When Facebook was just beginning to possess America and us Americans, a comedian doing a bit on this new internet sensation incredulously said, So, these are your friends with a click of an icon? Really…but will your new friend help you move into your new apartment on Saturday? This Proverbs passage speaks to Facebook, etc.: A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24 I think Shakespeare got it right: “Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, Grapple them unto thy soul with hoops of steel…” Exactly right, yet there is more from Shakespeare: “But do not dull thy palm with entertainment Of each new-hatched, unfledged comrade.” Facebook ‘friends’ are new hatched, unfledged comrades and one can have thousands. I think Facebook has devalued the truth of friendship.
Maybe God uses Facebook… ‘Let’s see, oh, oh, Sally doesn’t like House Bill #3952 that would limit investments in solar panel start-ups and she’s into crystals. Unfriend! ‘Oh, Fred posted such a nice photo of his family trip to Cancun, and the steak he had the other night looks divine…and he just posted he loves Me. Friend!’ So how does one get so many companions? Being just delightful and the façade of friendship is daily posted in social media….as shallow as a screen. Now when you’re not so delightful, do you still need a friend? And money sure helps for many companions: “Wealth brings many new friends, but a poor man is deserted by his friend.” Proverbs 19: 4. Yes, one can have many companions, be a major draw in social media, and come to ruin in life: Where are all my friends, when I need one right now…Was I ever a friend? May be a question that is hardly asked but the depth of the bond of friendship is in the Bible, God’s Word.
Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy. Proverbs 27:6 And again, A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Proverbs 17:17 Kisses of an enemy…maybe an enemy pretending to be your friend, as he wants something from you: ‘Oh, you’re the best, You’re just brilliant’ We even have expressions: kissing up to someone and another one, and, kissing someone where the sun don’t shine. Of course, Jesus never did that but by the open proclamation and teaching of the truth frees us from our sin. So who is friend? Faithful are the wounds of a friend: One who took one for you…who stood by your side when others had fled, wounded by your plight…a friend who loved at all times, in riches and in ruin, in sorrow and in happiness, in laughter and tears…and when the times got tough, a brother was born. The wounded friend who loves at all times, born for adversity, THE brother is Jesus. A friend who sticks closer than a brother. Wounds, friend and brother…and Lord all one in Jesus. And He called His disciples friend. As shallow is Facebook, Jesus is as deep as the nails into His Body…for His friends, for His enemies, for you.
Almighty God, by the glorious resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ, You destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light. Grant that we who have been raised with Him may abide in His presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
READINGS: Acts 3:13-15, 17-19 Psalm 61 Colossians 3:1-7 or 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 St. John 21:1-14
When the risen Lord visits the disciples at the Sea of Galilee, just as He said He would, Simon Peter and four fellow disciples are fishing, doing what they knew how to do. When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord from the beloved disciple, he put on his outer garment, for he was “stripped for work”, and out of the boat, he threw himself into the sea.
The Greek word for “stripped” is “gymnos”. Gymnos means naked. In ancient times, one competed in athletics naked. Peter was undressed, because he was working hard. He was probably hot and sweaty. Once again, Jesus caused a miraculous catch of fish and because Peter is naked, he puts on “his outer garment”, jumps into “the sea” to go to the Lord. He must have been quite soggy.
Like Adam, like all mankind, Peter clothed himself because of his nakedness before the living God. Peter had denied Him three times. Baptism is the reverse of this: water is poured, or the catechumen is immersed into the water three times to wash away our sin in God’s most precious Word: His Name. When immersed, in the first centuries of the Church, one went naked into the Baptismal waters and then a white garment was “put on”, signifying emerging clothed in Christ. Peter putting on his outer garment to come to the Lord can remind us of the many places Scripture we are to put on our Baptism, the new self in Christ. The Greek verb is the same for each translation of it as “put on” and “put on” is also translated as “clothe”:
Romans 13:12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and puton the armor of light.
Romans 13:14 But puton the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
1 Corinthians 15:53 For this perishable body must puton the imperishable, and this mortal body must puton immortality.
2 Corinthians 5:2 For in this tent we groan, longing to puton our heavenly dwelling,
Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have puton Christ.
Ephesians 4:24 and to puton the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 6:11Puton the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
Ephesians 6:14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having puton the breastplate of righteousness,
Colossians 3:10 and have puton the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
Colossians 3:12Puton then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
Colossians 3:14 And above all these puton love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
IN the verses above we are variously told also to put on the armor of light, put on love, compassionate hearts, etc, and in the Day of Resurrection we will be clothed in our “heavenly dwelling”. I will go out on limb here and say that the armor of light, the whole armor of God, putting on “love”, are all references to Baptism, and putting on Christ. We are encouraged to put on what we have been given: our Baptism into Christ.
Peter and the disciples, sit on the sea shore and Jesus feeds them. In the next scene, He charges Peter to feed His sheep. The Lord feeds us Himself, His flesh and blood for the life of the world. Baptism is followed by Holy Communion. We can not go naked to the Lord and so He clothed us in Himself as He clothed Adam and Eve in the Garden. We are not dressed for success, but for faithfulness.
The verb “revealed” is used in the first and last verse of this Gospel lesson. The disciples are awed that Jesus arrives in Galilee. Revelation, or manifestation, epiphany is the mark of the end of world that has come upon us. When we put on our daily Baptism, the new self, we are dressed for and in the end of the world who is Christ, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Reread the texts above for a description of our Christening robe and how different it is from the styles of the world. We do not go out naked into the world or showing enough to sexually entice someone else. The Lord clothes us the shame of the Adamic nakedness as the Lord once clothed Adam and Eve (Genesis 3: 21). Adam and Eve’s garments were just for this life. Clothed in Christ is His life for the new heavens and earth. And in the meantime, the Church will be different from the world as she is clothed in Christ and His armor of light and love.
O Lord Jesus Christ, look upon me, a poor sinner, with Your eyes of mercy, the same eyes of mercy with which You looked upon Peter in the assembly-room, upon Mary Magdalene at the banquet, and upon the malefactor on the cross. Grant to me also, almighty God, that with Peter I bemoan my sin from the heart, with Mary Magdalene sincerely love You, and with the malefactor on the cross may live eternally with You in Your kingdom. Amen. (Johann Gerhard)
Almighty God, through the resurrection of Your Son You have secured peace for our troubled consciences. Grant us this peace evermore that trusting in the merit of Your Son we may come at last to the perfect peace of heaven; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
READINGS: Daniel 3:8-28 Psalm 2 Acts 13:26-33 St. Luke 24:36-49
“O Holy Trinity, You Self-sufficient Love, ignite also in our heart this fire of Your Love!” ( Rev. Pastor and Professor Johann Gerhard, +1637)
From Today’s Gospel Reading in St. Luke 24:44Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
Johann Gerhard:
Whoever preaches forgiveness of sins without preaching repentance is not holding to Christ’s command. For He sets both together: repentance and forgiveness of sins. Wherever there is a broken and shattered heart, there Christ wants to live, Isa. 57:15, and wants to impart His blessings which He won through His death and resurrection. He, indeed, calls sinners to Himself, but (He calls them) to repent, Matt. 9:13. True repentance is the pathway by which sinners come to grace.
We were widely separated from God by sin, Isa.5. Just as the Lord Christ promised His Apostles the Promise of the Father—that is, He wanted to send them the Holy Spirit and clothe them with Power from on high—so also He proffers to us the comforting promise that He does not want to leave us orphaned or comfortless; instead, He desires to send into our hearts the Holy Spirit, who makes us strong in the inner man and comforts us in every anxious doubt.
O God, in the paschal feast You restore all creation. Continue to send Your heavenly gifts upon Your people that they may walk in perfect freedom and receive eternal life; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
READINGS: Exodus 15:1-18 or Daniel 12:1c-3; Psalm 100; Acts 10:34-43 or 1 Corinthians 5:6b-8; Luke 24:13-49
Introduction: The Eastern Orthodox Churches have a great custom by calling the first week of the Paschal (Easter) Season “Bright Week”. A great way to begin the 50 Days of Pascha leading to Pentecost, as we look at what our risen Lord taught His Church for her life and mission into the world. Easter, like Christmas, is not only a day each, but a season each.
“Meanwhile the cross comes before the crown and tomorrow is a Monday morning. A cleft has opened in the pitiless walls of the world, and we are invited to follow our great Captain inside. The following Him is, of course, the essential point.”-C.S. Lewis, his sermon, The Weight of Glory
And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. St. Mark 16
The women went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to no one (the literal translation), for they were afraid. For trembling and astonishment had them in its grip…that tomb and that angel…it was like, like, the end of the world. These good women were worked up…wouldn’t you? Jesus Christ is the end of the world’s rule over us…in our souls and bodies, the whole megillah. Jesus Christ is the end of the world and since the first Easter He in His Church has been proclaiming His Kingdom, His rule in the reigns of man: His peace for the nations, you, and me to live in this crazed world of wrong, to be strong in Him, the Crucified One. In this world, we need the help of heaven and we do even when we can’t see straight, as He taught us, Our Father who art in heaven hallowed by Thy Name. We need to pray for ourselves and our neighbors especially today, Monday, and Tuesday, and oh yeah, Wednesday, etc. Monday and it is back into the “pitiless walls of the world”…but following our great Captain.
Jesus suffered under both church and state as church and state were not doing as the Lord wants…and as the devil desires. He knows that way very well and He can lead us through for us to do as the angel bid the women: Go and tell, He is risen JUST AS HE SAID. We follow the risen Lord, yet He is still the crucified One. The angel told the women to tell of Him risen: Who was crucified…the Greek verb here is not simply past tense, it conveys He is crucified and continues in that state as the Crucified One. As foretold by Isaiah centuries before Easter: the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We have wounds, hurts and sorrows, and diagnoses and problems at home. Souls, heart and mind need healing. Look to His wounds. Only the risen Lord brings the healing of our lives. Point other to His Wounds and tell of the Savior’s love. Why? He is risen! He is risen, indeed. Alleluia!
Merciful and everlasting God, You did not spare Your only Son but delivered Him up for us all to bear our sins on the cross. Grant that our hearts may be so fixed with steadfast faith in Him that we fear not the power of sin, death, and the devil; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Lessons: Isaiah 62:11–63:7 Psalm 70 Romans 5:6–11 St. Luke 22:1—23:56 or St. John 13:16–38
This is the eve of the Triduum meaning, “the Three Days”: Holy Thursday, or Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, or the Great Sabbath. It was on this day that Judas made his arrangements with the Sanhedrin to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver and at the last Passover meal on Thursday Judas left the Passover meal in order to complete the betrayal (John 13:25-27). Today has been called “Spy Wednesday”. Jesus did not call Judas to be a spy, a traitor to the Kingdom of God. May we not be so! But we are traitors to His reign when we sin, do not commend the truth that set us free, and go our own ways. O Lord, we turn to You that we may confess Your holy Name and honor You in thought, word and deed and commend the hope that is in us through You alone. Amen.
Lord Jesus, think on me, By anxious thoughts oppressed; Let me Your loving servant be And taste Your promised rest. —Lord Jesus, Think on Me (LSB 610:2)
Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter are the Three Days, in Latin, the Triduum. We call Friday, Saturday and Sunday by another phrase: The Weekend and today, Wednesday, “humpday”! The work week is halfway done and now we can slide into The Weekend, Rest and Relaxation. Whew! Oh, give me a break, the weekend tends to be a time to get other work done, especially around the house, It’s all centered on me, us, as I saw on vanity license plate: GLORYUS. Well, except that day called Sunday…to come together as His Church to get ready for the week. But…
The problem is WE HAVE TAKEN our weekends back…even from His Word on Sundays. And this week, Holy Week is not about us, but Jesus Christ and Sunday is the Day of Resurrection…we need faith in Him and His forgiveness to get through Monday-Saturday. He gives Himself as He gave Himself body and soul on the Cross. Without Him, that Parade magazine cover is right: without the Lord ‘our’ Sundays are crazy and too many people and things are crazy. We’re living in a crazed time of iniquity. This week is about His way to make us whole…and indeed, everyday of the week: This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24. It is not your weekend, or mine, or “my” day: it is the Lord’s and He is the only Way to live our vocations and lives, doing the good works He has prepared beforehand to be our way of life. And Sundays? Answer:
Thou shalt the day which God hath blest Keep holy, that thy house may rest; Keep hand and heart from labor free, That God may thus work in thee. Lord have mercy!
And that is not crazy, but by His grace, in our right minds.
God certainly detests and hates sin. Yet He sets forth the promise: “He who has fallen should not despair.” He does not give orders to commit sin; He forbids it. But after sin has been committed and the Law accuses and terrifies the conscience so that sin becomes “sinful beyond measure,” as Rom. 7:13 says—as is apparent here in Joseph’s brothers—then He does not want death to reign, as the prophet testifies: “I do not want the death of the sinner, but that he should be converted and live” (cf. Ezek. 18:23). Just as He abominates sin, so He does not want the man who has fallen to remain in sin when it lives and wounds and torments the conscience through the Law; but He gives a promise and a remedy by which the wounded heart is kept unharmed, lest it despair. The Pharisee cannot lay claim to salvation because of his presumptuousness; nor can David or the robber lay claim to destruction because of his despair.
But one should take the royal road, and sin should be shunned. For although God has promised pardon, as Augustine says, yet He does not promise that you will be sure to return after a fall. Thus Saul and Judas do not return. It is not in our power to take hold of grace; nor do you know whether you are able to accept the remission that is offered. Therefore one should fear God. He hates both presumption and despair. “Just as I do not want a sinner,” He says, “so I do not want the death of a sinner. But if you have been driven to sin by the wickedness of the devil, and if the Law condemns you and the devil hurls his flaming darts (Eph. 6:16) at you and tries to drive you into hell, I do not want you to die or to despair. No, I want you to flee for refuge to Christ the Savior, who does not want the death of a sinner, just as He does not want a sinner either.” —Martin Luther
Oh, how great is Your compassion, Faithful Father, God of grace, That with all our fallen race In our depth of degradation You had mercy so that we Might be saved eternally! —Oh, How Great Is Your Compassion (LSB 559:1)
At the beginning of movie trilogy The Lord of Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, the elven queen, Galadriel tells the tale of how the rings of power were made and given…and into one ring, the dark lord, Sauron made one ring to control them: “And into this ring (Sauron) poured all his cruelty, his malice and his will to dominate all life. One ring to rule them all… and in the darkness bind them.
This sounds like Satan especially when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness by showing Him all the kingdoms of the world promising they would be His, if He just worship the dark lord with all his cruelty, his malice and his will to dominate all life.
The Lord, our light and our life sent His only-begotten Son…So Jesus goes to the cross…and into this one cross the Father poured all His love, His mercy, His Son, His only Son, His will to save all life. One Cross to free them all: and in the light, Jesus Christ, release and purify them: us. For us and for our salvation He came down from heaven.
In the cross of Christ I glory, towering o’er the wrecks of time; all the light of sacred story gathers round its head sublime.
We are in a spiritual fight, the good fight of faith. Be ye strengthened in faith and love by gathering round Christ, our head sublime in the seasons of Lent and Easter
Collect of the Day: Almighty and everlasting God, You despise nothing You have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent. Create in us new and contrite hearts that lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness we may receive from You full pardon and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (
The Appointed Scripture Readings: Joel 2:12–19 Psalm 50:1-6 /2 Corinthians 5:20b—6:10 St. Matthew 6:1–6, 16–21
About Lent and Ash Wednesday: During the forty days of Lent, God’s baptized people cleanse their hearts through the discipline of Lent: repentance, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Lent is a time in which God’s people prepare with joy for the Paschal Feast (Easter). It is a time in which God renews His people’s zeal in faith and life. It is a time in which we pray that we may be given the fullness of grace that belongs to the children of God.
Return to the Lord Your God, for He Has Reconciled You to Himself: On Ash Wednesday, we come down from the mountain with Jesus and set our faces toward His cross and Passion in Jerusalem. We make our pilgrimage with Him by the way of repentance, and thus we return to the dying and rising of Holy Baptism. Christ Jesus, “who knew no sin,” became our sin, so that by His death we are released from sin and in His resurrection we “become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). Since God has thus reconciled the world to Himself in Christ, “now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). He has provided the sacrificial Lamb, and He has left “a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering” in the Eucharist (Joel 2:14, 19). He summons us to return to Him with all our hearts, because He is “gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love” (Joel 2:13). Return to Him in faith and confidence, and so pray to Him as your Father; give to the needy from a heart of love; and fast for the sake of repentance (Matt. 6:3–4, 6, 17–18).
“Get used to believe that Christ is a REAL Savior and that you are a REAL sinner…He was deadly serious when He sent His own Son into the world and sacrificed Him for our sake” (Luther)
Letter by Dr. Luther, sent from Coburg Castle to Lazarus Spengler. July 8 1530, describing Luther’s Rose or Seal: “Grace and peace from the Lord. As you desire to know whether my painted seal, which you sent to me, has hit the mark, I shall answer most amiably and tell you my original thoughts and reason about why my seal is a symbol of my theology. The first should be a black cross in a heart, which retains its natural color, so that I myself would be reminded that faith in the Crucified saves us. ‘For one who believes from the heart will be justified’ (Rom. 10:10). Although it is indeed a black cross, which mortifies and which should also cause pain, it leaves the heart in its natural color. It does not corrupt nature, that is, it does not kill but keeps alive. ‘The just shall live by faith’ (Rom. 1:17) but by faith in the crucified. Such a heart should stand in the middle of a white rose, to show that faith gives joy, comfort, and peace. In other words, it places the believer into a white, joyous rose, for this faith does not give peace and joy like the world gives (John 14:27). That is why the rose should be white and not red, for white is the color of the spirits and the angels (cf. Matthew 28:3; John 20:12). Such a rose should stand in a sky-blue field, symbolizing that such joy in spirit and faith is a beginning of the heavenly future joy, which begins already, but is grasped in hope, not yet revealed. And around this field is a golden ring, symbolizing that such blessedness in Heaven lasts forever and has no end. Such blessedness is exquisite, beyond all joy and goods, just as gold is the most valuable, most precious and best metal. This is my compendium theoligae [summary of theology]. I have wanted to show it to you in good friendship, hoping for your appreciation. May Christ, our beloved Lord, be with your spirit until the life hereafter. Amen.
Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
The Lessons: 1 Samuel 1: 21-28 Psalm 84 Hebrews 2: 14-18 St. Luke 2: 22-32
Prayer of the Day
Almighty and ever-living God, as Your only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple in the substance of our flesh, grant that we may be presented to You with pure and clean hearts; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
About the Feast Day: Thirty-two days after Jesus’ circumcision and seventy weeks after the announcement of John’s birth to Zechariah by the angel Gabriel, the Lord comes to His temple to fulfill the Torah (Luke 2: 22-38). The days are fulfilled with the presentation. Jesus’ parents keep the Torah and fulfill it by bringing Jesus to His true home. Also, Jesus’ parents offer the alternative sacrifice of two turtledoves or two pigeons. Leviticus 12:8 allows this instead of a lamb, since not everyone could afford a lamb (showing the poverty and humility of Joseph and Mary). Yet no lamb was necessary because already here at forty days old, Jesus is the Lamb brought to His temple for sacrifice. Simeon’s Nunc Dimittis is a beautiful example of the immediate response to this inauguration of God’s consolation and redemption in the Christ Child. Speaking to Mary, Simeon also prophesies about the destiny of the child. (from The Treasury of Daily Prayer, CPH)
Reading: from Cyril of Alexandria (Ancient Greek: Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας; c. 376 – 444; Cyril was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444.
“After His circumcision, she next waits for the time of her purification. And when the days were fulfilled, and the fortieth was the full time, God the Word, who sits by the Father’s side, is carried up to Jerusalem and brought into the Father’s presence in human nature like ours and by the shadow of the law is numbered among the firstborn.
For even before the incarnation the firstborn were holy and consecrated to God, being sacrificed to Him according to the law. O how great and wonderful is the plan of salvation! “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” He who is in the bosom of the Father, the Son who shares His throne and is coeternal with Him, by whom all things are divinely brought into existence, submitted nevertheless to the measure of human nature and even offered a sacrifice to His own Father, though adored by all and glorified with Him. And what did He offer? As the firstborn and a male pair of turtles, or two young doves, according to what the law prescribed.
But what do the turtle and the dove signify? Come, then, and let us examine this. The one, then, is the most noisy of the birds of the field, but the other is a mild and gentle creature. And such did the Savior of all become toward us, showing the most perfect gentleness, and like a turtle moreover soothing the world and filling His own vineyard, even us who believe in Him, with the sweet sound of His voice. For it is written in the Song of Songs, “The voice of the turtle has been heard in our land.” For Christ has spoken to us the divine message of the Gospel, which is for the salvation of the whole world.
Meditation:
Today marks the end of the Christmas Season. Yes, Christmas is a day but also the 12 day of Christmas (December 25-January 5), then Epiphany but the Christmas Season ends with one of the last narratives of the Christ Child in Joseph and Mary bringing Him to the Temple, 40 days after his birth (Christmas 40 days ago), for Mary’s purification and Jesus’ presentation. Today is an Epiphany.
Jesus is the song of songs Who so stirred the waiting heart of Simeon, and so much so, Simeon praised in poetry his song which the Church calls: “The Nunc Dimittis” (St. Luke 1: 29-32), Now let your servant depart in peace. The Nunc Dimittis is the perfect post communion hymn in the Divine Service.
“The voice of the turtle has been heard in our land.” In our country, the equivalent of a turtledove is the mourning dove: both have a mournful song. On my Grandparent’s farm, my Grandmother was wont to tell me that when the turtledove sings it means we need rain. St. Cyril says the song of Christ’s Word soothes the world. A pastor and seminary prof told us at a seminar that when proceedings at a church council were rough, he would lead them in a hymn and the song helped, “clear the air”. The problem is the dearth of singing of the Lord’s song these days, which is, “…the message of the Gospel, which is for the salvation of the whole world.” We need to clear the air, not the way we want to, but as the Lord has taught us through His Word.
The first are other bird sounds, then the mourning dove
Maybe the mournful song of the turtledove can remind us we yearn for the Lord and His Word to fill us as He purifies us through faith in Him. I don’t think the turtle dove’s song is for rain, but this song reminds us of yearning to walk wet as the Lord’s baptized. It is so easy to add to the cacophony of the world. Into the cacophony, the infant Christ Jesus was brought into the Temple and He would enter into the noisy world of dispute and death for the “falling and rising of many in Israel”. He would be the Sign spoken against and as He bore our sin, to arise again, “The voice of the turtle dove has been heard in our land”.
“When Israel was captive in Babylon, the Psalmist sang and asked, “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” (Psalm 137). Upon alien soil, Israel can no longer sing the joyful songs of Zion which is Jerusalem, in Babylon. The depth of Israel in bondage is poignantly sung in verses 8-9, a kind of “wish prayer”[1] We wish the oppressors who taunt us would likewise be destroyed. Yet the motivation of such is the beauty of the Lord’s Song in sharp contrast to the world. How do we sing the Lord’s song in a land increasingly foreign to us, even our own land? Maybe it is to remember for Christians, “Every foreign country is their fatherland, and every fatherland is a foreign country” (Letter to Diognetus, 2nd century). “Psalm 137 is the song of Two Cities, Babylon and Jerusalem. “It sings of resistance again one and devotion to another.” [2] Maybe we Americans are waking up to reality which is good. Again, Dr. Mays:
“As (Israel’s) song was preserved and used as a psalm, the names of Babylon and Jerusalem were on the way to becoming symbols—Babylon of the civilization of this world that does not know the LORD reigns, and Jerusalem of the city of God that is and is coming (cf. Revelation 18: 21)…Faith can never “forget Jerusalem”. Faithfulness will remember in pain and prayer”.
Let us pray…
O Lord, be Thou our Song ever in our land and guide us ever by Thy light and the glory of Thy Son Jesus presented in Thy Temple, which Thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples. Lord, open Thou our lips that we may sing Thy praise in an alien land that men no longer be alien to Thy mercy and reconciled in Thou, no longer estranged from one another, and may all people join us in the song of Thy Church. We ask this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
12Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord. 13 The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, 14 and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15 Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.” 16 And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.” 17 Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord, for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.
Reflection: Here is my own interpretation of Eli’s sons wanting the meat raw is that they wanted to cook it the way they wanted. They wanted to cook and flavor God’s Word according to their tastes and flesh. It sure seems to me that sin and wrong, as Hophni and Phinehas committed makes us hard of hearing God’s actual Word in His words to us, for us. Not only their clergy sexual abuse but fooling around with the sacrifices can make us wrong about God’s Word. We still do that: cooking God’s Word according to sociology, anthropology, the fads and fancies or our time. A usual one is Jesus was a good teacher…alone. He was that and still is! But even more: true man and true God who shed His blood for His students, His disciples, the whole world. The flesh does not like that and so with Hophni and Phinehas the Old Adam says about God’s Word, “Fork it over!” to change it…because I know He will change me. By His Law comes knowledge of sin and from the Gospel the knowledge of our Savior Jesus. When we cook God’s Word according to the vain philosophies of men, we have food that does not fill the heart and soul: spiritualized junk food. He wants our ears opened and in His Word He opens them. His Word will make us tingle and quiver with fear because of our wrong, His Word of the Gospel will make us strong inHim by His forgiveness.The boy Samuel prayed, Speak, for Your servant hears. “Aprayer worthy of memorization by every believer. Recite this each time you open Scripture, or hear God’s Word from a faithful preacher.”
Footnote to 1 Samuel 3: 10 (from today’s OT Reading), The Lutheran Study Bible.
The 50 Days of Easter, Sunday: the Divine Service, 9:15am, followed by Coffee, Refreshments and gemütlichkeit; then at 10:45, Bible Class, studying St. Mark's Gospel.
See the page above, Read before You Hear, for the Lessons for this coming Sunday.
Concordia Lutheran Church worships at Ben Salem Presbyterian Church (34 Ben Salem Lane, Buena Vista, VA), Sundays, The Divine Service. 9:15am, Bible Class in recess and resumes August 20/For more info call: 540-784-5622 and leave a message
Concordia and Koinonia 