Thursday after the Fifth Sunday of the Resurrection of Our Lord
Commemoration
of Athanasius of Alexandria, Pastor and Confessor
National Day
of Prayer
May 2, 2013
He is Risen!
This coming
Sunday is the Sixth Sunday of the Resurrection of Our Lord (Easter 6), May 5. It is also the Commemoration of Frederick the
Wise, Christian Ruler. We will be using the service of Prayer and Preaching for
our liturgy, which begins on page 260 of the hymnal. This is a non-communion
service. As is typical of our Prayer services, a Psalm is used instead of the
Introit. The appointed Psalm is Psalm 67. The appointed lessons are Acts
16:9-15; Revelation 21:9-14, 21-27; and John 16:23-33. Some churches in the
LCMS will certainly use John 5:1-9 for the Gospel lesson, as that is an option
for Sunday.
The sermon
Sunday is titled: The Wall that Separates. The text is Revelation 21:26-27. The
lessons are very rich theologically and one could easily go a different direction
with the sermon (as the summary from the LCMS reveals).
Our hymns continue
to accent that we are in the Easter Season. Our opening hymn is “All the Earth
with Joy Is Sounding” (LSB 462). Our closing hymn is “I Am Content! My
Jesus Ever Lives” (LSB 468). Our sermon hymn breaks from the Easter
theme, reflecting a theme in the message. It is “What Is the World to Me” (LSB
730). I have been unable to locate a video of for any of these hymns.
In our
prayers Sunday we will remember Frederick the Wise. If you are not sure of who
he was, the following link will take you to a post I placed last year on this
blog about him: http://www.lutheran-in-sc.blogspot.com/2012/05/frederick-wise-christian-ruler.html.
We will also
remember those trapped in slavery today, those who have been misled by our
cultures advocacy of abortion and sexual immorality, the Lutheran Malaria
Initiative, and our sister congregations in the SED (this Sunday: Immanuel
& St. John’s, Alexandria,
VA; St. Paul, Amelia, VA; Our
Savior, Arlington, VA; Risen Christ, Myrtle Beach, SC). We also continue to
remember believers around the world. This Sunday we remember the Lutheran
Church of Ingria in Russia and their Bishop, Rev. Arri Kugappi, the persecuted believers
in Kyrgyzstan, and the African Immigrant Mission of North America, and
our missionaries in Macau, Matt and Kim Myers.
Preview of
Lessons
Acts
16:9-15
This is the
account of the first known conversion to Christianity in Europe. I say “first
known” because it is entirely possible that some saint, unknown to us but a
shining star in heaven, brought the faith to Europe before Paul and his
company. Be that as it may, this is a great “first contact” story because it
accents how different the Christian Faith was from the prevailing culture (as
it continues to be today). Paul was considering what to do next when he
received his “Macedonian Call.” Macedonia is north of Greece and part of
Europe. So far as history tells us, the Christian Faith had not yet reached
Europe. As Christianity is so associated with European history, it might be
hard for us to comprehend how 1st century people living in the
Middle East, especially Jewish people, might view Europeans negatively in
reference to evangelism prospects. Many Jews were not even convinced that
Europeans could indeed be saved; in fact, they might not even be really human. So
Paul’s call to go to Europe for the express purpose of sharing the faith (as opposed
to simple economic reasons) was a bold move. Next Paul goes to a “place of
prayer” by a river. (Corporate prayer could easily have been a focus of the
sermon, by the way.) Such gatherings were typical in places where there were a
few Jews, but not enough men to establish a synagogue (the importance of
corporate worship could also have been the focus of the sermon). Among others,
Paul finds Lydia. She is a “seller of purple.” The esv adds “goods” after purple, so we can understand what she
did. This was a very profitable business, so Lydia was probably well off. She
was a “God Fearer” (esv has “worshiper
of God”). This was a person who was attracted to the Jewish Faith, but had not
become a full-fledged Jew. Paul, an important teacher, teaches Lydia and the
other ladies present. This may not seem remarkable to you, but in his day it
simply was not done. Paul, of course, is following the example of Jesus (John
4:1-42; Luke 10:38-42) which was equally shocking. The Christian Faith has done
more to elevate the lives and status of women than anything else in all of
history. After Lydia’s conversion, she invites Paul and his company to stay at
her place (another indication that she was finically well off). Paul and his
troop agree. Again, we might not take notice of this, but another major cultural
taboo was crossed at this point. This reading might well “fly under the radar”
today, but when Luke wrote it, it would have jumped off the page, screaming
that the Gospel was for everyone. The walls erected by humanity are broken down
by the Gospel.
Revelation
21: 9-14, 21-27
John has
another vision of heaven. The “bride, the wife of the Lamb” is the “Church.” As
the text makes clear, “Church” should be understood as true believers from
every age and from all locations. This “bride” is also “the holy city Jerusalem.”
One of the main forces of the images (gates on all walls, the treasure of the
kings being brought in, etc.) all accent that people will be brought to faith
from every corner of the world and from every social strata. As the sermon will
come from this reading, I’ll say no more.
John 16:23-33
Jesus is
preparing his disciples from his upcoming crucifixion, burial, and
resurrection. The disciples are having a hard time understanding (no surprise
there). As soon as they begin to get an inkling, Jesus reveals more and they
are again confused. The reason Jesus is giving this advance notice to his
disciples is so that they will not be troubled when it all happens. Indeed,
through his bloody death and burial, as well as his resurrection and ascension,
Jesus overcomes the world. Our Lord’s victory through suffering has been the
model for his followers ever since (despite the loud denials of the prosperity preachers,
who do not proclaim authentic Christianity). A second theme here is prayer.
Jesus instructs us to pray in his name, that is, in faith in his atoning death
and resurrection and according to his will. This is not a magic formula. Because
of the work of Christ we are able to make our appeal directly to the Father. Of
course, those who do not bring their prayers to the Father by the Son have no guarantee
that the Father will graciously hear them. Because the Father loves them, He might,
but there is no promise. There is much in this lesson that could be
applied to the divinity of Jesus or to the relationship between the Father and
the Son.
Jesus Turns Sorrow into Joy We Pray
to the Father in Jesus’ Name
(Summary from LC-MS)
“In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome
the world” (John
16:33). Jesus has opened the way to the Father, so that “whatever you ask of the
Father” in Jesus’ name, “he will give it to you” (John
16:23). We pray, therefore, in the confidence that we will be heard and answered,
that our “joy may be full”
(John 16:24). We pray because the Gospel has been preached to us, and the Lord
has opened our hearts to believe the Gospel (Acts 16:10, 14). We pray in the
name of Jesus because we have been baptized into Him, as Lydia and her
household were baptized (Acts 16:15). We have been healed, and we live and walk
and pray in newness of life (John 5:8–9). For we stand upon the firm foundation
“of
the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (Rev. 21:14), and our temple is “the
Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb” (Rev. 21:22).
Tidbits
- As you probably have noticed, the May newsletter has been put on this blog. Sunday a print copy will be available for those without internet access. Calendars will be in everyone’s boxes.
- As far as I know, nothing is scheduled for Sunday beyond our regular schedule of Bible study at 9:00 and worship at 10:30.
- A prayer for the National Day of Prayer was posted earlier today.
Well, I pray
we will see you Sunday.
Blessings in
Christ,
Pastor John
Rickert
No comments:
Post a Comment