Pr. DFD

Thursday, November 4, 2021

Friday prior to Proper 27

Mark 12:38-44–The sacrifices of God – a sacrifice of faith. Jesus compliments a poor widow for her sacrificial gift to the temple. Verses 38-40 serve as an introduction to our Gospel lesson for Sunday. Jesus warns the disciples against the scribes, for in their greed they devour widows’ houses. By contrast we see an impoverished widow who places two of the smallest coins, worth a penny, into the temple’s treasury. Jesus is sitting across from the offering boxes and observes the gift being given. He calls attention to the widow’s penny in contrast to the million-dollar gifts of the rich. He claims that she gave more than any other, because she gave out of her poverty while others gave out of their abundance.

Jesus warns against using self-serving religion to elevate ourselves above others. Clergy especially need to listen to Jesus at this point. Jesus shows all religious leaders and scholars the model for their leadership; humility, service, and sacrifice. For His sacrifice has atoned for us all.

Jesus uses the sacrifice of a widow to illustrate for His disciples the character of absolute dependence on God. Wealth and possession can pose a spiritual threat - wealth has a way of owning its possessor. Jesus' love and sacrifice motivate us to offer our whole lives to Him as our daily offering of gratitude. He gave up everything, including His life, on the cross for us.

A widow was almost always poor because she had no husband to support her. There was no insurance policies, no death benefits plan, no Social Security. Because she was extremely poor, she could have been excused from giving to the Lord’s treasury. Rather she should have been given something from the treasury. Her gift proved that she was not poor spiritually. She had the riches of faith in God to motivate her.

Lord, grant us humble hearts and willing spirits to fulfill our callings faithfully. -05 November 2021

[1] Two pennies © Google images

Morning Prayer #42

Job Part 2

Satan Takes Job's Property and Children

Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, 14 and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, 15 and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants [c] with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 16 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 17 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 18 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, 19 and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

Footnotes:

Job 1:15 Hebrew the young men; also verses 16, 17

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

Wednesday, November 3, 2021

Thursday prior to Proper 27

[1]

Hebrews 9:24-28–The sacrifices of God – a sacrifice of love. Christ offers Himself but once for the sins of the world and is coming again. The author of Hebrews uses the cult to explain the atonement and return of Jesus. As the Jewish high priest annually entered the holy of holies in the temple, Jesus, the high priest, entered the heavens, the temple of God.

Christ offered himself but once for the sins of the world and is coming again. The author of Hebrews explains the atonement and the return of Christ. As the Jewish high priest annually entered the holy of holies in the temple, Jesus, the high priest, entered the heavens, the temple of God. The high priest offered a sacrifice annually but Christ as high priest offered his sacrifice but once. The high priest offered not his own blood but Jesus did. His one-time sacrifice took away sins. As judgment comes after a person’s death so Christ will return for the judgment of the world and to receive those who are waiting for him.

Who ever heard of a priest offering a sacrifice of himself? This is the mystery and the glory of Jesus’ sacrifice. He stands at the altar as the officiating priest, but he offers himself as the lamb. With this in mind, we can understand the explanation of the Atonement as a sacrifice that satisfied the justice of God. The price for our sins is paid by God himself.

“Once upon a time” Jesus came into the world. It sounds like a story, but this “story” is true! Once he lived and died for his people’s freedom from Satan. Only once did he appear in the world as a man. Only once did he die for the world’s sins. Only once will he return to wind up world history, to gather his people and establish his everlasting kingdom. There is no need to look for another to come. There is no new revelation to be made. In Christ God made his last effort to reconcile the world.[2]

Collect for Proper 27 –O Lord, by Your bountiful goodness release us from the bonds of our sins, which by reason of our weakness we have brought upon ourselves, that we may stand firm until the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever.[3] -04 November, 2021

[1] The crucifixion Schnorr Von Carolsfeld woodcuts © WELS permission granted for personal and congregational use

Tuesday, November 2, 2021

Morning Prayer #41

Job Pat 1

Job's Character and Wealth

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. 2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3 He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. 4 His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed [a] God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.

Satan Allowed to Test Job

6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan [b] also came among them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 8 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” 9 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? 10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” 12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

Footnotes:

Job 1:5 The Hebrew word bless is used euphemistically for curse in 1:5, 11; 2:5, 9

Job 1:6 Hebrew the Accuser or the Adversary; so throughout chapters 1–2

Job 1:15 Hebrew the young men; also verses 16, 17

Luther's Seal © Higher Things

Wednesday prior to Proper 27

[1]

1 Kings 17:8-16–The sacrifices of God – a sacrifice of obedience. At first Elijah was fed by ravens. Sometime later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” (Vv. 7-9)

Elijah saw the flow of the brook slow down until it dried up. His source of water was gone. There may very well be different kinds of drying brooks we might experience:

· The drying brook of popularity, ebbing away as from John the Baptist.

· The drying brook of health, sinking under a creeping paralysis, or a slow consumption.

· The drying brook of money, slowly dwindling before the demands of sickness, bad debts, or other people’s extravagance.

· The drying brook of friendship, which for long has been diminishing, and threatens soon to cease.

Why does God let them dry? He wants to teach us not to trust in His gifts but in Himself. He wants to drain us of self.[2]

There a widow feeds Elijah out of her minimum supplies for many days because the supply of oil and meal was never exhausted. The setting is the northern kingdom of the 9^th Century with Ahab as king and Elijah as prophet. Because of Israel’s faithfulness, Elijah calls down a drought which lasts three years. When the brook dries up, God sends Elijah to a widow in Zarephath for food and drink lest he starve. However, the widow and her son are also dying of starvation. They have a tiny amount for a last meal before dying. Elijah commands her to give food to him and promises that the meal and oil will not fail. True to his word, each day there was enough for one more meal. The Lord preserves His prophet and is faithful to His Word.

O God, the strength of all those who put their trust in you, mercifully accept our prayers and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature we can do no good thing without you, grant us the help of your grace, that in the keeping of your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; [3] -03 November 2021

[1] Elijah is fed by ravens Schnorr Von Carolsfeld woodcuts © WELS permission granted for personal and congregational use

[2] https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/1-kings-17/

Monday, November 1, 2021

Morning Prayer #40

Ruth

In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there.4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, 5 and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

7 So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.

22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest. So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz,8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. 10 Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” 11 But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. 12 The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” 13 Then she said, “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”

13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. Boaz fathered Obed, 22 Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.

Tuesday prior to proper 27

Psalm 146; key verse, verse 9a—The Lord watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow but He frustrates the ways of the wicked. In both the Old Testament lesson as well as the Gospel, a poor widow gives all that she has because of great obedience and a strong faith. The key verse reminds us that the Lord will vindicate His own especially the stranger, the widow, and the orphan. The Psalmist invites us to praise the name of the Lord especially for His tender mercies to His people.

The praise of the Lord is worthy of our trust.

Psalm 146 begins a series of five final songs in the Book of Psalms, and the five are known as the Hallelujah Psalms. “In the earlier psalms, we have studied the writers’ grief, shames, sins, doubts, and fears. We have witnessed the people of God in their defeats and victories, their ups and downs in life. We have encountered rebellious words and struggling faith. All this is behind us now. In these final psalms every word is praise.” (James Montgomery Boice)

We instantly connect this list with the work of Jesus the Messiah.

· Jesus opened the eyes of the blind (Matthew 9:27-29).

· Jesus raised those who are bowed down (Luke 13:11-13).

· Jesus loved the righteous (Matthew 13:43, 25:46).

· Jesus watched over the strangers (Matthew 8:5-10).

· Jesus blessed the fatherless and widow (Luke 7:12-15).

· Jesus turned the way of the wicked…upside down (Matthew 21:12).

· The logical conclusion is that Jesus is Yahweh, the LORD.[2]

Sunday’s Theme of sacrifice is evident in all three of our lessons for this coming week. In the Gospel a widow makes a sacrifice of money by giving her last penny. The widow of Zarephath gave her last portion of meal and oil to Elijah out of obedience to his command. Jesus made the once-for-all-time sacrifice for the sins of the world out of love for humankind. The Lessons call upon us to give our all as a sacrifice to God. As we are nearing the end of the church year, the sermon hymn reminds us to keep our heads up to be vigilant as the Son of Man will return at the right time to bring this earth to a close.

Collect for Psalm 146: God of glory and power, happy indeed are those who have put their trust in you. Shine the brightness of your light upon us that we may love you always with a pure heart and praise you forever; through Jesus Christ our Lord.[3] -02 November 2021

[2] https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/psalm-146/