From the Pulpit…
Feed: thinking-out-loud
Posted on: Saturday, October 23, 2010 5:50 PM
Author: Rev. Rick Stuckwisch
Subject: Two Men Went Up to the Temple to Pray
| Fathers, teach your sons and daughters to pray, to worship the Lord, and to sacrifice themselves in faith toward him and in love for each other and for their neighbors in the world. Do not wait to do it, but teach them to pray already while they are yet little babies, even in the womb and at their mother's breast, by praying for them and with them. Teach your children to worship the Lord their God by teaching them His Word — by speaking it to them and confessing it for them and with them. And teach them by the example of your own worship of faith and love. Go to church, and take your children with you. Do not hinder or prevent them, but indoctrinate them with God's Word and the preaching of it. Bring your children to Jesus, that He may touch them, heal them and save them, in the waters of Holy Baptism and with His own Body and Blood in the Holy Communion. Teach them to pray in the remembrance of their Baptism and in confession of Christ the Crucified by making the sign of the Cross, especially when they are afraid, and again when they rejoice in His rescue and give thanks for His great salvation. Teach your sons and daughters to sacrifice themselves in the faith and confidence of Christ, and in love for others, by the example of your own self-sacrifice. Set aside your own wants, desires and pleasures, in order to meet their needs and care for them. Love their mother and lay down your life for her, day by day, as Christ loves His Bride and gives Himself freely for her. So may your sons and daughters learn from you, not only what it means to be a godly husband or wife, a godly man or woman, but what it is to be a Christian, a member of the Church and a child of God. Teach your children humility by humbling yourself. Teach them to master their sin by your own self-discipline and daily repentance. Teach them to fall upon the mercies of God in Christ by confessing your sin and availing yourself of the Gospel, the means of grace and forgiveness, including Holy Absolution. Let such confession and absolution shape and define your Christian faith and life, your piety and practice, not only in church but in your home and in all of your relationships. Where you have done wrong, acknowledge your fault, apologize, and make amends as you are able. And where others have sinned against you, be ready and willing, eager and quick to forgive them — and gladly do good to them. Where you have sinned against your children — by harshness or neglect, by impatience or inattentiveness, by unreasonable demands or unfair punishments, or by whatever fault of temper, words or actions — humble yourself under the Lord your God, apologize to your children, who are also His dear children, and seek their forgiveness. Do not seek to justify or excuse yourself, but let Christ alone by your Savior and Redeemer, and so love all your neighbors, big and small, young and old, family, friends and foes, the brilliant and the daft, the successful and pathetic, all for Jesus' sake. For they, too, shall be saved, not by any righteousness, merit or worthiness of their own, but only by the righteousness and mercy of Christ Jesus — the very same righteousness and mercy of Christ by which alone you are justified and saved from sin, death, the devil and hell. That fact is, or ought to be, your humility and your confidence of repentant faith. If you exalt yourself — if you trust in yourself and your own righteousness, as though you were a god — you will be humbled. Pray that you are so humbled before the Day of Judgment, when the time of repentance shall have passed. Pray that the Lord in His mercy would humble you now, and each and every day of your life on earth, by His preaching of repentance for the forgiveness of your sins, that He would thereby also exalt you by His grace. When you understand that your life is from God, that it depends entirely upon Him, that He gives you life by His divine grace, and that He preserves your life, not only here in time but unto all eternity, by that same divine grace in Christ Jesus, then you know the meaning of life, and you are able to live unto God in peace and hope, in faith and love, in graceful confidence and joyful satisfaction. When you don't get it — when you have not been humbled unto repentance and faith in the mercies of God — when you exalt yourself and attempt to justify yourself — then you are hounded and driven by fear. You have no peace or joy, no confidence or satisfaction. Not really. You strive to keep the Law, according to its letter, or to avoid it as much as possible, while you tend to yourself and your own personal ambitions. But the Lord has no regard for your self-righteousness. He takes no pleasure in your selfish works, and He has no delight in your sacrifice when it is offered as a bribe or as a buyout for your sin. The harder you try to appease God or pay Him off, in an effort to get Him off your back, the worse it gets. Your self-righteous pride, indignation, laziness and greed only grow and grow, until they threaten to swallow you up and consume you altogether. Such things are the very heart and soul of your sin, which entices and allures you while it is always seeking to kill and destroy you. So do you grow more and more restless and angry with God. He's so unfair, you suppose. He just doesn't like you, or so it seems, and it's not your fault. But you cannot get even with God, so you turn your anger and enmity, your hatred and vengeance against your neighbor. You give yourself over to envy and jealousy and bitter resentment, to the point that you lash out at your neighbor, perhaps even your nearest and dearest kin, with hurtful words, or schemes to rob and steal, or outright bodily injury. Make no mistake, as a son or daughter of Adam & Eve, such sin is always crouching at your door, and its desire is for you. Resist it, and master it, by contrition, repentance and self-discipline. Hear and heed the Word of the Lord, and honor His commandments. Love your neighbor by helping him or her, and by doing no harm of word or deed. Examine yourself honestly, and confess your own sins, that you might hear and receive the blessed Gospel of forgiveness. Pray that God, the Lord, would have mercy upon you, that you might live by His grace and rest in His peace. Trust Him to provide you with all that you need, for both body and soul, for this life and the life everlasting. And so understand that your possessions, your abilities, your time and energy, your treasures and talents and your whole life on earth are a sacred trust, a stewardship, which you have been given for the sake of likewise loving and serving your neighbor in the name of the Lord. That is how you sacrifice your crops and herds, your goods and services, your body and life: In faith toward God, you love your neighbor with all that you are and have, since your life is entirely from the Lord, in Him and with Him, and unto Him, ever and always. You are your brother's keeper, beloved, as the Lord is your Keeper, your Maker and Redeemer. If you are poured out as a drink offering for your neighbor, therefore, keep the faith and finish the course in peace, as the Lord Jesus pours out His life-blood for you. Give your body as a living sacrifice, and feed and clothe, shelter and protect your neighbor's body, as the Lord Jesus feeds you with His own Body and Blood, clothes you with His righteousness, and shelters and protects you by His grace within His holy Christian Church. The same Lord Jesus stands with you in all hardship and adversity, in all trials and temptations. He forgives all your sins and failings, strengthens your faith and love, guards and keeps your body and soul, and He will deliver you from every evil and bring you safely into His heavenly kingdom. Surely He will do so, and crown you with His own righteousness, for He has humbled Himself unto death and given Himself for you; wherefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him the Name above every name. In Him, you also are exalted and so named by God. As He has died for you, and risen from the dead for you, and as He ever lives to intercede for you before the Throne of God, having entered the Holy of Holies made without hands with His most holy and precious blood, so do you go home justified by His grace through faith in His Gospel. He, therefore, is the Altar upon which you offer your sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Not that you should thereby atone for your sins, but because He has atoned for all your sins, once and for all. It is in Him, through Him, with Him and by Him, that you and your children and your children's children pray and worship and sacrifice. And so are you and yours received as a pleasing sacrifice and sweet-smelling incense by your dear God and Father in heaven. He has regard for you, for your prayer and sacrifice, for Jesus' sake. So does He lift you up in mercy and sustain you by His grace, even through death and the grave, unto the life everlasting. That you might be kept safe in this life and salvation forever, the Lord has set His mark upon you, His sign of the Cross upon your forehead and your heart, on your body and your soul. Though you are a sinner, deserving of nothing but the punishment of death and eternal damnation, yet, by this sign of the Cross, the devil, the world and your own sinful flesh are served notice that you belong to Christ the Crucified, your Savior and Redeemer. He shall not only avenge whatever wrong is done to you, but He forgives whatever wrong you have done, and at the last He shall vindicate you forever in the resurrection of your body. Thus, even though you die, yet do you live forever and always. Indeed, the Kingdom of God belongs to such as you, for you are His own beloved son or daughter in Christ Jesus. Come up here, then, to the Temple of Christ; receive the holy Body with which He feeds you and the drink-offering of His precious Blood; and pray in the peace and confidence of His sure mercies and forgiveness. Offer here your sacrifice of thanksgiving, take up the Cup of Salvation, and call on the Name of the Lord. He hears and answers your prayers, dear child, for you are justified by the Lord, the righteous Judge. In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. |
