+ The 4th Sunday of Easter +
1 Joyful, joyful we adore Thee,
God of glory, Lord of love!
Hearts unfold like flow’rs before Thee,
Praising Thee, their sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness,
Drive the gloom of doubt away.
Giver of immortal gladness,
Fill us with the light of day.
2 All Thy works with joy surround Thee,
Earth and heav’n reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee,
Center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain,
Flow’ry meadow, flashing sea,
Chanting bird, and flowing fountain
Call us to rejoice in Thee.
3 Thou art
giving and forgiving,
Ever blessing, ever blest,
Wellspring of the joy of living,
Ocean-depth of happy rest!
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
Fountainhead of love divine:
Joyful, we Thy heav’n inherit!
Joyful, we by grace are Thine!
Text: Public domain
KYRIE
In peace let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the peace from above and for our salvation let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
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.
Lord, have mercy.
For this holy house and for all who offer here their worship and praise let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.
Amen.
COLLECT OF THE DAY
P Almighty God, You show those in error the light of Your truth so that they may return to the way of righteousness. Grant faithfulness to all who are admitted into the fellowship of Christ’s Church that they may avoid whatever is contrary to their confession and follow all such things as are pleasing to You; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT READING Isaiah
40:25–31
25To whom then will you
compare me,
that I should be like him? says the
Holy One.
26Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these?
He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name,
by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power
not one is missing. 27Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is
disregarded by my God”?
28Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of
the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
29He gives power to the faint, and to him who
has no might he increases strength.
30Even youths shall faint and be weary, and
young men shall fall exhausted;
31but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up
with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
A This is the Word of the Lord.
PSALM147
1Praise the Lord!
For it is good to sing praises | to our God;* for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is | fitting.
2The Lord builds
up Je- | rusalem;* he
gathers the outcasts of | Israel.
3He heals the broken- |
hearted* and binds |
up their wounds.
4He determines the number |
of the stars;* he gives to all of | them their names.
5Great is our Lord, and abun- | dant in power;* his
understanding is beyond | measure.
6The Lord lifts up
the | humble;* he
casts the wicked | to the ground.
7Sing to the Lord with thanks- |
giving;* make melody to our God | on the lyre!
8He covers the heavens with clouds; he prepares
rain | for the earth;*
he makes grass grow | on the hills. 9He gives
to the | beasts their food,*
and to the young ravens | that cry.
10His delight is not in the strength | of the horse,* nor his
pleasure in the legs | of a man,
11but the Lord
takes pleasure in those who | fear him,* in those who hope in his |
steadfast love.
EPISTLE 1
Peter 2:11–20
11Beloved,
I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh,
which wage war against your soul. 12Keep your
conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as
evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of
visitation.
13Be
subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the
emperor as supreme, 14or to governors as sent by
him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15For this is the will of God, that by doing good you
should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16Live
as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but
living as servants of God. 17Honor everyone.
Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
18Servants,
be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle
but also to the unjust. 19For this is a gracious
thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20For what credit is it if, when you sin and are
beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you
endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.
A This is the Word of the Lord.
HOLY GOSPEL
P The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the sixteenth chapter.
P This is the Gospel of the Lord.
APOSTLES’ CREED
C I believe in God, the
Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the
Father Almighty.
From thence He will come to judge the
living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Christian Church, the communion
of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life
everlasting. Amen.
“Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a
cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.” (1 Peter
2:16)
On the third day, he rose again from the dead. On
Good Friday, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had wrapped Jesus up like a
mummy in linen cloths with spices. That was the burial custom of the ancient
Middle East. The dead body of Jesus was
bound in the cloths. Just prior, the dying body of Jesus was bound, hands and
feet, nailed to the cross. All throughout the ordeal, since the night when he
was betrayed, our Lord had been held captive, bound, in the custody of angry,
violent men. But now, Easter, Jesus our Lord and Savior stepped out of the tomb
alive and free. Free from bonds. Free from the control of the evil men who had
crucified him. Free from the devil and all his powers, who had wanted to bind
Jesus. Free from death.
You who believe in Jesus have been brought by Him
into his resurrection and life. Because
He lives, you will live. Because He is free, you are free. The Apostle Peter
preaches to us today and says, “You are free! So live like you’re free!”
Easter is the High point of the Church year, the high point
of the Christian life. At Easter we learn what Jesus did and we learn who we
are. We are the people Jesus died for and rose for to save and to set free –
free from sin -- free from death. Let’s use the rest of the year to get used to
living like we’re free. Regularly hearing God’s word will help us do just that.
The Old Testament reading today, Isaiah 40, tells you what to
do. “Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these?”
First thing, “Lift up your eyes.” Another way of saying that
would be, “Chin up, Buttercup!”
Second thing, “and see”. When you lift your eyes
up out of your navel and look up you can see glorious things, especially on a
clear night you see the glories of the created universe and you get a better
understanding of your precious but small place in that universe.
Third thing to consider: “Who created these?”
God, of course, created all those stars and galaxies. He determines the number
of the stars; He gave names to them all. (Psalm 147:4) “and because he is
strong in power not one is missing.”
What is it that keeps you from living like you’re free? Are
you scared or worried about anything? God determines the number of the stars;
do you think he can’t help you in your little details?
Are you bound by the sins you won’t let go of?
Anger for instance. There are people in this world, people in your life every
day, who do some pretty bad things, who say some rather stupid words, who
deserve nothing but your disapproval and your punishment. Lift up your eyes and
see. God is in control of the universe. So do you really think you have to take
things down here into your own hands and fix what’s wrong about your neighbor?
Peter tells you to live like you’re free. Then he gets
specific about it. Live as servants of God. You’re free. So be a servant.
You’re free to run off and do whatever you want. Or you’re free to love God and
praise God and say to God, I’m your servant and I want to do whatever you want.
St. Peter continues, in verse 17 of our reading:
“Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the
emperor.” The emperor at that time, by
the way, was probably Nero. Not an easy one to honor. He was horrible, cruel.
He persecuted the Christians. If he could lay his hands on any, he’d throw them
to the beasts and the gladiators in the Coliseum. We servants of God, honor
authority, we respect the office of emperor or president or congress or police
or whatever the office, we honor it because God establishes such offices for
our good and for the good order of society. If the occupant of the office is a
cruel and evil person, we will honor the office. We can keep clear in our minds
a distinction between office and person. Let’s try to remember as we talk with
each other or we talk with others outside of our church, that we are serving
God when we honor the authorities.
This is part of loving your neighbor. The 5th
Commandment says, “You shall not murder.” It means that we should care to
protect their life. Likewise, the 7th Commandment says, “You shall
not steal.” It means we should help our neighbor protect their property. The
problem we so often have is that we by ourselves are powerless to protect
everyone else’s lives and property. There’s no way to, no resources to help
everyone. And much of the time it’s not your office to defend the life or
property of someone, if you don’t know their problems and their business. So
you have to trust God who defends the weak. And you can trust the offices he
establishes. Like government, law enforcement, the legal system, and
healthcare. “Honor the emperor.” Even if the person holding that office would
be despicable. Trust God. Trust the offices He establishes.
When you only go by what you see in this world,
you end up frustrated and disappointed. When you go by what you believe, there
is joy and a peace of mind. We who believe in Christ and who are living on this
side of His resurrection from the dead, don’t just go by what we see, but what
we believe. We are free from sin, by the forgiveness Jesus got us at the cross.
If you only spend your time looking around the
world and seeing what everyone else is doing wrong, it will make you bitter and
angry. You’ll gripe about the neighbors, you’ll complain about politics, you’ll
despise others just because they are on the other side of the issue.
So lift up your head and see. Chin up, Buttercup!
God is in control, in the heavens and on earth. You don’t have to fix all their
problems. You have to trust God. Believe He is fixing the problems, because He
overcomes sin. He overcomes sin, by the preaching of forgiveness in the
Gospel, and as the Apostle Peter would
have us to believe, God is overcoming sin in this world by providing the
authorities we are to honor. Amen.
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH
P Let us pray to the Lord:
P Preserve Your Church from every sorrow and mockery of the enemy; that in this little while between Christ’s resurrection and our own, the threats of persecution, loss or discomfort would not turn us from the joy and confidence of the redemption we have in Christ. Sustain all preachers, keeping them faithful to their calling. Keep all Christians firm in the faith for life, especially we pray this for our Missionary in Tawian, Rev. Michael Paul and his family and your people there whom he serves. And Vicar Tan, as he is training under Missionary Paul to be a pastor there.
P O Holy Spirit of God, be present and working in all Christian homes, that family members may be a blessing to each other and an example to their neighbors. Preserve all married couples in love and faithfulness. Strengthen all parents as teachers of the faith. Uphold the unmarried, to be honorable and unashamed in their station,
P Lord God almighty, for every human authority, we trust you and ask you to so order things here on earth, that those in authority would exercise the authority You give from above to punish those who do evil and praise those who do good. So grant us good government at every level, under which we may honor everyone, love the brotherhood and fear and love You. Inspire us and all Christians, that our subjection would be offered always for Your sake as sojourners and exiles in this world, and that any suffering we must endure would be unjust and borne mindful of you, our Lord.
P Lord God, of Your fatherly goodness You allow Your children to
come under Your chastening rod to conform us to Your only begotten Son here in
suffering on earth and hereafter in glory. Comfort us by Your Holy Spirit in
all temptations and afflictions, that we would not despair, but trust
continually in Your Son’s promise that our trials will endure but a little
while, and then be followed by eternal joy. Grant that we would overcome all
evil in patient hope and at last obtain eternal salvation; through the same
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
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.
BENEDICTION
P The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make His face shine on you and be
gracious to you.
The Lord look upon you with favor and T give you peace.
C Amen.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Divine Service, Setting One 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 © 2021 Concordia
Publishing House.
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