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W Reformation Festival The
Divine Service: What Does This Mean? Introduction
to the Service: Today the
Church celebrates Reformation Day. It is
that day on which we give thanks to God for removing the dogmatic clutter and
confusion that had accumulated over centuries and was obscuring the central
truths of the saving Gospel, and for restoring to those truths, in very clear,
concise, and pure terms, to their rightful place of prominence. These central items of faith are summed up
what became the rallying cry of the Reformers:
Grace alone, Faith alone, Scripture alone. First, grace alone: that our salvation rests solely in God’s love
for us in Christ Jesus because of his sacrifice on the cross to atone for the
sins of the world. Secondly, faith
alone: that this salvation is given
freely to all people who trust exclusively in the suffering and death of the
Lord Jesus Christ and his resurrection from the dead, without any merit or
worthiness on their part. And finally,
Scripture alone: that these and all of
God’s truths come to us only in the Bible, which is his inspired Word, and
which is the sole source of authority for teaching and understanding the saving
Christian faith. That is to say, if
something is not biblical, then it’s not theological, and it’s not part of
God’s plan of salvation. We in the So, for example, one of the most
important things they did was to translate the Scriptures into the common
language of the people. Prior to
Luther’s time, the only Bibles available (and there weren’t many of them
around) were written in Latin – a language that only a very small percentage of
people could read. Imagine never hearing
the Bible stories and Psalms you love read to you in a language you could
understand. Imagine never being able to
read them for yourself. The reformers
wanted to place the Bible into people’s hands so that could know the Scriptures
for themselves, and so that they could check what they
were being taught to see if it agreed with God’s Word. The invention of the printing press about that
same time helped make it possible, because not only could Bibles be printed in
an understandable language, they could be produced at a cost that most people
could afford. Another innovation was Luther’s
Small Catechism that most of you are familiar with. This was a tool designed to help parents
teach their children the fundamentals of the Christian faith. We take it for granted now – but back then,
this was a radical idea: that parents should teach
their children about Jesus in their own homes. Other important changes took place
in the way people worshipped. First
there was preaching. Rarely if ever did
people hear a sermon in the church during the Middle Ages. And if there were a sermon, it was usually
something very moralistic about some saint who had done great things for God
and how you should go out and do the same sorts of things; nothing about Christ
and trust in him. Then there was
singing. Prior to the Reformation, there
was no such thing as congregational singing.
If anything was sung at all, it was usually done by a choir of monks or
nuns, and then of course, it would be in Latin that nobody in the congregation
could understand. Luther realized that
singing hymns could help teach people Scriptural truths and reinforce their
faith. And so he and others wrote many
of them – again, in the people’s own language, precisely so that they would be
able to sing their confession of faith and better remember it. And there were important changes
the worship service itself. You see, in
Luther’s day, worship was thought of primarily as a sacrifice: something people
did to earn favor in the eyes of God. A
service that included the Lord’s Supper was especially thought of as having
great value to God. And so the service
of Holy Communion, or “Mass”, as it was called, was done over and over again,
ritualistically, without any meaning or feeling, in Latin, and as rapidly as
possible – often even without anyone except the priest being there, because it
was believed that the mere action of saying the words of institution over the
bread and wine caused God to cancel some of the penalty of suffering that was
owed by people on earth or the souls in purgatory. As a matter of fact, our word “hocus pocus”,
which is often used as a magician’s incantation, and is still used to mean some
sort of mysterious sleight of hand, actually comes from the Latin, “Hoc est corpus meum”: “This is my body”. And to most folks before the Reformation,
that’s what the worship service was: a lot of baffling mumbo jumbo that meant
absolutely nothing. So the typical
person would go to church on Sunday because it was a duty, not understand a
thing that was being said or sung, just to observe a priest consecrate the
sacramental elements, because somehow, they believed, that made God happy. But the
reformers understood that our worship is not about doing things to make God
happy – rather, it’s about sinful people receiving God’s gifts for life and
salvation. So in restoring the Gospel to
the Church, the reformers also restored meaning to the way we worship. And what they rediscovered was that the
worship service itself was originally designed as a means to convey the truth
of the Gospel to people in order to create and build the faith in which we are
saved. So they cleaned up the
liturgy. They removed a lot of the
clutter and meaningless ritual that no one understood, and they returned the
worship service to the language of the people. The Divine Service liturgy that we
use on most Sundays (in one form or another) is the fruit of their labors. Its roots are very ancient. It dates back to the earliest days of the
Christian Church; but parts of it go back to even earlier times: to the worship
of ancient Well, I think there’s a better
way. We don’t want to be just going
through the motions of a dead ritual; but neither do we want to be seduced by
the dumbed-down, theologically empty, “Worship made slick and E-Z” nonsense
that characterizes much of what passes for worship in so many churches today. What I propose we do this morning, in the
spirit of the reformers who wanted to restore the Gospel to its rightful place,
is take a good, hard look at the Divine Service of worship, pull it apart step
by step, and in good Lutheran fashion, like we learned from the catechism, ask
the question, “What does this mean?” Invocation: Matthew 28:19-20 Therefore go and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded
you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the
age.” Romans 6:3-4 Or don’t you know that all of us who
were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with
him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised
from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
Galatians So, turn with me, if you will, to page 158 of the hymnal: Divine Service II. And as you turn there, I want you to consider that one of the major themes of our worship is the gracious presence of God with his people. It’s almost as if there’s a question being asked over and over again; and that question is “Where is God?”, or “Where is Jesus Christ?” One of the things our Divine Service does is answer that question. And the answer is always the same: it’s “He’s right here; the Lord Jesus is here with us, and yet he is coming in a still greater or fuller sense”. He’s here, and he’s coming. Keep that in mind. We see that the service begins
with the invocation. To
“invoke” means to “call upon a higher power”.
Certainly it makes sense to begin our worship by calling upon the Lord,
for there is no higher power than that – and after all, he’s who we’ve come to
worship. But “to invoke” also means, “to
speak with conferred authority”, like in the old days when a soldier might
pound on someone’s door and say, “Open in the name of the king.” Obviously the soldier is not the king; but as
the king’s authorized agent, he could invoke the king’s authority and speak in
the king’s name. To refuse to open would
be to refuse to obey the king. Our invocation
includes that idea. Yes, we call upon
the Lord, but we do so with his own authority – he’s conferred upon us the
right to do it, to speak in his name, and with assurance that he will hear and
answer us. He made that promise to us in
our Baptisms – that’s where the Christian life begins,
and that’s where we begin our worship.
Jesus told his disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And in
the act of baptism, the Lord did several things. First, God put his name on you. He became your Father, and you became his
child and heir. Also, Scripture tells
us, in baptism you became “clothed with Christ”, and “united with Jesus in his
death, burial, and resurrection” – both of which speak of God’s forgiveness
given to you. We’re also told that in
Baptism, God sends the Holy Spirit to dwell in you. So, in Baptism, you are connected to the
three Persons of God, and made part of the Divine family. And as a member of the family of God, you can
use the family name, and you can be certain that when you use it, the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit are with you. So,
when we use the invocation, we’re answering the worship question: “Where’s God?” “He’s right here with us. We know it for sure because we have been
baptized into the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” Confession: 1 John 1:8-9 If we claim to be without sin, we
deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our
sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. So the Lord is here with us on account of our Baptisms – but he is also coming to us in a greater or fuller sense. Remember? That’s the other part of the answer. And you know, when someone important is coming to your house, you probably spend a lot of time cleaning it to get ready for their arrival. And here, we’ve got the Lord God coming to us. So it’s appropriate that we clean up before he arrives – especially in a spiritual sense. The funny thing is the kind of cleaning that needs to be done, the wiping away of sin, can only be performed by God himself. That’s what our confession of sin is all about. In what is really a return to our Baptisms, the Lord invites us to confess our sins before him and to be assured once again that our sins have been forgiven for Christ’s sake. So let’s rise now, confess our sins, and have them washed away in order to prepare ourselves to receive the Lord Jesus again. [Congregation joins in the confession of sins, p. 158] Absolution: John
20:22-23 And with that
[Jesus] breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you
forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them,
they are not forgiven.” We read in
John’s Gospel, [Jesus] breathed on his
disciples and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his
sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not
forgiven." We understand by
these words that Christ has given his Church the responsibility of warning
those who do not repent that their sins are not forgiven; but to those who do
repent, the Church has the authority to forgive sins, and that this forgiveness
is as sure and certain as if spoken by Christ himself. [The pastor speaks the
words of Absolution] Introit: John Very good. Our God is
here with us, and the house is clean in preparation for his yet greater
coming. Now what do we do? Well, if a friend of yours stopped by your
house, you might invite him in for a talk – you might even have in mind what
you’re going to talk about. That’s what
the “introit” is. It’s Latin for “he
comes in” or “he enters”. In the old
days, it was at this point in the worship service that the Scriptures were
brought in to the church in a procession.
And so the introit was kind of like a fanfare to recognize that the Lord
Jesus, who comes to us in his Word, is about to be received again in us as we
hear the Scriptures read. We use the
introit the same way today, though we don’t physically bring the Scriptures in
– we just make the mental shift to prepare to hear what God has to say. The themes expressed in the introit give
everyone an idea about what today’s topic of conversation is going to be. Today’s introit is on page 115. Let’s read it responsively. Kyrie: Luke 17:11-13 Now
on his way to Matthew
20:29-32 As Jesus and his disciples were leaving The crowd
rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord,
Son of David, have mercy on us!” Jesus
stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. Okay, Jesus
is arriving and he is about to speak; but the conversation goes two ways. During Jesus’ ministry on earth he traveled
from town to town to teach people about the kingdom of God; but wherever he
went, he was met by people with serious problems. They were blind, lame, sick, leprous, dying,
dead. And they or someone who cared
about them went to Jesus for help and cried out “Lord, have mercy.” That’s what the “Kyrie” is. It’s short for “Kyrie eleison” which means,
“Lord, have mercy.” It’s the most
general prayer of the Church in which we recognize that we are spiritually blind, lame, sick,
and dying, and that we need Jesus’ help, and also that we trust him to give it
to us. [The Kyrie is spoken] Hymn of
Praise (Gloria in Excelsis): Luke
2:9-14 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the
Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them,
“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the
people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ
the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths
and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of
the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace to men on whom his favor rests.” Revelation 5:11-13 Then I looked and heard the voice of many
angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten
thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In
a loud voice they sang: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom
and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under
the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: “To
him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and
power, for ever and ever!”
Revelation
7:11-12 All the angels were standing around the
throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on
their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: “Amen!
Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and
power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!” Revelation
19:6-7 Then I heard what sounded like a great
multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder,
shouting: “Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the
Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Our God is
very much concerned about our problems.
Too often, we think of him as being sort of up there far beyond us,
unreachable, uninvolved with our affairs and worries. We think his answer is, “You got
problems? Read the Bible, it’ll tell you
what you need to do.” It’s not
true. The Lord says to us, “I feel your
pain, and I know your sorrows”, and he really means it. He doesn’t just stand up there and dictate
instructions. He comes to us in his Word
like he came at Christmas. There he took
on our flesh and blood: our weaknesses, limitations, our aches and pains. And when Jesus went from place to place, he
took on himself our diseases, uncleanness – he even took on our sin and the
death we deserved. What kind of God
would do such a thing? The wonder of it
is enough to leave us speechless; and so without words of our own, we join the
choirs of angels who sang at his birth, “Glory to God in the highest who brings
peace to his people on earth.” That’s
what the Gloria in Excelsis on the bottom of page 160 is: a hymn of praise to
the Word who was made flesh and comes to live with us. The
alternate Hymn of Praise, This is the Feast, that we use on Sundays we
have Holy Communion, is taken from portions of the book of Revelation. You can see in your worship folder how the
lines of the hymn come directly from the songs that angels and the souls of the
saved in heaven sing in thanks to God for the salvation he has given us in
Jesus Christ. The feast referred to is
the great heavenly banquet of the marriage ceremony between Christ, the Lamb
who was slain, and his bride, the Church he redeemed with his blood. In this hymn, we recognize that our worship
here is a foretaste of that heavenly feast, and we join with the angels in
their praises to the Lord Jesus who is about to speak to us in the Word. Collect: Psalm
5:3 In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. Now we’re
ready for the next step. When people
came to Jesus for help, he would often ask them, “What is it you want me to do
for you?” Our answer to that question is
what we call the “collect” because it’s the collective desire of our
hearts. You’ll find today’s collect
written in your bulletin. Let’s pray it
together:
Almighty God, gracious Lord, pour out your Holy Spirit on your faithful
people. Keep them steadfast in your
grace and truth, protect and comfort them in all temptations, defend them
against all enemies of your Word, and bestow on the Church your saving peace;
through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, now and
forever. Amen Readings: God hears
our prayers and answers them. The
readings for any Sunday worship service are God’s answer to the prayer we just
prayed in the Collect. It’s God saying,
“Okay, now that I know what you want, let me tell you how I’m answering your
prayer.” As you listen to the readings
for today, pay close attention to how they respond directly to the things we
asked for. [The Epistle lesson is
read: Romans 3:19-28] As we
listen to God’s word, you’ll notice that there’s kind of a build up to the
Gospel reading. It is thought of as a
high point in our worship because it contains the Words actually spoken by the
Lord Jesus. And so, it’s set apart in a
place of honor. That’s what the Alleluia
verse on the bottom of page 164, and the sentences of praise that bracket the
Gospel reading on page 165 are meant to do.
[Today the choir will set the Gospel apart for us] And out of
reverence for the words of Jesus, let’s all rise and read the Gospel lesson
together. [All read John 8:31-36] The Hymn of the Day: I talked a little about hymns
before: how in our tradition they were
added to worship to help teach and reinforce the faith. This is especially true of what we call the
hymn of the day. Normally you will see
in this hymn that we sing right before the sermon the same themes and ideas
that appear in the readings for the day – and I always say I try to have you
sing the sermon before I preach it.
Today’s hymn of the day is number 355. Sermon: Matthew 5:1-2 Now when he saw the
crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him,
and he began to teach them, saying: John 21:17c Jesus said [to
Peter], “Feed my sheep” 1 Corinthians 1:23-24 We preach Christ
crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to
those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and
the wisdom of God. The purpose
of the sermon is to teach God’s Word and make application to our lives. It may not always be immediately obvious what
the Scripture readings mean or how they really are an answer to our deepest
needs. A good sermon will make it
clear. We often joke about sermons being
dry, long, and out of touch with people.
I won’t deny that sometimes they are.
But it’s important to note again that in the dark days before the
Reformation, worship services rarely, if ever, included a sermon. People were expected to say they
agreed with what the Church taught, but as a rule, they weren’t taught what
that was. Luther believed that the best
way to ensure that the Church stayed firmly on track was to teach people from
Scripture what we believe and why we believe it. Today’s sermon, as you’ve probably noticed, is the worship service itself –
why we worship the way we do. The Creed: Romans 10:8b-10 “The word is near
you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are
proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe
in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is
with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth
that you confess and are saved. Which
brings us to the creed on page 166. When
God speaks, his people respond in faith saying, “Lord, I believe what you’ve
said.” That’s what the Creed is. It’s us saying back to God, “I’ve listened to
your Word, Lord, and having listened, this is what I believe.” In place of the creed today, let’s read
together the verse from Romans in your worship folder that tells of our need to
speak our faith. Prayers: Psalm
102:1 (A prayer of an afflicted man. When he is faint and
pours out his lament before the LORD.) Hear my
prayer, O LORD; let my cry for help come to you. Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious
about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all
understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Earlier we
prayed the collective prayer of the whole church. At this point in the service, we offer
specific petitions for other things that concern our own local
congregation. Usually we start with the
more general requests, and move progressively on to specific concerns and
individuals whom we want to commit to the Lord’s care. Offertory: Psalm 96:8 Ascribe to the LORD
the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts. Psalm
116:17 I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and
call on the name of the LORD. By grace
alone we’ve all been saved in Christ Jesus.
That’s the heart of the Gospel – and it’s more than just a fact we file
away in our minds, it’s the power to change lives. That message changes sinners into saints, and
gives us the desire and the ability to gladly do God’s will. So far in the worship service, we’ve been
receiving God’s gifts – now, at this point, in view of all that God has done
for us, the people of God respond with praise, thanksgiving, and the offerings
of the first fruits of his blessings to us.
[The offering is received] Communion Liturgy: Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the
fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 1
Corinthians 11:26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink
this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. In the
days of the early Christian Church, they would also receive an offering to the
Lord; but back then, people would give more than just money, like we tend to
do. If you were a farmer or the grocer,
you might bring food to give to the needy; if you were a weaver, you might
bring cloth that you made, and so on. And
as it turns out, the bread and wine that were going to be used for communion on
any particular Sunday, were usually taken from the offerings of the people that
day. The
service of Holy Communion marks another high point in our worship. And again, we find that the flow of the
service is asking the question, “Where is Jesus?” The answer, as always, is “He’s here, and yet
he is coming in a greater sense.” We
know he’s here because of our Baptisms, and because of his presence in the
Word; but now he is coming to us in his sacrificed body and blood to assure us
once again of his love and forgiveness. We see this
reflected in the sentences that begin the communion service. When the pastor says, “The Lord be with you”,
he’s saying that he wants the Lord Jesus, who is now about to come to us again
in a very special way … he wants that presence of Christ to be with you. The congregation replies, “And with your
spirit”. It means, “Yes, and we want him
to be with you too, and for him to come to us through your ministry at the
altar.” Then the pastor says, “Lift up
your hearts.” It means, okay then,
prepare yourself for the Lord’s coming by lifting up your heart to him so that
he can heal it with his love. The
congregation replies, “We lift them up to the Lord.” Finally the pastor says, “Let’s give thanks
to the Lord our God” in anticipation of what he is about to do for us. And the congregation replies, “Yes, that’s
the right thing to do.” Sanctus: Isaiah 6:1-9 In the year
that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and
the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six
wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their
feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.” At the sound of their
voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a
man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes
have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” Then one
of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with
tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has
touched your
lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Matthew 21:8-9 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”“Blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest!” Following
what we call the Eucharistic prayer, then, which is the prayer of thanksgiving
just called for, the congregation begins to sing an ancient hymn called the Sanctus
(on the bottom of page 170), which means, “holy”. You can see in your worship folder how it
comes from a portion of Isaiah, where the angels around the throne of God are
crying out, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, the whole earth is full of
your glory.” This is from a vision of
the prophet, who finds himself a lowly sinner in the presence of God. It terrifies him. He knows that as a sinner, he deserves God’s
wrath and punishment. He thinks that he
is about to be destroyed. But instead of
vaporizing him, as he fears, an angel flies to the altar, takes a burning coal
in a pair of tongs, and touches it to the prophet’s lips. This messenger of God says, “See, this has touched
your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sins atoned for.” We understand that the same thing is about to
happen to us. When the words of
institution are spoken, we will be standing in the presence of God – but he’s
not here to judge or terrify us, he’s here to take away our guilt and
fear. And instead of a burning coal,
it’s the very body and blood of the Savior that will touch our lips and take
our guilt away. The second
part of the Sanctus, as you can see, is the same hymn that was sung by the
people of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, when Jesus came to them. They hailed him as King and cried out their
hosannas – hosanna being a prayer that literally means, “Oh please, save us
now!” As it turns out, he was
coming to save them: by his sacrificial
death on the cross. That’s how he saves
all people who trust in him. So we too
rightly sing, “Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” Agnus Dei: John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look,
the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! Then, after
the words of institution, the congregation sings another very old hymn called
the Agnus Dei, which means, Lamb of God.
It comes from that place in Scripture where John the Baptist first
recognizes the Lord Jesus and points him out to the people, saying, “Behold the
Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” That’s what we’re saying. In the consecrated bread and wine, there he
is, the Lamb of God who is taking away our sin.
Then we come forward to receive the Lord Jesus, and to be touched by him
like Isaiah was – but more than just touched, actually fed, nourished, and
strengthened in faith by his gift to us of his body and blood. Post-Communion Canticle Psalm
106:1-2 Praise the LORD. Give
thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD
or fully declare his praise? Psalm
107:1-2 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his
love endures forever. Let the redeemed
of the LORD say this—those he redeemed from the hand of the foe. Luke
2:29-32 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you
now dismiss your servant in peace. For
my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all
people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people
Israel.” After the
distribution of Communion, it’s appropriate that we again give thanks for the
Lord’s gifts of grace. That’s what the
Post-Communion canticles on page 173 are.
The second of them is the more traditional. It comes from the place in the Bible when a
very old man named Simeon is allowed to hold the Christ child in his arms. When he is able to touch and see the Lord
Jesus, he knows that God is fulfilling all of his promises, and with that, he
is assured that he can die in peace.
That’s true of us also. We’ve
just seen and touched the Savior, and because we know the Savior has born our
sins, we have no fear of death. We know
that we will be raised with the Lord and inherit eternal life. Benediction: Numbers 6:22-27 The LORD said
to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the
Israelites. Say to them: ““‘The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make
his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward
you and give you peace.”’ “So they
will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” The service
concludes with the blessing of God of his people. It reminds us that though we have here met
with God in our worship in a very special way, he is with us and in us all the
time and everywhere we go because he has placed his name upon us. And because he is with us, his love and
blessing are with us as well, both here in time and in eternity. And again, as we head out into to world to
live in God’s love, the service answers the question, “Where is God?” He’s here; and yet he is coming. He’s here with us because he’s placed his
name on us; He’s here in his Word; He’s here in the Holy Supper; and yet, we
look forward to his coming in the greatest of all ways: when he returns to take us to be with him
forever. [The Pastor gives the Benediction] Well, I’ve
thrown a lot at you today. I pray that
some of it will stick and that it will enrich your understanding of and what
you absorb from future worship services.
That was the goal of the reformers in improving the liturgy we use. We are the spiritual heirs of their Christian
faith. And the battle they carried on
for God’s truth goes on even in our day.
May God give us the grace, strong faith, and courage to carry it forward
until the final triumph of the saints.
Let’s stand and sing the closing hymn. [LW #298 A Mighty Fortress is Our God] Soli Deo Gloria! |
