The Third Sunday in Advent, 2017
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
Third Anniversary - Corey and Abby Fagan - December 18th.
Norma A. Boeckler's Birthday, December 22nd
Mid-Week Advent Service - 7 PM Central Standard Time.
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
The Gospel
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 # 77:9-15 - Gerhardt All My Heart
KJV 1 Corinthians 4:1 Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. 4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.
KJV Matthew 11:2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, 3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? 4 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: 5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. 7 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? 8 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. 9 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. 10 For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
Third Sunday In Advent
Lord God, heavenly Father, who didst suffer Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to become man, and to come into the world, that He might destroy the works of the devil, deliver us poor offenders from sin and death, and give us everlasting life: We beseech Thee so to rule and govern our hearts by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may seek no other refuge than His word, and thus avoid all offense to which, by nature, we are inclined, in order that we may always be found among the faithful followers of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, and by faith in Him obtain eternal salvation, 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.
"All My Heart This Night Rejoices"
by Paul Gerhardt, 1607-1676
1. All my heart this night rejoices
As I hear Far and near
Sweetest angel voices.
"Christ is born," their choirs are singing
Till the air Everywhere
Now with joy is ringing.
2. Forth today the Conqueror goeth,
Who the foe, Sin and woe,
Death and hell, o'erthroweth.
God is man, man to deliver;
His dear Son Now is one
With our blood forever.
3. Shall we still dread God's displeasure,
Who, to save, Freely gave
His most cherished Treasure?
To redeem us, He hath given
His own Son From the throne
Of His might in heaven.
4. Should He who Himself imparted
Aught withhold From the fold,
Leave us broken-hearted?
Should the Son of God not love us,
Who, to cheer Sufferers here,
Left His throne above us?
5. If our blessed Lord and Maker
Hated men, Would He then
Be of flesh partaker?
If He in our woe delighted,
Would He bear All the care
Of our race benighted?
6. He becomes the Lamb that taketh
Sin away And for aye
Full atonement maketh.
For our life His own He tenders
And our race, By His grace,
Meet for glory renders.
7. Hark! a voice from yonder manger,
Soft and sweet, Doth entreat:
"Flee from woe and danger.
Brethren, from all ills that grieve you
You are feed; All you need
I will surely give you."
8. Come, then, banish all your sadness,
One and all, Great and small;
Come with songs of gladness.
Love Him who with love is glowing;
Hail the Star, Near and far
Light and joy bestowing.
9. Ye whose anguish knew no measure,
Weep no more; See the door
To celestial pleasure.
Cling to Him, for He will guide you
Where no cross, Pain, or loss
Can again betide you.
10. Hither come, ye heavy-hearted,
Who for sin, Deep within,
Long and sore have smarted;
For the poisoned wound you're feeling
Help is near, One is here
Mighty for their healing.
11. Hither come, ye poor and wretched;
Know His will Is to fill
Every hand outstretched.
Here are riches without measure;
Here forget All regret,
Fill your hearts with treasure.
12. Let me in my arms receive Thee;
On Thy breast Let me rest,
Savior, ne'er to leave Thee.
Since Thou hast Thyself presented
Now to me, I shall be
Evermore contented.
13. Guilt no longer can distress me;
Son of God, Thou my load
Bearest to release me.
Stain in me Thou findest never;
I am clean, All my sin
Is removed forever.
14. I am pure, in Thee believing,
From Thy store Evermore
Righteous robes receiving
In my heart I will enfold Thee,
Treasure rare, Let me there,
Loving, ever hold Thee.
15. Dearest Lord, Thee will I cherish.
Though my breath Fail in death,
Yet I shall not perish,
But with Thee abide forever
There on high, In that joy
Which can vanish never.
The Lutheran Hymnal
Hymn # 77
Text: Luke 2:11
Author: Paul Gerhardt, 1653
Translated by: Catherine Winkworth, 1858, alt.
Titled: "Froehlich soll mein Herze springen"
Composer: Johann Crueger, 1653
Tune: "Froehlich soll mein Herze"
Go and Show John What You Hear and See
KJV Matthew 11:2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,
John the Baptist was extremely important for the time between the Promises of the Messiah coming and the fulfillment of those Promises. The Book of Concord often replaces the Gospel with the Promises as the synonym.
That is a good way of seeing how much Gospel is in the Old Testament, because the blessings of God are also Gospel. So in teaching the Old Testament year around, I seize the graduate students by their metaphorical shoulders and make them look at the Gospel.
That is why John the Baptist is so important to the New Testament. That also explains the great excitement about him and how that moved to Jesus as the fulfillment of all the Promises.
Isaiah 40 is the place where the great prophetic book shifts from an emphasis on the Law to almost exclusive proclamation of the Gospel. There John the Baptist is foretold.
If Isaiah was important to the Jewish people, and John is featured there, then the very appearance of John's ministry set off all expectations of the Messiah. John the Baptist had a large following. He is recorded in all four Gospels, and he witnessed to Jesus being the Promised Messiah and denied his own role.
3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?
Sceptics like to show some kind of competition between John and Jesus, or oddly, John not really being sure about Jesus. But just the opposite is clear from the passages. John had already witnessed to the mission of Jesus, before anyone recognized Jesus. As Luther wrote, John had the most difficult job of all the prophets. John pointed to an ordinary looking man and said, "There is the promised Messiah." The Old Testament prophets point toward a future Savior that everyone could imagine.
Once Jesus was identified, the opposition began. because "I am the voice crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord" was the signal for the Messianic mission to begin. And it unfolded as Isaiah foretold with Jesus as the Good Shepherd.
He will lead the flock like a Shepherd.
He will gather the lambs in His arms,
And gently lead those with young. Isaiah 40.
Sending his disciples to Jesus gave them the chance to see and hear Jesus, so the ministry of John became the mission of Jesus. John was very important to his disciples, so this was the first example of carrying on after the death of a teacher. That would be repeated many times over, not only with John and Jesus, but also with the Apostles and many leaders in the centuries to come.
Where they primarily followers of a person or were they faithful to God's Word? That is the question asked and answered by Paul in his Epistle for today.
KJV 1 Corinthians 4:1 Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God...Therefore let no one judge before the time.
John's ministry is made more glorious when given its proper role. It was not the ultimate message but the one of repentance, faith in the Gospel, and preparation.
The ministry of Jesus was accelerated by the previous knowledge of John's preaching, his baptism, and the interest in God's Word in its plain truth.
4 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: 5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
Here is a summary of Jesus' public ministry. He performed great miracles witnessed by large crowds, by smaller groups, and by His own disciples. How could anyone doubt His Word when they saw this with their own eyes? Nevertheless. they would say, "Great, now show us another miracle." But Jesus always accompanied His miracles with God's Word, to confirm the truth and power of the Word.
The fulfillment of the Old Testament miracles promised show that while John preached repentance, Jesus showed everyone the abundance and bounty of God's Kingdom. So anyone who prays for another will see those matters answered by God in abundance. And we also have faith to take our burdens and anxieties to God in prayer as well. And many miracles follow.
6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
When people do not believe, God still watches over them and does great works for them. But they do not see this and often become even more antagonistic when the wonders of God butt up against their obstinate opposition.
However, believers in Christ have the great experiences of seeing miracles take place and looking back on many events that show God's intervention.
The word is not really "offended" but a stumbling into a death-trap. That is, one person decides that God could not create the universe in six 24-hour days. Who can imagine such a thing? And yet they want to give Him a few billion years to work out the details.
But once this Creation problem works on them - really the problem of rationalism - they turn to other topics until nothing is left. And who knows what the precipitating doubt was? Forgiveness or miracles? Did someone seem to suffer unnecessarily from grave disorders?
Knowledge and Experience
There is the intellectual knowledge and the experience. The Word emphasizes both. For instance, I was told that a certain structure was for the new interstate exit that will take workers to a newly enlarged building at Walmart. Yesterday I walked over the elevated bridge, which seemed to be a bridge to nowhere - in the dark. Were were early for the Christmas program for employees.
I was puzzling about this elaborate and expensive bridge with two elevators when we walked back to the Town Car. I asked as we went up in the elevator. "It's the bridge across the new exit to our building." Those were familiar words, but I saw nothing in the dark. When we walked back in the morning sun, there were four lanes being prepared beneath us and a view across the booming city. That was an experience that welded into my brain what was going on.
The Word of God teaches us and then we experience the truth of God's Word, which reinforces what was taught. I am cooking a very large order of soil right now. To keep it warm and well fed, I have a thick blanket of leaves across the rose garden Last night the dry leaves received a misting rain to keep them cooking, bacteria and fungi softening them for earthworms and mites, slugs and other creatures. They only want to eat their food. I want them to prepare the soil for summer flowers. Creation means turning many bags of leaves into many bunches of flowers, the very act of growing plants increasing the fertility of the soil, through root growth.
Manmade and Divine Networks
Our son manages enormous computer networks, which always need attention and fixes. My gardening network is managed by divine wisdom and power. When pests fly in and start munching, the pest-eating bugs say, "This is where I want my babies to hatch, next to delicious and nutritious pests. They will grow strong and build another generation of pest-eaters." But the adults have lost their taste for pests (except ladybugs never tire of them). So the adults fly over to overlooked and often despised plants and wees for their nectar and pollen food.
When we see how carefully God's Creation is engineered and managed (far beyond the intricacies of creation itself), we see how God has planned so many things for our good.
7 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? 8 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.
John is in prison and about to die, so we can assume what the attitude of the crowds was. He was popular as a prophet until he earned disfavor, so that is when popular opinion turns. Thus the argument for false teachers is always, "But look at how successful he is." Once that blows up on him, his name is forgotten.
So Jesus is challenging the crowd mentality, which He will soon face. The cheering turned to jeering, so He addressed the definition of the true prophet.
A true prophet does not shake in the wind - that is - he teaches the Word of God no matter which way the wind is blowing, as Paul reminded the Corinthians. The Apostle cannot even judge whether he is successful at all. Only God can decided.
That reminds me to address the bragging passage that annoys so many people about Paul. His boasting was to turn the argument against the false teachers. If you suffer fools gladly, then I will be a fool and boast like them. Only Paul's boasts have substance, but he turns from that to boasting about the cross.
The glory ministers boast about themselves and their large parking lots. They avoid the cross because they want to sit in the limo with the governor in the annual parade. It does not take much to be taken off that list. And thus we have thousands of clergy dedicated to shaking in the wind and wearing fancy clothing so they can dine in the homes of the wealthy.
9 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. 10 For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
This should give people goosebumps because it is one of two pivotal points in the ministry of Jesus.
- First, John endorsed Him as the prophet of Isaiah 40, thus risking his life.
- Second, Jesus endorsed John as being that prophet, the one individual chosen by God to begin the public ministry of the Savior.
- Therefore, John the Baptist began the public ministry of Jesus.
- And Jesus completed His public ministry by raising Lazareth from the dead. Once Lazareth was raised, nothing more needed to be done. The Passion was initiated by raising a famous person from the dead and would end with the Savior Himself rising from the dead and ascending to heaven.
So, if you ask, why so much about John the Baptist during Advent, instead of more about Jesus? I have wondered that myself. The reason is that this enormous foundation of Promises was established to show Jews and Gentiles that Jesus fulfilled all these Promises from the Old Testament. That is intended to build our faith in Him and to comfort us when we waver and become muddled with anxiety and doubt.
