Let Solemn Awe Possess Us

To Know Christ, and the Glory of His Cross, and the Power of His Resurrection

At the center is the Lamb upon His throne; Who was slain, and yet, behold, He lives.

He is the King of Glory, the one true God in the Flesh.  He is the almighty and eternal Son, begotten of the Father from eternity, but now also true Man, conceived and born of the Woman, the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Under Pontius Pilate, He was crucified for our transgressions.  But His Father also raised Him from the dead for our justification, and seated Him at His right hand.  He lives and reigns to all eternity in His own glorious Body of flesh and blood.  In Him, the fullness of God is embodied: His two natures, divine and human, are perfectly and permanently united in His one indivisible Person.

God and Man are perfectly reconciled and permanently united in Him, the Lamb of God and the Lion of Judah in One: He is the Seed of Abraham and the Son of David.  In this one Lord Jesus Christ, in His Person and His work, the Lion and the Lamb lie down and rise up together, unto everlasting life.

The transcendence and immanence of God are thus resolved and held together in His one Body, crucified and risen.  For He is true God, exalted and glorified, and all things are put beneath His feet.  But He is also Immanuel, the God who is with us, who is the true Man, who lives and abides in the flesh forever, closer than a brother.  For He is not only like us, but He has drawn near to us, and given Himself for us, in order to save us, to make us His own Bride, to wed us to Himself as one flesh and bone, and of one blood, in such a profound and intimate way that even death shall never part us.

He is the New Adam, and we are His New Eve, given life from His wounded side, and given to Him by the Father in peace and love.  He is the Husband of one Wife, His Holy Church; and He is the Head of His Body, the household and family of God, in heaven and on earth.  He is our Strength and our Song, for He is our Life and Salvation.  In Him, the true and only God is very present and at work, revealing and giving Himself to us: in, with, and through His own human nature, His flesh and blood.

Our foremost interest, emphasis, and concern, therefore, in approaching the Divine Liturgy and true spiritual worship, is the Person and work of Christ Jesus.  Not only historically, but here and now in the Life of His Church.  For He is both the Subject and the Object of the Liturgy and of worship.

That is to say, not only is He what the Liturgy and worship are about; and not only is He the Content of the Divine Liturgy and of Christian worship; but He Himself is the Liturgist (the fulfillment of the entire Old Testament Priesthood with its liturgy), and He is the first and foremost Worshiper of the Father (the true Man, who is the very Image and Likeness of God, who lives in perfect faith and love).

Having come down from the Father in love, He is lifted up and returns to the Father in peace.  He has descended from heaven, even into the depths of our sin and death, in order to ascend with us in tow.  He is the Apostle of the Father, who is sent to us from the bosom of the Father, in order to make God known to us.  And He is the Author, Perfecter, and High Priest of the Christian faith, who has been sacrificed and slain for us, who ever lives to intercede for us before the Throne of God.  He is the one Mediator between God and Man, in whom the Father comes to us and we are brought to the Father.

Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the finish, and He loves them forever.  What He has accomplished and completed by His Cross, and manifested in His Resurrection from the dead, He now distributes and bestows by His Gospel: to the ends of the earth, even to the close of the age.  His High Priesthood and His Liturgy continue forever.  Not only before the Father in heaven, but also in His Church, wherein He is the One who speaks and acts, who does and gives all good things.

Therefore, Let Us Celebrate the Feast, for Christ our Passover Has Been Sacrificed for Us

The Lord Jesus is exceedingly rich in His grace toward us, in coming to us and giving His Gospel to us in multiple ways and means.  And He is the One who is speaking and doing and giving all of this:

He preaches repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  He baptizes, also, for the forgiveness of sins.  He absolves sinners, in order to fulfill His good and gracious will for their salvation.  He gathers nations to Himself, by His Word and Holy Spirit, in order to name them with His Name and make them His own people.  So does He establish and build His Church, on earth as it is in heaven.  And there within His House, at His own Table, He gives His Body and pours out His Blood: for the forgiveness of sins.

Everything within His Church is so arranged for the forgiving of sins and the saving of sinners.  That is the Gospel, on which everything depends, as upon the sure and certain Foundation of Christ Jesus.  His Gospel of forgiveness is the Life-Breath of His Church, which He breathes into her through all His means of grace.  And as she breathes this Holy Gospel, breathing in and breathing out His Peace, she worships Him in Spirit and in Truth by faith in His forgiveness.

As the Gospel is the breath that fills her lungs and gives her life, the Holy Communion is the beating heart of the Church, which enlivens the flesh and blood of all her members with the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus, her Lord.  For the disciples who are called and gathered from all the nations by His Gospel, are given to eat and to drink the Passover Lamb in this Meal, and so to become His Israel.  Here, then, is the high point and the center of the Divine Liturgy, and of true spiritual worship.

For the Word of God has become Flesh and tabernacles among us.  Lo, He is with us always!  And the Body of this true Lamb is the Temple of God among men: His Body, crucified and risen, and now given to His people in His Supper, is the Ark of the New Covenant, and the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies made without hands, eternal in the heavens.  He is our Anchor behind the Veil, and His Chalice, now poured out for us in the Holy Communion, is the New Testament in His Blood.

The Body and Blood of Christ Jesus — on the Cross and in the Sacrament — are the pattern of the heavenly sanctuary, which God showed to Moses on the Mountain, and which served as the model for the Tabernacle in the wilderness, and so also for the Temple in Jerusalem.  No longer the type or the shadow, but now, in Christ Jesus, the reality and the substance have been established.  God abides with us in Him, not for condemnation, but for mercy, forgiveness, and life; and so do we dwell with God.

“Do This in Remembrance of Me”

It is with His own Institution of the Holy Supper that our Lord Jesus Christ establishes the Ministry of this Sacrament for the Life of His Church.  His divine command, “Do This in remembrance of Me,” is the power and authority by which the pastor acts in the place of Christ; so that each celebration of the Holy Communion, even to the close of the age, is not the pastor’s supper, but the Lord’s Supper.

Therefore, the “remembrance” of Jesus, here, is not simply (nor primarily) our recalling of the past, but it is first of all His own active remembering of us in love, and so also the Father’s remembering of Him on our behalf.  And then, for us, it is not only an intellectual and emotional “remembering,” but a bodily receiving and trusting of Christ, who gives Himself bodily to us, by and with His Word.

There, on the Altar, is the Lamb upon His Throne in the midst of His Church on earth.  And where He is, there is heaven, and all the company of heaven: The angels and archangels, the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures, the saints and martyrs of all the ages, are gathered together around Him at the Altar of His Church on earth.  For it is there that the crucified and risen Lord Jesus reveals and gives Himself to His disciples in the Breaking of the Bread.  Right there is the Gospel: in the Flesh.

So it is that everything else — in the Liturgy, in the Church’s worship, and throughout the Christian faith and life — everything else leads to and from this central high point, that is, to Christ Jesus at His Altar, to His Body and His Blood, which are given and poured out for us Christians to eat and to drink.

Catechesis aims, not only at making disciples of Jesus, but at bringing them to His Holy Sacrament, to eat and to drink His Body and His Blood in repentant faith.  It brings them to and from the waters of Holy Baptism, to the Altar of the Holy Communion.  Not only to begin with, to get them going on the way, but catechesis continues in pastoral care, whereby the Lord our Shepherd leads His lambs and sheep beside the still waters, and through the green pastures, to the Feast at His Table in His House.

The pastoral care of ongoing catechesis and discipleship, which is rooted in the ongoing significance of Holy Baptism, is also continued in the regular practice of Individual Confession and Absolution; so that the baptized faithful are regularly brought to the Holy Communion, by the Spirit through the Gospel, in the holiness, righteousness, and worthiness of faith in the forgiveness of Christ Jesus.

It ought to be noted that pastoral care is the context in which the Sacrament is administered; and that the administration of the Sacrament, itself, is a fundamental aspect and exercise of pastoral care for the Church.  The catholic practice of closed Communion also belongs to this context of pastoral care.

Preaching, likewise, always aims at bringing the disciples of Christ Jesus to and from His Supper.  Liturgically speaking, the Sermon has for its primary task the bringing of the people from the Lectern to the Altar, from the Word to the Word-made-Flesh, by proclaiming His death “until He comes.”  By the same token, the right administration of this Holy Sacrament, in accordance with the Gospel, includes and requires ongoing catechesis and the preaching of the Cross and Resurrection of Christ (which is the preaching of repentance for the forgiveness of sins in His Name).  To be specific, the pastoral care that brings people to the Supper, also belongs to the right administration of the Supper.
“Word and Sacrament” is not simply a cliché, nor a “short list” of necessary parts to be performed. Indeed, the means of grace are not “parts” and “pieces” for us to put together like some kind of puzzle, but they are the means by which the Lord Himself lays hold of us in love, and puts us back together.  His Word and Sacrament are the heart and soul of the Liturgy, as well as its flesh and blood.  For these are His good gifts, and His good works, which He gives and does for us by the Ministry of the Gospel.

As we then live and worship the Lord by faith in His Ministry of the Gospel, by receiving His good gifts at His Altar, our Christian faith and life is characterized by thanksgiving (eucharistia), which culminates in the celebration of the Holy Communion: as Christ Himself gave thanks at His Supper.  From there, His Cup of Thanksgiving “runneth over” into the Christian life of love within the world.

Love for the neighbor is the fruit of Christ’s Love for the Christian in the Holy Communion.  That is the priestly vocation of all the baptized faithful, as they live to and from the Lord’s Altar, into the world wherever God has stationed them.  In the Divine Service, they stand in faith before the Father in Christ, hearing His Word and receiving His Gifts with prayer, praise, and thanksgiving.  So do they offer up themselves, their bodies and their lives, to serve their neighbors as Christ has served them.

This Divine Service is the sacred Tradition of the Church — the seat of true catholicity — namely, Christ in His “Word and Sacrament,” as the Lord’s Supper and its administration are handed over.  For Christ is the Head of His Church, and He is actively present with all of His speaking and doing and giving, within each congregation, wherever He gathers disciples, “in His Name,” by and for the preaching of His Gospel and the administration of His Sacraments in accordance with His Gospel.

It is the Tradition that begins on the night when He is “betrayed,” or, better to say, “handed over.”  Judas betrays Him, that is true, but it is the Father, first of all, who hands over His Son to the Cross. And the Son of God hands Himself over: To His voluntary suffering and death, yes, but so also to His Church, to His disciples as the first communicants, and to His Apostles as the first ministers of His Gospel.  The Apostles, in turn, hand over the same Lord Jesus Christ to the Church that comes after them, in the preaching of His Cross and Resurrection, and in the distribution of His Body and Blood.

The Divine Service is not a malleable tool in our hands, to be “used” by us to achieve some purpose (no matter how noble, sincere, or well-intentioned the purpose may be).  It is, rather, a sacred Tradition of the Lord, to be received from Him, and to be handed over faithfully to His Church, by His grace.

That Which I Received from the Lord, I Also Handed Over to You

In harmony with the handing over of Christ in the Divine Service, there is an associated “culture” of the Church’s other traditions, many of which are truly evangelical and catholic in their character and quality.  It is not the case that “anything goes,” nor that everything which has happened in the history of the Church should continue henceforth.  Nevertheless, there are those customs, confessions, and ceremonies which have developed in connection with the administration of the Divine Service, and which have arisen in thankful response to the Gospel of Christ, which do in fact continue to serve the Church in subsequent generations, as a common heritage of faith and love, of peace and joy in Christ.

Okay, but, wait.  Since Christ is at the center doing everything, What does it matter what we do?  That is a good and compelling question.  For us Lutherans, it is perhaps the practical question.  We know that good works are necessary, and that sin is still sin, which is contrary to the Word and will of God.  But what about that which is free, which God has neither commanded nor forbidden (adiaphora)?  Does it matter, or make any difference at all, whether we do those things or not?

The truth is that we are gathered together into Christ, by the Spirit through the Gospel, to stand before God in peace: to be and to live in the presence of the Father in the righteousness and purity of His beloved Son.  In that Holy Sabbath of Christ Jesus, we are not to be “busy” with any “doing” of our own, but we are given to receive what He is doing: to hear what God the Lord is speaking, to eat and drink what He is feeding us, to rest in His forgiveness, and to bask in the presence of the Holy Triune God.  It is an active passivity, this true spiritual worship of God, which is faith in the Gospel of Christ.

By contrast, it is the religion of the Law, of fallen natural reason, and of the old man, to suppose that we will somehow worship God with our own doing and giving and sacrificing.  It’s not only that we can’t manage it, but that the one true God does not want to be worshiped in that way: He wants to be worshiped by faith in Christ Jesus, which is to say, by the Holy Spirit, in the truth of the Holy Gospel.  For the Spirit calls us by the Gospel, enlightens us with His gifts, sanctifies us through faith in Christ, and also keeps us in Christ Jesus, in union with Him as members of His Body and Bride, the Church.  So does our Bridegroom delight in us, and He adorns us, and in this He is glorified!  And so it is that, by the Holy Spirit, we worship God the Father in the beautiful righteousness and holiness of the Son.

By the Gospel, our Lord has taken us up into His worship of the Father.  That is to say, He takes us up into His own doing, as our merciful and great High Priest in all things pertaining to God.  Not into His Sacrifice for sin, which is finished and complete, once for all, by which He has reconciled the world to God in Himself.  It is a grievous error to suppose that we must take part in that sacrifice, which belongs solely to the God-Man, Jesus Christ.  Not only because it is already accomplished, never to be repeated; but especially because only God, the Lord, could remove our sin and reconcile us to Himself.  It is His divine prerogative, and His divine glory, that He has redeemed and rescued us, and saved us for Himself, by His grace.  So we do not participate in His sacrifice for sin, except by receiving and benefitting from the fruits of His Cross and Passion.  That does indeed involve the suffering of repentance, whereby the Lord, by His Word and Spirit, crucifies the old man in us, in order to raise us up with Himself in His Resurrection; and so do we begin to live a new life in Him.

It is thus, by repentant faith in this Gospel of Christ Jesus, that we are taken up into His piety, into His priestly intercessions for the Church and for the world, and into His ongoing sacrifice of thanksgiving.  In all of this, we are received by the Father as a sweet-smelling incense, pleasing to God in Christ.  “We are caught up in the rapture of Him,” if I may risk such turn of phrase.  It is in Christ Jesus that true Man, now also with His holy Bride, really lives in the presence of God, in peace and joy forever.  Our Sabbath Rest is not one of inactivity, but an active resting of our hearts and minds, of our bodies and our souls, in the Love of God, which is the very Being of the Holy Trinity: We live and abide in the Spirit of the Father, in His Love for the Son, and in the Love of the Son for His God and Father.

In Christ Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, we worship and adore the Father: with hearts and hands and voices, with our minds, and with our bodies.  We “take up the Cup of Salvation and call on the Name of the Lord,” which is to receive and rely upon His good gifts of the Gospel, and to do so with thanksgiving.  We pray, praise, and give thanks, by confessing and proclaiming who God is, and what He has said and done.  We speak and we sing, in His presence, not only to Him, but also to one another in His Name.  We do all of these things in the joyful confidence of Christ, the beloved and well-pleasing Son, in whom we now stand: in whom we have already died by our Baptism into His Cross, and by whose Resurrection we are raised, and our lives are hidden with Him in God.  For He remains our merciful and great High Priest, by whose ongoing priestly service we are pleasing and acceptable to God.

Now, then, as members of His Body and His Bride, we love and serve each other, and our neighbors in the world, with the gifts that we have from Him.  We forgive, as we are forgiven.  We speak and we sing, as our Lord speaks and sings to us by His Spirit through the Gospel.  We hand over the faith.

Which brings us back to what we do with the freedom God has given us, in our relationships with one another, not only as individual Christians within our own stations in life, but also as congregations of one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.  Here, for the sake of mutual love and respect, and for the sake of practical logistics, we limit our freedom in order to live and work together in common cause.

So, too, in order to worship together in the faith of the Gospel, in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving, we make use of Rubrics, Rites, and Ceremonies, of some kind or another.  “Rubrics” are the agreed-upon “rules of conduct,” which are necessary to corporate activity, so that everyone knows what is going on, and everyone knows what to do.  “Rites” are the words that are prayed and confessed, whether spoken, chanted, or sung, by the pastor or the congregation, by the choir or the assisting minister.  And “Ceremonies” are the movements that are made, the actions that are carried out, the postures that are taken, and the positions that are held, in the course of the Liturgy.  Collectively, such Rubrics, Rites, and Ceremonies guide the Church in her coming together before the Lord to worship Him by faith.

We don’t start from scratch, nor operate with a blank slate, nor proceed in a vacuum, with respect to Rubrics, Rites, and Ceremonies.  There is no need, nor should we desire, to reinvent the “alphabet” and “language,” the “grammar” and “vocabulary” of the Liturgy.  We speak with the pattern of sound words, and we follow the patterns of sound practice, which we have heard and received, observed and learned, from our fathers and mothers in the household and family of faith.  We practice the traditions of the churches, since the Gospel did not originate with us.

Some broad and basic examples would include the gathering of the Church on Sunday; the use of a common lectionary; and the following of the Church Year with its Sundays and Seasons, its Festivals and Feasts of Christ.  Martin Chemnitz likewise cites the customary ceremonies of Holy Baptism.

Regarding these and other evangelical traditions, which Lutherans have historically retained and practiced, it has sometimes been argued that our Confessions identify these things only as descriptions of what they were doing then, but not as prescriptions for what we Lutherans should be doing now. There is obviously some truth in that observation, as the Confessions specifically state that human rites and ceremonies do not have to be the same in all times and places; and, in fact, the Lutheran practice was not identical from one territory to the next, although there was much that was held in common, even across territories, and neighboring territories did make an effort to be in harmony with each other. In any case, what our Confessions describe as the practice of “our churches” belongs to our family heritage and culture, which should not be despised, nor lightly cast aside; just as those same godly Christian customs were not despised or cast aside by our Lutheran fathers and mothers, but were in fact gladly received from the Church catholic, and continued in their day, and handed over to us.  It is generally more in keeping with the nature of the Gospel to receive what has been handed over in this way, than to invent and perform some brand new thing for ourselves.  Not always, but generally.

I’ve already mentioned Martin Chemnitz, the great “Second Martin” of the Lutheran Reformation, who deals with the question of traditional rites and ceremonies in several different places, especially within his magisterial Examination of the Council of Trent.  It is instructive to consider his points.

Against the abuses of Rome, Chemnitz certainly insists that adiaphorous traditions are free, and not to be imposed upon anyone’s conscience, since they are neither commanded nor forbidden by God.  Such things have no absolute or necessary value.  They may be modified, or set aside; though they should not be despised or manipulated by individuals in isolation from the fellowship of the Church.  Positively, they may be received and used to reinforce teaching, and as a confession of divine gifts.

Like Luther before him, Chemnitz notes the dangers and temptations involved in the use of impressive traditions, because people are so easily led astray from the Gospel and attracted to their own works.  Nevertheless, the dangers of idolatry, legalism, and works righteousness are not to be found in that which is free, but in the sinful heart of fallen man, which tends either to idolize or to demonize God’s good gifts of creation: Addressing that sinful heart is where care and correction must be focused.

The temptations and the dangers involved in the use of ceremonies are therefore to be guarded against and resisted and avoided, not by a disavowal of ceremonies (as Zwingli and other radicals had done), but by the preaching and teaching and catechesis of the Word of Christ.  Once it is clearly expressed and established that human works and ceremonies do not justify before God, they can be used freely in good and positive ways: to confess the faith, to praise God, and to love the neighbor in the world.

Chemnitz notes, in particular, that, within a context of catechesis and pastoral care, traditional rites and ceremonies may also be a kind of catechesis and confession, which honor and highlight the means of grace, and call attention to the gifts of the Gospel.  Ceremonies may thus be used for the edification of the Church, by expressing that serious and weighty matters are under way, and that God the Lord is present and active.  In this way, Chemnitz summarizes, these adiaphorous traditions can actually help to encourage piety and reverence, decorum and devotion, in the people of God.

For Freedom Christ Has Set You Free: Therefore, Stand Fast in Your Freedom

The right understanding and use of “adiaphora” goes hand-in-hand with the orthodox teaching and confession of the Gospel.  That which God has not commanded cannot be required, nor should it be recommended for righteousness before Him.  Neither should that which God has not forbidden be decried or rejected, as though it were sinful or contrary to the righteousness of faith in Christ.  One sins against this glorious freedom of the children of God, as Luther writes against Karlstadt, either by demanding what God has not demanded, or else by denying and destroying what God has graciously provided and permitted to faith and love.  Either way, legalism violates the liberty of the Gospel.

Luther writes eloquently, and from early on, about the correct use of freedom in love for the “weak” and unlearned, also with specific reference to the use of rites and ceremonies.  By the “weak,” he has in mind those who are accustomed to think of such outward rites and ceremonies as necessary.  They should be accommodated and dealt with gently, and outward things not abruptly changed on them.

The recognition of freedom is not a flattening of all adiaphora into an undifferentiated mess of neither here nor there.  It is broad and evangelically gentle, because it affirms two clearly defined parameters on the basis of the Holy Scriptures: On the one side, what God has commanded, and on the other side, what God has forbidden.  Everything in between is “free,” in itself, with respect to God the Lord.  That does not make adiaphora suspect, but ordinary, belonging not to the Law but to the grace and mercy of God.  Across that broad terrain, there are hills and valleys, deserts and gardens, sunshine and rain, evenings and mornings.  To everything there is its own season.  Context and occasion call for different sorts of behavior and discourse, and freedom allows such “life and conversation” to follow pace.

In faith before God, all things are free, and all things are lawful, for Christ is our righteousness and peace.  To deny that freedom is demonic.  However, in the world, in relation to the neighbor, all things are not equally beneficial, edifying, or salutary to all times, places, and situations.  So, for example, when it comes to the Liturgy, it is not the case that anything goes, even aside from explicit prohibitions in the Holy Scriptures.  Excluded from liturgical “adiaphora” are irreverent and frivolous practices.

Various rites and ceremonies may contribute to the catechesis and confession of Christ, when they are received and practiced in continuity with the catholic consensus of the Church, and when they are exercised with care and concern for the contemporary context, conditions, and circumstances.  Other practices may distract from and deny the chief and central thing.  Freedom thus requires pastoral discernment, discretion, and care.  The same freedom likewise allows for and facilitates such care.

Adiaphora ought to be received and used in faith and love, in the confession of Christ and His Gospel, in the service and support of continuity with the past and consistency from one week to the next.  For the entire life of the Church, also in the Divine Liturgy, is lived in the faith and love of Christ Jesus.

Above all, faith in Christ will adhere to, and insist upon, that which the Lord has commanded and given by His Word: both the Law and the Gospel, but with the Gospel predominating.

Faith will also rejoice and give thanks for those things which the Lord has given and allowed to His people in the freedom of His good creation.  For we proceed with confidence in the authority, power, and sufficiency of Christ and His Gospel; and His Gospel does not confine or restrain us, but sets us free to live before the Lord our God in peace, and to love both God and our neighbor without fear.

It should perhaps be noted, in this connection, that love for the neighbor is especially concerned with the gift of the Gospel for the neighbor.  It is in continuity with the grace, mercy, and peace of the Gospel, that Christians also love and serve the neighbor in the needs of this body and life: feeding, clothing, sheltering, and visiting, as opportunity arises.  Again, freedom allows room for a lively faith in Christ to express itself, to be embodied and exercised, in love for God and for the neighbor, through the numerous abilities and gifts, time, treasures, and talents, that He has generously distributed among His people in a wide variety of ways.  For all the gifts of God’s creation are good, and they are not to be despised or demonized, but received with thanksgiving, and sanctified by His Word and prayer.

Let Us Offer the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving: The Fruit of Lips that Praise His Holy Name

At this point, in speaking of love, we have moved from the sacramental to the sacrificial aspect of Christian worship, which is offered in the Spirit and in Truth, inasmuch it is offered by faith in Christ.

Christian sacrifice rises up in repentance and culminates in thanksgiving (eucharistia), as previously mentioned; because, when everything is done for us and given to us, by the Lord, as a free gift of His grace, there is nothing else for us to do for Him, or give to Him, but to return thanks.  So, too, it is with thanks to God that we love and serve our neighbor in His Name, with His Word, and with good works.

The meet, right, and salutary eucharistic sacrifice comprises faith itself, and the fruits of faith, which is collectively the true spiritual worship of the Holy Triune God.  For the worship of faith in the heart is also confessed with the lips, and it is shown forth in our lives.  With words and signs and actions, thus, we show forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous Light.

Indeed, the true worship of God by faith in the Gospel will necessarily manifest itself in Christian conduct and conversation.  By faith, we offer up ourselves in heart and mind, in spirit, soul, and body, as a living sacrifice, to the glory of God in Christ.

Though the words and actions will obviously differ, to varying degrees, from one person, pastor, and place, to others, there will also be commonalities rooted in the common “pool” of the Gospel itself.  We all drink from the same spiritual Rock, and so it is that the same River of living water that flows from His innermost being also springs up in us, and pours forth the same Spirit in what we say and do.

As we are catechized by Christ, by the preaching and teaching of His Word, so do we pray and confess His Word, speaking back to God, and speaking to each other, as God has spoken to us.  In confessing what the Father has spoken to us by His Son, therefore, we call upon His Name with prayer, praise, and thanksgiving.  This confession of Christ, the fruit of lips that praise His Name, is the foremost fruit of faith, which worships and adores the Father with His own Word, by His own Holy Spirit.

Yet, again, faith and love and thanksgiving are expressed and exercised, not only with holy words, but also with holy bodies.  In this paper we are especially concerned with the ways that we comport and move our bodies in the Liturgy, in the presence of God and our neighbor, by which we honor and adore, worship and glorify Christ, and, in so doing, we confess Him to our neighbor.  What we do with our bodies belongs to the witness of faith that shows forth His praise.  Even the fact that we go up to the House of the Lord, to seek Him in the Temple of His Church, testifies to our faith in Christ Jesus.

Good works of love and the fruits of faith do belong to life in the body.  For you are a new creation in Christ Jesus, recreated in the Image of God, and your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you.  To affirm that newness, that righteousness and holiness, is not to deny the fallenness and frailties of your flesh, but it is to confess that your body has been redeemed and sanctified by the Lord.

As your body has been baptized; and as your ears have heard the Gospel; and as your lips confess the Gospel; and as you eat and drink the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus with your mouth, and so receive Him into your body of flesh and blood; so does your body participate in your Christian faith and life, even as it shall be raised up in the glory of Christ in the Resurrection of all flesh.  In each and all of these means of grace, your body receives and rejoices in the good gifts of the Gospel, and therefore responds in thanksgiving and praise, in faith and love, in the glorious freedom of the children of God.

In the crucified and risen Body of Christ Jesus, all things are made brand new, including your body and all of creation.  For the curse of sin and death has been defeated by His sacrifice upon the Cross, and His own resurrected Body is the Firstfruits of the New Heavens and the New Earth.

Everything has already been accomplished, completed, and established forever in Christ Jesus, and it is already given and pledged to you in the Gospel–Word and Sacraments.  But, of course, it is not yet seen, nor fully sensed and experienced in this fallen world.  Here you bear the Cross, and you live under the Cross.  Nevertheless, although it seems to stand in utter contradiction of the Resurrection, and it appears to be the very opposite of who and what God is, yet, the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is the mysterious revealing of the hidden Glory of God.  We have this treasure in earthen vessels.

When it comes to the Liturgy, outward adornment does not save anyone, nor does it constitute divine glory or life.  Even so, it is able to acknowledge, confess, and give thanks for what is hidden from the eyes under the humility of the Cross.  So do we craft beautiful crosses, and we make chalices a work of art.  I have noticed that a crucifix, in particular, holds a powerful attraction for young children.

What you see is not all that you get, but what you see may speak more than a thousand words could say or express.  In other words, there is a place for “the Mystery of the faith,” for the great “Mystery of godliness,” in the celebration of the sacred “Mysteries of God.”  Not “mysticism,” mind you, but the genuine Mystery of the Incarnate God, the Crucified and Risen God, who reveals and gives Himself to His people, both body and soul, by the external ways and means of His Cross.  This Mystery of Christ is humble and hidden, and yet, it is truly divine and life-giving.

That which Christ our Lord did not assume, He did not redeem.  So said the early fathers in confessing the Incarnation of the Son of God.  But, in point of fact, the same fathers rightly insisted, the Lord our God has become one with us, of one blood and flesh with us, of the same human nature as we are, with both body and soul.  Not only that, but He has also lived through all the stages of human life, from conception in the womb, even to His death upon the Cross.  For He became, not simply human, but mortal: He came in the likeness of our fallen flesh, although He had no sins of His own.  He was also tempted in every way that we are tempted, save only without sin.  Though He was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered.  He grew up as true Man.

Therefore, having assumed the entirety of human nature, human flesh, and human life in both body and soul, and having redeemed humanity in Himself, by His Cross and in His Resurrection from the dead, He also fully engages all of the senses of man, and the body and emotions, as well as the mind and intellect.  So it is that, in the celebration of the “Mysteries of God” in the Liturgy of the Lord’s Supper, there is also an ambiance, if you will, an almost intuitive interaction with the means of grace.  By that I mean to say that, along with the preaching and hearing of the Lord’s Word, there is also a non-verbal, non-academic, bodily and emotional participation in the holistic and comprehensive scope of the Gospel of Christ.  Not as the source of faith and life, but as an aspect of the faith and life that derive from the Spiritual Food and Drink of Christ, who embraces us in full.

The Place on Which You Stand Is Holy Ground

The Mystery of the Incarnation is the point at which ceremonies are taken up in faith and love, in the freedom of the Gospel, but also with humility in the presence of the crucified and risen Lord Jesus.  For ceremonies, too, are integral to human life in the body, located in (and moving through) time and space, in relation to other bodies in the world around you.

It is not only the “weak” who live and worship in the body with ceremonies.  As human beings, of body and soul, redeemed and sanctified by the Body of Christ, by the external Word and Sacraments, Christians live before God and engage one another with ceremonies.  To expand upon the simple definition previously given, “Ceremonies” here include the postures and movements of the body, as well as furnishings and vessels, architecture, artwork, and other outward adornments, paraments and vestments, music of all sorts, candles, and all such tangible accouterments.

To begin with, the Lord has commanded a few simple ceremonies that are constitutive of the Divine Service: These divine ceremonies are the gathering of the Church in the Name of Jesus, by and for the preaching of the Gospel; as well as the washing of water with His Word in Holy Baptism; and of course, the celebration of the Holy Communion, which includes the setting apart of bread and wine, blessing and consecrating these elements with the Word of Christ, distributing the same, the Body and Blood of Christ, to His disciples, and the actual eating and drinking of this Meat and Drink indeed.

This handful of ceremonies instituted by God are the requisite givens of the Liturgy.  Beyond these, other ceremonies are needed, already from a practical standpoint, simply because it is not possible to do what the Lord has commanded without determining other specifics, such as the particular place and time of the Divine Service, and so on and so forth.  Although such matters are incidental to the Gospel itself, they do point to the intersection of the Gospel with bodily human life in the world.

In addition to such housekeeping practicalities, the freedom of the Gospel allows for other ceremonies to be used in thanksgiving to God and in caring for His Church.  These human ceremonies have no part in justification; they neither constitute nor contribute to righteousness and holiness with God.  They may, however, be taken up into the life and love of the redeemed and sanctified body of the Christian, in order to serve the confession and piety of a strong and steadfast faith in the Gospel.

We have similar freedom in all of our human relationships and interactions, as within marriage and family.  In these contexts, we use a wide variety of ceremonies, some for very practical and pragmatic reasons, and others for the sake of affection and celebration, as ways of rejoicing together in God’s good gifts.  Marriage itself is established by and depends upon God’s Word.  And in the confidence of that strong foundation, a husband loves and serves his wife, not only in his heart, but with his words and actions, with big and little gifts and other signs of affection.  Customary ceremonies are likewise involved in the celebration of anniversaries and birthdays.  Such adiaphora do not make the marriage, but they do contribute to it.  So, too, a father doesn’t have to hold his babies or hug his older children, but he does so because he loves them, and it means something and makes a difference when he does.

Because ceremonies are integral to human life, and because they are so powerful in their appearance and affect (even if quite simple in themselves), they have often been a point of controversy within the life of the Church on earth.  It is nothing new that such things are difficult to discuss dispassionately.  Contending over the place and purpose of ceremonies was part of the Reformation from the beginning, vis-á-vis the legalism of Rome on the right and of the Reformed on the left.  While Lutherans taught evangelical freedom in human ceremonies, they also recognized the significance of adiaphora, not only for personal piety, but also for public confession.  When the fanatics resorted to iconoclasm, Lutherans deliberately chose to preserve the catholic traditions in the freedom of the Gospel.  When the papists insisted on the use of certain ceremonies, the Lutherans refused to comply, as a matter of conscience.

At stake in these matters was the Gospel itself, and the freedom of faith in the Gospel, by which alone we are righteous and holy before God.  Therefore, Luther’s warnings against any reliance on human works and ceremonies must ever be taken seriously.  That is the case, in fact, irrespective of which or what kind of ceremonies are used.  “High church,” “low church,” “traditional,” or “contemporary,” none of us is justified or saved by our particular brand or style of ceremony.  Period.

There is more to be said, however, than simply, “Be careful and cautious, and don’t attempt to stand before God on ceremony.”  One can also move beyond the historic context of past controversies, in order to consider the goodness and benefit of ceremonies where consciences are not being bound or twisted about.  A case in point is found in Luther’s theology of music, which he recognized and received as a good gift of God, as a most excellent part of the Lord’s good creation.

Luther’s frequent laudatory comments on the beauty and benefits of music provide a fruitful paradigm for a positive use and value of free outward ceremonies.  As he wrote, for example, in his preface to the Wittenberg hymnal of 1524, that he “would like to see all the arts, especially music, used in the service of Him who gave and made them” (LW 53:316).  Elsewhere, referring to the Renaissance composer, Josquin des Prez (who died in 1521), Luther asserted that “God has preached the Gospel through music, too, as may be seen in Josquin, all of whose compositions flow freely, gently, and cheerfully, are not cramped by rules, and are like the song of the finch” (LW 54:129).

Significantly, Luther embraced music as a blessing in itself, because it belongs to and exemplifies the divine grace and godly good order of Creation, especially in contrast to the chaos and confusion of the devil, sin, and death.  From this perspective, Luther perceived that music itself, even apart from any particular text, is able to convey the Gospel, to chase away the devil, and to lift the sorrowing spirit.  These are rather remarkable claims, but they are consistent in Luther’s writings, and they were put into practice in the way that his followers approached the making and enjoyment of music in the Church.

As Luther appreciated and encouraged artistic excellence in musical composition and performance, he also knew, and took advantage of the fact, that music offers a tremendous benefit to the Christian faith and life, and to theology.  For when it is coupled with the Word of the Gospel, it is a handmaid to the Word, which serves the Word, and supports its proclamation, and carries it to the people, into their hearts and minds.  Luther’s own German Mass (Deutsche Messe) is an especially good example, in which he went to great lengths to match the music to the texts, and to emphasize and underscore the meaning and significance of the texts via the musical intonation.  His friend and collaborator, the great Lutheran Kantor, Johann Walter, attests to the great care that Luther took with these matters.

Music not only catechizes Christians with the Word that it bears; it also gives them a vehicle for confessing the Word of the Gospel, to and for each other in the Church, and to and for their neighbors in the world.  Parents and children, spouses and siblings, also serve and strengthen one another with the Holy Spirit, by the singing of the Gospel in “Psalms, hymns, and Spiritual songs.”

In contrast to Calvin and his followers, who allowed only for the singing of the Scriptures verbatim, Luther advocated the writing of hymns that confess the Holy Scriptures homiletically, that is, in much the same way that a sermon proclaims a text by unfolding it for the congregation.  He and others also wrote hymns that carefully set forth and explain the chief parts of the Catechism.  Lutheran hymnody is therefore kerygmatic and catechetical: It preaches and teaches the Word of the Lord to the people.

Along with its similarities to preaching, Lutheran hymnody is closely connected to the Liturgy in a numerous variety of ways.  It serves and contributes to the ritual and ceremony of the Divine Service, and it is also liturgical in its own character and quality.  Precisely in its confession and proclamation of the Word and work of God, it not only serves the people, but it praises and worships the Lord.   For Luther, hymnody in particular, and music in general, is chiefly doxological: It glorifies its Maker.

Every Knee Shall Bow, and Every Tongue Confess, that Jesus Christ Is Lord

Similar to music, other ceremonies may also be employed to praise and glorify God, to affirm His grace and goodness, to confess Christ Jesus, crucified and risen, and to give thanks for His Gospel of forgiveness, life, and salvation.  Ceremonies are capable of doxology, not because we make them so by our own works or good intentions, but because they belong to the Lord’s creation and redemption of our bodies.  The very fact that ceremonies, including music, can be used hypocritically — as words, too, can be spoken disingenuously — demonstrates the objective meaning and significance of these external expressions.  For there is no hypocrisy or falsehood to be found in doing or saying things that mean nothing, but hypocrisy is present when outwards actions express something contrary to what lies hidden within the heart and mind.  The goal, of course, is that we should believe the Word of God with heart and mind, sincerely, and that we should then confess the same in our speaking and ceremonials.

So, then, on the premise that ceremonies do convey meaning and have something to say, let me offer a few basic examples:

To begin with, the Sign of the Cross is a very ancient Christian ceremony, which is also quite simple and straightforward.  It was in use as far back as the first century, and it is commended by Luther in both of his Catechisms.  It is easily understood, and easily practiced, even by very young children.  The Cross, as always, is readily identified with Jesus and His saving work; and the Sign of the Cross is especially connected to Holy Baptism, whereby the Christian has been crucified with Christ.

To make the Sign of the Cross is to call upon the Lord with a silent prayer and confession of the faith.  The fact that it is traced upon the body, from the head to the heart, and from side to side, helpfully affirms the Lord’s rescue and salvation of the Christian’s entire body.  It also serves notice to Satan that the baptized child of God belongs to the Seed of the Woman, who by His Cross has crushed the ancient serpent’s head.  It, too, belongs to that “one little Word” which fells the devil and his minions.

Another very basic, very simple and straightforward ceremony, mentioned throughout Holy Scripture, is bowing, bending the knee, or full bodily prostration.  In fact, the very terminology that is taken up and used for “worship,” in both Hebrew and Greek, refers to the bending and lowering of the body before the Lord.  Thus, for example, when Satan tempts Jesus to bow down and worship him, the Lord Jesus replies with reference to the First Commandment: “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.”  Frequently, several of these terms are combined, thereby emphasizing the point: “Let us worship and bow down, and kneel before the Lord our Maker.”  Such admonitions are strikingly similar to those that call upon God’s people to sing and make music to the Lord.

To bow down and kneel, or to prostrate oneself, is not only the common practice of worshipers on earth, but is the posture of worship in heaven, such as St. John describes in the Book of the Revelation.  And, as St. Paul records in his Epistle to the Philippians, so shall every knee in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, bow before the Lord Jesus Christ.  That is what worship looks like outwardly, in the body; and that is how the Holy Scriptures depict and describe the inward attitude of fear, love, and trust in the one true God.

Not only in the Bible, but all across the cultures of the world, bowing, kneeling, and prostration are recognized and practiced as significant indications of humility, of honor for a superior, of supplication for mercy, and of adoration, especially for the divine.  So it was that Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den for kneeling in prayer to the Lord three times a day, whereas Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the blazing fiery furnace for refusing to bow down and worship the golden image.  Many of the early Christians, too, were martyred for their similar refusal to bow down and worship, or to offer incense, before the images of Caesar and the gods of Rome.

The First Commandment remains, which permits no other gods before the Lord.  He alone is to be worshiped and adored, with all the heart, all the soul, all the mind, and all the strength of man.  What, then, of the body?  Granted that bowing, kneeling, and prostration are not specifically commanded of the Christian — there is genuine freedom here.  Yet, in view of the pervasiveness with which this sort of posture and ceremony is set forth in the Holy Scriptures, one might be inclined to ask: Where is the Word of God to suggest that we should not worship and bow down, and kneel before the Lord?

Moving in the other direction, so to speak, there is the lifting up of the heart, the head, and the hands, unto Christ our Savior, as in the ancient “orans” position (which is the historic posture of prayer).  So, for example, the eucharistic rite exhorts you to “lift up your hearts” (Sursum Corda).  The Lord Jesus bids you to “lift up your heads,” as your Redemption is drawing near.  And St. Paul calls upon the men in every place to “lift up holy hands” in prayer.  In each of these ways, we look up to Christ Jesus in faith and hope, especially as we look to Him for mercy and forgiveness in His means of grace.

It is also to be noted that this ancient posture of prayer, with hands uplifted to either side, is not only a bodily indication of petition, receptivity, and hopeful expectation; it is also a form of the Cross, in which the one who prays identifies himself with the great High Priest, who was crucified for us, and yes, who was raised up by God to life again, who ever lives to make intercession for us.

There are also those ceremonies by which the Church and Ministry seek to lift up Christ the Crucified in His means of grace, in the administration of His Gospel.  In this, doxology and proclamation again belong together, as we glorify Christ Jesus by setting Him before the world, calling attention to Him, and commending Him to all the nations.  Here a high Christology goes hand in hand with a theology of the Cross, as we acknowledge and adore the Son of the Living God, who is hidden in humility.

Broadly speaking, what we have in view in this case are pastoral vestments, church paraments and furnishings, sacred art and iconography, fine vessels of crafted metal for the Holy Communion, altar candles and chancel flowers, bells and choirs and other musical adornments, and also incense.  Almost all of these ceremonies are exemplified in Exodus, in the instructions for the Tabernacle, which God revealed to Moses on the holy mountain.  They are also referenced, either specifically or in general, among the traditional ceremonies that our Lutheran churches have retained in the Divine Service.

We gladly receive and make use of these customary practices, because they are meet, right, and salutary ways of demonstrating and encouraging reverence and awe in the presence of God.  To be sure, the Tabernacle with all of its furnishings, rites, and ceremonies, the priesthood and all the sacrifices of the Old Testament, are now fulfilled in Christ Jesus: The substance has come!  But precisely because these things faithfully pointed to Him, and depicted what He would be like, and foretold what He would do and accomplish for the salvation of the world, by grace, so do they helpfully inform the theology and practice of Christian worship.  They are appropriate examples, by which the Lord  prepared His people in the past to receive the Christ who was to come.  Now that He has come, and all things are made brand new, the spiritual life of His Church is not “less” but “more.”  Not as the Law, yet to be fulfilled, but as the Gospel already accomplished, for us and for all people, in His own Body of flesh and blood.

There is an edifying place for aesthetics of this kind, and for beauty, not “for its own sake,” but in the joy of faith in God, the Maker and Redeemer of Creation, and in the hope and gladness of His Resurrection from the dead.  Not everything has to be practical, pragmatic, productive, or pedagogical, but may simply adorn the good things of God with loveliness.  The Lord Himself arrays the flowers of the field with great beauty, though they are here today and gone tomorrow.  Like music, the flowers also glorify God and praise their Maker with the beauty that He has given them.  So, too, within His Holy Church, beauty and adornment are appropriate; not for the sake of achieving or accomplishing some purpose or some work, but for the sake of honoring God and His gifts and rejoicing in them.

The place where you are standing in the Divine Service is holy ground, because it is sanctified by the preaching and administration of Christ Jesus.  Therefore, let His priests be clothed with righteousness, and let His saints sing for joy; even as His saints and martyrs have washed their robes and made them white in His holy and precious Blood.  By the washing of water with His Word, He adorns His Bride with Himself and His own holy vesture, as He is vested in the garments of His great High Priesthood.  Likewise, similar vestments cover the men who preach His Word and administer His good gifts of the Gospel, while at the same time adorning the Office which they serve (which is the Office of Christ).

The same rationale can also be applied to each and all of these ceremonies, without denying that all of them are free (adiaphora), and that none of them are necessary to faith and life, to righteousness or worship.  They are simply good examples of fine practices, which, in many cases, may yet be helpful to our confession of the Gospel, by acknowledging and honoring Christ in His means of grace.  Some of these have been too lightly let go or laid aside without ample consideration.  Whereas others, such as incense (which is so deeply biblical), have frankly not been given adequate attention among us.

None of these adiaphorous human ceremonies are of chief importance or concern.  They are neither the foundation, nor the heart and center of the Liturgy.  They are not decisive, nor are they a goal unto themselves.  They do not make us “better Christians.”  They rather emerge in glad response to what the Lord is doing and giving by His Ministry of the Gospel.  They cast no doubt upon the Gospel, but they delight with joyful confidence in the complete sufficiency and absolute certainty of the Gospel.

The Word of Christ has its own autonomous authority.  We add nothing to it, nor can we; neither is it contingent upon us.  The Word of Christ does not depend upon our faith and love, but we depend on it.  We rely upon the Word, and so we honor it in all that we say and do.  By the way that we speak and handle it, by the way that we make use of it, and by the way we act in the presence of the Word, we confess what we believe and thereby catechize the Church with Christ, the Word-made-Flesh.

As Moses Lifted Up the Serpent in the Wilderness, So Must the Son of Man Be Lifted Up

One more particular ceremony, or pair of ceremonies, needs to be considered, because it touches upon a decisive theological point.  Here I refer to the Elevation and the Adoration of Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar.  Actually, more time and attention should be given to this topic than this paper can afford, but for now, if nothing else, let us have it on the table for discussion.

The Elevation of the Sacrament occurs after each of the elements is consecrated with the Word of the Lord.  Thus, after Christ has spoken, “This Is My Body,” His Body is lifted up by the celebrant at the Altar, in and with the consecrated Bread, in order that all may see it; and all are thus invited to adore the Lord in His Body.  In the same way also, after Christ has spoken, “This Is the New Testament in My Blood,” the Chalice is lifted up for all to see, that all may adore the Lord in His Blood.

Luther dealt with questions concerning the Elevation and the Adoration of Christ in the Sacrament throughout his lifetime as a reformer.  His attitude and criteria remained consistent, but were applied somewhat differently in the advice that he gave, depending on the particulars of each situation and its immediate context.  Bear in mind that he had to confront competing challenges on either side: Roman sacrificial notions, and the adoration of the Host apart from the Holy Communion, on the one hand; and Zwinglian denials of the Sacrament altogether, on the other hand.

Because of its associations with the Roman sacrificial Mass, Luther was at first inclined to do away with the Elevation.  However, several considerations led him to preserve the practice, and to defend it against critics and detractors: First, he wanted to exercise patience and care for the piety of the people, lest they be scandalized by such a dramatic change at the highest point of the Divine Service.  Second, he recognized that the Elevation could be understood evangelically, as a commending of the Body of the Christ to the communicants.  For this very reason, Luther notably retained the Elevation in both his Latin and German Masses, describing it as a proclamation of Christ in the Sacrament, and as a gracious invitation to eat and to drink His Body and His Blood for the forgiveness of sins.

As a third and final reason for retaining the Elevation, Luther set himself in opposition to Karlstadt and others, who insisted that the practice was contrary to the Gospel and to the Holy Scriptures, and that it therefore had to be abolished.  Here, as previously mentioned, Luther insisted on its freedom.

It was not Luther, but his own pastor, Johnannes Bugenhagen, who finally did away with the Elevation in Wittenberg (in the late 1530s).  He did so while Luther was away, and there are some indications that Luther was unhappy with this change in practice, especially because there were many people who then perceived it to be a capitulation to Zwinglianism.  In any case, Luther consistently supported Pastor Bugenhagen, and he did not publicly object to the change in ceremony.  Although he mentioned on occasion the possibility of restoring the Elevation to the Liturgy in Wittenberg, that did not happen.

Toward the end of his life, Luther indicated that it would be just as well for the Elevation to be let go from the practice of the churches; not because he was opposed to it, but for the sake of unity among the Lutheran territories, since many of them had already done away with this ceremonial practice.

In considering the Elevation of the Sacrament, it has to be taken into account what a prominent and visible part of the Roman Mass this practice was, and what a volatile issue it became in the context of the Reformation.  In that light, it is actually remarkable that the Lutherans kept it at all, and for so long.  That this continuation of the practice was not solely as a consolation for the weak, nor simply a matter of polemics against the Zwinglians, is demonstrated by a similar but slightly different practice that developed in some of the Lutheran territories of the Sixteenth Century.  In those places, the Body and Blood of Christ were elevated before the people at the Pax Domini, the pastor facing the people with the Host and the Chalice in his hands.  Evidently there was also a rite that would sometimes accompany this new ceremony, drawing upon the words of Luther from one of his writings against Karlstadt: “Look, dear Christian, here are the Body and Blood of your Lord Jesus, which He gives to you for the forgiveness of sins.”  In some cases, this new ceremony was used in addition to the historic Elevation.  Both practices were understood as a strong confession of the Body and Blood of Christ.

With or without the Elevation, as far as Luther himself was concerned, and for other Lutherans after him, there still remained the Adoration of Christ in the Sacrament; although this practice became controversial among the Lutherans, mainly after Luther’s death, in connection with a receptionist trend in Melanchthon and his followers.

The “Adoration,” here, refers specifically to bending the knee (or genuflecting) at the consecration of the Sacrament.  That is to say, it is the bodily worship of Christ, the Lord our God, in His Sacrament.

“Receptionism” is the view that Christ is not present in the bread and wine, except in the actual eating and drinking of the elements.  This view developed with Melanchthon, and continued after him, on the basis of Aristotelian philosophy (or, rather, on a misunderstanding of Aristotle’s “four cause”).  Especially as Melanchthon grew closer to John Calvin, in the years after Luther had died, he and others would make disparaging remarks about “bread worshipers,” referring to those (such as Luther!) who adored the Lord Jesus Christ in His Sacrament.

Luther, in his lifetime, explicitly answered the receptionist position, along with its implications for the celebration of the Sacrament, especially in a couple of letters that he wrote to a Pastor Wolferinus.  Therein he indicated that the proper “use” of the Sacrament, in accordance with the Lord’s Institution, begins with the consecration of the elements (with the Verba Domini) and continues until everything has been consumed.  Within that breadth of “use,” as Luther describes, the bread is the Body of Christ Jesus, and the wine is the Blood of Christ Jesus, exactly as the same Lord Jesus Christ has spoken in the consecration: “This Is My Body,” and “This Is My Blood.”  Therefore, we eat and drink because the Holy Supper is the Body given and the Blood poured out for us.  Likewise, everything is consumed, in keeping with the Word of Christ: “Eat,” and “Drink.”  None of the elements that He has consecrated with His Word should be returned to common usage, nor simply “disposed of.”

The Lutherans of the Sixteenth Century (and well beyond) followed Luther’s lead in this regard, and took these matters quite seriously, as the various Lutheran Church Orders (and several controversies) make plain.  In fact, church practices emulated Luther’s “consecrationist” position, in spite of the growing entrenchment of Melanchthon’s “receptionism” in subsequent generations.  Regrettably, the Formula of Concord, in its article on the Lord’s Supper, has frequently been interpreted through the filters of those later developments, and has therefore been misunderstood in a “receptionist” manner.

As regards the Adoration, in particular, the Formula of Concord has likewise been misunderstood.  On the surface, it would seem as though the Formula rejects this ceremony, when it explicitly disavows the adoration of the bread and wine.  However, that particular “antithesis” is actually confessed in response to those (including Melanchthon) who had accused the Lutherans of “bread worship,” as mentioned earlier.  The point is made, precisely because Luther himself, and many others, did adore the Body and Blood of Christ in the Sacrament, while yet distinguishing His sacred flesh and blood from the creaturely elements of bread and wine, which do of course remain in the Holy Communion.

It is especially clear that the Adoration is actually defended and affirmed, when one compares the Formula of Concord on this point with the corresponding section of the Examination of the Council of Trent, by Martin Chemnitz (a primary author of the Formula).  For “no one except an Arian heretic can or will deny that Christ Himself, true God and Man, who is truly and essentially present in the Supper when it is rightly used, should be adored in Spirit and in Truth in all places but especially where His community is assembled” (FC/SD VII.126).  As Luther had also written in 1544: “In the Sacrament of the Eucharist, which is deserving of honor and adoration, the body and blood of Christ are truly and substantially present, proffered, and received both by the worthy and by the unworthy” (LW 34: 355).

When the Son of Man Is Lifted Up, He Will Draw All People to Himself

Now, then, what does this mean for us?  Since the Sixteenth Century, “Receptionism” has become an entrenched problem, and a kind of “commonplace” among many Lutherans, including the Missouri Synod to a large degree; whereas the temptations of the Roman sacrificial Mass are hardly a prevalent danger in modern Lutheran circles.  Consequently, not the sacrifice of the Mass, nor Corpus Christi processions, but “Consecrationism” vs. “Receptionism” is a defining issue in our own day.  And it is a deeper crisis than one might realize or even imagine.  Consecrationism is chiefly a case of reliance on the Word of Christ, whereas Receptionism introduces a human synergism into the Sacrament, and calls into question the objective integrity of the Sacrament prior to and apart from the faith and activity of the recipient.  In doing so, Receptionism dethrones the Lord and undermines His Gospel.

Against these developments, as against the Karlstadts and Zwinglians of Luther’s day, the Elevation and the Adoration of Christ in the Sacrament offer a strong affirmation of Christ and His Word: That, when Christ says, “This Is My Body,” and “This Is My Blood,” it is actually so.

The Elevation marks and identifies the high point of the Divine Service, and visually lifts up Christ before the people; whereas the Adoration confesses Him to be the Lord our God.  Taken together, these two ceremonies express with the body what St. John the Baptist declared: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”  Beloved, “He must increase,” and “we must decrease.”

Lutherans gladly “Lift high the Cross, the love of Christ proclaim.”  Why should they hesitate to lift high the Christ in His Body and His Blood, to the praise and glory of His holy Name?  They know of kneeling for confession and for prayer, and for the distribution of the Holy Communion.  Why then  balk at the Adoration of Christ in the Consecration of His Sacrament?  Acolytes “reverence the Altar,” which is meet, right, and salutary, since it is from the Altar that Christ, the Son of God, gives to us His Body and His Blood.  So, why not “reverence” the Body and Blood by which the Altar is sanctified?

Aside from the Elevation and the Adoration of Christ in the Sacrament, in any case, it is even more basic to the faithful confession of Christ and His Word, that the elements be handled appropriately, before, during, and after the Consecration.  The Lutheran Church Orders of the Sixteenth Century are practically unanimous in specifying these several practices, in particular: Only as many elements should be prepared and set upon the Altar as are reasonably expected to be needed for the distribution.  From the Consecration onward, and throughout the distribution, the elements should be handled with utmost care, and the ministers should conduct themselves with devout reverence in the presence of the Lord.  If additional elements are required to complete the distribution, they must first be consecrated by the Words of the Lord (Verba Domini).  And, finally, everything that has been consecrated should also be consumed; or, at the very least, it should reverently be set apart until the next Holy Communion.

All Who Believed Were Together and Had All Things in Common

The Lutherans of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries regulated the practices of the churches within each territory, in the interest of a unified confession of the faith they held in common.  We in our day could, and should, learn something from them.

There does not need to be, nor could there be, a “lock-step uniformity” in all ceremonies.  However, a unity and harmony and consistency of practice, as belonging to our confession of fellowship in the Gospel, is desirable and would be edifying.  That was true at the time of the Reformation, and it is not less so in this modern age of internet communications and rapid mobility!

As Luther and others often cited, it is appropriate that we Christians should have common rites and ceremonies for the administration of the Sacraments, since we have the Sacraments themselves in common.  Indeed, we have one Lord, one faith, one Holy Baptism, one God and Father of all.  We are called, gathered, enlightened, and sanctified by one and the same Holy Spirit, and we all partake of one Holy Communion.  We are all one Body in Christ Jesus, because we all eat of the one Bread, which is His Body; so do we all drink of the one Cup, which is the New Testament in His Blood.  As our fellowship is found in the Sacrament, it is appropriate that our celebration of the Supper be similar.

The regulating of adiaphorous rubrics, rites, and ceremonies within the good order of the Church’s fellowship, within a particular jurisdiction of the Church’s life on earth, is not contrary to the Gospel, but serves the confession and catechesis of the Gospel within the Church’s catholicity of faith and love.  Such commonly agreed-upon rubrics, coupled with the supervision of an overseer, or “bishop,” provides for a common practice from place to place, and from week to week, while it also allows room for genuine pastoral care of the Church in each time and place.

This approach to the life of the Church, as a fellowship of congregations in the unity of the faith, is beneficial, not only to the mutual relationships of the congregations with one another, but also to the life of each congregation, and to the relationship of pastors and people within each congregation.

Pastors benefit from the use of what has been received and adopted in common.  Especially because  it is the case that pastoral piety, in both large and small ways, is never simply personal or private, but is public, “political,” and pedagogical.  The people learn from their pastor’s practice.  They also pick up on discrepancies between his preaching and his practice (as in his handling of the Sacrament).

Parishioners benefit, too, when pastors use the common rites and ceremonies of the Church, rather than inventing their own practices, or else importing practices from outside of the Lutheran Church.  Wilhelm Löhe advised, for example, that a layperson should be able to discern where there is Lutheran doctrine and Lutheran worship, by comparing what the pastor preaches and teaches with the Small Catechism, and by comparing what the pastor says and does in the Divine Service with the rubrics, rites, and ceremonies of the Lutheran Liturgy.  In any event, the people of God should not be asked or expected to pray and confess words which they have never seen before, and which they will most likely never see again.  How shall they give their “Amen” to such things, without even knowing where they came from?  Of course, they listen attentively to the sermon, which they haven’t heard ahead of time; but they are not asked to pray and confess the sermon, nor to give their “Amen” to it, without first being given an adequate opportunity to follow it through and to consider it against the Scriptures.

Worthy is Christ, the Lamb Who Was Slain, to Receive All the Worship and Honor and Glory

In dealing with each other, among and within our congregations, and in approaching the Liturgy, we get our bearings, and chart our course, and take our cues from Christ at the Center: He is the Lamb upon His Throne, the One who was slain, and yet, behold, He lives; Who calls and gathers us to Himself, by the Spirit through the Gospel, in order to make us His own priestly people, and to share with us His own divine, eternal Life in body and in soul.  He is the Preacher, the Celebrant, and the Liturgist of the Divine Service; and He is the Husband and Head of His Body and Bride, the Church

As we think very highly of Him, our Savior, so do we think highly of His Church and honor her in word and deed.  She is, after all, the Bride of Christ, and she ought to be treated like a Lady.  Not only that, but we (especially we pastors) should not take liberties with her, but ought to conduct ourselves with the Church in a manner becoming of gentleman with another Man’s Wife.

Make no mistake, the King’s royal Bride is truly a Queen, even when she may be outwardly dressed in beggar’s rags.  But for that very reason, as we are so given the privilege and the opportunity to care for her, to wait upon her needs in this life under the Cross, and to serve and honor her dignity, we shall not deliberately clothe her in rags, but would surely delight to adorn her as the royal Bride that she is.

If we are thus restrained by appropriate decorum and propriety, it is for the sake of the Gospel, which retains its pre-eminence, priority, and predominance.  It is for us a matter of self-discipline, in order to give pride of place to the Gospel.  It is the Gospel that does and gives everything; because it is the Word and work of Christ, who freely and fully forgives the sins of the world, and who reconciles sinners to the Father.  Therefore, the Gospel does not bind or constrain us, but glorifies Christ as our Savior and our God, and comforts terrified consciences with the gift of His Righteousness and Peace.

This Gospel is, and ever shall be, the true adornment and the real beauty of the Church, with which our dear Lord Jesus Christ, our heavenly Bridegroom, graciously covers and clothes us, day by day: within and without, in heart and mind, in spirit, soul, and body.

It is by this grace of God in Christ, by the life that is given to us freely in the Gospel, that we in turn adore Him, confess Him, rejoice in Him, give thanks to Him, and worship Him in faith and love.

As we are called and gathered by the Gospel unto Christ, unto the Lamb upon His Throne, “Let Solemn Awe Possess Us.”  For we are brought into His presence in the humility of repentance, but so also do we enter His courts with praise, in the joyful confidence of faith.  We kneel in awe of His Majesty, and yet, we find that His almighty power is chiefly shown in His tender compassion toward us poor sinners: “The Lord, the Lord, merciful and gracious, patient and long-suffering, abounding in steadfast love, forgiving sin, and not counting trespasses.”

Here He has come to us: to open our ears, our hearts and our minds, our eyes by faith, and finally our mouths; to reveal Himself in the Breaking of the Bread, to feed us with Himself, His Body and His Blood, and to abide in us forever and ever.  So do we abide in Him, and with the Father and the Spirit in His Flesh, in that Peace of the Lord which the world cannot give, and we could never have imagined, but He bestows by His Gospel.  To Him who loves us, who has freed us from our sins by His Blood, and made us a kingdom of priests to His God and Father: to Him be the glory forever and ever.  Amen.

(Paper presented at the ACELC Conference, Austin, Texas, April 2013)

The Life and Love of God in the True Man, Jesus, the Christ

Your entire life in body and soul — all that you are and have — is from the Lord your God.  It all depends upon Him, and it is finally found in Him and lived in Him — or else you die forever.

By the same token, His Law is not an arbitrary set of rules and regulations aiming at controlling you and your behavior.  He has created you in love, for the sake of loving you and giving you life in and with Himself.  His righteous and holy Law, therefore, begins with Who and What He is, and with what He is and does for you by His grace, in accordance with His good and acceptable will.  It is a revelation of the life to which He calls you, that you might live with Him in faith and love.

All of His Commandments can be summarized with one word, Love, because He Himself is Love.  He calls you and commands you to love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, because the Lord your God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, first of all loves you.  Your love will not save you, nor could that ever be its purpose without ceasing to be love.  But His Love for you is your life and your salvation in the incarnate Son, Christ Jesus.

Blessed are those who keep His Commandments and teach others to do the same, for so have they become like the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  They have learned how to love from Him, and in their love for others they give life to their neighbors.  And as your Father in heaven teaches you to live and to love in this way, so are you fathers, in particular, instructed to teach the Word of the Lord to your children, that they might become the children of God by faith in Him.

To live by faith in the Lord your God is to fear, love, and trust in Him above and beyond all things, with your whole heart and soul, with your body and life, your reason and all your senses.  It is to live in Him.  Not that you should thereby earn His favor, and certainly not as though to gain from Him what is already yours by His grace, but for the profoundly simple reason that He alone is God, the Lord.  There is no other God but Him, and as such, there is no life or love in any other.

To know and love the Lord as your true and only God will certainly govern your priorities in life and determine the way you go about your days and your work and spend your time and money.

As our Lord implies in pointing to the second great Commandment, which He likens to the first, and as Dr. Luther stresses in his preaching on this Holy Gospel, your love for God also translates into a genuine and generous love for your neighbor.  In the same way that you love and take care of yourself, so do you guard and protect the people around you and work hard to meet their needs.

On the one hand, you have the confidence and courage to love your family, friends, and neighbors, and even your enemies, because your life is safely and securely found in the Lord who loves you, the Author and Giver of Life who will never leave you nor forsake you.  You live forever in Him.

On the other hand — and this is the point that Dr. Luther emphasizes — the Lord in His mercy has also determined to regard your love for others as your love for Him, so that, whatever you do to even the least of the children of God, the brothers and sisters of Christ, you have done it unto Him.  That is a high and holy calling, and a high and holy privilege, that your relatively meager works of love in this body and life should be credited as a royal service rendered to the Lord your God.

As it actually stands, however, this twofold Law of faith and love toward God, and of love for your neighbor, accuses and condemns you.  It does not exonerate you.  It rather exposes your sins.  For the truth is that you fear, love, and trust in so many things that are not God, whereas you do not fear, love, and trust in Him above all things, and you do not love your neighbor as yourself.

Your unbelief and your idolatry are evident in your words and actions, in the way that you pursue your own selfish desires and depend upon the works of your own hands, driven by your own ideas and emotions, instead of submitting to the Word of the Lord and sacrificing yourself to the glory of His Name and for the benefit of others.  You invest yourself, your heart and mind, your time and attention, your resources, strength, and skills, in the making and spending of money for yourself, in the chasing of entertainment and pleasure, and in the building of monuments to your own ego.

In short, you make a god of yourself, and you worship yourself, to the dishonor of the Lord and the neglect of your neighbor.  To be sure, the Lord is not harmed by your idolatry, and He will not fail to provide for your neighbor without your help.  But His Law does not leave you unscathed.  Its wisdom, love, and goodness put you to shame and condemn you to death, because your lack of faith and love is indicative of your distance and separation from the Life and Love of the Lord.

The scribe in this Holy Gospel is not far from the Kingdom of God, because he has understood the Law of God and confessed it correctly.  And yet, for all of that, neither the Law nor even this man’s astute analysis and articulation of the Law are able to save him from sin, death, and hell.  The Law cannot give to him or you or anyone the Life that it describes or the Love that it requires.  Not because the Law is lacking or deficient, but because you are not able to keep it or fulfill it.

The thing of it is, though, the holy and righteous Law of God, His good and gracious will, was not given and revealed with the intention that you should accomplish it in yourself and for yourself.

Make no mistake, the Law is quite serious and not optional.  The Lord your God commands you to love Him and your neighbor, and there is no life or salvation apart from that love.  But neither can such love be coerced or forced.  It can only be given freely, which is impossible for your sinful heart to do.  What is impossible for you, however, the Lord your God accomplishes in His Love.  And everything His Law requires is revealed, embodied, and lived for you in the one true Man.

The Law was ever and always to be fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, who is also the true and perfect Man.  For this Son of David is the Image of God Himself, in whom God and Man are united in harmony and peace, in righteousness and holiness, innocence and blessedness.

It is Jesus the Christ, and He alone, who has loved the Lord, His God and Father, with all His heart, soul, mind, and strength — yes, with all that He is, His whole Body and Life — unto His innocent suffering and death and the voluntary shedding of His holy and precious Blood upon the Cross.

It is in Christ Jesus, the Crucified One, that sacrifice and whole burnt offering, and the perfect Law of Love for both God and Man, are all fulfilled and completed without any conflict or competition.  It is in Him that righteousness and peace kiss each other, that you might be justified, forgiven, and saved by His grace and mercy toward you.  For it is precisely in His wholehearted love for God, the Son for His Father, that Christ has so loved you, His neighbor, with the sacrifice of Himself.

And so it is that, in the Person of Christ Jesus, in His own Body of flesh and blood, God and Man are reconciled and united.  Not as though God were lacking anything or incomplete without us, but He accomplishes this divine mercy so that man, His creature, might live forever in Him, embraced by His love, and so living in His love — all of this according to His own free grace and holiness.

He alone, the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God — He is the fulfillment of the entire Old Covenant (or Testament), of all the Law and the Prophets, the Commandments and the promises of God, the Priesthood, the Tabernacle, the Temple, and all the priestly sacrifices.  Everything finds it fulfillment, its purpose, and its meaning in His Body, crucified and risen from the dead.

He fulfills and accomplishes all of these things as the true Man.  But He does so, nonetheless, as the One who is also true God, begotten of the Father from all eternity, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, by whom and for whom and through whom all things are made.

This Mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God is not only the key to Jesus’ question about the Christ, who is indeed both David’s Son and David’s Lord (begotten of the Father from eternity, but conceived and born of His Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, when the time had fully come).  It is likewise the crucial and necessary key to your eternal life and salvation.  For God has become Man and lives His divine Life in the flesh, that you might also receive and live that Life in Him.

His Life, His Love, and His whole fulfillment of the Law, it is all for you, whose flesh and blood He shares, that He might be your merciful and great High Priest in all things pertaining to God.  Which is to say that you now live with God in Christ, and that you love, as you are loved, in Him.

A life devoid of such love is really no life at all.  But the life of love that God the Lord commands is not some means to an end; it is the life that is yours by His grace through faith in Christ Jesus, who loves you and has given Himself for you, who has risen for your justification, and who lives and reigns forever as your King.

His sacrificial death upon the Cross is the Atonement and Propitiation for all your sins.  His bodily Resurrection from the dead is your righteousness in the presence of God.  And His Ascension to the Right Hand of the Father is your sanctification and the surety of your eternal salvation.

It is His holy and precious Blood, shed for you upon the Cross, which cleanses you of all your sins and even now binds you to God in faith and love, unto the resurrection of your body and the life everlasting of your body and soul.  For it is the divine and life-giving Blood of the God-Man, Jesus Christ, which has washed you and sanctified you in the waters of your Holy Baptism.  And it is the same Blood of Christ Jesus, poured out for you to drink it in the Holy Communion, which daily and richly forgives you all your sins, guards and protects you from death and the devil, strengthens and sustains your faith and life in the Lord Jesus, and seals you as a child of His God and Father.

It is in Him, and with Him, and through Him, as a member of His Body, that you have entered into the good Land that God has promised.  That is the Land wherein you live even now, even while yet here on earth, by grace through faith in His Gospel, within the Communion of His Church.

Together with those who have gone before us in the faith, we eagerly await the Resurrection of all flesh on that great and glorious Day of the Lord.  And in our waiting we give thanks for those who now rest from their labors.  For we are strengthened and encouraged in our own labors of love by the witness of their example, and we are comforted by the mercies they received under the Cross.

We cannot help but love them, for whom Christ Jesus our Lord gave Himself in love and shed His Blood upon the Cross, whom He chose by grace and called by His Gospel, whom He washed and sanctified and named in Holy Baptism, and whom He fed with His Body and sealed with His Blood at His Altar, here on earth as it is in heaven.

It is by and for the sake of His Blood that we remember and rejoice in those who have gone before us in the faith of Christ, who have lived and died and now live forever in Him, removed from our sight here on earth, but caught up into the life and love of God Himself forever and forevermore.

In this commemoration the Church confesses and give thanks for the life that is no less yours in the Blood of Jesus Christ, your Lord, which He pours out for you here at His Altar on earth, even as He ever lives to pray and intercede for you before the throne of His God and Father in heaven.

It is a divine life that you live by His grace, in faith, and in love for God and Man.  For as Christ has fulfilled the Law on your behalf in His own flesh and blood, by His life and by His sacrifice, by His Cross and in His Resurrection, so do you now live according to the Law of Love in Him.

In Christ Jesus, God has become your Neighbor and loved you; and in Christ Jesus you now also love God in your Neighbor.  We do not presume to rejoice and give thanks for the saints who have gone before us without also loving and serving and giving thanks for the brothers and sisters in Christ who live alongside of us here within His Church on earth.  For we are one Body in Christ, even as we eat of His one Body and drink from the one Cup which is the New Testament in His Blood.  So are we children of one God and Father in Him who loves you, who forgives you all your sins and gives you life with Himself in both body and soul, here in time and hereafter in eternity.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Seeing the Lord Jesus with the Eyes of Faith

Your dear Lord Jesus is nearing the end of His journey from the Jordan to Jerusalem, from the waters of His Baptism to its fulfillment in His Holy Cross and Passion.  Approaching the walls of Jericho, He is only miles from His Holy City, His entrance on Palm Sunday not many days away.  He has set His face toward the Sacrifice of His Body and Life for your Redemption and Salvation.

But Jericho is no mere pit-stop or detour on the way.  There is significance in everything Christ Jesus does.  And one cannot hear of  Jericho, that once-ancient city of Canaan, without recalling the Old Testament “Jesus,” Joshua the son of Nun, who led the sons of Israel into the Promised Land and began the work of driving out its pagan inhabitants by destroying the walls of Jericho.

Now this new and greater “Joshua,” Jesus the Christ, the Son of David, is on His Way to the Cross.  And His voluntary sacrificial death will bring down the walls of pagan darkness, the walls of sin and death, which have separated man from God and prevented the sons and daughters of Adam from entering into His Kingdom.  His Cross and Passion are the way and means by which the Lord brings His people into the Promised Land, as by the preaching of the Gospel of His Cross He calls people from all nations to follow Him through death into His Resurrection and everlasting Life.

So it is that, in His dealings with Blind Bartimaeus, you see portrayed the gracious work of mercy that this Lord Jesus has come to perform for you, as well.  He opens the eyes of those who cannot see — not only the eyes of their bodies, but also the spiritual eyes of faith, that they might see and know Christ Jesus as the God of Grace and the King of Mercy.  Both sorts of blindness are the result of sin, which has brought death and decay into an otherwise beautiful and good creation.  But so does the Savior bring life and light, and the health and strength of a new creation, to both body and soul.  And so it is that even Blind Bartimaeus, and you, and all the faithful, shall see and behold with your own eyes your great Redeemer in the flesh, when He shall stand upon the earth.

By the same token, as you are given to see the mercy of the Lord in His dealings with Bartimaeus, so are you taught the proper response of faith to the Lord Jesus in the example of this poor beggar.  In him you hear and see the most basic activity of true faith, which cries out to the Lord for mercy.  It is a faith which is truly humble and patient, yet equally confident and persistent.  A faith which offers nothing of its own, but seeks all good things from the Son of David, Jesus Christ.

The irony and paradox of this poor man’s example is identified already in the contrast between his situation and his name, “Bartimaeus,” that is, the son of Timaeus.  “Timaeus” is based on the Greek word for the price or value of something.  Most significantly, it is the word that is used for the precious blood of Christ, which He pours out for you upon the Cross as the ransom price of your redemption from sin, death, and hell.  It is also the word that is used for the honor and reverence that belong to the Lord by right, but which He bestows on you by His grace through the Gospel.

It is clear that both of these qualities, both value and honor, have been utterly lacking in the life of poor, blind Bartimaeus, who appears to be a total nothing in the eyes of the world.  Which is not unlike the paradox to be found in the “Son of David,” on His way even now to the royal throne of His Cross.  And yet, the death of this King, who is both David’s Son and David’s Lord, is the price that He pays for you and for all, including Blind Bartimaeus; not gold or silver, cash or credit, but the price of His own Body and Life, given and poured out for the salvation of the world.  That is how He honors you, and that is the value that He assigns to you, according to His tender mercy.

It is in view of the coming Cross and Resurrection of Christ Jesus that Bartimaeus is given the eyes of faith to see Him rightly.  And it is by the Cross and Resurrection of Christ Jesus that Bartimaeus is granted the mercy that he so desperately seeks.  All of which is true for you, as well.  That is to say, the blindness of your sinful unbelief and the darkness of your death are overcome by the Light of God in Christ, which shines upon you from His Cross and in His Resurrection from the dead.

It often takes a while, however, for the Light of Christ to cut through the fog of sin.  Earlier in the Gospel, when Jesus had healed another blind man, He chided the disciples for their blind ignorance and lack of understanding.  “Having eyes,” He said, “do you not see?”  In fact, they did not and could not yet see.  Which is why they have since responded to the Lord’s three explicit revelations of His coming Passion with confusion, fear, and squabbles over greatness and glory.  Still, Jesus has continued with steadfastness of purpose on His Way to the Cross, whereby He will heal sin’s blindness.  So that, with Bartimaeus, “the people who in darkness sat have seen a great Light.”

In order for that Light to shine upon you, that you might see the Lord and know Him as your own, it is necessary that He come and reveal Himself to you.  And so He does.  He takes the initiative in coming down from heaven to seek you out and find you.  He comes in the flesh, and He enters fully into the darkness and death of your sin, unto His death upon the Cross in your stead, in order to gather you up in Himself and bring you in His resurrected Body to God the Father in heaven.

Bartimaeus confesses that saving grace of God in Christ when he calls upon Jesus as the “Son of David.”  Thus does he acknowledge that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the Savior-King who was to come from the house and lineage of David.  But this Son of David, Jesus Christ, conceived and born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is also the almighty and eternal Son of the Living God, who for us men and for our salvation has come down from heaven in the flesh to give you everlasting Life.

And as He is, therefore, God from God, Light from Light, very God of very God, who comes to you in Person, in His own Body of flesh and blood, crucified and risen from the dead, His presence calls forth a response — most appropriately, the cry of faith for mercy from this King, as you have heard from Bartimaeus.  But of course, you would not even know that Christ is present if not for the proclamation of His Word, just as none of the disciples recognized that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, except by the revelation of His Word.  And more to the point at hand, Bartimaeus would not have known that it was Jesus of Nazareth who was passing by — nor even that He was passing by (whoever He was) — if not for the Word that Bartimaeus heard from those around him.

You are in the same position as Blind Bartimaeus, a beggar by the roadside.  You would have no way of knowing that Christ Jesus is here with you in the ministry of His Gospel, in the waters of His Holy Baptism, and in the bread and wine of His Holy Communion, if not for the Word that He preaches to you, by which He calls you and brings you to Himself in repentance and faith.

Do not underestimate the necessity of hearing the Word of Christ, by which alone you have faith and life with God.  For it is the case, as St. Paul writes, that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.  And such faith is nurtured by the preaching and catechesis of that Word, which it is always eager to hear and receive, and which it never stops depending on.

Even after he is called to faith in the mercy of Jesus, Bartimaeus does not presume to act apart from the Word of Christ.  He does not come running until Jesus calls for him to come.  So are you taught to seek the Lord where He may be found, which is to say, where His Word directs you to find Him.  Although He fills all things and is not far from any part of His vast creation, He has not told you to look for Him in all places.  Instead, He directs you by the Word and promises of Holy Scripture to come to Him and find Him in the preaching of His Gospel, in the gracious Word of Absolution, in the waters of Holy Baptism in His Name, and in His Word-made-Flesh in the Holy Communion.  He calls you to find Him in His Church, which is where He has taken His stand upon the earth.

Along the same lines, Blind Bartimaeus is one of the many New Testament examples of someone who is helped along and “brought” to Jesus by his companions, that is, by those who urge him to have courage, to rise and come to Jesus at His call.  Truth be told, the Christian faith and life are always a communal activity and experience.  You cannot come to Jesus or follow Him as a disciple outside the community of His Church.  So, in this case, Jesus stopped and stood and purposefully called Bartimaeus to Himself through the agency of others, whom He sent to call the blind man.

Satan, however, is always mimicking the practices of God, and he is a master of leading you astray and holding you back from Christ through the agency of others.  So, then, not only the Gospel, but also the temptations of the devil come to you by way of the company you keep, whether it be a case of  “mob rule” or other “peer pressures,” as in the case of those who told Bartimaeus to shut up.  Beware of such dangers, and use discretion in choosing your friends and companions; not that you attempt to flee the world, but that you associate with those who adhere to the Word of Christ.

Thankfully — in spite of the devil, the world, and your flesh, which always aim to shut down the cry of faith and discourage you from seeking the Lord Jesus — the call of His Word and Spirit are powerful, persistent, and active, that He should strengthen you against the crowd’s temptations.

Accordingly, as I have already pointed out, you are given a beautiful example of faith in the case of Blind Bartimaeus.  For he is not dissuaded by the people who tell him to be quiet.  And he is not ashamed to cry out for mercy, uttering the most basic prayer of the Christian faith: “Kyrie Eleison.”  “Lord, have mercy!”  Whenever you join the Church around the world in using that prayer, you likewise join with blessed Bartimaeus in throwing yourself at the feet of your dear Savior, Jesus.

Be encouraged, therefore, by the gracious response of that same Lord Jesus, who calls Bartimaeus to Himself.  And follow the example of that poor beggar, who throws off his garments and runs to Christ Jesus at His Word.  Perhaps you have recognized the parallels to Baptism in this action, in which all of your old sinful ways have been removed like dirty clothing, that you might come to Jesus in the humility of nakedness (like a newborn infant); and that you, like Bartimaeus, might offer nothing to the Lord but your desperate need, and ask for nothing else than His mercy.

Then also rise with Bartimaeus to follow after Christ as a disciple in the Way of His Cross and Passion.  No more are you left sitting in your blindness on the sidelines.  You rise to walk with the Lord on His Way to the City of God — to die with Christ Jesus in His death, and to live with Him in His Resurrection.  It is not an easy Way that you follow.  It is not an easy road that you walk.  It is not an easy journey that you make with the Lord Jesus Christ.  But the Cross that you carry, for now, is the Cross that He has borne and carried for you.  And by His Word and Holy Spirit, you are given the eyes of faith to see in that Cross the glory of His forgiveness, His life and salvation.

How different is this poor beggar, Bartimaeus, from the rich young man who came to Jesus earlier in this same chapter of St Mark.  That man had so much, but he was unwilling and unable to let go of his own efforts and possessions in order to follow Jesus.  But this man who has nothing, not even his sight, here demonstrates the very posture of faith which you are likewise called to assume, a posture of poverty and humility before the Lord, which nevertheless clings in hope to His mercy.

And then there is the gracious response of the Lord Jesus.  His healing of Blind Bartimaeus is far more than the evidence of His power, proving who He is.  It is a manifestation of His Gospel and Salvation in the flesh, which comes by the Way of His Cross and points to His Resurrection.  In restoring sight to the blind, He brings an end to the captivity of sin, death, and the power of the devil over all mankind.  He undoes the ignorance of unbelief, and He opens up the eyes of faith.

It is clear from the words of Jesus that Bartimaeus already “saw” (by faith) even before his eyes were healed.  Ironically, then, it was a blind man who saw and understood what the sighted scribes and pharisees and crowds, and even the disciples, were unable to perceive.  He saw and understood that Jesus, the Son of Man, came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His Life as a Ransom for the many.  In that light, there is no room for a false modesty which refuses to ask for His help.  It is true, of course, that you do not deserve the charity of God.  So be it.  But the Savior has come to serve you by His grace.  And He would have you emulate the shameless humility of Bartimaeus, which drowns out the crowd by drumming the ears of the Lord with incessant cries for mercy.

Christ be praised that, even as you call upon His Name, the merciful heart of God is open to you in Him.  Take courage.  Rise up.  He is calling you to Himself.  Your prayer is not despised, and your faith will not be put to shame or disappointed.  For here at His Altar you receive the mercy of God in Christ, in His Body given and His Blood poured out for your forgiveness and salvation.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

What You Could Not Do, God Has Done for You in Christ

The Word of our Lord in the Gospel this morning follows immediately after the story of the rich young man that we heard last Sunday.  That young man asked what he must do to inherit eternal life, sincerely believing that he had already been keeping the Commandments of the Law, and yet looking for something else, for whatever it was that he was still missing.  It was in love that Jesus responded by exposing the man’s fatal attachment to his wealth and riches, by telling him to give it all away to those in need, and to follow after Jesus as a disciple to the Cross.  Upon hearing that challenging Word, the rich young man went away deeply disappointed and sorrowful.  He was, at that point at least, unable to let go of his stuff in order to lay hold of Jesus and His free Salvation.

It was then that your Lord Jesus looked around at His disciples and began to catechize them with the Word that you have heard from Him this morning.  He would teach you, as well, how hard it is for those with wealth and riches to enter the Kingdom of God.  But to understand what He has said to you in this case, it is necessary that you bear in mind the context and circumstances.  Otherwise, it is far too easy to hear His Words as a criticism or condemnation of material wealth, or as indication that self-imposed poverty is somehow the key to entering the Kingdom of God.

As I pointed out last Sunday, your possessions are not the problem, though they may well present a challenge to your repentance, faith, and life, as they did for that rich young man.  But it is neither material wealth nor poverty that is decisive in determining whether you will live with God.

The real issue that confronts you here is the question of what you cling to and depend upon.  What is it that you fear, love, and trust above all things?  Which is really to ask: What is your god?  What is it that you worship with your heart, mind, body, and soul, with your time, treasures, and talents?

As Dr. Luther describes in his discussion of the First Commandment in the Large Catechism, your god is whatever it is that you look to for life and depend upon for your happiness; and when you have it, you are content and satisfied, you feel safe and secure, but if it is threatened or taken away, then you panic and are thrown into despair, as though there were no longer any hope or happiness.

With that in mind, it is apparent that those who are poor in this body and life are no less tempted to make wealth, money, and possessions into their false god than those who are rich.  The fact that you may not have it certainly does not mean that you don’t want it more than anything else in the world!  The poor often spend their lives thinking that, if only they were rich, they’d be happy.

Even so, those who are poor do have an advantage in this regard, that they are less likely to fix their hopes and rely upon what they don’t have.  In recognizing their poverty and need, they are more likely to repent of their sins and to look to the Lord for His forgiveness and His gift of life.  That is yet another way of becoming and learning to live like a little child in the presence of God.

The especially difficult challenge for those who are rich in their worldly possessions, is that they do seem able to rely upon those material things for life and health and all manner of advantages.  Their wealth and their possessions are all good gifts and blessings from the Lord their God, but it requires the humility of repentance and the clarity of faith to receive them with thanksgiving, to use them to His glory and for their neighbor’s benefit, and not to put their trust in those things.

The same thing holds true, of course, whether your “wealth” in this world happens to be money or some other gift and blessing of God.  Your intelligence and education may become your idol and false god, to which you cling for security and success.  Or your athletic abilities, your bodily health and strength, or your outward attractiveness, charm, and charisma.  Or maybe you are more tempted to “fear, love, and trust” in your marriage and family, your husband or wife, your children and grandchildren.  Or you might be prone to rely upon your track record of dedicated service to the church, as though that were your ticket to eternal life in the Kingdom of God.

Bear in mind that these examples of “wealth” are all good things, gracious gifts and blessings from the hand of God.  But the problem, again, is found within the attitude of your sinful heart, when you cling to and depend upon the gifts instead of their Giver; when you worship your wealth of whatever sort it happens to be, instead of worshiping the Lord your God.  That is not to be!

Sad to say, you do fix your heart, mind, and strength, your body and life, upon your possessions and your stuff, your achievements and activities, your hopes, dreams, and aspirations, instead of fixing yourself on Christ and following after Him by faith in His Cross and Resurrection.  Which is why you must let go and leave behind all of those idols in order to enter the Kingdom of God.

Consequently, the more of whatever you have, the more you are called to give up and leave behind.  Not that you must necessarily liquidate everything and donate it to charity, or quit your life and go into seclusion.  On the contrary, it is much more to be a change of heart and attitude, whereby you live by faith in God and in self-sacrificing love for your neighbors.  It is not so much your stuff that is the problem, far less the people in your life, but the idolatry of your sinful heart and flesh.

What you must give up and leave behind, therefore, are all of your attachments to everything other than God, whether people or things, whether tangible or intangible, whether it be what you have or what you really want.  It is necessary that you give up and leave behind all of those attachments; that you take up the Cross and follow Jesus; and that you die to yourself and live unto God in Him.

Unfortunately, whether you have a lot or very little, in your native sinfulness you are not able to give up your false gods and leave them behind.  You simply cannot do it, no more than that rich young man last week.  And do not suppose for one moment that St. Peter and the other disciples gave up everything they had to follow Jesus by any reason or strength of their own!  It was rather that Jesus called them to repentance and faith by His Word of the Law and the Gospel.  He called them to take up the Cross and follow after Him, even to the point of persecution and death.  And it was only by the power of His Word and Holy Spirit that they answered His call and followed.

It is the same for you, as well, who are called by the Gospel and enlightened by the gifts of His Word and Spirit.  Otherwise, your sinful heart would go on trusting your own wisdom, reason, feelings, and opinions, relying on your money and material possessions, and prizing your family and friends above the Lord your God.  Well, if you are honest with yourself, you will know better than I do what are the idols and false gods in your life.  They are, again, those things which, when they are in place, then you are content and secure; but whenever they are threatened in some way, or if they are taken away from you, then you become frantic with despair and hopelessness.

To be sure, left to yourself and your own devices, all would be lost and hopeless.  To save yourself is not simply difficult; it is impossible.  You cannot save yourself.  You cannot even come close!

Thankfully, what you could not do for yourself, the Lord your God has done for you in Christ Jesus.  He has obtained salvation for you by the sacrifice of His Cross and in His Resurrection from the dead.  And now He saves you, by His grace, by the Word and Ministry of His Gospel.

In willing obedience to His God and Father, in perfect faith and holy love, He let go of all that was His and made Himself nothing — even to the point of His death on the Cross — not to achieve any benefit for Himself, but to atone for the sins of the world and to reconcile sinners to God.

So it is that, by the preaching of His Word, and by the gracious working of His Spirit, He calls you to receive and trust what He has accomplished for you by His Cross and Resurrection.  All that He has done for you and gotten for you, He offers and gives to you here by the Ministry of His Gospel.

It is likewise by His Word and Holy Spirit — by faith in His forgiveness and the sure and certain promise of His Resurrection — that you are set free from your reliance on riches and from your worship of wealth; and you are able, then, to receive whatever God has given you in this body and life with thanksgiving, and to use it in faith and love according to His good and acceptable will.

It is likely the case that repenting of your misplaced trust in wealth and riches will sometimes mean that you must give up on certain things altogether, in order to alleviate their hold upon your heart and mind, body and soul.  Various addictions can only be broken by going “cold turkey.”  And it may well be that the fruits of repentance will include the surrender of things you have relied on.

Beyond all that, however, it is not so much your stuff or your habits but yourself that you must give up, and set aside, and put behind you.  It is the work of the Cross, within your Holy Baptism and throughout your life, that puts you to death and buries you with Christ through daily contrition and repentance.  And it is the forgiveness of His Cross that raises you up to a brand new life in Him.

By and large, repentance and faith in the true God do not require that you must give up or get rid of your possessions, far less that you must abandon your neighbors.  It is rather that repentance and faith result in a brand new relationship with the people and things in your life, so that you are able to enjoy and appreciate whatever you are given with a heart that fears, loves, and trusts in God.

To say it simply, your entire life is lived under the Cross of Christ in the hope and promise of His Resurrection from the dead.  Relying on His forgiveness of sins, you find true peace and Sabbath rest in the grace of His Gospel, regardless of how much or how little you may have in this world.

In actual fact, to inherit eternal life and to enter the Kingdom of God by grace through faith in Christ Jesus, is to receive one-hundredfold the gifts and blessings of God in the Body of His Son.  That is true already here and now within His Church on earth, the household and family of God to which you belong by His gracious adoption, and wherein you are surrounded by numerous brothers and sisters in Christ.  So shall it be, all the more so, in the Resurrection of your body to the life everlasting of your body and soul in the Kingdom of your God and Father in heaven.

Oddly enough, among the gifts and blessings that you have from the Lord, the most important — although it is the hardest of all to receive and understand — is the strange, divine, paradoxical blessing of the Cross.  That includes, for example, the persecutions that Jesus says will come your way on His account and on account of the Gospel.

Such persecutions in this body and life, and the Cross of Christ that you bear, will take many and various forms — some of them subtle, and some of them quite obvious and traumatic.  They may at times involve the loss of your family and friends, or the loss of your house and home, or the loss of your money and goods, as happened in the case of Job, for example, in the Old Testament.

Be that as it may, whatever the particular shape or form of the Cross in the course of your Christian faith and life, it remains the gift and blessing of the Lord your God.  It is the Cross of Christ Jesus that you bear, with which He has marked you as His own by His Word and Holy Spirit in your Baptism.  And as the Cross is the height of His own divine glory as your Savior, it is likewise your greatest glory as a child of God, because it is the power and wisdom of God for your salvation.

It is by the Cross of Christ that you are saved.  And so it is that, when you bear that Cross, you are already sharing and participating in the eternal life and salvation which Christ has thereby obtained for you and all, which He gives to you and bestows upon you by His grace and through His Gospel.

Thus does He feed you, here and now, with His own sacrificial Body and Blood, given and poured out from His Cross into His Church, for the forgiveness of all your sins, and for life and salvation in Him.  What is more, it is in and with that Holy Communion that you receive and share the fruits and benefits of His Cross, and that you are united with the entire household and family of God, which is the Bride of Christ, His Holy Church, who is your Mother in the same Lord Jesus Christ.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Life-Giving Word of the Good Physician

What is it that ails you?  What infirmities afflict your body?  What burdens weigh upon your mind and your heart, your emotions, and your spirit?

The one who is healthy and well has no need of a physician.  So, if you want to pretend that you are doing just fine, that your heart, mind, body, and soul are healthy and strong, then you may as well not be here.  This is a hospital for sinners, where the Good Physician heals what truly ails you.

The truth is that you are dying.  From your conception and birth, you are dying.  Your body is mortal and wearing out.  Your mind and heart are as frail and finite as your flesh.  And your soul and spirit are subject to the assaults and accusations of the devil, afflicted by the fear of death.

You are sick to the core of your being, and you are dying from the inside-out, on account of sin.  You have inherited the curse of sin and death from your parents, all the way back to Adam & Eve; and you have contributed to that legacy by your own persistent sins of thought, word, and deed.

Some of your sins bring their own consequences directly upon you, and it is foolish as well as wrong to persist in such sins.  But sin brings death because every sin is a turning away from the one true God and a reliance on that which is perishing and impotent to save you.  In all your sins you turn away from the only Author and Giver of life, and so it is that you are always dying.

You live at all only by the grace of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  You live solely by His mercy, because He feeds you and clothes you with divine charity.  He gives you breath, He gives you life, and He sustains you.  And in spite of all that, you chase after death by continuing to sin.

For all of that, the Lord Jesus is your Good Physician of soul and body.  And that He might heal you inside and out, He sends doctors to care for you with a Medicine that only He can provide.

He sends to you a pastor, a bishop and physician of your soul.  A Seelsorger, as our Lutheran fathers liked to say, who comes to you and cares for you with the Medicine of the Gospel.  Words and Water, Bread and Wine, that is all your senses are able to perceive on the surface.  But the Words of Christ are the power and authority of God, unto repentance, faith, forgiveness, and life.

The Lord Jesus has sent you Pastor Luke, an Evangelist, a preacher of the Word and a minister of the means of grace, whom we remember on this day.  St. Paul calls him “the beloved physician,” and so we suppose that he was a medical doctor.  There are some hints along those lines in his Gospel, the sort of comments that a doctor might well make.  But St. Luke is a better physician in the record of the Holy Gospel than he was of the body.  All of the people he treated died.  But all who hear and receive the Gospel he has written by the Spirit of Christ shall never die but live.

St. Luke has done extraordinarily what every pastor does ordinarily.  He has published the Word of Christ and His Apostles for the healing of the nations.  He has done so for the world, but your pastors, to this day, preach and proclaim that same Holy Gospel, that same Word of Christ, here to you in this place.  And it is by that Word of the Gospel that you are healed in soul and body.

Your sins are all forgiven, every one of them.  And though your body still languishes in this life on earth — and though your body will die, sooner or later, if the Lord does not return in glory before that day and that hour — though your body wastes away, and your body and mind are both afflicted by the consequences of sin and the fallenness of creation — yet, none of this will have the last word concerning you.  Not concerning your soul, and not concerning your body, either.

Whatever may wrack your body now, it will be done away with, and your body will be perfect in the Resurrection of all flesh.  No more aches and pains.  No more fatigue and tiredness.  No more poor eyesight or loss of hearing.  No more sore tummies, or hurting backs, or tired feet.  No more coughs or colds.  All of those infirmities shall be gone, because your sin is taken away by Jesus.

To that end, if you would hear and receive the healing Word of Jesus — if you would not die but live — go to where He sends His messengers, because He sends His messengers before His face to every place where He Himself goes.  He sends them to speak His Word with His authority.

If you look for Jesus somewhere else than where He has sent His messengers, you will not find Him.  But He finds you by sending His men to you, His pastors, His good physicians, His Lukes, His Matthews, Marks, and Johns, His Richards and Davids.  So does He seek you out to save you.

There are plenty of alternatives to the Ministry of the Gospel, lots of  things competing for your attention and allegiance, all around you in the world.  But no matter how appealing they may be, alternatives to the Gospel are no real medicine at all.  None of them will be able to save you.  It is only the pastors of Christ, the servants of His Word, who have the right sort of medicine for that which truly kills you.  The Gospel, that is what saves you from sin, death, the devil, and hell.

And yet, the Lord’s physicians of the soul don’t look like much.  Their own bodies and lives surely do not display any great health and strength.  They are rather like lambs among wolves, Jesus says.  They are sheep led to the slaughter.  They are sent out to be sacrificed for the sake of the Gospel.

The ministers of Christ are sacrificial lambs, like the Lord before them, because their entire lives are defined by the Gospel of His Sacrifice.  Not only what they preach and do, but their bodies and their lives are defined by the Cross of Christ the Crucified.  They are like the One who sends them.

So the world scoffs and laughs at those whom Jesus sends.  And yet, because they are like Him, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the Medicine they bring in His Name and stead is a potent medicine indeed.  It is the power of His Cross and Resurrection from the dead.  It brings the forgiveness of all your sins.  It justifies you with the righteousness of God in Christ.  It sanctifies you with His Holy Spirit in body and soul, and raises you up unto everlasting Life.

How, then, will you hear and receive the physicians that Christ Jesus sends before His face to care for you in this place?  Will you receive them in peace, by repentance and faith in His Word?  Will you receive the preaching of His Word as the healing and life that it truly is, as the forgiveness of your sins, as the very presence of Christ among you?  Or will you reject His Word and preaching?

Hear and heed the Word of the Lord Jesus, and know that the Kingdom of God is here at hand in the preaching of Christ, whether you believe it or not.  The Kingdom of God is here with you tonight, because Christ is here.  He is here in His Word to you.  He preaches His Law to expose your sickness, so that He, the Good Physician, can heal you with His Gospel, the perfect Medicine.

He is not here to condemn you or destroy you.  He will not leave you dead on the operating table.  Trust this Doctor.  He knows what He is doing.  When He cuts you open and exposes all of those things that you don’t want to know about and don’t want to see, He does it so that He can heal you from the inside-out.  And when He speaks His Word, it is the Truth, which gives you real Life.

Consider this.  The Lord your God has taken a Body of flesh and blood like your own for Himself.  And He has sacrificed Himself for you, His Body and Blood on the Cross.  Yet, death could not hold on to Him or keep Him.  The gates of Hades could not prevail against Him.  He has burst open the tomb, He has risen from the dead, and He is all glorious, immortal and imperishable forever.

But even now He comes to you in the midst of your sin and death, in order to feed you with His Body and His Blood.  He gives Himself into your mortal body of flesh and blood, in order to confront the sickness of your sin and death and prevent them from defeating you.  So it is that, when the devil tries to lay hold of you, when sickness tries to ruin you, when death tries to swallow you up, they all meet up with the crucified and risen Lord Jesus, and they cannot win.

By and with His Word, the Lord Jesus anoints you with His Spirit, and He unites Himself to you — His Body and Blood united to yours — that you should live with Him forever in body and soul.

When you hear and receive the Word of St. Luke, you hear and receive the Word of this Doctor, Jesus.  And when you hear the preaching of that Word from your own pastors, it is Jesus you hear preaching to you, who forgives you, heals you, feeds you, and clothes you in His tender mercy.

All of this He does for you because He loves you.  The Kingdom of God is here with you in this place, on earth as it is in heaven, because the Creator and the King of the heavens and the earth loves you.  He is here to save you by and with the Word that He preaches to you.  He has come to forgive your sins, to cast out all your demons, to heal your diseases, and to give you His own Life.

Take and eat what He presents, His very Body.  Drink the Medicine of Immortality from His Cup, the New Testament in His Blood.  For in these Gifts there is health and strength and life forever.

In the Name + of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.