The Chancel and Divine Service Explained

Introduction

    Because we have certain beliefs (doctrines) concerning God, who He is, what He does, how He acts, etc., these doctrines determine the way we live, how we act, what we do and do not do in life. They inform us, or at least should inform us in all areas of our lives. They also inform us in how we operate as a church, as a congregation, that is, how we do evangelism, how we teach, what our worship area is like, and how we conduct our worship service.  Our beliefs (doctrine) should help us define and outline what we do and what we do not do in worship (practice). The following is presented to help you understand how our worship (facility and practice) flows out of our beliefs (doctrine). To help you more fully understand our worship, not only will you be given reasons why we do the things we do, but also why there are things we do not do and why we do not do them.

The Worship Space

    A rhetorical question is one that is asked without needing an answer or that the answer is presumed in the question. The rhetoric of a building or building space is the unspoken statement of the meaning of that space. In other words, when one walks past a building or into a church building, what does the building, or what do the furnishings, etc. suggests to you about the function of the building? Does the building, do the furnishings, does what you see tell you that you are in a church?
    When it comes to a church building, a sanctuary if you will, there are two important words that need to be defined. They are nave and chancel. The nave of the church is the large area of the worship space where the congregation gathers. The chancel is the sacred space and is set off from the nave.
    “We practice what we preach” means that doctrine (teaching) and practice (worship) go hand in hand; doctrine informs practice and practice teaches doctrine. Thus, the practice and doctrine of the church building go hand in hand as well, which means the rhetoric of a church building should, in an unspoken way, make a statement concerning what is believed, taught, and confessed. In other words, the building should express the confession of those who worship in the building, and the confession of those who worship in the building should be expressed in the aesthetics of the building. So what do we see and know about our Lutheran Christian faith as we enter the church building of St. Matthew Lutheran Church of Westfield?

    As we enter, the first thing which catches our eyes is the cross which is the focal point of our Divine Service. As our eyes move down, we see the altar where we are given the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. As we move our eyes to the left, we see the baptismal font wherein we are made members of the body of Christ through the waters of Holy Baptism as God promises 1 Peter 3:21a “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you.” To the right we see the pulpit from which we hear the Gospel, the Good News, the message of salvation. As our eyes move further down, we see the communion rail and the kneeler wherein we kneel before the Lord in confession so that we might hear His wonderful words of forgiveness. So we see our confession of faith that we believe Jesus comes to us to give us the gifts He has to give through the very means He has given to give us His gifts, the means of grace: Holy Baptism, His Holy Supper, His Word, and Confession and Absolution.
    On the altar we see only the two Eucharist candles, the missal or book stand and the elements of the Lord’s Supper. To the right and left in the chancel area we may see stands on either side for the chancel flowers we might bring to adorn the Lord’s house. Finally we might notice that the chancel area is set off with a different flooring marking the chancel as holy space.
    With a freestanding altar, the Lord’s Supper is set up with a chalice setting where a corporal (square linen) is placed on the altar. The chalice (common cup) is placed on the corporal. Over the chalice a purificator (napkin) is draped. Next the paten (plate) is set holding the celebrant’s host (the large communion wafer), then a chalice pall and the chalice veil is draped. The chalice pall is not to be confused with the funeral pall. The funeral pall is place over the casket of a dead body. The chalice pall is placed over the paten holding the host (Jesus’ living body in, with and under the bread) and the chalice (holding Jesus’ living blood in, with and under the wine). You may notice that only the chalice is covered until after the Lord’s Supper is complete at which time the Post-Communion veil will be draped over the sacred vessels.

 
   The Baptismal Font is an eight-sided font symbolic of entrance into the family of God at His covenant with His people in the Old Testament through circumcision which was on the eighth day, as well as, the first day of Jesus’ resurrection (the eighth day after the seven days of Holy Week and the first day of the forever life of heaven). The communion rail reaches around toward the front wall separating the chancel or Holy Place. The gradine is a shelf where the candles and the cross rest. Finally, we have the credence table on which the elements for the Lord’s Supper are kept before and after the Supper is presented.
    Please notice how there is no confusion in the chancel area as there is nothing secular to confuse the laity of this part of the church. There are no musical instruments nor screens to confuse someone into thinking this may be a building for entertainment. There are simply the things of God for usage in presenting the Means for Grace through which the Holy Spirit gives and distributes the gifts of God. Thus, the rhetoric of the building and the worship space teach what we believe according to our Lutheran Confessions, that God comes to us through the Means of Grace given to us in the Divine Service.

The Divine Service

    What happens in this worship space and building, this sanctuary? From where does our Divine Service come? Some would suggest that the Divine Service is a German service from the time of Martin Luther. Other suggest that it is simply a tradition or a preference style, but is it more than that? In Scripture when Paul speaks about traditions very often he is not speaking of tradition in the way in which we speak of tradition today, that is something like having turkey for Thanksgiving. When Paul is speaking about tradition, such as in 2 Thessalonians 2:15, “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter,” he is speaking about the Word of God. The same may be said of our Lutheran confessors. When speaking about rites and ceremonies as well as traditions, they were usually speaking about those rites, ceremonies, and traditions grounded in Scripture and understood as something not devised by human minds and not to be changed according to the whims of man.
    So from where does our Divine Service come? Author Frank C. Senn in Christian Liturgy traces the Divine Service back to the first century being used in the Christian Church (before there was an East and West, Catholic and Protestant) around the world. We may surmise from this history that the Divine Service is not simply tradition, nor is it German as some would suggest, nor is it a stylistic preference, but that it is grounded in the early Christian Church. With a study of Leviticus and the ceremonial laws given by God, one can see how the Divine Service flows out of these God-given ceremonies, except now in their fulfilled form in Christ. Thus, one might surmise that the Divine Service is just that, a Divine, even a God-given service for the purpose of pointing to Him, the Messiah, and being given the gifts He has to give through the Divine Service.
    The Divine Service for the most part remained unchanged until the Reformation when Luther removed those parts pointing to sinful man and his actions which crept in during the rise of the papacy. It was not until the Reformation, and especially when those who espoused a different doctrine and pushed the Reformation beyond Luther’s intent, that the Divine Service was changed and/or eliminated. Again, however, it was those of a different doctrine who changed and/or eliminated the Divine Service from usage. Here again, we see the correlation of doctrine (teaching) and practice (worship style or preference). Those who pushed the reforms of the church, especially those who would no longer accept the Sacraments (especially infant Baptism) and taught a symbolic and obedience theology, sought a worship form that fit what they believed.
    We believe worship is important, and because Scripture says the focus in worship is that we first come and are given to by God, our focus of attention is on the altar and the cross. On the cross, Scripture says Jesus died for us so that we might have forgiveness of sins and a restored relationship with Himself as God; thus, the focus of our attention upon entering church is the cross. Because Scripture says that worship is first and foremost God’s service (thus, Divine Service) to us, we refer to our building as a church or a sanctuary. We do not refer to our building as a theater or an auditorium, nor do we refer to the chancel areas (the front where the altar is located) as the stage. We do not do this because we do not believe worship is an act, nor entertainment. Likewise, we do not place objects in the chancel area which take our attention away from the cross or obstruct its view.

Liturgical

    What, then, is the Divine Service? We believe the way our Lord comes to us to give us the gifts and blessings He has to give is through means, namely the means of grace. These means of grace are the way our Lord gives us faith, strengthens, and keeps us in faith. These means of grace are the way our Lord gives us forgiveness of sins, life, even eternal life, and salvation. These means of grace are the Bible, the very Word of God; confession and absolution; and the sacraments defined as Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
    The Bible is the Word of God, a Word which does what it says. In other words, when the Bible says we have forgiveness in the Lord’s Supper, then that is what we have, forgiveness. When the Bible says we have faith in Holy Baptism, then that is what we have, faith. Because the Bible is the Word of God and is a means of grace, that is, a way our Lord has to come to us to gives us His good gifts and blessings, then our worship should be permeated with this Word. Because God’s Word does what it says, we worship best when we say back to God the very words He has given us to say. For example, when Jesus gave His disciples and us the Lord’s Prayer, who are we to believe that we can make up a prayer better than His prayer? So certainly we will want to say His prayer, the prayer He has given us to pray back to Him. We do this, not because our own prayers are inadequate, nor to flatter Him, but because He is God, and what He gives us to pray is complete. So in worship, we speak and respond with the very words of His Word which He has given to us.

Confession and Absolution

    Because God’s Word does what it says and because we know we are sinners and are in need of forgiveness and because Jesus has earned forgiveness for us, we begin almost every service with some type of public confession and absolution. Because only by faith and with forgiveness are the doors to heaven open, we want to confess our sins and hear those most beautiful words, “Your sins are forgiven.” It is after confessing our sins, and hearing God’s word of forgiveness (through the mouth of the called and ordained pastor) that we move into God’s presence.

Sacramental

    Scriptures says, as Peter tells us, “Baptism now saves you,” so we constantly remember our Baptism. Every service then begins with a Trinitarian invocation, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” so we are reminded of water and God’s name, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, being placed on us at our Baptism when He gives us faith. And we are also reminded again of our Baptism as the Aaronic Benediction is placed on us at the end of the service, again a Trinitarian blessing.
    Scripture says that the Lord’s Supper is His gift of Himself, His body to eat and His blood to drink, in, with and under the bread and wine (as Jesus took the bread and said, “This is my body,” and the cup [of wine] and said, “This is my blood”). He instructs us that whenever we eat His body and drink His blood, we participate in His death and resurrection so that these are His as they are ours. His life is our life. His death is our death. His resurrection is our resurrection. Thus, we celebrate the Lord’s Supper on a regular basis, giving opportunity to eat and drink for our strengthening of faith and for forgiveness of sins.

Conversely

•    Because Scripture says we are not called to cooperate with God in our own salvation (synergism), we do not ask people to make a “decision” for Jesus; thus, we do not have an altar call.

•    Because Scripture says worship is God giving to us (and our responding to Him), we do not draw attention to ourselves. Thus, our choir(s) are appropriately dressed and positioned so as not to be a distraction. Others assisting in the worship do so in ways that are not distracting. Nothing is placed in the altar area that draws attention away from nor covers the focal point of the cross and the altar.

•    Because Scripture says worship is God giving to us (and our responding to Him), we are content with the pastor as the vicar of Christ leading us in worship and our being given to by being in worship. In other words, we do not believe our participation as leaders in any way is either necessary or important, only that we are there to be given to and to respond with hymns, prayers, and the giving of ourselves, offering our lives as priest (living sacrifices).

•    Because Scripture says our forgiveness is so important and necessary, we do not shy away from a complete confession of our sins (our sins of thought, word and deed, and our sins of omission and commission [“I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess to You . . . ”]).

•    Because Scripture says a person can participate in the Lord’s Supper to their spiritual judgement, we do not offer open communion. But because of our care and concern for each one’s spiritual well being, we practice the loving practice of closed communion.

•    Because God’s Word is His Word, because His Word is above all words, we do not attempt to make up quaint or creative liturgies, (i.e., responsive readings and the like). Instead, we use God’s Word saying back to Him the very words He has given us to say.

Summary

    As we began, so we conclude. Just as God had given the Sacrament of Circumcision in the Old Testament and now in the New Testament gives us the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, and just as God had given the Sacrament of the Passover in the Old Testament and now from that Sacrament in its fulfilled form He gives us His Holy Supper, we would never dare change what God gives. In the Old Testament, in Leviticus, God has given us the Divine Service in the Sacrificial System and in the ceremonial laws, so as the Divine Service has now been practiced in the Early Church of the First Century throughout the world in its fulfilled form, why would we believe we would have any right to change that which has been given to us by God?
    Because we have certain beliefs (doctrines) concerning God, who He is, what He does, how He acts, etc., these doctrines determine the way we live, how we act, what we do and do not do in life. As Lutheran Christians our confessions, that is our statements of faith (what we believe, teach, and confess) inform us, or at least should inform us in all areas of our lives. It is our hope that this explanation of our worship area and service will help you to understand why our worship area is designed the way it is designed and why our worship service (our Divine Service) is conducted in the way in which it is conducted.

The Lord’s Compassion - July 18, 2021 - Eighth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 11) - Text: Mark 6:30-44

When we are children it seems as if time crawls by, especially as we wait for important events, like our birthday and Christmas. As we grow older and as we become involved in more and more things we realize how true it is that time is relative and the more we pack into our lives the faster time flies and the quicker life runs past us. And even when we take time off, it seems we get so involved in doing so many things that life still is rushing past. Many people pack so much into their weekend that when the weekend is over and it is time to go back to work, they need more rest. As we rush through life we are reminded of how true the cliche is, ‘we need to stop and smell the roses.’ The reason our Lord has given us the day of rest, the Sabbath day is so that we will rest. In our text for this morning we even have Jesus showing us what He means as He gathers His disciples for a time to rest.
 

This morning we pick up in our Gospel reading where we left off last week. Last week, maybe you remember, we had the account of the beheading of John the Baptist. Remember John? He was the one who was sent to prepare the way for Jesus. He was the one who spoke openly against Herod who had taken his brother’s wife, his sister-in-law, as his own wife. And remember Herod? He is the one who threw the big party, drank too much, watch his step-daughter’s seductive dance and then promised her anything up to half his kingdom. When the step-daughter, at her mother’s prompting, asked for the head of John on a platter, Herod felt remorse, but not wanting to have his reputation tarnished, he had John beheaded.
 

Two weeks ago our Gospel lesson was the account of Jesus sending out the twelve for some on the job mission work training. Our narrative this morning picks up with Jesus gathering His apostles after they had returned in order to give them an opportunity to get some needed rest and to debrief them. They had just had some exciting things happen and they needed a chance to unload, to debrief. We all know how that is, after a tough day or an exciting day, we just need to tell someone about it. And that is what Jesus is trying to do, give His disciples an opportunity to talk about all that had been happening. To put it into the language of today, we might say that Jesus was trying to have a nice family dinner with His disciples. The problem was, the people did not want to leave them alone, there were too many distractions. Mark tells us, “For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.” And so Jesus tries to get them to a private, quiet place. And that is what they did, or at least, tried to do, go to a private place, yet, again, Mark tells us, “Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.”
 

Jesus saw the people and He had compassion on them. Our text tells us that Jesus described the people as they “were like sheep without a shepherd.” They were wandering aimlessly, looking for someone to follow. That was then, and now is today and the same thing happens. People are like sheep without a shepherd. We are like sheep without a shepherd. How often do we find ourselves wandering aimlessly through life? When we are young we wander from school to school. As we get older we wander from job to job. Many times through life we wander from relationship to relationship. Continually it seems we are wandering from one problem to the next. We wander about in the haze of business. We find ourselves wandering aimlessly involved in so many activities and things of this world. It would seem we have time for everything except what we espouse to be the most important things, family, church, and a relationship with Jesus. And the temptations get greater as our children get older and as we get older. So many new, exciting and different things of which to be a part. We are like sheep without a shepherd because we have left our Good Shepherd to follow all these other shepherds of the world. And this is sin and this can and does lead to greater sin. The fact of the matter is that if we continue to follow all these other shepherds, the ultimate conclusion is death, eternal death and hell. There is only one Good Shepherd, Jesus, and He is the only one who can save us.
 

We live in a country where people pride themselves on their busy-ness. We hear people brag about how much time they spend at work and then they wonder why they always feel so tired and unfulfilled in life. I have to tell you, I have never heard anyone on their deathbed say, “I wish I had spent more time at work.” Our work, our careers, our accumulation of stuff, our busy-ness has for too many people become a great idol.
 

Many, too many, in our world are wandering from one spiritual leader to the next spiritual leader, from one guru to the next, from one religion to the next, from one cult to the next. I would suggest that there are even times when we find ourselves wandering in our own faith. We wander about, at times feeding on the wrong things. We feed on the false teachings and lies of this world, the flawed teachings of cursed human thinking, rather than always feeding on the truth of God’s Word. How often do we find ourselves believing the theologies of the world; prosperity theology, theology of glory, theology of self improvement, and so forth, instead of the theology of God’s Word? The talk show hosts on television will tell you that “their god is not like that.” “I worship a loving god, a tolerant god,” someone else tells us. Designer religion is the wave of today and we are told that this is something good. Yes, we are very much like sheep without a shepherd.
 

And just as Jesus had compassion on the people of His day, so He still has compassion on us today. His greatest compassion is seen in the giving of His life for ours, but just by saying that, too often, we miss a lot of the Gospel. The Gospel is not just that He died. The Gospel is that fact that He lived. Jesus lived for us, for you and me. The perfect life demanded of us, that we cannot live, Jesus lived perfectly for us, in our place. He lived the way the Law requires us to live. He lived for us so that His life, His perfect life, is our perfect life. He lived in perfect relationship with us and with His Father.
 

He lived perfectly for us, in our place, something we cannot do, something all of humanity could not do. He spent all of His time here on this earth for us. He did not busy Himself with anything except with what needed to be done for us. He lived perfectly, then He freely took our sins upon Himself, not by coercion, not because He had to, but because of His love. He took all our sins, all your sins, all my sins, all the sins of all people. He took all our sins upon Himself, and He suffered. He suffered the eternal death penalty of hell, the wages of sin, the cost of sin, the price for sin. He suffered eternal death and hell. And died for us in our place.
 

But death and the grave could not hold Him. We know the history, the good news. On the third day He rose from the dead. For forty days He showed Himself to be alive. We have eyewitness account after eyewitness account of those who saw Him alive. Then, on the fortieth day He ascended into heaven where He is today, seated at the right hand of the Father, where He is watching over us, ruling over us, and interceding for us. He still has compassion for us.
 

He continues to show His compassion for us through His means of grace, the Word and the Sacraments. He continues to gather us in order to encourage us. Unfortunately our only option is to refuse and reject His gifts which is what we do when we do not make time, take time, and schedule time, to come to His house in order to hear His Word and be given His gifts. When we do come to our Lord’s house for Divine Service, as He moves us to come to His house, we come to be given the gifts He has to give and  to respond to His gifts with hymns of praise, with words of encouragement to one another, in order to be lifted up. We come to His house to gather in this solitary place in order to be re-energized to face the week which lays ahead of us. We come to His house to be reminded of our Baptism, that is that His name has been put on us and faith has been given to us. We come to His house in order to confess our sins and in order to hear the most beautiful words in the world, those words which tell us, “Your sins are forgiven.” Yes, those words are the most beautiful words in the world and we know that when we hear those words, that is exactly what happens, our sins are forgiven. We come here to hear His Word and to be given His body and blood and forgiveness through His Holy Supper. Not only as we come here, but as we read His Word on our own, as we have personal and family devotions, He comes to us through these times and means in order to give us His good gifts and blessings, His gifts, faith, forgiveness and life.
 

He comes to us through His Word and through His Sacraments. As we remember our baptism we are reminded that God has claimed us as His own. God has put His name on us. We are His children. He has washed us and made us free from sin. As we partake of the Lord’s body and blood in His Holy Supper, we participate in His life, death and resurrection. His life becomes our life, His death becomes our death and His resurrection becomes our resurrection. Through His Sacraments we are given His gifts, faith, forgiveness, life.
 

The old cliche is true, seven days without the Lord makes one weak, that is “W” - “E” - “A” - “K.”  We see that in our own busy lives. We are weak from running around, weak from missing out on the most important relationships—with family, with friends, with the Father. We can live full, carefree, worry free, happy lives, but only as we begin with Him. Jesus loves us. He loves you. He looks at us, He sees us, and He has compassion on us. He wants to draw us to Himself and comfort us. He does that through His means of grace, His Word and His Sacraments. Not only does He have time for us, He makes time for us. And He is there ready to help us to make time for Him. Jesus wants to give us time to be a family. He wants to give us time to be with each other. He wants to give us time to encourage one another and to be a family. And He does that, as He stirs in us to make time to be His family. I have heard too many people tell me, “Pastor, as soon as we get our lives together, we will get our church life going.” That is backwards and you know what, they will never get their “church life” going. It is only after we get our life with Jesus going that we will get our own lives together, that is how it works with Jesus and that is how Jesus makes it work for us. My prayer for each one of you this morning is that as you have come here to this divine service that you may be encouraged in your own faith life so that you might be able to go out and encourage others so that we might all together stand before the Lord’s throne and say, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

John Prepares the Way for Jesus - July 11, 2021 - Seventh Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 10) - Text: Mark 6:14-29

Our text for today is the account of the beheading of John the Baptist. The beheading of John the Baptist is the only account outside the passion narrative that does not focus on Jesus. So, why do we have a text, and a Gospel text for that matter, that does not focus on Jesus? As we review this historic account of the execution of John the Baptist it is my prayer that we may come to better understand the life and role of John and how his life may be seen as somewhat of a type for Jesus’ own life and execution.
 

Previously, that is last week, Jesus sent out His disciples with authority over unclean spirits and as we were told “they cast out many demons and anointed many with oil many who were sick and healed them.” Our text for last week ended at verse thirteen and our text for this week picks up at verse fourteen. This week we move to hear Herod’s response to the news of what Jesus was doing. Herod heard of the work of Jesus and His apostles and his belief was that John the Baptist, whom he had behead had come back to life.
 

Here we see Herod’s guilt for beheading John coming out. In his heart Herod knew that what John was preaching against him, the fact that he had taken his brother’s wife for his own wife was a sin. Herod knew he sinned in ordering the beheading of John. Herod may not have been a believer in God. He may have been more of a religious or superstitious person, perhaps he believed in fate or karma and so his explanation for the signs, wonders and miracles that Jesus and His apostles were doing was possibly because this was John the Baptist brought back to life.
 

Other suggestions meant to explain Jesus’ work and the work of His apostles is that perhaps John was as a prophet, or that Jesus was a prophet, perhaps even the prophet Elijah. You may remember that it was prophesied that before the Messiah would appear that Elijah would return. You may also remember that every year at the Passover celebration one chair was left vacant and at some point in the service the door was opened in order to see if Elijah would come and take his seat. And finally you might recall that Jesus says that John came as Elijah.
 

John came preaching repentance and as we said a while back he came preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Of course, these religious, ceremonial ritual baptisms were nothing new as many religions offer some type of religious washing. John’s preaching and baptism were specific as he prepared the way for the one true, promised Messiah, Jesus. John preached the need to repent.
 

And John did not shy away from preaching to all people, even to rulers and those in authority. He preached against Herod’s sin of taking his brother’s wife. Of course, Herodias, Herod’s brother, Philip’s wife did not like that he was preaching against her either. She had “a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man” (v. 19b-20a).
 

But, as fate would have it, as we hear in fictional stories, but as we know this historical account is not fiction, but is fact, so we know this is not fate. Anyway, as Mark lays out the history of these events an opportune time came for the beheading of John. As Mark relates the account in our text, it was Herod’s birthday and although birthdays were not necessarily a big event, for this birthday Herod threw a party and we might add a decadent party. His party include much festivities including much wine to drink as well as food and entertainment.
 

One bit of entertainment was that of Herodias’, Herod’s brother’s wife become his wife, her daughter dancing a provocative perhaps even erotic dance. Her dancing pleased Herod as well as his guests. While Mark does not detail her dance one might imagine from the response that this daughter was beautiful in form and stature, that she was both lovely in dance and as we said, both provocative and erotic in her movements.
 

Herod’s response to her pleasing performance for himself and his guests is that he pledges to give her whatever she asks for, up to half his kingdom. Perhaps it was the wine, perhaps it was the response of her provocation, perhaps it was simply his unthinking that moved him to make such a pledge, but he made a pledge and was thus honored to keep his pledge. In other words, after he made his pledge he had pretty much hemmed himself in so that in order to keep his own honor he knew he would have to keep his pledge.
 

Because the daughter did not know what to ask for, or perhaps we might surmise that Herodias had put her daughter up to this performance hoping for the chance afforded her by Herod’s response, she went to her mother to inquire as to what she should ask for. Thus through her daughter Herodias  demands the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Way back in Genesis we hear of Cain’s jealousy of his brother Abel, that moves to hatred and finally ends in Cain killing, murdering his brother. Here in this account we have Herodias hating and desiring to kill, murder John the Baptist doing so through the command of her new husband the king.
 

Although Herod, while fearful and not wanting to kill John,  seeks to save face thus, he gives the order, the gruesome order to have John beheaded and his head given to Herodias’ daughter on a platter. Notice that Herod does not take the platter with the head, but has it given it directly to the daughter.
 

And so John is executed and we are told that his disciples heard of it. “They came and took his body and laid it in a tomb” (v. 29). Thus, we are brought to the end of the life of John the Baptist. His work has been completed. He has done all that was given for him to do in preparing the way for and pointing to Jesus.
 

Now, let us move to see how this text focuses, not just on John, but also moves our focus to Jesus as well. What is the connection between John and Jesus in our text. Our first connection is the fact that both John and Jesus were arrested and bound at what we might call an opportune time. John was arrested and beheaded following a pledge by Herod. Jesus was arrested while He was alone in the Garden of Gethsemane with His apostles. Both events were carried out in a manner that attempted the least public interference.
 

Our next connection is that it was what both John and Jesus preached that put them in danger. John came preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus also preached repentance and forgiveness of sins. John and Jesus both preached against the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law.
 

Our next connection is that John and Jesus were both innocent. John was sent by God, conceived and born for the sole purpose of preparing the way for the Messiah, the One promised since the Garden of Eden. John did not come of his own free will. John did not point to himself. He was the first prophet in Israel after some 450 years. He came pointing to Jesus, as he said, pointing to Jesus, “behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” And Jesus, conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, as we confess, born of the Virgin Mary, true God in human flesh, born the sinless Son of God and never sinning even once.
 

Our next connection is that those holding what may be perceived as trials both tried to have John and Jesus released. Herod did not want to have John executed because of his fear of John and Pilate also tried to get Jesus released because of his fear of who Jesus might be.
 

Our next connection is that John and Jesus were hated by their enemies and their mutual enemies. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law pretty much had their positions of power and authority, even under Roman rule. They did not like what either John nor Jesus were preaching. They did not like being accused of their sins and false teaching, their hypocrisy and abuse of the people. Indeed, they hated and despised John and Jesus and sought to have them killed.
 

Our next connection is that John and Jesus were buried by their followers. As we heard in the case of John, “They came and took his body and laid it in a tomb” (v. 29). And as we hear in the case of Jesus, His family and friends took His body down from the cross and laid it in a tomb, the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, a tomb in which no body had ever been laid.
 

Thus, we might suggest that John is a type of Jesus in that the events portrayed in our Gospel reading for today point us to Jesus. Just as John came preparing the way for Jesus, as he was arrested and bound at an opportune time, a time outside the public view, as he was hated and arrested because of his proclamation of the truth, as he was innocent, as his “judge” sought to have him released, as he was buried by his friends, so too with Jesus, the anti-type, the one to which John pointed, He too was arrested and bound at an opportune time, a time outside the public view, He too was hated and arrested because of His proclamation of the truth, He too was innocent, His “judge” also sought to have Him released, and He too was buried by His friends.
 

Although our text for this morning, the beheading of John the Baptist, is the only account outside the passion narrative that does not focus directly on Jesus we can see that in the way of type and anti-type we are pointed to Jesus. We are reminded that Jesus came preaching repentance, but not only did He come preaching repentance, He came to earn forgiveness, to pay the price for sin, to give us the forgiveness He earned. Jesus was born, true God in human flesh making Him perfect and Holy, sinless so that He could take our sins upon Himself. Jesus did live the perfect life demanded of us, never sinning even once. Jesus did fulfill all the prophecies concerning the coming Messiah. Jesus then took all our sins and the sins of all people of all places of all times on Himself. Jesus suffered the punishment meted out in the Garden of Eden, the price for sin, death, eternal death and hell and He did so for us in our place. Jesus died. Our God died. But as we know the rest of the account, Jesus did not stay dead, but He rose victorious over sin, death and the power of the devil. He rose, He showed Himself alive. He ascended into heaven where not only is He watching over us, ruling over us and interceding for us, He is also right here with us each and every day. And He sends His Holy Spirit to work through the means of grace, through His Holy Word, the Bible, through confession and absolution and through His Sacraments, Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper to give us faith, to strengthen us in our faith, to gives us forgiveness of sin and to give us life and salvation, even eternal life in heaven. Our response is simply to rejoice and say, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Given and Sent - July 4, 2021 - Seventh Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 09) - Text: Mark 6:1-13

Today we celebrate 245 years of freedom in our country. The average length of a democracy or republic, according to history is 200 years. In 1787 a Scottish History Professor, Alexander Fraser Tyler stated and perhaps many of you have actually heard this quote before: “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.” My intent at reading this quote is not to be political, because that is not why we are here in this place, but simply to give us some perspective. I believe today is a day to celebrate the fact that as Christians we have been relatively free to practice our faith for the last 245 years just as we are doing so today. And for this freedom we are truly thankful. And so, now I say, kind of tongue in check, as I always say about these secular holidays, now that we have gotten that out of the way we can get back to the real reason we are here, to hear what God has to say, which is certainly more important.
 

Much like our text from last week as the Lectionary committee deemed it appropriate to combine two readings, so this week we have a similar situation in which the Lectionary committee again deemed it useful and fitting to combine two readings into one. So, instead of simply reading of the people of Jesus’ hometown taking offense or reading of Jesus sending out His twelve apostles with authority, so we have both readings for this morning. And again, much like last week as we saw the wisdom of the Lectionary committee, so I believe there is wisdom in the combination of these two readings this morning as well and as we will see. This morning we will come to see Jesus being rejected and yet not giving up and we will see how He gives His apostles His authority to bear witness of Him and in the same way even today, we will know that Jesus gives us His authority to bear witness of Him as well, not as apostles, but as priests in the priesthood of all believers, living lives of faith, as living sacrifices for the Lord.
 

Our text opens with a scene from Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth. Jesus had been away for a while and when He came back into town, what was thought to be His hometown, remember He was born in Bethlehem, they asked Him to preach on the Sabbath. And preach He did. Jesus did such a good job preaching that the people were amazed at Him. But actually, I do not think it was a good amazement. You see, they listened real close as Jesus preached. And He did a great job. They listened, and they even acknowledged that He was a wise man, but they took offense at Him. And please notice, it was not that He was trying to be offensive, but that they took offense at Him. They did not like acknowledging His wisdom because they grew up with Him and thought He was no different, no better than they were. Of course, Jesus was not trying to present Himself as being better; He was simply proclaiming to them the Word of God. We know He really was better than they were, actually we know that He was and is perfect after all He is God. I do not know; maybe they were jealous of Him. You know, “small town boy does good” and all. Maybe they were thinking, “That could be me.” “I could have left town and become a famous person, but I stayed here to help out with the family business.”
 

Their attitude reflects that of many people today, us included, as we take offense at one of our peers who might speak to us concerning their faith, or ours. We are kind of touchy,  are we not? Although God warns us not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought, I think sometimes that is exactly what we do. We would all like to think, “What an important person I am,” but unfortunately we do that to the extreme, and we often end up hurting other people. I guess sometimes we are all “legends in our own minds.”
 

In Jesus’ day, the people were amazed at Him. But just the same, Jesus was amazed at the people. Well, He had shown Himself to be the Messiah. Through His preaching and teaching, through His healing and feeding the multitudes, through the signs, wonders and miracles He performed, He showed that He was the Messiah, yet many of the people would not and could not believe. They could not believe because of their confusion. Many were confused because they knew Him as a child, at least in their own minds they thought they knew Him. They had an image of who He was and what He was like as a child. “This is the carpenter, the son of the carpenter.” “This is Mary’s son.” “His brothers and sister still live here with us.” Of course, we know He is God, and we know that He was perfect, even as a child.
 

Too many people were confused because of their misunderstanding of who the Messiah would be and what He would do. Many people of Jesus’ day were searching for an earthly Savior, someone who would free them from their bondage to the Romans. Someone who would bring them back to the glory days of King David and King Solomon. Someone who would make them rulers in the land. Likewise there are many people today who are confused about Jesus. They are confused because Jesus does not meet with their expectations of who Jesus should be and what He should do. The problem is that their expectations of Jesus do not match what the Bible tells us about Him. Too many people today expect Jesus to be a problem solver, a star maker, a money giver, a power broker, a bread king, a miracle worker. Too many people today are expecting Jesus to be the Savior they envision Him to be, and too often that is a vision of an earthly Messiah, Savior and King.
 

Jesus had a hard time sharing the message of the Gospel in His hometown and to His own family, but the same things can be said about people in our world today. There are many of us who have a difficult time sharing our faith with our own families. For some of us our difficulty comes because of the previous knowledge of what we were like as a child. Yes, I confess, unlike Jesus, I was not a perfect child, but I do not think that should discount my faith nor my being able to share my faith with others. And there are probably some that cannot and will not accept our confession of faith because of their jealousy of our salvation. The devil works in many and in mysterious ways.
 

I am convinced that Jesus remains amazed at us today. People today continue to reject Him because He is not the Messiah they perceive Him to be. People today are looking for a Messiah who will make them famous, a star, who will bring them prestige. Some people are looking for a Messiah who will bring them riches. If only their god would help them to win the lottery or make it rich quick without any work on their own behalf. Some people are looking for a Messiah who will keep anything bad from happening to them. Surely their god is a god who triumphs over evil, otherwise, what good is he. Some people are looking for a god which they have designed. Their god is a god of mixed religions. Take what you want from each religion and make up your own god. Too many people have created their own god in their own image. Unfortunately not too many people are looking for God on His terms, as He reveals Himself to us.
 

Yet that is what Jesus continues to do. He continues to reveal Himself to us as He really is. He shows Himself to us through His Word and Sacraments. He shows that He is the genuine article. As we make use of His means of grace, reading His Word, the Bible, He shows Himself in His living His life for ours. He is the one who gave up the glory that was His in heaven, as God. He took on human flesh and blood, being born of a woman, being born in a small, rather obscure town and placed in a manger. He lived a life of relative obscurity, at least until He was thirty. Mainly He lived a perfect life, obeying all of God’s laws, perfectly. He fulfilled all God’s promises concerning the coming Messiah, perfectly. And then, freely, He took all our sins upon Himself and suffered the eternal death penalty of hell, the wages, the price for our sin. He suffered hell for us in our place. He showed Himself in giving His life for ours. He died so that we will not have to die. He died so that we might have life, eternal life, heaven. On the cross Jesus earned our forgiveness.
 

Thus, we are compelled to believe because He compels us. The key to our text is verse five. In verse five we are reminded that there were a few who Jesus could touch and heal. We are a part of those few who believed. We believe because He gives us faith, He brings us to faith. He brings us to faith through His Word. As we read His Word; the Holy Spirit works through that Word to work faith in our hearts, to give us forgiveness of sins, to bring us from death, and to give us life, eternal life. He brings us to faith through Holy Baptism. At our Baptism water is put on us with God’s name, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God puts His name on us. He puts faith in our hearts. He washes us clean with forgiveness. He makes us His children.
 

And we are compelled to respond, because He moves us to do so. We just cannot help it. We are among those who have believed and whom He has touched. Because of what He has done for us we cannot help but to respond with works of service. Not that we always do works of service or do them perfectly, but we cannot help but to want to be an active part of God’s family. We want to come to the Lord’s house to divine service to be given the gifts He has to give, to hear what He has to say to us through His Word, to be reminded of our Baptism, to have His Word of forgiveness spoken to us through Holy Absolution, to eat His body and drink His blood at His Holy Supper, and to respond in worship of Him, to sing praises to Him. This is something which happens because God makes it happen. God gives, we are given to and He moves in us a response of faith.
 

Thus, we have the second half of our text, that Jesus sends out His twelve apostles with authority. So, indeed, we are sent out, with authority. As we leave our parking lot we see the sign, “Entering the Mission Field.” So, we come here to this house of worship for our divine service. We are reminded that Jesus earned our forgiveness on Calvary. And we are reminded that it is here in divine service, through the means of grace, though Holy Baptism, through confession and absolution, through our hearing God’s Word, and through His Holy Supper that the Lord distributes and gives out what He earned, that is we come here to be given the gifts the Lord has to give, the gifts He earned, forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. We come here to be strengthened and kept in faith. We come here to be given His authority so that we might go out into the world made ready to give an answer, a defense of our faith.
 

We are moved to live and speak the good news to others. You know how it is when you get something new; you just cannot hide it. You have to show it off and tell everyone about it. When you get a car, you do not park it in your garage. No, you drive it around, hoping, waiting to see someone, anyone, so they can see you in your new car. When you hear some good news, some exciting news, maybe you were given a raise or a new position at work, maybe you and your spouse are expecting a child, or a grandchild, whatever the good news you cannot keep it to yourself. Such is our faith as Christians. We do not hide our faith in the garage. No we drive it around, we look for people to show it off, we cannot wait to show and tell others of the hope that is in us.
 

In our text for this morning we are once again given the council of God, that is we are given the gifts our Lord gives; faith, strengthening of faith, forgiveness of sins, life and salvation, the gifts He earned for us on Calvary. We are given His authority as well as we are compelled to live lives of faith always being ready to give an answer for our hope and faith in Jesus. And this morning we also rejoice in God’s gift of the freedom to gather and hear His Word as well as carry that word to others. So we are truly moved to respond by saying, thanks be to God and to Him be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.