Mark 1: st Sunday in Lent Feb 26, 2012

Transcription

1 Mark 1: st Sunday in Lent Feb 26, 2012 Although I don t think I ve done it with this class yet, I like to show my confirmation classes just how many times the catechism suggests we pray the Lord s rayer. There, consider it done. Still, have you ever noticed it? It is suggested that we pray the Lord s rayer before and after each meal. Three meals. Twice for each meal. That s six, right there. Then when you get up and when you lie down for the night. That s eight times. an you imagine praying the Lord s rayer that much? May not be a bad thing, actually. It s a good discipline, but let s take baby steps. If you don t already, let me give you a little Lenten challenge. I challenge you to pray it once a day. Just once. Make it part of your day. If you already do pray it once, then pray it once more each day. Since before bed is probably the most common time to pray, pray it then. If you already pray it at night, then add this prayer to your morning. When you do pray, meditate on the words. Don t just say the words in your mind or race through them to get this done. Think about the words. Use your catechism to help you. Look at the explanations or consider them from your heart as they will not only slow you down, they will show you what you are praying. While I m challenging you to pray once a day, let me raise the challenge. Kneel. Jesus kneeled when He prayed. ut your body in the position of prayer. And raising the challenge further yet, speak it out loud. If you can t do that without disturbing another person, go to a place where you can, kneel and speak out loud the Lord s rayer. I know. Kneeling, saying it out loud. These are awkward, inconvenient. You might even think, pointless. First, this is Lent. This is the time you step up your spiritual discipline. Fasting is not pleasant. Giving up something you really want, hurts. Increasing your time praying interrupts your daily schedule. Increasing your financial giving for mercy projects another Lenten discipline is difficult. That s kind of the point. It s supposed to be a disruption, an interruption. It takes you out of your comfort zone. We tend toward efficiency and comfort in everything else. That s good. We should. But our spiritual life is different. It doesn t flow with the natural things. It can t. Getting back to my challenge: Kneeling and praying out loud is not pointless. It s getting your body more involved. It is also breaks us out of our usual mindset. You d be surprised by the benefit. You ll learn something about this prayer and the mind of God because He speaks through it. Even more, you will learn about yourself and how much you need what He gives. In other words, you ll see we pray for what He already gives. Like I was saying about the Divine Service on Wednesday: He speaks and we listen. He gives and we receive. Then we give back to Him, but first we receive. We ll see that s the way it is in our daily life as well. The Divine Service teaches us that. The words of the Lord s rayer will also.

2 As you increase your praying, you will notice that at least once a day you will be praying a critical petition: Lead us not into temptation. The sixth petition. You know what it means. God doesn t tempt. James says it clearly in our epistle lesson, Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one. Rather, we pray it so our Heavenly Father would guard and keep us so that the spiritual forces that work against Him and us would not mislead us into false belief, despair and other great shame and vice. Are we to be protected from those spiritual forces from the devil, the world and our sinful nature so they never touch us? No. That s not what the prayer says. We pray it so that they would not mislead us into great sin, like unbelief and despair. The temptations as part of the tests will come and God will use them. Think about what it was like for Abraham when he was told to offer his son as a sacrifice. Abraham had to be in knots. You can see Sarah saying, Abraham, honey, are you OK? Abraham says, Yes, I m fine. I just have a lot on my mind. And he would. He would pray and meanwhile the devil would be having a field day, raising doubts in Abraham s mind. But while the devil was creating havoc, making him question our Lord s wisdom, Abraham focused on the Lord s promises. He clings to the promise of the Messiah knowing he would be killing the line through which the Messiah would be born. He was convinced, though, somehow the Lord would raise his son from the dead. The Lord tested Abraham, and Satan tempted him in it, and through it all, Abraham faith grew stronger. As he countered Satan s attacks, meditating on God s promises, his desperate need for God s to be faithful to His promise became ever more evident to Abraham. It happens in other tests, other trials. Satan tempts us to doubt God, to question His love, even to give up. Here s where this kind of praying pays off. It helps you be open to the work of the Holy Spirit as He strengthens you through His Word and sacrament. In a weird twist, God uses the devil ultimately to bless you. The devil does it this morning as we are blessed by seeing it. eter s account is by far the shortest account, but he adds things the other two writers don t. eter tells us right after Jesus was baptized the Spirit drove Him out into the wilderness. The Father says, This is my beloved Son. For all who are listening: This is Him. This is the One. Waiting in the shadows is Satan himself. It s like his cue. The announcement is an invitation. OK, Satan. Here He is. Have at Him. And the Holy Spirit drove Him into the wilderness so he could. You are blessed to see this struggle. Yes, you see your Lord suffering, but Jesus suffers for you. Watch as Lent progresses and then comes to a close and the suffering reaches its peak at the cross. But this is more than just suffering happening in the wilderness; this is Jesus victory. More than just a victory, this is yours.

3 Watch the devil leave, his tail between his legs, whimpering like a whipped dog. But he wasn t done. He would be back. He would come back in a terrible fury that would culminate on a dismal Friday afternoon. But this morning, you see His defeat and you see what was to come on Good Friday. The devil knew he was beat. The devil is beat when it comes to you as well. Jesus obedience undid Him. He can t accuse you. You are seen as obedient as Jesus. Every last motive of yours in hrist is seen as pure because of your baptism. You can say, as it is said in so many of the songs of the Old Testament, Look and see. My hands are clean. My heart is pure. You stand holy in hrist. Satan may spit and rage and try to accuse you, but in hrist and His victory, there is nothing to be held against you. The Father made His announcement for Satan to come get His Son, and the Spirit lead Him into the wilderness to have Him do it so you could see the victory and see it as yours. The Lord used the devil so you could see your victory. Yet, although we can see the victory is ours, it is ours only as we are in hrist. If we venture outside of Him, without Him, thinking we don t really need Him, Satan will snatch us up. eter tells us Jesus was surrounded by wild animals. When the Bible talks about animals in the wilderness, it s usually carnivores jackals, wolves and lions. And we know there was a lion out there prowling, occasionally pouncing on His prey, the Son of God Himself. It wasn t a literal lion, but as he was prowling then, he still prowls today. The same eter that tells us Jesus was surrounded by wild animals tells us that Satan is still a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Let me assure you, Satan is no match for you in hrist. At the same time, you are no match for him without hrist. As our hymn says, One little word can fell Satan, but you can t speak that word if you re not in hrist. What is that one word that fells Satan? I have said it is Liar. But we are fools to think we could call him a liar if we were to do on it on our own. He would love to be called a liar, if it made you feel good, as long as you are not seeing your safety is only in hrist. If you don t see your desperate need for a Savior, for God to be faithful to His promise as Abraham had done, you can call Satan a liar until the cows come home and he won t care. He won t care as long as you think you are doing just fine on your own. And you better believe he is good at getting us to think that way. As soon as you think you have one end covered, he turns that very thing in his favor. Do you remember how on Ash Wednesday I had asked you to think of one thing that is a temptation for you? hances are, this is something you have struggled with for a long time. But let s say you get it under control. It is likely your control of that could become the temptation. You look back at what you have accomplished and feel pride. All of a sudden, even though you claim to credit God, you are subtly taking credit for it yourself. You think you got the devil here, and he s got you there. He s the master. He ll take something that looks healthy and virtuous and turn it into a sin. The only thing you can do is see your helplessness and cry out for mercy and stay there crying out for mercy and seeing it in the cross. To seek the strength the Lord gives and to draw on the

4 resources He provides, particularly His gifts of worship. As you pray, like I have been challenging you, you will see better the mind of God and you will see your desperate need. You ll see it when you see how easily we can get sucked into evil. The best way to suck someone in is to take something evil and dress it up so it looks virtuous. The devil has another name, Lucifer, light bearer. He masquerades as an angel of light, speaking of things that are actually evil, but making them look good. Surround evil with pious sounding language and it is almost impossible to resist. It almost seems sinful to resist. Jesus came down on the harisees for going to the ends of the earth to win a disciple. That s evangelism. What s wrong with evangelism? Why would Jesus be opposed to that? Nothing, but why would the religious types expend so much energy to get a person to, so to speak, come to church? And why would Jesus be opposed to that? Because they were creating disciples of themselves, training them to be just like them. Win a disciple to win more disciples for the purpose of winning more disciples. But what is the purpose? Simply to win disciples. The church is not about growing. It s about delivering God s gifts of life to sinners. ould we, as a congregation, unintentionally do the same thing? Because of our situation as a congregation, I m afraid we could. We may not be actively doing evangelism, but we could be tempted to see people coming to our church not so much to receive God s gifts, but simply as people to join us and make our congregation stronger. Is this so wrong? Yes. We could say the end is the same. They are hearing the Word, receiving the sacraments, but it s still not the same. They are brought in with the wrong intent. My fear is that we could unintentionally perpetuate this kind of misunderstanding. And who s behind it all? Satan. ould we detect this in ourselves? We should be on guard for it. Another feature eter brings in is the fact that angels were ministering to Jesus. They weren t feeding Him, rather it would seem they were bringing Him comfort, speaking words that Jesus would surely know, but still speaking words from Scripture that would keep Jesus strong, just as Jesus prayed and gained strength from being in God s Word. Surely we would not think Jesus would need this kind of support, but He would have accepted it anyway. It says something to us. Whether He did or not, we do. We do need this kind of support. We need it from each other. We provide it for each other in the Divine Service as we speak to each other the words given to us, but it goes beyond that. Before we can comfort each other in our times of temptation, particularly as we are drawn into a false understanding of the church, we need to let ourselves be weak. We want to recognize we can and do make mistakes. How hard it is to admit when we may be wrong, but how necessary. This way in love, we can help each other, just as the angels did Jesus. What is it we need to do? oint each other to the cross. We see it in the account with Abraham and Isaac. The Father offers His only son. Abraham may have been stopped, but the Heavenly Father will carry it out with His Son. This picture, presented in many

5 different ways throughout the bible, is our comfort. It is for each of us to give to each other. And then to encourage one another to seek the benefits from the fruit of the cross, as it is offered in the Divine Service. Finally, to encourage each other, in whatever way we can to pray. Do I expect this to happen immediately? No, but I will speak of this in many different ways and you will come to see how this can be done. We are a healthy congregation, with people who get this. We ll get it even more and then we ll help each other get it as our Lord blesses us through the challenges of Lent. AMEN

6 Let us pray for the whole people of God in hrist Jesus and for all people according to their needs, for continued recovery for Edna and Shirley, James Lee, Ali s husband in his last weeks of officer training and Terry Lynette s brother to have prostate surgery this week. O God, You once gave Your Son to be tempted by the devil for us and our salvation. Help us and all who are assaulted by the many temptations of the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh, that we may be strengthened and supported by Your grace. Lord, in Your mercy, Guard and keep Your hurch, O Lord, from every attack of the old evil foe. Sustain all pastors and other servants of the hurch, and give them joy in all they do to bring the good news of salvation into our midst. Bless the members of this and every congregation, that in thankfulness for Your great mercy we may continually support the work of Your hurch through our gifts, our service, and our own faithful witness to Your goodness and mercy. Lord, in Your mercy, We implore You, O Lord, to look mercifully upon our country and its leaders, especially the president, members of ongress, and all those who serve in our state and local governments. Deliver them from the temptations of their office, particularly from pride, power, and presumption, that they may be Your servants to curb the evils of sin. Give us the willingness to be obedient and do whatever is good. Lord, in Your mercy, Watch over the members of our armed forces as they protect our nation from harm and evil. Give them patience and great endurance as they struggle to bring stability and calm in war-torn regions, for those who are in training, particularly James, give them strength and endurance that they may keep their eye on the purpose of the training. Grant comfort to those whose sons and daughters, husbands and wives have been killed in conflict, and sustain the many innocent civilians who have been injured or mourn the death of loved ones. Lord, in Your mercy, Heavenly Father, Your Son was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. rotect all those who are exposed to the lucrative temptations of sin, even as we see the temptation to grow the church with that as a potentially hidden purpose. rotect them that they may shun every evil pleasure and confidently place their trust in You for help in every time of need. Lord, in Your mercy,

7 Rescue us, dear Father in heaven, from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation. ome to the aid of all who are sick and recovering (especially Edna and Shirley, to those having surgery that the doctors and medical team may you re your healing, especially Terry ); be a strong shield to those who face death (especially ); and console and comfort those who mourn (especially ). Give the protection of Your holy angels to all who are in any trouble, need, or adversity. Lord, in Your mercy, O Lord, we often grow weary and faint, and sometimes even stumble and fall as the devil and the world confront us with their many obstacles and temptations. Feed, refresh, and strengthen us, therefore, with hrist s body and blood that our faith may not become weary in battle, but go from strength to strength. Lord, in Your mercy, We thank You for all those to whom You have granted a blessed end and graciously taken from this valley of sorrow to Yourself in heaven. When our last hour comes, defend us from the temptations of the devil and let Your holy angels lead us safely home to You. Lord, in Your mercy, Into Your hands, O Lord, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in Your mercy, through Your Son, Jesus hrist, our Lord. Amen.

8 Questions from the Sermon 1. What is the Lenten challenge? 2. Who did we see grow through testing in the Old Testament lesson? 3. What did eter say surrounded Jesus? 4. What did astor say was the word that could fell Satan? 5. What program of the harisees did Jesus criticize because they didn t understand the purpose? Questions from the Sermon 1. What is the Lenten challenge? 2. Who did we see grow through testing in the Old Testament lesson? 3. What did eter say surrounded Jesus? 4. What did astor say was the word that could fell Satan? 5. What program of the harisees did Jesus criticize because they didn t understand the purpose? Questions from the Sermon 1. What is the Lenten challenge? 2. Who did we see grow through testing in the Old Testament lesson? 3. What did eter say surrounded Jesus? 4. What did astor say was the word that could fell Satan? 5. What program of the harisees did Jesus criticize because they didn t understand the purpose?

9 Answers to the questions from the Sermon 1. To pray the Lord s rayer at least once a day, kneeling and saying it out loud. 2. Abraham 3. wild animals, probably like jackals, wolves, and lions 4. Liar 5. Their evangelism program, because they did it only to grow their numbers Answers to the questions from the Sermon 1. To pray the Lord s rayer at least once a day, kneeling and saying it out loud. 2. Abraham 3. wild animals, probably like jackals, wolves, and lions 4. Liar 5. Their evangelism program, because they did it only to grow their numbers Answers to the questions from the Sermon 1. To pray the Lord s rayer at least once a day, kneeling and saying it out loud. 2. Abraham 3. wild animals, probably like jackals, wolves, and lions 4. Liar 5. Their evangelism program, because they did it only to grow their numbers

10 First Sunday in Lent Law/Gospel worksheet 1. What was astor saying when your sin was being pointed out? (This is the Law) Hint: Do you see how desperately you need salvation or do you think you are doing pretty well already? What is your understanding of the church s purpose? 2. Throughout the entire sermon What was astor saying when you were hearing about what God does for you in hrist, even though it s not deserved? (This is the Gospel) Hint: What do you see given to you in today s reading?

11 First Sunday in Lent Outline for notes Look at the words and phrases given and explain from the sermon what these phrases are talking about. These notes should help you with the questions from the sermon. Lenten challenge Lead us not into temptation Jesus temptation Victory only in hrist Satan s strategy Our potential temptation Supporting with the Word