All Saints Day - November 1

November 1 we celebrate All Saints Day.

Old Testament:

Psalm 34:1-10

I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. ² My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. ³ Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! ⁴ I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. ⁵ Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. ⁶ This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. ⁷ The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. ⁸ Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! ⁹ Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! ¹⁰ The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

Isaiah 26: 1-4, 8-9,  12-13, 19-21

In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city; he sets up salvation
as walls and bulwarks. ² Open the gates, that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. ³ You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you ⁴ Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

⁸ In the path of your judgments, O Lord, we wait for you; your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul. ⁹ My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

¹² O Lord, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done for us all our works. ¹³ O Lord our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone we bring to remembrance.

¹⁹ Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead. ²⁰ Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by. ²¹ For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no more cover its slain.

Epistle:

Revelation 21:9-11, 22-27

⁹ Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” ¹⁰ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, ¹¹ having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

²² And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. ²³ And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. ²⁴ By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, ²⁵ and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. ²⁶ They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. ²⁷ But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

The Holy Gospel:

St. Matthew 5:1-12

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. ² And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: ³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. ⁵ “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. ⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. ⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. ⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. ⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. ¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ¹¹ “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Collect:

O Almighty God, by whom we are graciously knit together as one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of Jesus Christ, our Lord, grant us so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living that we may come to those unspeakable joys which you have prepared for those who unfeignedly love you; through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Reformation Day - October 31

October 31 is the day we celebrate the truth that thundered forth in the Reformation. October 31, 1517 was the day that Martin Luther hammered the 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg Church, challenging the corruption and abuses of the Roman Church.

Old Testament:

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength, very present help in trouble. ² Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, ³ though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. ⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. ⁵ God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. ⁶ The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. ⁷ The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. ⁸ Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. ⁹ He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. ¹⁰ “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” ¹¹ The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Jeremiah 31:31-34

 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, ³² not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. ³³ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴ And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Epistle:

Romans 3:19-28

Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. ²⁰ For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. ²¹ But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²² the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. ²⁶ It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. ²⁷ Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. ²⁸ For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

Revelation 14:6-7

Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. ⁷ And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

The Holy Gospel

John 8:31-36

 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, ³² and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” ³³ They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” ³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵ The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Collect

Almighty God, gracious Lord, pour out your Holy Spirit on your faithful people. Keep them steadfast in your grace and truth, protect them and comfort them in all temptations, defend them against all enemies of your Word, and bestow on the Church your saving peace; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

Feast of St. James the Just, the Brother of our Lord - October 23

Today is the Feast for St. James the Just who according to the Scriptures is also referred to as the brother of the Lord (Gal 1:19; Acts 12:17). He served as bishop in the church of Jerusalem according to early sources. According to the Scriptures it seems that St. James was not a disciple of Jesus until after the resurrection. 

The Gospels record that he did not believe his brother, but St. Paul mentions him as one of the witnesses of the risen Christ. He also had an important delegating role according to Luke during the council of Jerusalem. Lastly, he is traditionally concerned the author of the disputed (antilegomena) writing the Epistle of James.

According to Protoevangelion of James, St. James was the son of Joseph, and not a blood-relative of Jesus. For the Jewish reader this would not be a very shocking revelation since they would use the word brother (adelphos) to refer to many different relations such as brother, step-brother, brother-in-law, cousin, etc.

Eusebius says the following concerning St. James:

Then James, whom the ancients surnamed the Just on account of the excellence of his virtue, is recorded to have been the first to be made bishop of the church of Jerusalem. This James was called the brother of the Lord because he was known as a son of Joseph, and Joseph was supposed to be the father of Christ, because the Virgin, being betrothed to him, was found with child by the Holy Ghost before they came together, as the account of the holy Gospels shows. But Clement in the sixth book of his Hypotyposes writes thus: For they say that Peter and James and John after the ascension of our Saviour, as if also preferred by our Lord, strove not after honor, but chose James the Just bishop of Jerusalem.

Eusebius, Church History, Chapter 1

The piety of St. James is apparent by the testimony of various fathers of the church. Such is the brother of the Lord to live a life of humility and pass into the next in the same manner. Eusebius also has the following to say concerning the death of St. James:

But after Paul, in consequence of his appeal to Cæsar, had been sent to Rome by Festus, the Jews, being frustrated in their hope of entrapping him by the snares which they had laid for him, turned against James, the brother of the Lord, to whom the episcopal seat at Jerusalem had been entrusted by the apostles. The following daring measures were undertaken by them against him. Leading him into their midst they demanded of him that he should renounce faith in Christ in the presence of all the people. But, contrary to the opinion of all, with a clear voice, and with greater boldness than they had anticipated, he spoke out before the whole multitude and confessed that our Saviour and Lord Jesus is the Son of God. But they were unable to bear longer the testimony of the man who, on account of the excellence of ascetic virtue and of piety which he exhibited in his life, was esteemed by all as the most just of men, and consequently they slew him. Opportunity for this deed of violence was furnished by the prevailing anarchy, which was caused by the fact that Festus had died just at this time in Judea, and that the province was thus without a governor and head.

Eusebius, Church History, Chapter 23

Thus we commemorate the brother of our Lord.

Let us pray,

Heavenly Father, Shepherd of Your people, You raised up James the Just, brother of our Lord, to lead and guide Your Church. Grant that we may follow his example of prayer and reconciliation and be strengthened by the witness of his death; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect, LSB)

St. Luke - October 18

October 18th is the day we celebrate St. Luke, author of the Gospel According to St. Luke and the Book of Acts.

St. Luke

Old Testament

Psalm 138

I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; ² I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. ³ On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased. ⁴ All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth, ⁵ and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. ⁶ For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar. ⁷ Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me. ⁸ The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Isaiah 43:8-13

Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears! ⁹ All the nations gather together, and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this, and show us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right, and let them hear and say, It is true. ¹⁰ “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. ¹¹ I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior. ¹² I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and I am God. ¹³ Also henceforth I am he; there is none who can deliver from my hand; I work, and who can turn it back?”

Epistle

2 Timothy 4:5-11

As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. ⁶ For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. ⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. ⁹ Do your best to come to me soon. ¹⁰ For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. ¹¹ Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.

Holy Gospel

St. Luke 1:1-4

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, ² just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, ³ it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, ⁴ that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.

St. Luke 24:44-53

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶ and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, ⁴⁷ and that repentance and^[c] forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” ⁵⁰ Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. ⁵¹ While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. ⁵² And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, ⁵³ and were continually in the temple blessing God.

Collect

Almighty God, whose blessed Son called Saint Luke the physician to be an evangelist and physician of the soul, grant that the healing medicine of your Word and the sacraments may put to flight the diseases of our souls that with willing hearts we may ever love and serve you; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

St. Michael and All Angels - Sep. 29

September 29th is St. Michael and All Angels Day, or Michaelmas. The color around the main banner has been changed to white, to represent this day.

The Scriptures for St. Michael and All Angels are as follows:

Old Testament

Psalm 103:1-5, 20-22
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! ² Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, ³ who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, ⁴ who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, ⁵ who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's...²⁰ Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word! ²¹ Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will! ²² Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Daniel 10:10-14; 12:1-3

¹⁰ And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. ¹¹ And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. ¹² Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. ¹³ The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, ¹⁴ and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come.”

“At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. ² And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. ³ And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above;^[a] and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

Epistle

Revelation 12:7-12

⁷ Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, ⁸ but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. ⁹ And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. ¹⁰ And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers^[a] has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. ¹¹ And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. ¹² Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

Holy Gospel

Luke 10:17-20

¹⁷ The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” ¹⁸ And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹ Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. ²⁰ Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

And on this day we pray:

O everlasting God, whose wise planning has ordained and constituted the ministry of men and angels in a wonderful order, mercifully grant that, as your holy angels always serve you in heaven, so by your appointment they may also help and defend us here on earth; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

St. Matthew. The Word Creates Faith

Tomorrow is St. Matthew's Day. The Scriptures don't say a whole lot about St. Matthew, but I find one particular text about him to be very interesting.

St. Matthew 9:9: As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

This looks innocent enough. It's a short verse that talks about Jesus calling St. Matthew to follow Him. But look at this little verse more closely. It actually gives us some interesting insight.

Jesus said: “Follow me.”

And St. Matthew got up and followed Him.

Just like that.

Here is this man, Jesus, whom St. Matthew may or may not have known about. It was near the beginning of Christ's public ministry, so he probably didn't know a lot about Jesus. And this verse doesn't say much or give us many details.

But what it does say is astounding. Jesus spoke, and St. Matthew got up and followed Him.

Isaiah, in the 53rd chapter of his book in the Old Testament, says that Jesus didn't look like a King, didn't look like anything special, and was nothing striking.

Isaiah 53:2: For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.

And here is St. Matthew, a tax collector, just getting on up and following Christ. He left his post and followed Christ.

Most people like to give St. Matthew the credit for having the insight to get up and follow Jesus. What faith St. Matthew conjured up! Jesus came by and St. Matthew was smart enough to get up right away and listen!

                           Nonsense. That is complete and utter nonsense.
 

St. Matthew really had no reason to follow Christ, at least from what the text says about him. This was a divine appointment. Jesus' timing was -and always is- perfect. The creative Word of God was spoken to St. Matthew, and St. Matthew got up and followed.

Get it? The creative Word of God, spoken directly by the Word - created faith in St. Matthew. If you think St. Matthew just had the foresight and the smarts to get up and follow this guy Jesus with little or no reason to, you're fooling yourself. If you're going to give credit where credit is due, and harmonize this with the rest of everything the New Teastament says about the origin and nature of faith, the credit, all of it, must lie with the creative Word of Jesus Christ.

The Christ gave St. Matthew His very Word; his own personal promise, invitation, and calling to come and follow Him as one of the chosen 12.

 

Jesus gives this to other people too. He gave it to the other apostles. He gave one to the thief on the cross, dying next to Him at Calvary. He still does it, in fact. Jesus promised the apostles that He would be with us always, even unto the end of the age. Yeah, He said that. It's in the Great Commission that St. Matthew records for us at the end of his Gospel.

 

St. Matthew 28:19-20: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

 

Jesus is with us always, to the end of the age. He gives us our own Word of promise too. He tells this to the apostles in the Great Commission. How is the risen Christ to give us our very own Word of promise that we are His?

                                                                  In our baptism.

 

In our baptism, Jesus unites us to Him. He washes us clean. He claims us. He says "you are mine." I wash you, I cleanse you, I claim you, I unite you to Me, I save you, in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Your baptism is not works, it's grace. It's regeneration, it's washing, it's being united to Christ, it's one of the means God uses to save you.

 

The Apostles who were inspired to pen Scripture clearly understood this. The epistles divinely interpret much of what Jesus' said for us. And when they talk about baptism, they are clear: it's God's work. He baptises us, and through this washing of water with the Word, He buries us with Christ, raises us in faith, and saves us.

Baptism, being a means of grace, creates faith in the recipient. We are indeed saved by grace through faith, as St. Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:8-9. That's what grace does. It saves us by creating faith in us. Baptism is grace; grace is mediated. Grace gives us the Word and works faith.

 

When Christ told the Apostles to make disciples by baptising and teaching, this is what He meant. Your baptism now saves you. Baptism is to be accompanied by teaching of the Word.

 

The Word creates faith. Baptism gives us the Word (Eph 5:26). So does teaching. So does preaching. So does the Eucharist.

 

You see, St. Matthew received His own divine Word from Christ in the flesh. Christ's Word created faith and St. Matthew got up and followed Him.

 

Jesus Christ is still giving us that divine Word today, through His means of grace.

 

Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you. (1 Peter 3:21)