In lieu of our time together due to the
stay-at-home orders issued by our government, because of the
coronavirus troubles – which have put our worshiping, studying
and serving in our building in abeyance – I offer these abbreviated online
liturgies. They in no way are equivalents to our normal fare,
when we gather in our beautiful church to sing praise to
Almighty God around Word and Sacrament.
But they still have value. In them I’m taking
advantage of our time apart to accentuate Psalm 46:10 about
being silent before God. These liturgies have no audio tracks
(except for a hymn link here and there) or
video streams – which in Mendocino County, California,
have been banned (Doug Mainwaring, “California County Bans Singing in
Online Worship Services,” LifeSites, online, April 17,
2020). So what we have here are just words. If I were to provide instead a
full mock worship service online, that would be inconsistent with our
mission statement and the honor it pays to historical liturgies
(which require a congregation present). So the liturgies I provide are
short, meditative in tone, and solitary. Use them
to stand silently before God and his Word – and its elaborations
in prayers, hymn texts, art works, and sermons. Luther thought
God has his way with us in this silence (Luther’s
Works 6:35). Kierkegaard agreed, seeing in this silence
God’s Word gaining power over us (For
Self-Examination, ed. Hongs, p. 47). He even thought,
somewhat humorously, that by blunting our “loquacity” through
this silence, God’s ways were protected from any “undietetic
uncircumspection” coming from us (The
Book on Adler, ed. Hongs, p. 166). Be that as it may, we
must never forget, as Kierkegaard elsewhere warned, that
Christianity is not primarily for quiet times, but for fighting
the good fight of faith “right in
the middle of actual life and weekdays” (Journals, ed. Hongs, §2:2132).
Online Sunday
Liturgy
February 21, 2021
Bulletin Cover
If it becomes a matter of the Word, parents are to be set aside.
But beyond such a case, parents are to be obeyed without
qualification. This is, however, a scandalous teaching,… because
children are of their own accord despisers and haters of their
parents. How much more will they now, under the pretext of this
teaching, hate their parents…. [Nevertheless Christ] subjects
children to Himself, lest they love their parents more than
Himself…. He Himself is the majesty on which all things depend
and that those who are worthy of Him are blessed, as pitiable as
He Himself might be and devoid of majesty as He might appear….
The cross, which is the basest thing in the world’s eyes, must
become the greatest treasure…. [And] He subjects parents to
Himself, lest they love children more than Himself for the same
reasons given above concerning the children…. We cannot glory at
all in our own virtues but only in the cross, that is, in our
own destruction and annihilation which we undergo on His account.
[Martin Luther, Annotations
on Matthew 10:37 (1538)
Luther’s Works 67:115–18.]
Online Abbreviated Sunday Liturgy
Pastor Marshall
February
21, 2021
First Sunday in
Lent
In the Name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Let us pray: Lord
God, our strength, the battle of good and evil rages within and
around us, and our ancient foe, the devil, tempts us with his
deceits and empty promises. Keep us steadfast in your Word and,
when we fall, raise us again and restore us through your Spirit.
In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
First Lesson: Genesis 22:1-18
Psalm
6
Second Lesson:
Romans 8:31–39
Gospel:
Mark 1:12–15
Opening Hymn: “The God of Abraham Praise” (LBW 544)
Sermon: February 21, 2021
“Endure the Test”
(Genesis 22:1)
Grace and peace to you in the name of God the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. Amen.
It’s probably the scariest place in the Bible – Genesis 22:1–12.
That’s where Abraham, under a command from God, tries to kill his son, Isaac, on
Mount Moriah. Maybe that’s why some critics have insisted that
it “doesn’t cut it” to say that “God is testing our faith”
(Edward O. Wilson, The Meaning of Human Existence,
2014, p. 158). But Christians move ahead and say that there’s more up there than
attempted homicide and cynicism. Christians also find on that
mountain Matthew 10:37. There Jesus says whoever “loves son or
daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” That’s our test on
this mountain – regardless of what Abraham’s test was. Ours is
not about killing our children. It’s about loving God properly.
So for Christians Mount Moriah is the Mountain of Love –
Mount Amore, if you
will. On that mountain we begin our struggle to love in the way
that God wants us to love. And there we stay for the rest of our
lives – struggling and striving to love as we should. The test
lasts as long as we’re alive. Martin Luther understood this
well, noting that our whole life is “the year of probation” (Luther’s
Works 44:386). So we never get off the treadmill. And we
never come down from Mount Amore either. That’s because our love
has to be tested until our life on earth is done.
Why is that? Why is it an endurance race instead of an hour or
two exam? It’s because it has to do with our love and life which
keep on going. Therefore we always have to be tested to make
sure we haven’t gone off the rails. For “a Christian’s life is
in reality not immaculate” (LW
22:140). Glitches occur all the time. And they have to be
smoothed out as we go along. Abraham may have spent only part of
a day up on Mount Moriah – Christians, however, spend their
whole life atop Mount Amore. That’s because we have a lot to
sort out there. For one thing, “in the absence of an emergency,”
our families must be attended to diligently (LW
23:202). Given the sorry state of families in our land, this
is needed more than ever (Jeffrey S. Turner,
American Families in
Crisis, 2009). And yet we must never “neglect God’s Word for
their sakes” (LW
56:356). So even though “obedience to father [and] mother…
remain in the fourth commandment; the Word of God and obedience
to God soar and prevail over” the family (LW
56:358). That’s because “we should love and revere God above all
things” (LW 4:44).
“Confidence [in] ourselves” is out of the question. God “abhors”
it (LW 3:4). So “let the drop yield submission to the ocean” – that is,
the family drop yielding to the ocean God (LW
26:107). This correction is also desperately needed given the
demonic preoccupation with family that’s also part of our
society (Janet Fishburn,
Confronting the Idolatry of the Family, 1991). So when push
comes to shove, “we must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
That’s because even though we are both commanded to obey God and honor
our parents (Exodus 20:3, 12) – God matters more than
our parents. So when there is a conflict between God and
parents, between God and children, between the first commandment
and the fourth, between the first table of the law and the
second table, the second “yields and is nothing when it
impinges” on the first. But in the event that “there is no
conflict between” the two, then God does not abrogate the second
in favor of the first (LW
5:114). This way of viewing God’s Ten Commandment in terms of
two tables – the first table being the first three commands about God
which matter
more, and the second set of seven about our neighbor which
matters less – this approach meant a great deal to Luther who thought it had
“undoubtedly been pointed out by the Holy Spirit” (LW
2:59).
But even with such heavenly authorization, what if we
can’t keep these tables straight? What then? What if we only see
things “dimly” now (1 Corinthians 13:12)? The old Latin Bible
translates that impaired vision as
videmus in enigmate.
That makes it sound like the enigma it truly is. But how
damaging is that confusion? Romans 7:24 says it’s so bad that
we’re depleted to the point of spiritual decay and death,
so that only deliverance by another can help. Left to ourselves
we’re dead in the water. We flounder without aid. And so we
would remain if left alone. Then “a certain diabolical dullness
reigns in us, our praying is cold, and we are completely
lukewarm in other exercises of godliness. Nor do we burn with
zeal and love for Christ as we do for the things of this present
world” (LW 7:255). Then the Bible is inverted, à
la Reverend Ike (1935–2009), and we think that “the lack of
money is the root of all evil” – contrary to what 1 Timothy 6:10
really says
(Kate Bowler, Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity
Gospel, p. 67).
But listen – we have been helped. And the good news is
that we aren’t left alone. God sent his only son to take on sinful human
flesh, and died on the cross “to put away sins” (Romans 8:3,
Hebrews 9:26). And he did that by taking “upon himself the full
wrath… of our Lord God,… so that we would not have to suffer” it (Luther’s
House Postils, ed. E. Klug, 1996, 1:388). When that happened
– when Christ dies like this for us – he draws us to himself
(John 12:32). So “the cross, which is the basest thing in the
world's eyes, must become the greatest treasure” (LW
67:117). And that miraculous pull from the cross is just what we need – being dead in the
water as we are. And so what do we do? We believe in Jesus – as
a gift received (Ephesians 2:8) – and then go on to regard him
“with love undying” (Ephesians 6:24). Just think of it! We
decrease; he increases (John 3:30). He’s
primary; we’re
secondary. We follow him; he commands us. This loving, obeying,
and deferential “second-hand mind” on our part is what the creative and
innovative disdain in Christians (George Santayana, Three Philosophical
Poets: Lucretius, Dante, Goethe, 1910, p. 176). But unfazed,
we continue to run on with our second-hand minds, deferring to
Christ, obeying him, denying ourselves, and getting carried
away with it all – so that our love is undying and not casual or
half-hearted. And along
the way dullness even starts diminishing (LW 7:255).
For we don’t love anyone else in this way – with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength
(Matthew 22:37). That surely is undying love! We love only the kingdom
of God in this way – and seek it first (Matthew
6:33). “Love and revere God above all things” (LW
4:44)! Nothing else can be given this pride of place. Only
the “words of eternal life” qualify as number one (John 6:68). And these
eternal words are without temporal limits. They extend beyond
the place of their initial manifestation “to the outer-most
reaches of space and time,” since “the salvation effected here
in this planet must... have cosmic dimensions” (Martin J.
Heinecken, God in the Space Age, 1959, p. 144).
But for all the greatness of this heavenly kingdom, we still
have other lesser things to do. For instance, “bring up your children in the
discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). Now that
matters greatly even though it is secondary. So don’t think that believing
in Christ crucified is enough. Don’t be “so confident of
atonement that you add sin to sin” (LW 8:40). Instead,
also be sure to instruct your children in the Christian faith. Luther
even thought that if
parents fulfilled this obligation they “could attain salvation…
if they were to do nothing else” (LW
44:85)! Now that’s quite a theological whopper! Aren’t there
all kinds of objections to it? Doesn’t it compromise the
centrality of faith (John 3:16)? Well, maybe – but
just listen to what the instructions are, following on the heels
of that wild confidence in parents to earn their own salvation. Parents,
Luther daringly argues, should train their children “to trust God, to believe in him, to fear him,
and to set their whole hope upon him; to honor his name and
never curse or swear; to mortify themselves by praying, fasting,
watching, working; to go to church, wait on the word of God, and
observe the sabbath;…. to despise temporal things, to bear
misfortune without complaint, and neither fear death nor love
this life.” What, no complaining? Mortifying ourselves?
Despising our stuff? Neither fearing death nor loving life? Is
that the right way to end this sermon? Are they approriate answers
in the examination atop Mount
Amore? Well, they must be if you’re going to endure
the test. And may we all, by God’s grace, do just that – and
endure the test. Amen.
Hymn of the Day: “If You But Trust in God to Guide You” (LBW
453)
Litany on the
Coronavirus Disease 2020 (COVID-19)
Let us pray for all those worldwide who have
died from COVID-19. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us give thanks for the government
agencies and other medical research teams who are diligently
working to curb the spread of this virus. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for the many who are sick and
suffering from this disease. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
And let us also pray for all those grieving
the loss of loved ones who have died from COVID-19. Lord in your
mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for the many who are caring for
the infected and the sick, that full health and strength and
peace may be granted. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for our world where we’re but
sojourners (Psalm 119:19; Philippians 3:20), that we may not be
punished by disease and pestilence (Ezekiel 14:21, Luke 13:5,
John 5:14), and that health and peace may abound for all – for
it is Christ who takes upon himself “our infirmities and
diseases” (Matthew 8:17). Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Finally, in our fear of disease and sickness
– may we ever remember God’s power to heal (Jeremiah 17:14,
James 5:14), those many kept safe from COVID-19 and other
infectious diseases, and our Savior Jesus who, by his mercy and
in his time, rekindles our faith by restoring health in this
vulnerable and perilous life (2 Kings 5:14, Acts 3:6).
GLORY BE TO CHRIST OUR LORD & GREAT HEALER!
AMEN.
LUTHER on epidemics
“Some people are of the firm opinion that one… should not run
away from a deadly plague. Rather, since death is God’s
punishment, which he sends upon us for our sins, we must submit
to God…. I cannot censure [this] excellent decision…. It takes
more than a milk faith [1 Corinthians 3:2] to await a death
before which most of the saints… are in dread…. [But since] it
is generally true of Christians that few are strong and many are
weak, one simply cannot place the same burden upon everyone….
Peter could walk upon the water because he was strong in faith.
When he began to doubt,… he sank and almost drowned [Matthew
14:30]…. Let him who has a strong faith wait for his death, but
he should not condemn those who take flight…. [Even so, know
that] all illnesses are punishments from God…. [These
punishments] come upon us, not only to chastise us for our sins
but also to test our faith and love…. [So] my dear friends,… use
medicines… which can help you; fumigate house, yard, and street;
shun persons and places wherever your neighbor… has recovered,
and act like a man who wants to help put out the burning city.
What else is the epidemic but a fire?... You ought to think this
way: ‘Very well, by God’s decree the enemy has sent us poison….
Therefore I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I
shall… administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and
persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become
contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others, and
so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should
wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he
has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own
death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however,
I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely…. This is
such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor
foolhardy and does not tempt God.’”
[Martin Luther, Whether One May Flee from a Deadly
Plague (1527), Luther’s Works
43:120, 124, 127, 131–32.]
Intercessions:
We remember in prayer church
members.
Leah &Melissa Baker, and Felicia Wells
Marlis Ormiston
Eileen & Dave Nestoss
Connor Bisticas
Kyra Stromberg
Bob Schorn
Sam & Nancy Lawson
Melanie Johnson
Dorothy Ryder
The Tuomi Family
Rollie
We also pray for friends of the
parish
who stand in need of God’s care.
Angel Lynn
Tabitha Anderson
The Rev. Randy Olson
The Rev. Howard Fosser
The Rev. Dan Peterson
The Rev. Kari Reiten
The Rev. Alan Gardner
The Rev. Albin Fogelquist
Kari Meier
Heather Tutuska
Sheila Feichtner
Yuriko Nishimura
Leslie Hicks
Eric Baxter
Evelyn, Emily & Gordon Wilhelm
Garrett Metzler
Lesa Christensen
Noel Curtis
Antonio Ortez
Garrison Radcliffe
Richard Patishnock
Jeff Hancock
Holly & Terence Finan
Wayne & Chris Korsmo
Ty Wick
Lori Aarstad
Anthony Brisbane
Dona Brost
Susan Curry
Karin Weyer
Robert Shull family
Alan Morgan family
Geri Zerr & Mark
Julie Godinez
Joey DiJulio and family
Lucy Shearer
Carolyn & Marv Morris
Ramona King
Karen Berg
Donna & Grover Mullen
Patty Johnson
Christine Berg
Kurt Weigel
Ethan, Erin and Kevin Vodka
Carol Estes
Savanna & Hank Todd
Gene & Tery Merritt
Karen Leidholm
Paul Jensen
Pat Hard
Pray for unbelievers, the addicted, the sexually abused and
harassed, the homeless, the hungry and the unemployed. Pray
also for Texas and other southern states suffering from power
outages and contaminated water supplies.
Deaths
Yao-chu Chang
Professional Health Care Providers
Gina Allen
Jane Collins
Janine Douglass
David Juhl
Dana Kahn
Dean Riskedahl
Holy Communion
in Spirit and Truth
Without the
Consecrated Bread and Wine
[The
ancient church doctrine of
concomitantia teaches that the faithful can receive Christ’s
Presence in Holy Communion by drinking the wine without eating
any bread, or by eating the bread without drinking any wine (The
Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, ed. F. L. Cross,
1958, 1966, pp. 320–21). By extension, in extreme cases, the
faithful can also, then, receive Christ’s Presence without
eating the bread or drinking the wine. Those would be cases of
illness when nothing can be ingested through the mouth, or when
lost in the wilderness – living off nothing but wild animals and
berries. In those cases we keep the memory of Jesus in the
Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:24) – honoring our Savior “in
spirit and truth” (John 4:23). So pray the words below, all you
baptized, who love the Lord Jesus, and “hunger and thirst for
righteous,” that you may be satisfied (Matthew 5:6). This is not
a substitute for Holy Communion, but rather a devout practice
when receiving Holy Communion in times of pestilence and plague
would recklessly endanger the church
(Luther’s
Works
43:132–33).]
Let us pray:
O Lord, our God, we remember this day our savior Jesus, who “was
put to death for our trespasses and raised for our
justification” (Romans 4:24). May his Spirit “bring to
remembrance” all that he did for us, and continues to do, to
bless us (John 14:26). Fill us with the assurance that our sins
are truly forgiven for his sake, and that the promise of eternal
life will not be taken away. Amen.
Let us pray:
On this day, heavenly Father, we also pray in the name of Jesus,
that one day soon we will be able to gather together at the
Altar of our church, and so eat of the flesh of our Lord and
drink of his blood, that his very life may well up in us so that
we may abide in him forever (John 6:53–56). Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Benediction: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his
face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord look upon you
with favor and give you peace. In the name of God the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
My dear fellow, if you want to accept the gospel when it gives
you power over your child and demands filial obedience to you,
then you should also accept it when it commands you to treat
your child in a paternal way.
[Martin Luther, On Marriage Matters (1530)
Luther’s Works 46:306.]
Online Ash Wednesday
Liturgy
February 17, 2021
Bulletin Cover
You must flee the world with your hearts and ‘keep them
unstained by the world,’ as the Epistle of James 1:27 says; that
is, do not adhere to this worldly way of life, but cling to
Christ according to this doctrine of faith and wait for the
eternal inheritance of heaven. From this faith and hope do the
office and work committed to you,… nevertheless say, ‘This is
not my treasure and the chief possession for which I live,… but
I regard all this temporal stuff like an inn’…. Use this inn and
take what is given you for the very purpose of getting closer to
[heaven] where you intend to go…. [The Christian] has no lasting
place here except as a stranger who comes among the other
guests, lives to serve and please them, does what they do, and
where there is danger or necessity joins with them and helps to
rescue and protect…. [Furthermore he] admonishes them to live
here as guests and to strive for a different, eternal kingdom,
that is, to abstain from all kinds of fleshly or worldly desires
and to lead a good life in all kinds of good works.
[Martin Luther, Sermon on 1 Peter 2:11–20 (1539)
Luther's Works 77:200-202.]
Online Abbreviated Wednesday Liturgy
Pastor Marshall
February
17, 2021
Ash Wednesday
In the Name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Let us pray: Heavenly
Father, you forgive the sins of all who are penitent. Create in
us new and honest hearts, so that we may obtain from you full
pardon and forgiveness. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Judge Yourself
An Ash Wednesday Self-Examination
What three things does Romans 7:24 tell you about
yourself?
What’s most difficult for you about Philippians 2:3?
How can 1 Peter 2:11 change your life for the better?
In what ways does Mark 14:7 upset you?
What helps you most in Galatians 4:16?
Why do you need the motivation that’s in Luke 13:5?
What’s the best way for you to keep Luke 17:32, beyond
the remembering?
How are you helped by the joy and sadness in John 3:36?
What do you care most about in Revelation 3:17?
What’s the best way for you to practice James 4:8?
How do Romans 7:18 & Luke 17:10 together help you out?
What’s the best thing 1 Timothy 6:10 tells you about
yourself?
First Lesson: Joel 2:12-19
Psalm
51:1–13
Second Lesson:
2 Corinthians 5:20–6:2
Gospel:
Matthew 6:1–6, 16–21
Sermon: February 17, 2021
“Fast With Joy”
(Matthew 6:16)
Grace and peace to you in the name of God the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. Amen.
Jesus tells us to fast and be happy about it (Matthew 6:16). But
most of us would rather take our “ease, eat, drink and be merry”
(Luke 12:19). Why is that? Why should we even care about this? Each
Ash Wednesday we remember with ashes that we are “dust, and to
dust we shall return” (Genesis 3:19). Ash Wednesday knocks us
off our high horse. It put us in our place. As long as we’re
fooling ourselves about our status, fasting will be done with.
But when we’re humiliated, shamed and belittled on Ash
Wednesday, Christ’s words about fasting come back to us to
strengthen us in the truth about God (Job 23:13, Psalm 115:3)
and ourselves (Psalm 22:6, Proverbs 6:6). That truth teaches us
one more time to say – “I am of small account” (Job 40:4). That
means we’re insubstantial and cannot call the shots. God is in
charge and we aren’t worthy “to answer back” to him with our
disapproval over how things are going (Romans 9:20). We’re too
puny – being but a “breath” and a “mist” (Psalm 39:5, James
4:14). But we get carried away with the earlier Job (Job 23:6) and think we
can contend with God over how the world should go.
Ash Wednesday stands against those illusions (Isaiah 30:10). And
Martin Luther stands with Ash Wednesday. He sees the point in
setting us straight. We are “exceedingly depraved,” he warns,
and we need to be told that over and over again (Luther’s
Works 2:123). When fighting against this awful, personal
depravity, we must never “surrender fierceness for a small gain
in yardage” (William Souder, Mad at the World: A Life of
John Steinbeck, 2020, p. 351). No, Christians “must be
tested, tried, and refined, all to the praise and honor of God
in eternity” (LW 60:335).
Siding with Luther on this will require us to deny ourselves – just as Jesus
commands us to do on a daily basis (Luke 9:23). Some may see
this command as a “tendentious, constrictive” word, out of touch
with the “wider grain” of the New Testament message of love (The
Catholic Biblical Quarterly, January 2021, p. 139). But Luther
defends self-denial, saying
that “Christ wants the entirety of what we are, what we can, and
what we do to be denied.” We need to “hold onto nothing” in
which we might place our confidence before God. We need to
become “a sinner and a fool, ascribing righteousness and wisdom
to Christ alone” (LW
67:291, 292). We’ll resist this with everything that’s in us,
and so the forty days of Lent will be put to good use pushing us
in the right direction week after week. We must not forget
that this is needed because “in the churches,” as Luther wisely
and regularly cautions us, there are “hard and impenitent
people.” So “the entire Church... must continually repent” (LW
73:100, 58). Luther learned this from Holy Scriptures, that God
even “contends” with his own people (Micah 6:2).
Believers don’t get a free pass when it comes to contrition and
repentance (Psalm 51:17, Matthew 4:17). “The entire life of
believers [is] to be one of repentance” (LW 31:25). For
self-esteem is “the current circumlocution for pride” (Gerhard
O. Forde, On Being a Theologian of the Cross, 1997, p.
27). May we then fight diligently against all positive images of
ourselves, floating around in our society, refusing to “follow
blindly along like stupid blockheads” (Luther’s House
Postils, ed. E. Klug, 1996, 1:43).
But try though we may – even during Lent – we’ll fail
repeatedly and grievously. That’s because “I do not do the good I want, but the
evil I do not want is what I do” (Romans 7:19). Indeed, “no one
gives thanks; no one becomes better because of God’s great
goodness. If anything, they become worse.... We have become
foolish through our own wisdom.... Our nature is evil and
corrupt” (LW 73:137). So in our poverty of failure and
corruption, we need a rich one to rescue us and make us rich.
Indeed, “God alone must help, otherwise our action and advice
will never bring any end to the misery” (LW 59:126).
And that rich one God sends to us is Christ Jesus. Though he was rich with the glories of
heaven, he left heaven for earth and took on sinful human flesh (Romans 8:3), “so that by
his poverty” we might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). He died
on the cross, sacrificing his life for us, “to put away sin”
(Hebrews 9:26).
And so,
“even though
I have been stung by the devil and his hellish poison, bitten by
sin, troubled by my conscience, aware that by birth I am a child
of wrath and condemned to death, nevertheless I believe and am
convinced that my Lord Jesus Christ bore my sins on the cross,
overcame death, and has reconciled me with my heavenly Father”
(LHP 2:221). In thanksgiving Luther thought sermons
should sing out about the wonders
of salvation, and not just be prosaic (LW
14:81). “I will give ear to no other preacher,” he sings. “Nor
will I accept any other thoughts. If such thoughts do enter my
mind, I cast them out. I listen to what Christ tells me. Toward
all others I stuff my ears and say: ‘It is all empty babble.
Twaddle and drivel as you will, I am deaf to it. But bring me
this Man’s thoughts and words, and I will listen to you. Let
everyone else get out of here’” (LW
23:352). Indeed, even
–
“if it’s
the last thing [you] ever do” (The Animals, We’ve
Gotta Get Out of This Place, 1965)!
With that salvation buoying us up, we then are surely ready to sanctify
a fast for Lent (Joel 2:15). That fast will fit in with our
self-denial – enabling us to “divest [our] affection for
temporal things” (LW
29:231). Fasting will help us set aside our favorite foods. If
we don’t use Lent in this way, we’ll make Christ angry
toward his church, “avenging Himself on that scarlet woman, that
drunken whore and mother of fornications” (LW 59:52).
But fasting will prepare us instead to receive “an eternal weight of
glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17). Fasting will help renew the church. So “pray, read, study, and keep busy. Truly, at this evil,
shameful time, it is no time for loafing, snoring, or sleeping”
(LW 60:285). With this promise of renewal, we can
fast and “be merry, happy, and cheerful, like a person
on a holiday” (LW
21:156). What makes us happy is that God is drawing near to us
because through fasting we have drawn closer to him (James 4:8).
With this cheerful prospect we can fast as we should and not look dismal
(Matthew 6:16). May we then pray that God “will mitigate the
disasters impending on the world, and let us change our ways”
for the better (LW 60:272). May we change by giving thanks to the Lord
(Ephesians 5:20) – as we also go on to spend our days in Lent to fast with
joy. Amen.
Hymn of the Day: “O Lord, throughout These Forty Days” (LBW 99)
If you want to join Pastor Marshall’s
five week Lenten Zoom Bible study on James, let him know. He’ll
send you the five worksheets for this study, as well as the Zoom
invitations. Classes are on Wednesdays, February 24 to March 24,
7-9 pm.
Litany on the
Coronavirus Disease 2020 (COVID-19)
Let us pray for all those worldwide who have
died from COVID-19. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us give thanks for the government
agencies and other medical research teams who are diligently
working to curb the spread of this virus. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for the many who are sick and
suffering from this disease. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
And let us also pray for all those grieving
the loss of loved ones who have died from COVID-19. Lord in your
mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for the many who are caring for
the infected and the sick, that full health and strength and
peace may be granted. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for our world where we’re but
sojourners (Psalm 119:19; Philippians 3:20), that we may not be
punished by disease and pestilence (Ezekiel 14:21, Luke 13:5,
John 5:14), and that health and peace may abound for all – for
it is Christ who takes upon himself “our infirmities and
diseases” (Matthew 8:17). Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Finally, in our fear of disease and sickness
– may we ever remember God’s power to heal (Jeremiah 17:14,
James 5:14), those many kept safe from COVID-19 and other
infectious diseases, and our Savior Jesus who, by his mercy and
in his time, rekindles our faith by restoring health in this
vulnerable and perilous life (2 Kings 5:14, Acts 3:6).
GLORY BE TO CHRIST OUR LORD & GREAT HEALER!
AMEN.
LUTHER on epidemics
“Some people are of the firm opinion that one… should not run
away from a deadly plague. Rather, since death is God’s
punishment, which he sends upon us for our sins, we must submit
to God…. I cannot censure [this] excellent decision…. It takes
more than a milk faith [1 Corinthians 3:2] to await a death
before which most of the saints… are in dread…. [But since] it
is generally true of Christians that few are strong and many are
weak, one simply cannot place the same burden upon everyone….
Peter could walk upon the water because he was strong in faith.
When he began to doubt,… he sank and almost drowned [Matthew
14:30]…. Let him who has a strong faith wait for his death, but
he should not condemn those who take flight…. [Even so, know
that] all illnesses are punishments from God…. [These
punishments] come upon us, not only to chastise us for our sins
but also to test our faith and love…. [So] my dear friends,… use
medicines… which can help you; fumigate house, yard, and street;
shun persons and places wherever your neighbor… has recovered,
and act like a man who wants to help put out the burning city.
What else is the epidemic but a fire?... You ought to think this
way: ‘Very well, by God’s decree the enemy has sent us poison….
Therefore I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I
shall… administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and
persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become
contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others, and
so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should
wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he
has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own
death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however,
I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely…. This is
such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor
foolhardy and does not tempt God.’”
[Martin Luther, Whether One May Flee from a Deadly
Plague (1527), Luther’s Works
43:120, 124, 127, 131–32.]
Intercessions:
We remember in prayer church
members.
Leah &Melissa Baker, and Felicia Wells
Marlis Ormiston
Eileen & Dave Nestoss
Connor Bisticas
Kyra Stromberg
Bob Schorn
Sam & Nancy Lawson
Melanie Johnson
Dorothy Ryder
Beyla Tuomi
Rollie
We also pray for friends of the
parish
who stand in need of God’s care.
Angel Lynn
Tabitha Anderson
The Rev. Randy Olson
The Rev. Howard Fosser
The Rev. Dan Peterson
The Rev. Kari Reiten
The Rev. Alan Gardner
The Rev. Albin Fogelquist
Kari Meier
Heather Tutuska
Sheila Feichtner
Yuriko Nishimura
Leslie Hicks
Eric Baxter
Evelyn, Emily & Gordon Wilhelm
Garrett Metzler
Lesa Christensen
Noel Curtis
Antonio Ortez
Garrison Radcliffe
Richard Patishnock
Jeff Hancock
Holly & Terence Finan
Wayne & Chris Korsmo
Ty Wick
Lori Aarstad
Anthony Brisbane
Dona Brost
Susan Curry
Karin Weyer
Robert Shull family
Alan Morgan family
Geri Zerr & Mark
Julie Godinez
Joey DiJulio and family
Lucy Shearer
Carolyn & Marv Morris
Ramona King
Karen Berg
Donna & Grover Mullen
Patty Johnson
Christine Berg
Kurt Weigel
Ethan, Erin and Kevin Vodka
Carol Estes
Savanna & Hank Todd
Gene & Tery Merritt
Pray for unbelievers, the addicted, the sexually abused and
harassed, the homeless, the hungry and the unemployed.
Deaths
Yao-chu Chang
Professional Health Care Providers
Gina Allen
Jane Collins
Janine Douglass
David Juhl
Dana Kahn
Dean Riskedahl
Holy Communion
in Spirit and Truth
Without the
Consecrated Bread and Wine
[The
ancient church doctrine of
concomitantia teaches that the faithful can receive Christ’s
Presence in Holy Communion by drinking the wine without eating
any bread, or by eating the bread without drinking any wine (The
Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, ed. F. L. Cross,
1958, 1966, pp. 320–21). By extension, in extreme cases, the
faithful can also, then, receive Christ’s Presence without
eating the bread or drinking the wine. Those would be cases of
illness when nothing can be ingested through the mouth, or when
lost in the wilderness – living off nothing but wild animals and
berries. In those cases we keep the memory of Jesus in the
Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:24) – honoring our Savior “in
spirit and truth” (John 4:23). So pray the words below, all you
baptized, who love the Lord Jesus, and “hunger and thirst for
righteous,” that you may be satisfied (Matthew 5:6). This is not
a substitute for Holy Communion, but rather a devout practice
when receiving Holy Communion in times of pestilence and plague
would recklessly endanger the church
(Luther’s
Works
43:132–33).]
Let us pray:
O Lord, our God, we remember this day our savior Jesus, who “was
put to death for our trespasses and raised for our
justification” (Romans 4:24). May his Spirit “bring to
remembrance” all that he did for us, and continues to do, to
bless us (John 14:26). Fill us with the assurance that our sins
are truly forgiven for his sake, and that the promise of eternal
life will not be taken away. Amen.
Let us pray:
On this day, heavenly Father, we also pray in the name of Jesus,
that one day soon we will be able to gather together at the
Altar of our church, and so eat of the flesh of our Lord and
drink of his blood, that his very life may well up in us so that
we may abide in him forever (John 6:53–56). Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Benediction: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his
face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord look upon you
with favor and give you peace. In the name of God the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Jesus defines what ‘to come out of the mouth’ [Matthew 15:18]
is,… namely, what proceeds from the heart…. [So] cultivate the
heart’s righteousness, and afterward everything will be clean….
The question here is easy. Why does he say that these manifest
sins - fornication, thefts, adulteries, false testimonies,
blasphemies – come out of the heart, when all of them are
outward works? Because no one would do such things unless he
were thinking of them in his heart and willing to do them. Thus
before the body performs the sin, it has already been performed
in the heart…. Therefore, the defiled and evil heart defiles
everything it says and does, even what is good in appearance.
[Martin Luther, Annotations on Matthew 15 (1538)
Luther’s Works 67:250–51.]
Online Sunday
Liturgy
February 14, 2021
Bulletin Cover
The Gospel does the very thing that happens when one is caught
in a house in the middle of the night when it is pitch-dark.
Then it would be necessary to provide a light until daybreak, so
that he could see. Thus the Gospel is really in the midst of
night and darkness. For all
human reason is sheer error and blindness. Thus the world, too,
is nothing else than a realm of darkness. In the darkness God
has now ignited a light, namely, the Gospel. In this light we
can see and walk as long as we dwell on earth, until the dawn
comes and the day breaks [in heaven].
[Martin Luther, Sermon on 2 Peter 1:19 (1523)
Luther’s Works 30:165.]
Online Abbreviated Sunday Liturgy
Pastor Marshall
February
14, 2021
The Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord
In the Name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Let us pray: O
Lord our God, on the mountain you showed your glory in the
transfiguration of your Son. May we ever exalt in your wonder
and power. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
First Lesson: 2 Kings
2:1-12
Psalm
50:1–6
Second Lesson:
2 Corinthians 3:12–4:2
Gospel: Mark 9:2–9
Opening Hymn:
“Song of Thankfulness and Praise” (LBW 90)
Sermon: February 14, 2021
“See Christ's Divinity”
(Mark 9:2)
Grace and peace to you in the name of God the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. Amen.
On
the mountain Jesus burned brightly as the sun (Mark 9:2, Matthew
17:2). But we don’t know why. About as close as we get is at the
end when we’re told not to say anything about it until Jesus is
raised from the dead (Mark 9:9). So this transfiguration must
have something to do with his death and resurrection. But we’re
not told what. We also don’t know anything about how it all
happened. Where did this blinding light come from? And why
doesn’t its burning consume him – similarly to that bush of
Moses (Exodus 3:2)? Furthermore, we don’t know what the point of
it all is. Why was Jesus transfigured and in this way? Why on a
mountain? Why with such bright light?
In the midst of our darkness and puzzlement and wish to understand
the transfiguration of Jesus, 2 Corinthians 3:7–17 shines
brightly. These verses offer an explanation. They say the
transfiguration’s about competing splendors. It’s about the
difference between the first and second dispensations or
covenants. It’s about law and gospel. That’s why when Jesus was
transfigured he wasn’t alone, but Moses and Elijah appeared with
him, until Jesus outlasted them and stood there all by himself
(Mark 9:4, 8). In this competition the second covenant “far
exceeds” the first one – represented by Moses and Elijah – and
even “surpasses” it (2 Corinthians 3:9–10). The gospel wins out
over the law because it “gives life,” unlike the law which only
kills (2 Corinthians 3:6). And since the gospel is all tied up
with the crucifixion (1 Corinthians 2:2) and resurrection (1
Corinthians 15:18), that’s why the transfiguration ends the way
it does with its warning against saying anything about it until
Jesus dies and is raised again (Mark 9:9).
To make this point about the gospel surpassing the law, the
divine gospel of God has to be tightly connected to Jesus. We
have to see clearly and definitely that Jesus is God – that he’s
“equal to God” (John 5:18). Up until the transfiguration, that
isn’t clear at all. Gabriel had told Mary that Jesus would be
“great and… called the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:32) – but
you couldn’t tell by looking at him. He looked like the
carpenter’s son (Matthew 13:55). Or, worse yet, even the devil
(Matthew 10:25). So something more was needed beyond Gabriel’s
words. Jesus needed to shine brightly as the sun. That’s because
bright light is a divine marker (Revelation 21:23). And this
shining has to happen on a mountain top, in order to push Moses
off his mountain, where he received the law (Exodus 19:3). It
isn’t that Jesus wasn’t divine and the best before his
transfiguration. It isn’t that the transfiguration changed him
into God triumphant. What happened instead is that the veil was
pulled away and we could finally see Jesus for who he truly was.
“He rules over all things,… all power belongs to Him, and… he
who believes in Him also has all of this power” (Luther’s
Works 30:163). After the transfiguration fades, ambiguity
returns. The brightness of Christ’s glory disappears from sight.
It cannot be preserved in some container or booth to show others
(Mark 9:5). Then Matthew 16:13–17 returns with its lack of
consensus on who Jesus is. No more glorious, spectacular
shining – just the carpenter’s son again, or maybe now a
prophet of some sort. Here’s a case where the genie is actually
put back into the bottle. His radiant glory is again hidden away
in large measure.
Even so, Martin Luther learned deeply from the transfiguration,
and so should we. “Such a sure and brilliant manifestation,” he
writes, is “reserved for the Son of God alone, so that the
certain promise of the hope of the life to come would be
revealed to the world by Him alone in this unambiguous
manifestation” of his divine glory in the transfiguration (LW
67:309). And we need that because all of our adversaries try to
cover it up. They try to squeeze it out of life, telling us that
all that matters is “kissing in public places, bacon sandwiches,
disagreement, cutting-edge fashion, literature, generosity,
water, a more equitable distribution of the world’s resources,
movies, music, freedom of thought, beauty, love” (Salman
Rushdie, Joseph Anton: A
Memoir, 2012, p. 624). But believing in the transfiguration,
“faith moves undaunted” through these troubles “like a fine,
well-built wagon through deep water. Dirt, of course, clings to
the wagon, and mud, to the wheels; but the wagon lumbers through
and does not allow its progress to be impeded” (Luther’s
House Postils, ed. E. Klug, 1996, 3:303). And so the whole
purpose of preaching the gospel is “to make your conscience sure
and to give your heart a firm footing from which it should not
permit itself to be torn, in order that [we] may be certain that
we have God’s Word. For the Gospel is a serious business. It
must be grasped and retained in all purity, without any addition
or false doctrine” (LW
30:164). For only the light of Christ “shines and lights our way
out of sin, death, and hell to God and eternal life” (LW
79:36).
Christ does this by manifesting the glory of God (2 Corinthians
4:6). That happens when he dies on the cross for us (John
12:23). For “Christ became a sacrifice… for us… to reconcile
God” (LW 76:384).
That reconciliation is our glory because through it we received
blessings from God. No longer does his wrath deprive us of his
blessings. His sacrifice saves us from that wrath (Romans 5:9).
And none of this would work for us if Jesus were only a man and
not the bright, shining light of God (LW
24:108, 41:103). No wonder then that Christ also “tears us away
from all other light” (LW
23:327). That’s because those lights can’t save us, and so to
believe in them would hurt us (John 3:36). Those other lights
leave us as we are – “potent with eyes that scold, tongues that
scald” (Truman Capote, A
Christmas Memory, One Christmas, & The Thanksgiving Visitor,
1996, p. 16). Many of those other lights trust in revolution
where “you don’t do any singing; you’re too busy swinging
[because] revolution is bloody [and] hostile [and] overturns and
destroys everything that gets in its way” (Deborah Wiles,
Revolution: A Novel, 2014, p. 3). So indeed “the world… is
nothing else than a realm of darkness. [But] in the darkness God
has now ignited a light, namely, the Gospel” (LW
30:165). And that we first clearly behold in the
transfiguration.
So take that glory with you by faith, for through it you are
“being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory
to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Through it Christ is living in
you (Galatians 2:20). Through it Christ’s words are “dwelling in
you richly” (Colossians 3:17). Through it those words are being
“implanted” in you (James 1:21). So may they grow and flourish
in you. Hear them and keep them (Luke 11:28). “Do not labor for
the food which perishes” (John 6:27). Live like “it is more
blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). Don’t yearn for
“what is exalted among men” (Luke 16:15). “Love your enemies and
pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). Treat as
family those who do “the will of God” (Mark 3:35). Act like
“unworthy servants” just doing your duty (Luke 17:10). Don’t
doubt Jesus (Matthew 14:31). “Deny yourself daily” (Luke 9:23).
“Seek first the kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33). As these words
grow up in you (1 Peter 2:3), see in them, and also thank God
for Christ’s divinity. Amen.
Hymn of the Day:
“Oh, Wondrous Type! Oh, Vision Fair” (LBW 80)
Prayers
Litany on the
Coronavirus Disease 2020 (COVID-19)
Let us pray for all those worldwide who have
died from COVID-19. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us give thanks for the government
agencies and other medical research teams who are diligently
working to curb the spread of this virus. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for the many who are sick and
suffering from this disease. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
And let us also pray for all those grieving
the loss of loved ones who have died from COVID-19. Lord in your
mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for the many who are caring for
the infected and the sick, that full health and strength and
peace may be granted. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for our world where we’re but
sojourners (Psalm 119:19; Philippians 3:20), that we may not be
punished by disease and pestilence (Ezekiel 14:21, Luke 13:5,
John 5:14), and that health and peace may abound for all – for
it is Christ who takes upon himself “our infirmities and
diseases” (Matthew 8:17). Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Finally, in our fear of disease and sickness
– may we ever remember God’s power to heal (Jeremiah 17:14,
James 5:14), those many kept safe from COVID-19 and other
infectious diseases, and our Savior Jesus who, by his mercy and
in his time, rekindles our faith by restoring health in this
vulnerable and perilous life (2 Kings 5:14, Acts 3:6).
GLORY BE TO CHRIST OUR LORD & GREAT HEALER!
AMEN.
LUTHER on epidemics
“Some people are of the firm opinion that one… should not run
away from a deadly plague. Rather, since death is God’s
punishment, which he sends upon us for our sins, we must submit
to God…. I cannot censure [this] excellent decision…. It takes
more than a milk faith [1 Corinthians 3:2] to await a death
before which most of the saints… are in dread…. [But since] it
is generally true of Christians that few are strong and many are
weak, one simply cannot place the same burden upon everyone….
Peter could walk upon the water because he was strong in faith.
When he began to doubt,… he sank and almost drowned [Matthew
14:30]…. Let him who has a strong faith wait for his death, but
he should not condemn those who take flight…. [Even so, know
that] all illnesses are punishments from God…. [These
punishments] come upon us, not only to chastise us for our sins
but also to test our faith and love…. [So] my dear friends,… use
medicines… which can help you; fumigate house, yard, and street;
shun persons and places wherever your neighbor… has recovered,
and act like a man who wants to help put out the burning city.
What else is the epidemic but a fire?... You ought to think this
way: ‘Very well, by God’s decree the enemy has sent us poison….
Therefore I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I
shall… administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and
persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become
contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others, and
so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should
wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he
has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own
death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however,
I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely…. This is
such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor
foolhardy and does not tempt God.’”
[Martin Luther, Whether One May Flee from a Deadly
Plague (1527), Luther’s Works
43:120, 124, 127, 131–32.]
Intercessions:
We remember in prayer church
members.
Leah &Melissa Baker, and Felicia Wells
Marlis Ormiston
Eileen & Dave Nestoss
Connor Bisticas
Kyra Stromberg
Bob Schorn
Sam & Nancy Lawson
Melanie Johnson
Dorothy Ryder
Beyla Tuomi
Rollie
We also pray for friends of the
parish
who stand in need of God’s care.
Angel Lynn
Tabitha Anderson
The Rev. Randy Olson
The Rev. Howard Fosser
The Rev. Dan Peterson
The Rev. Kari Reiten
The Rev. Alan Gardner
The Rev. Albin Fogelquist
Kari Meier
Heather Tutuska
Sheila Feichtner
Yuriko Nishimura
Leslie Hicks
Eric Baxter
Evelyn, Emily & Gordon Wilhelm
Garrett Metzler
Lesa Christensen
Noel Curtis
Antonio Ortez
Garrison Radcliffe
Richard Patishnock
Jeff Hancock
Holly & Terence Finan
Wayne & Chris Korsmo
Ty Wick
Lori Aarstad
Anthony Brisbane
Dona Brost
Susan Curry
Karin Weyer
Robert Shull family
Alan Morgan family
Geri Zerr & Mark
Julie Godinez
Joey DiJulio and family
Lucy Shearer
Carolyn & Marv Morris
Ramona King
Karen Berg
Donna & Grover Mullen
Patty Johnson
Christine Berg
Kurt Weigel
Chiou-Jin Chen
Ethan, Erin and Kevin Vodka
Carol Estes
Savanna & Hank Todd
Gene & Tery Merritt
Pray for unbelievers, the addicted, the sexually abused and
harassed, the homeless, the hungry and the unemployed. Pray
also for safety during our snowing, wintry weather.
Professional Health Care Providers
Gina Allen
Jane Collins
Janine Douglass
David Juhl
Dana Kahn
Dean Riskedahl
Holy Communion
in Spirit and Truth
Without the
Consecrated Bread and Wine
[The
ancient church doctrine of
concomitantia teaches that the faithful can receive Christ’s
Presence in Holy Communion by drinking the wine without eating
any bread, or by eating the bread without drinking any wine (The
Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, ed. F. L. Cross,
1958, 1966, pp. 320–21). By extension, in extreme cases, the
faithful can also, then, receive Christ’s Presence without
eating the bread or drinking the wine. Those would be cases of
illness when nothing can be ingested through the mouth, or when
lost in the wilderness – living off nothing but wild animals and
berries. In those cases we keep the memory of Jesus in the
Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:24) – honoring our Savior “in
spirit and truth” (John 4:23). So pray the words below, all you
baptized, who love the Lord Jesus, and “hunger and thirst for
righteous,” that you may be satisfied (Matthew 5:6). This is not
a substitute for Holy Communion, but rather a devout practice
when receiving Holy Communion in times of pestilence and plague
would recklessly endanger the church
(Luther’s
Works
43:132–33).]
Let us pray:
O Lord, our God, we remember this day our savior Jesus, who “was
put to death for our trespasses and raised for our
justification” (Romans 4:24). May his Spirit “bring to
remembrance” all that he did for us, and continues to do, to
bless us (John 14:26). Fill us with the assurance that our sins
are truly forgiven for his sake, and that the promise of eternal
life will not be taken away. Amen.
Let us pray:
On this day, heavenly Father, we also pray in the name of Jesus,
that one day soon we will be able to gather together at the
Altar of our church, and so eat of the flesh of our Lord and
drink of his blood, that his very life may well up in us so that
we may abide in him forever (John 6:53–56). Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Benediction: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his
face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord look upon you
with favor and give you peace. In the name of God the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Closing Hymn:
“How
Good, Lord, to Be Here!” (LBW 89)
I do not want a Christ in whom I am to believe and to whom I am
to pray as my Savior who is only man. Otherwise I would go to
the devil. For mere flesh and blood could not erase sin,
reconcile God, remove His anger, overcome and destroy death and
hell, and bestow eternal life…. Both God and man must dwell in
this Person…. He who sees, hears, or finds Christ with the faith
of the heart surely encounters not only the man Christ but also
the true God. Thus we do not let God sit idly in heaven among
the angels; but we find Him here below…. All of this makes it
possible for us to withstand the devil and to vanquish him in
the hour of death and at other times when he terrifies us with
sin and hell. For if he were to succeed in persuading me to
regard Christ as only a man who was crucified and died for me, I
would be lost…. If He were only a man, as other saints are – He
would be unable to deliver us from even one sin or to extinguish
one little drop of hell’s fire with His holiness, His blood, and
His death. This is the knowledge, the doctrine, and the
consolation we have from Christ on the basis of Scripture,
although the world and cunning reason regard this as sheer
folly…. These are wearisome, obnoxious spirits who never engaged
in a struggle or savored anything of spiritual matters. And yet
they rashly presume to set themselves up as masters of Holy Writ
with their reason and then pass judgment on such sublime
questions.
[Martin Luther, Sermons on John 14 (1537)
Luther’s Works
24:107–109.]
Online Sunday
Liturgy
February 7, 2021
Bulletin Cover
If you earnestly do the will of God, gladly listen to and
believe God’s Word, and live in obedience to Him in order to
honor Him and benefit your neighbor – even if you sometimes
stumble, but get up again, and not impenitently continue to
defend your sins, oppose God’s Word, or shamefully persecute
your neighbor – then you can boldly and cheerfully say before
God: “Lord, Lord!” and take comfort in the kingdom of heaven
given to you by God…. [For He] cares about the deed and fruit of
him who does the will of God. Be guided by that…
[Martin Luther, Sermon on
Matthew 7:15–23 (1525)
Luther’s Works 78:301.]
Online Abbreviated Sunday Liturgy
Pastor Marshall
February
7, 2021
Fifth
Sunday after the Holy Epiphany
In the Name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Let us pray: Almighty God, you sent your only Son as the
Word of life for us to receive through revelation. Help us to
believe with joy what the Scriptures proclaim. In the name of
Jesus we pray. Amen.
First Lesson: Job 7:1-7
Psalm
147:1–13
Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians
9:16–23
Gospel: Mark 1:29–39
Opening Hymn:
“God Himself is Present” (LBW 249)
Sermon: February 7, 2021
“Be a Slave”
(Job 7:2)
Grace and peace to you in the name of God the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. Amen.
Job
knew he was a slave of God (Job 7:2). But how about you? Are you
in his camp? Or do you think you’re some sort of a religious
free agent, making a life for yourself, piecing together things
as you go? Some even glorify this free pursuit with God’s very
presence, supposing that we’re “like God’s near-equals” as we go
on this journey together (Samuel E. Balentine,
Job, 2006, p. 132,
contra Romans 1:25).
Sometimes we even boast in this freedom, saying that we never
have been, nor will we ever be, “in bondage to any one” (John
8:33). We love this freedom and wrap our identity up in it.
Without it we’d be robots – something none of us dream about nor
long for.
But what we know about twins calls all of this into question.
Many studies have been done on identical twins, separated at
birth and then rejoined as adults, only to find out how much
they are alike even though they were raised very differently.
The biological determinism revealed in these studies is
shocking. Indeed, “if we are only living out our lives like
actors reading our lines, then the nobility of life is
cheapened. Our accomplishments are not really earned, they are
simply arrived at…. Barring some accident of fate, our
trajectory is predetermined – we’re just along for the ride”
(Lawrence Wright, Twins
and What They Tell Us About Who We Are, 1997, p. 144). After
nearly a hundred years of published scientific research, “we now
know that most measured traits have a genetic component” (Nancy
L. Segal, Born Together –
Reared Apart: The Landmark Minnesota Twin Study, 2012, p.
321).
For Christians, however, Romans 6:20–22 is even more
devastating. It tells us that “when we were slaves of sin we
were free in regard to righteousness…. But when we were set free
from sin, we became slaves of God.” So the only variance is who
the master is. Years later Martin Luther bought into this (Luther’s
Works 33:65) as did Bob Dylan long after him, singing that
“it may be the devil or it may be the Lord but you’re gonna have
to serve somebody” (Bob Dylan, 100 Songs, 2017, p.
135). There isn’t any liberty option available. We either serve
God or sin. We’re either bound to sin or bound to God. But we
all begin as “slaves to evil” – Luther goes on to elaborate (LW 26:40). That’s because all of us were “brought forth
in iniquity,” and conceived “in sin” (Psalm 51:5). Luther
delves into this saying that the “human seed, this mass from
which I was formed, is totally corrupt with faults and sins. The
material itself is faulty. The clay, so to speak, out of which
this vessel began to be formed is damnable…. This is how I am;
this is how all men are. Our very conception, the very growth of
the fetus in the womb, is sin, even before we are born and begin
to be human beings” (LW
12:348). Being born in sin therefore means “to be born under
God’s wrath and condemnation, so that by nature or birth we are
unable to be God’s people or children” (LW
47:148). So when God works on us he is like “a wood-carver [who
makes] statues out of rotten wood” (LW
33:175). This “outstanding” doctrine of original sin teaches us
“that we are sinners, that all of our efforts are damnable in
the sight of God, and that God alone is righteous” (LW
12:350–51). This is our predicament. Just “as little as a
natural sheep can help itself in even the slightest degree but
must simply depend on its shepherd for all benefits, just so
little – and much less – can a man govern himself” (LW
12:154).God is the
one in control; he determines everything; he does all things (LW
8:116, 15:121, 21:328). No wonder he’s the master and we’re the slaves.
We’re not substantial enough to further his ways or contest them
– being but a “breath;” being but a “mist” (Psalm 39:5, James
4:14). We are “nothing and... Christ is everything,” Luther adds (LW
21:66). Indeed, “all human and fleshly things are condemned by Scripture
when it comes to relying on them.” And why is that? It has to do
with what we truly are – “a bubble that quickly burst” (LW 16:270). That
explains why we are not in the same league with God. For unlike
us, God is “altogether sufficient to Himself” (LW
13:91, Isaiah 55:8–9). So we “should regard God as holy and [ourselves] as not
holy” (LW 30:103).
That startling revelation about God’s
dominance and our servitude, sours us. As a result
“whatever
God says or does finds countless judges, correctors, and
critics” (LW 4:295). It even takes some
Christians into other religions where they hope they can
“complete,
correct, and enrich the Christian religion,” all for the better
(Hans Küng, Theology for the
Third Millennium, 1988, p. 254). But because of the binding
inequality between God and people, who are we
“to answer back to God?”
(Romans 9:20). Luther responds by saying
“remember your situation: God
is such a great majesty in heaven, and you are a worm on earth.
You cannot speak about the works of God on the basis of your own
judgment. Let God rather do the speaking; do not dispute about
the counsels of God and do not try to control things by your own
counsels. It is God who can arrange things and perfect them, for
He Himself is in heaven. We express all of this in German by
saying: ‘Don’t use many words, but keep your mouth shut!’ You
will not impose a rule on God” (LW 15:78).
In our rebellion, how can we then move on with joy from being slaves of sin to slaves of God?
Luther rightly says that “there is no help for the sinful nature
unless it dies and is destroyed with all its sin. Therefore the
life of a Christian, from baptism to the grave, is nothing else
than the beginning of a blessed death” (LW
35:31). But how does that blessed death get started in the first
place? 2 Corinthians 5:14 explains that because Christ “has died
for all; therefore all have died.” So this blessed death of ours
begins at the foot of the cross of Christ. Our death follows
upon his death. That happens when we “share Christ’s
sufferings” (1 Peter 4:13) – and in that sense alone are his
co-workers (1 Corinthians 3:9, LW 3:270, 8:94–95,
33:242). And we share his sufferings when his
death also crucifies the world to us, so that we can die to the
world (Galatians 6:14). Therefore between the world and
Christians there is mutual disdain. The Christian “does not do,
or have a taste for, the things that please the world; nor does
the world do, or have a taste for, the things that please [the
Christian]. To the one the other is dead, crucified, despised,
and detested” (LW
27:405). And note that “in the Holy Scriptures ‘world’ means not
only the obviously wicked and infamous but the best, the wisest,
and the holiest of men” (LW
27:136). This makes it all the more painful for Christians to
die to the world – because it’s
dying to the best in the world.
But because Jesus suffered so much for us, we find ourselves
transcending that pain, much to our surprise. Just think of it,
Luther says. “You suffer,”
he explains, “on the earth, in the sea, and in all
creatures. Everywhere and in all things you have no hope of help
until by hope and faith you leap over everything and grasp Him
who dwells in heaven. Then you also dwell in heaven, but through
faith and hope. Here we must throw out the anchor of our heart
in all tribulations. In this way the evils of the world will be
not only light but even laughable” (LW
14:322). Such power comes only through Christ’s crucifixion (1
Corinthians 1:23–24). It alone can save us from God’s wrath
(Romans 5:9). It alone makes peace with God (Colossians 1:20).
So Luther has Jesus say while dying on the cross: “You are no longer a sinner, but
I am. I am your substitute. You have not sinned, but I have. The
entire world is in sin. However, you are not in sin; but I am.
All your sins are to rest on me and not on you” (LW
22:167). Believe in this and it’s all yours. For “God himself cannot
give heaven to him who does not believe” (LW
32:76). But if we believe, then God will surely transfer even
“the unworthy and condemned from the power of death and hell
into the kingdom of eternal grace and life” (LW 78:11).
So be sure that you “do not think too lightly of faith,
for it is the most excellent and difficult of all works” (LW
36:62). Just think of what faith is supposed to grasp! – that
Christ is the one who “stepped into the place of our sinful
nature, who loaded onto Himself all the wrath of God which we
deserved with all our works, and who overcame it. He did not
keep all that for Himself, but gave it to be our own, so that
all who believe this in Him and about Him will certainly be
redeemed through Him from that wrath of God and be received into
His favor” (LW
76:19). Now just try that on for size and you’ll see how
difficult faith in Jesus is. That has led other Christians
to a different cross, construed “as an inspiring instance... of
divine-human altruism that conducts the evolving human species
through death to the possibility of an ever closer communion
with the divine life” (Jack Mahoney, Christianity in
Evolution, 2011, p. 146). Luther, for one, would probably
say of that possible inspiration – “What newfangled rubbish!” (LW
44:276).
Be that as it may, having the gift of faith in Christ, don’t
stop there but also sing out – “set my people free”
(Exodus 5:1). As slaves of God it follows that we shouldn’t be
“slaves of men” (1 Corinthians 7:23). Being slaves of God isn’t
supposed to set us up to be enslaved by other sinners. No,
fearing God includes more than falling on your knees before him,
it also includes fearing “no one and [trusting] no one except
God” (LW 51:139). So
work to end slavery on earth. But note the Christian
qualification. “Whatever outwardly remains of… freedom is
neither sin nor virtue but only outward tranquility or trouble,
joy or suffering, as is all other bodily good or ill, in both of
which we can live freely and without sin” (LW
28:45). So we won’t work against slavery on earth to promote
salvation in heaven. That’s because salvation is based on the
inward freedom faith gives, and not on the outward freedom
social, political and economic liberation gives. In Christ “all
things are common to all.... For this reason the Christian or
believer is a man without a name, without outward appearance
[Galatians 3:28], without a distinguishing mark, without status”
(LW 27:280). “Christendom is a spiritual community
which is to be numbered with the worldly community just as
little as minds with bodies and faith with temporal works” (LW
39:68). “Faith knows nothing about... laymen or priests,
cobblers or tailors,... owned and free.... In short, godliness
and salvation depend on none of these,.... For faith can remain
the same in all these ways of life” (LW 76:27, 22). So be a
freedom-fighter, but don’t let it go to your head. Pursue it, by
all means, but never by forgetting what matters more. That’s why
the church has called us to sing, “make me a captive, Lord, and
then I shall be free” (Service
Book and Hymnal, 1958, hymn 508), and “firmly bound, forever
free” (Lutheran Book of
Worship, 1978, hymn 257). So befriend the enslaved and work
to set them free – but in the process don’t forget what Job knew,
that above all you may become slaves of God. Amen.
Hymn of the Day:
“Holy Spirit, Truth Divine” (LBW 257)
Prayers
Litany on the
Coronavirus Disease 2020 (COVID-19)
Let us pray for all those worldwide who have
died from COVID-19. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us give thanks for the government
agencies and other medical research teams who are diligently
working to curb the spread of this virus. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for the many who are sick and
suffering from this disease. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
And let us also pray for all those grieving
the loss of loved ones who have died from COVID-19. Lord in your
mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for the many who are caring for
the infected and the sick, that full health and strength and
peace may be granted. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for our world where we’re but
sojourners (Psalm 119:19; Philippians 3:20), that we may not be
punished by disease and pestilence (Ezekiel 14:21, Luke 13:5,
John 5:14), and that health and peace may abound for all – for
it is Christ who takes upon himself “our infirmities and
diseases” (Matthew 8:17). Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Finally, in our fear of disease and sickness
– may we ever remember God’s power to heal (Jeremiah 17:14,
James 5:14), those many kept safe from COVID-19 and other
infectious diseases, and our Savior Jesus who, by his mercy and
in his time, rekindles our faith by restoring health in this
vulnerable and perilous life (2 Kings 5:14, Acts 3:6).
GLORY BE TO CHRIST OUR LORD & GREAT HEALER!
AMEN.
LUTHER on epidemics
“Some people are of the firm opinion that one… should not run
away from a deadly plague. Rather, since death is God’s
punishment, which he sends upon us for our sins, we must submit
to God…. I cannot censure [this] excellent decision…. It takes
more than a milk faith [1 Corinthians 3:2] to await a death
before which most of the saints… are in dread…. [But since] it
is generally true of Christians that few are strong and many are
weak, one simply cannot place the same burden upon everyone….
Peter could walk upon the water because he was strong in faith.
When he began to doubt,… he sank and almost drowned [Matthew
14:30]…. Let him who has a strong faith wait for his death, but
he should not condemn those who take flight…. [Even so, know
that] all illnesses are punishments from God…. [These
punishments] come upon us, not only to chastise us for our sins
but also to test our faith and love…. [So] my dear friends,… use
medicines… which can help you; fumigate house, yard, and street;
shun persons and places wherever your neighbor… has recovered,
and act like a man who wants to help put out the burning city.
What else is the epidemic but a fire?... You ought to think this
way: ‘Very well, by God’s decree the enemy has sent us poison….
Therefore I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I
shall… administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and
persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become
contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others, and
so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should
wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he
has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own
death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however,
I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely…. This is
such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor
foolhardy and does not tempt God.’”
[Martin Luther, Whether One May Flee from a Deadly
Plague (1527), Luther’s Works
43:120, 124, 127, 131–32.]
Intercessions:
We remember in prayer church
members.
Leah &Melissa Baker, and Felicia Wells
Marlis Ormiston
Eileen & Dave Nestoss
Connor Bisticas
Kyra Stromberg
Bob Schorn
Sam & Nancy Lawson
Melanie Johnson
Dorothy Ryder
Beyla Tuomi
Rollie
We also pray for friends of the
parish
who stand in need of God’s care.
Angel Lynn
Tabitha Anderson
The Rev. Randy Olson
The Rev. Howard Fosser
The Rev. Dan Peterson
The Rev. Kari Reiten
The Rev. Alan Gardner
The Rev. Albin Fogelquist
Kari Meier
Heather Tutuska
Sheila Feichtner
Yuriko Nishimura
Leslie Hicks
Eric Baxter
Evelyn, Emily & Gordon Wilhelm
Garrett Metzler
Lesa Christensen
Noel Curtis
Antonio Ortez
Garrison Radcliffe
Richard Patishnock
Jeff Hancock
Holly & Terence Finan
Wayne & Chris Korsmo
Ty Wick
Lori Aarstad
Anthony Brisbane
Dona Brost
Susan Curry
Karin Weyer
Robert Shull family
Alan Morgan family
Geri Zerr & Mark
Julie Godinez
Joey DiJulio and family
Lucy Shearer
Carolyn & Marv Morris
Ramona King
Karen Berg
Donna & Grover Mullen
Patty Johnson
Christine Berg
Kurt Weigel
Chiou-Jin Chen
Ethan, Erin and Kevin Vodka
Carol Estes
Savanna & Hank Todd
Gene & Tery Merritt
Pray for unbelievers, the addicted, the sexually abused and
harassed, the homeless, the hungry and the unemployed.
Births
Romy Roslyn Cook (Jeannine & Gregory Lingle's first
great-grandchild)
Professional Health Care Providers
Gina Allen
Jane Collins
Janine Douglass
David Juhl
Dana Kahn
Dean Riskedahl
Holy Communion
in Spirit and Truth
Without the
Consecrated Bread and Wine
[The
ancient church doctrine of
concomitantia teaches that the faithful can receive Christ’s
Presence in Holy Communion by drinking the wine without eating
any bread, or by eating the bread without drinking any wine (The
Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, ed. F. L. Cross,
1958, 1966, pp. 320–21). By extension, in extreme cases, the
faithful can also, then, receive Christ’s Presence without
eating the bread or drinking the wine. Those would be cases of
illness when nothing can be ingested through the mouth, or when
lost in the wilderness – living off nothing but wild animals and
berries. In those cases we keep the memory of Jesus in the
Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:24) – honoring our Savior “in
spirit and truth” (John 4:23). So pray the words below, all you
baptized, who love the Lord Jesus, and “hunger and thirst for
righteous,” that you may be satisfied (Matthew 5:6). This is not
a substitute for Holy Communion, but rather a devout practice
when receiving Holy Communion in times of pestilence and plague
would recklessly endanger the church
(Luther’s
Works
43:132–33).]
Let us pray:
O Lord, our God, we remember this day our savior Jesus, who “was
put to death for our trespasses and raised for our
justification” (Romans 4:24). May his Spirit “bring to
remembrance” all that he did for us, and continues to do, to
bless us (John 14:26). Fill us with the assurance that our sins
are truly forgiven for his sake, and that the promise of eternal
life will not be taken away. Amen.
Let us pray:
On this day, heavenly Father, we also pray in the name of Jesus,
that one day soon we will be able to gather together at the
Altar of our church, and so eat of the flesh of our Lord and
drink of his blood, that his very life may well up in us so that
we may abide in him forever (John 6:53–56). Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Benediction: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his
face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord look upon you
with favor and give you peace. In the name of God the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Closing Hymn:
“From
God the Father, Virgin-Born” (LBW 83)
“Job returns [in Job 7:2] once more to the themes… of God as
master and humans as slaves…. Life as a slave is characterized
by time that is unbearable and pain that never heals…. To
describe human existence as slavery is to call into question
God’s design for creation. Israel’s creation theology affirms
that human beings are created in the image of God. Their divine
commission comprises two primary responsibilities: (1) to
exercise dominion over earth’s resources; and (2) to till and
keep the ground. These twin commissions underscore Israel’s
belief that human beings have been given the noble assignment of
acting like God’s near-equals.”
(Samuel E. Balentine, Job,
2006, pp. 130, 132.)
VS
“Faith makes us obedient and subject to Christ and His Word.
Therefore to be submissive to the Word of God and Christ… is the
same as believing. For it is difficult for nature to submit
completely to Christ and to desist from all its doings, despise
them, and regard them as sin; it struggles against this and
tortures itself in the process. Yet it must surrender itself.”
(Luther’s Works 30:7)
Online Sunday
Liturgy
January 31, 2021
Bulletin Cover
God, who is the Author and Lord of the Law, sets bounds to it or
breaks it and appoints Jacob and Isaac as the first-born after
rejecting Esau and Ishmael…. For what is usually said – “Submit
to the law which you have proposed” – is not valid. God is not
subject to the law and often acts contrary to the law, in order
that we may respect His works, wisdom, counsels, and wonderful
judgments and thus walk in humility before Him. Though David was
the youngest and most despised among his brothers, he was
elevated to royal power in Israel. Accordingly, God knows how to
set up and sanction a law in His own way. Yet He sometimes acts
strangely, beyond and contrary to the rule…. And yet the Law
must remain in its discipline, severity, and order. But grace
makes an exception and is superior to the Law.
[Martin Luther, Lectures on
Genesis 48 (1545)
Luther’s Works 8:160–61.]
Online Abbreviated Sunday Liturgy
Pastor Marshall
January 31, 2021
Fourth
Sunday after the Holy Epiphany
In the Name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Let us pray: Heavenly
Father, you know that we cannot withstand the dangers which
surround us. Strengthen us in body and spirit so that, with your
help, we may be able to overcome the weakness that our sin has
brought upon us. In the name of Jesus we pray.Amen.
First Lesson:
Deuteronomy 18:15–20
Psalm 1
Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 8:1–13
Gospel: Mark 1:21–28
Opening Hymn:
“God, Whose Almighty Word ” (LBW 400)
Grace and peace to you in the name of God the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. Amen.
God’s
law has hands but no feet, Luther says. How weird is that? He
says this because the hands of the law direct us to “the right
road,” pointing us forward – but because it doesn’t have any
feet, it can’t “conduct [our] steps along the way” of that right
road (Luther’s Works
22:143). So it can show us what to do, but it can’t help us do
it. Therefore “the law says, ‘do this,’ and it never gets done”
(LW
31:41). Does that make it useless? Not at all. No, we still need
to know where the road is and the law can show us that. We need
God’s law to show us what the good is. Left to ourselves, we
only mix up the good and the bad, confusing one for the other
(Isaiah 5:20). Just look at how we’ve handled wealth and
poverty, war and peace, freedom and slavery, sex and marriage,
water, earth and air. So it’s no surprise that the law is “a
sermon which points me to life, and it is essential to remember
this instruction; but it must be borne in mind that the Law does
not give me life” (LW
22:143). By implication we also need the law “to furnish
knowledge [of sin] and how great a weakness” it is that plagues
us (LW
33:127). The law shows us that “we are stunted human beings and
utterly corrupted” by sin, so that “we are not the kind of
people that the Law requires” (LW
73:181). That’s because “the desire of man is the opposite of
the Law, [he] even hates it and flees from it” (LW
14:295). That’s devastating! But it’s exactly what we need to
hear. And the law makes sure that we learn it. Its function is
“to makes us guilty, to humble us, to kill us, to lead us down
to hell, and to take everything away from us.” For this reason
God’s law “cannot be measured by any price” (LW
26:345). It’s that valuable, because nothing else can do what it
does for us. Luther even could sing about this (LW
53:279, Lutheran Service Book, 2006, Hymn 581):
You have this Law to see therein
That you have not been free from sin
But also that you clearly see
How pure toward God life should be.
So God clearly wants us to keep his law – and also make it known
throughout the whole world (Deuteronomy 18:20). We are not to
tamper with it or reduce it in any way (Matthew 5:17–20). Jesus
is emphatic about this. People are always trying to cut out
parts of the law – so that it’s easier on us. But Jesus says
keep it altogether and intact. We need it bearing down on us if
we ever are going to become followers of Christ. And so “the
teaching of the Law is necessary in the churches and must be
retained in its entirety, for without it Christ cannot be
retained” (LW
73:66). God’s law must attack us if we’re going to see the light
of Christ (John 8:12). We are lazy rascals who need the “stone
tablets [of the law to] beat that donkey with them so that he
has to move” (LW
78:136). Without those attacks we wallow – unmoved – in secular
security which “removes faith and the fear of the Lord” (LW
73:65). Those attacks are very difficult for us to put up with.
We would rather flee from the law – and be left alone in our sin
which we love (LW
22:390). “Nothing is easier than sinning,” and so “we sin and
err constantly” (LW
30:273, 37:233). That’s because it is grounded in our
presumption of righteousness which is a “huge and horrible
monster” dwelling within us. “To break and crush it, God needs a
large and powerful hammer, that is, the Law, which is the hammer
of death, the thunder of hell, and the lightning of divine
wrath” (LW 26:310).
When that law strikes us, it “renders sin alert and strong and
prompts it to cut and to pierce. If it depended on us, sin would
very likely remain dormant forever. But God is able to awaken it
effectively through the Law. When the hour comes for sin to
sting and to strike, it grows unendurable in a moment…. Then one
begins to lament and wail: ‘Alas! What did I do? What will
become of me now?’” (LW
28:209).
Well are you ready for a surprise? Do you want to hear something
you thought you’d never hear? “God is not subject to the law and
often acts contrary to the law, in order that we may respect His
works, wisdom, counsels, and wonderful judgments and thus walk
in humility before Him. [And so] grace makes an exception and is
superior to the Law” (LW
8:160–61). And that grace is that while we were still sinners
and deserved nothing but condemnation, “Christ died for us”
(Romans 5:8). That’s grace because it’s undeserved which is what
it is by definition. For it says that “everything that you have
not done He will forgive you, and all that you cannot do He will
give to you” regardless (LW 57:76). For when Christ
died for us he “fulfilled in us… the just requirement of the
law” by condemning sin and offering up his life to God the
Father as a sacrifice “for sin” (Romans 8:3–4). He then saves us
from God’s wrath against us when we rejoice in his death for us
(Romans 5:9, Galatians 6:14). And so we are not left speechless
when our newly awakened sin terrifies us, assaults us, and gives
us nightmares. No, when sin wants to slay us and thrust us into
“the jaws of hell,” we sit up straight and say that it’s
“unfortunately true that I am a sinner and that I have surely
deserved death. So far you are right. But still you shall not
condemn and slay me. Another, who is named my Lord Christ, shall
stay your hand. You accused and you murdered Him innocently. But
do you remember how you vainly dashed full tilt against Him and
burned yourself and thereby forfeited all your rights to me and
to all Christians? For He both bore and overcame sin and death
not for Himself but for me. Therefore I concede you no rightful
accusation against me. I can, rather, justly assert my rights
against you for trying to attack me without cause and despite
the fact that you were already condemned and overcome by Him,
which deprived you of any right to assail and accuse me. And
although you may now attack and devour me according to the
flesh, you shall not accomplish or gain anything by this. You
must eat your own sting and choke to death on it. For I am no
longer the man you are looking for; I am no longer a child of
man, but a child of God, for I am baptized in His blood and on
His victory, and I am vested with all His possessions” (LW
28:211–12).
With this great acclamation of faith and salvation in Christ
Jesus, how shall we now live? What shall we do from here on out?
Well, “if the Gospel is truly in the heart,” then we would not
“wait a long time until the Law comes but [being] full of joy in
Christ, and [having a] desire and love for what is good,” we
would gladly help everyone “out of a free heart” before ever
once thinking about the law (LW
78:136). Christians would be “showing love toward their
neighbor, by helping him with words and deeds, teaching and
example, and by taking an interest in what he needs.
Specifically, they should be rebuking him when he sins, showing
him where he errs, bearing with him when he is weak, comforting
him when he is distressed, and serving and helping him when he
is needy” (LW
78:369). But what if “I
can certainly preach, speak, write, sing, and read, but I cannot
get into my heart such a strong, living faith and ardent love”
for my neighbor (LW
78:368)? What then? What if we are not yet “fine Christians,”
but still sinful and “addicted to greed, to wrath, to lust,
[and] to reviling?” Then
we’ll need to hear “that the destruction of Sodom by fire is to
be set before all succeeding generations and indeed before the
very church of God, in order that men may learn to fear God [so
that] those who are frightened in this way by the judgment and
wrath of God practice justice and discernment” (LW
3:223–24).
Well this is exactly what’s needed. That’s because “the
whole world is evil and that among thousands there is scarcely a
single true Christian…. [So] take heed and first fill the world
with real Christians before you attempt to rule it in a
Christian and evangelical manner. [But] this you will never
accomplish; for the world and the masses are and always will be
un-Christian, even if they are all baptized and Christian in
name. Christians are few and far between” (LW
45:91). So aspiring Christians have to “uphold the law” (Romans
3:31) – or
legem statuimus, as
it’s put in the old Latin Bible.
Statuimus indeed! The
law has to be upheld so that it may be used on us all, including
those who say they’re Christians – “in the same way a savage
wild beast is bound with chains and ropes so that it cannot bite
and tear as it would normally do, even though it would like to”
(LW
45:90). Legem statuimus
– otherwise the whole world will be “reduced to chaos” (LW
45:91). For supposed Christians “have only the name and speech
of true Christians [and] let the name float on their tongues
like froth on beer” (LW
78:369). May this admonition with its built-in trenchant
criticism of all would-be Christians – along with the
aspirations to faith in Christ Jesus – inspire us now and always
to cherish and follow God’s commands. Amen.
Hymn of the Day: “O
God, My Faithful God” (LBW 504)
Prayers
Litany on the
Coronavirus Disease 2020 (COVID-19)
Let us pray for all those worldwide who have
died from COVID-19. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us give thanks for the government
agencies and other medical research teams who are diligently
working to curb the spread of this virus. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for the many who are sick and
suffering from this disease. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
And let us also pray for all those grieving
the loss of loved ones who have died from COVID-19. Lord in your
mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for the many who are caring for
the infected and the sick, that full health and strength and
peace may be granted. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for our world where we’re but
sojourners (Psalm 119:19; Philippians 3:20), that we may not be
punished by disease and pestilence (Ezekiel 14:21, Luke 13:5,
John 5:14), and that health and peace may abound for all – for
it is Christ who takes upon himself “our infirmities and
diseases” (Matthew 8:17). Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Finally, in our fear of disease and sickness
– may we ever remember God’s power to heal (Jeremiah 17:14,
James 5:14), those many kept safe from COVID-19 and other
infectious diseases, and our Savior Jesus who, by his mercy and
in his time, rekindles our faith by restoring health in this
vulnerable and perilous life (2 Kings 5:14, Acts 3:6).
GLORY BE TO CHRIST OUR LORD & GREAT HEALER!
AMEN.
LUTHER on epidemics
“Some people are of the firm opinion that one… should not run
away from a deadly plague. Rather, since death is God’s
punishment, which he sends upon us for our sins, we must submit
to God…. I cannot censure [this] excellent decision…. It takes
more than a milk faith [1 Corinthians 3:2] to await a death
before which most of the saints… are in dread…. [But since] it
is generally true of Christians that few are strong and many are
weak, one simply cannot place the same burden upon everyone….
Peter could walk upon the water because he was strong in faith.
When he began to doubt,… he sank and almost drowned [Matthew
14:30]…. Let him who has a strong faith wait for his death, but
he should not condemn those who take flight…. [Even so, know
that] all illnesses are punishments from God…. [These
punishments] come upon us, not only to chastise us for our sins
but also to test our faith and love…. [So] my dear friends,… use
medicines… which can help you; fumigate house, yard, and street;
shun persons and places wherever your neighbor… has recovered,
and act like a man who wants to help put out the burning city.
What else is the epidemic but a fire?... You ought to think this
way: ‘Very well, by God’s decree the enemy has sent us poison….
Therefore I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I
shall… administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and
persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become
contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others, and
so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should
wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he
has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own
death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however,
I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely…. This is
such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor
foolhardy and does not tempt God.’”
[Martin Luther, Whether One May Flee from a Deadly
Plague (1527), Luther’s Works
43:120, 124, 127, 131–32.]
Intercessions:
We remember in prayer church
members.
Leah &Melissa Baker, and Felicia Wells
Marlis Ormiston
Eileen & Dave Nestoss
Connor Bisticas
Kyra Stromberg
Bob Schorn
Sam & Nancy Lawson
Melanie Johnson
Dorothy Ryder
Beyla Tuomi
Rollie
We also pray for friends of the
parish
who stand in need of God’s care.
Angel Lynn
Tabitha Anderson
The Rev. Randy Olson
The Rev. Howard Fosser
The Rev. Dan Peterson
The Rev. Kari Reiten
The Rev. Alan Gardner
The Rev. Albin Fogelquist
Kari Meier
Heather Tutuska
Sheila Feichtner
Yuriko Nishimura
Leslie Hicks
Eric Baxter
Evelyn, Emily & Gordon Wilhelm
Garrett Metzler
Lesa Christensen
Noel Curtis
Antonio Ortez
Garrison Radcliffe
Richard Patishnock
Jeff Hancock
Holly & Terence Finan
Wayne & Chris Korsmo
Ty Wick
Lori Aarstad
Anthony Brisbane
Dona Brost
Susan Curry
Karin Weyer
Robert Shull family
Alan Morgan family
Geri Zerr
Wayne Ducheneaux
Jene & Ray
McNearney
Julie Godinez
Joey DiJulio and family
Lucy Shearer
Carolyn & Marv Morris
Ramona King
Karen Berg
Donna & Grover Mullen
Patty Johnson
Christine Berg
Kurt Weigel
Chiou-Jin Chen
Ethan, Erin and Kevin Vodka
Pray for unbelievers, the addicted, the sexually abused and
harassed, the homeless, the hungry and the unemployed.
Deaths
Dr. Carl Schalk
Marie Magenta
Professional Health Care Providers
Gina Allen
Jane Collins
Janine Douglass
David Juhl
Dana Kahn
Dean Riskedahl
Holy Communion
in Spirit and Truth
Without the
Consecrated Bread and Wine
[The
ancient church doctrine of
concomitantia teaches that the faithful can receive Christ’s
Presence in Holy Communion by drinking the wine without eating
any bread, or by eating the bread without drinking any wine (The
Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, ed. F. L. Cross,
1958, 1966, pp. 320–21). By extension, in extreme cases, the
faithful can also, then, receive Christ’s Presence without
eating the bread or drinking the wine. Those would be cases of
illness when nothing can be ingested through the mouth, or when
lost in the wilderness – living off nothing but wild animals and
berries. In those cases we keep the memory of Jesus in the
Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:24) – honoring our Savior “in
spirit and truth” (John 4:23). So pray the words below, all you
baptized, who love the Lord Jesus, and “hunger and thirst for
righteous,” that you may be satisfied (Matthew 5:6). This is not
a substitute for Holy Communion, but rather a devout practice
when receiving Holy Communion in times of pestilence and plague
would recklessly endanger the church
(Luther’s
Works
43:132–33).]
Let us pray:
O Lord, our God, we remember this day our savior Jesus, who “was
put to death for our trespasses and raised for our
justification” (Romans 4:24). May his Spirit “bring to
remembrance” all that he did for us, and continues to do, to
bless us (John 14:26). Fill us with the assurance that our sins
are truly forgiven for his sake, and that the promise of eternal
life will not be taken away. Amen.
Let us pray:
On this day, heavenly Father, we also pray in the name of Jesus,
that one day soon we will be able to gather together at the
Altar of our church, and so eat of the flesh of our Lord and
drink of his blood, that his very life may well up in us so that
we may abide in him forever (John 6:53–56). Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Benediction: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his
face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord look upon you
with favor and give you peace. In the name of God the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Closing Hymn:
“Your
Kingdom Come!” (LBW 376)
California Avenue & Brandon Street
West Seattle
January 26, 2021
Blessed are the meek
for they shall inherit the earth.
(Matthew 5:5)
Psalm 37 is the right gloss
on [Matthew 5:5
because it richly describes]
how
the meek are to inherit the
land.
(Luther’s
Works 21:25).
It is settled that we should do only good and remain on our true
course in the world, letting Him do the worrying and the
working. [Therefore the righteous should] be still and… go right
on with their duties,… entrusting their cause to God; letting
the wicked bite, rage, scowl, slander, strike, draw their
swords, bend their bows, and build up their mobs and their
power…. For God will set it right, if only we wait for Him to do
it, staying the course, and not letting [the wicked] make us
quit or give up…. God’s blessing consists in this, that [the
righteous] will have plenty both here and hereafter, suffering
no shortage of either food for the body or salvation for the
soul, even though they have no surplus. [Therefore] we do not
permit the prosperity of the wicked to irk us or provoke us….
The righteous… must turn their gaze away from everything visible
and tangible and trust God alone, [for they] have no salvation
or refuge except that which comes from God…. If God does not
give it, the righteous man is so acquiescent that he does not
want God to give it to him and forbids God to give it to him. He
is so at one with God that in the sight of God he both has and
does not have, just as he pleases…. A God-pleasing way of life
receives no support but only hindrance and rejection from the
wicked. This is a vexation for human nature. Therefore one must
find consolation in God’s approval and support of our way of
life, regardless of the hindrance and rejection of the wicked.
[Martin Luther, Commentary on Psalm 37 (1526)
Luther’s Works
14:223, 222, 228, 225, 220.]
Online Sunday Liturgy
January 24, 2021
Bulletin Cover
He who will not obey God’s will willingly must, in the end, bow
to His will unwillingly. God’s will must prevail. We see [in
Jonah] that he who refuses to comply with God’s small demands
must suffer even graver things because of this…. There is enough
grave sin present, and yet Jonah is not condemned or forsaken.
This is due to the fact that he does not despond and despair in
his sin but clings firmly to God’s mercy and willingly submits
to His punishment. If he had despaired, he would never have come
forth from the whale’s belly. His strong faith in the midst of
his sin makes it impossible for God to forget him; He must again
deliver him.
[Martin Luther, Lectures on Jonah (1526)
Luther’s Works
19:46–47.]
Online Abbreviated Sunday Liturgy
Pastor Marshall
January 24,
2021
Third Sunday after the Holy Epiphany
In the Name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Let us pray: Almighty
God, you sent your Son to proclaim your kingdom and to teach
with authority. Anoint us with the power of your Spirit that we
may faithfully bear witness to Jesus and his glory. In his name we
pray.
First Lesson:
Jonah 3:1–5, 10
Psalm 62:6-14
Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 7:29–31
Gospel: Mark 1:14–20
Opening Hymn:
“Hail the Lord’s Anointed” (LBW 87)
Sermon: January 24, 2021
“Learn from Jonah”
(Jonah 3:3)
Grace and peace to you in the name of God the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. Amen.
“Certainly
Jonah is a strange prophet” (Luther’s
Works 19:30). O Luther, did you ever get that right! For
Jonah’s the only prophet who runs away when God commands him to
prophesy. Some prophet. And when he does refuse to prophesy, God doesn’t
kill him like he did King Saul when he disobeyed God (1 Samuel
15:9–35, LW 19:6). As
a rascal, it’s quite shocking that Jonah is the most successful
of the prophets, converting the whole city of Nineveh –
including the animals – with a teeny-tiny, and strikingly
negative, sermon (Jonah 3:4–8). How weird that is. No wonder preachers
shy away from Jonah and his “most
sobering truth” about the “enormous quantity of pretentious
romanticism in the pastoral vocation” (Eugene Peterson,
Under the Unpredictable
Plant, 1992, p. 10). Furthermore, as “a servant of the true
God and a member of the holiest land and nation,” Jonah is
“worse than the idolatrous heathen” on the ship he sails away on
when trying to escape God’s command (LW
19:64). So this prophet is hardly on the side of righteousness –
even when he complies! From this we learn that “no matter how
God deals with us, we are obnoxious.” That’s Luther’s
devastating judgment
and it should be ours as well. For if God is lenient, Luther
goes on to explain, we are “insolent, bold, arrogant, and saucy.”
But if he punishes us, “we grow so dejected and despondent that
no consolation, no kindness, no mercy is able to revive our
courage and to strengthen us” (LW
19:73). So we’re dead in the water – rather than renewed in our
faith. In addition, Luther finds it remarkable that “Jonah was
able to count the days” he was in the whale when he “neither saw
nor heard anything when he was shut up” in its belly (LW
19:16). And most peculiar, indeed, Jonah points us to Christ, in
whom we learn, that “death has become the door to life for us;
disgrace has become the elevation to glory; condemnation and
hell, the door to salvation” (LW
19:31). How miraculous is that?
And just how does Jonah pull that off? How does he put death, disgrace,
condemnation and hell into such a good light? He does so by
being a living illustration of Acts 14:22. In that verse we
learn
that we can only enter the kingdom of God “through many
tribulations” – a verse that the early church thought was first
spoken by Jesus himself (Jaroslav Pelikan,
Acts, 2005, p. 167).
What a chilling word! It says that if we don’t have plenty of
trouble because of Jesus, then we’re phony even if we think and
say that we are not (LW
51:112, 207, 52:119). And of course we are tempted to lie about
this, in order to fashion an easier life for ourselves (Luke
12:19). But nothing else will work. Only troubles help. The
Christian “must be tested, tried, and refined” (LW
60:335). That’s because, as Luther shows, “the heart is slippery and
vacillating when taking hold” of the Gospel (LW
5:146). Without suffering, we would “bumble along with our early,
incipient faith. We would become indolent, unfruitful and
inexperienced Christians” (LW 24:150). That’s where
Luther’s refinement comes in. Therefore we need the glue of suffering to keep us
connected to God’s saving ways (Romans 8:17). Indeed, “we cannot
grasp the Gospel unless the conscience is previously distressed
and miserable” (LW 79:261). How does our distress and
misery do
that? It makes us ready for God. It prepares us. “The terrible
judgment of God” makes us “quail” in order to “soften [us] up”
so that we will “sigh and seek for the comfort” that God alone
provides (LW 35:18).
Without those troubles we would never despair of ourselves and
look to God for help. That’s what it takes to point us in
God’s direction. “The point of making death and wrath manifest
[is that] you might flee to Christ,” that is,
ad Christum confugias, in Luther’s original Latin (LW
73:207). Confugias!
Of course! Why? Because only God can help us. “For it is His
special work to make the dead alive, to render those who are
completely confused peaceful and tranquil, and to make those who
are wretched happy and those who are in despair joyful” (LW
6:104).
But what if we keep running away?
What then? What if our lives remain
“shaped by comparative pricing and commercial comforts”
(Peterson, Under the Unpredictable Plant, p. 27)? What
if we set aside the content of God’s
word, rejecting its power to change us into new and better
disciples (2 Timothy 3:5, 2 Corinthians 5:17)? What then? The
temptation will be to appease the discontented and celebrate the
way things are. Giving in, we
“prefer what is easy and nice”
(LW 78:339). We
settle for the course of least resistance and miss out on the aspiration that
“in testing times we become the best of beings”
(Amanda Gorman,
“The Miracle of Morning,”
April 2020). Lutherans have tried to head off that train wreck
with their venerable confession that opposes
“a nice, soft life without the cross and suffering” (The
Book of Concord, ed. T. Tappert, 1959, p. 392). But
standing up for the difficult way won’t
be easy (Matthew 7:14). Luther thought that
“if
we Lutherans... were only dead, then the world would
immediately cry
‘Victory!’” (LW 79:351). But we have no
choice in the matter
– the decision is made for us on high (2
Corinthians 13:8).
“At
every moment the life of your body as well as of your soul is in
the hand of God alone” (LW 67:106). He hurls us
into the fray
–
“where
hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten, where black is the
color, where none is the number” (Bob Dylan, 100
Songs, 2017, p. 7). That is the lot of the Christian.
And so with
Saint Joan of Arc “we must serve God first”
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1994, 1999,
§223). And if we don’t,
we can’t
be accommodated. With Luther we must dig in and say
“if
someone is so stiff-necked... that he will not accept
directions, then let him go his own way”
(LW 78:292). We
must remember, after all, that
“only
a few are struck by the Law... and obey the Gospel”
(LW 73:105). How terrifying!
But God doesn’t give up. He stays on the cross for us (LW
76:405). There his dear son
offers up the fragrant offering of his death to him (Ephesians
5:2). And at that point we’re spared condemnation when we believe
(Colossians 2:14, John 3:16). That’s because the “punishment” we
had coming because of our disobedience, Jesus suffered “for us”
instead (LW 26:284).
That’s because
“God cannot be... gracious to sin... unless sufficient payment
is made for it” (LW 77:96). Indeed,
“the only Son of God had to take our place and become a
sacrifice for our sin, through which God’s wrath would be
appeased and satisfaction would be made” (LW 78:50).
Jonah shows us this connection between death and wellbeing,
payment and salvation, punishment and satisfaction, when
he calms God’s wrath by jumping overboard in the midst of the
punishing storm against him (Jonah 1:15). “I must die or the sea will never
again grow tranquil” (LW
19:65). And so, too, Christ must die or there will never be
peace with God (Romans 5:1, Colossians 1:20).
Even though this message is “clear and winsome,” it still
is unacceptable to many because “it mows down and castigates
whatever is not centered on Christ. In unadorned terms it states
that there is no possible way to escape sin and death, to be
saved, except by clinging to this man, the crucified Jesus of
Nazareth” (Luther’s House Postils, ed. E. Klug, 2:173).
Because of this, “the would-be-wise [will try] to master and
remake Christ” (LHP 1:163). But this is a fool’s errand
and won’t work because God’s word won’t cooperate. We instead
should pray that God increases our faith (Luke 17:5), because
without that merciful gift, faith is impossible (Luke 18:27) and
we lose him. For “faith.... consummates the Deity,... it is the
creator of the Deity, not in the substance of God but in us” (LW
26:227).
Having been rescued from our sin by faith in Christ, let us then live
lives sharing in the sufferings of Christ (1 Peter 4:13). Let us
supplement our faith with that virtue (2 Peter 1:5). Why?
Because of what Luther thought Christ, in effect, says to us.
“I want to be,”
he says,
“the
mediator between God and you, and represent you before him, so
that he does not rebuke, judge, and condemn you on account of
your sin. But when you are now reconciled with God and your sins
are remitted, then set out on the way and begin to do what God
has commanded”
(LHP 2:420). How
should we then go about sharing in Christ’s
sufferings, as we are commanded to do? Well, “if one will make the afflictions of Christ and all
Christians his own, defend the truth, oppose unrighteousness,
and help bear the needs of the innocent and the sufferings of
all Christians, then he will find affliction and adversity
enough” (LW 35:56).
And yet by this suffering faith we will also draw in other
people, which is “the nature of faith” to do (LW
79:243). And all of this will come about from having amply
learned from Jonah.
Amen.
Hymn of the Day: “Come
Follow Me,’ the Savior Spake” (LBW 455)
Prayers
Litany on the
Coronavirus Disease 2020 (COVID-19)
Let us pray for all those worldwide who have
died from COVID-19. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us give thanks for the government
agencies and other medical research teams who are diligently
working to curb the spread of this virus. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for the many who are sick and
suffering from this disease. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
And let us also pray for all those grieving
the loss of loved ones who have died from COVID-19. Lord in your
mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for the many who are caring for
the infected and the sick, that full health and strength and
peace may be granted. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for our world where we’re but
sojourners (Psalm 119:19; Philippians 3:20), that we may not be
punished by disease and pestilence (Ezekiel 14:21, Luke 13:5,
John 5:14), and that health and peace may abound for all – for
it is Christ who takes upon himself “our infirmities and
diseases” (Matthew 8:17). Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Finally, in our fear of disease and sickness
– may we ever remember God’s power to heal (Jeremiah 17:14,
James 5:14), those many kept safe from COVID-19 and other
infectious diseases, and our Savior Jesus who, by his mercy and
in his time, rekindles our faith by restoring health in this
vulnerable and perilous life (2 Kings 5:14, Acts 3:6).
GLORY BE TO CHRIST OUR LORD & GREAT HEALER!
AMEN.
LUTHER on epidemics
“Some people are of the firm opinion that one… should not run
away from a deadly plague. Rather, since death is God’s
punishment, which he sends upon us for our sins, we must submit
to God…. I cannot censure [this] excellent decision…. It takes
more than a milk faith [1 Corinthians 3:2] to await a death
before which most of the saints… are in dread…. [But since] it
is generally true of Christians that few are strong and many are
weak, one simply cannot place the same burden upon everyone….
Peter could walk upon the water because he was strong in faith.
When he began to doubt,… he sank and almost drowned [Matthew
14:30]…. Let him who has a strong faith wait for his death, but
he should not condemn those who take flight…. [Even so, know
that] all illnesses are punishments from God…. [These
punishments] come upon us, not only to chastise us for our sins
but also to test our faith and love…. [So] my dear friends,… use
medicines… which can help you; fumigate house, yard, and street;
shun persons and places wherever your neighbor… has recovered,
and act like a man who wants to help put out the burning city.
What else is the epidemic but a fire?... You ought to think this
way: ‘Very well, by God’s decree the enemy has sent us poison….
Therefore I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I
shall… administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and
persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become
contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others, and
so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should
wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he
has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own
death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however,
I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely…. This is
such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor
foolhardy and does not tempt God.’”
[Martin Luther, Whether One May Flee from a Deadly
Plague (1527), Luther’s
Works 43:120, 124, 127, 131–32.]
Intercessions:
We remember in prayer church
members.
Leah, Melissa, and Felicia Baker
Marlis Ormiston
Eileen & Dave Nestoss
Connor Bisticas
Kyra Stromberg
Bob Schorn
Sam & Nancy Lawson
Melanie Johnson
Dorothy Ryder
Rollie
We also pray for friends of the
parish
who stand in need of God’s care.
Angel Lynn
Tabitha Anderson
Marie Magenta
The Rev. Randy Olson
The Rev. Howard Fosser
The Rev. Dan Peterson
The Rev. Kari Reiten
The Rev. Alan Gardner
The Rev. Albin Fogelquist
Heather Tutuska
Sheila Feichtner
Yuriko Nishimura
Leslie Hicks
Eric Baxter
Evelyn, Emily & Gordon Wilhelm
Garrett Metzler
Lesa Christensen
Noel Curtis
Antonio Ortez
Garrison Radcliffe
Marv Morris
Richard Patishnock
Jeff Hancock
Holly & Terence Finan
Wayne & Chris Korsmo
Ty Wick
Lori Aarstad
Anthony Brisbane
Dona Brost
Susan Curry
Karin Weyer
Robert Shull family
Alan Morgan family
Geri Zerr
Wayne Ducheneaux
Jene & Ray
McNearney
Julie Godinez
Joey DiJulio and family
Lucy Shearer
Carolyn & Marv Morris
Ramona King
Karen Berg
Donna & Grover Mullen
Patty Johnson
Christine Berg
Pray for unbelievers, the addicted, the sexually abused and
harassed, the homeless, the hungry and the unemployed.
Births
Gideon Marshall
Deaths
The Rev. Dave Monson
Professional Health Care Providers
Gina Allen
Jane Collins
Janine Douglass
David Juhl
Dana Kahn
Dean Riskedahl
Holy Communion
in Spirit and Truth
Without the
Consecrated Bread and Wine
[The
ancient church doctrine of
concomitantia teaches that the faithful can receive Christ’s
Presence in Holy Communion by drinking the wine without eating
any bread, or by eating the bread without drinking any wine (The
Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, ed. F. L. Cross,
1958, 1966, pp. 320–21). By extension, in extreme cases, the
faithful can also, then, receive Christ’s Presence without
eating the bread or drinking the wine. Those would be cases of
illness when nothing can be ingested through the mouth, or when
lost in the wilderness – living off nothing but wild animals and
berries. In those cases we keep the memory of Jesus in the
Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:24) – honoring our Savior “in
spirit and truth” (John 4:23). So pray the words below, all you
baptized, who love the Lord Jesus, and “hunger and thirst for
righteous,” that you may be satisfied (Matthew 5:6). This is not
a substitute for Holy Communion, but rather a devout practice
when receiving Holy Communion in times of pestilence and plague
would recklessly endanger the church
(Luther’s
Works
43:132–33).]
Let us pray:
O Lord, our God, we remember this day our savior Jesus, who “was
put to death for our trespasses and raised for our
justification” (Romans 4:24). May his Spirit “bring to
remembrance” all that he did for us, and continues to do, to
bless us (John 14:26). Fill us with the assurance that our sins
are truly forgiven for his sake, and that the promise of eternal
life will not be taken away. Amen.
Let us pray:
On this day, heavenly Father, we also pray in the name of Jesus,
that one day soon we will be able to gather together at the Altar
of our church, and so eat of the flesh of our Lord and drink of
his blood, that his very life may well up in us so that we may
abide in him forever (John 6:53–56). Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Benediction: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his
face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord look upon you
with favor and give you peace. In the name of God the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Closing Hymn:
“Rise Up, O Saints of God!” (LBW 383)
However baby man may brag of his science and skill,… the sea
will insult and murder him, and pulverize the stateliest,
stiffest frigate he can make; nevertheless, by the continual
repetition of these very impressions, man has lost that sense of
the full awfulness of the sea which aboriginally belongs to it….
Yes, foolish mortals, Noah’s flood is not yet subsided; two
thirds of the fair world it yet covers.... Not only is the sea
such a foe to man who is alien to it, but it is also a fiend to
its own offspring…. The sea dashes even the mightiest whales
against the rocks, and leaves them there side by side with the
split wrecks of ships…. Panting and snorting like a mad battle
steed that has lost its rider, the masterless ocean overruns the
globe…. Consider… the universal cannibalism of the sea; all
whose creatures prey upon each other, carrying on eternal war
since the world began…. Consider… the sea and the land; and do
you not find a strange analogy to something in yourself? For as
this appalling ocean surrounds the verdant land, so in the soul
of man there lies one insular Tahiti, full of peace and joy, but
encompassed by all the horrors of the half known life. God keep
thee! Push not off from that isle, thou canst never return!
[Herman Melville,
Moby-Dick or The Whale (1851), Chapter 58.]
Online Sunday Liturgy
January 17, 2021
Bulletin Cover
One should be obedient to God, have patience in tribulation,
suffer persecution for the sake of the truth, and do good works,
and we urge these things with diligence. Yet we teach in
addition that one should not commit idolatry with good works nor
arrogantly presume that one is justified before God through
them…. The works-righteous, however, turn things around, deny
grace, and ascribe the righteousness that avails before God to
works.
[Martin Luther, Sermons on
John 19 (1529)
Luther’s Works 69:270.]
Online Abbreviated Sunday Liturgy
Pastor Marshall
January 17,
2021
Second Sunday after the Holy Epiphany
In the Name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Let us pray: O Lord our God, we thank you for
bringing about believers in your Son, Christ Jesus. In
your mercy strengthen all who love and follow him. In the name
of Jesus we pray.
Amen.
First Lesson: 1 Samuel 3:1–10
Psalm 67
Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 6:12–20
Gospel: John 1:43–51
Opening Hymn:
“O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright” (LBW 76)
Sermon: January 17, 2021
“Divest Yourself”
(1 Corinthians 6:19)
Grace and peace to you in the name of God the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Bible says we are not in charge of our lives. We instead
belong to God who bought us (1 Corinthians 6:19–20). This flips
our lives upside down – putting the lie to the old conviction
that, like the village blacksmith poem of 1840, we look “the
whole world in the face [and owe] not any man” (Nicholas A.
Basbanes, Cross of Snow:
A Life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 2020, pp. 301, 308).
No, the truth is we’re dependent creatures, not independent
ones. But this point is hard to make since we think we struggle
to take care of ourselves on our own. And so when Martin Luther
tried to undergird this Biblical point he used the image of a
beast of burden. That’s who we are. And as such our lives are
made up of being ridden – as a beast of burden – by God or the
devil. None of this has anything to do with the exercise of our
own freedom or the exertion of our own will (Romans 9:16). We are but clay in
the hands of the divine potter (Jeremiah 18:6). As a beast of
burden we cannot
“choose to run to either of the two riders” – God or the devil (Luther’s
Works 33:65). So we shouldn’t say we’re planning to “go into
such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get
gain.” No, we should instead say – “If the Lord wills [deo
volente], we shall live and we shall do this or that” (James
4:13–15) – “whether we like it or not” (LW 45:254–55).
By
deferring to God, we will be divested of the illusion of all
self-determination.
But what kind of a life would that be? It surely isn’t one spent
struggling over the best use of our individual
freedom – as in George Orwell’s classic novel,
Nineteen Eighty-Four
(1949). No, it would be quite different from that. It would be to construe life as one of slavery.
Yes, you heard that right – even though this spiritual slavery
doesn’t mimic slavery on earth between masters and serfs (Catholic
Biblical Quarterly, January 2021, p. 151). Romans 6:20–22 spells this out
clearly. It
says we’re either slaves to God or slaves to sin. No other
outcomes are possible. When we’re
slaves to sin we are free when it comes to righteousness and can live anyway we wish. But that leads to
death. The only life that leads to salvation is slavery to God.
Then we no longer live however we wish – “without hindrance or
rebuke, without shame or fear, and with honor and glory” (LW
13:43). Instead of that we have to be on
the straight and narrow. We have to hear the word and keep it
(Luke 11:28). There’s no wiggle room. If there were, it wouldn’t be slavery
to God. As slaves, obeying matters more than figuring
things out on our own and being creative. As obedient slaves, we won’t
“desert the battlefield but stick it out [and] commit the
outcome to God” (LW 15:106, 153). This obeying will put
an end to looking out for ourselves. And that’s what “pleases
God.” For that springs forth from faith in God “as from a fountain” (LW
73:106, 291, 398).
That generation is what makes it true. It comes from
God. Our faith, our obedience, our slavery all come from God.
We’re not making it up. These words that communicate it were
written down by people but “inspired by God” (2 Timothy 3:16) –
making them from God, then, rather than from us (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
Some dispute this, arguing that the words, though inspired, are
still unreliable (Morgan P. Noyes, Pastor Epistles,
1955, IB:11, pp. 506–507). Alas, it has always been the case that the
ungodly “avoid Scripture like they avoid the devil” (LW
79:66). But not Luther. He believed that the Bible “is the
vehicle of the Holy Spirit” and so is reliable – even when Moses
writes about his own death in Deuteronomy by precognition (LW
30:3321, 9:310). He therefore encouraged us to always work with
God’s word, “gladly hear it, be occupied with it, and remember
it day and night” (LW 79:205). Lutherans – against the
naysayers in the church – have taken a stand with Luther on this conviction,
confessing that all Scripture is indeed inspired by God (Book
of Concord, ed. T. Tappert, 1959, p. 618). And we do that
knowing full well that “by Scripture we are led to believe
things that are absurd, impossible, and contrary to our reason”
(LW 16:183). It therefore “requires real mastery to
avoid judging the Word according to human reason” (Luther’s
House Postils, ed. E. Klug, 1996, 2:87).
With
such a challenging and divinely inspired word, how can we take up this life
of faith – even of slavery to God? We, after all, would rather be free to do whatever we like. How will we trade that
wayward yearning
for a life of slavery to God? It’ll take Christ changing our hearts by abiding in us
through his word (Galatians 2:20, James 1:21). That’s what’s
needed – having Christ “live and reign” in us (LW
42:40). By so doing, he shows us that the greatest freedom of
all is to be free of God’s wrath – which comes when Jesus sheds
his blood on the cross for us (Romans 5:9). That is the penalty
Christ pays to divert God’s wrath from us. That’s how we are
bought (1 Corinthians 6:20, 2 Peter 2:1). Only then are we
“absolutely free of God’s wrath and judgment.” And then God will
say to us – “My dear son!” What a thrill it will be to hear those words. And then
we are changed further so that we can say to God – “My dearly
beloved Father!” (LHP 3:109).
With that
exchange, we’re reconciled to God – and we have peace with him
by the blood of the Lamb (Colossians 1:20). Indeed, “Christ has
stepped into the breach as the Mediator between two utterly
different parties separated by an infinite and eternal division,
and has reconciled them... So He is not the Mediator of one; He
is the Mediator of two who were in the utmost disagreement” (LW
26:325). This freedom is deep and
abiding which Christ earns for us, and so it doesn’t dissipate over time. That’s because
it’s not freedom from “some human slavery or tyrannical
authority but from the eternal wrath of God.” That makes it
“greater than heaven and earth and all creation.” This
“spiritual freedom” makes us free and joyful and “unafraid of
the wrath to come” (LW
27:4). For on Judgment Day we’ll
pass through judgment as if we weren’t
judged at all (Judges 5:24) – since by faith we’re
miraculously “straightaway the kingdom of God” (LW
67:170). Straightaway? Yes – it’s
that abrupt a leap into the kingdom. No wonder Luther sings out
that Christ is “my help, my strength, my
life, my joy” (LHP 1:474). Glory be to God!
With that freedom, kingdom, and joy, we are never to “submit again to a yoke of
slavery” (Galatians 5:1). So every yoke “of sin, death, the
wrath of God, the devil, the flesh, the world, and all
creatures,” is thrown out (LW 27:7).
One of the worst of these is the yoke of creatures. It
therefore is given
special attention – noting that we cannot serve Christ if we’re
trying to please people (Galatians 1:10). Luther underscores it
by saying that although “truth and friends are dear to us,
preference must be given to truth” (LW
1:122). Those famous words are chastening. They fly in the face
of exalting friendships over everything else.
They surprisingly give a place for loneliness in Christianity
(Psalm 102:7, LW
14:181, 67:97–98). So Christians mustn’t blow friendship way out of
proportion. Reining it in purges Christianity of any humanistic
obsession. It
puts faith in Christ above our social well-being
– which is risky because friendship for many is what
“melts
all humanity into one cordial heart of hearts” (Nathaniel
Hawthorne, 1804–1864,
The Glorious American Essay, ed. Phillip Lopate, 2020,
p. 110). Nevertheless, faith presses on and
weans us from the things on earth (Colossians 3:2). It makes
sure we live like heaven is our home (Philippians 3:20)
– without committing
“idolatry with good works,”
by supposing that this adjustment will save us
(LW 69:270). This focus moves us away from being
“lazy and careless,”
by
helping us
“grasp... well”
the treasure of our faith (LW 79:226). By so doing we
make sure to divest ourselves of all idols, including what’s
most pervasive
– the
“transient” (2
Corinthians 4:18). Amen.
Hymn of the Day: “Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart”
(LBW 486)
Let us pray for all those grieving for loved ones who died or
were wounded in the mass demonstration last Wednesday night, at
the National Capitol in Washington, D. C. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for all who came to the aid of our elected officials
and others under assault during those protests. Lord in your
mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for all those who died in the mayhem. Lord in your
mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for all those who survived, that they may be
comforted and healed of their wounds and terrible memories. Lord
in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for all those arrested and charged with crimes in
this demonstration that justice may be done. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for America’s capitol – and all the cities
throughout our country – that they may be civilized and peaceful
places to live, work and hold lawful demonstrations. Lord in your
mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for our country that it may have a peaceful and just
transfer of presidential leadership on January 20. Lord in your
mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
And let us pray for the angry who use violence to try to solve
their problems, that they may pursue peace instead. Lord in your
mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Finally, let us thank God for his goodness and mercy, for those
kept safe during the protests at our National Capitol, and for
the hope that is ours in Christ Jesus, when he comes again in
judgment (John 5:26–29, 16:33), to rescue the righteous, condemn
the wicked, and bring violence and evil to an end, once and for
all.
GLORY BE TO JESUS, OUR PEACEFUL KING AND SAVIOR! AMEN.
Litany on the
Coronavirus Disease 2020 (COVID-19)
Let us pray for all those worldwide who have
died from COVID-19. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us give thanks for the government
agencies and other medical research teams who are diligently
working to curb the spread of this virus. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for the many who are sick and
suffering from this disease. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
And let us also pray for all those grieving
the loss of loved ones who have died from COVID-19. Lord in your
mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for the many who are caring for
the infected and the sick, that full health and strength and
peace may be granted. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for our world where we’re but
sojourners (Psalm 119:19; Philippians 3:20), that we may not be
punished by disease and pestilence (Ezekiel 14:21, Luke 13:5,
John 5:14), and that health and peace may abound for all – for
it is Christ who takes upon himself “our infirmities and
diseases” (Matthew 8:17). Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Finally, in our fear of disease and sickness
– may we ever remember God’s power to heal (Jeremiah 17:14,
James 5:14), those many kept safe from COVID-19 and other
infectious diseases, and our Savior Jesus who, by his mercy and
in his time, rekindles our faith by restoring health in this
vulnerable and perilous life (2 Kings 5:14, Acts 3:6).
GLORY BE TO CHRIST OUR LORD & GREAT HEALER!
AMEN.
LUTHER on epidemics
“Some people are of the firm opinion that one… should not run
away from a deadly plague. Rather, since death is God’s
punishment, which he sends upon us for our sins, we must submit
to God…. I cannot censure [this] excellent decision…. It takes
more than a milk faith [1 Corinthians 3:2] to await a death
before which most of the saints… are in dread…. [But since] it
is generally true of Christians that few are strong and many are
weak, one simply cannot place the same burden upon everyone….
Peter could walk upon the water because he was strong in faith.
When he began to doubt,… he sank and almost drowned [Matthew
14:30]…. Let him who has a strong faith wait for his death, but
he should not condemn those who take flight…. [Even so, know
that] all illnesses are punishments from God…. [These
punishments] come upon us, not only to chastise us for our sins
but also to test our faith and love…. [So] my dear friends,… use
medicines… which can help you; fumigate house, yard, and street;
shun persons and places wherever your neighbor… has recovered,
and act like a man who wants to help put out the burning city.
What else is the epidemic but a fire?... You ought to think this
way: ‘Very well, by God’s decree the enemy has sent us poison….
Therefore I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I
shall… administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and
persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become
contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others, and
so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should
wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he
has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own
death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however,
I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely…. This is
such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor
foolhardy and does not tempt God.’”
[Martin Luther, Whether One May Flee from a Deadly
Plague (1527), Luther’s
Works 43:120, 124, 127, 131–32.]
Intercessions:
We remember in prayer church
members.
Leah, Melissa, and Felicia Baker
Marlis Ormiston
Eileen & Dave Nestoss
Connor Bisticas
Kyra Stromberg
Bob Schorn
Sam & Nancy Lawson
Melanie Johnson
Dorothy Ryder
Rollie
We also pray for friends of the
parish
who stand in need of God’s care.
Angel Lynn
Tabitha Anderson
Marie Magenta
The Rev. Howard Fosser
The Rev. Dan Peterson
The Rev. Kari Reiten
The Rev. Alan Gardner
The Rev. Dave Monson
The Rev. Albin Fogelquist
Heather Tutuska
Sheila Feichtner
Yuriko Nishimura
Leslie Hicks
Eric Baxter
Evelyn, Emily & Gordon Wilhelm
Garrett Metzler
Lesa Christensen
Noel Curtis
Antonio Ortez
Garrison Radcliffe
Marv Morris
Richard Patishnock
Jeff Hancock
Holly & Terence Finan
Wayne & Chris Korsmo
Ty Wick
Lori Aarstad
Anthony Brisbane
Dona Brost
Susan Curry
Karin Weyer
Robert Shull family
Alan Morgan family
Geri Zerr
Wayne Ducheneaux
Jene & Ray
McNearney
Julie Godinez
Joey DiJulio and family
Haley Marshall
Lucy Shearer
Pray for unbelievers, the addicted, the sexually abused and
harassed, the homeless, the hungry and the unemployed.
Professional Health Care Providers
Gina Allen
Jane Collins
Janine Douglass
David Juhl
Dana Kahn
Dean Riskedahl
Holy Communion
in Spirit and Truth
Without the
Consecrated Bread and Wine
[The
ancient church doctrine of
concomitantia teaches that the faithful can receive Christ’s
Presence in Holy Communion by drinking the wine without eating
any bread, or by eating the bread without drinking any wine (The
Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, ed. F. L. Cross,
1958, 1966, pp. 320–21). By extension, in extreme cases, the
faithful can also, then, receive Christ’s Presence without
eating the bread or drinking the wine. Those would be cases of
illness when nothing can be ingested through the mouth, or when
lost in the wilderness – living off nothing but wild animals and
berries. In those cases we keep the memory of Jesus in the
Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:24) – honoring our Savior “in
spirit and truth” (John 4:23). So pray the words below, all you
baptized, who love the Lord Jesus, and “hunger and thirst for
righteous,” that you may be satisfied (Matthew 5:6). This is not
a substitute for Holy Communion, but rather a devout practice
when receiving Holy Communion in times of pestilence and plague
would recklessly endanger the church
(Luther’s
Works
43:132–33).]
Let us pray:
O Lord, our God, we remember this day our savior Jesus, who “was
put to death for our trespasses and raised for our
justification” (Romans 4:24). May his Spirit “bring to
remembrance” all that he did for us, and continues to do, to
bless us (John 14:26). Fill us with the assurance that our sins
are truly forgiven for his sake, and that the promise of eternal
life will not be taken away. Amen.
Let us pray:
On this day, heavenly Father, we also pray in the name of Jesus,
that one day soon we will be able to gather together at the Altar
of our church, and so eat of the flesh of our Lord and drink of
his blood, that his very life may well up in us so that we may
abide in him forever (John 6:53–56). Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Benediction: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his
face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord look upon you
with favor and give you peace. In the name of God the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Closing Hymn:
“As With Gladness Men of Old” (LBW 82)
This cursed life is nothing but a real vale of tears, in which
the longer a man lives, the more sin, wickedness, torment, and
sadness he sees and feels. Nor is there respite or cessation of
all of this until we are buried [Romans 6:7]; then, of course,
this sadness has to stop and let us sleep contentedly in
Christ’s peace, until he comes again to wake us [1 Corinthians
15:52] with joy [John 16:33]. Amen.
(Martin Luther, Letter to Hans Luther (1530)
Luther’s Works
49:270.)
Online Sunday Liturgy
January 10, 2021
Bulletin Cover
What wretched people we are!
To think that we are so cold
and slothful in our attitude toward
[the incarnation of Christ, our Savior]
which, after all, happened for us,
this great benefaction which is far,
far superior to all other works of creation!
And yet how hard it is for us to believe,
though the good news was preached
and sung for us by angels,
who are heavenly theologians
and have rejoiced in our behalf.
[Martin Luther, Table Talk, No. 4201 (1538)
Luther’s Works 54:326–27.]
Online Abbreviated Sunday Liturgy
Pastor Marshall
January 10,
2021
First Sunday after the Holy Epiphany
The Baptism of Our Lord
In the Name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Let us pray: Heavenly Father, at the baptism of Jesus you
proclaimed him your beloved Son. May all who are baptized in his
name celebrate his gift of eternal life. In his name we pray.
Amen.
Grace and peace to you in the name of God the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. Amen.
At
the baptism of Jesus we learn that God is pleased with him (Mark
1:11). And so should we. We learn that Jesus is good enough for
God. And so he should also be for us. But we’re not told why.
We’re told that God delights in Jesus but we’re not given any
explanation for this. In John 10:17, however, there’s an
explanation. There Jesus says that God loves him – is delighted
in him – because he dies so that he might live again. What then
is said at Christ’s baptism is explained with his crucifixion and
resurrection. Some say we shouldn’t do this. We shouldn’t look to John’s Gospel to
explain Mark’s Gospel (James D. G. Dunn,
Unity and Diversity in
the New Testament, 3rd edition, 2006). They’re too different
– Mark from John. But Martin Luther disagreed. ‘There is
only one gospel,” he argued, even though it can be “described by
many apostles” (Luther’s
Works 35:117). So mixing and matching New Testament verses
is fine – just as I have done with Mark 1:11 and John 10:17.
Such cross-pollination is what brings “refinement,” or an
overall reliable perspective on Holy Scriptures as God’s saving
revelation to us (LW
41:219). Without that refinement they’re a mess
– and in our hands “the Bible means nothing. It is
Bible–Booble–Babel” (LW 40:50).
But the baptized Jesus matters – only, however, because he was crucified and
raised from the dead. That’s what makes him worthy of praise –
not his being dunked in the Jordon River. “Worthy is the Lamb
who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing” (Revelation 5:12). That’s our
song and it’s not about the
Lamb who was baptized, mind you. No wonder Saint Paul wants to
know nothing among us but Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2).
Never just Christ baptized. While Luther definitely stands with
Saint Paul on this, he adds that the baptism of Jesus itself
drives us to the crucifixion and resurrection. For baptism
points to dying. In baptism “the old man and the sinful birth of
flesh and blood are to be wholly drowned by the grace of God” (LW
35:29). This drowning points to a dying. So “by His suffering
and death as our Priest,” Jesus gains for us “the state of being forever His elect children.”
On the cross he frees us “from wrath” and finally shows us “a gracious
God” (LW 57:174,
172).
We need this witness especially now when Jesus is being spread
out thin as some sort of christic principle. He’s construed as
what’s behind the “sacred everything” – in “stars, galaxies,
whales, soil, water [and] trees” (Matthew Fox,
The Coming of the Cosmic
Christ, 1988, p. 8). This is supposedly needed because
“Christianity has become clannish.” So Christ has to expand
beyond Jesus of Nazareth by becoming “much more immense, even
cosmic, in significance” – beyond all distinctions “between the
natural and the supernatural, between the holy and the profane”
(Richard Rohr, The
Universal Christ, 2019, pp. 19, 3, 15).
But then the focus on the suffering of Jesus is lost (1
Corinthians 2:2). We lose his telling question in Mark 10:38 –
“Can you drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the
baptism with which I am baptized?” That cup of suffering – that
crucifixion – is the real baptism of Jesus. It’s what makes him
indispensable for salvation. For if we have God without the
crucified Christ, “we find no comfort but only righteous wrath and displeasure” (Luther’s
House Postils, ed. E. Klug, 2:148). “For in the Son of God I
behold the wrath of God in action” (LW
47:113). We see it in the fact that Jesus was “crucified for us,
shed His blood and died, and thus paid for our sins and appeased
and warded off God’s wrath.” This matters so much because by so
doing Jesus shows us that we no longer have to doubt but can be
certain that he is not angry with us sinners but is our “dear
Savior” (LW 77:128).
His sacrifice on the cross proclaims this loud and clear. That
makes it “far, far superior to all other works of creation!” (LW
54:327). The birds and the bees, the rocks and the trees, cannot
“carry you across…. into yonder life.” Neither can a christic
principle. Only Christ, the sacrificed man, who is our bridge
to yonder life – to heaven – can do that for all believers. And
so “all that is necessary is that you
unhesitatingly set your foot on [Jesus], wager boldly on [him],
go cheerfully and happily, and die in [his] name” (LW
24:42). That’s what believers in Jesus do. And be duly warned
about this. For God has given Jesus “dominion over all. His power is
certain and endures. [And so] woe to him who does not accept this by
grace. He will encounter this power coupled with wrath in all
eternity” (LW
15:279).
Luther doesn’t talk this way because he had an easy life. That’s
not why he rejoices in Jesus and presses people to believe in
him. No, his life was tough. He
had many who hated him (Mark U. Edwards, Jr., Luther’s Last
Battles, 1983). And he also had severe health problems –
but still he trusted in Christ in spite of it all. There’s no
doubt that he knew that “Christianity is surely a constant
sobbing” (LW 16:20). Therefore “all those who do not
trust God at all times and do not see God’s favor and grace and
good will toward them in everything they do and everything they
suffer, in their living or in their dying, but seek his favor in
other things or even in themselves,... practice idolatry” (LW
44:30). So in his letters Luther says that “the Lord has
afflicted me with painful constipation. The elimination is so
hard,” he explains,
“that I am forced to press with all my strength, even to the
point of perspiration…. Soon I had some relief and elimination
without blood or force, but the wound of the previous rupture
isn’t healed yet, and I even had to suffer a good deal because
some flesh extruded” (LW
48:217, 268– 69). No rose garden there. So suffering is part of every Christian life
with untold variations on the theme.
That suffering, however, isn’t just social and physical, but spiritual as
well.
And that’s in part why we have to be baptized along with believing
if we’re going to heaven when we die.
Belief needs to hold on to baptism to strengthen it. It’s a work
of God in you. Those works are “firm, certain, unchangeable and
eternal. Therefore, they stand and abide, firm and unfailing,
and never become something else, even if they are completely
misused” (LW 57:181).
That durability makes baptism your ace-in-the-hole. It’s what
baptism promises you. Baptism can sustain you even
if you neglect it – and have forgotten when and where it
happened. So be sure to hold onto it as you battle all of the
spiritual temptations that come your way. It promises to
stabilize your faith. Chief among those temptations will
be “the repose, ease, and prosperity of this life…. For in the
easy life no one learns to suffer, to die with gladness, to get
rid of sin, and to live in harmony with baptism. Instead there
grows only love of this life and horror of eternal life, fear of
death and unwillingness to blot out sin” (LW
35:39).
So dig in with your baptismal certificate clutched in
hand, as it were. Fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12)
– aided by your baptismal promises. And building upon all that
it means that God was pleased with the sacrifice of his dear Son
– which is his true baptism – may we also honor Jesus. May we
too be pleased with him and his death for us. “But you must
listen to God; it is He who must teach you [for] to proclaim the
message and to impart faith depends on Him.... Without this all
will fail. [So] do not give wing to your own ideas, and do not
soar to God otherwise than through Jesus Christ. For Christ is
the bridge and the way. Resolve not to teach a Christian
anything beyond and above Christ” (LW 23:103). That
admonition is
also our song – but unfortunately not all Lutherans sing it. Very
prominent ones down through the ages, like David Strauẞ
(1808–1874), argue that the Bible is too faulty to help
Christians and so it should be replaced by a humanism based on
“reason and experience” alone (Frederick C. Beiser, David
Friederich Strauẞ:
Father of Unbelief, 2020, p. 215). May we not cave into that
temptation. May we return to Luther’s
song about listening to God and not soaring to him otherwise
than through Jesus Christ. May we take that song to heart in all that
we say and do, as each one of us struggles to honor Jesus. Amen.
Hymn of the Day: “To Jordan Came the Christ, Our Lord” (LBW 79)
Prayers
Litany on the Washington, D. C.
Demonstration, January 6, 2021
Let us pray for all those grieving for loved ones who died or
were wounded in the mass demonstration last Wednesday night, at
the National Capitol in Washington, D. C. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for all who came to the aid of our elected officials
and others under assault during those protests. Lord in your
mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for all those who died in the mayhem. Lord in your
mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for all those who survived, that they may be
comforted and healed of their wounds and terrible memories. Lord
in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for all those arrested and charged with crimes in
this demonstration that justice may be done. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for America’s capitol – and all the cities
throughout our country – that they may be civilized and peaceful
places to live, work and hold lawful demonstrations. Lord in your
mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for our country that it may have a peaceful and just
transfer of presidential leadership on January 20. Lord in your
mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
And let us pray for the angry who use violence to try to solve
their problems, that they may pursue peace instead. Lord in your
mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Finally, let us thank God for his goodness and mercy, for those
kept safe during the protests at our National Capitol, and for
the hope that is ours in Christ Jesus, when he comes again in
judgment (John 5:26–29, 16:33), to rescue the righteous, condemn
the wicked, and bring violence and evil to an end, once and for
all.
GLORY BE TO JESUS, OUR PEACEFUL KING AND SAVIOR! AMEN.
Litany on the
Coronavirus Disease 2020 (COVID-19)
Let us pray for all those worldwide who have
died from COVID-19. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us give thanks for the government
agencies and other medical research teams who are diligently
working to curb the spread of this virus. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for the many who are sick and
suffering from this disease. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
And let us also pray for all those grieving
the loss of loved ones who have died from COVID-19. Lord in your
mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for the many who are caring for
the infected and the sick, that full health and strength and
peace may be granted. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for our world where we’re but
sojourners (Psalm 119:19; Philippians 3:20), that we may not be
punished by disease and pestilence (Ezekiel 14:21, Luke 13:5,
John 5:14), and that health and peace may abound for all – for
it is Christ who takes upon himself “our infirmities and
diseases” (Matthew 8:17). Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Finally, in our fear of disease and sickness
– may we ever remember God’s power to heal (Jeremiah 17:14,
James 5:14), those many kept safe from COVID-19 and other
infectious diseases, and our Savior Jesus who, by his mercy and
in his time, rekindles our faith by restoring health in this
vulnerable and perilous life (2 Kings 5:14, Acts 3:6).
GLORY BE TO CHRIST OUR LORD & GREAT HEALER!
AMEN.
LUTHER on epidemics
“Some people are of the firm opinion that one… should not run
away from a deadly plague. Rather, since death is God’s
punishment, which he sends upon us for our sins, we must submit
to God…. I cannot censure [this] excellent decision…. It takes
more than a milk faith [1 Corinthians 3:2] to await a death
before which most of the saints… are in dread…. [But since] it
is generally true of Christians that few are strong and many are
weak, one simply cannot place the same burden upon everyone….
Peter could walk upon the water because he was strong in faith.
When he began to doubt,… he sank and almost drowned [Matthew
14:30]…. Let him who has a strong faith wait for his death, but
he should not condemn those who take flight…. [Even so, know
that] all illnesses are punishments from God…. [These
punishments] come upon us, not only to chastise us for our sins
but also to test our faith and love…. [So] my dear friends,… use
medicines… which can help you; fumigate house, yard, and street;
shun persons and places wherever your neighbor… has recovered,
and act like a man who wants to help put out the burning city.
What else is the epidemic but a fire?... You ought to think this
way: ‘Very well, by God’s decree the enemy has sent us poison….
Therefore I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I
shall… administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and
persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become
contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others, and
so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should
wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he
has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own
death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however,
I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely…. This is
such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor
foolhardy and does not tempt God.’”
[Martin Luther, Whether One May Flee from a Deadly
Plague (1527), Luther’s
Works 43:120, 124, 127, 131–32.]
Intercessions:
We remember in prayer church
members.
Leah, Melissa, and Felicia Baker
Marlis Ormiston
Eileen & Dave Nestoss
Connor Bisticas
Kyra Stromberg
Bob Schorn
Sam & Nancy Lawson
Melanie Johnson
Dorothy Ryder
Rollie
We also pray for friends of the
parish
who stand in need of God’s care.
Angel Lynn
Tabitha Anderson
Marie Magenta
The Rev. Howard Fosser
The Rev. Dan Peterson
The Rev. Kari Reiten
The Rev. Alan Gardner
The Rev. Dave Monson
The Rev. Albin Fogelquist
Heather Tutuska
Sheila Feichtner
Yuriko Nishimura
Leslie Hicks
Eric Baxter
Evelyn, Emily & Gordon Wilhelm
Garrett Metzler
Lesa Christensen
Noel Curtis
Antonio Ortez
Garrison Radcliffe
Marv Morris
Richard Patishnock
Jeff Hancock
Holly & Terence Finan
Wayne & Chris Korsmo
Ty Wick
Lori Aarstad
Anthony Brisbane
Dona Brost
Susan Curry
Karin Weyer
Robert Shull family
Alan Morgan family
Geri Zerr
Wayne Ducheneaux
Jene & Ray
McNearney
Julie Godinez
Joey DiJulio and family
Haley Marshall
Lucy Shearer
Pray for unbelievers, the addicted, the sexually abused and
harassed, the homeless, the hungry and the unemployed.
Professional Health Care Providers
Gina Allen
Jane Collins
Janine Douglass
David Juhl
Dana Kahn
Dean Riskedahl
Holy Communion
in Spirit and Truth
Without the
Consecrated Bread and Wine
[The
ancient church doctrine of
concomitantia teaches that the faithful can receive Christ’s
Presence in Holy Communion by drinking the wine without eating
any bread, or by eating the bread without drinking any wine (The
Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, ed. F. L. Cross,
1958, 1966, pp. 320–21). By extension, in extreme cases, the
faithful can also, then, receive Christ’s Presence without
eating the bread or drinking the wine. Those would be cases of
illness when nothing can be ingested through the mouth, or when
lost in the wilderness – living off nothing but wild animals and
berries. In those cases we keep the memory of Jesus in the
Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:24) – honoring our Savior “in
spirit and truth” (John 4:23). So pray the words below, all you
baptized, who love the Lord Jesus, and “hunger and thirst for
righteous,” that you may be satisfied (Matthew 5:6). This is not
a substitute for Holy Communion, but rather a devout practice
when receiving Holy Communion in times of pestilence and plague
would recklessly endanger the church
(Luther’s
Works
43:132–33).]
Let us pray:
O Lord, our God, we remember this day our savior Jesus, who “was
put to death for our trespasses and raised for our
justification” (Romans 4:24). May his Spirit “bring to
remembrance” all that he did for us, and continues to do, to
bless us (John 14:26). Fill us with the assurance that our sins
are truly forgiven for his sake, and that the promise of eternal
life will not be taken away. Amen.
Let us pray:
On this day, heavenly Father, we also pray in the name of Jesus,
that one day soon we will be able to gather together at the Altar
of our church, and so eat of the flesh of our Lord and drink of
his blood, that his very life may well up in us so that we may
abide in him forever (John 6:53–56). Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Benediction: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his
face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord look upon you
with favor and give you peace. In the name of God the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Closing Hymn: “All
Who Believe and Are Baptized” (LBW 194)
See to it that you tread on Me, that is, cling to Me with strong
faith and with all confidence of the heart. I will be the Bridge
to carry you across. In one moment you will come out of death
and the fear of hell into yonder life. For it is I who paved the
way and the course. I walked and traversed it Myself, so that I
might take you and all My followers across. All that is
necessary is that you unhesitatingly set your foot on Me, wager
boldly on Me, go cheerfully and happily, and die in My name.
[Martin Luther, Sermon on John 14:5–6 (1537)
Luther’s Works
24:42.]
Online Sunday Liturgy
January 3, 2021
Bulletin Cover
The ungrateful people of the world [do not] see or hear or
consider or amend or repent. Therefore [God] will forsake them
and refuse to help them. This is horrifying, terrifying. But
what can we do about it? We must let it come and go, as it comes
and goes. For even if we [were to lament over them] until we are
sick, the world cares nothing about it. It goes on its way,
being, as it is, mad and foolish and possessed by all devils. So
go your way, you choice, tender fruit, and find what you are
looking for, which you cannot do without or have otherwise. The
separation is easy for us; we cannot keep you; you do not want
to be kept; so we sing with the angels over Babylon: “We have
long sought to heal Babylon, but there is no healing there. So
we will let them go their way, and we will depart” (Jeremiah
51:9).
[Martin Luther, Preface to Adler,
Sermon on Almsgiving (1533)
Luther’s Works 60:15.]
Online Abbreviated Sunday Liturgy
Pastor Marshall
January 3,
2021
Second Sunday After Christmas
The Tenth Day of Christmas
In the Name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Let us pray: Almighty
God, our Maker and Redeemer, you have given us the new light of
the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ the Savior of the world. May
our faith in that light shine in all that we say and do. In the
name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Grace and peace to you in the name of God the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. Amen.
Here’s
the Christmas message, that “the people who sat in darkness have seen
a great light” (Matthew 4:16). And that great light is Jesus. So
glory be to God for Jesus who comes into the world to save us
from our sin (John 8:12, Matthew 1:21). But there’s also a second Christmas
message that’s often overlooked. And it’s that “the darkness has not overcome
the light” (John 1:5). So right on the heels of Christmas glory
and light there’s Christmas gloom and darkness. “His own people
received him not” (John 1:11) is the darkness that comes from
rejecting him.
Those sitting in darkness apparently preferred to stay there.
Just think of it! “Men loved the darkness rather than the light”
(John 3:19). And we also would rather “labor for the food which perishes” (John
6:27)! Rather than praising God for Jesus, we’d rather “mutter”
about him (John 7:12). We’re all ready to settle for the
darkness, in spite of the glory and light that has come to us at
Christmas. We want to remain “of
this world” and “judge according to the flesh” (John 8:23, 15,
15:19, 17:16, 18:36). We’re still trying to climb into heaven
“by another way” (John 10:1). We still see nothing wrong with
loving ourselves (John 12:25). We haven’t stopped working on
ways to be greater than Jesus – enjoying a life better than what
his suffering brings (John 13:16, 16:33, 18:11). We still can’t
see how a man could be God (John 14:10). We still only want
worldly peace (John 14:27). We like our independence (John
15:6). We like being free to doubt (John 20:27). So, as you can
see, there’s plenty of Christmas darkness generated from that first Christmas
day. In that darkness – living without God’s glory –
there’s no “sovereign in heaven; the wide world [is] a
playground for the wild pandemonium of life; there [is] no ear
that [brings] the confusion together in harmony, no guiding hand
that [intervenes]” (Kierkegaard’s Writings 5:94).
“Nothing is right; only denial of instinct is wrong” (Patricia
Bosworth, The Men in My Life, 2018, p. 34).
So what’s up with Christmas? Why doesn’t its brightness dispel
all of that darkness? Why isn’t it like the noonday sun that puts an
end to the black midnight skies? It’s because “you are of your
father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires”
(John 8:44). There’s your answer for you! There’s enough
darkness in that verse to cover the whole world until the end of time.
And that darkness strikes us by blinding us (2 Corinthians 4:4).
So we don’t see the light that has come to dispel our darkness.
Can you believe that? But note carefully – “The darkness has not
overcome the light” (John 1:5). That means there’s still a
chance to see the light. There’s still a chance to have eyes
that see (John 9:30, 12:40). But get this – you’ll first have to
poke out your eyes to get new eyes that see the Christmas light
(John 9:39). Then the eyes of your heart will be “enlightened
that you may know what is the hope to which God has called you”
(Ephesians 1:18). So as surely as darkness follows the Christmas
light, darkness also is needed before you can see that light.
But how’s that possible? Doesn’t light beget light, and darkness,
darkness? How does darkness enable the light to shine? What
sense does that make? The sense is in Psalm 119:37 – “turn my
eyes from looking at vanities.” There’s the darkness – turning
our eyes from looking at vanities – that covering of our eyes,
that darkening, goes before
any of us can see the Christmas light and sing for joy because
of it. There’s the deprivation – the darkness – that precedes fulfillment. But in
an age saturated with immediate gratification, this prerequisite
goes begging. It’s lost on us. That’s because it’s “apparently
not known that desire must be dammed up to be self-renewing”
(Jacques Barzun, From
Dawn to Decadence, 2000, p. 790). None of this, however, was
lost on Luther. He knew that before we can see the light we must
first be like those who are “wasting away from hunger and thirst
in the desert after they have been cast out of their home and
country, who sigh and cry to the Lord and are now at the point
of despair” (Luther’s
Works 4:49). Luther knew that this is the only way to stop
us when we’re “intoxicated with [our] own ideas” which keeps us
from celebrating the Christmas light (LW
16:242). So as long as we’re blind, “so great is the hardness of
the human heart that it is moved by no signs and wonders, is
affected by no words, and is shaken by no threats” (LW
9:272). In that state “we have soundly sleeping eyes,” and we
despise the Christmas light “as something ordinary and paltry” (LW
3:155). No big deal. Take down the decorations. That’s what it’s
like to be “a people contrary to the Word” (LW
17:91). We suffer from a “miserable admixture of the filth of
our arrogance” (LW
13:150).
So are we left hip-deep in that filth? Is this the last word
for sinners? Not if the darkness hasn’t overcome the light (John
1:5)! Then, even though we’re sinners, help is still available
(Romans 5:8). We’re
not automatically disqualified. After all of this judgment
against us and our rank sinfulness, there’s still hope.
Even thirty years after the passionate and articulate argument
in Michael Martin’s classic,
The Case Against
Christianity (1991) was published, a remnant of followers of
Jesus are still around. And that remnant is enough to keep alive
the testimony to the Christmas light. The darkness has not
overcome it. And being small even – being just a remnant – has the advantage of being “much
less likely to be seduced into the pursuit of worldly conquest”
(The Emerging Christian Minority, ed. V. Austin & J.
Daniels, 2019, p. 52). The same was the case in Biblical times.
Even then the good wasn’t displaced
by the bad. Good news could follow upon the bad – without any
softening up of the bad beforehand (contra Karl Barth,
The Faith of the Church, 1943, 1958, p. 70). Luther
explains this. “The apostles first judged, rebuked the world,
and proclaimed God’s wrath against it, and then preached the
forgiveness of sins in the name of Christ [and] so must we also
do” (LW 78:179). This
rebuking sets up the forgiving. The bad news leads to the good
news. That’s because after the rebuking, the big guns fire.
There’s something greater than the Christmas light to save us.
For Jesus, long after he was born in Bethlehem, tells us that
when he is lifted up on the cross, then he will draws us to
himself (John 12:32). Then the impossible happens and we finally
rejoice in the Christmas light. This didn’t happen at Christmas. Don’t
forget that darkness. This is the second glorification
of Christ that happens only on the cross (John 12:28). For on the
cross – unlike at Christmas – our faithful mediator (1 Timothy
2:5) removes “all of God’s wrath and hostility and makes hearts
certain of His fatherly grace” (LW
77:363). Then we can believe and rejoice. And he does this by being punished for our sins (1 Peter
2:24). Could it be that this is why “his ribs stuck out” while
hanging on the cross, because he was being filled up with the
sins of the world (1 John 2:2, Sean Gandert, American Saint:
A Novel, 2019, p. 175)? Be that as it may, Christ saves us
by offering up his life on the cross as “a fragrant sacrifice” to his Father in heaven (Ephesians 5:2).
This sacrifice clearly shows us God’s “glowing love toward all
miserable, damned, and sorrowful sinners” (LW 12:207). When
we have faith in this sacrifice we won’t be punished in hell for
our sins (John 3:16, 15:16). When we “make a total commitment,
commend [ourselves] to God’s governance, and not trust [our] own
reason at all,” then our “Father’s hand” holds on to us tightly (LW
44:73, John 10:29). Then we can finally sing “of joy illimited”
(Thomas Hardy, The Complete Poems, ed. J. Gibson, 2001,
p. 150). Then “Christ tears us away from all other lights,
teachers, and preachers, so that we may remain with Him alone
and cling to Him, lest we perish and die in eternal darkness” (LW
23:327). Here we see our “frightening Christ” – tearing us away
from what damns us (LW 77:85). But what if we don’t
want this frightening, yet salutary ripping away? What if you refuse to
sing with joy and instead still want that Christmas darkness? What then? “The separation is easy for
us,” Luther again explains, for “we cannot keep you; [since] you
do not want to be kept” (LW
60:15). For indeed “the world takes delight in remaining in
darkness.... [It even labors] harder to earn hell than
Christians work to gain heaven” (LW 23:327).
How do we then live with this resounding faith that finally opens
up our
soundly sleeping eyes? Doubt will surely have no place in it
(Matthew 14:31). But “our nature does not want to believe before
it has the evidence in hand that the loft is full of grain and
the cellar is full of wine
– only then does it believe that it has enough to eat and
to drink.... But a Christian, provided that he wants to be a
real Christian, must say truly that he has and believes in a God
who can pay money out of an empty purse and give everyone enough
to drink from an empty cup” (LW 56:353). Therefore awakened Christians will be “vigilant
[and not say], ‘It seems to me,’ etc. Rather [they’ll say], ‘I
know for a certain truth that it is so’” (LW
58:366). Christ is the light! Christ is the mediator! Christ
saves us from our sins (1 Corinthians 15:2–3)!
Where this steadfast, certain word “enters the heart in true
faith, it fashions the heart like unto itself, it makes it firm,
certain, and assured. It becomes buoyed up, rigid, and adamant
over against all temptation, devil, death, and whatever its name
may be, that it defiantly and haughtily despises and mocks
everything that inclines toward doubt, despair, anger, and
wrath; for it knows that God’s Word cannot lie to it” (LW
15:272). No wonder Luther believed that “the first, highest, and
most precious of all good works is faith in Christ” (LW
44:23)! May that
“boldness” and prominence of our faith mark us well these days of Christmas (Acts 4:31,
9:27, 19:8). And may Christ, and the certainty of faith that he
gives us, awaken us and keep our eyes wide open.
Amen.
Hymn of the Day:
“Of the Father’s Love Begotten” (LBW 42)
Prayers
Litany on the
Coronavirus Disease 2020 (COVID-19)
Let us pray for all those worldwide who have
died from COVID-19. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us give thanks for the government
agencies and other medical research teams who are diligently
working to curb the spread of this virus. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for the many who are sick and
suffering from this disease. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
And let us also pray for all those grieving
the loss of loved ones who have died from COVID-19. Lord in your
mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for the many who are caring for
the infected and the sick, that full health and strength and
peace may be granted. Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Let us pray for our world where we’re but
sojourners (Psalm 119:19; Philippians 3:20), that we may not be
punished by disease and pestilence (Ezekiel 14:21, Luke 13:5,
John 5:14), and that health and peace may abound for all – for
it is Christ who takes upon himself “our infirmities and
diseases” (Matthew 8:17). Lord in your mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Finally, in our fear of disease and sickness
– may we ever remember God’s power to heal (Jeremiah 17:14,
James 5:14), those many kept safe from COVID-19 and other
infectious diseases, and our Savior Jesus who, by his mercy and
in his time, rekindles our faith by restoring health in this
vulnerable and perilous life (2 Kings 5:14, Acts 3:6).
GLORY BE TO CHRIST OUR LORD & GREAT HEALER!
AMEN.
LUTHER on epidemics
“Some people are of the firm opinion that one… should not run
away from a deadly plague. Rather, since death is God’s
punishment, which he sends upon us for our sins, we must submit
to God…. I cannot censure [this] excellent decision…. It takes
more than a milk faith [1 Corinthians 3:2] to await a death
before which most of the saints… are in dread…. [But since] it
is generally true of Christians that few are strong and many are
weak, one simply cannot place the same burden upon everyone….
Peter could walk upon the water because he was strong in faith.
When he began to doubt,… he sank and almost drowned [Matthew
14:30]…. Let him who has a strong faith wait for his death, but
he should not condemn those who take flight…. [Even so, know
that] all illnesses are punishments from God…. [These
punishments] come upon us, not only to chastise us for our sins
but also to test our faith and love…. [So] my dear friends,… use
medicines… which can help you; fumigate house, yard, and street;
shun persons and places wherever your neighbor… has recovered,
and act like a man who wants to help put out the burning city.
What else is the epidemic but a fire?... You ought to think this
way: ‘Very well, by God’s decree the enemy has sent us poison….
Therefore I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I
shall… administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and
persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become
contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others, and
so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should
wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he
has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own
death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however,
I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely…. This is
such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor
foolhardy and does not tempt God.’”
[Martin Luther, Whether One May Flee from a Deadly
Plague (1527), Luther’s
Works 43:120, 124, 127, 131–32.]
Intercessions:
We remember in prayer church
members.
Leah, Melissa, and Felicia Baker
Marlis Ormiston
Eileen & Dave Nestoss
Connor Bisticas
Kyra Stromberg
Bob Schorn
Sam & Nancy Lawson
Melanie Johnson
Dorothy Ryder
Rollie
We also pray for friends of the
parish
who stand in need of God’s care.
Angel Lynn
Tabitha Anderson
Marie Magenta
The Rev. Howard Fosser
The Rev. Dan Peterson
The Rev. Kari Reiten
The Rev. Alan Gardner
The Rev. Dave Monson
The Rev. Albin Fogelquist
Heather Tutuska
Sheila Feichtner
Yuriko Nishimura
Leslie Hicks
Eric Baxter
Evelyn, Emily & Gordon Wilhelm
Garrett Metzler
Lesa Christensen
Noel Curtis
Antonio Ortez
Garrison Radcliffe
Marv Morris
Richard Patishnock
Jeff Hancock
Yao Chu Chang
Holly & Terence Finan
Wayne & Chris Korsmo
Ty Wick
Lori Aarstad
Anthony Brisbane
Dona Brost
Susan Curry
Karin Weyer
Robert Shull family
Alan Morgan family
Geri Zerr
Wayne Ducheneaux
Jene & Ray
McNearney
Julie Godinez
Joey DiJulio and family
Haley Marshall
Lucy Shearer
Pray for unbelievers, the addicted, the sexually abused and
harassed, the homeless, the hungry and the unemployed.
Death
Randy Lonborg
Professional Health Care Providers
Gina Allen
Jane Collins
Janine Douglass
David Juhl
Dana Kahn
Dean Riskedahl
Holy Communion
in Spirit and Truth
Without the
Consecrated Bread and Wine
[The
ancient church doctrine of
concomitantia teaches that the faithful can receive Christ’s
Presence in Holy Communion by drinking the wine without eating
any bread, or by eating the bread without drinking any wine (The
Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, ed. F. L. Cross,
1958, 1966, pp. 320–21). By extension, in extreme cases, the
faithful can also, then, receive Christ’s Presence without
eating the bread or drinking the wine. Those would be cases of
illness when nothing can be ingested through the mouth, or when
lost in the wilderness – living off nothing but wild animals and
berries. In those cases we keep the memory of Jesus in the
Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:24) – honoring our Savior “in
spirit and truth” (John 4:23). So pray the words below, all you
baptized, who love the Lord Jesus, and “hunger and thirst for
righteous,” that you may be satisfied (Matthew 5:6). This is not
a substitute for Holy Communion, but rather a devout practice
when receiving Holy Communion in times of pestilence and plague
would recklessly endanger the church
(Luther’s
Works
43:132–33).]
Let us pray:
O Lord, our God, we remember this day our savior Jesus, who “was
put to death for our trespasses and raised for our
justification” (Romans 4:24). May his Spirit “bring to
remembrance” all that he did for us, and continues to do, to
bless us (John 14:26). Fill us with the assurance that our sins
are truly forgiven for his sake, and that the promise of eternal
life will not be taken away. Amen.
Let us pray:
On this day, heavenly Father, we also pray in the name of Jesus,
that one day soon we will be able to gather together at the Altar
of our church, and so eat of the flesh of our Lord and drink of
his blood, that his very life may well up in us so that we may
abide in him forever (John 6:53–56). Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Benediction: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his
face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord look upon you
with favor and give you peace. In the name of God the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Closing Hymn: “Angels We Have heard on High” (LBW 71)
The desires are so many, so various, and besides, sometimes
these desires appear in such an attractive, subtle, and
desirable form through the suggestion of the evil one that it is
not possible for a man to direct his own life. He must make a
total commitment, commend himself to God’s governance, and not
trust his own reason at all…. That is demonstrated when the
children of Israel went out of Egypt through the wilderness,
where there was no road, no food, no drink, no help. Therefore,
God went before them, by day in a bright cloud, by night in a
fiery pillar, fed them from heaven with heavenly bread, and
preserved their garments and shoes that they did not wear out….
For this reason we pray,… thou rule and not we ourselves, for
there is nothing more dangerous in us than our own reason and
will. The highest and first work of God in us and the best
training is that we let our own works go and let our reason and
will lie dormant, resting and commending ourselves to God in all
things.