In the month of May the Church experiences another transition according to the Church year calendar. We celebrate Jesus’ Ascension on May 9th and the Day of Pentecost on May 19th. Throughout the season of Pentecost the Church remembers that she and her members live a new life in God’s Son through the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Now what do we do? Our Lenten Journey is over. We traveled to the upper room on Maundy Thursday with Jesus and his disciples. We heard Jesus say those powerful, effective words that are still effective when we hear them on Sunday mornings, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins” (Mt 26:28). We traveled to the foot of the cross on Good Friday and heard Jesus utter a lonely cry of abandonment, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (Mk 15:34)? We heard the words of finality that Jesus spoke with his last breath, “It is finished!” (Jn 19:30), paying in full the price for our Sin that separates us from God. And we traveled to the empty tomb to hear again about the group of women that traveled there early on the first day of the week to find it empty. We heard once more the words of the angels at the empty tomb, “He is not here, but has risen” (Lk 24:6). The final, culminating Day of the Resurrection is over. Now what do we do? At Atonement we are in the midst of our annual Lenten journey to the cross of Christ and the empty tomb. Just as Israel in the Old Testament wandered in the wilderness for forty years and our Lord Jesus Christ endured the temptations of Satan for forty days in the wilderness, so now we, the new Israel, are in the midst of our “forty days.”
The season of Lent is a multi-dimensional season in that it is shaped by the preaching of our Lord’s passion, penitiential relfection, and catechetical formation. Through the preaching of our Lord’s passion, penitential reflection, and catechetical formation, we are driven to humble repentance. Our hymnody also serves as a helpful aid in bringing about such repentance. One hymn that guides us in repentance through the Lenten Season is, “O Lord, Throughout These Forty Days.” This particular hymn is a type of prayer. It is based upon Jesus’ successful battle with Satan and temptation in the wilderness. Since our Lord fought temptation and was successful, we pray in the first stanza that our Lord would inspire repentance within us as we battle with daily temptations. He who overcame Satan in the wilderness also claimed victory over the arch-enemy of God through his death on the cross and rising from the dead. He has freed us from our past and has the power to do so daily as we return to the promise of his forgiveness of sins granted to us in our baptisms. In the second stanza of the hymn we pray for the courage, skill, and trust of Christ in God’s eternal Word. We pray that he who overcame Satan and temptation with the written Word of God would grant us the strength to do the same, even as we gather together to hear, study, learn, and inwardly digest his Word. In the third stanza we pray for God to bring about godly contentment in his Word and Will. We pray that God would help us seek not our own will and desires first and foremost, but that we would trust firmly in him to meet our needs and be satisfied with his provision for our bodies and our souls. Finally, in the fourth stanza we pray that God would continue to be with us, even as he has promised to be with us and to never leave or forsake us. We pray that he would guide us through our Lenten pilgrimage and our season of preaching on our Lord’s passion, penitential reflection, and catechetical formation. We pray that he would guide us and be with us through all our days, just as sure as he has freed us from our past. We pray that he do this so that when the final Easter dawns and our Lord returns, we join in heaven’s praise. In Christ, Pastor Josh As Christians, we are a people who have received “great joy for all people” (Luke 2:10). Knowing Christ Jesus as Lord produces the fruit of “rejoicing in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4). Therefore, we have the privilege of expressing this joy by “singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in our hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16).
In recent months here at Atonement we have seized many opportunities to rejoice in the Lord by singing. We have been using different orders of service from Lutheran Service Book for our corporate worship on Sunday mornings. On the first Sunday of the month we worship using “Divine Service, Setting Two” (LSB 167—183). On the second and fourth Sundays of the month we worship using the “Service of Prayer and Preaching” (LSB 260—267). On the fourth and fifth Sundays of the month we worship using “Divine Service, Setting Four” (LSB 203—212). In these orders of service we have a number of opportunities to rejoice in the Lord through song. One particular way that we do this is by singing various Biblical canticles. I don’t know about you, but I have a difficult time watching the local news. I know it is good to watch, especially as a pastor. It helps me to stay in touch with what all of you are experiencing on a day to day basis so that I can better preach for you. It is a common belief in our society, contrary to what Scripture teaches, that people are basically good, and, given the right opportunity, they will do well for themselves and others. Though, it is hard to believe this assumption after watching the daily news. The news is difficult to watch because it is a constant reminder of how terribly wrong things can go when human beings are at the center. When humans are at the center the focus is often on “how to look out for my wellbeing?” and “how do I get ahead?” This is a recipe for destructive storms that cause great harm. We experienced the immense magnitude of this great harm a little less than a month ago with the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
A new Church year is upon us. That means the season of Advent has arrived. During the season of Advent we wait for our Lord’s coming even as we live now in his forgiveness. We live and wait in hope as we remember the ways in which our God in Christ has come and promises to come again for us. He has come for us in the incarnate Jesus Christ. He continues to come for us even now through the person of Jesus Christ as he is present in the hearing of the Word, and in the Holy Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. He promises to return to us in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to bring to completion the entire work of salvation that he began through Christ’s incarnation. During Advent, we consider all of these ways in which God is present for us in Christ and at the same time we move closer and closer to the day in which we celebrate this God who comes near to us by celebrating his birth.
Throughout the history of the Church, households have celebrated Advent and prepared for Christmas morning in many ways. Perhaps your household has a few cherished traditions. In any case, below are a few ideas:[1] The reminders are everywhere—television, radio, yard signs, and bumper stickers, to name a few. Though, we really need no reminder. We know that this November 6th is the Presidential Election. It is an important event for our nation. Some may assert that it is the most important election in our nation’s history.
Regardless, it is a fitting time to speak briefly about the role and responsibility of the Lutheran-Christian American as he or she lives here in the world where the church and the state often intersect. This is an especially relevant time as the church and the state recently intersected in the early part of this year when the United States government proposed a provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) mandating health plans of many religious employers to cover contraceptives, including emergency contraceptives that can act to cause abortions. This raises questions about religious liberty and the role of the government in matters of religion and the role of the church in matters of Christian citizenship. And so it is important to ask these two proactive questions given below: Currently at Atonement we are in the middle of our sermon series on the Small Catechism. We are “going back to the basics” to remind ourselves that the parts of the Small Catechism—the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, Baptism, Confession, and the Lord’s Supper, tell the story of who God is, who we are, and how he relates to us.
The question I want to consider in this month’s article is, “How can I use the Small Catechism in my daily life?” To answer this question, let us look briefly at Luther’s arrangement of the first three parts of his Catechism: the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer. The word, “catechism” simply means ‘instruction’ or ‘teaching.’ There were others throughout the history of the Christian Church leading up to Martin Luther who put together catechisms to teach and instruct the members of the Church in the basics of the Christian Faith. Almost all of the catechisms throughout church history contained instruction on the Ten Commandments, the Creeds, and the Lord’s Prayer. However, Luther’s arrangement was unique. He was one of the very first to put the Ten Commandments first. When asked why he arranged the Small Catechism the way he did he gave this helpful comparison to a sick man in need of medicine: Beginning in the month of September the sermon focus on Sunday morning will be on the parts of the Small Catechism. I would like to take some time here to consider a question that may rest at the front of your mind, “Why do I need to take time to reflect on something I already learned many years ago when I was in middle school?”
I want to approach an answer to this question by considering a tree nursery: In the church, as in other aspects of life, it is helpful to know the answers to the “why?” questions. Knowing why things are done a certain way in the church often brings greater understanding, and with it, meaning, significance, and clarity. The “why?” question that we will consider this month is, “Why does the Lutheran Church worship according to a liturgy?” That is to say, “Why so formal?”
There are many reasons that the Lutheran Church worships according to a liturgy. In this article, I would like to consider ten:[1] 1. The liturgy shows the church’s historic roots. Some parts of the liturgy go back to the time of the Apostles and the life of the early Christian church. Even they did not start with a blank slate but adapted and reformed the liturgy of the Jewish synagogue. The liturgy as it appears in the various orders of service in our Lutheran hymnal, Lutheran Service Book (pp.151-267), is adapted from liturgical forms used throughout the history of the Christian church. As Lutherans we were not the first Christians and we will probably not be the last. The race of faith is a relay race, one generation handing on (“traditioning”) to the next the faith once delivered to the saints. The historic liturgy underscores and highlights this fact. 2. The liturgy serves as a distinguishing mark. What we believe determines how we worship, and how we worship confesses what we believe. 3. The liturgy is both “God-centered” (Theocentric) and “Christ-centered” (Christocentric). From the invocation of the Triune name in remembrance of Baptism to the three-fold benediction at the end, the liturgy is focused on the activity of the Triune God centered in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Worship is not primarily about “me” or “we” but about God in Christ reconciling the world to himself and our inclusion in his saving work through baptism. 4. The liturgy teaches. It teaches all of God’s work for us—creation, redemption, sanctification, Christ’s incarnation, passion, resurrection, reign, and the Holy Spirit’s outpouring and the new life of faith. Every liturgical year cycles through these themes so that the hearer receives the “whole work of God” on a regular basis. |
Atonement is ...Atonement Lutheran Church is a Christ centered congregation that cares for the whole person with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Archives
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