Congregation at Prayer

Catechesis Notes for the Week — The Holy Spirit and the Resurrection of Our Lord — During this week of the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we also meditate upon the Third Article of the Creed.  It is the Holy Spirit who brings Jesus’ victory over death to us through the sweet message of the forgiveness of sins.  By this Word, sins are forgiven, faith is created, and we are raised up by the Spirit of God to walk in newness of life.  Jesus gave up the Holy Spirit when He died upon the cross and in the upper room He breathed the Holy Spirit upon the disciples when He said, “Peace be with You!”  The message of Jesus’ peace and forgiveness is the message of the Holy Spirit by which we are continually renewed in faith and life.  This same Holy Spirit will raise us from the dead, with Jesus, on the Last Day.  By the power of the Holy Spirit, through the Word and Sacraments of Christ we will forever enjoy the resurrection of the body and the life-everlasting.

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The Sufficiency of God’s Grace — The verse for the week contains Jesus’ word of comfort to the Apostle Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” No Christian enjoys suffering, hardship, persecution, the struggle with sin, stumbling in temptation, a bad conscience that doubts God’s forgiveness, or the experience of our own frailties and weaknesses. Yet Jesus says to us the same thing He said to Paul: “My strength is made perfect in weakness.” The paradox of the Christian life is that it is only through the experience of our human weaknesses and limitations as sinners that we truly come to know the power and comfort of God’s grace in Christ. Without the experience of the Law condemning us, our conscience accusing us, and the sufferings and struggles of our lives weighing us down, we would never be in the proper position to receive the free, unconditional and totally unmerited mercy of God that Jesus gives to us in the Gospel. That God loves and forgives us for Jesus’ sake precisely because we are weak and infirm without Him is the heart of the Gospel and the center of our faith. That God loves and forgives us freely for Jesus’ sake as sinners is precisely the power by which we live our lives each day as Christians. Without weakness, struggle, and suffering we would not understand and know the fullness of God’s love for us in Christ which is the source of a joyful life that is lived in the absolute freedom of Jesus’ forgiveness and unending mercy. No wonder, then, that St. Paul goes on to confess: “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

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Catechesis Notes for the Week — What the Hearers Owe Their Pastor? The second half of the section of the Table of Duties, which speaks of the responsibility that “hearers of God’s Word” have for their pastors, highlights the respect and honor pastors are to receive because of the work God has given them to do.  They are called to preach the Gospel, judge doctrine, administer the Sacraments, remit and retain sin, and guard the flock from the assaults of false doctrine and impenitence.  They are accountable to God for being faithful to what He has called them to do.  “Hearers of God’s Word” are to respect and honor their pastors, not because they have no sin or shortcomings, but because they are faithful in the work that they are called to do on the Lord’s behalf.

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Catechesis Notes for the Week — “What the Hearers Owe Their Pastors”— This section from the Table of Duties speaks of the responsibility of the congregation to provide temporal support for her pastor who faithfully preaches the Gospel and administers the Sacraments to her members. Every Christian is called by the Gospel to “share all good things with his instructor.” It is a mockery of God when members of the congregations turn a deaf ear to the Word of God and a hard heart toward the care of their pastors. Such neglect flows from impenitence and unbelief. Where there is faith there will be love, affection, and generous support of the Church’s pastors by her members. Chief among the duties of Christians is the faithful hearing of the Word of God when it is preached and taught by our pastors. Pastors receive the greatest joy in their ministry when the people of the congregation come eagerly to hear the Word of God when it is taught, and receive it with joy and the hearty “Amen” of faith. The “Amen” of faith is confessed in the way in which the congregation takes care of her pastor.

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Pray for Your Pastor — This week we begin eleven weeks of meditation upon the Biblical texts in the Table of Duties concerning Christian vocation.  The first set of texts concerns those who are called to preach the Word of God: To Bishops, Pastors, and Preachers.  These are not three different offices, but one office.  Each word describes an aspect of their work.  A bishop is an overseer.  He is to supervise the doctrine and life of the congregation, along with the administration of the Sacraments so that everything is taught and done according to God’s Word.  Pastor means shepherd.  The Pastor “shepherds” the flock by calling to repentance, admonishing the erring, and bestowing forgiveness for Jesus’ sake to the penitent.  The word “preacher” gets at the heart of the minister’s work: proclamation of the Word of God.  “He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.”  This section of the Table of Duties not only teaches us concerning the qualifications of our ministers, but it also encourages us all to “pray for our pastors” that they might remain faithful in the work God has called them to do.

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Catechesis Notes for the Week — Why Are Guests Asked to Speak with the Pastor before Communing?—There are two reasons why guests are asked to speak with the Pastor before going to the Lord’s Supper. First, it is the responsibility of the pastor to examine the confession of faith of those who come to the Altar. Our concern is that they know their sin, they trust in Christ alone for salvation, and they believe that He is giving them His body and blood for the forgiveness of sins in the Sacrament. “Worthy reception” of the Sacrament requires such faith. Second, the Lord’s Supper is not merely an individual Christian in communion with his Lord, it is also the declaration that the communicant believes and confesses the faith with the church in that place. The external teaching and confession of the church that we belong to is important, because it is the external Word and sacraments that nurture and sustain that saving faith.

CP260301

Catechesis Notes for the Week —The Lord’s Supper: A Pledge of the Resurrection of the Body — The Lord’s Supper was, since ancient times, called “the medicine of immortality.”  In the Lord’s Supper we receive Jesus’ true body and blood.  This is the same body and blood that was born of the Virgin Mary and that was given and shed for us for the forgiveness of all our sin. “Where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.”   It is precisely because the body and blood of Jesus delivers to us Christ’s forgiveness, that His body and blood becomes the source of restored life with God, the resurrection of our bodies, and eternal life, incorruption, and immortality.  When we receive Jesus’ true body and blood in faith, we are receiving the very pledge from our Savior that on the last day we shall be raised bodily from the dead, and our mortal flesh will put on immortality and incorruption.

CP260222

This is My body. In the Lord’s Supper Jesus gives us His body to eat and His blood to drink. The Sacrament of the Altar rests upon the Word of God. Jesus’ words give what they say. The power and benefits of the Sacrament are given through the Word. Take away the Word and there is no Sacrament. With the Word, there is a Sacrament, namely, “the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself, for us Christians to eat and to drink.” What role does faith play in the Sacrament? Faith receives what the Word says. Faith believes in what the Word gives. Faith rests upon the promises of God. The essence of the Sacrament, that is, “what it is,” is determined by the Word. This gives faith its certainty. We know we receive the body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of all our sins, because the Word says so. Faith knows no other certainty but the promises of the Gospel.

CP260215

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Baptism and the Life of Confession and Absolution—In Holy Baptism we become Christians.  The Lord gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit and faith.  Our sin is forgiven for Christ’s sake, and we are rescued from eternal death and condemnation. Baptism happens once, but its benefits and privileges endure forever.  Baptized Christians are called to live in their baptism daily.  This means that we are called to daily contrition and repentance for sin that we might return to the promise of our baptism for the forgiveness of sins and the renewal of our faith and life.  This makes confession and absolution not only a regular part of the Christian faith and life, but a glorious return to our baptism wherein God made us His children and clothed us with the righteousness of His Son.  We should learn to believe that Holy Baptism gives us the rights and privileges of children.  In Baptism we are declared to be sons of God through Christ and have the privilege of access to our heavenly Father for Jesus’ sake.  Because of the ongoing struggle with sin, we are tempted to doubt that we are God’s children, that God still loves us, and that it is possible for us to be forgiven.  Baptism declares that it is not only possible to be God’s Children, but that forgiving our sin is His will for us in Christ.  We have the right and privilege to confess our sins daily AND to believe that for Christ’s sake our sin is forgiven and that we rise to newness of life precisely because we have been baptized into Christ and are saved from our sin through faith in Him.

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Catechesis Notes for the Week — He Was Raised for Our Justification —“Christ was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:25).  “When I look at my sins, they slay me. Therefore I must look upon Christ, who drew my sins upon Himself and has become a blessing. Now they lie no longer on my conscience but on Christ, and they seek to slay Him.  Let us see, then, how they get on with Him.  They cast Him down and kill Him. O, Lord God, where is now my Christ and my Redeemer? Then God comes and brings Christ forth and makes Him above, and not only alive, but He sets Him in heaven and lets Him rule over all things. Now where is sin? It is on the gibbet. And when I hold on to this and believe it I have a joyful conscience, like Christ, for I am without sin. Now I dare death, the devil, sin, and hell to do me harm. Inasmuch as I am a descendant of Adam they can harm me; I must shortly die. But now that Christ has laid upon Himself my sin, and has died for it, and been slain for it, they can do me no harm, for Christ is too strong for them. They cannot hold Him. He breaks forth and smites them to the ground, and ascends into heaven, binds and fetters sin and sorrow, and rules over them eternally. Therefore I have a good conscience, I am joyful and blessed, and fear those tyrants no longer, for Christ has taken my sin away from me and laid it on Himself.  But they cannot remain on Him.” – Martin Luther

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