Sermon on 1.Timothy 1:12-17

Posted on April 7, 2016 by Wilhelm Weber

This morning’s sermon during Matins in St.Timothy’s chapel at the Lutheran Theological Seminary was on the apostle St. Paul’s first letter to the very same name’s patron St. Timothy chapter 1 verses 12-17. You can read it here (1Ti1,12-17 Matins 2016.4.7) or listen to it here:

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Confessional address in St.Timothy

Posted on April 6, 2016 by Wilhelm Weber

Today Professor Dr. John G. Nordling preached during the confessional service in the chapel of St.Timothy at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Tshwane. Here is his sermon for your edification: 2016.4.6 LTS 2 Tim 1.6-10 JN

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Sermon on 2.Timothy 2:1-7

Posted on April 5, 2016 by Wilhelm Weber

Here’s the sermon by Dr. Karl Böhmer held during Morning prayer at the LTS chapel of St. Timothy on 2 Tim. 2:1-7

1 You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 5 An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 7 Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

One of the great buzzwords of our time is “multitasking.” Multitasking is the apparent ability to do more than one thing at the same time. Multitasking brings to mind pictures of multi-armed people typing emails, drinking coffee, chatting on the phone, taking care of babies, planning the next meeting, and all at the same time. The human mind is a wonderful thing, they say, able to do so much if you only train it. But I have serious doubts about how efficient multitasking really is when I see people trying to manage even just two things at once, like driving while sms’ing on their cell phones, or taxi drivers trying to pick up passengers on both sides of the street at the same time. I suspect that Wiley’s Dictionary is correct when it defines multitasking as “messing up several things at once.” More and more, business gurus and social science are realizing that multitasking drastically decreases efficiency, inhibits creative thinking, and makes for stupid decisions. Why? Because multitasking fosters distraction, and distraction is a recipe for failure. It’s a soccer player keeping his eyes off many soccer balls at the same time.

Now St. Paul is writing here to his protégé, the young pastor Timothy. He is writing to him from prison shortly before his death. Even so, Paul’s main concern is the church of God. In ch. 1, Paul reminds Timothy of the gift he received at his ordination, and the urgent need to use his gifts for the testimony of Christ, to evangelize, to go about the holy calling of preaching Christ Jesus, Law and Gospel, guarding the deposit of sound doctrine given to him by the power of the Holy Spirit. In other words, Paul is saying: The fields are ready for harvesting, the world is in urgent need of the sound Gospel, and that’s the reason you were ordained. So preach it! Live it! Be the minister of Christ you are gifted to be! False teachers are turning away from sound doctrine. People are burning with love for themselves and for money rather than the love of God, they will itch for false teaching because it tickles their fancy and strokes their vanity. But the ministry is about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and him crucified! So that’s what you are about!

Now listening to Paul talk in our text about the soldier and the athlete and the farmer sounds almost as if he is calling Timothy to multitask. As if Paul is saying: Timothy, you are a pastor, and there is a lot to be done. You’d better learn to multitask, my friend. As if Paul is saying: Timothy, you are a minister and God’s many people have many needs for you. So make sure that you perform 24/7 and that you work yourself to the bone, because burn-out is such a noble sacrifice. As if Paul is saying: Remember, only you are the pastor, so make sure that you control every decision that gets made in the church. Oh, and if you have time, maybe get an apprentice or two to boss around, that always makes the impression that you’re in command.

Actually, Paul isn’t saying any of those things. Not one. No, Paul says: Timothy – you can’t do this alone. So don’t try. And don’t make it look like you’re carrying the load alone. Focus instead on training other pastors. In other words, get busy teaching theology students. What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. This sounds an awful lot like seminary training, doesn’t it? Paul is telling Timothy to select faithful candidates, suitable men who will be good teachers and good preachers, and to give them formal teaching in the Gospel and in the ministry. So many churches these days think it’s just fine to allow anyone to teach and preach. So many people just stand up of their own accord and arrogate the pastoral office to themselves. Is it any wonder that the office of the ministry is looked at with derision in this country? Is it any wonder that we have churches in South Africa where pastors drink petrol or pour boiling water on themselves and get their congregants to do the same? Or pastors zipping off to heaven on a jolly jaunt and taking selfies to prove it? Other churches insist on ordination, but ordain just about anybody, regardless of training. You can go online and get ordained free within minutes these days. And we find even in our day and age a strong movement even within the confessional Lutheran church to move away from seminaries altogether, as if seminary training is old-fashioned and out-moded and just so passé, far too theoretical for today’s fast-moving praxis-based church. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, here in our text we find St. Paul commanding and commending formal education in theology, in the things of God. So that’s what we want to do as we seek to be faithful to Christ. We find that this is the model that Scripture uses all along, ranging from the sons-of-the-prophets theology schools in the Old Covenant to the multiyear discipleship training curricula of the New, and here 2 Tim calls for formal theology studies of suitable men for the pastoral office as well. And not just as a once-off thing; these men are to go and teach other faithful men also, etc.

One of the most obvious reasons for this is that no one man can be pastor of all God’s people by himself, although some like this idea very much, or at least the power and prestige it seems to promise. No, this is not the model of Scripture. No, the truth is that the need for solid preaching and sound ministry, the need for encouragement and education in the things of God, the need for counseling, the needs of the hearers and the needs of the Gospel-starved world are simply too great for one pastor to supply. Now the answer is not to learn to multitask better, which would really mean sanctioning distraction and inefficiency. No, the answer lies in the formal training of faithful pastors, and in training them well, and in replicating this process around the world. It means choosing the rifle over the shotgun. It lies in being focused on, dedicated and committed to one thing, and one thing only. The pastor goes about the ministry of Christ on this basis and in this strength for one goal, and one goal only: For the sake of the elect. For the salvation of those whom God calls to eternal glory with him. The pastor of God does not say to the sheep: “Follow me and let me be your shepherd,” and then fleeces them and slaughters them and steals them blind, like other would-be shepherds are wont to do. No, the pastor serves for the sake of the elect.

Not by his own strength! That is why St. Paul emphasizes: Be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The grace of Christ, the promise of Christ, the power of Christ, the ministry of Christ, the life of Christ, the blood of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, Christ and him crucified, this is the grace, the deposit, the teaching that has been entrusted to you; be strengthened by it, safeguard it and entrust it to others also. For that one goal, the pastor endures suffering, if needs be; not because suffering is good for you per se, but for the sake of the Gospel, for the sake of Christ, and for the sake of the elect. He remains goal-directed on Christ and on giving the gifts of Christ. He avoids distraction; he is a soldier who gives all and takes all in order to please his general; he is an athlete who trains hard, fights with determination and abides by the rules to win the contest; he is a farmer who works diligently for the harvest, and for that reason receives also the first share of the crops. This is the single-minded devotion of the pastor. All this the pastor is only in and by the Gospel of Christ and his forgiveness. This goal is attained only by the power of God in Christ. This is the Holy Office of the ministry, the pastor’s vocation. So the Lord has ordained it, to this end He teaches and ordains qualified men. It is because the pastor knows that it’s not all about him, but about Christ and his elect, that he serves all the more with that focus, knowing that Christ will give success in his way and in his time and will finally make all things well. Amen.

 

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Sunday after Easter: Quasimodogeniti

Posted on April 2, 2016 by Wilhelm Weber

Watchword from the gospel of 1 Peter 1:3: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Old Testament reading from the prophet Isaiah 40:26 – 31  26 Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.  27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God”?  28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.  29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;  31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

 1 Peter 1:3-9  3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade– kept in heaven for you,  5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.  6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  7 These have come so that your faith– of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire– may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.  8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,  9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

John 20:19-29  9 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”  20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.  21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”  22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”  24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.  25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”  26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”  27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”  28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”  29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Prayer of the Church:

P:   Now is the time of rejoicing! Now is the time to sound forth the trumpet of salvation and proclaim the triumph of our King. Acknowledging that the tomb is empty and our Lord is risen, let us pray for the whole people of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.

P:   O Lord, in Your mercy You sent Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, made Him an offering for our sin, raised Him from the dead, and made Him ruler over all things. Let Your word of life be spoken faithfully in every congregation and carried to every corner of the earth. Grant that Your church in all circumstances may not be faithless but believing, especially when challenged by doubts, hardships, and persecution. Send witnesses of Your grace to all who have wandered from the faith that they might once again know Your Son who is the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last. Lord, in Your mercy,

C:  hear our prayer.

P:   Almighty God, You have always ruled the nations of this earth according to Your will. Give good government in our towns and cities. Lead our state officials to serve with honesty and good judgment. Guide all who work in our federal government to be faithful servants of their fellow citizens. Curb hatred and violence among the nations so that all may live in peace and safety. Lord, in Your mercy,

C:  hear our prayer.

P:   Gracious Father, watch over and provide help to children who have lost their parents, widows and widowers who have no family to care for them, those who have been abused, those who are lonely and friendless, those who have no work, and those who seek a purpose in life. Lead us to be generous to the helpless and to the agencies that serve them. Lord, in Your mercy,

C:  hear our prayer.

P:   O Lord, we give You thanks and praise for all Your wonderful acts. Help all in this congregation who have been joined to Christ in Holy Baptism to grow in their faith and in their service to You. Bless our worship, our Sunday School and Bible classes, and our daily study of Your Word that we may increase in our love for Christ who loved us, washed us from our sins, and made us kings and priests. Lord, in Your mercy,

C:  hear our prayer.

P:   Father in heaven, Your mercy has no boundaries and no limits. We pray for those who are ill. Be with them, and strengthen and heal them according to Your will. We pray for those families who mourn the loss of a loved one. Be with them, comfort them with the hope of resurrection in Christ, and strengthen them during their time of sorrow. Lord, in Your mercy,

C:  hear our prayer.

P:   Father, Your own Son is the stone rejected by the builders but who has now become the very cornerstone of the world’s redemption. Give us the peace and joy that comes in receiving His body and blood in this feast of His Holy Supper, so that we may be cleansed and forgiven, and receive strength to serve faithfully wherever we live or work. Lord, in Your mercy,

C:  hear our prayer.

P:   Rejoicing with the whole Church, now clothed in the brightness of Christ’s resurrection light, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in Your mercy; through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

C:  Amen.

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Karsamstag

Posted on March 26, 2016 by Wilhelm Weber

Old Testament reading from the prophet Ezekiel 37: The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord. (Ezekiel 37:1-14 KJV) 

Epistle from 1.Peter 3:18-22 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

Gospel from the evangelist St. Matthew 27:57-66 When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple: He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,  And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre. Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.

  1. We bless Thee, Jesus Christ our Lord;
    Forever be Thy name adored:
    For Thou, the sinless One, hast died,
    That sinners might be justified.
  2. O very Man, and very God,
    Who hast redeemed us with Thy blood;
    From death eternal set us free,
    And make us one with God in Thee.
  3. From sin and shame defend us still,
    And work in us Thy steadfast will,
    The cross with patience to sustain,
    And bravely bear its utmost pain.
  4. In Thee we trust, in Thee alone;
    For Thou forsakest not Thine own;
    To all the meek Thy strength is giv’n,
    Who by Thy cross ascend to heav’n.

Christoph Fischer 1568

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LTS News: First Quarter 2016

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Wilhelm Weber

Dear friends and supporters of the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Tshwane (Pretoria, South Africa). Here is the latest LTS News: 2016,1 LTS News DinA4 and also in US Letter format: 2016,1 LTS News USLetter. Thank you very much for your ongoing support and prayerful encouragement. Please do share the LTS News and continue to pray for us and the Lutheran Church in Africa and beyond. We wish you a very blessed holy week and a very joyful Eastertide.

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Palmarum in St. Paulus (Afrikaans)

Posted on March 20, 2016 by Wilhelm Weber
Old and young accompanying the congregational singing

Pastor Klaus-Eckart Damaske is leading a camp for young couples in the bushveld this weekend, so he asked me to conduct the divine  service in his afrikaans St.Paul’s congregation. I was very happy to do so, because it’s a joy and privilege to do that on any Sunday, but especially on this sixth and last lenten Sunday before Easter – Palmarum.

Here is my sermon to read (Phil.2,5-11 Palmarum 2016 Afrikaans) and also for listening

Have a blessed Palm Sunday!

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Palmarum: Sixth Sunday in Lent and last Sunday before Easter

Posted on March 17, 2016 by Wilhelm Weber

Einzug in Jerusalem (1)

Watchword from the gospel of John 3:14b-15: “The Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

Theme: Jesus Christ – the man of sorrow and pain. (Der Schmerzensmann)

Isaiah 50:4-9   4 The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.  5 The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back.  6 I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.  7 Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.  8 He who vindicates me is near. Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other! Who is my accuser? Let him confront me!  9 It is the Sovereign LORD who helps me. Who is he that will condemn me? They will all wear out like a garment; the moths will eat them up.

 Philippians 2:5-11  5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:  6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,  7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross!  9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,  10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

John 12:12-19  12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.  13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the King of Israel!”  14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written,  15 “Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”  16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.  17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word.  18 Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him.  19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

The collect for Palm Sunday: Almighty and everlasting God, You sent Your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, to take upon Himself our flesh and to suffer death upon the cross. Mercifully grant that we may follow the example of His great humility and patience and be made partakers of His resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (LSB Altar Book 682)

 

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Matins in the Morning

Posted on March 17, 2016 by Wilhelm Weber

Here’s my sermon held this morning in the chapel of St.Timothy at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Tshwane (Pretoria, South Africa) first as outline (Hb9,15-18.27-28 Matins 2016.3) and then also as audio-file:  The epistle was read in French (Peter Kizungu), Amharic (Teshela) and English to accommodate our  various students, who obviously have many more mother tongues than just these three, but with those most are covered fairly well.

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Herrenhuter readings for Saturday, the 12th March 2106.

Posted on March 12, 2016 by Wilhelm Weber

The Psalmist prays to God: „Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth. Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side.“ (Psalm 71,20-21 KJV)

The evangelist St. Matthews writes: „But when Peter saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.“ (Matthew 14:30 KJV)

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you +

Dear friends of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ + That’s what our Lord Jesus Christ does: He saves! He delivers! He brings us up from the depths! He increases and comforts us on every side! In this is his like his heavenly Father and like the Holy Spirit too. As one God he goes about this most liberating, uplifting, edifying and so comforting business of his. Saving Adam and Eve from the sure consequence of death, banishment and exposure to the elements. Saving Noah and his family and all those animals from that devouring deluge. Saving Lot and his loved ones from the fiery destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Pulling Moses from the reeds in that great river Nile and preparing him to deliver his people from slavery in Egypt and lead them through the desert and barren stretches to the promised lands otherside of the Jordan. The whole Bible is full of stories of salvation and rescue, help and deliverance. That’s what the living and triune God does. Then, today and as long as this world stands.

Not even the depths of the oceans can swallow God’s people. Even there his hands are holding them, so that they can never fall deeper than into his caring hands. Just think of Jonah, who was thrown out of that vessel by his opportunistic and rather desperate fellow travellers. Good riddance they might have thought and it could just save our skin. So they toss him out and don’t care too much that he’s helplessly exposed to those stormy waves and will drown in now time: Rather him, than us! They are quite willing to give him up, sacrifice him and thus prove themselves as the surviving fittest and the truth of the old saying: Homo homini lupus! (Man is a wolf for men) Yet the merciful God does not let Jonah slip from his care. He’s still got plans with Jonah and not just in eternity and heaven, but right here in that godless capital Nineveh, full of people and animals, whom God still wanted to save (!) rescue and deliver from their idolatrous existence. His missionary Jonah was to bring them the saving message of God’s gospel. So Jonah was not lost although he was now obviously prime fish food. Still because of God’s providence and merciful election that big monster had to regurgitate his prey, spit him out, leave him shell-shocked on the safe shore – something like a drenched poodle and rather sad sight. God had kept and preserved him in the most desperate of situations. He had not drowned. He was not lost – even though he experienced the darkest of darks in the very depths of the sea and in that fish. Those sure were also like the „great and sore troubles“ of which the Psalmist can sing a song too. Still God draws him from those depths, he is pulled from the very inside of the hungry fish and quickened again. He comes to life, he catches his breath and opens his eyes to God’s great work of salvation and deliverance. No doubt he was comforted no end and on every side. He must have then been super encouraged thus most awesomely revitalized so that he strode with great leaps and bounds towards his goal to fulfil his calling and mission promptly and without any further delay and thoughts of escape and fleeing.

This is very encouraging for us also. For we too are going to land in the depths of the earth, when they carry us to our last resting place. Meters down in the ground they will pile the sods of dark soil over us: „Dust to dust, ashes to ashes. From dust you were made and to dust you will return!“ No escape. Claustrophobic dangers galore. Still, we will sleep like a baby. Yes, it will be even more restful than our first months in our mother’s womb and that narrow escape during birth when we first saw daylight and caught our first breath too. A great deliverance and rescue by the Lord’s grace and mercy. Then in the grave it will be very similar. No disturbance. Peace for sure, because there too God’s hand will hold us and keep us from evil. Nothing in life and death can after all pull us from his loving hands, which tenderly hold and keep us safe and sound until he calls and wakes us to face the last judgement, witness the fulfilment of all his promises and see the heavenly Jerusalem and him as he is very God of very God, light of light and all in all. Now that will be a sight to see and we be quite amazed at that sight we will see then, with the lamb on the throne and all his angels around him and all the saints too from all nations, tribes and people of the world. We will never tire of this sight of God either, because he is who he is: God and the highest good, most lovely to behold and vitalizing to be near, joyful without limits, fulfilling and ultimate bliss. We together with all saints then and now will rejoice beyond measure even as we recall the words of the Psalmist praising God forever and saying: „Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, hast quickened me again, and have brought me up again from the depths of the earth. Thou hast increased my greatness, and comforted me on every side and without limits.“ (Psalm 71,20-21 KJV)

Our holy baptism and its daily relevance and effect is actually a full-dress rehersal of just this going down into the depths of death and rising to the new life and creation of righteousness and holiness by the very power and mercy of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, who also was put into great and sore troubles for us and our salvation. It had to be so. God’s plan and wisdom had ordained it so. Still the grave could not hold him and he was brought to greatness – Lord of lords and King of kings – and as a great comfort for us all, who trust in him as our very God and Redeemer.

That good end is surely to come even if now, we often are much more in the dire situation of the holy apostle St. Peter as he was out there on the waves and losing focus on his Lord and master, was distracted by the boisterous wind, the billowing clouds, the crashing waves and threatening dark depths beneath him. Although he knew his Lord and God Jesus Christ was master of the waves and all winds and had all authority in heaven and on earth, still he was full of doubt and just plain afraid. He did however call out to his Lord still from the depths of his fear and he rescued him from those great and sore troubles, quickened him and brought him into the safety of the boat. Yes, he comforted St. Peter, whose loss of faith and great fear had put him on the spot yet once again. Still the Lord saved him and put him on a sure footing. He held him by his right hand and made sure that he would not fall into despair, but rise again to praise God now and always. Amen.  The peace of the Lord be with you always +

“From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee” by Martin Luther, 1483-1546

  1. From depths of woe I cry to Thee,
    Lord, hear me, I implore Thee.
    Bend down Thy gracious ear to me,
    My prayer let come before Thee.
    If Thou rememberest each misdeed,
    If each should have its rightful meed,
    Who may abide Thy presence?
  2. Thy love and grace alone avail
    To blot out my transgression;
    The best and holiest deeds must fail
    To break sin’s dread oppression.
    Before Thee none can boasting stand,
    But all must fear Thy strict demand
    And live alone by mercy.
  3. Therefore my hope is in the Lord
    And not in mine own merit;
    It rests upon His faithful Word
    To them of contrite spirit
    That He is merciful and just;
    This is my comfort and my trust.
    His help I wait with patience.
  4. And though it tarry till the night
    And till the morning waken,
    My heart shall never doubt His might
    Nor count itself forsaken.
    Do thus, O ye of Israel’s seed,
    Ye of the Spirit born indeed;
    Wait for your God’s appearing.
  5. Though great our sins and sore our woes,
    His grace much more aboundeth;
    His helping love no limit knows,
    Our utmost need it soundeth.
    Our shepherd good and true is He,
    Who will at last His Israel free
    From all their sin and sorrow.

Hymn 329 from The Lutheran Hymnal Text: Ps. 130 author: Martin Luther
Translated by: Catherine Winkworth, 1863 titled: “Aus tiefer Not schrei’ ich zu dir”
Tune: “Aus tiefer Not” 1st published in: Johann Walther’s Gesangbüchlein: Wittenberg, 1524

 

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