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| By Norma A. Boeckler |
The Third Sunday after Trinity, 2020
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The Hymn #575 Before the Lord We Bow - Francis Scott Key
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
Turn Thee unto me and have mercy upon me: for I am
desolate and afflicted.
Look upon mine affliction and my pain: and forgive all my
sins.
Psalm. Unto
Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul: O my God, I trust in Thee, let me not be
ashamed.
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
O God, the Protector of all that trust in Thee, without
whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy, increase and multiply upon us Thy
mercy that, Thou being our Ruler and Guide, we may so pass through things
temporal that we finally lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ, Thy
Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #25 I Will Sing My Maker's Praises - Paul Gerhardt
Cast Your Cares Upon Him
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 #49 Almighty God Thy Word Is Cast
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 #49 Almighty God Thy Word Is Cast
In Our Prayers
- In cancer treatment - Mary Howell, Randy Anderson, Rush Limbaugh, Christina Jackson
- Tests - Christina Jackson (scans), Pastor Jim Shrader
- Elizabeth Mior - has cancer. She is the mother of two small children.
- Pastor and Mrs. Palangyos' rice mission and car.
KJV 1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. 10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. 11 To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
KJV Luke 15:1 Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. 3 And he spake this parable unto them, saying, 4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? 5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. 7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. 8 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? 9 And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. 10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
Third Sunday After Trinity
Lord God, heavenly Father, we all like sheep have gone astray, having suffered ourselves to be led away from the right path by Satan and our own sinful flesh: We beseech Thee graciously to forgive us all our sins for the sake of Thy Son, Jesus Christ; and quicken our hearts by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may abide in Thy word, and in true repentance and a steadfast faith continue in Thy Church unto the end, and obtain eternal salvation, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end Amen.
Background for the Epistle Sermon
Luther wrote a commentary on 1 Peter, but this apostolic letter is neglected today. The rationalists are not sure who wrote the letter - they never are. One so-called study recently began, "We will assume that Paul wrote Romans," which is like saying, "We will assume that water is wet and the sky is blue." That is a way of setting things up to create a new doctrine delivered with great creativity but no evidence.
1 Peter and this lesson are especially about affliction, suffering, and the temptation to lose faith. When we let another person get between us and the Word of God, offering his own version - against the Word - we miss the force of this letter. Times can be so bad that everything seems lost. When Rome burned, the Christians were blamed and persecutions erupted. Likewise, during the Reformation, Melanchthon thought the End Times were upon them. When the Ottoman armies descended on Vienna, at the time of the Augsburg Diet (Confession and Apology), the Lutherans were spared persecution because their troops were needed to defend Europe.
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| By Norma A. Boeckler |
Cast Your Cares Upon Him
KJV 1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
ταπεινωθητε ουν - Be lowly, like Christ
We can tell that no one is reading 1 Peter, especially the synod leaders, because St. Peter told them not to lord it over others, a fun verb in Greek that we use in English to this day. I heard one worship professor say, when I made a suggestion about the hymnal, "This is my title, so I will do what I want."
The spiritual advice here is to "humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God." Ultimately, God will accomplish His will. It is a matter of being on His side or the Opposition.
The greatest short-term damage I have seen comes from people assuming authority and being high-handed. It is true that such tactics often win the day, but they seldom work God's will in the long run.
One of my wisest students worked at the proving grounds in Mesa, where GM cars were tested. The land was being sold because they could no longer afford it. He was retiring. He said, "They are always looking for A personalities, aggressive leaders, bulldozers. They are the ones who got us into this mess today."
When the Preus brothers wanted to run the LCMS by themselves, without Dr. Maier's son having influence, they launched a synod-wide attack on WAM II for teaching Justification by Faith. They won. They even took away his course teaching Romans. The Missouri Synod has been shrinking, coveting ELCA, and mimicking Fuller Seminary ever since. Many have left for the Church of Rome, too.
Strangely, people think the solution comes from the right person rather from their own faithfulness. God does not work much with the high and mighty, who already have their praise and honors. He works through the humble, faithful, and patient. It is easy to discern someone's perspective, whether they speak of the institution or God's Word. One is powerful, the other is not. If we trust the power of the Word and see Christ as the example, the rest will follow in time.
I have had many cases of a plant getting no care, no attention, nothing more than planting it - and seeing the power inherent in that little, left for dead creation of God. One was a climbing rose in a plastic bad, dried out. Ranger Bob gave it to me, so I was obliged to plant it. One vase is full of flowers from that nameless rose.
We moved the Chaste Tree (more of a shrub) to a new location, where it promptly gave up from the stress. I pruned it hard and dumped a bag of leftover compost on it. When its replacement came in the mail, I walked over to dig it out - fully leafed out and now blooming like crazy.
I tell people - whatever you are doing faithfully, just keep at it. Assume nothing and never stop to measure. God's Word always brings results but never fast enough to satisfy use. The only measures to use are: 1) Faithful to the Scriptures? and 2) Constant use of the efficacious Word.
3. If mankind could be led so to believe this that the virtue of humility would be generally practiced, it would be well everywhere. This would be a beautiful world, filled with discipline and good works. I would much prefer to see a city in which the young are reared in this virtue than a hundred monasteries of barefooted and Carthusian friars, though they lived ever so strictly. Alas! the greatest and most frequent complaint heard anywhere is concerning the disobedience, wantonness and pride of the younger generation found among all ranks. Therefore it is necessary to use all diligence that this exhortation be instilled into the hearts of the young and urged upon them, in the hope that it may benefit them.
7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Lenski - Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee." Compare Ps. 37:5; also Luke 12:11, 12. (1 Peter, p, 225)
We have three people in our congregation facing major medical issues, plus several more we know, family and friends, Rush Limbaugh too.
The message in this verse is that God is concerned about us. We do not worry alone. We are not anxious by ourselves. People with little knowledge of God think life is cold, bitter, and full terrible catastrophes. That can certainly overwhelm us from sudden shocks and from long-term propaganda. People used to use artillery and naval guns to scare populations. Now they use television and statistics. Polling is another big threat, though there are two kinds of polls (stated very clearly on TV). "Public polls are to shape opinion. The private polls are to find out what people are really thinking. You never hear the results of private polls."
The Scriptures themselves remind us of the qualities of God. Psalm 23 and John 10 - we are the sheep that belong to the Good Shepherd. He knows us by name, because every soul has a name.
We can cast our cares upon him.
There are many issues, problems, and crises that threaten to consume us. We should not dismiss anything bothering someone else as minor.
We can relish the chance to wait upon someone who needs extra help. I was raised on making food and cleaning up, so it is fun to create dinners and clean up while cooking. Every meal is an adventure, and the three of us enjoy it.
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
γρηγορησατε - the gregory verb - stay awake, be vigilant
God resists the proud, so those who think they are the greatest often fail. They may even seem invulnerable until that moment when it all collapses around them. Instead of being envious that domineering people get away with so much, we are to be watchful and sober.
The Bible is not against alcohol, but against people falling into the snare of intoxication and addiction. We know how slowly that works. The government has spent billions studying those problems and more trying to solve them.
The second verb is the one Jesus used during His prayer before His crucifixion. The disciples kept falling asleep. His command was "Watch (stay awake) and pray, for you know not the hour."
The lion (Satan) walks about roaring, seeking people to devour their blood. Peter was reflecting on the bloody persecutions. Fear can make people give in and plead for a better deal from their Father Below. The roaring threats frighten and coerce the victims. They must resist.
9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
stand firmly in regards to the Christian Faith - Lenski
The apostles knew the everlasting Truth of the risen Lord, so that made them rock-like in depending on the Rock-ledge Christ. The example of the apostles and martyrs made the Gospel flourish, so much that pagan Rome became Christian to a large extent, over time. Persecutions increased faith, from the dregs of society to Emperor Constantine.
This will continue to the end, sometimes in subtle ways, sometimes in gross and disgusting, terrifying ways.
The worst persecution of the Faith today is the polite, glad to promote you, efficient corporate persecution. Few seem to realize that the Seminex Apostasy of the 1970s is now the official doctrine of the LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic). To obtain and keep a divine call, a pastor must:
- Care nothing about the original text being butchered by the modern translations - NIV, ESV, etc.
- Actively put down Justification by Faith as horrible false doctrine.
- Work with ELCA without questioning or murmuring, via Thrivent.
- Ignore the "laws of nature and of Nature's God" to be cool about who and what is being ordained.
This smooth, slick, corporate persecution is far more dangerous because a calm has settled over Lutherdom. No one wants to fight for the truth, only for the spoils.
54. The true defense and resistance, in which we are to be sober and watchful, is to be well grounded in God’s Word and cling firmly thereto when the devil seeks, with his cunningly devised fables, born of human understanding and reason, to overthrow our faith. Reason is the devil’s bride, and always vaunts itself wise and skillful in divine things, and thinks what it holds to be right and good must be accounted so before God. But faith holds to God’s Word alone. It knows that before God, human wisdom, skill and power, and whatever gifts and virtues man may have, count for nothing. Only his grace and the forgiveness of sins in Christ has value. Therefore, faith can repel and defeat all these fine pretensions and cunning fables.
55. Worldly dominion and authority boasts before God in this fashion: My crown is a crown in God’s sight, for my power and sovereignty have been given me by God. Therefore, whatever I say he must respect and regard as valid, and everyone must endorse my words and actions.
The wise philosopher or jurist would thus give expression to his boasts and pretensions: We are the learned, the Wise rulers of the world, and have admirable laws and statutes. We have superior and beautiful doctrines concerning good works and virtues. Men must listen to us and allow our judgment to have precedence.
55. Worldly dominion and authority boasts before God in this fashion: My crown is a crown in God’s sight, for my power and sovereignty have been given me by God. Therefore, whatever I say he must respect and regard as valid, and everyone must endorse my words and actions.
The wise philosopher or jurist would thus give expression to his boasts and pretensions: We are the learned, the Wise rulers of the world, and have admirable laws and statutes. We have superior and beautiful doctrines concerning good works and virtues. Men must listen to us and allow our judgment to have precedence.
10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. 11 To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
God gives us the strength, through the Word. As Luther argued, the weapons against Satan come from knowledge of the Word and its opposition to all false dogmas and claims.
The moment they get personal (and they always do), they give away the plot. They have no message but an institutional one - keep the peace and we will reward you. "Challenge us and we will slight, smash, quarantine, shun, and stink-eye you. Then we will peel away your friends and even your relatives. You deserve no less than that."
So Peter said, yes, there will be suffering. But God will establish you according to His will.
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| By Norma A. Boeckler |
