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.

Sunday School Lesson

Evening Prayer

                                                                                                3/18/2020

+ 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 69

9For zeal for your house has consumed me,
   and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
10When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting,
   it became my reproach.
11When I made sackcloth my clothing,
   I became a byword to them.
12I am the talk of those who sit in the gate,
   and the drunkards make songs about me.
13But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
   At an acceptable time, O God,
   in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
14Deliver me
   from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
   and from the deep waters.
15Let not the flood sweep over me,
   or the deep swallow me up,
   or the pit close its mouth over me.
16Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;
   according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
17Hide not your face from your servant;
   for I am in distress;
   make haste to answer me.
18Draw near to my soul, redeem me;
   ransom me because of my enemies!
19You know my reproach,
   and my shame and my dishonor;
   my foes are all known to you.
20Reproaches have broken my heart,
   so that I am in despair.
I looked for pity, but there was none,
   and for comforters, but I found none.
21They gave me poison for food,
   and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.
22Let their own table before them become a snare;
   and when they are at peace, let it become a trap.
23Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,
   and make their loins tremble continually.
24Pour out your indignation upon them,
   and let your burning anger overtake them.
25May their camp be a desolation;
   let no one dwell in their tents.
26For they persecute him whom you have struck down,
   and they recount the pain of those you have wounded.
27Add to them punishment upon punishment;
   may they have no acquittal from you.
28Let them be blotted out of the book of the living;
   let them not be enrolled among the righteous.
29But I am afflicted and in pain;
   let your salvation, O God, set me on high!
30I will praise the name of God with a song;
   I will magnify him with thanksgiving.

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.

Matthew 27:1–26

   1When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. 2And they bound him and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate the governor.

   3Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, 4saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” 5And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. 6But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.” 7So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers. 8Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, 10and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.”

   11Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.” 12But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. 13Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” 14But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

   15Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. 16And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. 17So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. 19Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.” 20Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. 21The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” 22Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” 23And he said, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”

   24So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” 25And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” 26Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

L    In many and various ways, God spoke to His people of old by the prophets.

C    But now in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son.

SERMON

Psalm 69:29

    But I am afflicted and in pain;

        let your salvation, O God, set me on high!

In  John chapter 2, Jesus drove the money changers out of the temple in Jerusalem, because they were making a mess of the place and keeping people from worshipping properly, and then it says,  (vs 17) His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me." That’s written here in Psalm 69. The disciples got that this Psalm is primarily about Jesus.

It’s clear also in the verse that says “for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.”  Which is what they did to Jesus at the crucifixion.

So also these words: But I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, O God, set me on high!

As our Lord was afflicted and in pain, He looked to His heavenly Father. He expected help and deliverance from on high. The answer to His plea came when He rose again on the third day, ascended into heaven and was seated at the right hand of God Almighty on high.

God the Father answered the prayer of His Son Jesus, who prayed,

    But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.

        At an acceptable time, O God,

        in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.  (69:13)

This Psalm can become our prayer too. We are afflicted and in pain. Afflicted with a pandemic and all the trouble that it is causing. Some are already feeling the pain in the pocketbook as all the trouble is causing economic loss. Too many people are afflicted with fear. Caution is called for. Fear is destructive.

Faith displaces fear. So let this be your ongoing prayer: I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, O God, set me on high!

On high -- When the trumpet sounds and the Lord Jesus returns He will lift His beloved people from their graves and restore us to the high and perfect life in paradise.

On high – When death comes to us, perhaps soon, perhaps many years in the future, we have our Lord’s promise that He will send His angels to lift up our soul and take it on High to be with Him.

On high – When sickness and weakness get us down, the Spirit of God will call us through His word to lift up our eyes and our attitudes, so that even when afflicted we can praise God.

On high – When foolish fears fill our heads and innards and wreak havoc on us, we remembered that Jesus died even for our sins of fearing too much. And in repentance and faith we ask Him, “let your salvation, O God, set me on high!”

On high – When our God provides the opportunity, when he allows this plague to pass, we will again be able to come together and have Word and Sacrament properly, to eat of His Holy Communion in the foretaste of the feast to come on high.

Until then we believe. We pray. We wait.

Amen.

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 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 [name of president or monarch], 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 the sick and those who care for them, let us pray to the Lord:

C    Lord, have mercy.

L    For the faithful who have gone before us and are with Christ, let us give thanks to the Lord:

C    Thanks be to God.

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

L    Rejoicing in the fellowship of the saints, let us commend ourselves, one another, and our whole life to Christ, our Lord:

C    To You, O 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                                                                                                                                       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.

880 NOW REST BENEATH NIGHT’S SHADOW

1     Now rest beneath night’s shadow
The woodland, field, and meadow;
    The world in slumber lies.
But you, my heart, awaking
And prayer and music making,
    Let praise to your Creator rise.

2     The radiant sun has vanished,
Its golden rays are banished
    From dark’ning skies of night;
But Christ, the Sun of gladness,
Dispelling all our sadness,
    Shines down on us in warmest light.

3     Now all the heav’nly splendor
Breaks forth in starlight tender
    From myriad worlds unknown;
And we, this marvel seeing,
Forget our selfish being
    For joy of beauty not our own.

4     Lord Jesus, since You love me,
Now spread Your wings above me
    And shield me from alarm.
Though Satan would devour me,
Let angel guards sing o’er me:
    This child of God shall meet no harm.

5     My loved ones, rest securely,
For God this night will surely
    From peril guard your heads.
Sweet slumbers may He send you
And bid His hosts attend you
    And through the night watch o’er your beds.

Text: Public domain

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Evening 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.

Services will only be Online in March

March 18, 2020

Dear members of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church,

Psalm 69:16

    Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;

        according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.

The plague that is upon the world now causes us to pray even more fervently to our God seeking His mercy. Fear-filled news causes us to repent of our sins and ask God for forgiveness. We trust Jesus for His forgiveness and His steadfast love. Because He died for us, we need fear neither death, nor life, nor virus, nor anything else.

I am praying for you. Let’s continue praying for our nation, the sick and the healthcare workers.

Yesterday the Governor of our state issued a proclamation declaring an emergency because of this virus and extremely limiting all public gatherings. The elders and I must obey this order from our government. Therefore we are cancelling all public services of the church for the rest of March.

Please be encouraged. Do not be overcome by fear. Trust your Lord. Practically speaking, I would like to suggest you limit your exposure to the bad news of this pandemic. Understanding that it is good to keep up with the latest information, also take up other things that will take your mind away from it. Watch an old movie, play a game, read unrelated materials and pray.

To that end we will be providing sermons, readings and prayers over a variety of platforms in these coming days.

Services on Sundays and Wednesdays will be on our church’s YouTubechannel. https://tinyurl.com/vbw9m7e

(you can also search for St Paul's Lutheran Fredericksburg, or follow the link from our blog.)

On other days, I intend to go Facebook Live with shorter prayer services.

I will be posting sermons and announcements on our blog:  http://stpaulfburg.blogspot.com/

Please also remember to continue your giving to the Lord and His work. Offerings can be mailed to the church at PO  Box 336, Fredericksburg, Iowa 50630

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Ron Koch

Temptation -- Matthew 4:3

March 1, 2020

First Sunday in Lent

Grace, mercy and peace are yours from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Matthew 4:3

    And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."

Throughout this season of Lent, in our preparation for the Easter festival, we will have Holy Communion in every Sunday service. Now I suppose that many of you haven’t even noticed a certain something about our communion services, so let me point out the fact to you that church is a few minutes longer when we have communion. One way in which the service is longer is that for Communion services we usually use the Nicene Creed, and it has a few extra words, not in the Apostles’ Creed. For instance, when we talk about God The Father, maker of heaven and earth, the Nicene Creed has these extra words, and of all things visible and invisible. It’s a little longer, but it does us good to regularly remind ourselves and remind each other that our faith is this: there is more to reality than what is visible, what can be seen. In fact, we could even say that there is more real that we cannot see than what we can see.

The gospel reading today describes temptation by the Devil. That is usually part of the hidden, invisible life we live. We don’t usually see the devil, his works and his ways remain hidden. So we have here an interesting story, an educational story from the life of Jesus Christ, but more significantly we have here a warning that there is in the invisible realm a danger. The old evil foe now means deadly woe. Deep guile and great might are his dread arms in fight. On earth is not his equal. 

It is the devil’s desire to tempt us, to watch us sin, and to bring our ruin upon us. He wants you to fail.

We are reading through some selected Psalms these days of Lent. Some of these passages talk about enemies. Like yesterday, we read Psalm 18, by David, which has these verses:

Psalm 18:46-48

    The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,

        and exalted be the God of my salvation—

    [47] the God who gave me vengeance

        and subdued peoples under me,

    [48] who delivered me from my enemies;

        yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me;

        you rescued me from the man of violence.

David was a man of war. He was a king during a time when Israel had many enemies around them, and within the kingdom there were enemies, even in David's own family that fought against him. Can you relate to these Psalms? Do you have enemies? Is there a Goliath in your life that comes to mind when you pray these Psalms? Maybe there is. But I think a lot of us have to say, “no, I don’t really have any enemies that are actively trying to kill me and seek my ruin.” And, if you’re honest with yourself, you might have to consider that the so-called enemy that comes to mind is someone with whom you should be reconciled. It is very rare that we have a situation like David and Goliath, where one side is completely righteous and the other side is completely wicked. Usually in our conflicts, there is fault on both sides and the conflict continues because of stubbornness. In such cases, do not pray against your enemies like David. Pray for your enemies and hear God’s command to work toward reconciliation. Make things right.

Ephesians chapter 6 teaches us how to think about things like this. It says, For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

The enemies that you and I have to pray against are of that invisible realm which we confess and believe in. Our enemies are against us not just to take our money, or reputation from us, not just “goods, fame, child and wife”. Our enemies would seek to destroy our eternal soul.

Considering what is at stake, we ought to happily take a few extra minutes to receive the means of grace, the means God gives us to be saved from the devil.

So let’s get back to Matthew chapter 4 and Jesus temptation by the enemy. Can you picture the scene? It’s rather easy to picture because it’s described so well. You can picture this conversation between the devil and Jesus. But it’s strange though, isn’t it? This is Jesus, the Son of God, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit is one God, Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth, and all things, visible and invisible. Here is the creator, being tempted by a creature.

It’s part of his humiliation, which we recently studied in the middle school catechism class. Jesus when he became human, in the incarnation, was in this state of humiliation. How humiliating it was, to become flesh, and have the weaknesses of flesh and the temptations of the flesh. The desires of the flesh include hunger, essentially the desire to stay alive. And with all of the flesh’s desires comes the temptation to meet the desires in the easiest way, the quickest way. Here, just make some bread.

Further on, the tempter suggests Jesus take the easier way out. “Don’t go through humiliation. Come to my side and receive the glory you want. Not the humility of the cross but all the glory and power of all the kingdoms of the world.”

Jesus said “no” to that temptation.  And every temptation. All the way to the cross. The devil in tempting Him so, was trying to steer Him away from the cross. But Jesus was resolute and kept going the difficult, painful road to the cross. He would not take the easy way out. He would go all the way to death, because that’s what He had to do for you. With you in mind, He had to say no to the devil’s tempting offer.

So you can imagine the scene with Jesus and the devil. So likewise, imagine the scene where the devil would work on you next time.

I think a lot of times Christians feel stupid in times of temptation. They say internally to themselves. “Oh, come on! I’m a Christian. I’ve been redeemed, sanctified. I had to memorize the whole catechism! I know better. Why should I be tempted? I shouldn’t be feeling this way or even considering such horrible things.”

Understand what is going on. In temptation you are with Jesus, “who in every respect has been tempted as we re, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

Matthew 4:11, the last line of the Gospel reading today says this: 

    Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

 Those same angels are looking after us, invisibly. We say as much every time we confess the maker of heaven and earth, and all things visible and invisible.

   

The same angels and the same faith.  Jesus believed that the cross was the way to go. The devil’s distractions were not worth comparing to the purposes of Jesus and His Father. Jesus understood what was going on.

So by faith in Jesus and His cross, understand what is going on when you are tempted. And remember your Savior.

Hebrews 4:16 --

    Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

   Amen.