The Third Sunday after Easter - Jubilate
Hymns: 207, 206, 158, 390
Lamentations 3:18-26 — “The Lord Is Good to Those Who Wait”
Grace, mercy, and peace to you all from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Old Testament Reading appointed for this day of Jubilate is Lamentations 3:18-26:
And I said, “My strength and my hope Have perished from the Lord.”
Remember my affliction and roaming, The wormwood and the gall. My soul still remembers And sinks within me. This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope.
Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!”
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the Lord.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Introduction
Jubilate: “Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands; sing forth the honor of His name; make His praise glorious. Say unto God, how terrible art Thou in Thy works; through the greatness of Thy power shall Thine enemies submit themselves unto Thee.”
This is the Introit appointed for the Third Sunday after Easter. Truly, as we reflect upon the works of the Lord that were carried forward from the institution of the New Testament until the day of the Resurrection of our Lord, truly He is a terrible God, the God at whom all the devils and all workers of evil stand in terror, the God from whom even sin and death flee. Who but the Lord our God would work such things on behalf of His enemies? Who but the Lord would subject His own Son to the punishment that we deserve in order that we might be set free to live in His Holy Communion forever?
Jesus was anointed the Holy One who should sacrifice His holiness for us. He willingly set aside His glory or eminence in order to take our affliction and roaming. Now, therefore in our daily lives, as we encounter the reminders of this through temporal suffering and restlessness, we are drawn back to the cross where we receive again the joys of the terrible works of the Lord and learn that the Lord is good to those who wait.
I. My Strength and My Hope HavePerished from the Lord
“My strength and my hope have perished from the Lord!”
Such is the perspective declared in the opening words of our text. Why are these words chosen for this day of Jubilate? Is this cause for jubilation? Is this something that will inspire rejoicing in the Lord?
Literally Jeremiah writes, “And he said, “Wandered the eminence of me and the hope of me from Yahweh.” Of whom does Jeremiah write? Who is the he who says this? The who is every sinner of the world. Jeremiah himself was included in this doleful declaration. After all, Jeremiah’s ministry was not going very well. From all that Jeremiah could see, he was a complete failure. Nobody listened to him. After years and years of preaching what God gave him to declare, the people grew more idolatrous and faithless. Contemporary worship had become the prevailing way in the Church. The sacred liturgy had been perverted. The preachers were interpreting the Scriptures rather than proclaiming them. Many people in the land were suffering the abuses of the bankers and oppressive taxation. People were facing foreclosure, loss of property, homes, and income. Sin ruled the land.
But this lamentation, this bitter and woeful cry, is declared to belong to one man. “And he said, “Wandered the eminence of me and the hope of me from Yahweh.”” Of whom does Jeremiah speak?
This man cried out several hundred years after Jeremiah, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” (Matt 27:46)
Yes, Jesus is the one of whom Jeremiah writes. Jesus is the one who took the Sin of the world upon Himself and took the identity of every wicked and condemned sinner so that “He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us.” On the cross, loaded down with our sin and our guilt and our damnation, having suffered for many hours the abuses of injustice and false witness, for His whole life in fact, Jesus cried out that His eminence and hope had wandered from the Lord. How could Jesus see beyond the evil that had been placed upon Him? How could Jesus see the loving countenance of the Father when even the sun became darkened and no longer had the power to illumine the lives of men? With all of the evil of all the world pouring forward from the past, with all of the evil of all the world of those living at that time converging in that moment, with all of the evil of all the world that would ever be pulled backward to that moment, how could any hope remain to shine upon the soul of our Savior?
And for the body of Christ, the Church, gathered at the foot of the cross, looking upon the bloodied and torn body of their Lord, how could they see any hope remaining for the eminence that was promised from eternity? How could they see past all the terrible works of judgment that the Lord enacted on this day to see the light of the promise that even the gates of hell shall not prevail against the body of Christ in this world? What hope remained for the disciples of Christ on this terrible day of the Lord?
This is why Jesus proclaims in today’s Gospel reading the warning, “Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.”
Surely for our sake the Lord Jesus endured the ignominy of our wandering hearts. “Wandered the eminence of me and the hope of me from Yahweh. Remember my affliction and roaming, the wormwood and the gall.” How often our hearts wander from the promises of the Lord our God. How often our hearts turn to other sources of comfort and hope, only to be disappointed and disparaged. For our sake the Lord of glory set aside His eminence and allowed all hope to wander so that our loss was made to be His, so that the darkness of despair bore down upon Him.
II. To Remember I Will Remember and Will Sink
However, this is not the end of the proclamation given to Jeremiah.
And he said, “Wandered the eminence of me and the hope of me from Yahweh. Remember my affliction and roaming, the wormwood and the gall. To remember I will remember and will sink upon the soul of Me. This returns to My heart, upon the Just I will wait.”
No wonder the dear apostle Paul reminds us that to partake of the Lord’s Holy Communion is to proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes! Surely in this world we will face many trials and temptations. Our hearts will turn from the Lord and wander from His eminence and the hope that He promises and provides. Our sins will work against us to cause us to doubt His mercy. Our sins will blind us to His goodness and love. All we will see is the wandering of our eminence, that is, our endurance, so that we will focus upon our weaknesses and failings rather than upon His strength and faithfulness.
Thus we are given the command to do even as Jesus did upon the cross. In the midst of taking the sin of the world and enduring all the loss of eminence and hope, He remembered the affliction and roaming, the wormwood and the gall. In so doing He remembered that love that carried Him to the cross, the love that God has for the world, the love that sent God’s only-begotten Son to be God’s gift of restored righteousness and purity, life and hope, and everlasting eminence.
Yes, this is what Jesus looked to for us. And so He remembered to remember the purpose of His suffering and death and He humbled Himself to take our place. He remembered to remember to sink to our level, taking our sin and suffering the condemnation in His own soul.
Thus, we are commanded to remember to remember. We are commanded to “Do this into My remembrance, as oft as you drink of it.” Yes, we are commanded to drink of the cup of the New Testament in His blood often, so that we never forget His affliction and His roaming, the wormwood and the gall. We are to remember to remember our great need and His great provision within His body, the Church. As we sink to our knees, confessing our sins, we look up to see the great and terrible works of the Lord on our behalf, and we rise up in Jubilate! Examining ourselves to see how much we need what Jesus has purchased for us by His suffering and death, we eagerly humble ourselves and sink to receive the cup of mercy, eating the bread of unity in doctrine and faith, drinking in the forgiveness that Jesus purchased with His blood.
III. The Lord Is Good to Those Who Wait
Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!”
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the Lord.
Truly this is our calling as Christians. This is what we are called to through the repentance worked by the Holy Spirit through the pure preaching of the Gospel in connection with the blessed Sacraments. God baptizes us into Christ so that we may come forward to partake of His Holy Communion.
This is why every father is to examine his household, making certain that all who are under His headship are lowly in heart and spirit, recognizing that the Supper is their greatest need in life. Thus they will eat of the bread and drink of the cup in the worthy manner of true faith given by the Holy Spirit in Baptism. Thus their sins will not steal away from them their confidence in God’s mercy in Christ Jesus. Thus they shall not wander in heart and soul but shall wait upon the Lord, acknowledging Him as their portion.
In this way they learn that the Lord is good to those who wait for Him. In Baptism God comes to us with His grace, mercy, and peace and joins us to Himself in His holiness. He leads us from the waters of Baptism into the wilderness where many temptations and trials surround us and tug on our hearts and minds and souls. But the Lord commands us to remember to remember so that we do not try to make ourselves worthy before we come to Him to partake of His Holy Communion. Rather we sink down in humbleness of soul, recognizing that our worthiness is His gift poured out upon us richly in Christ Jesus our Lord. Then we trust Him to be good to us so that we anxiously look toward the Supper of Life and renewal. There we find the forgiveness and purity of our Lord Jesus renewed for us and we find ourselves rising up not counting ourselves as individuals but as one body in Him.
In this way rather than turning aside according to our wandering eminence and hope, rather than being misled by our attempts at growing in sanctification, rather than seeking to find ways to draw near unto God, rather than these things we gather unto the means by which He has promised to keep us in His grace. Then we do not despair and our eminence and endurance do not fail. This is God’s gracious commandment by which we live.
Conclusion
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the Lord.
How often we imagine that this is not enough and that we must somehow add to God’s works with our works. Then we feel defeated and we despair of all hope. But the Lord truly is good, and when we hear His call to repentance, we turn again to Him and wait for Him. Then His goodness is what fills our hearts and our lives. Then we trust not in ourselves but in Him. Then we truly are guarded and kept safe in Christ Jesus by the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. Then Jubilate is not just something to which we aspire, but it is our life. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus forever. Amen.
The Third Sunday after Easter - Jubilate
Hymns: 207, 206, 158, 390
The Introit (Ps.66:1-3)
P: Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands;
C: sing forth the honor of His name; make His praise glorious.
P: Say unto God, how terrible art Thou in Thy works;
C: through the greatness of Thy power shall Thine enemies submit themselves unto Thee.
The Collect
Almighty God, who shows to them that are in error the light of Thy truth to the intent that they may return into the way of righteousness, grant unto all them that are admitted into the fellowship of Christ’s religion that they may avoid those things that are contrary to their profession and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.
The First Lesson Lamentations 3:18-26 (NKJV)
And I said, “My strength and my hope Have perished from the Lord.”
Remember my affliction and roaming, The wormwood and the gall. My soul still remembers And sinks within me. This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope.
Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!”
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the Lord.
The Gradual (Ps.111:9, Lk.24:46)
P: Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
P: The Lord hath sent redemption unto His people.
C: Hallelujah!
P: It behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead:
C: and thus to enter into His glory. Hallelujah!
The Epistle 1 Peter 2:11-20 (NKJV)
Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.
Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men; as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God.
The Sentence for the Season (1 Cor. 5:7)
P: Hallelujah! Christ, our Passover:
C: is sacrificed for us. Hallelujah!
The Holy Gospel St. John 16:16-23 (NKJV)
“A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.”
Then some of His disciples said among themselves, “What is this that He says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?” They said therefore, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is saying.”
Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, “Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’? Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you. And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.”
Lamentations 3:18-26 — “The Lord Is Good to Those Who Wait”
Introduction
I. My Strength and My Hope Have Perished from the Lord
II. To Remember I Will Remember and Will Sink
III. The Lord Is Good to Those WhoWait
Conclusion
18. And he said: Wandered the eminence of me and the hope of me from Yahweh.
20. To remember will remember and will sink (be humbled) upon the soul of me.
21. This returns to my heart: upon just (right, protector) I will wait (hope).
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