Good Friday and the Festival of the Annunciation

The Prayer of the Day

O  Lord, as we have known the incarnation of Your Son Jesus Christ by the message of the angel to the Virgin Mary, so by the message of His cross and passion bring us to the glory of His resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. 

The Old Testament Reading for the Day: Isaiah 7:10-14   Psalm 45: 7-17   The Epistle Reading:  Hebrews 10: 4-10 The Gospel Reading for the Day: Luke 1:26-38

The Annunciation of Our Lord:  The angel Gabriel appears to Mary and announces that God has shown her favor and will use her as the means for the Messiah’s birth. So Mary conceives Jesus when the angel says: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (Luke 1:35). This same Spirit who hovered over the waters and brought forth creation (Genesis 1:2) will now “hover over” the waters of Mary’s womb to conceive the creation’s Redeemer. As the Holy Spirit comes upon Mary, she conceives Jesus “through her ear” (as Martin Luther says). The one who is conceived is called Holy, the Son of God. This is the moment of the incarnation of our Lord. The date of the Annunciation falls on March 25, because the Ancient Church believed the crucifixion occurred on that date. In antiquity, people linked the day of a person’s conception with the day of his or her death. Thus, in the Annunciation, the Church joined together both the incarnation of Jesus and the atonement He accomplished. (The Treasury of Daily Prayer, Concordia Publishing House)

In exactly nine months from today, March 25th, will be Christmas.  On this day the Church rejoices that the angel Gabriel announced (and so, annunciation) that the Virgin Mary would conceive and bear a Child:  the Son of God.  When Gabriel announced this, Mary responded, Let it be according to your word.  So the Annunciation is the Incarnation. The Word became flesh.  The Feast of the Annunciation is always in Lent.  His birth is our death, our death to sin.  His resurrection is our life, our life in Him. There is more than one annunciation. We will hear the annunciation from the Cross, from the Lord’s mouth:  It is finished.   We will hear again the glad announcement, even more wondrous than the first to Mary:  He is risen! We will yet again the last Annunciation:  He comes again! In the midst of death, there is life (Luther).  

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Sermon @ Concordia Lutheran Mission, 26th Sunday after Pentecost, 17 November, 2,013

The Lessons

The Text for the Sermon:  St. Luke 21:  5-36

Signs, signs, Everywhere there’s signs, Jesus said. They are signs about the end, the last day…and the beginning of the new heavens and new earth.  Can’t you read the signs?  Therefore, the Lord gives the disciples this crucial tutorial in reading help for the signs of His coming again. Signs point us in the right direction so that we do not get lost.  The world, the flesh and the devil want to darken the true path of righteousness of faith in Jesus Christ, especially as He is always near to those whom He has saved in Baptism and faith:  you, His Church.  As recorded in St. Matthew, our Lord Jesus refers to the signs as “birth pains”.  As the delivery gets closer so do the contractions, of the heavens and the earth, pain in child bearing:  in sea and sky, in persecutions, in wars and rumor of wars, in all that is anti-Christ.    Signs, everywhere signs…it is the sign of the those who say I AM the Christ that I concentrate.  And he said, “See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them.   First those who come in the Name of the Lord will say I AM, the Greek could be rendered as last week’s Old Testament lesson in Exodus of the burning bush when the Lord said to Moses: I AM sent you, I am who I am.  Then the false Christs will say, The time is at hand.  Don’t go after them.  Luther preached on the Gospel:

” This pertains not only to the Jews, but also to the whole world and, especially, the Christian church, which has been illumined by the light of the gospel. What will be its lot at the end of the world? When once the gospel has come into the world, Christ is saying, the devil will multiply the enthusiasts and the sects, false prophets and false teachers around the believers, so that those who view the world through spiritual eyes will wonder whether anyone will finally be saved. The seduction will be so pervasive and the false prophets will perform such great signs and wonders, that even the elect—were that possible—succumb to error.”

 In fact, John warned in his first Epistle that many “anti-Christs” will come.  Luther was being pastoral:  it will result in those with “spiritual eyes”, that is the eyes opened by Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection for sinners, “…will wonder whether anyone will finally be saved.”  All this begins bit by bit step by step with every accommodation of the truth of Scriptures and the Faith to make it palatable to the public because of being ashamed of the Gospel.  Today’s Hymn of the Day, Built on the Rock was misnamed in the Lutheran Book of Worship, Built on a Rock.  The change from the definite to the indefinite article  seems small but it is significant. This past week the reportage burning up the internet was 2 British comedians who are starting up atheist mega-churches.  In article about these atheist mega-churches a professor said:

 “When we think about religion in America, we talk about oh, belief in God, belief in Jesus, but for a lot of people, it’s the community. It’s the Sunday school, it’s the seeing people afterwards in the foyer or in the courtyard, it’s the having coffee”

“They want that kind of moral community that is about connecting with others and is about celebrating life, celebrating morals and ethics in a non-supernatural context”

 Hmm…it sounds like what goes for church in general in the United States:  a club with singing.  Salvation without the Savior…and no forgiveness, no grace, mercy and peace…no Cross, no heavy stone rolled away and no resurrection, no hope, no faith….just OUR love.  A community built upon our natural affections is like a wagon wheel with only the rim and spokes but no hub, no center, no core, but nature abhors a vacuum. Pretty soon there will be a hub,  Lo, here is the Christ!  And as happened at Mount Sinai, Exodus 32, man makes the golden calf of his desires when he denies there is God: political, entertainment, religious gods to whom we cry, You brought us out of Egypt, out of bondage.  The gods come from the womb of the people. The professor said such a church of the world is for people “celebrating morals”. Will such a religion have morals?  Yes, only the morals we want.  Only the morals that the political elites will permit. Only the beliefs we want.  Yet, it stands in the Bible, All Scripture is inspired by God not just the parts I find inspiring. 

 Jesus taught His tutorial on reading the signs in His last week on earth. After His triumphal entry He taught day by day in the Temple.Right after this, Judas betrayed Him to the chief priests.  Yes, signs, signs, everywhere there are and will be signs…but there is only one Sign which signifies salvation for the world in tumult and turmoil, in fear of the roaring of the seas:  the sign of the Cross.  In His holy body,

“…born of Mary,
That our sins and sorrows did carry,
And Thy blood for us plead
In all trial, fear, and need:
O Lord, have mercy!”

Read, learn and inwardly digest the sign of His Cross. The world’s terror is death, and death is the wages of sin.  Jesus knew the terror: take this cup away from Me, He prayed in Gethsemane. He received the wages of our sin: death and it was not the minimum wage.   All of the sin of the world was laid on the sinless Lamb of God.  All that mankind treasures as gods:  mammon, power, fame is smashed as the nails were driven into Him.  In His Holy Body is the end of the world, the flesh and the devil.  “In many and various ways God spoke to His people by the prophets, but IN THESE LAST DAYS He has spoken to us by His Son.” (Hebrews 1).  “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Corinthians 11) Here, not only the Pastor, but the whole Church in His congregations, you preach and proclaim His death for our salvation, because He died, yes! But more, He is risen. . This is the apocalyptic Supper:  His Body, His Blood.  All humankind would agree love is central, the Cross and His supper is proof of it. 

“Thy holy body into death was given,
Life to win for us in heaven.
No greater love than this to Thee could bind us;
May this feast thereof remind us!
O Lord, have mercy!”

No greater love than this…nothing we treasure as number 1, wealth, fame, power…things do not love. Even family and friends cannot so love, yet in Jesus Christ, love is made alive in His forgiveness, the fruit of faith for the faith of others.  All our idolatries are shattered  around His Cross shown for what they are:  death things, with no life in them. The almighty dollar did not die for you, but the Almighty God did.

 What do we do?  We do as the Lord commands: pray and witness. 

When we are asked to give an account of the hope that is in us, be prepared: know He loved and died for you.  He is the end of the world.  He will come again.  He will give you the words to say, you don’t have to prepare the script of the witness. He has provided the Script:  the Scripture…to invite others to His apocalyptic Supper…and He invites us to Himself daily in prayer for our lives in His Church to proclaim His death and resurrection for us all, the sign of His salvation once and for all. The Apostle’s inspired, God-breathed prayer is mine:

 Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, ² and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. ³ But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you andguard you against the evil one. ⁴ And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. ⁵ May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. (2 Thessalonians 3)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A Lutheran View of the ‘Rapture’

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The Three Advents

This evening at sundown begins the last day of Advent for the new Church Year, the time of preparation for ChristMass.  I read sometime ago that we think of our Lord’s first coming and His second coming, Advents 1 and 2 but there are actually three. I do not know where I read that but here is a reflection just about that:  the Three Advents.

The Church celebrates the triple advent (or “coming”) of Christ. First is the advent into flesh, which is despised and humble before the world, of which Zechariah 9[:9] says, “Behold, Your King comes to you, gentle and poor, sitting upon a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden,” [cf.] Matthew 21[:5]. The second is the spiritual advent, which happens daily into the minds of the righteous, since He is present constantly with the Church, hears her, helps and consoles her, concerning which Christ said, John 14[:18]: “I will not leave you orphans, but will come to you.” Again, [v. 23:] “If anyone loves Me, We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him.” The third advent of Christ is His glorious return to judgment, concerning which Isaiah 3[:14] says, “The Lord will come into judgment.” And Matthew 24[:30] says, “And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with much power and majesty.” It is useful always to consider these three advents of the Son of God—into flesh, the minds of the righteous, and for the last judgment—and to have them set forth in the Church for stirring up faith in minds, invocation, and the fear of God or repentance. St. Augustine says thus on Luke, “This time is called the Advent of the Lord for good reason: so that every believer will prepare himself and mend his ways, so that he may have strength worthily to celebrate the nativity of his God.”

—Lucas Lossius,+1582  (From:  The Treasury of Daily Prayer, Concordia Publishing House)

Lossius says  His second advent is  in the “mind”.  Initially, I was taken aback by that but not when we consider that the theme of Advent is repentance and repentance in Greek means “change of mind” and so mend our ways.  We spend much time in preparing our houses, our tables, our church building for Christmas, which is fine but not to the point we forget the real preparation:  our hearts, souls and minds, for without the cleansing of  our souls in His grace for sinners then the rest is just show.  “Let every heart prepare him room”, we will sing this Christ Mass, as we proclaim His death until He returns… the third and final Advent.  Come, Lord Jesus.

O God, Your divine wisdom sets in order all th ings in heaven and on earth.  Put away frmo us all things hurtful and give us those things that beneficial for u s;  through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one god now and forever.

The Great “O” Antiphon of the Day:

O Emmanuel, our king and our Lord, the anointed for the nations and their Savior:  Come and save, O Lord our God.      

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Happy New Year! A Look at Chronos and Kairos

Yesterday, the 1st Sunday in Advent, is the beginning of the Church’s new year.  The Church’s year is not the same as the secular year of January through December.  We only have one word for time, time!  In the New Testament Greek there are two words:  Chronos and Kairos.  Fr. Patrick Reardon in an article on this subject wrote:

“The first Greek term is chronos, meaning time on the move, time as before and after, time as the future passing through the present and so becoming the past. From this Greek word chronos we derive such English terms as chronic, chronicle, and chronology. Thus, we call an illness chronic if it lasts a long time. A chronicle is an account of events through a sequence of time. Chronology is the itemized, studied measurement of time.”

In St. Matthew’s Gospel,  Jesus says, “When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit.” (21: 34)  The literal Greek for “season for fruit” or harvest is “the kairos of fruit”.  When a fruit tree’s  ripeness happens in time but it can not be predicted as to the chronos, the measurable time. It ripens at the right time.

“Strictly speaking, we don’t measure kairos. We don’t ask someone, for example, “How much Christmas did you have?” We inquire, rather, “what sort of Christmas did you have?” With kairos we employ the category of qualis, not quantum.” (Fr. Reardon)

We have intimations of kairos  in everyday life when “we lose track of time”, especially in an enjoyable activity like taking a walk.  Recently my wife and I went on a trail along the Maury River we had never been on.  When we came to the end of it, it had only taken chonologically less than an hour.  But it seemed more. Kairos.

In The Fellowship of the Ring, when Gandalf comes into the Shire, Frodo joyously welcomes him and chides Gandalf that he is late. Gandalf replied,

“A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins.  Nor is he early.  He arrives precisely when he means to.”

The Apostle Peter in his second Epistle reading for the 2nd Sunday in Advent teaches in regards to the time of the Lord’s return:

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  (2 Peter 3: 8)

The Lord will come again precisely when He means to as He did the first time, at the right time, the fulfilled time.  Kairos is God’s time. Chronos is our time. Kairos is God’s time which is eternal life.   Chronos is the date on the tombstone.  Kairos is the promise of Jesus Christ.  Advent, coming near: a blessed New Year living the Kairos Today, His Time of Salvation.

Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. ²For he says,

    “In a favorable time  (kairos) I listened to you,
   and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”

   Behold, now is the favorable time (kairos); behold, now is the day of salvation. (1 Corinthians 6)

(Read the whole article Chronos and Kairos by Fr. Patrick Reardon:  it’s good!)

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