The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity, 2014
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Time
The Hymn # 191 Christ the Lord 2:97
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #188 Hallelujah 2:20
Paul's Care for the True Church
The Communion Hymn # 206 Jesus Christ, My Sure Defense 2:81
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn # 212 A Hymn of Glory 2:93
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn # 212 A Hymn of Glory 2:93
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| This beetle is a lady, not a bombardier, but it can zero in on the world garden pests and devour them all. |
KJV Ephesians 3:13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. 14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
KJV Luke 7:11 And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. 12 Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. 14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. 15 And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. 16 And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people. 17 And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judaea, and throughout all the region round about.
SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
Lord God, heavenly Father, who didst send Thy Son to be made flesh, that by His death He might atone for our sins and deliver us from eternal death: We pray Thee, confirm in our hearts the hope that our Lord Jesus Christ, who with but a word raised the widow's son, in like manner will raise us on the last day, and grant us eternal life: through Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
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| Robert Preus and Quensteadt were supposed to be UOJ heroes, but both of them confessed justification by faith. |
Paul's Care for the Truth Church
KJV Ephesians 3:13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
Paul was imprisoned as a danger to the Roman Empire, under the cruel dictatorship of Nero. I understand that scandal over Nero's attempt to murder his mother kept Paul safely in prison for a period of time.
Every misfortune of a Christian is treated by unbelievers with mockery. So Paul's concern was his imprisonment would be used to destroy the faith of those early Christians.
Nothing has changed. Unbelievers are still gleeful over the tribulations of Christians. Paul's argument is that his suffering is for their glory. They must accept the reverses and the apparent shame of the cross, but it is really for the glory of God.
8. Such is the nature of the Church in its earthly government that human wisdom must stumble thereat; various sects of the offended must rise in opposition to the faith. But God delights to rule, not with the sword or with visible power, but through weakness and in opposition to the devil and the world. Seemingly, he would permit his Church to be utterly overthrown. Guard against and resist offenses as well as we may — and the practice is not without its efficacy — still we must ultimately be driven to say defiantly: “He who established the Church and has to this time preserved it, will continue to protect it. Man would not rule it wisely, but the living Christ is seated upon the throne whereon God placed him, and we shall see who can pull him down and destroy his Church.”
God does not rule through earthly power but glorifies His Name through the power of the Word, received in faith. Christians do not rule with man-made weapons but with the Word. When Bunyan was kept in prison for preaching, the English government gave him a place where he could write books for the entire English world. It was so bare and sparse that everyone would despise it today, but the Gospel came from that tiny cell and is still being taught from his books.
Students tell me that Pilgrim's Progress may be made into a movie again. Where are the mighty lords that kept him locked up? They are forgotten.
Luther never stopped confessing the ultimate power of God. No matter what cruel savages may do to Christians, God will remain the Almighty and Christ will not be pulled from His throne.
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| Hollywood monsters are rather comical, but a close-up look at a live preying mantis is chilling. However, he was created to work for us, not against us. |
14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
Knowing God's power, Paul prays for all his congregations and members. All expressions of "father" are only shadows of God the Father Almighty. Some are biological fathers. Others are fathers in being honored - the father of modern chemistry. Still others are fathers for their achievements or kindness. Many are called spiritual fathers of others.
But nothing compares to the Fatherhood of God and His power. Creationists like to point out such exotic creatures as the bombadier beetle, which can shoot hot, caustic chemicals at its predators. They marvel at the chemicals being mixed to spare the beetle while vexing the enemy.
But I had two small helpers with the father in the back yard yesterday. They marveled at everything. And so we should look at each of God's Creations in the same way.
The children pulled vines off the chain-link fence. I cut two gourds away and thought that was all I grew this summer. As they pulled pole beans and gourd vines away for the compost they brought the harvest for me to see.
The little girl said, "Look." She had enormous bean pods. And later, she found completely dried pods and opened them, saving the seeds. "What are those?" She touched every single one with wonder.
Her big brother found mega-beans and quite a few gourds, so they saved two boxes of marvels to take home with their father. I took three wheelbarrows of compost to the compost pile and said, "This came from a few packets of seed." And yet plenty more remained on the fence and growing along the fence on the ground. The abundance alone was striking.
Darwin's Black Box looks seriously at the infinite complexity of all this. Thousands of chemicals and little working engines (the whip to move one-celled creatures) are involved, but the great and wise think, "You imagine God created this? You are ignorant."
And nominal Christians side with evolution - or compromise - and hope to be taken seriously by Nobel Prize winners.
16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
We have to be strong to withstand the dual forces of religious and political propaganda in these dark days. To be strengthened with might by His Spirit means through His Word. We can be weak and fragile physically while being powerful in faith.
Paul is praying for the Christians to have power, not just to agree to certain principles, such as God as Father, Jesus as the Savior, but to act accordingly no matter what the circumstances. The apostles had that power, since most of them died violently. They taught the Christians well, because they firmly established Christianity, which grew miraculously through the Word from that time on.
The Christian martyrs had great power. They were calm and prayed while gladiators and wild beasts killed them. The jaded Roman citizens were rattled by this and some began to believe this absurd Faith which they heard about through their slaves (some of the first converts). The entire Roman Empire became Christian from the very bottom up, and the Faith almost disappeared in the Middle Ages as it became established and worried about the reputation of Holy Mother Church instead of being anxious about faithfulness to the Gospel.
Luther:
The more they rage, the more the Gospel spreads, and all without our help or counsel, only because God awakens hearts to pray that it may prosper, even without our help. The more fervently we pray, the greater is God’s pleasure to hear.] 29. What is the nature of the prayer Paul here presents? It is the same as the Lord’s Prayer, being particularly identical with the first, second and third petitions. In words of different sound but implying the very same thing, Paul briefly embraces these petitions — the hallowing of God’s name and Word in our midst, and the destruction of the devil’s kingdom and all evil — whatever is opposed to the Word and will of God. He says: “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that ye may be strengthened with power.”
17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
What Paul prays for is also created by his inspired words. The first phrase is startling for today's synodical Lutherans. Christ dwells in us by faith. That faith is good, and the Word brings Christ and His grace to us. In John 1, the wording is a picture - He pitched a tent among us - He dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.
We are rooted and grounded in God's love. One thing we failed to do yesterday was to root out anything. We were not really tackling plants, as Lombardi used to say about his football team. We were just grabbing them. But even the fragile ones were deeply rooted in the ground, soaking up the energy of the sun and the chemicals of the soil to grow across 50 feet of fencing in a short season, painting a green wall on two sides of the fence, abundant fruit hanging down, even though I harvested almost daily.
While we are rooted and grounded in the Gospel, God's love, exemplified in Jesus the Savior, we are still fragile outwardly, but locked into our source of energy. The roots continue to grow deeper, just as leaven continues to grow in the batch of dough (Matthew 13).
Eventually we measure everything spiritually, instead of thinking in material terms. Threats come along, but they are not threatening us but God. They are not insulting us but God's Word. If they call the Augsburg Confession heresy, they have judged themselves and confessed themselves to be ignorant thugs posing as clergy.
21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
Paul glorifies God in all his writing. When he speaks of the true Church, he glorifies God's love for the Church, so our focus is on God's graciousness, not what we try to create or maintain on earth.
From that fragile beginning, the imprisonment and execution of the most active apostle, came millions upon millions of believers, plus the fruit of their faith, in acts of love and mercy for others.
The Word is too sublime to pass under our judgment; it is the province of the Word to judge us. The world, however, while unwilling to be judged and convicted by us, essays to judge and convict the Word of God. Here God steps in. It would be a pity for the worldly to see a godly Christian, so God blinds them and they miss his kingdom. As Isaiah says ( Isaiah 26:10): “In the land of uprightness will he deal wrongfully, and will not behold the majesty of Jehovah.” For this reason, few real Christians come under the observation of cavilers; the latter, in general, observe fools and fanatics, at whom they maliciously stumble and take offense. They are unworthy to behold God’s honor in a godly Christian upon whom the Lord has poured out himself in fullness of blessing.
37. Let the real Christian come into the presence of the caviler, stand before his very eyes, and the caviler will not see him. Let the fault-finder hear that one leads an irreproachable life and he will say: “Heretics have behaved similarly, but under a good appearance concealed poison.” Let one be refractory and reckless, and he must be a knave. Whatever we do, they are not satisfied. If we pipe, they will not dance; if we mourn, they will not lament. Neither sweet nor sour appeals to them. Wisdom must permit her self to be schooled and governed by these cavilers, as Christ says in Matthew 11:19. Thus God confounds and shames the world; while all the time tolerating its judgment of himself, he is ever careful to have the Gospel inculcated, even though the worldly burst with rage. I say these things to teach us to be careful not to join the caviler in judging presumptuously the work and Word of God. Notwithstanding our weakness, we are yet certain the kingdom of God is in our midst so long as we have his Word and daily pray for its efficacy and for an increase of our faith, as the following words recommend: “That ye may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man.”
37. Let the real Christian come into the presence of the caviler, stand before his very eyes, and the caviler will not see him. Let the fault-finder hear that one leads an irreproachable life and he will say: “Heretics have behaved similarly, but under a good appearance concealed poison.” Let one be refractory and reckless, and he must be a knave. Whatever we do, they are not satisfied. If we pipe, they will not dance; if we mourn, they will not lament. Neither sweet nor sour appeals to them. Wisdom must permit her self to be schooled and governed by these cavilers, as Christ says in Matthew 11:19. Thus God confounds and shames the world; while all the time tolerating its judgment of himself, he is ever careful to have the Gospel inculcated, even though the worldly burst with rage. I say these things to teach us to be careful not to join the caviler in judging presumptuously the work and Word of God. Notwithstanding our weakness, we are yet certain the kingdom of God is in our midst so long as we have his Word and daily pray for its efficacy and for an increase of our faith, as the following words recommend: “That ye may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man.”
