Congregation at Prayer

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Advent Meditations: St. Andrew, Apostle – During this first week of Advent our daily Bible narrative meditations will continue to focus on the patriarchs, particularly Jacob and his dealings with Laban. Our Advent midweek divine services throughout the season will focus upon four saints: St. Andrew, St. Stephen, St. John, and St. Thomas. Saints’ days in the Lutheran tradition especially highlight the amazing gifts that God worked through these sinful men and women by His grace. They also, during Advent, give us the opportunity to reflect upon how we are to live as Christians in this sin-darkened world as we look forward in hope to the Second Coming of Christ. “St. Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was born in the Galilean village of Bethsaida. Originally a disciple of St. John the Baptist, Andrew then became the first of Jesus’ disciples (John 1:35-40). His name regularly appears in the Gospels near the top of the lists of the Twelve. It was he who first introduced his brother Simon to Jesus (John 1:41-42). He was, in a real sense, the first home missionary, as well as the first foreign missionary (John 12:20-22). Tradition says Andrew was martyred by crucifixion on a cross in the form of an X. In AD 357, his body is said to have been taken to the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople and later removed to the cathedral of Amali in Italy. Centuries later, Andrew became the patron saint of Scotland. St. Andrew’s Day determines the beginning of the Western Church Year, since the First Sunday in Advent is always the Sunday nearest to St. Andrew’s Day.” – Excerpted from the Treasury of Daily Prayer.CP221127

Catechesis Notes for the Week—The Blessing of the Lord’s Grace—Esau had despised his birthright. Jacob was a deceiver who coveted his brother’s position. Neither son of Isaac deserved their father’s blessing. But in the scheming and conniving of the story of Isaac Blesses Jacob we learn that in every way God’s promise of salvation in Christ rests upon God’s grace alone for the unworthy sinner. Jacob was, no doubt, proud of himself for believing that he had tricked his father into giving him the blessing. But in reality, it was God’s will from before the birth of Jacob and Esau that Jacob should receive the blessing. This teaches us that God’s blessing rests upon His grace for the sinner and not upon any merit, position, standing, or priority of birth order. Esau Does Not Receive the Blessing to be the “son of the promise” in the lineage of Jesus, but God’s favor to Esau was, nevertheless, included in Jacob’s blessing because, according to the promise, the Seed of Abraham would bring the blessing of salvation to all nations. Over the course of his lifetime, Jacob would be humbled, and his pride would be crucified. He would learn to depend upon the grace of God when he might have otherwise been tempted to believe that he deserved it. In Heaven Is Opened at Bethel, Jacob learned the important lesson that wherever God’s Word of grace is proclaimed, there the Lord is present with His gifts. This is why Jacob named that place Bethel, which means “House of God.” In Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel, the conniving trickster was outfoxed by his uncle Laban who gave Jacob Leah instead of Rachel. The competition for Jacob’s affections by the four women that gave birth to all his children teaches us the reality of human sin and the frailty of the flesh for which we all need a Savior. Despite the rivalry and bitterness between their mothers, the Children of Jacob would share in the gift of salvation by grace that came through God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This story teaches us that all human life is sacred. All human life is the object of God’s love in Christ and in the promise of His Gospel.CP221120

Catechesis Notes for the Week —God’s Promise to Abraham Is Fulfilled in the Cross—At the heart of God’s promise to Abraham is the suffering and death of Jesus, the ultimate Son of the Promise, who by His death would destroy death and bring forth the resurrection of the body to eternal life. In the Sacrifice of Isaac, Abrahm’s Faith Is Revealed. The event in which the Lord calls Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, the son whom he loved, we see a picture of how God the Father would offer up His only begotten Son to the death of the cross. The call to sacrifice Abraham was not a test of the strength of Abraham’s faith, but “a test” that revealed that, by the grace of God, Abraham knew that even if Isaac was put to death, he would rise again because of God’s promise. We learn that this was Abraham’s faith in the words of Hebrews 11:17-19, “By faith Abrahm, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called,’ accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.” Additional Gospel themes are also seen in this narrative, as a ram is caught in a thicket to be the substitute sacrifice in place of Isaac. In the same way, Jesus becomes our substitute in His death upon the cross. The stories of the patriarchs continue to unfold throughout the week in Abraham Sends for a Bride for Isaac. Abraham was concerned more than anything else that Isaac’s bride would share Isaac’s faith in the promise. Rebekah is a gift of God who would be Isaac’s helpmeet. In the account of Jacob and Esau, when Esau Sells His Birthright, we not only see in Esau one who made light of the promise of salvation, but in Jacob (who received the promise) that pattern of yet another man who did not deserve it. Jacob was chosen as the second born son of Isaac, not because of his standing in the family or because he had no sin, but because of God’s grace alone. In the story of Isaac and Abimelech, we see the same patterns of fear and deception that we saw with Abraham and Sarah, but we again see God’s faithfulness to them as His chosen ones.CP221113

Catechesis Notes for the Week —The Faithful Grace of God—After 25 years of waiting, the Lord came to Abraham and Sarah in the form of the Three Visitors who announced to them that within the year the Son of the Promise, Isaac, would finally be born. Throughout those 25 years, Abraham and Sarah learned dependence and what it means that “the just shall live by faith” in God’s promise of salvation in Christ (Habakkuk 2:4). The call to Abraham was the call of God’s grace in the Gospel of Christ for all people. For this reason, Abraham Prays for Sodom, the wicked city, interceding for the city for the sake of those in the city who were righteous by faith in the promise. In the end, though God is merciful and longsuffering, Sodom and Gomorrah Are Destroyed because of the rejection of the Lord’s Word and the refusal to repent. In the story of Abraham and Abimelech, we learn that there was truth in Abraham’s previous statements that Sarah was his sister. Though a believer in the promise, Abraham was not immune to the fear that others might kill him for Sarah if they found out that she was his wife. Despite Abraham’s fear, the events surrounding Abraham’s encounter with Abimelech put God’s grace on full display. The Lord promised to protect him, to bless him, and to provide for him, not because of Abraham’s worthiness but because of His love for Abraham and Sarah in the Promise. He promises the same to us in our baptism. By faith in the grace of God, Abimelech appeals to Abraham to intercede for him, and Abraham does pray for Abimelech because of his faith in the promise of God’s grace. Isaac is Born and Ishmael Is Cast Out is a story that illustrates God’s faithfulness and grace in the birth of the Son of the Promise, but yet appears too harsh in the casting out of Ishmael. What does this mean? Ishmael is cast out, not because the call of God’s grace is not for him, but rather to teach that salvation is entirely based upon God’s grace in the promise and not at all upon any work of man or standing in the family. The Scriptures develop this theme in the New Testament, Galatians 4:21-31, wherein the son of the bondwoman illustrates an attempt to gain salvation according to the works of the Law from Mount Sinai verses the gift of salvation by grace that comes from the Son of the Promise from the heavenly Jerusalem. When it comes to our salvation, there can be no mingling together of works and grace. Salvation comes by grace alone.   CP221106