Wisdom from Above
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Warning Against Worldliness
4 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

4 The Lord God has given me
    the tongue of those who are taught,
that I may know how to sustain with a word
    him who is weary.
Morning by morning he awakens;
    he awakens my ear
    to hear as those who are taught.
5 The Lord God has opened my ear,
    and I was not rebellious;
    I turned not backward.
6 I gave my back to those who strike,
    and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;
I hid not my face
    from disgrace and spitting.
7 But the Lord God helps me;
    therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like a flint,
    and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
8     He who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
    Let us stand up together.
Who is my adversary?
    Let him come near to me.
9 Behold, the Lord God helps me;
    who will declare me guilty?
Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment;
    the moth will eat them up.
10 Who among you fears the Lord
    and obeys the voice of his servant?
Let him who walks in darkness
    and has no light
trust in the name of the Lord
    and rely on his God.

1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

What Defiles a Person
14 And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15 There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” 17 And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
    They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
    there is none who does good.
2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,
    to see if there are any who understand,[a]
    who seek after God.
3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
    there is none who does good,
    not even one.
4 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers
    who eat up my people as they eat bread
    and do not call upon the Lord?
5 There they are in great terror,
    for God is with the generation of the righteous.
6 You would shame the plans of the poor,
    but[b] the Lord is his refuge.
7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
    When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,
    let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Ephesians 5:6-21
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

“Awake, O sleeper,
    and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”

15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Revive Us Again
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.
85 Lord, you were favorable to your land;
    you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;
    you covered all their sin. Selah
3 You withdrew all your wrath;
    you turned from your hot anger.
4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
    and put away your indignation toward us!
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
    Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
6 Will you not revive us again,
    that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,
    and grant us your salvation.
8 Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
    for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;
    but let them not turn back to folly.
9 Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,
    that glory may dwell in our land.
10 Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;
    righteousness and peace kiss each other.
11 Faithfulness springs up from the ground,
    and righteousness looks down from the sky.
12 Yes, the Lord will give what is good,
    and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before him
    and make his footsteps a way.

26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.

16 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.

The Work of the Holy Spirit
“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
    a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
    of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
7 And he will swallow up on this mountain
    the covering that is cast over all peoples,
    the veil that is spread over all nations.
8     He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
    and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
    for the Lord has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day,
    “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
    This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
    let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

Jesus Delivered to Pilate
15 And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate. 2 And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” 3 And the chief priests accused him of many things. 4 And Pilate again asked him, “Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.” 5 But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified
6 Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. 7 And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. 8 And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. 9 And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. 12 And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” 13 And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” 14 And Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” 15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked
16 And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. 17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.

The Crucifixion
21 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. 22 And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 25 And it was the third hour when they crucified him. 26 And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.”

27 And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. 29 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31 So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.

The Death of Jesus
33 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

40 There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.

Jesus Is Buried
42 And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. 45 And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. 46 And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.

Beth
9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
    By guarding it according to your word.
10 With my whole heart I seek you;
    let me not wander from your commandments!
11 I have stored up your word in my heart,
    that I might not sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, O Lord;
    teach me your statutes!
13 With my lips I declare
    all the rules of your mouth.
14 In the way of your testimonies I delight
    as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on your precepts
    and fix my eyes on your ways.
16 I will delight in your statutes;
    I will not forget your word.

By Grace Through Faith

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

At our weekly staff meeting this Wednesday morning, we were discussing John 12:20-36. We were particularly struck by the words of Jesus in verses 24-25.

24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

In our world, it is impossible for life to exist without the death of another. Perhaps most obviously, we must kill animals before butchering them and using them for meals. But even individual stalks of corn are alive and they must go to their own death before we are able to enjoy the fruits that they provide. Jesus points to the idea that the Christian life is the same way: We must enter into the death of Christ before we can receive his life. This happens for the Christian in their baptism.

Yet, Pastor Simonson asked a thought-provoking question, “Are there going to be seasons in heaven?” He went on to explain that he doesn’t think there can be in the same way as here, because even our seasons are built on the constant cycle of death and life that our world experiences. It is this same cycle that would lead many Eastern religions to generate the idea of samsara or reincarnation. Yet, as Christians, we do not believe that we will die many times, but live forever in a place without death! What will it be like? God has promised us a marriage feast, how will we eat without killing anything?

There’s an excellent book that points to the inherent tension and discomfort that can be found in observing the necessity of death that is built into creation. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard is an account of a woman reflecting on creation as she walks and observes a small creek near her home. How many tadpoles must perish in order for the frogs to sing in the summertime? How many baby rabbits must be eaten to provide the sustenance for a fox’s den? Fallen logs become homes for fish and turtles. Yet, for Annie, God has still created an unimaginably beautiful world teeming with life in spite of the death.

As fallen creatures living within a fallen world, it is impossible for us to imagine a world without the need for constant consumption and, ultimately, death on every level. Yet Scripture promises that God’s kingdom in the new creation (not a cloudy heaven but a new Earth!) will have no death or tears and that God himself will provide for his people. It describes the garden-city of Jerusalem having a river of life with trees that provide fruit in every season (Rev. 22:1-5). Just as some trees in this world give us the gift of fruit freely, God will provide life in abundance in the new creation. Just as Jesus says in that John 12 passage, “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.” The ruler of our world now is Death and its consuming appetite. But, our new world will be ruled by Jesus, the Lord of Life. He will walk with us and give us life forever! It's not possible for us to get a good enough picture of eternal life, but I am certain that we will not be dissapointed!

Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
    and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

There is a quiet beauty to the harvested fields of late Autumn and early Spring. I think it’s something about the earth being done with its work for the year and settling in for a deep sleep. In the early spring of 2020, I was a first year student at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis and we had been told to leave campus in the initial craziness of the pandemic. For the next couple of months, I would live on my grandparent’s farm in Northwest Iowa. I clearly remember driving from St. Louis to the farm and seeing how empty the roads were. It felt like I would drive for hours without sight of another soul. The combination of the pandemic and empty roads made for a surreal drive, like something out of an apocalyptic movie. One thing I did notice, though, was all of the birds picking away at the fields that had been revealed by the freshly melted snow. I remember thinking to myself how strange it was that the birds were continuing their lives like there was nothing wrong. Didn’t they know that the world was ending!? It was a great comfort in the stress and anxieties of that time. God’s good creation would continue to run just like it had been designed: the sun would continue to rise, the dried up plants would once again bloom into spring flowers, and the birds would continue to peck.

That experience reminds of something Jesus told to his followers about human anxiety and worries. At the end of Matthew chapter 6, Jesus tells his followers that they should not be worried about their own lives. Well, that’s easy enough to say! Our world and lives are constantly filled with such anxieties and fears. Modern generations are being defined by the anxiety they experience at life in this world. What alternative does Jesus suggest? He points us to look at the world around us. God continuously provides for his creation. He tells them to look at the birds. Birds do not plant and harvest crops, but God feeds them anyway. Flowers do not work and they live for only a little while each year, yet they are dressed colorfully and will beautify our world every spring. God will continue to provide for you as well. Our human anxieties do not change the truth about our world: that God remains in control and provides for all life. By seeking God’s kingdom, and his righteousness, we understand that there is a promise from God embedded at the very core of our natural world.

At my grandparent’s farm, I had a front row view of spring. Early plants would shiver through late snowfalls, the timber would slowly fill up with green and the sounds of life, flowers would bloom in the prairies. At the time, we noticed in our Covid-filled, human world that life would begin to emerge as well. People began to venture from their homes, back to friends, work, and church. Life and the natural cycles of our world would continue as they always have. When God revealed his name to Moses at the burning bush as the great “I AM,” he was even giving a promise in that name. God is eternally present-tense. He is the eternal creator of our world and will never disappear. The natural world that he created was designed with the intention of continuing. Slow down, notice the world around you. Observe as the natural world points to an eternal truth: life will not be stopped by death. Look at the birds and listen to their praise for life and their Creator!

Lent is a season of the Church Year in which Christians pursue a life of repentance, self-denial, and reorientation toward Christ with greater vigor than other times of the year.  Three spiritual disciplines that receive special attention during Lent are prayer, fasting, and giving to the poor (also called almsgiving).
 
Lutherans joyfully embrace the faith-building exercises of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving because this is the pattern of Christian life that has been given to us in Holy Scripture.  Jesus teaches us in Matthew chapter six: “When you give to the needy […],” “When you pray […],” and “When you fast […].”  This tells us that Jesus assumes that charity, prayer, and fasting will be a part of our Christian life.
 
Jesus, and His apostles after Him, give us a number of specific instructions regarding how we pray, fast, and give alms.  However, many of the details of how we practice these spiritual disciplines are left in the realm of Christian freedom.  This means that we are free to pursue a life of prayer, fasting, and charity in ways that are most beneficial to our own congregations and our own personal faith.
 
I am hopeful that the following guide to the traditional Lenten spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving will help you explore how you might exercise your faith this Lenten season in a way which helps you grow in faith toward God and in love toward one another.
 
PRAYER
 
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
     And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”  - Matthew 6:5-8
 
The benefits of prayer for your faith need little explanation. However, getting started in a habit of prayer can be difficult. Here are a few suggestions as you begin or seek to improve your practice of prayer this Lent:
  
FASTING
 
“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”  - Matthew 6:16-18
 
The discipline of fasting is typically less familiar to us than prayer or almsgiving, but it too is a beneficial tool for our faith. Fasting in any capacity helps you to fight the sin of gluttony and trains your self-control. The hunger that fasting produces also gives you the chance to reflect on your mortal nature, remembering that man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God.  Thus fasting helps us direct our hunger away from the bread of the world and toward the Bread of Life served at our Lord’s Supper.  
 
Here are a few options for you to consider for a Lenten fast:
  
ALMSGIVING
 
“When you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”  - Matthew 6:2-4
 
The three Christian disciplines of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving work well together because when you fast you have more time to pray and more money to give to the poor, and when you pray you are moved to show mercy to those for whom you pray.
 
The practice known as giving alms involves making a special point to give money or service to a person or charity in need in addition to your normal tithe to God in the offering plate.  Rather than waiting for a special need to arise, try this Lent to seek out somewhere to direct your alms.
 
Here are some ideas of places toward which you could direct your alms:
  
God be with you as these three spiritual disciplines given by our Lord of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving bless your faith in Christ alone whose death on the cross won for us forgiveness, life, and salvation.
 
Joy in Christ,
Pastor Thomas Cowell
Lententide, Anno Domini 2023

Today is Ash Wednesday in the Church Year.  If you know anything about the season of Lent or about Ash Wednesday, you likely know that this is the day in which some Christians choose to have ashes placed on their forehead in the form of a cross.  In our congregations, as the pastor places the ashes upon the people he says: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”  For us Christians these ashes are a sign of our sinful condition before the Lord.  Because of the sin which we inherited from our first parents, Adam and Eve, and the sins which we presently commit, we who in the beginning were formed from the dust of the earth will return in death to the dust from which we were made.  Even among those who do not yet know the Lord, death and our return to dust is a sure sign from creation itself that something isn’t right.  If life and all of its associated blessings are our goal, clearly something is not going according to plan.  The ashes are the Christian’s confession that our sins, our rebellion against God, and God’s righteous judgment of death upon us is that which was not a part of God’s original plan for us.
 
Ash Wednesday and the entire Lenten season, however, is not only a season of repentance.  In fact, Lent is predominantly a season of faith, as are all the seasons of the Church Year.  We place ashes on our heads as a sign of repentance of our sins, but we receive these ashes in the form of a cross as a sign of faith in Him who takes away the sins of the world.  We believe that Jesus, the perfect and eternal Son of God, was sent to us by the love of the Father so that all who believe in Him would not perish but have eternal life.  Surely Jesus is for us He who was prophesied by Isaiah, whoIn other words, Jesus entered the ashes of death and judgment on the cross for us, so that He might raise us up out of the ashes and into life with Him.
 
The ashes and the cross together, then, are the sign of our Lenten season and of our life in Christ as a whole.  Daily do we remember our sins in the ashes, and daily do we rejoice in our new life of forgiveness which blossoms from the cross of Christ.  Thus while the ashes and the sign of the cross are helpful outward signs which direct our faith to Jesus, even without them on our forehead we understand that the repentance and faith of our Christian life is something that happens within us.  Our Old Testament Scripture reading for today comes from the prophecy of Joel, a portion of which says:The fasting and ashes and solemnity of Ash Wednesday and Lent are only representative of the true turning away from sin which happens in our hearts.  This is the genuine repentance which our Lord loves to see and to answer by His grace so that we may have full confidence through His Word that our sins are forgiven in Christ and that eternal life is ours in His name.

God bless you at the beginning of this Lenten season.  Be sure to check out our Partnership Lent and Easter worship schedule at church.  If there is any way I can be of any assistance to you in your walk with Christ during this special time of year, don’t hesitate to reach out or stop in.  

Joy in Christ,
Pastor Thomas Cowell
Ash Wednesday, Anno Domini 2023

Our Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. Bible study at Trinity just ventured into an ongoing study on Biblical interpretation.  The length and diversity of literary styles in the Bible is enough to make it an intimidating book to read.  Add to this the fact that our life depends on rightly believing in its message and the Bible can be a downright terrifying book to read and attempt to interpret!

Therefore, our Bible study class has set out to learn a few key principles and techniques on how to rightly handle the Word of truth.  As a beginning effort, I've collected a few affirmations that a Christian can remember as he opens the Bible and begins to read.  It is my hope that these affirmations will help the reader feel confident that he is understanding the Word of God in a right and faithful way.  Also note that this list is a work in progress!  We began in class with ten affirmations and ended up adding two more to make twelve.  We joked that the list should probably have a biblical number of affirmations, so if we add any more we'll probably need to get up to forty!

I encourage you to read the following affirmations and try them out for yourself the next time you read a passage from the Bible.  Then, if you can think of any more points to keep in mind while you interpret Scripture be sure to email them to me - they might just make the list!  Also, if you are interested in learning more, feel free to join us any time in the Trinity Life Center conference room every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.! 

On this the Nativity of our Lord
We sing praise to the one of blessed birth
With a joy that extends past common words
To God Himself, made man to dwell on earth.

By the love of God that first Christmas day
The Son, the Word through whom all things were made
Was virgin-born child asleep on the hay, 
Born among sinners to come to our aid.

To think, the one who first ruled from on high
Would for us be made so humble and low,
Not just in manger, but on cross to die
So that grace and truth may to all be known.



Yet Christmas joy lasts not one day or hour,
As if Christ is left to one time or place. 
When dried up is every branch and flower,
Jesus is present with unending grace. 

For what box with bow which sits by the tree 
Can match the gift of Christ’s Word for us preached, 
And His body and blood given for free 
Who by faith is always for us in reach.

Today and beyond, then, let us receive
Christ our Lord, born in flesh, embodied Love, 
And not doubt or deny what we believe: 
That Christ is with us, on earth and above. 

Our Hymn of the Month for December, Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates, is a beautiful collection of Advent texts and themes.  The title and first stanza of the hymn comes from Psalm 24 in which David says:Yet although the incarnate Christ is most certainly the LORD, mighty in battle, and the King of Glory, stanza 2 of the hymn proclaims that for our sake: “His chariot is humility, / His kingly crown is holiness, / His scepter, pity in distress.”

Zechariah 9:9 is another Advent text that echoes throughout the hymn.  Here the prophet Zechariah records:As we wait to celebrate the coming of our Lord in Bethlehem humbly in a manger, we have in mind His greater arrival in Jerusalem, humble and mounted on a donkey, to die on the cross for the sins of the world.  This is what makes the Triumphal Entry of Jesus such a powerful Gospel lesson for the First Sunday in Advent.

In the season of Advent we celebrate our Lord’s arrival in human flesh for our salvation as well as arrival among us as He delivers His salvation to us by means of the Word and Sacraments.  It is fitting, then, that this Advent hymn instructs us in stanza 4 to: “Fling wide the portals of your heart; / Make it a temple set apart [...].” We likewise pray in stanza 5: “Redeemer, come and open wide / My heart to Thee; here, Lord, abide!”

The third of Christ’s Advents is one for which we still wait: His return on the Last Day to take us with Him to the New Creation.  As we look forward to this great Day we conclude the hymn with the Advent prayer: “Thy Holy Spirit guide us on / Until our glorious goal is won.”

God bless you as you sing our Hymn of the Month this season of Advent!


^{Used throughout this devotion is content from: Lutheran Service Book: Companion to the Hymns, Vol. 1 (CPH: 2019), p. 26-29.}

Last year’s buzzword around the Thanksgiving table – whether that was a physical or virtual table – was, no doubt, Covid.  While the pandemic continues to be a hot topic of conversation, a new and somewhat related buzzword might just take its place this Thanksgiving: supply-chain!

As eager shoppers map out their Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday game plan in an effort to get all the Christmas gifts crossed off their list, a new obstacle stands in their way.  We’ve always had to deal with heavy traffic and long lines during the holidays.  There is also the problem of finding that perfect gift for your hard-to-please family member.  On top of all those issues, this year all of us amateur economists and logisticians are also closely watching, waiting, and fretting about America’s stalled supply chain.  Will my gift make it out of port?  Will my gift make it on the truck?  Will my gift make it into my shopping cart or onto my front porch? How much more will all of this cost?  What if the gifts I want to buy are simply unavailable this year?

Before you let supply chain issues ruin your Thanksgiving and holiday season, remember these two simple yet important facts about the Advent and Christmas holiday we are about to enter.  First, remember that gifts do not make Christmas; Christ makes Christmas.  I am by no means an "anti-gifter".  Giving gifts is a great way to remind friends and family of the Christmas gift of our newborn Savior and to express our love and friendship toward them.  Even the magi brought the toddler Jesus “Christmas” gifts to honor him as Lord and King.  However, had the magi faced a major supply chain issue in the gold, frankincense, and myrrh market they still would have brought their joyful hearts to Bethlehem as they bowed down to worship Jesus – and that would have been enough.  If your favorite gift is not available in stores or online this year, that’s okay.  You still love your friends and you still love Jesus.  You can communicate these facts with or without gifts.

Secondly, while electronics, toys, and ugly sweaters might be stuck in a shipping container off the coast of California this December, remember that Christ is never in short supply.  In fact, the supply chain between Jesus and you couldn’t be more reliable.  You don’t have to worry about cargo ships or semi-trucks or store hours.  Any time you would like to receive Jesus you can fold your hands in prayer, open God’s Holy Word, remember your Baptism, hear the words of Holy Absolution and of preaching, and eat and drink the Lord’s Supper.  These gifts of God, especially as you receive them among the congregation of the saints, is your direct supply chain to Christ and His forgiveness, life, and salvation for you.  Free delivery.  No shortages.  No supply chain issues.  No delays.  This Thanksgiving, Advent, and Christmas season Christ our incarnate, crucified, and risen Savior is available and ready to deliver Himself to you: abundantly, often, and forever by faith in Him.  

Our Hymn of the Month for November, Lift High the Cross, is actually a combination of two separate hymns from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Paul J Cain, in Lutheran Service Book: Companion to the Hymns, gives a thoughtful devotional description of the themes and theology of each stanza of Lift High the Cross.  The following is a direct quotation of Cain’s article:
 
------------------------------------------------------------------

God be with you as our Hymn of the Month inspires you to proclaim the love of Christ our crucified Savior to all people!


^{1. Paul J Cain, Lutheran Service Book: Companion to the Hymns, Vol. 1 (CPH: 2019), p. 1278-1279.} 

Lift High the Cross, LSB 837





 
5
Let ev’ry race and ev’ry language tell
Of Him who saves our lives from death and hell. Refrain
 
6
So shall our song of triumph ever be:
Praise to the Crucified for victory! Refrain


_{Tune and text: © 1974 Hope Publishing Co.
Used by permission: LSB Hymn License no. 110001794}

While our hymn of the month: Rise, My Soul, to Watch and Pray is listed in the “Church Militant” section of Lutheran Service Book, the hymn would find perhaps an even better fit in the “End Times” category.

The two Scripture references to which the title of the hymn relates the most includes the Parable of the Ten Virgins from Matthew 25, which Jesus concludes by saying: “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour (Mt. 25:13).” We can also call to mind Jesus’ words to Peter, James, and John in the Garden of Gethsemane when He says: “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (Mt. 26:41).”  

As is a common occurrence in the life of a hymn, the original ten stanzas of Rise, My Soul, to Watch and Pray have been condensed down to five in our Lutheran Service Book.  A sad casualty of this abbreviation is the loss of a strong sense of Judgement Day looming behind the hymn’s exhortation to pray and stand watch against the enemies of the devil, the world, and our own sinful nature.  In order to give you a sense of the message the original German hymn proclaimed, I have put into verse the original stanzas 2, 3, and 10 (with translating help from Google Translate, since I am virtually illiterate in the German language!).  Note that in the original the first two stanzas would follow stanza 1 of our English hymn, and stanza 10 would have been last.
 
2
If remains the sleep of sin                            
     And your light is darkened,                        
The race of faith you won’t win                  
     When Christ’s judgement hearkens.          
            Hell and death                                                  
            With no rest                                                    
     God commands to follow                            
     Those whose faith is hollow.                        

3
Wake, instead, and look to Him
     The true light who lightens:
Christ, supplying faith to them
     Who are then enlightened
           To receive
           And not leave
     God’s grace or be taken
     By sin, world, or Satan.

10
And while praying, know this well:
     Christ comes with direction
At the final trumpet swell
     To give to destruction
           The whole earth,
           And give birth
     To a world unbroken
     Where our eyes keep open.


God be with you as you sing and grow in faith from this hymn of the month!


^{Used throughout this devotion  is content from Lutheran Service Book: Companion to the Hymns, Vol. 1 (CPH: 2019), p. 856-861. The three hymn stanzas translated via Google Translate and put to verse by Pastor Cowell may be freely distributed to the glory of God.}

Harvest is here, and so begins our season of thanksgiving to the Lord of the harvest Himself!  Sights of combines, grain trucks, and emptying fields can direct our minds toward God and His love and care for us in so many different ways.

Consider this small sample of the many verses of Holy Scripture related to the harvest of grain:

• And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. - Genesis 1:11-13

• [God said to Noah after the Flood:] "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” - Genesis 8:22

• "The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God." - Exodus 23:19

• For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

• [Jesus said, concerning the parable of the wheat and the tares]: “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear." - Matthew 13:37-43

• He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. - 2 Corinthians 9:10

Creation. God's providence. Offering thanksgiving to God. Judgement Day. The good fruit produced by the Word.  These are just a few of the doctrines the Holy Spirit teaches us in Scripture through the imagery and experience of the yearly harvest.

Not only does harvest time bring to our minds many great passages and teachings of Scripture; harvest also brings to our lips many great hymns of the Church!  There are four great hymns in our Lutheran Service Book in the "Harvest and Thanksgiving" section that you can be singing in the combine or as you watch the hoppers fill up from afar.  These are:
I also want to share a few harvest hymns that risk becoming forgotten treasures of Lutheran history.  The first is the hymn To Thee, O Lord, Our Hearts We Raise, #573 in The Lutheran Hymnal.  This hymn moves beautifully from thanksgiving over the harvest of corn in front of us, to the firstfruits of the harvest of resurrection in Jesus Christ the Bread of Life, to the great harvest field of the New Creation on the Last Day.  Here are the lyrics:
Next I want to share with you hymn 571 from TLH, What Our Father Does Is Well.  This harvest hymn is unique in that it is a hymn of thanksgiving set in the context of a disappointing harvest season.  The hymn reminds us that even when the Lord causes a year of low yields, He is still worthy of all honor, praise, and trust.  Here are the lyrics:
Lastly I'd like to share a hymn found outside of our Synod's hymnals, yet a popular song throughout the Christian Church.  That hymn is We Plow the Fields and Scatter.  I was first introduced to this hymn at the funeral service of Marv Hackbarth, a long-time agricultural worker and man of God.  This hymn confesses with simplicity and wisdom that the harvest we see before us is a direct result of God's almighty and loving hand working to sustain us and His creation.  Here are those lyrics:
God be with you as you pray, praise, and give thanks to the Lord of the harvest this fall.  May God bless our farmers with a safe and bounteous harvest, and may God bless us all with faith in Jesus Christ so that we would be found worthy to join Him at the eternal harvest feast which shall have no end.


Pastor Thomas Cowell
+ Autumn, Anno Domini 2021 +

Lutheran Service Book: Companion to the Hymns records that O God, My Faithful God: 
The text for the hymn was modeled after a poem/prayer written by a sixteenth century nobleman from Holstein. Nevertheless, the words of the hymn directly apply to the life circumstances of Heermann, and more generally to the lives of all Christians. 

Heermann, who suffered from physical sickness, prays in stanza one that God care for his needs both of body and soul:Although Heermann was no longer even physically able to preach the sermons he wrote, he also prays in stanza three that God would guard him from speaking hurtful, idle, or offensive words when he “must and ought to speak”.

As the Thirty Years’ War made enemies between denominations, territories, and even households, Heermann prays in stanza four:Likewise, while during the Thirty Years War up to sixty percent of populations in certain areas of Germany died of violence, sickness, or famine, Heermann faithfully prays in the final two stanzas that God would in the end give him a blessed death, a peaceful sleep in the grave, and a joyful resurrection to eternal life.

Although your Christian life is not likely as turbulent and full of suffering as that of our hymn writer, surely our Hymn of the Month: O God, My Faithful God can become a regular prayer of faith for you as you look to God for every good gift of body and soul.


_{Used throughout the devotion is content from Lutheran Service Book: Companion to the Hymns, Vol. 1 (CPH: 2019), p. 939-943.}

O God, My Faithful God, LSB 696



 
5
Let me depart this life
    Confiding in my Savior;  
By grace receive my soul
    That it may live forever;  
And let my body have
    A quiet resting place    
Within a Christian grave;
    And let it sleep in peace.

6
And on that final day
    When all the dead are waking,
Stretch out Your mighty hand,
    My deathly slumber breaking.
Then let me hear Your voice,
    Redeem this earthly frame,
And bid me to rejoice
    With those who love Your name.

^{Tune and Text: Public Domain}