Brothers and sisters, greetings in the name of Jesus. God has given us some beautiful weather to start out February. It looks like time to begin preparations for spring. I encourage you to make worship attendance part of your schedule. There is no substitute for hearing God’s word and receiving His Holy Supper for the forgiveness of sins.
There are two upcoming events I want to remind you of:
First, Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent on February 14. Please note the time— midweek services each week of Lent will begin at 6:30 pm.
Secondly, as an effort to reduce the shortage of donated blood in our area, Pattison Methodist Church will host a blood drive on Sunday February 18th between 9am-3pm. Would you like to donate? More information about scheduling can be found on the Facebook page for Pattison United Methodist Church, or go online to giveblood.org.
For the service Sunday February 4th, the fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, we will be following the liturgy of Divine Service 3 beginning on page 184 in the LSB hymnal. Hymns chosen for the day are #398 Hail to the Lord’s Anointed; #846 Your Hand, O Lord, in Days of Old; #620 Jesus Comes Today With Healing; and #524 How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds.
Scripture readings assigned to the day are Psalm 147:1-11; Isaiah 40:21-31; 1 Corinthians 9:16-27; and Mark 1:29-39.
Psalm 147 is the second of the so-called hallel or praise psalms. The psalmist gives several reasons to praise God. Verses 2 and 12-13 praise God for building up Jerusalem and strengthening her gates. Such language suggests the psalm was written after the exile in Babylon, and the city walls had been rebuilt under the direction of Ezra and Nehemiah. However, much of psalm praises God more broadly for His care of creation and the lives of His creatures. The heavens demonstrate that God is great and powerful. And in His mercy and grace He applies that power for our good. Verse 3, He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Verse 6, He lifts up the humble and casts the wicked to the ground. God’s greatest display of caring, delivering, and restoring power is when He sent Jesus into the world to die for our sin, and to reverse the sickness, sadness, shame, and other consequences of sin. We will be reading verses 1-11. In verse 11 the psalmist reminds us to respond to God by humbly fearing Him, to honor Him and submit to His leading. God is not impressed by human abilities. The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, that is, those who hope in His steadfast love. In your successes and in your troubles, turn to the Lord, He knows you and will accomplish what is best for you.
Isaiah Chapter 40 begins with God speaking comfort to His people. The citizens of Judah and Jerusalem were about to suffer because of their sin. But God promises to restore those who repent and turn to Him. We will be reading verses 21-31 as the Old Testament lesson. Like the reading from Psalm 147, God speaks through the prophet reminding all people of His creative and restorative power. God who created all that is, the visible and the invisible, is constantly observing you and caring for you. He will strengthen you. He never grows weary of helping you. Do not fear the power of kings or governments. They are earthly and temporary. Trust in the Lord. Lay your burdens on Jesus and He will carry them for you.
The epistle is a portion of St. Paul’s first letter to the congregation in Corinth, a city in southern Greece. The congregation was divided over a number of issues. One of the questions or conflicts was over the use of “Christian freedom”. What “rights” do we have since Christ forgives all sin? In Chapter 9 Paul argues that is a wrong question to ask. We were given freedom in Christ not so we could demand rights, but so that we would be slaves to others. This irony or apparent contradiction is difficult to grasp. The truth is, only God is truly free to do what He wants. We never have such independence. We will always serve someone or something. But whom or what will we serve? As sinful humans we were born serving the devil (most often through our selfish, self-centered desires.) We are not born with a free will to do good. Thank God that Jesus sacrificed His perfect live and shed His innocent blood to pay the ransom that set us free from the devil’s control. Baptism has now united you to Jesus. The Holy Spirit enlightens us by His Word. Following Jesus we have now been put into God’s service. In faith we serve God by humbly and sacrificially doing acts of charity and care for our neighbor. As Paul explains, in Christ, we Christians are free from all; even so, we are now servants of all. We are God’s agents tuned in and adapting to our neighbors’ needs, helping them so that we can speak the unchanging truth of the gospel of Jesus to them.
In the gospel reading, St. Mark reports on a number of healings Jesus performed, restoring those who were sick or oppressed by demons. Jesus has come to reverse the breakdown of the world caused by sin. His miraculous work demonstrates His power, and also demonstrates that the kingdom of God is at hand. It is a message not merely intended for one place or one group of people but for the whole world. The gospel has been revealed to you. How might you share the good news of forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus?
COLLECT: Almighty God, graciously hear the prayers of Your people that we who justly suffer the consequences of our sin may be mercifully delivered by Your goodness to the glory of Your name; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord and Savior, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
I urge you to attend church so you can receive Jesus’ gifts of forgiveness. Please let me know if you have any prayer requests or questions about Sunday’s readings or the Lenten schedule. God bless you. Pastor Boster
