Praying the Creed

Lenten Midweek Vespers

March 15, 2017

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

Next the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostles’ Creed is probably the best well known and memorized part of the Small Catechism. We say it often enough during church services, and at some other times, where it doesn’t take much more than the words, “I believe…” to get us all going.  Typically when we say the Creed, we are doing so not in the context of prayer. It is a confession, a public statement of faith, about God. Typically said not with our heads bowed in prayer, but eyes open, speaking out for the world to hear. The Creed is a statement of faith, each line taken from a different Bible verse. But it can be prayed, and indeed, it should be prayed.

Because the Apostles’ Creed is the briefest and most ecumenical confession of Christianity it was natural for Luther to use it for the instruction of the baptized in the Trinitarian faith. It unpacks Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16). It is a summary of the faith once delivered to all the saints (Jude 3).

The Creed is doxological, or focused on praise, as it praises the Father who gives us knowledge of His grace and mercy in His Son, which the Holy Spirit delivers to us in the word of the faith-creating Gospel.  The Creed instructs us in who God is, leading us to thank Him for His Fatherly care, confessing our ingratitude and abuses of this gift, and petitioning for His continual love and mercy in Christ.

In the Catechism, Luther sets out the Creed in contrast to the 10 Commandments.  As the Commandments set out God’s Law for His creation, the Creed is pure Gospel. In the Large Catechism, Luther explains, “For the [Commandments] teach us what we ought to do, but the Creed tells us what God has done for us and gives to us” (LC II 67). 

First Article

The Creed starts, then, with a confession of faith concerning who God is in relationship to us. He is a Father, He is almighty, and He is the Creator. It’s not just that God is a distant creator, but that He is my Father and Has made me along with all creatures. And this is no nameless deity, He is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The fatherhood of God is not a metaphor of His kindness, but it expresses the fact that this God is the Father of Jesus and the source of all things. God can be called “Father” only by those who are in the Son.  And not only this, but God the Father continues to sustain our life, to provide for the needs of body and soul.  This is an active God, who cares for and is personally involved in the lives of His people. We are the recipients of God’s fatherly defense, guardianship, and protection against all evil.

Praying in light of the First Article, then, focuses our attention on God as our Father, on His care for both body and soul, that He has the power and the desire to be involved in our lives.  This matches up with the opening words of the Lord’s Prayer, in which we may approach God as a dear child approaches his beloved father, trusting that the father loves his children and works for their good.

Second Article

Which now leads us to the Second Article, which concerns the second person of the Trinity. “I believe in Jesus Christ…” This article is an expansion of the New Testament confession that “Jesus is Lord” and so praying this as a prayer focuses on the lordship of Christ. As the First Commandment teaches, everyone is under the lordship of something or someone. If you’re not under the lordship of Jesus, you will be under the lordship of sin, death, and the devil. Jesus says in our Gospel reading for this coming Sunday from Luke 11, “Whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with Me scatters” (Luke 11:23). Our Lord is jealous for His people, and He will not share them with any other lord.

To say that Jesus is my Lord does not mean that we make him our Lord or that we have accepted Him as our Lord.  It is not in our power to choose that. We do not make Christ our Lord. Rather, the Father has given us Christ as our saving Lord purely out of His fatherly and divine goodness. To have Christ as Lord is to have a God who saves from every other lord would enslave us and bring us death.  We confess Jesus’ lordship, asserting that this man is the God who saves us. The outcome of this redeeming work is, as Luther puts it, “that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.”

In part, this is why we often end our prayers “In Jesus’ name.”  We pray in the name of Christ, the name that is given to us above all other name, the only name by which we may saved, the name by which we know the Lord. In Christ, we live by faith as we wait in hope for that day when faith gives way to sight. In the meantime, this article of the Creed tutors us to pray along with the final prayer of the book of Revelation, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20)

Third Article

So we are now left with a question: How is it possible to gain access to the Father’s goodness found in Jesus? How is Jesus made my Lord? The Third Article of the Creed answers that: through the working of the Holy Spirit. We can only call on the name of the Lord in prayer because the Spirit has first called us by the Gospel.  Without the Spirit’s work in the Gospel, we cannot by our own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ or come to Him.  We could not believe, much less pray, for even a moment were it not for the Holy Spirit who continues to work faith and preserve us in this faith by the Gospel.  That work and perseverance takes place in the holy Christian Church, which is the communion of the saints, by the forgiveness of sins unto the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.

This means that our prayers, which are never individual but always carried out in fellowship with the Church, are specifically shaped by a Trinitarian faith. We pray to God the Father through God the Son in the power of the God the Holy Spirit.  This guards our prayers from what Luther called “enthusiasm”, or in other words, those who would search for God inside themselves.  This comforts us who struggle with prayer as it reminds us that faith is not grounded in what we do, but in the sure and certain wok of the Holy Spirit who brings us to confess that Christ is our Lord by the power of the Gospel.  God the Holy Spirit enlightens us with His gifts so that we confess the treasure of redemption won by God the Son and rejoice in the free gift of grace of God the Father expressed in His provisions for body and soul.

Matthew 15:21-28

To Whom is Christ Sent

Second Sunday in Lent, Reminiscere

March 12, 2017

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

Jesus just had a confrontation with the Pharisees and scribes and now he is withdrawing from the conflict.  He goes northwest into the area along the Mediterranean – the area of Tyre and Sidon, one of the few times He ventured outside the borders of Galilee. St. Matthew writes, “And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, ‘Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.’” This was pagan territory.  This woman, a Canaanite, was a descendant of the Old Testament people that Israel was ordered to exterminate because of their idol worship.  This area had been the home of Jezebel, the daughter of the king of Tyre who had been married to King Ahab of Israel in the ninth century B.C. and had promoted the worship of the false god Baal. Israel and Canaan did not get along very well.

And so this woman’s words are a little surprising. First she asks Jesus for help and calls him Lord.  And second, she addresses him as “Son of David.”  She uses a term that identifies Jesus as the Messiah descended from the king of Israel.  Now, we know that the report about Jesus had gone out into all of the area surrounding Galilee and Judea. She had probably heard about Jesus’ miracles and some of things He had been teaching. Apparently, someone had spread word that He was the promised Messiah, and not only that He had the power to heal, but it was His pleasure to do so. And how did Jesus respond to this mother crying out for mercy on behalf of her daughter? He ignores her!

This probably seems all too familiar.  At some point, every Christian has this experience when they are call out to God for help and it seems to fall on deaf ears.  Health problems of mind or body. Problems in marriage or family. Finances. Work. School. The list goes on and on.  And so we ask God for help.  And we are met with silence. And so we go back again to the Lord.

 In fact, that is precisely what happens in our text.  Ignored by Jesus, the woman kept crying out to him.  The disciples became so annoyed that they came to Jesus and were asking him, "Send her away, for she is crying out after us." Instead, Jesus basically replies, “Not my problem.” He said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  Jesus was the Christ, Israel’s Messiah.  What did He have to do with her?

 And yet this Gentile, this non-Jew, this Canaanite woman came right up to Jesus, knelt before him and said, “Lord, help me!” She humbled herself before Jesus and begged for His help. And still, He doesn’t seem to care.  Jesus said, “It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” Jesus’ reply was to call her a dog. And He didn’t mean the beloved family pet. This Jesus sure isn’t very nice, nor very gracious.

Again, how often do feel this way.  When we feel that God is ignoring us, we react.  We get frustrated with God.  We get angry with God. We despair that God does not care.  We are tempted to give up on the whole God thing, either living a life in the dumps or bitter at the unfairness of the world.

The Canaanite women did not stumble in this sin.  She just kept looking to Jesus.  She was convinced that He could help, that He would help, and the even the smallest help from Him was more than sufficient. She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." She had a faith that refused to turn away from Jesus, as surely as the faith of Jacob refused to let go after wrestling with the Lord. She is a shining example of what it means to pray without ceasing. Finally, Jesus responds to her, "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed instantly.

 Now perhaps some would say: “See, she finally got it right! That’s why Jesus cast out the demon and healed her daughter. You can have the same thing if you just try hard enough, if you just pester God enough, or if you just have enough faith.”  The problem with this is that Jesus says the Christian life brings the cross and even death.  In the very next chapter Jesus says, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

The Lord never promises an easy life. He doesn’t promise you’ll have the answers to the prayers that you want. It doesn’t always seem like God is on your side.  At times, Jesus comes off like your enemy!  He is the enemy of your lust for the things that harm you, of the worry that consumes your peace of mind, of your sinfulness and greed and covetousness. Sometimes He causes Christians to bear trials, temptations, and suffering.  Yet this is not to harm us, but to strengthen us and finally to bless us.

Today’s Scriptures lessons teach us that the Christian life is one of persistent faith in Jesus.  It is a faith that refuses to be turned away and clings to the Lord – like Jacob wrestling with God, like the Canaanite woman bowing down before Jesus and uttering the simple words: “Lord, help me!”

Faith does this, not because we think that we if just hold out long enough we will finally get the answer we want.  Instead faith does this because of what God has already done in Jesus Christ.  God sent His Son into this world in the incarnation in order to suffer and die on the cross in our place.  He received God’s judgment against our sin.  And then on the third day He rose from the dead.”  That is God’s answer. That is the proof and guarantee of God’s love and care for you.  God’s most powerful saving action for us occurred on a cross, on a Friday afternoon, where it did not look like God was anywhere to be found. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me.” And yet, that was the moment when God was most powerfully present for us.

There are times when it seems that Jesus is treating us like the Canaanite woman in our text.  Yet the woman demonstrates how faith reacts to this.  Faith clings to Jesus and refuses to let Him go.   This faith is the simple trust that God does love us and will care for us.  And this faith is far more than just the power of positive thinking.  It is the living hope of the resurrection.  The Crucified One emerged from the tomb as the risen Lord.  In baptism we have received a share in Jesus death, and have received the guarantee that we will be raised too.  The Holy Spirit within us – the Spirit who will transform our body on the Last Day to be like that of the risen Jesus – is the down payment of our resurrection.  The body and blood of the risen Lord received into our mouth in the Sacrament of the Altar is the assurance that our bodies will be raised, for Jesus said: “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” This is our future. This we believe. This we confess by means of the Creeds.  This we will one day experience fully. Until that time, as you wrestle with the Lord, He will not let go of you, so do not let go of Him.

* Some of this sermon was adapted from a sermon prepared by Pr. Mark Surburg.

Praying the 10 Commandments

Lenten Midweek Vespers

March 8, 2017

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

In 1535, Martin Luther wrote a little book on prayer for his barber, Peter. In it, he lays out his simple method of praying texts. I call it “I.T.C.P”: Instruction Thanksgiving Confession Prayer. The method anchors prayer in the texts of Scripture or the catechism but allows the Holy Spirit to prompt thoughts by means of the Word. Luther explains his method first using the Ten Commandments:

I think of each commandment as, first, instruction, which is really what it is intended to be, and consider what the Lord God demands of me so earnestly…

Second, I give thanks for his infinite compassion by which he has come to me in such a fatherly way and, unasked, unbidden, and unmerited, has offered to be my God, to care for me, and to be my comfort, guardian, help, and strength in every time of need. We poor mortals have sought so many gods and would have to seek them still if he did not enable us to hear him openly tell us in our own language that he intends to be our God. How could we ever—in all eternity—thank him enough!

Third, I confess and acknowledge my great sin and ingratitude for having so shamefully despised such sublime teachings and such a precious gift throughout my whole life, and for having fearfully provoked his wrath by countless acts of idolatry. I repent of these and ask for his grace.

Fourth, I pray and say: “O my God and Lord, help me by thy grace to learn and understand thy commandments more fully every day and to live by them in sincere confidence. Preserve my heart so that I shall never again become forgetful and ungrateful, that I may never seek after other gods or other consolation on earth or in any creature, but cling truly and solely to thee, my only God. Amen, dear Lord God and Father. Amen” (LW 43:200).

Luther placed the 10 Commandments at the beginning of the catechism as the Law precedes the Gospel. Luther sees the 10 Commandments forming the prayer list much in the same way as the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer. These 10 things are those for which we pray for ourselves and for others.  Two tables of the Law, the first three commandments deal with our relationship with God and the last seven deal with our relationship to other people.

Praying in regards to the first table is focused then on who we pray to, in whom is our faith placed. This is a starting point that cannot be overemphasized. Prayer is not a uniquely Christian activity.  People cannot escape the pressure to pray just like they cannot be without a god. The question becomes, according to the first table of the Law, to which god do you call upon to pray?  To whom do you call in every trouble, pray, praise and give thanks?

Starting with the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods.” Our prayers are focused particularly toward God the Father through God the Son in the power of God the Holy Spirit. God threatens punishment to those who will not fear, love, or trust in Him above all things, but He promises grace and every blessing to those who cling to Him by faith in His Son. It is only through faith that the Commandments are fulfilled and believers enabled to call upon the name of the Lord in prayer. Where God is feared, loved, and trusted above all things, lips are opened to declare His praise and prayer, which God loves to hear and answer.

Praying the second table of the Law focuses our prayers on our own lives and the lives of others.  Starting with the Fourth Commandment, we pray for our parents and authorities in life, that they would fulfill their God given duties and roles, their vocations, in life. The rest of the commandments then flow from this. Preservation of life, sexual morality, protection of property and reputation.

Instructed in such a way, we give thanks to God for these people and things to pray for.  It is our pleasure and honor to approach our heavenly Father in such a way.  Looking at each of these commandments, we are prompted both in what to pray for, both in terms of where we have fallen short in these regards, and that God would lead us to uphold the positive attributes of each commandment, that He would guard us against the falling into the temptation to sin. We confess our shortcomings, our struggles, our sin, for the Law of God always accuses us, always shows us our sinfulness and our need for a Savior.  And so we pray for just that, that God would forgive our sins for the sake of Jesus.  That God would strengthen us according to His Word and promise to do His will.  These things can be applied to ourselves, to our family and friends, to society in general.

This, then, it what it means to pray the 10 Commandments.  As the Psalmist writes in the very first Psalm, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” This blessed man has his love, the Law of God, always in his mouth, always in his heart, and, if possible, always in his ear. (LW 14:298).  This Law includes God’s commandments as well as His proclamation of the love and mercy in the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ. This is vital for the Christian life, for our sanctification, for we are tempted to replace God’s Law with whatever suits our own whims, our feelings, our sense of justice and peace and prosperity. And so God anchors us by His Commandments, which are simply His will for us His creation, so that we might live a holy life into which He has called us, a life of prayer and praise and thanksgiving and service to God.

Matthew 4:1-11

The Defeat of the Devil

Lent 1 Invocabit

March 5, 2017

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

Maybe the greatest trick the devil ever pulled is convincing the world that he does not exist. So the saying goes (the movie, The Usual Suspects), and there is truth in this saying.  In our postmodern American culture, the devil is treated more as a cartoon caricature or a horror movie monster. Make no mistake. The devil is real.  And he is evil.  The devil’s portrayal in movies is simply not true, that of horns and spiked tail, or a misunderstood rebel.  He is an angel, a created spirit but no body, and an evil angel at that.  He rebelled against God after creation and before Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit.

Satan tempted Adam and Eve by twisting God’s Word and promises, and they sinned. All of creation suffers the consequences of that first sin, that of death. But the devil isn’t satisfied with bringing everything down. He has the gall to tempt even the Son of God, but the second Adam stands where the first Adam falls. Led by the Holy Spirit, Jesus is taken out to the wilderness for this very purpose.

Three times the devil tempted the Son of God, using a twisted version God’s word to try to lead Jesus down the same road that the devil himself took. Yet Jesus would have none of it. Christ began His ministry defeating Satan in the wilderness; He ended it defeating Satan on the cross.  Weak, naked, suffering, dying, He conquered sin, death, and the devil by the shedding of His blood. Dying, He triumphed over Satan, and in rising again three days later He declared His victory. Jesus did this all for the sake of Adam and Eve, for the sake of all Israel, the sake of you.

As a Christian, the devil takes special interest in you.  The devil is stubborn, and prideful, and will not go down without a fight and an attempt to drag as many down with him as he can. You are surrounded by him and the other angels who followed his path of rebellion.  The devil’s lies are subtle. He tells you exactly what you want to think about yourself so that you place you trust in lies instead of the truth, to trust in yourself and not in Christ.  John 8:44 tells us that after he rebelled against God, Satan did not continue to stand in the truth. He turned away from God and His truth in Christ and turned to a lie and became corrupted and thoroughly evil.  Pride and concept were the devil’s sin (1 Timothy 3:6).

It is no wonder then that this is how he tempts people.  The devil desires to snatch God’s Word out of human hearts by doubt and deceit (Luke 8:12). And he will slowly squeeze you to death, suffocating your life right out of you before you realize what is happening. Like a snake, he slithers his way into your life, working those subtle lies, either has you rationalizing your sins and believing you deserve God’s grace because of your works or despairing because your sins are great and they are many. We might overcome one, yet there is another one is quick to take its place. You cannot fight the devil alone. If you try, you will lose. You will die. And you will share in your portion of hell with him.

As strong as we like to pretend we are in front of other people, you and I both know the truth.  When push comes to shove, we will fall just like Adam and Eve did. We don’t have the strength. We pray that God would lead us not into temptation, then we often fall when temptation comes.

The devil is a tempter, a liar, a deceiver, a murderer, and an accuser.  First, the devil leads us into temptation. Then, by his deceptions, he leads us into sin. Then, after we fall prey to the temptations and the deceptions, he accuses us of sin and evil. He whispers into our ears that we are unworthy of God’s love, that we are not good enough and never will be.  And he is right! These are true accusations against us. Yes, the devil’s accusations are true.  We are sinful. We do not deserve God’s love or His favor or His salvation.

Though Satan continues to make true accusations against God’s saints, these accusations no longer stand against God’s elect.  While our willpower against temptation fails, Jesus’ does not.  For Jesus’ sake, we are declared righteous, justified by grace through faith in Christ.  For Jesus’ sake, our sin is forgiven. For Jesus’ sake, God leads us through temptation and delivers us from the evil one. The great accuser can no longer accuse us, for Christ, by His perfect life and His atoning death, took away the guilt and shame of the world. As St. Paul says in Romans 8:1, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

You are now dressed in His victory.  God clothed Adam and Eve to cover their nakedness. Christ clothes you to cover your sin. Baptized into Christ, your sinful nakedness, your shame and guilt before God is covered. That clothing is armor against the attacks of the devil, Christ’s baptismal armor.  You are at war.  Temptations are sure to come, and when they do, do not resist the Holy Spirit. Cling to Christ and to His Word. Resist the devil, not by your own will power or strength, but turn to Christ’s will and His strength. Jesus is our substitute who defeated Satan for us, setting us free from sin, it’s consequence of death, and from the power of the devil. Remember your baptism, and be strengthened by the Lord’s body and blood. As Luther rightly comments in his Large Catechism, “If you could see how many knives, darts, are at every moment aimed at you, you would be glad to come to the sacrament as often as possible” (LC V 82).

The devil continues to rage, he continues in his lies, but it will not last forever. Make no mistake, he is still dangerous. But he is defeated. In the desert, upon the cross, in the proclaiming of Christ and His Gospel, and in the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper there is victory, not just proclaimed, but delivered. For you. For forgiveness. for strength. For eternal life with Christ.  

Praying the Small Catechism – A Prayer Book for the Christian

Ash Wednesday

March 1, 2017

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

 (Audio comes in a couple minutes late)

Next to the Bible itself, Luther’s Small Catechism is the most important book in the life of a Christian. Many of us have heard this before, probably in confirmation classes and Sunday School, and yet the point cannot be overemphasized.  Next to the Bible itself, Luther’s Small Catechism is the most important book in the life of a Christian.  

In 1529, after Luther had visited many churches in Saxony, and had found that many people, even many of the pastors, could not recite the 10 Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer, he wrote this little book of instruction for the head of the house (aka the father) to teach his family. Luther intended the catechism to be a handbook of Christian doctrine, a prayer book, and a book for the ongoing Christian life. In short, the small catechism gives the head of a household everything he needs to teach his family what they are to believe and do as Christians. It teaches them what and how to prayer. It teaches them the calling from God where they are to live their faith in Christ. It teaches them where to find God’s mercy and help against all sin and temptation. For almost 500 years, it has been part of the fabric of what it means to be Lutheran and foundational to our identity.

When I say Small Catechism, what I mean is the six chief parts – 10 Commandments, Creed, Lord’s Prayer, Baptism, Confession, and Sacrament of the Altar. The 10 Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer became the backbone for Luther’s prayer. These texts are not “Luther’s.”  They belong to the Church of God at all times and in all places.  They are the most important texts for the Church because they are nothing but Scripture, and then a brief explanation of what it means that directs us back to Scripture.

Even as the catechism functions as a handbook of doctrine, is serves a prayer book of the Reformation. I would argue that the catechism is in fact, primarily a prayer book.  The catechism, which means simply a “book of instruction” was intended to be prayed.  These things we believe, teach, and confess are not just things to be memorized, internalized, and memorialized, but are meant to be an active part of the living faith of the Christian. It is not mindless meditation or wordless thoughts to connect with a higher power.  Praying the Catechism tutors us in what St. Paul calls the pattern of sound words (2 Timothy 1:13).  The Small Catechism guides us in the heart of the Scripture, for it is (FC Ep 5) a Bible for the laity, in which everything is summarized that is treated in detail in Holy Scripture and that is necessary for a Christian to know for salvation.

As Prof. John Pless has noted, “Prayer learns how to listen to the Word of the Lord and out of that listening to speak to Him. In so doing, prayers is the Christian’s engagement in battle against Satan… Positively, to pray the catechism is to learn how to speak to God the Father in the name of the Son through the Holy Spirit who calls us to faith in the Gospel. It is based on God’s command and promise. Negatively, this same prayer is directed against the devil as he would pull us away from the Father through distrust of the Son, causing us to doubt the promises of the Gospel. For Luther, prayer involves spiritual warfare, and the catechism is weaponry for this battle, both defensively and offensively.  The power of the catechism is the power of the word of God which, it carries.” John Pless. Praying Luther’s Small Catechism. CPH, 2016. 2)

Yesterday I sat at the bedside of a man who was dying. It is never an altogether pleasant experience. I couldn’t help but think of the ashes today, and the stark reminder of our mortality, “Remember that you are from dust and to dust you shall return.” This man wasn’t able to speak, nor really move, but even in these times a person can hear the words of those around him.  What is he thinking? What would he say if he could? What does he believe and in whom is his faith placed?

It is essential for Christians to learn how to pray according to God’s command and promise. Faith is essential for prayer. This is the faith, the prayers, you should know as you lay on your death bed: The 10 Commandments, the Creed, The Lord’s Prayer, Baptism, Confession, and the Sacrament of the Altar. Contained in these 6 parts are the basics of Christianity that a child can know, yet with depths that a lifetime cannot fully comprehend.  They point us to Christ and Him crucified for the forgiveness of sins. 

Even the very order of these does such a thing.  Luther departs from the medieval ordering of the chief parts as Lord’s Prayer, Creed, and Ten Commandments.  Luther writes, “Thus the commandments teach man to recognize his sickness, enabling him to perceive what he must do or refrain from doing, consent to or refuse, and so he will recognize himself a sinful and wicked person. The Creed will teach and show him where to find the medicine – grace – which will help him to become devout and keep the commandments. The Creed points him to God and his mercy, given and made plain to him in Christ. Finally, the Lord’s Prayer teaches all this, namely, through the fulfillment of God’s commandments everything will be given him. In these three things are the essentials of the entire Bible” (Luther, Personal Prayer Book, LW 43:4).  Law, Gospel, prayer. These are the chief elements of the Christian faith.  These are the core texts for Christian prayer. Praying the faith and then receiving the Sacraments then shape our identity in Christ and our ongoing life in Him.

By teaching us the faith, the catechism teaches us how to pray.  It teaches us how to pray, and it can be prayed. Luther explains this in 1535 letter to Peter Beskendorf, the Wittenberg town barber, entitled “A Simple Way to Pray.”  A model for prayer: First, Instruction – God teaches and expects us to have faith in Him alone. Second, Thanksgiving – God is our God. He has provided us with all that we are and all that we have. Third, Confession – we acknowledge our countless acts of idolatry and ingratitude. Fourth, prayer – we petition God to preserve us from unbelief and ingratitude. Instruction, Thanksgiving, Confession, Prayer.

Luke 18:31-43

Jesus, Son of David, Have Mercy On Me

Quinquagesima Sunday

February 26, 2017

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

In our Gospel reading today, we hear our Lord’s third and final prediction of His coming crucifixion. Everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.  He could hardly be any clearer. But the disciples don’t get it. They remain blind as to who He really is and what He is really doing.

But as they make their way through Jericho, and as a crowd gathers, a blind man, Bartimaeus by name, reveals his sight. As Jesus passes by, he calls out not for money, not for medical assistance, not for pity, but for mercy from the Son of David. When the blind man calls out to Christ he would not be hushed or shamed into silence. We cry out “Lord, have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy” at the beginning of the Divine Service for the same reason. Christ is coming to us here today as we wait for Him as beggars. It is the first prayer we pray together, a plea for God’s grace and mercy. And it will not fall on silent ears.

Jesus calls this man to Himself “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus said. “Lord, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.”

We are blind beggars we cry, “have mercy on me.” But what do we want the Lord to do for us? “Let me receive my sight.” We are prepared to follow him in the coming weeks to Jerusalem, to go with Him all the way to the cross, and rise with Him on Easter. But to follow Him as He bears the cross will require much love for Him. To follow Him means more than sympathy. To follow Him means to share His cross, to be crucified with Him. We must carry our own cross after Him. This cross is self-denial.  To follow Him means to practice this self-denial, to strive for greater efficiency, to be more proficient in cross-bearing.

Bartimaeus’ faith made him well because his faith received that which the Lord had to give.  The man follows Jesus and glorifies God.  This blind man sees more clearly than the disciples. He recognizes this Jesus as the long foretold Son of David. He knows the cost of following Jesus, but he also sees the value. So he gives up his way of life as a blind man, everything that he had known, and he follows Jesus, glorifying God.

To follow Christ through a life of self-denial requires seeing eyes.   This Wednesday we begin again the Christian season of Lent, the purpose of Lent is renewal in the life of grace. With eyes of faith opened in answer to our prayers, in order that we see the Savior on His way of sorrows but also in His resurrection glory. Holy Week and Easter stand before our eyes. We beggars by the wayside cry as we enter into Lent: Let me receive sight. Sight to see Your great love. Sight to see the cross and the empty tomb. Sight to love You more and more so that we might pick up our cross and follow you. Sight to see the needy around us and to tell other blind beggars. Having received our sight, we follow the Savior, glorifying God. When the people have seen what grace and love has done for us, they will give praise to God.

Talk about an evangelism method!  In faith, receiving God’s grace in Christ and glorifying God.  That’s it.  It really is that simple.  If we return again and again to our Lord to receive His gifts of life and salvation and forgivingness given in Word and Sacrament, and then walked around our community, if we went to our jobs and our schools and our neighbors and our friends and family and glorified God wherever we went, if we told others that at Zion Lutheran Church God has mercy on sinners and is giving away everything freely, hope and peace and comfort and joy and purpose and direction and meaning and belonging and eternal life and forgiveness of sins; if we told others that Zion Lutheran School is the best school in town where our children receive a quality classical and Christian education; if we told people that at our Daycare our children are taken care of in a safe and loving environment; people will notice. Eyes will be opened. And people will see. People will see Christ.

But this is done only in following Jesus with our eyes of faith open, and that is something we struggle with. Sure, it is fine in theory, but it is easier said than done. We have been selfish and greedy, impatient and angry, hushing others who would cry out too loudly for Jesus because of how it might make us look. We have failed to help and serve and love our neighbors. We have been too afraid to leave behind the dark, false comfort of blindness. Repent today, cry out for the Lord’s mercy, and turn your face toward Jerusalem. For we are in desperate need of a Savior’s mercy.  Let us be like the cured blind man, following Jesus at all cost, glorifying God along the way, and leaving behind our sin.

And so we come before the Lord today called and gathered by His Holy Spirit, to hear His Word, to see Him by faith, and to receive life and salvation and forgiveness of our sins, and strength to bear the burdens of the cross.  With seeing eyes, we follow Him to Jerusalem, not by some imagination or sentimentality, but in faith looking to the cross where the Savior of the world bore the sin of the world. Let us go out of this place, having received that sight and knowing of His victory over sin, death and the devil to give glory to God through a life of self-denial, living not for ourselves but for Him who for our sake died and was raised.

Adapted from a sermon produced by the LCMS, © 2015 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. ESV^®. Reprinted with permission.