The Fourth Sunday after Trinity, 2021
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
https://video.ibm.com/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship
The melodies are linked in the hymn name.
The lyrics are linked in the hymn number.
The Hymn # 452 The Son of God
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
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The
Sermon Hymn #528:10-15 If GodHimself Be For Me
Believing and Confessing
The Communion Hymn # 308 Invited Lord
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 # 651
Be Still My Soul
Prayers and Announcements
- Christina Jackson is doing well and getting plenty of help. Kermit Way and Maria Ellenberger Way have excellent doctors addressing their medical concerns.
- Pray for those hurting from the severe problems caused by the management of Covid.
- Pastor James Shrader and his wife Chris are here from Sioux Falls, SD, and Glen Kotten, our church's attorney, is here from Sleepy Eye, People's Republic of Minnesota. We have had wonderful, memorable times with them.
- The Bible Book is arriving everywhere except 1104 Letha Drive, but our company brought a copy. Write if you need more.
KJV Romans 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
KJV Luke 6:36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. 37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: 38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. 39 And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? 40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master. 41 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 42 Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.
Fourth Sunday After Trinity
Lord God, heavenly Father, who art merciful, and through Christ didst promise us, that Thou wilt neither judge nor condemn us, but graciously forgive us all our sins, and abundantly provide for all our wants of body and soul: We pray Thee, that by Thy Holy Spirit Thou wilt establish in our hearts a confident faith in Thy mercy, and teach us also to be merciful to our neighbor, that we may not judge or condemn others, but willingly forgive all men, and, Judging only ourselves, lead blessed lives in Thy fear, through Thy dear Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.Believing and Confessing
Background for the Sermon on the Augsburg Confession, June 25th Anniversary
Someone got me involved in looking at catechisms - about whether a catechism is exclusively Roman Catholic. Some are familiar with the old Baltimore Catechism (Roman Catholic) and the newer one. A glimpse at the Internet will show that many different denominations have a catechism, because that was once the heart of a spiritual care in the home and at church.
Luther's Small Catechism and his universally ignored Large Catechism are both in the Book of Concord, a unique collection of confessions, also called symbols. They are what the Evangelicals of the time (now called Lutherans) agreed upon what we believe from the Bible and what we reject because the Word of God rejects it. That comes down to what do we believe and confess, not just one - but both.
John 1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
I remember how quaint we thought this passage was in Greek class - so simple, such child-like expressions. The other Gospels were not so simple to read, not even Mark, but perhaps there was a reason John was fashioned by the Holy Spirit as the most readable and profound - both, not one or the other. Hebrews is profound but difficult to read.
Doubtless it was God's intention to have the Fourth Gospel be the uniting and explaining Gospel, filled with Jesus' teaching because we already knew the outline of His work from Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
John is the Gospel of Faith in Christ, which is why the apostates hate it with special venom. But this does not mean it is only about faith - but believing and confessing. The two go together. If someone believes the truth but is afraid to speak the truth, something is wrong.
John the Baptist was the last prophet and the first apostle. He was sent from God, so as the first apostle (the word meaning sent) he bridged the time between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Everyone's skin should get goosebumps when they hear these words -
22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
John knew he was announcing the Messiah's work about to begin - and they knew it too - from quoting Isaiah. And that meant he was facing death when he confessed the truth about Jesus. They did not hate John for himself, but for his message. John exemplified the righteousness of faith, and they taught the righteousness of works.
John the Baptist was executed for his continuing preaching of the truth. That brings us to the Augsburg Confession - called the Augustana in Latin.
We often hear of Luther at the Diet of Worms, 1517, confessing the truth taught by the Scriptures, how he was kidnapped to protect him from those who wanted to murder him for opposing the Church.
As someone said, there are only two kinds of church bodies. One considers itself the authority over all matters, regardless of the Scriptures. The considers the Bible the only authority, the Book that judges all books.
The Imperial Diet at Augsburg meant that the Holy Roman Emperor was there to hear the side of the Evangelicals, which meant the declaration of Luther as a heretic, so he could be burned at the stake.
Luther was kept away from the potential roast, but the Lutheran leaders and laity risked their own lives, property, and honor by confessing the truth of the Scriptures. They were very close to being crushed and exterminated - as the Waldensians and many others were - but the Moslem army was at the gates of Vienna. The Emperor needed their help to protect his empire.
The professors thought they alone should sign the Augsburg Confession, but the laity insisted on writing down their names too and they participated in the discussions.
We have a monster bigger than the Emperor bearing down on us. No matter what people say about the military might of other countries, the greatest threat is our apostasy, hedonism, and silliness. Everything has been dumbed down so that the capacity to learn is crippled by trivial distractions. As Martin Chemnitz wrote, "These are the last days of an insane, old world.
The witness of the Augsburg Confession
Most basic was declaring we are governed by the Scriptures rather than an institution. The entire Christian world, Roman and Eastern Orthodox, had an institutional heritage, history, books, and laws dating back a thousand years and more. The Roman Catholic Church was the remnant of the Roman Empire, with many of the same characteristics.
The pope was the new emperor. He controlled land himself and considered the Western world under his control. The papal army could attack and subdue those who opposed the pope or work with allies to get the job done.
Christian doctrine is not derived from institutions and man-made authority, but from the Scriptures themselves. Laying aside all the previous works, the Lutheran minority chose the teaching of the Bible to the claims of an "infallible" institution and pope. We can almost imagine the scope of this change. People can easily pile up documents, entire libraries, where they can say, "We are right, according to this ancient, blessed saint."
When we look at the first statement in the Augsburg Confession, we can see that rejection of the Holy Trinity is foundational all of our problems today. As Lenski has written, the Bible is a statement of fact from God. We do not have the luxury of quibbling over minor and major points, as if some famous person can give us truth that the Bible does not contain. The teaching of the Trinity is a litmus test for many. This is a mystery revealed by the Holy Spirit, understood by faith.
This Biblical teaching is foundational, because we find it from Genesis 1 on, This doctrine is violated in two ways. One is by making the Virgin Mary part of the godhead. The other is by judging the Scriptures with our human reason, which reduces the Holy Trinity to Unitarianism and then atheism.
Rejecting Purgatory and all the nonsense associated with it, the tiny faction Lutherans chose to close down the fool's goldmine and replace it with the treasures of Justification by Faith. This struck at the treasury and financial power of the Vatican, which alone could free people of their sins - if only partially. The Vatican today remains an international business, where every convent and parish has to support itself and send money to the Pope.
The Lutherans said, "We choose the Biblical message over your approval, your support, and your lies." Nothing is more dangerous than to take money away from the most powerful man in the world, the pope. Persecution, burning at the stake, exile, and torture was their pay in the next century, but at the moment, the Moslem army was outside the City of Vienna.
The German Lutherans were needed for the battles, so they were largely left alone. Had the Emperor been free of this menace, the Lutherans would have been wiped out by the Emperor. He even had the chance to dig up Lutheran (who died in 1546), but he said, "Our war is with the living (Lutherans) not with the dead."
If we see Justification by Faith as destroying the money power of the papacy, the Reformation makes a lot more sense.
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| Could this be why the modernist Lutherans (ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC) ignore and abuse the work of Melanchthon and the Augsburg Confession? |
One woman was asked about a beautiful Lutheran church building in Pennsylvania, where Muhlenberg did so much work. She said, "They are alright, but they worship every stone in the building." The quip was great, except she said it to a member of that church.
This is a daring witness, probably not known to most people. It is a complete reversal of what was expected at the time. Everyone was supposed to be in awe of the relics, the fables, the giant buildings, the priests and the Servant of the Servants of God - the Pope.
People cannot place all their trust in the physical and material and have much room for the Scriptures. My experience with the top students at Notre Dame was this - they knew all about every detail of worship back to 400 A.D. but were hopeless about the Scriptures. This has now been repeated in the "conservative" Lutherans - aping the ELCA. Even a tiny sect with a little pope (ELDONA) can do this, ordering each one what he must do and think.
John 1:33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.
Here we have the Father sending the Spirit upon the Son, and John the Baptist witnessing to Jesus. Luther called John the Baptist the bravest of all prophets, because he was supposed to tell everyone that this ordinary looking man was the Messiah promised to them from the expulsion from Eden.
The unified truth of the Scriptures are beyond dispute, except among those with hardened hearts. The Augsburg Confessions teaches us with powerful, plain and simple lessons about the Word of God.
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| The "conservative" Lutherans are lost and bumping into each other, wondering why everything has gone wrong. Panic is their reward for not teaching the truth. |
