All Saints Sunday, 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 Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
Blessings from the Empty Grave
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 Issachar were 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.
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.
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. Besides these, we have many others we name in our hearts, beloved, deeply missed, children, relatives, friends.
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Goosebumps - Hebrews' unique summary of the Bible.
Hint - this speaks of Abraham's Justification by Faith, Genesis 15. |
Background for All Saints Sunday - Eternal Life
We should not take the resurrection of Christ for granted or assume that everyone using the name Christian believes in it. One of the hallmarks of modernism is the rejection of the resurrection of Christ.
This attitude grew quickly at Halle University, which was founded to promote Biblical Christianity. The school quickly became ratonalistic, which means the faculty explained away anything miraculous in the Bible.
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Schleiermacher was the initial gateway to modern theology;
Barth was the gateway to our apostate era. |
Some famous names of that era are Reimarus, D. F. Strauss, Albert Schweitzer, and F. Schleiermacher. One is supposed to know the works of these great "scholars" to be a Biblical scholar. Although their theories differed from each other, they agreed in rejecting the divine in their work.
Theology moves slowly, so this rationalism grew in some quarters but came to America rather later. By the early 20th century, the modern theologians like Walter Rauschenbusch (
Social Gospel lectures at Yale) reinterpreted everything in the New Testament. It was not taken at face value but each story had another meaning. Jesus died on the cross, wrote Rauschenbusch, to express His solidarity with the poor.
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| Karl and Charlotte worked on "his" Dogmatics until her death. He was heavily influenced by Schleiermacher. |
Karl Barth and his mistress Charlotte Kirschbaum treated theology the same way, reinterpreting everything divine. Although others were much like Barth/Kirschbaum, his Dogmatics had long-lasting and continuing influence with Roman Catholics, liberal Protestants, and
Fuller Seminary, whose hip professors studied with Barth. So did my doctoral advisor John Howard Yoder at Notre Dame. Stan Hauerwas and Frank Fiorenza at ND were both "Barth scholars." This intellectual history serves to show how extensive is the idea of making a Biblical narrative into something else. If anyone wonders about the collapse of Catholicism and Protestantism, this is why - people are given myths, as the leaders may call them in a fit of honesty, and they fall away under that influence.
Isn't
Robert Schuller (founder Church
Growth) the perfect example of rationalism? He called the Beatitudes the Be-Happy-Attitudes in one of his books and taught self-love as a command from God. Thus the rationalism of the bad guys was served up in a much sweeter form, like toxic antifreeze, which also tastes very sweet.
My Moline friend's wife summed it up well in her description of her learning at the Disciples/Unitarian seminary. "The Virgin Birth and the Resurrection? Those are not important doctrines anyway."
The resurrection of Christ is the basis for faith in the Bible. That fact alone drew the disciples away from fear and despair, giving them a Gospel message that no one could frighten from them. No one doubted that Jesus died, but the apostles and hundreds of witnesses also said, "The Savior rose from the dead, because He died for our sins. Believe in Him and receive salvation and eternal life."
Our one great fear - and pain - is loss of life, whether we admit it or not. Ours is a grief-denying culture, but that does not mean anyone escapes grief. We lose family members and friends, beyond our control. We plan for what happens after we have died, and we have little control over that. So one great fact is pivotal - we have souls and there is a path to eternal life. That makes everything else drop away in importance.
Blessings from the Empty Grave
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,
This is the perfect Gospel lesson for All Saints, because saints are believers in the New Testament, not perfect people who walked "six feet above the ground" as one Christian Brother jokingly described their founder.
The Sermon on the Mount is addressed to the sincere believers in Jesus, as Lenski says, at the peak of His ministry. The Sermon begins with pure Gospel - the Beatitudes - and ends with condemnation of false teachers - Final Judgment - wolves in sheep's clothing.
The setting is formal, with Jesus sitting at the top, His dedicated followers below, easily listening to Him. Lenski saw several examples of religious men teaching the same way when he visited the Holy Land.
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
No one has improved on the wording of the KJV. Happy? How happy? The poor in spirit are blessed because...? Each verse begins with Blessed, so they are like bells ringing from a church tower, a cheerful and peaceful sound. They are the opposite of the woes warned by Jesus.
This is a very important section of the Gospels so we must pay close attention to this cluster of verses emphasizing blessedness. Poor in spirit means beggarly, stooping to beg. Luther died with this in his hands - We are all beggars. And that makes sense though it grates us at first. God commends what kind of person in Isaiah 66? Poor, contrite, and trembles at My Word. How many tell God what to do and what He really meant? A proud, arrogant, and coveting spirit looks to take advantage of his position, which is easy to do. To see reverses and difficulties as God's will takes a humble heart. But that is rewarded because faith sees the treasures God provides, even when no one else does. Some nominal Christians will even say, "God must really hate you" and laugh. I have heard that, and I know how blind they are. I know many severely disabled people who know and experience more of God's love than the jokers ever will, since they do not connect it with money and luxuries, perfect health and esteem from superficial people.
4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Jesus knew they would lose Him in His earthly ministry and many of their leaders and friends as well. Persecution meant most if not all of the apostles were killed. Mourning means lamentation, and the emphasis in the pronoun is from using autoi - THEY. Many mourn, but believers who mourn - they shall be comforted.
Lenski makes a good case for this being two kinds of mourning, one for sin, the other for lost of loved ones. It is true that someone can be torn up, flattened, soaked in sweat, anxious from sorrow for sins committed. The first step in gaining a new life in Christ is receiving the comfort of sins forgiven through faith in the Savior. As Luther said, God drowns sin in an ocean of mercy. Peter is the prime example of the great and terrible sinner who betrayed Christ with his three-fold denial of Christ, though he swore he would never do that. To heal him, Jesus gave Peter a three-fold question and absolution to match the gravity of his sin. That is what made Peter a powerful preacher of grace, because he knew how horribly he had fallen, yet Christ lifted him up again.
Likewise, the lamentation of loss only grows as we age, with so many best friends and close family members lost. One of my classmates does a lot for others by writing about the loss of her husband from cancer. Long ago, in seminary, we discussed how mourning only lasted three days - outwardly. But that is not realistic. Grieving is healing when we lose a loved one. Believers do not run away from the grieving.
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
We can hardly ignore the fact that God arranged for Christian refugees to come to America under persecution from the covertly papal English monarchs. Moreover, they were leaving superstitions and the occult behind. They gained the richest and most protected landmass in the world - and prospered. Christians prosper wherever they are. Constantine founded a city in the center of trade routes that gave them tables and bowls of solid gold.
Lenski, Luther, and Chemnitz write of this verse being a promise of prosperity compared to the short-term wealth-grabbing greedy pagans.
If Americans did not squander what God gave them, they would have more for everyone, but too much goes for vice. There is always money for vice. Ultimately what people laugh about is translated into long-term health issues too. Paul wrote about the body as a temple for the Holy Spirit, but that does not mean constant burning of incense in it. Or too many food offerings.
Basic to Christianity are behaviors which offer health, prosperity, and peace of mind.
6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
I was thinking of this verse when I came in from gardening yesterday. Bargain and gift bulbs arrived and we had days of rain, plus more days predicted ahead. I decided to seize the moment and get the daffodils in before the next storm, which arrived as predicted. I not only had the right equipment handy but our Laotian neighbor's son to help me (unbidden). We knew each other's language almost equally. He knew a few words of mine, but his energy was boundless. Soon we were done with 50 bulbs. I was so hungry that I went over in my mind what would be a good, hot supper.
Jesus addressed His audience, knowing they would feel spiritually exhausted from their work as followers. They were a tiny minority in a pagan empire where every god was honored except the One True God, whom they crucified. Believers feel their short-comings, their errors and sins. As they grow in God's grace, they long for more, because they are being exercised at all times. Luther said it was like salting and stretching animal skin, a constant experience that demands guidance and in this case - hungers for satisfaction. Believers have their hunger and thirst for righteousness satisfied, because it is the righteous of faith, receiving the Gospel through the Spirit at work in the Word.
People experience the Spirit at work in the Word when they read the Fourth Gospel or portions of Paul's epistles slowly and carefully. For me, the Gospel of John is not a booklet I read but a video I watch and experience - it is so vivid, personal, and profound. God satisfies us with the Gospel in so many ways - our study, the readings, Gospel hymns and creeds. And we speak the Gospel to each other in forgiveness. Try that. "I'm sorry I was so grumpy about..." And forgiveness follows.
The Gospel leads. When we understand Justification by Faith, that is the controlling energy in what we do as believers and forgiven sinners, flawed but stumbling along nevertheless. When people stumble through my gardening areas, my eyes open up when the step near and ON various plants. I say nothing because I recall how many I have clobbered on my own.
7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Lenski, Matthew, p. 191
The first four beatitudes look toward God, the next three toward men. These treat of three virtues which mark the godly as blessed. "The merciful" are, of course, the same persons as those
referred to in the previous beatitudes. Luther well says that in all the beatitudes faith is presupposed as the tree on which all the fruit of blessedness grows. This, then, is not mere natural mercy as it is occasionally found among men generally but the mercy growing
out of our personal experience of the mercy of God.
Lack of forgiveness comes from lack of faith. The lack of faith hardens hearts so that life is seen as a series of chances to get even with others, never feeling grace, always finding and returning hurt. In contrast, the Gospel promotes mercy and provides mercy. The more we realize how merciful God is, the more we are inclined to be merciful.
Not knowing mercy also feeds despair, because the human heart always looks for some sort of law reconciliation. The greatest sacrifice does not make up for the smallest sin, but the Gospel teaches us that Jesus has paid for the greatest and most terrible sins. This mercy is conveyed to us by the Word and held close by believing hearts. The Gospel mercy cycle is so much better than mankind's solutions, which only increase misery.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Children are the best example, because they have not been trained in doubt, not with spiritual matters. I read heavy volumes from great scholars and they cannot see God's Son in Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22, and therefore they do not teach this but teach against it when people imagine they are studying the Word.
I tell Old Testament students - read Exodus 3 and the Name of God, then John 8. Was Jesus saying, "Before Abraham was, it's me"? Or was He identifying as God in the Burning Bush - "Before Abraham was, I AM"?
When we hear, see, and remember the Word of God, we see God. The blind and deaf become more blind and more deaf.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Peace is that peace which comes from Justification by Faith. Those who teach this peace are relatively few, for many reasons. But they do create peace through the powerful and effective Word.
There is no other way to have peace but many false methods with deceptive results.
Why do Lutherans pastors rage against Justification by Faith? They have no peace because they hold only a false, shallow, and deceptive dogma. The more they argue, the worse they get.
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.
This is a fine way to encourage followers, Luther would say. But it is true. Here are some benefits from the hatred of the Pharisees. We should always remember who stood around and challenged, hatefully, Jesus' teaching - they were the highly trained and duly recognized religious professionals. As we know from Paul - they studied Greek.
The Christian Pharisees:
- Move the Gospel to new locations, because they cannot bear JBFA.
- Separate good doctrine from unhealthy doctrine, by forcing the issue.
- Encourage everyone to study the Scriptures and Confessions, making many passages new again as they struggle to figure out the source of the errors and the antidotes.
- Reveal why good hymns are worthwhile and why sappy songs are not really fit for worship.
Adult Class
http://bookofconcord.org/sd-righteousness.php
6] This article concerning justification by faith (as the Apology says) is the chief article in the entire Christian doctrine, without which no poor conscience can have any firm consolation, or can truly know the riches of the grace of Christ, as Dr. Luther also has written: If this only article remains pure on the battlefield, the Christian Church also remains pure, and in goodly harmony and without any sects; but if it does not remain pure, it is not possible that any error or fanatical spirit can be resisted. (Tom. 5, Jena, p. 159.) 7] And concerning this article especially Paul says that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
67] Concerning what is needful furthermore for the proper explanation of this profound and chief article of justification before God, upon which depends the salvation of our souls, we direct, and for the sake of brevity herewith refer, every one to Dr. Luther's beautiful and glorious exposition of the Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians.
