Reminiscere Sunday,
The Second Sunday in Lent, 2019
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 #142 A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining - Gerhardt
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #142 A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining - Gerhardt
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 # 374 Grace Tis a Charming Sound
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 # 374 Grace Tis a Charming Sound
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| Lutheran Library - Gerhardt's Biography |
KJV 1 Thessalonians 4:1 Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. 2 For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God,even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: 4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; 5 Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: 6 That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. 7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
KJV Matthew 15:21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. 23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. 28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
Second Sunday In Lent
Lord God, heavenly Father, grant us, we beseech Thee, by Thy Holy Spirit, that He may strengthen our hearts and confirm our faith and hope in Thy grace and mercy, so that, although we have reason to fear because of our conscience, our sin, and our unworthiness, we may nevertheless, with the woman of Canaan, hold fast to Thy grace, and in every trial and temptation find Thee a very present help and refuge, through Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Sermon Background
This miracle is considered one of the difficult sayings of Jesus, because it seems to offer an impression of Him being difficult, even insulting. One way to view such passages is to remember how much of His message went over the heads of the casual followers, on purpose, because they had curiosity but little faith. Some only wanted to view a new miracle, even if they had just witnessed one (John 6) so they did not listen to His divine Word and went away complaining. There is much in the Gospel messages that clash with human understanding from the start. One way people cope with that is to change its meaning and impose a distorting filter. I just read of a Lutheran professor who thought denying the raising of Lazarus was not a reason to break fellowship. He had to have developed a mindset where he could pick and choose portions of the Scripture and make the rest unimportant. I have found that to be true when asking rationalists about the Virgin Birth and resurrection of Christ, where they are even more absurd - "those are not important doctrines," they answered. The rationalists are clergy or about to be ordained, so that gives an idea about how hardened one can be when dealing with the Word of God.
There are many difficult or unclear passages of the Scriptures which, when examined and explained by faithful teachers, will be all the more significant when the real meaning is discovered. This is certainly one of them.
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| By Norma A. Boeckler |
True Faith
KJV Matthew 15:21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
Jesus was away from the crowds, in non-Jewish territory when this took place. This demonstrates how the Gospel began to spread outside of His own people. This woman came to Him because she heard the Word of the Gospel and believed in Him. She knew He could heal her daughter. I know of a girl with similar hardships, and the Christian family has done everything possible for healing, year after year after year. When they have hope, the malady returns, forcefully, horrible seizures.
The greeting means that Jesus is both Lord and the Messiah. This comes from a woman called a pagan by Lenski, or we might say with a distorted knowledge, since Canaanites had a form of the Books of Moses.
Behold! - this alerts us to the importance of the event. She treats Jesus as God and Christ, saying, my daughter is plagued by the devil. Jesus could not keep the Gospel from spreading, and she heard of Him, believed in Him, and made sure she found Him.
The miracles of healing have several things in common - faith in Him, a serious malady, and Jesus healing the person, who is sometimes brought to Him.
23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
"He did not answer her at all." Unbelievers get all tangled up with this and go various ways with explaining the meaning, which is hidden to us at first. But has anyone had unanswered prayers for years? Has anyone seen a situation go on, in spite of many prayers, as if God is silent and not even listening?
This is the central point of the miracle. Jesus allows Himself to appear as harsh and uncaring, for a reason.
The disciples got tired of her pleading with Jesus. "Send her away" should be seen as "Dismiss her by granting her this healing." They had reason to expect Him to heal her. This certainly shows some irritation about this woman's request and the lack of response.
We should always consider too how Jesus allows a contrast between Him and the disciples. He demonstrated many times that He was and is the Lord with total command of the elements.
One of the key examples in adult education today is learning from examples rather than just repeating theories. I get to have people imagine they are promoted to supervisor status and must set up training for a group of people at once. Some rise to the occasion; others crumple and do not try.
When the disciples were out on their own, what did they remember? Jesus asleep on the boat, in a big storm, that would be easy to remember. They though they would die, but His sleep was not indifference but teaching them to trust in Him, instead of relying on their emotions and experiences.
The disciples got involved here. "Send her away! Let's get this done!" Sometimes we have to slow down to see the real truth. Mothers say that after children are no longer so helpless as babies. "I miss holding a tiny baby," though crying at 2 a.m. - at the time - was not always so enjoyable.
We can have long period of time where the outward circumstances are very tough, yet they are filled with memories of many beautiful moments. That can involve family, work, or other circumstances.
24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Jesus' answer is hardly comforting. She does not belong to His own people. The conclusion seems to be, she is not worthy. When people are sunk in despair and nothing good seems to happen, they ask why others seem to bask in all kinds of obvious happiness, delight, and satisfaction.
Knowing the sincerity of this woman, because Jesus knew what was in the heart of everyone, He allowed Himself to be seen as harsh and unyielding, as a future example for everyone. The harsh and unyielding Savior is a mirage - something we think we are seeing when it is only an illusion formed by our own expectations. The Canaanite woman's faith is the contrast we need to see, the contrast between outward appearances and the mercy of God.
4. Now, what does the poor woman do? She turns her eyes from all this unfriendly treatment of Christ; all this does not lead her astray, neither does she take it to heart, but she continues immediately and firmly to cling in her confidence to the good news she had heard and embraced concerning him, and never gives up. We must also do the same and learn firmly to cling to the Word, even though Go with all his creatures appears different than his Word teaches. But, oh, how painful it is to nature and reason, that this woman should strip herself of self and forsake all that she experienced, and cling alone to God’s bare Word, until she experienced the contrary. May God help us in time of need and of death to possess like courage and faith!
25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. (Lenski - be helping me)
The woman was behind the disciples and yelling for help. She moved up to Jesus and acknowledged Him as God. The older we are, the more we can recall those moments when nothing looked good and no answers were imagined. And yet God proved in the future that He could provide answers we could not even imagine. God helps with our common sense, but what we should pass on to younger generations is God's faithfulness in the face of opposition, distress, and humiliation. The woman did not ask for a specific miracle at this point but said, "Be helping me."
26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.
Lenski argues here that Jesus used the term "little dogs" first, suggesting pets, which the woman then used on her own behalf.
I looked at the language, which makes a point about who receives the blessing - It is not the right (noble) thing to do, to take the bread from the children and throw it to the little dogs.
An ordinary dog would be like the ones that licked the sores of Lazarus, showing how degraded his position was. One could say the little dogs were like the Gentiles who had a knowledge of the Messiah, but a limited one.
Nevertheless, this is not a welcoming or encouraging statement. It is bitter on the receiving end. "You do not qualify, and there is nothing that will change your status."
There are man-made traditions that are very much like this. Someone must be a family member to advance in the company. Or someone must be from the right school. WELS has a tradition that only NW Prep (now Luther Prep) graduates can be professors and DPs.
27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.
Here the woman turned the apparent insult into an argument in her favor. Pet dogs were allowed to eat food from the floor, so she identified with them. She would take any crumbs that fell. Her response shows respect (Lord) and faith in His mercy, whatever scraps that might come her way.
We all know that feeling of rejecting food that is not exactly fresh, like bread, donuts, or cake. And yet when we are hungry, stale bread tastes delicious and donuts can be warmed up. Cake can be refreshed with whipped or ice cream. The crumbs improve with our hunger.
28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
As we can see from this passage, faith is not a work. Paul says faith is access to God's grace, peace, and forgiveness of sin (Romans 5:1f.)
Jesus commended this woman for never giving up her trust in Him, no matter how bleak the outlook or how slight her chances were. So we can see that He allowed Himself to be seen as hard and unyielding when He was doing that to bring our her confession of faith in Him. And her prayer was answered that same hour.
Doing this allowed us an example of what faith means, to never stop relying on God's love and mercy, no matter what.
People have often commented on the gap between the education I received and the lack of recognition from synods, where I am on permanent pariah status. Of course, it is only natural for me to wonder about unqualified people spending their lives sharing their ignorance of Biblical, Lutheran doctrine, their hatred for the Reformation.
But this cooperative effort in not publishing my books (Liberalism was delayed, sold like hotcakes, and was greeted with an effort to fire me; later, the title was withdrawn but given to me; Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant was accepted for publication and put on the schedule, then withdrawn, etc). Synodical boycotts increased with publishing, but that led to completely independent teaching and publishing, which is not censored or stymied by synodocrats. So all the friction led to an ideal situation, which I would not have imagined, but technology leaped ahead of the old printing business.
This miracle applies to everyone, so we see our lives as constantly shaped by God according to His wisdom, not ours. That is far easier to say than to accept. Difficulties associated with the Word mean we are bearing the cross, and the cross is never pleasant.
Everything in the Bible is for our learning and edification. The longer we live, the more we need a mature understanding of the Word.
10. All this, however, is written for our comfort and instruction, that we may know how deeply God conceals his grace before our face, and that we may not estimate him according to our feelings and thinking, but strictly according to his Word. For here you see, though Christ appears to be even hardhearted, yet he gives no final decision by saying “No.” All his answers indeed sound like no, but they are not no, they remain undecided and pending. For he does not say: I will not hear thee; but is silent and passive, and says neither yes nor no. In like manner he does not say she is not of the house of Israel; but he is sent only to the house of Israel; he leaves it undecided and pending between yes and no. So he does not say, Thou art a dog, one should not give thee of the children’s bread; but it is not meet to take the children’s bread and cast it to the dogs; leaving it undecided whether she is a dog or not. Yet all those trials of her faith sounded more like no than yes; but there was more yea in them than nay; ay, there is only yes in them, but it is very deep and very concealed, while there appears to be nothing but no.
Luther gives an answer about all these giant congregations that seem so successful on the surface. We should not judge Him according to our feelings and thinking. Those that do will attract an enormous following for a time, then collapse. Their words are like cotton candy. Whenever I see that being spun on TV or a movie, I think, "That would be great, to have some cotton candy again - so hard to resist." But if someone told me my meals would be cotton candy three times a day, I would revolt.
There is always a yes buried in God's Word. Since He made parts of it difficult to comprehend, He strengthens us by letting us search for the intended meaning.
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| By Norma A. Boeckler |
