Sent to the House of Israel

Today is Reminiscere, "You Remember," Sunday in the life of Christ's Church. To hear the sermon preached at Trinity Lutheran Church at Layton, Utah based upon the Gospel for Invocavit, Matthew 15:21-28, "Sent to the House of Israel," click on this mp3 audio link provided.

The audio recording begins with the Old Testament reading, and includes the Hymn of the Day, LSB #615--"When in the Hour of Deepest Need." The sermon begins at 12:24. The audio continues through and concludes with the Prayer of the Church.

The preaching transcript follows below if you prefer to read along, or read instead.

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Dear people of God,

The house of Israel is the house of faith—or Jesus is a liar.

All this business of the end times being fulfilled in the Middle East is a distraction, deception, and delusion born of the father of lies, who shall here remain nameless in derision of this most damnable derelict.

Do not be deceived, dear people. You are in the House of Israel, you are of the House of Israel, for you have been baptized into the faith that defines Israel—you have been baptized into Christ Jesus.

And that is the lesson of our Gospel text today, the lesson of the blessed Canaanite woman and her daughter—both saved by faith, that is, saved by Jesus the Christ the Son of the living God.

We read:
TEXT: 21Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” 23But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” 24He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25But she came and knelt before [i.e. worshipped. She worshiped before] him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. Matthew 15:21-28

This is worship, dear people of God. This is worship in the House of Israel—kneeling before the Lord and begging for His help; begging for His healing; begging for Him to cast away our demons; begging for Him to heal even our children.

When Jesus commends this woman’s faith and heals her daughter, He is declaring her and her child to be two of those lost sheep of the House of Israel to whom He was sent. And so He declares you to be of those lost sheep of the House of Israel to whom He was sent--sent to gather you together here in the House of Israel, that is, the house that struggles with, and at times against God as we struggle with and against His Word, His very promise for us.

The history of Israel is a history of those who strive, those who wrestle with and against God, as we heard in our Old Testament lesson today. The history of Israel is the history of struggling and wrestling with and against God, that is, of faith in Him and unfaith. And it is ultimately the history of The faithful One, Jesus the Christ—the one man Who was and is faithful unto death and receives the crown of life, that passage from Revelation 2:10 that is the confirmation passage that’s read to all of our confirmands here at Trinity.

The history of Israel, those who strive and wrestle with and against God is the history of one man, Jacob, as we again heard in our Old Testament lesson. But from Jacob comes the nation of Israel--a nation who struggles, who wrestles with and against God, the people of His holy Word and His promise. And ultimately the history of Israel, through Jacob that one called Israel; that nation in the middle east 2000+ years ago, that nation of Israel comes back to the one Man--Jesus the Christ, the true Israel.

What all of these have in common is the Word of God that is the promise of the Savior that abides with and even in them.

In Genesis 25 we hear of the birth of that one sinful man who would be called Israel:
This is the genealogy of Isaac, Abraham’s son. [Abraham to whom that promise was given and that promise sent with him into the promised land; that from his generations, from his sons would come the Son of God and the Son of Man, the Savior.] Abraham begot Isaac—[in his old age, if you recall]. 20 Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian. 21 Now Isaac pleaded with the LORD for his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the LORD.
23 And the LORD said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other,
And the older shall serve the younger.”
24 So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. 25 And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
27 So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents. 28 And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

So Esau being the oldest one held the birthright of his father--that birthright of the promise from God, and he esteemed it not; he honored it not. He didn’t give a fig for it, in other words. And he sold his birthright for a pot of stew. He was weary, he was hungry from hunting and all he could think about was his stomach. Kind of reminds us of the temptation of Jesus we heard about last week, Who was hungry from forty days and nights in the wilderness without food and drink yet did not betray the promise that was placed upon Him and entrusted to Him as does Esau here.

Being hungry he entreats his brother to give him something to eat. And his brother Jacob, “the one who grasps the heel,” deals treacherously. He says, “Oh, I’ll feed you, Brother--if you give me your birthright.”

And so Esau says, “Look, I’m about to die. So what is this birthright to me?” And Jacob says, “Swear to me as of this day.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright [and gave it up—gave up the very promise of God given to him through his father.]

And as we continue we see that the mother of these children loved Jacob more. And to seal that birthright and hear that promise given from the lips of the father to whom it was given directly to that son, she tricks her own husband putting skins of goats on Isaac to cover his neck and hands to fool his father, whose eyesight was growing very dim.

And she gave him savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, [to mimic the game that Esau was out getting for his father. And so Jacob takes these things disguised as his brother, goes to him and says]: “My father.”

“Here I am. Who are you, my son?” [Isaac says. And Jacob says,] “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done just as you told me; please arise, sit and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.” Genesis 27

And so by trickery, this promise of God; the promise of salvation; the promise of the Savior; the promise of the Israel to come is handed down to Jacob…on the surface through his own trickery.

Certainly Jacob reminds us of ourselves here, doesn’t he?--willing to trick, to fool our own brother, our own father, caring not for any neighbor, much less—all as long as we get what we want, what we deserve, right?

The history of Israel continues with Jacob [Genesis 32]. He arises one night, takes “his two wives, [as we heard in our Old Testament text today], his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crosse[s] over the ford of [the] Jabbok [River]. 23 He [takes] them, [sends] them over the brook, and [all that he has, and is] left alone; and a Man [capitalized “M”] wrestle[s] with him until the breaking of day. [That man--the pre-incarnate Christ--He wrestles with this man and] when He saw that He did not prevail against him, [that Man, that God-Man] touched the socket of [Jacob’s] hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. 26 And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.”

[And Jacob says,] “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”

The one whose hip socket has been put out, he will not let go. As if he’s in charge here! Boy, that Jacob sounds more and more like you and me, doesn’t he?

[And the Man says to Jacob], “What is your name?”

“Jacob.”

28 And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob. [That is, one who deals treacherously with his brother. But now you will be called the one who struggles, who wrestles with God and with men. Your name is “Israel,” [the God-Man says.]

And to this one is given the promise of the Savior.

Further on in Genesis 35, [God reminds him,] “Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. 11And God said unto [this Israel, formerly Jacob], I am God Almighty [in other words, “Not you, Jacob, I Am”]: be fruitful and multiply [because I Am God Almighty and say that it will be so]; [be] a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee[because I Am God Almighty and I have given it to thee], and kings shall come out of thy loins [even, as we know, the King of kings because I Am God Almighty said it would be so]; 12And the land which [this God Almighty] gave Abraham and Isaac, to [Israel He gave] it, and to [his] seed [singular! To his seed, that is the One, the God-Man Jesus Christ born of the Virgin Mary—that seed He promised way back in Genesis 3 that we heard about last week. That seed would come through him.

And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him.

“Where he talked with him,” this is the legacy of Israel. This is what we have inherited. This is what defines the House of Israel, the House of Faith. It is where God talks with His people; where He gives them His promise of salvation; where He dwells with them in the flesh now and forever.

The nation--that is, the family, the people of Israel are those who strive and wrestle with God in His holy Word. We would see it later on as that nation of Israel that springs from Jacob’s loins gets taken into slavery into Egypt –both to discipline them because of their unfaith, but also to protect and bless them from the famine that is in the land from which they come.

We see that nation of Israel then delivered from slavery in Egypt; delivered from the things of this world; the kings and princes of this world; all the finery and lusts of the flesh of this world. And we see them wandering in the wilderness for forty years, then, because of their unfaith; because of their complaint against God for taking them out of that land of slavery; their complaint against the manna. The bread of life sent from heaven to sustain them wasn’t good enough for them.

Wow! That is you and me.

And ultimately He delivered that people Israel into the Promised Land. This history of Israel through one man and his seed, through a nation in Old Testament times, and finally in Christ Jesus Himself is about a nation, a people of the Promise, a people of faith.

The Psalmist writes in that worship hymnal of the Israelites, “Do not put your trust in princes.” [Psalm 146:2-4] And yet that people of Israel often did that. And for that they were often disciplined and punished. But yet the Lord always strove with them by His holy Word. And after He would put out their hip from their sockets to weaken them when they were stubborn and wanted to do things their own way, then having done that and driven them to their knees He once again would give them that promise of salvation—that promise of salvation that took on flesh in the person of Jesus the Christ.

In the first chapter of John we see Jesus going out and gathering His disciples. And one of the first disciples, Nathanael, He sees “coming to him, and [says] of him [of this Nathanael], Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!—[no deception, no untruth, no unfaith.]

48Nathanael [says] unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answer[s] and sa[ys] unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. [Not within eyesight, surely. And Nathanael knew this. So he answer[s] and sa[ys] unto him, Rabbi, [teacher] thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. 50Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. 51And [Jesus said] unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

Does that sound familiar to you from Sunday School days? Jacob’s Ladder! That one who was first called Israel by God, this was his dream, angels of God ascending and descending from heaven to earth and back to heaven again. That’s what Jesus does. This ladder of which he dreamed, these angels ascending and descending were ascending and descending upon the place where God reveals Himself to man—where He strives with them with His Word to drive them to their knees with the Law that tells them they can’t do it alone no matter how hard they’re going to try. And then that lifts them up again and sends them on their way of faith, trusting in Him to deliver them--to redeem Israel, yes, redeem even Jesus, Who could have down from that cross Himself; Who wouldn’t have had to die, but yet submitted Himself to the will of His Father who wants all of us to be saved [1 Timothy 2:4].

He did the opposite of that first Israel. He cared more for His brother and died for him, rather than grasp that promise that was placed upon Him [Philippians 2:6]. He was glad to fulfill that promise for that first Israel, and for the nation of Israel, and for you and me.

Indeed in suffering death and condemnation--the damnation, the forsakenness of God--He was THE faithful One. He is THE faith, Who died and submitted Himself to the Father and trusted His Father to lift Him up out of the grave—that is, to redeem Him, the true Israel--along with the nation that bears His name out of all their troubles, which are indeed self inflicted, self generated, self desired.

Yes, Jesus is THE faithful One, Who is faithful unto death, was faithful unto death, who has received the crown of life and gives it to all those who are called to the house that He was sent to.

So, dear people of God, for you to be faithful unto death, for you to receive the crown of life you must die in Christ.

And die in Christ you do! Die in Christ you have! In Baptism, when that water as poured over your head with the blessed name of the One true God--Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit—you died with Christ and you were lifted up with Him into the heavenly realms as well [Ephesians 2:6].

And every single time you hear the Word of God that proceeds from, abides with, indeed even delivered you to the blessed font of living water in the first place; you have been brought into the House of Israel—that house to whom God, to whom Jesus has been sent.

Baptism is where you became a true Israelite in whom there is no guile--because Baptism is your Canaanite woman’s moment. Baptism is where Jesus—the One who was sent to the house of Israel was sent to you; where you and your children, like that Canaanite woman and her child receive His mercy, receive His forgiveness, receive His healing of every physical and spiritual disease unto eternal life-- in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Our Father, Who Art in Heaven and Thy Church

My father confessor once advised and encouraged me to be more specific about and focused upon preaching and teaching God the Father in my sermons and Bible studies.

Now there is great risk in this. There are a *lot* of Christians in our anti-authoritarian, feminist zeitgeist, who are just all right with Jesus (a rather large majority in my estimation). But that Father figure? Not so much. After all, He is the one who visited all the punishment of hell on His one and only beloved Son in whom He was supposedly well pleased. And fathers, along with the men born in their image, are the root of every evil in our day and age.

Why couldn’t our Father who art in heaven be a little more compassionate than our fathers here on earth? Shouldn't He be tolerant of the sin we might just happen to commit as we go about trying so hard to please Him, and love us enough to just fugettaboutit already without us begging Him for forgiveness every single Sunday--or whenever we might happen to find some free time to come to church and commune with His Son?

In restrospect, we lost a few families in which women were the "spiritual" halves and heads--as well as those whose situation prompted the advice--to other more tolerant churches and pastors because of my contemporary application of this salutary counsel to preach and teach the First Person of the Holy Trinity, Who is our God and the namesake of our congregation.

Sadly, Christian enthusiasts of the world like the aforementioned are to be found in great number even amongst our Lutheran churches. Certainly they will confess with us that where two or three are gathered in His name, there Jesus is with us. But for them this is a theoretical exercise accomplished by their gathering together as a body in the spirit of their hearts and bringing Him there, rather than by them being gathered by the Holy Spirit into His bodily presence. For them, the Son is with us spiritually in our hearts, but substantially He has left the building and given us a ministry almost totally defined by the activity of the spirit--whoever he may be. By this spirit Jesus lives in our hearts and we lift Him up and glorify Him with our worship, instead of worshiping the One who is Himself glorified in being lifted up on the cross and stooping down to us in the Divine Service of Word and Sacrament.

In other words, the real presence of Jesus—which they also will gladly confess with us--is located with His Church in the hearts of believers, rather than in His means of grace. The faith of the believers, rather than the Word of God, is the power by which Baptism saves and bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ.

All the while Christ is in absentia, sitting in some far-away heaven at the right hand of the Father, Who is watching this whole thing unfold before His eyes and being entertained by us as He kicks back in His great recliner in the sky--probably smoking a cigar and summoning His female angels to fetch them some beer.

So calling for these folks to repent of the evil thoughts, sinful desires, lustful immorality, and boastful self-service that proceed from the hearts of men; and pointing them to a Father whom we can only approach on bended knee, confessing our sins and pleading His forgiveness for the sake of His Son in the ministry of His Church; is like telling a liberated feminist to obey his or her father, or honor marriage as one man being the head and caretaker of his wife and household.

Therefore, though many may find it offensive and head for a more "spiritual" climate, I submit that Lutheran pastors owe it to their people (including, and even especially those who may take offense), and the God Whom they serve, to bring the Father back into their churches where He belongs--with His Son who, together with the Holy Spirit lives and reigns *now* and forever on earth in His Church even as He is in heaven.

"Invocavit: Call to Him Wednesday"--Lenten Devotion

Invocavit greetings in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, to all you freinds and readers of Laughing Martin:

Along with the church catholic throughout her generations, our Lutheran churches have "Called to Him" who is the One true God, and prepared for Easter Day's baptisms and the celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord by praying and meditating on our catechisms' confession and explanation of the chief parts of Christian doctrine that form our Faith.

As we pray and meditate upon what our dear Lord's Holy Word has to say about us sinners and our Savior, we fast from the appetites of this world and our flesh and our pursuit of happiness in satisfying them.

Our Lutheran churches, again along with the church catholic throughout her generations, have used Sunday's lectionary propers (that is, the the liturgical verses such as the Introit and Gradual; the Scripture readings; the hymnody; and the prayers) in the weekly devotional and catechetical life of their weekday congregational and family worship practice.

With this as prescription and model, our 2012 Lenten midweek worship services at Trinity combine the liturgical verse, Scripture reading, hymnody, and prayer of the previous Sunday's Divine Service with responsive recitations from The Lutheran Book of Concord that treat a major theme of those lectionary propers.

Contrary to the folk wisdom born of our familiarity with sin and its effects that, "familiarity breeds contempt," when it comes to God's Word and our faith, familiarity breeds faith.

The Invocavit Wednesday Order of Compline (Prayer at the Close of the Day) with the responsive recitation of the Confessions treating the article of Original Sin begins following my signature line. If you would like a Word document of this material, please include your eamil address in a request via the comment forum on this blog.

God grant that these Lenten services of fasting, meditation, and prayer will free us of our sinful appetites and prepare us to be presented before our Lord as empty vessels to be filled with His Holy Spirit through the Baptism, Preaching, Absolution, and Communion of His Word in Christ Jesus.

Your Laughing Little Warrior in Christ,
Isaac Martin, aka Laughing Martin, aka Izzy Abaldy II

LENT: MIDWEEK 1 (INVOCAVIT)
COMPLINE, LSB p. 253
February 29, 2012

OPENING HYMN:
“O Lord, throughout These Forty Days,” LSB #418

PSALMODY:
P: When he calls to me, I will | answer him;*
I will rescue him and | honor him.
C: With long life I will sat- | isfy him*
and show him my sal- | vation.
He who dwells in the shelter of the | Most High*
will abide in the shadow of the Al- | mighty.
I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my | fortress,*
my God, in | whom I trust.”
Because you have made the LORD your | dwelling place—*
the Most High, who is my | refuge—
no evil shall be allowed to be- | fall you,*
no plague come | near your tent.
You will tread on the lion and the | adder;*
the young lion and the serpent you will trample | underfoot.
Glory be to the Father, and | to the Son*
and to the Holy | Spirit;*
as it was in the be- | ginning,*
is now, and will be forever. | Amen.
P: When he calls to me, I will | answer him;*
I will rescue him and | honor him.
C: With long life I will sat- | isfy him*
and show him my sal- | vation.

OFFICE HYMN:
“In Adam We Have All Been One,” LSB #569

SCRIPTURE READINGS: OT Reading ...... Genesis 3:1–21
Epistle ………...... 2 Corinthians 6:1-10
Gospel ...……....… Matthew 4:1-11

RESPONSIVE CONFESSION READING:

THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION ARTICLE II: Original Sin

P: 1 Our churches teach that since the fall of Adam [Romans 5:12], all who are naturally born are born with sin [Psalm 51:5], that is, without the fear of God, without trust in God, and with the inclination to sin, called concupiscence. 2 Concupiscence is a disease and original vice that is truly sin. It damns and brings eternal death on those who are not born anew through Baptism and the Holy Spirit [John 3:5].

C: 3 Our churches condemn who deny that original depravity is sin, thus obscuring the glory of Christ’s merit and benefits. argue that a person can be justified before God by his own strength and reason.


THE FORMULA of CONCORD ARTICLE I: Original Sin [THE CORRUPT NATURE]

P: 33 Original sin is like a spiritual poison and leprosy, as Luther says.
It has poisoned and corrupted the whole human nature.

C: So we cannot show and point out to the eye, human nature by itself or original sin by itself.

P: Nevertheless, there is the corrupt nature, or essence of the corrupt
person (body and soul—the person himself) whom God has created.

C: (Original sin dwells in a person. It also corrupts the nature and
essence of the entire person.)

P And there is original sin, which dwells in human nature or essence and corrupts it.

C: They are not one and the same thing.

P: For example, in outward leprosy the body that is leprous and the leprosy on or in the body are not one thing, properly speaking. But a distinction must also be maintained between our nature as created and preserved by God (in which sin is indwelling) and original sin (which dwells in the nature).

C: These two things can, and must, be considered, taught, and believed separately according to Holy Scripture.

P: 34 Furthermore, the chief articles of our Christian faith drive and
compel us to preserve this distinction. For instance, in the article of
creation, Scripture testifies that God has created human nature not only before the fall, but that it is God’s creature and work also since the fall. (See Deuteronomy 32:6; Isaiah 45:11; 54:5; 64:8; Acts 17:25; Revelation 4:11.)

35 Job says:

C: Your hands fashioned and made me, and now You have destroyed me altogether. Remember that You have made me like clay; and will You return me to the dust? Did You not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese? You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. You have granted me life and steadfast love, and Your care has preserved my spirit. [Job 10:8–12]

P: 36 David says:

C: I praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them. (Psalm 139:14–16)

P: 37 In the Ecclesiastes of Solomon it is written,

C: “And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7).

P: 38 These passages clearly testify that God, even since the fall, is the creator of mankind. He creates his body and soul. Therefore, corrupt mankind cannot, without any distinction, be sin itself. Otherwise, God would be a creator of sin.

C: Our Small Catechism also confesses this in the explanation of the First Article, where it is written:
I believe that God has made me and all creatures. He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason, and all my senses, and still preserves them.

Likewise, in the Large Catechism it is written:
This is what I mean and believe, that I am God’s creature. I mean that
He has given and constantly preserves for me my body, soul, and life, my
members great and small, all my senses, reason, and understanding.

P: Nevertheless, this same creature and work of God is sadly corrupted by sin.

C: For the material from which God now forms and makes man was corrupted and perverted in Adam and is thus passed along by inheritance to us.

P: 39 Here pious Christian hearts justly ought to consider God’s unspeakable goodness. God does not immediately cast from Himself this corrupt, perverted, sinful material into hellfire.

C: No, He forms and makes the present human nature from it (which is sadly corrupted by sin) in order that He may cleanse it from all sin, sanctify, and save it by His dear Son.

P: 40 From this article, the distinction is now clearly and indisputably
found. Original sin does not come from God.

C: God is not sin’s creator or author. Nor is original sin God’s
creature or work, but it is the devil’s work.

P: 41 If there was no difference at all between the nature or essence of our body and soul (which is corrupted by original sin) and original sin (by which the nature is corrupted) one of the following would be true: because God is the creator of our nature, He also created and made original sin, which would also be His work and creature. Or, because sin is the devil’s work, Satan would be the creator of our nature, of our body and soul. They would also have to be Satan’s work or creation if, without any distinction, our corrupt nature was thought to be sin itself. Both of these teachings are contrary to the article of our Christian faith.

C: 42 Therefore, in order that God’s creation and work in mankind may be distinguished from the devil’s work, we say that it is God’s creation that a person has body and soul. Also, it is God’s work that a person can think, speak, do, and work anything. For “in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). But human nature is corrupt. Its thoughts, words, and works are wicked. This is originally Satan’s work, who has corrupted God’s work in Adam through sin. From Adam, sin is passed down to us by inheritance [Romans 5:12].

P: 43 Second, in the article of Redemption the Scriptures testify
forcefully that God’s Son received our human nature without sin. So He was in all ways—sin excluded—made like us, His brethren (Hebrews 2:14–17). Therefore, all the old orthodox teachers have maintained that Christ, according to His received humanity, is of one essence with us, His brothers.

C: For He has received His human nature, which in all respects (sin alone excluded) is like our human nature in its essence and all essential attributes. They have condemned the contrary doctrine as obvious heresy.

P: 44 If there were no distinction between the nature or essence of corrupt mankind and original sin, one of the following must be true: Christ did not receive our nature, because He did not receive sin. Or because Christ received our nature, He also received sin. Both of these ideas are contrary to the Scriptures.

C: God’s Son received our nature, and not original sin. Therefore, it is clear from this fact that human nature (even since the fall) and original sin are not one and the same thing. They must be distinguished.

P: 45 Third, in the article of Sanctification Scripture testifies that God cleanses, washes, and sanctifies mankind from sin [1 Corinthians 6:11; 1 John 1:7] and that Christ saves His people from their sins [Matthew 1:21]. Sin, therefore, cannot be a person himself.

C: For God receives a person into grace for Christ’s sake. But God
remains hostile to sin eternally. …

P: 46 Fourth, in the article of the Resurrection Scripture testifies that
precisely the substance of our flesh, but without sin, will rise again
[1 Corinthians 15:42, 54–57].

C: In eternal life we shall have and keep precisely this soul, but
without sin.

P: 47 If there was no difference at all between our corrupt body and soul and original sin, one of the following would be true (contrary to this article of the Christian faith): our flesh will not rise again at the Last Day, and in eternal life we shall not have the present essence of our body and soul, but another substance (or another soul), because then we shall be without sin. Or ‹at the Last Day› sin will also rise again and will be and remain in the elect in eternal life.

C: 8 It is clear that this teaching (with all that depends on it and follows from it) must be rejected. For it is asserted and taught that original sin is the nature, substance, essence, body, or soul itself of corrupt mankind. It is taught that between our corrupt nature, substance, and essence and original sin there is no distinction whatever. For the chief articles of our Christian faith forcefully and emphatically testify why a distinction should and must be maintained between mankind’s nature or substance (which is corrupted by sin) and the sin (with which and by which mankind is corrupted)….

+ + +

COLLECT OF THE DAY:
P: O Lord God, You led Your ancient people through the wilderness and brought them to the promised land. Guide the people of Your Church
C: that following our Savior we may walk through the wilderness of this world toward the glory of the world to come; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

CLOSING HYMN:
“A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” LSB #656

+ + +

When You Call to Him

Today is Invocavit, "Call on Him," Sunday in the life of Christ's Church. To hear the sermon preached at Trinity Lutheran Church at Layton, Utah, which is based upon the Gospel for Invocavit, Matthew 4:1-11, "When You Call to Him," click on this mp3 audio link.

The audio recording begins with the Old Testament reading, and includes the Hymn of the Day, LSB #569,"In Adam We Have All Been One." The sermon begins at 14:20. The audio continues through the Prayer of the Church; skips to the Cummunion Hymn--LSB #458, vv. 2-7, w/o Alleluias, "Christ Jesus Lay in Death's Strong Bands"; and concludes witht the Benediction.

The preaching transcript follows below if you prefer to read along, or read instead.

Dearly beloved, children of God in whom He is well pleased, 14:20

That is what your Baptism means—that you are His children and in you His well pleased-- because that is what Baptism in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit does. It makes you well and it makes you pleasing to God by washing you clean of all your sin that is unpleasing to Him and that makes you unwell—that is to say, that makes you dead.

But having been buried with him in baptism [Paul writes to the Colossians in chapter 2] , in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead [that's pretty unwell] in your trespasses …, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:12-14

Your Baptism-- the Baptism commanded and instituted by Christ for the apostles and the ministers of His holy Christian Church to go and take to all the sinners in all the nations of the world in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit; that one Baptism into the one faith and the one hope [Ephesians 4:5-6] in the one God who is the one Savior that we all share and have in common—has buried you into the depths of Jesus. It has buried you into the depths of His death and into the depths of into the depths of His grave and into the depths of hell itself, where all of the evil and filth of your sin and mine against our neighbors and all of our trespasses against God Himself and His holy Word that make you and I unpleasing to Him—all of those are left behind in those depths from which Christ has risen. For in your Baptism, though the rite at the font is long over or most of you, and the water no longer drips from your brow, you have been raised with Jesus through faith into the kingdom of heaven. Continuing to live in your Baptism you are still baptized.

That's what faith is: being baptized; living baptized; always baptized. Faith is remaining and abiding and being satisfied with Jesus after being buried into the depths of His life and His very heart—a life and heart that, unlike yours and mine, has remained without any sin of His own, though tempted in every way like you, and then some; a life and heart that has been raised from all that sin of yours and mine; raised from an entire age and world of sinners into the kingdom of heaven where He sits at the right hand of the Father. And so, Baptized into this Jesus, you and I are also Baptized into His Father and into His Spirit—and into the heaven wherein they all live and reign to all eternity, forever and ever, one God. Amen.

That was easy!

Hardly. It was easy to have that water poured over us. It was easy to hear that name placed upon us. It was easy to hear that our sins were forgiven. But we see how hard it was for the Christ, the Son of the living God in our Gospel text today.
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God," Matthew 4:1-3a

According to Matthew, in the last verses of the chapter preceding our text and just prior to His wilderness temptation Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased." Matthew 3:16-17

You see here is the prototype for our Baptism. We have here at Jesus' baptism the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; who from the very beginning and before have always have been Father , Son, and Holy Spirit—have always been one God. Where One is the others are, for they are One.

This is what goes on right before His temptation. In fact, Mark's account of the same events says upon hearing these very words of His Father in heaven, The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. Mark 1:12

Immediately after hearing His own Father in heaven say that He, Jesus, is God's beloved Son, the evil angel who has been cast out of heaven tempts the Son of God with that little word, "If."

This is very similar to a little word this evil one first used with Eve in the Garden, as we heard in our OT text.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, '…'?" That's an "if" right there, isn't it?

If You are the son of God, [Jesus]. Did God actually say [to you, Adam and Eve who were created in His image]?

If? Did? Herein--in these little one-word questions--lies the root and the very essence of sin.

Eve, under the pastoral supervision of her husband Adam, fell into the trap laid by Satan with this little word. She didn't go back to the source of the Word to answer the one little word added by the evil one. In fact, in consulting her own recollection of things and seeking the word in her own heart, she added her own word as well. And that was fatal. And it was all the evil one needed to seal the deal—to lead them into temptation and away from God and His Word.

Eve's recollection, her heartfelt words from God, she remembered as:
'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.

I don't know where the "neither shall you touch it" part come in. But it didn't come from God. And it was misleading to both her and to her husband, because as she says this, the serpent says to the woman, "You will not surely die."

Well, we all know very well, even without the redundancy of today's OT reading, how Eve and her pastor fared that day. And that is our fare as well.

Eve touched the food that her recollection said she shouldn't touch, and when she didn't die she proceeded to eat it. And Adam's watching all this and she still doesn't die. Well, that devil must be right! You won't die when you eat it.

Well, maybe not right away. But God is no liar [Titus 1:2]. We also know that Adam and Eve did indeed die. And that is our fare as well.

When we consult our own minds, when we look into our own hearts for Jesus, rather than to "every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" [Matthew 4:4 via Deuteronomy 8:3 ], we fall into temptation also. We become our own gods. We set our own word, our own thoughts, our own desires above God.

That's what happened with Adam and Eve, and their fare was death. And that's our fare as well.

That is, unless and until we receive a portion of Christ's fare in Holy Baptism. So let us see how the Savior into whom we are baptized fared when faced with that dirty little word from the evil one--"If." "If you are the Son of God." That is to say, "Did God actually say you are His Son?"

"Why, yes! I believe He did," says Faith. And Christ is the Son of God. And He is the faithful One.

Right after hearing this ringing word of His Father that He is His Son in Whom He is well pleased, He's led out into the wilderness:
2And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." 4But he answered, [the tempter's, "Did He?" He answered, "Yes! He answered in faith! He answered,] "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

[He didn't answer based upon His feelings, one of which was great hunger at the time. No, He answered by the Word of God, which is the living bread from heaven].

5Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, "'He will command his angels concerning you,' and "'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'"

[Again,] Jesus said to him, "Again it is written,.. [Don't give me that if stuff, Satan! There's no if; there's no and; there's no but about it! It is written! God did say!] 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" [There's no if about God. There's no if about His Son. There's no if about His love for His Son and all of those who are baptized into Him.]

[The devil didn't quit, though.] 8Again, the devil took [Jesus] to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9And he said,… [Well, he skipped the "if" this time. He just made the assumption—he made the assumption and answered the "if" himself; placing himself in God's place; placing Himself in the place of the Father, trying to make Jesus His own Son; saying,] "All these I will give [to] you, [as if he, as a father, had all these things to give] if—[oh, now comes the word,] if you will fall down and worship me. [That is to say, if you will admit you are not the Son of God]."

Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! [Be gone, you accuser! Be gone, you tempter! Be gone, you evil one!] For it is written, [There is no, "if."] "'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'"

And this is what the Son came to do, to serve only His Father--even though being God Himself--and in so serving Father, serving us as well.

And when He sent Satan packing away from Him by calling on the Word and the very name of God, then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

That wasn't easy. That was temptation, and temptation isn't easy. It's pretty. It's beautiful. It's stunningly charming. But it's evil and it is of Satan.

And when you throw all those "ifs," and "dids," and "buts," and "ands" of the devil away and call on the name of the Lord and His holy Word that he has given to you—when you call to Him as His baptized children with whom He is well pleased: that is, when you call to Him for Jesus' sake based upon what He has done for you, and Who He is, and Whose He is, and what His Word actually does, yes, say—no ifs, ands, or buts about it--as we sang with Jesus in our Introit today:
[He] will answer [you]; [He] will rescue [you] and honor [you]. With long life [He] will satisfy [you] and show you [His] salvation. [You] who dwell [as His baptized children] in the shelter of the Most High [that is, in the heavenly places] will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

When you call upon His name, and call upon His Word as did Jesus in answer to Satan, the angels come and minister to you too, because they are ministering to Christ in heaven and you are in Christ!

Why is that so for you as His baptized children? Because when Jesus was tempted in every way, He relied on every word of God as it comes from, comes with, and returns to His Father, and returns to Him every time--as He comes from, and with, and returns to the Father every time; and has come from and with and returned to His Father every time since before the beginning of the world and will continue to do until after the world is no more.

So being with Jesus in our Baptism means--in our comings and goings--we come from God, and with God, and return to God every time with Jesus. For this Jesus is the Word and the Savior into Whom you are baptized. This Jesus is the Word and Savior that came to you in the water with the Word. And with the same Word that was with the water He comes to you today—forgiving you all of your sin and keeping you with Him forever -- in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Islam v. Christianity: Church and State Perspectives

The "Human Events" article linked here treats the state perspective of Islam.
"People who are concerned about the spread of Muslim sharia law into American jurisprudence used to be dismissed as alarmists. That won’t happen again for a while, thanks to a Pennsylvania judge who just dismissed assault charges against a Muslim who was videotaped attacking a man dressed as “Zombie Muhammad” during a Halloween parade."

Now for the "church," or religious perspective.

The doctrine and practice of
Islam consists of the glory of
Allah being defined, confessed,
and completed in man killing
and dying for Allah.


The doctrine and practice
of Christianity consists of
the glory of God being
defined, confessed, and
completed in God being
killed and dying for man.

The Fasting of Repentance

Welcome to Lent!

To hear the sermon for Ash Wednesday preached at Trinity Luthran Church of Layton, Utah, "The Fasting of Repentance," click on this mp3 audio link.

The audio includes the Hymn of the Day, "From Dust We Were Made," following the sermon. This is a hymn written for Ash Wednesday, 2012, by Rev. Eric Stefanski, Holy Trinity Evangelical-Lutheran Church, UAC, Harrison. AR; v. 7 by Rev. Kurt Hering, Trinity Lutheran Church, Layton, UT. I am including the text for this hymn following the preaching transcript below for those who prefer to read along, or read instead.

TEXT: [Jesus said:] “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

2“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

5“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

16“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

19“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where
thieves break in and steal, 20but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:1–6, 16–21

Dear people of God,

We notice a couple of things in our Gospel lesson for Ash Wednesday. First of all, we notice that our Lord says, “When you fast”--not “if you fast,” but “when you fast.” This reminds us that we people of God’s Church have a tendency to throw the baby out with the bath water. Like with so many things in so many Christian churches, out of an overreaction against the abuses that have been perpetrated in Christ’s churches throughout the ages—making them into works of men to be boasted of —we have thrown out fasting to a large degree: along with the liturgy in many places, and with private confession and absolution--that wonderful opportunity to confess sins to a pastor as to Christ Himself, those sins that you think maybe, just maybe, nobody else has ever done in their lives. And how could God forgive even that. That sin, that is that one to bring before the pastor to hear, yes, that one too is forgiven.

Throwing these good things that Christ has given us and even commanded us to do--like fastin-- is like throwing the baby out with the bath water.

In our Gospel lesson today we see Jesus speak of things like doing good works, that is, practicing your righteousness. Certainly it’s not that we ought not be righteous and do good works. It’s just that we do not boast of them to other people, or think of them as something that earns us
anything before God in heaven.

Giving to the needy, of course, is something that we do—giving alms to the poor, supporting those who are doing without. That is one of those good works given to us to do [Ephesians 2:10]. And we do it with joy, but without boasting of those things--not pointing to them as reasons for us to be saved, but just things that Christ’s people, His baptized children do because He has been so gracious to them.

And praying! Of course we pray. And of course we pray--even together as the Church. Shortly after this passage Jesus institutes, hands over, speaks the Lord’s Prayer to His disciples. And the very first words tell us that we pray them as a church and we pray them together. “Our Father,
who art in heaven…. Our Father—we pray them together. But not in order to be seen by people so they will see how pious we are. But that we pray together as one, as Christ’s holy bride coming before Him, beseeching Him of His mercies and asking for our daily bread in this world and the next—food for our flesh and that forgiveness of sins for our soul.

For the baptized children of God these just are things that we do, whether we even know it or not, as Christ says to those sheep on His right hand on the Last Day who ask, “When, when did we do these things?”

But these are the things that we do. And fasting is one of those things. It doesn’t mean that you go without any kind of food. It may not even be food that you fast from at all. But this fasting, of which our Lord speaks, that the Christian does, is a fasting of repentance—a fasting of relying
on nothing of this world and seeking nothing but His Word first, knowing that all these other things will be added to us [Matthew 6:33].

As Luther writes [in our READING FROM THE BOOK OF CONCORD for ASH WEDNESDAY from the LARGE CATECHISM on the SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR

. . . 37 Fasting, prayer, and other such things may indeed be outward preparations and discipline for children, so that the body may keep and bring itself modestly and reverently to receive Christ’s body and blood. Yet the body cannot seize and make its own what is given in and with the Sacrament. This is done by the faith in the heart, which discerns this treasure and desires
it. . . .

39 . . . since we now have the true understanding and doctrine of the Sacrament, there is also need for some admonition and encouragement. . . .

40 For we see that people seem weary and lazy about receiving the Sacrament. A great multitude hears the Gospel. Yet . . . they go one, two, three years, or even longer without the Sacrament. They act as though they were such strong Christians that they have no need of it. 41 Some allow themselves to be hindered and held up by the excuse that we have taught that no one should approach the Sacrament except those who feel hunger and thirst, which drive them to it. Some pretend that it is a matter of liberty [Pastor: freedom to do as they please, but] … not necessary. They pretend that it is enough to believe without it. For the most part, they go so far astray that they become quite brutish and finally despise both the Sacrament and God’s Word. [Which God’s Word, after all says, “Do this often. Do this often in remembrance of Me”--that is, to bring it to your mind frequently what He has done for us. Luther continues:]

42 Now, it is true, as we have said, that no one should by any means be forced or compelled to go to the Sacrament, lest we institute a new murdering of souls. Nevertheless, it must be known that people who deprive themselves of and withdraw from the Sacrament for such a long time are not to be considered Christians. For Christ has not instituted it to be treated as a show [or to be taken or left as one pleases, I would add]. Instead, He has commanded His Christians to eat it, drink it, and remember Him by it—[often].

43 Indeed, those who are true Christians and value the Sacrament precious and holy will drive and move themselves to go to it. . . . For we know and feel how the devil always opposes this and every Christian exercise. He drives and deters people from them as much as he can.

And as a side note to that, the Sacrament is always available in Christ’s Church. In our Confessions we say, the priests stand willing, the pastors stand ready, and willing, and able to give the Sacrament to any who come and request it—and that is whenever they feel they are in need of it. [Augsburg XXIV.34-47]

And so we are back to this fasting of repentance. For those who come to the table, come empty--requesting that Bread of Life that fills their soul and even gives them the very body and blood of Christ to keep them strong in body and soul, keeping them in Christ and Christ in them unto
eternal life.

The imposition of ashes as we practice it is a part of the Fast of Repentance in our worship life. We do not do it to go out and show how Christian and how pious we are. In fact, before you leave today you may want to wash it off of your head. But if you do go out, you go out as a witness to
Christ, who took your sin upon Him—who took the sins of even the whole world upon Him. And so, though you may be reticent to speak of your faith, if somebody asks you what that cross is, you can tell them and not speak of your own piety and righteousness but of your gracious Christ!—your Savior.

And so, this fasting--including this imposition of ashes--is not a work of righteousness to be witnessed by men, but a penitential reverence for the Word of God as the one thing that is needful for us [Luke 10:42]--to come forward, to receive the very Bread of Life, the forgiveness of
sins.

Yes, true fasting is a matter of preparing and presenting ourselves to the Lord as empty vessels ready to receive His body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins--in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

From Dust We Were Made
by Rev. Eric Stefanski, Holy Trinity Evangelical-Lutheran Church, UAC, Harrison,
AR; ; v. 7 by Rev. Kurt Hering, Trinity Lutheran Church, Layton, UT

1. From dust we were made;
To dust we shall go:
The end of our flesh
Is fitting to know,
So that we may hallow
Our God’s holy name,
Who to save us sinners
In human flesh came.

2. Now lowly we kneel
In penitence true,
As our whole burden
Is placed, Lord, on You.
You willingly take it
Our Savior to be,
E’er righteously walking
Unto Calvary.

3. For dust, Lord, You give
A life that endures;
Your taking our flesh
Revived flesh secures.
Our whole selves are holy
In God’s eyes by grace,
Alone through Your merit,
Your death in our place.

4. Thus You
have washed us
With water and Word:
That we should receive
You as our dear Lord,
Who, alone redeemed us,
And made us to live
The righteousness You made,
The Spirit us gives.

5. Oh, grant us to see
Through these forty days
The depth of our debt
For which Your blood pays,
That rightly we trust You
Who saves us from sin,
Who gave up Your own life
Our lives all to win.

6. So let us hail You,
That on the Last Day
In glorified flesh
We sing to Your praise:
“How worthy the Lamb is
Who for us was slain!”
Forevermore blessing
Your life-giving name.

7. For on that great day
Our dust shall arise;
Along with all saints
To see with our eyes:
The Son, who with Father
And Spirit is Lord,
Forever in flesh by
His baptized adored.

What's Next?

You decide in November.