The Sixth Sunday after Trinity

 The Sixth Sunday after Trinity – July 27, 2023

Psalm 28; Exodus 20:1-17; Romans 6:1-11

St. Matthew 5:17-26

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

There are truly, only two religions in the world: a religion of the Law and a religion of the Gospel. Both are concerned with the righteousness of men. God has worked into men a sense of natural law, that is, a conscience, which understands there is such thing as right and wrong, good and evil in this world. Among those who still acknowledge a “higher power,” it is still acknowledged that some type of righteousness is required to enter heaven or whatever other afterlife they can imagine. Even those who claim to be atheists, recognizing neither a “higher power” nor eternal consequences for our earthly life, there is a sense that some actions are evil, deserving punishment, while others are good, deserving reward.

The religion of the Law demands that a man make or prove himself righteous to attain heaven. “One might suppose he can enter heaven if he lives a moral life or leads a generally useful life. Another supposes he can do so if he is religious, that is, if he prays diligently, goes to church, and remains with Christians. A third supposes he can enter heaven if he guards himself as much as possible from gross sins and vices. A fourth, who is one of the wicked, supposes he can earn eternal life if, despite all his transgressions and evil life, he can point to some good.”[1]

In short, the religion of the Law sets forth certain standards by which a man may save himself. Those standards might be revealed by a deity or a prophet. They might be created within a man himself. They may be strict or lenient. These standards may even be expressed with great sympathy: “So long as you tried,” “once you’ve done everything within you,” “insofar as you are able,” “with all your heart.” The bottom line is that the religion of the Law demands something of you, which if satisfied, will be rewarded with heaven.

Now what does Christ say? He says, “Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”[2] With these 21 words, Christ destroys any thought that man can achieve heaven by his own means or even by his own means when helped by God. So far as it was within them, the scribes and the Pharisees strictly kept the commands of God as it was read. Their lives were dedicated to fulfilling the letter of the Law. If the righteousness required to enter heaven is greater than this, then it is truly something greater than man is capable of.

The Law of God is good and wise. It is His eternal, immutable will. The Law does not change because God does not change. The Ten Commandments are the distillation, the summary of God’s Holy Law and all men, by virtue of being a creation of God, are held accountable to this Law.

As Christ teaches on the Fifth Commandment, He shows that on outward keeping of this commandment does not itself keep the Law. The Law demands to be kept both outwardly and inwardly; in the hands and in the heart. The righteousness of the Law is a matter of the soul which is then manifested in the work of the hands, and this righteousness demands perfection.

Just for a moment, let us consider a distinction between the Law of God and His commands. A command is an expression of God’s Law, His eternal will. God has commanded, “Thou shalt not kill.” This is an expression of God’s will that life and our physical being are precious to Him such that we should not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body but help and support him in every physical need. Anger harms our own bodies, think rising blood pressure, and it threatens the physical wellbeing of our neighbor. At the same time, some are given the authority to take life, to kill. God has given the sword to the state to punish the wicked. Soldiers are given the authority to take life to preserve life.

The authority of the executioner and the soldier is not a violation of the Fifth Commandment because they do not violate God’s will, even if a strict adherence only to the letter of the Law would make it seem to conflict. This does not even represent a conflict within God’s will. The specific vocations appointed by God to take life are for the very purpose of protecting life, the keeping of the Law as expressed in the Fifth Commandment.

Yet even in these specific vocations, the question must be asked if the individual carrying out God’s will is doing so according to the letter and the spirit of the Law. And even if he is, what about the rest of the Law? “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.”[3] “For every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.”[4] The Law forbids all sins. If a man is guilty of one sin—one tiny stumble, one idle word, one lustful thought—he is guilty of the entire Law and unable to enter the kingdom of heaven. The Law even accuses man of omitting something which he could have done. “To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”[5]

This is a harsh reality. It is the truth that stands behind any religion of the Law. No matter what a person believes might be true, the truth of God’s Word is that the Law demands perfection. And God could not demand anything less. He cannot change or repeal His Law for it is His eternal, holy will. To change one iota, one dot of the Law would make God inconsistent and untrustworthy. “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”[6] His standards do not change.

Where then is hope? Who can hope to attain the kingdom of heaven? The standards are too lofty for man. Even being the best Christian you can be doesn’t meet the standards of the Law. Now, of course the answer is in Christ. The God-Man, He who is without sin, fulfilled the Law, fulfilled every jot and dot of the Law on your behalf. He who is Life, gave Himself into death on your behalf, shedding His blood where your blood was required. He rose triumphant from the grave to pave the way for humanity to walk through the gates of heaven. The Key of David simultaneously bound the ancient dragon and unlocked the gates of pearl.

And this reality of Christ’s victory over sin and fulfilling the Law is all well and good, but it does not benefit you if His righteousness does not come upon you. Something can be objectively true and good without you receiving the benefit. So the pressing question is not just where the hope of salvation comes from, but how you receive the righteousness required for entry into heaven.

The answer is revealed in our reading from St. Paul this morning. You do not obtain this righteousness. You do not grasp hold of it. You do not seek it out and find it among the treasures of this world. God brings it to you. God delivers it to you. God scoops you up and wraps you in His righteousness, and He does this through death.

“Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death.”[7] There is so much that happens in Holy Baptism and it begins with death. The waters of Holy Baptism begin with our death to sin, as we are drown and dragged to the depths of the sea. This is prefigured in the Flood of Noah. Every imagination of the hearts of man had become wicked in the Fall and the Lord decided within Himself to wash away this wickedness in a watery death. Your death in Holy Baptism is no less real than all those who perished in the Flood. From the moment of your birth in the flesh, the minutes of your life have begun to count down. Holy Baptism points forward to this temporal reality but fast-forwards that clock spiritually. You were drowned and died in the flood of Holy Baptism.

It is a shame that our culture has become so afraid of death that it is almost unheard of for friends and family to be present at the actual burial, pouring of dirt, over the casket of a dead loved one, much less to even witness the lowering of the casket into the grave. This is to our shame because Holy Scripture reveals this as the reality of our Baptism. Not only are we drowned in the waters but we are in fact buried in the earth. We are swallowed by the very ground on which we once walked.

Yet Baptism does not end in death, just as Christ’s sacrifice did not end in death. Having been drowned, having been buried in the depths of the earth, we rise from the font to a new life. Just as Christ is raised from the dead, so too we rise from the dead. And just like the death of Holy Baptism, this points forward to the temporal reality of our resurrection in the flesh. It immediately is the reality of our spiritual new birth. We rise from the waters of Holy Baptism a new creation, created for New Life, the temple of the Holy Spirit and a new-born son of God.

“If we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”[8]

Yet again, this new life is not the end of Holy Baptism. Just as our first parents were not sent out of the Garden with the Word of God’s promised salvation alone but clothed in the skin of a lamb, so too the new man who rises from the waters of Holy Baptism is given the robe of Christ’s righteousness. This robe is entirely foreign to you. You did nothing to earn it and if fact, you do nothing to maintain it. It is given to you by Christ, Himself. He takes the very shirt off His back and places it on you. And this righteous garment bears the very righteousness of God. “Be holy as Your Heavenly Father is holy.” This is how you come to possess the very righteousness, the very holiness of God.

Along with this righteousness comes the very hope, the very faith by which you receive that cloak of righteousness. Having been made a dwelling of the Holy Spirit and clothed in Christ’s righteousness, your mind is renewed and you are made fit to receive these glorious blessings of God’s mercy. Again, even the objective truth and reality of the blessings of Holy Baptism are of no benefit if they are not received by faith, yet even this faith is not of your own doing, your own reason, works, or emotions. This faith is itself a working of God.

So how do you know that you have met the requirements of the Law in order to gain entrance into heaven? How do you know that you have the faith that receives the righteousness of Christ? It is quite simple. Ask yourself, ‘Am I baptized?’ ‘What has Christ said about Holy Baptism?’ Christ has said that in Holy Baptism, the very name of God—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit—has been placed on you, marking you as one of His own. If you are His, then you have been made a dwelling of the Holy Spirit and the robe of Christ’s righteousness has been placed on you. And if this is the case, and if faith is itself a working of God, then those blessed words of Christ are all you need, “All who believe and are baptized will be saved.”[9]

Not only has the shed blood of Christ opened the way to salvation, but He has given you His own credentials for admission. He has tightly woven His own righteousness around you such that nothing more is required. Is it possible to wriggle out of His righteousness? Of course! It is quite easy to do. But it is unthinkable for the Christian who realizes just what Christ has done and continues to do for you. “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”[10]

Now may Christ the life of all the living and the death of death our foe, guard your hearts and minds in the true and living faith once delivered to you in the waters of Holy Baptism now and forever.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] Walther, Gospel Sermons, 55.

[2] St. Matthew 5:20.

[3] James 2:10.

[4] St. Matthew 12:36.

[5] James 4:17.

[6] Galatians 3:10.

[7] Romans 6:3-4.

[8] Romans 6:5-6.

[9] Cf. St. Mark 16:16.

[10] Romans 6:1-2.

The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Presentation of Jesus

The Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Jesus – February 2, 2025

Psalm 48; Malachi 3:1-4; Hebrews 2:14-18

St. Luke 2:22-32

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Forty days after the birth of our Lord, Mary and Joseph bring Him to the Temple to be redeemed. At the same time, Mary presents a sacrifice for her purification. Both are according to the Laws of the Old Testament wherein the firstborn male of both humans and animals were to be given to the Lord and women who have given birth must be purified from the uncleanness inherent in giving birth.

In the case of some beasts, the firstborn could be redeemed with the sacrifice of a lamb in its place. In the case of the firstborn child, God commanded they always be redeemed. The redemption price of a son or daughter was a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering and either a pigeon or turtledove for a sin offering.^[1] If a lamb was too expensive, two pigeons or two turtledoves would suffice.

To be redeemed means to be substituted. It means giving one thing in place of another so that you might receive back the first possession. Redemption is not quite the same as making a purchase. Giving the checker money in exchange for groceries isn’t the same as redemption because the groceries did not belong to you in the first place. Rather, if you’ve ever been to a wedding reception or banquet with a coat check, you have experienced redemption. You gave the clerk your coat in exchange for a ticket. At the end of the night, you redeemed your coat by giving the clerk your ticket. The coat is your property, and you willfully gave it to the clerk. You then “bought back” your coat at the price of the ticket. This is redemption.

The redemption of the firstborn is connected with the forgiveness of sins. God instituted the redemption of the firstborn in relation to the final plague of Egypt, wherein the firstborn sons of Egypt were killed by the Angel of the Lord but those of Israel were spared by the blood of a lamb placed on the doorposts. The boys of Israel were redeemed from the plague by the blood of a lamb. Their sins were passed over by the Angel, forgiven in the shedding of the blood of a lamb.

The purification of Mary is an acknowledgment of sin. Giving birth is a bloody business and coming into contact with blood makes one unclean in the Levitical law. This is because there is life in blood and if you are in contact with blood, it means that life has been poured out. Life being poured out is a sign of death and death is the wage of sin. Being truly a man, even the birth of our Lord was attended by the usual events of giving birth. Therefore, the Blessed Mother of Christ needed to be purified. She, too, required the forgiveness of sins.

If these rituals pertained to the forgiveness of sins, why did Christ, who is without sin, submit to them? Why did Christ need to be redeemed? There are at least two ways to answer this question. First, it is not Christ’s sins that need to be forgiven but ours. Much like His baptism in the Jordan River, Christ’s redemption at the Temple places Him into our redemption. Rather than forgiving His sins, it is placing our sins on Him. He is being “bought back” by the human race, that His holiness would be given to man and our sins would be given to Him.

Secondly, submitting to this ritual is part of Christ’s active obedience to the Law of God. When the Second Person of the Holy Trinity took on our flesh, He humbled Himself to be like us in every way but without sin. That means that He also humbled Himself to be placed under the same Law of God that had been placed on all mankind. He did not need to be redeemed from His sins, He didn’t have any, but He humbly submitted Himself to the same rigors and rituals that all mankind was expected to observe.

The significant difference is that all mankind fails in some aspect of the Law. St. James tells us that to fail in one tiny aspect of the Law is to fail in the whole Law, “Whoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.”[2] And even this tiniest of stumbles in the Law is worthy of eternal condemnation. And since the Law of God is eternal, it is necessary that the Law be kept perfectly. With man this is impossible. With God, nothing is impossible. Thus the necessity of the Law required that Christ not only submit Himself passively to death on the cross but that He actively keep the Law perfectly His entire life. Submitting to circumcision, the presentation, and the rest of the rituals commanded in the Law is Christ actively keeping the Law of God on our behalf.

When the rituals of the presentation and purification had been completed, an old priest approached the Holy Family and took the Christ child into his arms. Simeon did not need to be told who this child was. Like the magi, he immediately recognized his Lord. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had beheld the Christ, the Savior. Led by the same Spirit, he went up to the Temple and found the Lord’s Christ returning from fulfilling His obligation to the Law. Taking up the child in his arms, Simeon said,

“Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace,
According to Thy word.
For Mine eyes have seen Thy salvation,
Which Thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples.
A light to lighten the Gentiles,
And the glory of Thy people Israel.”[3]

Simeon’s prayer is a prayer for death. The Holy Spirit had promised that Simeon would not die until he had seen the Christ. Since he was now holding the Christ in his arms, Simeon told God that he was ready to die. There was nothing left in this world for him to do; nothing to experience, nothing to long for. He had all in all. He had the Lord’s Christ in his arms and there is nothing more needful.

We sing this song of Simeon every Sunday after receiving the Holy Communion and we ought to sing it with the same vigor and intention of Simeon. What you receive in your hand or on your tongue is the same Christ that Simeon held in his hands. It is the same body of Christ, the same God become man who would forgive all your sins. So too, we ought to recognize that having received the very Body and Blood of Christ, we, like Simeon, are prepared for death. We have all in all, the thing most needful, and there is nothing left for us to do, experience, or receive in this world.

That is a radical thought. You might piously share it, realizing that the forgiveness of sins is the most important thing in this life. But at the same time, none of us is longing for death. You want to see your granddaughter’s dance recital and your son’s basketball game. You don’t expect to die on your way home today and I’m sure that you aren’t hoping to die today.

On the one hand, those thoughts are bad or sinful in themselves. You want to make use of the blessings and gifts that God has given you. You ought to enjoy the many gifts God has given you in this world.

On the other hand, you ought to be prepared at all times for death. To live is Christ and to die is gain, St. Paul says to the Philippians.[4] To live in this world is to be the Body of Christ, to enjoy the things of this creation, and to be stewards of God’s good gifts. It is to bear the light of Christ to the nations and His glory to His people.

And yet to die is gain. It is gain because it means freedom from the sin which clings to the flesh and the joy of the nearer presence of Christ. We are sojourners in this world, it is not our home, our final destination. For the Christian, to die is great gain because it is one step closer to the resurrection of all flesh.

Therefore, every time we sing the Nunc Dimittis, you ought to realize that you are prepared to die. At any moment, should the good Lord call you home, you are prepared. Your sins are forgiven, and Christ is prepared to receive you into His open arms. Will your loved ones mourn your death? Absolutely. Death is separation and separation is painful. But when a Christian dies, the Christians who mourn him do not do so without hope. We mourn the pain of separation and the loss of the presence of our loved one, but we also rejoice that they have conquered this world of sin. The victory of Christ on the cross has been made complete for our loved one and we now look forward to the reunion in the resurrection.

The Nunc Dimittis is a hymn of supreme confidence that the Body of Christ is the one thing most needful. It is a hymn of confidence that what Christ says is true and He has said that the death of a Christian is little more than sleep. Sing it boldly and confidently, believing that the words are true.

Should you find yourself doubting, fearing death, then turn toward the promises of Christ. One difference between us and Simeon is that he only had the word of promise from the Holy Spirit that he would see the Christ. You have so much more. You have the Word of God, like Simeon, but you also have Holy Baptism. You have the Holy Communion. You have the Word of Absolution spoken by your pastor with his hands placed on your head. You have God’s Word and His Word tied to physical means that the promises of Christ are true. Make use of these means of grace for the strengthening of your faith and the emboldening of your confidence that you are prepared to die.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] Leviticus 12:6-8.

[2] James 2:10.

[3] St. Luke 2:29-32, The Nunc Dimittis.

[4] Philippians 1:21.

The Third Sunday after the Epiphany

The Third Sunday after the Epiphany – January 22, 2023

Psalm 97; 2 Kings 5:1-15b; Romans 12:16b-21

St. Matthew 8:1-13

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Just as our Lord finishes preaching the Sermon on the Mount and walks down the mountain, a leper approaches Jesus and worships Him. Lepers were commanded to stand afar off, calling out “Unclean! Unclean!” lest anyone contract the disease by passing too closely. Yet this leper bolds walks up to Jesus, falls upon his knees, perhaps even falling prostrate—flat on the ground—in worship of the Incarnate Lord. After such a provocative approach, the leper humbly says, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”^[2]

Here we see the boldness of faith. Faith makes you more powerful than the US President and more wealthy than Jeff Bezos. Christ says faith the size of a mustard seed is capable of moving mountains.^[3] It is by faith that in Psalm 82, God says to Christians, “You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High.”^[4] Faith makes you a god among men, a lord over lords, and a mighty conqueror of this world.

It takes such faith to ask anything from God. The centurion knows that he is not worthy to have Christ stand under his roof. The centurion knows that he is not worthy even to be speaking to Christ. Yet faith, given to him by God, has made the leper and the centurion worthy to stand before the Creator, Redeemer, Sanctifier, Judge, and Lord of the Universe and dare to ask for something as trifling as a healthy body.

Yet even such faith as can move mountains is worthless if misplaced. The leper is able to approach Jesus with such bold faith because he trusts that Christ is not only powerful but merciful, gracious, and loving. Faith is not only knowledge in the power of God but trust in His goodness. The bold faith of the leper is not without humility.

The humility of faith trusts that God is good and will deliver to you that which is best. You do not have all of the information. You cannot see through God’s eyes. We are bidden by the Lord’s Prayer to form all of our prayers according to the Will of God.

When you pray that God would sustain you in right doctrine, the teaching of the Scriptures, and that he will not cast you away, you can be certain that the answer to your prayer will be a resounding yes. God has promised to do these things for you in His word.

But when you pray for something that is good and necessary for this body and life, but which God has not specifically promised to you in His word, then the humility of your faith ought to always cause you to ask according to the Will of God. “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” The leper is not questioning the ability of Christ nor Christ’s love for him. The caveat of “if You are willing” refers to the uncertainty within the leper if being cleansed is really the best thing for him. Jesus knows what is best and so the leper humbles himself to the Will of Jesus.

The humility of the centurion’s faith is expressed somewhat differently. Jesus is ready to come straight to the centurion’s home to heal his servant, but the centurion stops Him. “Lord, I am not worthy to have You come to my home. Your Word is enough for me. I know you are the Lord of heaven and earth. Just as my soldiers obey my commands, I know that all of creation will obey Yours. Please, just speak a word and I know—I trust—that my servant will be healed.”

No one is worthy to have Jesus come under his roof. Historically, the words of the centurion are the words prayed before received the Body of Christ in the Eucharist. “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof, but only say the word and Your servant shall be healed.” We are not worthy to receive forgiveness, let alone to feed on the Body of God. Yet in our unworthiness, the Son of God descended into our flesh to die for us. He took on our humility and shame so that we would be given the faith which makes us kings and lords.

The humility of the centurion is in his request only for a word because he believes the Word of God will do precisely what it says. He believes the Word of Jesus will be good for whomever it is spoken. So too should you humbly believe that the words which I speak are not my forgiveness, but the forgiveness of God, your Father. You should humbly believe that what I give to you in the cup is the Blood of Jesus, not doubting because it doesn’t taste like blood. You should also humbly believe the Word of God is true simply because God has said it. If you disagree with it, submit your own will to the Will of God.

St. Paul says to the Corinthians, “Though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”^[5] We see the love personified in Christ while healing the leper. Leprosy is always a symbol of our sinful condition because it deadens our senses toward God. We are not only numb toward God but dead. This necrosis creeps throughout our souls, poisoning us against God and man until we are finally laid in the grave of our own choosing, fated to spend eternity in darkness, weeping and gnashing our teeth in anger against a God we refused to know.

In this deadened state of leprous sin, the Word of God comes to us. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.^[6] Having heard the Word of God, faith is kindled in our dead hearts. Our flesh begins to move and having faith, we are bold to pray, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”^[7]

We, like the leper, already have faith. He is not praying to be converted. If that were the case, his actions would lead to salvation. No, he has already heard the Word of God and now prays that this forgiving Word would act upon his body. He prays that Christ would give to him that which is best for him. So too, we pray for food and drink, house and home, health, money, possessions, a pious spouse, pious children, good government, good friends, peace, discipline, honor, and the like.^[8]

In so doing, we also pray to be made holy. We pray that Christ would relieve us of the temptation to sin. It ought to be the desire of every Christian to live without sin. No sin should please us who would be like Christ. Praying to be cleansed with the leper is to pray that sin would cease its clinging to our conscience. While the temptations of the flesh will never cease on this side of glory, prayer for relief from sin is certainly biblical, practical, necessary, and pleasing to our Father in heaven.

The centurion himself is an example of love. He comes to Jesus not for his own healing, but the healing of his young servant. He pleads to God on behalf of another. This is love. The centurion must have traveled some distance, though not necessarily a long distance. This takes time and resources and for what? A slave? A young slave? He does this out of love. At some point, perhaps during the Sermon on the Mount, the centurion heard the preaching of Christ. The Word of God replaced his heathen heart of stone with a heart of flesh and now the centurion desires to live in service to his neighbor. Faith makes you a lord of all, but love makes you a servant of all. Faith without love is dead.^[9]

So too, should we follow the centurion’s example of faith working out in love, the greater being a blessing to the lesser. No one can provide for every need of everyone they meet. But you can provide for the needs of those God has given into your care. You can sacrifice your own comfort for the sake of another. You can humble yourself so that your children, your less fortunate friend, your sister, or even your destitute mother may have more than the bare minimum in life. To sacrifice yourself for the needs and wants of another is the definition of love.

Such faith and love will be rewarded. Both the Jewish leper and the Gentile centurion will be seated at the Marriage Feast of the Lamb. They shall dine with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob for all eternity. This feast has also been prepared for you, beloved in Christ. The blood of the Jewish leper and the works of the Gentile centurion did not secure their invitation to eternal bliss. The Word of God, which delivered the very faith by which it is apprehended, moved their souls to repent of their sins and trust in Christ for salvation. This faith is then shown forth in love for their fellow man.

Your faith too is shown forth in love, even when you don’t realize it. You cannot help but show love toward your neighbor so long as you have faith. The act of changing a diaper is not worthy of salvation but the act of changing a diaper is the showing forth of love born by faith. It is the blessing of the helpless child by the capable mother.

So too are your prayers heard and answered no matter how it may seem to you. Faith means trusting that Christ knows what is good for you and will deliver that which is good. If your prayer is not answered the way you wanted it to be, then realize that you do not know what is best. God does. It would be worthwhile to practice praying like the leper and the centurion.

“Lord, if You are willing, You can deliver me from pain. But I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. Only say the Word, and Your servant shall be healed.”

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[2] St. Matthew 8:2.

[3] St. Matthew 17:20.

[4] Psalm 82:6.

[5] 1 Corinthians 13:2.

[6] Romans 10:17.

[7] St. Matthew 8:2.

[8] A summary of the Small Catechism on the 4^th Petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

[9] James 2:17; 1 Corinthians 13:2; Galatians 5:6; Colossians 1:4; 1 Timothy 1:5, 14; 1 John 4:20.