Sermon for 19-February-2023 Quinquagesima

QUINQUAGESIMA (ESTO MIHI)
The seeing are blind, while the one who is blind can see. (Lk 18:31-43) Jesus tells the twelve that He is going up to Jerusalem to suffer and die and rise again. But they cannot understand or grasp what He is saying. The meaning of His words is hidden from their sight. However, as Jesus makes His way up to Jerusalem, a blind man calls out to Him for mercy. This blind man sees that Jesus is the Messiah-Savior; for he calls Him “Son of David.” Indeed, Jesus is the Lord’s anointed, the keeper of sheep (I Samuel 16:1-13) who goes to lay down His life for the sheep. He is the incarnate love of the Father who suffers long and is kind, who is not puffed up, who never fails us. (1 Cor 13:1-13) Jesus opens the eyes of the blind (Is 35:3-7) to see Him not according to outward appearances of lowliness, but according to His heart of mercy and compassion. Those who behold Him thus by faith follow Him to the cross through death into life.

Introit: (Psalm 31:1, 5, 9, 16; Antiphon: Psalm 31:2-3)
Pastor: Be my rock of refuge, a fortress of defense to save me. For You are my rock and my fortress.
Congregation: Therefore, for Your name’s sake, lead me and guide me.
P: In You, O Lord, I put my trust; let me never be ashamed; deliver me in Your righteousness.
C: Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.
P: Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble; my eye wastes away with grief.
C: Make Your face shine upon Your servant; save me for Your mercies’ sake.
All: Glory be to the Father an to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
P: Be my rock of refuge, a fortress of defense to save me. For You are my rock and my fortress.
C: Therefore, for Your name’s sake, lead me and guide me.

Collect of the Day
O Lord, mercifully hear our prayers and, having set us free from the bonds of our sins, deliver us from every evil; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

  • 1Samuel 16:1-13 +
    The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” (2) And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the LORD said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ (3) And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.” (4) Samuel did what the LORD commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, “Do you come peaceably?” (5) And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. (6) When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is before him.” (7) But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (8) Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” (9) Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” (10) And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen these.” (11) Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” (12) And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the LORD said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” (13) Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
    Gradual (Psalm 77:14-15)
    You are the God who does | wonders;* You have declared Your strength among the | peoples.
    You have with Your arm redeemed Your | people,* The sons of Jacob and | Joseph.
  • 1Corinthians 13:1-13 +
    If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. (2) And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. (3) If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. (4) Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant (5) or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; (6) it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. (7) Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (8) Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. (9) For we know in part and we prophesy in part, (10) but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. (11) When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. (12) For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. (13) So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Lutheran Confessions Responsive Reading: The Small Catechism (1529) – The Lord’s Prayer
P: As the head of the family should teach it in a simple way to his household. What is the Second Petition?
C: Thy kingdom come.
P: What does this mean?
C: The kingdom of God certainly comes by itself without our prayer,
but we pray in this petition that it may come to us also.
P: How does God’s kingdom come?
C: God’s kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His
grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity.

Tract (Psalm 100:1-3)
P: Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness;
C: Come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He is God;
P: It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
C: We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

  • Luke 18:31-43 +
    And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. (32) For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. (33) And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” (34) But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said. (35) As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. (36) And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. (37) They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” (38) And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (39) And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” (40) And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, (41) “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” (42) And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” (43) And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

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