Sabbath Humility

Text: Luke 14:1-11

In our readings this week, we seem to have two streams of thought going on. The first stream we heard in the Old Testament reading, in St. Paul, and the second half of the Gospel text. The word that comes to mind in all three readings is humility. Our Lord encourages us to live in humility toward Him and our neighbor; that we not think only of ourselves, but look to the good of those whom the Lord places in our lives. The second stream of thought that comes up this week concerns the Sabbath. We heard in the text how our Lord healed a man on the Sabbath – demonstrating, again, the true purpose of the Sabbath.

It seems that these are two different streams of thought and perhaps we shouldn’t try to meld them into one sermon. I went back and forth on which part of the Gospel I’d like us to focus on this year; but I do think there is a connection between the two thoughts. I think it’s this: a right understanding of the Sabbath will lead us to live in love and humility toward others. You see, the Sabbath is not about doing no work. The Lord provides us the Sabbath so that we have time to rest, reflect, and receive the benefits of His work for us. In humility, Christ did not count His equality with God as something to be doted upon. Instead, He emptied Himself to bear our sins and make the payment on our behalf. When we understand that the Sabbath is for us to receive the benefits of Christ’s humility, how can we not, then, aspire to share in that humility in our lives here on earth?

I.

Let’s pause for a moment, though, and reflect, again, on the Sabbath. This past Lent, we had the opportunity to study our Lord’s Ten Commandments and we spent a Sunday on the Third Commandment. But, that was a little while ago. The Sabbath, as you know, is the day set aside by God as a day of rest. In fact, the Hebrew word means, “rest.” This day was not given by God on Mt. Sinai, when He delivered the Ten Commandments, but it actually predates the Commandments. The Sabbath was given by God in the week of Creation. In Genesis 2, the Holy Spirit says, “On the seventh day God finished His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all His work that He had done in creation.” (Genesis 2:1-3, English Standard Version) God did not rest on the seventh day because He was fatigued from His work, but to reflect on His good work of creation and to delight in it. God first gave the Sabbath on the seventh day of creation. Only later did it become codified in the Ten Commandments on Sinai.

God commanded the observance of the Sabbath in the Third Commandment. He said,

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God…For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Exodus 20:8-9, 11

God insisted that His people observe the Sabbath so that they would have a day of rest. Our God knows that life in the fallen creation is hard and full of labor and that we don’t always take time to get the rest we need. Therefore, He made the Sabbath a commandment. His people were to rest from all their work on the seventh day for this purpose: that, as God rested and reflected on all His work, so His people would pause to reflect on His work, receive His benefits, and live in love toward their neighbor.

II.

Whenever God gives something good, however, man usually finds a way to ruin it. It happened in the Garden of Eden and it happened with the Sabbath. This is what’s going on in the Gospel text. Our Lord was invited to dine in the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, so He went. Now, this dinner was on the Sabbath. There was a man among them suffering from dropsy, a debilitating swelling of body parts. Our Lord then asked the lawyers and Pharisees whether it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not. He didn’t ask because He didn’t know, but to point out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and lawyers. By their time, they had corrupted the Sabbath and lost its true meaning. Instead of the Sabbath being a gift of God to His people, they turned their observance of the Sabbath into work for God. And it was quite a strenuous work, doing no work. They believed that they honored God’s Commandment by doing nothing on the Sabbath; no walking, no cooking, no lifting of anything. That’s what the Sabbath meant to them. Instead of being a day given by God to reflect on and receive His blessings, they made the Sabbath about them – them doing no work.

Now, lest we heap it all on them, we must confess that we have a share in this load of sin. We also take the good thing that God gives and reshape it in our image. And we do it, first, but cutting God out of the Sabbath; that is, Sunday. When Sunday rolls around and we want to sleep in, we sleep in. If we want to fish, we fish. If we want to attend sports, we do it. If we plain don’t want to go to church, we don’t. In all of this, we act as if this is the reason why God gave us Sundays at all – for us to do what we feel like. We also corrupt the Commandment when we do come to church and then tune out. Even crasser still, is the idea that we earn something in God’s eyes by coming to the worship service. Sometimes we act as if attending the Divine Service is just another box to check for us to count as good Christians. Now, we’ve come full-circle; because that’s how the Pharisees looked at the Sabbath.

III.

Our Lord asked the lawyers and Pharisees if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath, but they kept silent. They weren’t even able to string two words together. Our Lord took hold of the man, healed him, and sent him away. Thereby, Jesus demonstrated for us, again, the true meaning and purpose of the Sabbath. God calls us to observe this time of rest so that we might receive the blessings and benefits of Christ’s work for us. This how the early church understood it. All throughout the Book of Acts, we hear how the Apostles gathered on the “Lord’s Day,” Sunday. In a way, the man in the Gospel suffering from dropsy is a good picture of ourselves. Dropsy was a swelling which rendered one unclean. Sin is a disgusting swelling of the heart and mind that renders us unclean before God.

The Scriptures say, though, that Christ bears our infirmities. We saw this in an immediate sense in the Gospel, but we see it to an even greater extent in the cross. Christ properly and fully observed the Sabbath. And, yet, He took our failures to do so upon Himself on the cross. By His death, He atoned for our failures to love and honor God. By His rest in the tomb, He fulfilled the Sabbath. Just as the Father rested from His work on the seventh day, so the Son, from His. Now, He gives us this day and time for us to rest. In our busy and stressful lives, He gives us this time to pause. In this hour He comes to us. He takes our burdens and makes them His own. He gives us His righteousness and makes it our own. Worldly comforts come and go, but here Christ gives us a rest and refreshment that lasts unto eternal life. 

There’s a word for this, to describe how our Lord behaves toward us. Well, there’s many; but the word today is humility. St. Paul said in the Epistle, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love.” (Eph. 4:1-2) He recalled to the Ephesians that our Lord has borne our burdens with patience, love, and gentleness. He did not cast us away for our sins but, in humility, counted us as more important than Himself – even to death. Here in this hour He gives us all the fruits of His cross. This is what the Sabbath is for. And maybe, now that we know what the Sabbath is for, we can live humbly toward our neighbor as Christ is toward us. God grant this unto us all. Amen.

Life Through Death

Text: Luke 7:11-17

I will extol you, O Lord, for You have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me. O Lord my God, I cried to You for help, and You have healed me. O Lord, You have brought up my soul from Sheol; You restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.

Psalm 30:1-1, English Standard Version

These words of King David, spoken at the dedication of the land upon which the temple would later be built, could well have come out of the mouth of the poor mother in our Gospel text. To begin with, she was a widow. However, she also was the mother of only one son, who had died by the time our Lord came to that town, Nain. It would’ve been that son’s responsibility to provide and care for his mother. With his death, her hopes faded and she became as among “those who go down to the pit.” That is, until our Lord had compassion on her.

When Jesus entered that town, leading a joyous procession of the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins, He was met by a procession of another sort: a funeral procession. Where these two things collide, life must the victory win. Our Lord stopped the procession, spoke to the young man, and – with His Word – raised him from the dead. Then, as a continued expression of His compassion, our Lord returned this young man to his mother so that he might care for her. In our Gospel text today, we learn, again, that Jesus, our compassionate Lord, is able to bring life out of death.

I.

That there were resurrections in the Old Testament, we noted in our reading today – where Elijah restored a widow’s son to life. Elisha, as well, would later be connected with a resurrection. There were also near resurrections, such as when King Hezekiah was restored from a grave illness. These resurrections, along with the prophecies of Isaiah, David, and others, pointed ahead to the resurrection of Christ at the fullness of time. But, as yet in our Gospel text, our Lord’s resurrection has not happened. Neither, has our Lord yet raised anyone from the dead – Luke 7 being earlier in His ministry. It happened, after the Sermon on the Mount, that our Lord returned to His home base in Capernaum, where He healed the centurion’s servant. From there, Jesus set out again to preach and teach the Gospel.

When our Lord entered the town of Nain with His disciples and a crowd of followers, St. Luke writes, “Behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her.” (Luke 7:12) Nain was about 25 miles from Capernaum. It would’ve taken about a day to get there on foot. Our Lord spent that day preaching and teaching. People who heard the Gospel and believed it followed Jesus to continue learning from Him. So, upon entering this town, our Lord was leading a parade of sorts when He then encountered an especially sad occasion. There was a widow from that town who had not only lost her husband, but now her only son, as well. With that son, her hopes of a future – of a place to live and food to eat – died, too. King David, in another psalm, speaks well for the situation of the woman, “The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish.” (Ps. 116:3)

“When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’” (v. 13) When our Lord saw the procession, He had compassion on the poor widow. He stopped the funeral parade and told her not to weep. Then, He gave her good reason not to weep. St. Luke writes, “He came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And He said, ‘Young man, I say to you, arise.’ And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.” (vv. 14-15) Our Lord Jesus Christ is gracious and merciful, and has compassion over our human suffering. When He saw this widow carrying out her son, He cared for her by bringing her son back to life. Jesus is able to bring life out of death.

II.

The same Lord who had compassion over this widow, also had compassion over the whole world. In Genesis, no sooner did our Lord declare the consequences of sin than did He also promise a victory over sin and death in His own death and resurrection. That’s what Genesis 3 promises, it’s what the prophets sang of, and what the young man’s resurrection pointed ahead to. Jesus, also, was an only son. Though He Himself was without sin, unstained by original sin and without any actual sin of His own, Jesus placed Himself into the snares of death and pangs of Sheol. Though He had committed no crime, yet He opened not His mouth. And, why? Because of us.

We are the reason why Jesus died. Though we were not there in the Garden, the corruption of sin has flowed down into us. We were born in it and live in it. In the course of our lives, we have allowed sin to hold sway in our hearts, minds, and actions. We have allowed its flow to continue unchecked. On account of this, we stand justly condemned. We disobey the Almighty God. His verdict is just, and the sentence for treason against the divine is death. This is why we die. But, it is also why our Lord died. Only, He didn’t die as a punishment for His sin – because He didn’t have any. Jesus died so that the wrath of God which we have deserved by our sins, might pass from us to Him. By His death – the death of the only Son of God – our sins are paid for. Then, our compassionate Lord not only died for us, He rose for us. He brought us life out of death.

III.

That is what Jesus’ resurrection means. Just as the Old Testament resurrections and the son’s in the Gospel text pointed to Christ’s resurrection, so Christ’s resurrection points to our resurrection. That is what the Scriptures mean when they say that Jesus Christ is the “Firstborn of the dead,” which we spoke together this last week. It means that Jesus was the first, but more would follow. We would follow. By our Baptism into Christ, and by faith in His name, His resurrection is our resurrection. His newness of life is our newness of life, here and in the life hereafter.

In many ways our experience of life is the same as King David’s and the widow’s, because we also experience what comes to all people as the punishment of sin: death. We die, and our loved ones die. But, the Scriptures say that Jesus Christ is the “same yesterday and today and forever.” (Heb. 13:8) The same compassion He had for the widow, and for the world in His own death, He has over us. When our loved ones die in the faith – and we as well – we have the joyful hope that we will be reunited. If we should die before our Lord returns, we depart immediately into His presence among the saints in heaven. When He returns, He will raise our bodies and change them to be like His, and we will live forever in the new creation. If we are alive at His return, we will be likewise changed. Our Lord is compassionate, and He is able to bring life out of death: for the widow in the text, for the world, and for us. Amen.

Altar Guild Workshop 2019, Pt. III

Welcome back to the third and final session of this year’s altar guild workshop. So far, we have reviewed our Lutheran confession of faith when it comes to the Lord’s Supper. We have explored the idea that what we believe about something should be reflected in our actions. And, we have learned about the items needed for the celebration of the Sacrament. Tonight, we’re going to learn a little bit about church architecture. Then, we’re going to learn about setting up for the Lord’s Supper – what goes where, and so on. Finally, we’ll talk about how we should take down after the service has ended.

A.

Maybe the first question to ask is, what is a church? What is a church building, and what is it for? A church is a building where God’s faithful people gather together to receive the Lord’s Supper, to receive God’s blessings through His Word and Sacraments, to speak back to Him in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving, and be encouraged through corporate worship and Bible study. These are just some ways to describe a church, but the focus overall is the loving faithfulness of God toward us in Christ, as given to us in the Means of Grace. This is actually reflected in how church buildings are laid out. At least, according to traditional church architecture – of which, both our congregations are examples.

In the history of the Church, it has been quite common for churches to be built west-east. People would enter, generally, in the west and face forward to the east. This isn’t always possible or practical, so this isn’t always the case. Regardless of the actual orientation, the altar is always said to be in the east (liturgical east). The right side of the altar (as you face it) is called the north or Gospel side, the left the south or Epistle side. Now that we have our directions down, we can start to navigate the rest of the building. A church building has two main parts, the chancel and the nave. The chancel is where the altar is. The nave is the main body of the church, where the congregation sits. If there is a space the congregation enters before the main worship space, that is called the narthex. In history, this often where baptisms would take place – symbolizing the washing away of sin before entering God’s presence. These are the big divisions everyone should know. But, there is one more that is helpful for us to know now. In most churches there is a room off of the chancel for the pastor to vest before services, which might also hold the supplies for the divine service. This is called the sacristy. 

Now, let’s zoom in to the altar. The altar stands front and center in the sanctuary. It is a sign of God’s enduring presence among His people. Though the language of altar presents us with the idea of sacrifice, in the Lutheran Church we understand the altar as, primarily, the place where our Lord distributes to us His many gifts: chiefly, in the Sacrament, but also in the words of Absolution. Only after, may we talk about the altar as a place of offering – since it is where we place our offerings of thanksgiving. Just as the building has parts, so does the altar. The top of the altar is called the mensa. In many cases, the mensa is inscribed with five crosses – one in each corner and one in the middle. These correspond to the five wounds of our Lord on the cross. On top of the mensa go just about everything we’re about to talk about.

B.

We’ve already talked about the items that we need for the celebration of the Sacrament. We need the elements of bread and wine. Without these, it wouldn’t be the Lord’s Supper. In order for easier distribution of the Sacrament, we also use plates and cups of various kinds. In most cases, however, we don’t just throw all these things on the altar. When you’re having a fine meal at home with your guests, you might put out a tablecloth and some nice napkins. This serves a purpose. Number one, it protects your table, but it also adds a dignity to the meal. Setting up a nice tablecloth and the like says that what’s going on is important. We also take that approach to the Lord’s Supper.

Before we place the communion vessels upon the altar, we first vest the altar. We can talk more about paraments some other time; let’s focus on items connected to the Supper. Right on top of the altar, cut to the exact size of the mensa is a linen called the cere linen. This used to be a waxed linen placed upon stone altars to prevent condensation from ruining other things. Over the cere linen goes the fair linen. This is the first thing you can see from the pews. It’s a white cloth the width of the altar that extends over the ends a little bit. Traditionally, this has been made of the finest linen available, as it symbolizes the linen used to wrap the body of the Lord.

On top of the fair linen, in the center of the altar, goes the corporal. The corporal is a square cloth that the communion vessels are placed upon. It, also, should be of fine material, since it represents the cloth that was placed on our Lord’s face while He rested in the tomb. Once the vessels are placed upon the corporal, then the pall goes on top of the chalice. This is a square piece of a stiff material, covered in fine linen. The purificator is set alongside the chalice. This is the linen used for cleansing the rim of the chalice during the distribution. Over all the vessels before and after the distribution is another piece of fine linen called a communion veil. Some congregations have a veil just for the chalice and a larger one for the other vessels. Finally, a burse is a envelope-like case used to house the corporal, purificators, and veils when not in use.

C.

Now comes the part that occasioned all of this. How do we set up the Lord’s Supper? First things first. For reasons that we’ll talk about later, we want to know how many we are expecting to commune, so that we can have an appropriate amount of supplies. If we are expecting 40, we wouldn’t want to be setting a table for 100. Ordinarily, we want to keep the number we prepare for and the number of those actually communing fairly close. Once you have your numbers, in the sacristy, find the hosts. Count out the appropriate number and place them in the appropriate vessel. At Grace, that’ll be the paten. At St. John’s, the ciborium. If there are hosts that have been previously consecrated, be sure to use those first. After preparing the hosts, prepare the wine. In the sacristy, fill the appropriate amount of individual cups and place them in the trays. Also, fill the flagon with an appropriate amount. As with the hosts, be sure to use any previously consecrated wine first.

Next, find the corporal. Stretch it out on the center of the altar. Then, take the chalice and place it on the center of the corporal. From north to south, place a purificator across the mouth of the chalice. When possible, place the paten over the chalice, and the pall atop. Once those are in place, the paten or ciborium are placed back and left of it (the liturgical south east). The flagon then may be placed back and right of the chalice. Once these are all in place, the veil goes over all. The trays of individual cups are then placed to the right. They may be under the veil if it is large enough, or another may be over the trays by themselves. This is how we prepare for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. How, then, do we clean up after?

Remember the thesis we’ve been working with. What we believe about something should be reflected in our actions. What we believe about the Lord’s Supper should be reflected in our actions before, during, and after. We believe that, at the Word of Institution, the bread and wine are changed in such a way as to be both bread and wine and Christ’s body and blood. The term for this is Sacramental Union. In the Roman Catholic Church, they believe that the substances of bread and wine are forever and unalterably changed into the body and blood. In the Lutheran Church, we believe that apart from the administration and distribution of the Sacrament, bread is bread and wine is wine. That is to say, after the distribution has ended, at some point, the earthly elements return to being simply the earthly elements. When the Book of Concord speaks on this topic it purposely does not say when the bread and wine are no longer Christ’s body and blood, because we can’t know. At some point the Sacramental Union does end, but we’re not exactly sure when. This means that there are certain ways should act with what remains from the Supper.

Remember, also, the word we’re looking for here is reverant. Even if these elements are no longer Christ’s body and blood, they are still bread and wine that at one point were. These were the true body and blood of Christ which conveyed His life, love, and forgiveness to us poor sinners. Therefore, we handle what remains with reverence. There are a few ways to do this, and each has a longstanding history in the Christian Church. The first option is reserving the reliquae for future use – for home and hospital communion services, and for the next Divine Service among the congregation. In this case, the hosts that remain are kept separate from unconsecrated hosts. This helps the pastor and altar guild know which are to be used first. The remaining wine, likewise, is stored in a separate container from unconsecrated wine. In both cases, the separate containers should be clearly marked or in other ways made obvious.

A second, and equally as ancient, practice is simply to consume everything. This does require keeping diligent counts so that we don’t end up consuming an unnecessarily large amount of reliquae. In this case, the wine from the individual cups is poured into the chalice. Then, the pastor and assisting minister consume what remains, there at the altar. This may also be done by the pastor and altar guild after the service. Our Lord said to eat and drink and this method stays as close to this as possible. This was the method practiced at the seminary while I was there. These are both reverent and acceptable options, and it isn’t a sin to choose one or the other. Often, a combination of both takes place. Another common practice with the wine is to pour it out on the ground. In this case, what comes from the earth returns to it. We pour it directly on the ground and not down the sink so that wine which previously was the blood of Christ is not mixed with common waste.

What about the vessels? After properly storing or consuming the elements, the communion vessels should be cleaned with soap and water. An additional step should be taken with the chalice and individual cups. The individual cups should first be rinsed into a larger container, then washed as normal. The initial rinse water is then poured onto the ground. This, again, prevents wine that was previously Christ’s blood from becoming mixed with common waste. We rinse the chalice by pouring water into it and then onto the ground. After being washed, plastic communion cups may be recycled. A practice in some congregations is simply to burn the used individual cups. This, also, is a good practice. There are some tips for laundering the linens which I will leave to other discussions. This much is good for us all to know.

This about brings our workshop to a close. There is more that could be said, but I think this much should suffice for now. We do have some resources available to us for further study. Probably the most authoritative is What an Altar Guild Should Know by Paul H.D. Lang. This is from 1964, but is usually mentioned as the standard. The Altar Guild Manual by Lee A. Maxwell was authorized by the LCMS Commission on Worship in 1996. That one is available directly from CPH.

Altar Guild Workshop 2019, Pt. II

Administration of the Sacrament

Welcome to session 02 of our workshop covering the Sacrament of the Altar. The focus of this workshop to remind ourselves of what the Scriptures teach and what we, as Lutherans, believe about the Lord’s Supper. It’s my opinion and, I think, the Lutheran one, that what we believe should be reflected in how we act/practice our faith. But, as a reminder, what do we believe about the Lord’s Supper; what is it? We believe that the Lord’s Supper is Christ’s true, real, and very body and blood. The same body which was broken for us and the blood which was shed for us on the cross are given to us beneath the forms of bread and wine. We commonly use the phrase, “in, with, and under the bread and wine,” to describe how, though we see with our eyes only bread and wine, yet our Lord says, “This is My body, this is My blood.” By the power of His Word, Christ joins Himself to the earthly elements. This is called the Sacramental Union.

For what purpose does our Lord give us this meal? We confess each week in the Post-Communion Collect that it is for the forgiveness of our sins, the strengthening of our faith, and the increase of our love – both for God and each other. Or, as the Catechism says, the Supper is for the forgiveness of our sins, life, and salvation. We receive these good things not simply by eating and drinking, but by faith in Christ’s Word, along with the eating and drinking. When we eat and drink trusting in Christ and desiring what He gives to us here, we receive exactly what He says, “forgiveness of sins.” In short, the Lord’s Supper is Christ’s body and blood for us, for the forgiveness of our sins. Last week we learned some Latin, a phrase: lex orandi lex credendi. Loosely translated: how you worship reflects how and what you believe. Our faith should have a bearing on and be reflected in how we receive the Lord’s Supper. But, how do we receive it?

A.

Let’s start with the basics and work our way on up. When it comes down to it, what do we need in order to have a celebration of the Lord’s Supper – from a physical perspective? We need the elements, don’t we? St. Augustine said that a Sacrament has an earthly element and a heavenly one. In Baptism, the earthly element is water and the heavenly is Christ’s Word. Without water, you don’t have Baptism; right? In a similar way, there is an earthly element to the Lord’s Supper. Or, maybe we should say, elements. In Baptism, Christ joins His Word to water. In the Lord’s Supper, what does He join His Word to? Bread and wine. In the most basic sense, in order to have the Lord’s Supper we need bread and wine. These are the elements. That’s the technical term. There will be a test.

I realize that this can be a topic of some contention at this point. In various quarters of the Church, certain innovations have taken place that have seen different elements being used or substituted or removed. Well, we call it the Lord’s Supper because it is His Supper. It’s His to change or not; we simply receive. Our Lord’s Evangelists and Apostles are clear and in agreement that our Lord, on the night He was betrayed took bread and He took wine. Now, within these categories there is some acceptable latitude. For example, we do not know what sort of bread our Lord had available to Him at the Last Supper. The Last Supper was a Passover meal, so it is possible that it was unleavened bread – but the Gospel doesn’t explicitly say. Our congregations do use what are called hosts – which are little unleavened disks of bread. Other congregations do things differently. In the Orthodox Church they use leavened bread almost exclusively, and many bake the loaves themselves on Saturdays. Some church bodies allow for rice-based bread. Here we may err on the side of grace. But the Word says and what Christ used is bread and, hence, what we should use, is bread.

Since the setting of the Lord’s Supper was in the context of a Passover meal, what was in our Lord’s cup was wine. He Himself said, “fruit of the vine,” which is another way of saying wine. We could delve into the historical reasons why alcoholic drinks were consumed more frequently than water, but that would push us beyond our time limits. We might also note that what we know as grape juice simply didn’t exist in our Lord’s time, therefore it would not have been available to Him at the Last Supper. Just as we have some freedom over what sort of bread is served – since the Scriptures don’t specify – so we also have freedom with the wine. It should be wine, but there is freedom in whether it’s red, white, or rose. Congregations that offer substitutes for wine – even with good intentions – do depart from our Lord’s institution. Where we depart from our Lord’s institution, there uncertainty reigns. Jesus doesn’t want us to be unsure of whether we’re forgiven, but to be joyfully confident.

B.

Out from the elements, which are the most basic items needed for the Lord’s Supper and, alone, are necessary (without them it isn’t the Supper), the next most basic items are the things the elements are in. At home we put our bread on plates and wine in glasses; same with the elements of the Lord’s Supper. Let’s start with the bread. Present in most Lutheran congregations is an item called the paten. Paten is Latin for “plate,” and it is the plate used in the distribution of the Sacrament. There are a few variations on the paten. In some congregations, the paten is simply a plate. In other congregations, the plate will have a deeper portion in the center which also serves as a storage vessel for the hosts. This is common, especially, where there may be large numbers communing at one time. In congregations where the paten is simply a plate, it will usually be accompanied by either a ciborium or a pyx. At St. John’s we use a ciborium, which looks like a chalice but holds the hosts. The ciborium is also used to distribute from. If a congregation doesn’t have a ciborium, it may have a pyx which is a small, round box for housing the hosts. The celebrant takes hosts from the pyx and places them on the paten for the distribution. So, we have three items for housing the hosts: the paten, the ciborium, or the pyx. What about the wine?

In many congregations, upon the altar you’ll find a large metal container. This container is most often made of sterling silver or maybe gold, and is called the flagon. The flagon holds the wine before it is poured into a vessel for the distribution. In some congregations, you may find that, instead of a metal container, there is a glass one. The glass container for holding wine is called a cruet. Where there is a cruet, there may be a second one holding water. In some areas, it is traditional to mix a little water into the wine. The water cruet may also be used for the celebrant to wash his hands. From the flagon, wine is poured into another metal item, the chalice. This is otherwise known as the “common cup.” In Church history, these have almost always been metal and, often, of precious metal. Besides the common cup, most congregations – if not all – have available what are called individual cups. They are carried around in metal trays. Often the cups themselves are made of plastic, but they are also available (preferably) in glass or, even, as miniature chalices.

These are the items for the celebration and distribution of the Lord’s Supper. Among Christian congregations, you will find various shapes, sizes, and materials, but most congregations have and use these same things. One item that we have at St. John’s that is becoming less frequent is a spoon with holes in it. This is used in the event something should fall into chalice. In Eastern Orthodox church bodies, they practice infant communion, and the spoon is also used for that. One last item, which you may see at a Roman Catholic Church or perhaps an ELCA congregation, is silver or glass bowl called the lavabo. This is used by the celebrant to wash his hands before continuing with the service of the Sacrament. All of these things are placed on or near the altar in the fashion we’ll learn next week.

He Will Command His Angels

Text: Psalm 91:11-12

We sang together in the Psalm, “He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.” (Psalm 91:11-2, English Standard Version) In the Gospel, we heard our Lord say, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels away see the face of My Father who is in heaven.” (Mt. 18:10) From these verses, along with many more throughout the Scriptures, we conclude that Biblical faith also includes a belief in angels. The angels are not essential to our salvation; they don’t contribute anything to it. Yet, one who confesses faith in the words of Holy Scripture must also acknowledge that angels do exist.

But what are angels, and for what purpose do they exist? These are questions that our Lord answers through the Scriptures, and we have the opportunity today to talk about them. Today is the feast of St. Michael the archangel along with all other angels. This holiday has been celebrated in the Christian church on September 29th for over a 1,000 years, even if hasn’t always been marked in every congregation. For us, this is another opportunity to give thanks and praise to God. He so greatly desires and is concerned for our salvation that He has created angels to serve and watch over us. We pray that, as they continually serve Him and behold His face in heaven, so we would serve God faithfully in this life until we behold Christ with our eyes in heaven.

I.

That angels do exist is a fact. Though, at times in Scripture, angels do take visible forms, we cannot prove their existence scientifically. We must simply trust God – who cannot and does not lie. Let’s first ask this question: What are angels? In simple terms, angels are beings created by God during the first six days. They are similar to humans in that – at creation – both they and we were created with free will to love and serve God. Angels are different from us according to their nature. We humans are both body and soul, while angels are purely spirit beings. They do not have bodies. But, that isn’t the only difference. The angels are also different according to their strength. The Scriptures often speak of the angels as being strong and mighty; they are often pictured as warriors and armies. They are not all-powerful or all-knowing, things which belong to God alone; but they are mightier than we are.

As we heard in the reading from Revelation, there are both good and evil angels. The evil angels are frequently called “demons,” “devils,” and “unclean spirits” in Scripture. We do not know exactly how there came to be evil angels except for that the Scriptures indicate they were not created that way. The evil angels are in fact fallen angels who, with Satan, rebelled against God sometime before the Fall of Man, were cast out of heaven, and will locked away in hell on the Last Day. The goal of the evil angels is to cause havoc in both Church and state and destroy the faith of as many Christians or prevent as many from hearing the true Gospel of Christ as possible. However, their number is limited and their time is short. There will never be any more fallen angels, as God made it so that the angels can no longer fall. Christ did defeat them one and all by His resurrection from the dead, and all demons will be finally put away at His return. That is what the demons were afraid of before Jesus cast them into the herd of pigs.

II.

That is what angels are. They are spirit beings created by God in the first week of creation. They are similar to us in that they were created with free will, different from us according to their nature and might – and that Christ was sent only for us. That’s what angels are, now we should ask what angels do. Why did God create the angels? The angels exist to do God’s will. The Scriptures describe them doing this in a few ways. First, the Scriptures teach us that the angels serve to worship and praise God. They did so at the creation of the world. In His answer to Job, the Lord asked, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth…when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Jb. 38:4, 7). We heard on Trinity Sunday of St. Isaiah’s vision of the heavenly throne room. It was angels who first sang these words, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.” (Is. 6:3) The Gloria in Excelsis we sing in the Divine Service was also first sung to the glory of God by His angels. The angels exist for the glory of God.

A second work of the angels we learn from the name, angel. The word “angel” comes from the Greek and means “messenger.” The angels serve as messengers and ministers of God to His children. Angels brought God’s Word to the patriarchs and prophets – which we heard in the Old Testament reading. Gabriel announced the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah and the birth of our Lord to Mary and Joseph. They announced to the women and apostles on Easter that our Lord had risen from the dead, just as He said He would. Angels cared for our Lord in the wilderness after He was tempted by the devil, and one strengthened Him with encouragement in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Angels also serve God and carry out His will by protecting and watching over His children on earth. Our Lord referenced this in the Gospel, the Psalm also spoke of God commanding His angels in their care over us. We see examples of this in Scripture, such as when an angel of the Lord defended Jerusalem by single-handedly defeating an enemy army, when angels rescued Lot from the destruction of Sodom, and when an angel preserved Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace. The same things they did then, they do know. They help defend the Bride of Christ – us – from the devil and all his minions. They are present with us in the worship of Christ, and they rejoice together with us over the forgiveness of sins. Jesus said, “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Lk. 15:10)

III.

What, then, should we take away today, especially with today being a Church holiday? Today we give thanks to God for His great mercy and we praise Him for His great care for us. His concern and care for our – for your and my – salvation is so great that He created angels, who are strong and mighty, to keep watch over us. They are at all times obeying God’s will and defending both His Church and us His children. We may never know how often we have been preserved from great danger, misfortune, or false teaching, by God through His angels. For that, we give God all praise and glory.

Another thing we might take away is that the heavenly angels serve as faithful messengers of God’s Word to His people. We should pray that we might also be faithful, like the angels. In thanksgiving for the forgiveness of sins that we have by faith in Christ, we might pray that we would be, likewise, faithful servants and messengers of God in this earthly life. The angels do now, at all times, behold God’s face in heaven. May the Lord grant that we, giving all thanks and praise to Him for His great glory, serve Him faithfully throughout this life until, with eyes unclouded, we behold His face ourselves in the life to come. In Jesus’ name. 

When God Blesses You

Text: Luke 17:11-19

St. Paul wrote to the Galatians in the Epistle reading that those who belong to Christ Jesus, “have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 4:24, English Standard Version) He wrote this to encourage them and us in our walk as Christians, that we do not fall backward into the old pattern of living we inherited from our first parents. St. Paul gave a long list in the reading of the sorts of things that reside in our hearts by nature, but which now have been beaten back in us through the work of the Holy Spirit in the Word and Sacraments. Now, by His grace, we are led to bear the fruits of faith – love, joy, peace, and so on. Today in the Gospel, we also see another fruit of faith: thankfulness toward God in Christ.

The healing related to us by the Holy Spirit through St. Luke demonstrates our Lord’s power, but also His love and compassion for those suffering from sin and its effects. We also see in the reactions of the lepers to their cleansing pictures of ourselves by nature and by faith. By nature, we are numbered among those unthankful lepers, but by faith we are led to confess with the one that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. Today, we confess that a true faith worked in us by the Holy Spirit causes us to give thanks to God by glorifying Christ.

I.

Our text today comes from St. Luke’s Gospel as he recounts for us our Lord’s final journey toward Jerusalem. Earlier in the Gospel, after our Lord was rejected in Nazareth, He set His home base in a town called Capernaum. He preached regularly there and performed many miracles in their midst. But, now in our text our Lord is headed to Jerusalem. There is a more direct route between Capernaum, which was on the northwest side of the Sea of Galilee, and Jerusalem, but our Lord sort of meandered. As the Holy Spirit says, “He was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.” (17:11). This is not the direct route. Perhaps our Lord was taking His time so that more people would have a chance to hear and believe His Word. Regardless, as our Lord entered a certain village, “He was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.’” (vv. 12-13)

We’ve heard before about leprosy and the plight of lepers. The word for leprosy in the Bible can mean a range of skin conditions, but most commonly it’s used for what we know today as leprosy. Leprosy can present as a skin condition, but it is related to nerve issues, and causes all sorts of problems. Beyond the physical problems, one who was afflicted with leprosy was also considered ceremonially unclean. They could not visit the temple in Jerusalem, they could not offer sacrifices of thanksgiving or any other sort. Anyone who came into contact with a leper would likewise become unclean. Therefore, lepers commonly lived in colonies separated and separate from their communities and families. When they did enter public areas they were required to keep a distance and either ring a bell or shout at people nearby to stay away. The misfortune of a leper was, indeed, great.

These lepers cried out to the Lord for mercy and, like the Samaritan we heard about last week, He had compassion. Jesus said to the ten, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” (v. 14) Jesus directed them to observe the correct Old Testament procedure. If one afflicted with leprosy was healed, they were to go to a priest, who would inspect and declare the same. An offering of thanksgiving would be made and the person would be re-integrated into the community. It happened that, as the lepers were headed to the temple, they were healed. One of them, when he realized what had happened, turned back and praised God. He returned to Jesus, fell at His feet, and gave Him thanks. He recognized that this great blessing from God was given to him through Christ. Jesus said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” (v. 19)

II.

In this text we get a picture of what resides in all of us by nature. For, although the one man came back to give thanks to Christ, the majority did not. Whether the priests in the temple had a hand in that or whether the nine themselves were the unthankful ones, we can’t necessarily say. The result is the same, though. The majority of people – and this is true today – do not praise or thank God for all His many blessings. It wasn’t that long ago that in the sermon I had us recite the First Article of the Creed from the hymnal. There we confessed how many blessings God bestows on us and all people. Our Lord did say that He causes the rain to fall on both the just and the unjust. (Mt. 5:45) Yet, we see how quick people are to dismiss this as mere chance. We have what we do only by some grand cosmic luck and by our own blood, sweat, and tears. Some do seem to thank God, but that not truly from a place of faith. And, if you ask them what God they mean, they are unable to confess a faith in the only true God: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

However, before we jump on a world-bashing bandwagon, the very same thing happens among us Christians. We, also, bear in ourselves the corruption of original sin. St. Paul wrote to the Romans, “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, everyone of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you…practice the very same things.” (2:1) Later, St. Paul concluded, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.” (3:10-11) We might also say, no one truly gives thanks to God nor counts all good things as coming from Him. We see this in our own lives. When things are going well, we are more apt to forget God than remember that all good gifts are from Him. If we were truly thankful, we would not forget to hear His Word. And then, when things in our lives are difficult we also forget God’s blessings. What’s worse, we attribute our suffering to some evil agenda on God’s part or a failure of His to divert what is disagreeable to us. Instead, what we should do in our suffering is remember God’s many blessings in our lives and submit to His fatherly care and discipline, give thanks that we should share in Christ’s sufferings, and know that God disciplines those whom He loves. And this all is, of course, in addition to all the other evil things that reside in our hearts by nature that St. Paul listed earlier.

III.

“And such were some of you,” St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians. “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Cor. 6:11) Though evil thoughts and actions were once all that filled our hearts, along with a deep seated unthankfulness and spite toward God – as with the nine lepers – that has all been washed away. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, our evil stony hearts were turned into beating hearts of flesh when we were baptized. The old evil Adam was drowned and died and now does so daily in our Baptism. All unthankfulness toward God is now beaten back in us by the Holy Spirit.

Christ our Lord also has compassion on us as He did the lepers. As He spoke to the lepers in our text, so He speaks to us now in this hour through His Holy Word. As, earlier in the Gospel, He touched a leper, so He offers us His pierced hands and side in the Sacrament of His Body and Blood. Through these Means, He continually gives to us the forgiveness of our sins, which He won for us on the cross. By these Means He continually strengthens us in the faith and beats back the devil and his influence, which would have us never thank God or bless His holy name.

Through the Word and Sacraments, the Holy Spirit also brings us to confess with the one leper that Jesus is God in the flesh. We do not believe in some distant God: unknowable, unreachable, and – ultimately – unconcerned with us as individuals. We believe in a God who speaks to us, who reaches out to us, makes Himself known to us and known by us. He comes to us with love and compassion, and with the power to heal and save. Such has He done, healing us of the spiritual leprosy of sin. There is nothing left for us to do, but to give thanks to God by glorifying Jesus Christ. That is, after all, one of the reasons we’re here; isn’t it? God grant us the grace to know and confess that all earthly blessings come from His loving hand and that the callous unthankfulness which resides in us by nature would be daily forgiven and beat back until we abide forever with our God, Jesus, in heaven.

Altar Guild Workshop 2019, Pt. I

Altar Guild Workshop 2019 – Session 01, “What is the Lord’s Supper?”

An Overview of the Sixth Chief Part

Our most gracious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, promised us in the Gospel that He would never leave us nor forsake us, that He would not, “leave [us] as orphans.” He made these promises with His own ascension in view. Though He would be parted from the Disciples and us in the immediate sense, yet He would also dwell among us to strengthen, comfort, and forgive His beloved flock. In the Lutheran Church we have a term for the ways in which our Lord carries out these promises. We call them the Means of Grace. The Means of Grace are: The Scriptures, the Sacraments, and “the mutual conversation and consolation of the brethren.” (Smalcald Articles, Pt. III, Ar. IV) The topic for our workshop tonight and the following weeks is one of these means: The Lord’s Supper. In our time together we will be reminded of the treasure our Lord has given us in this meal and how we might reverently receive it.

It is true that the Holy Scriptures, in regards to the Lord’s Supper, speak mostly about the doctrine of the meal and prescribe little beyond the administration of the Sacrament. For example, the Scriptures teach us about who should commune, but do not command us to place a veil over the communionware during the service, or that we receive the Supper from metal vessels; yet, we do so. Why? We do these things because they reflect what is taking place. What we believe should be reflected in how we act. This holds true in many parts of our lives. It should also be true here. What we believe about the Lord’s Supper should be reflected in how we go about receiving it and, perhaps, how we prepare for and take down after it. However, let’s not put the cart in front of the horse. Before we discuss setting up, receiving, and taking down the Lord’s Supper, we should review what the Scriptures teach and what we as Lutherans believe about the Sacrament of the Altar. We’ll do this from Martin Luther’s Small Catechism.

A.

First of all, what is the Lord’s Supper? From the Catechism we answer, “It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself for us Christians to eat and to drink.” In clear and succinct words, this is what we believe. We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who took upon Himself our very same human flesh. He was “conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.” On the Mount of the Ascension, Jesus taught us that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. (Mt. 28) All that the Father has is His. (Jn. 16) This includes power over all creation. (Heb. 1) Just as the Father and the Holy Spirit are all-powerful, so, also, is the Son. That includes the power to do things which, to us, seem impossible. Such as, giving us His true, real, very body and blood with the earthly elements of bread and wine. Yet, this is precisely what our Lord does.

The same body and blood which were broken and shed for us on the cross, He distributes to us beneath the forms of bread and wine. The term Lutherans use for this is the sacramental union. This means that by the power of His Word, Christ joins Himself to the bread and wine in such a way that the earthly elements retain their substances, but are also joined to the body and blood of Christ. In the Athanasian Creed, we confess that Christ became man, “not by the conversion of the divinity into flesh, but by the assumption of the humanity into God.” Jesus didn’t change from God to man, but joined the human nature to Himself. He became both God and man. In a similar way, in the Lord’s Supper we receive at the same time both bread and wine and body and blood. Our Lord affects this union by His own power through the Word. Our Lord teaches with His own words, as St. Paul also testified through the Holy Spirit, that in the Lord’s Supper we receive the true body and blood of Christ. (Matt. 26, Mk. 14, Lk. 22, 1 Cor. 11)

B.

But, to what end do we receive this Supper? What special comfort does our Lord intend for us to receive through this sacred meal? As He says, “Do this.” The Catechism answers the question this way: “These 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.” This is what the Lord’s Supper is for: that by it we poor sinners receive the forgiveness of our sins. In the Post-Communion Collect, we also confess that by this Sacrament, our faith is strengthened and our love for God and each other is increased.

In the Lutheran Church we recognize that our Lord Jesus Christ purchased for us the forgiveness of our sins by the breaking of His body and the shedding of His blood on the cross. He gives us that forgiveness of sins by His grace as a gift, which we receive through faith (which is also a gift received in Baptism). We would have the forgiveness of our sins by faith, even if we were never to receive the Lord’s Supper, but our Lord instituted this meal to be a way in which we are continually assured that our sins are forgiven. This part of why the Sacraments in general were given. The Augsburg Confession acknowledges this when it says, 

Our churches teach that the Sacraments were ordained, not only to be marks of profession among men, but even more, to be signs and testimonies of God’s will toward us. They were instituted to awaken and confirm faith in those who use them. Therefore, we must use the Sacraments in such a way that faith, which believes the promises offered and set forth through the Sacraments, is increased.

Augsburg Confession, Article XIII, Paragraphs 1-2

Did you catch that? We must use the Sacraments in a way that faith is increased? We’ll come back to that at the end.

C.

How can the Lord’s Supper do this? How can it give us the forgiveness of our sins, such a small thing as eating a piece of bread and drinking a small amount of wine? We know the answer to this. The Catechism says,

Certainly not just eating and drinking…but the words written here: ‘Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.’ These words, along with the bodily eating and drinking, are the main thing in the Sacrament. Whoever believes these words has exactly what they say: ‘Forgiveness of sins.’

It isn’t just the eating and drinking, but the Lord’s Word along with the bodily eating and drinking does all these things.

In Confirmation class, I sometimes use an illustration that might not necessarily be the best; but it gets the point across. If you take a tube of toothpaste and turn it around, it will almost always list an active ingredient of some sort – something inside that paste that makes it effective in preventing cavities, tooth decay, etc. In most toothpastes, it’s sodium fluoride that prevents cavities. In the Lord’s Supper, the active ingredient is the Lord’s Word. It is the Lord’s Word which makes the elements the body and blood. When we receive the Supper believing the Lord’s Word – that it is what He says it is and why – that is how we receive the benefits the Supper gives. And this brings us to the final question: Who receives this Sacrament worthily?

D.

Our reason for being here tonight doesn’t permit us to stretch into the topic of Closed Communion – maybe we can come back to that sometime later. But, we should review who receives the good things the Lord’s Supper gives. In Luther’s time, it was commonly taught that, in order to receive the Mass, one must first do penance and fast. These were necessary elements. If someone had not fasted, and the priest found out, no Mass. This persisted in the Roman Catholic Church well into the 1900s and, in some places, continues today. In the Catechism, Luther points out correctly that it’s isn’t fasting which makes one receive the Sacrament worthily – as if we could make ourselves worthy to God, anyway. What makes one worthy, what makes one to receive the benefits of the Lord’s Supper, is faith.

St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that, “anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.” (1 Cor. 11:29) By this, St. Paul teaches us that those who commune without faith in the Supper’s essence or its purpose do not receive its benefits; rather, they receive judgment. The one who comes to the table in faith, however, receives all its benefits. The one who comes repenting of their sins and desiring Christ’s body and blood for the forgiveness of their sins receives exactly that.

E.

Now we’ve reached the point that I’d like us to ponder tonight and into next week. The Scriptures teach that in the Lord’s Supper we receive the true body and blood of Christ with the bread and wine for the forgiveness of sins. This, we know and confess. What I’d like us to ponder is this: How should this belief be reflected in our practice, in the way we worship? Though this thought can spread to most areas of our practice, our focus at this time is on how we set up and take down the Sacrament of the Altar. Next week we will begin looking at what goes into the set-up of the Sacrament. What are the items, how should they be arranged, why these items?

There is an old Latin phrase that has, more or less, become a motto throughout different areas of the Christian faith. The phrase is: Lex orandi, Lex credendi. A loose translation: the law of prayer reflects the law of belief. Or, even looser: how you pray reflects what you believe. How you worship, how you practice your faith, reflects your faith. How we receive the Lord’s Supper should reflect what we believe about the Lord’s Supper. More on that, next week.

Christ, the Good Samaritan

Text: Luke 10:23-37

Dear friends in Christ, St. Paul wrote to the Galatians in our Epistle reading,

Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scriptures imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

Galatians 3:21-22, English Standard Version

Paul’s lesson for the Galatians is that the point of the Law, both God’s Ten Commandments and the Old Testament in general – which is sometimes called “law” with a lowercase l, is not that our works make us righteous in God’s eyes. The point of the Law is to show us which things are pleasing to God and are His will, and how we fail to do them. By failing to keep the Commandments, we all fall under the condemnation of the Law – which is God’s plan. It is God’s plan to condemn all through the Law so that He can also have mercy on all through faith in Christ.

This is what’s at stake in our Lord’s conversation with the lawyer. The lawyer, whom the text indicates is not a believer in Jesus, came to our Lord to test Him, albeit with a wrong understanding of the Law. The lawyer assumed that by works of the law – by obedience to the Commandments – we are able to make ourselves right with God. But, our Lord shows through the parable that no such thing is possible. By our own good works, we cannot merit eternal life; therefore, Christ became our Good Samaritan.

I.

This is an idea that is very easily missed in this text, and commonly is. Quite often this text is moralized to teach that we are love every single person we across regardless of any “merit or worthiness” on their part. This is true. Our faith in Christ does lead us to live in love toward our neighbor. This cannot be encouraged enough; it’s just not the point of this text. For that, we need to look at the whole text. It starts this way, “Behold, a lawyer stood up to put Him to the test, saying, ‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’” (Luke 10:25) There are a few red flags we should note here. The first is that the man doing the speaking is a lawyer. A lawyer in the New Testament is not the lawyer we have now. In the New Testament, these guys were experts in knowing and applying the commandments of God in the Old Testament. They were also known for inventing loopholes in these laws and, as a group, were opposed to Jesus. The lawyer greeted Jesus as “teacher,” which is something His enemies do. Then, St. Luke writes that the lawyer “tested” Jesus; but the word the Spirit uses is the same word for the devil’s tempting Jesus earlier in the Gospel.

This lawyer questioned our Lord with dubious intent and with a wrong understanding of God’s Law. He assumed that he could bring himself into eternal life by his own good works. Jesus, knowing this man’s a lawyer answered him with a lawyer’s question. He said, “What is written in the Law?” (v. 26) The man responded with words we heard recently, that we should love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and strength; and our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus said, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” (v. 28) The man was right. If you love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself, you will enter eternal life. What’s the problem here? 

The problem is that no one is able to do this. Jeremiah served the Lord as prophet for 40 years. Yet, this is the conclusion he drew. He begged the Lord, “Correct me, O Lord, but in justice; not in Your anger, lest You bring me to nothing.” (10:24) Jeremiah knew that, despite whatever good deeds he did have, it was certainly not enough to offset his sins, for which he deserved to be brought to nothing. Read the psalms of King David and you will find the same. Still, the lawyer wasn’t going to budge on this, and instead desired to justify himself. So, Jesus decided to teach a parable.

II.

The parable goes that there was a man headed down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Along the way he fell among robbers who, “stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.” (v. 30) By chance, there was a priest returning home from his duty down that same road. The priest – who certainly would’ve been expected to come to the man’s aid – went by on the opposite side of the road. Perhaps he was concerned that the man was dead. If the priest touched a dead body, he’d be made unclean for a time; and, well, we couldn’t have that. Later, a Levite also came down the same road. He actually came up to the place where the man was and saw that he was, indeed, alive. The loving thing, of course, would’ve been to help him. But, then, the Levite – like the priest – crossed to the opposite side and kept going. So, two men who should’ve supreme examples of righteousness and love for neighbor fail to love their neighbor as themselves. By the lawyer’s definition, they would not enter eternal life.

Finally, a Samaritan came by. Samaritans were descendents of those who previously lived in the Northern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom of Israel was destroyed in 722 B.C. People from other countries were brought in – with their idols. The Samaritans were descendents of Israelites who married unbelievers. They were despised by Israel in Jesus’ time. Yet, the Samaritan came to the place where the man was and had compassion. He loved the man by binding up his wounds and poured on healing oil and wine. He put the man on his own animal and walked him to an inn. There, he continued to care for him, paying the innkeeper and promising full payment upon his return. The point of the parable is that those who should’ve been the utmost examples of righteousness and love failed to love, while the unexpected Samaritan did truly love his neighbor.

III.

If we were to place ourselves in this parable, one conclusion we could draw is that the priest is very near a picture of ourselves. We have all been brought to faith in Christ by the Holy Spirit through the Word. We have been called to labor in our Lord’s vineyard, bearing the fruits of love which flow from a right faith. But, when it comes to loving our neighbor as ourselves, speaking truthfully, we don’t. It’s true; we might love our neighbor, but not as much as we love me. One example. In small congregations, we are all accustomed to noticing how many people are in church and we all know the feeling when there are few in attendance. The reality is, we don’t only attend worship to praise God and receive His gifts, but also to encourage one another. When we purposely choose not to attend worship, in a way, we are failing to love our neighbor when we cause them to be discouraged by our absence. 

There are other examples. We don’t support the food bank as much as we should. We don’t pray for others as much as we should. We don’t visit them as much as we should. All the excuses that we give all come back to the same one letter word: I. And that is what sin is, to be more concerned with I than with God or neighbor. All our sins have piled up. They pile up on us and they pummel us into the ground. They leave us naked before God and fully dead. Not only are we the priest, we’re also the man left for dead. That’s where our sins get us. But, there’s someone else in the parable, isn’t there? Not the priest, not the Levite, not the man beaten up. Who’s left? The Samaritan.

The Samaritan is Christ. He alone is the one truly fears, loves, and trusts in God above all things and loves His neighbor as Himself. Christ is the one who came to where we were laying broken and dead in sin and had compassion. He did the work of healing Himself when He took our sins in His own body on the cross. By His death He made the payment for our sins of thought and word and deed. He binds up our wounds with the healing oil and wine of His Word and His Sacrament. All that we need He does supply. He forgives us our sins, strengthens our faith, and causes us to live in love toward Him and toward our neighbor.

The lawyer was wrong on two points. First, he was wrong to not believe in Jesus. Second, he was wrong to assume that it was within his power to earn eternal life – by loving God above all things and his neighbor as himself. Sometimes, we fall into that same error. Our Lord teaches us today that we are unable to merit salvation by our works, for we fail to love God above all things and we love ourselves more and to the exclusion of our neighbor. Therefore, He became our Good Samaritan, healing and saving us by His death and granting us His forgiveness as a gift through faith.

Don’t Forget Me

Text: Deuteronomy 6:4-15

Today we’ve had the glad opportunity to speak together the words of the Holy Spirit through King David in Psalm 119. Psalm 119 is the great Psalm of the Word. It is an acrostic psalm, which means the lines of the psalm follow the pattern of the Hebrew alphabet. In Psalm 119 each chunk of 8 lines begins with the same letter in Hebrew. Psalm 119 as a whole focuses on the blessings of God through His Word. Psalm 119, you know is the longest Psalm. The second longest Psalm is Psalm 78, and it, too, speaks about God’s Word. Particularly, the psalmist reminds God’s people to remember His great blessings by teaching His Word to their children. Psalm 78 goes like this, 

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God.

Psalm 78:1-7, English Standard Version

Psalm 78 expands upon what the Holy Spirit teaches us in the Old Testament text. Today, the Lord calls us to remember all the blessings He has bestowed on us by teaching His Word to our children so that they, too, might receive His blessings.

I.

Our sermon text today is the Old Testament reading from Deuteronomy 6. The book of Deuteronomy is the last book given by Moses’ pen and is largely a reminder and application of God’s Commandments to His people just before they entered the Promised Land. Our chapter today is well known for this passage, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” (v. 4) But, let’s start at the end. Moses said,

When the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Deuteronomy 6:10-12

Remember that these words were spoken as Israel was preparing to enter, well, Israel – the Promised Land. For 40 years they wandered through the wilderness being fed and cared for by the Lord. Previous to that He led them up out of slavery in Egypt with a mighty hand and outstretched arm. Now, He was about to fulfill for them a promise He made to Abraham – that the land he dwelt on would belong to his offspring long after him. At the entrance to the Promised Land, the Lord called upon His people not to forget His many blessings. He provided for their bodies by giving them food, drink, clothing, families, and so on. He provided for their souls by graciously forgiving their sins through faith in Christ, who was yet to come. Now, they were going into a land flowing with milk and honey, with cities they didn’t build and houses they didn’t fill and wells they didn’t dig. They only had to, “take care,” lest they forget their good and gracious Lord.

How shall they not forget Him? Moses said,

These words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9

Israel would be caused to remember the Lord by being devoted to His Word. By speaking it, reading it, singing it, and so on, they would learn to always be thankful for the Lord’s blessings. And, being thankful, they were to teach it to their children – that they might know the Lord’s mercy as well. The Scriptures say that faith comes by hearing, so the Lord commanded His people to remember His blessings by teaching them to their children.

II.

The same Lord who blessed His people then, blesses His people now. We are God’s people through our Baptism into Christ and by the working of the Holy Spirit through the Word. As His people, we have been richly blessed by God. We have a beautiful sanctuary to worship in. We came here in cars from our homes. Our God has blessed us with food and water, with family and friends. As bountifully He has and does provide for our bodies, even more bountifully has He provided for our souls by sending us His Son. Though we were by nature children of wrath, without hope and without God in this world, He had mercy on us. For us and for our salvation, our Lord Jesus Christ came down from heaven so that He might be lifted up for us on the cross. By His death, He has released us from the eternal slavery of sin and death, granting us eternal life as a gift through faith.

All this our God does out of His own divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness within us. For all these blessings, He demands nothing from us – nor would He take anything from us – except that we receive His gifts with thanksgiving. The way that we show our thankfulness for God’s blessings is by being devoted to His Word. We heard earlier how Israel was encouraged to bind the Word upon their hands and write them on their doorposts. These were practical ways by which God’s Word would be continually in their lives. In our lives, we might decorate our walls at home with Scripture, go to Bible study, go to church, teach Sunday School, regularly read a Bible app on our phones. By being devoted to God’s Word in these ways and more, the Holy Spirit causes us not to forget our gracious God. If we forget the Lord by despising His Word, He won’t forget us; but He may cause His blessings to pass from us to those who do love His Word.

The Lord binds these two things together today: remembering His Word and teaching our children. He does this so that neither we nor they forget His blessings, but that we would all receive them together with thanksgiving. St. Peter said in his Pentecost sermon that the blessing of the forgiveness of sins in Christ is not just for us, but for our children, too. God has given them to us so that they might learn and know this. How are our children to learn and know the love Christ except that they be taught? Who better to teach them than we, their parents and “parents in the faith?” Let these words of Psalm 78, then, also be our words, “We will not hide them from [our] children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done…so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God.”

We must confess, though, we have not always been diligent in the work our God has given us. We have not always devoted ourselves to His Word and we have not always been eager to see that our children (and our new members) are well-taught in the Christian faith. We have not answered the call when help in this task is needed, and we have impeded this work by placing other activities above it in importance. But, hear, O Israel, the Lord is one. The Lord is one, who has taken your sins, balled them all up, and cast them into the deepest depths of the sea. He renews you day by day through His Word and gives you – today – in the Absolution and the Sacrament of the Altar, again, the forgiveness of your sins. Through these things, He strengthens us and leads us to remember His Word. God grant us the Holy Spirit that we might treasure His Word in our hearts, remember His benefits, and teach the same to our children.

The Day of Your Visitation

Text: Luke 19:41-48

During Holy Week, while Jesus was teaching in the temple, He told a parable about a man who planted a vineyard and rented it out to tenants. When the time for fruit came, the man sent his servants to the tenants, but they beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again, the owner sent servants; this time, more than the first. The tenants did the same thing. Finally, the owner of the vineyard decided to send his son – figuring that they would respect him. However, the tenants devised a plan to kill the son and keep the vineyard for themselves. Then, they carried out their plan – kicking the son out of the vineyard and killing him. The parable ends with the master finally returning. He destroys those tenants and gives the vineyard to others. This parable illustrates what Jesus is talking about in the Gospel text today.

The Gospel text captures our Lord weeping over the city of Jerusalem as He drew near to it for the last time. For three years, He preached and taught and performed miracles. He urged the people emphatically, and often with tears, to repent and believe in the Gospel. But they would not. And now, as our Lord says, Jerusalem would be destroyed as a judgment of God against them. I said last week that we’d have one more hard Sunday before it lightens up again, and here we are. Our Lord punished Jerusalem for its refusal to recognize the time of its visitation. Yet, in mercy, He extends that time unto us.

I.

Let us hear, again, the words of our Lord. St. Luke writes,

When Jesus drew near and saw the city, He wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes…They will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Luke 19:41-42, English Standard Version

These are difficult words for us to hear, and they must have been difficult for our Lord, as evidenced by His tears. But to help us to understand why our Lord is weeping, we should look further at these words in verse 44, “You did not know the time of your visitation.” By “visitation,” our Lord speaks about what we normally call His Incarnation – the time, continuing now, where the eternal Son of God bears our same human flesh.

The Incarnation is what was promised throughout the prophets. Through the prophet Nathan, God promised David that one of his sons would sit on the throne forever. Through the prophet Isaiah, God promised a suffering Servant who would bear the sins of the people on the cross and thereby make reconciliation. The Incarnation was promised by many prophets, and God Himself spoke it to Adam and Eve in the Garden – that their offspring would crush the devil. These promises were fulfilled in Christ’s ministry. The promised time of refreshment and healing came through His ministry to the blind, lame, outcast, and poor. Jesus came not only with miracles, but also with the Words of Eternal Life. He came to do “the things that make for peace,” by dying for the sins of the world and rising again. The time of visitation Jesus speaks of is His Incarnation, His ministry, His death and resurrection.

Many in Israel would have none of this, however. They heard Jesus’ Words, witnessed His miracles, and they rejected them. They refused to believe. Even in the temple, we heard in the Gospel, “The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy Him.” (v. 47) The people of Jerusalem were the ones in the parable who killed the master’s servants and son. Earlier in the Gospel, Jesus lamented over Jerusalem saying, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing.” (Lk. 13:34) 

Because of this, the people’s refusal to repent and believe the day of their visitation, God’s wrath would no longer be restrained. In the Gospel, our Lord foretold – with striking precision – what did happen to Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Because Israel did not recognize the day of their visitation nor the things that make for peace, ramparts and barricades were set against Jerusalem. Enemies surrounded it on every side and tore it down to the ground, and many perished as punishment for their unbelief.

II.

Shortly after John the Baptist was born, his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and began to sing, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old.” (Lk. 1:68-70) With these words, the Holy Spirit teaches that the Incarnation and ministry of Christ is the time so long promised through the prophets. In the Incarnation, God Himself visited and redeemed His people by the shedding of His own blood. Because Jerusalem failed to recognize and believe this, it was punished with destruction. In the Parable of the Tenants, though, it says that after the master of the vineyard punished the evil tenants, he brought new ones in. Guess who that is talking about.

St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor. 6:2) Jersualem fell because it failed to recognize its day. Yet, the Lord, out of mercy and grace, has extended that day to others, even us. Now is the time of our visitation. Now is the time where the Lord comes to us with healing in His wings. Now is the time that He dwells among us. Now is the time, because these are the things Jesus does through His Means of Grace. First, through His Word, the Holy Spirit creates faith in our hearts. Apart from Him, the Scriptures remain a closed book, but by the Spirit our hearts of stone are turned to flesh and we comforted when we hear Christ’s Word. 

Today, Christ sends faithful pastors into all the world. Through these men, we hear the forgiveness of Christ. When the called minister stands before us and says, “In the stead and by the command,” it is truly Christ who stands before us and forgives. When the pastor places his hand our heads, it is not his hand, but our Lord’s. When we receive the bread and wine, it is not only bread and wine, but the true body and blood of Christ. When we receive the Sacrament, we receive Christ and all His blessings.

Now is the time, now is the day of our visitation. Now is the time in which our Lord makes clear the things that make for peace – not our works, but His. We give all thanks and praise to God for bringing us to know and believe in this day. Yet, soon, the night will come. Soon the time for work will cease and our Lord will return. The same thing that happened to Jerusalem physically, which you can read about in the historian Josephus, will happen spiritually to those who refuse to recognize the day of visitation. Our Lord is righteous, and He will punish those who refuse His grace. Or, rather, He will allow those who desire to live apart from His grace to do so eternally in hell.

I said that this would be a difficult reading, and so it is. We must confess that, the things which our Lord foretold would happen to Jerusalem, are the things we have deserved by our sinful nature. Our Lord, in His kindness, however, looks past our sins. For, in fact, He took them into Himself on the cross. By His grace, He extends the time of visitation to this very moment, in this very place, to this very people. He comes to us now, not in wrath, but with the words of forgiveness and peace which we have heard. Let us, therefore, give thanks that we have been caused to know and believe that this is the time of visitation and the day of our salvation. Let us pray that the Lord would cause this news to take hold of more and more, so that His wedding hall would be filled. And, let us pray, finally, that we would be faithful tenants of the Lord’s vineyard, laboring in love and bearing fruit when He calls.