Sermon for 28 March 2013, Maundy Thursday C

Rev. Paul J Cain

Hebrews 10:15-25

The Peace of the Lord Be with You Always

Holy (Maundy)Thursday, 28 March 2013

Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, Wyoming

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

About the Cover: The Peace of the Lord Be with You Always! This declaration is a blessing, to which faith answers, “Amen.” There was a time in our church body, when the 1982 hymnal was in use, that the response was changed. It turned “The Peace of the Lord be with you always” into a greeting. The congregation said, “And also with you.” That never made sense to me. In teaching why we say the “Amen,” we have an opportunity on this anniversary of the night in which Jesus was betrayed to better understand the Lord’s ever-with-us Peace thanks to Hebrews 10:15–25.

¹⁵And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, ¹⁶“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” ¹⁷then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

The witness to the Hebrews quotes from Jeremiah 31, our Old Testament text for Maundy Thursday. This is the passage that gives us the title “New Testament” for the collection of 27 Gospels, history, Letters, and the Revelation recorded as God’s Word by the Lord’s own apostles and evangelists. “Covenant” should be translated “Testament,” for this God’s work, a one-way street of work, if you will, not a cooperation on our part. The Lord does the doing. He makes the testament. He puts His laws in our hearts and writes them on our minds as our conscience. He remembers not our sins and lawless deeds. Therefore: ¹⁸Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

We are not worthy to receive the Sacrament of the Altar because of our own worthiness. We are guests. Jesus is the host. Jesus is the author of His own Last Will and Testament. He is the owner and giver of all the gifts of our inheritance as Christians. He is our great high priest. When we “draw near” to Him “with a true heart and confess our sins unto God our Father,” we beseech Him “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to grant us forgiveness.”

The final paragraph of the text moves quickly from the confidence of a forgiven sinner steadfast in hope, stirred up to love and good works, regularly gathered by the Lord around His Gifts.

¹⁹Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, ²¹and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²²let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Some have the habit of neglecting to meet together. In the Greek, it looks like “synagoguing” with one another. We may have just invented a word. As important as it is to be encouraged by one another—you by me and me by you and all of us by one another—there is a more important component of this meeting tonight, our church meeting tomorrow night, our regular weekly meetings to celebrate Jesus’ birth, death, and Resurrection every Sunday.

“The Peace of the Lord be with you always.” If we merely gathered together to be at peace with one another, it wouldn’t take long for the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh to create cracks in our human-wrought unity. If we merely gathered to sing, I’m sure there would be much more discussion about instrumentation and song choice. If we were merely here to work toward world peace, we would make only as much progress as the United Nations, for we would be dependent upon human understanding, strength, and so-called wisdom.

We are gathered here by the Lord to receive His peace, peace the world cannot give, peace the world cannot understand.

Luther understood the difference between how and where Christ won for you the forgiveness of sins and how and where Christ delivers to you the forgiveness of sins. I’ll ask him to explain: “We treat of the forgiveness of sins in two ways. First, how it is achieved and won. Second, how it is distributed and given to us. Christ has achieved it on the cross, it is true. But he has not distributed or given it on the cross. He has not won it in the supper or sacrament. There he has distributed and given it through the Word, as also in the gospel, where it is preached. He has won it once for all on the cross. But the distribution takes place continuously, before and after, from the beginning to the end of the world. For inasmuch as he had determined once to achieve it, it made no difference to him whether he distributed it before or after, through his Word, as can easily be proved from Scripture. But now there is neither need nor time to do so.

“If now I seek the forgiveness of sins, I do not run to the cross, for I will not find it given there. Nor must I hold to the suffering of Christ, as Dr. Karlstadt trifles, in knowledge or remembrance, for I will not find it there either. But I will find in the sacrament or gospel the word which distributes, presents, offers, and gives to me that forgiveness which was won on the cross. Therefore, Luther has rightly taught that whoever has a bad conscience from his sins should go to the sacrament and obtain comfort, not because of the bread and wine, not because of the body and blood of Christ, but because of the word which in the sacrament offers, presents, and gives the body and blood of Christ, given and shed for me. Is that not clear enough?^[1]”

If you want forgiveness, life, and salvation, you don’t have to go to Jerusalem, travel back in time, or quest for wood from the true cross. Right here, right now, you are in the place the Lord has promised to be to deliver Peace from the Lord that is with you always. As I hold the host, the bread and Body of Christ above the chalice, containing the wine and Blood of Christ, know and be comforted by Jesus’ work for you, for the Peace of the Lord IS with you always. And that is why we say, “Amen.”

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

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^[1] Luther, M. (1999). Vol. 40: Luther's works, vol. 40: Church and Ministry II (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.) (213–214). Philadelphia: Fortress Press.

Sermon for 24 March 2013, Palm Sunday/Sunday of the Passion C

Rev. Paul J Cain, Jr.

Deuteronomy 32: 36-39

I Kill and I Make Alive

Palm Sunday/Sunday of the Passion, 24 March 2013

Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, Wyoming

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

About the Cover: “I kill and I make alive.” These mysterious words find their fulfillment in the Passion of Jesus. The Father gives His Son into death on the tree so that the Son may give us the divine life that is in His body and blood. He is wounded for our transgressions, yet His very wounds heal us. None can deliver us out of His hands, but His wounded hands deliver us all!

Luther called this idea the Great Exchange. Christ’s death involved a righteous man dying for unrighteous people—us!

³⁶ For the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone and there is none remaining, bond or free.

Who is doing the work here? It is clearly the Lord Himself. He vindicates, has compassion, and sees His victory over all foes.

Prepare yourself for a little mocking, perhaps even sarcasm. As Elijah made fun of false Gods in 1 Kings, here in Deuteronomy, the Lord Himself does the mocking of pretenders to His holy throne.

³⁷ Then he will say, ‘Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge, ³⁸ who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you; let them be your protection!

Just before He sent Gideon as a Judge for His people, He sent a prophet that proclaimed the Law: ⁷ When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites, ⁸ the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. ⁹ And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. ¹⁰ And I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.” ^[1]

That text from Judges 6 is Law. So is this question: Who is your God? Is it one that changes based on mere cultural whims? Is it a God who indulges your sinful preferences, saying the Ten Commandments don’t apply anymore, or at least don’t apply to you? What is your God?

The solution to the problem of not liking God, rejecting His Word, and blowing off all Christians as hypocrites is not apathy, being an agnostic, or embracing atheism. It is this: “I kill and make alive.” No creature, no part of creation, no philosophy can both kill and make alive. The Lord alone, the Creator, can do this. Only God in Christ could re-create you in the death and life of His only Son.

You shall have no other gods. That’s what the First Commandment says. [Luther tells us] ¹ What this means: You shall have Me alone as your God. What is the meaning of this, and how is it to be understood? What does it mean to have a god? Or, what is God? ² Answer: A god means that from which we are to expect all good and in which we are to take refuge in all distress. So, to have a God is nothing other than trusting and believing Him with the heart. I have often said that the confidence and faith of the heart alone make both God and an idol. ³ If your faith and trust is right, then your god is also true. On the other hand, if your trust is false and wrong, then you do not have the true God. For these two belong together, faith and God [Hebrews 11:6]. Now, I say that whatever you set your heart on and put your trust in is truly your god.

⁴ The purpose of this commandment is to require true faith and trust of the heart, which settles upon the only true God and clings to Him alone. It is like saying, “See to it that you let Me alone be your God, and never seek another.” In other words, “Whatever you lack of good things, expect it from Me. Look to Me for it. And whenever you suffer misfortune and distress, crawl and cling to Me. I, yes, I, will give you enough and help you out of every need. Only do not let your heart cleave to or rest on any other.”^[2]

Luther knew the Lord’s Word in Deuteronomy 32: ³⁹ “‘See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.

The Lord wounds us that He may heal us. He proclaims the Law that we may be convicted. He proclaims His Gospel that we may be comforted. We die to sin in Holy Baptism and arise with Christ’s new life to serve Him in righteousness and purity forever, in this life and in life eternal.

JIP: A man distressed about sin wrote to Luther. The Reformer, who himself had suffered long agonies over this problem, replied: “Learn to know Christ and him crucified. Learn to sing to him and say—Lord Jesus, you are my righteousness, I am your sin. You took on you what was mine; you set on me what was yours. You became what you were not that I might become what I was not.” Compare Paul: “For our sake [God] made [Christ] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Link up with Jesus, the living Lord, by faith, and the great exchange is fulfilled. Through Jesus’ atoning death God accepts you as righteous, and cancels your sins. This is justification, forgiveness, and peace.^[3]

About the Cover: “I kill and I make alive.” These mysterious words find their fulfillment in the Passion of Jesus. The Father gives His Son into death on the tree so that the Son may give us the divine life that is in His body and blood. He is wounded for our transgressions, yet His very wounds heal us. None can deliver us out of His hands, but His wounded hands deliver us all! Amen.

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

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^[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2001 (Jdg 6:7–10). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

^[2] Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. 2005 (P. T. McCain, Ed.) (359–360). St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.

^[3] Packer, J. I. (1994). Growing in Christ (80–81). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

Midweek Lenten Sermon for 20 March 2013 before Compline

The Rev. Paul J Cain, Jr.

The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ Drawn from the Four Gospels (LSB/ESV)

V. CALVARY

Wednesday of Lent V, 20 March 2013

Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, Wyoming

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ Drawn from the Four Gospels

V. CALVARY

The soldiers now had charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out of the city to a place called Skull Hill, in Hebrew, Golgotha. As they led him away, they laid hold of Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, who was coming in from the country. On him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. Following him was a great company of people and of women who bewailed and lamented him. Jesus turned to them and said,

“Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. The days are surely coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never gave suck.’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things with a green tree, what will happen with a dry one?”

There were also two others, criminals whom they led along to be put to death with him. When they came to the place called Golgotha, they gave him wine mingled with gall to drink, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.

It was the third hour, and there they crucified him. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” The two criminals they also crucified with him—one on his right, the other on his left, with Jesus in the middle. The Scripture was then fulfilled which says, “And he was numbered with the transgressors.”

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they cast lots to divide his clothes and decide what each should take. They made four parts, one for each soldier. There remained his tunic, which was without seam, woven in one piece from the top to the bottom. They said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to decide who shall have it.” The Scripture was thus fulfilled which says, “They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.” These things the soldiers did and, sitting down, they kept watch over him there.

Over his head was put the charge against him. Pilate wrote the notice to be put on the cross. It read, JESUS OF NAZARETH, KING OF THE JEWS. This title was read by many of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near to the city, and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. The chief priests of the Jews then said to Pilate, “You should not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but ‘This man said, I am the King of the Jews.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

People stood by, watching. Those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads, and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself. If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”

So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him to one another saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross that we may see and believe. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ “

The soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him wine, and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.” The thieves who were crucified with him also reviled him. And one of the criminals who hung there with him railed at him: “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.”

But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God since you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are getting what we deserve for what we have done; but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Near to the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of them that were standing there heard it, they said, “He is calling for Elijah.”

After this, Jesus knew that all things were accomplished. Fulfilling the Scripture he said, “I thirst.” There was a jar of wine standing there. One of them ran immediately to get a sponge. He filled it with wine, put it on a reed, held it up to his mouth, and gave it to him to drink. Others said, “Wait and see if Elijah will come and save him.”

When Jesus had received the wine, he cried with a loud voice, “It is finished!” Then he said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion who stood facing him saw how he died, he said, “Truly, this man was the Son of God.”

All the people who had gathered to see the sight, when they saw what had happened, turned away beating their breasts. Those who had known him stood at a distance, as also the women who had followed him from Galilee. Among them was Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

It was the day of Preparation before the Sabbath, and this was Passover Sabbath. Therefore, so that the bodies should not remain on the crosses during the Sabbath, the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies removed. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. One who saw it is our witness, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth that you also may believe. These things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, “Not one of his bones shall be broken.” And again, another Scripture says, “They shall look on him whom they pierced.”

By this time evening had come. A respected member of the council, Joseph of Arimathea, was one who was looking for the kingdom of God, a good and righteous man who had not consented to their purpose and deed. He was a disciple of Jesus secretly, for he feared the Jews. Now he took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

Pilate was astonished that he could be dead already. He called for the centurion and asked him whether Jesus was already dead. When he was assured by the centurion that it was so, Pilate granted Joseph the corpse and commanded that it be given over to him.

Joseph bought fine linen and came and took the body of Jesus. Nicodemus came also, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight. It was he who had first come to Jesus by night. They then took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.

Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new tomb, where no one had ever been buried. Joseph laid the body in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock, and rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and departed. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were sitting there opposite the sepulcher and saw where he was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath day they rested according to the commandment.

On the next day, the day after the Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees went together to Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember what that imposter said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ Therefore command that the sepulcher be made secure until the third day to stop his disciples from coming and stealing him and saying to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ making the final deception worse than the first.”

Here ends the Reading.

Compline, or Prayer at the Close of the Day, has much in common with this text. Both deal with death. Both are concerned with the creed: I believe in Jesus Christ, who was crucified, died and was buried. The text is the source of this statement of faith. The service is how a Christian lives it out.

For five weeks now we have sung the Nunc Dimittis at the end of Compline. This is where Luther learned it. Lutherans then added it to the end of the Divine Service. The music sounds medieval because it is—Gregorian chant to be more precise.

The psalm-like sentence at the beginning and end is called an antiphon—another contribution from the Middle Ages. “Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping that awake we may watch with Christ and asleep we may rest in peace.” We have seen the Lord’s salvation in Christ and we are comforted. We echo the words of Simeon holding the infant Christ in His arms.

Where does death fit into all of this? Compline helps us see going to sleep as a little death, so that when our death comes, we will see it as no more frightening than a good night’s sleep. This is the lullaby of the Church.

As human beings, we are often reminded of the 100% mortality rate of being human. We are not alone. Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried. We are wrong to think of death as the end. We will die, yes, but Jesus died, too. And what happened to Him after that? He rose again. And because He rose, you will rise. Death’s power has been put to death by Jesus’ death. Now it is merely a portal to life eternal. And then comes the resurrection, judgment, and for you, the new heaven and new earth. That is the eternal significance of Jesus’ cross.

Next week, join me for chapel at 8:05 on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We will observe the Holy Three Days with Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services at 7 on those evenings. And then, the golden Resurrection of Our Lord. Amen.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Sermon for 17 March 2013, Fifth Sunday in Lent C

Rev. Paul J Cain, Jr.

Isaiah 43: 16-21

That They Might Declare My Praise

Fifth Sunday in Lent, 17 March 2013

Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, Wyoming

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

About the Cover: Our God is always up to new things. He delights to form for Himself a people from all nations who belong to Him. They are shaped by His Word, around which they [are] gather[ed]. His Word fills their mouths with praise as they declare His mighty deeds to one another and to the world. They have no righteousness but Christ’s. He is the cornerstone that makes this new people of God one.

Consider the situation of the prophet Isaiah by the time he shares God’s Word in chapter 43: The people are discouraged. God promises to bring them out of captivity as He did before during the exodus. Even the words the Lord puts in Isaiah’s mouth borrows the language of crossing the Red Sea on the way to the promised land.

¹⁶ Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, ¹⁷ who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior;        they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: ¹⁸“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. ¹⁹Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

Can you picture Moses holding up his hands as the Lord holds back the water so the people of Israel can cross the Red Sea on dry ground? Chariot and horse soldiers of Pharaoh pursue God’s people. And once the people are safely across, Moses’ hands come down and the waters with them, army and warrior lie down in death, quenched like a wick. When the Lord’s is the will, He makes a way.

The Lord had given the people a meal, celebrated annually, to recall His mighty work in bringing them out of the bondage of slavery. The Passover meal of lamb, wine, and flatbread recalled the death of all firstborn in Egypt, a meal ate in haste on the way out of Egypt. The people were to have a weekly “mini Passover” in addition to the annual Feast. They were to remember the Lord’s work for them forever. It likely came as a surprise to the faithful people, God’s holy remnant, when they heard the Lord’s prophet declare: ¹⁸“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. ¹⁹Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

Remember not? What could be so important that its new reality would cause the exodus to pale in comparison? What is this new thing?

Christians are rightly suspicious of the “new.” “New and improved” tends to be a marketing slogan. We might think of a “Top 40” countdown of new pop or country songs. There’s a short shelf-life for both. “New” in the church most often means a departure from Biblical teaching and practice. The best “new” thing we have is the New Testament—Jesus Himself. He sets us free from sin, death, and Satan. He remembers us forever. He gives us a meal of forgiveness, life, and salvation.

The Promised Land was a disappointment in many ways. It had nothing to do with the place itself. The problem lay within the hearts of the people who dwelt there.

Abraham and Sarah were promised descendants like the number of stars in the sky and the sands of the seashore. They sinned in trying to make God’s promise fulfill itself through another woman, Hagar, and the son she bore to Abraham, Ishmael, rather than waiting for the Lord’s way in the Lord’s time.

Joseph was favored by his father. His brothers were jealous. So, they sold him into slavery and faked his death. Famine afflicted the land. Egypt was a storehouse of food thanks to that same faithful servant of God, Joseph. The nation found refuge, but it came at a high cost: slavery.

The forty years in the wilderness were a consequence for sin, particularly the sins of idolatry, doubt, and grumbling. First there was the golden calf. The people then followed their stomachs instead of the Lord even though He provided manna, water, and quail. And then they feared those who occupied the Promised Land that the Lord had already given into their hand. It would be up to the next generation under Joshua and Caleb to claim their homeland in the name of the Lord.

The Promised Land was a disappointment in many ways. The problem lay within the hearts of the people who dwelt there. They showed their lack of faith in thought, word, and deed, by what they did and especially in what they left undone.

It is up to the Lord to be faithful, drawing His people back to Himself. His people are His because of His doing, not because of theirs, nor our doing. And so He accomplishes the impossible. The Promised Land, a land of milk and honey, a land made desolate and unproductive as punishment for the unfaithfulness of the people, is made lush and fruitful again. All of creation will cry out because His people largely have not.

The Lord says: I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. ²⁰The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, ²¹the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.

The Lord always makes a way. The Lord gathered to Himself a people for a purpose. The Promised Land was part of the benefit of being the faithful people of God. He gives His gifts for His own purpose: for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise. O Lord, open our lips!

Do not expect His gifts if you do not declare the praises of God.

We can learn from God’s ancient people. I pray that we do learn from the counter-example of all who reject, neglect, ignore, or profane the Lord’s name, God’s Word, and a lifestyle and practice that honors Christ Jesus. Consider Patrick.

LSB Commemoration Biographies: Patrick is one of the best-known of the missionary saints. Born to a Christian family in Britain around the year 389, he was captured as a teenager by raiders, taken to Ireland, and forced to serve as a herdsman. After six years he escaped and found his way to a monastery community in France. Ordained a bishop in 432, he made his way back to Ireland, where he spent the rest of his long life spreading the Gospel and organizing Christian communities. He strongly defended the doctrine of the Holy Trinity in a time when it was not popular to do so. His literary legacy includes his autobiography, Confessio, and several prayers and hymns still used in the church today. Patrick died around the year 466. [Patrick preached a faithful Christ in the midst of an unfaithful people.]

The New Song the Old Testament predicts is Jesus Himself. Jesus is the person and teaching of the New Testament. Today we feast on the New Testament of His Body and His Blood for the forgiveness of our sins, tasting and seeing for ourselves that the Lord is good.

The Lord still gathers to Himself a people. And He has done so again this morning. He blesses us that we may be a blessing: for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.

About the Cover: Our God is always up to new things. He delights to form for Himself a people from all nations who belong to Him. They are shaped by His Word, around which they gather. His Word fills their mouths with praise as they declare His mighty deeds to one another and to the world. They have no righteousness but Christ’s. He is the cornerstone that makes [us,] this new people of God one. Amen.

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