Wednesday
after Epiphany V
February 12,
2014
The Lord be
with you
This coming
Sunday is the Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany. It is also the Commemoration of Philipp
Melanchthon (birth), Confessor In our prayers we will remember the blessings
God worked through him and ask that God continues to raise up faithful
confessors today. We will be using Matins (page 219) for our liturgy. This is one
of the old “Prayer Hours” and, as such, is a service of the word only (no
communion). We will use the appointed Psalm for the Day (Psalm 119:1-8) and
chant it by the half-verse. We will use the Benedictus (page 226) for our Canticle.
The
appointed lessons are Deuteronomy 30:15-20, 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 and Matthew
5:21-37. The text for the sermon is Deuteronomy 30:15. The sermon title is “The
Law, Us and Jesus.” Our opening hymn is “The Law of God Is Good and Wise” (LSB
579). Our sermon hymn is “The Gospel Shows the Father’s Grace” (LSB 580).
The closing hymn is “I Know My Faith is Founded” (LSB 587).
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| Matthias Loy |
The first
two hymns were written by Matthias Loy (1828-1915) of the old Joint Ohio Synod
(which was absorbed by The American Lutheran Church which was absorbed by the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America). They were written as companion pieces,
one with a focus on God’s Law and the other with a focus on God’s Gospel.
Below is the
summary of the lessons provided by the LCMS.
Christ
Sets Life before Us so that We Can Walk in His Ways
The God who
reveals Himself in His incarnate Son promises life and blessing to all who obey
His commandments “by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways,
and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules” (Deut.
30:16). However, we are “people of the
flesh” and “infants in Christ” (1
Cor. 3:1) among whom “there is jealousy
and strife” (1 Cor. 3:3). Jesus must instruct us against the human ways of
anger, adultery, divorce and false witness (Matt. 5:21–37), because all who
live in these ways “shall surely perish”
(Deut. 30:18). On the cross He died to forgive our sins and free us from the
ways of curse and death. Since Jesus Christ is our “life and length of days” (Deut. 30:20), we can be reconciled to
our brother, live in chastity and marital faithfulness, and speak with honesty.
He who serves from His cross also offers His gift of reconciliation at His
altar, and we can be at peace with our brothers and sisters in Christ who are “God’s field, God’s building” (1 Cor.
3:9).
Sunday’s Lessons
Psalm
119:1-8 (1)
119:1
Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord!
2 Blessed
are those who keep his testimonies,
who seek him with their whole
heart,
3 who
also do no wrong,
but walk in his ways!
4 You
have commanded your precepts
to be kept diligently.
5 Oh
that my ways may be steadfast
in keeping your statutes!
6 Then
I shall not be put to shame,
having my eyes fixed on all
your commandments.
7 I
will praise you with an upright heart,
when I learn your righteous
rules.
8 I
will keep your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me!
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
15 “See, I
have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16If you
obey the commandments of the Lord
your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his
commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply,
and the Lord your God will bless
you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17But
if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship
other gods and serve them, 18I declare to you today, that you shall
surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the
Jordan to enter and possess. 19I call heaven and earth to witness
against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and
curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20loving
the Lord your God, obeying his
voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you
may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to
Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
3:1 But I,
brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the
flesh, as infants in Christ. 2I fed you with milk, not solid food,
for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3for
you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you,
are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4For when
one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being
merely human?
5 What
then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord
assigned to each. 6I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the
growth. 7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but
only God who gives the growth. 8He who plants and he who waters are
one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9For we
are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.
Matthew 5:21-37
21 “You
have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever
murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22But I say to you that
everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever
insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You
fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. 23So if you are offering
your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something
against you, 24leave your gift there before the altar and go. First
be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25Come
to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest
your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be
put in prison. 26Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until
you have paid the last penny.
27 “You
have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28But
I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already
committed adultery with her in his heart. 29If your right eye causes
you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one
of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.30 And
if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is
better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into
hell.
31 “It was
also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of
divorce.’ 32But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife,
except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and
whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
33 “Again
you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely,
but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34But I say to
you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,
35or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it
is the city of the great King. 36And do not take an oath by your
head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37Let what you
say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
Below is a
video of a violinist who plays and sings the first verse of “The Gospel Shows
the Father’s Grace.”
Our Sunday morning Bible hour begins at 9:00 am. We continue with Colossians.
Well, I pray
we will see you Sunday morning.
Blessings in
Christ,
Pastor John
Rickert
