Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Luke 15,1-3.11-32. Trinity III

Luke 15,1-3a.11-32 3724

Trinity III 49

Blandina, Virgin, Martyr in Lyon, France 177 (Marcus Aurelius, 161-80)
Julitta and Quirinus, Martyrs 304 (Diocletian, 284-311/12; persecution 302-11)

16 . Juni 2024

1. ℣ Look upon me and have mercy upon me, for I am alone and meager:

℟ Behold mine humility and my toil, and forgive all my transgressions (Psalm 24,16.18 vul lxx).

We are in the fellowship of our Jesus. We live in it, and we die in it. O Jesus, You are in us, and we are in You. There is no condemnation for us because we are in Your fellowship, we will enter into glory. The blood of Jesus sanctifies, clothes, adorns and cleanses us. O Heavenly Father, behold, it is in the righteousness of Your Son that we draw near to You. Amen. (Stark 453; English transl. 326).

2. »And Jesus said: „There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father: ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said: ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.“’ And he arose and went to his father.«

3. The prodigal son is, first, you and me. Most of us have been in the father’s family since infancy. There is safety, community and blessings in His Church. There are times when we have gone our own way, deserted the Church family and God the Father (Nagel 168). We may be foolish enough to think we can take our spiritual inheritance, leave the Christian family and strike out on our own.

4. So thought the younger son in Jesus’ parable. Life was wonderful for a while, but reality soon came crashing down on him The world is willing to celebrate with him and treat him as a very important person, until the bill comes due and he has no money left to keep the good times rolling. All his new-found „friends“ desert him quicker than he deserted his father. The proud prodigal is humbled to the point of dining with swine and sharing in their pig slop. You can’t fall much lower than that.

5. How many prodigal Christians have lamented and lived the plight of the prodigal son! Does God the Father still love me? Will He welcome me back? Luther himself struggled with such thoughts, and his crisis of faith was all too common the plight of the average Christian in the pew during the early 16^th century. Luther bears his heart:

„A single word in Chapter 1 [of Romans], God’s righteousness is revealed him. For I hated that word righteousness of God [Romans 1,17], which I was taught by the practice and custom of all [Christian] teachers to understand philosophically regarding (as they call it) formal or active righteousness, by which God is righteous, and punishes unrighteous sinners. … I would not believe that [God] was placated by my satisfaction. … I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners. … I was angry with God … threatening us with His righteousness and wrath“ (WA 54,185.16-20; AE 34,336-7)!

6. Jesus passionately and powerfully tells us in the parable that His Farther is mercifully steadfast in His love for us. Come with your sin-stained hands and your dirty garments of wickedness. Though you hope the Father will receive you as a servant, lo, He will welcome you back as His son or daughter! You cannot outrun His love, for even the darkness cannot hide you.

7. »Et venite et arguite me dicit Dominus si fuerint peccata vestra ut coccinum quasi nix dealbabunter et si fuerint rubra quasi vermiculus velut lana alba erunt. And come, let us come to a decision, says Yahweh. If your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow; and if they are red like crimson [the worm used to crimson or purple dye], they will be white as wool« (Isaiah 1,18 vul). »Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to those who were standing before him: „Remove the filthy garments from him.“ And to him he said: „Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.“ And I said: „Let them put a clean turban on his head“ So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the Angel of the Yahweh was standing by« (Zechariah 3,3-5; cf. Luke 15,22). »Εάν καταβώ εις τον άδην πάρει. Ότι σκότος οθ σκοτιςθήσεται από σοθ και ωοζ ως ημέπα φωτισθήσεται ως το σκότος αθτής ούτως και το φως αθτής. If I make my bed in Hades, You are there! Even the darkness is not dark to You; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light to You« (Psalm 139,8b.12 lxx).

8. There is forgiveness for your transgressions, dear brothers; there is healing for your sins, dear sisters! Christ has been crucified to restore prodigals like you and me as brothers and sisters of God the Father. »But while the prodigal son was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion [έσπλαγνίσθη], and ran and embraced [έπέπεσεν] him and earnestly kissed [κατεφίλησεν] him« (Luke 15,20a)!

9. Let no one say God the Father is wrathful towards us. Let no one say the Son has not redeemed us. Let it not be heard that the Holy Spirit does not strive night and day to bring prodigals back into God’s family.

10. Again Luther: „The righteousness of God, by which the righteous live by the gift of God, namely by faith, and that this sentence is to revealed through the gospel, the righteousness of God, that is to say, passive righteousness, by which the merciful God justifies those by faith, as it is written: The righteous live by faith. Here I felt that I had been completely reborn and that I had entered paradise itself through the open gates“ (WA 54,186.3-13; AE 34,337).

11. Let us each week walk through the open gate of paradise through the Gottesdienst (Divine Service), be embraced by our merciful Heavenly Father, partake of the banquet feast His Only-begotten Son has given us in the Lord’s Supper and receive the blessings the Holy Spirit pours upon us through this Holy Sacrament. „[Christ’s] words, Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins, show us that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life and salvation are given us through these words. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation“ (Small Catechism). With the Lord’s Supper the prodigal is restored and received as a son, a daughter, of God safely back home with God the Father. Pater noster caelestis omnium meminit et omnes memorat. Our Heavenly Father remembers everyone and He recalls everyone (Maximus of Turin (380-465) Sermon 70; Oremus 500).

12. Jesus sinners doth receive,

And for us opened heaven,

Graciously He me receives

And I stand in joy forgiven

Steadfastly to Him I cleave:

Jesus sinners doth receive.

(Jesus nimmt die Sünder an elkg 569,8 2021 Erdmann Neumeister 1718)

This is most certainly true.

13. 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.

14. Let us pray. Grant, O Lord, we beseech Thee, unto Thy servants who do commemorate in the Holy Sacrament the precious death of Thy dear Son and receive the blessed Communion of His body and blood, that they may approach Thy holy table with true repentance, faith, thankfulness and charity and, being filled with Thy grace and heavenly benediction, may obtain remission of their sins and all other benefits of His Passion. Amen. (Trinity III, Vespers Collect 2. The Daily Office.)

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.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Thursday, June 20, 2024

Luke 15,1-3.11-32. Trinity III

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