Numbers 21:4-9/James 1:22-27/St John 16:23-30(31-33)
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Blessed be God because He has not rejected my prayer or removed His steadfast love from me! (Ps 66:20). Our Lord teaches us to pray in His name. Prayer in Jesus’ name begins with God speaking and our listening. The disciples must be taught how to pray by our Lord. He teaches them the Lord’s Prayer, saying, Our Father . . . This is the prayer of sonship and faith. This is not figurative language. Our Lord is speaking plainly.
Prayer rests on sonship. And sonship is expressed in words, or rather, true sonship is revealed in the Word. Our Lord came to reveal the Father and make us sons of God. He is the Word made flesh, who came from the Father and returns to the Father. By Him and in Him the Father is made known. If you have seen Him you have seen the Father. No one goes to the Father except by and through the Son, Jesus Christ.
All other definitions and descriptions of the kingdom are parables and comparisons; analogies. Not this. Sonship expresses the actual relationship of Father to our Lord. And through the suffering and death of the only-begotten Son, we have received adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” (Gal 4:6).
This is the foundation for prayer, which is conversation with God. As children learn to speak by listening to others around them and mimicking their sounds, so too the Christian, newly born of Holy Baptism, learns to pray by listening to the voice of our Father in heaven addressed to us in His Word within the company of the family of God. That is to say, the child of God learns of His Father’s love for Him in Christ Jesus through the preaching of the Word, by being brought to His Father house, and only then does he speak back to God what He has said to us. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it, “Not the poverty of our heart, but the richness of God’s Word, ought to determine our prayer” (Psalms, p15).
So with the children of Israel. Out of Egypt the Lord called His son, His people. Baptized into Moses through the Red Sea, the Lord ransomed them for Himself, gave them His Ten Words, set them on their way before Him that they may walk in His Word, being doers, not hearers only.
And how miserably did they fail?! Worried about food and drink - what about the manna and water from the rock? They grumbled and complained, despising the Word of the Lord. And so they Lord gave them something to really complain about: The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And then how easily prayer comes in fear of death!
The children of Israel confess, We have sinned. And then they ask Moses to pray for them before the Lord, asking Him for something they do not deserve - mercy. Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord had mercy upon His children. He gave them a sign - the bronze serpent on the pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
Beloved children, as it was for Israel, so it is for you. Our Lord ransomed you for Himself. He has given you His Word that you may walk in it, being hearers and doers.
But how miserably do we often fail?! We grumble and complain not only about food and drink, even when it is set before us on the dinner table, but we gripe and moan about jobs and our spouses, about the government, the weather, our health, our paychecks, our pastor.
I do not deny that you bear crosses. The children of Israel bore crosses; their walk through the desert was not easy. But do not complain as though what you bear is unique or unjust. As it is written, It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness (Heb 12:7-10).
His godly discipline is a call to repentance and faith; to strengthen your resolve to trust and pray. For not only does He discipline you, our Lord has shown steadfast love to you and given you a sign. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so was the Son of Man lifted up that all who look to Him in faith would live.
For you have been bitten by Satan, that fiery serpent. The venom of sin courses through your veins. But in mercy and love the Father infected His Son with the poison. He became Sin, the image of the serpent. Vile and grotesque He was lifted upon the Cross in love for you. Look to Jesus, the Founder and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb 12:2).
There He intercedes for you. And upon His sacrifice is your prayer founded. Through Baptism into Him He has made you sons and heirs. As it is written, In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ (Gal 3:26-27). You are dressed up in Christ, even as children dress-up in their parents‘ clothing. Christ’s righteousness has been put upon you. And He gives you His Word, the proclamation of the Father’s love for you.
Thus are you able to go to Him as dear children ask their dear father. For children are unafraid to ask of their father, even after he has disciplined. With no temerity the child asks her father for desert even though she has refused to eat her meat. So it is that you are given to pray to your Father in heaven, asking Him for things of which you have no right or merit in yourself.
Yet you beseech Him, in the name of Jesus, that His name may be hallowed among you in proper preaching and teaching; that His kingdom come among you in His Divine Service by His grace, that His will be done among you breaking and hindering every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our flesh.
Thus do you actually pray the Our Father against yourself; against your stubborn pride and complaining, against the assertion of your will. This is true religion, as St James writes. Believed in the heart. Confessed with the lip. Lived in the life. For the child is always the child. And when she is loved and forgiven and encouraged, she rejoices in being a child. Forgiven and loved, then, by the Father, she also forgives those who sin against her. This becomes an outward sign that you have received the Lord’s forgiveness and mercy.
Come then, and receive again the mercy of the Lord that in mercy you may show mercy. For you are taught to pray for the forgiveness of sins and daily bread. Here they are joined together: the bread of the Eucharist and the forgiveness and life of Christ given together with His body and blood. Here is the Father’s love for you; the outward sign of His favor. Come, receive the bread given only to the children. For in eating you proclaim again that victory over the world that has brought you peace.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Blessed be God because He has not rejected my prayer or removed His steadfast love from me! (Ps 66:20). Our Lord teaches us to pray in His name. Prayer in Jesus’ name begins with God speaking and our listening. The disciples must be taught how to pray by our Lord. He teaches them the Lord’s Prayer, saying, Our Father . . . This is the prayer of sonship and faith. This is not figurative language. Our Lord is speaking plainly.
Prayer rests on sonship. And sonship is expressed in words, or rather, true sonship is revealed in the Word. Our Lord came to reveal the Father and make us sons of God. He is the Word made flesh, who came from the Father and returns to the Father. By Him and in Him the Father is made known. If you have seen Him you have seen the Father. No one goes to the Father except by and through the Son, Jesus Christ.
All other definitions and descriptions of the kingdom are parables and comparisons; analogies. Not this. Sonship expresses the actual relationship of Father to our Lord. And through the suffering and death of the only-begotten Son, we have received adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” (Gal 4:6).
This is the foundation for prayer, which is conversation with God. As children learn to speak by listening to others around them and mimicking their sounds, so too the Christian, newly born of Holy Baptism, learns to pray by listening to the voice of our Father in heaven addressed to us in His Word within the company of the family of God. That is to say, the child of God learns of His Father’s love for Him in Christ Jesus through the preaching of the Word, by being brought to His Father house, and only then does he speak back to God what He has said to us. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it, “Not the poverty of our heart, but the richness of God’s Word, ought to determine our prayer” (Psalms, p15).
So with the children of Israel. Out of Egypt the Lord called His son, His people. Baptized into Moses through the Red Sea, the Lord ransomed them for Himself, gave them His Ten Words, set them on their way before Him that they may walk in His Word, being doers, not hearers only.
And how miserably did they fail?! Worried about food and drink - what about the manna and water from the rock? They grumbled and complained, despising the Word of the Lord. And so they Lord gave them something to really complain about: The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And then how easily prayer comes in fear of death!
The children of Israel confess, We have sinned. And then they ask Moses to pray for them before the Lord, asking Him for something they do not deserve - mercy. Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord had mercy upon His children. He gave them a sign - the bronze serpent on the pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
Beloved children, as it was for Israel, so it is for you. Our Lord ransomed you for Himself. He has given you His Word that you may walk in it, being hearers and doers.
But how miserably do we often fail?! We grumble and complain not only about food and drink, even when it is set before us on the dinner table, but we gripe and moan about jobs and our spouses, about the government, the weather, our health, our paychecks, our pastor.
I do not deny that you bear crosses. The children of Israel bore crosses; their walk through the desert was not easy. But do not complain as though what you bear is unique or unjust. As it is written, It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness (Heb 12:7-10).
His godly discipline is a call to repentance and faith; to strengthen your resolve to trust and pray. For not only does He discipline you, our Lord has shown steadfast love to you and given you a sign. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so was the Son of Man lifted up that all who look to Him in faith would live.
For you have been bitten by Satan, that fiery serpent. The venom of sin courses through your veins. But in mercy and love the Father infected His Son with the poison. He became Sin, the image of the serpent. Vile and grotesque He was lifted upon the Cross in love for you. Look to Jesus, the Founder and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb 12:2).
There He intercedes for you. And upon His sacrifice is your prayer founded. Through Baptism into Him He has made you sons and heirs. As it is written, In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ (Gal 3:26-27). You are dressed up in Christ, even as children dress-up in their parents‘ clothing. Christ’s righteousness has been put upon you. And He gives you His Word, the proclamation of the Father’s love for you.
Thus are you able to go to Him as dear children ask their dear father. For children are unafraid to ask of their father, even after he has disciplined. With no temerity the child asks her father for desert even though she has refused to eat her meat. So it is that you are given to pray to your Father in heaven, asking Him for things of which you have no right or merit in yourself.
Yet you beseech Him, in the name of Jesus, that His name may be hallowed among you in proper preaching and teaching; that His kingdom come among you in His Divine Service by His grace, that His will be done among you breaking and hindering every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our flesh.
Thus do you actually pray the Our Father against yourself; against your stubborn pride and complaining, against the assertion of your will. This is true religion, as St James writes. Believed in the heart. Confessed with the lip. Lived in the life. For the child is always the child. And when she is loved and forgiven and encouraged, she rejoices in being a child. Forgiven and loved, then, by the Father, she also forgives those who sin against her. This becomes an outward sign that you have received the Lord’s forgiveness and mercy.
Come then, and receive again the mercy of the Lord that in mercy you may show mercy. For you are taught to pray for the forgiveness of sins and daily bread. Here they are joined together: the bread of the Eucharist and the forgiveness and life of Christ given together with His body and blood. Here is the Father’s love for you; the outward sign of His favor. Come, receive the bread given only to the children. For in eating you proclaim again that victory over the world that has brought you peace.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
RSS Feed