The Sunday of All Saints
Proper 26 (Sunday on October 30—November 5)
Isaiah 1:10–18
2 Thessalonians 1:1–5 (6–10) 11–12
Luke 19:1–10
Hymn of Invocation
A mighty fortress is our God (LSB 656)
Hymn of the Day / Catechetical Hymn of the Week
Wide open stand the gates (LSB 639)
Hymns for the Distribution of the Holy Communion
In the very midst of life (LSB 755)
In the shattered bliss of Eden (LSB 572)
Lord Jesus Christ, with us abide (LSB 585)
How firm a foundation, O saints of the Lord (LSB 728)
Hymn of Departure
Behold a host, arrayed in white (LSB 676)
Alternative Hymns
A multitude comes from the east and the west (LSB 510)
Christ be my leader by night as by day (LSB 861)
Christ is our cornerstone (LSB 912)
Come, Thou Fount of ev’ry blessing (LSB 686)
God loved the world so that He gave (LSB 571)
I will sing my Maker’s praises (TLH 25; LW 439; LSB 977e)
Jesus sinners doth receive (LSB 609)
Lord, open now my heart to hear (LSB 908)
Lord, to You I make confession (LSB 608)
O Jesus, blessed Lord, to Thee (LSB 632)
Once He came in blessing (LSB 333)
One thing’s needful; Lord, this treasure (LSB 536)
Open now thy gates of beauty (LSB 901)
Our Father, by whose name (LSB 863)
Rejoice, O pilgrim throng (LSB 813)
Rise, shine, you people (LSB 825)
Saints, see the cloud of witnesses (LSB 667)
Salvation unto us has come (LSB 555)
The clouds of judgment gather (LSB 513)
The God of Abraham praise (LSB 798)
The Third-Last Sunday before Advent
Proper 27 (Sunday on November 6–12)
Exodus 3:1–15
2 Thessalonians 2:1–8, 13–17
Luke 20:27–40
Hymn of Invocation
Preserve Your Word, O Savior (LSB 658)
Hymn of the Day
From God can nothing move me (LSB 713)
Hymns for the Distribution of the Holy Communion
Christ sits at God’s right hand (LSB 564)
O Lord, how shall I meet You (LSB 334)
Jesus, Thy boundless love to me (LSB 683)
I know that my Redeemer lives (LSB 461)
Hymn of Departure / Catechetical Hymn of the Week
Who trusts in God a strong abode (LSB 714)
Alternative Hymns
Christ is surely coming bringing His reward (LSB 509)
Christ, the Word of God incarnate (LSB 540)
Creator of the stars of night (LSB 351)
Faith and truth and life bestowing (LSB 584)
For all the saints who from their labors rest (LSB 677)
God’s Word is our great heritage (LSB 582)
I know that my Redeemer lives (LSB 461)
If thou but trust in God to guide thee (LSB 750)
In God, my faithful God (LSB 745)
Jerusalem the golden (LSB 672)
Jesus Christ, my sure defense (LSB 741)
Lord Jesus Christ, with us abide (LSB 585)
O God, my faithful God (LSB 696)
O Lord, we praise Thee (LSB 617)
Oh, what their joy and their glory must be (LSB 675)
Praise to You and adoration (LSB 692)
Rejoice, rejoice, believers (LSB 515)
Savior, again to Thy dear name we raise (LSB 917)
Sing with all the saints in glory (LSB 671)
The day is surely drawing near (LSB 508)
The Second-Last Sunday before Advent
Proper 28 (Sunday on November 13–19)
Malachi 4:1–6
2 Thessalonians 3:(1–5) 6–13
Luke 21:5–28 (29–36)
Hymn of Invocation
Lord, keep us steadfast in Your Word (LSB 655)
Hymn of the Day
The day is surely drawing near (LSB 508)
Hymns for the Distribution of the Holy Communion
If thou but trust in God to guide thee (LSB 750) (Catechetical)
Wake, awake, for night is flying (LSB 516)
O Savior, rend the heavens wide (LSB 355)
Sing with all the saints in glory (LSB 671)
Hymn of Departure
Lord of our life and God of our salvation (LSB 659)
Alternative Hymns
Abide, O dearest Jesus (LSB 919)
All Christians who have been baptized (LSB 596)
All people that on earth do dwell (LSB 791)
Built on the Rock the Church shall stand (LSB 645)
Christ is surely coming bringing His reward (LSB 509)
Creator of the stars of night (LSB 351)
Father, we praise Thee (LSB 875)
For all the saints who from their labors rest (LSB 677)
In God, my faithful God (LSB 745)
In the shattered bliss of Eden (LSB 572)
Let us ever walk with Jesus (LSB 685)
Lo! He comes with clouds descending (LSB 336)
No temple now, no gift of price (LSB 530)
Now thank we all our God (LSB 895)
O God, our help in ages past (LSB 733)
O little flock, fear not the foe (LSB 666)
O rejoice, ye Christians, loudly (LSB 897)
Rise, my soul, to watch and pray (LSB 663)
The clouds of judgment gather (LSB 513)
Ye watchers and ye holy ones (LSB 670)
The Last Sunday before Advent
Proper 29 (Sunday on November 20–26)
Malachi 3:13–18
Colossians 1:13–20
Luke 23:27–43
Hymn of Invocation
Let all mortal flesh keep silence (LSB 621)
Hymn of the Day
Lord, enthroned in heav’nly splendor (LSB 534)
Hymns for the Distribution of the Holy Communion
Wide open stand the gates (LSB 639) (Catechetical)
At the name of Jesus (LSB 512)
O Morning Star, how fair and bright (LSB 395)
For all the saints who from their labors rest (LSB 677)
Hymn of Departure
Lord, Thee I love with all my heart (LSB 708)
Alternative Hymns
A mighty fortress is our God (LSB 656)
All hail the pow’r of Jesus’ name (LSB 549)
Christ, the Life of all the living (LSB 420)
Creator of the stars of night (LSB 351)
Crown Him with many crowns (LSB 525)
If thou but trust in God to guide thee (LSB 750)
In the shattered bliss of Eden (LSB 572)
Lo! He comes with clouds descending (LSB 336)
Jesus Christ, my sure defense (LSB 741)
Look, ye saints, the sight is glorious (LSB 495)
Lord Jesus Christ, the Church’s head (LSB 647)
Lord Jesus, think on me (LSB 610)
O Jesus, King most wonderful (LSB 554)
On my heart imprint Your image (LSB 422)
Praise be to Christ in whom we see (LSB 538)
Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle (LSB 454)
The day is surely drawing near (LSB 508)
The Head that once was crowned with thorns (LSB 532)
Wake, awake, for night is flying (LSB 516)
Why should cross and trial grieve me (LSB 756)
30 September 2010
29 September 2010
Hymns for Proper 21-25 Series C
First Sunday in Angels’ Tide
Proper 21 (Sunday on September 25—October 1)
Amos 6:1–7
1 Timothy 3:1–13 (or 1 Timothy 6:6–19)
Luke 16:19–31
Hymn of Invocation
To God the Holy Spirit let us pray (LSB 768)
Hymn of the Day
Lord, Thee I love with all my heart (LSB 708)
Hymns for the Distribution of the Holy Communion
Christ, the Lord of hosts, unshaken (LSB 521)
Lord God, to Thee we give all praise (LSB 522) (Catechetical)
Entrust your days and burdens (LSB 754)
Oh, what their joy and their glory must be (LSB 675)
Hymn of Departure
Triune God, be Thou our stay (LSB 505)
Alternative Hymns
A multitude comes from the east and the west (LSB 510)
At the Lamb’s high feast we sing (LSB 633)
Father most holy, merciful and tender (LSB 504)
For all the saints who from their labors rest (LSB 677)
I walk in danger all the way (LSB 716)
I will sing my Maker’s praises (TLH 25; LW 439; LSB 977e)
Jerusalem, my happy home (LSB 673)
Jesus Christ, my sure defense (LSB 741)
My soul, now praise your maker (LSB 820)
O God, my faithful God (LSB 696)
Praise, my soul, the King of heaven (LSB 793)
Praise the Almighty, my soul, adore Him (LSB 797)
Rise, my soul, to watch and pray (LSB 663)
Sing with all the saints in glory (LSB 671)
Son of God, eternal Savior (LSB 842)
Stars of the morning, so gloriously bright (LSB 520)
Thy body, giv’n for me, O Savior (LSB 619)
What is the world to me (LSB 730)
Where charity and love prevail (LSB 845)
Ye watchers and ye holy ones (LSB 670)
Second Sunday in Angels’ Tide
Proper 22 (Sunday on October 2–8)
Habakkuk 1:1–4; 2:1–4
2 Timothy 1:1–14
Luke 17:1–10
Hymn of Invocation
From depths of woe I cry to Thee (LSB 607)
Hymn of the Day / Catechetical Hymn of the Week
If Your beloved Son, O God (LSB 568)
Hymns for the Distribution of the Holy Communion
Christ Jesus lay in death’s strong bands (LSB 458)
I know my faith is founded (LSB 587)
O love, how deep, how broad, how high (LSB 544)
All depends on our possessing (LSB 732)
Hymn of Departure
May God bestow on us His grace (LSB 823)
Alternative Hymns
“As surely as I live,” God said (LSB 614)
By grace I’m saved, grace free and boundless (LSB 566)
Draw near and take the body of the Lord (LSB 637)
Father, we praise Thee (LSB 875)
“Forgive our sins as we forgive” (LSB 843)
God loves me dearly (LSB 392)
Grant peace, we pray, in mercy, Lord (LSB 777)
Jesus Christ, my sure defense (LSB 741)
Let us ever walk with Jesus (LSB 685)
Lord Jesus Christ, be present now (LSB 902)
Lord, keep us steadfast in Your Word (LSB 655)
My hope is built on nothing less (LSB 575)
Not unto us, not unto us be glory, Lord (LSB 558)
Now thank we all our God (LSB 895)
Once He came in blessing (LSB 333)
Our Father, by whose name (LSB 863)
Seek where you may to find a way (LSB 557)
The night will soon be ending (LSB 337)
Thy works, not mine, O Christ (LSB 565)
Why should cross and trial grieve me (LSB 756)
Third Sunday in Angels’ Tide
Proper 23 (Sunday on October 9–15)
Ruth 1:1–19a
2 Timothy 2:1–13
Luke 17:11–19
Hymn of Invocation
Jesus, Thy boundless love to me (LSB 683)
Hymn of the Day / Catechetical Hymn of the Week
Jesus, grant that balm and healing (LSB 421)
Hymns for the Distribution of the Holy Communion
Come, Thou Fount of ev’ry blessing (LSB 686)
Sing praise to God, the highest good (LSB 819)
Jesus Christ, our blessed Savior (LSB 627)
Your hand, O Lord, in days of old (LSB 846)
Hymn of Departure
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (LSB 790)
Alternative Hymns
All praise to Thee, for Thou, O King divine (LSB 815)
At the Lamb’s high feast we sing (LSB 633)
Be strong in the Lord (LSB 665)
Christ, the Life of all the living (LSB 420)
Entrust your days and burdens (LSB 754)
For all the faithful women (LSB 855)
From God can nothing move me (LSB 713)
How can I thank You, Lord (LSB 703)
I will sing my Maker’s praises (TLH 25; LW 439; LSB 977e)
Lamb of God, pure and holy (LSB 434)
Let us ever walk with Jesus (LSB 685)
Now thank we all our God (LSB 895)
O Jesus, blessed Lord, to Thee (LSB 632)
Rise! To arms! With prayer employ you (LSB 668)
Since our great High Priest, Christ Jesus (LSB 529)
The Head that once was crowned with thorns (LSB 532)
The Son of God goes forth to war (LSB 661)
Thee will I love, my strength, my tower (LSB 694)
Triune God, be Thou our stay (LSB 505)
We know that Christ is raised (LSB 603)
Fourth Sunday in Angels’ Tide
Proper 24 (Sunday on October 16–22)
Genesis 32:22–30
2 Timothy 3:14—4:5
Luke 18:1–8
Hymn of Invocation
Hear us, Father, when we pray (LSB 773)
Hymn of the Day / Catechetical Hymn of the Week
I trust, O Lord, Your holy name (LSB 734)
Hymns for the Distribution of the Holy Communion
All who believe and are baptized (LSB 601)
Rejoice, my heart, be glad and sing (LSB 737)
Eternal Spirit of the living Christ (LSB 769)
Praise the Almighty, my soul, adore Him (LSB 797)
Hymn of Departure
Holy God, we praise Thy name (LSB 940)
Alternative Hymns
Abide, O dearest Jesus (LSB 919)
Christ is the world’s Redeemer (LSB 539)
Father most holy, merciful and tender (LSB 504)
From depths of woe I cry to Thee (LSB 607)
From God can nothing move me (LSB 713)
Hope of the world, Thou Christ of great compassion (LSB 690)
How can I thank You, Lord (LSB 703)
I know my faith is founded (LSB 587)
Lord, keep us steadfast in Your Word (LSB 655)
O God of light, Your Word, a lamp unfailing (LSB 836)
Our Father, who from heav’n above (LSB 766)
Preach you the Word, and plant it home (LSB 586)
Rise, my soul, to watch and pray (LSB 663)
Rise! To arms! With prayer employ you (LSB 668)
Sing praise to God, the highest good (LSB 819)
The Gospel shows the Father’s grace (LSB 580)
The Law of God is good and wise (LSB 579)
Thy strong word did cleave the darkness (LSB 578)
Who trusts in God a strong abode (LSB 714)
With the Lord begin your task (LSB 869)
Fifth Sunday in Angels’ Tide
Proper 25 (Sunday on October 23–29)
Genesis 4:1–15
2 Timothy 4:6–8, 16–18
Luke 18:9–17
Hymn of Invocation
These are the holy Ten Commands (LSB 581)
Hymn of the Day / Catechetical Hymn of the Week
In God, my faithful God (LSB 745)
Hymns for the Distribution of the Holy Communion
Savior, when in dust to Thee (LSB 419)
Father most holy, merciful and tender (LSB 504)
Chief of sinners though I be (LSB 611)
Evening and morning (LSB 726)
Hymn of Departure
I walk in danger all the way (LSB 716)
Alternative Hymns
All depends on our possessing (LSB 732)
Father, we praise Thee (LSB 875)
From depths of woe I cry to Thee (LSB 607)
I am Jesus’ little lamb (LSB 740)
If thou but trust in God to guide thee (LSB 750)
In the shattered bliss of Eden (LSB 572)
Jesus Christ, my sure defense (LSB 741)
Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness (LSB 563)
Lord Jesus Christ, You have prepared (LSB 622)
Lord, ‘tis not that I did choose Thee (LSB 573)
Oh, how great is Your compassion (LSB 559)
Oh, what their joy and their glory must be (LSB 675)
Rise, my soul, to watch and pray (LSB 663)
Rise! To arms! With prayer employ you (LSB 668)
Saints, see the cloud of witnesses (LSB 667)
The Law of God is good and wise (LSB 579)
The Lord, my God, be praised (LSB 794)
Thy works, not mine, O Christ (LSB 565)
To Thee, omniscient Lord of all (LSB 613)
When in the hour of deepest need (LSB 615)
Proper 21 (Sunday on September 25—October 1)
Amos 6:1–7
1 Timothy 3:1–13 (or 1 Timothy 6:6–19)
Luke 16:19–31
Hymn of Invocation
To God the Holy Spirit let us pray (LSB 768)
Hymn of the Day
Lord, Thee I love with all my heart (LSB 708)
Hymns for the Distribution of the Holy Communion
Christ, the Lord of hosts, unshaken (LSB 521)
Lord God, to Thee we give all praise (LSB 522) (Catechetical)
Entrust your days and burdens (LSB 754)
Oh, what their joy and their glory must be (LSB 675)
Hymn of Departure
Triune God, be Thou our stay (LSB 505)
Alternative Hymns
A multitude comes from the east and the west (LSB 510)
At the Lamb’s high feast we sing (LSB 633)
Father most holy, merciful and tender (LSB 504)
For all the saints who from their labors rest (LSB 677)
I walk in danger all the way (LSB 716)
I will sing my Maker’s praises (TLH 25; LW 439; LSB 977e)
Jerusalem, my happy home (LSB 673)
Jesus Christ, my sure defense (LSB 741)
My soul, now praise your maker (LSB 820)
O God, my faithful God (LSB 696)
Praise, my soul, the King of heaven (LSB 793)
Praise the Almighty, my soul, adore Him (LSB 797)
Rise, my soul, to watch and pray (LSB 663)
Sing with all the saints in glory (LSB 671)
Son of God, eternal Savior (LSB 842)
Stars of the morning, so gloriously bright (LSB 520)
Thy body, giv’n for me, O Savior (LSB 619)
What is the world to me (LSB 730)
Where charity and love prevail (LSB 845)
Ye watchers and ye holy ones (LSB 670)
Second Sunday in Angels’ Tide
Proper 22 (Sunday on October 2–8)
Habakkuk 1:1–4; 2:1–4
2 Timothy 1:1–14
Luke 17:1–10
Hymn of Invocation
From depths of woe I cry to Thee (LSB 607)
Hymn of the Day / Catechetical Hymn of the Week
If Your beloved Son, O God (LSB 568)
Hymns for the Distribution of the Holy Communion
Christ Jesus lay in death’s strong bands (LSB 458)
I know my faith is founded (LSB 587)
O love, how deep, how broad, how high (LSB 544)
All depends on our possessing (LSB 732)
Hymn of Departure
May God bestow on us His grace (LSB 823)
Alternative Hymns
“As surely as I live,” God said (LSB 614)
By grace I’m saved, grace free and boundless (LSB 566)
Draw near and take the body of the Lord (LSB 637)
Father, we praise Thee (LSB 875)
“Forgive our sins as we forgive” (LSB 843)
God loves me dearly (LSB 392)
Grant peace, we pray, in mercy, Lord (LSB 777)
Jesus Christ, my sure defense (LSB 741)
Let us ever walk with Jesus (LSB 685)
Lord Jesus Christ, be present now (LSB 902)
Lord, keep us steadfast in Your Word (LSB 655)
My hope is built on nothing less (LSB 575)
Not unto us, not unto us be glory, Lord (LSB 558)
Now thank we all our God (LSB 895)
Once He came in blessing (LSB 333)
Our Father, by whose name (LSB 863)
Seek where you may to find a way (LSB 557)
The night will soon be ending (LSB 337)
Thy works, not mine, O Christ (LSB 565)
Why should cross and trial grieve me (LSB 756)
Third Sunday in Angels’ Tide
Proper 23 (Sunday on October 9–15)
Ruth 1:1–19a
2 Timothy 2:1–13
Luke 17:11–19
Hymn of Invocation
Jesus, Thy boundless love to me (LSB 683)
Hymn of the Day / Catechetical Hymn of the Week
Jesus, grant that balm and healing (LSB 421)
Hymns for the Distribution of the Holy Communion
Come, Thou Fount of ev’ry blessing (LSB 686)
Sing praise to God, the highest good (LSB 819)
Jesus Christ, our blessed Savior (LSB 627)
Your hand, O Lord, in days of old (LSB 846)
Hymn of Departure
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (LSB 790)
Alternative Hymns
All praise to Thee, for Thou, O King divine (LSB 815)
At the Lamb’s high feast we sing (LSB 633)
Be strong in the Lord (LSB 665)
Christ, the Life of all the living (LSB 420)
Entrust your days and burdens (LSB 754)
For all the faithful women (LSB 855)
From God can nothing move me (LSB 713)
How can I thank You, Lord (LSB 703)
I will sing my Maker’s praises (TLH 25; LW 439; LSB 977e)
Lamb of God, pure and holy (LSB 434)
Let us ever walk with Jesus (LSB 685)
Now thank we all our God (LSB 895)
O Jesus, blessed Lord, to Thee (LSB 632)
Rise! To arms! With prayer employ you (LSB 668)
Since our great High Priest, Christ Jesus (LSB 529)
The Head that once was crowned with thorns (LSB 532)
The Son of God goes forth to war (LSB 661)
Thee will I love, my strength, my tower (LSB 694)
Triune God, be Thou our stay (LSB 505)
We know that Christ is raised (LSB 603)
Fourth Sunday in Angels’ Tide
Proper 24 (Sunday on October 16–22)
Genesis 32:22–30
2 Timothy 3:14—4:5
Luke 18:1–8
Hymn of Invocation
Hear us, Father, when we pray (LSB 773)
Hymn of the Day / Catechetical Hymn of the Week
I trust, O Lord, Your holy name (LSB 734)
Hymns for the Distribution of the Holy Communion
All who believe and are baptized (LSB 601)
Rejoice, my heart, be glad and sing (LSB 737)
Eternal Spirit of the living Christ (LSB 769)
Praise the Almighty, my soul, adore Him (LSB 797)
Hymn of Departure
Holy God, we praise Thy name (LSB 940)
Alternative Hymns
Abide, O dearest Jesus (LSB 919)
Christ is the world’s Redeemer (LSB 539)
Father most holy, merciful and tender (LSB 504)
From depths of woe I cry to Thee (LSB 607)
From God can nothing move me (LSB 713)
Hope of the world, Thou Christ of great compassion (LSB 690)
How can I thank You, Lord (LSB 703)
I know my faith is founded (LSB 587)
Lord, keep us steadfast in Your Word (LSB 655)
O God of light, Your Word, a lamp unfailing (LSB 836)
Our Father, who from heav’n above (LSB 766)
Preach you the Word, and plant it home (LSB 586)
Rise, my soul, to watch and pray (LSB 663)
Rise! To arms! With prayer employ you (LSB 668)
Sing praise to God, the highest good (LSB 819)
The Gospel shows the Father’s grace (LSB 580)
The Law of God is good and wise (LSB 579)
Thy strong word did cleave the darkness (LSB 578)
Who trusts in God a strong abode (LSB 714)
With the Lord begin your task (LSB 869)
Fifth Sunday in Angels’ Tide
Proper 25 (Sunday on October 23–29)
Genesis 4:1–15
2 Timothy 4:6–8, 16–18
Luke 18:9–17
Hymn of Invocation
These are the holy Ten Commands (LSB 581)
Hymn of the Day / Catechetical Hymn of the Week
In God, my faithful God (LSB 745)
Hymns for the Distribution of the Holy Communion
Savior, when in dust to Thee (LSB 419)
Father most holy, merciful and tender (LSB 504)
Chief of sinners though I be (LSB 611)
Evening and morning (LSB 726)
Hymn of Departure
I walk in danger all the way (LSB 716)
Alternative Hymns
All depends on our possessing (LSB 732)
Father, we praise Thee (LSB 875)
From depths of woe I cry to Thee (LSB 607)
I am Jesus’ little lamb (LSB 740)
If thou but trust in God to guide thee (LSB 750)
In the shattered bliss of Eden (LSB 572)
Jesus Christ, my sure defense (LSB 741)
Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness (LSB 563)
Lord Jesus Christ, You have prepared (LSB 622)
Lord, ‘tis not that I did choose Thee (LSB 573)
Oh, how great is Your compassion (LSB 559)
Oh, what their joy and their glory must be (LSB 675)
Rise, my soul, to watch and pray (LSB 663)
Rise! To arms! With prayer employ you (LSB 668)
Saints, see the cloud of witnesses (LSB 667)
The Law of God is good and wise (LSB 579)
The Lord, my God, be praised (LSB 794)
Thy works, not mine, O Christ (LSB 565)
To Thee, omniscient Lord of all (LSB 613)
When in the hour of deepest need (LSB 615)
St. Michael & All Angels
The devil and his wicked angels hate you on account of Christ Jesus, your Savior, the incarnate Son of God.
But St. Michael and all the holy angels love and serve you for the sake of the same Lord, Jesus Christ; for He has become like you, and He has raised you up and recreated you to be like Him. Therefore, the holy angels see Christ in you, who is the very Image and Likeness of God in the flesh; who is, indeed, the Face of God the Father in heaven.
That drives the devil to fury and great wrath, because he is consumed by envy and jealousy, by his pride and self-conceit. That is why he is so relentless in his accusations against you; hence the name, Satan. It is also why he tempts you to sin, to turn away from God, but then is quick to accuse you of that very sin!
Beware of such envy and jealousy, pride and conceit in yourself. Do not despise your neighbor, nor tempt him, nor resent the grace of God in Christ for your neighbor. Rather, love and serve Christ Jesus in your neighbor, especially in your fellow Christians. Thereby you become an "angel" of Christ to your neighbor.
Where you have despised any of His "little ones" (of any age) who believe in Him, or have caused them to stumble and fall, repent. Cut off such temptation and sin from you, and be drowned and destroyed in the depths of your Holy Baptism with your Satanic old Adam.
Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, your Maker and Redeemer, and rejoice that He raises you up from the dust of the earth to shine like the stars of heaven with His own righteousness.
Humble yourself, and do not rely upon yourself but upon God, and pray. Pray in the confidence of the Cross and Resurrection of Christ Jesus, in whom every prayer of faith has already been answered once for all.
The Lord hears and answers your prayer in love, by His grace. The Father hears and answers your prayer for the sake of Christ, His beloved and well-pleasing Son. And He responds and serves you by the means of His good creation: by the agency of His ministers, the holy angels; by the human angels whom He calls, ordains and sends in His Name; and by the created elements that He employs with His Word, the waters of Holy Baptism, the bread and wine of His Supper, which are His Body and His Blood.
The servants of God, heavenly and human, guard and keep you in both body and soul. His angels lift you up and keep you in all your ways, lest you stumble and fall. While they often do protect your mortal flesh and blood from harm and danger, on account of the flesh and blood of Christ Jesus, the incarnate Son, they all the more protect your soul and body both from the assaults and accusations of the devil: by the Blood of the Lamb, and by the testimony of His Word.
By these means of grace — the Gospel-Word and Sacrament — the forgiveness of sins — they preserve your life and bring you through the great tribulation clothed in the righteousness of Christ. For Christ has atoned for your sins by His Blood, and His Word of the Gospel forgives you, fully and freely, daily and richly.
Through the Ministry of the Gospel, by the preaching of His Word, and by the administration of His Body and His Blood outpoured, He interposes Himself and His Redemption against all the accusations of Satan, and those accusations cannot stand against Him.
When the holy angels do permit the hurt and harm of your mortal body, as Christ also suffered and died in His human flesh and blood, it is that you might be humbled unto repentance: to become like a little child and rely upon God, returned to the cleansing waters of your Baptism, brought to the healing medicine of His Altar, and raised up from death to life.
Here, then, around the Lamb upon His throne, encircling the Fruits of His Cross, which is the Tree of Life, the great prince of God's people, St. Michael the Archangel, and all the holy angels, the cherubim and seraphim, praise the Holy Triune God and give Him thanks for your salvation. So do they also guard and keep you in body and soul at His Table, beholding the Face of the Father in you, dear child of God.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
But St. Michael and all the holy angels love and serve you for the sake of the same Lord, Jesus Christ; for He has become like you, and He has raised you up and recreated you to be like Him. Therefore, the holy angels see Christ in you, who is the very Image and Likeness of God in the flesh; who is, indeed, the Face of God the Father in heaven.
That drives the devil to fury and great wrath, because he is consumed by envy and jealousy, by his pride and self-conceit. That is why he is so relentless in his accusations against you; hence the name, Satan. It is also why he tempts you to sin, to turn away from God, but then is quick to accuse you of that very sin!
Beware of such envy and jealousy, pride and conceit in yourself. Do not despise your neighbor, nor tempt him, nor resent the grace of God in Christ for your neighbor. Rather, love and serve Christ Jesus in your neighbor, especially in your fellow Christians. Thereby you become an "angel" of Christ to your neighbor.
Where you have despised any of His "little ones" (of any age) who believe in Him, or have caused them to stumble and fall, repent. Cut off such temptation and sin from you, and be drowned and destroyed in the depths of your Holy Baptism with your Satanic old Adam.
Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, your Maker and Redeemer, and rejoice that He raises you up from the dust of the earth to shine like the stars of heaven with His own righteousness.
Humble yourself, and do not rely upon yourself but upon God, and pray. Pray in the confidence of the Cross and Resurrection of Christ Jesus, in whom every prayer of faith has already been answered once for all.
The Lord hears and answers your prayer in love, by His grace. The Father hears and answers your prayer for the sake of Christ, His beloved and well-pleasing Son. And He responds and serves you by the means of His good creation: by the agency of His ministers, the holy angels; by the human angels whom He calls, ordains and sends in His Name; and by the created elements that He employs with His Word, the waters of Holy Baptism, the bread and wine of His Supper, which are His Body and His Blood.
The servants of God, heavenly and human, guard and keep you in both body and soul. His angels lift you up and keep you in all your ways, lest you stumble and fall. While they often do protect your mortal flesh and blood from harm and danger, on account of the flesh and blood of Christ Jesus, the incarnate Son, they all the more protect your soul and body both from the assaults and accusations of the devil: by the Blood of the Lamb, and by the testimony of His Word.
By these means of grace — the Gospel-Word and Sacrament — the forgiveness of sins — they preserve your life and bring you through the great tribulation clothed in the righteousness of Christ. For Christ has atoned for your sins by His Blood, and His Word of the Gospel forgives you, fully and freely, daily and richly.
Through the Ministry of the Gospel, by the preaching of His Word, and by the administration of His Body and His Blood outpoured, He interposes Himself and His Redemption against all the accusations of Satan, and those accusations cannot stand against Him.
When the holy angels do permit the hurt and harm of your mortal body, as Christ also suffered and died in His human flesh and blood, it is that you might be humbled unto repentance: to become like a little child and rely upon God, returned to the cleansing waters of your Baptism, brought to the healing medicine of His Altar, and raised up from death to life.
Here, then, around the Lamb upon His throne, encircling the Fruits of His Cross, which is the Tree of Life, the great prince of God's people, St. Michael the Archangel, and all the holy angels, the cherubim and seraphim, praise the Holy Triune God and give Him thanks for your salvation. So do they also guard and keep you in body and soul at His Table, beholding the Face of the Father in you, dear child of God.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
25 September 2010
Believing in Christ Jesus, Dawn Has Life in His Name (in Memory of Dawn Smith)
Are you living in the doubt and fear of sin and death? Thomas was for a time, as were all of the disciples at various points. It is the frailty of fallen flesh to fall into such traps of melancholy, to doubt the promises of God and their fulfillment in the Lord’s Resurrection, and to fear the grave.
Even faithful Christians struggle with such doubt and fear, so long as they remain in mortal flesh and contend with the devil, the world, and their own sinful hearts. Such is life under the Cross, and so it was that Dawn also struggled in her lifetime on this earth with doubts and fears and sin and death. If you knew her well, you already know that, but you know it from your own experience on earth, as well.
When confronted with such doubt and fear, contending with sin and death and the temptations of the devil, do not make the same mistake that Thomas did that first Easter Sunday. Do not absent yourself from the gathering of the Church, from the place where the disciples of Jesus are found, lest you also miss out on the Peace of Christ (which surpasses and eludes all human understanding).
Thomas remained in his doubts and fears, and in his mourning, grief and sadness, for that whole first week of Eastertide, because he was not with the disciples on that Sunday when Jesus came and stood in their midst and revealed Himself to them and granted them His Spirit and His Peace.
Thomas wasn’t there that first Easter Sunday, but he was there the second time. Why? Because the other disciples did what Christians do: They witnessed to the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ by confessing what they had seen and heard and received from Him.
Dawn did that for others, too, because other Christian disciples did so for her. The fellowship and family of the Lord’s Church is such a tremendous blessing and benefit. Indeed, it is crucial to the life and health of the entire body and for each individual member. Therefore, do not absent yourself from the gathering of the Church, but do reach out to your brothers and sisters in Christ when they have been absent. And thank God that Dawn was a receiver and a giver of such gifts!
Of course, coming to church and being there, where the disciples of Jesus are gathered, can also be a scary thing, and perhaps you have your doubts about that, too. To be confronted by the presence of God is frightening; by all rights, it ought to be deadly for such poor miserable sinners as all of the children of Adam and Eve are. The holiness of God overwhelms you and threatens to undo you altogether, for you are sinful and unclean in your thoughts, words and deeds.
It would appear that you are trapped between a rock and a hard place, between the Cross and the tomb, with nowhere to turn and nothing to be done. Damned if you, but damned if you don’t.
The doubt and fear that belong to your sin, also turn you back upon your sinful self and multiply your sins. The very sin that puts you to death and damns and destroys you, also hinders you from Christ, and hinders you from believing His Word, and robs you of life, and robs you of peace and rest and joy and gladness.
You can choose to be in the right place, and you should do so, but you cannot choose to believe. You cannot pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. You cannot force your heart and mind to get it right. You cannot make yourself holy. You cannot justify or cleanse yourself. So, what can you do? What is your hope?
One of the things I loved best about Dawn, and among the things I have missed the most since she moved to Washington, is the way she would ask questions, and the way she would then listen and learn. She was bold and brave to ask, but humble in receiving the answers, even when they were difficult and challenging. She was never rude nor disrespectful, but neither was she shy about expressing her doubts and fears, leastwise not with her pastor. She was a wonderful example of allowing her pastors to serve her and care for her with the Word of Christ.
Dawn was strengthened to do so — to seek out her pastor, to ask her questions and ask for help — by the Word and faith she had been taught, even from childhood and throughout her life. And that very faith also opened her ears and heart and mind to hear and learn more.
Thomas also dared to ask. He even dared to make demands and ultimatums when the disciples confessed the crucified and risen Lord Jesus. Audacious and bold, to be sure, but consider how the dear Lord Jesus answered Thomas. And consider how the same Lord Jesus answered Dawn. And know that He deals with you in the same way, with His patient compassion, divine grace and tender mercy.
The Lord does not despise the weary, weak and wounded. Indeed, He has willingly suffered Himself to become weary, weak and wounded! Not only that, but it is precisely in His wounds that He reveals Himself as the Christ, as the Lord, your Savior and your God.
He opens His wounds to you, that you might hide yourself in Him: the Rock of ages cleft for you. He opens His wounds to you, that you might find your comfort, shelter, peace and rest, in Him, the Lamb who was slain, who was crucified, dead and buried for your transgressions, and yet, behold, He lives. He was raised for your justification. Thus has He opened the Kingdom of heaven to you.
He has risen from the dead, but He is still the Crucified One, and He opens His wounds to you. The water and the blood that flow from His riven side (and from His wounded hands and feet) are burning coals from the Altar of His Cross, which cleanse your lips, your hands, your body, your heart and mind and soul and spirit. Your iniquity is taken away. Your sin is forgiven. And you are brought from doubt and fear and unbelief, to faith and worship — and to Peace in Christ.
It is in the means of grace — in the preaching of the Gospel and in the Holy Sacraments, in the spoken Word of Holy Absolution — that Christ Jesus reaches out to you, and He enables you to put your finger into the His nailed-scarred hands, and to put your hand into His side, and to cling to His Cross.
It is by His means of grace, by His Ministry of the Gospel, that He cleanses you, and clothes you in His righteousness and holiness, His innocence and blessedness, in the beautiful white robes of His own divine Glory.
For He speaks and acts in the words and deeds of those whom He has sent in His Name. Whosoever sins they forgive, they are forgiven. For this is how Christ Jesus, the dear Lord Himself, deals with you in grace, mercy and peace.
And He speaks His Word to you through His messengers, as He also spoke to Dawn through her pastors, in order to grant His gift of Life, by His grace alone through faith in His forgiveness of sins.
Whatever doubts and fears Dawn had were not only forgiven, freely and fully, but they were also overcome by the Gospel of Christ Jesus. They did not destroy her, but they drove her back to the Cross.
She heard the Word of Christ, which absolved her and fed her, led her by the quiet waters of her Holy Baptism, and brought her to the Table of the Lord. And by His Word, she believed in Him, and believing in Him, she received His very Life, His grace and every blessing.
Her faith and hope in Christ have not been disappointed. As He lives, so does she. As He has risen from the dead, so shall she rise from the dead in her own body, made glorious like unto His own glorious body, immortal and imperishable, perfected forever without any flaw or blemish or any such thing. So shall she rise in her body, as even now her soul rests in the Peace of Christ. There is nothing lacking. There is no doubt or fear.
She no longer suffers any want or need or sorrow. The Lord has removed every tear from her eyes. She now sees Him with perfect clarity.
And what He has done for her, He does for you, also. He spreads His Tabernacle over you in love. He comes to you and reveals Himself to you in mercy. He opens His sacred wounds to you with compassion, that all of your wounds of heart and mind, body and soul, may be healed. And He tenderly invites you to hide yourself in Him, by the hearing and receiving of His Gospel.
Do not be afraid. He shall dry all your tears at the last. He shall raise your body, also, from the grave to the life everlasting. With Dawn, and with all the faithful, you shall dwell in the House of the Lord forever, feasting on His never-ending Banquet. The Peace of the Lord be with you always.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Even faithful Christians struggle with such doubt and fear, so long as they remain in mortal flesh and contend with the devil, the world, and their own sinful hearts. Such is life under the Cross, and so it was that Dawn also struggled in her lifetime on this earth with doubts and fears and sin and death. If you knew her well, you already know that, but you know it from your own experience on earth, as well.
When confronted with such doubt and fear, contending with sin and death and the temptations of the devil, do not make the same mistake that Thomas did that first Easter Sunday. Do not absent yourself from the gathering of the Church, from the place where the disciples of Jesus are found, lest you also miss out on the Peace of Christ (which surpasses and eludes all human understanding).
Thomas remained in his doubts and fears, and in his mourning, grief and sadness, for that whole first week of Eastertide, because he was not with the disciples on that Sunday when Jesus came and stood in their midst and revealed Himself to them and granted them His Spirit and His Peace.
Thomas wasn’t there that first Easter Sunday, but he was there the second time. Why? Because the other disciples did what Christians do: They witnessed to the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ by confessing what they had seen and heard and received from Him.
Dawn did that for others, too, because other Christian disciples did so for her. The fellowship and family of the Lord’s Church is such a tremendous blessing and benefit. Indeed, it is crucial to the life and health of the entire body and for each individual member. Therefore, do not absent yourself from the gathering of the Church, but do reach out to your brothers and sisters in Christ when they have been absent. And thank God that Dawn was a receiver and a giver of such gifts!
Of course, coming to church and being there, where the disciples of Jesus are gathered, can also be a scary thing, and perhaps you have your doubts about that, too. To be confronted by the presence of God is frightening; by all rights, it ought to be deadly for such poor miserable sinners as all of the children of Adam and Eve are. The holiness of God overwhelms you and threatens to undo you altogether, for you are sinful and unclean in your thoughts, words and deeds.
It would appear that you are trapped between a rock and a hard place, between the Cross and the tomb, with nowhere to turn and nothing to be done. Damned if you, but damned if you don’t.
The doubt and fear that belong to your sin, also turn you back upon your sinful self and multiply your sins. The very sin that puts you to death and damns and destroys you, also hinders you from Christ, and hinders you from believing His Word, and robs you of life, and robs you of peace and rest and joy and gladness.
You can choose to be in the right place, and you should do so, but you cannot choose to believe. You cannot pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. You cannot force your heart and mind to get it right. You cannot make yourself holy. You cannot justify or cleanse yourself. So, what can you do? What is your hope?
One of the things I loved best about Dawn, and among the things I have missed the most since she moved to Washington, is the way she would ask questions, and the way she would then listen and learn. She was bold and brave to ask, but humble in receiving the answers, even when they were difficult and challenging. She was never rude nor disrespectful, but neither was she shy about expressing her doubts and fears, leastwise not with her pastor. She was a wonderful example of allowing her pastors to serve her and care for her with the Word of Christ.
Dawn was strengthened to do so — to seek out her pastor, to ask her questions and ask for help — by the Word and faith she had been taught, even from childhood and throughout her life. And that very faith also opened her ears and heart and mind to hear and learn more.
Thomas also dared to ask. He even dared to make demands and ultimatums when the disciples confessed the crucified and risen Lord Jesus. Audacious and bold, to be sure, but consider how the dear Lord Jesus answered Thomas. And consider how the same Lord Jesus answered Dawn. And know that He deals with you in the same way, with His patient compassion, divine grace and tender mercy.
The Lord does not despise the weary, weak and wounded. Indeed, He has willingly suffered Himself to become weary, weak and wounded! Not only that, but it is precisely in His wounds that He reveals Himself as the Christ, as the Lord, your Savior and your God.
He opens His wounds to you, that you might hide yourself in Him: the Rock of ages cleft for you. He opens His wounds to you, that you might find your comfort, shelter, peace and rest, in Him, the Lamb who was slain, who was crucified, dead and buried for your transgressions, and yet, behold, He lives. He was raised for your justification. Thus has He opened the Kingdom of heaven to you.
He has risen from the dead, but He is still the Crucified One, and He opens His wounds to you. The water and the blood that flow from His riven side (and from His wounded hands and feet) are burning coals from the Altar of His Cross, which cleanse your lips, your hands, your body, your heart and mind and soul and spirit. Your iniquity is taken away. Your sin is forgiven. And you are brought from doubt and fear and unbelief, to faith and worship — and to Peace in Christ.
It is in the means of grace — in the preaching of the Gospel and in the Holy Sacraments, in the spoken Word of Holy Absolution — that Christ Jesus reaches out to you, and He enables you to put your finger into the His nailed-scarred hands, and to put your hand into His side, and to cling to His Cross.
It is by His means of grace, by His Ministry of the Gospel, that He cleanses you, and clothes you in His righteousness and holiness, His innocence and blessedness, in the beautiful white robes of His own divine Glory.
For He speaks and acts in the words and deeds of those whom He has sent in His Name. Whosoever sins they forgive, they are forgiven. For this is how Christ Jesus, the dear Lord Himself, deals with you in grace, mercy and peace.
And He speaks His Word to you through His messengers, as He also spoke to Dawn through her pastors, in order to grant His gift of Life, by His grace alone through faith in His forgiveness of sins.
Whatever doubts and fears Dawn had were not only forgiven, freely and fully, but they were also overcome by the Gospel of Christ Jesus. They did not destroy her, but they drove her back to the Cross.
She heard the Word of Christ, which absolved her and fed her, led her by the quiet waters of her Holy Baptism, and brought her to the Table of the Lord. And by His Word, she believed in Him, and believing in Him, she received His very Life, His grace and every blessing.
Her faith and hope in Christ have not been disappointed. As He lives, so does she. As He has risen from the dead, so shall she rise from the dead in her own body, made glorious like unto His own glorious body, immortal and imperishable, perfected forever without any flaw or blemish or any such thing. So shall she rise in her body, as even now her soul rests in the Peace of Christ. There is nothing lacking. There is no doubt or fear.
She no longer suffers any want or need or sorrow. The Lord has removed every tear from her eyes. She now sees Him with perfect clarity.
And what He has done for her, He does for you, also. He spreads His Tabernacle over you in love. He comes to you and reveals Himself to you in mercy. He opens His sacred wounds to you with compassion, that all of your wounds of heart and mind, body and soul, may be healed. And He tenderly invites you to hide yourself in Him, by the hearing and receiving of His Gospel.
Do not be afraid. He shall dry all your tears at the last. He shall raise your body, also, from the grave to the life everlasting. With Dawn, and with all the faithful, you shall dwell in the House of the Lord forever, feasting on His never-ending Banquet. The Peace of the Lord be with you always.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
19 September 2010
The Rich Man Had a Manager
On the occasion of the 15th ordination anniversary of Rev. Richard Heinz.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Jesus has been teaching you what it means to be His disciple: that you must relinquish your own possessions, let go of earthly ties, and lay down even your own life. You are given His Cross to take it up and follow Him, in order that you live and die like Him, and become like Him.
So He has been teaching you what He is like, what sort of Man He is, what sort of God He is, what sort of Lord and Master He is. He is the Man who receives sinners and eats with them. He is the Shepherd who risks ninety-nine sheep to rescue one. He is the One who prizes repentance over righteousness, who came into the world to save sinners, and does so, and rejoices over them in love.
He is the Rich Man who, for your sake, made Himself poor, and who gave Himself as the Ransom for you and for all; so that you, by His poverty, might become rich.
This is a different sort of wealth than silver and gold, which perish, and a different sort of elegance than pearls and expensive clothing, which wear out and decay, or may get lost or stolen. The wealth and riches of Christ Jesus are imperishable and inexhaustible, and they are also traded, given and received by a very different economy than worldly wealth.
But do not suppose that gets you off the hook where your money and possessions are concerned. If you would be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ and live in His Kingdom, then His economics pertain to all your goods and services, to all your words and actions, to all that you are and have. And if you are not trustworthy in what is the least, then how shall you be trusted with the true riches of righteousness, life and salvation?
The way in which you handle your stuff and deal with your neighbor in the world is indicative of where your heart is fixed and where your treasure is found. There can finally be only one treasure in your heart and life, one master, one Lord and God.
So whom do you worship and obey? Whom do you love?
Of course you know that you should fear, love and trust in the Holy Triune God above all things, and have no other gods before Him or besides Him; that you are to worship Him, the Lord your God, and serve Him only.
But if you would know where your heart and mind really are, before whom they bow, and what they serve, consider how you spend your time, and how you spend your money. What do you do with your body and life on earth, and what would you eagerly do if you were given the chance and could get away with it?
Think about the way you do your job, the way you go about your chores, tend your home, or apply yourself to learning, and why it is that you do what you do in the way that you do it. What is it that drives you? What prompts you to do your best, and what causes you to slack off? Do you work for yourself, or for others? Do you live before God in righteousness and purity, or do you strive to justify yourself in the eyes of men?
Consider and discern the measure or criteria by which you evaluate yourself and your neighbor, and by which you compare yourself with your neighbor and compete with him or her – or by which you care for your neighbor with compassion and charity.
The Lord knows your heart, dear one, irrespective of your outward actions. He would have you know your heart, as well, and repent of whatever in it is not faith and love, according to His Word.
The Lord knows when you trample the needy instead of providing for their needs. He knows when you overlook the poor or take advantage of them, instead of feeding them and clothing them, sheltering the homeless and visiting the sick or imprisoned. He knows when the alms in your hand are given as a token, for appearances or to assuage your guilt or stroke your ego, rather than a real sacrifice of mercy.
He knows when the hands you lift or fold in prayer are otherwise being used to hurt instead of help or heal, and whether they are engaged in holiness and righteousness or robbery and scandal.
He knows when the lips with which you call upon His Name in prayer, praise and thanksgiving are otherwise used to argue and dispute, to curse, swear, lie and deceive, or to confess your sins and apologize for them, and to forgive those who trespass against you.
The Lord knows your sins of thought, word and deed, your wasting of His gifts, the squandering of your stewardship, and the accusations of the Law against you.
So, because He loves you and desires to save you, to bring you to the knowledge of the truth, He calls you to repentance. He calls you to examine your heart and mind, your words and actions, and to give an account of your stewardship. He calls you by the Cross to be crucified with Him, and raised with Him to newness of life and welcomed into His Father’s House.
What, then, does such repentance look like? What does it entail? Where you have wasted your Lord’s good gifts, which are really His things entrusted to your stewardship or management, how should you be using them? What does Jesus say and commend?
The economics of Christ Jesus are utterly foreign to the wisdom of the world and detestable to those who love money and worship wealth. In the same way, what is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight. This is the way of the Cross, the truth of Christ the Crucified.
Remember that He is the Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep, and that He grants life to His fallen creatures at His own expense, at the cost of His own blood, by His innocent suffering and death. His management is mercy, the administration of His Gospel. The real coin of His realm is neither silver nor gold, but the forgiveness of sins.
Wasting His possessions does not mean reckless spending or extravagant giving, but just the opposite. You waste His possessions when you horde them and hide them, keep them and multiply them. By the same token, you manage your stewardship shrewdly, rightly and wisely, when you give His gifts away and forgive His debtors freely. It isn’t about savvy investments or profit-making, but a seemingly foolish trust in the Lord and love for the neighbor.
That is what He means by teaching you to make friends for yourself with worldly wealth. That is to say, use what the Lord has entrusted to your care to love and care for your neighbor. Not as a bribe, nor to buy your way into heaven (which won’t work), but in the way of repentance. Worldly wealth will not last forever, no matter how you save it or spend it, keep it or give it away. It cannot justify or save you. But the Lord Jesus is your Savior and your God, whether you have money or not, or any other treasures or talents.
Therefore, in faith, use whatever you do have to befriend and love your neighbor, as the Lord Jesus has befriended you in His great love and mercy and compassion.
Greater love has no man than this Lord Jesus Christ, who lays down His life for His friends – who, indeed, by His death, makes friends with His enemies through forgiveness and reconciliation. In Him, the Truth is revealed in the mercies of God, and righteousness and peace kiss each other. He has emptied Himself and made Himself nothing, undertaking the absolute poverty of death upon the Cross, in order to bestow the true riches of His divine Life and His Kingdom upon poor miserable sinners, including you.
And in His Resurrection from the dead, His Father welcomes you – along with Him – into His eternal dwellings.
It was for this purpose that St. Paul was appointed a herald and Apostle, for the testimony of the Lord’s Redemption in its proper time. What Christ accomplished and obtained for you by the sacrifice of His Body and Life, His flesh and blood, is administered to His Church on earth by the preaching of the Gospel, by the teaching of the true faith, by the stewardship of His Divine Mysteries.
It is for this same purpose, also now for you in this place, that the same Lord Jesus Christ has appointed His servant, Richard Heinz, to be a herald of His Cross, a minister of His Gospel, a steward of His Mysteries, and a shepherd of His little lambs. That is what a pastor is, and therefore what a pastor does in faith toward God and in love for Christ’s Church. Your pastor does not simply tell you about the love of God, but he loves you with the love of God, and God Himself loves you in and with your pastor.
Do not doubt that it is true. Do not look at the outward appearance of the mortal man who is your pastor, nor sneer at Jesus and His called and ordained servant, but hear and heed the Word of Christ concerning this man. And hear and heed the Word He speaks to you by this man.
It is required of such a steward that he be faithful in his stewardship, for he is a man under authority. The authority that he is granted by his Master, by virtue of his office, is the authority of Christ to forgive the sins of those who repent and thereby to save sinners.
When a pastor is tempted to waste his Master’s possessions by withholding the Gospel, hiding and hording the gifts, and neglecting the means of grace – when he is tempted to justify himself in the eyes of men, rather than conducting his office in the sight of God – then the Lord, in His mercy, calls His servant to repentance, befriending him again and again by His grace, teaching him mercy and forgiving his sins.
It is with that same measure of the Gospel that your pastor cares for you in the name and stead of Christ, your Savior and Good Shepherd.
Which is precisely how it is that you are Jesus’ little lamb. For so does your Good Shepherd love you and provide for you, call you to Himself and guide you through death into life everlasting.
When your pastor preaches to you, it is the Voice of your Good Shepherd that you hear – and you know and recognize His voice and follow Him, by grace through faith in His forgiveness.
When your pastor preaches repentance, both the Law and the Gospel, he returns you to the significance of your Holy Baptism. You die and rise with Christ Jesus, so that you are cleansed and sanctified and made brand new. For the Cross and Resurrection of Christ Jesus are not simply true, but they are for you; not just once upon a time, but once for all, and here and now for you.
The Lord does not forget what He has done for you, but He remembers you in mercy, day by day, night by night, week after week, and year after year, from one anniversary to the next, even to the close of the age.
And, as He remembers you in mercy, so are you given to remember Him. For when your pastor administers the Holy Communion and gives you the Body of Christ to eat and pours out the Blood of Christ for you to drink, all the fruits and benefits of Christ and His Cross are yours.
Thus your Shepherd gently guides you, knows your needs and well provides you. He feeds you in the green pastures of His Word and nourishes you with Holy Absolution. He leads you beside the quiet waters of Holy Baptism, which wash away your sins and quench your deepest thirst.
And here is the Table He prepares for you, even in the face of sin and death; for He still receives sinners and eats with them. What a lavish Feast He provides and serves, Himself the Host, the Waiter and the Meal. The Choicest Meat and Finest Wine are given and poured out for you here. His Chalice overflows with the abundance of His grace, mercy and peace, His free and full forgiveness, His life and salvation, in the New Testament of His Blood.
These are the riches of the Rich Man, which He and His servants are accused of wasting because they are given and poured out so freely and generously. So be it. That is the sort of Man He is. That is the sort of God He is. That is the sort of Lord and Master He is, and it is enough for His servants to be like their Master.
I urge you, then, first of all, to pray, intercede and give thanks to Christ Jesus, also for your pastor, that you and he may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good and pleases God our Savior.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Jesus has been teaching you what it means to be His disciple: that you must relinquish your own possessions, let go of earthly ties, and lay down even your own life. You are given His Cross to take it up and follow Him, in order that you live and die like Him, and become like Him.
So He has been teaching you what He is like, what sort of Man He is, what sort of God He is, what sort of Lord and Master He is. He is the Man who receives sinners and eats with them. He is the Shepherd who risks ninety-nine sheep to rescue one. He is the One who prizes repentance over righteousness, who came into the world to save sinners, and does so, and rejoices over them in love.
He is the Rich Man who, for your sake, made Himself poor, and who gave Himself as the Ransom for you and for all; so that you, by His poverty, might become rich.
This is a different sort of wealth than silver and gold, which perish, and a different sort of elegance than pearls and expensive clothing, which wear out and decay, or may get lost or stolen. The wealth and riches of Christ Jesus are imperishable and inexhaustible, and they are also traded, given and received by a very different economy than worldly wealth.
But do not suppose that gets you off the hook where your money and possessions are concerned. If you would be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ and live in His Kingdom, then His economics pertain to all your goods and services, to all your words and actions, to all that you are and have. And if you are not trustworthy in what is the least, then how shall you be trusted with the true riches of righteousness, life and salvation?
The way in which you handle your stuff and deal with your neighbor in the world is indicative of where your heart is fixed and where your treasure is found. There can finally be only one treasure in your heart and life, one master, one Lord and God.
So whom do you worship and obey? Whom do you love?
Of course you know that you should fear, love and trust in the Holy Triune God above all things, and have no other gods before Him or besides Him; that you are to worship Him, the Lord your God, and serve Him only.
But if you would know where your heart and mind really are, before whom they bow, and what they serve, consider how you spend your time, and how you spend your money. What do you do with your body and life on earth, and what would you eagerly do if you were given the chance and could get away with it?
Think about the way you do your job, the way you go about your chores, tend your home, or apply yourself to learning, and why it is that you do what you do in the way that you do it. What is it that drives you? What prompts you to do your best, and what causes you to slack off? Do you work for yourself, or for others? Do you live before God in righteousness and purity, or do you strive to justify yourself in the eyes of men?
Consider and discern the measure or criteria by which you evaluate yourself and your neighbor, and by which you compare yourself with your neighbor and compete with him or her – or by which you care for your neighbor with compassion and charity.
The Lord knows your heart, dear one, irrespective of your outward actions. He would have you know your heart, as well, and repent of whatever in it is not faith and love, according to His Word.
The Lord knows when you trample the needy instead of providing for their needs. He knows when you overlook the poor or take advantage of them, instead of feeding them and clothing them, sheltering the homeless and visiting the sick or imprisoned. He knows when the alms in your hand are given as a token, for appearances or to assuage your guilt or stroke your ego, rather than a real sacrifice of mercy.
He knows when the hands you lift or fold in prayer are otherwise being used to hurt instead of help or heal, and whether they are engaged in holiness and righteousness or robbery and scandal.
He knows when the lips with which you call upon His Name in prayer, praise and thanksgiving are otherwise used to argue and dispute, to curse, swear, lie and deceive, or to confess your sins and apologize for them, and to forgive those who trespass against you.
The Lord knows your sins of thought, word and deed, your wasting of His gifts, the squandering of your stewardship, and the accusations of the Law against you.
So, because He loves you and desires to save you, to bring you to the knowledge of the truth, He calls you to repentance. He calls you to examine your heart and mind, your words and actions, and to give an account of your stewardship. He calls you by the Cross to be crucified with Him, and raised with Him to newness of life and welcomed into His Father’s House.
What, then, does such repentance look like? What does it entail? Where you have wasted your Lord’s good gifts, which are really His things entrusted to your stewardship or management, how should you be using them? What does Jesus say and commend?
The economics of Christ Jesus are utterly foreign to the wisdom of the world and detestable to those who love money and worship wealth. In the same way, what is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight. This is the way of the Cross, the truth of Christ the Crucified.
Remember that He is the Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep, and that He grants life to His fallen creatures at His own expense, at the cost of His own blood, by His innocent suffering and death. His management is mercy, the administration of His Gospel. The real coin of His realm is neither silver nor gold, but the forgiveness of sins.
Wasting His possessions does not mean reckless spending or extravagant giving, but just the opposite. You waste His possessions when you horde them and hide them, keep them and multiply them. By the same token, you manage your stewardship shrewdly, rightly and wisely, when you give His gifts away and forgive His debtors freely. It isn’t about savvy investments or profit-making, but a seemingly foolish trust in the Lord and love for the neighbor.
That is what He means by teaching you to make friends for yourself with worldly wealth. That is to say, use what the Lord has entrusted to your care to love and care for your neighbor. Not as a bribe, nor to buy your way into heaven (which won’t work), but in the way of repentance. Worldly wealth will not last forever, no matter how you save it or spend it, keep it or give it away. It cannot justify or save you. But the Lord Jesus is your Savior and your God, whether you have money or not, or any other treasures or talents.
Therefore, in faith, use whatever you do have to befriend and love your neighbor, as the Lord Jesus has befriended you in His great love and mercy and compassion.
Greater love has no man than this Lord Jesus Christ, who lays down His life for His friends – who, indeed, by His death, makes friends with His enemies through forgiveness and reconciliation. In Him, the Truth is revealed in the mercies of God, and righteousness and peace kiss each other. He has emptied Himself and made Himself nothing, undertaking the absolute poverty of death upon the Cross, in order to bestow the true riches of His divine Life and His Kingdom upon poor miserable sinners, including you.
And in His Resurrection from the dead, His Father welcomes you – along with Him – into His eternal dwellings.
It was for this purpose that St. Paul was appointed a herald and Apostle, for the testimony of the Lord’s Redemption in its proper time. What Christ accomplished and obtained for you by the sacrifice of His Body and Life, His flesh and blood, is administered to His Church on earth by the preaching of the Gospel, by the teaching of the true faith, by the stewardship of His Divine Mysteries.
It is for this same purpose, also now for you in this place, that the same Lord Jesus Christ has appointed His servant, Richard Heinz, to be a herald of His Cross, a minister of His Gospel, a steward of His Mysteries, and a shepherd of His little lambs. That is what a pastor is, and therefore what a pastor does in faith toward God and in love for Christ’s Church. Your pastor does not simply tell you about the love of God, but he loves you with the love of God, and God Himself loves you in and with your pastor.
Do not doubt that it is true. Do not look at the outward appearance of the mortal man who is your pastor, nor sneer at Jesus and His called and ordained servant, but hear and heed the Word of Christ concerning this man. And hear and heed the Word He speaks to you by this man.
It is required of such a steward that he be faithful in his stewardship, for he is a man under authority. The authority that he is granted by his Master, by virtue of his office, is the authority of Christ to forgive the sins of those who repent and thereby to save sinners.
When a pastor is tempted to waste his Master’s possessions by withholding the Gospel, hiding and hording the gifts, and neglecting the means of grace – when he is tempted to justify himself in the eyes of men, rather than conducting his office in the sight of God – then the Lord, in His mercy, calls His servant to repentance, befriending him again and again by His grace, teaching him mercy and forgiving his sins.
It is with that same measure of the Gospel that your pastor cares for you in the name and stead of Christ, your Savior and Good Shepherd.
Which is precisely how it is that you are Jesus’ little lamb. For so does your Good Shepherd love you and provide for you, call you to Himself and guide you through death into life everlasting.
When your pastor preaches to you, it is the Voice of your Good Shepherd that you hear – and you know and recognize His voice and follow Him, by grace through faith in His forgiveness.
When your pastor preaches repentance, both the Law and the Gospel, he returns you to the significance of your Holy Baptism. You die and rise with Christ Jesus, so that you are cleansed and sanctified and made brand new. For the Cross and Resurrection of Christ Jesus are not simply true, but they are for you; not just once upon a time, but once for all, and here and now for you.
The Lord does not forget what He has done for you, but He remembers you in mercy, day by day, night by night, week after week, and year after year, from one anniversary to the next, even to the close of the age.
And, as He remembers you in mercy, so are you given to remember Him. For when your pastor administers the Holy Communion and gives you the Body of Christ to eat and pours out the Blood of Christ for you to drink, all the fruits and benefits of Christ and His Cross are yours.
Thus your Shepherd gently guides you, knows your needs and well provides you. He feeds you in the green pastures of His Word and nourishes you with Holy Absolution. He leads you beside the quiet waters of Holy Baptism, which wash away your sins and quench your deepest thirst.
And here is the Table He prepares for you, even in the face of sin and death; for He still receives sinners and eats with them. What a lavish Feast He provides and serves, Himself the Host, the Waiter and the Meal. The Choicest Meat and Finest Wine are given and poured out for you here. His Chalice overflows with the abundance of His grace, mercy and peace, His free and full forgiveness, His life and salvation, in the New Testament of His Blood.
These are the riches of the Rich Man, which He and His servants are accused of wasting because they are given and poured out so freely and generously. So be it. That is the sort of Man He is. That is the sort of God He is. That is the sort of Lord and Master He is, and it is enough for His servants to be like their Master.
I urge you, then, first of all, to pray, intercede and give thanks to Christ Jesus, also for your pastor, that you and he may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good and pleases God our Savior.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
14 September 2010
D Rick's All-Time Album Top 40+ (so far)
Not sure what inspired me to think of it, or whether this qualifies as anything inspired, anyway, but I've been reflecting on those music albums that have made a particular impact and lasting impression on my life over the past thirty years or so. In doing so, I've considered which albums marked significant turning points in my musical interests, not only with respect to what I was listening to at the time, but in the very way I listened to music at all.
The following 40+ albums are ones that captured my attention and had such a fundamental influence on my subsequent enjoyment of popular music. Many of these albums remain "old friends," never failing to move me and make me smile inside and out. Others are more like scrapbooks, marking milestones along the way, but no longer holding the same appeal they once did. Certain things have risen to the top over the years, whereas others have made their mark and then receded to a more modest measure of interest. In most cases, I can remember the moment when this or that album caught me and refused to relinquish its hold on me.
Music has had such an important place in my life, an aspect of my personality and a mode of relating with others that really both defines and expresses who I am. That is why I have recently become intent on learning to play the guitar; not only because I happen to love that particular instrument, but the more so because I want to know and understand music itself that much better, from the inside out, and I long to develop the ability to make music of my own.
For the time being, here's a list of creative efforts and output by artists whose God-given talents and abilities have brought joy and gladness to my life on earth. I've limited myself to a single album by any given artist (although I do include both Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne, despite the notable overlap between them). It was tough to decide in some cases, and I should clarify that I didn't necessarily opt for my favorite album by each artist, but for that album that was the most influential and in some ways set the bar for all the others. I should also note that, in some of these cases, I didn't personally "discover" the album in question until many years after it was first released.
The list, as follows, is proximately in order of significance.
D Rick's All-time Album Top 40
1. Led Zeppelin - IV (ZoSo)
2. The Beatles - Revolver
3. Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet
4. Def Leppard - Pyromania
5. Quiet Riot - Metal Health
6. Black Sabbath - Paranoid
7. Guns 'n' Roses - Appetite for Destruction
8. John Cougar Mellencamp - American Fool
9. Joe Satriani - Surfing with the Alien
10. Ozzy Osbourne - Tribute (to Randy Rhoads)
11. Joshua Kadison - Painted Desert Serenade
12. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts - I Love Rock 'n' Roll
13. Hootie & the Blowfish - Cracked Rear View
14. REO Speedwagon - Hi InFidelity
15. Asia - Asia
16. Queen - The Game
17. Styx - Paradise Theater
18. ABBA - Voulez-Vous
19. Billy Joel - Glass Houses
20. Big & Rich - Horse of a Different Color
21. Pat Benatar - Crimes of Passion
22. Foreigner - 4
23. Bryan Adams - Cuts Like a Knife
24. Rick Springfield - Working Class Dog
25. Black Stone Cherry - Folklore & Superstition
26. John Michael Montgomery - John Michael Montgomery
27. Prince - Purple Rain
28. AC/DC - Back in Black
29. Daughtry - Daughtry
30. Matchbox Twenty - Mad Season
31. Tim McGraw - Set This Circus Down
32. U2 - Rattle and Hum
33. City of Angels (Soundtrack)
34. Savage Garden - Savage Garden
35. Garth Brooks - The Hits
36. Howard Jones - Dream into Action
37. Supertramp - Breakfast in America
38. Van Zant - Get Right with the Man
39. J. Geils Band - Freeze Frame
40. Heart - Heart
Honorable Mention (since I turn 45 this year!)
41. Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison
42. Aldo Nova - Aldo Nova
43. Metallica - And Justice for All
44. Petra - More Power to Ya
45. Flashdance (Soundtrack)
The following 40+ albums are ones that captured my attention and had such a fundamental influence on my subsequent enjoyment of popular music. Many of these albums remain "old friends," never failing to move me and make me smile inside and out. Others are more like scrapbooks, marking milestones along the way, but no longer holding the same appeal they once did. Certain things have risen to the top over the years, whereas others have made their mark and then receded to a more modest measure of interest. In most cases, I can remember the moment when this or that album caught me and refused to relinquish its hold on me.
Music has had such an important place in my life, an aspect of my personality and a mode of relating with others that really both defines and expresses who I am. That is why I have recently become intent on learning to play the guitar; not only because I happen to love that particular instrument, but the more so because I want to know and understand music itself that much better, from the inside out, and I long to develop the ability to make music of my own.
For the time being, here's a list of creative efforts and output by artists whose God-given talents and abilities have brought joy and gladness to my life on earth. I've limited myself to a single album by any given artist (although I do include both Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne, despite the notable overlap between them). It was tough to decide in some cases, and I should clarify that I didn't necessarily opt for my favorite album by each artist, but for that album that was the most influential and in some ways set the bar for all the others. I should also note that, in some of these cases, I didn't personally "discover" the album in question until many years after it was first released.
The list, as follows, is proximately in order of significance.
D Rick's All-time Album Top 40
1. Led Zeppelin - IV (ZoSo)
2. The Beatles - Revolver
3. Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet
4. Def Leppard - Pyromania
5. Quiet Riot - Metal Health
6. Black Sabbath - Paranoid
7. Guns 'n' Roses - Appetite for Destruction
8. John Cougar Mellencamp - American Fool
9. Joe Satriani - Surfing with the Alien
10. Ozzy Osbourne - Tribute (to Randy Rhoads)
11. Joshua Kadison - Painted Desert Serenade
12. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts - I Love Rock 'n' Roll
13. Hootie & the Blowfish - Cracked Rear View
14. REO Speedwagon - Hi InFidelity
15. Asia - Asia
16. Queen - The Game
17. Styx - Paradise Theater
18. ABBA - Voulez-Vous
19. Billy Joel - Glass Houses
20. Big & Rich - Horse of a Different Color
21. Pat Benatar - Crimes of Passion
22. Foreigner - 4
23. Bryan Adams - Cuts Like a Knife
24. Rick Springfield - Working Class Dog
25. Black Stone Cherry - Folklore & Superstition
26. John Michael Montgomery - John Michael Montgomery
27. Prince - Purple Rain
28. AC/DC - Back in Black
29. Daughtry - Daughtry
30. Matchbox Twenty - Mad Season
31. Tim McGraw - Set This Circus Down
32. U2 - Rattle and Hum
33. City of Angels (Soundtrack)
34. Savage Garden - Savage Garden
35. Garth Brooks - The Hits
36. Howard Jones - Dream into Action
37. Supertramp - Breakfast in America
38. Van Zant - Get Right with the Man
39. J. Geils Band - Freeze Frame
40. Heart - Heart
Honorable Mention (since I turn 45 this year!)
41. Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison
42. Aldo Nova - Aldo Nova
43. Metallica - And Justice for All
44. Petra - More Power to Ya
45. Flashdance (Soundtrack)
10 September 2010
Suffer Little Herman to Come unto Me
In memory of Herman Matthew Tribble (the son of Rick and Sheryl Tribble), who departed from this vale of tears as a newborn infant eleven years ago this past month; because I am still asked to share his funeral sermon from time to time.
Grace, Mercy and Peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Sermon Text is the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary unto her cousin, Saint Elizabeth, as recorded by St. Luke in the Gospel appointed for this past Sunday, the Feast of Saint Mary, the Mother of God.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. [Amen]
Rick and Sheryl, as your Pastor, and as your friend, I find myself unable to express to you the full extent of my sympathy and the grief that I share with you. Indeed, over these past few days, I have found myself at a loss for words of any sort at all (unusual for me). At times I have wondered, who is comforting whom, as your confession of faith in response to this tragic loss has encouraged me and strengthened my own faith, as well.
Now, today, I would so much like to answer all your questions. But I cannot. Typical of my nature, I would so much like to fix it all for you and make everything right. But I cannot. It is only the Word of the Lord that I am able to speak to you and give to you. But that is enough.
The Lord was too eager to hold your dear Herman — more quickly & more closely than we could accomplish. I was already looking forward to baptizing him, even as you were planning to entrust him to the Lord through Holy Baptism, and Barb was so anxious to be his godmother. But the Lord has taken him into His arms and blessed him even more directly. It is the Lord’s prerogative to do so, because Herman, as you know, belongs to Him. You have given him birth, but He has given him life — here on earth, and now in heaven.
Oh, how I bemoan our limited human perspective, which cannot see the true reality at work, and so we cannot help but grieve. But whatever it is you have wanted for your son, your prayers have been more than answered. He lacks nothing in Christ, his Savior. Everything belongs to him, and he lives more fully now than you or me.
I am sorry for you, Rick, that you will not have the joy and thrill of taking Herman to Six Flags or Cedar Point (or maybe that isn’t your thing). But if you were to go, perhaps with Tobias and Egon — as Zach and I went earlier this Summer — you would find, the better the ride, the longer the line. What any of us wouldn’t give to go to the head of the line without waiting. Well, that is what young Herman has done; he has surpassed us all, and he is having the ride of his life (which has no end).
In doing so, his short life on earth has come full circle to a beautiful completion. For (by my reckoning at least) he was conceived at the beginning of Advent — at the beginning of this current Church Year — as we heard the preaching of repentance from Saint John the Baptist, and as we waited with the Blessed Virgin Mary for her days to be accomplished. And now, Herman’s birth (here in time on earth) and his “nativity” in heaven have coincided with the Feast of Saint Mary, the Mother of God, as we have heard again her beautiful Song of Praise (the Magnificat) upon her Visitation unto Saint Elizabeth, the Mother of Saint John.
Among other things, Saint Mary here reminds you that our children are the Lord’s. In her case, in particular, her Child was and is the Lord! But yours, no less than hers, belong to Him. So also Herman Matthew, who was “God’s gift” to you — whom you intended from the start, by faith, to return unto Him (as Hannah did).
Thus have you done. Thus have your prayers been answered. Thus have your intentions been fulfilled. But not at all in the way or in the time that you envisioned or anticipated. And the bonds of love — which God has also given to you — now make it so hard to let go. Which is why, as your family and friends and fellow members of the Body of Christ, we today not only mourn with you; but we rejoice on your behalf and in your stead, while you cannot, that Herman is the Lord’s.
Now, among the many questions in your heart and mind, I know that you are searching for a “why?” To which I chiefly must respond, that the good and gracious Will of God is done, even without our prayer, on earth as it is in heaven, whether or not we can know or understand His loving purpose for us. He did not kill your son; nor did He desire Herman’s death (nor your grief). He is the Author and Giver of Life. But death has come because of sin; and so the Lord has taken even this last great enemy, and He forces it to serve His mercy.
Thus does He bring life out of death, by His own Cross and Crucifixion. And thus does He bring the blessing out of the curse. As you have also confessed: “All things work together for good for those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.”
So, I shall tell you what I have thought, as your Pastor, as I have considered the “why” and the “wherefore” of it all . . . as I have also wondered, what could it mean (?), that parents who love children so much, who value human life so very highly, should lose their son to death.
There has been a lot of propaganda in this country (there still is), in support of the lie that children in the womb are not yet “real” or “truly persons.” That lie has deceived countless women into having abortions — confusing their conscience and hindering their chance for repentance. The same lie has also made it difficult, if not impossible, for those who have miscarried to mourn the loss of their unborn children.
But the difference of one day (of 20 hours) has betrayed the lie; and Herman’s death has given those other Mothers and Fathers this opportunity to grieve — with you, for your son, but also for their own dear children.
Because he has shown us — in our sight — what was already true long before he was born: that he is fearfully & wonderfully made, crafted by the hand of God in His divine Image (the Image of Christ) for life everlasting.
And along with that, lest wretched unbelief should cause you any doubts — because I know, Rick and Sheryl, you have worried that others might not realize or understand, that someone so new, so tiny and fragile as Herman, was and is a real person. . . . But lest there be any doubts, here stands our Gospel from Saint Luke:
Certainly, the Son of God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ — Who was, and is, and is to come — He has always been real and truly a person (indeed, from all eternity!). And among that great cloud of witnesses who surround us even now, the Blessed Virgin Mary is our evidence and witness that God has taken for Himself each and every stage of human life — beginning with conception, growing in the womb, and suffering birth.
Your Lord has thereby sanctified the unborn life, and newborn life, as truly precious in His sight, and no less redeemed by the sacrifice of His own flesh and blood.
What is more, while He was yet concealed in the womb of Blessed Mary — within her first trimester, perhaps not even “showing” — His unborn cousin, John, while yet in the womb of Saint Elizabeth, leaps for joy with faith and recognition of his Savior and his God (solely by the hearing of Saint Mary’s voice!).
While proud adults (in the imagination of their hearts) have tried to claim that little children “get nothing out of Church,” that the Liturgy and preaching are meaningless and pointless for these little ones, Jesus Christ our Lord and Saint John the Baptist say otherwise! And you and Herman have showed us just how very important and significant it is, that young children be in Church (with their parents). For in the midst of all your grief, you also now have the blessed assurance that Herman has known the presence of his Savior and his God through the voice of His servant here in His Church. It was no stranger who has taken Herman into His arms.
You have deeply regretted that Herman was not given the opportunity for Holy Baptism. And no one prizes the treasure of that Holy Sacrament more highly than I do. But Herman has taught us an understanding of things, that we might otherwise be able to ignore. For too many parents have their children baptized, but fail and neglect — beforehand and afterwards — to bring their little children into the presence of Christ our God, into the sound of His voice, within His Holy Church. Yet, the same Word of God, which washes us with water in Holy Baptism, is also spoken and sung week after week in the Divine Service.
And through that Word, Christ has called Herman to Himself; He has taken him into His arms and blessed him.
Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ. And for the past nine months, beginning with the Holy Season of Advent (1998), Herman has been hearing that Word. Sheryl, you have told me how he recognized and happily responded to the sound of your voice (and Rick’s) and to the noisy squeak of your rocker. How much more, then, did he know the voice of Christ and His divine Word!?
For that Word, which conveys the Holy Spirit, and which conceived the Son of God in the womb of a Virgin Mother, is able to do and accomplish far more abundantly than we could ever ask or think or imagine. It has given Herman life, because it is the Word of the Gospel, which is the Power of God unto Salvation.
Thus did Herman hear, that God Himself was once a tiny Fetus, just like him! That He, too, was given arms and legs, and hands and feet, and eyes and ears (but probably not the Tribble nose). His arms would welcome little children. His legs would take Him to the Cross, to which His hands and feet were nailed (for Herman, and for you). His eyes would look with mercy on His people, and His ears would hear their prayers.
As Herman’s ears have heard that true God, begotten of His Father from all eternity, also became true Man, born of the Virgin Mary; that He is our Lord, Who has redeemed you — an otherwise lost and condemned creature — from sin, death, and the power of the devil, not with silver or gold, but with His holy and precious Blood, His innocent suffering and death; that He has done all this for Herman — no less than for you — that we might be His own, and live under Him in His Kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness, even as He has risen from the dead and lives and reigns eternally.
Whatever else you might think or feel or experience (especially right now), it is this (and only this) that is most certainly true!
Now is the time, more than ever, to measure your life by faith alone — and not by sight. Your sinful heart will tell you that God has surely turned His face away from you, or that He is punishing you for some reason. For how and why else would your son be taken from you? But if and when those doubts and fears arise, know that your Lord has set before you here today the example of His Blessed Virgin Mary — His most highly–favored Lady — whose Son was born for this very reason: to die. And from the first she was told how this sword would pierce her soul at the foot of the Cross.
Your vocation as parents is lived under that same Cross, which redefines everything by a very different standard. It is why we are able to sing with Saint Mary — in the face of death and grief — that the Lord has shown strength with His arm (with a tiny, frail, infant arm; with a tired, bleeding, crucified arm).
He has put down the mighty from their thrones — by ascending the throne of His Cross; and He has exalted the lowly in His Resurrection from the dead.
This we cannot see or feel; but we can only believe, and only by the Word and Spirit of God. We do not have His perspective, Whose thoughts are not our thoughts, Whose ways are not our ways. Nor do we have the perspective of eternity, from which a day is like a thousand years (no more nor less than seventy or eighty).
These perspectives we do not have — and perhaps we never will. We are not God, but His servants and His handmaids; it is for us according to His Word. But in that Word, we have been given the blessed perspective of Christ and His Cross — the incarnate Son of God, Who makes sense of it all. We live by His Word, by His faith. And He has remembered His mercy (toward Herman, and toward us).
Had I been given the privilege of baptizing Herman, I would have asked him, first of all, to confess his faith in the Holy Triune God — his own faith, in his own God. And this he would have done, employing the lips and voices of his parents and godparents, his Pastor, and his fellow believers in Christ.
How I wish that I could give you Herman’s faith right now — and Herman’s voice, and Herman’s perspective.
Among the many things we’ve talked about these past few days, you mentioned David and his son to me, before I even had the chance to give you that example. How David mourned and fasted while the child was still living — and sick and on his deathbed — in hopes that God would relent and spare the boy’s life.
What I have discovered in this story since we spoke, what I had never noticed before, is that David’s son died on the seventh day. And now, perhaps, you already know what I’m going to say:
He died before he could be circumcised, according to the Word of God, on the eighth day of his life. He died without the covenant and grace of circumcision.
Yet, David’s response is one of the most beautiful confessions of our faith. For when his son was dead, he rose from mourning, he washed his face, and he ate; because, he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for who could tell whether the Lord would be gracious to me, that the child might live? But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”
And so it is that you shall go to Herman, who is with the Lord forever. We could not baptize Herman here, but Christ has now bathed him in the waters of life, and dressed him in the white robes of His own perfect righteousness in heaven. And where it would have been a number of years before Herman could receive the Holy Supper here, the Lord has granted him “early Communion” at the Banquet Feast of the Lamb in His Kingdom. Where it is now also Herman’s voice — no longer the mutters and gurgles you know, but the voice that Christ has given him — that sings with Saint Mary (and with you):
“My soul now magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior. For He Who is mighty has done great things for me, and Holy is His Name!” To Whom be all glory and honor and praise, both now and forever, in the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Grace, Mercy and Peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Sermon Text is the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary unto her cousin, Saint Elizabeth, as recorded by St. Luke in the Gospel appointed for this past Sunday, the Feast of Saint Mary, the Mother of God.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. [Amen]
Rick and Sheryl, as your Pastor, and as your friend, I find myself unable to express to you the full extent of my sympathy and the grief that I share with you. Indeed, over these past few days, I have found myself at a loss for words of any sort at all (unusual for me). At times I have wondered, who is comforting whom, as your confession of faith in response to this tragic loss has encouraged me and strengthened my own faith, as well.
Now, today, I would so much like to answer all your questions. But I cannot. Typical of my nature, I would so much like to fix it all for you and make everything right. But I cannot. It is only the Word of the Lord that I am able to speak to you and give to you. But that is enough.
The Lord was too eager to hold your dear Herman — more quickly & more closely than we could accomplish. I was already looking forward to baptizing him, even as you were planning to entrust him to the Lord through Holy Baptism, and Barb was so anxious to be his godmother. But the Lord has taken him into His arms and blessed him even more directly. It is the Lord’s prerogative to do so, because Herman, as you know, belongs to Him. You have given him birth, but He has given him life — here on earth, and now in heaven.
Oh, how I bemoan our limited human perspective, which cannot see the true reality at work, and so we cannot help but grieve. But whatever it is you have wanted for your son, your prayers have been more than answered. He lacks nothing in Christ, his Savior. Everything belongs to him, and he lives more fully now than you or me.
I am sorry for you, Rick, that you will not have the joy and thrill of taking Herman to Six Flags or Cedar Point (or maybe that isn’t your thing). But if you were to go, perhaps with Tobias and Egon — as Zach and I went earlier this Summer — you would find, the better the ride, the longer the line. What any of us wouldn’t give to go to the head of the line without waiting. Well, that is what young Herman has done; he has surpassed us all, and he is having the ride of his life (which has no end).
In doing so, his short life on earth has come full circle to a beautiful completion. For (by my reckoning at least) he was conceived at the beginning of Advent — at the beginning of this current Church Year — as we heard the preaching of repentance from Saint John the Baptist, and as we waited with the Blessed Virgin Mary for her days to be accomplished. And now, Herman’s birth (here in time on earth) and his “nativity” in heaven have coincided with the Feast of Saint Mary, the Mother of God, as we have heard again her beautiful Song of Praise (the Magnificat) upon her Visitation unto Saint Elizabeth, the Mother of Saint John.
Among other things, Saint Mary here reminds you that our children are the Lord’s. In her case, in particular, her Child was and is the Lord! But yours, no less than hers, belong to Him. So also Herman Matthew, who was “God’s gift” to you — whom you intended from the start, by faith, to return unto Him (as Hannah did).
Thus have you done. Thus have your prayers been answered. Thus have your intentions been fulfilled. But not at all in the way or in the time that you envisioned or anticipated. And the bonds of love — which God has also given to you — now make it so hard to let go. Which is why, as your family and friends and fellow members of the Body of Christ, we today not only mourn with you; but we rejoice on your behalf and in your stead, while you cannot, that Herman is the Lord’s.
Now, among the many questions in your heart and mind, I know that you are searching for a “why?” To which I chiefly must respond, that the good and gracious Will of God is done, even without our prayer, on earth as it is in heaven, whether or not we can know or understand His loving purpose for us. He did not kill your son; nor did He desire Herman’s death (nor your grief). He is the Author and Giver of Life. But death has come because of sin; and so the Lord has taken even this last great enemy, and He forces it to serve His mercy.
Thus does He bring life out of death, by His own Cross and Crucifixion. And thus does He bring the blessing out of the curse. As you have also confessed: “All things work together for good for those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.”
So, I shall tell you what I have thought, as your Pastor, as I have considered the “why” and the “wherefore” of it all . . . as I have also wondered, what could it mean (?), that parents who love children so much, who value human life so very highly, should lose their son to death.
There has been a lot of propaganda in this country (there still is), in support of the lie that children in the womb are not yet “real” or “truly persons.” That lie has deceived countless women into having abortions — confusing their conscience and hindering their chance for repentance. The same lie has also made it difficult, if not impossible, for those who have miscarried to mourn the loss of their unborn children.
But the difference of one day (of 20 hours) has betrayed the lie; and Herman’s death has given those other Mothers and Fathers this opportunity to grieve — with you, for your son, but also for their own dear children.
Because he has shown us — in our sight — what was already true long before he was born: that he is fearfully & wonderfully made, crafted by the hand of God in His divine Image (the Image of Christ) for life everlasting.
And along with that, lest wretched unbelief should cause you any doubts — because I know, Rick and Sheryl, you have worried that others might not realize or understand, that someone so new, so tiny and fragile as Herman, was and is a real person. . . . But lest there be any doubts, here stands our Gospel from Saint Luke:
Certainly, the Son of God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ — Who was, and is, and is to come — He has always been real and truly a person (indeed, from all eternity!). And among that great cloud of witnesses who surround us even now, the Blessed Virgin Mary is our evidence and witness that God has taken for Himself each and every stage of human life — beginning with conception, growing in the womb, and suffering birth.
Your Lord has thereby sanctified the unborn life, and newborn life, as truly precious in His sight, and no less redeemed by the sacrifice of His own flesh and blood.
What is more, while He was yet concealed in the womb of Blessed Mary — within her first trimester, perhaps not even “showing” — His unborn cousin, John, while yet in the womb of Saint Elizabeth, leaps for joy with faith and recognition of his Savior and his God (solely by the hearing of Saint Mary’s voice!).
While proud adults (in the imagination of their hearts) have tried to claim that little children “get nothing out of Church,” that the Liturgy and preaching are meaningless and pointless for these little ones, Jesus Christ our Lord and Saint John the Baptist say otherwise! And you and Herman have showed us just how very important and significant it is, that young children be in Church (with their parents). For in the midst of all your grief, you also now have the blessed assurance that Herman has known the presence of his Savior and his God through the voice of His servant here in His Church. It was no stranger who has taken Herman into His arms.
You have deeply regretted that Herman was not given the opportunity for Holy Baptism. And no one prizes the treasure of that Holy Sacrament more highly than I do. But Herman has taught us an understanding of things, that we might otherwise be able to ignore. For too many parents have their children baptized, but fail and neglect — beforehand and afterwards — to bring their little children into the presence of Christ our God, into the sound of His voice, within His Holy Church. Yet, the same Word of God, which washes us with water in Holy Baptism, is also spoken and sung week after week in the Divine Service.
And through that Word, Christ has called Herman to Himself; He has taken him into His arms and blessed him.
Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ. And for the past nine months, beginning with the Holy Season of Advent (1998), Herman has been hearing that Word. Sheryl, you have told me how he recognized and happily responded to the sound of your voice (and Rick’s) and to the noisy squeak of your rocker. How much more, then, did he know the voice of Christ and His divine Word!?
For that Word, which conveys the Holy Spirit, and which conceived the Son of God in the womb of a Virgin Mother, is able to do and accomplish far more abundantly than we could ever ask or think or imagine. It has given Herman life, because it is the Word of the Gospel, which is the Power of God unto Salvation.
Thus did Herman hear, that God Himself was once a tiny Fetus, just like him! That He, too, was given arms and legs, and hands and feet, and eyes and ears (but probably not the Tribble nose). His arms would welcome little children. His legs would take Him to the Cross, to which His hands and feet were nailed (for Herman, and for you). His eyes would look with mercy on His people, and His ears would hear their prayers.
As Herman’s ears have heard that true God, begotten of His Father from all eternity, also became true Man, born of the Virgin Mary; that He is our Lord, Who has redeemed you — an otherwise lost and condemned creature — from sin, death, and the power of the devil, not with silver or gold, but with His holy and precious Blood, His innocent suffering and death; that He has done all this for Herman — no less than for you — that we might be His own, and live under Him in His Kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness, even as He has risen from the dead and lives and reigns eternally.
Whatever else you might think or feel or experience (especially right now), it is this (and only this) that is most certainly true!
Now is the time, more than ever, to measure your life by faith alone — and not by sight. Your sinful heart will tell you that God has surely turned His face away from you, or that He is punishing you for some reason. For how and why else would your son be taken from you? But if and when those doubts and fears arise, know that your Lord has set before you here today the example of His Blessed Virgin Mary — His most highly–favored Lady — whose Son was born for this very reason: to die. And from the first she was told how this sword would pierce her soul at the foot of the Cross.
Your vocation as parents is lived under that same Cross, which redefines everything by a very different standard. It is why we are able to sing with Saint Mary — in the face of death and grief — that the Lord has shown strength with His arm (with a tiny, frail, infant arm; with a tired, bleeding, crucified arm).
He has put down the mighty from their thrones — by ascending the throne of His Cross; and He has exalted the lowly in His Resurrection from the dead.
This we cannot see or feel; but we can only believe, and only by the Word and Spirit of God. We do not have His perspective, Whose thoughts are not our thoughts, Whose ways are not our ways. Nor do we have the perspective of eternity, from which a day is like a thousand years (no more nor less than seventy or eighty).
These perspectives we do not have — and perhaps we never will. We are not God, but His servants and His handmaids; it is for us according to His Word. But in that Word, we have been given the blessed perspective of Christ and His Cross — the incarnate Son of God, Who makes sense of it all. We live by His Word, by His faith. And He has remembered His mercy (toward Herman, and toward us).
Had I been given the privilege of baptizing Herman, I would have asked him, first of all, to confess his faith in the Holy Triune God — his own faith, in his own God. And this he would have done, employing the lips and voices of his parents and godparents, his Pastor, and his fellow believers in Christ.
How I wish that I could give you Herman’s faith right now — and Herman’s voice, and Herman’s perspective.
Among the many things we’ve talked about these past few days, you mentioned David and his son to me, before I even had the chance to give you that example. How David mourned and fasted while the child was still living — and sick and on his deathbed — in hopes that God would relent and spare the boy’s life.
What I have discovered in this story since we spoke, what I had never noticed before, is that David’s son died on the seventh day. And now, perhaps, you already know what I’m going to say:
He died before he could be circumcised, according to the Word of God, on the eighth day of his life. He died without the covenant and grace of circumcision.
Yet, David’s response is one of the most beautiful confessions of our faith. For when his son was dead, he rose from mourning, he washed his face, and he ate; because, he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for who could tell whether the Lord would be gracious to me, that the child might live? But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”
And so it is that you shall go to Herman, who is with the Lord forever. We could not baptize Herman here, but Christ has now bathed him in the waters of life, and dressed him in the white robes of His own perfect righteousness in heaven. And where it would have been a number of years before Herman could receive the Holy Supper here, the Lord has granted him “early Communion” at the Banquet Feast of the Lamb in His Kingdom. Where it is now also Herman’s voice — no longer the mutters and gurgles you know, but the voice that Christ has given him — that sings with Saint Mary (and with you):
“My soul now magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior. For He Who is mighty has done great things for me, and Holy is His Name!” To Whom be all glory and honor and praise, both now and forever, in the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
When I Was a Young Lad, 1980-84
Not exactly the "wonder years," perhaps, but still, my high school years are a bit nostalgic for me. And since I've had popular music on the brain lately, I've also been thinking back on those bands and artists that rocked my world when I was a young lad, from 1980 through 1984. I'm probably forgetting someone or something, and subsequent experience has a way of coloring the past, but here's fourteen examples I'm recalling at the moment (roughly in order of interest):
John Cougar (Mellencamp)
Foreigner
Rick Springfield (don't laugh!)
REO Speedwagon
Pat Benatar
Billy Joel
Bryan Adams
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
Asia
Loverboy
Styx
Queen
Billy Squier
Aldo Nova
(Honorable mention would include .38-Special, Blondie, Boston, ELO, J. Geils Band, Elton John, Kansas, Journey, Kenny Loggins, and ZZ Top)
Any body else want to recall their high school glory days? Or, perhaps y'all can tell me who I'm missing from the early 80s.
Incidentally, I do think far more serious thoughts, most of the time, but this is recreational and refreshing for me.
John Cougar (Mellencamp)
Foreigner
Rick Springfield (don't laugh!)
REO Speedwagon
Pat Benatar
Billy Joel
Bryan Adams
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
Asia
Loverboy
Styx
Queen
Billy Squier
Aldo Nova
(Honorable mention would include .38-Special, Blondie, Boston, ELO, J. Geils Band, Elton John, Kansas, Journey, Kenny Loggins, and ZZ Top)
Any body else want to recall their high school glory days? Or, perhaps y'all can tell me who I'm missing from the early 80s.
Incidentally, I do think far more serious thoughts, most of the time, but this is recreational and refreshing for me.
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