Monday, March 28, 2011

The Third Sunday in Lent -- Oculi - March 27, 2011

The Church Season of Lent,
Oculi,
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (March 27, 2011)
One Year Series

Readings:   
        Psalm 136   
        Ex. 8:16-24       
        Eph. 5:1-9           
        Luke 11:14-28

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 11th chapter of St. Luke, especially the following verses.

Luke 11:14-28 (NIV)
14 Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. 15 But some of them said, “By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” 16 Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven. 17 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. 18 If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub. 19 Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 20 But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you. 21 “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. 22 But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils. 23 “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters. 24 “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ 25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.” 27 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” 28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

It is the way of the wicked to call what is good evil.  Unfortunately, we see that all around us in our world today.  Anyone who stands up for what is moral and what is right according to God’s Word, is often called a bigot, closed-minded, or hateful.  The attack is on, a deaf ear is turned on the Christian and they are soon demonized.  Ironic isn’t it that we hear an example of something like this in today's Gospel with a just a  twist. 

Jesus is doing something good.  He is casting out a demon from a man who had been made unable to speak.  When the demon had gone out of the man, he was able to talk again.  Then the crowd that saw this, marveled at the wonderful thing that Jesus had done.

But just like today’s world some there who saw good and called it evil because they hated Jesus.  They hated Him because they couldn't stand to accept the goodness of Jesus.  And so they called good evil.  They said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."  In other words they were saying, "The only reason Jesus can cast out demons is because He gets His power from Satan."  They tried to raise suspicions about Jesus in those who saw what He did.

Isn’t this the way of the devil? To plant a seed of doubt and then work against our faith in Jesus? These people had seen a great miracle yet sought to test God by asking Jesus for a sign from heaven.  Sounds all too familiar, and it is because that is exactly what the devil did in the wilderness when he asked Jesus to throw Himself down from the temple and let the angels catch Him.  The people in this crowd already had already seen a sign from Jesus.  He had cast out of the demon, but unbelief always wants something, just a little bit more and different than what Jesus does or what He gives.

Later Jesus would say to this same crowd that it is an evil generation which seeks a sign, which wants to walk by sight and not by faith, which trusts in their own experiences and emotions more than Christ and His Word.  Jesus said the only sign that would be given them is the sign of Jonah, the sign of a man buried three days in the belly of death but who rose from the depths to new life.  Jesus spoke of his own death and resurrection.  He would give them a sign which faith clings to, the sign of the cross where Christ was crucified to save all us sinners.

Christ is the truth over and against all the falsehood of this world and of all those who call what is good an evil.  satan is not divided against himself.  But Christ has divided and conquered satan's kingdom by the power of His holy cross.  But satan still desires to conquer us by doubting who Christ is and why He came to this earth.  Satan still seeks to turn our eyes and our ears from the miracles Christ performed and still performs, so satan strives to turn our thoughts to that which is around us.  We make false gods out of desire for things, we make false gods out of the people we see in life, sports figures, politicians, and leaders. 

     Repent, for Jesus made it clear to the crowds and to us that there can be no sitting on the fence in this matter.  Our Lord says, "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters."  There is no stance of neutrality when it comes to Christ, no middle-of-the-road position.  Either we’re with Him by faith and by baptism or we’re against Him through unbelief.  Either you take refuge in Him who is the Stronger Man, or you refuse Him and seek other shelter that draws you back into the devil's hands.  Either you're walking on the path of light or you're wandering down the path of darkness.  There are no third options.

     You see, even though the devil has been defeated and man's salvation has been won–fully and decisively–the devil still runs about making like he is strong, acting like he still controls death.  He still tries to lure people away from the salvation of Christ, leading them into doubt and uncertainty and despair.  And many fall for the trap, believing in themselves and the things of this world rather than trusting in Christ.  So Christ tells these people, and He tells us, “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it.”

And notice that Jesus does not say that we are blessed if we read the Word of God at home and do nothing about it after we read it. Jesus says nothing about knowing the content of the Word but never putting into practice what we hear. He mentions specifically hearing the Word and keeping the Word. Hearing the Word but not keeping the Word is a dangerous thing. What good does it do us to hear something but never do anything the Word says? Why not ask those who claim to be a faithful, God-fearing Christian but give no evidence in their life that they hear God’s Word.

But instead, why not ask ourselves first? Sin is never a trifle. Sin is always a big deal. This is why our Lord warns us that when an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, “I will return to my house from which I came.” And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

No matter what we do, we cannot be saved by our own holiness, but we can lose our salvation by the neglect of our holiness. It has been said that, “A Christian who will not continually fight against sin, earnestly strive after the virtues that please God, faithfully watch over his heart and life, and always pray for new power and grace soon ceases to be a Christian.”(CFW Walther) We have the privilege to listen to God’s Word every Lord’s Day in the Divine Service. We have the privilege to study God’s Word together twice a week. Most, if not all, of you have Bibles of your own to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest His Word.

In the midst of our daily struggles, Christ comes in to our lives, the demons of our world have been cast out, your sins are forgiven and forgotten.  You are reminded of this as you recall you are a baptized child of God.  The Word of God keeps you as you receive His true body and blood.  You are in Christ, and Christ is in You.  Blessed are those who hear the very Word of God, that is Jesus Christ for they will inherit the kingdom of heaven.  Amen.

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Lenten Mid-week 3 - The Our Father Prayer

Third Mid-Week Service
The Our Father and the Sacrament
in the Passion of Christ
Matthew 6:5-14

Matthew 26:27-29 (ESV)
 26Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." 27And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, 28for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom."


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Lenten Sermon Series:
The Our Father and the Sacrament
in the Passion of Christ (Matthew 6:1-15)

In our Midweek services we have focused upon Jesus teaching us to pray to God as "Our Heavenly Father" God loves us despite our many sins and failings. And he has sent his Son to prove his love with his death on the cross for those many sins and failings. And last week Jesus taught us to pray "hallowed be thy Name." As God’s children we ask for our heavenly Father to keep his name holy among us by being faithful in both our teaching and our living. Tonight our Lord Jesus continues to teach us how to pray with "Thy Kingdom Come."

And how does Gods Kingdom Come?  God’s kingdom comes in the salvation that has been won by Jesus Christ. Beginning in the Garden of Eden satan stole humanity from God, man and woman by sin trade the image of God, for their own selfish desires. Satan accomplished this by tempting human beings to rebel against God and live a life on their own terms directed by their own reason and intellect rather than by the Word of God. But such a rebellion had a price: sin and misery and death. The things of the world are in the realm of the kingdom of satan. This explains why the world is the way it is. And here’s the scary part: people don’t know they are in satan’s kingdom. They don’t understand that by living for themselves they are living under satan’s rule. Indeed, every human being is born into satan’s kingdom of sin and death.

Yet, Jesus came to deliver us from satan’s kingdom and to bring us into God’s kingdom by dying for our sins. Sin is the problem. You can’t have sin and be in God’s kingdom. So Jesus came to remove the sin of mankind. For with his death on the cross mankind’s debt of sin to God, your sin and mine, was paid for and cancelled. And now there is forgiveness of sin. And where there is forgiveness of sin….there is peace with God. And with peace with God we enter the kingdom of God. That’s why through faith in Jesus Christ we are delivered from the kingdom of satan and enter the kingdom of God. Because in Jesus Christ our sins are forgiven and we have God’s peace. This is exactly what Paul says in his letter to the Colossians: "for he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins."

When we pray "thy kingdom come" we are praying for many others to be delivered from the kingdom of satan and brought into the kingdom of God in Jesus Christ. We are praying for evangelism and missions.  When we are in the heat of the battle, when satan has us down, depressed, sick in sin, sick in health, scared of dying, scared of living, we pray, we cry out, as did St. Paul with the word “Marana tha, meaning, Our Lord, come!”(1 Cor 16:22)

And the Good News, the Gospel is that right now we are in the kingdom of God by faith…faith in Jesus Christ. But in a day known only to God Jesus Christ will return and take us into the kingdom of God in a new heaven and a new earth. A day is coming when we will no longer be in the kingdom of God by faith, but by sight. Perhaps the book of Revelation best summarizes what that kingdom will be like: "then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." This too is what we are praying for when we pray "thy kingdom come."

And as Luther asks in the Small Catechism, “How does God’s Kingdom come?  God’s kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His Holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity.”(SC)  And where does God’s Kingdom come to you?  God’s Kingdom comes to you in your baptism as “It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.”(SC)  And God’s Kingdom comes to you in the Sacrament of the Altar, in Holy Communion, as Christ speaks to you and gives you His true body and true blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins.  Here Jesus gives a promise to you, even as He is risen from the dead and ascended into heaven, He promises of the Lord’s Supper to “drink it new in my Father’s kingdom.”(Mt 26:29)  Therefore, Christ is not far away from you in fact He is with you in the Sacrament of the Altar.   “Thy Kingdom comes” as Christ brings His Fathers Kingdom to you in His body and blood.  This is the reality of the Gospel, that is Jesus Christ is our Savior who truly came in the flesh and dwelt among us and this Christ, “God with us” truly gives us His Body and His Blood to His people in this Holy meal.

We pray to God, “Thy Kingdom come.”  Your prayers are heard, for Jesus Christ brings God’s kingdom to you in prayer. God’s Kingdom comes in the hearing of His Holy Word.  God’s Kingdom comes in your baptism, and in the Sacrament of Holy Communion.  God’s kingdom come to you to heal you from all that ails you, from all that has torn you down, from the sins which you have committed, from all that would cause you pain, God’s kingdom has come for you. 

It has been written that, “If we do not take what Scripture says concerning the presence of Christ with complete seriousness, then we have a wrong understanding of Christ.  Then also we have a wrong understanding of His Church....Then the church ceases to be what it has been in the world ever sine the incarnation of Christ, His death and His resurrection, and the institution of the Supper, to wit, the place of God’s love among men, a spiritual and bodily community in which we are in Christ and Christ is in us...The Word and the Sacrament, Gospel and Lord’s Supper, belong indissolubly together, because Christ the Lord is present in them and through them builds His Church on earth in divine omnipotence and love.  This He does neither through the Word alone, nor through the Sacrament alone, but through both of them together.”(Hermann Sasse)  Rejoice therefore, in Jesus Christ, Thy Kingdom has come for you.  Amen.

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Monday, March 21, 2011

The Second Sunday in Lent - Reminiscere - March 20, 2011

The Church Season of Lent,
The First Sunday in Lent - Reminiscere,
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (March 20, 2011)
One Year Series

“Have Mercy”

Readings:
        Psalm 121   
        Gen. 32:22-32       
        1 Thessalonians 4:1-7           
        Matthew 15:21-28


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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 15h chapter of Matthew, especially the following verses.


Matthew 15:21-28 (NIV)
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.” 23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” 25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. 26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.


In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

The language or even the look of distress reaches beyond language, beyond personal bias, beyond the well built walls in our minds meant to protect us from getting involved with our fellow man.  It is very simple, help me, please help me.  There are universal signs of distress, whether we know the whole language of the person or the sending device or not.  Distress has its own sign, it communicates across all boundaries. In recent aerial pictures from earthquake and Tsunami hit Japan, I’ve seen those signs of distress physically laid out on the ground marked by the letters SOS and also HELP written in English.  Interesting isn’t it?  Letters making a signal for all to see, conveying that I’m in dire need, please come help me.  We’ve seen that kind of sign before too, from the roofs of people stranded on the flooded houses in New Orleans, from people standing with pictures of lost loved ones in the 911 attack.  The list could go on and on the message is the same, I need help.

And so it is in our lesson today a woman needs help and she knew full well the help she needed was nearby.  But this woman had a lot going against her, for she was a Canaanite woman and the soil beneath her feet was from the region of Tyre and Sidon.  The Canaanites were in the promised land and as the Israelites came to this land the Lord told them, “6 in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, 17 but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded.”(Dt 20:17) And even further, “Every city, men, women, and children.”(Dt. 2:34) No mercy was to be given, so why would God order such a thing?  All these people of Canaan were in the promised land but they worshipped false gods, they were living a sinful life in the promised land.  They were living out their lives in sin, in an out of bounds life in  the midst of Gods creation.  Sound familiar? It should because that is the same sin as Adam and Eve and the same sin of our lives too.

But let us continue with the second strike for this Canaanite woman.  She is in the land of Tyre and Sidon cities that God condemned through the mouths of three Old Testament prophets(Isaiah, Ezekiel, Amos) for their wicked ways.  So wicked that even Jesus would call them to repentance in sackcloth and ashes.

Yet this woman does what any human being does in their time of distress, when you’ve been knocked to your knees by what life has given you.  This woman’s daughter was possessed by demons, she had hit rock bottom, there were no options left, she had no where to go for help, no one to turn to, then Christ, “withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.” (Mt. 15:21)  But somewhere this woman had heard of Christ, because she addresses Him by His Holy Name, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!”(v.22)  She already believed in Jesus Christ or she wouldn’t have asked for Jesus’ help as St. Paul reminds us, “14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard?”(Rom. 10:14)  But the first answer she received was not the answer she wanted, “Jesus have mercy...but He did not answer a word.”

Jesus Christ just keeps on walking, but so does she, shouting and pleading all the more loudly. In fact, she becomes downright embarrassing. The disciples urge Jesus to send her away, but now Jesus turns and engages her in a conversation.  It would seem her persistence is beginning to pay off, her daughter is possessed and there is only one way out, for Jesus to hear her cries for help.

You have been there. You have you prayed and prayed to God for help, for mercy, for intervention, for relief, Lord, have mercy.  God please help me, Lord have mercy on my soul.  You pray, beg, and plead, in every signal of distress you can think of yet it seems like the more you would pray the more silence your receive?  So then what did you do? Well the most common thing to do is walk away in despair, turn away from God.  And turning away from God is the definition of sin.  Satan is overjoyed when you turn from God, and when satan is able to whisper in your ears: “See, it’s just like I’ve been telling you. He doesn’t care about you. You can’t count on Him. You’re going to have to handle it on your own.” Satan fills our ears and our hearts with words of despair, reminding us all that might go wrong, all that might have happened if only Jesus would listen, if only He would do more for you, if He would only do more for a family member, if He would only do more for someone you know, if only Jesus would help.

Repent, for Christ does provide for you.  For that Canaanite woman was from a region that is out of bounds, a place and people that had turned from God, a sinful land with sinful people, with a daughter caught in a struggle with a demon all of this too much to bear, too much to handle, too much for her to bear.  Remember that you are there too, you are in God’s creation, you too have been out of bounds in your sin, and you seen the effects of sin in your lives, people struggling with addiction, lying cheating, backstabbing, gossip, rumors, every single one of the commandments fall broken. For as it is written, “None is righteous, no, not one; 11no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 13“Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.”“The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” 15“Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16in their paths are ruin and misery, 17and the way of peace they have not known.” 18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”(Rom 3:10-18)

In the face of all this we are only left to cry out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!”(v. 22) And again we cry out all the more louder in real pain and real agony, falling to our knees before God in Christ Jesus “Lord, help me!”(v. 25) Help me, help me.  Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord, have mercy.

And Jesus speaks to you just as He did to that Canaanite woman, “ you have great faith! Your request is granted.”(v. 28)  That is the faith which you received in your baptism, in the water combined with God’s Word,  you were healed you in that very hour.  Your SOS, your cries for help, your prayers for mercy have already been heard, you are well.  Christ has become incarnate for you, He has come into your life.  Jesus Christ has taken away your every sin and He has given you the promise that in the hour of your death, that you will not die.  He sees you kneeling before Him, Jesus has mercy on you.  

And because of God’s great love for you and His mercy for You too are called to have mercy on those whom are around you.  By serving those whom you meet in your daily lives, by serving your children, by serving your parents, or spouses, or by serving your employers, by srving those people who cry out for mercy, those who say help me, help me, help me.  There are a lot of people out there crying for help, here in our community, and in the community of the world, hear their pleas, have mercy as mercy has been generously been given too you.

God’s mercy in giving His Son Jesus Christ is the only mercy which will give you the promise of eternal life.  We fail to resist sin, we fall into sin, we sin by doubt when we think our prayers are not answered in the time we think they should be.  But Jesus does answer our prayer.  He does come into your life, He comes in your Baptism, He comes to you giving His true body and blood for the forgiveness of all your sins.  You cry, ‘Lord help me’, Jesus comes to you, He hears your cries.  He too cries, Jesus wept, Jesus the Son of David cried out too, from the cross, “It is finished” and from that very hour He had given you the promise that His mercy has made you well for your eternity.  Amen.

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Lenten Mid-week 2 - The Our Father Prayer

Second Mid-Week Service
The Our Father and the Sacrament
in the Passion of Christ
Matthew 6:5-14


Matthew 6:5-14 (ESV)
5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,

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Lenten Sermon Series:
The Our Father and the Sacrament
in the Passion of Christ (Matthew 6:1-15)

The recollection of Christ’s passion has begun.  From Ash Wednesday to Good Friday, it is Lent. Pray, for Christ has prayed to His Father for you.  Receive the Sacrament, for Jesus went to the cross as His father willed Him to do this, for you.  It is the time of Lent, Jesus Christ is sacrificed by Our Father, in remembrance of Christ Our Father would do this, for you. 

When thinking about Our Father the strongest context of these words are that we use them in prayer.  Fold your hands, bow your head, let us pray together, “Our Father.”  So we may well ask, ‘How’s your prayer life?’  Prayer is the heartbeat of a Christian. Prayer can be a measurement of our faith, that is to say, the more we pray reveals a stronger faith, and the less we pray reveals a weaker faith. And truth be told our prayer life is at best is probably inconsistent. I know there are times in my life that I pray more than other times. It is easy to neglect prayer. We get so busy, too busy. Perhaps we forget how dependent we are on God. Or we think we are too sinful. But prayer is an important part of our lives. Our Lord Jesus Christ prayed a lot. And He not only taught a lot about prayer but even gave His apostles and to us the model of prayer.  And so the prayer Jesus gave the church, “The Lord’s Prayer”, will be our focus for the next five weeks.  Jesus will teach us once again about prayer and so we begin with:

The first thing Jesus teaches us, is to pray to God as if He is our loving Father.  Why?  Because He is our loving Father. As our Father He is the one who has created us. He created the human race, the first man and the first woman, Adam and Eve. And He is still the one who creates people as He told that first couple to be fruitful and multiply. It was God who formed us in the womb of our mothers. But God is especially our Father in Jesus Christ. For only in Jesus Christ can we truly know God as "Our Father"; only in Jesus Christ can we know how much God truly loves us.

But even the very first people God created Adam and Eve turned from God and looked to their own reason and intellect in resistance to God’s Word and that is sin.  And that sin was much more than that of rebellious children acting out against their Father, it was pure evil sin before God.  Interestingly, before God in biblical terms would mean, ‘be before His face.’  They sinned right to the face of their loving Father.  But lest we point at those bad first people way back when, we do sin the same as they did, and every sin of ours is right before the face of our Father too.  Yet in the face of our sin, God still loves those whom acknowledge their sin and repent.

And how much does God love us? That’s answered by the cross. That’s how much God loves—He gave his own Son into death so that when we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, His Father then becomes our Father who is in heaven.

But what does it mean that our Father is in heaven? What is heaven? It is the dwelling of God. Where is heaven? It is everywhere because God is everywhere….indeed, he dwells even beyond the edges of the universe. So with these words "who art in heaven" Jesus is teaching us that God is different from us, higher than us, greater than us and more powerful than us. That’s why we pray to Him. He helps us. For although we are bound to this earth, our Father is in heaven, and all things are possible with Him.

And so we call upon God whose Name is to be hallowed.  And how do we hallow Our Father?  Our Father’s Name is to be holy among us by correctly teaching His Word and not tolerating the distortion of His Word. As God’s children we are to be concerned about right doctrine and Godly teaching. We treat God’s Name as holy when we accurately pass His Word on to others. This does not reflect mean spiritedness in our insistence of the precise reference to His Word, rather is shows to all that His Word is precious to us, it means something.  To teach God’s word incorrectly is to dishonor our heavenly Father because we would be saying things that He doesn’t say. We would be misrepresenting and denying who our God is. To throw away what scripture says by calling it doctrine is to throw away the description of God’s will which He gives to us.  And that is exactly where Christian critics go when they want to make a farce of Christians, but hey, we set them up, they take us down.

Rather the importance of God’s Word cannot be understated.  For when Jesus came into the world the Father told him what to say and He said it exactly the way to say it as He says in John’s gospel: "these words are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me." Not even Jesus changed the Word of the Father and His Word should not be changed among us either. So then when we pray "hallowed be thy Name" we are praying for the pure, correct, accurate word of the Father to be preached and taught in our midst.

How we live will show whether God’s Name is holy among us or not. For how we live will either bring honor to our father or dishonor. We bring shame to God’s Name by how we live and so we pray "hallowed be thy Name" --may your name be holy among us in how we live and by how we speak.

"Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name." Isn’t it amazing that we sinful human beings who are but specks in the universe, who are here on this earth for but a short time and then gone….can pray to the creator of the universe, the one who is in heaven as "our heavenly Father"? We should never think that such a wonderful privilege is due to our goodness or worthiness, we are just poor miserable sinners one and all. Thanks be to God that His Word, Jesus Christ taught us to pray returning thanks for all that He has done for us.  Thanks be to God that He gave us Jesus Christ to die for us, that we may eternally be in the hallowed presence of Our Father who art in heaven. Amen.

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Monday, March 14, 2011

The First Sunday in Lent - Invocabit - March 13, 2011

The Church Season of Lent,
The First Sunday in Lent - Invocabit,
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (March 13, 2011)
One Year Series


Readings: 
        Psalm 118:1-13   
        Gen. 3:1-21       
        2 Cor. 6:1-10           
        Matt 4:1-11

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 4th chapter of St. Matthew, especially the following verses.

Matthew 4:1-11 (NIV)
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” 10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

    It is no accident that Jesus finds Himself in the wilderness for forty days after His Baptism: The Holy Spirit has led Him there, because this is part of His journey to the cross. This forty days is part of His active obedience for your sake. Throughout the forty days, Jesus fasts. And throughout those forty days, He is tempted by the devil.

And remember that, although he is far too clever for us to deal with, the devil has a losing hand. He is Satan, "the Accuser" because all he can do is point out the sin of people. For a while, as we hear in Job, he could stand before God in heaven and accuse people of their sin. We may picture him as the prosecuting attorney standing before the Judge as he, mockingly says so-and-so deserves an eternal death sentence for his sin, and I have their list right here. Therefore, condemn him.  But it is a bluff, he does not have the cards, because on account of Christ, satan lost not only the hand, not only the game, but the whole of his battle.

But you know, if you think about it satan would have nothing to accuse us of if we didn’t have sins to be accused of; this is why the Accuser tempts us to sin, so that he can gain leverage for his accusations against us. And this is why he's at a distinct disadvantage in the Gospel lesson, because Jesus is without sin.

Therefore, the devil has no accusation to make unless he can make Jesus give in to temptation.  So the devil tempts Jesus for those forty days. He tries out those temptations of physical appetites, wooing Jesus to turn the stones into bread and fill His aching stomach. But this is against the Father's Word and will for His Son in the wilderness, so Jesus refuses the devil's suggestion. The devil tempts Him with power, promising to give Him all the kingdoms of the world without the suffering on the cross; this shows how weak the devil's hand is, trying to dish out the lie that Jesus needs his help for power. And the devil tempts Jesus to pride, telling Him to test His Father by throwing Himself off the temple; instead of all this suffering Servant stuff, wouldn't it be a lot more gratifying to make God jump out and save you? But once again, the sinless Son of God says no. He is not about self satisfaction or power or pride; He has become flesh for humble self-sacrifice and servant-hood.

The Accuser leaves as a loser for all of his efforts. Jesus has resisted all temptation and has no sins to be accused of, so there's no use in hanging around Him. The devil departs "until an opportune time." Three years later, he'll still have no ammunition against God's Son, but he'll opt for Plan B: He'll accuse the consciences of sinners so badly that they'll want the Savior destroyed. The Liar will induce them to speak all sorts of lies so that the Son of God is put to death.

You know, of course, that the devil loses when Christ is crucified. He wants Jesus dead, but the Lord dies of His own will and Christ dies as the sinless Sacrifice for us, dying our death for our sin so that we don't have to. At the climactic battle of the cross, your Savior Jesus Christ is the clear winner, and His victory is demonstrated three days later when He rises from the dead. For His death and resurrection, we give thanks, acknowledging that He has defeated the devil for us.

But don’t skip so quickly past this Temptation in the Wilderness; for already here, Jesus deals the Accuser quite the blow. By resisting temptation there, He remains the perfect, sinless Sacrifice; this means that, even while Jesus is the scapegoat sent into the desert for you and His crucifixion hasn't yet taken place, the devil's defeat is already secured.

So what Good News from the Temptation in the Wilderness do you hear from this reading?  It is that Jesus perfectly resisted temptation, and He did so for you. He did this so that, along with the forgiveness of sins, He could give you the credit for His perfect resistance to temptation.

Again, more Good News of this text: Jesus resisted temptation so that He could give us the credit for His perfect resistance. This is important, because this text is so often taught in a troubling way. The message here is often perceived as, "Jesus went into the wilderness and resisted the devil to see the example, to show you that it could be done. Therefore, if He can do it, so can you. So get out there and resist that devil. That's what being a Christian is all about."

If that is the message of this text, then this text has no comfort for you. The notion that you can do whatever Jesus did is ludicrous from the start, as you and I are not the sinless Son of God. If this is the message, it gets worse: What if being a Christian is all about resisting temptation and living a better life? If that is true, and you keep on giving in to temptation before you even know it, it means you're a pretty lousy Christian. If this keeps up, you will eventually wonder: Given the fact that I daily sin often and much, am I good enough to be a Christian at all?

So, hear then the Good News of the text: Jesus did not go into the wilderness to set an example that He expects you to live up to. He went there and resisted all temptation because He knows full well that you can't, and He wanted to do it for you.

Well then you might say, "Since Jesus resisted temptation for me, I'll just go ahead and sin." That's real smart. It's as smart as saying, "Since there's a cure, I think I'll just go ahead and contract some sort of hideous, often-fatal disease." Both have something in common-both hurt your life and intend your death. The Lord commands you to resist temptation and flee from sin for a reason: Every temptation and sin is an attempt by the devil to destroy your faith. If you just go ahead and willingly give into that temptation, then you're getting hooked by a sin that apparently you find attractive. The more attracted you are to that sin, the less you want to confess it and be forgiven. Eventually, yielding to temptation enough, the sin becomes so important or so seductive that you're willing to abandon faith and even forgiveness just to keep the sin. Be well-warned, for satan uses this like a frog-in-a-kettle masterpiece of murder. It happens gradually, slowly over time, so that the next temptation never seems all that worse than the one before, and the next sin doesn't seem all that bad. Then, when the net temptation comes, sin and satan is at work to destroy you.

Repent, and remember that the fact that the Lord did not, could not, sin does not make the temptations He faced any less real or tempting.  Yet this truth remains for you: Christ has endured all temptation for you. He resisted the devil in the wilderness with all the temptations that were thrown at Him there. He resisted the cries to come down from the cross and save Himself so that He might remain there to save you. And with the forgiveness of sins, He gives you the credit for His perfect obedience. He has washed away your iniquity in the waters of Holy Baptism. Where the devil seeks to accuse you, the Lord absolves you, declaring that you are not guilty for His sake. Where you are still plagued with the temptations of a sinful heart and flesh, He gives you His perfect, sinless body and blood for the forgiveness of all your sins.

That's your hope. It's a far better hope than, "I don't sin as much as I used to." It's far better because it declares that Christ did not sin, and He gives you credit for His not sinning. You will still face temptation, and you will succumb to it even today. But the One who has resisted all temptation declares specifically to you that you are forgiven for all of your sins in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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The Time of Lent, the names of Sundays in Lent and their meanings

The Time of Lent is a penitential time, meaning a time for repentance, learning, fasting, practicing self-control, and growing in faith. While all these practices are encouraged throughout the year, the time of Lent encourages a heightened awareness of Jesus Christ's suffering and death on the Cross.

Lent began with Ash Wednesday on March 9, 2011. Our Savior Lutheran Church celebrates Ash Wednesday each year by offering, to those who wish it, the imposition of ashes upon their forehead, to remind us, "Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return."(Genesis 3:19)

The time of Lent is 40 days which does not include Sundays. So you will see the Sundays during Lent titled "Sunday in Lent" along with a Latin title. The Latin titles are explained below...

Invocabit – First Sunday in Lent
Psalm 91:15 – Invocavit me et exaudiam eum
Introit - He shall call upon Me

Reminiscere – Second Sunday in Lent
Psalm 25:6 – Reminiscere miserationum tuarum Domine
Introit - Remember, O Lord

Oculi – The Third Sunday in Lent
Psalm 25:15 – Oculi mei simper ad Dominum
Introit - Mine eyes

Laetare – The Fourth Sunday in Lent
Latin opening of Introit "Rejoice ye"

Judica – The Fifth Sunday in Lent - Passion Sunday
Latin opening of Introit "Judge me"
Psalm 42, Judica me, Deus
Judge me, O God

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Ash Wednesday - March 9, 2011

Ash Wednesday
The Our Father and the Sacrament
in the Passion of Christ
Matthew 6:5-14


Matthew 6:5-14 (ESV)
5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,

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Lenten Sermon Series: 
The Our Father and the Sacrament
in the Passion of Christ (Matthew 6:1-15)
 
based also from the writing:
"The New Testament in His Blood: 
A Study of the Holy Liturgy of the Christian Church
by the Rev. Dr. Burnell F. Eckardt Jr.
A Gottesstdienst Book

During the forty days of Lent, God’s baptized people cleanse their hearts through the discipline of Lent: repentance, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Lent is a time in which God’s people prepare with joy for the Paschal Feast (Easter). It is a time in which God renews His peoples zeal in faith and life.  It is a time in which we pray that we may be given the fullness of grace that belongs to the children of God.

And so in this time of repentance, prayer, and grace, we hear from the first of His teachings to the last, that Jesus Christ taught with specific instructions on the “How?” of receiving His grace.  When one of the disciples asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”(Luke 11:1) Jesus did not hesitate, He taught.  Jesus said, “When you pray, say, “Father hallowed by Your Name...”(Luke 11:2)  And the content of this prayer in the first teaching ties closely to His Words which He spoke on the night in which He was betrayed.  For in the Passover meal Christ speaks of the fulfillment of the Our Father prayer.  In fact Christ teaches the apostles, that Our Father has always been with them in Christ, they are hallowed by His Name and they, as are we, continue in His blessing each time they receive the cup of blessing that they bless in the participation in the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

And what of those first teachings of Jesus Christ?  We have heard Him say to His apostles, and to us, “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others.”(v.5)  So, how is it that when we hear these words we hear nothing of the hypocrites, yet latch onto the words, “may be seen by others.”  For that is how it goes, ‘Aren’t we by the Ashes of this Wednesday trying to be seen by others?’  And truthfully the answer to that question is ‘yes’ but with two meanings.  The improper answer ‘yes’, is that in wanting to be seen by others you only do so as a result of piety.  What is piety or pietism?  It means that we would take the words of Christ and turn them into stringent Law.  It means that we receiving the ashes would only do so to show the world that we have met this stringent Law which we have perceived.  It means that we are trying interpret the words of Christ so that they may be accomplished by us, then throwing that completed task down before other people.  Look, see what I have done for Christ, surely you all will know that I have established my place before Him because of what I have done.  That is the role of the hypocrite, to cry out, ‘look at me, see what I have done.

And proper ‘yes’ to being see with these ashes placed upon your forehead is that they are placed there in the knowledge of what we have not done but what Christ has done for us.  These ashes are placed and received in the knowledge of our complete and utter nothingness before God.  We cry out as did the saints and prophets before us.  We receive and display the ashes in the knowledge that Christ heads toward Jerusalem to die for our sins.  As Jeremiah has said, “And those pierced by the Lord on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground. 34 “Wail, you shepherds, and cry out, and roll in ashes.”(Jer 25:33-34)

And as we look up from our lives of sin mired like heaps of dung, we recall that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself pierced the ones living in Chorazin and Bethsaida calling them to repentance with His own words as spoke that, “they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.”(Mt 11:21)  So with ashes displayed we rightly gather to respond to Christ’s call to repentance.

We are taught by Christ to pray not by heaping, “up empty phrases as the Gentiles do.”(v. 7)  Yet the reality is that the words of prayer that men create in these days seem to begin all too often with, ‘Father we just want.’  And if that prayer were to stop only with those words then they would be succinct and accurate.  For we are at all times and in all places in need and want and it is good to acknowledge that before our God. But this is not the way in which God in Christ has taught us to pray, for He has told us when you pray say this, “Father, hallowed is your Name.”

But in today’s modern world of abstract prayer and worship, this old ‘Our Father’ is of course a ‘canned’ prayer, not extemporaneous, not from the heart, and just sheer repetition.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  For as Luther reminds us the beginning words, ‘Our Father’ remind us that we are tenderly invited “to believe that He is our true Father and that we are His true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father.”(SC)  God is our dear Father who has sent His dear Son Jesus Christ to lift us out of the muck and wallow of our lives.  So the ‘Our Father’ is not a man centered ‘we just want’ sort of prayer, it is more than that.  In fact, this prayer is so important that it is found in virtually every recorded ancient liturgy.  From the time of the Apostle’s when they met, they gathered and said this prayer, and they also broke bread.  Meaning they had Holy Communion every time they met. 

The church of all times and places has kept the ‘Our Father’ on her lips, returning thanks to God for what He has done.  It is therefore also noteworthy that this is one of two very specific instructions that Jesus Christ gave with regard to the ‘how to worship.’  The other is command is given in Christ’s Words of Institution when He said, ‘this do.’  According to Christ these two, the Our Father and the Sacrament of Communion then always belong together when the church meets for worship. “The Lord’s Prayer itself establishes the context in which the [Words of Insttution] are repeated also, in accordance with His command.  So at the most basic level, the format of our worship is not our creation, but it is by Christ’ directive.  Christ tells His disciples exactly what they are to do, and exactly what they are to say. Jesus is the great physician, He has written the prescription for the liturgy, the way in which we worship.

So this emphasis and connection between the Lord’s Prayer and the Lord’s Supper can not be made trivial, to do so would make Christ Himself trivial.  And the precision in Christ Word’s, their connection continues with every petition.  For in the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer we are told how God’s Name is to be hallowed and that is by placing God’s Name on His people in Holy Baptism. “God’s Name is hallowed when the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and we, as the children of God, also lead holy lives according to it.”(SC) 

Jesus Himself prayed to His hallowed ‘Father’ often, three times in Gethsemane, in the warning to the disciples ready to fight at His betrayal, "Do you think I cannot now pray to My Father” and upon the cross, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.

And in the Word’s of Institution we receive the hallowed Name of Christ.  For in the Holy Supper Christ declares that His Body and Blood, are given and shed for us, are given for us to eat and drink for the forgiveness of sins.  Jesus is the hallowed Name of God, and we receive His blessing in the cup in which we drink, and by the participation in His body which we eat.

The blessings of the Lord’s Prayer and the Lord’s Supper are two bookend blessings.  Pray thus, Do this.  As we remember this night of Ash Wednesday with repentance marked on our foreheads, remember too that in your baptism the Name of Christ was also placed there on your forehead. 

Therefore repent.  Remember the ‘Our Father’ prayer which was always upon Christ’s lips.  Remember His Name given to you in Holy Baptism.  Remember the Ashes which stain your foreheads this night and with the marks ashes recall from whence you came, and to where you shall go.  For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.  Recall that we are the dust of this world are given life because of Christ’s journey from His Father to our world to the cross. 

The recollection of Christ’s passion has begun.  From Ash Wednesday to Good Friday, it is Lent. Pray, for Christ has prayed to His Father for you.  Receive the Sacrament, for Jesus went to the cross as His father willed Him to do this, for you.  It is the time of Lent, Jesus Christ is sacrificed by Our Father, in remembrance of Christ Our Father would do this, for you.  Amen.

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Quinquagesima - March 6, 2011

­­The Church Season of Epiphany,
Quinquagesima,
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (March 11, 2011)
One Year Series


Readings:   
        Psalm 89:18-29
        1 Sam. 16:1-13       
        1 Cor. 13:1-13           
        Luke 18:31-43

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 18th chapter of St. Luke, especially the following verses.

Luke 18:31-43 (NIV)
31 Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 32 He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. 33 On the third day he will rise again.” 34 The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about. 35 As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord, I want to see,” he replied. 42 Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” 43 Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Today is the last day of Pre-Lent and the Gesima Sunday’s, Quinquagesima tells us it is fifty days until Easter.  Wednesday we celebrate Ash Wednesday, our worship services will become more penitential, focused on our sin and the forgiveness which Christ won for us on the cross.  We could well ask why Jesus would go to Jerusalem, knowing what He knows.  The Epistle lesson helps us to understand Jesus goes to perform a miracle of love.

Oft times people say that there are no more miracles being performed or witnessed.  God has left the building, wound the clock, and is off in some far away place not paying attention to His creation.  Those people are wrong.  You saw today God’s act of love in the baptism of this child.  God is not far away, God is here today in the water and His Word combined to cleanse Lulu, to make her His own.  All of the heavenly voices rejoiced as she was made part of God’s Kingdom.  Today God has said to Lulu, receive your salvation, your faith has healed you.  Jesus Christ stops to perform a miracle of love right before your eyes.

And in our reading Jesus moved toward Jerusalem, knowing all along what could happen to Him.  He confides with His disciples He knows exactly what will happen.  It would not be a pretty scene, mocks, insults, spitting, and then a brutal scourging.  To all this He now leads His faithful disciples and His faithful followers. And Jesus did not flinch on His way to the Cross and He will never fail us.   He will bring us safely to the city of our inheritance, that is the New Jerusalem. So why did He go, knowing what He knew?  Jesus goes to perform a miracle of love. 

Jesus goes to Jerusalem to save you and me, to conquer our sins on the cross.  He goes to give us the hope of the world to come.  Jesus goes to Jerusalem our of His sheer love for us.  It was not an easy task, in fact it was the most difficult task ever.  Only one man could conquer sin, only one man could die for the entire world, and only one God could provide such love for you and I. Jesus goes to perform a miracle of love.

 So Jesus Christ did not go toward Jerusalem in ignorance, but He did so with the perfect knowledge of every single thing that would happen.  Jesus had the foreknowledge and even the forefeeling of all the shame and suffering which He would bear.  And so Jesus went in the calm determination of love, not counting the bitter cost of sacrifice but looking forward to the joy set before Him, the joy of throwing open the Kingdom of God to all people. Here is both our inconceivable motive and our perfect example. In times of dangerous weakness, of alluring temptation, when the dread of self-denial and craving for self-indulgence breaks down our feeble wills, may Christ’s example to teach us courage. So will His love make us strong for Lenten duty, that is to pray, praise, and give thanks.  And in our repentance Jesus stops and performs a miracle of love for He gives you forgiveness of all yours sins.

In love Christ went on His way to convey perfect love for us, yet in love He paused to have mercy.   Jesus was intent on the end of His way, yet He did not forget the wayside. Great purposes of love must not lead us to forget everyday duties of love to our homes and friends, to the homeless and to the friendless. A blind man sitting by the road shows how we are all in need of Christ’s love and mercy. This man was blind and poor, poor probably because he was blind. The irony is that we are blind too, for we show that we have a spiritual blindness and that spiritual blindness reveals our spiritual poverty.  But to all who believe, by the faith which Christ freely gives us, then they have received a miracle of love.  For we are no longer blind but see spiritually, we see the miracle gift of love in eternal life.  This blind man in our reading sat on the road begging, He looked up and saw Christ passing by.  Ironically this blind man cries out with words we know, He says , “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”(v. 38)  Christ have mercy, you’ve said the same words so many times before, and you will so many times to come.  Christ stops and performs of miracle of love, He heals the blind mans sight.  And in so doing He gives the those sighted people in the crowd a miracle too, for in this miracle He heals their spiritual blindness.

Spiritual sight is true wealth. We want salvation to be ours but we want it the way we want it. We are blind indeed in our spiritual blindness. The blind man shows how to obtain sight. First He received faith by hearing of the Man of Nazareth the Son of David, and by prayer made the more earnest by the shortness of his opportunity, by perseverance in spite of all hindrances. Receiving his petition, he followed Christ in the way.

In Holy Baptism, whether baptized as an infant or as an adult we are blind beggars sitting by the wayside as pure love is passing by. We cry: “Christ, have mercy on me.” And what do we want our Lord to do for us? “Let me receive my sight.”  That blind man received more sight than he bargained for, yes he saw for a few years in this world, yet that one act of God gave him the sight of heaven for eternity.  Pretty good trade.  In baptism God trades our sin for His salvation,  He gives us the way of Christ, the one way to eternal life.  Christ passes by and stops and performs a miracle of love.

And now as days go by we prepare to follow Him to Jerusalem in the coming weeks, to follow in His company and to rise with Him to a new life at Easter. But, to follow Him as He bears His Cross will require much love from Him. For to follow Him means more than sympathy with Him in His suffering and a passive acceptance of its blessed fruits. Jesus declared: “If any man would come after Me, let Him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (Matt. 16:24). And again He said: “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:27).

This Lenten season of reflection inculcates for us a life of self-denial, we sit blind and begging for the forgiveness of our sins.  After Easter requires that we follow Christ with seeing eyes, that we stop along the way and have mercy on our fellow man, because we have had so much mercy poured out upon us. We are beggars by the wayside crying as we enter into Lent: “Let me receive my sight. Let me see Your great love. Help me to see the enormity of the love that compelled You to bear Thy Cross for me. Teach me to love You more and more, so that I may willingly bear my cross after You.” So also we come to the Lord’s Table, where the Lord comes to us and gives us the very Body He gave for us on the Cross, the very Blood He shed for us, to eat and to drink together with the Bread and Wine. We do this in remembrance of Him and His great love; and as we are so reminded to remember His miracle of love for us, our love for Him becomes stronger and more compelling. With seeing eyes we follow Him to Jerusalem, glorifying God by a life of self-denial, living no longer for ourselves but for Him who for our sake died and was raised.  On the way to the miracle of the ages, Jesus stop at the cross, and there you see the sight of your salvation, the miracle is for you, so that you will not be blind but rather that you will see His face in the new Jerusalem. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God be with you all.  Amen.

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