tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30776365523491315862024-03-17T14:24:23.038-04:00Lest Every Man Be BlindAn unlikely Theologian, this blogger; a Theosopher (?) of Philology (?) would, perhaps, be more accurate (and, most definitely, absurd). Al dente: Emily Dickinson has written "the Truth must dazzle gradually or every man be blind." The Truth, and He incarnate (!), is the subject of this blog. Such unapproachable Light is never grasped or apprehended, but is received in humility, adoration, and love. See, touch, taste, yes, receive, believe. SDGFr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.comBlogger1112125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077636552349131586.post-8782348644870878202024-03-17T08:28:00.001-04:002024-03-17T14:23:49.509-04:00Judica - The Fifth Sunday in Lent (Lent 5)<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddjZt7eNqm5ij2d5lnk6i84utyOH_LwPy7S8hLiLGPnlKeQ_W8IDilw3bP3QvIjX5ozEbZP6XKNHIli4Y0dXHft32jDLO31doyd9aUqVoxx9lM0boGoTr50kr9OV0pf9HHeqb5h7FMb0JTmciGcnMIWXgdceRAb4aQ4DfTuov5DRehB1bd3FskRCiVNCa/s1050/Sacrifice_of_Isaac-Caravaggio-1050x700.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="1050" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddjZt7eNqm5ij2d5lnk6i84utyOH_LwPy7S8hLiLGPnlKeQ_W8IDilw3bP3QvIjX5ozEbZP6XKNHIli4Y0dXHft32jDLO31doyd9aUqVoxx9lM0boGoTr50kr9OV0pf9HHeqb5h7FMb0JTmciGcnMIWXgdceRAb4aQ4DfTuov5DRehB1bd3FskRCiVNCa/w400-h266/Sacrifice_of_Isaac-Caravaggio-1050x700.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/ijbmw56inxudv999ffwhgllux2verzax" target="_blank">(Audio)</a></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">John 8:42-59; Hebrews 9:11-15; Genesis 22:1-14<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The First Gospel proclaimed in the Holy Scriptures occurs quite early, in Genesis 3:15, immediately following our First Parents’ rebellion against God and His Word and their consequent fall into sinful concupiscence and its fruits of spiritual death <i>now</i>, and physical and eternal death <i>in time</i> for themselves and for all their progeny. The First Gospel comes as part of the curse spoken to Satan: “I will put enmity between you and the Woman, and between your offspring and Her Offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” Our First Parents understood that the LORD intended to provide a human man, a son of their own flesh, who would destroy the power of Satan even as He suffered a fatal wound from the devil Himself. So literally and immediately did they understand this Good News that, when Eve gave birth to her firstborn son Cain, believing that the Gospel prophecy had already been fulfilled, she exclaimed, “I have gotten a man, the Lord!”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">However, Cain was not the promised Messiah. In fact, Cain became the first murderer, shedding the blood of his brother Abel: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Origins matter. Who’s your daddy matters. Adam and Eve had plunged themselves and all of God’s creation into sin, corruption, decay, and death. Adam was a sinner, bound to die. Eve was a sinner, bound to die. Together, all they could produce from their own flesh were sinners, bound to die. This is true for you and me as much as for Our First Parents, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, our own parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and for all. Everything we produce from our flesh – our words, thoughts, and deeds, our children – is sinful, corrupt, decaying, and destined for death. Thus St. Paul exclaimed, “Who will deliver me from this body of death?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The scribes and the Pharisees in particular, and the children of Israel in general, prided themselves that they had Abraham as their father. Their fear, love, and trust, their self-righteous security, was not in the LORD, but it was in their blood descent and lineage from the man they called their father, Abraham. However, Abraham was no less a sinner, corrupt, and destined for death than was his father Terah, and his father before him. To be a child of Abraham and of the Gospel promise and of the covenant the LORD made to Him – which was truly a reiteration of the First Gospel promise made to Satan in the hearing of our First Parents in the Garden – was to be a spiritual descendant of Abraham, believing and trusting the Word of the LORD as their spiritual father Abraham had done so many centuries before. Thus, Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I came from God and I am here.” “Why do you not understand what I say?” Jesus continued, “It is because you cannot bear to hear My Word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires.” And then, showing that their sinful, blind misunderstanding was really no different than was Adam and Eve’s at the birth of Cain, Jesus said to them, “He [Satan] was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">It is Jesus who is the true Son of Abraham, the true Son of the LORD’s Promise to Abraham, the true Seed of the Woman, who would bruise, even crush, the serpent’s head. When the LORD commanded Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice to test his faith and trust, Abraham believed and trusted in the LORD once again as he did when the LORD first called him and made His covenant promise to him to provide him a land, a son and a people through whom all the nations of the world would be blessed. The LORD spared Abraham’s promised son Isaac and provided a sacrifice as a substitute, just as Abraham prophesied as they made their way to the mountain saying, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” Abraham sacrificed the ram caught in the thicket by its horns in the place of his son of promise, Isaac. But, Abraham believed, knew, and confessed that that ram was but a type and a foreshadowing of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, whose blood would take away the sins of the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is what Jesus meant when He said to the scribes and the Pharisees, “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” What Abraham saw was that God would indeed provide a sacrificial Lamb that would be a substitute, not only for his son of promise Isaac, but for all men of all times and all places. The LORD spared Abraham’s son and kept His covenant promise that, through an heir from Abraham’s own flesh, He would bless all the nations of the world. Abraham’s son was spared and lived and became the father of Jacob and the twelve tribes of Israel. But, the LORD’s only-begotten Son, His Beloved, He did not spare, but gave Him over as a sacrifice to atone for the sins of all humanity. Of this the preacher to the Hebrews proclaims, “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not be means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In Jesus’ death, Isaac was redeemed, Abraham was redeemed, Adam and Eve, you and I and all the humankind were redeemed. All those conceived of the seed of man are conceived and born in sin, bound for death. But Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and the seed of the woman. Jesus’ father was not a human man, but God Himself was His Father, thus He bore not the taint and corruption, sin, and death of original sin. The death He died was not for His own sin but for yours and all men, the sin of the world. God, His Father offered up His innocent Son as a sin-offering for your sin and guilt. Jesus, God’s Son, willingly laid down His life in love and obedience for His Father and for you. And the Holy Spirit was given to create faith in your hearts that you may trust in Jesus and become true sons of Abraham, born not of the flesh, but of the Spirit. If God is your Father, you will love Jesus and you will hear His Word, you will listen to, believe, and trust in His Son, his Word made flesh, crucified, died, risen, reigning, and returning. “Whoever is of God hears the words of God.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Two weeks ago, on Oculi Sunday, the Third Sunday In Lent, the scribes and the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebul, Satan. That was blasphemy, even the sin against the Holy Spirit, for it was the Holy Spirit, the Finger of God, in and through the Word of God, who exorcised the demons. Today, once again, the scribes and the Pharisees utter blasphemy by calling the work of the Holy Spirit in and through Jesus, the work of demons and of the devil. Thus, Jesus now pronounces His harshest rebuke of the scribes and the Pharisees saying, “You are of your father the devil.” Their accusations continue, even in the face of the clear fulfillment of the Word of the LORD in Jesus’ teaching and miracles. Like Pharaoh of old, they hardened their hearts against the Word of the LORD, against Jesus, and against the work of the Holy Spirit. Hearing, they do not hear; thus, seeing, they do not see. For, the sin against the Holy Spirit is a willful and intentional rejection and opposition to the Holy Spirit. Such a sin is unforgiveable because only the Holy Spirit can create and sustain faith, and He is rejected and refused. The scribes and the Pharisees knew precisely who Jesus claimed to be, and that He backed up His claim with the clear Word of the LORD and with miraculous signs fulfilling Messianic prophecy. When they rejected Jesus, they knew who they were rejecting. Thus, when Jesus finally proclaimed the Divine Name of Yahweh for Himself saying, “Before Abraham was, I AM,” they reacted violently, full of rage and hatred, and attempted to stone Him to death. As Satan was a murderer from the beginning, so are his children murderers, hateful, and liars. They cannot convict Jesus of sin, therefore they call His holy works by the Holy Spirit sinful and demonic. That is blasphemy, to call the work of the Holy Spirit sinful and demonic. They call good evil and evil good – just like their father Satan.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Origins matter. Who’s your daddy matters. If you have God as you Father, you will love His Son and listen to His Word. The Holy Spirit will make His home with you and protect and keep you, equip and send you as light in this world of sin, death, and darkness. As Jesus taught His disciples, His mother and His brothers, His family, are “those who hear the Word of the LORD and keep it.” You are the true spiritual children of Abraham, the New Jerusalem. You are marked, named, and claimed as God’s own children in Holy Baptism, with a circumcision of the heart and rebirth of spirit. You have been judged already, vindicated, declared “Not guilty!” in the holy, innocent shed blood of Jesus, the Passover Lamb of God’s own offering. Because of this, you need not fear death, for, truly, you will never taste it! You have already died with Christ and have been raised with Him. The second death cannot harm you. Abraham died, yes. The prophets died. You will die, but death cannot hold you, because it could not hold Jesus, and you are baptized into Jesus’ death and resurrection. But, those who reject Jesus, who reject God’s Word, who reject His Holy Spirit cannot be saved. There is no other way.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">You will be rejected by those who reject Jesus, for the disciple is not above his Teacher. As they did to Him, so will they do to you. Today our Lenten pilgrimage to the cross intensifies as we meditate more deeply upon Jesus’ Passion and our sins for which He suffered and died. Jesus is our ram caught in the thicket of biting whips, piercing thorns and nails. Nonetheless, take heart, have hope, and be comforted, for you have been vindicated, you have been judged “Not guilty!” in Jesus’ cleansing blood. Already you have died, have been raised, born again into a new life that cannot die! Your Great High Priest Christ Jesus has entered into the holy presence of God His Father for you, with His own holy, innocent blood. He is your head, and where your head is your body will soon be. Until then, Jesus communes with you, forgiving you, feeding you, strengthening you, preserving and protecting you with His precious body and His holy blood. He who has begun this good work in you will bring it to completion in day of Christ Jesus. “Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever!”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Fr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077636552349131586.post-33850715369707898452024-03-13T15:12:00.001-04:002024-03-13T18:08:49.693-04:00Lenten Vespers in the Week of Laetare (Lent 4)<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAuTDhVtP7o5BwZEWwVqZ0sN7yry9fiHdukl8QwkQeu0fu-H-lV-zyjgca0_D8CxsalWdDtiIZTs3Boz4Ob-EzHhcbzpc6Iu79ZPxlZJAOhg5F-cT2rwh0ZLQEn6Jp0N53jHY77LH8bjadDaQugkv38g400xmEndqCbF5s0NJXLamTsNqpdhiF3vEYxWI2/s2560/Image.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1604" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAuTDhVtP7o5BwZEWwVqZ0sN7yry9fiHdukl8QwkQeu0fu-H-lV-zyjgca0_D8CxsalWdDtiIZTs3Boz4Ob-EzHhcbzpc6Iu79ZPxlZJAOhg5F-cT2rwh0ZLQEn6Jp0N53jHY77LH8bjadDaQugkv38g400xmEndqCbF5s0NJXLamTsNqpdhiF3vEYxWI2/w402-h640/Image.jpeg" width="402" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/xfp3yrd8q7jynjtmkw6hi7huw62tkofa" target="_blank">(Audio)</a></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">John 15:1-17; 1 John 4:7-21; Hosea 14:1-9; Psalm 85<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Christ’s Suffering as Proof of God’s Love for Us<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Confession has two parts. First, that we confess our sins, and second, that we receive absolution, that is, forgiveness, from the pastor as from God Himself, not doubting, but firmly believing that by it our sins are forgiven before God in heaven.” – Luther’s Small Catechism<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">To confess is “to say the same thing” that the LORD has said about you, to use his words to say that you have sinned against the LORD and have fallen short of the purity and holiness he demands of you. What word of the LORD are you to say back to him? “Consider your place in life according to the Ten Commandments: Are you a father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife, or worker? Have you been disobedient, unfaithful, or lazy? Have you been hot-tempered, rude, or quarrelsome? Have you hurt someone by your words or deeds? Have you stolen, been negligent, wasted anything, or done any harm?” There’s no need to torture yourself to come up with something truly damning, this simple self-examination will be sufficient to expose your sin and guilt.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">However, truly is not your confession that is the most important part. That is only the first part. Confession has two parts. First, that you confess your sins, and second, that you receive absolution, that is forgiveness, from the pastor as from God himself. It is the second part that is of greater importance. In truth, you should confess yours sins in order to hear the absolution, because you know the absolution is already there. If there were no absolution, there would be no reason to confess your sins. No, you confess yours sins before the LORD because you know that he will forgive them, because you know that he has already forgiven them in Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">God was calling Israel to confess through the prophet Hosea: “Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take with you words [, my words,] and return to the LORD.” What words were they to take with them? The LORD’s words, his commandments and law which exposed their sin and guilt. They were to confess their sins, to “say the same thing” about themselves and their thoughts, words, and deeds that the LORD in his words, commandments, and law said about them. That was the first part. The second part was that they would receive absolution, that is forgiveness, from the LORD. They were to confess their sins for the sake of receiving the LORD’s absolution. Confession is good for the soul, but absolution is even better!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Take away all iniquity, accept what is good”; we will no longer put our trust in the strength of foreign nations or the horse or the work of our hands, but we will find mercy in you O LORD. And the LORD said, “I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them.” We have turned our face from God; he doesn’t turn his face from his people. Instead, God turns his face from his only-begotten Son who carries the sins of the world. God turns his face away from Jesus who suffers in our place, and the Father turns his face towards you, he hears your confession, and for the sake of Christ, you are absolved. He takes away your iniquity and clothes you with the righteousness of Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The LORD is ever the Prodigal Father scanning the horizon for his rebellious son to return. Upon seeing him in the distance, the Father runs to him, embraces him, and restores him before the boy can utter the words of his blasphemous offer to work and pay off his debt. The son was looking only to be a servant or a slave, but the Father has made him his son once again. “Confession has two parts. First, that we confess our sins, and second, that we receive absolution, that is, forgiveness, from God Himself.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">But why? Why does the Father forgive his rebellious son? Why does the LORD forgive us, his rebellious sons and daughters. Because God is love. “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Christ’s suffering is the proof of God’s love for us.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">St. John is often called the Apostle of Love because his Gospel and Epistles expound upon God’s immense love for us in his Son, and the Son’s immense and perfect love for his Father that moved him to sacrifice himself that we should be forgiven and restored to him to live with him forever. In John’s writing he reveals that God is love, that love is sacrifice, and that the greatest love possible is to sacrifice one’s self for another. John 3:16, the “Gospel in a Nutshell,” proclaims that God loved the world in this way: He gave his only Son over to death on the cross so that whoever believes in him need not perish but have everlasting life. It is also in John’s Gospel that we are provided Jesus’ words from the Last Supper, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, so you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, when you have love for one another.” I like to paraphrase Jesus’ words this way: A new commandment I give to you, that you sacrifice yourselves one for another, just as I have sacrificed myself for you, so also are you to sacrifice yourselves one for another. God is love. Love is sacrifice. So, we are to love and sacrifice ourselves for others as God has loved and sacrificed himself for us in Jesus. Christ’s suffering is the proof of God’s love for us.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Fr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077636552349131586.post-38576528577695718472024-03-12T15:16:00.001-04:002024-03-12T15:16:50.424-04:00Christian Funeral for Darla Kay Spier<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/bwmes7n9d00jcwa66pili5rz1ezfp2e4" target="_blank">(Audio)</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">John 5:24-30; Romans 8:31-39; Job 19:21-27<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: large;">In preparation for today, unsurprisingly, I looked back to the message I prepared for Richard’s funeral almost two years ago. I was reminded that Richard was a bit of a homebody, a family man who enjoyed simple things with his family like gardening with his daughters, attending their basketball games, hunting and fishing, but with family, not with large groups of others. In his own quiet, unassuming way Richard showed his love for his family and for Darla, whose ear he would twiddle each morning.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: large;">I asked you to share a few things about Darla. Again, unsurprisingly, what you shared with me sounds a lot like, and compliments, what could be said about Richard. Darla enjoyed long bike rides with her dear friend Joyce and her girls, rides that would end with popcorn or Dairy Queen, or at the Wartburg fountain to see the colored lights. Darla enjoyed playing cards with Joyce, for which the girls would provide the “half-time” entertainment performing songs and dances, which always received a standing ovation. And Darla enjoyed the excitement of the casino, the lights, the penny slots, and the thrill of the chase for the jackpot, even if it proved elusive.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: large;">I didn’t know Darla very well until Richard died; then I got to know her and some of you as well as we made preparations for Richard’s funeral. However, Darla began to attend services more regularly at St. John after that, particularly those Wednesday afternoons. She told Joyce how much she enjoyed those services. When Darla moved to The Ledges she sometimes attended with Clarence and Rosemary Huck who lived in the same building. I remember a Christmas or two when church members visited The Ledges to sing Christmas carols. Darla was there among the residents gathered in the common room singing along. When Darla was hospitalized back in November, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a phone call from Lori to inform me that Darla was in the hospital and that she was asking specifically for me to come. I arrived there shortly thereafter and was able to bring a bit of Christ’s peace and comfort to a rather difficult situation. I know that the days, weeks, and months following were difficult and unpleasant at times. But not every day. Still, you were there for Darla when she needed you, and you helped her and comforted her, just as she had done for you for so many decades and years. That’s what families do. That’s what Christians do.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: large;">We all need help at times, even when we don’t realize it. The death of a loved one is always a wake-up call to that reality. Death is the wage we earn for sin. It is unavoidable. We all know it. But when things are going well and we’re relatively comfortable we tend not to think about it. Then, when it happens, it catches us off guard, it shakes us up, like a rude alarm clock going off unexpectedly and way too early. But Christians look at death differently, and so we look at life differently too. We are not like those who have no hope. We know that we have a helper, a God who loves us and is always there for us, even when we go through dark and difficult times, even when it may seem like he is not there at all, yes, even when it may seem like he is the one permitting our affliction, or the one causing our affliction.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: large;">That is because our hope is not in ourselves – if it were, it would be shaky and uncertain, like our emotions which are up and then down and then up again, often within the matter of a day or an hour. No, our hope is not in ourselves, but our hope is in something, someone outside of us. Our hope is in our LORD who made us, who gave us life, who provides everything we need for our bodies and lives, and who has purchased us from sin, death, and the devil, and who has himself died for us and defeated death for us.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: large;">That’s why we focus on the things that God has done for us at a time like this, the things that God has done for Darla throughout her eighty-two years lived in his grace. God claimed Darla and named her as his own child in Holy Baptism. He created faith in her heart and nurtured and protected her in faith throughout her life. He brought her to confess that faith in her Confirmation and in her vocations as wife, mother, grandmother, friend, and more. God was with Richard and Darla throughout their married life as they raised their daughters in the faith, who in turn have raised their own sons and daughters in the faith.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN">The passages of Scripture we heard a moment ago each speak to the confidence, certainty, and hope we have in our God who loves us, who is faithful and unchanging, and who will never fail us. God permitted Satan to afflict the Old Testament Patriarch Job terribly. Because Job’s faith was in the LORD, and not in himself, even in the midst of severe affliction, suffering, and temptation, Job remained hopeful, even confessing his faith in a Redeemer and in the resurrection of his own flesh and blood body over two thousand years before the birth of Jesus saying, “</span><span>I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN">Two thousand years later St. Paul expressed this very same confidence grounded in God’s promise fulfilled in Jesus Christ saying, “</span><span>What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? […] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? […] No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Our Lord Jesus, Job’s Redeemer and Paul’s confidence, our Redeemer and our confidence, confirmed our faith in the Gospel saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span>Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” What is so wonderfully comforting and hope-inducing about these words is that hope for life and resurrection is not merely some future hope, but it’s a right now, every day of our life hope that can carry us through dark and difficult times like now. When I hear about the lives of God’s children, like Richard and Darla, I am reminded of God’s faithfulness, how he is always with us even as the shadow at our right hand. He is with us in times of prosperity and joy, and he is with us in times of want and sorrow. Blessed are those who remember this and find comfort and hope and peace and joy and courage and confidence in the never-failing truth that God is for us, always, and that nothing can separate us from his love in Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.</span></i><i style="font-size: 11pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Fr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077636552349131586.post-21118919243475446422024-03-08T14:20:00.003-05:002024-03-10T13:32:09.805-04:00Laetare - The Fourth Sunday in Lent (Lent 4)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDxTxnSZczzuzn2cROtBq4B7XCqpScPh07O8tY1LS2WoRB1hyphenhyphenL6xQSkbuug1976b30kGVL5ua7yaYAsCnTFpWPsEf2IRpPobYlFijKMPiqIQTYiU8Mv6MEpsTxb2ddQ7IiqMd6fcjKQ5IhRwr0hJjFnrDox35ogWsRuRbMhdnE9_KQi5OzkQ9i_2RlAGjZ/s644/Image.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="644" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDxTxnSZczzuzn2cROtBq4B7XCqpScPh07O8tY1LS2WoRB1hyphenhyphenL6xQSkbuug1976b30kGVL5ua7yaYAsCnTFpWPsEf2IRpPobYlFijKMPiqIQTYiU8Mv6MEpsTxb2ddQ7IiqMd6fcjKQ5IhRwr0hJjFnrDox35ogWsRuRbMhdnE9_KQi5OzkQ9i_2RlAGjZ/w400-h186/Image.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/ctjvye421hrqjjqik0frptrhizl2ksqt" target="_blank">(Audio)</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">John 6:1-15; Galatians 4:21-31; Exodus 16:2-21<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The large crowd that followed Jesus across the waters of the Sea of Galilee because of the signs and the wonders He performed on the sick were not so unlike the children of Israel who followed Moses and Aaron out of Egypt through the waters of the Red Sea. They were the ecclesia, the assembly of those who had been called by the Spirit through Holy Baptism; they were the Church. And, now they were in trouble. They were in the wilderness, just like Jesus after His Baptism, far from the villages and the cities, having only meager provisions that would feed but a few people for but one meal. Moreover, it was the Passover, and they were not prepared to celebrate the Feast. Jesus’ disciples remembered all too well how the Israelites responded to their situation when they were filled with fear and despair. They picked up stones to throw at Moses and Aaron. And, so, they, too, despaired when their Lord questioned them saying, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Our little ecclesia today is in similar trouble. We are in a cultural wilderness with only meager provisions, and we are tempted to despair that we will be able to survive. As the children of Israel in the wilderness, and as the large crowd across the Sea of Galilee, we too, are being tested: Will we look only to our meager provisions and despair? Or, will we trust in the LORD, who is truly all that we need? Do not be afraid. We were baptized for this. For, our Lord, who resisted Satan’s temptations by trusting in the Word of God, is able to sustain us even as He satisfied over five thousand with only five loaves of bread and two small fish.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The first thing we have to do is <i>stop doing</i> and just sit down and listen to our Lord and His Word. Jesus had the people sit down in the grass, and then He commanded His disciples, His pastors, to feed them. What they held in their hands looked just as foolish, weak, and impossible as what I hold in my hands each and every Sunday in this Divine Service – only enough for each to get a little, certainly not enough to satisfy. And, yet, even a crumb from this, your Master’s table, bestows His forgiveness of your sins, eternal life, and salvation! And, how much more than crumbs does He provide for you each and every day of your life? Jesus “took the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.” Who’s doing the work here? And, who’s doing the receiving. That’s right. That’s why you come to Church, to be served by the Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Lord needs nothing from you, but you need everything from Him. Still, He loves the sacrifices that you bring, not bread and wine, and certainly not your time, talent, and treasures – these are already His, and they are His gifts to you – but He loves the sacrifice you bring of a broken and contrite heart, a broken spirit, the sacrifice of your body and your self, a living sacrifice. Indeed, the highest worship of God is to receive His gifts, just like the Israelites in the wilderness, just like the five thousand and the four thousand in the wilderness, and just like the disciples at the Last Supper in the upper room – so, here, in the Church do you receive His gifts and worship and glorify Him in receiving them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ironically, it’s hard for us to live in freedom. It’s hard for us to live in grace. Why is that? Because of our sinful flesh. Our flesh wants to do for itself and take credit for its self-providence and self-righteousness. That’s why we secretly crave the Law and seek to submit ourselves to the Law again and again. Because, the Law is clear and precise, it’s knowable, certain, and unchanging. Of course, the Law is impossible for us to do and to fulfill on our own, but our flesh is nothing if not prideful, confident, and self-righteous. After the LORD delivered the children of Israel out of bondage and slavery in Egypt, quickly they grumbled and were anxious about food. They were ready to submit to slavery in Egypt once again in exchange for the certainty of three square meals per day. And, we do the same. For the sake of comfort, or a sense of security, we readily forsake our freedoms. Moreover, spiritually, we act more like the children of the slave woman, Hagar, than like the children of the free woman, Sarah, the children of promise.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">You see, anxiety and fear are a very real kind of spiritual slavery. And, worse, they are the fruit of unbelief, mistrust, and a heart turned inward upon itself. These keep us focused inward upon ourselves and our needs, and our inability to meet our needs, instead of upon the LORD and His Word and Promise to provide us all that we need to support our bodies and our lives. He provides us daily bread – that is, literally, bread for one day: today. We are not to worry about tomorrow. If tomorrow comes, the Lord will provide what is needed for that day as well. That is the lesson of the manna in the wilderness. The children of Israel were to gather only enough manna to feed their family for one day. If they gathered more than they needed, it spoiled; and, if they gathered less, by some chance, they found that everyone still ate and was satisfied. The LORD was teaching His children that He knew their needs, and that He loved them and would provide for them what they needed, even if that was sometimes not what they believed that they needed, or wanted. And, so, our Lord Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us this day, our daily bread.” Literally, we pray, “Give us our bread, our manna, for the day.” If tomorrow comes, by the grace of our LORD, we’ll pray for daily bread again, and each and every day we are blessed to live in His grace.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Daily bread is grace and freedom. It’s only uncomfortable if you do not trust and believe. Then your fear, love, and trust will be captive to slavery under the Law, a slavery of anxiety, worry, and unrest. Man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. Jesus is the Bread of Life of which a man may eat and live. And, Jesus is the Word of the Law fulfilled. Thus, those five loaves of bread represent the five books of the Law written by Moses. Jesus took them and fulfilled them, and His disciples gathered twelve baskets full of leftovers after all had eaten and were satisfied. For, the Law finds its goal and fulfillment in Jesus Christ, whose people continue steadfastly in the doctrine and fellowship of the twelve apostles, and in the breaking and receiving of the Bread of Life, which is the body of Christ together with His precious blood, and in the prayers, the liturgy of Christ’s Church.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">And yet, we look at our world and our culture, and we look at our meager provisions, and we begin to fear, and panic, and despair. We look longingly at the fleshpots of Egypt, and wind up submitting to slavery under fear and anxiety, submitting ourselves to the judgment and condemnation of the Law rather than living in the freedom of grace and the Gospel. What are the fleshpots of Egypt for us today? Well, there is the temptation to not trust in the LORD to provide for His Church through Word and Sacrament, and to think that we must devise some new program, some new marketing campaign, some new form of worship, some new outreach scheme, or whatever else, in order to attract new admission paying customers to our little sinking ship. There is also the temptation to compromise and soften the Word of God to make it more palatable to our world and culture, particularly when it comes to those hot-button topics like life, sexuality, and marriage. But, all of these temptations are temptations to submit ourselves once again to slavery under the Law, to be the children of the slave woman, Hagar, for, they are responses motivated by fear and anxiety and worry, not by faith, and love, and trust in God. They are the temptation to believe that we have to do something, because whatever God is doing isn’t working.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">No, we are not the children of the slave woman, Hagar, but we are the children of the free woman, Sarah, children of promise. We live under grace and the Gospel, not under the Law. Yes, because of the weakness of our sinful flesh, grace and freedom can be frightening. Do not be afraid. Fear, love, and trust in the LORD. The LORD knows what we need – the LORD knows what you need – and He graciously provides you everything you need for your body and life. Therefore, set your hearts and minds on the spiritual things, and let God take care of everything else. But, first, stop doing, and sit down and listen. Eat and drink and be filled and forgiven with the overflowing life of Jesus. The LORD receives us as His children and provides for all our needs of body and soul. May we heartily acknowledge His merciful goodness, give thanks for all His benefits, and serve Him in willing obedience.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Fr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077636552349131586.post-91093008912998406442024-03-06T15:45:00.002-05:002024-03-06T15:45:42.958-05:00Lenten Vespers in the Week of Oculi (Lent 3)<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi66dkCMELXhrayn0TmhZEOWSVBOM61cxXUC-2pQzXWw_ES1BQVQnEHncFwgaVDY2hwu9Lc8SGGfx_4eiLHR0OiJek-PPPFTBdNbrQIgPnL1VO0U3a1LJCJy2rnAgxH6uztzy_AW5gPFGMflGZ8gFVxtmuyyZeRGVCd6LHJWVt5uhFV0jSbBWg4JCx3k-6R/s2560/Image.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1604" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi66dkCMELXhrayn0TmhZEOWSVBOM61cxXUC-2pQzXWw_ES1BQVQnEHncFwgaVDY2hwu9Lc8SGGfx_4eiLHR0OiJek-PPPFTBdNbrQIgPnL1VO0U3a1LJCJy2rnAgxH6uztzy_AW5gPFGMflGZ8gFVxtmuyyZeRGVCd6LHJWVt5uhFV0jSbBWg4JCx3k-6R/w402-h640/Image.jpeg" width="402" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/7mnyxypxevh9wo43jqkh2xa28v12zejx" target="_blank">(Audio)</a></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Mark 14:26-50; Acts 4:23-31; Zechariah 13:1-9; Psalm 22<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-size: large;">God Himself Punished Christ<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Last week we heard from the Prophet Isaiah, “It was the will of the LORD to crush him.” Three times Jesus prayed to his Father that there might be some other way, but he ended each prayer with the words, “Your will be done, not mine”; then Jesus went to the cross, suffered, and died. Tonight, you heard from the Prophet Zechariah, “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” The “I” is the Father; the “shepherd” is his Son, Jesus. We are the “sheep.” “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” “It was the will of the LORD to crush him.” God himself punished Christ for our sins.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus had just celebrated his final Passover with his disciples. It was a somber setting, but not morose. During the long meal it was customary for a rabbi to teach concerning the meaning of the Passover and the Exodus. That is precisely what Jesus did. While Saints Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and St. Paul in 1 Corinthians, provide us Jesus’ words over the bread and the wine, it is St. John who provides us five chapters of Jesus’ teaching from that Last Supper.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus began by washing the disciple’s feet, teaching them to love selflessly and sacrificially. He came and died to make us clean, and we can only be clean if he washes us in his blood. He gave them a new commandment, which was really the only commandment, the First Commandment, to love God, which bears the fruit of love for the neighbor. By this, all the world will know that we are his disciples, when we have love for one another. Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit, and he warned them that the world would hate them just as it had hated him. The Holy Spirit would counsel them and comfort them, and he would guide them in the way of Jesus and protect and strengthen them as they face suffering, persecution, and temptation. Jesus ended his teaching with a high priestly prayer that he and his disciples would be one, as he and the Father are one. Then they journeyed across the Kidron Valley to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed that there might be some other way, but that the Father’s will be done. “It was the will of the LORD to crush him.” God himself punished Christ for our sins.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">As they were journeying to Gethsemane, Jesus continued his teaching saying, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered’.” He was quoting the Prophet Zechariah. Indeed, that night Judas betrayed Jesus in the Garden with a kiss, Jesus was arrested by the Temple Guard, and his disciples fled and were scattered. Throughout that long night Jesus was tried by the High Priest, Pontius Pilate, King Herod, and Pilate again who finally washed his hands of the affair and handed him over to be crucified. And yet, Zechariah’s prophecy was not Law but Gospel. The LORD promised to send his Shepherd to redeem his people. How would the LORD’s shepherd redeem his people? He would strike his shepherd; he would crush him. The LORD promised, “On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.” That fountain poured forth from Jesus’ pierced side in death upon the cross; Jesus’ blood has washed away the sin the of the world to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">“It was the will of the LORD to crush him.” The Scriptures had to be fulfilled. God himself punished Christ for our sins. The Apostles confessed this saying, “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed – for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the gentiles and the peoples of Israel, <u>to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place</u>.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">And yet, Jesus’ will was in complete agreement and submission with the will of his Father. Jesus Christ possesses two perfect wills, a divine will and a human will. While his divine will is the same as his Father’s, Jesus’ human will is both human and perfect. In his humanity, Jesus willingly and obediently submitted to his Father’s will that he suffer and die for the sins of humankind. Paul Gerhardt captures this well in our hymn “A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth”: “Yes, Father, yes, most willingly I’ll bear what you command me. My will conforms to your decree, I’ll do what you have asked me.” Jesus even said, “I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me,” and “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.” “It was the will of the LORD to crush him.” God himself punished Christ for our sins. As in all things so also in his Passion our Lord Jesus gladly and willingly submitted to his Father’s will. He became obedient unto death on the cross because he wanted to pay for our sins. Thus we rightly sing of Jesus, “He bears the stripes, the wounds, the lies, the mockery, and yet replies, ‘All this I gladly suffer’.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">God himself punished Christ for our sins. This was his plan of salvation before the foundation of the world. Thus did St. John describe Jesus in the Revelation as “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Yes, this is a holy mystery that is beyond the scope of our reason and can only be apprehended in faith, but it is a source of great comfort, peace, and hope that, even with all the human hands involved, going back to Adam and Eve in the beginning, it was always God’s hand at work, doing what God’s plan had predestined to take place.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">To confess that God himself was responsible for all that happened to Christ in his suffering is ultimately for our comfort. For nothing, not even his own suffering and death, was outside of Jesus’ control. He testified, “No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” Though it was at the hands of both Jews and Gentiles alike, it was ultimately God’s hand which struck down his Son, according to his eternal divine purpose for our everlasting salvation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">We praise you, O God, for you have loved us from eternity and so planned for our salvation from the foundation of the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Fr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077636552349131586.post-55023795468773292472024-03-02T12:56:00.001-05:002024-03-03T13:29:11.961-05:00Oculi - The Third Sunday in Lent (Lent 3)<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5MhxnppgzELcHUyTExj_zqGldPJ5pFxjF4DFJpQH0noM7K2_iFPjU47ZJHC4lQPRqSUWgzF7zEigGybLBKJaiOilj3yYfmxjVGXefl_xQiC8G9Dg3b8B8_5VAnrWoTlqkDyMkshBf9Iuk3IeAdm-ZmH0QS-nz929WZtkXWKqwoRNJHe99-qWRvKoegzxe/s660/Jesus%20Exorcism.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="660" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5MhxnppgzELcHUyTExj_zqGldPJ5pFxjF4DFJpQH0noM7K2_iFPjU47ZJHC4lQPRqSUWgzF7zEigGybLBKJaiOilj3yYfmxjVGXefl_xQiC8G9Dg3b8B8_5VAnrWoTlqkDyMkshBf9Iuk3IeAdm-ZmH0QS-nz929WZtkXWKqwoRNJHe99-qWRvKoegzxe/w400-h213/Jesus%20Exorcism.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/b2t7u1flutwu50z681uwnzjao9ygkw1n" target="_blank">(Audio)</a></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Luke 11:14-28; Ephesians 5:1-9; Exodus 8:16-24<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">As Jesus was about to set His face to go to Jerusalem to suffer and die for the sins of the world, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They responded with a myriad of answers ranging from John the Baptist, to Elijah, to one of the prophets. Then Jesus asked them, “What about you? Who do you say that I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah), the Son of the Living God.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In his classic apologetic for the Christian faith, <i>Mere Christianity,</i> C. S. Lewis tackled this important question, “Who is Jesus?” Lewis wrote that there are three possible answers to the question – Either Jesus is a liar, or He is a lunatic, or He is who He says He is, and He is telling the truth.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">This question, “Who is Jesus?” is part of what is going on in the first part of today’s Gospel Lesson from St. Luke. Jesus had cast out a demon from a man that had kept the man from speaking. The crowd watching was amazed, and they marveled at this miracle. But then the questions came, “Who is this Jesus?” “From where does He get His power?” Some accused Him of casting out demons by the power of Satan. Others demanded that He provide them a sign from heaven before they would believe Him. But Jesus Himself claimed that He cast out demons by the “finger of God”, the Holy Spirit. So, either Jesus is a demon possessed lunatic, or He is a liar, or He is who He says He is, and He is telling the truth.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Isaiah prophesied “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20) The good work that Jesus performed in casting out an evil demon is called by some in the crowd an evil deed itself! But Jesus refutes this attack by stating that evil does not cast out evil, for a house divided against itself cannot stand. Yet, the second group also calls Jesus’ actions evil, demanding a sign to prove that He is not a liar. No, the demons flee at the command of the finger of God, for, in Jesus, the kingdom of God has come and is present.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The power of Satan is strong, and on our own we have no defense against him. But Jesus is stronger than Satan. He takes the devil’s armor of sin and death and destroys them from the inside out by the holy cross. He exorcizes and frees us by water and the Word. We were once darkness, but now we are light in Christ the Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Oh, what pitiable, half-hearted, milquetoast, fence-straddlers we are. We think we can have our cake and eat it too. We have had our demonic original sin cast out of us in the cleansing flood of Holy Baptism. We renounced Satan and all his works and all his ways. The demons fled from that Holy Water, cast out, searching for dry and barren habitations. But how quickly the flood waters have receded, and we have returned to our casual and unconcerned way of life, thinking that compromising our faith to avoid the worldly scorn of others does not matter. We think that a little sin won’t hurt. God doesn’t expect us to be perfect. We hear the Word of the Lord, but we do not keep it. Often, we act as if we cannot stand it. Do we believe that we are saved, and we need not worry about the forces of evil, that we are freed from sin only to keep on sinning?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The demon is gone, for now, but he will come back, and he will bring others, more evil than himself, with him next time. The only way to keep him out is to have the house of your soul occupied by the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit does not and cannot abide with sin. “For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” If you are not with the Lord, then you are against Him. There is no fence-straddling. There is no middle ground. You cannot be a little bit sinful or a little bit holy any more than a woman can be a little bit pregnant. Only blessed are those who hear the Word of the God and keep it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">For you, this is impossible, but for God all things are possible. Apart from the Holy Spirit, you are a sinner, and you will continue to sin, you are not holy. But the Stronger Man Jesus Christ has defeated the strong man Satan for you and has stripped him of his strong armor. He has poured into you in the Baptismal flood and in faith the Holy Spirit. Though He will not share you with sin and devils, He will defend you from them. And when you sin, He calls you to repent that you may be forgiven and restored in the innocent, shed blood of the One stronger than Satan, Jesus Christ. For, to keep the Word of God is to cling to it in the face of temptation, to trust in it in humble and contrite repentance, and to give thanks for it in love, and praise, and service.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Even now you are invited to keep God’s Word in Sabbath rest as He feeds you, forgives you, and strengthens you as you eat and drink the body and blood of the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ.<span style="color: #333333;"> </span>Today, your Lord stands ready to forgive and renew you by the Spirit of God, the Spirit who drives out the demons as the finger of God and strengthens people for bold, uncompromising witness to Jesus Christ. He Himself wishes to take up residence within you through His Holy Body and Blood, once offered for you as that "fragrant and sweet-smelling sacrifice to God."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Fr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077636552349131586.post-25171950149652084972024-02-28T17:32:00.000-05:002024-02-28T17:32:30.146-05:00Lenten Vespers in the Week of Reminiscere (Lent 2)<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i style="font-size: 11pt;"></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: 11pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUxFGEIQ4ucn2q3TlPpRqz2EHp1KhBJbRdCRnkg0-rhWj-nyaEFLjpM3MPAz20COC5nHi1FvSVd_NznW_kPfRrWpxkItqTPdEbiIyTYoMYkYFxTEiIIVTQHq_UmIOxDDbyoMMlUxDi9P5InX33Rv0J-4yHC0qT6tY1fTHNnCQONWoOsJCZWH92uaIoCBOL/s2560/Image.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1604" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUxFGEIQ4ucn2q3TlPpRqz2EHp1KhBJbRdCRnkg0-rhWj-nyaEFLjpM3MPAz20COC5nHi1FvSVd_NznW_kPfRrWpxkItqTPdEbiIyTYoMYkYFxTEiIIVTQHq_UmIOxDDbyoMMlUxDi9P5InX33Rv0J-4yHC0qT6tY1fTHNnCQONWoOsJCZWH92uaIoCBOL/w402-h640/Image.jpeg" width="402" /></a></i></div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/4klva750l6oi6xqkr58skdd93tiba789" target="_blank">(Audio)</a></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>J</i><i>ohn 3:13-21; Galatians 3:10-14; Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12; Psalm 103</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Christ’s Suffering as Payment and Sacrifice for Sin<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">There is truly only one commandment, the First Commandment: You shall have no other gods. To obey this commandment, to have the LORD as your first and only God, is to be blessed. To disobey this commandment is to be cursed. And to be cursed is to die, temporally and eternally. There is no other possibility, and no other possible outcome. You are either with the LORD and so are blessed, or you are against the LORD and so are cursed. When our First Parents rebelled against the LORD and disobeyed, they became cursed, just as the LORD had said, and their progeny and all creation along with them. There was no other possibility. The curse is death. The wages of sin is always and only death, spiritual death now, physical death still to come, and it would have been forever if not for Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Make no mistake, Jesus became a man because of the curse; Jesus became the curse for us, in our place. The wages of sin is always and only death, and cursed is everyone who hangs upon a tree. He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. In Christ crucified we see both the will of the Father and the love and obedience of the Son. “It was the will of the LORD to crush him.” When God the Father commanded his Son to humble himself to become a man, to suffer mockery, ridicule, spitting, scourging, crucifixion, and death at the hands of men, and the wrath and forsakenness of the Father, he wasn’t kidding. That is what it would take, and nothing less, the death of the Son of God, the death of God himself. Man, humankind, had committed the sin, had made himself subject to death; for man to die would merely pay the debt that was owed and would gain nothing. No, if man was to live, then God must die. God cannot die, but God become man can suffer and die, and that was the will of the Father for his Son. “It was the will of the LORD to crush him.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the catechism, concerning the second article of the Apostles’ Creed, we speak of Jesus’ humiliation: “He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.” “It was the will of the LORD to crush him.” All this Jesus did willingly and obediently out of love for his Father. But it was humiliation, and it was suffering of the greatest intensity physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The cost of our redemption was impossibly high. Nothing less than the death of God himself could satisfy it. “It was the will of the LORD to crush him.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” “For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Yes, becoming man was part of Jesus’ humiliation. Everything about his conception, birth, life, suffering, death, even his resurrection, was scandalous to our fallen reason, our misconceptions about virtue and glory, our denial of the seriousness of our sin and God’s wrath against it. And so, men rejected him. There was nothing special about the carpenter’s son from backwater Nazareth. Nothing to see here, move along. And when he was arrested, tried, scourged, mocked, and crucified, they concluded that he was only getting what he deserved from God and from men. They accused God of being a sinner. They accused God of being a blasphemer, when it was for they, when it was for we and our sins for which this happened, for which he was born, for which he suffered and died. Christ became cursed for us. Christ became our curse. “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us - for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">It was by a tree in the Garden that our Enemy first overcame us. So, it was by the tree of Jesus’ suffering, shame, and death that our Enemy was overcome. This is how God so loved the world: He gave his only Son over to suffering, shame, and death upon the cross. St. John compares this to Moses lifting up the bronze serpent in the wilderness. There, as in the Garden, and still today, there is truly only one commandment, the First Commandment: You shall have no other gods. In the wilderness, the children of Israel feared the Edomites more than they feared, loved, and trusted in the LORD and his promise to provide for them and protect them. Therefore, the LORD sent poisonous serpents to bite them, and many of the Israelites died. They cried out to the LORD that he should take away the snakes. The LORD did not take away the snakes, but he commanded Moses to make a bronze serpent and raise it up on a pole that anyone bitten might look upon the snake and live. The snakes still bit, but the LORD provided a way that those bitten need not die. No one wanted to look at a snake on a pole; it seemed absurd, ridiculous, pointless, offensive. But it wasn’t about the snake, or the pole, but it was about the Word of the LORD, his promise, his command, and their fear, love, trust, and obedience. Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so was the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, lifted up on the tree of the cross “that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” “It was the will of the LORD to crush him.” Jesus became the curse for us that has set us free.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">After their forty years wandering in the wilderness because of the rebellion, disobedience, and sins of their fathers, the children of Israel stood on the banks of the Jordan about to enter the promised land of Canaan. Moses set before the people once again the First Commandment: “Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse:<b><sup> </sup></b>the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.” Truly there is only one commandment: You shall have no other gods. To obey this commandment is to have the LORD as your first and only God and to be blessed. To disobey this commandment is to be cursed. Jesus became the curse for us, in our place. God has poured out all his wrath against our sin upon him. It is finished; there is nothing left.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Fr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077636552349131586.post-61436802012422391512024-02-25T06:58:00.001-05:002024-02-25T13:25:44.257-05:00Reminiscere - The Second Sunday in Lent (Lent 2)<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDg7bUJrz0jxXWWfgmugBoN11zPDGXCta6UbTaQSKZkNZYeFoZqBWEMLbL4N1RP_vdxXZSkARI8fRj3yaSJmQEnjKgH95ZOXoo-nA3KlcQOV8_aYYQnPE3Qjg-AXZsHg0rPAHT8OKo18x1Mj73QP4K61v_F7WnGOef2CjojC3S_yBSHHp2M1SFxVcb6Jj/s640/Image.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="417" data-original-width="640" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDg7bUJrz0jxXWWfgmugBoN11zPDGXCta6UbTaQSKZkNZYeFoZqBWEMLbL4N1RP_vdxXZSkARI8fRj3yaSJmQEnjKgH95ZOXoo-nA3KlcQOV8_aYYQnPE3Qjg-AXZsHg0rPAHT8OKo18x1Mj73QP4K61v_F7WnGOef2CjojC3S_yBSHHp2M1SFxVcb6Jj/w400-h261/Image.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/yev5yqn5keqif870htgp4ncw6xb6h854" target="_blank">(Audio)</a></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Matthew 15:21-28; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-7; Genesis 32:22-32<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Lord, how wonderfully You associate with Your own. You struggle with them not to conquer them but to be conquered.” Those words begin a prayer of C.F.W. Walther, the first President of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and of the synod’s first seminary. Indeed, the patriarch Jacob wrestled and struggled with God all through the night and overcame Him. Thus, the LORD changed Jacob’s name to Israel, which means <i>one who has striven with God and has prevailed</i>. The LORD blessed Jacob because Jacob would not let go of Him, even when the LORD Himself seemed to be against him, to be fighting with him, and even when the LORD caused Him to suffer. Indeed, Jacob walked away from that encounter with God blessed, but He also walked away permanently changed, permanently wounded and limping from the struggle.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Similarly, St. Paul complained of a thorn in his flesh, a messenger of Satan he called it (!), with which the LORD afflicted him. Three times did Paul plead with the LORD that He might remove the thorn, but the LORD answered, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” – yes, in your weakness. So also, there was a man who was born blind. Jesus’ disciples asked of Him, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered them, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” And, who can forget the answer the LORD gave to Job concerning why he had to suffer so immensely? – Effectively, it was <i>that God’s righteousness might be revealed</i>. Truly, the LORD struggles with those He loves, He wrestles with them, He pins them down and permits them, He even causes them, to suffer, not to conquer them, but that they may conquer Him and receive His blessing.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Last Sunday we heard of the great battle between Satan and the Son of God, Jesus, and of how Jesus overcame Satan by the Word of the LORD, though He suffered mightily; He was hungry, and He was physically and emotionally weak. This Sunday we hear of Jacob’s wrestling bout with God and how the LORD wounded Jacob even as He blessed him, and also about a Gentile woman whom Jesus at first ignores and calls a dog, but who refuses to relent, accepts Jesus’ chides, and, refusing to let go and give up, is ultimately blessed and praised by Him for her great faith. Sometimes God is for you even when He seems to be against you. Truly, the LORD is always for you, but the LORD’s ways are not your ways, His thoughts are not your thoughts, and the foolishness of the LORD is wiser than your wisdom. “Oh, teach us today from Your Word,” Walther continues in his prayer, “how to struggle with You and conquer, that You can also someday gloriously crown and lead us into Your eternal kingdom.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">As Jesus arose from the waters of His baptism, only to be thrown into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, so too, upon your baptism, have you gained a relentless enemy who ceaselessly seeks to destroy and to devour you. The Canaanite woman was one of those heathen whom the LORD had instructed Joshua and the Israelites to destroy when they entered the Promised Land. Because they disobeyed the LORD and did not destroy the Canaanite women and children, in time they intermarried with them and they adopted the Canaanite gods, and fell into apostasy and the sorry, cyclical history of judgment, repentance, restoration, and apostasy again and again which comprises the bulk of the Old Testament Scriptures. However, this particular Canaanite woman was a believer of a sort. Seemingly, through the hearing of the Law and the Prophets, the Holy Spirit had created faith in her heart. And, for her faith, what did she receive, but ridicule and mockery from her countrymen, hatred and despising from the Jews and Jesus’ disciples, a demon-possessed daughter, and rejection and chiding from the Son of God Himself. As soon as faith is kindled and begins to burn and glow, Satan furiously seeks to stamp it out and destroy it. Indeed, God Himself begins to wrestle with you and pin you down and wound you that His power may be made perfect in your weakness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">For, it is not only Satan’s attacks upon us with which we struggle, but often God Himself struggles, wrestles, and strives with us, as He did with Job, and Jacob, and David, with Paul, and even with Jesus on the cross. Truly, as St. Luke records in The Acts of the Apostles, “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” Tribulations are good for you, for they drive you into more fervent and stronger faith, dependence, and trust in the LORD alone. Indeed, when you are at your weakest, God’s power is made manifest. Job’s trust was not destroyed, though God permitted Satan to reduce him to dust and ashes. Jacob’s faith was not crushed, but he held on to the LORD even when He afflicted him and sent him away limping in pain. David’s dependence upon God was increased as he faced seemingly insurmountable enemies and trials. And, St. Paul’s thorn in the flesh was not removed, despite his pleas and prayers, even as he received the LORD’s grace to persevere and flourish in fruitful works and deeds.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">We do not know exactly what the Canaanite woman believed about Jesus. The Canaanites were heterodox at best. They worshipped Baal and a host of other gods, and undoubtedly mixed a little bit of the Jewish religion in with their pantheon of gods. Nonetheless, she addressed Jesus by the Messianic title <i>Son of David</i>, which she had to have heard from the Law and the Prophets. Regardless of what she understood and the likely heterodoxy of her faith, it is clear that she believed that Jesus could help her, that He could exorcise the demon that oppressed her daughter. “Everyone who calls upon the Name of the Lord will be saved.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">We shouldn’t be surprised that there was demonic oppression and possession in Canaan, for Satan flourishes in lands and cultures where the LORD is not honored and His Commandments are not obeyed. Truly, there are no other gods, but all idolatry is the worship of demons. Foolishly does our own nation and culture believe that Satan and demons are not real, because we are an enlightened, scientific, and materialistic people. Indeed, we have fallen for the devil’s greatest deception, believing that he doesn’t exist. No, Satan and his demons are running rampant among us, perhaps even more so than in first century Canaan, for the devil does not need to make himself visible and obvious in a culture that so blindly immerses itself in all that is profane and immoral, hedonistic, wicked, and just plain evil. Today, people in our nation routinely call evil good and good evil. Demonic infestation, oppression, and possession are all too real and are regularly experienced even by Christians in their homes, churches, relations, and lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Why then did Jesus ignore, shun, and insult this woman of faith? Not to conquer her, but that He Himself might be conquered by her. Jesus put it another way elsewhere saying, “to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” The Canaanite woman had faith, faith that clung to Jesus even when He seemed to be against her. In fact, the more Jesus rejected her and chided her, the tighter she clung to Him, the more fervently she pleaded with Him, “Lord, have mercy on me!” “Lord, help me!” She would not let Jesus go until He blessed her. Truly, this Canaanite woman was also Israel, <i>one who has striven with God and has prevailed</i>. The Canaanite woman had faith, even if it was small and heterodox faith. Because she had faith, Jesus wrestled and struggled with her and even wounded her, and then He gave her even more faith, and He gave her what she pleaded for – He exorcised the demon from her daughter and He healed her saying, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” “To the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Faith trusts that what God ordains is always good, even when it seems to be bad, even when it seems like God has abandoned you, is not listening, doesn’t care, or seems to be the one who is afflicting you. “What God ordains is always good: He never will deceive me; He leads me in His righteous way, and never will He leave me. I take content what He has sent; His hand that sends me sadness will turn my tears to gladness.” “What God ordains is always good: His loving thought attends me; No poison can be in the cup that my physician sends me. My God is true; each morning new I trust His grace unending, my life to Him commending.” “What God Ordains is always good: Though I the cup am drinking which savors now of bitterness, I take it without shrinking. For after grief God gives relief, my heart with comfort filling and all my sorrow stilling.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">And so, God’s Word for you today is about faith and prayer: Faith that clings to the LORD come what may, and prayer that never wavers, even when it seems to go unanswered, or that God Himself is against you. Prayer is good for you, always. You don’t pray to get what you want. You don’t pray to change God’s mind. But, you pray because prayer is good for you. It’s a First Commandment thing. It is good for you to have no other gods but the LORD. You pray that God might change you, and He will, and He does. God will change you, God is changing you, through sorrow and suffering, through trial and tribulation, and ultimately through death – God is changing you back into the image in which He first made you, His image, the image of Jesus who is the express image and icon of God. Day by day, year by year, bit by bit, blow by blow, trial after trial, tribulation after tribulation – The LORD is chiseling you, carving you, shaping you, pruning you, forming you back into His image. It is a good thing! The LORD struggles with you, not to conquer you, but that He may be conquered by you. The LORD teaches you this day from His Word how to struggle with Him and conquer, that You may also one day, in His way, and in His time, be gloriously crowned and lead into His eternal kingdom. But a crumb from His table bestows forgiveness and life, and yet He gives loaves to those who trust in Him and do not let go. Come and eat the children’s bread from the Master’s table. Come and drink His precious blood of forgiveness and live. Let this be your desire. And, it will be done for you as you believe.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Fr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077636552349131586.post-77796179949074615932024-02-21T15:38:00.002-05:002024-02-21T15:38:46.291-05:00Lenten Vespers In the Week of Invocabit (Lent 1)<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMWM7nXSwGiGyg54cqtHArkY-MdN4H2cKEBy8Oe2Z9liQDvP0rrY7sgE98ymB3dsFXkgE283DpcGWvn_I3x0bGjwrwFNQskIF_9HDiWONaK-m3Q4kJCFf6Nv_b26tGJDxXo51ggfumzKkrCGhckQC4O2Ci1cJ1kqEWe8n0VNpKI368OQesWnptbYGUyLE5/s2560/Image.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1604" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMWM7nXSwGiGyg54cqtHArkY-MdN4H2cKEBy8Oe2Z9liQDvP0rrY7sgE98ymB3dsFXkgE283DpcGWvn_I3x0bGjwrwFNQskIF_9HDiWONaK-m3Q4kJCFf6Nv_b26tGJDxXo51ggfumzKkrCGhckQC4O2Ci1cJ1kqEWe8n0VNpKI368OQesWnptbYGUyLE5/w402-h640/Image.jpeg" width="402" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/yv14igt60rsfe1koisdavk7dfhj73sl1" target="_blank">(Audio)</a></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">John 6:35-40; Romans 5:1-21; Isaiah 50:5-10; Psalm 16<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-size: large;">The Obedience of Christ for Our Righteousness<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Everything Jesus did, he did for you; he did it as you, in your place. Jesus was conceived and born for you. Jesus was circumcised for you. Jesus was redeemed with the sacrifice of two turtledoves for you. Jesus was baptized for you. Jesus was tempted by the devil and overcame him in the wilderness by the Word of God for you. Jesus was mocked, ridiculed, and spat upon for you. Jesus was flogged, whipped, scourged, and was crucified for you. Jesus died for you. Jesus rested in the tomb on the Sabbath for you. On the third day Jesus rose from death for you. Forty days later, Jesus ascended to the right hand of his Father in heaven for you.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">However, when I say that Jesus did all this for you, what I truly mean is that he did it for you because his Father demands this of you, and you are incapable of doing it yourself. You were conceived and born in sin, corrupted by enslaving concupiscence so that any good work you want to do comes out corrupted as filthy rags. You are a skeleton in the valley of dry bones of Ezekiel’s vision, dry, lifeless, dead. You are Lazarus dead in his tomb four days, you stinketh. There is no help, no hope for you within yourself. If there is any help or hope for you it is going to have to come from outside of you, from God himself. Yet, God is love, and God loves you in this way: He gave his only-begotten Son over to suffering and death for you. And the Son went willingly out of love and obedience to his Father. The obedience of Christ has obtained your righteousness, which you receive as a free gift of God’s grace through faith, which he has created within you. Your justification and righteousness is all God’s doing, pure grace, which you receive by faith, which is also God’s doing.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Paul Gerhardt captures this dynamic in a conversation between God the Father and God the Son in his hymn “A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth.” “Go forth, My Son,” the Father said, “And free my children from their dread of guilt and condemnation. The wrath and stripes are hard to bear, but by your passion they will share the fruit of your salvation.” Jesus replies to his Father’s command saying “Yes, Father, yes, most willingly I’ll bear what you command me. My will conforms to your decree, I’ll do what you have asked me.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">We hear the same in prophecy in our reading from Isaiah which is known as the Third Suffering Servant Song. The Messiah says, “The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward. I gave my back to these who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.” “Yes, Father, yes, most willingly I’ll bear what you command me.” Jesus suffered all this for you. We hear still more in Isaiah’s Fourth Suffering Servant Song: “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Why would Jesus do this? You must resist the strong Christian sentimentalism that enjoys believing that Jesus suffered all of this out of love for you. While it is true that Jesus loves you, it was truly out of obedience and selfless love for his Father that he laid down his life. It was the Father’s love for you, not Jesus’ love, that moved him to sacrifice his only-begotten Son. God the Father was moved by love for you; God the Son was moved by love for his Father who loves you so much that he gave his Son. Perhaps you think I’m splitting hairs or making much about little. And yet, the Scriptures are clear that God acted, not because of who you are, but because of who he is, so that, “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will,” says Jesus, “but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Why would Jesus do this? Yes, there is more to the story. Jesus also feared, loved, and trusted his Father above all things. That is to say that, even though it meant excruciating suffering and death for him, because it was the Father’s will it was just and good. The Messiah confesses his faith in his Father saying, “But the Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.” Because of his fear, love, and trust in his Father, Jesus was steadfast and resolute even in the face of intense suffering and death. Three times Jesus prayed in Gethsemane that there might be some other way, that he might not drink the cup of God’s wrath that was prepared for him. Still, Jesus ended each prayer with the words, “Not my will, but your will be done.” And Jesus faced and endured the cross the Father laid upon him, for “it was the Father’s will to crush him” for you.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">We can draw strength from Jesus’ fear, love, and trust in the face of suffering and as we bear the crosses the Father has laid upon us. “Not only that,” St. Paul writes, “but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been give to us.” And our Lord Jesus also encourages us saying, “He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord GOD helps me; who will declare me guilty?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Everything Jesus did, he did for you; he did it as you, in your place. The obedience of Christ has obtained your righteousness. “Since, therefore we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Fr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077636552349131586.post-90309673620323944292024-02-18T07:47:00.001-05:002024-02-18T14:21:20.317-05:00Invocabit - The First Sunday in Lent (Lent 1)<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2IvcQshnwdW7FTGK0TCE3leLdQdN2O2QFyrHS00mvCY1rmODlteA69h1FWz8q5vbZIqu3ejNFu6qi-yhtvmZ0hbncrBKhrS0QnoigxdRu-SrnxbP5LqrRPF707vORF1LDAKxp3dOqMPlAq1FGtAi8ohColKWjjFJhsU2-9UNuNyKobXf0hrUZ3LitFl2q/s800/10442-istockgetty-images-plusrudall30-1.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="800" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2IvcQshnwdW7FTGK0TCE3leLdQdN2O2QFyrHS00mvCY1rmODlteA69h1FWz8q5vbZIqu3ejNFu6qi-yhtvmZ0hbncrBKhrS0QnoigxdRu-SrnxbP5LqrRPF707vORF1LDAKxp3dOqMPlAq1FGtAi8ohColKWjjFJhsU2-9UNuNyKobXf0hrUZ3LitFl2q/w400-h209/10442-istockgetty-images-plusrudall30-1.webp" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/a5dgewtu5tufkzmi3rb615niquvqdnx6" target="_blank">(Audio)</a></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Matthew 4:1-11; 2 Corinthians 6:1-10; Genesis 3:1-21<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">One of the unquestionable pleasures of being a pastor is having the opportunity to baptize a newborn infant. Sometime before that day of joyous rebirth, as it goes, I will have met with the happy parents to catechize them in this Holy Sacrament and in the solemn responsibilities which they are about to undertake. It is during this catechesis that I take pains to convey to them the seriousness of Holy Baptism, that it is nothing less than a death and a resurrection to new life for their child, and that, also, it is the guarantee of a new and powerful enemy, Satan, who will plague and pursue their baptized child throughout his or her entire life until their life ends in physical death, awaiting the resurrection of the body on the Last Day. For, the entire life of a Christian is a life subjected to the devil’s temptations. Indeed, as soon as you are accepted and welcomed as children of God through Holy Baptism, the enemy will not cease to assault you that he might enslave you once again.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thus, Jesus suffered the temptations of the devil for you in the wilderness. Immediately upon being baptized by John in the Jordan, Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness for the purpose that He would be tempted by the devil. In Mark’s Gospel it states that the Holy Spirit drove or threw Jesus into the wilderness. However it is worded, the meaning is clear: After verbally declaring Jesus to be His Son and the fullness of His pleasure, after anointing Him with His Holy Spirit, God the Father sent Jesus into the wilderness to suffer the temptations of the devil forty days and nights, without food, exposed to wild animals. Though God tempts no man, He does permit you to suffer temptation that your faith may be proven true. You may consider this His passive will, or His alien will, but you must accept that, ultimately, suffering, testing, and temptation are God’s will for you. For, you are not automatons, mindless machines, or animals acting on instinct, but you have been given a free will, that is, you have been given the freedom to reject God in unbelief.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Similarly did God the Father permit our First Parents to be tempted by the devil, not in hunger in a barren wilderness, but with full bellies in a garden paradise. God did not tempt them, but He permitted the devil to do so. As always, God provided a way out of the temptation: trust in His Word, and fear and love of Him alone. This gift of faith they already possessed; indeed, they had everything they needed to support their bodies and lives. But they still had a choice and the freedom to choose it. Their free choice, however, was to disbelieve God and His Word, to fear the devil and the harm he might do to them, and to love their own lives more than God who gave them life. Adam and Eve succumbed to the devil’s temptation. They chose to exercise their own will over and against God’s will. They acted freely, but in so doing, delivered themselves unto bondage and slavery and death. From our First Parents first corruption have all their progeny received the corruption of sin and death, for a bad tree produces only bad fruit.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Because sin and corruption are present from conception, no man is without sin and all bear Adam’s fatal mark. As it was for Noah and the Patriarchs, so it was for Elijah and the Prophets, the Apostles, and so it is for you today. Thus, was it necessary for Jesus, the Second Adam, to be baptized and to suffer the temptations of the devil and overcome them by perfect faith and trust in the Word of God for you. And thus, is it necessary that you be baptized into Jesus, that you may share in and benefit from His faith and obedience and victory over the devil, death, and the grave. But, as the devil assaulted Jesus with temptations in the wilderness, so too does he assault and tempt those who are members of His body, you children of God in Christ Jesus. It was necessary that Jesus face the devil in the wilderness for you, but that was only the first skirmish in a battle that would end with Christ’s victory over the devil in His death on the cross.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Satan had tried to take the infant Jesus’ life and had failed. Now he thought to attempt to win Jesus over to his side. Why not, he had been successful with Adam, why shouldn’t he be able to do the same thing again? And so, he tempted Jesus in the same way that he tempted our First Parents; he tempted Jesus to doubt what God had said in His Word. <i>“Did God really say?”</i> At Jesus’ baptism the Father had just declared <i>“This is my Son with whom I am well pleased”</i>, now the devil tempts Jesus to doubt this saying, <i>“If you are the Son of God…”. </i>Also, the devil tempted Jesus to satisfy His fleshly desires and passions for food and comfort, respect, and power, much in the same way that he tempted Adam.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">You might consider the temptations of Jesus to be the temptation to avoid suffering and the cross that God has chosen for you. The temptation to turn stones into bread is the temptation to believe that feeding the body is the most important thing of all. <i>“There’s a whole lot of hungry people out there in the world that you claim to love so much, Jesus,”</i> says the devil, <i>“won’t you do whatever you can to feed them? C’mon, God wouldn’t mind? You mean well, right?”</i> Makes sense, doesn’t it? It’d be so much easier to believe that Jesus is God in the flesh if only He’d feed all the hungry bellies in the world and take away the suffering of hunger and striving to put bread on our tables. What did God say again? Oh yeah, <i>“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>“Well then, Jesus, why don’t you perform some miraculous and uncontestable sign so that everyone will believe you, you know, like throw yourself down from the pinnacle of the temple or something? God has said that He’ll command His angels concerning You, right? C’mon, it’ll be great!” “Again, it is written,” </i>Jesus said, <i>“‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test’.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>“This isn’t going so well,”</i> said the devil. <i>“This is going to require the big guns.”</i> <i>So, the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me’. Then Jesus said to him, ‘Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve’.”</i> And thus, the temptation of our First Parents has come full circle. The temptation to make yourself a god has been resisted and overcome by Jesus’ faith and trust in the Word of God for you. Jesus placed His fear, love, and trust in God His Father above all things and He said to the devil, <i>“Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve’.” Then the devil left Him until an opportune time.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Throughout His ministry, Jesus suffered the assault and temptations of the devil for you. The devil tempted Jesus through the men Jesus came to save to perform impressive and glorious works to convince everyone that He was the Messiah. They tempted Jesus to secure early power and influence and become the new king of Israel who would rally the troops and overcome the subjugation of the Roman occupiers. And, when it became clear that Jesus was not going to do any of those things, but, rather, that He was following a path of selflessness and humility that would end in crucifixion and death, they tempted Him go a different way, man’s away, a way of avoidance of suffering and death, and a way that, if followed, would have left all of us in our sin with eternal death as our ultimate fate and destiny.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Throughout His ministry, Jesus resisted the assaults and temptations of the devil and, when He died upon the cross, He took all that the devil had left to pour out upon Him. Satan harangued and taunted and assaulted Jesus on the cross, and all the world with him, and Jesus willingly bore it all and, when He was ready, He gave up His Spirit and died – no one, no man, not even Satan took His life from Him, but Jesus gave it up willingly for you. And, in the moment of His death, Jesus dealt Satan the death blow; the Seed of the woman crushed the serpent’s head. In His death, Jesus won the victory over death for you, that He could give to you His life.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Paradoxically, after being tempted in the wilderness, Jesus went on to do all things the devil tempted Him to do, and on a grander scale, in accordance with God’s Word and will. He did even better than turning stones into bread when He multiplied the five loaves and two fish, feeding over five thousand. And He did better still by giving His own body with bread in Holy Communion thereby feeding millions with the bread that leads to everlasting life. And rather than merely circumventing death by having the angels catch His fall, He died and fell into the earth, and He rose again, the first fruits those who sleep in death. And, finally, He does take up rulership of this earth and the heavens, not by force and power grabbing, but by ascension to the right hand of His Father in heaven.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus suffered the temptations of the devil in the wilderness for you. It was necessary that Jesus face the devil in the wilderness for you, but that was only the first skirmish in a battle that would end with Christ’s victory over the devil in His death on the cross. For, Jesus accomplished the salvation of mankind by the tree of the cross that, where death arose, there life also might rise again and that the serpent who overcame by the tree of the garden might likewise by the tree of the cross be overcome. The Second Adam Jesus Christ has atoned for the sins of the First Adam. Your enemy has been defeated that you may place your fear, love, and trust in God alone and find strength in His Word to resist all the temptations the devil may through at you. They are but lies and deceits that cannot harm you. <i>Though devils all the world should fill, all eager to devour us, we tremble not, we fear no ill; they shall not overpower us. This world’s prince may still scowl fierce as he will, he can harm us none. He’s judged; the deed is done; one little word can fell him.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Fr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077636552349131586.post-73857408505311593782024-02-14T16:20:00.000-05:002024-02-14T16:20:13.288-05:00Ash Wednesday<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv2krHoaWCo1UtWoMXr_Egk7idhxN4WLQEVs68fdLJXsq1nqN9TUuFcyz4odKc8nHyuTlRMZnFClCrzVtSiqkoQCTbLKUUFmbySFhFuUfbx_PTXOI8GjYGA6PxIMHvF_ly_68hi75n8xBY7Q9NlrGGDKrue7JrDFHd0V9gEQ5zhJKgZj7BQbJR4Xfmdzh_/s744/Dust%20man.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="744" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv2krHoaWCo1UtWoMXr_Egk7idhxN4WLQEVs68fdLJXsq1nqN9TUuFcyz4odKc8nHyuTlRMZnFClCrzVtSiqkoQCTbLKUUFmbySFhFuUfbx_PTXOI8GjYGA6PxIMHvF_ly_68hi75n8xBY7Q9NlrGGDKrue7JrDFHd0V9gEQ5zhJKgZj7BQbJR4Xfmdzh_/w400-h253/Dust%20man.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/xphoq9sw1u76cncecbxf1ei4as9tiq35" target="_blank">(Audio)</a></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21; 2 Peter 1:2-11; Joel 2:12-19<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The penitential season of Lent is about returning. You are called to return to your baptism. You are called to return the faithful reception of God’s gifts in Jesus Christ. You are called to return to your family of faith, which is the body of Christ, the Church. You are called to return to the Lord and giver of your life. You are called to return to your Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Of course, all this returning means that there is something you are called to return from. You are called to return from your self-centeredness. You are called to return from your selfishness. You are called to return from your self-righteousness. You are called to return from your being lost. You are called to return from your sin. You are called to return from your path of death upon which you are walking, running, slipping, and sliding.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hence the ashes. Ashes are what is left when all is spent, when all is burned up, when all is wasted away. Ashes are the end for all living things. Uniquely for men, however, ashes are also the beginning. God uniquely made man from the dust of the earth and breathed into the dirt man’s nostrils His own living breath, and the man became a living creature. When our pilgrimage upon this trodden soil is complete, when our life is spent and burned up, we waste away, we return to the dust from whence we came. It is good for you to remember – to remember that you are dust and that to dust you shall return. It is good for you to remember that it is only by God’s gracious creative activity that you live at all. It is good for you to remember that it is because of your sin that you die. For, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and the wages of sin is death.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">When you submit yourself to be marked with ashes, you are confessing this truth. You are confessing that you are a poor, miserable sinner deserving only punishment, both now in time and in eternity. You are confessing that a return to the dust and ashes from whence you came is a just and deserved wage for your sin. You are confessing that you have nothing to bring to God to bargain with Him for something better. You are confessing that you came into this world, apart from your choosing, with nothing at all – that all you are and all you have, even your life, is an undeserved gift of God’s grace – and that God is justified to take it all back should He so choose.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">But why? Why do you submit yourself in such humility and lowliness? Why do you receive such harsh words against you and suffer to be branded with dust and ashes? Why do you repent and return?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Because there is something, because there is someone to return to. For the LORD is gracious, giving us good things that we do not deserve, forgiveness, life, and salvation. For the LORD is merciful, not giving us those bad things that we do deserve, eternal suffering and death. For the LORD is slow to anger, in fact He is long-suffering, patient, and kind, and He is abounding in steadfast, self-sacrificing love.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then the LORD became jealous for His land and had pity on His people. He calls to His prodigal children in His love, “return.” His eyes search ceaselessly, His embrace is wide and waiting to receive would-be strangers as sons. Return and receive and be restored. He made man once from dust and ash, He is ready to do it again! He has slaughtered His choice, unblemished Lamb. There will be a feast – grain, wine, and oil – you will be satisfied. This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Fr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077636552349131586.post-16976894442078124982024-02-11T07:05:00.002-05:002024-02-11T12:51:39.743-05:00Quinquagesima<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZ8sq_2y1xahRUhbBkOTyQ10IzpQ9Vb2a743CWZcA4fKRZQMOwW_1OM00yxiM1YgQRXUBz_bc8_vF9DDPt23HSJQa9D3JcojGZ7syCd71uYTXiMl4BOGUFdbETm8pIcAW-gCJlnqSlj0Z4c35Kb3rNznRCTL4eB-eyduep6ehUHBvxvNAOqwAvfGQQVOU/s600/healing-of-the-blind-man-cropped.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="371" data-original-width="600" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZ8sq_2y1xahRUhbBkOTyQ10IzpQ9Vb2a743CWZcA4fKRZQMOwW_1OM00yxiM1YgQRXUBz_bc8_vF9DDPt23HSJQa9D3JcojGZ7syCd71uYTXiMl4BOGUFdbETm8pIcAW-gCJlnqSlj0Z4c35Kb3rNznRCTL4eB-eyduep6ehUHBvxvNAOqwAvfGQQVOU/w400-h248/healing-of-the-blind-man-cropped.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/q0s59ssk061aa28vkqd2oi1t6dbkq2us" target="_blank">(Audio)</a></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Luke 18:31-43; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; 1 Samuel 16:1-13<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">I know that the cross of Jesus Christ is a scandal and a stumbling block for you. However, you should know that it is also a scandal and stumbling block for me, and for every Christian preacher and believer, and for unbelievers as well. For, when it comes to Christ crucified, your eyes are blind, even though you see. When it comes to Christ crucified, your reason and your wisdom, your stolen knowledge of good and evil, these get in the way, they cannot understand and they reject the only means of your salvation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In our Gospel reading this morning, Jesus was about to lead His disciples up to Jerusalem and to His cross. You, Christian, are about to go there too. He said to them, <i>“<u>See</u>, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets <u>will be</u> accomplished. For He <u>will be</u> delivered over to the Gentiles and <u>will be</u> mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging Him, they <u>will</u> kill Him, and on the third day He <u>will</u> rise.” “But they understood none of these things,”</i> and neither do you. In fact, <i>“This saying was hidden from them,”</i> and from you, <i>“and they did not grasp what was said,”</i> and neither do you<i>.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">For, the scandal of the cross of Jesus Christ has made you blind. It has confounded your reason and your wisdom, which are fallen, corrupted, and broken by your sin so that you cannot possibly see the wisdom of God’s ways, you cannot possibly understand His knowledge, because your sight and your reason and wisdom are fallen, corrupted, and broken by your sin. And so, you are no better than either the disciples of Jesus <i>“who understood none of these things”</i> or the blind beggar alongside the road who needed to be told that Jesus was present – that is, except that, the blind beggar <i>knew</i> that he was blind and that he needed healing and restoration. Therefore, upon hearing the Good News that Jesus was present, he cried out to the only source of healing and comfort for mercy, and nothing but mercy, through faith alone.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Those who were in front rebuked the man and told him to be silent. You do the same. This weak, pitiful man, they thought, has no business in the presence of our Rabbi and Master. Who is it that cries out to the Lord for mercy that you despise and wish to silence? This blind beggar had nothing, no money, no food, no clothing, no home, and no sight – and he knew it. Therefore, he did not offer anything to Jesus, or to anyone, but he begged, he pleaded and he cried out to Jesus alone for mercy. That is what you cannot understand or tolerate, that is what you want to silence – singular, focused, unwavering trust in Jesus, God’s Word made flesh, and no one and nothing else. This blind beggar did not cry out to the government, he did not cry out to the church, he did not even cry out to the disciples for anything at all, but he cried out to Jesus alone, for mercy alone, in any way that Jesus might choose to dispense it. He doesn’t ask for your approval or your prayers. He doesn’t ask for your grudging handouts or tolerance. He doesn’t ask for your councils, programs, rules, policies, or laws. He begs for, he needs, he clings to Jesus’ mercy alone – period.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus’ mercy scandalizes you and causes you to stumble for the same reason that you are scandalized by Jesus’ cross and Jesus crucified. Jesus’ dead body on the cross communicates something to you. It is repulsive. It is offensive. It is morbid. It is weak. It is foolish. It is scandalous and it causes you to stumble. You don’t want to look at it. You don’t want to be reminded of it. You want to look away from it – and Satan wants you to do just that. You see, don’t believe that nonsense that Hollywood puts out about the devil. Don’t believe that nonsense that the horror writers scribble about. Satan has but only one goal, to take your eyes off of Jesus, to get Jesus out of the way. And, he has only one way of accomplishing that goal – lies. He tells you lies, he deceives you, so that you will take your eyes, your faith, off of Jesus and put them on, well…, truly anything else will do just fine.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In last Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus’ Parable of the Sower, Jesus taught that the seed is the Word of God. When the seed falls upon the hard trodden path, upon the heart hardened by sin, it does not penetrate, it is not received. Then, Jesus teaches, <i>“the birds of the air devoured it,”</i> or, <i>“then the devil comes and takes away the Word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.”</i> The central teaching of Jesus’ parable is that it is <i>the Word of God alone</i> that creates faith. This is one of the three Lutheran Solas – Sola Scriptura, or, Scripture Alone. You heard about another Sola two weeks ago in Jesus’ Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. That Sola was Sola Gratia, or Grace Alone. In today’s Gospel of the Healing of a Blind Man you hear of the third Sola, Sola Fide, or Faith Alone. Thus, over these three weeks of Pre-Lent, the Gesima Sundays, you have heard that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, and that faith is created by the Word alone, that is, by Scripture alone.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Yet, there are two other Solas in the Lutheran Christian faith. They are Sola Christus, or Christ Alone, and Soli Deo Gloria, or to God alone be the Glory. Sola Christus is absolutely essential and is confessed in all the other Solas, for it is through Christ Alone that grace is given and faith is created, and it is Christ Alone that is the object of faith. Further, it is in Christ Alone that God is Glorified. And so, it all begins with Christ, and it all comes back to Christ, and in the end, God is glorified for His goodness, His love, His mercy, His compassion, and His forgiveness which are in, and through, and with Jesus Christ alone.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">God so loved the world that He has graciously given and put forth His Word, His Son Jesus, as a seed into soil that, in His death, He might draw all men to faith in Him and to the life He is and bestows. In doing this, God is glorified, not only by Jesus’ self-sacrifice, but by your self-sacrifice in rooting out all the stones and weeds, and thistles of sin in your hearts in repentance and by bearing the fruit of love, mercy, compassion, and forgiveness towards others that has been showered upon you in God’s gracious gift of Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sola Gratia, Grace alone – What does this mean? It means that salvation comes to you from outside of you, without your works or merit, as a free and perfect gift. It is given to everyone the same, no strings attached. Sola Scriptura, Scripture alone – What does this mean? It means that God gives you His gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation through His Word alone, and not through mysticism or nature or human reason, wisdom, philosophy, or any other way. Sola Fide, Faith alone – What does this mean? It means that Faith itself is a gracious gift of God that comes from outside of you through the Word alone, but is planted in your heart where it is nurtured and grows by the Word alone and bears the fruit of love and mercy, compassion and forgiveness. Yet, all of these are included in Sola Christus, Christ alone. And, through all of these, Soli Deo Gloria, God alone is glorified.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">St. Paul, in his epistle today, exhorts you to put aside faith and trust in anything but Jesus. Paul speaks so eloquently and beautifully about love that this passage has been misunderstood as speaking primarily about the love between a man and a woman, a husband and a wife. It certainly does instruct us in the nature of love, and so this application is not inappropriate. However, that is not the primary meaning or purpose Paul has in mind. What Paul does have in mind are all of the lies that Satan speaks to you about what God has said and about what Christian faith is really is. Paul addresses tongues, prophetic powers, mysteries, knowledge, sacrifice, and even faith, but he warns that, without love, these are nothing. The devil lies to you so that you believe that these fruits are the main thing that is important so that your faith is not in Christ, but in these signs, these fruits of faith. So very subtly he gets Jesus out of the way; he takes your focus off of Christ and Him crucified and puts it on, well…, anything at all. And, he is very successful, for you often believe his lies and, unwittingly, in your striving to follow Christ, follow the devil on the path that leads only to death, taking others along with you.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The love that St. Paul is talking about is not a feeling or an emotion, or even a disposition, but that love is a person, that love is Jesus Christ. God so loved the world…, God loved the world in this way: He gave His Son. Jesus is God’s love for the world; Jesus is God’s love for you. Jesus, dead on the cross, is the ultimate image of God’s love for you, for He was patient and kind; He did not envy or boast; He was not arrogant or rude; he did not insist on His own way; he was not irritable or resentful; He did not rejoice at wrongdoing, but in the truth; He bore all things, believed all things, hoped all things, and endured all things. God’s love in Jesus never ends.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">When Jesus talked to His disciples about what He must do in Jerusalem, they didn’t understand Him and the saying was hidden from them and they did not grasp what He said. That’s because they did not have their eyes focused on Jesus alone, but their eyes were on, well…, anything else. Ironically, the blind man could see better than those who could see. When he heard that Jesus was present, he cried out to Jesus alone for mercy. He had faith, not in outward works and signs, not in human wisdom or reason, but he had faith in Jesus, faith that had come through Jesus’ Word, by God’s grace. Whichever soil he may have been, he wasn’t the hard trodden path, and the devil was not able to lie to him and steal the Word from his heart. Jesus asked him, <i>“What do you want me to do for you?”</i> The man answered, <i>“Lord, let me recover my sight.”</i> Jesus said to him, <i>“Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus opened the eyes of the blind man to see that, despite the humility and the weakness of Jesus’ appearance and, despite the horror and the repulsiveness, the scandal and the offense of what He must accomplish on the cross in Jerusalem, Jesus was the love of God for Him and for all the world, poured out. Faith which receives the gift of love that God has given, and is not offended and does not stumble over it, will bear fruit a hundredfold, and God will be glorified. May you so in love put away your impatience and meanness, your envy, pride, arrogance, and rudeness, your selfish insistence to have things your way, your irritability and resentfulness, and bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and selflessly endure all things for the sake of love, for the sake of Jesus, who alone is your life and salvation, the object of your faith, the grace of God given through His Word, in whom alone God is glorified.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Satan wants to take your eyes off of Jesus and to place them on, well…, anything else. But you, Christian, must remember that, despite what you see or feel, Christ crucified is precisely how God has loved you and the world. The Church of Jesus Christ, along with St. Paul and all the Apostles, continues to preach Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, as the only Way, Truth, and Life through faith in whom alone we are saved. Though you were blind, through grace, by faith in the Word of God made flesh Jesus Christ, now you see. Glory be to God alone.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Fr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077636552349131586.post-74625210768344290422024-02-10T11:24:00.001-05:002024-02-10T18:36:19.282-05:00Christian Funeral for Melva Lois Trimble<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqd17mVz_eVSLlgZX30rKqFnVUjNxenAvSTN0D9cdaai3bNZkay6DYOdBe0XzuUiYftQw-ZLyUnrCEzAPe59eb-BcH9B6SyQ6iSgrMDvwS_NTgjzHr2i7afNL9FWXx7X5PogfySr6JroTbt_h7kJyEYKN8532u4bYy_g_BzK3mX90uGk19HIQ3Rf2uJeSr/s438/Image.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="338" height="519" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqd17mVz_eVSLlgZX30rKqFnVUjNxenAvSTN0D9cdaai3bNZkay6DYOdBe0XzuUiYftQw-ZLyUnrCEzAPe59eb-BcH9B6SyQ6iSgrMDvwS_NTgjzHr2i7afNL9FWXx7X5PogfySr6JroTbt_h7kJyEYKN8532u4bYy_g_BzK3mX90uGk19HIQ3Rf2uJeSr/w401-h519/Image.jpg" width="401" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/y949n0b4ufxu8q3ka275zycmzf5vs0x5" target="_blank">(Audio)</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">John 5:24-30; Romans 8:31-39; Isaiah 43:1-3a, 25<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">It was a little over eighteen months ago that were gathered here together to remember and to give thanks for the faith and life of Melvin “Beach” Trimble. And here we are gathered together yet again today to remember and to give thanks for the faith and life of Melva “Lois” Trimble. It’s not all that uncommon for aged saints to die relatively close to one another. After all, they’d lived together as husband and wife for just shy of seventy years, and they did nearly everything together, it’s hard to imagine what it must have been like for Lois to live without Beach for very long. Who is there to laugh at your inside jokes? Who is there to finish your sentences? Who is there to make you smile when you’re feeling a little down? So many of the things Lois and Beach enjoyed in life they enjoyed together: Collecting Sad irons, antiquing, spending time with family and friends, and so much more.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">I remember saying of Beach that he was “a quiet and humble man, a man of few words having an unassuming, somewhat dry sense of humor.” Well, Lois complimented that. Now, I don’t mean to suggest that Lois was loud, brash, or rude, nothing could be farther from the truth, but she was witty and sharp as a tack. Where Beach would likely let something go without saying a word, Lois would more likely have something to say. She was a strong, capable, and determined woman, but she was kind, thoughtful, and always loving. After Beach died, Lois was determined to remain independent and stay at her home. She was determined to keep driving, and she did for a good while. She joined us here at St. John for the Divine Service on Wednesday afternoons. Instability on her feet ultimately took her independence, but it didn’t quell her spirit. Lois remained strong, capable, and determined to the end. She was a spunky little spitfire to the end, and she always had that smirky little smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Trimble home was always open to family and friends. The coffee was always on and hot. Lois loved to serve her famous cinnamon rolls, breads, and pickles made with fresh dill from the garden. Kneading the dough for cinnamon rolls and bread was stress therapy for Lois, but she loved doing it, and she loved that her family loved her cooking. Family dinners at the Trimble’s were never potlucks. Lois made everything, and she made everything taste good. Though Lois was an excellent cook and baker, her favorite food, surprisingly, was French fries, extra crispy. She didn’t like the nursing home fries; they were too soggy. She and Beach loved going to Cracker Barrell when they were out antiquing. Whenever a new restaurant opened in town it was always a sub or pizza shop. “Why can’t they open a Cracker Barrell,” Lois would complain. One time in Des Moines Lois and Beach went to Cracker Barrell with the family, and what did Lois want to order? A baked potato that she could have made any time at home. They talked her into ordering the Chicken Pot Pie. She at the buttery crust on top and took the filling home. She got three more meals out of just the filling!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Lois had an excellent mind. One of thirty Bock cousins, she remembered everyone’s name and could likely tell you where they lived, even at age ninety-four. Foremost on her excellent mind was – the weather. Lois should have been a meteorologist. Most conversations began with a conversation about the weather. Truth is, she was deathly afraid of thunderstorms, wind, and tornado warnings. She’d get mad at Beach because he would sit on the front porch and watch the storms roll in, while she thought they should be in the basement. Growing up, the family spent many hours in the basement, even though the kids were more akin to Beach’s way of things.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Lois enjoyed a cigarette now and then. Kim shared with me a funny story of her time at the Shell Rock Nursing Home. Lois had taken a fall and had broken her wrist, which was in a soft cast with cotton wrap underneath. One day, as she was set to enjoy her cigarette, she accidentally caught some of the stuffing on fire. Thankfully Kim was there and, out of the corner of her eye she saw Mom waving her hand around and suddenly realized that she was on fire! Quickly they had the fire out. But there was Lois, with burnt cotton hanging out from her cast, and she and Kim looked at each other and started laughing. A quick snip with a pair of scissors and the damning evidence was disposed of, just before the social worker walked in unaware that anything out of the order had happened at all.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Of course, these stories were shared with me by Lois’ loving family, and I am pleased to share them with you all. Here’s just a few more comments to round it off: Lois was cute as a button. She was a trendy dresser for a woman of her time and age. She was thoughtful at sending cards. She was a great sister and a lot of fun to be around. She was an all-around excellent cook and baker and, in addition to her cinnamon rolls and bread, she made a delicious apple pie. She loved garage sales, reading Amish novels, doing word-search puzzles and jigsaw puzzles, playing 500 and Cribbage. And she enjoyed watching Daniel O’Donnell on Sunday nights. There is of course so much more that could be said. I hope you’ll remember it and say it, give thanks for it and celebrate it today, and tomorrow, and for always in remembrance of our dear sister in Christ Lois.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Lord blessed Lois and Beach both with long, full lives of love, family, and happy memories. And the Lord made Lois and Beach a blessing to their family, their friends, their church, and their community. We are so very blessed and thankful to have had them in our lives, to have known their love, and to have loved them in return. Truly we give thanks today for Lois, and also for Beach, and we take comfort that they are together again in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ who loved them and us and gave up his life that we could be his and live with him in his kingdom forever.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Our Lord Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment but has passed over from death to life.” What does this mean? This means that Lois began living her eternal life, her life that cannot and will not ever die, not this past Tuesday, but ninety-four years ago when she was baptized and our Lord Jesus claimed her as his own, forgiving her sin and giving her his life that cannot die. Lois’ faith, faith that she was graced with and blessed with as a free and perfect gift of God’s grace, made her the mother, grandmother, sister, and friend you knew her to be, bearing the fruits of faith in her life, words, and deeds in service of others to the glory of God. Lois’ faith is also the source of her confidence and strength, and even that spunky, fiery personality for, as St. Paul has written, “If God is for us [and he is], who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” I mean, if God’s got your back, what have you to fear? Absolutely nothing. And, to have no fear, that is freedom; freedom to love and to bless and to share with others, filled with God’s own love, knowing that you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Perhaps Lois wouldn’t have put it in those words, but that was Lois nonetheless. And that is why Lois’ death is bittersweet. It is bitter, because there is nothing sweet about death; death is unnatural, evil, and the final enemy. But, in Jesus’ death and resurrection, death has been defeated. Jesus lives, and because he lives those who die in him shall live also. And that is the sweet part. This is not the end, but a temporary parting for we who love and miss Lois. We have this promise: We will see her again with flesh and blood eyes; We will hear her voice again with flesh and blood ears; We will hold her again with flesh and blood arms. And no one will take your joy from you ever again.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Fr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077636552349131586.post-11938998987118812402024-02-04T07:08:00.001-05:002024-02-04T13:18:01.443-05:00Sexagesima<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjncmnFQz0N3PwpxNi96AaQV1kVUuSOVh1pmXo7yeemfRXE5qjEpwdhVhepGVSZzsw-1gOwZxPMMx7cbDAsfM5zmGAIhKwlTJjUqSFCxSx0yuLNoO8dBMc-6tkOLiRq_Fnf0Ss8IaJ5TDR-x8uZZRK3U1mSiRUb1eQMffH81k1vyaEhpW-jZ62xxjUZKgM_/s700/Sower%202.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="700" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjncmnFQz0N3PwpxNi96AaQV1kVUuSOVh1pmXo7yeemfRXE5qjEpwdhVhepGVSZzsw-1gOwZxPMMx7cbDAsfM5zmGAIhKwlTJjUqSFCxSx0yuLNoO8dBMc-6tkOLiRq_Fnf0Ss8IaJ5TDR-x8uZZRK3U1mSiRUb1eQMffH81k1vyaEhpW-jZ62xxjUZKgM_/w438-h212/Sower%202.jpg" width="438" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/uunh3vk0706jmbp2yn3b3598nfvcjfw7" target="_blank">(Audio)</a></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Luke 8:4-15; 2 Corinthians 11:19 – 12:9; Isaiah 55:10-13<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 4pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 4pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus is the Sower, and the parable you have just heard is His Seed, His Word. Your ears and your hearts are the soil: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” All soils “hear,” for hearing is passive and receptive, but not all soils are fruitful. Indeed, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” And no soil is called <i>or</i> fruitful apart from the Seed of the Sower, the Word of the LORD.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 4pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">A great crowd of soils was gathered around the Sower, all having ears to hear, and the Sower began to sow, Jesus began to preach. Now, an enlightened, wise, and efficient sower sows his seed only in the best of soils. Not so our Lord Jesus. Jesus sows His Word-Seed indiscriminately, equally, and liberally upon all types of soils, without any regard to the type or condition of the soil whatsoever – “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and spout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My Word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” Ah, did you catch that? Men of wisdom count success only in that which produces the desired result of a fruitful harvest, but the LORD counts success even when soily ears and hearts do not bear fruit. How can such foolishness be? The Word of the LORD <i>never</i> fails; it <i>always</i> accomplishes its purpose. Either it is received in Spirit-created faith and bears fruit, or it is hindered, refused, and rejected in unbelief. Isn’t it amazing that the all-powerful and all-sufficient Word of God can be hindered, refused, and rejected? And yet, the LORD “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” And so, the Lord sows indiscriminately, equally, and liberally upon all types of soils, without any regard to the type or condition of the soil whatsoever. Indeed, one of the purposes for which the Word of the LORD goes forth, Jesus warns, is that “seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.” For, when the Word of the LORD is rejected, the soily heart of a man returns to what it was before – hard, dead, and fruitless. Nevertheless, in the divine mercy, patience, and forbearance of the LORD, He keeps on sowing, even when His Word-Seed is hindered, refused, and rejected in unbelief.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 4pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">And so here is an aspect of this parable that typically goes unrecognized and unconsidered: Who does the plowing? At least in three of the conditions of soil Jesus names, all but the trodden path, the soil has already been broken up and plowed, prepared to receive the goodly Seed. But who has done the plowing? As Luther explains in the Small Catechism, it is the Holy Spirit who has His hand on the plow: “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” Indeed, the Holy Spirit is the active person in and through the Word-Seed of the LORD, Jesus Christ, the Sower and the Seed. Thus, the plowing, the sowing, the fruit-bearing, and, ultimately, the harvest, are the LORD’s. Indeed, the fact that there are various soils in various states of preparedness is indicative that the Sower has been this way before. The present condition of the soils reflects what has been done with the goodly Seed the Sower has sown yesterday, today, and tomorrow for as many tomorrows as the LORD may in His mercy grant, desiring that all might be saved.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 4pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">For, once the Holy Spirit has plowed, once the Sower has sown His goodly Seed, there is work to do – work in cooperation with the Holy Spirit in <i>retaining</i> what has been plowed and sown. Mind you, <u>and mind you strongly and assuredly</u> – WE DO NOT COOPERATE IN ANY WAY IN OUR JUSTIFICATION OR IN THE PRESERVATION OF OUR JUSTIFICATION, but that is purely and entirely the work of the Holy Spirit who has “called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” Nonetheless, as we confess in the Formula of Concord concerning Free Will, “As soon as the Holy Spirit has begun His work of regeneration and renewal in us through the Word and holy Sacraments, we can and should cooperate through His power, although still in great weakness (FC II, 65).” Just a few verses following today’s parable, St. Luke records Jesus’ exhortation, “Take care then how you hear.” And then, in the following chapter, Jesus warns, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 4pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">We see this in action as Jesus describes the conditions of three types of soil, two of which, although initially receptive to the goodly Word-Seed, even resulting in living and growing faith, nevertheless remain fruitless. Working backwards, there is the thorny soil – “those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.” That is to say that the Word of the LORD and faith have competition in such soily hearts, all the things, people, pursuits, and passions that you are tempted to place before the LORD and His Word. These are the things that keep people from the Word and the Sacraments on Sunday, that keep them from taking time for meditation on the Holy Scriptures and prayer, that tempt them to set up idols that demand their fear, love, and trust before and above God. Faith in such hearts gets choked out and strangled. While it may continue, it does not and cannot bear the fruits of faith and thus is counted as no faith at all.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 4pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then there is the rocky soil – “those who, when they hear the Word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.” Surely, lack of root and moisture are just as dangerous to young and growing faith as are thorns and weeds. Again, faith is present, alive, and growing, but it is not being nourished. Such it is with Christians who neglect their faith and starve it by not drinking deeply from the well of God’s Word and receiving His Sacraments. Either ignorantly or willfully they refuse to put on the armor of God and so they remain weak and defenseless against the attack of the Evil One. And, when trial and tribulation, disease, unemployment, death come upon them, they have no deep and strong root and so are uprooted and swept away in the torrential flood of despair. Likewise, when the wisdom of the world attacks their faith like the scorching sun, having not the moisture of the Word of the LORD, their faith withers and dies.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 4pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">And last of the three unfruitful soils, there is the hard-packed soil of the path – “those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the Word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.” Do not think as the Calvinists and Enthusiasts do that some are predestined to be the path and cannot be plowed and planted, believe, bear fruit and be saved. No, but we were all the path at one time, and some of us have likely returned to path-like status one or more times throughout our pilgrimage. No, there is hope even for the path, for the Sower continues to sow His Word-Seed even where it has been rejected in the past – Thanks be to God for His grace and mercy and patience! Perhaps what you should ponder more when considering the path is that the devil is eager to steal the Word of the LORD from your hearts. He doesn’t want you to believe, and he uses a multitude of very creative and inventive tactics to keep the Word from implanting itself within your hearts and minds: distractions, pleasures, and entertainment; boredom, work, and pragmatism; the false wisdom of men which we consider enlightenment and scientific fact; personal pettiness concerning the pastor, his personality, voice, preaching style, etc.; self-righteousness which tempts you to puff yourself up with pride while looking down on others with disdain and contempt, instead of pity, mercy, compassion, and love. Again, unlike the Calvinists and Enthusiasts, we must not believe that if we have once believed that we cannot fall from faith. No, the devil is just as relentless in seeking to devour you as your LORD is in saving you. Yet, there is still hope for those who have fallen away, for the Sower keeps on sowing until the day and hour the LORD has appointed for the harvest. Therefore, you must “take care how you hear” and keep your hand to the plow without looking back.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 4pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">But, “some [seed] fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” Remember, faith also “grew” in the thorny and rocky soil, but remained fruitless. Only the soil of faith that produces fruit does Jesus call “good soil.” Moreover, the good soil not only produces fruit, but it produces a miraculous abundance of fruit, a “hundredfold.” This is in accord with the teaching of St. James that “faith apart from works is dead,” and “Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” It’s very simple, plain, orthodox, confessional, Lutheran, Christian doctrine that faith – true, living, and saving faith – always produces fruit, good works that serve the neighbor and glorify God. It is enough, it is sufficient for justification that you have faith, but faith is never alone, but is always active, always working, always bearing fruit. Thus, Jesus teaches concerning the good soil, “they are those who, hearing the Word, hold it fast in a an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 4pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Again, the Holy Spirit plows and prepares the soil your of heart. And, Jesus, the Sower, sows the Seed of His Word into your heart and makes it fruitful. The LORD is Sower and the Seed. You are the soil, and you are His, your faith is His work, and the fruit you bear is His fruit which serves your neighbor and gives glory to the LORD alone. While your faith, your New Man, indeed cooperates with the work of the Holy Spirit in and through you, your Old Man, your sinful and corrupted flesh cooperates with the devil to return the soil of your heart to the hard-packed path once again. There is nothing that you can do to change the condition of your soily heart, but the Holy Spirit must continually plow, the Son must continually sow, and so you are preserved in faith unto salvation by holding the Word of the LORD fast in an honest and good heart and bearing fruit with patience. Thus, the Christian faith and life is one of humility, repentance, and perseverance through all adversity: through trial and tribulation, through the thorny temptations of the flesh, the passions, and desires; through the rocky, faith-compromising vices of boredom and complacency, self-righteousness, pride, and idolatry. These are natural to your Old Man, and the LORD will permit them to befall you that, by the Holy Spirit, your faith may be strengthened, that the rocks may be uprooted, the thorns pulled out, that the root of your faith may grow deeper and stronger in Him, and you bear His fruit, a hundredfold, to the glory of His Holy Name.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 4pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">O God, the strength of all who put their trust in You, mercifully grant that by Your power we may be defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit one God, now and forever.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 4pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Fr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077636552349131586.post-53446248939409725112024-01-31T09:32:00.001-05:002024-01-31T15:11:30.299-05:00Christian Funeral for Irma Jean Lee<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ1omCRCFPkLtNPP8Mu2nZye_Aidf462OVmzQ-BzoOKhTQts4yPQIHY9lu_VOLbshdGzl51mp7XUDl-iyBXYXS8JiBILYa2Lg3qHF2j1Fx1xID4V7YFwQ0LjvSeIUKOX10IrY7iluDRO41xZiRG9krLK0kB0Gl3CE8QjlBSNVj3t4QPqEXNZa6rxIYeIlQ/s440/Image.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="340" height="522" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ1omCRCFPkLtNPP8Mu2nZye_Aidf462OVmzQ-BzoOKhTQts4yPQIHY9lu_VOLbshdGzl51mp7XUDl-iyBXYXS8JiBILYa2Lg3qHF2j1Fx1xID4V7YFwQ0LjvSeIUKOX10IrY7iluDRO41xZiRG9krLK0kB0Gl3CE8QjlBSNVj3t4QPqEXNZa6rxIYeIlQ/w403-h522/Image.jpeg" width="403" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/6kbm62kyt4ro2xwap0xcyx5s7srsy5ew" target="_blank">(Audio)</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">John 14:1-6; Romans 8:31-39; Isaiah 40:6-11<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Whether you are running a marathon, cycling a hundred miles, or driving an eighteen-wheeler coast to coast, the goal is the same, to cross the finish line, to finish the job, to deliver the goods. Now, does that describe Irma, or what? Irma was driven, confident, and optimistic, a real can-do personality. She was positive and energetic, and her positivity was positively contagious. When you met Irma for the first time you might be tempted to underestimate her because of her diminutive stature – Irma was short – but you didn’t underestimate her for long, as she would be running circles around you in no time, leaving you in her dust. Irma was a dynamo, a force of nature, an inspiration, a gift of God’s grace, a loving wife, a devoted mother and grandmother, a treasured friend, a child of God, and so much more, and today we give thanks to God for Irma, for her faith and for her love, and for keeping His promises to Irma – “You are mine,” “I will never leave you or forsake you,” “I will be with you always, even to the end of the age,” and “Nothing can separate you from my love in Jesus Christ.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">When you meet a soul like Irma, it makes you pause and wonder, “Where does such confidence, drive, energy, optimism, and hope come from?” You know where it comes from. If you asked her, Irma would tell you without hesitation: “Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” That’s from Psalm 100:3, Irma’s confirmation verse. There couldn’t have been a verse more fitting and appropriate. Irma knew that she was God’s child, a sheep of her LORD’s pasture. She belonged to him, was blessed by him, and was made to be a rich blessing to others by him for his glory. Because of this she wanted to tell other people, help other people, share her joy with her family and friends, and live her life, a gift of God’s grace, to his glory and praise.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">For Irma, being God’s child wasn’t just a Sunday activity, but it was an every moment of every day activity. Irma marked her home and her truck with sticky notes containing favorite Bible verses, literally marking the doorposts and the lintels of her life with God’s word. There were so many notes in the truck that Keith almost couldn’t see out the windshield! When she was home for a while, Irma made it to church and Bible study, and then it was the “loop” to see the kids and grandkids from Verona, Wisconsin, to Storm Lake, to Ankeny, and back to see her friends. Irma actually prayed to God each day that he would show her where she was needed, and she would thank God for answering by providing her someone to serve. Though she was always on the go and had somewhere to be, still she took the time to visit members of the Bible study who were unable to attend, and to help anyone who had a need. I asked some of Irma’s friends and family to share what first comes to mind when they think of Irma. Several said “faith,” and that she had her priorities in life straight: faith, family, friends. One dear friend answered, “Go tell it on the mountain!” That was Irma, in a nutshell.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Irma was fun too. She and Keith had a great time with friends and family. It’s well known that Irma enjoyed the outdoors, biking, hiking, running, traveling, seeing the country. Irma also enjoyed merlot. When the friends got together there was merlot, and the more merlot Irma had, the more Irma Irma became. It’s a good thing! One time Keith and Irma and some friends from church were enjoying the lake. Irma was the spotter on the back of the jet ski. Her job was to tell the driver when the rope was taught and the skier was ready. Well, Irma jumped the gun and yelled “hit it” while there was still slack in the rope. Randy Niehaus went bellyflopping off the dock across the lake. Thank you for that image! It shouldn’t surprise anyone that knew her that Irma had completed a 100 mile plus bike ride in the Black Hills and ran a half-marathon just weeks before she was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. That means, the cancer had been there for quite a while, even while she was still enjoying life and performing superhuman feats! Irma was like the Energizer Bunny, driven by faith and fire, friendship, and love. You can’t keep a good woman down.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">We were all stunned when that diagnosis came. How could this happen to such a healthy, strong, energetic, and vibrant person? How could it be there all the while she was running, biking, driving, serving, and more? It’s a wake-up call for certain. “All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the. People are grass.” I mean, we all know this, and yet, when things like this happen it’s still a wake-up call and a reminder that maybe our eyes and our focus haven’t been as set on the goal and prize, the finish line, as they should be. Now, I don’t say this to frighten you. It’s not like we should be so preoccupied with living the Christian life that we are constantly checking things off our list as we accomplish them. No, that’s not what it means to run the race to obtain the prize. No, the Christian faith and life doesn’t look like that. The Christian faith and life look like, well, it looks like Irma’s faith and life. Irma didn’t do all the good things she did because she felt compelled by the Law. Quite the contrary, she did all those good things because she knew personally the goodness of the Gospel. Irma knew what her Lord had done for her, and continued to do for her, and she loved him for it; and she was so filled with his love that she couldn’t contain it all, and so it poured out of her into the lives of others, into your lives, and into the lives of countless others, all to the glory of God in Christ Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">St. Paul famously compared the Christian faith and life to a race, but a very different kind of race in which the goal is not to cross the finish line first, but simply to cross the finish line. Everyone who crosses the finish line, everyone who completes their life in faith and trust in the Lord, receives the prize – eternal life in the kingdom of God. In such a race, other people are not competition, but they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. If someone stumbles and falls, we can stop and help them up, even carry them across the finish line if necessary. Irma was an example for us of one who loved the Lord and finished the race, loving and serving her neighbor all along the way. Irma had such confidence in the Lord her savior that she wasn’t concerned about herself, but she was concerned about others. Where does such confidence come from? Again, from St. Paul: “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died – more than that, who was raised – who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? […] No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Now, if that doesn’t breed confidence in you, read it again, and again, and again until it sinks in. There all no losers in the race that is the Christian faith and life. Everyone who crosses the finish line, who dies in the faith, wins. Period. Thanks be to our gracious and merciful God and Father who has purchased and redeemed us in his Son Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Keith, Jason, Lisa, Heather, Rhonda, grandkids, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, what was true for Irma is true for you. I know you hurt. The loss is real, and it is profound. I know that it seems, it feels like Irma was taken too soon. Death is real, and it is the wages of sin that we will all pay in time. Moreover, our God did not create us to suffer and die, but to live with him forever. So, death is unnatural, wrong, even evil. But death is defeated. Jesus died for Irma and for you and for all who will be saved. In his death Jesus destroyed death. It could not hold him, and it cannot hold Irma, and it cannot hold you. Jesus lives, and he is our Good Shepherd, guiding us through the valley of the shadow of death that is our life in this world into his Father’s house where his sheep may safely graze. Irma is not gone, but she has gone home. One day you will return home and join her, and we will never be parted again. In that regard I wish to share with you something special that was shared with me. Just hours before Irma died Friday evening, Judy and Nikki Gamble visited and were standing near Irma’s bed. Nikki brough her guitar and quietly sang a few songs for Irma. Soon Heather and Lisa joined in. The last hymn they sang to Irma was “Heaven is my Home.” Not long after Jesus welcomed Irma home. “Let not your hearts be troubled,” Jesus said, “Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; I have gone to prepare a place for you there. I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Fr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077636552349131586.post-40636781291998568362024-01-28T06:52:00.001-05:002024-01-28T13:00:20.669-05:00Septuagesima<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqcTGylAYom24CYPhHjpV-h8_HSvH-QwedEmcdUQhppL7DBu_O2yG_YlicuvCri6BFR8qNHseEAEn_7lOg8Orr2CQf2cfwmQ9olp43X0rumef99xlHyJ-pR5tl2alC7a0AQz2Q_Ok3IDcI7S3pjTFeT57UxloFbR2LFDwRTWNqCPDkuU2d7UTeQXNCdtUn/s1600/Image.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="842" data-original-width="1600" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqcTGylAYom24CYPhHjpV-h8_HSvH-QwedEmcdUQhppL7DBu_O2yG_YlicuvCri6BFR8qNHseEAEn_7lOg8Orr2CQf2cfwmQ9olp43X0rumef99xlHyJ-pR5tl2alC7a0AQz2Q_Ok3IDcI7S3pjTFeT57UxloFbR2LFDwRTWNqCPDkuU2d7UTeQXNCdtUn/w400-h210/Image.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/xedrt59ayx88hcdsoxpi9n20dg9mb8ps" target="_blank">(Audio)</a></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Matthew 20:1-6; 2 Corinthians 9:24 – 10:5; Exodus 17:1-7<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Moses called the name of that place Massah, which means <i>testing</i>, and Meribah, which means <i>quarreling</i>. For, in their fear and unbelief, the people of Israel spent their days testing and quarreling with the LORD and with His servant Moses. At the first sign of need – no, at the first sign of want, for there is a difference – they grumbled and they complained to the LORD, and they accused Him and they blamed Him for not providing for them. They even blamed Him for leading them into their tribulation and temptation. They simply did not fear, love, and trust in the LORD above all things, and so they put Him to the test and they considered the good that He had done for them to be evil.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Truly, this was the same temptation our First Parents faced, not in the wilderness, but in a lush and fruitful garden paradise. Though they had everything they could possibly need or require, Satan tempted them to believe that God was willfully holding out on them. He tempted them to believe that God was keeping them in the dark. And, so, they took matters into their own hands, and they acted according to their own will, as opposed to the will of the LORD, and they fell out of the LORD’s grace, not because God stopped loving them, but because they chose not to fear, love, and trust in Him. And, then, they blamed God for their misery and their suffering. Indeed, because of sin, even paradise can be Massah and Meribah, a virtual hell on earth filled with continuous testing and quarreling.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">But then came Jesus, not a creaturely son of God, but the very Son of God Himself as a man, the Second Adam. Immediately following His baptism, Jesus was literally tossed to the wolves, to Satan, to be tempted like our First Parents and like the Israelites, not in a lush and fruitful garden paradise, mind you, or even in a somewhat fruitful wilderness, but in a dry, barren, and fruitless desert. There, Jesus willingly fasted forty days and forty nights, sustained by His fear, love, and trust in the LORD and in His Word, though, physically, He was hungry and He was thirsty. Then the tempter came and he tempted Him, just has he had tempted our First Parents and the children of Israel. Satan tempted Jesus to blame the LORD for His hunger and to take matters into His own hands to satisfy Himself. Satan tempted Jesus to put the LORD to the test and to quarrel with the LORD. But, of course, He did not do that. But, why not?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Well, how did Jesus reply to Satan? Three times, Jesus replied, “It is written.” But, what is written, and where is it written? Well, Jesus’ replies to Satan are written specifically in the books of Deuteronomy and the Psalms. However, while He most certainly did appeal to the written Word of God, Jesus’ three-fold repetition of “It is written” attests, rather, to the completeness and the certainty and the trustworthiness of the Word of the LORD. Jesus was not merely satisfied with the Word of the LORD out of obedience, though He was certainly obedient, but He was satisfied because He perfectly feared, loved, and trusted the LORD and His Word. For Jesus, “It is written” is cause for perfect peace and contentment, for, as the LORD has also spoken, “The Word has gone out from my mouth and it will not return to me void, but it will accomplish the purpose for which I sent it.” That is to say that the Word of the LORD will never fail and will never change. The promise of the LORD will be kept, regardless of what trials, tribulations, temptations, and suffering befall you. That is what Jesus believed about the Word of the LORD, and that was His sustenance and strength and comfort through fasting, through suffering, and through temptation by Satan.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In comparison, the children of Israel were like the rocky and thorny soil in Jesus’ Parable of the Sower. The seed of the LORD’s Word worked its way into the soil of their hearts, but, because of anxiety and worry over food and drink for the body, and out of fear of their enemies, and jealousy of their own kinsmen, as well as envy and covetousness of the wealth of the Gentiles, their faith was easily uprooted, dried up and withered away, or swept away in the torrent of trial, tribulation, and temptation. When the LORD acted with mighty and powerful signs like the plague upon the firstborn and the parting of the Red Sea, they believed easily, but when trial and tribulation and temptation came, they quickly turned against the LORD and accused Him of abandoning them or, even, of willfully causing them to suffer. Thus, when they became thirsty and hungry in the wilderness, they tested the LORD and they quarreled with Him and with His servant Moses, even saying, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">However, the LORD had not abandoned them. And, the LORD most certainly did not afflict them from His heart. Indeed, the LORD was with them all along. The LORD knew the needs of His people and He was prepared to provide for them and care for them. He commanded His servant Moses to strike the rock of Horeb in the presence of the Elders of the people. This was to reconfirm in the minds and the hearts of His people that He was with them and for them just as He had promised in His Word. As always, the LORD does not simply proclaim His Word into the ether, but He attaches His Word to physical and material things. He put His Word into the mouth of His servant Moses that he might shepherd His people. And He attached His Word to the rock of Horeb so that it produced water just as His Word promised it would.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The LORD goes with His people, He shepherds them, even through the dark times of trial and tribulation and temptation. He commanded the Israelites to construct the tabernacle so that His glory might fill the Most Holy Place that He might dwell amongst His people. When they were on the move, His glory went before them as a pillar of cloud by day and as a pillar of fire by night. And when they finally entered the Promised Land, the Lord dwelt amongst His people in the temple built by Solomon, just as He promised in His unchanging Word. And yet, all of that was to foreshadow and typify the kind of relationship the LORD truly desires to have with you, His people: His Word, His Son, became flesh in the person of Jesus, and made His dwelling, literally His tabernacle, amongst you, in your midst. Thus, Jesus, whose name means “God saves,” is also called Emmanuel, “God with us.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">And so, the LORD was with His people in the rock at Horeb. St. Paul tells us in his First Epistle to the Corinthians: “For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.” Thus, just as the children of Israel had no need to fear hunger and thirst in the wilderness, for the LORD was with them just as He had promised in His Word, so our First Parents lacked nothing in the Garden, so did Jesus lack nothing in the desert, and so do you lack nothing at anytime and anyplace, for the LORD, your Shepherd, is with you, guiding you, protecting you, and providing for you that you should not want.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Your life and all things are a precious gift of the LORD’s grace who has promised to bless you and keep you all the days of your life. His Word has gone out from His mouth and it cannot, and it will not, return to Him void, but it must, and it will, accomplish the purpose for which it was sent. Yet, too often do you dwell in the midst of Massah and Meribah, in the midst of testing and quarreling with God. Like the workers in the vineyard, you look around you and you perceive inequality and injustice. Why should some who work less receive the same as you? Why should you, who come to church and tithe and serve, struggle and suffer, while many who never darken the doorways of a church, and those who do not acknowledge the Lord at all, seem to prosper? Your Lord teaches you that this is what the kingdom of heaven is like: The kingdom of heaven is like a master who hires all sorts of workers throughout the course of a day and then, at the end of the day, pays them each exactly the same regardless of how long they worked. Now, what’s the lesson in this parable? Is the lesson that the LORD is unjust or wicked? No, of course not! “Get behind me Satan, for you have in mind, not the things of God, but the things of man.” No, the kingdom of heaven is not about justice and equality, at least not as men count justice and equality, thanks be to God! Thanks be to God that He does not give you what you deserve, punishment, death, and eternal damnation, but that He gives you the very opposite, that He gives you forgiveness, eternal life, and salvation by grace alone, as a free and perfect gift, on account of His faithful servant Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The master in Jesus’ parable is the LORD, your God, Himself. And, by His Word, He promised each and every laborer in His vineyard the exact same wage, the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation by grace alone. It does not matter how great a sinner or saint you have been. It does not matter how worldly or pious you have been. It does not matter if you have been a lifelong Christian or a recent convert. It doesn’t even matter if your faith is a great as a mustard seed or even smaller. All that matters is that the LORD looks upon you in favor, by grace alone, because of His Son, your Savior, Jesus Christ. You are saved by God’s free and perfect gift of grace alone – period – which you receive by faith alone in Christ Jesus alone – period – which, itself, is the free and perfect gift of the LORD. The point is this: The master had given his word to each and every one of his laborers. That word would never change or be broken. Indeed, the master kept his word to the very end of the day, and he paid each worker precisely what he promised he would. The testing and the quarreling are not with the word of the master, though the workers blame him and begrudge him, but the testing and the quarreling are because of the worker’s own misguided sense of equality and justice. They wanted what they believed they deserved, not what the master promised. However, the wages for sin is death, but the free gift of God’s grace is forgiveness, eternal life, and salvation. Again, thanks be to God that He does not give you what you deserve. Rather, instead, your LORD gives you what you do not deserve, what you cannot earn, what you do not merit. Thanks be to God in Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thus, St. Paul compares your life in this world to a race. However, it’s a different kind of race than what you’re used to. In this race, everyone who finishes the race wins a prize – and, not just any prize, but the same prize, the prize of forgiveness, eternal life, and salvation. “That’s not fair!” you want to protest. You’re right, it’s not fair, thanks be to God. If you got what was fair, what was just, then you’d be dead, forever, and worse! No, it’s not fair, it’s not equal in the ways in which we count equality, thanks be to God. Moreover, the prize is not a trophy or a “perishable wreath,” but the prize is “imperishable” and everlasting. And, the prize is already laid up for you in heaven. Your name is on it. In a very real sense, it is already yours right now through baptism into Christ. No one can take it from you. Only you can reject it and leave it behind. But, why would you do that? Well, you put yourself at risk when you begrudge the LORD’s generosity to others when He offers the same to them as to you. Don’t do that! But, you must work to crucify such thoughts and ways and live to the LORD. And, this is the lesson of the rock in the wilderness, the glory of the LORD in the tabernacle, Jesus in the flesh, and the same wage paid to all who labor in the vineyard: In Jesus, the LORD gives to all forgiveness, eternal life, and salvation, freely, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. Know this, believe this, and trust in this truth at all times, for the unchanging and irrevocable Word of the LORD has spoken. And, proclaim this truth to all in your words, and deeds, and lives to the glory of the LORD.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Fr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077636552349131586.post-23960391207622979792024-01-21T07:11:00.001-05:002024-01-21T12:48:34.681-05:00The Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhaRKX13uRp4_xbIhxIpCBDPs6KAOlO_ue_PF01gTdFyN4ryVD-vQZEe7gKLmlpWna0VBe2E5OW1r8sUluTeUbtWdhBj6o6vXlno7p65JLwy6EBsteNeEYAaT0xm7ertFQTLkWPe0sxXXFDOkx3cpLDxQQun1rw3bixrc1RzwQj3O3t1dfroaI3blF6WZw/s535/Transfiguration%20Abrstract%20-%20This%20Is%20My%20Beloved%20Son.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="535" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhaRKX13uRp4_xbIhxIpCBDPs6KAOlO_ue_PF01gTdFyN4ryVD-vQZEe7gKLmlpWna0VBe2E5OW1r8sUluTeUbtWdhBj6o6vXlno7p65JLwy6EBsteNeEYAaT0xm7ertFQTLkWPe0sxXXFDOkx3cpLDxQQun1rw3bixrc1RzwQj3O3t1dfroaI3blF6WZw/w400-h295/Transfiguration%20Abrstract%20-%20This%20Is%20My%20Beloved%20Son.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/dsppjmt9pqkxiwgyl586oxjb3nczki40" target="_blank">(Audio)</a></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Matthew 17:1-9; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Exodus 34:29-35<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">What we are blessed to see in the Transfiguration of Our Lord is a small glimpse and preview of the fullness of God’s glory which is located in the person of His Son Jesus Christ. But, though Jesus’ face and clothes <i>shined with unborrowed light</i>, He was the same man Jesus. That is to say that He was the same man Jesus who had first called Peter, James, and John to follow Him. He was the same man Jesus whom they had witnessed turn water into wine, cleanse a leper, and heal a paralytic. He was the same man Jesus whom Peter had boldly and truthfully confessed to be <i>the Christ, the Son of the Living God</i>. Only now, for a brief moment, they were blessed to see the glory of God that had been there with Him, and in Him, though veiled, all along.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">He was the same man Jesus. God’s glory had been with Him and in Him all along. Therefore, what we have heard and seen in the Word of God this Epiphantide were but small manifestations, or epiphanies, of that glory in Jesus’ Words and deeds. But, the man Jesus, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, the Word made flesh, dwelling amongst us, was, and is, and ever shall be the fullness of God’s glory. The light now shining from Jesus’ face and clothes in the Transfiguration does not make Him more glorious than when He laid as a helpless infant in a feeding trough for animals. That light had always been there, though veiled, for indeed, Jesus is the very Light of the World. He is the Light which shined in the darkness before the creation of sun, moon, or stars. Jesus is the Light in the darkness of our world of sin and death in which we still live. And, Jesus is the Light of heaven in which the Saints bask and dwell in eternity with no need for either lamp or sun. Jesus has always been this Light and, though His glorious Light was hidden for a while beneath the veil of His humanity, Peter, James, and John were permitted a brief unveiling to prepare them, and to strengthen them, to embrace the fullness of God’s glory that would soon be revealed in the suffering and death of the man Jesus upon the cross.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">It was a glorious, mountaintop experience, to be sure, to behold Jesus in brilliant, blinding light. But then, two men appeared with Jesus, Moses and Elijah, talking with Him. St. Luke informs us that they were talking to Jesus about His departure, or, in Luke’s Greek, His exodus, which He was about to accomplish in Jerusalem. Imagine that, Moses, God’s chosen leader of Israel in their exodus out of bondage and slavery to Pharaoh in Egypt speaking with Jesus, the New Moses, about the exodus He was about to make to free God’s people from bondage and slavery to sin, death, and Satan through His bodily suffering and death on the cross in Jerusalem, leading them into the Promised Land of eternal life with God in heaven. And then, to see Jesus speaking too with Elijah, the Great Prophet of Israel. Both of these men had served the LORD in their lives, preaching, teaching, and confessing their faith in God and in His covenant promise to send a Messiah and Redeemer to forgive the people of their sins. And, both of these men had died trusting in the LORD’s faithfulness to keep His promise, yet, behold, there they are alive, standing in God’s glory shining forth from Jesus, talking to Him, talking about Him, as they once did on earth, about His exodus which He was soon to accomplish in Jerusalem. Moses represented the Law of God given in the Ten Commandments and in the sacrificial system of the people of Israel, and Elijah represented the prophetic Word of God given through the mouths of the prophets to rebuke the people of their sins, to turn them in repentance, and to proclaim to them God’s abundant mercy, grace, and forgiveness in providing for them a Messiah, Redeemer, and Savior. For, all of the Law and the Prophets, all of the Hebrew Scriptures, which we call the Old Testament, served to convey this message, this Gospel, this Christ who was about to accomplish and finish all things necessary to restore men to righteousness before God. Moses’ and Elijah’s presence with Jesus in glory are the living proof of God’s promise kept and fulfilled in Jesus Christ, given as a preview of a greater glory still.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">We shouldn’t be surprised, then, that Peter wanted to enshrine that glory. Peter wanted to stay on that mountaintop in the glorious Light of God’s glory and build shrines for St. Moses, for St. Elijah, and for the Son of God Jesus Christ. Who could blame him? People would come from every tribe and every nation on earth to worship God at this shrine; there was no doubt about it. Every knee would bow on earth before this clear, obvious, and convincing glory, confessing that God is LORD of all and that Jesus Christ is His only-begotten Son. It’s reasonable to think that Peter had only the best of intentions, that people would confess the one, true God and worship Jesus as Messiah and Lord. But, he didn’t know what he was saying. He hadn’t understood and believed what Moses and Elijah, the Law and the Prophets, had said. And, he hadn’t understood and believed what Jesus Himself had repeatedly said, that He <i>must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thus, while Peter was still speaking, <i>behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. </i>God the Father had said these same Words before at Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan, but this time He added the Words <i>“Listen to Him”</i>. Not only is God the Father fully pleased with humankind in His Son Jesus Christ, but Jesus is the very Word of God in human flesh. The Words that proceed from Jesus’ mouth are the living and creative Word of God by which all things were made and are sustained. The disciples are to listen to Jesus’ Words and teaching as authoritative even as they have so viewed the words and teachings of Moses and the Prophets, the Holy Scriptures. Thus, as Jesus will now have Words for them that are difficult to hear, to receive, and to believe, they must trust Jesus and His Words as they must trust God the Father Himself.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">But then, <i>Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.</i> And now they have come full circle, for, the glory of God was always present and located in the person of Jesus. In the incarnation, the Glory of God took up residence in the womb of the Virgin Mary, making her the new Ark of the Covenant and her womb the Holy of Holies. In Jesus’ life and ministry He manifested His glory through wondrous signs and deeds. On the Mount of Transfiguration the veil was removed temporarily so that the primordial Light of God’s Glory shone from its source in Jesus’ face and clothing. But then, when the Light, and the cloud, and the voice had gone away, when Moses and Elijah disappeared from their presence, the disciples saw Jesus alone – the Glory of God still with Him and in Him, veiled in humanity – <i>as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">For, the man Jesus is the Glory of God. Or, as the second century church Father Irenaeus once wrote, <i>“the Glory of God is a man fully alive.” </i>And the fullest expression of God’s Glory as a man is not to be worshiped and adored on a mountain top in shining light and thunderous Words from heaven, but the fullest expression of God’s Glory as a man was when Jesus willingly laid down His life unto death on the cross to redeem all humankind from sin, and death, and Satan. Jesus taught His disciples that greater love was not possible than that a man should die for his friends. And, Jesus revealed the fullness of God’s Glory when He willingly suffered and died for all men, even those who hated Him, whom He counted as His friends and as brothers.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”</i> God’s glory shining in and through Jesus is a secret. It was given to the three disciples to prepare them and to encourage them for what was to come. For, Jesus knew that they would stumble over His cross, over His suffering and death, but, by showing them in advance His hidden glory, they would remember and understand after His resurrection on the third day. For, it was not sufficient that men should worship Jesus on a mountaintop, as glorious as that might truly be, for apart from Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are still in our sins and are consigned to death and hell. But, <i>the Glory of God is a man fully alive</i>, a man who has died to sin and who now lives to God, the True Man in whom all men have life, Jesus Christ. It was necessary for Jesus to suffer and die and to be raised again on the third day, and thus, the fullness of God’s Glory is revealed in the Son of God, Jesus, dead upon the cross. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the sun failed to shine that day when the Son of God, its source and the Light of the World, died upon the cross.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">It is no cleverly devised myth, as enemies of the faith are want to say, that <i>the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.</i> Jesus was a real man, flesh and blood, just like you and me. He was conceived and born of a human mother, raised in an average household, matured and grew in stature and wisdom before God and men. He was a respected rabbi, a faithful friend, who called people to repentance and to realign themselves with God’s Word in the Holy Scriptures. And, for this, He was hated by some and was arrested, tried, convicted, and crucified unto death. But, all the while, He was fullness of God’s Glory, veiled and hidden in humanity. And, when He died, all of creation confessed His glory. And, when He rose, men remembered what He had said, what Moses and the Prophets had said, what had always been said, and that it was all true: God Himself has provided the Passover Lamb that has taken away the sins of the world. The fullness of the Glory of God has been revealed in His self-offering unto death for the life of the world. Alleluia!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">And so today we begin our descent from the Mount of Transfiguration glory to follow Jesus to the cross. Today we say farewell to Alleluia, anticipating its joyful resurrection on Easter Sunday. But, we do not leave behind one glory to seek another, for the mountaintop glory of Transfiguration is the same glory that is located in Jesus’ humility and that is seen and confessed in its fullness on the mountaintop of Calvary in Jesus’ death on the cross. For, <i>the glory of God is a man fully alive</i>, and Jesus becomes that man, and we become that man, only through Jesus’ death upon the cross.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Fr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077636552349131586.post-21335681585862007612024-01-14T07:07:00.001-05:002024-01-14T13:13:52.400-05:00The Second Sunday after the Epiphany of Our Lord (Epiphany 2)<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i style="font-size: 11pt;"></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: 11pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR02k9w5noetsH1VSN7AjPKuMibwGemn-I9beRndSt73InF_PWdB0HNRlgCgeuxCdtkwW4bKONiCJdEqqqFLzFtOQUS5wooNJIpj5UNCIjEJFQ3vku2AuQ-DAuhVKb3ZZrqrkxTEpYAYsxScZUi88bydfD12oSfjx0z8e9mzeMptaVvoljJCjCdyuEfkol/s1600/615BF4D1-B242-49E0-B0D8-A583F925527A.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR02k9w5noetsH1VSN7AjPKuMibwGemn-I9beRndSt73InF_PWdB0HNRlgCgeuxCdtkwW4bKONiCJdEqqqFLzFtOQUS5wooNJIpj5UNCIjEJFQ3vku2AuQ-DAuhVKb3ZZrqrkxTEpYAYsxScZUi88bydfD12oSfjx0z8e9mzeMptaVvoljJCjCdyuEfkol/w400-h225/615BF4D1-B242-49E0-B0D8-A583F925527A.jpeg" width="400" /></a></i></div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/5qpu37igo9sekr8016qan0r4lr5gox0h" target="_blank">(Audio)</a></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">John 2:1-11; Romans 12:6-16; Exodus 33:12-23<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">There are three that testify: The Water, and the Blood, and the Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Water is essential to life. A human body can live maybe three weeks without food, but only three days without water. Indeed, our bodies consist of 60% water, and every cell and organ in our bodies requires water to properly function and to remain alive. St. Peter even suggests in his Epistle that God created all material and living things out of created primordial water by the creative power of His Word and Spirit. It should be no surprise then that, in the Holy Scriptures, water is associated with cleansing, purification, and restoration. Thus, John the Baptist was out in the wilderness, calling people to repentance, purification, and restoration with God by the forgiveness of their sins through baptism with water at the Jordan River.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">That is also why there were six stone jars of water at the wedding in Cana. The water was for the purification and restoration of the wedding party and the guests that they might eat the feast and participate in the wedding ceremony. The jars of water were there because of the Law of God, and because of the sin and guilt of the people. The jars of water were there because man’s sin had made ruin of his relationship with God. But, God, in His grace and mercy, had promised to look away from their sins and guilt if they were cleansed and purified by water. The water had no such power in itself, neither did the sacrifices in the temple and the tabernacle before that, but God had attached His Word of promise to the water, promising that He would look away from their sins – and so, He did. Thus, the water was not merely a symbol of the Law of God, but it was the Law of God. Even in the joyful occasion of a wedding feast, the Law stood threatening and demanding to be kept and fulfilled. For, the wages of sin is always and only death, a debt that we will all pay eventually.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">And so it is that a proper understanding of Jesus’ first miraculous sign, changing water into wine, begins, not with Jesus, nor with the wine, but with the water and with the Law of God and with man’s transgression of God’s Law. The Law of God, and sin, and death hung over the wedding feast and the guests. The Law of God hung over the bride and the groom. And yet, into this bittersweet occasion entered the Son of God Himself, the Word of God become flesh. Indeed, God so loved the world and the people whom He created that, instead of punishing and destroying His rebellious creatures, He became one of them, one with them, in order to cleanse, purify, and restore them. Jesus would do this, ultimately, not by the washing of water, but by the shedding of His holy, innocent, and righteous blood. For, the Law must be fulfilled. And, the water must be replaced, not with wine, but with Jesus’ blood which takes away the sins of the world. But, Jesus’ hour, the hour of His Passion, had not yet come. Therefore, for now, He would provide a miracle, a sign, that His people might believe in Him and trust in Him.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The occasion for this miraculous sign? The wedding feast had run out of wine. Now, Jewish wedding feasts were multi-day events, often lasting a week long. Family, friends, and guests had come from all around and they needed to be provided food and drink and water for purification for the duration of the wedding feast. It was early in the feast and they were already out of wine. This would have been a tremendous social embarrassment for the bride and groom and for their families. Mary, the Mother of our Lord, likely a relative or a close friend, was moved to relieve the situation, and she called upon Jesus to do something about it. What she expected Him to do is uncertain, but it is clear that Mary believed that Jesus could help. Jesus’ answered His Mother saying, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” Jesus’ reply seems strident and rude in our ears. Culturally, it was likely nothing of the sort, but Jesus did communicate something important to His Mother concerning His being the Son of God, His mission and purpose. Mary asked Jesus to perform a miracle, to use His divine power as the Son of God to solve the problem of the wine. Jesus addressed Mary as “woman” rather than as “mother” because she was asking Him to do this as the Son of God and not as the Son of Mary. The time would come for Jesus to solve the problem of the lack of wine, but that time had not yet come.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the Old Testament times, wine was a symbol of both physical and spiritual joy. Wine was associated with the blessing of God’s presence and His favor upon His people. Jesus took the occasion of a wedding feast that had run out of wine to provide a revelation, an epiphany, of His true nature as both God and Man. Jesus turned the water set aside for the purification of the people under the Law of God into wine, the symbol of God’s favor, blessing, and presence with His people. This was a sign, a miracle, and a symbol of something even greater yet to come, for, when His time came, Jesus would pour out water, His blood, and His Spirit upon all people that they might be purified, cleansed, forgiven, and restored to a right relationship with God His Father.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water’. And they filled them up to the brim.” In His Incarnation, Circumcision and Name, Baptism, perfect life of obedience, faith, and trust in God, Suffering, and Death, Jesus would fulfill all that the Law demanded. “And He said to them, ‘Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast’. So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now’.” The wine that Jesus provides is the very best imaginable! The cleansing, purification, forgiveness, and restoration with God Jesus will provide for His people in water, His Blood, and His Spirit poured out for entire world upon the cross will be all-sufficient, complete, perfect, and final. The joy that He will provide for His people will be perfect and forever and for all who will trust in Him for forgiveness, life, and salvation and bear His fruits in their lives, words, and deeds.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In this, Jesus’ first sign at the wedding in Cana, we see God’s backside, that is, a foretaste of His glory manifested in His Son Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah. We see God’s anointed King of heaven and earth beginning to restore His Creation. It is also significant that Jesus’ first miraculous sign occurs at a wedding, for His death and resurrection will be celebrated with a Wedding Feast in heaven, the wedding of the Holy Bridegroom Jesus and His Holy Bride the Church.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">There are three that testify: The Water, and the Blood, and the Spirit. When Jesus surrendered His life upon the cross He gave up His Spirit. Fifty days later, on the Feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured upon His Bride, the Church, anointing and sealing Her as His own. When the centurion pierced the side of Jesus’ dead body upon the cross, from it issued forth water and blood, cleansing and purifying all the world, a blessing of cleansing, purification, forgiveness, and restoration with God for all who will believe and trust in Him and bear His fruits in their lives, words, and deeds. The Water, the Blood, and the Spirit – that is what Jesus’ first miraculous sign at the wedding at Cana pointed to. There will be joy in Jesus, and there is joy even now in Jesus, for all who believe on Him. Through Holy Baptism and faith, through His Word and the Holy Supper of His Body and Blood, you are a new creation. Even though you die, you will live, for those who believe in Him will never die.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Each and every Lord’s Day, and on Feast days, we, the Bride, gather here to participate in and to receive into ourselves this foretaste of the Great Marriage Feast of the Lamb and His Bride the Church in the Holy Eucharist. We join in Cana’s Feast until the Great Day of the Lord comes when we will no longer need this miraculous sign to cleanse and purify and restore us, but we will see our LORD and God and our Bridegroom and Redeemer Jesus face to face. But, until that day, we have this sign, this Sacrament, along with Holy Baptism, His Holy Word, and Holy Absolution to cleanse and purify and restore us anew that we might abide in faith, hope, and love towards God, towards our neighbor, and towards each other to the glory of God the Father, through faith in Jesus Christ His Son or Lord, by His Holy Spirit poured upon us and into us to enlighten, sustain, keep, and protect us in faith until He comes. By the Holy Spirit of the Living God, the Bride, the Church cries out, “Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus! Come quickly! Come!”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Fr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077636552349131586.post-78320483752484346572024-01-07T06:57:00.001-05:002024-01-07T13:19:32.306-05:00The Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord (observed)<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhDMQpsCoQgTqa3cBF29QgKMWgtAOv20UGGZCK-u_FoSRZjo5zMr2BZagcgky8gTQw87ahwE7AFaZuPwsITx8JmQ3ChbF9YyWL4Mulr-nsvpRHvLjbDly8oLgLWqhJT3Z_FD8vj0UMD1MjRWnMS8cM4vBy1Z3tURU1nRmLrGE21lYETjRRfqOo3vNbiIOZ/s960/Epiphany%20-%20Visit%20of%20Wise%20Men.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="960" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhDMQpsCoQgTqa3cBF29QgKMWgtAOv20UGGZCK-u_FoSRZjo5zMr2BZagcgky8gTQw87ahwE7AFaZuPwsITx8JmQ3ChbF9YyWL4Mulr-nsvpRHvLjbDly8oLgLWqhJT3Z_FD8vj0UMD1MjRWnMS8cM4vBy1Z3tURU1nRmLrGE21lYETjRRfqOo3vNbiIOZ/w400-h219/Epiphany%20-%20Visit%20of%20Wise%20Men.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/x61wr469kblra5mqxlfllkie690m3bse" target="_blank">(Audio)</a></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Matthew 2:1-12; Ephesians 3:1-12; Isaiah 60:1-6 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">On Christmas Eve we chanted these words from Wisdom of Solomon, <i>“When all was still and it was midnight, Your almighty Word, O Lord, descended from the royal throne.”</i> In the darkest hour of man’s night of sin, when there seemed to be no help on the horizon, no hope for salvation, that was when God acted. That is when God acts. Once again He spoke His creative Word into the darkness saying, <i>“Let there be Light”,</i> and His creative Word accomplished that purpose for which it was sent: <i>The Word became flesh and made His dwelling amongst us.</i> Once again there was Light, and <i>His Life was the Light of men</i>. <i>The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not, and cannot, overcome it.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Wise men from the East, Gentiles, caught a glimpse of that Light. They had only an inkling of what it might be, for they too, with all the world, dwelt in the midst of deep darkness. But they were looking for a light. They were searching the stars, reading the stories and searching the prophecies of wise men in other lands. They were searching for God in all the wrong places; they were searching for God in too many faces. Yet, still, they were searching; they were looking outside of themselves for help, for hope, and for Light. God permitted them to observe the star, yet it was not the star that lead them to Jerusalem, but it was His Word which they had heard and read and searched as they groped around in the darkness. They had heard of a prophecy of a great King, and they came to worship Him, indicating that they expected this king to be more than an earthly ruler.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The wise men were most likely astronomers, perhaps even astrologers, who searched and read the stars of the heavens looking for guidance and direction in their lives. This may not be as bad as it sounds, for the stars were put in their place by our God and Creator, and they do indeed provide guidance and direction, marking north, south, east, and west; and the movement of the constellations across the heavens mark the changing of the seasons. However, astronomy can become astrology, and that is idolatry, in the same manner as anything else, when the creature is feared, loved, and trusted before and above the Creator. The wise men were most likely guilty of this, as are we all.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Yet, the wise men stand in unique contrast to both Herod and the chief priests and scribes of the people of Israel. Herod and the priests and the scribes did not search the heavens and look to the light of the stars for guidance and direction, but, moreover, though they were the keepers and the interpreters of God’s Word, neither did they look to it for light, guidance, and direction. Thus, when the wise men arrived in Jerusalem, at the palace of King Herod – for, where else would you find a king, but in a palace in a royal city, they thought – Herod remembered that there was a prophecy in God’s Word about such a king, and he quickly inquired with the keepers and the interpreters of the Word where this child king was to be born. And, the priests and the scribes knew right where to look, the Prophet Micah, where it says <i>“And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.”</i> They knew right where to look, and yet, they weren’t looking! And, when Herod finally took an interest and sought to find the child, it wasn’t out of fear, love, and trust in God or in His Word, but it was out of fear, and hate, and jealousy for his throne and for the one he believed was prophesied to take it from him. Herod didn’t want to come and worship the newborn King, he wanted to come and murder Him!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here we have an example of two kinds of people, both walking in the same darkness, but for different reasons, and with different results. The wise men from the east knew they were in darkness and they were searching for light, even if they didn’t fully know or understand what that light was or would be. In contrast, Herod, the scribes, and the Pharisees were actually the keepers and interpreters of the source of all light, God’s Word, but they loved the darkness more than the light. They refused to be guided and directed by the light of God’s Word and they chose to live their lives and to conduct their deeds under the cover of darkness because their deeds were evil. When the wise men heard the Word, they made haste to Bethlehem to find the Christ child to worship Him. But, when Herod heard the Word, he was troubled and his heart was hardened. Herod burned with anger and jealousy, with fear and hate for this newborn King of prophecy, and for the Word of God which proclaimed Him.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Light of God’s creative and life-giving Word entered into the world in the Incarnation of the Son of God, Jesus the Christ – and that has changed everything! Darkness has been penetrated and overcome by the Light of Christ, as it was first in the creation, and it shall never obscure, overcome, or prevail against the Light ever again. Wherever the Light of God’s Word, the Light of Christ, shines, there simply is no darkness. And yet, people still walk in darkness, in ignorance and unbelief. People still choose to dwell in darkness because their deeds are evil. But, not you, O Jerusalem, city on a hill. You are filled with, and you shine with, the Light of God’s Christ. You are not the Light, but His Light fills you like a lamp and shines out of you into the darkness of this world, and upon those who dwell in it, so that not only is your path illumined before you, but others may walk in safety through the valley of the shadow of death.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is what the Prophet Isaiah declares when he says, <i>“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.”</i> On your own, you have no light, but you dwell in deep darkness. But, when the Light of the LORD shines upon you and fills you, you shine with His Light, the Light of the world for all to see. This is what your Lord Jesus means when He says, <i>"No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.”</i> Likewise, Jesus teaches, <i>“Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness.”</i> You see, the eye is a receptive organ; it receives and responds to the stimulus of light. If there is no light, the eye receives and sees nothing. But, when there is light, the eye will receive it, unless it is not clear, or unless the eye is willfully closed. <i>“Therefore,”</i> Jesus warns you, <i>“be careful lest the light in you be darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">My dear Christians, whether you were once searching for light in the darkness, or you were all too comfortable dwelling in darkness and were afraid of the light, the Word of God is spoken into you, <i>“Arise, shine, for your Light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.”</i> <i>“At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord,”</i> writes St. Paul, <i>“Walk, therefore, as children of Light.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The wise men followed the light of the star, and the light of God’s Word, and they were led to the Christ child. There they worshipped Him and presented their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, gifts fit for a king. For, Jesus is a King, but He is not like the kings of men. He reigns in selfless, sacrificial service, in humility and love. He rules, not with power taken from men, but with authority given by God, in righteousness, justice, and peace. The wise men had to be surprised at what they found, an infant child, helpless and humble, weak and vulnerable, and yet they believed the Word that they had heard, that this child was the King of the Jews. Even so, the light of the Word of God has guided and directed you, not to the mountains of natural glory, not to the thrones of human power, but to the altar of sacrifice where your King Jesus is present for you in the humble and lowly forms of bread and wine, that you may present yourself before Him as a living sacrifice and receive His Light and eat His flesh and drink His blood, the flesh and blood of the only Son of the Father, begotten before the foundation of the world, the Word and Light of creation, made flesh and dwelling amongst you, Jesus Christ. <i>In Him is life, and the life is the Light of men</i>, that you may shine with His Light, illumining the way to Truth and Life.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">While our resurrected and ascended Lord Jesus Christ now fills all things in heaven and earth, even the glorious mountains and the vast and deep oceans, even the expanse of the heavens with its billions upon billions of galaxies, stars, and planets, He is not in those places and things for your life, light, and salvation, but He is where He has promised to be, in His Word made flesh which He has attached to and fills the humble, the lowly, and the ordinary things of His creation – Bread, wine, water, and the words of a book read, spoken, and proclaimed to you – <i>to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Dear Christians, let us also follow the Light of God’s Word to the place where it rests upon the altar of sacrifice in the House of Lord, where His Mother, the Church, gathers <i>with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven</i> around the throne of King Jesus, the Light of the world, God in flesh made manifest. Let us worship and bow down with all the children of the Light in praise and adoration, receiving His light, His love and forgiveness, and go out illumining the world and those walking in darkness and the shadow of death that they might walk in darkness no longer, but seek, find, and receive the Light of Christ and live, and thereby glorify the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit forevermore.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.</span><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Fr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077636552349131586.post-14306187126488706422023-12-31T06:29:00.001-05:002023-12-31T11:57:52.813-05:00The First Sunday after Christmas (Christmas 1)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5_SRFvKDRzGD334RlmQzeGVLixWekIppoFHXykvQt-9kvfR3pODFId7pvz8f3w1TdvrSER-07Pc73FUsw5Q_DUCAStIJJ3TjH57nmcEhoDfQVZTnyDAZUBKzxw7PvY8B-Eeyg1O03hWPMdyAGIdSn4J6Mb_zsKSF58bnDIkCrgF10PVpXN0VYewhMsedd/s1067/Image.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1067" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5_SRFvKDRzGD334RlmQzeGVLixWekIppoFHXykvQt-9kvfR3pODFId7pvz8f3w1TdvrSER-07Pc73FUsw5Q_DUCAStIJJ3TjH57nmcEhoDfQVZTnyDAZUBKzxw7PvY8B-Eeyg1O03hWPMdyAGIdSn4J6Mb_zsKSF58bnDIkCrgF10PVpXN0VYewhMsedd/w400-h270/Image.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/n4mhlsh5puzhlantw33ru35ecdaogtl1" target="_blank">(Audio)</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Luke 2:22-40; Galatians 4:1-7; Isaiah 11:1-5<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">This morning's Gospel really belongs on February 2nd, 40 days after Christmas, because it describes what happened that day Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple when he was 40 days old. The Old Testament Law pronounced the mother unclean for 40 days after giving birth to a boy (60 days for a girl), teaching that we are all born sinful and unclean, that every birth is the birth of a sinner under God's wrath, and that rescue from sin and wrath would come ultimately through a first-born male child belonging to God. The Law also required that the first-born belonged to the Lord and had to be redeemed by a blood sacrifice, usually a lamb or a goat, though if the parents were poor, two pigeons would suffice. This pointed to the sacrifice that God would ultimately make to redeem us by sending His only-begotten Son to redeem us with His innocent blood. Every point of the Law Jesus kept perfectly for us, down to the purification of His mother, though, of course, she needed no purification for bearing the sinless Son of God, and His own redemption at the price of two pigeons, though He came as God's sacrificial Lamb to redeem the world. But we will save that for February 2nd, at the Presentation of our Lord, when you will hear this Gospel again.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today, on this seventh day of the twelve days of Christmas, our focus will be on the two senior saints in this passage - Simeon and Anna. Sadly, our youth-oriented culture tends to despise the old and frail. We tend to value energy and excitement over wisdom and experience. We are impoverished for it. There is much to be learned from the wisdom of their experience. You can learn more about marriage by talking to two people who have been married for 50 or 60 years than you can from any book pulled from the shelf. In fact, many congregations pair up their newlyweds with a senior couple in the congregation as kind of marriage sponsors. You can learn a great deal about life from those who have lived many years. You can learn much about prayer from those who have prayed a long time. You can learn about patience from those who wait.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Seniors do a great deal of waiting. They wait for buses and taxis and rides. They spend a lot of time in waiting rooms, in which about the only thing you can do is wait. They wait for the mail to come, for family to call, for friends to drop by. Sometimes they wait in vain for people who don't show up, or who get sidetracked by other more urgent matters. If they are sick, they wait for the doctors to diagnose, and the medicines to medicate. Sometimes that wait can be long. The body heals more slowly when you are old. Sometimes things don't heal completely. Some wait to die. Often times our senior saints find that they have outlived their entire families. When one such saint became sick and was completely confined to a hospital bed, she said that she was tired and she wanted to die. She was getting tired of waiting. Another senior saint, who is now with the Lord, once said that the toughest part of the waiting is all the funerals you have to go to.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">"I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope," the psalmist prays. Senior saints can teach us a few things about praying that psalm, about waiting on the Lord and trusting in His Word. Simeon and Anna are two people who waited long years on the Lord, whose hope was in His Word. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies. And whoever lives and believes in me will never die." Simeon and Anna lived under that promise. If we take the time to listen to them we can learn a few things about it means to live in the shadow of death, and to die in the light of life.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">St. Luke describes old Simeon as a "righteous and devout" man, meaning that he trusted in God's promise of salvation and lived in that trust. Simeon was a man whose life was governed by the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit was upon him. He had been told by the Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah, the Lord's Christ. That was a heavy honor. Imagine what it would be like knowing that you would not die until you saw God's Promise of salvation fulfilled before your own eyes, but not knowing when that would be. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Year after year went by in the temple, marked by the holy days of the temple liturgy - Yom Kippur, Passover, Pentecost, the Day of Tabernacles. Every day, the morning and evening sacrifices and prayer. Every day Simeon waited and watched. Would today be the day? The evening sacrifice; the morning sacrifice. Another day, nothing. Perhaps tomorrow He will come. More waiting. We don't know how many years Simeon waited, but he must have been quite old. You can hear the relief come from deep within his bones when he sighs, "Now let your servant depart in peace."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Imagine the excitement of old Simeon that day when Mary and Joseph came to the temple with their precious bundle, the newborn Messiah wrapped in a blanket, just 40 days old, and the Holy Spirit brought him to the temple at just the right time so that their paths would cross. Oh, it must have been a marvelous moment when Simeon took that precious bundle in his arms (you grandparents know a little bit of what that's like when you first hold a new grandchild) and hoisted the baby high in the air and sang out his glorious song that echoed all throughout the temple: “<i>Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word.</i><i> For mine eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples. A Light to lighten the Gentiles, And the Glory of your people Israel.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">It is a joyful song, not a sigh of resignation. Simeon is confident, bold, very much alive. It is Simeon's "deliver us from evil," that the Lord would at last take him from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven. Simeon speaks to God the way a servant speaks to his master who has promised him freedom. "Master," he says, "release your servant now in peace, just like you said you would." He holds God to his promise, trusting that this tiny, poor baby will be His Savior. He trusts God's Word. He lives in the "now" of Christ. He doesn't need anything more than this baby to say, "my eyes have seen your salvation."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">What did Simeon's eyes see? Nothing more than the shepherds saw in the manger the night of the birth. Or what the wise men would see a bit later. Simeon saw a baby boy who looked just like any other baby boy. No halos hovering over his head. No chorus of angels singing at his side. All Simeon could see was a squirming infant wrapped in a blanket and his poor parents who had come to do what the Law required of them. But the Spirit of God said, "This One is different. He's the One you've been waiting for." Simeon trusted God's Word. With the tiny baby cradled in his arms, he knew that he could depart in peace. He could die without fear. He had seen God's salvation in the face of this poor and humble Child, and now he could depart in peace. God had kept His promise.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Such high and glorious names Simeon gives this poor infant! He calls Him <i>God's Salvation</i>, the <i>Light of the Gentiles</i>, the <i>Glory of Israel</i>. "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation." “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.” “I bring near my deliverance, it is not far off, and my salvation will not tarry; I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel my glory."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Cradled in Simeon's arms is God's salvation, God's devil-crushing victory over sin and death. We are weak, but this Child is our strength. We are filled with darkness, but He is our Light. We are sinful, but He is the sinless One who became sin for us so that in Him we might become God's righteousness. He is Light shining into our darkness, opening the eyes of the blind, opening our eyes to God's love and His desire to save. He is the Glory of Israel, the reason God had an Israel, a chosen people, so that His beloved and chosen Son would be born into the world to suffer and die, to rise and reign.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Simeon must have sounded like an old man gone stark raving mad, calling this tiny baby the Salvation of God and the Glory of Israel. Even Mary and Joseph were amazed at his words. Who would have guessed that such infinitely wonderful things could be said about such a tiny baby? Our saviors are big and strong. Our lights are bright. Our glory is glitter and gold. This Child appears so small and helpless and poor. The enemies around us loom so large - the cancers, the viruses, the violence, the evil, the guilt, the death. It is David and his slingshot versus Goliath and his sword. How can a little Child be strong enough?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Old Simeon is our preacher this morning. "Don't believe your eyes. Trust God's Word. Look to this Child that Mary wrapped in a blanket and brought to the temple. Receive this Child in the empty arms of faith. Hold him as your own, for He has come to be your Light and your Salvation. He is the Glory of God's Israel come down to you. It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done, whether you are good or bad, rich or poor, young or old, married or single. This Child has come to save you, so that you too can depart in peace." <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Church traditionally sings Simeon's song on two different occasions. We call it the <i>Nunc dimittis</i>, from its first two words in Latin, "Now depart." It is the traditional hymn of Compline, the prayer at the close of the day. Just before we go to sleep at night, we are to pray, "Lord, now let your servant depart in peace." Sleep is a picture of death just as rising in the morning is a picture of the resurrection. If I die before I wake, I know that God's only begotten Child will care for me. "The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?"<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Later in history, Simeon's song came into the liturgy of the Lord's Supper. What a perfect place to sing St. Simeon's song of deliverance. We have heard the Word of Christ. "My body given for you; my blood shed for you." He is more present for you here in the Supper than when His little body was cradled in Simeon's arms. Then we sing, "Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your Word." To repeat a clever phrase I heard from a wise Pastor: "We go to the Sacrament as though going to our death, so that we might go to our death as though going to the Sacrament."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Simeon knew the cost. Even at 40 days, the cross casts its shadow over the Child. He was set for the falling and rising of many. Many would stumble over Him in unbelief and fall to their condemnation. Some would look to Him in faith and rise to eternal life. He would be a sign spoken against, despised and rejected, a curse on men's lips. The sword that would pierce His side would also pierce the soul of his mother, as she stood by and watched her Son give His life for the world. Those who bear Christ are not immune to suffering and sorrow in this life. Not Mary, his mother. Not the Church. Not you and me. The cross marks the life of this Child, and it marks all who follow Him. But if we learn one thing from St. Simeon, it is this: Where Christ looks most helpless and weak, there He is most Savior, most Light, most Glory, most Son of God for us - in the manger, in the arms of Simeon, on the cross, in the Sacrament.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">There was also a woman named Anna in the temple. She had been married for seven years, and had likely been widowed at the age of 24 or 25. Though she certainly would have been free to marry again and raise a family, Anna instead devoted herself to prayer and fasting, watching and waiting for the coming redemption of Israel. Luke tells us that she was from the tribe of Asher. Asher had been among the wealthiest of the tribes of Israel. Yet Asher's religious history reflected the spiritual sleepiness and indifference that often comes with the life of prosperity. No prophet or judge had come from the tribe of Asher. But now in these last days is St. Anna, a prophetess, a woman who spoke the Word of God with prophetic power. Even the numbers of her life were a prophetic witness to God's grace: She'd been married for a perfect seven years. Now she was 84 years old, seven times twelve. In the seventh twelfth, or the twelfth seven, of her life, she was given to see the Salvation of God, the Glory of Israel.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Her life was now complete. Everything she had hoped for, everything for which she had prayed and fasted and waited was found in this little Child born of Mary. She gave thanks to God and spoke about Him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. She bore witness to Jesus, directing everyone who was looking for the redemption of Jerusalem to Him. There He is! The One in Simeon's arms! He is the One we've all been waiting for. Anna is a picture of the Church - receiving Christ, thanking God, witnessing in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Simeon and Anna. Mary and Joseph. And there in the middle of it all, a tiny 40 day old baby. It is a little congregation. Everyone is represented. The young and the old, the married and the single, the widowed - people who would otherwise have nothing in common are gathered by the Spirit of God around Jesus hidden in humility. People, the likes of you and me, who live in the shadow of death, can, by the grace of this Child in Simeon's arms, die in the light of life. And we too can sing with saints Anna and St. Simeon: <i>Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your Word.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.</span></i><i style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></i></p>Fr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077636552349131586.post-19311030205198272162023-12-25T07:00:00.001-05:002023-12-25T11:50:05.395-05:00The Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord - Christmas Day<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjquYTGLOkfr8DbPq_Olvae-Xb1lICy1NQpA0j__bEGjRA1ggwO6whsfnGIXqqz3WGH4nVjKiMGk4UFa0nMo01zl6z5Ur_xu_RNMwibWPRORjwEqEAlX0sdZMhSYAOdycNbeuLE5B14xTJLY2gNPCBlDWCL7jR_eJekLxxHGhDKNKnNfyiV5i9llTS7Sil8/s960/Nativity%20-%20Pieta%20What%20Child%20Is%20This.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="752" data-original-width="960" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjquYTGLOkfr8DbPq_Olvae-Xb1lICy1NQpA0j__bEGjRA1ggwO6whsfnGIXqqz3WGH4nVjKiMGk4UFa0nMo01zl6z5Ur_xu_RNMwibWPRORjwEqEAlX0sdZMhSYAOdycNbeuLE5B14xTJLY2gNPCBlDWCL7jR_eJekLxxHGhDKNKnNfyiV5i9llTS7Sil8/w400-h314/Nativity%20-%20Pieta%20What%20Child%20Is%20This.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/prdpkjz4gwbm2kc5mninbo1ycjuqseft" target="_blank">(Audio)</a></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">John 1:1-18; Titus 3:4-7; Exodus 40:17-21, 34-38<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">There surely were few things more familiar, mundane, non-threatening, and approachable to the ancient Israelites than a tent. And yet, that is precisely how God chose to be present among His people – in a tent, the tabernacle, made by human hands. This was a radical change from God’s holy and terrifying presence on Mount Sinai in fire and smoke accompanied by thunder and lightning and quaking earth. The people, then, were forbidden to touch the mountain or even to approach it without first ceremonially cleansing and purifying themselves. Such restrictions and prohibitions were actually an act of mercy and grace on behalf of our Creator and God, for it was because of our sins and guilt that we could not abide in His presence, not because our God did not desire to be with His people. The LORD created us for communion with Him – so much more than the clichéd “personal relationship” many imagine today.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The LORD dwelt with His people, our First Parents Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden. They had access to God, for they were created in His image, holy and righteous, sharing His will as their own. However, when they succumbed to the devil’s temptation and acted upon their own will, which is necessarily not the will of the LORD, they immediately became other, sinful and stained by guilt. No longer could they abide in the LORD’s holy and righteous presence lest they be utterly destroyed. Thus, the LORD protected them from His presence, exiling them from the Garden and barring the way by a holy angel holding a flashing sword. However, the LORD still desired to be with them, therefore through many and various ways He provided means by which they could approach Him and not be consumed. First He covered their nakedness and guilt by shedding the innocent blood of animals and covering them with their skins. Later He established the Levitical priesthood and the sacrificial system that, by the shedding of the blood of hundreds of thousands of lambs and bulls the LORD might look away from their sin and guilt for a time. Still, none of these means ever removed or took away a single sin, but only covered them over for a time. Thus, the sacrifices had to be repeated daily, monthly, and annually until time was full for them to be fulfilled by the sacrifice they all pointed to, a sacrifice the LORD Himself would make to take away the sins of the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Blessed Christmas! There surely were few things more familiar, mundane, non-threatening, and approachable to the ancient Israelites – and to us – than a newborn child. And yet, that is precisely how God chose to be present among His people – in a flesh and blood newborn child made without human hands. Once the shekinah glorious presence of the LORD among His people dwelt in the tent of the tabernacle and behind the temple veil that no man could enter into but only the high priest, and only one day each year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and only after elaborate and particular cleansing and purifying rights and sacrifices of innocent blood. But, in the incarnation of God, the Word made flesh Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us, men could now approach and handle God without fear. As we confess in the Christmas hymn <i>Hark! The Herald Angels Sing</i>, “Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see. Hail! The incarnate deity! Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the Incarnation, as a zygote, embryo, and fetus, as an infant child, the glory of the LORD shifted location and presence from the temple built by human hands to the virgin womb of Mary. The shekinah glory of the LORD that dwelt among His people on Sinai, in the tabernacle, and in the temple took up residence in the virgin womb of a lowly human maiden, the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos “Mother of God.” Jesus Himself made this point later in His ministry in response to the disciple’s marveling at the Jerusalem temple saying, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” St. John tells us that Jesus was talking about His own body. Thus, St. John proclaims in the Christmas Gospel, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory [His shekinah glory], glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Blessed Christmas!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">God’s Christmas present to the world is His approachable, handleable presence in Jesus Christ. Of this marvelous, mysterious, glorious, and holy truth the preacher to the Hebrews proclaims, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” The Incarnation of God, which we celebrate and remember and give thanks for this Christmas Day, has provided us eternal access to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. More than that, however, the Incarnation is the beginning of our redemption and restoration to God, that we may dwell and live in His holy, righteous, and glorious presence without fear. In the Incarnation, God became man that man might commune with God in a way even greater than did our First Parents in righteousness in the Garden before the Fall.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus’ flesh became the new tent, tabernacle, temple, and veil within which the righteous and holy shekinah glory of the LORD dwelt among His people. God dwelt among His family, a human mother and father, having sisters and brothers. God dwelt among simple, sinful men and women whom He called to follow Him as His disciples. God dwelt among lepers, tax collectors, prostitutes, Jews and Gentiles, sinners, and the unclean, and they were not consumed and destroyed, but were forgiven and healed from their sin-sickness unto death. As a man, God took all their sins and guilt and uncleanness upon Himself and left them pure and clean and forgiven. God took all their sins and guilt and uncleanness upon Himself and nailed it to the cross. God died as a man for men who deserved to die, and He left their sins and guilt and uncleanness behind in His tomb as He rose from death, its victor, never to die again. Then He ascended back into heaven, as a man forever to remain, securing our own place in the presence of the glory of the LORD forever. A man now sits at the right hand of the Father in His glorious presence, and so shall you. Blessed Christmas!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Incarnation of God, the enfleshment of the Son of God, the Word made flesh and dwelling among us, has literally changed everything – how we live, how we die, how we relate to each other, and how we relate to God. No longer do we fear God’s wrath against our sin and being sent to hell. No longer do we fear having or not having, what our enemies might do to us, or even death. This is freedom, true freedom – Freedom from the bondage of sin and the fear of death and hell. Blessed Christmas! Even now we enter into His holy and righteous presence without fear – though in great humility, reverence, trust, and love – and we receive Him who created the universe and all things in it, who sustains our own lives and all things still, who loves us with such a perfect and holy love that He would not see us forsaken and destroyed though we rebelled against Him and treated Him contemptuously and, sometimes, still do. We not only enter His holy and righteous presence, but we take Him into ourselves. His flesh is our flesh, His blood courses through our veins – this too is the meaning of the Incarnation – in blessed and holy communion that our First Parents would have longed for even in the Garden.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">And yet still, this is but a foretaste of what is yet to come in the resurrection and eternal life in heaven. The Word made flesh is present for us to eat and drink under the lowly, humble, approachable, and handleable forms of bread and wine that we might commune with Him and receive His holy and righteous presence now to sustain us until the not yet. Blessed Christmas! “He whom the sea and wind obey doth come to serve the sinner in great meekness. Thou, God’s own Son, with us art one, dost join us and our children in our weakness.” This is God’s gift at Christmas; this is God’s Christmas presence. O, come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Fr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077636552349131586.post-2160925588752724472023-12-24T16:16:00.001-05:002023-12-24T18:58:02.410-05:00The Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord - Christmas Eve<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTmG5qE-LKAfsL3rf956yLHHnE3G3s7hpplf-nSFWBqnLzNlicT4KHU95DinUiv-f7CnWD5BlT8xBcLmf-U_n9D2eAZfnT6k7cIKfU7kcMRNPMtj7zSdDby-dXOXS2v3lCMpc3WbuvmM5fKMWGMgB2KHTDhPjdRudR37XEIkhksdHIHG8s5i0vljuHT4Ro/s1588/Image%201.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1588" data-original-width="1588" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTmG5qE-LKAfsL3rf956yLHHnE3G3s7hpplf-nSFWBqnLzNlicT4KHU95DinUiv-f7CnWD5BlT8xBcLmf-U_n9D2eAZfnT6k7cIKfU7kcMRNPMtj7zSdDby-dXOXS2v3lCMpc3WbuvmM5fKMWGMgB2KHTDhPjdRudR37XEIkhksdHIHG8s5i0vljuHT4Ro/w400-h400/Image%201.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/0v0lebtmh8cwn46rfvu5wc3e6iyzpkdz" target="_blank">(Audio)</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Luke 2:1-20; Titus 2:11-14; Isaiah 9:2-7<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">We exchange gifts at Christmas in remembrance of God’s Gift to us and the whole world in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true meaning of Christmas, lest we be overcome by worldly pursuits and fleshly desires and passions and forget. Jesus is God’s gift at Christmas, and it is not cliché to say that Jesus is the gift that keeps on giving. What I mean to say is that Jesus is the gift that has forever changed who we are, why we are, and where we are going in our lives. To understand this truth rightly, however, we must understand a word that has sadly fallen out of common use in the Christian Church and faith, the word incarnation. Incarnation literally means <i>to take up flesh</i> as in John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” That God became a man, one of His own creation, “Perfect God and perfect man, composed of a rational soul and human flesh,” as we confess in The Athanasian Creed, has literally, really, truly, and forever, changed everything!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The people of the first century world were, as the Prophet declares, a people “who dwelt in a land of deep darkness.” They had experienced a repetitious cycle of faithfulness, complacency, rebellion, unbelief and apostasy, judgment, repentance, redemption and restoration – now, rinse and repeat. A sign for hope was offered to King Ahaz, but was spurned by him: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” – God with us. Still, most did not believe, but only a promised remnant. And, after hundreds of years, the kingdom of Israel was barren and lifeless. The great olive tree that the LORD had planted, into which the Gentiles were to be grafted and redeemed, had been cut down so that only a barren, lifeless, and fruitless stump remained. The land and the people were spiritually scorched and dead. The Word of the LORD had been silent for four hundred years. The people spent their days and years eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, living mostly in fear of their enemies, without any real hope for rescue or redemption, making the best of a hopeless situation, having forgotten or forsaken their God and His covenant promises made to their forefathers. Sound familiar? That was the people and the world upon whom a Light was about to shine. Sadly, most had grown so accustomed to dwelling in darkness that they either failed to recognize the Light, or they were afraid of the Light and fled from it, or they recognized it and hated it and sought to destroy it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">But not all. A young Jewish woman named Mary, a descendant of the House of David, was watching and waiting. So too was a faithful Jewish man named Joseph, also a descendant of the House of David, to whom Mary was betrothed. When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and proclaimed that she would conceive and bear the Son of God, she was fearful at the angel’s greeting, as a sinful man or woman should be, but she did not doubt the Word the angel proclaimed. She did ask a practical question, however, concerning <i>how</i> this would happen, since she was a virgin. Thus, Mary conceived the Christ Child in the same way that Abraham and all his children, including you and I, came to faith, by the Word of the LORD. Mary heard and believed the Word of the LORD that Gabriel proclaimed, and that Word took up residence within her virgin womb: “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” That was the Incarnation. The Word of God, by whom all things have been made, condescended to become a man, conceived as all men are, in the womb of a human woman, a virgin womb from whence no life could possibly be expected to arise. In many respects, the Virgin Mary was like that barren, lifeless, and fruitless stump of Jesse from which no one could have anticipated hope and life to arise. And yet, it was prophesied, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.” If the branch is the Christ, which it most certainly is, then it makes sense to think of the stump as Mary, the Mother of Our Lord. Of course, what is Mary, but the New Eve. As our First Mother introduced sin and death into the world, so Mary is made to be the mother of the world’s Savior, Jesus, the New Adam.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Even the announcement of Jesus’ birth to lowly shepherds was unexpected. Would not such news be proclaimed first to powerful Kings and the religious leaders of Israel? But then, who were those shepherds, and what did they represent? “And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” Are not shepherds pastors, and flocks their congregations? Those shepherds were found by the angel watching over the flocks entrusted to their care while the official shepherds of Israel, the Pharisees, Priests, and Levites, had long ago forsaken the hope of Messiah and taught the people they were given to care for to do the same. And they were given a message to proclaim to all the world, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” Truly, the Lord’s undershepherds continue to point all the world to their Savior wrapped in lowly bread and wine that all who believe may receive the forgiveness of their sins and live.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">This Promised Son of woman’s seed, this fresh and lively shoot from Jesse’s stump, this flowering rose of the Virgin’s womb, this swaddled Babe of Bethlehem, the host of angels proclaimed. He <i>is</i> Peace between God and men in whom alone God is well pleased. The shepherds went with haste to behold this great and mighty wonder that the LORD had made known to them. And there they beheld Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger, a feeding trough for animals. When they saw it, they went and told all who would receive them this Good News. Everyone who heard them wondered at their words. Perhaps they had a faint recollection of a promise long ago forgotten. But, Mary, His mother, “treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">It was a mystery, a great and holy wonder and mystery. Even the faithful remnant, those like Mary and Joseph and the shepherds, who clung to hope and faith in the LORD’s promise, could not fully understand what was happening. Yet still they believed. Faith is not understanding or knowledge, but faith is trust. May we, like the Holy Family and the shepherds and the Magi, watch and wait for our Lord’s reappearing in faith and hope and trust like the faithful remnant who watched and waited so long ago. And may we place our faith and trust in the mysterious gifts He has given us now as we watch and wait, His Holy Word, Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, and Holy Supper, that our sins may be forgiven, our faith strengthened, and our hope encouraged.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">“For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His Name shall be called Wonder Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Jesus is the fulfillment of the Davidic kingdom. He reigns and rules even now at the right hand of God the Father in heaven, even as the kings of men go to war and rob and oppress the people. He counsels and guides His people in the Truth by His Holy Spirit through His Word. He is God, and He is man, united in one person forevermore, and we are one with God in and through Him now, even as what we will be has yet to be revealed. He is our true spiritual Father and Great High Priest, interceding on our behalf before our God and Father. He is Peace with God, and the only possible peace between men. He is the Peace that comforts us when the terrors of the dark night of this world threaten to overcome us. And He is the Peace that we show and share with others to the glory of His Name.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the incarnation and birth of Jesus, “the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works.” Jesus is God’s gift at Christmas, the gift that keeps on giving, because that gift has forever changed who we are, why we are, and where we are going in our lives. We are God’s children now, His own sons and daughters through baptism and faith in His only-begotten Son Jesus Christ. We are subjects of the King of the Universe and of all creation, and not subjects only, but kings and queens of heaven and earth with Him. Therefore, let us not live our lives pursuing ungodliness and worldly passion, but let us live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age as we watch and wait for our Lord’s return, treasuring and pondering all these things daily in our hearts. “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” “O, come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Fr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077636552349131586.post-77248114115911040452023-12-24T07:01:00.001-05:002023-12-24T12:17:56.074-05:00Rorate Coeli - The Fourth Sunday in Advent (Advent 4)<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYxguRiPcr9DY-yZCQzjnuKvJbqytKT85hqDn3CbmDiGq1yh3FU-BIO3oE66cQLUuMhaKAIHpJb-zptP66xncJzXQpl-t3JmGa2IaCGjion-_x5ztr6K24yNA3eKxHy1KXmFGsTYNqfRVzmb-3zqmdM9YKVkn_HFlCkNg8avTL_XigglFPIcbmGRXOxOxc/s1200/6250-istockgetty-images-plusbkkm.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="627" data-original-width="1200" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYxguRiPcr9DY-yZCQzjnuKvJbqytKT85hqDn3CbmDiGq1yh3FU-BIO3oE66cQLUuMhaKAIHpJb-zptP66xncJzXQpl-t3JmGa2IaCGjion-_x5ztr6K24yNA3eKxHy1KXmFGsTYNqfRVzmb-3zqmdM9YKVkn_HFlCkNg8avTL_XigglFPIcbmGRXOxOxc/w400-h209/6250-istockgetty-images-plusbkkm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/bgg92dh37d7k4cupffzikzprk03s99iw" target="_blank">(Audio)</a></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Sunday School Lessons and Carols: Isaiah 9:2, 6, 7;<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Luke 1:26-35, 38; Luke 2:1, 3-7; Luke 2:8-16; John 1:1-14<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Of the many good, wonderful, and miraculous things we celebrate at Christmas – the Incarnation of God and the Virgin Birth, Peace between God and man, a spirit of reconciliation, peace, joy, and good will between men and women of every creed, race, and clan – one good, wonderful, and miraculous thing that often gets overlooked is God’s Divine Providence, His guiding and directing of all things toward His own holy, good, and wise ends.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">For example, consider only the events of which you have heard this morning from God’s Holy Word. First, there was Isaiah’s prophecy, spoken to the people of Judah nearly seven-hundred years before Jesus’ birth. Isaiah prophesied to a people who were continually vacillating between faithfulness and idolatry. Isaiah warned that God’s holiness could not bear with sin and that His righteousness could not permit sin to go unpunished, therefore His judgment was coming. But, Isaiah also showered Judah with the beautiful and comforting Gospel of God’s compassion, mercy, and love, foreshadowing His sending of the Messiah born of a virgin who would be a Light to those walking in the darkness of sin and death, a Great Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then you heard of the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, nearly seven-hundred years later, in the Archangel Gabriel’s announcement to a young Judean virgin named Mary. Gabriel announced to Mary that she would conceive and bear the Son of God, and that He would be given the throne of David and reign over the house of Jacob forever, just as Isaiah had prophesied.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Luke’s Gospel also records for us how God utilizes even earthly governments and human laws, institutions, and machinations, both good and bad, to accomplish His good and holy will. This time, through the Prophet Micah who prophesied, <i>“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”</i> In fulfillment of Micah’s prophecy, Joseph and Mary, great with child, found themselves in Bethlehem for a census ordered by Caesar. The fact that the city was crowded with people from all over Judea registering for the census made it so that Mary delivered her son in lowly and humble conditions, likely in a common room in the home of Joseph and Mary’s kinfolk, laying Him in a manger, a feeding trough for animals. In God’s wisdom and providence, even these seemingly insignificant elements were in fulfillment of prophecy of the kind of King His Son would be: mild, humble, selfless, and sacrificial.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In like manner, the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy was proclaimed first, not to the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Sanhedrin, the religious leadership of Israel, not to Herod or Pilate or Caesar, and not to those of wealth, power, or great reputation, but the proclamation of the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy, the proclamation of the Gospel, was given first to those of low estate, to poor and humble shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night. Even still today, the chief responsibility of Christ’s undershepherds, His pastors, is to proclaim the Gospel and to guard and keep His sheep in the darkness of this world’s night of sin and death.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">And then, in our final reading from the Gospel of John, you hear that this was God’s will and design before man’s fall into sin, before the creation of man, indeed, before the foundation of the world. John’s Words <i>“In the beginning…”</i> take you back, well, to the beginning of God’s revealed Word, to Genesis 1:1 – <i>“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth….”</i> John proclaims to you that the Word of God was <i>with God in the beginning</i>, and that, in fact, the Word of God <i>was God</i>, and that all things that God has made have been made <i>by the speaking of His life-giving and creative Word</i>. What we celebrate at Christmas, especially, is what John proclaims in the last verse of today’s reading: <i>“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">At Christmas, we must remember that, though we may see darkness and sin and suffering and death all around us, though wars and rumors of wars dominate the headlines, though natural disasters destroy lives, homes, and livelihoods, though diseases take the lives of those we love, and though even children are not spared the horror of evil at the hands of broken, corrupted, and sinful men, we must remember that God is in control, before sin, before man, before the foundation of the world, and that He has worked, and He is working, and will continue to work all things, even the bad things, the horrible things, and the evil things, for the good of those who love Him, whom He has called in His Son, His Messiah, our Savior, His Word made flesh, Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">At Christmas, we remember that God did not turn a cold shoulder in judgment against His rebellious creation, but He did the unthinkable, the unimaginable, the impossible, and the miraculous – He penetrated His fallen and broken creation and became one of His creatures, being born of the flesh of a woman in weakness, lowliness, and poverty that He might be everything His holiness and righteousness required for you, in your place, as your substitute, that He might bear in His own flesh the necessary wage of sin, death, and shed His own holy and innocent blood to wash away your guilt, that He might be at peace with you, and you with Him, and live in His holy and righteous presence in holy communion with Him – flesh of His flesh, bone of His bone – evermore and evermore. This Peace is God’s gift to you at Christmas, and every day of the year, every day and year of your lives. Remember and treasure His Word, His Gift, and enjoy His Peace and live His Love, every day of the year.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Fr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077636552349131586.post-90786269651129892002023-12-20T17:44:00.000-05:002023-12-20T17:44:15.561-05:00Advent Evening Prayer in the Week of Gaudete (Advent 3)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjTKNfNhIhIoqysRIyLrW2TWf9xY7oeAcdi6G86W80SCqk3Ps7W_MYilWS-MD5esqZIKuQLPdEs0UHoNTQLKeyV2qrTSTvz6ufHQOee6JKxD3JYoS5Ktd1iRSZDSz-oZ3jlCeWzFy1rEFjMl6J9xe4Q7x-cFsUMi_3dcVilEMNXisAVIgoOc-UULt5z10C/s2048/Image.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1983" data-original-width="2048" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjTKNfNhIhIoqysRIyLrW2TWf9xY7oeAcdi6G86W80SCqk3Ps7W_MYilWS-MD5esqZIKuQLPdEs0UHoNTQLKeyV2qrTSTvz6ufHQOee6JKxD3JYoS5Ktd1iRSZDSz-oZ3jlCeWzFy1rEFjMl6J9xe4Q7x-cFsUMi_3dcVilEMNXisAVIgoOc-UULt5z10C/w400-h388/Image.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/7dj770wtkjd6erkyy2xzb6i7fpyntcw6" target="_blank">(Audio)</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Mark 6:14-29; 1 Kings 19:1-8; Psalm 71:1-8<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Though John was the forerunner of Jesus, they were similar in many ways. Following his baptism, Jesus preached the very same message as John, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” It’s not that John preached the Law and Jesus preached the Gospel, both men preached both Law and Gospel, both men preached the whole counsel of the word of God. Jesus even used John’s biting designation for the scribes and the Pharisees, calling them a “brood of vipers.” Both John and Jesus proclaimed the truth before powerful rulers and kings without regard for the consequence, and both John and Jesus were arrested and executed for proclaiming the truth. They were not the first, nor the last, and the same is true for you today.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">But John had a forerunner as well, the Prophet Elijah. Elijah was undoubtedly the greatest prophet of repentance in the Old Testament. It was Elijah and Moses who appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration bearing witness to him. King Ahab, the seventh king of Israel, reigned during the time of Elijah. Ahab was a wicked king in his own right, but in a military alliance by marriage he had taken the daughter of the Sidonian king, Jezebel, as his wife. Jezebel was a priestess of the fertility goddess Astarte, and she was a worshipper of the Canaanite god Baal. With Ahab’s blessing and lack of concern, Jezebel raised up prophets and priests of Baal in Israel, established altars and temples on the high places, and encouraged, even demanded, that the Israelites worship Baal along with, or in place of, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was in response this this gross idolatry and apostasy that the LORD sent the Prophet Elijah to warn Ahab and Israel that he was about to bring judgment upon the nation, calling them to repent and return to the LORD that he might show them mercy and forgive them. Needless to say, Ahab and Jezebel were not pleased with Elijah or the word of the LORD he proclaimed.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">I will share with you a brief review of Elijah’s ministry: The LORD sent Elijah to prophesy to Ahab that he was about to send a terrible drought upon Israel and its surrounding nations until the people had repented, purged the worship of Baal from the land, and began to call upon the LORD once again. During this time the LORD sent Elijah to Zarephath in Sidon (birthplace of Queen Jezebel), hostile territory for a Prophet of the LORD, all the more so during a terrible drought and famine. There Elijah stayed with a widow and her son, and the three were provided for throughout the drought as the “jar of flour was not spent” and the “jug of oil was not empty.” Sometime after this that same widow’s son became ill and died. Elijah prayed to the LORD and the child was resurrected and restored to his mother. Then Elijah challenged Jezebel’s prophets of Baal to a contest, to see whose god could truly hear and answer his people’s prayers. Each, the prophets of Baal, and Elijah, would make a sacrifice of a bull to their god. The god that answered by consuming the sacrifice would clearly be the true god. So, the prophets of Baal prepared their sacrifice and they prayed to Baal, but nothing happened, Baal did not answer. They went to great lengths, dancing around the sacrifice, throwing their arms in the air, yelling and shouting, and even cutting their flesh and pouring out their blood, all to get Baal’s attention, but nothing happened, Baal did not answer. Then Elijah prepared his sacrifice. However, he upped the ante by dousing his sacrifice with water three times so that the bull, the wood, and the earthen altar were all sopping wet, and a channel dug around the altar was full of water. Then Elijah prayed, and the fire of the LORD came down and consumed Elijah’s sacrifice along with the stones and the water, and even consumed the sacrifice of the prophets of Baal. There was no question who the true and only God in Israel was, the God of Elijah, and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then Elijah ordered the execution of the prophets of Baal. Which leads us into tonight’s First Lesson from 1 Kings 19.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jezebel was furious with Elijah, and she threatened him saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” At this Elijah became afraid. He ran away, leaving behind the LORD’s divine orders to call Israel to repentance. Elijah fled to Judah and into the wilderness and, in great despair, prayed to the LORD that he should take his life. As an aside, this is one of the great strengths of the Holy Scriptures: All of its heroes of the faith are flawed and sinful, just like us. The Bible is likely the only religious text that isn’t hagiographical, recording only the good things concerning its heroes. No, the Bible puts on full display the sinful failings of Adam and Eve, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses, Saul, David, and Solomon, Peter, James, John, and Paul, etc. To be a Christian is not to be perfect and without sin; to be a Christian is to have faith and trust in Jesus and receive forgiveness, and then to try to live in a better way, but to return in repentance for forgiveness once again when we fail. And so, Elijah is not so unlike us. Though he was Prophet of God and believed very strongly, he was still human. He was in a terrible predicament and, though he trusted in God (he prayed to God), he simply couldn’t see any escape from Jezebel’s wrath. He was going to die, so he believed, therefore he would prefer the LORD take him now rather than Jezebel later, most certainly by cruel and terrible means.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Living God both heard and answered Elijah’s prayer: “And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.” The LORD heard and answered Elijah’s prayer. The LORD’s answer, however, was “No.” No, the LORD would not take Elijah’s life at this time; he still had work to do. However, the LORD gave Elijah what he needed to carry out the task and persevere, a cake of bread and a jar of water. It wasn’t much, but it was sufficient. So the LORD continues to provide us what we need, which, admittedly, is often quite different than what we think we need or want. The LORD provides us what we need to carry out the tasks for which he has made us, the tasks he has given us to do. He doesn’t promise that it will be easy; most likely it will be very difficult at times. All that is required of us is that we are faithful, that we trust in Him. It is not required of us that we be successful, or popular, or prosperous, or anything else that men and the world value. The LORD will provide, always. In his despair, Elijah believed that he was the only faithful servant of the LORD left in Israel, but the LORD revealed to him the truth, that there were more than 7,000 who had not knelt before Baal or kissed his mouth. That is true today as it was in Elijah’s and John’s and Jesus’ time.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">John was in Herod’s prison for preaching the truth of God’s word against Herod’s sin of adultery. He knew he wouldn’t get out alive, and he didn’t. Nevertheless, John accomplished the work the LORD sent him to do; John prepared the way for the coming of Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life, apart from whom no one can come to the Father. Jesus was rejected by the Jewish religious leadership for preaching the truth of God’s word against hypocritical legalism and their failure to produce the fruit of love, mercy, and forgiveness. They betrayed him and handed him over to Gentile unbelievers to do their dirty work for them and put him to death. Faithful Christians, whether pastors, teachers, deaconesses, or laity of all vocations will likewise face mocking and ridicule, persecution of various stripes, fines, imprisonment, and potentially even death for proclaiming the truth of God’s word in a world of sin and darkness and to a people who have become comfortable dwelling in the darkness of sin and death. Do not be afraid. As the LORD provided for and strengthened Elijah with both material and spiritual food, as the LORD provided for and comforted John in prison with His word, and as the LORD strengthened Jesus for his task, assuring him of his presence with him, so the LORD will provide for, strengthen, comfort, and encourage you for the work he has given you to do. You have his word and sacraments, which the flesh and the world consider foolishness, but are sufficient for you to see you through. The jar of flour will not be spent, the jug of oil will not be empty, until the LORD rains righteousness upon the earth.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Fr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077636552349131586.post-77891054511549655302023-12-19T07:59:00.006-05:002023-12-19T18:09:15.135-05:00Christian Funeral for Willard Homeister<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk_9ex_8CpM-NlECI1q9aVpVnDkNTYrGxsHqidkQ5GhSjtAf_pkbnHWG7gVsmJyw1UBnk62-RtHW4l0ybzXIjzt0xVj9645uXfPxXjM2Ljy_BM6NhPvFnJw21zCO0z4JEfs63EIGEjuxymDYYfqsN6pkoHLBElTT-mq6vCXUWJiPxM1Lh6w6QWRxY_9L1h/s330/5c647d5b52ba6.image.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="278" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk_9ex_8CpM-NlECI1q9aVpVnDkNTYrGxsHqidkQ5GhSjtAf_pkbnHWG7gVsmJyw1UBnk62-RtHW4l0ybzXIjzt0xVj9645uXfPxXjM2Ljy_BM6NhPvFnJw21zCO0z4JEfs63EIGEjuxymDYYfqsN6pkoHLBElTT-mq6vCXUWJiPxM1Lh6w6QWRxY_9L1h/s320/5c647d5b52ba6.image.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/4v3x5v1wytv8ey01zyfp9uoot1tgbl8i" target="_blank">(Audio)</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">John 11:17, 21-26; Ephesians 2:1-10; Isaiah 41:8-10<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Farmers have a leg up on faith. They till the earth; they clear it of weed and stone; none of it made by human hands, intellect, or ingenuity. Then they take a seed, an inert, seemingly lifeless seed, and they plant it in the earth, and they wait. Most certainly they tend to it; they water it, and they weed it some more, but mostly they just wait, and while they wait, they pray a quiet prayer, with or without words. For they did not make the earth or the seed; they did not make the water, the sunshine, or the nutrients in the soil; neither did they make the seed, nor do they make it germinate, sprout, and grow into a fruitful plant, but God has done, and God does all this, and every farmer knows this, and so he works and he waits and he prays for God to make his work fruitful.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Our brother in Christ Willard was such a farmer, and such a man. Yes, he was much more than a farmer, but from his childhood and youth growing up on the family farm, to his own beloved vegetable garden, Willard was a farmer, and that fact shaped who he was as a man, as a husband, as a father, and everything else. The eldest of fourteen children, Willard was literally conceived to work the land, to farm. That was typical for the time; everything a family needed came from the soil and from hard work, and many hands make that work easier. No one could afford to hire out for help, so you literally conceived it, you birthed it, you raised it, and you put it to work. No one complained, that was life, a life very close to the earth, to nature, to your food, clothing, and shelter, and to close to God. No work, no food, no clothing, no shelter, - no work, no life. That was Willard’s life until he was drafted in January of ’62. After just short of two years in the service, Willard returned home and served in the Unites States Army Reserves, and he resumed working on the farm and helping other farmers. Even when Willard accepted the position of tire manager for Farm Services and relocated with his young family to Keystone in 1974, where he eventually purchased and became the owner of that company through his retirement in 2013, Willard enjoyed working and talking to farmers and helping them get their equipment back in service as quickly as possible. It was in his DNA.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Is it merely a coincidence that Willard’s confirmation verse was Ephesians 2:10, “For we are [God’s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Coincidence or not, it is the truth, and it suits Willard well. What St. Paul was getting at is that we are each like a seed planted in the ground by God. The difference is that God planted us, not a mortal man. Likewise, God has watered us, nourished us, shaded and protected us, and provided for us everything we need to live and to be fruitful and abundant. Our fruits are borne primarily in our vocations as husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, farmers, tire salesmen, butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers. You knew Willard’s fruits. You saw them. You benefitted from them. Just as Willard planted seeds and cared for them so that they would be fruitful and produce a harvest, so God planted Willard, and each of us, and he cares for us so that we should be fruitful and produce a harvest. The fruit, the works we produce, serve others and so glorify God who has planted us. But they are God’s fruit, borne in us, by his grace, for we were dead in our trespasses and sin. It is because of sin that we die, for the wages of sin is death. Yes, the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is life in Jesus Christ out Lord. Like a seed, we were inert and lifeless, dead in our sins, but God has planted us and has made us alive and life-giving. God planted Willard and made him alive and life-giving, and you are recipients and beneficiaries of his life.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Life was lived outside for Willard, working the soil, planting the seed, watering, weeding, harvesting, watching the miracle of life unfold over and over again. Or, in the woods cutting down trees and splitting the wood for his wood burning stove. That was hard work. It’s all hard work. Life is hard work. But Willard didn’t complain. He loved it. That too is a fruit of the seed the LORD has planted: Hard work, contentment and peace, love. To have his boys with him, working with him, cutting the trees, splitting the wood, loading the truck, tossing the logs down the coal chute to the furnace – that was fruit for Willard, that was the harvest, and nothing made him happier.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">But all work and no play, that wasn’t Willard. Willard had several hobbies and interests he enjoyed when the work was done. Willard loved to tinker with his engines, repairing, fine-tuning, getting ‘em just right. While in the woods there was also berry and mushroom hunting. Even work was fun; Willard thoroughly enjoyed mowing the lawn, tilling the garden, and plowing the snow. Suffice it to say, Willard simply loved being outside, nearly all the time. In his later years, when his body no longer permitted him to work as hard as he loved to, you’d find him sitting, not in the house, but in a lawn chair in his open garage, enjoying the sights, sounds, smells, and beauty of the world, the life, and the family in which God had planted him. Willard also enjoyed puzzles; 1000 pieces? Child’s play. Better start with at least 5000, we’ll see how it goes from there. And there was polka dancing, which Willard and Marlys enjoyed together. Together they danced the night away with their friends all over Iowa and the Midwest. They particularly enjoyed dancing to the music of Malek’s Fishermen Band and Barefoot Becky. Willard was an incredibly hard working man who always willing to help someone in need when the telephone rang. He was a tremendous husband, father, brother, grandfather, and friend to countless people that he met during his lifetime. Willard was God’s seed, planted in this world and life, and God blessed him and made him fruitful, a blessing to all of you and so many more. Glory be to God in Jesus Christ!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Gospel lesson we heard today from St. John should be familiar to many of you. It’s one of the most well-known, and somewhat mysterious, accounts of our Lord Jesus raising someone to life out of death. The person Jesus raised was his dear friend Lazarus, the brother of his dear friends Mary and Martha from Bethany. Mary and Martha had sent messages to Jesus, who was away from the area at the time, that their brother was critically ill and would surely die. They wanted Jesus to come right away and heal their brother. Jesus didn’t come right away, and intentionally so, as the story goes. In fact, Jesus waited even to depart for Bethany until he knew that his friend Lazarus had already died. When Jesus finally arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. Mary and Martha believed that Jesus could heal their brother before he died; they also believed in the resurrection on the last day. But Jesus wanted them to believe – Jesus wants you to believe – that death has already been defeated: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” Admittedly, this statement is a bit mysterious, and worded in a rather mysterious way. Again, that is intentional. What is Jesus saying? Is he saying that we won’t die? No. Is he saying that the death of those we love is not something to grieve and mourn? No. What Jesus is saying is that death is not the final word, and neither is life, for that matter. Jesus is the life of the living; and Jesus is resurrection of those who die. St. Paul put the same thing a different way saying, “For me to live is Christ; to die is gain.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">We are seed. Willard was a seed, planted by God. A seed must burst open and die so that new and fruitful life might spring forth. The LORD blessed Willard with a long and fruitful life; some of you are that fruit, all of you have benefitted from that fruit. Willard died spiritually long ago in Holy Baptism. There he took up Jesus’ life-giving life. Now Willard has died physically, and we will commend his body to the earth, like a seed, waiting patiently in hopeful expectation for the resurrection of the body on the last day. Then “the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” Yes, be encouraged! Those who die in the Lord are blessed, for they are with him. Jesus is the life of those who live, and he is the resurrection and the life of those who die. You will see those you love who have died in the Lord again; it is only a little while until the harvest.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Fr. Jon M. Ellingworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05309773504409139312noreply@blogger.com0