Laetare - Fourth Sunday in Lent
Hymns: 375, 391, 312, 381
Galatians 4:21-31 — “The Jerusalem above Is Free”
Grace, mercy, and peace to you all from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Epistle reading appointed for this Sunday of Laetare is Galatians 4:21-31:
Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written,
Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not;
break forth and cry, thou that travailest not:
for the desolate hath many more children
than she which hath an husband.
Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Introduction
Why was this text chosen for this day? How does it fit with the theme of Laetare: Rejoice? How does it fit with the other two pericopal readings? Consider these words from the text from Isaiah:
Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.
The Lord Jesus was born into this world and was anointed as the Christ in order that He would be able to say to us prisoners, “Go forth.” He came to set us free from our bondage. Our bondage is one that our father according to the flesh, Adam, chose for us. We have inherited it according to our fleshly nature. Our choices in life match his choice. We choose to be bound under ways that depend upon our own efforts, our own works, our own reason and strength. For this reason St. Paul directs us to cast out the bondwoman and her son because we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. This is the reason that this Fourth Sunday of Lent, this Sunday in the season of repentance, is entitled Laetare: Rejoice!
I. Do Ye Not Hear the Law?
Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
This is a very powerful question. This question is directed first to the congregation in Galatia, where St. Paul had preached and taught. Judaizers or preachers of the circumcision had followed after Paul, teaching that the freedom given in Baptism is not sufficient but that the ways of Circumcision, the ways of the Old Testament must be kept in order truly to abide in the communion of God. Rules and regulations were being taught as the way to true faith. The very act of believing was being made to be the necessary means of salvation. This falsehood continues to be propagated throughout the churches today.
To this the apostle answers: “Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?”
The obvious answer is that we do not hear the Law or else we would give thanks to God that love is the fulfillment of the Law. God’s love that moved Him to take our flesh and blood and bone so as to live perfectly according to the Law, this love that carried Jesus to the cross and grave, this love that caused Jesus to rise again bodily and to ascend bodily to heaven, this love that rules on our behalf and continues to send forth the Word in the preaching and in the Sacraments that we may receive Him and the life that is in and through Him, this love is all that we need.
But we do not believe it. Even though it has been preached plainly, even though it has been demonstrated and manifested through the life and ministry and salvific acts of Jesus, still we do not believe it. Rather, we continue to desire to be under the Law rather than under Grace.
Oh, we preach that salvation is by grace alone, but we do not believe it. We practice what we truly believe. We show what we believe by what we think, say, and do. We show what we really believe by our insistence that in order to be saved we must believe and that we must do this or that requirement. Through this we are enslaved to our sin, for the Law shows us the holiness of God that we do not have by our own attempts and actions.
Do we not hear what the Law declares? The Law declares that we must love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our might! (Deuteronomy 6:5) Do we do this? No? Then we stand condemned! Do we love our neighbor as ourselves? No? Then we stand condemned! Are we perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect? (Matthew 5:48) No? Then we stand condemned!
Why do we continually look to what we must do? Why do we seek to be holy by our own thoughts, words, and deeds? Why do we seek to find righteousness by our own efforts? All that we ever find through this approach is failure and doom.
Do we really hear the Law? Obviously not! If we did truly hear the Law we would fall on our faces and repent. If we did truly hear the Law we would deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Jesus. (Luke 9:23) We would continually give thanks to God for the promises that He has attached to Baptism and the Holy Supper and in these we would find our comfort and confidence.
II. The Children of Promise
Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written,
Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not;
break forth and cry, thou that travailest not:
for the desolate hath many more children
than she which hath an husband.
Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
What does it mean that we are children of promise? What promise? How is this different than being children of bondage?
St. Paul draws forth an allegory from the historical account of the birth and life of Abraham’s first two sons. If we desire we can press this allegory further to the two Adams, for surely this is where St. Paul leads us. But since the Law was given to the descendants of Abraham, St. Paul speaks directly of Abraham’s two sons and their mothers.
Hagar was not Abraham’s wife, Sarah was. Hagar was an Egyptian slave girl who served Sarah. Because Sarah was not content to trust that the Lord would fulfill His promise of the Seed through her, she determined to give Hagar to her husband as a surrogate. She decided to help God’s promise along a bit since it seemed that what God had actually said was not happening. So as Eve did many hundreds of years before, Sarah decided to act rather than to listen. Like Adam, Abraham listened to his wife instead of what he knew that the Lord had said.
As is always the way when we choose to act for God rather than waiting for Him to do as He has promised, terrible heartache and trouble was the result. The slave began to act as though she were the wife and to mock Sarah. But Hagar’s son, Ishmael, was not the son of the promise. The son of promise was to be born of Sarah and through him, Isaac, the promised Seed would at the appointed time be born into the world to crush the head of the serpent.
Because of the trouble that Sarah had brought to the family, Hagar and Ishmael had to leave. Hagar and Ishmael were not content to receive the good life within Abraham’s house but sought to make their own way and place in the house. This would not do. Thus Abraham had to send them away.
From the very beginning of the matter, Ishmael was a son of bondage. He was born of a bondmaid, by the decree of her mistress. There was absolutely no connection for Ishmael to the promise and the freedom that this promise would bring. At least, this is true concerning anything that Ishmael could do. However, the promise of the Seed that would be born of Isaac and the freedom that belongs to all who trust in this promise, certainly was for Ishmael and Hagar as well, if only they would receive it through the means that the Lord ordained. Sadly, they rebelled and sought the blessing by their own way and had to be sent away.
Isaac, on the other hand, was purely the son of promise. He was conceived by Abraham in Sarah, Abraham’s wife of promise. The Lord renewed this promise multiple times, even giving the sign of this promise or covenant or testament to be kept in the flesh of Abraham and all the males of his household.
And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant. And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. (Genesis 17:9-16)
Notice that circumcision was given as a token or sign of the Lord’s covenant. The Lord ordained this Sacrament or sacred sign of His covenant, His promise. This was not given as something that Abraham and his descendants would do on their part, but this was the Lord’s action done through their hands and in their flesh. It was a fleshly sign of God’s promise that would be fulfilled in the flesh of the promised Seed, Jesus.
Ishmael received this sign in his flesh, too. But the promise was through Isaac. The promise was that to which the fleshly pointed. Every act of union between a husband and wife of the descendants of Abraham would remind them of God’s promise. The circumcision of every male child born to them would remind them of God’s promise. The separation and demarcation from the rest of the world that was created by circumcision would stand as a reminder to all of Abraham’s descendants as well as to the rest of the world concerning God’s promise. The Law was given to the people of this Sacrament of Circumcision for this same purpose. It pointed to the need for salvation and to the promise of salvation through the promised Seed, Jesus.
III. Cast out the Bondwoman and Her Son
Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.
Ishmael received this Sacrament of promise and salvation in his flesh even before Isaac received it. But after Isaac was born, Ishmael and his mother rejected the Lord’s covenant. They sought to be of the promise apart from the promise that was through Isaac. They began to persecute the way of salvation by grace and began to rely upon the way of the flesh, the way of fleshly inheritance. They persecuted Isaac. Thus, they persecuted Jesus, rejecting God in the flesh.
This cannot be permitted among the household of faith. Thus the Scriptures say, “Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.”
St. Paul carries this forward to the Church of the New Testament. He says that we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. There is no place for the bondwoman and her son in the Church. The Church is the house of God, not of men. The Church is the house of God’s grace, not of bondage to rules and the Law.
The Law serves Faith, not the other way around. The Law is preached to show the hopelessness of the way of bondage so that we will seek not to do good works but to receive them from the one who is good. God alone is good. He alone is holy. God the Father is the source of all good and perfect gifts. God is love and love is of God. The Law merely proclaims God’s holiness. The Law is powerless to produce holiness. Only God can make holy. Only God can sanctify.
Thus when the Lord Jesus tells us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, He includes the promise that all the good that God intends for us and that we need shall be added to us as well. (Matthew 6:33) Sadly, we tend to twist this into something that we must do rather than what God promises to do for us.
What does Jesus mean by telling us to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness? To understand this we must hear this statement in the context in which He says it. He says this in contrast to our seeking good things by our own efforts. He says this in direct contrast to worrying and fretting about our needs of this body and soul in the world. He says first: “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?” Then again, He concludes: “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
Instead of fretting and worrying about what we must do and how we must pursue money and food and clothing and shelter and happiness, things that God our heavenly Father provides, Jesus tells us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to us.
So then, how do we seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness? Before you answer, Stop! Do not give an answer, but instead ASK. That is right, ask of God the answer that He has already declared. How and where do we seek His righteousness according to what Jesus says? Where does He say that righteousness, that is, justification and cleansing and sanctification are given? He says that we are born into the kingdom of God through Baptism and receive the Holy Spirit and sanctification through Baptism, as well as being continually renewed in the Holy Communion of God’s kingdom through receiving the body and blood of Jesus to eat and drink.
Is this how and where you seek? When your faith is persecuted, is this where you flee? This is where the children of promise are found. This is why we are told to cast out the bondwoman and her son, for they do not inherit the kingdom with the children of promise. For the kingdom is through the promise alone. Therefore, St. Paul reminds us that we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free!
Conclusion
If we are willing to hear it, this is exceedingly good news! Are we ready to hear the Law and what it truly says? It says that we cannot do for ourselves what God alone works through His grace. His holiness is not the way of bondage to works of the Law or other attempts at goodness on our part. His holiness is through His Holy Communion, into which He baptizes us and keeps us through the communion of His body and blood. From beginning to end this is by grace through the faith that He works in us. We truly are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. Therefore we should gladly cast out the bondwoman and her son in order that we may rejoice in the goodness of God’s promise, by which we are His children. Then we will live in the freedom of His goodness, seeing His goodness at work in us more and more as we begin to recognize His continual activity in our lives. Thus with the Introit we hear Laetare: Rejoice, for indeed by grace the bondwoman and her son have no part with us, for we are children of the free! 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.
Laetare - Fourth Sunday in Lent
Hymns: 375, 391, 312, 381
( omit Gloria, responses before & after the Gospel reading, and other ascriptions of praise during Lent. )
The Introit (Ps. 66:10; 122:1)
P: Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her:C: all ye that love her.
P: Rejoice for joy with her:
C: all ye that mourn for her.
P: I was glad when they said unto me:
C: Let us go into the house of the Lord.
(The “Gloria in Excelsis” is omitted during the Penitential Season of Lent)
The Collect
Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we, who for our evil deeds do worthily deserve to be punished, by the comfort of Thy grace may mercifully be relieved; 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 Isaiah 49:8-13
Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them. And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim. Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.
The Gradual (Psalm 143:9-10; 18:48; 129:1-2)
P: Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies; teach me to do Thy will.C: He delivereth me from mine enemies; yea, Thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me; Thou hast delivered me from the violent man.
P: Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth.
C: May Israel now say; many a time have they afflicted me from my youth. Yet they have not prevailed against me.
The Epistle Galatians 4:21-31
Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written,
Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not;
break forth and cry, thou that travailest not:
for the desolate hath many more children
than she which hath an husband.
Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.
The SENTENCE for the Season (Philippians 2:8)
P: Christ has humbled himself, and become obedient unto death:C: even the death of the cross.
The Holy Gospel St. John 6:1-15
After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.
Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?
And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.
When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.
When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.
Galatians 4:21-31 — “Do Ye Not Hear the Law?”
Introduction
I. Do Ye Not Hear the Law?
II. The Children of Promise
III. Cast out the Bondwoman and Her Son
Conclusion
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