All Saints Sunday, 2017
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
The Beatitudes - Drowned in the Ocean of Grace
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 # 657 Beautiful Savior
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.
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.
The Beatitudes - Drowned in the Ocean
of Grace
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,
From the study of literature and the Bible, it is worthwhile to study the beginning and end of a message. The Sermon on the Mount begins with the Beatitudes and ends with warnings against false teachers - wolves in sheep's clothing, the corrupt tree.
The beginning shows Jesus as a rabbi. The rabbis sat down to teach, so Jesus spoke from a high place where the people could hear him and see him.
He sat down (was set) - That is the origin of the word cathedral. The bishop sat on his throne in cathedrals and delivered doctrinal messages. A cathedral is not necessarily a large congregation but one where the bishop speaks. We went to an installation service at a fancy, weird modernistic Episcopal cathedral in Kalamazoo, 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, Michigan. Some thought it looked like a dead spider or centipede.
Since Jesus is shown in Matthew to be a teacher, it is essential that we look at Him as the Son of God teaching us what we should believe and what we should do. As John's Gospel says, He has declared the Father. We know about the Father's grace from the Son, and Son teaches us also that this witness will be continued in the Scriptures - the Spirit bringing to remembrance all that He taught and did.
The title for the sermon is from a Luther sermon where he spoke first of God's grace being an ocean. This is where we should start with the nature of God. Notice that Jesus in this Sermon taught about the necessity of the Law being fulfilled. Every Word, every part of every Word must be fulfilled. That is a remedy against those Antilaw (Antinomians) who say the Law is obsolete, so we can do whatever we like. As we can see in the current political and entertainment scandals, no matter what people pretend, those attitudes catch up with the Antinomians.
So where does that put the individual person, who cannot fulfill the Law, no matter what he does? Here we can see and grasp Luther's explanation of this concept. Our sins are but a spark, drowned, extinguished in an ocean of God's grace. Whatever sins we have committed - they are entirely removed forever by what Jesus has done for us.
What we could not do in fulfilling the Law, Jesus completed on the cross in His atoning death. That reveals how great God's grace is, to place this enormous burden on His only-begotten Son. And we can see how God carefully prepared the Jewish people and those who would hear the Old Testament for this. From Genesis 3:15 to Psalm 22 to Isaiah 53 - plus hundreds of passages - God showed that He would provide a remedy for man's sin.
Certainly the ancients felt the power and burden of sin. They sacrificed animals and their own kin to pay for sin. Many stories are too revolting to be told again. The ancient Greeks wrote about the cycle of sin being visited on each generation, starting with a sacrifice to free Helen of Troy. Greek drama, which established all Western drama, dealt with sin and its fruits.
So the Gospel teaches and converts people to realize that the cross represents God's ocean of grace that drowns that little spark. That is, God's grace is so incomprehensibly great (like the oceans) that man's sin is covered up and extinguished in it.
For this we need the Means of Grace, the invisible Word of teaching and preaching, the visible Word of the Sacraments, to keep us strong in our trust in this forgiveness.
So we are always growing in faith, maturing in various ways. The ideal is to train a child from baptism on. In many cases, that is neglected and an adult hears the Gospel and believes. We can see examples of that in the disciples. They heard Jesus and believed in Him, but their faith was immature, so much that they were constantly startled by what the Gospel meant and what Jesus would do.
We would not have been any different. If we look back at our own lives, we can see that our initial beliefs were easily challenged. We have all put up with incredibly foul teaching, which is so prevalent today. But God provided ways to shake us up and challenge us with the truth.
In one case, a couple realized their congregation and pastor were lying to them. A whole episode was completely erased from history and not told - except it happened to be preserved on this blog. They checked around and parish histories were dishonest in erasing the facts.
Likewise, I often mentioned a parish in Michigan that was started by three WELS pastors, all rather notorious for running away from the Scriptures. Another denomination took over and thanked the men for delivering a parish to them. I quoted that often and soon the thank-you was erased!
My family's home congregation, First Christian, Moline, is so broke that they sold the church building. A previous minister was mentioned in the news as their go-getter razzle-dazzle parish builder. He was a 33rd degree Mason. I said on Facebook - "He is the reason I became a Lutheran." One Sunday, I got out of the car and walked across the street to Salem Lutheran. Later my parents also became Lutheran.
Many episodes contributed to shaping me and my wife, from being given
What Luther Says 44 years ago to having two daughters with incurable disorders.
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The proud and arrogant do not thank and praise Jesus Christ. They expect Christ to praise and thank them. They build libraries (in their name), and college improvements (in their name) and seminary chapels (in their name). Where would everyone be without their power and influence?
Luther often said that the Gospel is only for those souls who recognize their need for Him. Believers are always reminded by relatives and fellow clergy how low and miserable they are. People laugh and tell jokes about them. Nothing is too low for them to say. Like monkeys, the opponents howl and shriek in unison, saying the same toxic things over and over.
Difficulties make the glitter of the world meaningless. One can be in the greatest hospital in America and have no answers, no solutions, no path ahead. When all the material things become weak, the Gospel becomes strong. It is an ocean of strength for the weak, so much that the weaknesses become strengths and the sorrows turn into laughter.
4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Our country lives in a state of terror about age, weakness, frailty and death. Living a few decades means that we lose friends, parents, siblings, spouses, children, fellow church members. The list grows.
Mourning without hope is nothing but despair. There are false remedies but only one true remedy. That is why St. Paul said, "He was raised for our justification." Nothing supports our faith in Christ more than the empty tomb. Does anyone need something as the anchor of faith in the Savior? Easter is a holy day that is never muted by the secular hoopla. Christmas may be, but Easter has that message that cannot be erased by mankind - "The Son of God, rose from the dead."
That is a singular teaching because we can identify with the loss and with the victory over death and destruction.
As I have been teaching in the Greek course, the Gospel of John reveals just how momentous this event was, because the raising of Lazarus emphasized Jesus' shaking with emotion about the women weeping, his friend dead, and the future. When He looked at the carved stone tomb of Lazarus, He knew his own future. Even more so, He knew that the pain and sorrow of the family was the beginning of His own Passion.
The raising of Lazarus is often portrayed as a great victory - and it was - but raising a celebrity from the dead and walking with him to Jerusalem was the last straw. Jesus even said, My mission is complete. That is, the Roman and Jewish opponents had to act against someone so clearly the Son of God, so powerful in His influence and popularity. Nothing threatens unbelievers like faith, and Jesus was both the object of faith and the example of faith.
So in the resurrection of Christ we experience the enormous gloom and despair of death swallowed up in the grace of God, showing us in Jesus the resurrection of the future. The one great terror of mankind - death - is engulfed by the empty tomb of the Savior.
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Matthew 11:29King James Version (KJV)
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.
Jesus taught His followers to be like Him. The tyrants rage, the bullies threaten. The plutocrats buy loyalty. They have no use for being meek. One very wealthy quasi-Christian leader said, "They may inherit the earth, but they won't get title to it." Such arrogance, to teach against the Word, but everyone is competing to do the same today - and they are not "cult" leaders. They are National Council of Churches leaders and "conservative" Lutheran leaders.
To have faith in God's grace and goodness means to accept what comes along and see that as His gracious will. That is difficult to do in an age of setting goals, casting visions, and taking no prisoners along the way. I tell classes, "Setting goals is easy. Ignoring them is even easier." People often feel like they are being tumbled about by the massive changes in their lives, and that is often true. And yet, in that storm is usually a new way to live and to enjoy God's grace.
6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
This verse suggests that the combined wisdom - or is it foolishness - of Mark Schroeder, Matt Harrison, and Pope John the Malefactor is dead wrong. They claim the entire world, every single unbeliever, is already righteous: born righteous!
But Jesus teaches that righteousness is something for which we hunger and thirst. The Law reveals our sin, and the more we trust the Law to be truly God's truth, the more we see how little we can satisfy the Commandments. We cannot get through the first Three Commandments, not even the First, without conceding defeat.
Do we love, fear, and trust God in all things, as the First Commandment orders us to do? In all things?
So, in remind us our lack of fear, love, and trust, God provides Means - Instruments - to build that trust. If we do not think we need these Instruments of Grace, we are like the auto mechanics who left their tools at another location. They cannot pull, tighten, loosen without those tools, yet mankind wants to say, "I can be perfectly fine while sitting on a beach or hunting in a forest. I will be my own medicine, my own savior, my own doctor."
They will be satisfied...
It is only from hearing and studying the Gospel that we are satisfied. And from that ocean of grace, our good works burst forth, necessarily energized by the Gospel building and shaping our souls to be more like Jesus.
