Homily for Septuagesima

(Audio)

Matthew 20:1-16; 1 Corinthians 9:24 – 10:5; Exodus 17:1-7

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

The parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard is yet another parable which our Lord says is explicitly about the Kingdom of Heaven. Thus, it is, first and foremost, a parable about God’s grace, and, consequently, it is a parable about God’s judgment only upon rejection of His grace – for, there are none who will find themselves outside of the Kingdom of Heaven who were not first within it.

In this parable, the Master of the vineyard is God, our heavenly Father, and, like in so many other parables of the Kingdom of Heaven, He is out searching for His straying children: In one parable they are like sheep gone astray; in another they are like ungrateful, prodigal sons; in another they are like unto a lost coin; and, in this parable, they are like idle laborers with no work to do and with no way to provide for themselves and their families. The Master went out early in the morning to seek and to hire laborers for His vineyard. He will find them. His vineyard will be tended to. There will be a bountiful harvest. And, there will be a festive celebration for all the hired laborers whom the Master finds and hires, who do not reject the gracious terms of His employ. For, these terms are guaranteed, for the last, as well as for the first, for, this is a parable about the Kingdom of Heaven, and this is a parable about God’s immeasurable and reckless grace.

The parable itself is really quite simple, and you know it well. The Master of the vineyard hired laborers to work in His vineyard at the beginning of the day. He agreed with them upon the wage of a denarius for their day’s labor, a fair and respectable wage, and they went to work in His vineyard. Then the Master went out again at the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to those idlers He said “You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.” Now, from a worldly perspective, these idlers are not worthy of hire, for they made little to no effort to be hired for work, sleeping in while the first arrived early in the morning. But, here, already, the Master’s grace begins to shine forth as He graciously gives them employ and promises to pay them what is right. So, the idlers hitched it into the vineyard and began to work alongside those first hired. Then, the story repeats itself at the sixth hour, and again at the ninth hour, and, then, lastly, even at the unthinkable eleventh hour. The Master of the Vineyard graciously extended hire to all, even to the last idlers of the day. Now, we might rightly imagine that these last had given up all hope of hire and had resorted to drunken carousing in the bars, and yet, still, the Master sent them to work in His Vineyard. Outrageous! You think? No, this is what the Kingdom of Heaven is like!

The Kingdom of Heaven is about grace – Good things given to people who don’t deserve them. If you have in mind any sense of merit or worth, forget about it, that’s not grace. Grace is a gift, absolutely free, no strings attached, given by God your heavenly Father for no other reason than that He is good and generous, gracious, and He wants to give you what He wants to give you, whether you deserve it or not. And, He wants to give, not only to you, but to the person sitting next to you, and to that person over there, and to all the people that are not here today, even to that person who says she doesn’t believe in God, and to that one who steals from others, and to that one who kills, and to that one…. There is no one that He does not shower His grace upon. There is no one that He has not graciously forgiven in His Son Jesus Christ. There is no one that He has not invited to His banquet, killed the fatted calf for, or called to labor in His vineyard. There is no one who deserves or merits this grace and favor from God the Father, not even one, and that is precisely the point! That is what the Kingdom of Heaven is like! It’s all about the giving, and the forgiving, to all people in all the world, because this is who God the Father is and this is what He and His Kingdom are like!

Thus, at the end of the day, the Master told His servant to call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first. And, as they are paid, the laborers began to realize that all have been paid the same amount, one denarius, a full day’s wage. There is no difference in pay between those who worked all day and those who worked less, and those who worked but only an hour, for God the Father is gracious and He graciously gives to all regardless of worth or merit. Again, how good you are, how hard you work, how much you think that you should merit, these have absolutely nothing to do with grace.

Oh, scandal! Oh, confounding offense! Those paid last, those who worked the longest, grumble that those hired last, who worked only one hour, are paid the same, one denarius. Outrage and anger! Oh, the injustice! They thought that they would be paid more. Now, why would they think that? There was no injustice done to them. They were paid exactly what was promised to them and what they themselves agreed to. Their only offense, then, is that the Master showed grace to those who worked less hours and paid them the same. Is that not the Master’s choice? Does anyone have the right to dictate how the Master uses His own wealth? “Or do you begrudge my generosity?” asks the Master. Or, more literally, “Is your eye evil because I am good?”

Yes. Yes, that’s it! Your eye is evil because of the goodness of the LORD. That is, how often do you begrudge the LORD’s generosity, His goodness and grace shown to others whom you deem to merit less than yourself? How often do you curse the LORD and destroy your brother with anger, like Cain destroyed his brother Abel, because God the Father, in His goodness and grace, favored the labor of His hands equal to or above that of your own?

Why are you offended by this? So what if God is crazy?! Has He not promised you a full day’s wage, a denarius, that is, all that you need to sustain your body and life now, and your life eternally in His Kingdom? You are not being shorted; it is impossible that you will be shorted in any way. So what if God is crazy in His generosity and grace and gives the same to everyone else? Such is the “weird goodness” of your heavenly Father, that when He’s happy, everybody’s happy, no matter what they did or didn’t do. At the end of the day He will pay out His generous and gracious wage, a wage that you didn’t deserve, merit, or earn – that nobody deserves, merits, or earns – eternal life and blessedness with Him in His kingdom of glory. And, then the party will begin!

In His generosity and grace, your heavenly Father has invited you and the whole world to the harvest feast in His Vineyard-Kingdom. It matters not whether you are first or last, but what matters is His gracious invitation – you are invited, all has been prepared for you, you are in! This is the LORD’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes! Only you can keep yourself out of the kingdom; only you can make yourself miss out on the party. If you insist that you have earned or merited God’s favor, then, to the back of the line with you, for the last will be first, and the first last. But such grumbling and dissatisfaction at God’s generosity and grace and at the having of the have-nots only breeds jealousy, anger, and misery. And, these are great footholds for the devil in your heart, soul, and mind that he will use to separate you from the flock and to see that you put yourself out of the kingdom – for, there are none who will find themselves outside of the Kingdom of Heaven who were not first within it.

It is so tempting to be a bookkeeper and to fill our books full of black ink representing our positive balance of merits and works before the LORD. Of course, it is also tempting for us to keep books for others around us, books filled with lots of red ink to be sure. But, God is not a bookkeeper. In fact, He has erased the marks in all of our books, He has made them white and clean in the red, holy and innocent blood of His Son and Sacrificial Lamb Jesus. Jesus is the Book of Life, and in that book, nothing stands against you. There are no debit entries that can keep you out of the clutches of the Love that will not let you go.

There is a Vineyard feast going on in eternity and you are all on the guest list. But, while it is still daytime, there is work to do in the Master’s Vineyard – work, not for merit, but for the love of God who loves you and all the world. The work of the Vineyard is to share His love in word and deed so that none of the Master’s invited guests find themselves missing out on the party. So, even now, He graciously gives you this foretaste of the feast to come, faith strengthening food and sin-purifying drink, from the Stricken Rock Jesus Christ that you might be bold in confession and boundless in grace like unto your Master, your Lord, and your God and Father, to whom be glory with + Jesus Christ and His most Holy Spirit now and forever.

Amen.

Homily on The Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord

(Audio)

Matthew 17:1-9; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Exodus 34:29-35

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

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and He filled them with His Light by the creative power of His Word. Indeed, the creative Word of God was the Light of the world even before there was sun, moon, or stars – the Light no darkness can overcome. And, when time was full, God spoke that same creative Word into Mary’s ear and into her virgin womb that the Light of the world would be conceived and born a human man and that He might make His dwelling amongst us. Throughout His life and ministry, Jesus revealed and manifested His Father’s glory, His own glory, in Words and deeds of mercy, forgiveness, life, and love, and His disciples believed in Him and they glorified God. And then, in a glorious mountain-top experience, Jesus’ face, His body, and His clothing glowed and shined forth with the preternatural Light of God, unveiled, before the very eyes of His closest disciples, and Moses and Elijah appeared, talking with Him. Heaven had descended upon earth and the disciples were understandably amazed. We can empathize with Peter in his zeal to enshrine the glory and the joy and to preserve it forever, but the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands. Thus, while Peter was still speaking the things of men, not of God, 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.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

The Transfiguration of Our Lord stands as a bookend at the end of the Epiphany season paired with the Baptism of Our Lord at its beginning. Throughout His life and ministry, Jesus manifested Himself as the anointed Christ of God, the Messiah, and as true God in human flesh. As the Church confesses, Jesus is God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. He is the icon of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation – and He is all that you need. He is the love of God incarnate. He is the fulfillment of the Law. He is the New Moses. And, He is the one to whom all the prophets had pointed and the fulfillment of all prophecies. Moses and Elijah have been fulfilled and assumed into the glorious Light of Jesus and we are given to see, we need to see, no one but Jesus only.

Jesus is the Light of the world, the Light no darkness can overcome. He has penetrated the darkness of our sin and death, exposed it for what it is, so that it can be named, confessed, and forgiven. The Mount of Transfiguration revealed Jesus’ glory and light, not that we might bottle it up, adore it, and worship it here on earth, but that we might see and believe and know that that glory is located nowhere else than in the person of Jesus – then, now, and always. For, now that you confess Jesus as the anointed Christ; now that you confess Him to be God in human flesh; now you must go with Him, down from the Mount of Glory into Jerusalem to suffer and die with Him.

But, still, the glory of God is the Man Jesus, even though the world sees in Him only weakness and shame, God’s power is made perfect in weakness. What kind of god becomes a creature? What kind of god lives in selflessness, poverty, and meekness? What kind of god is stripped, whipped, mocked, and crucified? What kind of god is executed as a common criminal? – Your God, and my God! Thanks be to God! For, He is a God of love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness. He is the God who lays down His life for you, His friends. He is the God who has faced death and defeated that enemy before you and for you. He is the God who works all things, even sin and every evil, even death, for your good. He is the God holds the victory over death and hell and beckons you through it into eternal life. There will be a day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Jesus Christ as Lord, and God the Father will be glorified – of this, the Transfiguration was but a foretaste – but, first, your God has revealed His glory on another mountain, on Mount Calvary where, for God the Father’s only beloved Son there was no substitute ram caught by its horns, but the Lamb of God laid Himself down to be slain that His blood might cleanse and purify you, and the Angel of Death pass o’er.

Before the bewildering events of His Passion, Our Lord prepared His disciples by revealing a glimpse of His glory. The veil of His humility was lifted for a moment to confirm what Peter had already confessed: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. For, their faith and trust would be tested shortly thereafter.

You also pass through dark and difficult times when your faith and trust is tested. But, you may take comfort that you live on this side of Christ’s death and resurrection. Your enemy has been defeated and Christ’s victory is yours even now. The Transfiguration of Jesus is a foretaste of what He will soon do to you in the resurrection of your body. And, you already share in that glorious life now through your Holy Baptism into Christ. And, Peter, who witnessed the glorious Transfiguration with his own eyes, says that you have something more sure, the prophetic Word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. And on this altar mountaintop you join with Peter, James, and John, Moses and Elijah, and with all the saints and the heavenly host around the throne of the Lamb of God Jesus Christ who gives you Himself for forgiveness, life, and strength until He comes. All of a Christian’s life is a life with Christ, in His presence, radiant with the light that comes from Christ, fulfilled by Christ Himself. There is no boundary between Christ, His light and glory, and our Christians lives.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Homily for the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

(Audio)

Matthew 13:24-30, (36-43); Colossians 3:12-17; Genesis 18:20-33

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

Three weeks from now, on Sexagesima Sunday, you will hear the beloved Parable of the Sower and His Good and Life-Giving Seed, the Word of God. Though the devices are nearly identical – both having sowers, seeds, fields, weeds, etc. – The Parable of the Sower and His Seed stands in stark contrast to the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares that your Lord presents to you today. For, in today’s parable, there is a second sower who sows his seed, secretly, in the darkness, whom Jesus calls an enemy, even the devil. And, the enemy’s seed grows and matures right along with the Lord’s seed so that the Lord’s field is full of both good wheat and evil weeds. But it is good for you to hear today’s parable first, for then on Sexagesima Sunday, you may remember where the weeds and the thorns that plague the soil of men’s hearts came from.

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares is a parable about the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus begins the story with the words, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.” At the end of the parable, amidst all the curious details and surprising turns of events, this parable is designed to teach you something that is true about the Kingdom of Heaven. First and foremost, what is unquestionably true is that the Kingdom of Heaven is good: The Sower is good. The Seed is good. The field is good. That, ultimately, bad seed producing tares, weeds, was sown in the field was not the doing or the fault of the good Sower or His good seed, but this was the doing of an enemy to the Sower, the devil. The enemy sowed his seed in the field at night, in darkness, when the Sower’s servants were sleeping; he sowed his evil seed and then he went away.

This, perhaps is the first curious detail of Jesus’ story, that the servants of the Sower left the field alone and slept, and that the enemy, after sowing his evil seed also left the field and went away. I suppose, from a purely agrarian viewpoint, leaving your field or garden to grow at night is a sensible thing to do. However, we want to know what this tells us about the kingdom of heaven. Just as none of you tends his or her garden 24/7, 365 days a year, particularly through the night, but takes natural rest from your labors knowing that your garden will grow; just as no farmer in Iowa tends his field all night long but takes natural rest knowing that his crops will grow; so the Kingdom of Heaven grows of its own accord – the seed that is sown, whether good or evil, grows without the tending of its good or evil sower.

“But, when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’” The servants are surprised and alarmed at the presence of the weeds. They busy themselves asking questions about what went wrong and who’s to blame. The assumption of many, when evil rears its ugly head, is that the Master, God, must be accountable; either God put the bad seeds in there Himself (“Did you not sow good seed?”), or He doesn’t care that evil infests the world and afflicts His people, or He isn’t capable of stopping the evil from happening. These, of course, are all false and faithless answers to the question “Why does a good God permit evil in the world?” God did not create evil. He did not sow evil in His Kingdom. And, God does not cause evil, though He does permit it. The sower in the parable answers plainly, “An enemy has done this.” An enemy has sown the evil weeds in the field of the Lord. An enemy in opposition to the Lord’s goodness and will. When you hear the Parable of the Sower and His Good Seed on Sexagesima Sunday, remember that the weeds and the thorns that choke out the young shoots of faith were sown by the enemy of your Lord.

Then comes the second curious detail of Jesus’ story. Upon hearing that an enemy has sown weeds into the Master’s field, the servants ask if they should yank them out and gather them. Again, from a purely agrarian viewpoint this seems like the sensible thing to do. However, the Master surprisingly says, “No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, ‘Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn’.”

Let them grow together until the harvest? The Kingdom of Heaven is to have both wheat and weeds within it until the end of time? How can this be? Oh, how we are tempted to root out evil as we perceive it, when it arises in the world, in our communities, in our church, in our family, and in our lives. We are loathe to bear with patience and tolerance those persons we perceive to be unfaithful, sinful, and evil and we are loathe to bear with patience and tolerance perceived evil in our lives whether it be trial, tribulation, disease, suffering, or death. Better to root it out and cast it away. Ah, but the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of man, for the weeds sown by the enemy are of the sort that they are often indistinguishable from the young wheat as they grow together. It is not until the fruit is borne and the harvest that one can clearly distinguish between the good wheat and the bad weeds. In fact, the type of weed that Jesus and the disciples would have been most familiar with was one called darnel, which is still prevalent in the Middle East today. Darnel is a weed that looks every bit like wheat until it heads in the late Summer. If one were to attempt to pull the darnel out of a wheat field prior to its bearing fruit, one would pull out just as much young wheat, or more. So, for the sake of the wheat, Jesus teaches His disciples to bear with the tares.

This should not be surprising, for an enemy is responsible for sowing the tares, and that enemy is the devil, whose devices are lies and deception. He takes what God has created good and he plagiarizes it, making it an, often attractive, but false, perversion of God’s creation. It is often said that wherever God builds a church, there the devil builds a chapel next door. This proverb reflects the biblical truth that wheat and tares, good and evil, reside together in the world, in the church, in the family, in the individual until the last day and the return of Christ in glory. The sowing of the tares is not the Father’s doing, but leaving them to grow alongside His good wheat is His will.

Oh how we would like to pull out the tares and purify the field, but, in so doing, we would uproot much that it is good. So, the Lord instructs you to bear with the evil, to suffer the evil, even to forgive the evil in this life. That is literally what He means when He says “Let both grow together…” He uses the Greek word ἄφετε which means “to let go; to permit; to forgive”; it is the same word Jesus uses when He says “suffer the little children to come to me” and in the Lord’s Prayer, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Bear with the evil; permit the evil; suffer the evil; forgive the evil. This is the lesson of the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares. For, in the harvest, on the Last Day, God will send His angels, not men, not you, to do the weed pulling – it’s not yours to do, not now, not then. Until then, you are to bear with what and who you perceive to be evil (I say perceive to be, for you may be wrong. The devil is a master of deception and he is actively trying to deceive you.) This is not to say that you should be complicit with evil and that you should not resist evil, but that it is not your job to root out all evil so as to make this church, this community, this world a new paradise, for, since good and evil in this world commonly inhabit not only the same field but even the same individual human beings, the only result of a truly dedicated campaign to get rid of evil will be the abolition of literally everybody.

What the Lord would have you do is grow in the field in which He has sown you, which is His Kingdom. You grow by remaining in His Word and Sacraments as wheat grows by sunlight, rain, and nutrients in the soil. Grow where you are planted and be fruitful with the fruits He causes you to bear, for yourself and for your family, and for the service of your neighbor to the glory of God the Father. Don’t worry about the weeds. Yes, they will grow too, right alongside of you, and they will bear their evil fruit causing pain and suffering. Now is the time of faith and trust, patience, long-suffering, and hope. When the harvest comes, “The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. […] Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” “He who has ears, let him hear.”

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Homily for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

(Audio)

Matthew 8:23-27; Romans 13:8-10; Jonah 1:1-17

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

Look up at the ceiling of this church. Its mighty beams and rafters supporting a tremendous weight, the protuberance of wood and iron braces, its great height and severe pitch – is it not reminiscent, in some way, of a great wooden ship, perhaps turned upside down? This is not a coincidence. Even in churches of a more modern structure, such as this one, the great architectural tradition of church buildings emulating ships is still carried through. For, the Church is a great naval vessel. She is a frigate sailing upon oft turbulent seas. She is a fishing boat catching men alive unto salvation through God’s creative Word and Sacraments. She is an ark in which God preserves His elect from the raging destruction of sin and death.

For, the sea is a fierce and pitiless force of nature, giving and taking life indiscriminately. In the Scriptures, the sea is at once the provider of food and a means for commerce, but it is also a symbol for the abyss of hell where leviathan and other demons dwell. In the case of Jonah, it was the LORD who hurled a great wind upon the sea causing a mighty tempest so that the ship threatened to break up. In the Gospel, the storm seemingly arose on the sea of purely arbitrary and natural causes. But, in both cases, the LORD was in control, whether actively or passively, using the elements for good in accordance with His wisdom. And, so it is that the same water which floated the ark and saved Noah and his family also drowned those outside in its furious torrents. And, so too, the waters of Holy Baptism both kill and make alive as the man of sin drowns and dies and the new man is raised to life.

Whether He commands the tempests or allows them to go their natural course, the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land, is in control of His creation. The LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea to strike terror in the hearts of the mariners that they would cry out to their gods and rouse sleeping Jonah to cry out to his God in repentance. The LORD allowed a great storm to arise upon the sea that the disciples would cry out in faith to their slumbering Lord. At their cry, Jesus awoke and demonstrated His authority over creation, rebuking the winds and the sea and bringing a great calm, and the disciples marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

What sort of man, indeed? He is none other than the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land, in human flesh. Jesus rebuked the winds and the sea. He spoke to them as one speaks to annoying servants. And, though He slept, the Lord was in command. He slept to illustrate the holy peace and confidence that comes from faith. He slept to illicit a cry of faith from His disciples, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And He said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?”

When the Lord is in the boat, there is nothing to fear. When the storms of life threaten to overtake you, you must know that the Lord is in control and that, whether awake or asleep, He is in the boat with you. He is the love of God incarnate and the fulfilling of the Law. Through faith in Him, nothing can harm you. Though you often may have but a little faith, faith receives Him who is sufficient for all your needs of body and soul.

In life you pass through many storms. Some arise about you seemingly spontaneously. Others the Lord hurls at you directly. But, there is nothing that is outside of the Lord’s command. Sometimes He calms the storm and removes it from you after a time of testing. Other times He lets the storm seethe and, like Jonah, casts you into the midst of the raging sea that you might be swallowed up and put to death in repentance, before He enlivens you again and brings you back up to shore. And there are some storms that are never removed, but rather are to be endured until death, yet endured in faith. Because where there is perfect trust in the Lord, there is also perfect peace, no matter what storm may be pounding upon your little boat. Jesus, who is the Almighty God, who exercises authority and power over wind and wave, is also your Lord who loves you and has redeemed you from all sins, from the power of the devil and even from death itself.

This He proves to you in His Holy Word, and gives to you here in the ship of His Holy Church, a ship where He is present through the preaching of His Word and in the Holy Sacraments. And with these He answers your prayers for strength and healing and for help. For here He gives you His grace which will strengthen your faith even in the midst of life’s relentless storms, and will bring you through them into a safe harbor and life everlasting.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Homily for the Third Sunday after the Epiphany

(Audio)

Matthew 8:1-13; Romans 12:16-21; 2 Kings 5:1-15

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

It is a lesson about faith. It is a lesson about authority. It is a lesson about the creative power of the Word of God. It is a lesson about true healing in the forgiveness of sins. It is a lesson about the Gospel extended to the Gentiles. It is a lesson about Jesus made manifest as the Son of God in our own human flesh. It is a lesson about humility and repentance in receiving mercy from God and in showing mercy to our neighbors. Indeed, our Gospel lesson today is about all these lessons and many, many more, all at the same time, for the Word of God is an inexhaustible fountain of life and an inviting mystery that draws the faithful ever deeper into the life of God Himself.

In the Gospel lesson we are presented first with a Jewish leper and then with a Roman centurion, a commander of a hundred men, both of whom appeal to Jesus, the leper for cleansing and the centurion for the healing of his dying servant. Clearly the leper is a man of great faith. He dared to approach His Lord in his uncleanness and appealed to the Lord’s will saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” His words are an outstanding confession of faith in the good will, nature, and essence of His Lord. His confession is like unto Job’s – the Lord gives and the Lord takes away; blessed be the Name of the Lord – in that, even if it were not the Lord’s will to cleanse, the good will, nature, and essence of the Lord would not be changed in any way. But, the centurion outdid the leper in his confession. The centurion, initially, did not confess anything about Jesus, but merely laid his concern for his dying servant before the Lord. Without hesitation, Jesus said that He would go to his servant and heal him. But, this is when the centurion makes his great confession saying, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.” What made the centurion’s confession great was not so much what he said about his Lord as it was what he said about himself – I am not worthy.

I am not worthy. I do not deserve your healing and forgiveness. I a poor and miserable sinner confess…. My brothers and sisters, we come before our Lord with no expectation of entitlements and with nothing of our own to offer. Rather, we come before the Lord as idolaters, as prodigals, as murderers, adulterers, and thieves. In humility and repentance we confess our sins and our iniquities against the Lord. We confess that we are worthy only of temporal and eternal punishment. We confess that to remain an unclean leper is too good for us. And, we confess our repentance and contrition and pray for the Lord’s mercy for the sake of the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of Jesus Christ alone. “Lord, I am not worthy,” we confess. “I forgive you all your sins,” our Lord replies. “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.”

In a beautiful display of the unity and concord of the Holy Scriptures, the Church, in Her wisdom, has assigned as the Old Testament lesson for this day the complimentary narrative concerning Naaman of Syria. Whereas, in the Gospel we were presented with a Jewish leper and a Roman centurion, Naaman is at once a Syrian commander and a leper. Now, Naaman was a powerful man of great authority and influence, and, yet, he was also a leper. Apparently, it seems, the disease of leprosy had not the same social stigma amongst the Syrians as it did amongst the Jews. Further, this may be indicative of the corruption of the pagan Syrian culture. Thus, when Naaman was informed that there was a prophet in Israel who could heal him, despite his leprosy, he was bold to go directly to the king of Israel. But, having, himself, no power to heal, the king of Israel was distraught. Thus, Elisha the prophet counseled the king to send Naaman to him. So, Naaman then came to Elisha with his horses and chariots and stood outside his house awaiting an audience with the prophet. But, Elisha sent out a messenger instead. The messenger instructed Naaman to wash in the Jordan seven times and that his flesh would be restored and he would be clean. But, Naaman was angry that neither the king nor the prophet would come to him in person. And, he expected ceremonial invocations and showy hand-wavings to accompany such a miracle. Also, he was repulsed by the lowly waters of Israel in comparison to the rivers of Damascus. And, so we see that Naaman is the exact opposite of the Roman centurion. Naaman came to the king and then to Elisha with expectations of entitlement and with a sense of self-worth that he merited respect and honor. He was offended and scandalized that a mere messenger and not the prophet himself would speak to him. He was offended and scandalized that he was given only the command to wash. And he was offended and scandalized that he was to submit himself to washing in such lowly and common waters as the Jordan in Israel. He would not accept the word delivered through subordinates and he would not surrender his own expectations, desires, and will even for the promise of healing.

How like Naaman are you, thinking that the uncleanness of your sin is no big deal and that you are entitled to be heard and served by your Lord on your own terms, according to your own preferences and expectations? How often are you offended and scandalized by the means and the messengers through which your Lord ministers to you, thinking them old fashioned, irrelevant, outdated, and foolish? How often do you think that what is desirable, beautiful, glorious, and pleasurable in your eyes should determine how we worship before our Lord? How often do you leave in a huff and grumble in anger, inciting others to join in your malcontent? Of this you must repent daily, for you are not worthy that the Lord should enter under your roof.

Nevertheless, thanks be to God, He does speak His Word and you are healed. And, it is a great Word that your God has spoken to you, the Word become flesh, dwelling amongst us, whose Name is Jesus, God’s salvation. Thou you were not worthy that He should come under your roof, He has come into your flesh and has joined you into Him. Though He had no uncleanness of His own, He submitted Himself to be baptized in the Jordan for you, to become the Lord’s anointed scapegoat, taking your leprous sin, and the sin of the whole world, upon Himself, to defeat Satan’s temptations and to destroy death by His own death upon the cross. All this He gives you freely in Holy Baptism without ceremonial hand-wavings and impressive flair, but with humble, common water and His mighty, creative, and life-giving Word delivered by humble and common messengers and servants.

The Lord does indeed have authority, as confessed by the centurion, over heaven and earth, yet it is not evidenced in the worldly ways desired by Naaman, but in and through humble means does the Lord exercise His authority to forgive sins and heal, cure, and raise up men afflicted by sin’s poison and death. Though the wages of sin is, universally, death, and though all afflictions, disease, and sufferings are but the symptoms of sin, Jesus is the victor over death. Thus He is the Great Physician of your body and soul and He is the Medicine of Immortality who brings life to all who receive Him. You are not worthy that He should enter under your roof, nevertheless, He has come amongst you and has drawn you into Himself. Even now He is present with His life-giving Word to cleanse and forgive you, to feed and sustain you, and to send you as His messengers of mercy for the life of the world.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Homily for the Second Sunday after Epiphany

(Audio)

John 2:1-11; Romans 12:6-16; Exodus 33:12-23

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

Our Lord simply loves weddings! After crowning His six-day’s work with the creation of man – male and female He created them – He joined them together in the one-flesh union of marriage and blessed them that they would be fruitful and multiply. And, it was at a wedding that Jesus performed His first sign, or miracle, and manifested His glory. Then, in the Revelation, we see our glorified Lord, standing as a Lamb slain, being wedded to His Bride the Church coming down from heaven. From the beginning, it has been God who has joined together; from shortly thereafter, it has been man who has separated.

Thus, Jesus blesses the wedding party at Cana with His presence. He wants to be there as two of His beloved children are made to be one. Our Lord simply loves weddings. He came with His mother and with His disciples who believed in Him. But, the wedding party ran out of wine. How many marriages today are at risk of running out of wine, or have already run out of wine? What God created as holy and as a fruitful blessing, marriage, has, because of man’s sin, become bittersweet and fraught with lies and deception, sorrow and pain. What was to be a brilliant image of the union God would have with man has become but a dim reflection. For, more than our fragmented marriages between husbands and wives, it is our marriage with God that has run out of wine. This Jesus came to restore, but His hour had not yet come.

Jesus’ hour, in John’s Gospel, is the appointed time of His passion and death on the cross. It is a time that will not be forced upon Jesus apart from His will: His life is His to lay down, no one takes it from Him. When His mother informed Him that the wedding party had run out of wine, Jesus replied that it was not a matter of concern between them now and that it was not yet the time for the shedding of His blood. Mary clearly understood this. Nevertheless, she instructed the servants to do whatever Jesus told them. It seems that Mary, who pondered the mystery of her son in her heart, who heard the prophecy told about Him by Simeon that He would be for a sign spoken against and for the rising and failing of many in Israel, and that a sword would pierce her own heart too, it seems that Mary urged her son along His destined path to the cross that He would perform this first sign and manifest His glory.

For, Jesus’ glory was manifested, not primarily in the miracle of changing water into wine, but Jesus’ glory was manifested in this first glimpse of His hour of passion that was yet to come. The water in those six stone jars was for the Jewish rites of purification. It was water that had been set aside to wash away the wedding party’s uncleanness that Jesus changed into wine. Amongst the sadness and the shame of this wedding party that had run out of wine, Jesus began to take the curse of man’s great divorce from God upon Himself and to fill its place with joy and life, the finest of wine. For, the glory of Jesus is not manifested primarily in wonders and miracles, but the glory of Jesus is manifested in the Lamb of God’s self-offering in death on the cross.

The wedding of Adam and Eve was an image of man’s wedding with God. That was the first day. Succumbing to temptation, tasting the forbidden fruit, man became the whore and divorced God in adultery. That was the second day. But, on the third day, there was a wedding. The third day is the day of resurrection, the Lord’s Day, the day on which the sun never sets. Jesus came to turn man’s sorrow and death into joy and life. He came to fill what the Law demands of us to the very brim, and not with mediocrity, but with the finest works, obedience, and love. He came to lay down His life for His friends, the greatest expression of love possible, that they might be restored unto God and live.

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the Church, His body, and is Himself its Savior. Now as the Church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love you wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for Her, that He might sanctify Her, having cleansed Her by the washing of water with the Word, so that He might present the Church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that She might be holy and without blemish. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the Church.

Jesus’ first sign at the wedding of Cana points us squarely to the greatest sign, the sign of Jonah, that is Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection on the third day. For, it was from Jesus’ riven side upon the cross that was brought forth His Bride the Church. From the side of the New Adam was brought forth the New Eve in water and blood.

It is still the Third Day, the Day of Resurrection, and we are gathered here as one body in the water and the blood of our Bridegroom Jesus Christ. This is the New Cana, where the Lamb of God stands as though slain, still bearing the marks of His Calvary as glorious life-giving signs. And, the master of the feast, Satan, is stunned, knowing not from whence this precious wine comes (though you know) saying, “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.” This is the Lamb’s High Feast, the Feast of Victory of Our God. He has fulfilled the Law, filled its gaping tomb-like mouth to the brim with the finest wine of His holy blood. No longer need you repeatedly, ritually return to the water for cleansing, but having been cleansed in His blood once and for all you are clean, holy before the Lord. This feast is but a foretaste of the Feast that is to come, the Marriage Feast of the Lamb in His Kingdom that has no end. But, it is all you need for today, for tomorrow, until He comes. Come quickly Lord Jesus. Come quickly, come.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Homily for the Baptism of the Our Lord

(Audio)

Matthew 3:13-17; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31; Isaiah 42:1-7

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

Children of God, let us not make light of the Baptism of our Lord, and let us not make light of our own baptism, for it is because of His baptism that our Lord’s death was efficacious, and it is because of His baptism that your baptism is efficacious. Jesus’ baptism was fitting, it was proper, it was necessary. Thus, when Jesus approached John to be baptized by him, John protested saying “I need to be baptized by you.” Jesus did not deny John’s complaint but, agreeing, He replied “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” The baptism of Jesus was fitting, it was proper, it was necessary for the fulfillment of all righteousness. Or, to state it negatively, all righteousness would not be have been fulfilled were it not for the baptism of Jesus. Thus, we dare not make light of the Baptism of our Lord, and we dare not make light of our own baptism.

But what is it about Jesus’ baptism that is so special, so necessary? Here, the placement of this Feast in the Sanctoral Calendar is informative. The Feast of the Baptism of our Lord is celebrated the Sunday after the Epiphany, immediately on the heels of the Christmas cycle celebrating the Birth of our Lord. So, as the story of the birth of Jesus is still fresh in our minds we are caused to reflect upon the second birth of our Lord – His holy baptism. Consider the language of Jesus’ baptism: And when Jesus was baptized, immediately He went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” It sounds like an infant child passing through the birth canal into the light of day being received by His loving Father crying out, “It’s a boy! And, He’s perfect!” And then, what does our Lord teach us about baptism: Unless one is born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Indeed, it was fitting, it was proper, it was necessary for our holy and sinless Lord to step into the waters of the Jordan, along with sinners of all kinds, so that He could take the sins of all humanity upon Himself and, in exchange, make all men righteous through Him. In His baptism, Jesus, who was conceived and born without sin, was born again in sin, man’s sin, and was made to be sin for us that we might be made righteous in Him.

It was Creation all over again! The Father spoke. The Son was spoken. And the Spirit of God hovered over the waters. But, what was created this time was a new man, a new Adam, a new son of God with whom He could be fully pleased. The old Adam had closed heaven by his sin; the New Adam has opened it! The old Adam drowned in the waters of the Jordan; the New Adam stepped forth into life and light. The uncreated Son of God became a creature as the Son of Man – it is upon Him, Jesus, that God poured out His anointing Spirit and christened Him Son, Christ, Messiah, Savior – for you.

Jesus’ baptism was fitting, it was proper, it was necessary to fulfill all righteousness. If Jesus had not been baptized, then we would have no Christ and we would still be in our sins, our baptisms would be meaningless and useless. But Jesus has been baptized, He is the Christ, the Anointed of the Lord, and He has taken all our sins upon Himself and has given us His righteousness. He has sanctified the waters of Baptism in His blood to make them a cleansing flood of forgiveness for all men. He is God’s Son for us; with Him God is fully pleased for us. He is the Chosen One, chosen by the Father, and the Father put His Spirit upon Him and no other – for us.

His baptism marks the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. At once He is subject to temptation by the devil and mockery and persecution by men. And, at once He begins to proclaim the fulfillment of God’s Law and the presence of His Kingdom. He heals the sick, restores sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and speech to the dumb, He makes the paralyzed to walk and He cleanses lepers while proclaiming the forgiveness of sins. His teaching is that, in Him you are forgiven, you are free. Why, then, do you remain in the prison house of sin and death? Why do you continue to strive to earn God’s favor by works? Take up your mat and walk! Go, and sin no more! Your faith has made you well!

Of Jesus, God said through the prophet Isaiah, “I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.” Children of God, it is still Christmas, and Jesus is the Gift that keeps on giving! “And because of Him,” writes the Apostle Paul, “You are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” Jesus is your Anointed One, Christ for you. Because of His baptism is your baptism a cleansing flood of forgiveness. For, you are baptized into Christ: His baptism is your baptism. His righteousness is your righteousness. His death is your death and His resurrection is your resurrection. He is God’s Son, with whom God is well pleased; through baptism into Him, you are God’s children, forgiven, freed, and possessing eternal life and salvation!

Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things! Your baptism, your faith, your forgiveness, your righteousness – these are the LORD’s work who alone does wondrous things. The LORD upheld and chose His servant Jesus. The LORD took delight in Him. The LORD placed His Spirit upon Him. The LORD called Him in righteousness. The LORD gave Him as a covenant for the people and as a light for the nations. For, God has chosen the weak and the foolish things of this world, the low and the despised, even things that are not, to shame the wise and the strong; and the LORD has chosen and called you to faith and baptism into Christ that He might say of you, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” In Christ, God became man that man might become God. Christ is baptized. Let us descend with Him that we may also ascend.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Homily for the Epiphany Walk

The six Christian congregations in the Village of Pawling, NY have a longstanding, unique, and beloved tradition called the Epiphany Walk. Each year on the Sunday before Epiphany, members of the congregations and the community walk together from church to church, stopping at each for a brief service or program. In the past, churches have featured their choirs, a portion of their children’s Christmas program, a prayer service, a hymn sing, etc. Each church does something different. At Christ the King, we pray Evening Prayer, sing two hymns, feature a choral piece, and I preach a brief homily. Each of the churches builds its theme around one of the pericopes of Epiphantide.

(Audio)

Isaiah 9:2-7

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

It is the ninth day of Christmas; three more to go, and then the Epiphany. Many of you have already chucked your tree to the curb; that’s ok, especially considering you may have set it up over a month ago, just after Thanksgiving. And, if your decorations are still up, they may be beginning to look a bit bedraggled and disheveled. That’s understandable. Soon, we will have all packed up our ornaments and stowed away our trimmings and put Christmas behind us for another year. However, my friends, let us not put a cover on the Light that we have enjoyed this season. For what we celebrate at Christmas is the fact that the True Light who enlightens everyone has penetrated this world of darkness, sin, and death. And that that has changed everything!

You were once a people walking in darkness, but now you are children of the Light. You have been changed! You are no longer in the dark, but you are in the light. You are no longer strangers, but you are children, even sons! This God has done for you – this God has done to you – in the incarnation of His Son Jesus Christ. There is nothing for you to do but to live and to walk in the Light and to not hinder the Light from shining about you and through you. My friends, this is as passive and natural as being born. Christ’s birth is the new birth of all humanity; Christ’s birth is your new birth – you are a child of the Light, a son of your heavenly Father, born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Being a son of God means that you have access to your heavenly Father. You can ask Him anything in the Name of Jesus and He will give it to you. More than that, you have access to His will and His voice; He is with you always with His Word to lighten your path and guide your feet, His Absolution to restore you when you go astray, and with His flesh and blood to strengthen you in communion with Himself. You are always loved and you are never alone.

Yet, even now the sun is setting. This world can still be a very dark and a very cold place. But the night is but a little while, and even in the darkness of our night, we know that the sun is still shining and that dawn will soon break. Dear friends, do not despair at the darkness of the world. Do not lose hope because of the personal darkness in your lives. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given – and that has changed everything!

The government is upon His shoulder – no, not the bloated, corrupt, inefficient, and misguided governments of men, but the government of the universe and all things in it where Christ stands as the Lamb who was slain, the flagstaff of sins forgiven for all the world. His Name is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He is your Savior. He is your God. He is your brother. And that has changed everything!

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Homily for the Second Sunday after Christmas

(Audio)

Matthew 2:13-23; 1 Peter 4:12-19; Genesis 46:1-7

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

On Christmas Eve, Christians the whole world over heard the precious and familiar story of Jesus’ birth as St. Luke has recorded it in the Gospel that bears his name. St. Luke’s infancy narrative is by far the most familiar and beloved, but it is not the only one. St. Matthew, too, has a narrative of Jesus’ birth, though it is much more compact and seems to serve the specific purpose of demonstrating that the circumstances of Jesus’ birth serve to fulfill specific Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah. And, if you attended Divine Service on Christmas Day, then you also heard the very succinct and highly theological birth narrative presented by St. John. However, few Christians are likely aware that there is a fourth narrative of Jesus’ birth in the Holy Scriptures and that it is to be found in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, chapter twelve:

And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.

In stark contrast to the silent and holy night of our imaginations, there is an unseen reality that permeates the story of our Savior’s birth, indeed that was in the world before the incarnation and that remains in the world today, the dragon. Satan, that ancient serpent and tempter, was poised to devour the Christ child upon birth. Indeed, it seems that murderous Herod was but a shadow of the true face of evil as he slaughtered the innocents of Bethlehem in his attempt to destroy Jesus. However, having been warned by the angel of Herod’s furious intent, Joseph packed up his family and fled into Egypt.

Egypt had been the ironic refuge of God’s people since the time of Jacob. Though the Egyptians were pagans who worshiped the sun god Ra, the creator god Amun, and the mother god Isis, along with the Pharaoh himself, God assured Jacob saying, “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again.” And God did indeed make Israel into a great nation in Egypt. But in their prosperity, the people forgot about their homeland in Canaan to the east, and the Egyptians forgot about God’s mercy during the administration of Joseph, and God delivered the Israelites unto slavery.

Egypt is, at once, symbolic of both a place of refuge and sanctuary and the place of enslavement and captivity. Egypt, and the surrounding desert wilderness, is the place where Satan dwells, whether in the form of Pharaoh, wild beasts, or the tempter himself. It is the place of waiting in patient faith and trust for the Lord. It is the place where nurture and protection comes from the Lord alone. God sends His people into Egypt that they might learn to trust in Him for all things. God allows His people to dwell in the midst of tyrants and tempters, war, pestilence, and death that they might find comfort, peace, and hope in Him alone.

Thus, St. Peter writes to you, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” Since the first Israel, Jacob and his descendents, proved themselves unfaithful to the Lord, God sent His Son Jesus, the New Israel, down into Egypt that the prophecy might be fulfilled, “Out of Egypt I called my Son.” Jesus brings to perfection what old Israel could not. He is the faithful Israel, the embodiment of the people of God. He offers His perfect and holy life in place of our own. He submits Himself to persecution and suffering in order to save us.

Therefore, we should not think it strange when we who are in Christ experience trials because of the faith. Rather, we rejoice to share in Christ’s sufferings, knowing that we will also share in His glory. For, it is still out of Egypt that God calls His son; that is to say that it is out of trial and tribulation that God calls you into His glorious presence and life: It is only captives that can be freed. It is only the suffering who can be comforted. And it is only sinners who can be saved.

And the Lord who promised to go down into Egypt with Jacob and all Israel has come down into our Egypt in the person of Jesus. He has made a blessed exchange with us, taking our sin and rebellion upon Himself and dying our death but giving us His righteousness, holiness, and life. He is with us now in this wilderness full of temptations, tribulations, pestilence, and death to forgive and renew, to bind up our wounds and strengthen our faith, promising still, “I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again.” It is but a little while before this corruptible puts on incorruption. Until then, we have His Word, His Absolution, His Baptism, and His Holy Body and Precious Blood. Therefore, let us entrust our souls to our faithful Creator while doing good.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Johann Konrad Wilhelm Loehe on the Divine Service

In worship the congregation experiences its Lord most intimately. Here it lives in nearest proximity to its Groom in a heavenly life on earth, an earthly life in heaven. Worship is the most beautiful flower of earthly life. Just like land in the middle of an ocean, the Word and the Sacraments stand in the inner life and worship of the congregation. You have one week behind you, a new week lies in front of you. Between these two weeks is the day of Communion Sunday. You desire to draw near to God with the congregation. What do you, whether you are a shepherd or a sheep, have to do first? You do what all religions say is necessary for the soul: you cleanse it like feet that have become dirty from the activity of daily life. In other words, you prepare yourself for worship by confessing your sins and receiving absolution. Being cleansed from sin, you enter into the joys of the particular festival day or Sunday. But the worshiper finds that earth still has other burdens and sorrows, both present and future. Life, death, and eternity, with all of their bitter fruits and consequences, threaten you as you journey to the heavenly kingdom. Worries burden you and keep burdening you. But no longer does sin torture you, no longer do you fear evil, no longer do you sigh longingly, but joyful confidence fills your soul. You sit beneath the face of the Lord. In the sermon you begin to experience the blessed communion of the saints who rejoice in the Lord. The worshiping congregation experiences itself as the Bride of the Lord, rich not  only in and through Him but also in and through one another. The congregation, in its fullness, thinks of the special needs and miseries upon the earth, delights in all good things, and goes before the altar of the Lord with intercessions, petitions, and prayers. All worshipers are blessed and approach the throne of blessing knowing they are worthy. The worshipers realize that the Church is one unit both here and everywhere. Pilgrims are one in their prayers and are cleansed with all of the blessed saints in heaven.

From Treasury of Daily Prayer, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, 2008