Matins -- 5th Sunday in Lent

Sunday School Lesson

Bulletin -- Matins for the 5th Sunday in Lent

The 5^th Sunday in Lent

March 29, 2020

Matins

L    O Lord, open my lips,

C    and my mouth will declare Your praise.

L    Make haste, O God, to deliver me;

C    make haste to help me, O Lord.

C    Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Praise to You, O Christ, Lamb of our salvation.

+ PSALMODY +

L    Blessed be God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

C    O come, let us worship Him.

VENITE       LSB 220

C    O come, let us sing to the Lord,

let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving,

let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise.

For the Lord is a great God

and a great king above all gods.

The deep places of the earth are in His hand;

the strength of the hills is His also.

The sea is His, for He made it,

and His hand formed the dry land.

O come, let us worship and bow down,

let us kneel before the Lord, our maker.

For He is our God,

and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning,

is now, and will be forever. Amen.

L    Blessed be God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

C    O come, let us worship Him.

                                                                                                                                       

Psalm 43

1Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause
   against an ungodly people,
from the deceitful and unjust man
   deliver me!
2For you are the God in whom I take refuge;
   why have you rejected me?
Why do I go about mourning
   because of the oppression of the enemy?

3Send out your light and your truth;
   let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
   and to your dwelling!
4Then I will go to the altar of God,
   to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
   O God, my God.

5Why are you cast down, O my soul,
   and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
   my salvation and my God.

430 MY SONG IS LOVE UNKNOWN

1     My song is love unknown,
    My Savior’s love to me,
Love to the loveless shown
    That they might lovely be.
Oh, who am I
    That for my sake
    My Lord should take
Frail flesh and die?

2     He came from His blest throne
    Salvation to bestow;
But men made strange, and none
    The longed-for Christ would know.
But, oh, my friend,
    My friend indeed,
    Who at my need
His life did spend!

3     Sometimes they strew His way
    And His sweet praises sing;
Resounding all the day
    Hosannas to their King.
Then “Crucify!”
    Is all their breath,
    And for His death
They thirst and cry.

4     Why, what hath my Lord done?
    What makes this rage and spite?
He made the lame to run,
    He gave the blind their sight.
Sweet injuries!
    Yet they at these
    Themselves displease
And ’gainst Him rise.

5     They rise and needs will have
    My dear Lord made away;
A murderer they save,
    The Prince of Life they slay.
Yet cheerful He
    To suff’ring goes
    That He His foes
From thence might free.

6     In life no house, no home
    My Lord on earth might have;
In death no friendly tomb
    But what a stranger gave.
What may I say?
    Heav’n was His home
    But mine the tomb
Wherein He lay.

7     Here might I stay and sing,
    No story so divine!
Never was love, dear King,
    Never was grief like Thine.
This is my friend,
    In whose sweet praise
    I all my days
Could gladly spend!

Text: Public domain

+ READINGS +

READING      Genesis 22:1–14

   1After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” 2He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” 6And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here am I, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

   9When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” 12He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

                                                                                                                                             John 8:46–59

   46“Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

   48The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” 52The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” 54Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ 55But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. 56Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

SERMON

The Lord Provides

Genesis 22:8

    Abraham said to Isaac, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son."   

In today’s Gospel reading from John 8, the people gathered at the temple in Jerusalem seem to overreact. “They picked up stones to throw at Jesus” (John 8:59). That was a crazy reaction. Outrageous! But it was their response to the outrageous thing Jesus had just said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58).

Abraham was the Father of the Jewish people, the Father of all believers. Historically, Abraham lived 1600 years before Jesus. Jesus said He was before Abraham, He is before Abraham. That would be an outrageous statement, if it weren’t true. Jesus is basically saying He is eternal. No person is eternal, except for God. So Jesus is either lying, crazy, or God. The crowd of Jews in Jerusalem that day would never believe the latter, that Jesus was God. Jesus, to them was an outrageous liar, blasphemer. He had a demon. He was too crazy to let live.

On the last day, when Jesus comes again with glory, all eyes will see him, every knee will bow before Him, and all will have to admit that He was telling the truth, He always tells the truth. He is God and He is before Abraham and indeed, the eternal Son of God, before all worlds.

And when we get to heaven we can ask Abraham, and Abraham will be happy to admit, yes, He is before me. In fact, Abraham knew Jesus. Maybe not that name Jesus Christ. But the name Jesus means, “the Lord saves”. Abraham knew that, for sure. The title Christ means “the “Anointed One”. And Abraham believed God’s promise that one of his descendants would be anointed savior of all nations.

Abraham learned to know the anointed Savior especially through suffering, the testing described in today’s Old Testament reading and this bitter horrible sacrifice. I’d like for you listeners to consider that you, in a similar way, will especially come to know Jesus through suffering, testing and sacrifice.

God told Abraham, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you" (Genesis 22:2).  Now this was not about some ancient ritual of child sacrifice. You have to understand who Isaac was. He was the child of the promise, the blessing of God, the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham that He would be a great father.

Abraham and his wife Sarah had suffered for years with infertility and childlessness. And all along God kept promising he would be the father of nations. His descendents would be as numerous as the stars of the heavens and the sand of the seashore. And most importantly Abraham’s Seed, One Descendant in particular, would be the blessing for all nations, the Savior of the world. So Abraham and Sarah kept waiting and fretting until finally, when they were both pushing 100 years old, baby Isaac came along.

Now everything was set. Abraham was successful, rich, prosperous and finally a father. He had a name and reputation that would last for all generations. His purpose in life was fulfilled. And all these blessings were represented in the body of Isaac, the son of the promise.

And God said, “Now, I’m taking him from you.”

This was a test of the 1^st Commandment. “You shall have no other gods.” Abraham had left behind all the false gods of his forefathers in the land of Ur. He had settled on the One true God and no others. But the meaning of the 1^st Commandment is that we should fear, love and trust in God above all things.

Abraham could not fear anything more than God. He could not fear what it would be like to lose his only son, to lose everything.

Abraham could not love anything more than God. He couldn’t love Isaac and all that Isaac represented, more than he loved God.

Abraham could not trust in anything more than God. He couldn’t say, so long as I have all these things, and all this reputation and all these blessings in this world I will be alright. God commanded Abraham to trust in God alone.

So, amazingly, faithfully, Abraham took his son and the supplies necessary and headed off. He feared God, loved God and trusted God, even telling Isaac, “the Lord will provide.”

It is at this moment, at the point of losing everything where it can be most meaningfully said, “Abraham believed God.”

We can consider examples like this today. We can’t fear, love or trust in anything more than God. Even the best of what we have been given in this life can become an idol if it gets to be first ahead of God.

Take for instance, the idol of a good, successful career. Many these days define who they are and what they’re good for by what they do for a living. If the economy crashes, when jobs are lost, when businesses fail, what becomes of the idol? What becomes of the poor soul who has invested his or her fear, love and trust in that idol? We hear statistics of how many are dying around the world from a virus. I am also saddened to hear cases of suicides in recent days. I think we should be very concerned that there might be more in the days ahead as people lose the careers they have built their whole existence around, as their net worth is decimated, as their idols crumble and their identity is lost.

You can’t trust in your good health and your own strength, because for everyone there comes a time when God allows that to weaken and fail.

As Abraham and Isaac walked along, Isaac must have been thinking, trying to figure out what was going on. “We’ve got the wood, the fire, where’s the sacrifice?” and Father Abraham’s faithful words were, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together” Genesis 22:8.”

You see Abraham knew Jesus. He knew how the Lord works. The Lord does what we can’t. He fills what we lack. He sacrificed His Son, Jesus, the Lamb, so that Abraham didn’t have to.

Abraham learned from his testing that God loved him, provided for him, covered his shortcomings. And in so doing, God proved Himself to be worthy of Abraham’s respectful fear, exclusive love, and complete trust.

In the Psalm for today, Psalm 43, we had these words,  

    Why are you cast down, O my soul,

        and why are you in turmoil within me?

    Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,

        my salvation and my God. (Psalm 43:5)

God will provide. Trust Him. Count your blessings, and examine them carefully. Are any of them worth comparing to the salvation you have been given by God. What can you lose in this life, if you have Jesus who has given you everything?  

Amen.

+ PRAYER +

KYRIE             LSB 227

C    Lord, have mercy;

Christ, have mercy;

Lord, have mercy.

LORD’S PRAYER

C    Our Father who art in heaven,

     hallowed be Thy name,

     Thy kingdom come,

     Thy will be done on earth

          as it is in heaven;

     give us this day our daily bread;

     and forgive us our trespasses

          as we forgive those

          who trespass against us;

     and lead us not into temptation,

     but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom

     and the power and the glory

     forever and ever. Amen.

COLLECTS

L    O Lord, hear my prayer.

C    And let my cry come to You.

COLLECT OF THE DAY

Almighty God, by Your great goodness mercifully look upon Your people that we may be governed and preserved evermore in body and soul; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C    Amen.

O Jesus, our Savior, have mercy on our fellow Christians and our whole world in isolation and in illness, together with all who suffer in body and soul, [especially those who have requested our prayers, including ___________,] Bless them with patience and strength, that they would receive healing and restoration in accordance with your will, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C    Amen.

L    O Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, You have safely brought us to the beginning of this day. Defend us in the same with Your mighty power and grant that this day we fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger, but that all our doings, being ordered by Your governance, may be righteous in Your sight; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C    Amen.

BENEDICAMUS        LSB 228

L    Let us bless the Lord.

C    Thanks be to God.

BENEDICTION          LSB 228

P    The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

C    Amen.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Matins from Lutheran Service Book

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV^® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2018 Concordia Publishing House.

Evening Prayer -- Feast of the Annunciation of Our Lord

Evening Prayer, Feast of the Annunciation of Our Lord

THE Annunciation of our Lord

March 25, 2020

Service of Light

L  Jesus Christ is the Light of the world,

C  the light no darkness can overcome.

L  Stay with us, Lord, for it is evening,

C  and the day is almost over.

L  Let Your light scatter the darkness

C  and illumine Your Church.

L  Joyous light of glory:

C  of the immortal Father;

heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ.

We have come to the setting of the sun,

and we look to the evening light.

We sing to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit:

You are worthy of being praised

with pure voices forever.

O Son of God, O Giver of life:

the universe proclaims Your glory.

L  Blessèd are You, O Lord our God, king of the universe, who led Your people Israel by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Enlighten our darkness by the light of Your Christ; may His Word be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path; for You are merciful, and You love Your whole creation and we, Your creatures, glorify You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

C  Amen.

Psalm 45:7–17

   7You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
   with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;
   8your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.
From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;
   9daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor;
   at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.

10Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear:
   forget your people and your father’s house,
   11and the king will desire your beauty.
Since he is your lord, bow to him.
   12The people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts,
   the richest of the people.

13All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold.
   14In many-colored robes she is led to the king,
   with her virgin companions following behind her.
15With joy and gladness they are led along
   as they enter the palace of the king.

16In place of your fathers shall be your sons;
   you will make them princes in all the earth.
17I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations;
   therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.

L  Let us pray.

Let the incense of our repentant prayer ascend before You, O Lord, and let Your loving-kindness descend on us that, with purified minds, we may sing Your praises with the Church on earth and the whole heavenly host and may glorify You forever.

C  Amen.

Reading                                                                                                                                                 Luke 1:26–38

   26In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

   34And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

   35And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Sermon

Psalm 45:17

   I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations;

        therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.

 Today we celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation of our Lord. As the Angel Gabriel announced the Son of God was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. There is great cause for us to celebrate and rejoice in the good news that our Lord came into this world in this way. He came, not as a tourist, not as a visiting dignitary. He moved in. He was born and bred here in our world. He lived and died.

The date for this Festival, March 25, is set as nine months before Christmas, because humans, like the baby Jesus, are usually born nine months after being conceived. And so, the timing of this celebration is remarkable -- right in the middle of Lent. As we meditate on the passion of our Lord, His humiliation of suffering and death, we also consider the beginning of His incarnation, the humiliation of his leaving the thrown of glory to be conceived in human flesh, so lowly and poor, so ordinary.

But then even more than an ordinary, usual human life, this one was especially humiliated. He was despised, rejected and murdered by evil people. Though the suffering and death of Jesus was carried out with evil intentions, God’s will was hindered but not abolished. God’s work was attacked but not ruined. The death of Jesus, as horrible as it seems, was used by God as His greatest work.  So our Lord Jesus is exalted by His Father. You can hear that exaltation in the Psalm for today:

Psalm 45:7

    You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.

    Therefore God, your God, has anointed you

        with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;

and again

       I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations;

        therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.

Jesus became the object of Spirit given faith for people of all ages. He has become the praise of the nations. Ultimately He is the Judge of the living and the dead.

The humiliation and exultation of our Lord Jesus is our hope and salvation. We can hear and believe that our destiny is tied to His, because He has told us, “that where I am you may be also” (John 14:3).

When we pray this Evening Prayer, we ask God to be with us like He was with ancient Israel in that pillar of cloud and fire. We have Him with us, even more so. Rely on your faith. Rely on your Baptism. By faith and by baptism you are in Christ. You are with Christ and Christ is with you. So when you go through dark and difficult, even scary times, you can have the peace of knowing that Christ who went through humiliation and darkness is with you.

Also, when you have glorious days and happy times, you can have the tempered perspective of knowing that, “ya, these are happy moments, fleeting as they may be. Thank God He gives such relief and blessings in this life, but the great exultation we look forward to is when we are with Jesus in His glorious kingdom to be fully revealed on the last day.

In a moment we will sing Mary’s song, the Magnificat, as part of this Evening Prayer. It’s a song for the downcast, the troubled, the sorrowful, the repentant. She tells how God works. He lifts up the humble and the humiliated. God exalts the lowly and feeds the poor. As we meditate on the suffering and cross of Jesus, we trust that it was for the forgiveness of our sins and our  deliverance from death. We take hope in the outcome, that God was pleased with Jesus. He was satisfied with His humiliation, suffering and death. So when Jesus takes us with Him, through suffering and death, and on into resurrection and life, God is pleased with us as well.

Amen.

Magnificat                                                      LSB 248

C   My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.

For He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaiden.

For behold, from this day all generations will call me blessèd.

For the Mighty One has done great things to me, and holy is His name;

and His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.

He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has exalted the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent empty away.

He has helped His servant Israel in remembrance of His mercy as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.

Litany                                         LSB 249

L  In peace let us pray to the Lord:

C  Lord, have mercy.

L  For the peace from above and for our salvation, let us pray to the Lord:

C  Lord, have mercy.

L  For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the Church of God, and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord:

C  Lord, have mercy.

L  For this holy house and for all who offer here their worship and praise, let us pray to the Lord:

C  Lord, have mercy.

L  For all pastors in Christ, for all servants of the Church, and for all the people, let us pray to the Lord:

C  Lord, have mercy.

L  For President Trump, for all public servants, for the government and those who protect us, that they may be upheld and strengthened in every good deed, let us pray to the Lord:

C  Lord, have mercy.

L  For those who work to bring peace, justice, health, and protection in this and every place, let us pray to the Lord:

C  Lord, have mercy.

L  For those who bring offerings, those who do good works in this congregation, those who toil, those who sing, and all the people here present who await from the Lord great and abundant mercy, let us pray to the Lord:

C  Lord, have mercy.

L  For favorable weather, for an abundance of the fruits of the earth, and for peaceful times, let us pray to the Lord:

C  Lord, have mercy.

L  For our deliverance from all affliction, wrath, danger, and need, let us pray to the Lord:

C  Lord, have mercy.

L  For all those who work to provide us with essential services, let us pray to the Lord:

C  Lord, have mercy.

L  Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.

Collect For Peace

L  O God, from whom come all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works, give to us, Your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, that our hearts may be set to obey Your commandments and also that we, being defended from the fear of our enemies, may live in peace and quietness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C  Amen.

Lord’s Prayer                            LSB 251

L  Taught by our Lord and trusting His promises, we are bold to pray:

C  Our Father who art in heaven,

     hallowed be Thy name,

     Thy kingdom come,

     Thy will be done on earth

          as it is in heaven;

     give us this day our daily bread;

     and forgive us our trespasses

          as we forgive those

          who trespass against us;

     and lead us not into temptation,

     but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom

     and the power and the glory

     forever and ever. Amen.

 Benedicamus                              LSB 252

L  Let us bless the Lord.

C  Thanks be to God.

Benediction                                                                                                                                               

P  The almighty and merciful Lord, the Father, the T Son, and the Holy Spirit, bless and preserve you.

C  Amen.

560 Drawn to the Cross, Which Thou Hast Blessed

1      Drawn to the cross, which Thou hast blessed
With healing gifts for souls distressed,
To find in Thee my life, my rest,
    Christ crucified, I come.

2      Thou knowest all my griefs and fears,
Thy grace abused, my misspent years;
Yet now to Thee with contrite tears,
    Christ crucified, I come.

3      Wash me and take away each stain;
Let nothing of my sin remain.
For cleansing, though it be through pain,
    Christ crucified, I come.

4      And then for work to do for Thee,
Which shall so sweet a service be
That angels well might envy me,
    Christ crucified, I come.

Text: Public domain

Tune and text: Public domain

The 4^th Sunday in Lent

Morning Prayer, March 22, 2020

VERSICLES                                                                                                                                                LSB 235

L    O Lord, open my lips,

C    and my mouth shall declare Your praise.

C    Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

+ PSALMODY +

L    Give glory to God, our light and our life.

C    O come, let us worship Him.

VENITE                                                                                                                                                         LSB 236

C    O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

!    Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise.

@    For the Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods.

!    In His hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are His also.

@    The sea is His, for He made it; and His hand formed the dry land.

!    O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our maker.

@    For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.

C    Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

L    Give glory to God, our light and our life.

C    O come, let us worship Him.

PSALM                                                                                                                                               Psalm 132:8–18

8Arise, O Lord, and go to your resting place,
   you and the ark of your might.
9Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,
   and let your saints shout for joy.
10For the sake of your servant David,
   do not turn away the face of your anointed one.

11The Lord swore to David a sure oath
   from which he will not turn back:
“One of the sons of your body
   I will set on your throne.
12If your sons keep my covenant
   and my testimonies that I shall teach them,
their sons also forever
   shall sit on your throne.”

13For the Lord has chosen Zion;
   he has desired it for his dwelling place:
14“This is my resting place forever;
   here I will dwell, for I have desired it.
15I will abundantly bless her provisions;
   I will satisfy her poor with bread.
16Her priests I will clothe with salvation,
   and her saints will shout for joy.
17There I will make a horn to sprout for David;
   I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.
18His enemies I will clothe with shame,
   but on him his crown will shine.”

READING                                                                                                                                                John 6:1–15

   1After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” 8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” 10Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten. 14When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

   15Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

SERMON

HE SAID THIS TO TEST HIM   --  JOHN 6:5-6

So Jesus tested Philip and the other disciples. He challenged them to believe in the unseen and the as yet unrealized. The Lord wanted them to believe. He wanted to make sure all the people gathered there that day would not go hungry and miserable, obviously. But listening to the conversation between Jesus and Philip, it seems the greater concern on Jesus' part, was that they believe.

Philip was fooled by Jesus question. He heard it and thought about it naturally, humanly, practically.  And all he could come up with for a response, was something like, “That's impossible.”
We can find ourselves in similar situations. Things are messed up and we feel helpless and there's not going to be enough money and the whole thing seems impossible. When we can't see how to fix a problem, and when we can't tell what the Lord is thinking about the problem, well, that's when it is especially clear that the Lord wants you to believe.

Believe that God has mercy. God cares about you. God forgives you your sins. This is not a truth you and I will get to on our own; we won't reason out that one with our smarts; there will be many days when we won't feel that in our hearts. But still, the Lord Jesus wants us to believe it. So He keeps saying it. He keeps promising the mercy of God is upon. He keeps reminding the care of God for the creation of this world, especially for those who pray to Him in repentance and faith. Jesus keeps assuring us poor sinners that He has forgiven us freely and completely by His innocent death on the cross and the shedding of His innocent blood.

The Lord has given gifts to His Church on earth so that through her preaching and teaching, baptizing and communing, people will keep hearing these promises that Jesus keeps making. God has mercy. God cares about you. God forgives you your sins.

When we listened to Psalm 132 we heard some great promises about the Lord's Church, the new Zion that He is building and where He promises to dwell. He says this, about His Church:

14 “This is my resting place forever;
    here I will dwell, for I have desired it.
15 I will abundantly bless her provisions;
    I will satisfy her poor with bread.
16 Her priests I will clothe with salvation,
    and her saints will shout for joy.

But today, the Lord is fooling me with these words, like He fooled Philip long ago. Because the people of God aren't where they are supposed to be. There are no saints in God's house. There are no shouts of joy here, it echoes empty.  He promised to clothe His servants with righteousness and salvation. But the servants of the Lord are sitting in their pajamas and sweat pants.

Dear friends, I've gotta trust what God promises, even if it is unseen. I've gotta believe that you are His people. You are His chosen Zion because you have faith and fellowship in Jesus, and so you are the Lord's Church, even when you are scattered. You are the people He describes you to be, even when you don't look that way. You are His saints, I believe that, holy people, because He has promised us that He forgives you your sins.

I can believe God when He says, the saints will shout for joy. I can believe that because when God says something, He makes it happen. He says to His disciples feed these people and it happens, there's plenty and more to feed thousands. He says, shout for joy and it happens because faith produces joy, true joy, eternal joy that need not fail even in plague or pestilence, war or famine, sickness or temporary death.

God has promised to bless and keep you. so He has, so He does, so He will in the time to come. He’s promised to clothe you with salvation. So He does. Unseen now, but being fulfilled in the Kingdom of Heaven. God has promised that His saints will sing for joy. Take joy and peace in all His promises.

Amen.

+ PRAYER +

COLLECT OF THE DAY

L    Let us pray.

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, Your mercies are new every morning; and though we deserve only punishment, You receive us as Your children and provide for all our needs of body and soul. Grant that we may heartily acknowledge Your merciful goodness, give thanks for all Your benefits, and serve You in willing obedience; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C    Amen.

PRAYER IN TIMES OF PANDEMIC

L       Compassionate Lord, graciously defend us from all calamity by pestilence, scarcity, famine and every other evil. Spare us from disease and its fear. Protect and prosper all who labor in their rightful callings, especially those who remain in harm’s way for the good of their neighbors. Be the God and Father of the poor, the unemployed and the homeless; the helper of the hungry and needy; the comforter of the distressed and those who sorrow. Lord, have mercy on this world and grant your people peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

C    Amen.

COLLECT FOR GRACE

L    O Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, You have safely brought us to the beginning of this day. Defend us in the same with Your mighty power and grant that this day we fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger, but that all our doings, being ordered by Your governance, may be righteous in Your sight; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C    Amen.

LORD’S PRAYER                                                                                                                                      LSB 241

L    Taught by our Lord and trusting His promises, we are bold to pray:

C    Our Father who art in heaven,

     hallowed be Thy name,

     Thy kingdom come,

     Thy will be done on earth

          as it is in heaven;

     give us this day our daily bread;

     and forgive us our trespasses

          as we forgive those

          who trespass against us;

     and lead us not into temptation,

     but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom

     and the power and the glory

     forever and ever. Amen.

BENEDICAMUS                                                                                                                                         LSB 241

L    Let us bless the Lord.

C    Thanks be to God.

BENEDICTION                                                                                                                                           LSB 242

P    The almighty and merciful Lord, the Father, the T Son, and the Holy Spirit, bless and preserve you.

C    Amen.

743 JESUS, PRICELESS TREASURE

1     Jesus, priceless treasure,
Fount of purest pleasure,
    Truest friend to me,
Ah, how long in anguish
Shall my spirit languish,
    Yearning, Lord, for Thee?
        Thou art mine,
        O Lamb divine!
I will suffer naught to hide Thee;
Naught I ask beside Thee.

2     In Thine arms I rest me;
Foes who would molest me
    Cannot reach me here.
Though the earth be shaking,
Ev’ry heart be quaking,
    Jesus calms my fear.
        Lightnings flash
        And thunders crash;
Yet, though sin and hell assail me,
Jesus will not fail me.

3     Satan, I defy thee;
Death, I now decry thee;
    Fear, I bid thee cease.
World, thou shalt not harm me
Nor thy threats alarm me
    While I sing of peace.
        God’s great pow’r
        Guards ev’ry hour;
Earth and all its depths adore Him,
Silent bow before Him.

4     Hence, all earthly treasure!
Jesus is my pleasure,
    Jesus is my choice.
Hence, all empty glory!
Naught to me thy story
    Told with tempting voice.
        Pain or loss,
        Or shame or cross,
Shall not from my Savior move me
Since He deigns to love me.

5     Evil world, I leave thee;
Thou canst not deceive me,
    Thine appeal is vain.
Sin that once did blind me,
Get thee far behind me,
    Come not forth again.
        Past thy hour,
        O pride and pow’r;
Sinful life, thy bonds I sever,
Leave thee now forever.

6     Hence, all fear and sadness!
For the Lord of gladness,
    Jesus, enters in.
Those who love the Father,
Though the storms may gather,
    Still have peace within.
        Yea, whate’er
        I here must bear,
Thou art still my purest pleasure,
Jesus, priceless treasure!

Text: Public domain

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Morning Prayer from Lutheran Service Book

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV^® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2018 Concordia Publishing House.