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Isaiah 55:10-13; 2 Corinthians 11:19—12:9; St. Luke 8:4-15
It is a happy coincidence that today’s OT reading begins by mentioning the snow that comes down from heaven. When we have a heavy snowfall like this, it forces everything to slow down, and makes the world quiet for a time. A prayer for the end of the day makes reference to the end of our life, when the fever of life is over and the busy world is hushed. When everything (except Divine Service, of course!) is cancelled, it gives us a taste of that hushing of the busy world. When that final hushing comes, only one thing will matter, holding on to the Word. And only one division will be made: those who put their trust in the Word’s promises, and those who put their trust instead in the empty promises of devil, world, and flesh. read more…
From tomorrow’s (Sexagesima) Epistle, 2 Cor. 11:19—12:9
A thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me,“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
I love this line from Megan McArdle:
I have many flaws. There is no need to go fabricating imaginary ones.
Originally posted here.
Just because I quit Facebook doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy Failbooking. How’d you like to be this girl’s dad?
Source: Failbooking
On Sunday, February 7, Scripture Study and Sunday School are cancelled at Immanuel. Divine Service will be held at 10 a.m.
Volunteers are invited to come early on Sunday morning and help clear snow. Please bring a shovel if possible. Don’t worry about usual church attire – be warm and comfortable.
I’ve been really getting into Pandora lately. If you don’t know about Pandora, it’s a free Internet music service that taps into the “Music Genome” project. Unlike Last.fm (another interesting music service), which utilizes social filtering, Pandora takes into account the music’s characteristics (instrumentation, rhythm, tempo, and on and on – nearly 400 different attributes or “genes”). You can create up to 100 different stations of your own. You start by “seeding” your stations with a particular song, artist, or composer, and Pandora will play similar music. You can then further refine your stations by giving it a thumbs up or down. You can also add variety to each station by adding additional “seed” songs, artists, or composers.
One of my favorite modern composers is Arvo Pärt. My “Arvo Pärt Radio” station not only gives me some of my favorite Pärt pieces, but also some new performances on recordings I do not own, and more interestingly, it’s been introducing me to other composers such as Henryk Gorecki that I wasn’t very familiar with, and Phillip Glass, whom I had thoroughly written off. Some of his work is quite interesting!
I’ve built a “Study” station (for when I’m working on a sermon, etc.) seeded by Pange Lingua and the piano music of Erik Satie. It’s perfect.
Some other stations I’ve built I’ve titled Cool Jazz, Modern Jazz, Progressive Rock, Quirky Girls, and Lutheran Composers.
Check it out. No matter what kind of music you like, it’s loads of fun, especially if you already enjoyed building smart playlists in iTunes or using the Genius feature.
Last night (Wednesday, Feb. 3) we transferred the Presentation/Purification feast from its proper date, Feb. 2. Below is the sermon I preached at the Divine Service.
Brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, yesterday was the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord and the Purification of Mary, for it was the fortieth day of Christmas, forty days from the celebration of Christ’s birth. The word “purification” refers to the Levitical law requiring women to remain secluded after childbirth—forty days after the birth of a male child, eighty days after the birth of a female child. During the prescribed time, the mother is said to be unclean, abiding in the blood of her purification. She cannot come into the temple. But, Lev. 12 says, “When the days of her purification are fulfilled … she shall bring to the priest a lamb of the first year as a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove as a sin offering, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then he shall offer it before the Lord, and make atonement for her. And she shall be clean from the flow of her blood.” This entire practice seems to many to reflect a society with hang-ups about sexuality, and oppressive to women. That is not the case. This particular law shows the ramifications of mankind’s fall into sin. Children that are born are unclean, i.e., unfit to be in the presence of God. They are, from birth, corrupt with sin and wicked. They have no fear of God. They are selfish. read more…
At our Wednesday evening services we have been periodically (i.e., except during Advent, Lent, or when a minor festival falls on or close to a Wednesday) working through the Psalter. I wasn’t going to publish the one from January 27 on Psalm 36, partly because I wasn’t quite finished with my manuscript, and partly because I felt my language was not as precise as it ought to be. I publish it here at the request of a reader, advising you to (as always) compare carefully what I have written with Holy Scripture and follow the Word of God, not my writing, if I have deviated from the Scriptures in any respect.
LXX begins, “Planning sin, the lawless man converses within himself; there is no fear of God before his eyes.”
The lawless man doesn’t just sin. He plans it, intends to perform what is contrary to God’s Law, and he does it without fear, without respect for God.
Having the forgiveness of sins, we have freedom in the Gospel. But Holy Scripture warns us, “Do not use your liberty as a cloak for vice.”
Daily we commit sins of impulse, too numerous to track. Some of our sins we ourselves are not aware of. All sin is against God’s Law, and deserving of punishment, but there is a particularly horrible kind of sin that damages our souls: the planned sin. It is when we have opportunity to consider what God’s Word says, to know that a particular word or deed is against the Commandments, but to proceed with it anyway.
So there are two kinds of sin: that proceeding from the weakness of our flesh, and that proceeding from the rebellion in our souls. Our flesh will always assail us, but we must work to subdue it, chasten it through a disciplined life. In our weakness we sometimes stumble, but rebellion stumbles deliberately, not acknowledging sin as sin, not repenting, not seeking amendment.
We can learn what we need by looking at what the lawless, wicked man does not have: the fear of God.
We cannot manufacture this holy fear, conjure it up through spiritual experiences.
It comes from God’s mercy, which the ESV translates as “steadfast love.”
“Your steadfast love [mercy], O LORD, extends to the heavens…. How precious is your steadfast love [mercy], O God! … Oh, continue your steadfast love [mercy] to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart!”
God’s mercy, His deep and abiding love, manifested to us in the cross of Jesus, is the only remedy and cure for our corrupt, perverted souls.
And let us make no mistake: the lawless man, the wicked man who plans sin, is us. We do not have to search through the tabloids or the cable channels to find the lawless man. He resides deep within us, the part of even us regenerated, newborn ones that is rebellious, lawless, lacking the fear of God. That is what we mean when we say that we are simul iustus et peccator, simultaneously saint and sinner.
Let us petition our merciful Lord to quench within us the fire of rebellion and help us, when planning sin, to instead turn away from it and flee to God for mercy.
Pr. Larry Beane, aka Father Hollywood, has posted a link to a letter from a Vikings fan on his experience at the NFC Championship game at the Superdome, along with his own thoughts on New Orleans hospitality. You can read it here.
