Rev. Kurt Hering, Pastor
Trinity Lutheran Church
Layton, Utah
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from His Son, our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ. AMEN
TEXT: Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them
from their distress. Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his
steadfast love endures forever!
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the
north and from the south. Some wandered in d|esert wastes, finding no way to
a city to dwell in; hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from
their distress. He led them by a straight way till they reached a city to
dwell in. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous
works to the children of men! For he satisfies the longing soul, and the
hungry soul he fills with good things.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in
the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from
their distress. Psalm 107:1-9; 19
Today is the "hump day" of the season of Lent. Like the Wednesday of your
work or school week, it marks the mid-point. There is a sense that you have
reached the crest of what has been an uphill struggle and now, while there
is still a way to go, the way seems a tad easier. You see the light at the
end of the tunnel and know that Friday, Good Friday and the Sunday of the
Resurrection it brings are soon to come.
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
And we are among those come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen
that his deeds have been carried out in God."
That is why we have come here, why the Lord has brought us here today,
indeed every Sunday. . . .
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from
their distress. Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his
steadfast love endures forever!
This middle, Sunday of Lent, is called by the first words of the Introit
from Isaiah 66 used in the historic system, "Laetare Jerusalem" -- "Rejoice,
O Jerusalem".
During the first six or seven centuries the 6 week season of Lent began with
the church week comprised only thirty-six fasting days, that is M-Sa. To
these were afterwards added the four days preceding the first Sunday, in
order to make up the forty days' fast, which is why we now begin with Ash
Wed.
Strictly speaking, the Thursday before Laetare Sunday is the middle day of
Lent, and it was at one time observed as such, but afterwards the special
signs of joy permitted on this day, intended to encourage the faithful in
their course through this season of penitence, were transferred to the
Sunday following. These signs include the limited use of flowers in the
chancel, and can include rose-coloured vestments also allowed instead of the
purple used during the other Sundays of Lent. The contrast between Laetare
and the other Sundays is thus emphasized, and is emblematic of the joys our
Lord grants to us during our short time on earth even amidst the trials,
tribulations, and sadness that surround us on a daily basis-on this Laetare
Sunday we gather for worship with a restrained rejoicing mingled with a
certain amount of sadness.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from
their distress. Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his
steadfast love endures forever!
And that makes it rather like the everyday life of the Christian, doesn't
it? As we learn in the catechism, the life of the baptized is characterized
by "daily contrition and repentance" that drowns the "Old Adam" sinner in us
so that he dies "with all sins and evil desires, and that [in the sinner's
place] a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in
righteousness and purity forever."
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever
believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 11:25-6 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who
believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and
believes in me will never die.
Here in time, through baptism, we experience daily what will happen once,
for eternity on judgment day.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from
their distress. Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his
steadfast love endures forever!
The daily life of the Christian, while full of distress, everyday having
enough trouble of it's own, is also full of the grace and love of God in
Christ. In fact it is the distress and trouble that points us to that grace
and love. Without the distress and trouble, who would need, let alone look
for the grace and love that proceeds only from the beloved Son of the living
God?
17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in
order that the world might be saved through him.
He didn't need to take on flesh to condemn sinners, that was the state of
things already. He came to deliver them from the death sentence of that
condemnation.
So here is one final thing for you to think about. However dark things may
look to on any given day; however painful the day's trouble proves to be for
you; however monstrous the obstacle you see before seems to be; the
darkness, pain, and monstrosities from which your Savior is protecting and
delivering you are infinitely greater. The devil prowls like a hungry lion
seeking whom he may devour, and his armies are legions beyond counting. If
you could see them for even a moment, you would not only give up hope, you
would drop dead from fear.
But thanks be to God He spares you from that which you could never begin to
bear. And He gives you but enough to cause you to seek His help, to call on
Him daily for forgiveness, and to keep you humble before Him and in the eyes
of a critical world looking for any reason not to believe and to blame their
unbelief on those who do.
So today, and every day, let us join together with all the faithful in the
Light that overcomes the darkness, and the joy that accompanies repentance.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from
their distress. Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his
steadfast love endures forever!--in the name of the Father, and of the +
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!
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