The Sunday after New Year's, 2023

  

Bethany Lutheran Church 

Springdale, Arkansas

The Sunday after New Year

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

The Hymn #125     The Old Year Now Has Passed Away           

The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual       

The Gospel              

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #128           Brightest and Best  - Bishop Heber

 Suffering and Suffering-Together

The Communion Hymn #307          Draw Nigh and Take the Body of the Lord        

The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #657            Beautiful Savior    

Prayers and Announcements

• Randy Anderson's surgery was successful. 
• Doc Lito, Pastor K, Kermit Way, Callie.

1 Peter 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. 16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. 17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

Matthew 2:13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. 14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: 15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. 16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, 18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. 19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life. 21 And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: 23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

Suffering and Suffering-Together

1 Peter 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

Peter wrote this letter after Nero turned on the Christians as the scapegoat for the burning of Rome. Many at the time thought Nero was the arsonist, setting fires so he could build a grander city and glory for himself. The Emperor Nero was one of the most evil, corrupt, and vain rulers of the Roman Empire, though picking the worst one is a difficult matter. Scholars are divided.

The Christian Faith was suspect, because it thrived as a tiny minority. Judaism had an official status; the Christians were considered related but not approved. Therefore, there were many who opposed the Christians, not realizing that persecution spread the Faith across the Empire. 

Rome built a temple to all the gods - the Pantheon - and it is still standing. The religions of that age were completely corrupt and base, so Christianity seemed especially irritating to the masses.

As Jesus taught Peter and the disciples, unbelievers would hate and punish the little flocks of Christians. They were like sheep led to the slaughter. Since they had the Gospels and the Apostles, the early Christians were convinced of the Resurrection of Christ. They had the truth from the Apostles and the witnesses of the Resurrection of Christ.

The symbol of the fish comes from this era. If strangers met along the road, a Christian would draw half of a fish to see if the other one finished the drawing. If the second person drew it, the figure would indicate a message in the Greek initials IXTHUS - Jesus, the Son of God Savior.

Since they were suspect, it was not surprising that persecution could be unleashed on them. Likewise, today we should not be surprised that a pagan America hates the Christian faith and the unborn. Everything is seen in the opposite of our Constitution and religious heritage - evil is now good, and the only religion is all religions except Christianity.

13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

Sympathy literally means "suffering (pathos) with (sym)". Moreover, partakers of Christ means fellowshipping with Christ and His terrible trials and death. That is part of our early history of the English Bible. Tyndale had to work outside of England to print Bibles. It was the King's law that anyone translating the Bible into English would be killed. Tyndale was killed by a false friend and then burned at the stake to terrify anyone who might offend Henry VIII, the King of England.

When Tyndale learned of his Bible being burned, he said, "Maybe they will burn me, too." And yet, he never stopped his work. King James ordered a new English Bible because he hated the Geneva Bible (from Switzerland). The greatest language experts completed the task in seven years or less, and that KJV was almost completely Tyndale's work. Tyndale exemplified the early Christian motto - "the more you mow us down, the faster we grow." The more delicate version is "the blood of the martyrs is the sed of the Church."

What comes from eternity - the Son of God - will also remain throughout eternity. The Gospel spread throughout of the world through preaching and persecution both.

14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. 

I often quote Lenski, who taught at the seminary in Columbus, Ohio. His commentaries and some of his books still circulate. However, he was replaced by a Biblical professor who opposed inerrancy and taught the students error and apostasy.

Lenski is described by the current WELS seminarians as "wrong on justification," as though Justification by Faith were something evil. 

What mankind vilifies, God glorifies because it belongs to God. At any moment, it seems to be easy and good to go along with the gang. In the long run, eternal truths will always belong to God and last forever. That is why we give the same Bible to everyone, because it has the same truth and is most accurate. The King James does not play with words to satisfy the errors of heretics.

The Greek New Testament text of the newest Bibles (the Evil Four - RSV, NRSV, ESV, NIV) is almost exactly the same as the furtive, secretive Westcott-Hort, published 160 years ago). This makes me laugh - the secret Westcott-Hort, created for the failed KJV Revision - is constantly "improved" to get the precisely the same results!

15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters.

Peter warns his flock not to use persecution as an excuse to become lawless. That is the sure sign of apostasy. If one group is not happy, they begin fighting over minor matters because the basic doctrines are too scary. Pettiness leads to all kinds of useless stress. The model in the earliest days was to gather and sort out the truths from the Word alone. Chemnitz has a moving passage where he described the leaders walking around with the manuscripts, saying "These are only sources. When the water is muddy, go to the source of the spring, where it is clearest."

16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. 17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Almost daily we read of giant churches where the leadership work against the Scriptures to be more glorious. Fuller Seminary deals with students who deny the ordination of women and repudiate the inerrancy of the Bible. Willow Creek in Chicago would not purchase Bibles unless they were feminist, even though the founder was chasing women. 

The time has come, as Peter warned.

18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

A large number of the faithful will replicate the faith in the believers. If everyone adopts an Anything Goes attitude, apostasy will spread and become absolutely against the Christian Faith.

We have a faithful revelation of God's truth. Some of us were aware when the Virgin Birth was denied by the RSV. Much more has happened since. Faith means believing what God has passed on down through the ages.