A message from Pastor Berndt
“Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (Isaiah 6)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. How do sinners stand before God who is Holy? The Lord’s Holy Law shows Isaiah who he is before God—Isaiah is a sinner. I am a man of unclean lips. I am a Law breaker. Genesis 3 – the Fall into sin. Now the sinner’s will is turned against God in thought, word and deed.
We live among other sinners. We cannot pretend sin will not hurt us. Sin brings death and the wrath of God. Woe is me! We confess the same in the Divine Service. I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto You all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended You and justly deserved Your temporal and eternal punishment. But I am heartily sorry for them and sincerely repent of them.
Confessing the truth. How do sinners stand before God who is Holy? By yourself you cannot stand. The earth shakes in fear.
God sent the seraphim. Proclaiming God’s Word: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”Three times declaring the Holy God—the Trinity. God the Father at work sending His Son—Jesus Christ—to stand in the place of sinners. Christ our Savior who takes the wrath of God for us. You, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds He has now reconciled in his body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless.(Colossians 1) Forgiveness full and free by Jesus’ death and resurrection.
How do sinners stand before God who is Holy? Only through faith in Christ. You are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith….so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3)
Jesus who wins forgiveness of sins for you the sinner—The Lord sends His Word into your ears to hear and believe. Isaiah the preacher—who said: I am a man of unclean lips.God provides—for sinners like Isaiah and you. God gives Jesus as a payment for all our sins.
One of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” The Lord delivers to Isaiah—forgiveness—atonement—and salvation.
Each week sinners gather into God’s House of mercy—Zion—confessing—Woe is me!—Confessing our sins. The Lord full of grace and mercy gives you Jesus. God sends to you your Pastors to proclaim God's Word into your ears. Preaching Jesus. Your sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. Ears to hear God’s Word and mouths to eat and drink Christ’s Body and Blood. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
We Praise You and Acknowledge You, O God LSB 941:3
You, Christ, are King of glory, the everlasting Son,
Yet You, with boundless love, sought to rescue ev’ryone:
You laid aside Your glory, were born of virgin’s womb,
Were crucified for us and were placed into a tomb;
Then by Your resurrection You won for us reprieve—
You opened heaven’s kingdom to all who would believe.
-Pastor Berndt