Time in the Word
30 April – 5 May, 2012
Preparation for next week, 5th Sunday of Easter
The theme for the
Fifth Sunday of Easter is Life in Christ.
In the Gospel, Jesus described Himself as the Vine and the believers as
the branches which bring forth fruit. How one becomes a person in Christ is
demonstrated by the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch in the first lesson. To
be in Christ means to obey the commandments of God, to love not only in word
but in deed.
Collect for the Fifth
Sunday in Easter 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 what true joys are found through Jesus Christ,
Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God,
now and forever. Amen
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.
Friday, May 4th
- is the day the church remembers one of our pastors. Friedrich Wyneken is one
of the founding fathers of The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, along with
C.F.W. Walther and Wilhelm Sihler. Born in 1810 in Germany, Wyneken came to
Baltimore in 1838 and shortly thereafter accepted a call to be the pastor of
congregations in Friedheim and Fort Wayne, Indiana. Supported by Wilhelm
Loehe's mission society, Wyneken served as an itinerant missionary in Indiana , Ohio , and Michigan , particularly
among Native Americans. Together with Loehe and Sihler, he founded Concordia
Theological Seminary in 1846 in Fort Wayne ,
IN.
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.
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
You 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.
Monday, 30 April 2012—Psalm 145:1-2, 8, 10, 21; antiphon, John
16:16— The antiphon is
taken from the Lord’s promise to His followers,
“A little while, and you will see
me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” Few doubt
that the first phrase refers to the interval before the crucifixion. But
interpretations differ as to whether the second refers to the interval
preceding the resurrection or the coming of the Spirit, or the return of Christ
on the Last Great Day. It seems that the language here best fits the
resurrection.
Tuesday, 1 May 2012—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.
Wednesday, 2 May 2012—Acts 8:26-40— Philip is sent to bring an
Ethiopian eunuch to faith in Christ. The
treasures of an Ethiopian queen was on his 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.
Thursday, 3 May 2012—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.
Friday, 4 May 2012—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, and 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. It 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.
Saturday, 6 Ma 2012—
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.
Sources:
Prayers from Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia
Publishing House.
Lectionary Preaching Workbook Series B John Brokhoff © 1981
CSS Publishing Lima, OH
Illustration from
a woodcut by Baron Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, © WELS
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