Jacob Hercamp – Page 6 – What Does This Mean?

St. Mary Magdalene: Another Unlikely Saint

Today, the church remembers and celebrates St. Mary Magdalene. Before the new hymnal came out, the appointed Gospel lesson was Luke 7:36-50. There, we hear about an unnamed prostitute anointing the head and feet of Jesus while He ate with a pharisee. We learn more about Mary from the next chapter of Luke’s gospel: she had seven, yes, seven demons cast from her. Put that all together and you a picture of a woman who knew God’s grace and knew it came from Jesus, God’s own Son in the flesh. It makes complete sense that she stuck so close to Jesus, following him and providing for him and the disciples out of their means.

You might say Mary is an unlikely saint, but becoming a saint is not something that we do for ourselves. No, God must do the work of making saints. Just as He did for Mary, He has done for you.

Just think about who God chooses to be his own. Abraham, he was the son of an idolater and a liar, as the story in Egypt shows. Jacob was a deceiver. Judah took a prostitute, who happened to be the wife of his dead son. David, the best of the Old Testament Kings, had a man killed because he would not lay with his wife to cover up the fact that David had taken her for himself and that a child was on the way. The ones chosen by God are not saintly by the world’s standards at all. And that’s just in the Old Testament! The new testament is just as littered with unlikely saints, Paul being the most profound.

But that is what our Lord does. He does not find saints, instead he makes them. He makes saints out of sinners. He takes hold of them, gives them his love, through his Son Jesus, and says, “Forgiven, free, mine!” He makes them clean; He cleanses them just as He cleansed you by water and the word to be his holy bride. And that’s no matter who you are. Jesus wants you for Himself. He came that you might be His and His alone.

You may have heard of the book The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, maybe not. It’s a riveting tale of fiction that depicts that Mary Madgalene was the wife of Jesus in an earthly sense. And that Jesus was a mere human. Scripture and the Church Fathers never say such a thing.

The Bride of Christ is His Church—the whole Church. Mary, like you and I, are members of this body. You and I, along with Mary, are the bride of Christ by faith. Christ has made Himself one flesh with us. Christ has given us all that He is and all that He has. Christ went so far as to die for us, that having cleansed by his own blood, He might present to himself a clean and perfect bride. This bride did nothing to deserve Christ’s love and devotion. This bride did not take hold of Christ, but Christ sought her out and made her His bride. He clung to her even through death, and He still clings to her now that she might be with Him always.

Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb that first Easter all upset, empty, and drained from the previous day’s events. Before Jesus, she was the prostitute and woman with seven demons. Her life was a living hell. Then Jesus took hold of her. She was granted new life in Him, but as she walked to the tomb had hell really won? Had death and hell taken Jesus away from her? The images of the cross and the sound of the stone being rolled in front of the tomb screamed, “Yes!”

But the tomb is empty when she walks up. However, her thoughts only make her feel worse. Had someone stolen the body? Where did they take him?

“Why are you weeping?” The angels know the truth of the resurrection, but Mary is unable to consider the resurrection. “Why are you weeping?” asked the man, whom she assumed to be the gardener. She is standing outside of a tomb. Why do you think she would be crying? Dead men don’t rise.! She still is looking for the dead body and asks for the location.

Then the most perfect word comes from the mouth of this man: “Mary.” The Shepherd calls His sheep by name. Mary knows. She goes to Him and does not plan to ever let Him go again. However, Jesus has one more thing to teach Mary. “I am giving you my body and blood to cling to in a better and even fuller way, a way for all people to cling to me. You shall cling to me by Word and Sacrament. And most importantly, I will cling to you, that you have life everlasting.”

That is what we have. We have a Lord and Savior who clings on to us. It is He who makes us His saints. Unlikely and full of sin as we are, yet He loves us just as He loved Mary. That same mercy and grace that was shown to her is shown to you day in and day out. Recall how Christ called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light via the waters of holy baptism. Look to the altar and recall the sacrifice Christ made, giving up his body and shedding his blood for you and your forgiveness. All works done by Christ for you to make you his own.

So let us take our place at the table of unlikely saints with St. Mary and receive again that grace and mercy of Bridegroom Jesus Christ and rejoice in the love shown to us all. Christ has made his Bride forever.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville, Indiana

Ezekiel: The Prophet In Exile

Ezekiel was a prophet during the age of exile. His name can be translated as “Strength of God; whom God will strengthen; God is strong; the man of God strengthens.” And really, his name plays a role in the man’s nature. He needed the strength of God, like his contemporaries, to grasp and trust in the work that God was accomplishing before the eyes of all the nations.

We see Ezekiel mentioned by name twice in the Bible (Ezekiel 1:3; 24:24). The same name also appears in 1 Chronicles 24:16, but there the man is a priest during the days of David and translated as Jehezkel. All we know of the exilic prophet comes from the book attributed to him.

Ezekiel and his life are inseparable from the political upheaval of the seventh and sixth centuries BC. It is likely that Ezekiel was a young contemporary of Jeremiah. If Ezekiel was in his “thirtieth year” when he experienced his inaugural vision and received his call to be a mouthpiece of the Lord, he would have been a boy when Hilkiah the priest discovered the Book of the Law in the Temple in Jerusalem (2 Kings 22). It is conceivable since Ezekiel was of a priestly family (Son of Buzi, of the line of Aaron), he may have witnessed his own family members carrying out the idols at Josiah’s command, only to return a generation or two later.

In 605 BC, Ezekiel’s world shifted as Nebuchadnezzar II came to the throne of Neo-Babylonian Empire. Nebuchadnezzar was able to drive Egypt out of region of Israel, and the Babylonian forces carried off the first wave of Judaeans. This likely was the group that included Daniel and his three friends. Ezekiel was carried to Babylon around 597, when Jehoiachin surrendered to Babylon, but remained in place as king. But that was not the end of things for Jerusalem. Ezekiel prophesied in Exile, warning what was to come upon Jerusalem. Jerusalem was sacked in 587 BC. Ezekiel never left Babylon. Early Jewish tradition (The Lives of the Prophets) recounts that Ezekiel died in Chaldea for having rebuked a leader of the Judaean exiles for worshipping idols.

As God’s mouthpiece to those in exile, Ezekiel frequently performed sign-acts to get the message across. Ezekiel carried in his body the oracles he proclaimed. During his ministry as the mouthpiece of God, Ezekiel is rendered unable to speak (Ezek 3:22–27; 33:22), move (Ezek 4:4–8), and mourn his wife’s death (Ezek 24:15–27). He also was made to cook food over human and cow dung (Ezek 4:9-17).

Ezekiel’s message is not simply doom and despair over the coming judgment against Jerusalem that came to fruition in 586 BC. Ezekiel, while bearing witness to YHWH’s leaving the Temple in Jerusalem, shows that YHWH did not leave His people while in exile. Instead, He went to His people, foreshadowing how the true temple of God, the Word made Flesh, would come to seek His people like a shepherd seeking lost sheep and make it known to all that He is God. Ezekiel proclaims both God’s Law and His beautiful Gospel for all believers. In the final chapters of his book, Ezekiel writes about the end, prophesying of the glorious temple to come and the water that flows out of it to water trees that bear fruit in all seasons. Ezekiel seems to be picking up Psalm 1 and looking forward to Jesus’ proclamation that He is the water of life (John 4:13-14 and John 7:37-38).

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville, Indiana

Nativity of John the Baptist

Six months is all that separates the Baptist and Jesus, at least by earthly age. And so typically on June 24th, the Church celebrates and remembers the birth of the Baptist. For with his coming into the world, the Sun of Righteousness also would follow soon after.

Zechariah, when he was confronted by Gabriel, was confused and unbelieving of the news that he and Elizabeth would have a son. As part of the sign that Elizabeth would have a son, Zechariah would be mute until the child was born. And when he named the child John, in accordance with what the Angel told him, Zechariah’s mouth was loosed. He could speak. And the people were filled with awe and asked: “What then will this child be?”

Being filled with the Holy Spirit, Zechariah prophesied the song that we commonly call the Benedictus, Latin for “Blessed.” Zechariah’s song does not answer the question of the people right away. He first prophesies of the One that his own son would point to as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

This song is not about John, but about Jesus. And He had actually been in Zechariah’s house for the past 3 months via the womb of Mary. And the redemption of God’s people was the plan from of old as far back as Adam’s fall. John still proclaims that message into your very ears every Advent season, preparing us for the coming of our Lord, the Sun of Righteousness.

Some think John’s preaching is fire and brimstone, and it might be on that side, but how else to rattle and crack the hearts of stone of a dead people? The preaching of repentance puts you to death, but not only that, it raises you to life. John’s preaching causes the Light of the Lord’s mercy to shine upon you. It gives you the new birth of the Holy Spirit, and gives to you the Name of God by his Grace, granting you peace that passes all human understanding. John preaches not his own word but the Word of the Lord, in order that they might be made alive by the Gospel and Comfort of the coming of the Lord Jesus who would die for the sin of the world and be raised from the dead on the 3^rd day and would then lead the way unto everlasting life with the Father in Heaven.

John’ preaching of repentance is the preaching of the forgiveness of sins. But John’s preaching is really the preaching of Christ! And thus by John’s preaching, you are not just prepared for Jesus’ coming, but it is by this way and means that Christ comes to you in love and visits you with tender compassion.

Christ did not just visited Zechariah or the people of Judea and Galilee, but He has come and visits you with tender care and mercy this day. He has redeemed you just as we swore he would do, giving you the forgiveness of sins which He won for you by his cross, now by giving you His body and blood in the Sacrament, the Covenant/Testament of His body and blood. That you may be led in the way of peace forever.

John was the forerunner, the preparer, the preacher who pointed to Jesus without fail. May the preachers of this day follow on coattails of John and continue to preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins, that ears and hearts be prepared to receive Christ now and always, for it is He who has released you from all sins, and has removed from us one and for all fear of death and hell and now guides our feet into the way of Peace.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville, Indiana

The Harvest is Plentiful

Encore Post: Our Lord Jesus Christ liked to use agricultural imagery when teaching about the Kingdom of God. On one such occasion he talked about the sower recklessly sowing his seed. Sowing seed anticipates having a harvest.

In the Midwest United States, corn is finally being planted after a long and grueling winter. The farmers are working hard to prepare the ground for the seed hoping for a bountiful harvest. They fertilize and treat the ground to make the seed bed as fertile as possible.

Likewise the seminaries of Ft. Wayne and St. Louis have been cultivating not the ground but men to serve as pastors. They have worked hard to send these men into the the Lord’s fields to plant the seed of our Lord’s Gospel. Soon they will be planted in their first calls working in the Lord’s fields of their respective congregations. What a joyful time!

Jesus tells His disciples in Matthew 9:37-38, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefor pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into his harvest.” Our Lord anticipates a great harvest not of grain but of souls. But how can there be a harvest if no one hears the Gospel?

It is nothing short of astonishing, at least in my mind, that just as soon as Jesus tells his disciples to pray for more workers he answers his own plea. For in Matthew 10 Jesus answers the prayer. He sends his disciples out, giving them authority but also to preach the kingdom of heaven is at hand. This vocation is serious business. Looking at the end of the Gospel Jesus again gives authority to his disciples, also giving the mandate to baptize and teach the nations all that He taught them.

And these men being called to work in the harvest fields now have the same mandate, to baptize and to teach in their respective congregations. They are to preach Law and Gospel, that by their preaching faith may be created. They are to sow Jesus’ Gospel, to plant that seed. All Pastors are called to be workers in the field. Yet it is the Lord who gives the growth. It He who produces a harvest.

As the Franzmann hymn says in the final stanza, “The Harvest Lord Who gave the sower seed to sow will watch and tend His planted Word.” May we always trust in the Lord and promise that His word never returns void.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville, Indiana

A Walk Through the Liturgy: The Offering

Encore Post: With the conclusion of the singing of the Offertory, the offerings of the church are collected. While we do not often see this in our churches anymore, it was at this time that the bread and wine used for the Sacrament of the Altar would come forward as well. Churches in the Roman Catholic Church and similar traditions have the option to bring up the bread and wine at this time.

Dr. Arthur Just, Jr. in his fine book Heaven on Earth: The Gifts of Christ in the Divine Service talks more about it. He adds, “The bringing forward of the bread and wine is part of the sacrificial part of the liturgy where we offer our gifts to God, including our tithes and offerings. These gifts are given in response to hearing the very words of Jesus in the Gospel and are given in thanksgiving for the gift about to be received…”(Just, 209-210).

We should not think that we are giving to God to earn favor. No, these gives should be given out of the thankfulness of our hearts for the salvation which we have received from Christ. Even if we thought that we could earn God’s favor and blessing by our gifts, our gifts are far too small and minuscule. They are humble things, some money, some bread and wine.

Another way I have been thinking about these gifts is in terms of the feeding of the 5,000. There the people were hungry and only a few loaves and fish were around. They were a humble collection of food, as is bread and wine, but be given into the Lord’s hands, this humble offering He can make it the very food from heaven that satisfies us for everlasting life.

This is also seen in our tithes and offerings of money too. What little offerings we gather in this since also are brought before our Lord and He uses our gold and silver and whatever else we might have to sustain the mission of the local congregation as well as those abroad furthering his Kingdom, that others might know the grace and mercy He has for us for the sake of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville, Indiana

Preparing For Advent: The Introits

Advent begins December 1 and with Advent, which is a time of repentance, prayer, and hope, we prepare for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ to judge both the living and the dead.

One way to prepare ourselves for this visitation and fulfillment of our salvation is to read with great joy are the Introits of Advent. For instance, the first Sunday begins with these words: “Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation.” A little later: “The Lord, he has made his light to shine upon us” (Malachi 4:1–6). This should also remind us of the prophecy of Isaiah, “Those who have dwelt in darkness, on them the light has shined” (Isaiah 9:1–2).

The Introit for the second Sunday of Advent begins this way: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord.” This is directly from the prophecy of Isaiah 40:3–5, concerning the preaching of John the Baptist. He comes to prepare the world for Christ’s ministry. John points us to Agnus Dei, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29–34).

The third Sunday of Advent we have the exhortation of St. Paul on our minds and our lips with “Rejoice in the Lord Always, again I will say Rejoice” (Philippians 4:4–7). Jesus gives us words of comfort in the final days, for when we see the signs of the end of days such as the ones we live in now, we should lift up our heads and rejoice, for the day our salvation is near (Luke 21:25–28). And we will speak of the wonderful and merciful acts of our Lord to all people.

The final Sunday of Advent we pray in the Introit the prayer of Isaiah 64:1 “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence!” The call for Christ to return to this world for final judgement is our prayer. It is another way to say, “Come Lord Jesus, come” (Revelation 22:17–21). For those who hope in the Lord will not be put to shame when day of judgement comes. But rather for the faithful the final day will be a day of great rejoicing. We will be with all the saints who have gone before us in the faith in presence of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I pray that as you prepare for Christmas, you take a moment to read the introits of the Advent Season.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO

The Zeal of the Lord of Hosts will Do This

Encore Post: When I was at seminary, I fell in love with the book of Isaiah. My love for the book has only intensified. This is especially so when it comes to the readings that we just heard from Isaiah for Christmas. Isaiah 9:2-7 is perhaps the most well known prophecy of the coming Messiah. We easily remember the names that Isaiah calls the child who is to be born: “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” But we should not forget the the last sentence of verse 7. It says, “The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will do this.”

That got me thinking more about the Lord’s zeal. What is it? What does it mean that the Lord has zeal? And in which direction is this zeal going?

Yes, what is this zeal? As I studied the word behind the translation “zeal”, the word used is the same word that the Lord uses to describe himself as a jealous God to Israel at Mt. Sinai. There He speaks to Israel displaying to them that they are his possession and no one else’s, and Israel should not chase after false gods because they are the Lord’s chosen. The Lord knows his own, so he desires them for himself and for himself alone.

But in Isaiah, as I traced the word further, I saw that zeal was also connected to the Lord’s promise he made to David. That promise is found in 2 Samuel 7, when the Lord tells David that he will place a son on the throne and he his reign will be forever and it will be a reign of peace.

That is big news! And the first instance of this word in Isaiah as well as Isaiah 37:32-35, “zeal” connects us back to that promise made to David. The child that is born, the son that is given will reign on the throne of David. And it will be so because the zeal of the Lord of Hosts will do this. The Lord remembers his promises and makes them come full circle in the birth of Jesus. He is the King of the Jews, the Son of David, who saves his people and brings peace to all, as the angels declare.

The Lord’s zeal is for his people, whom He works to reconcile unto Himself. And this zeal is seen again in the work that this Son of Isaiah 9 does. He joyfully goes to the cross to bring to us peace! The Lord’s zeal is Jesus’ zeal who cares for us, remembers us, and dies for us that we might be made children of God.

What a zealous God we have, caring for his people, remembering his promises, and by his own zeal makes his promises come true! The zeal of the Lord of hosts has done it and done well for us and our salvation!

Merry Christmas!

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville, Indiana

A Sermon on Deuteronomy 5:32-6:25 for Matins at St. Peter Indy

Note: This sermon was preached before the Confessions Study held on the 3rd Thursday of every month at St. Peter Lutheran Church, Indianapolis, IN. The sermon text comes from the daily lectionary found within Rev. Peter Bender’s Lutheran Catechesis.

Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

“And you shall guard to do all which YHWH your God commands you. You shall not turn to the right or to the left. In all the words which YHWH your God commands you, you shall walk in order that you live and in order that it be good with you, and in order that you may prolong you days on the earth which you will take possession of.” (Dt. 5:31-32My translation)

Those words probably sounded pretty good to the people of Israel when Moses spoke these words to them again. You and I know that this is part of the Mosaic Covenant. All the words which the Lord speaks here to Israel through Moses are contingent upon the works of the people. “You shall observe.” “You must observe every word of the Lord’s commands.” “If you want to live, to truly live, then you must hold to the commands given.” Some people might like their odds with such commands. But you and I both know how Israel fared under such a burden. Peter speaks about the burdens in Acts. The Law is a yoke that no one is able to bear by their own strength. Yet, we have been given these words to live by. So what do we do with them?

Perhaps it’s best we go back to the original context of the covenant. The Lord God heard the groans and the cries of His people Israel. They had been under the burden of the Egyptians, and the Lord God, had promised even further back that He would remember Abraham’s descendants in Egypt and that He would give to them the Land promised to Abraham. The Lord remembered, and He knew what He would do to bring them salvation. The Children of Israel were not perfect before His act of salvation. But instead, the Lord God acted in love and in accordance with His promise made so many years before to Abraham. He brought Israel up out of Egypt by His mighty Right Hand. He bared His arm in triumph over Pharaoh and Egypt. And it is after this act of deliverance that the Lord speaks to Israel at Sinai. Now the Law was already on their hearts, but now at Sinai, the Lord God clarifies how He would continue to bring about the promise He had made to Abraham and to Adam and Eve. Israel, the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, would be a kingdom of priests. They were to be beacons of light; they were to be different from the world because they knew their saving God. They knew His name, and they were to call upon Him. They were to teach and preach to the rest of the nations about their God, the creator of Heaven and Earth, and the one who had redeemed them from the clutches of Egypt, that house of slavery and death.

Like Luther’s explanation of the First Article, God acted first in love. He created, sustained, and defended the children of Israel, so having experienced all that, then it would be Israel’s duty to thank, praise, serve, and obey the Lord their God. Not because Israel was afraid of Him, but because Israel did not wish to “let God down” similar to how a son does not desire to do a crummy mowing job and thus lose the respect of his father. No, the son desires to do good because he knows his father loves him, and he does not want to let him down. Is this not what Israel is called to do as well? To desire to do good because they were God’s chosen possession and instrument to prepare the rest of the nations for the blessing that was to come from the Messiah who was to be born from their line?

But what happened? Rebellion.

Not even 60 days after all the events that transpired to bring Israel from Egypt to Sinai, upon receiving the original stone tablets with all the words of the Law upon it, Israel chased after idolatry. The golden calf was set up and worshipped as if the Lord was a calf. This flew in the face of the command to be different from the nations. Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. And you Shall love the your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with your might.” So much for teaching this to their sons.

But are we, in this generation, any different? How many of our own people fail to teach the word of God to their own children? Have we fallen into the same type of holes? Are we teaching our children well or are we letting the world catechize them? Our children are being catechized one way or the other, may God have mercy on us all.

We have the duty to teach and proclaim the excellencies of Him who brought out of our darkness of sin and eternal death and into His marvelous light. You and I get to do the most amazing job in the world. We get to do it not simply for our children but for the people entrusted to our care in our congregations. We get to speak God’s Word and have it on our mouths as we sit in our houses, we walk by the way, and when we rise up and lie down, as well as our pulpits.

We cannot take this opportunity for granted and we cannot assume that our own children will just grow up and remain Christian because of living with a pastor as a father. There is too much evidence to the contrary. Our Lord tells us to teach, and so we ought to do that.

And if you teach by your own strength, you might do well for a while. But if you teach yet are not being taught and fed yourself, you will be no better than Israel of Old. Your bones will dry up, and you will be spiritless. You and I cannot do teach or even believe in what God has done for us in love by our own reason or strength. God did not send His son for us because of anything you or I have done to earn such a gracious visit, but He did it out of His own compassion and love. He acted first. Be fed His love. Know for yourself who this Lord and God is, know that He has called you His own possession. You are a chosen one. You are made Holy by Him, and you have been granted to hear the words of eternal life as well as believe them. That word first preached to your own ears has gone from the ear to the heart and now from the heart to the mouth so that you might do that which our Lord commands now. You and I are no longer under the curse of the Law, but we are justified on account of the One who has been sent, Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah. It is through Him and Him alone that w are blessed and made new. No longer is the Law of God only there serving to accuse us, but it is there showing us what children of God do because we are God’s children. This is how we live. We live by God’s Word. We live by faith trusting that Christ has come to save. And He grants us strength so that we might live in righteousness and purity before God even now as we receive from Him the forgiveness of sins by the preaching of His and the administration of His Sacraments.

You and I get to know the Lord as the Lord who has created, sustains, redeems, and sanctifies us. And we get to teach this to our children. May we be blessed in the task to raise up our physical children as well as our spiritual children in this holy faith. Let us not lose hope in the midst of this endeavor but cling to the promises of Christ our Lord, who is ever with us in the task. It He who gives the Word. It is He who gives the Growth. It is He who brings His Harvest home. You and I are blessed to be part of the work. God be praised now and ever for what He has done, having sent the only begotten One into the world to make a people for Himself. May we never forget or lose sight of this good and gracious gift which we get to proclaim. The message of Christ Jesus who came to seek and redeem us lost and condemned souls.

In the Holy Name of Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville, Indiana

Worship Note Sheets: A Tool for Confirmation and All Members Alike

Some of you who have followed this blog have read my earlier series “A Walk Through the Liturgy.” I enjoyed writing that series very much as it helped me articulate what I deemed (and still deem) to be some of the more important aspects of why we do what we do in the worship services within the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. But there are other things we can do to help us remember what we have heard in the service and get a better feel for the lectionary and church year in general.

As a confirmation student, I had to do sermon notes. Many of you probably had to do something similar. As a pastor, I have tweaked the formula. The entire service should demand our attention, because sometimes a sermon can be a dud. Thanks be to God that we hear His Word read, and that we are not reliant upon a sermon alone to receive the gifts of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have the entire service through which we receive Christ’s gifts!

So what do I do? I encourage my confirmation students and members to read my “Walk Through the Liturgy,” but then I require worship sheets to be filled out by confirmation students. It is meant to help them get more out off the service, and it should help Moms and Dads lead discussions about what happened in the worship service.

My questions begin with church year and colors. Then I ask about their favorite hymn from the service. Then I ask for a summary of the readings of the day. I don’t want it to be a paragraph. I am only asking for a single sentence for each of the main readings for the day. Then I ask if they find anything that connects the readings together. Again, its not supposed to be a long answer. I want the students to be reading their catechisms in full to help the next question. I also try to make some connection explicitly in my sermon. The same goes for the questions concerning the connections between the readings. Only after these questions do I ask the standard “Law/Gospel” questions for the sermon.

These worship notes are designed to help people of all ages to better retain what they have heard and learned from worship. As attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, consider making your own sheets. While I am not gifted in design, my wonderful wife helped make a sheet that is confined to one sheet of paper. Again, these aren’t supposed to be long treatises, but they can be tailored to your own desires. Over the course of time, you might make other connections you didn’t make the year before, or you might see the same hymn sung on the same Sunday year after year. But why not take up a more active listening role in the pews, so you get as much out of the service as your pastor and organist put into as they planned the hymns around the readings of the day along with the Sacraments of our Lord.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville, Indiana

Worship as Reliance Upon Jesus

When you think of “Worship,” what do you see in your mind’s eye? What do you associate with the term? Do you see “pomp and circumstance”? Do you see a well ordered ritual activity? Do you see hymns and songs of praise? That is all fine and good. But none of that conveys what worship really is.

Worship is reliance, at least that is what Luther and the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church convey. It also is part of the first commandment. “You shall have no other gods,” implies that there is nothing or anyone else upon whom we ought to rely for the needs of body and soul or for the things which lead to everlasting life.

In the Old in particular we have a few instances were the Lord God wants Israel simply to be silent as He works to save them. Exodus 14:14 is a prime example. Israel need only to be silent while the Lord fights for them. Abraham and Sarah are also another example even earlier in the Pentateuch. In their situation, rather than relying solely on the Lord and waiting for Him to act. Sarai persuaded Abraham to take Hagar as a surrogate of sorts. Sarai sought to short-circuit the promise of God and bring it about in a quicker fashion. That is not relying on God. That is not proper worship of the Lord. To worship Him properly is to rely upon Him. What is proper worship is seen in the woman who seeks out Jesus when her daughter is oppressed by a demon. She relies on any word that Jesus speaks. She does not expect a full meal, but merely a bit of the crumbs of His mercy. She lives and breathes that come from the very Word of God made flesh. The woman worships Jesus as she relies upon Him to do what He has promised to do, which is to save her and her daughter from eternal death.

That is why Jesus is adamant when He cries out to those who are weak to come to him so they would have rest. He cries out that He is the bread of life. He is the one that one drinks from in order to have life. He wants you to rely upon Him for your very life!

Since He has accomplished your salvation, receive it from Him. Seek out His absolution. Seek the preaching of His Word. Pray ‘Give us this day our daily bread,” and mean it. To rely upon Him for mercy is to trust Him and His promises. To trust Him is to worship Him. Jesus always delivers what we need for both body and life. Hence, we too can and should see relying upon Jesus as worship of Him.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville, Indiana