Friday after Pentecost 24
November,
16, 2012
The Lord be with you
This coming Sunday is the 25th Sunday after
Pentecost. Our assigned lessons are Daniel 12:1-3, Hebrews 10:11-25, and Mark
13:1-13. We will be using Matins for our liturgy. The assigned Psalm is Psalm
16. The text for the sermon is Daniel 12:3 and the sermon is titled “A Look
Forward.” Our opening hymn is “Prepare the Royal
Highway” (LSB
343). The sermon hymn is “Oh, How Blest Are They” (LSB 679). Our closing hymn is “Jerusalem,
My Happy Home” (LSB 673).
In our public prayers we will remember Apple of His Eye, an
outreach to Jews, the believers in Yemen, our sister SED congregations St.
Paul’s, Mechanicsville, MD; St. Mark – Deaf, Middle River, MD; Trinity, Mount
Rainier, MD; First, Odenton, MD; and Island, Hilton Head Island, SC. We will also
continue to remember those who have been misled by our cultures acceptance of
abortion and advocacy of sexual immorality, asking God’s grace for their lives
that they may be healed and restored by the Holy Spirit. We continue to
remember those trapped in the modern practice of slavery and ask God to bless
all efforts that are pleasing in his sight to end this sinful practice. We will
remember the Lutheran Malaria Initiative’s effort to end malaria in Africa
by 2015. We will remember those seeking to recover from Hurricane Sandy.
Below is a video of the children’s choir of Christ
Lutheran Academy
singing our sermon hymn, “Oh, How Blest Are They.”
Our adult Bible class
meets at 9:00 Sunday morning. We're doing
a study titled The Intersection of Church
and State, produced by the Men’s Network of the LLL.
It is a four-part video-based study. Due to the lively discussion, we are not
finishing a session per Sunday. Currently we are in the second part. If you
have missed the study so far, you can easily join as we show the video again at
the beginning of class concerning the section we are dealing with.
Preview of the
Lessons
Daniel 12:1-3: Babylon was a
city that became an empire (like Rome
later would). It then lost that status, being conquered by the Assyrians, but was
never completely pacified. Between 620 and 600 bc,
Babylon, and other Assyrian
territories, successfully revolted and Babylon
became the new great world power after a 1000 year absence. As this was the
second time Babylon was in such a
position, this time it is called the “Neo” Babylonian Empire by historians. The Bible
often calls them “Chaldeans” because that was the ethnic origin of the rulers.
During the 70 years period of this empire being on the top of the world power
hill, they conquered the Mesopotamia region, west and south to the Sinai
Peninsula, half of Arabia, and a large portion of the Anatolia Peninsula. This
area includes Jerusalem. Part of
the Babylonian policy was to deport conquered people, and that is what they did
with the Jews. The more promising people were actually promoted to positions of
prominence. This is what happened in the case of Daniel. These Jews carried
with them their scriptures, and thus, through this method, God spread his words
far and wide. It is most likely that this is how the “wise” men in the
Christmas story found in Luke’s Gospel were able to acquire their information
about the prophecy of Christ some 600 years later. Babylon
was conquered by the Persians, who allowed all the deported people, including
the Jews, to return home if they desired. Many, but by no means all, took advantage
of the offer. The Jews who remained in their new home became known as the Jews
of the Diaspora. Over the centuries, Jews could be found all over the known
world. Daniel (605-530 bc) was a
prophet and his words are found in the book he wrote and is included in the
Bible. Chapter 12 is wholly about the final age in which we have lived since
Christ. Our particular reading points to the Last Day, when all humanity will
be physically raised and judged. It will serve as the text for Sunday’s sermon.
Hebrews 10:11-25: The writer of Hebrews continues to unpack the meaning of
various Old Testament types. Here he covers the meaning of the animal
sacrifices, the Holy of Holies, the curtain in the Temple,
the sprinkling of people with water, and so forth. The very presence of the
fulfillment of such Old Testament types indicates that we are living in the
Last Days, and recognition of that should underscore how we live. Therefore, we
are to “hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised
is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good
works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but
encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near”
(23-25).
Mark 13:1-13: In this lesson Jesus and his disciples leave the temple, and
the disciples point out the marvelous structure with pride. Indeed, Herod’s
temple was a marvel. Jesus responds by foretelling its destruction (which
happened in the year 70 ad. The
Jews rebelled against the Romans and the Romans destroyed the city of Jerusalem,
including the temple, and disbursed the Jews, passing a law that prohibited
Jews from living in Jerusalem).
Later that day, James, John, Andrew and Peter asked Jesus when the temple would
be destroyed. From Matthew and Luke’s account, we understand that the disciples
believed the destruction of the temple and the end of the world would be
simultaneous events. This explains Jesus’ answer in Mark, which has much to do
with the events in these Last Days. So we read that there will be wars, rumors
of wars, famines, earthquakes, people who convert to Christianity will be
abused and murdered, and the like. None of these signs are unique to the 21st
century. They are typical of the Last Days that began with Jesus. One thing we
can take away from the words of Jesus is that all efforts to create a perfect
world prior to the Second Coming are doomed to failure. God doesn’t have to
deliberately cause their fall. Fallen humanity will do it all on their own. The
mission of the Church is to proclaim the Gospel of God’s grace in Christ Jesus
around the globe. When the last person whose name is written in the Book of
Life has come to faith, Christ will return to judge the living and the dead.
Tidbits
- The church council will meet after our worship service, Sunday.
- Information for the December newsletter is due Sunday. .
Well, I pray I’ll see you Sunday.
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor John Rickert
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