The Seventh Sunday of Easter (OT)

Micah 6:1-8

Hear what the Lord says:

       Arise, plead your case before the mountains,

and let the hills hear your voice.

²    Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the Lord,

and you enduring foundations of the earth,

       for the Lord has an indictment against his people,

and he will contend with Israel.

³    “O my people, what have I done to you?

How have I wearied you? Answer me!

⁴    For I brought you up from the land of Egypt

and redeemed you from the house of slavery,

       and I sent before you Moses,

Aaron, and Miriam.

⁵    O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised,

and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,

       and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,

that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”

⁶    “With what shall I come before the Lord,

and bow myself before God on high?

       Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

with calves a year old?

⁷    Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,

with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

       Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,

the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

⁸    He has told you, O man, what is good;

and what does the Lord require of you

       but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?

It is Judgment Day. God will call his witnesses of your actions. He will have them testify to your misdeeds. He will call forth the Laws of Moses, and they will review your case. How many sacrifices will be required to pay the debt you owe? Will ten thousand sacrifices make up for your horrible mis-deeds.

Justice must be done. It is time for justice to be done. The Lord provided justice for his people by delivering them from the Land of Egypt. The Lord provided justice for his people when he killed them in the desert. The Lord provided justice for the land of Canaan when Israel conquered the Land. God will provide you with Justice. He will judge you for all your misdeeds.

This judgment will not only claim your life, but the life of all sinners. The way verse 7 should strike us, is a picture of the true price. "Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" You will not give your firstborn, nor the fruit of your loins. It is the fruit of Mary's womb. It is the only Son of God. Jesus Christ will pay the price for your transgression, and the sin of your soul. It is Judgment Day, and God is providing Justice for his people.

The Seventh Sunday of Easter (Ps) June 1st

Psalm 145:1-9

¹  I will extol you, my God and King,

and bless your name forever and ever.

²    Every day I will bless you

and praise your name forever and ever.

³    Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,

and his greatness is unsearchable.

⁴    One generation shall commend your works to another,

and shall declare your mighty acts.

⁵    On the glorious splendor of your majesty,

and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

⁶    They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,

and I will declare your greatness.

⁷    They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness

and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

⁸    The Lord is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

⁹    The Lord is good to all,

and his mercy is over all that he has made.

The Fifth Petition

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

What does this mean?

We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look at our sins, or deny our prayer because of them. We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but we ask that He would give them all to us by grace, for we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment. So we too will sincerely forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us.

O God, for our redemption You gave Your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross and by His glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of the enemy. Grant that all our sin may be drowned through daily repentance and that day by day we may arise to live before You in righteousness and purity forever; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Seventh Sunday of Easter (NTA)

Romans 4:13-25

¹³ For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴ For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. ¹⁵ For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

¹⁶ That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, ¹⁷ as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. ¹⁸ In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” ¹⁹ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. ²⁰ No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, ²¹ fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. ²² That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” ²³ But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, ²⁴ but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, ²⁵ who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

If the Law is the foundation of your faith then your faith is meaningless and void. If the Law is eliminated from your faith it does not matter what you believe because it has no consequences, and therefore your faith is meaningless and void. So which are you going to pick, the Law or not the Law, because both are meaningless and void, correct?

For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. The Law therefore shows us our transgressions. Whether you are a Christian or not a Christian the Law applies to your life the same. The Law reveals that your are a sinner. You are under the wrath of God. We would like God to remove the Law and therefore remove the transgression.

But Jesus would have us look into our heart and stare down the transgression. He would have you come face to face with the full wrath of God. He would have you look upon death. All this so that he can tell you, "you are forgiven!" Your sin, transgression, is no more, not because of the removal of the Law, but because of the price has been paid. Jesus has won the victory over death in your place. You has taken on Death, wrath, and all transgressions upon the Cross. Your sins are forgiven!

The Seventh Sunday of Easter (NT)

1 Peter 4:12-19

¹² Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³ But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. ¹⁴ If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. ¹⁵ But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. ¹⁶ Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. ¹⁷ For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? ¹⁸ And

       “If the righteous is scarcely saved,

what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

¹⁹ Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

It is time for the judgment. We need to take a hard look at our own lives. We need to take a hard and difficult look at our church. St Peter reminds us that the judgment begins with the people of God. We first will be judged, and then the world. If you do not hold a measure to your own life, how can you know to measure your neighbor.

St Peter does not say, “Do not Judge!” He tells us that those of you who think you are righteous may find another thing coming. Those of you who are avoiding suffering, will find it soon enough. There are many people who suffer in this world justly. They suffer because of their evil and wicked behavior. There are others who suffer on account of their confession of faith.

For those of you in prison, or under criminal punishment, you suffer justly for these things. This suffering should not be removed, but embraced. Likewise, those of you who suffer on account of your confession, this suffering should be embraced. We know that our Savior Suffered not for his own sins, but for our sins. He has redeemed us from eternal suffering.

It is time for the judgment. Judge yourself as to whether you would be numbered with the scarce number of righteous to be saved. Judge yourself as to whether you deserve salvation. But know that Jesus Christ has died to make you his very own. He has claimed you in the waters of Baptism. He feeds you with his precious blood for the forgiveness of sins. He does all of this not because you are worthy, but by grace, so entrust your soul to God.