This manuscript is nearly identical to one preached on 2nd May 2010. You can view the manuscript here, or via the PDF file here.

Another short one this week. This week was spent entertaining family. My sister, brother-in-law, and nephew were down from Washington (with their dog, of course). We spent time visiting a couple of breweries. We went to the pool in Castle Rock. We had pictures of the kids taken—the cousins. Thursday came quickly, however, and they had to return home. It was good to host them.

The regular stuff happened at church, minus some regular office hours. There was Lutheran Confessions Study on Wednesday night; we finished Article VI of the Formula of Concord. Bible Study on Friday was supposed to be hosted at our house, but the older kids decided to misbehave for most of the day, so they were put to bed while I went to church; there, we finally finished with the first two verses of Genesis—it took us four weeks, but we did it!

Saturday was a pretty relaxing day, though I did have a visit to make in an unusual place, for me at least. We finally got the Disney movies we ordered today, too.

I’m gonna keep this short. This week, we did a lot of cleaning. We had some outlets downstairs changed to grounded outlets and had some new ones installed. Sermon prep saw me get nowhere, so I borrowed a sermon. Got back into the Lutheran Confessions Study at church and finished Article V of the Formula of Concord, both the Epitome and Solid Declaration. On Saturday, we enjoyed a play put on by some homeschooling friends and their co-op: a modern interpretation of Pilgrim’s Progress.

In the beginning, when God created man in His own image, he was formed from the dust of the ground. God the Potter had created perfection, the zenith of His creative work. God spoke, and there it was; “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth,” so in His image He made him, male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:26-27) So, from the good earth was man formed; however, the lifeless clay form stood before Him. Therefore, God “breathed into His nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7)

In the days of the Patriarchs, catastrophe comes to Job as his family is taken from him, his livestock is stolen, and he is covered from head to foot in painful boils. He confesses that it is God who gives and takes away. (cf. Job 1:21) He asks his wife if we should accept only good from God and not adversity. (cf. Job 2:10) Four of His friends come to comfort him and do a poor job. Eventually, Elihu, Job’s young and pretentious friend who speaks a pearl of wisdom from time to time, speaks to rebuke the other three friends. He then turns his attention to Job and says, “The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” (Job 33:4)

The prophet Ezekiel is taken to a valley by the Spirit of YHWH and set in the midst of it, full of dry bones. “Son of man, can these bones live?” The prophet was commanded to prophesy to the bones to come together and live.

So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”’” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. (Ezekiel 37:1-10)

The week after Easter is a slower week compared the previous six. Lent tends to be busy, and gets busier as the season progresses. Culminating with Holy Week and the four days of services which ends with Easter, it almost seems as if things go a mile a minute. Then, Easter Monday arrives, and the time unwinds.

NOTE: This is the sermon I would have preached on the Easter Vigil had we held the service.

It is finished! (John 19:30) Jesus commended His spirit into the Father’s hand, breathed His last, and died. The work of your salvation is accomplished, completed, finished. Christ has died, and in His death is the remission of all of your sins.

Now, the nails are removed and the corpse is taken down from the cross. His tattered body, full of holes, is cared for. A man named Joseph was given the task to care for the boy Jesus; another man named Joseph assumes the task to care for the body of Jesus. (cf. John 19:38)

His body is spiced and wrapped by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, to whom Jesus told that he must be born again by water and the Spirit. (cf. John 3:1-8) They place the body of Jesus in Joseph’s new tomb; no one else is buried there yet—it’s empty. The stone is rolled in front of the tomb, closing in the lone corpse.

It’s Holy Week, the high point of the church year. We began with shouts of Hosanna and end with a crucifixion and burial in the grave. Things culminated with the death of God on Friday—It is finished! And the new week will start with a bang as the seal of salvation is announced with, “He is risen!”

Every Wednesday this Lent, we have been reciting Psalm 51—the “Create in me a clean heart, O God,” Psalm. Every week, you have been saying verse 16, “For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.” (Psalm 51:16 KJV) That, coupled with the Gospel lesson appointed for Maundy Thursday presents a particular problem for many in this world, you included, I would say.