New Lutheran Quote of the Day

We confess in the creed that He "descended into hell." He didn't go as others, as a helpless prisoner through a gate that would never open again. He descended into hell as the overlord of the dead. He broke through the gates. A revolution occurred on this day that changed the balance of power forever. The earthquakes that shook Jerusalem were a sign of this. The curtain in the temple that blocked the way into the Holy of Holies, to God Himself, where no one dared to go except for the high priest on the day of atonement, was torn from top to bottom. Now it was opened so we sinners could go straight to God's fatherly arms. Even the gates of death are open! --Bishop Bo Giertz, *To Live with Christ* p. 274

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

If, therefore, you are heavy-laden and feel your weakness, then go joyfully to the Sacrament and receive refreshment, comfort, and strength. -- Blessed Martin Luther, *Large Catechism* V:72

Patristic Quote of the Day

Sealed was the tomb in which they had entrusted You, that they might keep You dead, that is, safe, and virgin was the womb which no man knew. Virgin womb and sealed tomb, like trumpets, proclaimed Him in the ears of a deaf people. -- St. Ephraim the Syrian, *Treasury* p. 180

Assignment

for all Lutheran Pastors: READ Luther's homily for Holy Saturday, the last in vol. 1 of the House Postils. Gold, pure gold.

And to have the Choir

sing so beautifully "My Savior Jesus" right after the homily! They sang it SOOOOOO well. Talk about music as proclamation. I just love celebrating Triduum with St. Paul's parish. I can't imagine being anywhere else during these three holy days. Now to ready things for the joy of Vigil!

The Final Word at Good Friday Tenebrae

Stainer's "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoso believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoso believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God so loved the world. God so loved the world. God so loved the world" [Thank you, Carlo - for suggesting it - and the quartet]

Note to Self

Do not forget next year that the Altar Book prescribes (and Builder delivers) Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9 on Good Friday for Chief Service while the One Year Lectionary delivers 2 Cor. 5!!! (You all help me remember, okay?)

Singing the Triumph of the Cross

O darkest woe!
Ye tears, forth flow!
Has earth so sad a wonder?
God the Father's Only Son
Now is buried yonder!

O sorrow dread!
Our God is dead,
Upon the cross extended.
There His love enlivened us
As His life was ended.

O child of woe:
Who struck the blow
That killed our gracious Master?
"It was I" thy conscience cries,
"I have wrought disaster."

Thy Bridegroom dead!
God's Lamb has bled
Upon Thy sin forever,
Pouring out His sinless self
In that vast endeavor.

Such innocence!
His countenance
A fount of faith undying!
Worlds on worlds cannot contain
Grief at Him here lying.

O Virgin's Son,
What Thou hast won
Is far beyond all telling:
How our God, detested, died,
Hell and devil felling.

O Jesus Christ,
Who sacrificed
Thy life for lifeless mortals,
Be my life in death and bring
Me to heaven's portals!

LSB 448

From Good Friday's Liturgy

Behold, the life-giving cross on which was hung the salvation of the world, O come, let us worship Him!... We adore You, O Lord, and we praise and glorify Your holy resurrection. For behold, by the wood of Your cross joy has come into all the world... Faithful cross, true sign of triumph, Be for all the noblest tree! None in foliage, none in blossom, none in fruit Your equal be. Symbol of the world's redemption for Your burden sets us free... We implore You, O Lord, that Your abundant blessing may be upon Your people who have held the passion and death of Your Son in devout remembrance, that we may receive Your pardon and the gift of Your comfort, and may increase in faith and take hold of eternal salvation... On whose hard arms, so widely flung, The weight of this world's ransom hung, The price of humankind to pay And spoil the spoiler of his prey. O tree of beauty, tree most fair, Ordained those holy limbs to bear: Gone is thy shame, each crimsoned bough Proclaims the King of Glory now To Thee, eternal Three in One, Let homage meet by all be done; As by the cross Thou dost restore, So guide and keep us evermore. Amen.

Good Friday Homily

“Tetelesthai.” One word in Greek. Three in English: “It is finished.” More literally: “Fulfilled, Completed, Accomplished, DONE.” Strange words to hear from the mouth of a man who is preparing to give Himself up into death. They are the words one expects to hear when the artist has finished the masterpiece, when the poet lays down her pen after writing the perfect poem, or when the craftsman runs his hand along the table he’s been laboring over and at last is satisfied that it’s all he intended it to be. “It’s finished.”

Friday. Good Friday. But Friday. Day number six of the week. This day recalls the first Friday there ever was. “And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them.” And we recall how like a craftsman or an artist, God had been inspecting his work all along those first six days, and had declared: “Good. Good.” And at the very end: “Very good.” Tov maod, in Hebrew. Which is to say, exceedingly, overflowing bang on. And so, it is finished.

The Craftsman of the first creation, “through whom all things were made and without whom nothing was made that has been made”, is today finishing up a new project as He hangs upon the Cross and its dejavu all over again. A creation that had fallen from its perfection, its good and very good, by the deceit of the devil and the sin of humanity, now restored.

Here is a good and a very good Friday. For here we meet not only the Carpenter through whom the world was made, but we meet Him as a man, the Carpenter from Nazareth. As the new Adam born of the Virgin soil of Mary. He stands in the place of the first Adam to whom dominion over this world had been entrusted, and who surrendered it all to the devil and brought in sin and death and placed this world out of joint with God, under wrath and judgment. Here we meet the new Adam. And unlike the old, this one has no truck with the devil. This one has come to destroy the works of the devil, to expose his lies and to deliver humanity from his clutches and to hand back to His Father.

Satan had implied that God was holding out on Adam and Eve and so they’d best look out for themselves, and we’ve been doing it ever since. But here for once stood a man, true man, our very brother, who refused the lie. Who knew that His Father was not holding out on man, but holding out to man more hope and life than man could ever desire or deserve. And He was that gift in our flesh.

So Good Friday. For on this day in our flesh He completes the task given. Obedience. Human obedience. The unbroken yes of His life in our flesh. Obedience to death, even death upon a cross. The obedience which man owes his Creator and which we have failed to render in countless ways, He, the Creator Himself, comes into our flesh to offer for us, on our behalf, to His Father, that He might give it to us as our very own.

Tetelesthai. Finished. Done. Perfect human obedience rendered in our place and now offered to us as our own. And so a new creation. And in this creation, the verdict of “good and very good” rests secure upon you, for its basis is not in YOU, but in HIM. In His finished, completed work of obedience, exquisitely rendered to the Father on your behalf.

How can you know it was on your behalf? By the blood and water. They run together from His riven side. And they testify to you that God "has given you eternal life and this life is in His Son." This water, rich in blood, has splashed your life in Holy Baptism. That’s where He lavished on you His perfect “yes” to the will of the Father, His unbroken obedience, gave it you as your own, covering all your disobedience and death, breaking sin’s power in your life. And this blood, rich in the water of life, He pours down your throat in the Eucharist, toxic to sin, rich in the Spirit, imparting life. And both cry out together: “For you! Offered in your place! Your sins forgiven, forgotten and gone. Hidden and dissolved beneath this blood and water. It is finished!”

The old liar, Satan, wars against the Lord’s tetelesthai, His “it is finished.” He screams at you: “No, it’s not over. It’s not finished. You can’t rely on Him and His work. Don’t believe Him!” Satan gladly entices you into sin and then hands the sin squarely back into your arms and tells you: “Oh, my. Deal with it! It’s yours. You’ve made the mess, haven’t you, and you’re going to have to face Him and He’s a meanie and worse!”

Against his lying mutterings, learn to take up the deep joy of the Lord’s “tetelesthai.” To remind the evil one and your own doubting heart: “No, you see, it really is finished. A perfect obedience that is mine as a gift. In my Baptism and in His Eucharist God has given me the blood in which is life because it was the blood of the perfect “yes” to the Father’s will - the blood that atoned for my sins not in part, but in whole - and not mine only, but the sins of the whole world.”

Good Friday, people loved by God! Good because on this day a goodness was brought to perfection in human flesh by our Lord Jesus in which we may all live forevermore. Tetelesthai!

We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You for by Your Holy Cross You HAVE redeemed the world.

Yes, in case you were wondering,

Divine Service Five modified to fit with the Maundy Thursday liturgy is a beauty. Tonight we had:

Service of Corporate Confession and Absolution (for Maundy Thursday)

Service of the Word
Salutation and Collect
OT Reading
Psalm (sung responsively, choir and congregation)
Epistle
Hymn of the Day: "O Lord, We Praise You"
Gospel
Sermon
Prayer of the Church
Offering

Service of the Sacrament
Preface
Our Father
Words of Our Lord
Sanctus: "Isaiah, Mighty Seer"
Pax
Agnus: "Lamb of God, Pure and Holy"
Distribution with hymns
Post-communion: Mozart's "Ave, Verum Corpus"
Post-communion Collect
Psalm 22 (as the altar is stripped)
Silence (as the people leave - downright painful after the postludes we've been treated to of late...)

I think that's got to be our standard Maundy Thursday. It was perfect. 214 of St. Paul's members gathered for the holy day.

Cindi just mentioned...

...that from tonight through Sunday's services, she's singing or playing in four ensembles and doing a few cantor roles AND she's got 21 pieces to get through. I think I owe her and all the musicians a HUGE thank you!

The Beauty of Individual Confession and Absolution

This time of year I hear many confessions and have the joy of pronouncing the holy absolution. Here is that simple, but beautiful liturgy.

Penitent: Pastor, please hear my confession and pronounce forgiveness in order to fulfill God's will.
Pastor: Proceed.

Penitent: I, a poor sinner, plead guilty before God of all sins.
I have lived as if God did not matter and as if I mattered most.
My Lord's name I have not honored as I should;
my worship and prayers have faltered.
I have not let His love have its way with me, and so my love for others has failed.
There are those whom I have hurt, and those whom I have failed to help.
My thoughts and desires have been soiled with sin.
[What troubles me particularly is that...]
I am sorry for all of this and ask for grace.
I want to do better.

Pastor: God be merciful to you and strengthen your faith.
Penitent: Amen.
Pastor: Do you believe that my forgiveness is God's forgiveness?
Penitent: Yes.
Pastor: Let it be done for you as you believe [laying on hands]. In the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Penitent: Amen.

Pastor: [may offer additional words of comfort] Go in peace.
Penitent: Amen.

Expanding the Ordinary

Lutheran Service Book provides many resources for expanding the Ordinary (the chants usually sung in the Divine Service). From #942-963 alternate settings of the Ordinary are provided. Here you can find different chants for Kyrie, Gloria, Dignus Est Agnus, Alleluia, Creed, Offertory, Our Father, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei. If your congregation has completely mastered one of the settings of the Divine Service, and would like to expand their musical options a bit, I highly recommend seasonally substituting some of the alternative chants/pieces provided here. It will enrich your liturgical experience by adding a bit of "new" in the midst of a quite familiar structure.

I must confess

that I am looking to a return to "regular" schedule after Easter. Just the Divine Service upon the weekend with a Bible Study and also a midweek Bible class (excepting, of course, the church's feasts and festivals). It will be entirely welcome. Yes, by about July I know I'll be itching for catechesis to kick in again, and gearing up already for the winter festivals. At least next year there is a nice break between Christmas/Epiphany and Lent/Easter (and we'll have ALL the Epiphany readings in the One-Year Series); easter will be quite late. But right now the thought of a return to normal is utterly welcome. One week and few days and counting...

Superb Article

Anyone who has been reading the news cannot but note the attacks upon Benedict XVI, Bishop of Rome. Lutherans, of course, see many of the problems Rome faces in this regard as self-created by the insistence on clerical celibacy of men who manifestly do not have that gift. We rightly condemn the forbidding of priests to marry as a human tradition, contrary to the express witness of the Sacred Scriptures, indeed "a doctrine of demons." And yet, there is something rabid and hateful about the way that the Press has it in for the current pastor of St. John Lateran. My dear friend and colleague, Dr. John Stephenson, has written powerfully about this in a recent Logia article. It is long, but quite worth the read and the pondering:

The dictatorship of relativism

Sober holy week reading.

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

He brings eternal, supernal joy only through cross and trial. -- Matthew Harrison, *A Little Book on Joy* p. 140.

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

The phrase "for you" is therefore the key to the mystery of grace embedded in the Lord's Supper. -- C. F. W. Walther, *God Grant It!* p. 335.

Patristic Quote of the Day

Death there had to be, and death for all, so that the due of all might be paid. Wherefore, the Word, as I said, being Himself incapable of death, assumed a mortal body, that He might offer it as His own in place of all, suffering for the sake of all through His union with it, "might bring to nought him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might deliver them who all their lifetime were enslaved by the fear of death." -- St. Athanasius, *On the Incarnation* par. 20.

Silent Wednesday - An OP Rerun

Holy week... The most important seven days in the history of man... Although the exact sequence of events is not always clear to us, we can discern, even now, the straight lines of divine order... Sunday: The garments in the dust - the Hosannahs as the prelude to the "Crucify."... Monday: Sermons with the urgent note of finality - the withered fig tree - Caesar's coin... Tuesday: The terrifying wrath of the Lamb over institutionalized and personal sin among the Scribes and Pharisees - the fire and color of His last sermon to the city and the world - the sureness of justice and the coming of judgment... Night and prayer in the light of the Easter moon on the Mount of Olives...

Wednesday is silent... If anything happened, the holy writers have drawn the veil... Everything that God could say before the Upper Room had been said... It was man's turn now... Perhaps there were quiet words in a corner of the Garden, both to His children who would flee and to His Father who would stay... Wednesday was His... The heart of that mad, crowded Holy Week was quiet... Tomorrow the soliders would come, and Friday there would be God's great signature in the sky... Thursday and Friday would belong to time and eternity, but Wednesday was of heaven alone...

Silent Wednesday... If our Lord needed it, how much more we whose life is the story of the Hosannah and the Crucify... Time for prayer, for adoration... Time to call the soul into the inner court and the Garden... In our crowded world we are lonely because we are never alone... No time to go where prayer is the only sound and God is the only light... We need more silent Wednesdays... In the glory of the Cross above our dust our silence can become purging and peace... God speaks most clearly to the heart that is silent before Him... [The Pilgrim, pp. 27, 28]