Sermon – "In Part" (I didn't record this one because the rest of the service is really the most important part.)
In the name of the ╬ Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We know in part and we prophesy in part. We walk by faith, and not by sight. Our readings and our songs this evening have pointed out this distinction. There's what we see – God's judgment, the death of Jesus, the darkness falling upon the world, a message of hopelessness and despair. Then again, there's what we confess – Christ's victory over death, hell and the grave for us. As we walk through these last hours of the season of Lent, may the Lord give us true repentance for our sin, a sorrow for our denial of Christ. May he remind us that it is our sin which sent him to the cross. Rather than bringing death upon us, it brought death on the innocent Son of God. May the Lord show us the crushing weight of his judgment on sin, how he broke our Lord, who cried out in anguish that he was forsaken. And our Lord Jesus Christ was forsaken of God, smitten, stricken, and afflicted for us.
But we do not leave ourselves forever in a time of sorrow. May the Lord grant that we also look forward to the time, not that many hours from now, when we celebrate the day of resurrection. Yes, it is dark. But we walk by faith and not by sight. We look forward to the resurrection of Jesus. We look forward to the sure and certain hope that we too will be raised and this corruption will put on incorruption.
When our Lord and Savior cried out, "It is finished," indeed his work was finished. He died to bear our sin, to conquer death, to triumph over it. Let us walk by faith in this promise.
In the name of the ╬ Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
--Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com
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