All Saints Sunday, 2020
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
O almighty God, who hast knit together Thine elect in
one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of Thy Son Jesus Christ, our
Lord, grant us grace so to follow Thy blessed saints in all virtuous and godly
living that we may come to those unspeakable joys which Thou hast prepared for
those who unfeignedly love Thee; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who
liveth, etc.
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
Many Blessings from God through Christ
Today we remember - Walter Boeckler, who supported Luther's doctrine and independent congregations; Gary Meyer, who participated in our first Ustream services; Brenda Kielher, who with her parents Cliff and Cleo Kiehler, helped start Bethany in New Ulm, Minnesota; and Gladys Jackson Meyer, who supported Bethany from the beginning and enjoyed helping out. Carl Roper supported independent congregations from the beginning. Besides these, we have many others we name in our hearts, beloved, deeply missed, children, relatives, friends.
In Our Prayers
- Pastor Jim Shrader is cancer free, so last week's post was a wee bit off.
- Randy Anderson's operation was a success. There are stages to go.
- Christina Jackson is completing her radiation on Thursday.
- Mary Howell continues in chemo-therapy.
- All the of the October rice has been bought and distributed in the Philippines.
- The laptop fund for our Philippine mission is 20% complete already.
Epistle
KJV Revelation 7:2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, 3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. 4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundredand forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. 5 Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. 6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim weresealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. 7 Of the tribe of Simeonwere sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issacharwere sealed twelve thousand. 8 Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand. 9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; 10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. 11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, 12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. 13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
Gospel
KJV Matthew 5:1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
ALL SAINTS' DAY
O almighty and everlasting God, who through Thine only-begotten and beloved Son, Jesus Christ, wilt sanctify all Thine elected and beloved: Give us grace to follow their faith, hope, and charity, that we together with them may obtain eternal life: through Thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Many Blessings from God through Christ
KJV Matthew 5:1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying...
The Sermon on the Mount is a very special address by Jesus. The great and wise of this age realize that, so they do their best to dismiss it as a collection of sayings, and they go on their merry way.
Beginnings and endings really matter in all literature, and this sermon is no different. This begins with the Beatitudes and ends with warnings against false teachers, wolves in sheep's clothing, and the corrupt tree (with no faith) that bears evil fruit. The good tree (the person with faith in Christ) can only bear good fruit. There is so much for apostates to hate in this one sermon.
There are two reasons to pay special attention to the opening, because Jesus sat down to address the crowds formally. We get the name cathedral from this tradition of the rabbi sitting to teach. So the bishops sat, like Jesus, to address the congregation. Cathedral means "seat" not "really big building we no longer can afford."
So one reason to pay attention is the formality of the occasion, not to mention its early pace in the Gospel of Matthew. The second reason is the brevity of the Sermon. Because the Holy Spirit is stingy with words, each phrase has a special meaning and should be taken with great seriousness.
These pearls of great price are packed together and become even more valuable as they are grasped by audiences and treasured as God speaking directly to us. That means even the less popular Beatitudes - or more disturbing ones - are extremely valuable and worth a lifetime of meditation.
We can be older than rock stars before we get the main message that eluded us for so many years.
The is God in the Flesh teaching, admonishing, comforting us. What better teacher can we have than the One who became the Reprobate for us, so that we would have faith in His gracious messages and pay attention to His warnings.
Lenski:
The Beatitudes read like a Psalm; μακάριοι at once recalls the blessed of Ps. 1:1. “Blessed!” intoned again and again, sounds like bells of heaven, ringing down into this unblessed world from the cathedral spires of the kingdom inviting all men to enter. The word, like its opposite “woe,” is neither a wish regarding a coming condition, nor a description of a present condition, but a judgment pronounced upon the persons indicated, stating that they must be considered fortunate. The form is almost exclamatory: “O the blessedness of those who,” etc.! And it is Jesus who renders this judgment, which is, therefore, absolutely true although all the world may disagree. Each of the eight judgments is at once established by revealing in what the blessedness actually consists; and the eighth judgment is even doubled, and its blessedness is unveiled in two strong statements. All this blessedness is spiritual, each part of it coming from the great Messianic kingdom, true soul-blessedness, a rich possession now but with a glorious promise of still greater riches—the very opposite of the word’s happiness which is poisoned already in the bud and soon blasted forever. “Blessed” means joy for those concerned. But this is the heavenly way: the great gifts of the kingdom are ours, insuring a constant flow of joy, so that, even if for a moment we be sad and sorrowful, the joy will again well up in our hearts. John 15:11.
Lenski, R. C. H.: The Interpretation of St. Matthew's Gospel. Minneapolis, MN. : Augsburg Publishing House, 1961, S. 183.
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus does not open with loud threats to make people shudder and cry. That was Medieval preaching, and it only filled people with fear, not faith. The word used for poor is even lower than the word used - as Lenski says - it is cringing, beggarly, such as when people people feel beaten down, crushed, sent away, shunned, and hated. The proud and arrogant do not feel that way at all. There is a recording of a billionaire who was asked about the poor and how destitute they were. He said, "That's wonderful. They can look up to me and work to be like me some day." It reminds me of the man who said, in a Dickens novel, that he was born in a ditch and abandoned by his mother. The backstory was that he was raised as a person with wealth, no ditch, no abandonment.
There are many events that make us feel crushed, weak, and abandoned - catastrophic illness, loss of a loved one, total disruption by the economy or weather, and the hatefulness of those who have no faith. Jesus says, "You are blessed beyond measure, because only the poor in spirit receive the Kingdom through faith. The sainted Brenda Kiehler said, "Jesus is all I have. There is no money, no health, no strength, no status." That did not make her miserable but happy for the spiritual wealth; the strength of her soul was so great that she helped people all over, through the Internet.
4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
One thing is certain in life - the loss of loved one. The other part is not certain, how we respond. Grief, mourning can take over in dwelling on the loss - until those inner assaults take over completely. We are a strange and mixed up people in America. When that is a threat, we run from loss at a time that we should hold fast to what matters. Those moments, whether hours or years, are the best. I can replay those moments all day long and enjoy them.
We can say, Look at what we have lost, or the opposite, Look at how much God has given us. People will steal and take away from us by their dishonesty, but that hardens and blinds them. Meanwhile, God will replace what is lost in this life, and even multiply (Mark 10) it. But add the cross, persecution as well. That is for the ending of the Beatitudes.
Engineers look at plans and projects this way - something has to break and go wrong. So this is what we will do when it happens. America has become so soft that everyone wants to be shielded from negative results. Our parents and grandparents were more used to losses and hardships and saw them as the price paid for living. Settling America was nothing but hardship and loss, but it established one place free of European tyranny and witchcraft (for a time), until people stopped fighting both forms of slavery.
The Christian way to deal with death is to mourn with those who mourn, not treat mortality as the latest virus from China. We do not catch mortality - it lives in us. When someone is in a life-threatening situation, we should be there to fill those times with peace, joy, friendship, and love. When we believe in eternal life, and Jesus as the Resurrection and the Life, we are simply moving along that path, whether outside the Celestial City or inside.
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Psalm 37:11 But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
The author of My Utmost for His Highest made a point of this. The Christian life is not one of demanding rights but giving up rights. Jesus accomplished more by being meek and gentle than the Roman Empire with all of its might and majesty. In fact, pagan Rome was abandoned by Constantine in favor of a little village called Byzantium, which became Constantinople, a Christian empire for 1100 years (and largely ignored by history).
Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
My mother put up with four rowdy kids and taught in the public schools and Sunday School. Looking back, I can recall how much she ignored our thoughtlessness and selfishness. There are many mothers who should be thanked year around, not just on one Sunday.kk
When we enjoy serving others, it is not a burden but a delight. The essential ingredient is to be selfless - meek - and look to the needs of others. Everything is ephemeral.
6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Luther:
Righteousness must here not be understood as being the Christian righteousness in general, whereby the person becomes pious and acceptable before God. For I have before said that these eight beatitudes are nothing else than a teaching about the fruits and good works of a Christian, which must be preceded by faith, as the tree and main body or sum of his righteousness and blessedness, without any work or merit, out of which these beatitudes must all grow and follow. Therefore understand here the outward righteousness before the world, which we observe among ourselves towards others, that this is the meaning, short and simple, of these words: he is a really blessed man who perseveringly and assiduously strives to promote the general welfare and the right conduct of every one, and who helps to maintain and carry this out with word and deed, with counsel and act.
This is now also an excellent beatitude, which comprehends very many good works, but which is by no means common. For instance, that we may illustrate, if a preacher wishes to be counted as hungering and thirsting for righteousness, he must be ready to instruct and help every one in his calling, that he may conduct it properly and do what belongs to it, and when he sees that there is something wanting, and things do not go right, that he be on hand, warn, rebuke, and correct as well and by such means as he can: thus that I, as a preacher, be faithful to my office, and others to theirs, that they follow my teaching and preaching, and thus on both sides the right thing is done. Where now there are such people as take a special and earnest interest in gladly doing what is right, or in being found rightly at work, these may be said to be hungering and thirsting after righteousness.
The Christian life is one where the Scriptures teach us about contrition, sorrow for sin, and we realize how great a treasure we have in Christ, because He comes to us through faith and bestows His forgiveness, peace, and love. When people imagine they are righteous from the worlds of the law, they do not hunger and thirst for the righteousness of faith. They are so blinded that they verbalize some of the words of Jesus but reject His message. As the Lutheran Librarian pointed out, the authoritarian churches demand obedience and conformity. That must be satisfied. In contrast, when churches emphasize faith, they teach the Scriptures and conformity to God's Word instead of institutions.
I noticed that one charity was just like many denominations all their communications had on them was Build the ARC - Association for Retarded Children. They were concerned with building the organization, a priority over the children. But that would come later, right? right?
This verse is also a good message about the completeness of forgiveness. It is the knack of false teachers to leave people wondering - are they really forgiven? What else do they need to do? Many prescriptions of snake oil are suggested, and if that doesn't work... many more.
When I am full after a meal, I know it. Satisfied really means "that meal did it. I am full." After the feeding of the multitude, they were all full with more leftovers than they started with. Can we see that this is the foreshadowing of the Lord's Supper? All sins are forgiven and forgotten, drowned in the sea of God's grace.
7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
This is good for the inner child. I remember when we carefully measured what the siblings got and showed miraculous measuring powers which ended in "He got more than I did!"
We resist showing mercy because the Old Adam is first concerned with sins against us.
Luther:
This is also an excellent fruit of faith, and follows well upon the preceding: he who is to help others and contribute to the common well-being and success, should also be kind and merciful — that is, that he should not be ready to raise a racket and make a disturbance if something be wanting, and things do not go as they should, whilst there is still hope of improvement. For that is one of the virtues of sham sanctity that it can have no compassion for or mercy upon the fallible and weak, but insists upon the extremest strictness and most careful selection, and as soon as there is the slightest failure, all mercy is gone and they do nothing but fume and fret; as also St. Gregory shows how to recognize this, and say: Vera justitia compassionem habet, falsa indignationem — true holiness is merciful and compassionate, but false holiness can do nothing but be angry and rage; and yet they say: Pro zelo justitiae, (as they boast), that is, we do it through love and zeal for righteousness.
For all the world is coming to see that they have been carrying on their mischievous and outrageous tricks under the beautiful, excellent semblance and cover that they were doing it for the sake of righteousness. Just as they have heretofore exhibited and are still exhibiting their hostility to and treachery against the gospel under the name of protecting the truth and exterminating heresy; they claim thereby to merit that God is to crown them for this and raise them to heaven, as those who out of great thirst and hunger for righteousness persecute, strangle and burn his saints.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Lenski, Matthew Commentary, Chapter V
"Compare 73:1; Gen. 20:5, 6; and then I Tim. 1:5; II Tim. 2:22; I Pet. 1:22, and Zahn’s conclusion is evident: “pure in heart” =sinceritas, singleness of heart, the honesty which has no hidden motive, no selfish interest, and is true and open in all things. Nothing is lost by thus specifying this virtue, for it is possible only in heart that is justified and sanctified by God."
That is where everything is done out of trust in God and His mercy, not in order to gain favors.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
One of the marvels of this era is seeing so many peace treaties and soldiers coming home. That took decisions and plans and a new reality. That is just as true on a small scale. Some delight in causing trouble, dividing people, telling lies to keep the anger. Many divisions have been caused by a few people.
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
There are nine Beatitudes, not eight. The last one explains the first and leaves us with a shocking thought at first. No one is going to like it the first time, but over time, the two verses make perfect sense. Insincere, dishonest, malicious attacks are the fruit of unbelief. Luther is keen to explain that attacks and divisions are the response of Satan to the success of the Gospel. Thus they are a good sign, not a bad one.
The better and more useful an effort in for the Gospel, the more it is opposed and silenced by those who claim to agree but really do not. They do not even give thanks but rejoice in their efforts to bury it all.
The followers of their Father Below are too slow to realize that their efforts are as effective as throwing water on an oil fire to put it out. They are shocked to see it grow.
These are very important beatitudes because they comfort and encourage us when we would otherwise be despondent and willing to give up. Learning that, we can keep others from feeling the sting and help them hear the rejoicing.
Expecting nothing, we should assume little in this Age of Apostasy, but at the same time, know that there are many looking for the truth. I started this blog for 20 people, maximum. Now there are often 6,000 views in two days.
