Invocavit Sunday, The First Sunday in Lent, 2018
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
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 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
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #146 Lamb of God
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #146 Lamb of God
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 #154 Alas and Did My Savior
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 #154 Alas and Did My Savior
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.
First Sunday In Lent
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.
The Human Nature of Christ - And Faith
KJV Matthew 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
Lent begins with the temptation of Christ, which by itself should remind us of the human nature of Jesus. The Incarnation is the greatest miracle of all, and one which I think surpasses the Creation of the universe in six 24-hour days. The reason? Mankind has imagined all kinds of Creations, many of them absurd - like the ultra-slow evolution kind. But no one could possibly conjure up anything as wonderful as God becoming man, born of the Virgin, growing up and taking on a public ministry.
Every action and Word of Jesus is God speaking through the Son. As Luther wrote, we should always thank God the Father for showing us His graciousness in His Son. That itself shows the gracious, loving, forgiving nature of God the Father. Besides, it reminds us of the unified voice of the Father and Son, witnessed by the Holy Spirit.
Luther described two kinds of temptations. One is when we test ourselves to subject ourselves to God's Word. the other is that which God allows to fall upon us, testing our faith.
The first is often mocked because people turn self-denial into a good work to please God and to impress others. That is addressed in the text for Ash Wednesday. My earliest memory of Lent is hearing people say, "I am giving up desserts for Lent." And others would chime in with the mini-trials of the same type.
Parents subordinate themselves to their children when they lovingly take care of a sick or weak child, or when they show great patience in the trials of youth, which are many and varied.
God places trials, afflictions, and temptations in our way to test our faith. This faith in Christ is something which God creates through the Gospel, so we are new creations (creatures) in Him. That which He fashions he also makes stronger.
An athlete will go to the gym to see if a new exercise makes a set of muscles ache with pain the next few days. Why do that? Athletes know that the exercise tears down muscle fiber which is that much stronger afterwards.
People take that for granted when they see someone struggling with weights, hanging from pull-up bars, or stretching. If we understand that so well, then the same experience from God should help us see how we are strengthened.
In this sermon Luther calls us larvae and mummers. Larva become what they must, completely transformed by what is placed there in that tiny egg. Mummers are costumed players on a stage. Whatever they do is written in the script.
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.
When we are surrounded by plenty, it does not demand that we exercise this faith God has given us. The danger is always that we take God's bounty for granted. But when we are surrounded by desert stones instead of prosperity, then faith is definitely put on trial.
Jesus did not say, "I will prove a point and go into the desert." Instead the Spirit led Him there. It was God's will that He live there and be tempted by Satan with all that was lacking. So Jesus is both Teacher and Example.
How it is that the Savior understands our experiences of being abandoned, hated, ignored, shunned? He faced them too, though He did nothing deserving such treatment.
Greed is the enemy of faith. Thankfulness can be overflowing for ordinary blessings, but greed is never satisfied. Greed only fuels the need for more money, more power, more honors.
That does not mean that people experiencing want are greedy. That is a test of faith, to say, "I trust God will provide." And the experience of want make us more thankful.
Phoenix had so little rain that the annual rainfall was only 1/2 inch one year. Five inches was the average and we hardly ever saw that. Now the rainfall is especially welcome, although I do say at times, "What am I going to do with this?"
I can tick off a lot of boxes of what looked good to me in the past. That is where the mummers comment makes sense. All of them would have made my present activities impossible. Imagine trying to teach NT Greek for free at a seminary where they charge $3,000 cash in advance to take the course, which is required! "May I teach this free on the Net?" No! I said to a college, I could show them how to learn Greek fast. "No!" I don't think I finished the sentence because the professor already had that job. "I could teach on..." No! I have about 20 other examples.
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.
Faith means the very nature of the privation is understood as God's will and will bring a blessing in time. Two actions help. One is to find answers in the Scriptures. The other is to pray for help in time of need and trust in the answer. "Cast your cares upon Him for He cares for you."
Long-term experience shows that peace and happiness do not come from material blessings and the honors bestowed by man, but from believing and thankful hearts.
8. Secondly, the tempter came forward and attacked Christ with these very same cares of food for the body and with the unbelief in the goodness of God, and said: “If thou art the Son of God, command that these stones become bread,” as if he should say: Yes, trust thou in God and bake and cook nothing; only wait patiently until a roasted fowl flies into your mouth; do you now say that you have a God who cares for you; where is now your heavenly Father, who has charge of you? Yea, it seems to me he lets you in a fine condition; eat now and drink from your faith, let us see how you will satisfy your hunger; yea, when you have stones for bread. What a fine Son of God you are! How fatherly he is disposed toward you in that he fails to send you a slice of bread and permits you to be so poor and needy; do you now continue to believe that you are his son and he is your father? With like thoughts he truly attacks all the children of God. And Christ surely felt this temptation, for he was no stock nor stone; although he was and remained pure and without sin, as we cannot do.
We are fed primarily by the Word of God, because everything we have and enjoy, even those things we may despise (moles) or ignore (beneficial insects) are part of God's care for us.
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.
This is the most common temptation expressed today. And many do not fall into it - they jump into it. They demand that God prove who He is by giving them exactly what they demand. In fact, as Cho wrote (and people gushed over it) - God cannot give until He knows exactly what we need.
So we hear, "I prayed for my disability to go away, but it did not. So where is God?" Paul addressed this, and Jesus experienced it.
7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
God does not worry about losing a believer because He is God. But this gets transformed into congregational and pastoral action, where certain people cannot be offended. A council president told me that I should not have preached about infant faith when Babtists were visiting. He really scolded me about that. So he missed his opportunity to tell the complainers about the Word of God. "You must believe as children." and "Let the children come to Me. Do not forbid them." And instead scolded me and increasingly hardened his own heart and blinded himself spiritually.
This "musn't lose someone" mentality means that those preaching and teaching the Word become pleasant Methodists, who blend in with every opinion, every doctrine. People communicated with me, "I have people being told that Methodists believe in the Real Presence. Help me out." So I looked up the official position, which stated they believed in the spiritual presence of Christ. That reminded me of future ELCA leaders mocking the Real Presence and actively pursuing Holy Communion with the Calvinist faculty at a nearby seminary (Wartburg and another seminary).
So one moves from indifference and blending into outright hostility toward the clear teaching of the Word.
How is this a temptation? There are no fast women and horses involved. The temptation is to please everyone by blunting the Word and making sure no one even knows about the painful nature of bearing the cross, suffering because of the Word.
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.
All spiritual falsehood comes from Satan, in fact all lies - and murder as well. The process in manufacturing or following falsehood is simple - separate the Spirit from the Word.
"I feel this is true."
"God told me in a dream last night..."
"The pope has declared this from the throne of his heart."
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.
There is big money in denying the Word of God. Probably 99.9% of all the clergy and church teachers will never get the publicity and pleasant treatment of Rob Bell, who went to Fuller Seminary, became a Fulleroid, and started a congregation with thousands of members - as an Evangelical pastor. Later he denied all the doctrines of Christianity and now warns people against them.
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| Rob teaches what his Father Below feeds him. |
Rob Bell is one of the most influential thinkers in America, Time magazine tells us. It must be true.
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| Here is a DMin from Fuller Seminary who has plagued his sect for years, enjoying a cushy job and wearing unearned doctoral stripes, which are probably on his pajamas and yoga pants as well. |
One is sorely tempted to say, "If someone teaches the Words of Christ, everyone will be grateful and multitudes will sign up." That temptation has ruined what was left of Protestantism in America.
Multitudes followed Jesus while everything looked good. Multitudes deserted Him during the Passion. Jesus said, "Serve only God," not "God wants His Church to grow." There is a vast void between Jesus and McGavran, but people are content to zing others with the crafts and assaults of McGavran.
