Peace for the Martyr Church

Devotion for the Iowa District East Convention

Revelation 12:7–17

Hymn: LSB 659 - Lord of Our Life

Can there be a more suitable hymn for the Church Militant, than the one we just sang? It is an essential hymn for the martyr Church—and as long as the Church remains in this world as a faithful witness, we will and must remain the martyr Church.

This is a hymn for the Church on earth marching behind the Lord, yet still bombarded by the enemy. This victory march is more often like a long slog through the mud: getting tangled in barbed wire, digging trenches, only to pack up and press on through the ruined battlefield. Is this an image of winning or losing? A woman hiding in the wilderness. A dragon making war on her little children. Looks like losing. Yet the woman is given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly… to the place where she is to be nourished.And though her children are attacked, it is because they remain faithful—they keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

In one sense, the Church is both winning and losing. From the perspective of the sinful flesh and this sinful world—we are always losing, always dying. From the perspective of the risen Lord—always living, always rising. And this means that the martyr Church will never be fully welcome in the corridors of power. And we must not let the lords of this world convince us that they will accept us and we can have a seat at the cool kids table so long as we play by their rules. We would be swept away by the dragon’s flood of depravity and lies if it were not for our Lord’s merciful deliverance and our certainty that one day He will judge the scoffers, the power-hungry, and the worldly-wise.

This also means that it will never be calm or easy within the Church. Our own hearts will deceive us and seek to turn us over to the devil. We are always in danger of growing weary from the good fight and wishing we could just give it a rest for a time. But we must be ever vigilant and always contending for the Truth. All Christians—pastors and people, young and old—we must talk theology together, study and sometimes argue together, challenging one another with brotherly affection. This is how the Church continues the fight.

And do not be discouraged by the war. Ultimately, the Church is never losing or winning—but has already won. Our God is the Man, Jesus Christ, who died and behold, He lives, with the ancient dragon crushed beneath His feet. The Lord has taken up our cause and He has won it for us. Now, act like it. That means no nervous hand-wringing and no desperate rabble rousing. Towards the world, the Church remains strong and defiant. And towards the Lord, we are always pleading, ever conscious of the fact that sufficiency is not in ourselves. Our testimony is nothing more or less than the echo of our Lord’s own Word: the proclamation made true by the atoning blood of the Lamb. That blood made peace in heaven. And that peace is and forever remains ours.

The Church on earth has the Lord’s peace in the midst of strife, and the Church lives in the midst of death. So shall we remain the martyr Church. Until we finally come to that eternal city of peace, where palm branches will be placed into our hands, and every tear will be wiped away.

            

Let us pray: Grant peace, we pray, in mercy, Lord; Peace in our time, O send us! For there is none on earth but You, None other to defend us. You only, Lord, can fight for us. Amen.

Life Together in the Church: Clergy and Laity

Devotion at the Iowa District East Convention

Ephesians 4:1–16

Hymn: LSB 647 - Lord Jesus Christ, the Church's Head

Life Together: Clergy and Laity… There could be something a bit off with that phrase. The New Testament does not know of a clerical elite, a kind of expert or professional Christian. The New Testament knows and speaks of the Office that Christ instituted: ministers, preachers, pastors. The New Testament also does not know of laity in the sense of the amateur, the unqualified, or those lacking knowledge. The New Testament knows and speaks of hearers of the Word, disciples, called to be theologians no less than their teachers. But this does not mean that there is no distinction between the Office of the Ministry and the Priesthood of the Baptized. Christ instituted a specific office within His Church to serve His people. How should pastors be of service?

Christ gave them for the perfecting of the saints. Like a doctor setting a broken bone, pastors set things right that have gone wrong by convicting sin with God’s Law and by absolving sin with the Gospel. Like John the Baptist who went before the Lord to prepare His way, pastors get their people ready to meet the Lord with a good conscience that rests upon the satisfaction of Christ.

Christ gave pastors for the work of the ministry. Pastors are servants, stewards for their Master. They serve Him by looking after and providing for the noble Lady of the House and her children. Pastors do not issue their own orders or urge others to follow themselves. They humbly do the job their Lord has entrusted to them.

Christ gave pastors for the edifying of the body of Christ. By preparing the saints, by serving them the Word and the Sacraments, pastors are the instruments by which Christ builds the edifice of His Church. They are given the task of bringing Christians to maturity, so that they might be complete and ready members in Christ’s living and active body.

A common and modern translation of this passage turns pastors into CEOs, trainers, or method teachers. It reads: Christ gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherdsand teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. This means the pastors are no longer ministers, servants, but they are telling everybody else in the church what to do. One cannot help but wonder: when all the work of the ministry has been delegated and put onto the shoulders of the sheep, what is the pastor doing in his office all day? This modern image of the church looks more like a big business run in the way of profits and competition, rather than a body that bears the cross and suffers in love.

How about this picture of the Church instead: “What we see in the New Testament is a church which meets here and there, in this city or that town or village, for worship and prayer and mutual edification in the faith. The first day of the week is the chief time for this meeting, and the celebration of the Lord’s Supper is the culminating act of faith and worship. Certain men, with a special ability to teach and instruct and comfort and advise, play the leading role in such gatherings of the faithful. There are, besides such pastors and overseers, others in the church who devote their lives, wholly or in large measure, to works of mercy for their fellow-Christians, as they help the poor, the sick, the needy.

Apart from the church in assembly, we see these same Christians going about their daily affairs and business, doing their work as wives and mothers or fathers and husbands, some of the women looking after their homes, some of the men working in their jobs, some of them slaves obediently doing what their masters direct. In these various and sundry occupations in and outside the home they are urged to lead beautiful lives, doing beautiful works… By these lives of good works they attract the unbelievers to the faith which they hold and confess and of which they speak as opportunity arises.” (Hamann, p.48)

Let us pray: O almighty God, Your Son, Jesus Christ, gave to His holy apostles many excellent gifts and commanded them earnestly to feed His flock. Make all pastors diligent to preach Your holy Word and the people obedient to follow it that together they may receive the crown of everlasting glory; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Source for the last two paragraphs before the prayer: Henry P. Hamann, "The Translation of Ephesians 4:12—A Necessary Revision," in Concordia Journal, January 1988.

The Nativity of St. John the Baptist

St. Luke 1:57–80

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

The beginning of Luke’s Gospel has an interesting structure of Annunciations and Nativities. This structure introduces both the new prophet like Elijah and the Christ. It introduces us to the Preparer and the One we are being prepared for. First, comes an annunciation from the angel Gabriel to Zechariah, when the priest Zechariah was serving in the Temple—it was an announcement about the birth of his son, John, the Forerunner of the Christ. Second, comes another annunciation from the same angel to the Virgin Mary—an announcement about the birth of Jesus the Christ. Then comes the Visitation—between Mary and Elizabeth, but also a visitation between Jesus the Lord in Mary’s womb and John the Lord’s prophet in Elizabeth’s womb. Then the Visitation is followed by two Nativities. First, the Nativity or birth of St. John the Baptist, who will go before the Lord to prepare His way. Followed finally by the second and greater Nativity, the birth of Christ the Lord.

Today we heard the Nativity of Zechariah’s and Elizabeth’s son. But the day that gets more attention during John’s infancy is not his birthday, but his circumcision day. Eight days after the child was born, the neighbors and relatives came to see him circumcised. Circumcision always happened on the eighth day of an Israelite boy’s life as the Lord God had commanded Abraham. It served as a sign of God’s covenant, His testament, His promise to Abraham and to all the fathers of Israel that the Lord would be their God and they would be His people and that the Lord would send a Savior from Abraham’s seed. Naturally, this meant genealogies and family names were very important to the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They tracked the tribes and family lines because they were waiting for the Messiah to be born—specifically from the tribe of Judah, and the line of David.

So, the friends and relatives are surprised when Elizabeth says her son’s name is John. “John” was not a family name. But Elizabeth knew that the name “John” came from God—given by the angel to Zechariah—he surely had told his wife all about it by writing it down for her. Because remember, Zechariah can’t speak. He had doubted Gabriel’s word, and so as a sign that he would have a son, Zechariah was left mute. So, the relatives go to the father of the child, and Zechariah writes down: His name is John.

All names have meaning, but names given by the Lord have highly significant meanings. The name “John” means “the Lord has shown favor” or “the Lord has been gracious.” The Lord was certainly gracious to Elizabeth and Zechariah by giving them a son in their old age, but the Lord’s grace goes further than that. John’s birth is the beginning of the final preparations for the favor of the Lord to be revealed—the gracious arrival of the Savior. The ancient promise is being kept and John’s prophetic task is to proclaim the Good News that the Lord has indeed been gracious in keeping His promise: He is coming to redeem and save from sin and death. You see, John’s name is not only significant to his parents, but also to you, his brothers and sisters in the kingdom of God. The Lord has been gracious not only to Zechariah and Elizabeth, not only to Mary, not only to Israel, but He has been and is and will be gracious to you and to the world.

As Zechariah writes out the name “John,” immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. He blessed God—that is, he sang praise to God.Surely, this song was the Benedictus itself, for Zechariah’s song even begins with the words, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel.” After nine silent months, Zechariah finally speaks, filled with the Holy Spirit. Gabriel’s sign has ended because his words are fulfilled. Nine months earlier, after Gabriel’s appearance, Zechariah had gone out from the Holy Place in the Temple, but he wasn’t able to give the final Benediction, the final blessing upon the people who had assembled there for sacrifice and prayer.But now he finally does—more than the liturgical Temple blessing,Zechariah blesses God, thanking and praising Him for His gracious deeds. And Zechariah proclaims the blessing to come for all people.

Benedictus—Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He has visited and redeemed His people. The Lord God of Israel has come in the flesh.He has come to dwell with us and redeem us, not with gold or silver, but He pays the price for our sin with His very own precious blood and His innocent suffering and death.

He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David. Like the strong horns of a bull, the Christ is God’s power and might for His people. And He came from the house and line of David, so He is that Son of David whose kingdom will have no end.

And all of this God had spoken by the mouth of His holy prophets, who have been since the world began: the oath, the promise, the testament that God swore to our father Abraham. The Lord said that we would be delivered from the hand of our enemies—delivered from sin, from death, and from the power of the devil—that we might serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life, that we might be His own and live under Him in His kingdom forever.

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for all of that—He does it in Jesus the Christ. Zechariah sings this song because his son John, the Forerunner of the Christ, has come, and so the New Testament has begun.

Zechariah sings the rest of his song directly to his son who will take up the task of the Forerunner: And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; For you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways. John will prepare the way of the Lord—not by the circumcision of the Old Testament, but by the Baptism of the New Testament. John will be the voice in the wilderness preaching the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Luke 3:3).

In the Old Testament, circumcision was done on the eighth day of a boy’s life. But in the New Testament there is a new eighth day: the day of Jesus’ resurrection. He died and finished His redeeming work on Friday, the sixth day of the week. He kept the Sabbath by His rest in the tomb on Saturday, the seventh day of the week. And then He rose from the dead, on the eighth day, Sunday. Yeah, it’s the first day of the week, but the Resurrection doesn’t start another week all over, as if it’s just back to the usual. The Resurrection is the eighth day, the final day, the day of eternity. The Lord’s eighth day of resurrection is the dawning of a new day, after which no days need to be numbered. We are now living only in the endless Day of the Lord.

Yet, for now, we do not fully see the light of that Day. It has dawned and it is now here, but we only know it by faith. So, we still listen to St. John the Baptist, the Forerunner, the one who pointed at Jesus and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). That Lamb was a little baby lying in a manger, born so that He could die for you. He is your God in the flesh. He was sacrificed on the cross so that you might receive the Lord’s forgiveness and blessing. And He rose from the dead, He comes to you now in His Word and in the Holy Supper of His body and blood. And He is coming again.

Our Lord’s Day has dawned, so let us still listen to John, Zechariah’s child, the prophet of the Most High. He went before the Lord to prepare His ways. By his preaching, John still gives knowledge of salvation to us, God’s people. In the Word and in Holy Baptism, the work of the Forerunner continues, so that we receive the forgiveness of our sins, through the tender mercy of our God—the mercy shown to us in the first coming of Jesus. The Day of the Lord first dawned bright with the nativity, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus. It shines even now. And soon the Last Day will come. The Day of the Lord will dawn upon us from on high to give light to us, who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Come quickly + Lord Jesus. Amen.

Second Sunday after Trinity

St. Luke 14:15–24

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

In the First Commandment, God says: You shall not bow down to idols or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God (Exodus 20:5). I know hearing God call Himself “jealous” is uncomfortable for us. But part of the reason for that is we don’t fully realize what jealousy means. We treat jealousy and envy as synonyms, but there is a difference. Envy is coveting—it’s the sinful desire to possess something that rightfully belongs to someone else. When you gaze at another woman or man with lust, you are coveting, you are envious of that person’s husband or wife. But jealousy is the feeling that someone else possesses something that you rightly deserve. To be jealous of what is rightly yours means you are vigilant in keeping it or guarding it. You would be right to be jealous for your children, because you don’t want them to love and listen to some other person more than you.

So, the Lord is indeed a jealous God. He is jealous over us, because we rightly belong to Him. He created us, He redeemed us by His blood, and He is jealous to keep us and guard us in His kingdom. And He burns with hot anger, when He sees us turn away from Him and subject ourselves to other gods, to other desires besides a desire for Him alone. This is why the man in our parable today became so angry when the people he called refused the invitation to his banquet. He swears: I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet. In Matthew’s version of this parable, the man giving the banquet is a king, and when the people refused His invitation, the king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city (Matthew 22:7).

This man or king represents God the Father who has prepared a great banquet of salvation for mankind in the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. And the people who reject Him represent the unbelieving Pharisees and Jews. Then the poor and lame would be the lowly Jews who do believe in Jesus. And finally the people gathered in from the highways and hedges, far out in the countryside, these are the Gentiles. But let’s back up to the first group that rejected the invitation. Have we not all done this in some way? By our sinful thoughts, words, and deeds we reject His invitation to be with Him and to receive His mercy and love. 

But if God is so merciful and loving, why is God jealous? How can He react in such a violent manner to those who reject Him? Because, as I said, we belong to Him. The Lord God has created us, redeemed us, sacrificed His own dear Son for us. All on His own, without any effort on our part, God made us His free and holy people. So, He will not sit back and let some other gods take us from Him. Most importantly, God is jealous for us because there is life nowhere else. He knows that without Him, we would be nothing but dust and death. He is jealous and does not want to see us bowing down to idols, or having any fear, love, or trust in things besides Him, because He knows that nothing else can save us from sin. None of our loves—whether it’s money or family, sex or pride—none of these things will give us life. Only the Lord our God can do that—that’s why He is jealous for us, jealous to keep us for Himself, and jealous to keep us in His life.

This is also why He becomes angry and will punish if we go against Him. Without God’s life there is only death. So also, without God’s grace in Christ there is only wrath. There is no middle ground. So if you go against God’s grace, you automatically enter into His wrath. If you refuse the banquet that your God has prepared, then He will destroy you. Because rejecting His invitation is far worse than offending the host or appearing ungrateful. Rejecting the salvation that He has prepared for you in Christ means that you are stealing yourself away from Him. You are denying what He has done in creating and redeeming you. Turning down God’s grace means you are denying His ownership, and claiming your independence from Him.

And there is the lie that makes us so uncomfortable when we think about our jealous God. God’s jealousy—His desire to have us for Himself and not share us with anything else—that makes us uncomfortable because we still think we don’t really need Him. We believe the lie that we can be independent from Him. But the truth is, we are not gods. And if we insist on having things our own way, then the true God will answer our rebellion with His anger and punishment.

Still, Jesus died for our sins. He sacrificed His own faithful and obedient life in the place of ungrateful rebels. His holy blood atoned for every envious thought, every greedy action, every rude and uncaring word. There is not a single sin that can condemn you because Jesus has answered for them all.

This means the only way you can get God’s wrath is if you insist on keeping your sins. If you deny your sin and tell God that His Law is wrong, only then will you be held responsible. If you continue with your sins and think that you’ll have time to repent later, only then will you have to answer for them. This then, is the first point of the parable—the point illustrated by the people who rejected the invitation. The banquet is prepared. Everything is now ready. It is finished. But they didn’t want it. They wanted other things. They thought there was time for the banquet later. That is what brought judgment crashing down upon them.

But the parable’s main point is that Jesus is reaching out to you. There is still room. It’s not too late. Repent and accept His invitation anew. The Lord who looked with compassion over the city that condemned Him, the Lord who prayed for the forgiveness of those who crucified Him, He is not angry or disgusted with you. He wants you. He is jealous for you. His invitation is not half-hearted, nor does it come from a sense of obligation. The invitation to His salvation comes from His very heart. You belong to Him and He has pledged Himself to you. There is nothing He would not do for you, nothing that He has not suffered in order to spare you.

And no matter how you appear to the world or to yourself, no matter if you’re deformed and mangled by your own sins, or shamed and dirtied by others’ sins against you, that does not matter to Him. He loves you more purely and fully than you can know. He is ready to receive you again. He does not begrudge the cost of your salvation. He is glad to receive you, to forgive you, to love you forever.

Now, you have come to the Lord’s banquet today. In His presence, you have already begun to receive the salvation He has prepared for you. You have been fed by His Word that forgives your sins and nourishes His life in you. And soon you will taste His love for you in the bread and wine that is His very body and blood. Rejoice and be glad. It’s time to feast.

In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.        

First Sunday after Trinity

St. Luke 16:19–31

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

If you heard Jesus’ story about the rich man and Lazarus for the first time, it would probably surprise you when you hear that the rich man ends up in hell. Maybe it was still a surprise for you today. The poor man Lazarus dies and is brought to Abraham’s bosom, meaning Lazarus is a true child of Abraham and so a child of God. The rich man also died and was buried… and in hell, he was tormented. It sounds as if the rich man was surprised too. He tries to claim familiarity with Abraham, saying, “Father Abraham, send Lazarus to comfort me.” In the torment of Hell's flames the rich man's cry for mercy is finally boiled out of him. But it’s too late. Whether or not Father Abraham’s reply surprises us, it should call us to repent: “Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things… but now… you are in anguish.”

Our Lord threatens to punish all who break his commandments. Therefore, we should fear His wrath and not do anything against them. So, why are we afraid of so many other things instead? We fear that we will not be liked, or that our lives and deeds will not be remembered, instead of fearing that our lives and deeds are not faithful to God and to His Word. We’re afraid that our family may not be happy, but we’re not afraid that our family might lose faith and salvation. We are more afraid that we might have to work more hours for fewer dollars, or that it might rain on the weekend—than we are afraid of temptation. Why do we fear the disapproval of men more than God Himself? Repent. 

To have no other gods means more than just placing no trust in our wealth and reputation, which we struggle with almost constantly. To have no other gods means more than simply to love God more than the things of men, or even to love going to Church and never get bored or critical during the sermon. But to have no other gods also means that you shall fear God above all things. Jesus said, “Do not fear those who can only hurt the body (or the economy, or the society). Fear God who can throw both body and soul into hell.” Fear God who shows no partiality, no favoritism. He is not impressed by riches or patriotism or even morality. Fear God, or you too will have had your good things in this life... and then nothing but punishment.

But do not misunderstand our Lord's parable. He does not reward poverty and punish riches. He is not merely the balancing force of the universe, making sure that people get what’s coming, or that the poor underdog triumphs over the evil corporate rich men. That would be a god after our own image. We cannot make ourselves poor to earn a place with Lazarus in heaven, and it won’t help to inflict ourselves with hunger or injuries. The problem was not that the rich man was rich, and the solution was not that Lazarus was hungry. The problem, the crisis is about not hearing. “Send Lazarus to my brothers to testify,” the rich man says. “Someone from the dead would lead them to repent.” 

But that would not help. They have Moses and the Prophets. They have all they need. But the rich man actually says, “No. Those are not enough.” Even in Hell, even to Abraham who still calls him “child,” the rich man cannot accept that the testimony of the Scriptures is enough. But he got his reward, he got the things he desired, and they have left him alone in hell. 

But Lazarus, who had nothing at all, he had the one thing needful. He has Moses and the Prophets; and he has the One they testify about, and so he has life. He has the One who died, poor, wounded and ignored outside the gate: our Lord Jesus Christ. The name “Lazarus” means “One whom God helps.” And so, in Jesus, Lazarus was helped, He received mercy. In Jesus, Lazarus was given riches, health and food for his weakness. In Jesus, Lazarus found comfort and finally found rest. 

The rich man and his unbelieving brothers were deaf to the conviction of Moses' Law and dead to the prophets' call to repentance and faith in the Lord. So not even a resurrection could persuade them. But Lazarus believed God’s Word, and so the One crucified in his place and raised on the third day spoke the certain promise of rest from temptation, the calming of all fears and healing from sin and, finally, the promise of his own resurrection. 

You know this Jesus too, because you hear the Scriptures that testify about Him. You know that His death has swallowed up death, that He has broken Hell's gates for you and that with faith in Him you have nothing to fear. 

But for now temptation remains. The never ending quest for riches and earthly security drives your appetites. Your fears threaten to crowd out Christ's light and peace. Worries put His sufficiency out of your mind. And when you look at your own meager, half-hearted repentance, and how you still go after the sins you know you shouldn’t, you are tempted to despair. But take heart in this: His Word is still heard. Your repentance is half-hearted because you are still in the flesh and a war rages within you, but there is repentance and there is faith. The Lord Himself sustains it despite your Old Adam. The Lord continues teaching you to hate what your fallen flesh loves, and teaching you to love what He gives. 

Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. Abraham received the promise of the Offspring in whom all nations would be blessed. He trusted that promise. And from that promise he was credited with the righteousness of Christ, the promised Offspring. The Lord’s mercy was his. And that is why Abraham recognizes Lazarus as his own and receives him at his bosom. Lazarus also trusted in Abraham’s promised Offspring, Jesus Christ, and so he is Abraham’s true son. And so are all who trust in Jesus, Abraham’s Offspring. His promises are given to us by Moses, the Prophets, and the Apostolic Scriptures, and they create faith in us. And so we bear the name of the crucified Savior who gives His life for us. We are Christ’s, and so we are also Abraham’s children, heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:29).

It’s really no surprise then that we, like poor Lazarus, find ourselves bearing the cross of trial and temptation. The cross that we bear is the mark of Jesus. The reason that sin and temptation hurt and fill us with regret is because Christ is our only righteousness, because we bear His Name and we are His. The reason we feel and fear our doubts is because we have faith. Unbelief is not bothered by guilt or doubt. So, your struggle with sin and doubt is the mark of those redeemed by Christ the crucified. It is the mark of those who are precious to Him.

And even though you cannot see this mark with your fleshly eyes, it is not easily erased. The Lord Himself marked you with His cross in the lavish flood that drowns your Old Adam and preserves your new life. When you hear His testifying Word preached and proclaimed here, Christ is rewriting His Word on your heart. And He confirms this mark upon you with the most tangible thing of all: eating and drinking a feast in which He gives Himself to you. Again and again he marks you with His cross so that no false promise of riches or success and no fear of worldly trouble will be able to tear you away from Him.

Finally, when the Lord pulls back the curtain, faith is able to see the truth: Lazarus was the blessed one all along. He was truly rich. He was the heir, the son who had everything, because faith receives Christ’s righteousness, and that is enough. His Word is enough. And the Lord’s gifts are enough. His mercy endures forever. And soon He will call us from this vale of tears. Soon He will send His holy angels to bear us to Abraham’s bosom. And there we will receive only His good things, the righteousness of Christ that is already counted to us by faith.

In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Adapted from Rev. Sean Daenzer, Trinity 1, 2015, verbachristi.blogspot.com