Quasimodogeniti, The First Sunday after EasterApril 11, 2021 AD
Old Testament: Ezekiel 37:1-14
Epistle: 1 John 5:4-10
Gospel: John 20:19-31
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Easter DayApril 4, 2021 AD
Old Testament: Job 19:23-27
Epistle: I Corinthians 5:6-8
Gospel: Mark 16:1-8
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Easter VigilApril 3, 2021 AD
Guest preacher: The Rev. Roy Axel Coats, Pastor, Lutheran Church of the Redeemer
Epistle: Colossians 3:1-4
Gospel: Matthew 28:1-7
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Good FridayApril 2, 2021 AD
First Reading: Isaiah 53
Gospel: John 18:1-19:42
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Maundy ThursdayApril 1, 2021 AD
Old Testament: Exodus 12:1-14
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 11:23-32
Gospel: John 13:1-15
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OUR SAVIOUR LUTHERAN CHURCH3301 The Alameda
Baltimore, MD 21218
410.235.9553
APRIL, 2021
HOLY WEEK AND EASTER DAY
Maundy Thursday – Divine Service, 7:30 P.M.
Good Friday – The Liturgy of Good Friday, 7:30 P.M.
Easter Even – The Easter Vigil and the First
Divine Service of Easter Day, 7:30 P.M.
Easter Day – Festival Divine Service, 11:00 A.M.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Pastor McClean
OUR SAVIOUR LUTHERAN CHURCH3301 The Alameda
Baltimore, MD 21218
410.235.9553
MARCH, 2021
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Our nation has just passed the half-million mark in the number of fellow Americans who have died during the present pandemic. This is a staggering number, a number so large that it is almost impossible to imagine. I suspect that so many of us had assumed that this type of thing was only a thing of the past or that such things simply do not happen in our country. But now it has happened and, although there are signs of hope on the horizon, the end is not yet. So how should we as Christians respond to this immense tragedy? As I said a year ago: Through this calamity God is calling the world to repentance. We are also being reminded in a way that cannot be ignored of the shortness and uncertainty of human life. The words of the burial service have ceased to be mere words but instead are an expression of inescapable reality: “In the midst of life we are in death,” words that once had a place in the Lenten liturgy. As always at the beginning of Lent we hear the words spoken to Adam after the fall: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:19). Given all these circumstances, we are called to earnest repentance which includes active compassion and fervent prayer for those whose lives have been touched by this calamity. We are also reminded to do as Christians have done down through the ages: To remember the unknown hour of death and to meditate on our own death both in the light of the judgment to come and of the mercy that flows from Christ’s life-giving cross and resurrection. This is our sure and certain hope, this is why we can and must rejoice in the Lord, come what may. And of course all of this is of a piece with our annual journey through these Lenten days.
It will soon be a year since our dear sister in Christ, Joyce Gillespie, succumbed to the coronavirus. Gabe Purviance and his father Philip have now recovered from the virus and for that we give thanks!
The funeral of our dear sister in Christ, Dorothy Bell, who fell asleep in the Lord on January 28, was held in church on Saturday, February 13. Her mortal remains were committed to the earth at the cemetery of Saint Matthew’s Church in Meherrin, Virginia. May the Light perpetual ever shine upon her and may our merciful Savior comfort all who mourn.
Although private confession and absolution are not obligatory in the Lutheran Church they are available as a means of grace. The fifth chief part of Dr. Luther’s Small Catechism provides instruction about this, and in the Augsburg Confession—that principal confession of the faith of the Lutheran Church—we find these words: “It is taught among us that private absolution should be retained and not allowed to fall into disuse […] The people are carefully instructed concerning the comfort of the Word of absolution so that they may esteem absolution as a great and precious thing. It is not the voice or word of the man who speaks it but it is the Word of God who forgives sin, for it is spoken in God’s stead and by His commandment” (Augsburg Confession, Articles XI and XXV). I am always ready to arrange for times to hear confessions. There is no reason why any Christian should remain troubled in conscience or burdened with the painful memory even of sins committed long ago: Private absolution bestows the joyful certainty of sin forgiven, our pardon sealed in heaven.
On the first three Wednesdays in March we will have Lenten Vespers with the Litany at 7:30 pm. My Lenten meditations will focus on Old Testament types of Christ’s passion: The sacrifice of Isaac, the Passover lamb, the sprinkled blood of the covenant.
The fourth Wednesday in March this year is the Eve of the Annunciation. Exactly nine months before Christmas, this festival commemorates the announcement by the angel Gabriel to the virgin Mary that God had chosen her to be the mother of His Son. With her assent, “Let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38), God the Son took on Himself in her womb the humanity that is yours and mine. This is the actual moment of the incarnation, when “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). This is the beginning of Christ’s journey to His cross and resurrection.
The last Sunday in March is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. As usual there will be Divine Service on Maundy Thursday and the Liturgy on Good Friday, both at 7:30 pm. On Saturday, Easter Even, the Easter Vigil will be celebrated at 7:30 pm. Our good friend, Pastor Roy Coats, will as usual be with us for the Vigil. The Vigil begins in darkness with the lighting of the Paschal (i.e. Easter) Candle, which burns throughout the Easter season. It then continues with the reading of Old Testament lessons which show types of our baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection; this is followed by the renewal of our baptismal vows, and the Vigil comes to its climax and completion in the joyful first Holy Eucharist of Easter. This oldest festival service of the Christian Church is truly an Easter celebration which in a very real sense surveys the whole history of our salvation, beginning with the creation of all things, and—because the Holy Eucharist is always the anticipation of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in His eternal kingdom (Revelation 19:6–9)—looks forward with joy to the final coming of the risen Lord in glory.
Palm Sunday is the deadline for ordering Easter lilies. The cost is $11.00, and you may include with your check a list of names of loved ones you wish to honor or remember. As usual Judy Volkman is in charge of all this.
As mentioned in last month’s newsletter we are hoping to have the annual Saint Mark’s Conference on April 19–20. The Rev. Dr. Matthew Harrison, the President of Synod, will be with us as the keynote speaker at this year’s Conference, which is focused on the Life and Work of the late Rev. Dr. Hermann Sasse (1895–1976), who was almost certainly the greatest confessional Lutheran theologian of the last century. Much information about him can be found online. The COVID pandemic seems to affect everything, and so a decision to hold or cancel the Conference will be made on Monday of Holy Week. Although primarily intended for pastors, the Conference is open to everyone. For members of Our Saviour there is no registration fee.
Remember that our services are now livestreamed: Sunday Divine Service at 11:00 am and Wednesday Lenten Vespers at 7:30 pm. You can also hear the sermon by calling (410) 587–0979. If you are still unable to come to church I am more than willing to bring you the Sacrament at home. Among other things, that is what pastors are for! You need only call me at (410) 554–9994 or e-mail me at charlesmcclean42@gmail.com.
Let us make good use of this Lenten season for the renewal of our life in Christ. Let us continue in prayer for one another and for all whom God’s love has called out of nothingness into being.
Affectionately in our Lord,
Pastor McClean
On February 10, Judy Volkman delivered five crates of canned goods to CARES. They were well stocked at that point, but they almost certainly emptied out their stores quickly. And we need to restock; the boxes are empty!
Also delivered were eight knit hats and twelve hand-knit scarves to help keep people warm in this cold weather. Bounty shared!
– Judy Volkman
Palm SundayMarch 28, 2021 AD
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The Eve of the Annunciation of Our LordMarch 24, 2020 AD
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JudicaThe Fifth Sunday in Lent
March 21, 2021 AD
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Laetare Midweek VespersMarch 17, 2021 AD
LaetareThe Fourth Sunday in Lent
March 14, 2021 AD
Old Testament: Exodus 18:2-21
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Oculi Midweek VespersMarch 10, 2021AD
OculiThe Third Sunday in Lent
March 7, 2021 AD
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Reminiscere Midweek VespersMarch 3, 2021AD
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ReminiscereThe Second Sunday in Lent
February 28, 2021 AD
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St. Matthias the ApostleFebruary 24, 2021 AD
Epistle: Acts 1:15-26
Gospel: Matthew 11:25-30
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On the night when He was betrayed, after the last supper, in His sublime great high priestly prayer, the Lord Jesus prayed for His disciples saying, “Holy Father…While I was with them, I kept them in Thy name which Thou hast given me; I have guarded them, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the scriptures might be fulfilled.”
At the last supper Jesus said to His troubled disciples: “Truly, truly I say to you, one of you will betray me.” John the beloved disciple, prompted by Peter, then asked Him, “Lord, who is it?” and Jesus replied, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” And when Jesus had dipped the morsel He gave it to Judas. Saint John tells us that after Judas had received the morsel Satan entered into him and that Judas then “immediately went out and it was night.” “And it was night” – night not only in the sense that the sun had set, but night in the sense that all the powers of darkness aided among others by Judas now gathered all their strength to destroy, as Saint John writes, the true Light that enlightens everyone coming into the world. There are those chilling words of John: “And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.” This describes not only what was happening on that dark night, but it is in a real sense a summary of the long history of humankind’s love for the darkness and rejection of the light culminating in that night when the Lord of Light and Love was betrayed by Judas who had shared the intimate fellowship of that last earthly supper of the Lord. Long centuries before the psalmist had prayed as in the psalm we prayed this evening, “Even my close friend, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.”
What Judas did on that dark and doleful night was in a way only the culmination of what he had already been doing for a long time. He was, you might say, the treasurer for Jesus and those who followed Him, and Judas had already been in the habit of stealing. Finally he agrees with the High Priest’s council to betray his Lord for thirty pieces of silver. In this sad case of Judas we see how habitual sin steadily becomes worse and at a point known only by God can finally make repentance impossible. But the fact is that Judas still was not completely blinded by sin. After he had betrayed his Lord the voice of conscience still spoke. Judas came to realize what he had done and tried to give back the money to the temple authorities but they would not have it. Then, as we heard in the Epistle from Saint Luke’s Book of Acts, we learn that Judas then used the money to buy a field and that having bought the field “fell headlong, burst open in the middle, and all his bowels gushed out.” Saint Luke tells us that this became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem so that that field became known as Akeldama which means field – of blood. Saint Luke also sees in all of this the fulfillment of some words spoken long before by the psalmist: “Let his habitation become desolate and let there be no one to live in it” and “His office let another take.”
As it in fact happened Judas’ office, his work, his position of one of the twelve apostles was not TAKEN by another. Rather God Himself filled that office in this way.
During the ten days between Jesus’ ascension into heaven and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Saint Peter led the eleven remaining apostles in filling the office, telling the eleven that one of the men who had been an eyewitness to Jesus’ ministry from His baptism to His ascension must be chosen to fill the vacant place.
Two men were nominated: one who was named Joseph who was called Justus, the other one Matthias. Then they prayed saying, “Lord, You that know all hearts, show us which one of these two YOU have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” Then they cast lots and the lot fell on Matthias and he was numbered with the apostles. In THIS way GOD chose Matthias to be an apostle.
More than this we do not know with certainty. But early tradition tells us that Matthias later worked in Cappadocia which is an area of present day Turkey bordering on the Black Sea, and that he perhaps also preached in the country of Georgia. And finally sealed his witness to the Saviour with his own blood.
Be all that as it may, we remember Matthias with thanksgiving because he was an apostle. And what is an apostle? An apostle is one who was sent by Jesus to be a witness to His life and death and resurrection and ascension. The word apostle comes from a verb which means ‘to send.’ The apostle is one sent by Christ to preach and teach with authority. And what the apostles in fact taught is found in the Holy Scripture: the New Testament is but the WRITTEN deposit of the apostles’ teaching and to that teaching the Church of Christ is bound until He returns in glory.
At the last supper the Lord Jesus had promised that the Holy Spirit would bring to the apostles’ remembrance all that He said and had done. That promise was wonderfully fulfilled in the teaching and preaching of the apostles beginning with Saint Peter’s wonderful sermon on Pentecost. The sermon St. Luke records in Acts 2. And that teaching was then written down by inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
The task assigned by the Lord Jesus to Matthias and all the apostles continues today as the pastors of the Church hand down the apostles’ teaching through their own preaching and teaching. And if a pastor does not do that or contradicts the teaching of the apostles, he walks not in steps of the holy apostles but of Judas who betrayed the Lord. And that is why in the Collect or “appointed prayer” for Saint Matthias’ Day we pray:
Almighty God, You chose Your servant Matthias to be numbered among the Twelve. Grant that Your church, ever preserved from false teachers, may be taught and guided by faithful and true pastors; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen
Invocavit – The First Sunday in LentThe First Sunday in Lent
February 21, 2020 AD
Old Testament: Genesis 3:1-21
Epistle: II Corinthians 6:1-10
Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11
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Ash WednesdayFebruary 17, 2021 AD
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QuinquagesimaFebruary 14, 2021 AD
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