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| By Norma Boeckler |
The Second Sunday in Advent,
2012
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The Hymn # 58 – Gerhardt O Lord 4:49
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 Romans 15:4-13
The
Gospel Luke 21:25-36
Glory be to Thee,
O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #71 Watchman 4.9
Watchfulness in the Word
The Hymn # 304 An Awesome Mystery 4.6
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 # 647 O Little Town 4.13
Second Sunday In Advent
Lord God, heavenly Father, who by Thy Son hast
revealed to us that heaven and earth shall pass away, that our bodies shall
rise again, and that we all shall appear before the judgment seat: We beseech
Thee, keep us by Thy Holy Spirit in Thy word; establish us in the true faith,
graciously defend us from sin and preserve us in all temptations, that our
hearts may not be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of
this life, but that we may ever watch and pray and, trusting fully in Thy
grace, await with joy the glorious coming of Thy Son, and at last obtain
eternal salvation, through Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth
and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end.
Amen.
KJV Romans 15:4 For
whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we
through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. 5 Now the God
of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another
according to Christ Jesus: 6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth
glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Wherefore receive ye
one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God. 8 Now I say that
Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to
confirm the promises made unto the fathers: 9 And that the Gentiles
might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will
confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name. 10 And again he
saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. 11 And again, Praise the Lord,
all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people. 12 And again, Esaias saith, There
shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in
him shall the Gentiles trust. 13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and
peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy
Ghost.
KJV Luke 21:25 And there
shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the
earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26
Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which
are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 27 And then
shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28
And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your
heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. 29 And he spake to them a parable;
Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; 30 When they now shoot forth, ye see
and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. 31 So likewise ye,
when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh
at hand. 32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till
all be fulfilled. 33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not
pass away. 34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be
overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so
that day come upon you unawares. 35 For as a snare shall it come on all
them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 Watch ye therefore, and pray
always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall
come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Watchfulness in the Word
KJV Romans 15:4 For
whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we
through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
Because we write so much,
one more written document has less value today, especially since there are so
many copies of the Bible available. In contrast, when written documents were
rare and scribes were highly valued, whatever was put in writing was bound to
be important.
This verse, as Lenski
observed, has a great emphasis on writing, the verb used twice in the verse.
Scripture itself means – the writing.
This cannot be
over-emphasized, because there is only one book written by God – the Bible.
We also tend to water down
the meaning of inspiration, because the original meaning is this – that the
Scriptures are the revealed, the inspired, the God-breathed Word of God. What
God says and what He wills – that is all written down.
In the ancient gatherings,
long before American-style voting, church leaders gathered to discuss doctrinal
issues. That was allowed because it is good for everyone to discuss what they
believe and teach. Now it is no longer allowed. If an issue is dangerous to the
synodical officials, because of its false foundations, the topic cannot be
discussed at all. This censorship favors false doctrine.
So, in those ancient
gatherings, as Chemnitz observed, they brought out the Scriptures themselves to
remind everyone that the Scriptures alone judged those matters. That is not an
anti-credal position, because Chemnitz was constantly involved in teaching,
discussing, writing, and eventually in editing the Book of Concord.
He was saying, as we should
today, that the written Word of God is the one and only canon. It is the ruling
norm.
A confession (Augsburg,
Formula of Concord) is a public witness about the Word of God. Man’s tendency
is to take a recent writing and make that judge the accepted confessions of
faith and even worse, the Word of God itself.
I remember the shock when
the National Council of Churches’ RSV dropped the Virgin Birth from Isaiah
7:14. They had a lot of excuses, but the fact remains – they did not believe in
it so they removed it. They were forced to back-track.
The Methodists took their
own hymn, Deck the Halls, and removed the Virgin Birth, too. “Offspring of the
Virgin’s womb” became “Offspring of the Chosen One.” The new words were not
wrong, except they were meant to say, we no longer believe in the Virgin Birth
of Christ. Of course, this was done quietly, secretly, deviously. You will
still find sheet music today with the new words.
Likewise, the New NIV has
added a word “all” to Romans 3 to make God say that the entire world was
absolved of sin, without faith, without the Word, without the Means of Grace.
This is completely harmonious with the Universalism of the Left, but definitely
not harmonious with Lutheran doctrine, traditional Protestant doctrine, or the
Bible itself.
For Lutherans to adopt the
New NIV is to say, “This is what God would have said, if He knew doctrine as
well as we do.” It is truly shameful and shows how low and degraded seminary
and synodical leadership has become. They only follow the Word of God when it
comes to tithing and they get that wrong, too.
were written aforetime
were written for our learning
That means all things
written, not just what we like, were written for our benefit and education in
the faith. By writing them down and protecting them (divinely) from
destruction, God gave us a universal measuring stick (canon) to judge all
matters of faith, doctrine, and practice.
When I was asked by some
Evangelicals about the Scriptures, since there are many approaches (99% of them
wrong), I quoted what Nils Dahl said at Yale. He said, “There is one thing we
know for certain – the text of the Bible.”
Dahl said that to bypass
fascination with theories and the many speculations spun out of the dreams of
various professors and doctoral students. I used to look at one journal, which
was devoted to summarizing the theories of all the famous writers on any given
topic (Theologische Rundschau). One article might be 100 pages in print,
simply noting what each author said about something like “who wrote the Gospel
of Mark?”
We live in an age where
people are protective about what Uncle Fritz wrote in a paper, but not about
what God wrote for us in the Bible.
Another statement should be
the opinion of every Christian. I quoted that to these Evangelicals too. Luther
– “If someone does not believe in the inerrancy of the Scriptures, there is
nothing to discuss.”
Luther clearly taught the
inerrancy and authority of the Scriptures, and his statement says more than
many would admit today. The person who rejects inerrancy has already given up
the real meaning of the inspiration, authority, and efficacy of the Word of
God.
So, when people were
discussing the purchase or study of the Apocrypha, I said, “If they do not know
Galatians, why study the books not included in the canon.”
we through patience and
comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
Because the Word of God is
effective, studying and hearing the Word gives us patience (endurance in
trials) and comfort.
What God wills is our good,
and yet people run away from what is good and beneficial. They substitute all
kinds of false religion and philosophies to fill up the void left by non-study
and non-worship. One study will displace the other.
David Becker, a Lutheran
layman, has recently observed that Mark Jeske’s so-called Time of Grace does not
even confess the most basic truths of the Christian faith. That did not shock
me, because I heard Jeske mouth the occult philosophy of Asians in one TV show.
Someone devoted to Asian success philosophy (Paul Y. Cho) will find the Scriptures
distasteful. Those who read a faithful Bible translation will find Cho disgusting
and ridiculous. As one wit said, “I find Peale appalling and Paul appealing.” Norman
Vincent Peale plagiarized his Power of Positive Thinking from an occult writer.
Shocked? No.
Knowing God’s truth gives us
hope. As I mentioned before on the Beatitudes, the last one struck me as all messed
up when I was a child. Everything sounded bad, but the message stuck. When I
finally realized what it meant, I could grasp what Luther meant about the “blessed
holy cross” that we bear as Christians. If it is not taught, it is not understood.
If people experience the cross without understanding it, they will be afraid
and despairing, running back to their old, pagan ways. But when we understand
the Word, patience and comfort are ours.
That does not require
foreign languages or graduate study, but it does entail such things as setting
aside time to worship, to listen, and to study during the week. The slight
effort has great rewards, because the wisdom is God’s wisdom, not man’s.
5 Now the God of patience
and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to
Christ Jesus: 6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God,
even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Wherefore receive ye one another,
as Christ also received us to the glory of God.
Someone described our ecumenical
age as a time when people gather because of a common set of unbeliefs – what they
reject from the Scriptures.
The opposite is also true. Believing
what the Word says makes us likeminded. We work together and enjoy those benefits.
Grandchildren are a grandparent’s delight. People glorify God with one voice. It
is a great experience, and it is God’s will that we enjoy that experience in this
life and the life to come.
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| Graphic by Norma Boeckler |
"Again, both Jews and gentiles, in consequence of this same disordered idea, could not venture to eat of bread and meat offered to idols by unbelievers, though sold in the public market. They imagined that to eat thereof was to honor the idols and deny Christ, when in fact the act had no significance. For all kinds of food are clean, and good creatures of God, whether in the hands of heathen or Christians, whether offered to God or to the devil."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 29. Second Sunday in Advent, Romans 15:4-13.
"The first difficulty was this: Some Jewish converts feared that deviating from former customs would be committing sin. Notwithstanding they had been taught the New Testament freedom regarding meats, days, clothing, vessels, persons, conditions, customs; that only faith renders us righteous in God's sight; and that the restrictions of the Law concerning the eating of flesh and fish, concerning holidays, places, vessels, were entirely abolished....
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 29. Second Sunday in Advent, Romans 15:4-13.
"One consists of those weak in the faith, of whom we have already spoken. It is to this class alone Paul here refers. They are good, pious, common people, willingly doing better when they have the knowledge or power. They are not tenacious of their opinions; the trouble lies altogether in weakness of conscience and lack of faith. They are unable to extricate themselves from prevailing doctrines and customs. The other class are obstinate. Not satisfied to enjoy liberty of conduct for themselves, they must enforce it upon others, constraining them to their own practices. They claim that because certain liberty is permissible, it must be enjoined. They will not listen to real truth in the matter of Christian liberty, but strive against it."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 30. Second Sunday in Advent, Romans 15:4-13.
"Suppose a wolf were to wound almost fatally a sheep, and you were to proceed with rage against the sheep, declaring it to be wrong in being wounded, that it should be sound, and you were violently to compel it to follow the other sheep to the pasture and to the fold, giving it no special care; would not all men declare you inconsiderate? The sheep might well say: 'Certainly it is wrong for me to be wounded, and unquestionably I ought to be sound; but direct your anger toward the inflicter of my wounds, and assist in my recovery.' So should these Romans have done and have faithfully repelled the wolf-life teachers."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 31. Second Sunday in Advent, Romans 15:4-13.
"No one will open his eyes to the fact that mere human devices and doctrines are ensnaring souls, weakening consciences, dissipating Christian liberty and faith, and replenishing hell. Wolves! Wolves! How abominably, awfully, murderous, how harassing and destructive, are these things the world over!"
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 32. Second Sunday in Advent, Romans 15:4-13.
"Recognizing the weak and wounded condition of the offender, Christ's doctrine comes in a friendly way, teaching the real truth about human laws--that of Christian liberty. It is patient, bearing with him who does not immediately abandon his erroneous ways, and giving him time to learn to forsake them. It allows him to do the best he can, according to what he has been used to, until he is made whole and clearly perceives the truth."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 33. Second Sunday in Advent, Romans 15:4-13.
"Now, where Paul's Christian doctrine does not obtain, naturally each individual forgets the beam in his own eye and perceives only the mote in his neighbor's. One will not bear with the faults of the other; each requires perfection of his fellow...These puff themselves up and put on airs. Whoever is not just like them is held in disgrace, in disparagement and contempt. Only themselves are worthy of admiration...They are not aware of the secret satanical pride in the inmost recesses of their hearts, which pride is the very reason they haughtily and meanly despise their neighbors for their imperfections."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 35. Second Sunday in Advent, Romans 15:4-13.
"Now, the Christian hatred of sin discriminates between the vices and the individual. It endeavors to exterminate only the former and to preserve the latter. It does not flee from, evade, reject nor despise anyone: rather it receives every man, takes a warm interest in him and accords him treatment calculated to relieve him of his vices. It admonishes, instructs and prays for him. It patiently bears with him."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 35f. Second Sunday in Advent, Romans 15:4-13.
"Observe, however, what the devil has accomplished through the Papists. It was not enough for them to throw the Bible under the table, to make it so rare that few doctors of the holy Scriptures possessed a copy, much less read it; but lest it be brought to public notice they have branded it with infamy. For they blasphemously say it is obscure; we must follow the interpretations of men and not the pure Scriptures. What else is their proceeding but giving Paul the lie here where he says the Bible is our manual of instruction? They say it is obscure and calculated to mislead."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 41 Second Sunday in Advent, Romans 15:4-13.
"Mark you, the real mission of the Scriptures is to comfort the suffering, distressed and dying. Then he who has had no experience of suffering or death cannot at all understand the comfort of the Bible...It is the province of the Word alone to comfort. It must therefore meet with patience first. It is jealous and will not permit human relief on a level with itself, which would be to frustrate the purpose of patience and suffering."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 44. Second Sunday in Advent, Romans 15:4-13.
