Homily for Evening Prayer of Lent 5

Covered by Innocent Death
2 Samuel 11:1-12:14 & Matthew 27:32-66 (Passion Reading V)   

How we love to cover up our sins! David sets the example, and we gladly follow in his footsteps. He was Israel’s greatest king, after all, a man after God’s own heart, a good role model, to be sure. But notice how he, a man who could sing God’s praises like no one else, could also cover up his sins like no one else.

It began before the cover-up, before the murder, before the adultery, even before the coveting of another man’s beautiful bride. It began as David neglected his vocation, his God-given calling. It was “the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle.” It’s what kings do. It’s in their “job description” under the heading “Defend and protect the citizens of your nation.” But that one time David neglected that duty. He presumed he had better things to do, more important things to accomplish – like play peeping tom and ogle the topless beauty next door. “Who is she? Oh, Bathsheba. Bring her to me. But keep it hush, hush. No one needs to know.”

God knew, though.

Then David, the suave, debonair, romantic lover, easily concealed his sin of neglecting his vocation. And one sin led to another quite naturally and all too easily. A little sweet talk. A lot of passion. Don’t worry about the guilt or others finding out. After all, he’s the king. Surely he knows how to keep such things under wraps. They don’t call it “Secret Service” for nothing.

Then the big “Uh-oh!” She’s what? Pregnant? Oh, my! Everyone will know soon enough, especially when she starts showing. Hmm. How to fix this? How to clean up this unfortunate mess? Ah-ha! Bring hubby home. Get him to sleep with his wife. Everyone will think it’s Uriah’s child. No one will be the wiser.

Except God.

It turns out that Uriah the Hittite, the foreigner, the little man from an unbelieving people, had more honor and integrity than powerful, respected King David. Enjoy the comforts of home while his army buddies were still out suffering the heat of battle and the fog of war? Perish the thought! And perish David’s cover-up plan too, as it turned out. Even stone-cold drunk, Uriah had and displayed more honor and integrity than King David, intent on covering up his sins. So when Uriah would not participate and cooperate, David would eliminate, in the battle, where it would be sad, to be sure, but only natural. Who would suspect a thing?

God would. And God did.

Notice the pattern. David’s first unnoticeable sin—neglecting his vocation—led to another—coveting—and then another—adultery—and then another—murder—and all under his man-made cloak of secrecy. But God’s X-ray vision sees right through the sheer and flimsy strategies we use to cover up our many transgressions.

God sent Pastor Nathan to confront and rebuke King David. Not only was he risking his very life—because the King could easily say, “Out of my sight and off with his head”—but he was about to do the more dangerous task of exposing sin. So Nathan shrouds his rebuke in an innocent story: a poor man cheated out of his only lamb by a rich man who should have taken from his own God-given wealth. When David heard the innocent-sounding story, his passion for justice burned hot. You see, covering up your own sins often makes you quite self-righteous, hotly indignant, and overly judgmental about the sins of other people. All of that pent up energy from keeping your own sins under wraps explodes and erupts at the least little transgression … of someone else.

Nathan’s rebuke of David comes in the simplest of words: “You are the man!” He might as well point the finger and say those same words to each of us: “You are the man! You are the woman! You are the boy! You are the girl! Yes, you are the one who has sinned. Cover it up all you like; you cannot hide it from God. Conceal it under your every excuse and rationalization; hide it with deeds that appear honorable and even devout; but you still cannot fool God. As He says elsewhere: “Whoever conceals his transgression will not prosper.” Man-devised cover-ups never work. No way, no how!

But here is where David becomes a salutary role model once again. He simply confessed his sin and sins—no excuses, no justifications, no more covering up. “I have sinned against the LORD.” They are words for you too—and words to utter with no excuses, no justification, no more covering up. “[I] have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed, by what [I] have done and by what [I] have left undone.” “Lord, to You I make confession: / I have sinned and gone astray, / I have multiplied transgression, / Chosen for myself my way. / Led by You to see my errors, / Lord, I tremble at Your terrors” (LSB, 608:1).

Then, for David and for you, God’s words delivered through the pastor’s mouth come rushing in to heal, to restore, and to give life. “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.” Sins exposed, forgiveness uttered, life bestowed! What a sweet and glorious moment! What a life-changing and liberating message! God’s own forgiveness comes through the voice of a man, a fellow sinner. As God says in the Proverb: “but he who confesses and forsakes [his transgressions] will obtain mercy.”

There’s a curious little conclusion to David’s confession and absolution, however. Yes, David confessed, but that’s not why he was forgiven. Merely confessing and forsaking our transgressions does not earn or achieve God’s life-giving forgiveness. Listen to God’s words uttered through Pastor Nathan’s mouth: “Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the LORD, the child who is born to you shall die.”

At first we might hear these words as God unfairly withdrawing His absolution, or suddenly hiding His mercy behind a cloak of retribution. But let’s take these words as glorious and comforting Gospel instead! The LORD put away David’s sins; he would not die. But the Child born to David—the Son of David yet to come, ten centuries down the road—He would die, and He would die carrying David’s specific, concrete, and now-exposed sins. The Absolution was certainly free for David, just as it’s free for you and me. But it is very costly for the Child of David named Jesus. No, you will not die for your sins, God says, but the Son of David will. The Son of David has. As we sing: “For Your Son has suffered for me, / Giv’n Himself to rescue me, / Died to save me and restore me. / Reconciled and set me free. / Jesus’ cross alone can vanquish / These dark fears and soothe this anguish” (LSB 608:3)

And we – like role-model David before us – are now covered by an innocent death. Instead of feebly covering our sins, and multiplying them exponentially in the process, we can take comfort in the innocent death of the sinless Son of God and Son of David. When Jesus died on that cross, the centurion marveled saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!” He could have said just as truly, “This was the Son of David—the innocent Child whose death covers our sin.” And when the greater Child of David covers the sins that we expose in Confession, they remain truly covered—covered by His innocent blood, covered from God, covered from us, covered and never to be exposed again. The Lord who has suffered and died for you has put away your sin; you shall not die. Amen.

Homily for Evening Prayer of Lent 4

No Cover for Cover-ups
Joshua 7:16-26 & Matthew 27:1-31 (Passion Reading IV: The Praetorium)

“Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” (Prov. 28:13) Achan sure excelled at concealing his transgressions. Truth is: so do we. But there’s no cover for cover-ups. You see, when we try to cover up our sins, God will make sure that they, and we, are exposed. That’s what we cover-ups have to look forward to on the Last Day.

Achan’s greedy sin and cover up actually began with the Lord’s glorious victory over the city of Jericho. They marched around the city once a day for six days and seven times on the seventh day. They blew their trumpets, the walls came tumbling down, and Israel rushed in to conquer, just as God had promised. It was a glorious victory and a joyous day. But God had also given two clear mandates—first: “keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction”; and second: “all silver and gold, and every vessel of bronze and iron, are holy to the LORD; they shall go into the treasury of the LORD.”(Josh. 6:18-19)

Then Israel turned to its next target for conquest, the city of Ai. Things went much differently. Intoxicated by the victory at Jericho, they assumed they would conquer yet again. But no! They received the thumping of a lifetime; they got their clocks royally cleaned; and God Himself made sure of it. Despair descended on all Israel. Joshua tore his clothes in humble lamentation. “What happened, Lord? Have you rescued us from Egypt just to turn us over to the godless pagans of Canaan-land?” And how did God respond to being put on trial by his puny, defeated general? “Come on, Joshua! Get up! Man up! ‘Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings.’” (Josh. 7:12)

Can’t you just see Joshua dropping his jaw and scratching his head in confusion? “We, Israel, have sinned? We have taken Your possessions, the spoils from Jericho? No way! We heard Your instruction. We followed Your commands. What on earth is going on?”

The Lord, though, told Joshua how to root out the lone culprit of the people’s demise. The whole people of Israel consecrated themselves and presented themselves before Joshua and before God. Then came the process of elimination: the tribe of Judah was singled out, from them the clan of Zerah, from them the household of Zabdi, and finally Achan, the son of Carmi, the suspect and culprit. The sin of this one man, from this one household in this one clan of the one tribe had spoiled things for all Israel, the whole nation, all the people. Other people died because of Achan’s sin!

“Then Joshua said to Achan, ‘My son, give glory to the LORD God of Israel and give praise to him. And tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.” One man’s sin of greed and theft had handicapped the whole people of God. Joshua implored Achan to give glory to God by confessing his specific, concrete sins of greed and theft to him, a fellow sinner.

You see, we all sin because we’re all sinners. And when we sin as individual sinners, we affect and trouble the people around us, especially the whole people of God called the Church. It’s like throwing a single stone into a large pond. It’s only a small piece of rock, but the moment it splashes into the still water, the ripples emanate outward and affect the whole body of water. When one of us commits sin—the single stone tossed into the water—the whole body of Christ is disturbed by the affects that ripple outward. And so, we confess.

“Achan answered Joshua, ‘Truly I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I did: when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.” (Josh. 7:20-21) See how Achan gave glory to God: by getting specific in confessing his sins. Not just: “I coveted and stole something,” but: “I coveted and stole that beautiful cloak, that silver and that gold. And I’ve hidden them in my tent.”

Will we confess our specific sins? In agonizing detail? To a fellow sinner, usually our pastor? Will we confess at the altar rail before the pastor that we get just as greedy as Achan did? Will we expose our sinful stealing such as cheating on those income taxes, or keeping the extra change we mistakenly received, or getting paid for goofing off at work? Will we admit that we actually do steal from God Himself by thinking and claiming that our money and goods belong to us, not to Him, and by living that lie when we give cheaply in the offering or neglect to help our needy neighbor?

I know: Scandalous! But Joshua did call it giving glory to God, even when confessing to a fellow sinner. After all, why should we be nervous about confessing the dirty details of our rotten sins to a fellow sinner who has his own dirty, rotten specific sins? That sinner cannot do anything to us. In fact, he may even be able to relate to us, in that twisted misery-loves-company sort of way. We really should tremble, though, to confess our sins “directly to God,” as we just love to say. Why? Because He can – and He does – do something about them! Jesus said, “do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Mt. 10:28) Confessing sins to a fellow sinner certainly does not kill the body, but what about the rest of that verse? Well, it still applies. Bury your sin, and God will bury you!

Joshua sent his messengers to find and verify Achan’s stash of stolen goods, and it was there. Then Achan received his just desserts for his sin that troubled all of Israel: he and his family were stoned with stones and burned with fire. What?! No absolution? No forgiveness? No second chance? No…? No. Should we think that Achan’s confession somehow deserved God’s response of absolution? God’s mercy is not founded on Achan’s confession – nor yours, nor mine. No, your confession is where the Achan in you must simply die. No putting the coin of your confession in the heavenly vending machine for absolution to pop out on queue. Just stark, repentant confession that says, “Truly I have sinned against the LORD God.” Then leave it there, and realize the Lord can, does, and will have His way. No cover up for us cover-ups, not even in our confessing.

When we confess, we do pray with Psalm 38(:21-22): “Do not forsake me, O LORD! O my God, be not far from me! Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation.” And with the Lord Jesus who suffered mock trial, unjust verdict, cruel mockery, and torturous crucifixion, our God does hasten to help. No, He did not help Achan, but He does promise to help you, to be your salvation. When you bury your sins, God will bury you. But when you expose your sins in confession, God will bury them with His Son hanging from a cross and buried in a tomb. You see, that’s where His true love for sinners is truly exposed—not in the anguish of confessing, not in suffering the just desserts of our sins, but in the glory of Christ crucified, buried and risen. And when He absolves in His mercy, he does not bring the Achan in you back to life. No, He gives you His life, His contentment, His trust in the God who is your salvation.

So we do not cover up, but we confess. And we sing with the hymn: “O Jesus, let Thy precious blood / Be to my soul a cleansing flood. / Turn not, O Lord, Thy guest away, / But grant that justified I may / Go to my house at peace with Thee: / O God, be merciful to me.” (LSB 613:3) His blood does cover. His peace does go with you. Yes, He is merciful to you. Amen.

Homily for Lent 4

The fourth Sunday in Lent - Laetare - brings a little rejoicing and refreshment during the long journey of penitent discipline through these 40 days leading up to Easter. The day's Gospel reading, John 6:1-15, certainly strikes this theme as our Lord graciously feeds the 5000. Not only does He provide daily bread for the body, but He also shows Himself to be the true daily Bread of Life for our souls. Thus Sunday's homily found us "Rejoicing in the Lord's Refreshment."

To listen to the audio file of "Rejoicing in the Lord's Refreshment," click here, then download the audio file and then listen.

Homily for Evening Prayer of Lent 3

Sins Covered: For Even the Worst
2 Chronicles 33:1-13 &
Matthew 26:57-75 (Passion Reading III. Palace of the High Priest) 

Johann Gerhard, the great Lutheran theologian, wrote once that the devil has two trick mirrors.  He uses “the minimizing mirror” when he’s attempting to lure us into sin; to make us think that the sin is “not that big, not that bad.”  Then, after he’s snared us into the sin, he whips out his “maximizing mirror.” With that mirror he makes the sin look magnified in order to make us despair of God ever being able or willing to forgive sinners as terrible and awful as we are. 

No doubt the devil tried that out on Manasseh.  Manasseh’s father was the good king, Hezekiah.  But as so many sadly discover: godly parents are no guarantee of godly children.  As good and wise, as devout and kind as Hezekiah was, Manasseh was as stubborn and wicked – yes, downright evil.  I don’t doubt that it started little by little – toying around with idolatry, moving into the occult and practicing Satanic arts, finally fighting against the true faith and seeking destroy everything that his father had done to restore that faith in Judah.  The writer of 2 Kings even says that Manasseh was so depraved that he ended up burning his own son as an offering to some demon parading as a “god.” Manasseh was responsible for filling Jerusalem with all kinds of blood shed.  You get the picture of this guy?  He was bad news.  Surely, if ever there were a person that God would simply have given up on, washed his hands of, let go straight to hell, it was Manasseh. 

But the Lord’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts.  As the Psalmist sang:  “The LORD is good to all, and His mercy is over all that He has made” (Ps. 145:9). All?  Yes, all.  In mercy and unspeakable love, the Lord let Manasseh experience some unspeakably hard times.  His enemy at the gates, he was captured and carried away with hooks and shackles into a foreign land, to Babylon. 

And as his own life had come crashing down all around him, a remarkable thing happened to the evil king.  He remembered everything his father had taught him about Yahweh—how He is gracious and merciful, and how He delights in forgiveness and steadfast love.  Did he dare to hope? 

No doubt, Satan pulled out that maximizing mirror and pointed it directly at old Manasseh.  “No way!  There’s no way that someone as evil as you can have hope!  You’ve murdered people left and right.  You’ve been down on our face worshipping other gods. You’ve consulted necromancers and mediums and done every abomination that the Lord says he hates. You’ve even killed your very own child! You’re toast.  You’re going to roast with me forever.  Hang it up!”

But through a miracle of God’s grace, Manasseh didn’t believe Satan’s accusations.  Oh, he knew he was sinful, bad to the bone, evil to the core.  He knew he deserved absolutely nothing.  But in hope against hope, he prayed to the Lord.  His prayer is actually a book of the Apocrypha.  Listen in to part of it: 

“O Lord Almighty, God of our ancestors, of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and of their righteous offspring… your glorious splendor cannot be borne, and the wrath of your threat to sinners is unendurable; yet immeasurable and unsearchable is your promised mercy, for you are the Lord Most High, of great compassion, long-suffering, and very merciful, and you relent at human suffering. O Lord, according to your great goodness you have promised repentance and forgiveness to those who have sinned against you, and in the multitude of your mercies you have appointed repentance for sinners, so that they may be saved.  …You have appointed repentance for me, who am a sinner. For the sins I have committed are more in number than the sand of the sea; my transgressions are multiplied, O Lord, they are multiplied! I am not worthy to look up and see the height of heaven because of the multitude of my iniquities. I am weighted down with many an iron fetter, so that I am rejected because of my sins, and I have no relief; for I have provoked your wrath and have done what is evil in your sight, setting up abominations and multiplying offenses. And now I bend the knee of my heart, imploring you for your kindness. I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned, and I acknowledge my transgressions. I earnestly implore you, forgive me, O Lord, forgive me! Do not destroy me with my transgressions! Do not be angry with me forever or store up evil for me; do not condemn me to the depths of the earth. For you, O Lord, are the God of those who repent, and in me you will manifest your goodness; for, unworthy as I am, you will save me according to your great mercy, and I will praise you continually all the days of my life. For all the host of heaven sings your praise, and yours is the glory forever. Amen.” (Prayer of Manasseh 1, 5-15)

Now isn’t that an amazing prayer?  We heard in our reading today that Manasseh in his distress humbled himself greatly before the Lord and prayed. We also heard that God was moved, heard his prayer, and restored him. “Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.”

He experienced first hand that the greatest filth of human wickedness is but a spark that is soon extinguished in the vast ocean of divine mercy and love. Then He knew that the Lord was God. Satan’s mirrors are tricky, but when we lift our eyes from our sin to God’s vast ocean of mercy, we soon see the truth.

I’m sure Peter had his experience with the mirrors too.  No big deal, right.  Just say:  “I don’t know him.”  And then when the rooster crowed, Peter remembered.  He remembered exactly what our Lord had said would happen.  Suddenly Satan was holding up the magnifying mirror:  “You think he could possibly forgive a man who swore that he’d stand by Him even if he had to die with Him, and who then caved at the question of a little servant girl?  Your sin is too big, Peter.  Despair and die.”  Peter’s bitter tears witness how the sight in the mirror terrified and saddened him—just like Manasseh.  But also like Manasseh, Peter would find in the Man whom he denied a forgiveness deeper than all his sin, a love wider than all his denials.

You can find that too.  “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.”  Dear friends, the mercy that awaits you in your Lord is simply and unbelievably huge – far bigger than your sin, far mightier than your betrayals and denials of Him – immeasurably and unspeakably firm and steady and unshakable. 

So when Satan would use his “maximizing mirror” on you, when he would suggest to you that YOUR sin is just way too big, too bad, too awful, too ugly, too hopeless, remember Manasseh, remember Peter. Most of all, though, remember Him who came into the world to save precisely such honest-to-God real down-and-dirty sinners:  Jesus Christ, whose blood has indeed blotted out the sin of the whole world.  No sin is the match for His grace.  No sinner is so far gone that His love cannot reclaim and restore.  Confess to Him, and you will see!  Amen.

A Bit More on Complaining

Last Wednesday's homily for Lent Evening Prayer - "Uncovered Cure: Look and Live" - focused on the complaining of the Israelites, which resulted in the fiery serpents as per God's judgment. Mr. Roland Letter, host of "Studio A" on KFUO Radio (kfuo.org), read that homily (posted here on this blog) and decided to discuss the topic a bit more. And so we did on yesterday's edition of "Studio A." Check it out here.

Homily for Lent 3

Today's homily, "Healing for Houses Divided," drew from the Gospel reading of Luke 11:14-28 (Lutheran Service Book, One-Year Series) in which Jesus heals a man with a mute demon. When He is accused of casting out demons in the name of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, Jesus says, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls." Jesus Himself is the "stronger man" who invades the realm of "strong man" Satan and thus heals us from our "divided houses," our various divisions and separations.

To listen to the audio file of today's homily, click here and then download the audio file.

Homily for Evening Prayer of Lent 2

Uncovered Cure: Look and Live

Impatient! The people grew impatient—impatient with the way God was leading them.  If only He would get with the program and do it their way!  And so the response was grumbling, complaining, kvetching.  And it’s actually kind of funny:  “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?  For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food!”  Wait, I thought there was no food?  Hmm.  He had indeed faithfully led them…and fed them.

The people had first griped about the water.  They were convinced that God had really screwed up.  He’d led them into a dead-end, out in the howling, barren wilderness where there was not a drop to drink.  And then God told Moses to walk out in front of the people and strike a certain rock.  Strike it he did, and the waters gushed and gushed.  Um, no.  God had not misled them; He had led them directly to gushing, overflowing waters—waters enough for all of them to enjoy.  They just didn’t believe it because they couldn’t see it—at least, not at first.

Have you been there?  Have you been griping to the Lord about the way He’s been leading you?  Have you doubted His loving care for you?  Have you wondered if that verse—“all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28)—is just a nice-sounding fairy tale that only a fool could actually believe?  Have you thought that God has led you into your equivalent of the dead end alley?  And have you insulted and rejected the gifts He has given you because they weren’t exactly the ones you wanted Him to give you?  “Manna?  I’m sick of it. If I can't have a filet mignon, at least give me a cheese burger!”

Their griping did not please the Lord.  He thought they needed something to really complain about.  Enter the fiery serpents.  Their bite wasn’t just an irritation, not just an inconvenience, not even something to gripe about over the back yard fence with your neighbor.  No, the bite brought death.  And suddenly everything is put into perspective.  Death can do that.  It sets things in the harsh light of reality.

Faced with death, the people see their sins and they confess:  “We have sinned for we have spoken against the Lord and against you, Moses.”  Here’s a confession brought by terrified hearts—hearts that realize the cold, hard reality: beyond all the journeying of this life, there comes an end, a time for leaving this pilgrim way, a time for facing the One who sits upon the throne—naked, face to face with Him who knows us from the inside out.  And what hope do we have then?

The people beg Moses to pray for them.  He does, and the Lord who is gracious and merciful beyond any of our deserving, He commands one of the oddest things recorded in all of Scripture:  His mercy, His forgiveness, His amnesty of the people’s rebellion and sin. It isn’t just spoken.  It’s spoken and shown.  A promise is made, but that promise is attached to a very physical thing.  Moses is to make an image of that which is killing them, a fiery serpent. He’s to lift it high on a pole, atop a piece of wood.  The promise is one of sheer grace:  “everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”  Look up, and be healed.  Look up, and then the deadly snake venom is rendered powerless.  That’s it!  Just a look!  The promise of life attached to a visible sign: believe it, and you look up, and you are healed.  Don’t believe it, and you don’t bother to look up, and you die.

Remember John chapter 3. Jesus says that that image of the snake on the pole is just like Him, and He is like that snake on the pole.  HE would be lifted up—raised on a cross, on a pole of wood. He would give the gift of life, real life, eternal life, to those who will only believe, look up at Him, and be healed. 

That is what’s facing Him in tonight’s Gospel.  He’d known all along that this is where He was headed—just like you’ve known since you were a child that you’re going to die.  But it’s entirely different when that moment is facing you down and you realize that it’s not some hypothetical event out there in the distant future; it’s suddenly your here and now reality.  So Jesus sweats and trembles before the cup from His Father reaches Him.  He begs for another way out besides this horror of being left to die alone with the sins of the world upon Him.  And yet unlike us with our grumblings and complaining about the way God leads, our Lord finally and fully submits to His Father’s direction and plan, praying:  “nevertheless, not my will but Yours be done.“ He prays it again and again.  And then He goes forth in peace to fulfill it.  He has spoken His firm “yes” to His Father’s great plan—that plan from the foundation of the world that He would be raised on that tree of the cross for us, so that we, who have been stung by the serpent’s deadly bite, might look up and not die—so that we might see and believe and live in Him, with Him forever.

Remember, then, our theme verse for this Lent: “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” (Proverbs 28:13)

Dear saints, many times God will use disasters in your personal lives, in your community or nation, in the world - remember Japan - to bring you to repentance and confession—just as He did to the Israelites.  He will use heart-wrenching troubles to open your eyes to see your sins, especially the sins you’ve thought of as “no big deal”—such as your sins of grumbling against Him! But in that very moment when you confess your sins, in that very moment, He will invite you to turn your eyes from your wretched condition and look instead—look in wonder and awe—at His free and gracious remedy. He invites you to see and be healed by a love that will take your breath away—to behold your Savior upon the Tree giving to you the promise of a life that never ends.  That’s how He’s loved you, my friends, with a love immeasurable, deep, and divine!  He’s given you an eternal life that is utterly free to you, but quite costly to Him. 

Yes, we who confess our sins have “obtained mercy,” mercy beyond anything we could imagine. And for all that, glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever!  Amen.

Homily for Evening Prayer of Lent 1

This evening's homily, "Covered by Mercy," was the first in this year's series: "Cover Up: A Lenten Series on Confession and Absolution" (co-authored by Pr. Weedon and myself). Tonight we focused on Daniel's prayer of confession for the collective sins of his people, the nation of Israel, in Daniel 9:1-19. What does Daniel's prayer teach and exemplify for us regarding Confession and Absolution, especially corporately for the whole people of God? Read on:

God says: “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” (Prov. 28:13) “Yes, yes,” we say. “Sounds good,” we think. But do we live it? After all, each of us would much rather cover up our sins and hope no one will notice. That way we can appear decent, look honorable, and even seem devout to other people, or at least that person in the mirror. We are like the young boy who took his grape juice into the living room. He knew he shouldn’t, especially on the nice furniture and white carpet. But then he spilled his juice on the white carpet. After sopping it up, he chose to cover it up—move the couch over just a few inches. Better than admitting he had done wrong!

Welcome to “Cover-Up: A Lenten Series on Confession & Absolution.” This Lent we will explore how we sin, how we try to cover up our sins, and how we do better and live longer if only we will uncover our sins, if only we will confess them so that God can cover them with His absolution. You see, if we cover up our sin, it will be exposed in the End. But if we expose our sin and our sins, God graciously covers them up, and in a way that can never be uncovered.

Tonight we begin with Daniel. The people of Israel had gone into exile. For 70 years they lived with the shame of disappointing and disobeying the God who had loved them and saved them. In centuries past, God had called Abraham, had rescued them from Egypt and sent Moses to lead them through the wilderness, had brought them into the Promised Land with General Joshua leading them, and had given them kings such as Saul, David, and Solomon, along with great peace, great prosperity, and great acclaim.

But they thumbed their collective nose at God. Through the centuries they decided they knew best. They decided that they could trust themselves, their prosperity, and their crowd-pleasing worship that appealed to the unbelieving peoples around them. They decided they did not need to listen to God’s prophets calling them to repentance and confession. They thought they could do no wrong. But God sent His own people into exile in Babylon. Imagine Christians trying to live, pray and worship under the watchful eye of a communist nation such as China or the old Soviet Union, and you get the idea.

Along comes Daniel, with his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Daniel and his friends showed their faithfulness to God. They ate their own God-given diet and showed themselves more fit than others in the king’s service. They worshiped the Triune God rather than the golden image of the king. And despite being thrown into a blazing fiery furnace, they were saved by One who “is like a son of the gods”—the Son of God Himself. Daniel interpreted dreams of kings and revealed God’s saving plan for all nations. And when the king’s advisors snuck through a law that said, “Pray only to the king; only he can help and preserve you,” Daniel remained faithful to the true God in his prayer life. He prayed to God and suffered the consequence of being thrown into a lion’s den. Daniel trusted and relied on God’s goodness and mercy; and God rescued him from hungry lions.

In all of this Daniel knew something that we must learn and live: you cannot cover up sin, even the sin of a whole nation. He was stuck in Babylon not because of his sins, but because of the sins of others—sins from times long gone and a land far, far away. Their sin was now his sin, just as his sin was surely their sin.

Dear friends, your sin is my sin, and my sin is your sin. We don’t sin merely as individuals. We sin as a people, as a nation, as the whole people of God. My sins affect you and your sins affect me. When I don’t fear, love, and trust in God above all things, it rubs off on you. When you don’t call upon God’s name, pray, praise, and give thanks, neither do I. When some of us don’t listen to God in His Word, hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it, the rest of us are also hampered in hearing and believing.

So Daniel prayed to the Lord God and confessed: “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but… To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you.” Daniel does not try to cover the sins of his leaders or his people. He does not try to explain them away. He simply puts them out for all to see, and he joins himself to them. “Yes, Lord, we – we all – have sinned against You.” It’s the exact opposite of what Peter tried. Jesus said, “You all will fall away.” Peter contradicted Him with a false bravado: “Though they all fall away … I will never fall away.” Let none of us say, “Though they sin, Lord, I will never sin.” Let’s learn from Daniel to confess all together and for our corporate shame.

Daniel continues: “To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.”  We also sin against God and the messengers He sends. They tell us we’ve sinned, but we ignore it or rally against that unwelcome news. They show us specific charges and clear evidence, but we deny and obfuscate. We even obfuscate with forgiveness assumed: “Yeah, well, that doesn’t matter. I know God forgives me.”

Daniel keeps praying: “O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us.” Our Lord does turn His anger and wrath away from His city and His holy hill, but only because He first directed it at His holy Son on that holy cross, perched on that holy hill. Jesus gave His blood “poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Not just forgiveness for individual sins, but also corporate forgiveness for corporate sins. And by making His own Son a byword among the nations, our gracious God frees you, His people, to be accepted once again by Him.

Daniel comes to the climax of his prayer for his whole people: “Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.”  Let’s pray the same! Let’s pray and confess not only for our individual selves, but also for our whole congregation, our whole synod, and the whole Church. After all, we don’t pray, we don’t confess, and we’re not forgiven “because of our righteousness, but because of [God’s] great mercy”—mercy in His Son who goes to the cross for us. When we uncover our sins, individually and corporately, God is quick to cover those sins with His blood-bought mercy.

So we pray, with Daniel and with the psalmist: “O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.” (Dan. 9:19) “O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with Him is plentiful redemption. And He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.” (Ps. 130:7)

Homily for Ash Wednesday

"Yet even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning" (Joel 2:12). So our gracious God calls us to come to Him as we begin this Lententide. This evening's homily - "Return to the Lord" - tied this call from God together with Proverbs 28:13: "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy." Not only is this call to return to the Lord by confessing our sins the perfect theme for Ash Wednesday all by itself, it also introduces our coming theme for this year's Lenten Evening Prayer services: "Cover Up: A Lenten Series on Confession and Absolution."

Just in case what you hear in the sermons I post here sounds an awful lot like what Pr. Weedon may post on his blog, it's because we developed and wrote the homilies for this series together.

To listen to this evening's homily, click this link, download the audio file, and hear the Lord's call to return to Him by exposing your sins with the promise that He will cover them with His Son's blood-bought forgiveness and righteousness.

The Litany for Lent

Here's a good, right, and salutary greeting from LCMS President Matthew Harrison as we begin the solemn season of Lent. He also urges us to pray the Litany throughout the season.

Preparing for Lent

A big "Thank you" to Pr. Weedon for his thoughts on Gesimatide and preparing for Lent (and for plugging our joint Lenten series - titled "Cover Up" - on Confession and Absolution)! Here's what Pr. Weedon offered over on his blog to help us do some "warm up exercises" for the marathon of Lent:

Using Gesimatide to Prepare for Lent

from Weedon's Blog by William Weedon 

Okay, the days of Gesimatide are upon us.  The Gospels for these Sundays teach us that our salvation is a gift, not the result of our efforts; that it is accomplished by the power of God's Word; that by faith in our Jesus, we will go up to Jerusalem with Him, having our eyes opened to see that He is indeed the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  With this wonderful theological grounding, we also remember the wise words of Adolf Köberle:  "At all events even asceticism can be described by the paradoxical statement:  Its exercise can give salvation to no one but its neglect can corrupt anyone."

So as not to fall into that corruption, the Lenten disciplines are set before us.  Not as though they are tools we ought use only during the Lenten days, but as training for all our days of battling the old man in the power of the Holy Spirit and with the joyful concurrence of the new man.

* Prayer - can I spend more time intentionally in prayer this Lent?  Here's a prayer that might be of use:


Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy On Me a Sinner
Lord Jesus Christ, Eternal Word of the Father,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, the Word through whom all things were made,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, foretold by the prophets in signs and words,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, in the fullness of time conceived by the Holy Spirit,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, born of the Holy Virgin,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, hymned by the angels,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, adored by the shepherds,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, worshipped by the Magi,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, held by St. Simeon,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, praised by St. Anna,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, obedient to your parents,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to a sinner's baptism,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, fasting in the wilderness,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, driving out demons,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, cleansing the lepers,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, giving sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, teaching the precepts of the kingdom,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, raising the dead,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, walking on water and changing water into wine,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, praised by the little children,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, riding into Your city as the sacrifice appointed,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, giving your body and blood to be eaten and drunk,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, praying in the garden,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, bound and mocked,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, stripped and beaten,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, innocently condemned to death,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, opening Your hands upon the cross to embrace the world,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, knowing the loneliness of our exile and our sin,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, trampling down death by death,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, pouring forth water and blood to save the world,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, sanctifying our graves by lying in a tomb,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, harrowing hell and releasing the prisoners,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, rising in victory over death and corruption,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, appearing to the disciples in the broken bread,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, ascending in triumph,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, seated at the right hand of the Father,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, High Priest who ever lives to intercede for us,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, coming on the clouds of glory to renew all things,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, dread Judge at the Last Day,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

* Almsgiving - can I find ways to increase my giving to the poor and suffering in this world?  Can I grow in my experience of the profound truth of our Lord's words:  "It is more blessed to give than to receive"?  What can I do to concretely bless the poor this Lententide both in my own local community and in the world (LCMS World Relief is a good place to start for the world!)?

* Fasting - can I limit my intake of food during these days?  One tradition of the Western fast would encourage you to eat only 1/4 meal at breakfast, a regular lunch, and 1/4 meal in the evening.  No one who has a medical condition that would endanger their body (or is pregnant) should fast in this way; but others might find it a very fruitful and useful reminder that "man does not live by bread alone; but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God."

* Confession - before you head into Lent, why not schedule a time with your pastor to confess your sins and receive forgiveness?  This wonderful gift is far too underutilized in the Church - Luther professed that he was so blessed by it, that he'd never let anyone deprive him of it.  Sadly, we've been depriving ourselves far too often.

* Commitment to attend the extra services - make a commitment to be present when the Word of God is preached, His praises sung, His sacrament distributed during the Lenten days.  The Lenten midweeks are a great blessing as we follow our Lord's Passion.  The sermons at St. Paul's (and Hope in St. Louis - Pr. Asburry and I wrote our series together) for the Lenten Midweeks this year will focus on Confession and Absolution.  It is the Word of God that transforms us, and so the more richly we let the Word of Christ dwell in us, the more our joy in the Kingdom will increase.

Just a few thoughts as we prepare to launch into the great days of Fastenzeit - Holy Lent!

Fatherly Wisdom-"Lenten Instruction"

Reading IV from For All the Saints (volume I, page 803) gives us this nice little snippet from Caesarius of Arles simply called "Lenten instruction":

Let it not be enough for you that you hear the divine lessons in church, but read them yourselves at home or look for others to read them and willingly listen to them when they do. Although through the mercy of God you frequently and devoutly hear the divine lessons throughout the entire year, still during these days we ought to rest from the winds and the sea of this world by taking refuge, as it were, in the haven of Lent and in the quiet of silence to receive the divine lessons in the receptacle of our heart.

Devoting ourselves to God out of love for eternal life, during these days let us with all solicitude strive to repair and compose in the little ship of our soul whatever throughout the year has been broken, or destroyed, or damaged, or ruined by many storms, that is, by the waves of sins.

During these holy days of Lent if you cannot cut off the occupations of this world, at least strive to curtail them in part. By fleeing from this world, through an expedient loss and a most glorious gain you may take away from earthly occupations a few hours in which you can devote yourselves to God. For this world either laughs at us or is laughed at by us.

Interview on Ash Wednesday

Here's the interview I was privileged to do yesterday, February 25, 2009 for Issues, Etc. as we discussed Ash Wednesday and Lent.

Need for Repentance

Yesterday I had the privilege of being interviewed on Issues, Etc. on the topic of Ash Wednesday and Lent. We discussed all kinds of Ash Wednesday matters, from ashes being applied in the shape of a cross to figuring the date of Easter and the counting of 40 days excluding Sundays. At the end of the interview we talked briefly - far too briefly, I'm afraid - on the matter of why we need repentance. Some might say, "Why do we need repentance? That's such a downer. We should be happy and joyful and upbeat."

As soon as it's available on the Issues, Etc. website, I plan to embed the interview here so that you can hear my response in full. Essentially, I said that we need repentance now because we are sinners who are trapped in our sin and death. We need God's help; we need His work of freeing us from sin and death. And if we are looking for "joy" and "happiness" and "upbeatness" in life, we will be sorely disappointed. You see, this life is not all cheer and roses. Our sin and death and the many fruits thereof constantly plague us and haunt us.

Besides all that, Lent teaches us that the journey of the Christian life is best lived in the footsteps of Christ. That is, He humbled Himself. He endured suffering, shame, rejection, and death. Only then did He enter the glory of the resurrection. We too walk the same path. Now we live in the time of humility, repentance, and confessing our sins. Then, by God's pure and boundless grace, we will enter the joys of life with Him in eternity, in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Lent teaches us that we can indeed wait for the pure joy, the true happiness, and, yes, the genuine "upbeatness" of eternity with out loving Triune God.

With that final thought from yesterday's interview still in mind, though, I was delighted to come across this quote from St. Gregory the Great in his Book of Pastoral Rule. Why do we need repentance, especially as we embark on another season of Lent with one of its main themes being repentance? While not using the specific vocable "repentance," St. Gregory surely describes repentance and its purpose as he says:

"God does not enjoy our torments. Instead, he heals the diseases of our sins with medicinal antidotes so that we who have departed from him through the pleasures of sin might return to him by the tears of bitterness, and we who have fallen by losing ourselves in sin may rise by controlling in ourselves even that which is lawful. For the heart that is flooded by irrational delights must be cleansed with beneficial sorrow, and the wounds caused by pride can only be cured by the subjugation of the humble life." (The Book of Pastoral Rule, III, 30)

Ash Wednesday Meditation 3

Fasting and Mercy

Fasting bears no fruit unless it is watered by mercy. Fasting dries up when mercy dries up. Mercy is to fasting as rain is to the earth. However much you may cultivate your heart, clear the soil of your nature, root out vices, sow virtues. If you do not release the springs of mercy, your fasting will bear no fruit.

When you fast, if your mercy is thin your harvest will be thin; when you fast, what you pour out in mercy overflows into your barn. Therefore, do not lose by saving, but gather in by scattering. Give to the poor, and you give to yourself. You will not be allowed to keep what you have refused to give to others. (Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 43; quoted from Wright, Readings for the Daily Office from the Early Church, p. 121-122)

Ash Wednesday Meditation 2

On the Lenten Disciplines

There are three things by which faith stands firm, devotion remains constant, and virtue endures. They are prayer, fasting and mercy. Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy receives. Prayer, mercy, and fasting: these three are one, and they give life to each other.

Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. Let no one try to separate them; they cannot be separated. If you have only one of them or not all together, you have nothing. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others you open God’s ears to yourself.

When you fast, see the fasting of others. If you want to know that you are hungry, know that another is hungry. If you hope for mercy, show mercy. If you look for kindness, show kindness. If you want to receive, give. If you ask for yourself what you deny to others, your asking is a mockery.

Let this be the pattern for all when they practice mercy: show mercy to others in the same way, with the same generosity, with the same promptness, as you want others to show mercy to you.

Therefore, let prayer, mercy and fasting be one single plea to God on our behalf, one speech in our defense, a threefold united prayer in our favor. (Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 43; quoted from Wright, Readings for the Daily Office from the Early Church, p. 121-122)

Ash Wednesday Meditation

This passage from St. Gregory the Great's The Book of Pastoral Rule is addressed specifically to those who have experienced sins of the flesh, but also applies to all sinners in general. It also serves as a great meditation for this Ash Wednesday.

God Calls the Sinner

For indeed, this merciful calling for us to return after our sin is well expressed through the prophet when to a man who had turned [from God] it is said: ‘Your eyes will be your teacher and your ears will hear the words of the one behind you encouraging you.’ [Is. 30.20-21] For the Lord did, indeed, admonish the human race to its face when it was created in paradise, given free will, and told how it should act. But humanity turned its back on the face of God when through pride it spurned his commands. Even then, God did not desert the prideful race, for he gave humanity a law for the purpose of recalling mortality. Therefore, ‘standing behind our back, he advised us,’ for even though we are contemptible, he recalled us to the recuperation of his grace. Therefore, what we can say generally about all, it is necessary to speak of individually. For everyone, as if standing before God, hears the words of his admonition when the precepts of his will are made known to us just before we sin. For to stand before his face is not the same thing as to despise him through sin. But when one abandons the good of innocence and freely chooses iniquity, it is as though he turns his back on the face of God. But behold, even after one turns his back, God follows and advises in that even after sin, he invites the sinner to return. He calls him to return; his is not mindful of the transgression but expands the bosom of mercy to the one who returns. And so, we ‘hear the words of the one behind us encouraging us’ if, after our sins, we at least return to the Lord, who welcomes us. (St. Gregory the Great, The Book of Pastoral Rule, III, 28)

A bit more on fasting

With Holy Week beginning this Sunday, Palm Sunday (Palmarum), it is good, right, and salutary to continue the Lenten fast. Here's a nice little explanation on fasting from my good friend, Pastor Weedon. May God bless us all with a prayerful, solemn Holy Week as we prepare for the true feast of the Resurrection of our Lord!

Is there a LUTHERAN way to fast?

Yes! The Augsburg Confession disdains the distinction of meats, and does so solidly based on Colossians But that doesn't mean that Lutherans didn't and don't fast. If we remember that fast mean "to go hungry" the solution is apparent: skip meals! It's not a matter of what FOOD you give up for Lent, but a matter of what MEALS and feeding (as in snacking!) you set aside. If one follows the typical Western fast, one eats but 1 and 1/4 to 1/2 meals per day. This is not done to impress God, but to train our bodies (that our belly is not our boss) and to free up time for prayer and money for charity. I bring this up again because we are preparing to enter Holy Week. During this week as we give time to specially contemplate the Passion of our Lord, the discipline of fasting is highly appropriate for all who can safely do it. A complete fast on Good Friday suggests itself to allow for total concentration upon our Lord's self-immolation for our salvation. Fasting is such a blessed discipline and is a bodily form of prayer - as we are reminded that no earthly food can satisfy the hunger of the human being, which is ultimately a hunger for the Blessed Trinity - to whom be glory forever!

"The A-B-Cs of Lent - Communion II"

Here's the final installment from our Lent Evening Prayer sermon series, "The A-B-Cs of Lent."

“The A-B-Cs of Lent” – Communion II
Acts 2:42-47
John 6:47-57
Small Catechism, Sacrament of the Altar, 3-4

Eating and drinking with God is the highest form of fellowship we can have. We come into His presence with thanksgiving. As guests in His house, we are welcomed to His table to eat His food and drink His wine. People pay hundreds or thousands of dollars just to have a Danish and a cup of coffee with the President or a round of golf with a high-ranking congressman. But table fellowship with God is free, a gift of His grace, purchased with the blood of God’s Lamb, His Son Jesus, poured out on the cross.

The Lord’s Supper is the Lamb’s High Feast. In this meal our Lord Jesus is cook, servant, and meal all in one. Roasted on the cross in the fire of God’s wrath against our sin and His burning love for us sinners, this Lamb of God is our very food and drink. With His very words, spoken through His minister, He gives us His very Body and Blood: “given and shed for you, for the forgiveness of your sins.” Jesus is speaking to you. Jesus is feeding you. Jesus is your food. This is table fellowship with God in the most complete way.

The Lord’s Supper completes and fulfills the great feasts of the Old Testament. Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and 70 elders went up on Mt. Sinai, and “they beheld God, and ate and drank” (Ex. 24:11). The Israelites ate the annual Passover meal of roasted lamb, bitter herbs, and unleavened bread. They also ate the heavenly gifts of manna and quail in the wilderness.

The Lord’s Supper also completes and fulfills the great New Testament feasts. One time Jesus fed 4000 people, and another time He fed over 5000. Our Lord loved to eat and drink with tax collectors and Pharisees, prostitutes and religious. It seems He never turned down a dinner invitation. (Must be why some called Him “a glutton and a drunkard”! ☺ [Mt. 11:19]). And the day when He rose from the dead, Jesus walked on the road to Emmaus with two disciples, preached a sermon from the Scriptures, and then revealed Himself in the breaking of the bread.

So, from the beginning the Church has devoted herself “to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Word and Meal, Sermon and Sacrament—they’re the ongoing rhythm of the Church’s life. For over 1500 years it was unheard of to have the Lord’s Day without the Lord’s Supper. Sermon and Supper, Word and Meal, were one whole thing, not to be divided. It was not the Lutheran Reformation, but the Radical Reformation that broke table fellowship with the Lord. Radical Reformers made the ongoing feast with God an occasional extra, three or four times a year, instead of the weekly, even daily, gift that it had been since Pentecost.

The ongoing feast of Christ’s Body and Blood, given with His words, continues through the centuries, and it remains one unchanging meal—one loaf, one cup. Oh, outward forms may change now and then. They had a cup; we’ve added little glasses. They had a single flat loaf; we have little stamped wafers. Some kneel at a rail; others walk through a line. But for all the outward differences, we still eat the same Lamb as the Twelve did on that night when He was betrayed. We drink the same Blood as they did—one Christ, one Sacrifice, one Supper. So, when we kneel at the altar, we eat and drink the very same Meal as did St. Peter, St. Paul, St. John, Ignatius, Ambrose, Athanasius, Augustine, Cyprian, Chrysostom, Luther, Chemnitz, and Gerhard, just to name a few. A countless crowd has dined at the Lord’s Table and still dines with the whole company of heaven.

We receive two great comforts from this. The first comfort is that so many have preceded us at this Supper of the Lord. They were sinners just as we are. They felt the grief and shame of what they had done and not done, just as we do. They felt the sting of death, just as we do. They wanted relief from sin and death. They relied on the Lord of life to raise them and give them eternal life. That comfort came in the Supper, and they direct us there as well. We’re in great company at this table.

The second comfort is this. Even though many things change—and changes come at warp speed in our computer-driven world—two things never change: our sin and our Savior’s meal. Our Lord continues to give His Body and Blood that forgives our sins and gives us life with Him. “We daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment.” Every day, even every hour, we do all sorts of things against God and against our neighbor. We might think of it as “just another day at the office,” but words are said that should never be said. Deeds are done that should never be done. Thoughts and desires well up within us that only prove we love to dethrone God and put ourselves in His seat. We are the same kinds of sinners as those in the first, fourth, or fifteenth centuries.

And the solution to our sin is the same as it’s always been, even from the Garden of Eden. What’s that solution? The Word made flesh and nailed to the tree; Jesus Christ crucified and risen. He’s the only solution to our sin. His Body broken for us is real Food, filled with life. His Blood shed for us is real Drink, filled with forgiveness. His words deliver these things and their saving benefits to faith, “for the words ‘for you’ require all hearts to believe.”

Last week I mentioned our need to revive our hunger and thirst for our Lord’s Holy Communion. This is really God’s answer to our “lukewarmness” in the Church these days. Perhaps you remember the church of the Laodiceans in the book of Revelation. They had grown complacent and lukewarm. They were neither refreshingly cold nor energetically hot. Sounds a lot like us in our personal faith or like many churches these days. And how did our Lord propose to wake up this sleeping giant of the Laodicean church? No, not by putting it on ice or setting it ablaze! Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20). Jesus reenergizes us and re-enlivens us by eating and drinking with us sinners.

The Lutheran historian and theologian Herman Sasse said that whenever the Church takes seriously the Lord’s Supper, the Church is renewed and grows. Sermon, Supper, and prayer—they’re the three pillars on which the Church was built from Pentecost onward. Apostolic teaching, table fellowship in the Breaking of the Bread, and corporate prayers—where these things are practiced, where they are our very heart and soul, there we can be sure we have the “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.” There we can be sure Christ is present with us and that His gifts of salvation are being given out. Numbers large or small are irrelevant; Christ’s presence is everything.

Before we wrap up our sermon series on “The A-B-Cs of Lent”, let’s consider personal preparation for Jesus’ ongoing feast. In Luther’s day, people tended to stay away from the Sacrament out of fear, even though they came to church to hear the Gospel. Today, though, people tend to “belly up to the bar” with hardly a thought about their need for the Lord’s gifts or what those gifts truly are. The Small Catechism reminds us that “fasting and bodily preparation are certainly fine outward training.” Luther spoke to people who were overly concerned with the outward things of fasting and bodily discipline. We have quite the opposite problem. We think we dare not fast and we frown on disciplining our bodies as a way to fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.

We live in a culture that trumpets feasting without fasting. Many see Holy Communion as an individual right rather than a corporate privilege. We think everything should be “my way” or no way, or even “majority rules” in matters of faith and life with God. We tend to treat the Church catholic as a religious McDonald’s franchise, and the local congregation as the place where we can rush through the drive-thru to get a little snack on the way to our other, more pressing commitments. We have lost the days when pastor and communicants would sit down and talk about their souls, their sins, and Jesus’ forgiveness. Today, if a pastor suggests that an unrepentant member refrain from the Lord’s Supper, that person simply runs off to another congregation nearby and is received no questions asked. This, dear friends, is far from healthy! Actually, it’s quite shameful.

Yes, the Catechism says that “that person is truly worthy and well-prepared who has faith in these words, ‘Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.’” However, casual communion undermines the words of our Lord. So, let me propose three ways to improve our preparations and our communing in faith. And with these three ways, we can set a most excellent example for our sister saints and brother believers around us.

First, commune prayerfully and preparedly. Take some time on Saturday night or Sunday morning before church to meditate on the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Supper section of the Catechism, and even Luther’s “Christian Questions and Answers” in the Catechism. If your health permits, try fasting—that is, not eating anything for 3-4 hours before coming to church. Remind your belly that you do not live by bread alone, but by the true and living Bread, our Lord Jesus Christ. I offer this as a suggestion, not a rule. And if you do it, don’t judge others who may not do it.

Second, commune at the congregation where you are committed, where your membership is, where your pastor is. When you travel and visit other congregations, remember that you are an ambassador of Hope. You represent the teaching and practice of this congregation. If that congregation is not in full fellowship with us in teaching and practice, do not commune there. That would imply a unity that does not truthfully exist. We are called to bear witness publicly to what we believe, not to blend into the background like Christian chameleons.

If the congregation you visit is in full fellowship with us in both teaching and practice, then please have the courtesy of introducing yourself to the pastor. Tell him that you are a member of Hope Lutheran Church in St. Louis, and request his permission to commune. If he says, “No, not today,” don’t be offended, but thank God that he is a responsible, faithful shepherd of souls. If he says, “Yes, by all means,” then thank him and ask him to communicate that with your pastor. If you don’t have a chance to talk with the pastor ahead of time, then simply don’t commune that day, even if the usher wants to take you by the arm and shove you down the aisle. ☺ After all, we’d never just barge into a stranger’s house at supper time, sit down at the table, and proudly say, “Please pass the potatoes” without at least mentioning our name.

Third, commune confessing your sins. Spend quality time with the Ten Commandments and their Catechism meanings. Examine your place in life—who you are and what you’ve done. Make use of your pastor’s offer of Private Absolution, either on Wednesday evenings before the service or by appointment. Come to the Lord’s Supper with broken hearts and bent knees. Don’t come proud and arrogant—It’s not a right—but come humble and hungry—After all, it’s a divine privilege. Come with empty hearts and hands, ready to receive our Lord’s blood-bought forgiveness, life, and salvation.

We at Hope certainly are not big, and we are far from flashy, but we do have the Lord’s gifts in His Sacraments. They are the best medicine against the godless church growth-ism and reinventing of the Church in our day. The Sacraments keep us from turning the Church into a business and the Gospel into cheap entertainment. And we can be an example to the whole church. We can show other people that we are saved by God’s grace in Christ crucified and risen. We can show that we live only by His mercy given in Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, and Holy Communion. These Sacraments are our best medicine against the cancer we inherit from Adam. They are the best weapons we have against the forces of the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh. Our Lord has washed us and given us new birth in Baptism. He authorizes us to speak His forgiveness in the Absolution. And He gives us His ongoing feast of forgiveness, life, and salvation in His Supper.

If someone were to hand out free $100 bills each and every Sunday, I doubt many people would stay away, especially once word got out that they’re free. Dear friends, we have something much more precious than $100 bills. We have the Lord of Life who comes among us and gives us His gifts—His “A-B-Cs of Lent.” The gifts are here. You can receive them, believe in them, and live. “In this Christian church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers.” Amen.

Persevering in the Fast

The Western Churches began the Lenten fast back on February 6, Eastern Churches began their Lenten fast this past Monday, March 10, and I notice that Western Rite Orthodox Christians celebrate Ash Wednesday today. I wish a most blessed Lententide to all of our brothers and sisters now embarking on their time of fasting and preparing to celebrate our Lord's victory over death.

At the same time, the beginning of Lent for our Orthodox friends is a good reminder to me, at least, to keep persevering in the Lenten fast. The 40 days of Lent are a long time! Yes, as we heard the first three Sundays in Lent, it's all about the battle - against temptations, against God when He seems silent, and against the devil himself. Then Laetare (Fourth Sunday in Lent) comes as a bit of a respite, a lightening of the load, so to speak, before we press on toward the goal of Holy Week and Easter. As of this last Sunday, Judica (Fifth Sunday in Lent), we have entered the two-week Passiontide in which we focus more intently on our Lord's Passion. And the fast continues - always in Christian freedom, of course, and always with the purpose of focusing our complete and undivided attention on our Lord's great sacrifice to forgive our sins and restore us to communion with the blessed and holy Trinity.

With all this in mind, it's great to reread and ponder again these words from Urbanus Rhegius:

A special kind of fasting takes place, however, when in the face of great calamity or for the sake of prayer people undertake for themselves a day or more of fasting, or when a bishop or civil ruler proclaims a period of fasting, as did Jehoshaphat, King of Judah [2 Chr 20:3]. And the Apostle prescribes such fasting for spouses: "Do not deprive one another except perhaps by agreement for a set time, to devote yourselves to fasting and prayer" [1 Cor 7:5]. For this reason I approve of the Lenten fast, although in the early church it was observed in Christian freedom, so that by fasting people might prepare themselves for more ardent and attentive prayer and for giving thanks in the Supper of the Lord, both for the most precious death of Christ by which we are redeemed from all evils in eternity, and for his most victorious resurrection that is the source of our justification and resurrection (Preaching the Reformation: The Homiletical Handbook of Urbanus Rhegius, p. 83).

May God bless all who in Christian freedom persevere in the Lenten fast with the express purpose of preparing for an ardent and prayerful - and fruitful - celebration of our Lord's Passion, Death, and Resurrection!