A Primer on Forgiving Others for Lent

Pastor George Borghardt over at Higher Things has an excellent video short on forgiveness, entitled “Forgiving Un-Sorry People.”  The season of Lent is upon us and begins tomorrow with the imposition of ashes tomorrow.  This act of receiving ashes reminds us of our brokenness and our mortality.  We need a Savior to heal the brokenness and raise the dead to life.  For Christians, Lent is a season of reflection and repentance, where we focus on the sacrifice of the Christ on the Cross for our sins.  With repentance comes forgiveness of sins in Christ through his suffering, death and resurrection, forgiveness that is ours through Christ.  In the first of his 95 theses, Martin Luther observed

Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite, willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.

Forgiveness is an essential part of that life of repentance.  And we forgive those who trespass against us, just as we are freely forgiven.  But who should we forgive? And should we forgive those who are not necessarily sorry for the wrong they have done?  Listen as Pr. Borghardt reflects on forgiving the un-sorry person:

Epiphany 1 and the Baptism of Jesus — I am Baptized into Christ

Today the church observed the Baptism of Jesus at the Jordan River by His cousin, John the Baptist.  Christ born under the law, took upon Himself our sin in the waters of the Jordan.  He cleansed that water, purified so that in the waters of our Baptism we might be made holy and righteous, receiving the gift of faith and the very Spirit of God.  Because of what Christ has done for us, we can gladly, confidently, assertively say:  ”I am Baptized into Christ!!”  This is a phrase that is repeated in the Hymn, “God’s Own Child I’ll Gladly Say It!” which was added to the Lutheran Service Book as #594.

God’s own child, I gladly say it: I am baptized into Christ!
He, because I could not pay it, gave my full redemption price.
Do I need earth’s treasures many?
I have one worth more than any that brought me salvation free,
Lasting to eternity!

Jesus gave the full price for our redemption, what greater treasure can we have?  We can boldly say:  ”I am Baptized into Christ!”  This is such a firm and blessed assurance that neither sin nor death need bother us.  And we can proclaim it to Satan himself, as Christ did  for us.

Below is a video from the Coram Deo Higher Things Conference in Atlanta where a group of Lutheran youth, 400+ strong sing this wonderful hymn.  As God’s child, gladly say it — better yet, sing along — I am baptized into Christ!

God’s own child, I gladly say it: I am baptized into Christ!
He, because I could not pay it, gave my full redemption price.
Do I need earth’s treasures many?
I have one worth more than any that brought me salvation free,
Lasting to eternity!

Sin, disturb my soul no longer: I am baptized into Christ!
I have comfort even stronger: Jesus’ cleansing sacrifice.
Should a guilty conscience seize me
Since my baptism did release me in a dear forgiving flood,
Sprinkling me with Jesus’ blood?

Satan, hear this proclamation: I am baptized into Christ!
Drop your ugly accusation; I am not so soon enticed.
Now that to the font I’ve traveled,
All your might has come unraveled, and, against your tyranny,
God, my Lord, unites with me!

Death, you cannot end my gladness: I am baptized into Christ!
When I die, I leave all sadness to inherit paradise!
Though I lie in dust and ashes
Faith’s assurance brightly flashes:
Baptism has the strength divine to make life immortal mine.

There is nothing worth comparing to this lifelong comfort sure!
Open-eyed my grave is staring: Even there I’ll sleep secure.
Though my flesh awaits its raising,
Still my soul continues praising:
I am baptized into Christ; I’m a child of paradise!

Text: Erdmann Neumester (1671-1756), Tr. Robert E. Voelker (b. 1957)
Tune: BACHOFEN – Johann Caspar Bachofen (1695-1755, alt.)
Christian Worship Supplement 737:2-5/Lutheran Service Book 594:1-5

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The Mysteries Hidden in the Gospel of Christmas Eve, Luke 2:1-14

Image via Wikipedia

Preached rightly, the Gospel does not change, but is timeless.  486 years later the Word preached should still apply to us today, otherwise it is not the Gospel of God.  Below are some excerpts of a sermon preached by Martin Luther on Christmas Eve 1525.  Luther addresses the Gospel hidden in the Christmas story, in the shepherds, the manger, the proclamation of Christ to the World from heaven itself.  He notes that Christ must be preached in every proclamation of the Gospel — Christ for YOU and for ME, Christ for SINNERS.  Christ must become ours and we His before we can take those steps forward in service to our neighbor to do any good work.  And no work is good either if it does not benefit my neighbor.  This is still the work of Christ, my work that is.  For just as Christ serves me, so I serve my neighbor in the same way Christ does, giving everything in service to my neighbor.

May the peace, love, and joy of the Christmas season be yours, in Christ for YOU!

The Mysteries Hidden in the Gospel of Christmas Eve, Luke 2:1-14
Excerpts from the 1525 Christmas Eve Sermon of Martin Luther

Faith – What is to be Believed
Christ For YOU
The first matter is the faith which is truly to be perceived in all the words of God. This faith does not merely consist in believing that this story is true, as it is written. For that does not avail anything, because everyone, even the damned, believe that. Concerning faith, Scripture and God’s word do not teach that it is a natural work, without grace. Rather the faith that is the right one, rich in grace, demanded by God’s word and deed, is that you firmly believe Christ is born for you and that his birth is yours, and come to pass for your benefit. For the Gospel teaches that Christ was born for our sake and that he did everything and suffered all things for our sake, just as the angel says here: “I announce to you a great joy which will come to all people; for to you is born this day a Savior who is Christ the Lord” [Luke 2:10–11]. From these words you see clearly that he was born for us.

He does not simply say: “Christ is born,” but: “for you is he born.” Again, he does not say: “I announce a joy,” but: “to you do I announce a great joy.” Again, this joy will not remain in Christ, but is for all people. A damned or a wicked man does not have this faith, nor can he have it. For the right foundation of all salvation which unites Christ and the believing heart in this manner is that everything they have individually becomes something they hold in common. What is it that they have?

ERO CRAS — Tomorrow I Come

Emmanuel Rex Oriens Clavis Radix Adonai Sapienta– ERO CRAS. In reverse order, the first letters of these names for our Lord spell ERO CRAS. This is His response to our cry throughout Advent and especially in these last seven days:

Tomorrow, I come.

Amen. Come Lord Jesus come.

What a great way to usher in Christmas with our families. We call out to Christ throughout the season by naming the Old Testament Names by which He is known, and in these very words the Father has given to us, is Christ’s response. Merry Christmas!!

Coming Christmas Eve: Sacred Music for the Christmas Season — Courtesy of Issues Etc. and Lutheran Public Radio

Christmas Eve signals the change in season in the church from Advent to Christmas.  It begins Christmas Eve with a vigil watching and waiting for the morn of Christmas.  The anticipation ends with the Christ Mass and the great Feast Day hailing the arrival of the King of Kings.  What better way to usher in this new season than with sacred music of praise and worship, of reverence and awe, of wonder and majesty.  On Christmas Eve, you can listen to this sacred music at LutheranPublicRadio.org.  Click the link and bookmark it.  For more information, watch the video from Issues, Etc. below.

O Emmanuel — God is With Us

O Emmanuel

O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, hope of the nations and their saviour: come and save us, O Lord our God.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

O Emmanuel,
Rex et legifer noster,
expectatio gentium,
et Salvator earum:
veni ad salvandum nos,
Domine, Deus noster.

O come, o come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

O Rex Gentium — King of Nations

O Rex Gentium

O king of the nations, you alone can fulfil their desires: cornerstone, binding all together: come and save the creature you fashioned from the dust of the earth.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

O Rex Gentium,
et desideratus earum,
lapisque angularis,
qui facis utraque unum:
veni, et salva hominem,
quem de limo formasti.

Oh, come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Oh, bid our sad divisions cease,
And be yourself our King of Peace.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

The Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle, December 21, 2011

Doubting Thomas.  He was an apostle of Jesus.  All four Gospels mention him as one.  He was not present that first night Jesus appeared to the disciples in the locked room.  He did not believe his brothers.  He demanded proof that Jesus was alive, that He did appear to them.  For their eyewitness testimony was not enough for him.  He needed to see for himself, touch the wounds.  Only then would he believe.

On the night of Jesus’ death, Thomas Jesus a question that evoked one of the most memorable sayings of our Lord.  Jesus had just finished washing the feet of His disciples and revealed that one of the twelve would betray Him to His death.  Peter, ever the bold and brash jumped into the thick of it, telling our Lord that he would fight for Him to the death.  Jesus brought Peter back to reality and told him that he would not only not fight to the death for Him, but that he would deny that he knew the Lord of Life three times before the rooster crowed in the morning.  Jesus then began to comfort His disciples, telling them He was going to His Father’s house to prepare rooms for them. and that they knew the way to where He was going.  To this, Thomas said, “Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus replied, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  No one comes unto the Father unless He comes through Me.”  In these two short sentences, Jesus staked His claim to be the salvation of the world.  There is no other name in heaven and on earth by which we may be saved.  ”Show us the Father,” Phillip exclaimed.  Jesus must have been exasperated at their inability to comprehend and perceive what He was plainly telling them, and He tells Phillip, “Just believe my words!  Or if you do not believe them, at least believe based on the evidence of the miracles the Father has done through Me!”  Faith.  Christ calls us to be under His Word, to be subject to it.  He said it, BELIEVE it.  It is true.

What the scene must have been like, when Christ appeared again to the apostles, again behind closed doors.  This time Thomas is present.  Knowing Thomas’ doubts, Jesus goes directly to Him and bids Thomas to place his hands in His side, in the wounds of His hands.  ”My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.

“You have believed because you have seen.  Blessed are those who believe who have not seen.”  This is the reality of the cross.  Thomas came face to face with the wounds and scars borne by Christ.  It brought to mind all the words of Jesus, the claims He made to be God in the flesh.  And here, in his presence, stood the risen Lord of the Light, shining a light on the darkened mind and sight of His apostles.  That light, for that moment, opened the eyes of faith in Thomas.  It illumined his path to India, the ends of the earth where he followed the Way of Christ.  That Way always, always is to the Cross for us.  Never around it, or through it.  We do not get to pick it up and lay it down.  We get to carry that Cross, the one that meets us at the beginning of our walk, just as Christ did for Thomas.  And in the darkest day of the year, a time of doubt and despair for many, we call upon the light of the Morning Star to shine in this world as He did for Thomas.

O Oriens — O Morning Star

O morning star, splendour of the light eternal and bright sun of righteousness: come and bring light to those who dwell in darkness and walk in the shadow of death.

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

O Oriens,
splendor lucis aeternae,
et sol justitiae:
veni, et illumina
sedentes in tenebris,
et umbra mortis.

O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer,
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

O Clavis David — O Key of David

O Clavis David – O Key of David

O key of David and scepter of the House of Israel; you open and none can shut; you shut and none can open: come and free the captives from prison, and break down the walls of death.

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

O Clavis David,
et sceptrum domus Israël,
qui aperis, et nemo claudit,
claudis, et nemo aperuit:
veni, et educ vinctum
de domo carceris,
sedentem in tenebris,
et umbra mortis.

O come, thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.

Rejoice! Rejoice!  Emmanuel
shall Come to thee oh Israel!