is no doubt with Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. He paid our debt in full. All our sin is forgiven.

10. Norman Nagel often asked us the question: who is running the verb? „The living God is known best by His actions—above all, His redeeming action in Christ. It is in His actions that God has revealed Himself as a three-personed God, and we confess the mystery of the Holy Trinity most fully when we speak of His actions. … the … Creed declares quite simply what the triune God does: creates, redeems, sanctifies. God rings through most clearly in these great saving verbs“ (Nagel 156).

11. »Fidelis sermo: nam si commortui sumus cum Christo, et convivemus: si sustinebimus, et conregnabimus: si negaverimus, et ille negabit nos: si non credimus, ille fidelis permanet, negare seipsum non potest. The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with Christ, then we will also live with Him; if we endure, then we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, then He also will deny us; if we are faithless, then He remains faithful—for He cannot deny Himself« (2. Timothy 2,11-13).

12. Omnia per Christum facta sunt, omnis salus per Christum propitiata et in Christo sanctificati sumus. Όλα έγιναν δια του Χριστού, όλη η σωτηρία εξευμενίστηκε από τον Χριστό και εν Χριστώ αγιαζόμαστε. All things were made through Christ, all salvation was propitiated by Christ and in Christ we are sanctified (John 1,3; Romans 3,25; Hebrews 10,10)! Alleluia!!

13. I bind unto myself the Name,

The Strong Name of the Trinity

By invocation of the same,

The Three in One and One in Three,

Of whom all nature has creation,

Eternal Father, Spirit, Word.

Praise to the Lord

of my salvation;

Salvation is of Christ the Lord (I Bind unto Myself Today Patrick c. 373-466 lsb 604,5)

This is most certainly true.

14. Et pax Dei, quæ exuperat omnem sensum, custodiat corda vestra, et intelligentias vestras in Christo Jesu. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7). Amen.

15. Let us pray. O Merciful God, fill our hearts, we pray Thee, with the graces of Thy Holy Spirit, with love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; teach us to love those who hate us, to pray for those who despitefully use us, that we may be the children of Thee, our Father, who makest Thy sun to shine on the evil and on the good and sendest rain on the just and the unjust; in adversity grant us grace to be patient, in prosperity keep us humble; may we guard the door of our lips; may we lightly esteem the pleasures of this world and thirst after heavenly things. Amen. (Trinitatis, Vespers Collect 2. The Daily Office. Copyright © 1965 Concordia Publishing House.)

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 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, Septuaginta, Vol. I and II 2. Revised Edition © 2006 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Sunday, May 19, 2024

Ezekiel 37,1-14. Pentecost. Pfingstsonntag. Whitsunday

Ezekiel 37,1-14 3324

Pfingstsonntag. Whitsunday 44

Pudentiana, Virgin at Rome, Martyred at 16, 2^nd c.

Gerhard Rost, Bishop of the selk. ✠ 2003

19. Mai 2024

1. ℣ For the Spirit of Yahweh fills the world:

℟ Hallelujah! (Wisdom of Solomon 1,7 vul).

O Spirit of Grace, who from eternity proceeds from the Father and the Son, You were visibly poured out on the apostles after the triumph and Ascension of our Jesus. … We pray that You would enter also into our souls, that they may become a temple of the Living God, prepared by You and fit to obtain that eternal life for which we were created and purchased by our Redeemer. Amen. (Pieper 184; English transl. 100).

2. »The hand of Yahweh was upon me, and He brought me out in the Spirit of Yahweh and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And He led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And He said to me: „Son of man, can these bones live?“ And I answered: „O Lord Yahweh, You know.“ Then He said to me: „Prophesy over these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of Yahweh. Thus says the Lord Yahweh to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am Yahweh.“ So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then He said to me: „Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.“ So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then He said to me: „Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say: ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them: Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O My people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am Yahweh, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O My people. And I will put My Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am Yahweh; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares Yahweh.“«

3. Apart from God, a person is spiritually akin to a lifeless corpse. Just as Judah was in exile for their idolatry, so too is the individual in spiritual exile due to sin. To be apart from God is to be hopeless and perishing. The Apostle Paul gives us our diagnosis: »None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one« (Romans 3,10-12). That is bad news whether you are 6^th century bc Judah or a 21^st century Gentile; it is a death sentence. With the Psalmist we lament: »How long, O Yahweh? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? … Why do You hide Your face? Why do You forget our affliction and oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust« (Psalm 13,1; 44,24-25a).

4. The apostles and disciples had a similar concern they expressed to Jesus minutes before His Ascension: »Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?« (Acts 1,6). Jesus’ answer is that He will send them the Holy Spirit: »You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth« (Acts 1,8; cf. John 16,7).

5. The restoration of Judah from Exile in 538 bc was not the ultimate fulfillment of God’s plan but the first stage in a grander fulfillment. Judah’s restoration from dry bones to a living body occurred at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit is sent and 3000 believe and are baptized in the Triune Name of God.

6. 50 days after Passover/Easter is Pentecost (πενήντα : 50), and that’s an important covenantal number: 7 weeks of weeks; Pentecost is a harvest feast celebrated with a grain offering to Yahweh (Num 28,26). The harvest and grain offering in Acts 2 are the 3000 Jews who hear the gospel and believe on Jesus (Acts 2,41(. The Holy Spirit is responsible for this harvest of souls, for at His sending upon the apostles He converted thousands through the preached Word.

7. The Spirit of Yahweh, that is the Holy Spirit, asked Ezekiel: Can these bones live? The Holy Spirit on Pentecost proclaimed: Yes, these bones can live, and they do live and they believe in Jesus!

8. ⁵¹But this is the meaning and substance of this addition: I believe that there is upon earth a little holy group and congregation of pure saints, under one head, even Christ, called together by the Holy Spirit in one faith, one mind, and understanding, with manifold gifts, yet agreeing in love, without sects or schisms. ⁵²I am also a part and member of the same, a sharer and joint owner of all the goods she possesses, brought to her and incorporated into her by the Holy Spirit by having heard and continuing to hear the Word of God, which is the beginning of entering her. For formerly, before we had attained to this, we were altogether of the Devil, knowing nothing of God and of Christ. ⁵³Thus, until the last day, the Holy Spirit abides with the holy congregation or Christendom, by means of which He fetches us to Christ and which He employs to teach and preach to us the Word, whereby He works and promotes sanctification, causing her [this community] daily to grow and become strong in the faith and its fruits which He produces. ⁵⁴We further believe that in this Christian Church we have forgiveness of sin, which is wrought through the holy Sacraments and Absolution, moreover, through all manner of consolatory promises of the entire Gospel. Therefore, whatever is to be preached concerning the Sacraments belongs here, and, in short, the whole Gospel and all the offices of Christianity, which also must be preached and taught without ceasing. For although the grace of God is secured through Christ, and sanctification is wrought by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God in the unity of the Christian Church, yet on account of our flesh which we bear about with us we are never without sin (Large Catechism § 51-54).

9. Christus in humanam miseriam et nequitiam intravit et sic eam redemit (Christus Victor); Spiritus Sanctus ingreditur Ecclesiae dona Sua donans. Christ entered into human misery and wickedness and thus redeemed it (Christ the Victor); the Holy Spirit entered to give the Church His gifts.

10. To You, the Counselor, we cry,

To You, the Gift of God Most High,

The Fount of Life, the Fire of Love,

The soul’s anointing from above. (Come, Holy Ghost, Creator Blest lsb 498,2 2006 Rabanus Maurus 776-856)

This is most certainly true.

11. Et pax Dei, quæ exuperat omnem sensum, custodiat corda vestra, et intelligentias vestras in Christo Jesu. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7). Amen.

12. Let us pray. O Eternal God, who hast taught us by Thy holy Word that our bodies are temples of Thy Spirit, keep us, we most humbly beseech Thee, temperate and holy in thought, word and deed so that we with all the pure in heart may see Thee and be made like unto Thee in Thy heavenly kingdom caused the light of eternal life to shine upon the world, we beseech Thee that our hearts may be so kindled with heavenly desires, and Thy love so shed abroad in us by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may continually seek the things which are above and, abiding in purity of heart and mind, may at length attain unto Thine everlasting kingdom, there to dwell in the glorious light of Thy presence, world without end. Amen. (Pentecost, Vespers Collect 3. The Daily Office.)

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

Sunday, May 12, 2024

John 15,26-16,4. Exaudi

John 15,26-16,4 3224

Exaudi 43

Vitalis of Ravenna, Italy. Martyr 171

12. Mai 2024

1. ℣ Hear my voice, O Yahweh, when I cry:

℟ Have mercy on me, and hear me. (Psalm 26,7 vul lxx).

О Christ, You have rescued us from hell. Whoever believes in You should not perish but have eternal life (John 3,16). O glad day, on which our salvation is seated and happiness is confirmed to us! Jesus lives and we will live also! We are united with Him now in faith and will be after this life in glory. Amen. (Stark 516 © 1852; English 89).

2. »Jesus said to His disciples: „But when the Comforter arrives, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about Me. And you also bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning. I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is approaching when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor Me. But I have said these things to you, so that when their hour arrives you may remember that I told them to you. I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.“«

3. On Maundy Thursday, Jesus promised His apostles that He would send the Holy Spirit to them. This promise was kept on Pentecost, which is next Sunday. The Holy Spirit testifies (μαρτυρήει) of Jesus, He helps the apostles testify (μαρτυρούν) about Jesus and He helps the Church testify about Jesus to this very day.

4. The Holy Spirit plays a vital role in the Church, for false teachings and heresies are always on the horizon to rob Christians of the certainty of the gospel. Already in the Apostolic Church there were false or heretical teachings trying to supplant the gospel. The Apostle John composes in his first epistle: »I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also« (1. John 2,21-23). John is contending with the Gnostic philosophy in his epistle.

5. Gnosticism means knowledge; γνωσις. The Gnostics believed that matter is evil and the spirit is good. God who is a Spirit is infinitely separated from the physical world. Gnostics rejected the belief that the Son of God became a man. Salvation, then, is not through Christ but by gaining secret knowledge of the universe and magical formulas that would enable one to free one’s spirit from the body’s evil corruption. Some tried to merge gnosticism with Christianity but the two polarized views of God and the world made such a merger short-lived.

6. Gnosticism rejected the Son of God coming to earth as a man. The Apostle John’s response is: if you reject Jesus, then you reject God the Father. »And now, little children, abide in Jesus Christ, so that when He appears we may have confidence and not shrink from Him in shame at His advent« (1. John ,28).

7. Aspects of Gnosticism still show up in our culture. That the soul is inherently good and the body is evil is one aspect of Gnosticism that is engrained in our culture. That you don’t need the Bible to know about God is another aspect of Gnosticism. That you don’t need Jesus to obtain salvation is yet another aspect of Gnosticism.

8. The Church and her Christians are intimately connected to Jesus and with Jesus. „If we are with Jesus, then we have conflict with all that is antichrist, and the supreme antichrist is the one who operates in the name of God. … This we do when we displace Christ with our own notions; when we say, “Thus says the Lord,” when the Lord has not spoken; when we put God’s name on our own wishes, plans and programs, the unchurch those who disagree with us“ (Nagel 148).

9. As Western Christians, we confess in the Creed that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. This proceeding Spirit comes to us to bear witness to the Son and to empower us to bear witness to the Son. The cornerstone of this testimony is the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus for our redemption. The Spirit brings Christ alive in us and brings us resources to live out His forgiveness and His love (Nagel 149). How we live out His forgiveness and love takes a different and unique shape in each Christian (Nagel 149).

10. The primary task of the Holy Spirit is to be our Comforter. How does He comfort us? Luther in his Small Catechism teaches: In the same way, the Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps her with Jesus in the one true faith. In this Christian Church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers (Small Catechism). Each time we take and eat Christ’s body and drink His blood that was given and shed for us for the forgiveness of sins, the Holy Spirit is sustaining our faith that receives and believes this Sacramental promise of Christ. By the comfort of the Holy Spirit we testify and bear witness to our Lord’s death by which He redeemed the world back to the Father.

11. With the Holy Spirit and unafraid, we are bold to act, bold to prepare to act, even when things may look as if they are crashing down on us (Nagel 149). With joy we go into God’s world testifying to Christ Jesus our Savior.

12. Χριστός σταυρωμένος. Χριστός αναστήθηκε. Ο Χριστός ανέβηκε. Ο Χριστός θα επιστρέψει. Christus crucifixit; Christus resurrexit; Christus ascendit; Christus revertetur. Christ crucified; Christ resurrected; Christ ascended; Christ will return! Alleluia!!

13. Now I firmly believe and knowest,

I proclaim it without any fear,

That God, the Best and Highest,

Is my Friend and Father dear,

And whatever comes my way

By side He will always be,

And calms the storms and the waves,

And whatever woe afflicts me.

(Ist Gott für mich elkg 529,2 2021 Paul Gerhard 1607-76).

This is most certainly true.

15. Let us pray. Almighty and Everlasting God, who lovest peace and concord and hast called us in Christ to love and unity, we pray Thee so rule our hearts by Thy Holy Spirit that we, being delivered by the true fear of God from all fear of man, may evermore serve Thee in righteousness, mercy, humility and gentleness towards one another. Amen. (Exaudi, Vespers Collect 2. The Daily Office. Copyright © 1965 Concordia Publishing House.)

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Sunday, May 26, 2024

Ephesians 1,3-14. Holy Trinity

Sunday, May 19, 2024

Ezekiel 37,1-14. Pentecost. Pfingstsonntag. Whitsunday

Sunday, May 12, 2024

John 15,26-16,4. Exaudi