Christian Funeral for James Lee Wright

(Audio)

John 11:17-27; Romans 8:28-39; Lamentations 3:22-33

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

“It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.” So proclaimed the prophet Jeremiah in his lamentation. Jeremiah was called to his prophetic office when he was a young man to speak against the southern kingdom’s idolatry, and to call them to repentance. Though he prophesied their coming defeat and captivity by the Assyrians, the people wouldn’t listen, they ignored him, and often they violently rejected him. Understandably, Jeremiah was afflicted by bouts of depression, hopelessness, and despair, such that he earned the nickname “The Weeping Prophet.” Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit was with Jeremiah and preserved him in faith so that Jeremiah remained stalwart, strong, and immovable in his faith. And so, Jeremiah waited quietly and patiently for the LORD and for the redemption and salvation He had promised. “It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.”

Waiting quietly for the salvation of the LORD, those are words that I believe apply well to our brother in Christ, Jim. Surely, Jim could be said to be the “strong silent type.” Indeed, the times I spoke to Jim in church, usually just before or after the Divine Service, his words were few, but there was strength in them, and, more than that, peace. Men like Jim often get ignored or overlooked by others, because they do not put themselves forward, they do not speak the loudest, or feel the need to be incessantly yawping about one thing or another. However, to assume Jim’s reticence to be indifference or even agreement would be to make a grievously faulty assumption. In this regard I am reminded of an elder in my former parish who didn’t have much to say. I once mused, jokingly, that, because he didn’t say anything, that meant he agreed with me, to which he replied, calmly, but firmly, “Many have made that assumption, Pastor. You should not.” And, that reminds me of a story about Jim that someone shared with me. One Sunday after church, Jim and Elaine went to HyVee, as many in the congregation are want to do, for coffee and for deconstructing the pastor’s sermon – er, I mean, for fellowship. Jim and the other men were all talking together, Jim remaining silent as usual. One of the women present said, “Why don’t you guys give Jim a chance to speak?” And, one of the men responded, “It isn’t Jim’s time to talk yet.” Jim laughed. Jim was fully engaged in the conversation, even without speaking. He was listening, he was engaged, and nobody took him for granted. Jim waited quietly for his turn to speak, just as he waited quietly and patiently for the salvation of the LORD.

Silence, patience, and trust are qualities lost on most today, but, nevertheless, they are marks of Christian faith, strong, unswerving, and immovable faith. As the LORD spoke through the Psalmist and inspired Martin Luther to write “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” “Be still, and know that I am God.” When we are still, that is when God acts. When we are still, then we can see that God is acting, and has been acting, preserving and protecting and keeping us in His grace, mercy, compassion, and love all along. When we are still we can rest in the LORD, and in His Word made flesh, Jesus, knowing that He works all things – even the bad things – for the good of those who are called according to His purpose. Indeed, nothing can separate us from His love, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness. The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. Jim was a builder. While he was a welder and a maintenance worker in his working years at Nestle / Carnation, he always worked with his hands, which takes patience and care, and a clear and sober mind. After Jim and Elaine were married fifty-two years ago, right here at St. John, Jim built their home. Jim also had a hand in building the Gathering Room addition to the church building. And, Jim was a woodworker who made furniture and crosses for baptisms and weddings. He also made the small wooden frames that hold the names of our cradle roll children in the education building. It is clear that Jim put his hands and his God-given talents to work in service of the two most important things to him: His family and his church. When we are confident that our LORD is for us, we can be bold to serve Him by serving others. For, if God gave His only-begotten Son for us all, how will He not give us all things needful and good?

Lazarus’ sister, Mary, chose the better portion, sitting still at the feet of Jesus, hearing and digesting His every Word, while her sister Martha was busy with many needful things. It’s not that work is bad, but it’s a matter of priorities: There is a time for work, and there is a time for silence, stillness, and sitting at the feet of Jesus. In fact, if you do not first have the LORD and His Word and His Gifts, then your work will be futile and unfruitful. But, true, good, and fruitful work flows from the gifts Christ freely gives. Busyness, worry, anxiety, and distraction rob and deplete the soul. Blessed is the one who can be quiet, still, and at peace in the LORD. Such a soul has found its rest even now. Perhaps that is why it was Martha who first approached Jesus saying, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” We have all felt that way at one time or another. Perhaps some of us are feeling that way right now. But, take heart, and let us not be too hard on poor Martha, for we are tempted to let our fears, anxieties, and reason get the best of us too, and rob from us the surety of God’s Word and promise. Jesus’ Word of comfort to Martha is His Word of comfort to us today: “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.” Do you believe this?

Elaine, Gertie, Becky, and Jeff, beloved Grandchildren, family, and friends, Jim believed this. Indeed, Jim’s reserved and quiet demeanor was the fruit of his trust in Jesus’ promise. In his last weeks, his faith kept him at peace spiritually and mentally, even as he struggled physically. And, in his last days, when a chaplain visited and prayed the Lord’s Prayer with him, Jim responded to those words of Jesus, long seated in his heart and mind, as they were at once familiar and meaningful and comforting. And, as the family remained by his side in those last hours, a nurse commented, “I’ve seen this before. Some men have John Wayne Syndrome. They’ll hang on until their loved ones aren’t around.” Indeed, as Elaine and the family stepped out briefly for a bite to eat, Elaine said to Jim, “I’ll see you in heaven in a few years.” It was shortly after they left the room that Jim was called to rest in Jesus.

“It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.” There is something to be said for being quick to listen and slow to speak. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ. Problem is that, for most of us, most of the time, our hearing is overwhelmed by noise and busyness and restlessness and anxiety that we cannot hear properly, and so we do not believe properly, and we cannot rest properly. But, today we are comforted and, amidst our tears and sorrow and grief, we have hope, and even a glimmer of joy. Why? Because we know that our brother Jim had Spirit-created faith, and that he believed, and trusted, and was comforted in the knowledge that Jesus is the resurrection and the life, in whom he lived and died and will be raised again unto life that cannot die. Jim’s faith provided him strength and hope and comfort and peace throughout his life, faith that was manifested in Jim’s strong and silent demeanor and in his loving service of his family and his church. And so, we mourn, but we do not mourn like those without hope. For, our LORD is our hope, and our LORD is faithful and good and cannot fail us. Elaine, you will see Jim again in heaven. Indeed, all who trust in the LORD will see Jim again in heaven. Let us wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD as Jim did, ceasing our striving and our worrying, and finding peace in Christ, in His Words and in His wounds, in life, through death, into life that cannot die.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Ash Wednesday

(Audio)

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21; 2 Peter 1:2-11; Joel 2:12-19

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

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a forty-day period of preparation for The Feast of the Lord’s Resurrection, Easter Sunday. The forty days of Lent are patterned after Jesus’ forty days of fasting in the wilderness, resisting the temptations of the devil by His trust and reliance upon the Word of God. Thus, you already begin to see what your preparation is to be like. For, you also must learn to trust and to rely upon the Word of God and not your self or your own works. Indeed, your Lord’s Word to you this day is “Beware,” “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them.”

But, what does Jesus mean? Truly, we often hear of our being made righteous by God’s decree on account of the innocent shed blood of Jesus, but what does Jesus mean by “practicing your righteousness?” Well, just as no one will call you a runner if you do not run, and no one will call you a singer if you do not sing, so you are not righteous if you do not practice righteousness. That is to say, if you do not bear the fruit of righteousness in your life, words, and deeds, then you are not righteous. That is what St. James means when he says that “faith without works is dead.” And, that’s what Jesus means when He says, “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” And then, Jesus goes on to exhort you to three very specific ways in which you practice your righteousness: Fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. These have come down to us as the traditional Three Pillars of Lent.

Now, typically, Protestants, and even some Lutherans, have been quick to call the observance of the Three Pillars man made Roman Catholic tradition. While it is true that the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church are the largest Christian fellowships that still encourage and practice the Three Pillars, it is simply false to conclude that the Three Pillars are merely the doctrines and traditions of men. They are not, but they are Biblical, even taught by our Lord Jesus Himself, which you heard for yourself in today’s Gospel. Additionally, Jesus doesn’t make these disciplines optional. He doesn’t say, “If you give to the needy,” but He says “When you give to the needy,” “When you pray,” and “When you fast.” However, while they are not optional, Jesus also teaches that they do not constitute righteousness, but rather, they are the practice of righteousness. Thus, you do not give alms, pray, and fast in order to earn or merit righteousness – for, you could never give, pray, or fast enough to make even a small movement towards righteousness – but you give alms, pray, and fast because you are declared righteous by God in the innocent shed blood of Jesus Christ.

That is why Jesus warns you to “Beware,” “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them.” But, note, the warning is not to beware practicing your righteousness, but the warning is in regard to the reason you are practicing your righteousness. If you are practicing your righteousness in order to be seen by other people so that they will think you righteous, then, Jesus says, you already have your reward; you have the admiration and praise of men. In that case, even though your righteousness comes from God alone through Jesus Christ, you give men the impression that righteousness comes from yourself, or from other men.

And, so, you can easily see why giving alms, praying, and fasting have become traditional Lenten disciplines, for, they are selfless acts, that is to say, they are not turned inward upon oneself, but they are turned outward towards both God and neighbor. Moreover, these disciplines place you in a receptive mode, in a mode in which you are receptive to what God freely provides and gives to you. These works of yours are not your righteousness, for, that comes from the LORD alone, but they are the fruit of your God-given righteousness and, thus, the practice of your God-given righteousness.

The Lenten disciplines serve to reorient you to the two tables of the Law and the Great Commandment: “Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul, and mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.” For, you cannot obey the second table, about loving your neighbor, until you obey the first table about loving God. Consequently, if you obey the first table, then obedience to the second will follow naturally as fruit. You will, without even having to work at it, be laying up treasure for yourself in heaven. And, where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.

God knows that you have strayed. I have strayed too. But, do not despair. Rather, take heart and return to the LORD. For, your LORD still says to you, “Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and nor your garments.” “Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and He relents over disaster.” Truly, this is what Lent is all about – repentance. Repentance means, “to turn back,” and repentance, turning back to the LORD, is what it means to prepare for Easter. Lent is an opportunity to reorient yourself in relation to your God. It’s a First Commandment opportunity to return to having no other gods before Him, not even yourself, and to fearing, loving, and trusting in Him above all things.

For, the LORD remains jealous for you. He will not share you with another god, not that there is another. Therefore, “He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.” In fact, what He desires for you is “that you may become partakers of His divine nature.” Thus, because you could not become what He is, divine God, He became what you are, a human being, in the incarnation of His Son Jesus Christ – God became man, that man might become God. And, the Lenten disciplines of almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, along with other forms of selflessness and self-sacrifice – faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love – “keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” But, you must practice these disciplines, and do so with this promise, “if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Yes, practice righteousness, but always recognize and remember that righteousness comes from outside of you, the free gift of God in and through Jesus Christ. So whatever you give away, whatever you pray, and whatever you abstain from, do these things, not because you believe that they please the LORD or merit His favor, but do them because of the righteousness you have received as a free and perfect gift in Jesus Christ. Sacrifice yourself now because of the sacrifice God has made for you in His Son Jesus, who gave up all things rightfully His out of love for His Father and for you, believing, knowing, and trusting that the LORD who made all things and who gave us life is able and willing to give you all things.

And, so, when you give, pray, and fast, you lose nothing at all, but you gain more of what your LORD graciously desires to pour into you. But, He will pour into you and fill you to overflowing so that you will have much to share. Thus Jesus teaches “when,” not “if.” “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” This is true all the year round. But, during Lent, it will be a blessing to you to be intentional about believing and trusting in the LORD and His Word. He desires to bless you. May you receive His blessing and be a rich blessing to others to the glory of His Name.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Quinquagesima

(Audio)

Luke 18:31-43; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; 1 Samuel 16:1-13

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

Jesus explained why He taught in parables saying, “that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.” Now, this is not to say that Jesus intentionally taught in a confusing and paradoxical way so as to prevent His hearers from understanding, but rather, such is the nature of the Word of God – it must be received in good soil, that is, by eyes and ears that have been opened to the Word and therefore both see and hear with faith and bear fruit. You will recall that Jesus concluded the Parable of the Sower saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” We all have ears, but we do not all hear. Likewise, some who do not hear at first may yet hear at another time. The point is that hearing is not merely the physical function of healthy ears, but hearing is faith, and faith bears fruit. Indeed, the hearing Jesus calls for and praises are “those who, hearing the Word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.”

Jesus’ disciples both saw and heard, yet when Jesus taught them concerning His impending suffering, death, and resurrection, “they understood none of these things. The saying was hidden from them.” Again, it may seem on the surface as though they were prevented from understanding. Indeed, in a sense they were, for Jesus also taught them saying, “Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.” The point is this: Eyes that see and ears that hear are given, they are created by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God when and where He pleases. And, as eyes and ears, seeing and hearing, are passive functions, we truly have no control over what we see and hear. Hence, someone who has seen something truly disgusting or repulsive might say today, “I can’t unsee that.” Indeed, you can’t unsee the revelation of Jesus or unhear His Word, but you can close your eyes and stop your ears and tell yourself repeatedly, “I didn’t see that! I didn’t hear that!” But, that doesn’t change the fact that you did. Thus, you either receive the Word in faith, the work of the Holy Spirit, to your great blessing and fruitfulness, or you reject it in unbelief to your judgment. Or, as Jesus put it, “Whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with Me scatters.”

In today’s Gospel, the twelve disciples, having healthy and functioning eyes that see and ears that hear, are set in contrast with a blind man who can truly see with the eyes of faith. The reading begins with Jesus saying to His disciples, “See.” – “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.” Then Jesus began to teach them, for the third time in St. Luke’s Gospel, about His suffering, crucifixion, death, and resurrection,” “But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.” Though they would certainly see everything happen to Jesus of which He spoke, the disciples were blind to what Jesus was saying until after His resurrection when He “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” Again, we confess concerning the work of the Holy Spirit in creating faith in our hearts, “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.”

In contrast to the twelve disciples, when a blind man sitting by the roadside begging heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, he cried out to Jesus for mercy. Though he could not see, the blind man had ears to hear the Word of the Lord, and so the Spirit also granted him spiritual eyes with which to see who Jesus truly was. Apparently the blind man had heard of Jesus before and believed that He could heal him of his blindness. Though the crowds told him only that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, the blind man addressed Jesus with the Messianic title “Jesus, Son of David.” Undoubtedly the blind man recalled the words of the Prophet Isaiah concerning the coming of the Messiah, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped.” Interestingly, the crowds and the disciples wanted to shut the man up! They didn’t hear as he heard; consequently, they couldn’t see what the blind man could see about Jesus – that He was the fulfillment of Messianic prophecy, right there in his presence. Jesus stopped and asked the blind man directly, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The man replied, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” Because the blind man could already see with the Spirit-given eyes of faith, Jesus granted him physical sight as well. “To the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”

But, what is the true difference between the twelve disciples and the blind man in this Gospel? It is this: The blind man knows that he is blind. The blind man confesses that he is blind. The blind man makes no pretense that he can see, has no faith in his ability, has no faith in his faith, but the blind man’s faith is in Jesus, the Word of God made flesh, alone. Through his faith, the blind man could see clearly what the seeing could not. For, what do the seeing see: The son of a carpenter from backwater Nazareth? An itinerant rabbi without a home? A vagabond bunch of fishermen, a tax collector, a zealot, and worse? An insurgent who just might rile up enough frustrated Jews to rise in rebellion against their Roman oppressors? The disciples’ great sin was failing to recognize and confess their own spiritual blindness. And, we have the same problem as they. We become confident of ourselves, like a blind man who thinks he has 20/20 vision, like a beggar who thinks he’s a millionaire. Like Peter on the Mount of transfiguration, we want glory now, we want to erect tabernacles and monuments and churches to enshrine the emotional high of the mountaintop experience and dwell in glory, bypassing suffering, trial, and persecution. But, the glory was only a foretaste. Jesus came down from the mountain of glory and made His way to Jerusalem and to His cross. And, we His disciples must follow Him in His way. There is no other way. Thus, while Peter was still speaking and raving about tabernacles, God acted, the Glory of the LORD tabernacled over the mountaintop and the terrified disciples. God’s voice boomed from the cloud saying, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him.” “Hear Him.” Then the cloud receded. Moses and Elijah disappeared. And, the disciples saw Jesus, and Jesus only. “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For He will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging Him, thy will kill Him, and on the third day He will rise.” The final step as we approach Lent is to see ourselves for what we are: blind beggars who need to see Jesus, and only Jesus. “Let us fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

While the seeing attempted to shut him up, the blind beggar, who could truly see in Jesus what the others could not, begged and pleaded before his Messianic King, “Lord, have mercy on me,” or “Kyrie eleison!” just as we beg and plead in the Divine Service before our Lord and King. That cry, that plea, “Lord, have mercy,” “Kyrie eleison,” is the cry of faith of those whose only object is Jesus. “Lord, have mercy” is the plea of one who confesses that he is pinned to the floor in his sin and guilt and cannot get up. “Lord, have mercy” is the plea of one who has no strength, no sight, no ability to improve his situation. “Lord, have mercy” is the plea of one who knows his own sinful paralysis, his own unworthiness, his own desperate need, and who knows that Jesus is the only answer, the only cure, even should He not heal us in this life. And, “Lord, have mercy” is the plea of one who knows his Lord, who knows where to turn for help, who trusts that his Lord is indeed merciful and willing to help. And so, we plead, “Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us,” each and every week in the Divine Service, for we are in need of our Lord’s mercy, and we confess Him to be merciful.

On Ash Wednesday we begin our Lenten descent with Jesus to the cross. We follow Him, not as a weak and defeated leader, not as a sacrificial victim, not as our eyes see, but as our eyes of faith see, as our victorious King and God. King Jesus has already defeated our enemy and has set us free from his evil tyranny, and our God has destroyed the power of death that would ensnare us and keep us in our graves for all eternity. Even still, the way of Jesus, the way of our God, is the way of the cross. Thus, our pilgrimage, the procession in which our King and God leads us, does not bypass suffering, the cross, and death, but it passes directly through them as through an unlocked door. Therefore, let our eyes be open to see Jesus for who He is – our victorious King, Lord, and God. We do not judge Him by what our eyes see, but by what our ears hear. And, we follow Him and walk in His ways, in the way of love and mercy and compassion towards all, that all may hear what we hear, and see what we see, and find healing, forgiveness, and life in the Good Shepherd of our souls Jesus Christ. Even now we receive our King who comes to us in Word and Water, Bread, and Wine, having nothing to offer but our broken and contrite hearts and this plea from our sin-scorched lips, “Kryie eleison!” “Lord, have mercy.” And, He does.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Divine Service at Concordia College New York (Bronxville)

Isaiah 40:21-31

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

“Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood?” Dear students, I pray that you will not hear such words at the end of the semester, let alone on the Last Day when your Lord returns as King and Judge. Truly, that will be a weighted final exam. Indeed, the LORD questions Israel in such a manner only somewhat rhetorically. For, the LORD would have you consider the magnitude of His creation, and the smallness of your place in it, that you might know that He is the LORD and there is none other. The LORD has stretched out the heavens and has called forth the stars and the planets, and you, you are like grasshoppers, even more like the grass and the grain they devour. Therefore, humble yourself before the LORD who made you, who gave and sustains your life and all things. Bow down before Him in lowliness and humility and repentance, and then lift up your eyes on high and see.

It’s easy to be cocksure and confident when you are young and vibrant. It’s easy to think you know it all and do not need to be taught. It’s easy to think that a college education is something to be endured in order to get the now obligatory college degree and subsequent paying job. I know, because I’ve been there, a couple of times. Indeed, the only thing worse than a college freshman, in this regard, is a first-year seminarian, and I’ve been both! Oh, the patiences I have tried and the mercies I have been afforded! However, through it all I learned an invaluable lesson: I didn’t know it all, and I still don’t. And, when I humbled myself and opened my ears and my eyes and my mind to receive the wisdom of others, I gained knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and light for myself. But, I had to bow myself down so that I could look up and receive. No, that’s still too positive, still too self-righteous; I had to be bowed down so that I might look up and receive and learn and live. Therefore, some practical advice for you: Call upon your professors, your teachers, your pastors, your parents when you are struggling, when you have a question, when you have an idea you’d like to test and expand upon; they are eager to hear you and to teach you. But, you have to seek them out and come to them. You have to look outward and upward to others, and not inward to yourself.

Our reading today from Isaiah was lifted from the rich Gospel proclamation which begins with the familiar Advent cry, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins.” Those words were fulfilled in the ministry of John the Baptist who prepared the way for the coming of the promised Messiah, Jesus the Christ, by preaching repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and by baptizing as a sign of God’s promise that would be fulfilled and kept in the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus. However, the LORD’s promise of comfort came directly on the heels of His prophecy that Israel would be conquered and taken away in captivity in Babylon. Because God’s people had placed their fear and trust, not in the LORD, but in their own wisdom, enlisting the Babylonians to protect and defend them from their perceived greater Assyrian threat, the LORD would judge and discipline His people by giving them into the hands of their enemies that they might repent, look up and see, and receive comfort and peace in the LORD alone.

We are about to enter the season of Lent in which we will reflect and meditate more intensely upon both the terrible cost of our sins and our LORD’s tremendous love and mercy shown to us and all the world that He would lay down His life and suffer and die for us all that we might be spared the penalty of our sins and be restored to a right relationship with Him again and live with Him forever in His kingdom. We return to Him in repentance and thanksgiving that there is someone to return to. He was always there, before the foundation of the world, it’s source, origin, and creator. It was we who left Him, not the other way around. Moreover, we rebelliously attribute the things that He has made and the forces He has set in motion to either human ingenuity or chance of nature, and, consequently, we live our lives as if we made Him up who has made us and all things. Repent, and return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. And, from your posture of repentance, lift up your eyes on high and see.

We return, again and again, because there is someone to return to. Repentance and humility are good for us, for they restore us to a right relationship with our LORD and God. In our humility and repentance we can lift up our eyes on high and see our true and living, loving, merciful, and gracious LORD. That’s the way He created things to be. Your ways are never hidden from the LORD. Yes, He knows your sins, but He has blotted them out. Therefore, when you confess your sins, you expose them to the Light and they vanish, like darkness at the rising of the sun. Yet, even more than that, He gives power to the faint, He strengthens the weak, and He refreshes the weary. He will help you. He is eager to hear you and to teach you. Why do you say, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God?” “Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood?” “The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary.” Return to Him; return to the LORD. Return because there is someone to return to, someone who has been watching and waiting for you. Return because the LORD is good and gracious, merciful and forgiving. Lift up your eyes on high – far away from yourself and your self-centered pursuits – and see Him. He is your help. He is your strength. He is your hope. And He is your life. And, He is here, present for you now, in His Word and Water, Bread and Wine, that you may listen and hear Him, lift up your eyes and see Him, open your mouths and taste Him, His goodness, grace, and forgiveness, and live, now and forever to the glory of His Name. For, what He gives to you He would have you share with others and so glorify Him as you place your fear and love and trust, not in yourself, not in idols, but in the God who made you, heaven and earth and all things, and still preserves them. You are blessed to be a blessing.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.