Encore Post: During the time of Distribution the congregation will more than likely sing hymns and spend time contemplating the tangible grace of their Lord Jesus Christ that they just received or will receive in the near future. Once the members of the congregation receive the Body and Blood of Christ, the pastor likely will consume whatever remains of the Sacrament. At that time, the congregation will rise to sing the beautiful song known as the Nunc Dimittis or the Song of Simeon.
St. Simeon originally sang these words when he saw the Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple forty days after his birth. For the year 2020, the 40th day after Christmas fell on a Sunday, and the church celebrated the festival known as the Purification of Mary and Presentation of our Lord. The event is recorded for us by St. Luke and is the final canticle of the Divine Service.
And with what joy you also can sing the same words! For you (in the congregation) have been waiting for this moment. In the Service of the Sacrament we are preparing for the coming of the Lord’s anointed. We sing of his coming in the Sanctus. “Blessed is He who comes!” We sing of seeing him at the altar, In His Father’s House, doing His Father’s Work, as the Lamb of God, in the Agnus Dei. And now we rejoice for we have not only seen Him and the salvation He brings for all people, but we have received and we are ready to depart in peace.
Luther does a masterful job in his hymn based off the Nunc Dimittis (938 In Peace and Joy I Now Depart). The Sacrament prepares us to die well. For in the Sacrament we have been granted forgiveness of our sins, which leads us to have confidence in Christ. “Serene and confident my heart; Stillness fills it. For the Lord has promised me That death is but a slumber.” There is also the tradition of singing this hymn at the deathbed, and if the saint dies, the verbs are then said in the past tense. Let us sing the Nunc Dimittis with confidence and joy upon receiving the Body and Blood of Christ as well as all our lives in Christ, for our salvation has been hand delivered by Christ Himself! Depart in peace!
Rev. Jacob Hercamp St. Peter’s Lutheran Church La Grange, MO
Encore Post: During two seasons of the Church Year, the Gloria in Excelsis (Glory to God in the Highest) is absent from the Liturgy.
During the rest of the church year, when Pastor and congregation finish singing the tri-fold Kyriethere is a very short line that is sung solely by Pastor. “Glory be to God on High!” And immediately the whole congregation join in singing “And on earth, peace good will toward men.” It’s as if the Pastor and congregation are reenacting the events of Christ’s birth according to Luke 2:8-14.
The Pastor and congregation join in that wonderful song with the Angels and all the company of Heaven (similarly to the Sanctus). But why does Pastor have the first line by himself? Perhaps, and this my speculation, it has to do with the fact that the Pastor is the “Angel” to the congregation. “Angel” means messenger. And in the book of Revelation, Jesus tells John to write the seven letters to the seven angels of the churches. The angels are the pastors of those churches. The pastor is the messenger sent by God to this congregation to announce the good news of Christ Jesus, that in Him we have forgiveness of sins and peace with God. Pastors proclaim the same peace sung by the angelic host to those in the congregation! With such news of forgiveness for the sake of the Son, Jesus Christ, it is only right and proper for the congregation to join in the hymn of the heavenly host.
But the words of the Gloria go further than just the words of the angels on the night of Christ’s birth. We know the full story of Christ’s birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension for our salvation via the Gospels. The canticle hymn of praise hits all of these facets for which we ought to praise God for what He has done to save us from our sins and give to us His peace. With this hymn we have a fitting close to a little portion of the service, singing praise for the forgiveness of sins just recently announced upon us for the sake of Christ Jesus. We are ready now for the Collect of the Day and the readings of the Day.
Rev. Jacob Hercamp St. Peter’s Lutheran Church La Grange, MO
With yesterday we looked at how Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, how He humbled himself to the place of servant even though He was the master, and the one who deserved to be served. He served His disciples last night attempting to prepare them for the greater service and humiliation of the very Son of God going to the cross for the sin of the world.
To suffering the Lamb goes. And all this He does willingly out of His great an amazing love for you. No sin too great no sin too small. All sins are dealt with on this day once and for all. The wrath for all the sin of the world is poured out on this one Man, the God-Man, Jesus Christ. Poured out on Him instead of you. And He loves you so much that He would rather take upon Himself the punishment than see you languish under the eternal condemnation of the Law. It’s a Good Friday for you.
Last night we heard how the Lord’s love is continual and perpetual. He loves His own until the end. And today my dear friends in Christ Jesus, this love is made even more manifest for you. Behold the very Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is the One who takes your sin away. He is the one who pours out his blood for you and for your salvation. God became man for this very day, to serve you in this way. It’s a Good Friday for you.
Know His love, feel His embrace. See how He loves His own. How he nurtures and takes care of His bride. He lays down His life. By His stripes we are healed. He drinks the cup put before Him and fills that cup now with His own blood that we might have His life in us. And have it abundantly at that. It’s a Good Friday for you.
The cross that was a barren thing, a couple pieces of dead wood nailed together are now the place where life is given to you freely. It is your tree of life. You have your life because of the Life that hangs on the tree. He pours out His blood, and gives it you. Come and receive your life from His cross. Eat of his flesh and drink of his blood for these you have His love and His life now in you. It’s a Good Friday is for you.
See the Love of God in the Suffering Servant, your Lord Jesus, who set Himself like flint to go to the cross for you and your salvation, loving you unto the end. He has done it. The battle done. And you have life and have it abundantly for his sake.
Look to the cross and rejoice for the One who was long promised to come, has come. He has shown Himself by His self-sacrificial love, and He still showers us with His love and mercy via the preaching of His Word and Administration of His Sacraments. Sing the praise of Him who died upon the cross. And look to the cross for all mercy. Live in its shadow. By that, I mean to say come often to where the gifts of the Christ’s cross are given to you. Come then to the altar and have your eyes be fixed on Jesus on the cross. Baptism and Christ’s Supper only have their power by the event of the cross. By these Sacraments you are brought to the cross, and your eyes oriented on Christ’s sacrifice and love for you. It’s a Good Friday for you.
In the account of St. John 13 from last night, Jesus told His disciples where He was going the disciples could not come at first. He is speaking about the cross. He is speaking about his death. He must confront and battle Satan and death and defeat them for us. And by His death He conquers death once and for all. Death is swallowed up. Death took a bite of the wrong guy for He has power over death. And so now you do not need to fear death but rather look to the cross and our Lord’s passion. The cross takes the terror of death away. For your sins are taken away for the sake of Him who died for you loving you unto the end. It’s a Good Friday for you.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Rev. Jacob Hercamp St. Peter’s Lutheran Church La Grange, MO
Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
It is often the case that what Jesus preaches and teaches one day, He reinforces again not too many days later. In the parable from last week, Jesus spoke about the seed which is sown and how it grows. He took us back to the image of creation. We were reminded that He himself identified as the Seed of the Woman who would come and make things new, reconciling us back to God. He came into the world, becoming flesh, to save fallen humanity from eternal death and hell. He was making things new by sowing into our hearts and the hearts of all mankind His Word via the preaching of those He has sent to sow the Word abroad.
Jesus’ words have power. They God’s Word, for He is God. His Words are life giving. If the winds and the sea obey His Words, do you not think we should fear Him? If He can make the natural world listen to Him, do you not think He can also bring about disaster by one little word too? We are right to fear Him. Jesus does have power over wind and sea, but He has power over all things. And He as a man born of the blessed Virgin has been given power, dominion, and authority over all things, and will execute that power on the last day. And He do all this as a man.
The disciples and we too should really not receive the mercies that we do. We gripe about a lot of different things. We are bound to say something like this: “Life isn’t fair God. You took the love of my life from me via cancer. You gave me bad eyes. Can’t you see this congregation of yours is perishing? What are you doing? What did we do? Do you care, God, that your servants are languishing under this suffering?” Have many of those things reverberate in your mind? Have we done what Job did and say that we are pure and without transgression, that we are clean and there is no iniquity in me? Are we too good for all these bad things to happen to us? Are we just innocent victims of all this? Or are we getting something that we deserve. The truth is if we got what we truly deserved it would be a drowning in the boat, eternal death and hell for us all. For nothing in us is good, our hearts continually commit evil. There is none of us who are good, no not one. We are full of sin of one kind or another, deserving the full wrath of God.
When the disciples cry out, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Christ our Lord shows His compassion and mercy upon the poor disciples. So also, He shows us mercy when don’t deserve it. The Lord Jesus loves us, as He loved Job and His disciples. He brought them to repentance and faith by the preaching of His Word. You get a bit of that preaching from Him in Job, and you hear the disciples question who Jesus is because they were still filled with fear of what they had just witnessed. Both Job and the disciples saw Jesus doing what Jesus does. He has command over all creation. He is great, they are small and lowly. They fear, but He has mercy on those who fear Him. He speaks, creating in them repentance and faith. The disciples were learning to trust what Jesus said because when He speaks the thing which He speaks happens.
Jesus, who is the Word of God incarnate, has power over wind and sea. It is only fitting then that the Word which He speaks also has the power to create faith in His people. Think about the man who was paralyzed. Not only did Jesus forgive the man’s sins but also told him to rise and walk in order to show that the Son of Man had authority to forgive sins. All of it happened instantly. The seed is sown and faith grows in the heart. A new creation begins. This is a faith which clings to Christ’s Word, rightly fearing Him, but also loving Him because His Word is not just a word that rains down gloom and doom but rather the promise of the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life in Him because He poured out His blood at the cross for the world, for you.
Christ promises to build His church on earth, and by Him speaking it, so shall it be. And so, if we take this a step further, Jesus showers upon all the world his forgiveness by the preaching of his atoning sacrifice at the cross, His resurrection from the dead for our justification, as well as his Ascension to the right hand of the Father, from thence He now rules over His Church on Earth until He returns the same way He came into Heaven. You hear His Word, so you receive Him, and you grow in your faith in Him.
If Jesus is indeed God, what is for Him to tell His Disciples that Baptism is the means by which a person enters into the Kingdom of God, and is cleansed from all sin? Jesus’ Word does what it says. The same for Holy Communion. What is it for Jesus to take up bread and say to His disciples, “Take and it, this is My body?” And taking a cup and saying, “Take and drink all of you, this cup is the New Testament in my Blood for the forgiveness of your sins?” If he has power over wind and sea, certainly He has power over bread and wine and they will be exactly what He says they are.
So why do we doubt what He says, when wind and sea obey Him? Why do we doubt that Christ has come to give us forgiveness of sins and everlasting life with Him, purchased and won by his sacrifice at the cross? Have we fallen into the lie of Satan that God does not really love us but rather would love to see us perish in anguish? If that be so, why did He not just let the boat perish? Why did God not just allow Satan to take Job at the beginning? Why did God take Israel out of Egypt? The Israelites believed that God was going to just kill them in the desert. But the Lord God is not sadistic. But He teaching us His way. Suffering comes before exaltation, even for the only begotten Son Jesus Christ. He is not exalted before His suffering and death on the cross. So, we trust in what our Lord is doing, because by these things we are being brought to a right and proper knowledge, fear, love and trust in our Lord that we may be saved from eternal torment.
The 2nd commandment, which we recited this morning, deals with the name of the Lord. In all times and situations, we are called to call upon Him. In times of suffering call upon Him. In times of temptation, call upon Him. In times of thanksgiving, call upon Him. You have that right, for you are his child and He your Father by the waters of Holy Baptism. He has placed His name upon you at Holy Baptism. He has marked you His own child by the sign of the cross, so talk to your Heavenly Father. In other words, pray to Him. It does not need to be anything polished. Most of the time it will be like the disciples in our reading calling out our gripes and our fears. But this is what our Lord desires because He loves granting you mercy and love. That is His nature. “Call upon me in your day of trouble, I will deliver you and you will honor me.” Our Lord desires to hear our prayers.
Our Lord especially loves to hear you tell Him what He has promised He will do. A prayer might be something like this, “Lord God, you have promised all things work for the good of those who love you. Grant me courage to trust your promise as I carry the heavy burden of cancer in my body. I do not know why you laid this upon me, but help me O Lord to put my trust in you to carry me through the trials and tribulations, as you have promised to do, for the sake of my Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.” Or it might be even less, “God, you promised. Now help me in my sufferings!” Our Lord binds up those who are suffering and are hurting, and renews their strength. Now it may not be exactly what we expect. Healing may not come in this life time, but it will be done because He has spoken, and He will do it.
So come to Him, as children come to their dear Father, and receive from Him everything He has for you in Christ Jesus, who lived, died, and rose that you might know the fullness of God’s love for you. In Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Rev. Jacob Hercamp St. Peter’s Lutheran Church La Grange, MO
Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
The words of our Lord Jesus should make your ears perk up, as it most assuredly made the ears of His original hearers perk up. Seed, sower, and ground. A word picture of creation. That is what you see when a seed is scattered on the ground, it sprouts up and begins to produce its flower and fruit or grain. It just happens. And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind (Gen 1:11-13). So also, in the beginning when God gave dominion to man and woman, He said to them, “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen 1:26-28) They were to grow and scatter, filling the earth, living before the Lord God forever in gladness.
But the unthinkable happened, the serpent, the murderer from the beginning, came and brought upon Adam and Eve and the fruit of their union and every union since, death (Gen 3:1-19) You plant a seed, but you bury a body. A planted seed sprouts, a buried body is food for the worms. The children of Adam and Eve would be going back to the dust from which they came without any hope.
But in this moment of utter disaster, when all hope of living before God was lost, the Lord God came to the defense of Adam and Eve and spoke that beautiful promise you heard last week. A new Seed, the Seed of the woman who would come and defeat the serpent at his dirty game. This Seed would be planted into the earth and would bear the fruit which the Old Adam no longer could even dream of producing before God.
The Seed is none other than Jesus Christ. His father sent Him, and He was planted into the womb of the Virgin Mary by the preaching of the Angel Gabriel. He was born to the Virgin, in the town of Bethlehem. He came just like a tiny mustard seed in the eyes of the world. Hardly a soul paid a bit of attention to the babe in the stable. And this Seed would grow in wisdom and stature. He was becoming like the noble cedar prophesied by Ezekiel in our reading from his great prophetic book.
It is He who came to crush the head of the serpent. Jesus reminded His disciples in what manner this would come about. In John 12 Jesus says, “Truly, Truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” There are those who would say Jesus is wrong, that the bible has an error here. A seed has to germinate to produce fruit say the scientists, and they are true. But this Seed, Jesus, He must die in order for you to have life again. He is speaking about the manner in which your redemption would come about. He must go to the cross and die and be buried and in three days rise from the dead. He gives up His life for you. Paul says in his first epistle to the Corinthians, “Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20-28). Jesus went through death and rose from the dead that you, who confess faith in Him, would as well.
The cross of Jesus is the tree which is the refuge of all who are weak and heavy laden with sin and sorrow in this life. Come and take up refuge here in its shadow. The benefits of Christ’s cross comes to you in the Sacraments which Christ our Lord instituted. Through them you are given the fruits of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. Your sins are forgiven. They are washed away by His cleansing blood. You are made new in Christ Jesus in the waters of Holy Baptism. You are made in the image of a new seed, the kind that no longer dies. You will live forever with Christ in the Kingdom that has no end. Your faith is sustained in the eating and drinking of his body and blood.
This is the message which we have received by the preaching of God’s Ministers of the Gospel. This is the promise of Christ Jesus by which you have been called to faith in Him. That yes, while still live in our sinful flesh and still sin much because we fall into many temptations, we have a Lord who has come and has saved us from the wages of sin. Death no longer has dominion over Him, and by faith in Him it no longer has dominion over us. This is our confession. Indeed, we deserve punishment and eternal death for our sins, but for the sake of Jesus our Lord who died for us, we have the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation in His Name. Thanks be to God. We have found shade and refuge in our Lord Jesus Christ.
The world does not look favorably upon our Lord, His cross, our His sowers of the blessed Gospel. But the Word of our Lord is powerful, and will sustain you unto the time that the Lord deems the harvest ready. His Word speaks to you, you literally have the seed planted into you by the preaching of it, and it sprouts and faith grows in the fertile heart. God sends His Word, and it will not return to Him void. Therefore do not stop being edified by the word of God and the preaching thereof. Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. Joyfully hear Christ’s Words for you in order that you be sustained in this faith delivered to you in the waters of Holy Baptism as you traverse this life. Remember you are not alone as you walk in this world. He promises He is with you and never will leave you nor forsake you.
He promises He will create something new. And He has by His Son’s death and resurrection. We may not look like much right now in the world — nothing more than the tree from Charlie Brown’s Christmas — but we appear glorious in the eyes of our heavenly Father. John the beloved disciples says, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”
And you are sustained by the hearing of His Word and the reception of His Sacrament, His Body and His Blood. You are being kept safe in His love, the love poured out for you at His cross. And being seed of His kind by the waters of Baptism, you will bear the same fruit. You are called to a life faith in the Lord as well as a live of service and love to one another. As Paul said last week, “so we believe, so we speak.” So, speak about the new creation you are because of Christ Jesus because He has come to save you. You are of good seed, seed that is imperishable. We are called to talk about what has happened to us in Christ Jesus. It might not look like much with earthly eyes, but the message is true. Let hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
The Sower of Christ’s Word is called to simply sow the Word abroad. God, Himself, gives the growth. And the seed will grow where it will in the time that God has appointed. We will likely not see the fruits of such scattering, but rejoice and be glad that you are called to the labor of proclaiming Christ to those who surround you in this life. And rejoice all the more if the Lord lets you see the fruits of faith come to maturity in those you have spoken the good news of Christ. The Kingdom might look tiny, just like the baby in a manger, or man naked on a cross, but what we are is known to God, and I hope it known also in your conscience. You are of good seed, you are Christ’s. Therefore, you are a new creation and will be numbered with the fruit following the firstfruits of Christ.
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Adam and Eve were in great shape. They had been blessed by the Lord, commanded to have dominion over the earth, to be fruitful and multiply. They were living a good life in the garden, the home prepared for them by the Lord their God. But it wasn’t very long before the serpent came tempting. Eve was simply outmatched; the serpent was stronger than Eve who tried to put somewhat of a defense. Adam on the other hand was less than impressive not saying a single word against the assault of the serpent upon Eve. He was there the entire time at her side, but Adam, who should have been protecting Eve from the serpent, did nothing. Adam failed his wife that day. With their fall, no longer listening to and doing the will of God, they were cast out of the house and family of God. Adam and Eve were strong but the serpent was stronger, and so he bound them and took them as his bounty. He took them into his house of death.
Adam and Eve were now slaves in a strong man’s house. Stuck in sin, slaves to it and their passions, they and their children would meet their eternal deaths. They would be under the burden of their sin, and would face the temporal consequences. The earth would no longer give up its bountiful harvests. Children would not come easily for husband and wife, and if they were to have one or two, rearing children would be its own difficult task. And wife’s desire would be to supplant husband as head of household, and man would then seek to rule over her, neither of which lead to a happy and successful marriage. Rather, strife ensues. Stuck in the strong man’s house, the house of the serpent, to whom they had hooked their wagons when taking the fruit, desiring to be wise, they now were being led to eternal death.
You are the sons of Adam and daughters of Eve. Do you do your own will? Or do you listen to and do God’s will? Do you know His Will? The strong man, Satan, makes you wonder just like he made Eve. And we without the calling of the Holy Spirit in Gospel are bound to believe Satan. Is God’s will actually good for me? He would also lie and say no.
But yet, what if I told you, God’s will is right under your nose, and that it is really good for you? If you answered you did not know God’s will, you are welcome to open your bible and read. Our Lord’s will is made known to you, because God’s Word is His will. It is plain and simple right in front of you. He had given Adam and Eve His will by speaking to them the words concerning this tree. “Let us make man in our image” the Lord said. Creating Adam and Eve and every single of you was His Will. “You shall not eat of the tree in the middle of the garden, for the moment you do, you shall surely die.” More of God’s will was made known to Adam and Eve. Every tree is given you for food, except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That was God’s will.
After our mother and father fell – and plunging all of humanity with them into the depths of death and sin – God’s will is for redemption to take place. He does not utterly destroy His creation in those tense moments after the first sin, but He shows His intense love for it. He makes the promise to save Adam and Eve and all their children who would follow in their sinful ways. Our Lord’s love for His creation never changes. The Lord would save it via the seed of the woman.
Now a woman does not have a seed. She has an egg. This is no ordinary child promised to be born of the woman. He can’t be born the natural way otherwise he would carry the sin of Adam and Eve. But God the Holy Spirit would overshadow Mary and she would give birth to Jesus the very Son of God, and He would live, fight and die for our redemption against the strong man, Satan. For when He looks at us, He sees his mother, sisters, and brothers. Jesus, our Lord came into the world, the devil’s playground, or as others call it, enemy occupied territory, to take for Himself that which was His from the beginning. He, the stronger man, came to bind the strong man, Satan, that He might have His inheritance. His inheritance is you and all the faithful of God. It is you in whom our Lord Jesus Christ delights. And He delighted in you from the moment of creation and even after the fall. His delight in us is made known to us in and through our Lord’s incarnation, life, and ultimately his death on the cross. He did the will of His Father that you might be welcomed back into the family and household of God for the sake of Christ who died and rose for you.
You then, are no longer a slave in the house of Satan; death has no dominion over you because your Lord Jesus has come and has bound Satan by defeating Him at the cross. Death had no hold on Him, and because you have been brought to the waters of Holy Baptism and have been washed in the Water and Word, you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. He, who bound himself to our flesh by His incarnation, now binds you to Himself in the waters of Holy Baptism forever. Rejoice and be glad for He has redeemed you. You are made new and the new man stands and lives before God, ready to do His will, joyfully hearing His Word and trusting in it for everlasting life.
We are led to believe that God’s will for us is something that is extremely personal. I have heard many a prayer asking for God to show His will for a certain person’s life. A question might be posed this way: What is God’s will for me in this life? Maybe it is a prayer in the imperative command, “Lord, show me your will!” We might think we don’t know it, but its most likely we have failed to pay attention to His Word, which is His Will. They are one and the same. The will of your Father in heaven is for you listen to the words of His Son and believe Him that you might be saved from everlasting death and hell. That is God’s will for you and all humanity. Christ says, “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.” Ultimately it comes down to the first commandment, do you believe in the God who says, “You shall have no other gods before me” or do you not? Do you believe the words of the Incarnate Son of God, who in His pre-incarnate state spoke the Ten commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai, or do you not? Are you going to trust in what Jesus says or are you going to put your trust and your hope in something else?
To whose house do you belong? The house of death? Or the house of life? “Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” These words should make us at least look at our lives and ask if we are really doing God’s will. Are we listening to His Word and believing it as He has spoken? Have we tried to lessen some of the burdens of God’s Word because we don’t like what it says because it may be hard to hear and pierces the heart? When we try to form God or Jesus into something other than what He has said about Himself in His Word we are creating an idol, who is really not God at all.
Repent, and confess your sins and believe in the one who has redeemed you and forgives your sins against God’s will, Jesus Christ. That is is the will of God the Father, for your to believe in His Son and be raised to everlasting life on the last day.
While we wait for that day, we live here and now. Strive in this life to do better in keeping your Lord’s Word front and center in your lives. Fight against your sinful and lazy flesh. Do not roll over on your pillow and attend St. Snooze away on Sunday mornings. Go to your pastor’s bible studies, be in God’s Word so that God’s Word is active in your life, come to the rail and receive all of Christ’s gracious gifts for you. Do not put your faith in a box only to be opened on Sunday mornings, but rather what you hear on Sunday mornings concerning your Lord Jesus and what He has done for you by his death and resurrection should affect every aspect of your life.
Do not just shrug your shoulders when you get the urge to write a note of encouragement to a friend. Do not lie to your mom about having cleaned your room, but rather do the job in the manner she desires and expects. Parents, do not sit idly by when you see your children doing something that will undoubtedly create lasting damage to their faith. In other words, fight against the one who tempts you, for the One who lives in you by Holy Baptism is stronger than the tempter. Confess your sins, but also confess your faith in the stronger man Jesus, who came to die that you might be saved from the house of death. And you now, being bound to Christ by Holy Baptism, have the victory over Satan. Just as Jesus crushed the head of the serpent, so you now are able to tread upon Him because of being bound to Christ. The stronger man has come and bound him who had you bound. You are free. And you’re made a child of household of God. Do not forget whose family you now belong. Trust in our Lord’s abundant promises. Sins are forgiven because of Christ’s bitter sufferings and death in your place at the cross.
You have the same spirit of faith within you as did St. Paul. We then with him should believe and thus speak. We should be speaking this good news that Jesus has bound the strong man, Satan, that all the world might live in peace before our Lord and God forever doing His Will. Things do not look all that good if you look around the world, our own bodies are showing their wear and tear, yet we have the promise to which we have been called, a promise which God our Lord has called all people to believe. And He who has redeemed us now comes to us with His mercy and grace, bestowing to us His body and blood as a pledge and token of the marriage feast that has no end. And He says to you, welcome home my children. Welcome home.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Rev. Jacob Hercamp St. Peter’s Lutheran Church La Grange, MO
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Yesterday the church not only celebrated Good Shepherd Sunday but she also remembered the Evangelist Mark. Mark’s story is one of a wayward sheep who was ultimately brought home, if we follow Church tradition. He was the rich man who came to Jesus asking the Lord what he must do to inherit eternal life. The sheep heard the voice of the Good Shepherd but wanted to show himself to be able to guide himself to the final destination. Jesus recited the 2nd table of the Law to him, all those commands that can be summed up as love your neighbor as yourself. The man replies, “I have done all these since my youth.” Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing; go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow me.” The sheep went away sad, disheartened and sorrowful because he had great possessions.
The sheep went away from the Good Shepherd sad that day. The hook of the shepherd was used ever so gently to correct the sheep, but the sheep refused correction. “How difficult it is for anyone to enter the kingdom of God! With man it is impossible!” But the voice of the Good Shepherd kept echoing in his head, and the sheep knew it to be something he needed to hear, much like the prodigal son finally came to his senses. Mark didn’t go too far on his own but still stayed on the fringe. We also know Church tradition also holds that it was Mark who was around Jesus on the night of his betrayal ran away naked into the night. All the sheep were scattered that night as the Shepherd was struck.
But like a sheep, when the way of missionary work got tough, Mark left their way. Sometimes for a sheep the grass looks greener elsewhere or at least the way seems easier and more pleasant. Mark fit that category of a sheep that needed continued correction and exhortation. And also, us. Jesus fulfilled the Law, yes, but He did not abolish it. He still speaks His Law ultimately in love that we repent and confess our sins and follow Him. The Law is still good for us to hear because we need to be reminded that we fail to love our neighbor as ourselves, and that we too have our pet gods that we hide away, gods we don’t even know we have until Jesus’ word calls us out. “Go and sell everything you have. Give to the poor.” Wealth and possessions, those were Mark’s god for a time. A more pleasant and easier life. That was Mark’s god at a later time. We have the same issues, when one idol falls, we are quick to pick up another. Perhaps for us it is the government who promises to take care of us until they don’t. Then it’s the money because we have that as well. Maybe its our family. We jump from idol to idol. We are sheep that have heard the Good Shepherd’s voice but need gentle correction again and again. This is not a one-time deal. Jesus continues to teach us and lead us that He is our God and we His people. And the best part of it is that He promises not to forsake us through it all. For He came and fulfilled all that we could not. He loved his neighbors perfectly for you and for me. He loved you by laying down his life for you.
We are the sheep for whom He came to lay down His life. Mark is the man Christ loved. He is a man of many for whom Christ died. And He speaks forgiveness to Mark and to you as well. He finds you in the pit of your sin and pulls you out of it. He brings you to repentance and faith in Him and leads you home.
Mark is a remarkable man in the New Testament, a good picture of our ourselves. He walked with Paul for a time and then again later after their reconciliation, and He also listened to and worked with Peter. It was from this time that Mark wrote the Gospel that bears his name. He put down on paper the words which Peter spoke for all the world to know. Perhaps His Gospel is meant when Paul calls for the parchments when he asks for Mark to be sent to him. We will never know. But we do know what Mark wrote he wrote that all would come know Jesus as he knew Him: This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark does not call him the Good Shepherd but you can see the image work well in Mark. Mark tells us that Jesus looked upon him with love, and we know Christ went out of His way to bring him into His pen of the Church. Christ our Lord has done the same for us. He came and sought us out and speaks in love to us now calling us to follow Him. His Words endure forever and His way is the only way that leads to everlasting life.
Let us give thanks to our Lord who has sought his oft wayward sheep and led them home. May we rejoice in the fact that our Lord continues to do the same for us now and keeps us steadfast in His Word and Way by giving us His Word and His Sacraments by which our faith may be strengthened along the way, firmly believing that by His provision and work at the cross, where He laid down his life, we will be saved.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Rev. Jacob Hercamp St. Peter’s Lutheran Church La Grange, MO
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
If you have not done so take a long hard look at the bulletin cover. Note what you see. You see a man leading a sheep. The shepherd is not driving the sheep, but leading it.
Note also the sheep. Look at the sheep’s head, attentive to the way of the shepherd. Following closely in tow. Note finally the staff. It is the tool by which the shepherd helps the sheep stay on his way if the sheep goes astray. But this staff is not just any staff, and this shepherd is not just any shepherd, but this is the shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep on a cross. The way that this Shepherd goes is through death and into life forevermore.
The depiction of the Good Shepherd has been the toil of many a sacred artist in the past two millennia and many thanks to Abby for drawing this one for us. It conveys the point of the Good Shepherd. We would do well to enjoy the arts particularly sacred art more. For it teaches the faith far better than many sermons. This is why Luther desired that the Small Catechism have woodcut prints of the various episodes of the Bible. It taught the Faith, and if nothing else, enhanced the learning of those who thumbed through the pages. So, it is with the depictions of Christ our Good Shepherd.
What kind of Shepherd does this? One who is committed and united to his sheep. By the Incarnation, the Son of God is effectively yoked to humanity forevermore. You might have seen another picture of the Good Shepherd with the Lord Jesus carrying a lamb draped over His neck. That imagery should not be missed. Does it not look like a yoke? Does it not look like a stole that a pastor wears these days? That the sheep is Christ’s responsibility from this time forth and forevermore? Just as it is the responsibility of the Pastor to feed the sheep of Christ’s flock with only the true and pure doctrine of Christ. This is why pastors are called pastors in the first place. The word literally means shepherd in Latin.
In our own depiction of the Good Shepherd, the sheep follows in His path. The path of the Good Shepherd is good for the sheep. But we sheep may not always think so. How often have you questioned what was going on in your life? How often have you wanted that thing or way of life which you did not have? How often has it seemed that the grass (another way to talk about daily bread) you are getting is not as green as you think it ought to be? Is there grass greener elsewhere? Perhaps you have said this under your breath, “Does this Shepherd know what He’s doing? If He’s such a good shepherd, why does it seem that the wolves are always after me? Why is His way hard? Maybe I should shove off on my own.” Repent.
Our Good Shepherd is not without an instrument of discipline when He must deal with sin. He carries His hook. He speaks His Law. He puts to death and yet brings to life. He has wounded, and yet promises to heal. The prophet Isaiah talks of God’s work in two senses. One sense is alien to Him: the work of His Law, which brings punishment upon the law breaker. The other is the work of His character which is Love: you know that as the Gospel that declares to you forgiveness for the sake of the Good Shepherd. Your Shepherd does not beat the sheep, but He certainly brings punishment to bear when it is needed to save His sheep from utter destruction. Think of what He allowed the nation of Israel to go through in the Old Testament. He threw them out of the Promised Land. They were rightfully punished for their rebellion against His Way. We, too, have been rightfully punished in various ways for our sins of straying from the Way of our Good Shepherd and disregarding His voice. We confess that we deserve both temporal and eternal punishment when we confess our sins. But ultimately, the God’s Law serves His blessed Gospel. God’s Law condemns everyone. You have not lived up to the demands of the Lord. We all like sheep, have gone astray. All going his own way rather than the way of the Lord. His ultimate work is to save you. And if He must bring the sheep to nothing in order for the sheep to be saved, He will do that because it is for the ultimate and eternal good of His sheep.
The Lord our God has done what He said He would do. He has done everything for the ultimate good of the sheep. The Son came becoming the Lamb to be the shepherd who would lay down his life for His sheep. He did not send a hire hand, but He came down to get his own dirty in finding and securing His flock! He would be the means by which the sheep would be saved. He went to the cross for all His wayward sheep, ever last one of them. And He forgives all our sins against Him and His Father.
You have the promise in those waters that you are united to your Good Shepherd now and forevermore. It is a promise to be believed. For there is nothing in our reason or strength that will make sense of the promise Jesus makes to us here. Our minds and reason are fallen. Our reason says Baptism is our work and profession faith, but God’s Word says the exact opposite. It is God who is working to bring faith and salvation to light. Which will you believe? The Word of God or your reason? Are we listening to the voice of the Good Shepherd or something else?
Baptism and forgiveness of sins is a promise to be heard again and again because we sheep are pretty hard of hearing, and we are stubborn things who easily forget and go our own way. Jesus is your Good Shepherd and He has laid down his life for you, that you be safe with him forever, sins forgiven. Now He leads you to the sheep fold, the house for all the sheep. You listen to His voice for you are here where He promises to be in flesh and blood for you to forgive your sins. You are following Him just like the picture on our bulletin. Trust and believe in what He has spoken and done for you in laying down his life, and believe how He now delivers that victory to you in Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
Look again at your bulletin, you know where the Lord leads His sheep. He leads his sheep to His home. David in the 23rd Psalm does a masterful job in conveying himself to be a sheep and the Lord his shepherd in the first 3 verses but in verses 4-6 David no longer uses the 3rd personal singular pronoun He to speak of the Lord. Instead, David switches to a second person singular, “You.” You are with me. Your rod and staff they comfort me. You prepare a table… Ah yes, the Shepherd is leading His flock to the table. A table in the presence of my enemies, but these are enemies who have been defeated by the Good Shepherd and can cause no more harm. They are no match for our Good Shepherd. The flock will rejoice in the goodness of their Shepherd who has laid down His life for the sheep only to take it up again. And they will rejoice at hearing His voice. “Take and eat, this is my body given for you. Take and drink this is the New Testament in my blood shed for you.” The Living Body and Blood of your Shepherd, you receive. What promises to believe and what a blessing to have our spirits restored by such food from Heaven. It is His life to give, and He now gives it to you, that you might live forever in his presence in His House Forever. And truly your cup does overflow. By this we know Love, that he laid down his life for us.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Rev. Jacob Hercamp St. Peter’s Lutheran Church La Grange, MO
Now that the Resurrection of our Lord has passed, the Body of Christ, turns her attention to her Lord’s ascension and His promise that “it is for your benefit that I go away.” It is an audacious promise for the disciples to belief because what is better than having Jesus “present” with them? How is it better for Jesus to go away? It makes no sense to our human minds. What if I told you our Risen Lord Jesus is more present with us now after His ascension than He was while He walked on Earth during His Ministry?
Christ hears our prayers and all the prayers of the saints around the world with His own human ears. So also, now that He has ascended, He can be at every altar in His body where the Sacrament of the Altar is being celebrated. And this, my friends, is better for us. He, as the God Man, ascended to the right hand of God so that He could be with His Church in a way far more beneficial than merely sitting on a throne somewhere in Jerusalem. Hence, why we hear the words of Luke as the apostles leave the mountain. They were rejoicing, for they knew Christ had not left them, but rather was with them forever (Luke 24:52–53, cf. Matthew 28:20). They firmly believed that wherever they gathered together in the name of Jesus and according to His commands, there Jesus was with them physically in flesh and blood for the forgiveness of sins and salvation. The Church has repeated those commands more often than any other words of Christ a in remembrance of Him. They are “Take, eat” and “Take, drink.”
Let us give thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ, who came in the flesh, died, and rose in the flesh also ascended in the flesh. He does it all for our benefit that He may be with His whole church on Earth in His flesh and blood for our forgiveness and eternal salvation.
Rev. Jacob Hercamp St. Peter’s Lutheran Church La Grange, MO
In the first post for this series on the Nicene Creed, I tried to give a very brief sketch of the historical landscape and context out of which the Nicene Creed came. The Church was not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, and heretical teachings concerning the Trinity were being espoused, particularly, against the Person of the Son. If you are looking at the sheer numbers of the words written for each article, the 2nd article has nearly doubled when compared to the Apostles’ Creed (130 – 71).
So when we compare the first article of Nicene Creed to the Apostles’ Creed there is very few differences. Nothing in the substance has changed, but now in Nicene Creed, the authors took great pains to explain that EVERYTHING, all things visible and even the invisible, were made by God the Father Almighty. If the Apostles’ Creed did not already make it clear saying God the Father Almighty was maker of heaven and earth, the Nicene Creed makes the claim of God being the Creator all visible and invisible air tight.
You also should note the opening phrase, I believe in One God. This takes us all the way back to the words of Deuteronomy 6:4. The Nicene Creed confesses the truth of the Triune Monotheistic God. Another way to put is how the Athanasian Creed says it, “We worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity.”
In the later Athanasian Creed the first article concerning creation did not even need to be addressed because of how sufficiently the Nicene Creed deals with it. But we must also take a moment and appreciate that the Nicene Creed does not paint itself in a corner to say that God the Father Almighty was the only Person working in creation. In the second article, we confess in line with Scripture that the Son also was active in creation, when we confess “by whom all things were made.” Also in the third article we confess in line with Scripture that the Holy Spirit is the giver of life. Creation then is a Trinitarian act in and of itself. All Three Persons work in concert with one another to create all things visible and invisible.
Rev. Jacob Hercamp St. Peter’s Lutheran Church La Grange, MO
