Congregation at Prayer

Catechesis Notes for the Week— Confessing Christ — Jesus promises that whoever confesses Him before men, He will confess before His Father in heaven. To confess Christ can sometimes mean a lonely life. The depth of human sin and its hold on people can be seen in the hatred people often exhibit toward the Gospel and those who confess Christ. We confess Jesus as the Savior of all who loves all and has redeemed all, but not all accept this gift. Why would they reject this precious Gospel that is their salvation? This is a mystery that we cannot answer. We are to take comfort in the promise of the Gospel and commend those who reject Christ to the same love of God for them that gives us comfort. Jesus knows our need. Do not fear those who hate you. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. The Lord knows your need, even the hairs of our head are numbered. “Whoever confessed me before men, I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” This Word of the Lord is both a comforting promise and a sobering warning. Yet even the warning is given so that when we fall, as Peter did, we might return to Him whose mercy is new every day. As He restored Peter through His absolution, so He promises to restore us when we are brought to contrition and repentance. This is why we hold fast to Him especially in persecution.

CP260621

Catechesis Notes for the Week— We need pastors! Have you ever thought about your need for a pastor? We might say, “We need Jesus!” Every Christian would agree with that statement. We need Jesus who has died for us, shed His blood for us, who forgives our sins and gives us the gift of eternal life and the resurrection from the dead. We need faith in Him to receive what He has done, but this is why Jesus instituted the Office of the Ministry. It is not only necessary for Jesus to have suffered and died for our sins and to have risen from the dead the third day according to the Scriptures, but it is equally necessary for this Gospel to be preached to us that we might be called to repentance and faith in Him. This is why Jesus instituted the Office of the Holy Ministry. We need pastors to preach the Word of God to us, to call us to repentance, to baptize us, to forgive us, to give us Christ’s body and blood, to pray for us, to shoulder our burdens, to admonish us, to comfort us, and to give us counsel from God’s Word. We need pastors as much as a child needs a mother and father. The gift of pastors is rooted in Jesus’ compassion. “When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matt. 9:36/ESV). “Pastor” means “shepherd,” so Jesus says, “pray the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His harvest.” May we always pray for the gift of pastors to serve us with the life-giving Word of our Savior.

CP260614

Catechesis Notes for the Week—Confession of sin is confession of faith in Christ. For us as, as Christians, when we confess our sins, we are not merely admitting that we have done something wrong and feel badly about it. Non-believers can do that. No, true confession of sin involves contrition and faith in Christ. Contrition is the sorrow over sin that is worked by God. Faith in Christ confesses sin and flees to Jesus for rescue. “Acknowledging our guilt” and “seeking the face of Jesus” is what faith does. Our confession is not a work that merits God’s forgiveness. Confession is what He calls us to that He might help us. The refusal to confess, therefore, is the refusal to believe that you need Jesus. So the Lord’s call is one in which He invites us as sinners to trust in Him rather than ourselves. He calls us to contrition and faith so that He might help us. It is the absolution of the Lord that raises us up from the death of sin and gives us comfort, peace, and new life. When we respond to the Lord’s call, when we dare to confess our sins, when we flee to Jesus for His absolution, that is the work of the Holy Spirit in us. That is, very simply the call of the Holy Spirit to faith in Christ. Confession of sins is the fruit of the miracle of faith. This is why we confess our sins, that our faith might be strengthened and our consciences comforted by Christ’s absolution. So the Prophet Hosea encourages us, “Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

CP260607