Invocavit - First Sunday in Lent
KJV 2 Corinthians 6:1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) 3 Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: 4 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, 5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; 6 By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, 7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 8 By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; 9 As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; 10 As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
KJV Matthew 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
Collect
Lord God, heavenly Father, inasmuch as the adversary doth continually afflict us, and as a roaring lion doth walk about, seeking to devour us: We beseech Thee for the sake of the suffering and death of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, to help us by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and to strengthen our hearts by Thy Word, that our enemy may not prevail over us, but that we may evermore abide in Thy grace, and be preserved unto everlasting life; through the same, Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Invocavit
The Hymn #151
The Invocation p. 15
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual 2 Corinthians 6:1-10
The Gospel Matthew 4:1-11
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn Luther #287
The Sermon
Salvation
The Offertory p. 22
The Hymn #305
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn Koren #44
Salvation
KJV 2 Corinthians 6:1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
Someone asked about salvation, and this is the Epistle for the First Sunday in Lent.
The order of salvation is clear in the Scriptures and in historic Christianity. The purpose of the Law is to teach God’s will in the First and Second Tables. The preaching of the Law is always condemnation, because the Law is a mirror that shows us what we truly are.
The Holy Spirit works through the Law to bring about godly contrition in the hearts of those who hear the Word. Worldly contrition is – I’m sorry I got caught. Godly contrition is – I know I have disobeyed God’s commandments, even if no one else knows.
People have forgotten that there are Two Tables in the Ten Commandments.
The First Table concerns our relationship to God. The first three Commandments are necessarily the most important and therefore the most dangerous to break.
We are singing Luther’s great hymn on the Ten Commandments today. (I could not find the words and music for “Strong Mother God,” which are probably protected by a United Methodist copyright anyway.)
Some of the best passages about sound doctrine and false doctrine can be found in Luther’s Large Catechism, part of our Book of Concord. As Luther said in so many ways, the man who murders another has harmed one soul, but the false teacher murders many souls.
The Law produces wrath, so it is not surprising that false teachers do not want to hear a word about their doctrine.
One time a well-known false teacher phoned me and accused me of not speaking to him directly about his widely published doctrinal errors. He said, “You should have withstood me to my face, as Paul did with Peter.” I said, “You have published your errors, but I would be glad to tell you about them now.” He said, “No, don’t do that.” Why did he shrink from the very thing he demanded? First of all, his accusations were wrong, just a bluster. Secondly, he was not afraid of me but of God. “The demons believe and their hides bristle.” (James, a appropriate book for this fellow). The know enough of God’s power to be afraid, but they do not love God or God’s Word. For them, Christianity is a way to have a good living and strut around. They will not bear the cross, and they do not mind being a cross someone else must bear.
False teachers cannot tolerate being challenged in any way. They do not want to engage in a debate they cannot win with the Scriptures, so they do their best to silence anyone who stands up against them. The old ALC of 1930 (as it was trying to merge the Ohio, Buffalo, and Iowa Synods) formed a committee to silence Lenski when he objected to their compromises about the inerrancy of God’s Word. Lenski was their best theologian, their famous author and district president. They were able to silence him and insert their compromise into the final document. That began a long, downhill slide into apostasy, aided by the 1960 ALC merger and later the ELCA merger.
The seminary I attended (Waterloo, Ontario) was formed at the beginning of the 20th century to provide orthodox Lutheran pastors for Eastern Canada. The first president of that seminary wrote a doctrinal textbook that Dr. Robert Preus mentioned to me as being “excellent” when we spoke in his office. When I worked at St. Peter’s, Kitchener, in the 1970’s, I used to see old Otto Reble each Sunday, greeting people in his role as the elderly, retired statesman, the retired district president. One of his former members mentioned how he saw the boys playing cards one day as he entered their home. Reble said nothing, but delivered a blistering sermon on card playing the next Sunday. Otto’s son is now the retired pastor of St. Peter’s, smiling benevolently as the current pastor announces he will conduct same-sex weddings.
The change in the Eastern Canada Synod could not have taken place unless they departed first from Lutheran doctrine. People forget how these errors gather momentum until nothing can stop them. A Christian country becomes anti-Christian in a few generations. I visited one family in their home. They lived in humble circumstances, but their father taught them the Gospel. The son and daughter were both in my confirmation classes – nice, bright children. One is on the synod staff. I wonder how someone with so much knowledge of the Bible in the eighth grade could be a part of that synod today. I wonder what his father would have said.
Individuals Are Like Synods
The same is true for individuals. They can become anti-Christian over time through a gradual application of false doctrine. The odd thing is how it all works together so well. The minister introduces errors because he has lost his faith. Or the congregation insists on compromise because they want a God without wrath, a Christ without the cross.
Since many enter the Kingdom through infant baptism, the gradual introduction of error is a fine way to turn believers into opponents of the Gospel. And they do not need to leave the bosom of the visible church to do that.
If someone has no faith and is disturbed by hearing the Law, feeling God’s wrath without the comfort of good works or merit, he is ready to have the comfort of the Gospel.
Someone without godly contrition will not hunger for the righteousness of faith.
Justification Based on the Reconciliation
The confusion reigning today from two justifications rests on one primary error. The reconciliation of 2 Corinthians 5:19ff is the basis for justification by faith. When someone is genuinely sorry for his sins, the message of 2 Corinthians 5 is clear and plain – Christ has exchanged your sins for His righteousness, which you receive by trusting in Him.
"For the papalists understand the word 'justify' according to the manner of the Latin composition as meaning 'to make righteous' through a donated or infused quality of inherent righteousness, from which works of righteousness proceed. The Lutherans, however, accept the word 'justify' in the Hebrew manner of speaking; therefore they define justification as the absolution from sins, or the remission of sins, through imputation of the righteousness of Christ, through adoption and inheritance of eternal life, and that only for the sake of Christ, who is apprehended by faith."
Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1971, I, p. 467.
This is justification by faith. The person who trusts in Jesus as his Savior is declared innocent by God because of the cross, because of this reconciliation.
It is nonsense to tell someone (in Confession and Absolution): “You were forgiven before you came in here.”
How would that sound to a man who murdered his friend in a rage? – “You were already a guilt-free saint.”
To claim that “God has declared the entire world righteous, forgiven, without faith” is akin to George Major’s error. Luther taught that good works necessarily follow faith and salvation, so George Major said, “Good works are necessary for salvation.” Major turned Gospel fruits into law, so that error (Majorism) had to be repudiated, just as UOJ needs to be repudiated today.
"Faith receives the good works of Christ, love bestows good works on our neighbor." In the first place, our faith is strengthened and increased when Christ is held forth to us in his own natural works, namely, that he associates only with the blind, the deaf, the lame, the lepers, the dead and the poor; that is , in pure love and kindness toward all who are in need and in misery, so that finally Christ is nothing else than consolation and a refuge for all the distressed and troubled in conscience. Here is necessary faith that trusts in the Gospel and relies upon it, never doubting that Christ is just as he is presented to us in this Gospel, and does not think of Him otherwise, nor let any one persuade us to believe otherwise."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, I, p. 109f. Matthew 11:2-10.
Salvation
The only way we can inherit eternal life is through justification by faith. We are sinners who are declared righteous by God’s grace, an absolution received daily through faith.
Many stumble and fall, through rebellion against the First or Second Tables. That is why we need to meditate on the Word daily. Difficulties help us appreciate the meaning of the Gospel Promises.
Sadly, people take for granted what God freely offers. As I mentioned, we have fresh citrus outside in our yard – lemons and tangelos. The abundance of citrus in Phoenix makes people take them for granted. My neighbors do not pick most of their oranges. Most people in America would love to walk outside in sunshine and 70 degree weather and pick an orange. That is because they value the scarcity when they have to don wooly coats to drive to the grocery stores in their frozen cars to buy a few fresh oranges for an outrageous price. They think, “I would cherish those oranges if I had them.” But the abundance changes that.
The abundance of God’s grace in the Gospel message leads to the same kind of satiety. People take it for granted and itch for something new and exciting. There is always a new and exciting cult to intrigue us.
Difficulties and bearing the cross combine to make the Gospel message a great treasure. We know we are sick when one pill makes us feel better at once. We know how valuable the Gospel is when we meditate on the Word or hear a sermon and know, “This is God’s message to me.”
I love Luther’s explanation of John 10, when he says, “I know my Shepherd is just as anxious for me as I am for Him.” That is why we listen to the Shepherd’s voice and follow Him. He knows His own and we listen to the Shepherd’s voice.
The foundational error is lack of faith in God’s love for each and every one of us. The constant pursuit of God’s grace is the message of the Scriptures. God follows after us and provides for our spiritual needs and our material needs. The spiritual needs are the most important, so we value them the least. The material needs are there for everyone – the rain falls on the just and the unjust – so we make that first in our lives.
The advantage of every believer in Christ is the forgiveness of sins and the comfort of the Gospel. The old Accuser, Satan, may rail night and day. As Luther said, “I may be a thousand times worse than you say, but I know Christ has paid the price for my sins, so you are powerless.”
The believer has the assurance of God’s love and guidance throughout life and into the life to come. This means a constant relationship to Christ through the Means of Grace. Because God has done everything for us through Christ and given us the instruments of His grace through the work of the Holy Spirit, we have nothing left to accomplish. We can speak the same truths we know and let God work through His Word. We can show the same kindness toward others that He has shown us.
God multiplies the Gospel by scattering the seed through us. Each Gospel act is a sowing of the seed: confession and absolution, mutual consolation, preaching and teaching the Word, Holy Baptism and Holy Communion. That is why Paul wrote, at the end of his reconciliation chapter – do not receive the grace of God in vain.
The living seed of the Gospel grows because God has imbued it with life, energy, and power.
