Saturday prior to Easter 5

 

—Psalm 98:1-3; 2 Timothy 1:9-10; Romans 3:28 -The hymn of the Day, Dear Christians One and All, Rejoice – {LSB 556}   When Luther translated the phrase “by faith” in Romans 3:28 he added the word “alone” which though not in the Greek, accurately reflect the meaning of the passage. The Hymn is one of Luther’s classic hymns which explain to us the heart of the gospel found in Jesus Christ.

Luther wrote this hymn in 1523, and it was the first hymn he ever wrote for congregational singing. While “A Mighty Fortress” might be the most popular of Luther’s hymns in our day, “Dear Christians One and All Rejoice” might be Luther’s most important hymn in addition to being his first. It tells the powerful story of man’s wretched state, the Father’s plan to send his Son to die for the sins of the world, and Jesus’ faithful execution of his Father’s will. Salvation was not easy. Indeed, it was the most bitter of all struggles, but because of our Lord Jesus’ work, we are blest forever. The hymn concludes with Jesus promise to send the Holy Spirit and the blessed encouragement that we follow in our Lord’s teaching. 1

For blessing on the Word: Lord God, bless Your Word wherever it is proclaimed. Make it a word of power and peace to convert those not yet Your own and to confirm those who have come to saving faith. May Your Word pass from the ear to the heart, from the heart to the lip, and from the lip to the life that, as You have promised, Your Word may achieve the purpose for which You send it; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen  2

Sources:

 The Risen Christ, copyright © Ed Riojas, Higher Things

1. https://www.redeemerwv.org/blog/2019/5/28/dear-christians-one-and-all-rejoice 

2. Collect for the blessing on the Word, Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St, Louis

Friday prior to Easter 5

—John 15:1-8—Jesus is the vine and we are the branches who are expected to bear fruit.  Sunday’s Gospel lesson is a part of Jesus’ final discourse (chapters 13-17) with His disciples in the Upper Room on Maundy Thursday.

 Jesus uses allegory: He is the vine; God is the vinedresser; the branches are the believers; the fruit constitutes good works. The vine is the source of life. To be connected with the Source is to have life and produce fruit. To be separated from the Vine is to die and be destroyed. People in the Vine have their prayers answered. Bearing fruit glorifies God and proves discipleship.

John referred to adult Christians as “little children.” Is this talking down to adults? Is it an insult to even add “little” to children?  Jesus referred to His disciples as “these little ones.”  It is no insult because if God is our Father, we are His true children. Since when? We were adopted as His children at Baptism, and we live in Christ as branches in the vine. And we are “little” too. We are often little in faith, in love and in our words. How little we are when compared with the fullness of the stature of Jesus Christ.

In these lessons we hear repeatedly the word “abide.” A fruitful Christian is one who produces good works because that person abides in Christ. How do we know we abide in Christ? One answer may be that our fruits prove it. This verse gives another answer. We are in Christ when we have the Spirit. If we have the Holy Spirit, it is the same as being in Christ. The Holy Spirit is at the same time the spirit of Christ. 

Collect for Easter 5: O God, you make the minds of your faithful to be of one will. Grant that we may love what you have commanded and desire what you promise that among the many changes of this world our hearts may be fixed where true joys are found; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 1

Sources:

The Risen Christ, copyright © Ed Riojas, Higher Things

1. Collect for Easter 5, Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis

Thursday prior to Easter 5

 

—1 John 4:1-11—The word “Love” in its various forms is used 43 times in John’s letter. The word is used 32 times from 4:7-5:3 In His essential nature and in all His actions, God is loving. John similarly affirms that God is spirit (John 4:24) and light (John 1:5), as well as holy, powerful, faithful, true, and just. If we love in deed, we know we have the truth.

To know God is to love and God and each other. This reading has two sections; discerning spirits (Vv. 1-6) and the love of the brothers and sisters. Apparently John is dealing with some that deny the humanity of Christ and who are lacking in love for the people. Not every spirit in a person is of God. The true spirit is the spirit of love for God and others. God first loves us and the proof of that love is the death of Christ on the cross. Our love for each other is based on God’s love of us. 

It’s more than God loves. God is love. If God is love, is love also God? In today’s world love is adored and prized as a god. Love aw god is idolatry. We are not to worship love. God is love. But he is also more than love. God is also justice, holiness, and truth. 1  

Prayer for the 4th Sunday of Easter – Almighty God, merciful Father, since You have wakened from death the Shepherd of Your sheep, grant us Your Holy Spirit that when we hear the voice of our Shepherd we may know Him who calls us each by name and follow where He leads; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who loves and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. 2

Sources:

 The Risen Christ, copyright © Ed Riojas, Higher Things

 1. Lectionary Preaching Workbook Series B, John Brokhoff © 1980 CSS Publishing, Lima OH 

 2. Collect for Easter 4, Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St, Louis

St. Mark, Evangelist (April 25)

Isaiah 52:7–10

2 Timothy 4:5–18

Mark 16:14–20

 

St. Mark, Evangelist

 

The Lord sends His messengers out “as lambs in the midst of wolves” bearing the message, “Peace be to this house” (Luke 10:3–5). St. Mark does “the work of an evangelist” (2 Tim. 4:5) and “publishes peace” (Is. 52:7). He is remembered as the lion-hearted evangelist, depicted with his fellow evangelists as the four living creatures of Ezekiel 1 and Revelation 4. The evangelist is often identified with John-Mark of Acts and the cousin of Barnabas, with whom he worked in Cyprus to “proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15). Despite their earlier differences, Mark was reconciled with St. Paul, who considered him “very useful. . . for ministry” (2 Tim. 4:11). Later he worked in Rome (1 Peter 5:13), where tradition has it that he wrote his Gospel from St. Peter’s sermons before founding the church in Alexandria and facing a martyr’s death.

Luther's Seal copyright Ed Riojas, Higher Things

Lectionary Summary copyright LCMS commission on worship

Wednesday prior to Easter 5

—Acts 8:26-40—Philip is sent to bring an Ethiopian eunuch to faith in Christ.  The treasures of an Ethiopian queen were on their way home after worshiping in Jerusalem. His chariot was on a main road from Jerusalem to Egypt. The Spirit directed Philip, one of the seven deacons (See Acts 6:1-5), to meet the chariot at Gaza. The eunuch was probably a proselyte or God-fearer of Judaism. Philip found him reading Isaiah 53 but not understanding it. After Philip’s explanation, the Ethiopian asked to be baptized. He accepted Christ and according to tradition he introduced Christianity into Ethiopia. 

It should be noted that verse 37 (“If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”)is omitted in the older manuscripts and some modern versions will place the verse only in the margin. 1

When the eunuch learned about Christ as the suffering servant of Isaiah 53, he requested baptism. Why was his request so important? Why wasn’t knowing about Jesus, the washing away of sin, and the understanding that he was the Messiah enough? The eunuch wanted to be baptized because baptism is the means of being born again of the Spirit means of being incorporated into the body of Christ, the church. Baptism connects us to Christ and to His body the church. 

A Prayer for humility: O God, You resist the proud and give grace to the humble. Grant us true humility after the likeness of Your only Son that we may never be arrogant and prideful and thus provoke Your wrath but in all lowliness be made partakers of the gifts of Your grace; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. 2

Sources:

  Illustration from a woodcut by Baron Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld, 1794-1872, a distinguished German artist known especially for his book, The Book of Books in Pictures. copyright © WELS used by permission for personal and congregational use.

1. Lectionary Preaching Workbook Series B, John Brokhoff © 1980  CSS Publishing, Lima, OH

2. Collect for Humility, Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St, Louis

Johnann Walter, Kantor

 

Today on the church calendar we remember Johnann Walter, Kantor

God of majesty, whom saints and angels delight to worship in heaven, we gibe you thanks that You provided music for Your Church through Johann Walter, Kantor in the Church of the Reformation. Through music You give us joy on earth as we participate in the song of heaven. Bring us to the fulfillment of that song that will be ours when we stand with all Your saints before You unveiled glory; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. amen

Treasury of Daily Prayer copyright 2009 Concordia Publishing House, St, Louis.

Tuesday prior to Easter 5

—Psalm 150; key verse v.6 —Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Who should praise the Lord? All who come to Him in faith. We celebrate the Savior’s great and mighty acts.

This final Hymn of Praise closes out the Psalter. The book ends with a final call to all of creation to give exuberant, ceaseless, loud, and submissive praise to the living God. Here, not only God’s people but “everything that has breath” (v 6) is called to praise God with every means imaginable.

As the Psalter closes, we are called to praise the LORD in a way that has not yet happened in its fullness. The call is still appropriate (we could sing this every day!) but it looks forward to a reality that will only occur when the final chapter of God’s story has been fulfilled. That will be when what God predicted through the prophet Isaiah has finally come to pass: “By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance’” (Isaiah 45.23).

And the apostle Paul, we of the New Testament church, confess today that we, too, look forward to that day when, “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2.10–11).

Even so, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22.20).

Collect for Psalm 150: Lord God, unite our voices with the praise of all creation, that we may worthily magnify your excellent greatness; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever

Sources:

The Risen Christ, copyright © Ed Riojas, Higher Things

Collect for Psalm 150, For All the Saints, A Prayer book for and by the church, © 1995 The American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, Delhi, NY