..per Mission.. The First Sunday after Christmas, 28 December 2014, Concordia Lutheran Mission, Terrebonne, Oregon. “Christian Cheer is the Salvation and Righteousness of the Liturgy of the Church.” I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness ... . Isaiah 61:10. Introduction. What is this garment that inspires such joy in men? This garment is the Gift of the Liturgy of the Church purchased for us and for all men by the Passion of Christ. Through the Liturgy of the Church comes Christ’s Salvation and Righteousness won for us on the Cross. The Liturgy of the Church is the Gift of God’s Word and Sacraments Purchased by Christ’s Passion and given to men by God Himself. God’s Word and Sacraments are a Priceless Gift because of the Stratospheric Purchase Price and also because they forgive sins, save, give life eternal, and the resurrection of the body. The Word and the Sacraments obviously cheer men because they Absolve of the guilt that dogs them and hounds them down to hell and makes them pleasing to God in every respect by the Righteousness of Christ in the Gospel through faith. Christians Cheer is the salvation and righteousness of the Liturgy of the Church. I. Christ Fashions by His Passion the Liturgy of the Church to Make Men Righteous and Save. A. The Liturgy of the Church is the Divine Public Ministry of the Gospel, i.e., the Word and the Sacraments. The Liturgy of the Church is open to widespread scorn and ridicule in our day. It is considered too old fashioned, too dated – after all, who cares what a bunch of powdered-wigged poets wrote some 500 years ago? Well, the “powdered-wigged poet”, if we must speak in such terms, is not from 500 years ago but from eternity. The prophet Daniel writes: I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garments was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. ... I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. Because the Son of Man is also the Son of God, He also sports the “powdered wig”, as it were, because He, too, is from eternity. The Apostle St. John writes: And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire. The Rev. Dr. John Gerhard writes of God the Father and God the Son: To show His eternity, hair as white as wool is attributed to Him (Rev. 1:14). Compare Dan. 7:9, where it is said of the Father, “the Ancient of Days,” that “the hair of His head was like pure wool.” For this reason, Rupert comments very beautifully on Revelation 1: “The hairs of the head of both the former and the latter were equally write. Both are shown through the whiteness of their hair to be old men with no difference, because the Son is no younger than His Father, the old man, not by a year, not by a month, not by a day, not by an hour, not by a single moment of time.” The Author of the Liturgy is not mortal man peddling hidebound tradition, but God Himself penning His eternal and saving Verities in Christ. Christ our Savior gave to men the Liturgy of the Church when He commanded the Gospel be preached and the Sacraments be administered throughout the world until the end of the age. The Apostle St. Matthew writes: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you ... . The Evangelist St. Mark writes: And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. The Apostle St. Paul writes: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. We, therefore, see that the Author of the Liturgy is not some modern caricature, e.g., a hidebound, “powdered-wigged poet”, but rather the Almighty God Himself. The Lutheran Church confesses that the Liturgy is of Divine Institution: But let us speak of the word liturgy. This word does not properly signify a sacrifice, but rather the public ministry, and agrees aptly with our belief, namely, that one minister who consecrates tenders the body and blood of the Lord to the rest of the people, just as one minister who preaches tenders the Gospel to the people, as Paul says, I Cor. 4, 1: Let a man so account of us as the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God, i.e. of the Gospel and the Sacraments. And 2 Cor. 5, 20: We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in God’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. Thus the term leitourgia agrees aptly with the ministry. The Liturgy of the Church is not the product of some 16th century poets, but rather Authored by God Himself and given to the Church as its Divine and Public Ministry throughout the world to the end of the age. B. Christ Fashioned the Saving Liturgy of the Church by His Passion. We can see what a Great Gift the Liturgy is because it is Authored and Given to us by the Almighty Himself. But how He authored and gave it to us is also reveals to us its Priceless Value. God Himself fashioned for us men the Saving Liturgy by His Passion. The Apostle St. Paul writes: ... Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleansed it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. In other words, Christ died on the Cross in order to save men through Holy Baptism, fashioning Saving Baptism, which is the Liturgy of the Church , by His Holy Passion. Luther writes [H]oly baptism was purchased for us through this same blood, which was shed for us and with which he paid for sin. This blood and its merit and power he put into baptism, in order that in baptism we might receive it. For whenever a person receives baptism in faith this is the same as if he were visibly washed and cleansed with the blood of Christ. For we do not attain the forgiveness of sins through our work, but rather through the death and the shedding of the blood of the Son of God. But he takes this forgiveness of sin and tucks it into baptism. From what the Apostle St. Paul has written, we can see that the Liturgy saves because it Absolves of sin and gives us the Perfect Holiness of Christ, leaving nothing to separate us from God and everything to reunite us with God. That’s because the Liturgy is nothing but the Gospel, God’s Word and Sacraments, the Power of God unto Salvation, Instituted by God Himself . The Apostle St. Paul writes: For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith. The Apostle St. Peter writes that the Liturgy of the Church is God’s Salvation: The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ ... . The Liturgy of the Church saves because it was Fashioned by Christ’s Passion to deliver to men the Saving Righteousness of Christ. II. The Liturgy of the Church Cheers because it Absolves of Sin, Gives the Righteousness of Christ, Saves, and Gives Life Eternal. A. The Liturgy of the Church cheers because is absolves of sin and gives the Righteousness of Christ and saves. The Liturgy of the Church cheers because it is such a Great and Wondrous Gift of God in and of Itself, a Divine Marvel, the Power of the Almighty Himself. The Liturgy of the Church is a Great and Wondrous Gift given by God to men, Fashioned by the Infinite and Eternal Toil and Careful Crafting of God through His Passion to save and give life eternal. The Gospel is such a Great Marvel that even the angels desire to look into it not because it’s for them but simply because it is an Absolute, Divine Beauty in and of Itself. The Apostle St. Peter writes: Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. The Liturgy of the Church, however, especially cheers men because it Absolves of all sin, gives the Righteousness of Christ, and saves. Jesus says of the Cheer of Absolution: And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. Absolution cheers, obviously, because it liberates us from our sin and its dreadful consequences. Our sins no longer dog our conscience and hound us into eternal separation and flight from God and sour life because of the dreadful fate it daily and continually displays before us, but rather frees our conscience of guilt of sin and its dreadful consequences, cheers, and returns us to God and His Salvation and Joy. The Apostle St. Peter writes of Absolution giving us a clear conscience toward God and saving: The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ ... . Not only does Absolution free us from our sins and their dreadful consequence, but also makes us delightful to God by reckoning to us the Perfect Righteousness of Christ. The Apostle St. Paul writes: For he that made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Christ lived a Perfectly Holy and Righteous life throughout His Entire Life for all men in order to give them His Perfect and Holy Life and, thereby, save. David writes of Christ worshiping and obeying God perfectly even from the womb of His mother, the Virgin St. Mary, for us: But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly. Luther writes of Christ’s Birth for us: Christ is born for you and ... his birth is yours, and come to pass for your benefit. For the Gospel teaches that Christ was born for our sake and that he did everything and suffered all things for our sake ... . Christ has a pure, innocent, holy birth. Man has an impure, sinful, damned birth, as David says in Psalm 51[:5] ... . There is simply no remedy for this except through the pure birth of Christ. ... Christ willed to be born so that we might be born in different manner ... . In this manner Christ takes to himself our birth and absorbs it in his birth; he present us with his birth so that we become pure and new in it, as if it were our own, so that every Christian might rejoice in this birth of Christ and glory in it no less than if he, too, like Christ, had been born bodily of Mary. The Rev. Dr. Francis Pieper writes of Christ’s Perfect Worship of and Obedience to God for us: This teaching of Scripture is of great practical importance. In his life of faith the Christian continually resorts to Christ’s vicarious fulfillment of the Law. Luther: “He satisfied the Law; He fulfilled the Law perfectly, for He loved God with all His heart, and with all His soul, and with all His strength, and with all His mind, and He loved His neighbor as Himself. Therefore, when the Law comes and accuses you of not having kept it, bid it go to Christ. Say: There is the Man who has kept it; He fulfilled it for me and gave His fulfillment to me. Thus the Law is silenced.” This Righteousness of Christ God robes us in through the Gospel. The Apostle St. Paul writes of Holy Baptism robing us in Christ’s Perfect and God-Pleasing Righteousness: For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Now that we possesses the Righteousness of God by the Gospel through faith, God is utterly pleased with us in every aspect of our lives because now our lives and His creation work just as He planned, showering men with His eternal blessings. The prophet Zephaniah writes of God’s delight with us in our midst by the Gospel through faith: The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing. Because the Gospel Absolves of sin, robes us in the God-Pleasing Righteousness of Christ, making us utterly pleasing to God, and saves, the Gospel dispels our fears and cheers the hearts of men. B. The Liturgy of the Church cheers because it gives life eternal and the treasures of Heaven. The Liturgy of the Church also cheers because it gives to us life eternal. The Apostle St. Paul writes: But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. With eternal life comes all the eternal riches and treasures of Christ’s everlasting Kingdom. Jesus says: I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver. I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment: That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures. The Lutheran Church confesses that the everlasting treasures of the Kingdom of Heaven come with the Gospel, i.e., the Liturgy of the Church: For here He offers to us the entire treasure which He has brought for us from heaven, and to which He invites us also in other places with the greatest kindness, as when He says in St. Matthew 11, 28: Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Now it is surely a sin and a shame that He so cordially and faithfully summons and exhorts us to our highest and greatest good, and we act so distantly with regard to it, and permit so long a time to pass [without partaking of the Sacrament] that we grow quite cold and hardened, so that we have no inclination or love for it. We must never regard the Sacrament as something incurious from which we had better flee, but as a pure, wholesome, comforting remedy imparting salvation and comfort, which will cure you and give you life both in soul and body. For where the soul has recovered, the body also is relieved Of the Liturgy of the Church Isaiah writes that it cheers and gives joy because the Liturgy of the Church is God’s Word and Sacraments to Absolve of sin and robe men in the eternally rewarding Garment of Christ’s Righteousness: I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness ... . Conclusion. Christian Cheer is the Liturgy of the Church because the Liturgy of the Church is God’s own Gift to men to Absolve of sin and Robe them the God-Pleasing righteousness of Christ. With nothing to steer God away from us because of Absolution and everything to draw God to us because of the Righteousness of God in Christ, Christians are cheered with expectations of every good thing from God now in this life and forever in His everlasting Kingdom. Amen.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 21:58:31 +0000
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