The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity, 2023
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The Hymn # 334 - Let Me Be Thine Forever - Selnecker, Concordist
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
Introit
Say unto my soul, I am thy Salvation: The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth.
He delivereth them out of their troubles: He is their God forever and ever.
Psalm. Give ear, O My people, to My Law:
incline your ears to the words of My mouth.
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
Collect
O almighty and most merciful God, of Thy bountiful goodness keep us, we beseech Thee, from all things that may hurt us, that we, being ready, both in body and soul, may cheerfully accomplish those things that Thou wouldst have done; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.
The Epistle and Gradual
Gradual
Let my prayer be set forth before Thee as incense:
and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
V. Oh, sing unto the Lord a new song: for He hath done marvelous things. Hallelujah!
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #370 My Hope Is Built
Your Sins Are Forgiven Through Faith
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 #261 Luther - Lord Keep Us Steadfast
Our Prayers and Announcements
- In treatment - Lori Howell, Sarah Buck, Kermit Way, Pastor Shrader, Doc Lito Cruz, Callie (seizures), Aaron (rare disorder, surgery, beaming smile).
- Flowers for Brett and Amy Meyer's 34th anniversary last week, Michael and Amanda Meyer Oak second anniversary tomorrow.
- Pastor Jackson's 75th birthday today, Platinum Silver Sneakers Award.
Nineteenth Sunday After Trinity
O mighty and everlasting God, who by Thy Son Jesus Christ didst mercifully help the palsied man both in body and soul: We beseech Thee, for the sake of Thy great mercy: Be gracious also unto us; forgive us all our sins, and so govern us by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may not ourselves be the cause of sickness and other afflictions; keep us in Thy fear, and strengthen us by Thy grace that we may escape temporal and eternal wrath and punishment, through Thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.KJV Ephesians 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. 26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27 Neither give place to the devil. 28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
KJV Matthew 9:1 And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. 2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. 3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. 4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? 5 For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? 6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. 7 And he arose, and departed to his house. 8 But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.
Your Sins Are Forgiven Through Faith
KJV Matthew 9:1 And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. 2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.
The healing miracles of Jesus have various settings, which give us a different emphasis or perspective. Every detail matters in a story so brief. First of all, we are told that friends brought this man to Jesus. That means they already had so profound a faith that they carried him to give their friend a miracle of healing. "Faith comes by hearing the report" (Isaiah 53 and Romans 10) and doubtless they heard about Jesus' healing ministry and already believed in Him as the Savior. No matter how far they carried and helped him, they exhausted their efforts. Who would not give up and say, "We tried but it was too far" or "We wanted to get you closer but the crowd was too great." A short distance anywhere would be tough, on a sunshiny day, it would be torture.
On the other hand, they suffered with (sym-pathy, suffer with) their friend and wanted him to enjoy the same life they enjoyed. Others may have flocked to Jesus out of curiosity. They wanted to give their handicapped friend a new life and did whatever they could to let him be blessed by Jesus Christ.
I have known the daughter of my father's landlord since high school, over 50 years. Her daughter's son Aaron was born with a very rare disorder - so he is very fragile. " the ablation caused his heart rate to drop substantially and they could not get it back up." He entered the hospital for heart surgery and everyone worried and prayed for him in the Name of Christ. Many of us checked in to add more prayers for Aaron and his family. Yesterday he not only responded well to the heart surgery but came home grinning.
There are many miracles that happen continuously and many we get to see ourselves if we only open our eyes. Jesus saw the faith of the friends (1) and said to the paralytic (2) "Do not worry son, your sins are taken away from you."
The power of the Word of Christ cheered the man and healed the paralytic at once.
3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. 4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
This reminded me, in a small way, of how Lutherans pastors have responded to Lutheran quotations on Ichabod. One said, responding earlier to the very high page counts, "That's only because you copied Luther's Sermons into the blog!" Others said, "You quoted Roman Catholic dogma, which is why that is the page with the most readers!" I only had two responses to them . One was that no one else was quoting Luther. The other was that no one was writing about problems with Roman Catholic dogma.
Jesus knew what was in the hearts of the friends and the paralytic, but also within the hearts of the scribes. The friends and paralytic had faith; the scribes had evil. That should make all the difference in the world, whether we think about heavenly things or about going against the Gospel.
5 For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? 6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.
Every point of the Gospel is attacked over time. Some said, in the Jewish Encyclopedia, "The rabbis also performed healing miracles." Others said, "When the sick felt good they displayed their faith in Jesus - it was not a miracle." Others claimed, "If you have the power of positive thinking, you can do anything." (Schuller's Crystal Cathedral is now a Catholic Cathedral.) Still others claimed the "Son of Man" was not Jesus but another figure. The lady professor who reversed her opinion on that topic was canned by her prestigious English university - for agreeing with the Scriptures.
I am going over those alternatives to show how people have gone against the clear teaching of the Scriptures, especially in the name of academic theology. They show how the Word hardens their hearts, and they pay a terrible price for that (though often quite comfortable to be on the side of apostasy).
Jesus told the paralytic to rise up, take up his cot, and carry it to his house. That was not so much for him but for the crowd and the skeptics. However, it must have felt good. The Bible often provides a visual example for the lesson. A man is carried or dragged or helped to see Jesus - he is absolved of sin and walks away with the burdensome cot in his arms.
7 And he arose, and departed to his house. 8 But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.
As Luther said, many hear about Jesus and know something about Him, but faith is utter trust in Him. Likewise, many wear the robes and heavy crosses, and brandish their titles, but they do that to lord it over others. In the Greek New Testament, Jesus' own words, the word "lord" is also the verb "lord," and we still use both today. The synod presidents, district presidents, circuit pastors, and bishops lord it over others, saying "I have this office from God, so you must obey me." One pastor said this quite plainly, "I cannot disagree with the circuit pastor, because the Holy Spirit elected him." (or should I write Him?) It is much easier to bully than to teach according to the Word of God. False teaching is not improved if someone has the office of teaching. All those who say they teach the Word of God must also subordinate themselves to that Word.
Jesus said, 1. Be of good cheer and 2. Your sins are forgiven. because forgiveness of sin is the greatest of all blessings. That is why we confess our sins, speak what we believe, and receive the visible Means of Grace in Holy Communion. I often borrow this from Luther because it is so significant. The sermon can float over our heads and be only partially grasped. But the elements of Holy Communion, the consecrated bread and wine, are distributed individually and cannot be ignored. They not only connect us with the Last Supper but also with the special meal before the Israelites left for the Promised Land. Everything in the Exodus is centered in the Son of God - the Son of God speaking from the Burning Bush (Exodus 3), the blood on the doorposts, the innocent lamb, the cloud and fire leading them, the bread from heaven, the water from the rock, the Commandments, and the bronze serpent (John 3:16; Numbers 21).
Grace comes to us through faith in Jesus Christ, nowhere else, and it is not partial or temporary.
KJV Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Romans 5
Justified by faith means declared innocent by faith, and therefore we have peace with God. Faith appears in two verses together - justified by faith having peace - and also access by faith into this grace.
Romans 4
Imputed means counted22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
The End
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