March 25 Lenten Worship
Lenten Midweek Service – March 25, 2020
Theme: Simon the Cyrene & the Khans (The fifth in our series “Lent for All Nations” – based on messages prepared by Rev. Ben Haupt, Concordia Seminary, St Louis)
THE LITURGY OF EVENING PRAYER
Jesus Christ is the Light of the world; the light no darkness can overcome.
Stay with us, Lord, for it is evening, and the day is almost over.
Let Your light scatter the darkness and illumine your Church.
Joyous light of glory… of the immortal Father; heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ. We have come to the setting of the sun, and we look to the evening light. We sing to God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit: You are worthy of being praised with pure voices forever. O Son of God, O Giver of life: the universe proclaims Your glory.
Blessed are You, O Lord our God, king of the universe, who led your people Israel by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Enlighten our darkness by the light of Your Christ; may His Word be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path; for You are merciful, and You love Your whole creation and we, Your creatures, glorify You, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Let my prayer rise before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
O Lord, I call to You; come to me quickly; hear my voice when I cry to You.
Let my prayer rise before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
Set a watch before my mouth, O Lord, and guard the door of my lips. Let not my heart incline to any evil thing; let me not be occupied in wickedness with evildoers. But my eyes are turned to You, O God; in You I take refuge. Strip me not of my life.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Let my prayer rise before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
Let us pray. Silence for individual prayer.
Let the incense of our repentant prayer ascend before You, O Lord, and let Your loving-kindness descend on us, that with purified minds we may sing Your praises with the church on earth and the whole heavenly host, and may glorify You forever. Amen.
A READING from Acts 11, verses 19–24
Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. (ESV)
CANTICLE – MAGNIFICAT (The Song of Mary, Luke 1:46-55)
My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” (ESV)
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
A READING from Matthew 27, verses 27–32
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. (ESV)
SERMON
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus. Amen.
Khurram and his brother, Farrukh, grew up as Christians in Pakistan. Both received a good education and hoped to be engineers. During those days of the early 1970’s there was peace and harmony among Christians and Muslims. But then fundamentalist Muslims took over the country following the Russian invasion of the Middle East, and the majority rule turned from peaceful and harmonious to militant and extreme. Farrukh and Khurram fled to Saudi Arabia to work for an American oil company. There they could live openly as Christians, but they could not share their beliefs.
During this year’s season of Lent, we are listening to stories of people from different nations who have come to America. The stories may start in Pakistan or Germany, Japan or Mexico, but they end in places like Detroit and St Louis, Bakersfield and Queens. Each of these stories reminds us of people who live in our own neighborhoods, go to school with our kids and share neighboring cubicles with us at work. People like Farrukh and Khurram have moved into our communities and the question this presents is: “how do we as Christians respond?”
In this sermon series, we’ve set aside immigration law and all the complicated and messy politics of the situation and instead turned our attention to the New Testament. The Scriptures have a lot to contribute toward our question. By looking at the people of all nations mentioned in the New Testament, we’re better equipped to live and love in Jesus’s name.
Jesus once said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mt 16:24). We pay particular attention to these words during Lent. But what exactly do they mean? Do these words describe the fasting we sometimes do during this season? Or is there more to it? Fasting can certainly remind us of Christ’s command, but bearing our cross goes far deeper.
Sometimes bearing one’s cross as a follower of Jesus simply means enduring suffering and the challenges that come with our stations in life. For example, it means putting up with the challenges of being a spouse or a parent or an employee, rather than complaining or quitting or seeking an easier road of life so that we can “just be happy.”
More specifically, however, carrying our cross is about enduring the suffering that comes because of our Christian faith. If your classmates at school or your boss at work or your neighbor down the street finds out that you’re a Christian, and they don’t like Christians or have a jaded view of Christians sharing their faith with other people, they may make your life challenging. Maybe because you’re a follower of Jesus you get made fun of or you don’t get that promotion, or you get shunned from the neighborhood block party. Maybe you’d like to share your faith with your new neighbor who has just moved from another country, but you fear the social stigma that could come from doing so.
What do you do in situations like these? What do we as Christians do? Will we run from the cross and chase after happiness and an easy life without suffering or challenge? Or will we bear our cross, our Lord’s cross, by boldly sharing our faith in word and deed with our neighbor? Lent is a season that calls us to return to Jesus and carry his cross. Sharing our faith with someone else can be a cross to bear.
In the Gospel of Matthew, this call to carry one’s cross was often connected to the calling to share the message of the coming of the kingdom. In Matthew chapter 10, Jesus calls his disciples to go to the lost sheep of Israel and tell them that the kingdom of God is near. As he teaches them about this calling, Jesus says, “whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Mt 10:38).
A few chapters later in Matthew 16, Peter confesses Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the living God. And yet, even while making this great confession, Peter forgets what Jesus had said earlier. He forgets Jesus’s words about carrying the cross. When Jesus reiterated that he was going to Jerusalem and would be killed and raised, Peter says “no way! This will never happen!” And so, our Lord has to both scold and lovingly instruct Peter and the other disciples that following him means that they would have to take up their cross.
We need our Lord’s instruction too, of course. We have heard Jesus’s call to take up our cross and follow him. Numerous times. Yet, like Peter and the disciples, how quickly and easily we forget. We can probably all think of numerous times when we were called to share our faith with a friend or a classmate or a neighbor or co-worker or family member and we didn’t. We chose the easier way; the cross-free way.
As Matthew continues to tell the story of Jesus, he includes an account of cross-carrying by a very unlikely person. After Jesus had been tried and tortured, Jesus needed to carry his cross to Golgotha—the place where the crucifixion would occur. Along the way, the soldiers decided that someone else should carry Jesus’ cross—presumably because Jesus was too beaten and bloodied to do it himself. This would have been the time for Jesus’s disciples to rally around him, to stand strong with him and to demand that they would all be crucified along with their Lord and Teacher. And yet, the disciples are nowhere to be found. Instead, the soldiers compelled a man from the crowd to do it. The man’s name was Simon. Simon was from Cyrene, a coastal town of North Africa. He had just “come in from the country” (Mark 15:21).
Let’s consider a little more deeply what it means that this man ended up carrying Jesus’ cross. First, Simon was perhaps the least likely person to carry the cross of Christ. And yet when it mattered most, he was the only person who did what Jesus said to do. Moreover, Simon was a foreigner. Cyrene was a place where Africans, Greeks, Romans and Jews all lived together. Simon could have been a Jew who was born in Cyrene and now lived in the countryside of Judea. Or he could have lived in Cyrene and was visiting family and Jerusalem for the Passover. Then again, he could have just as easily been an African or a Greek or a Roman who was in town to observe the great Jewish festival. The book of Mark tells us that he was the father of Alexander and Rufus. Alexander is a Greek name. Rufus is Roman. Simon seems to be an “all-nations man.” He certainly seems to be the kind of person Jesus has in mind when he says, “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Such national diversity would have been troubling to the purity-seeking Pharisees, who would have also deemed carrying the cross an unclean act. But Simon depicts well the model disciple that Jesus wants—one who carries the cross and follows his Lord.
Simon is an example for us from the days of Jesus. Farrukh and Khurram from Pakistan are examples from today. Back to their story. These two men decided to take up their crosses and became missionaries. And how they became missionaries is perhaps the most interesting part. While they were living in Saudi Arabia, they discovered that it was the Lutherans who brought them the particularly clear good news of the gospel—the gospel of salvation by grace through faith alone. One layman even smuggled a copy of Luther’s Small Catechism into Saudi Arabia to teach these brothers about the good news of Jesus. That act of taking the small catechism and crossing cultural boundaries, so that the Khans could hear about Jesus, was a carrying of the cross. Because of this bold act, and many others as well, these Pakistani brothers were strengthened in their faith in Jesus and decided they wanted to devote their lives to becoming missionaries. They moved to Canada and then to the United States where they started People of the Book Lutheran Outreach. Today, many Muslims have become Christians because of the witness of Farrukh and Khurram Khan.
The gospel calls people of all nations, even the most unlikely of people, to pick up their crosses and follow Christ. As we follow him, we hear also his call to share the gospel with the nations. We are grateful for this call, because you and I are also the “people from the nations.” We are the ones in need of salvation. We are the one who, like Jesus’ first disciples, often forget his words and fail his commands.
That is why we remember Jesus’ cross-carrying most of all. Though time and time again you have forgotten or failed to carry your cross, your Lord took up his cross and was crucified for you. He died so that you might live. He ransomed you, he purchased and won you from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil. And he didn’t do this with gold or silver, but with his holy, precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death. And he did all this so that you could be his own and so that you might live under him in his kingdom. Time and time again the Holy Spirit has called you by this gospel to return to the Lord. And he calls you to return once again today. Return to the Lord your God for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. Return to Christ’s cross. And return to carrying Christ’s cross.
God’s peace and blessing be yours today. Amen.
HYMN
“Come, follow me,” the Savior spake, “all in my way abiding;
Deny yourselves, the world forsake, obey my call and guiding.
O bear the cross, whate’er betide, take my example for your guide.”
“I am the light, I light the way, a godly life displaying;
I bid you walk as in the day; I keep your feet from straying.
I am the way, and well I show how you must sojourn here below.”
Then let us follow Christ our Lord, and take the cross appointed
And, firmly clinging to his word, in suff’ring be undaunted.
For those who bear the battle’s strain the crown of heav’nly life obtain.
LITANY
In peace let us pray to the Lord: (Each petition concludes: Lord, have mercy)
For the peace from above and for our salvation, let us pray to the Lord:
For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the Church of God, and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord:
For this holy house and for all who offer here their worship and praise, let us pray to the Lord:
For Matthew our Synodical President, John our District President, for all pastors in Christ, for all servants of the Church, and for all the people, let us pray to the Lord:
For Donald our President, Ralph our Governor, for all public servants, for the government and those who protect us, that they may be upheld and strengthened in every good deed, let us pray to the Lord:
For those who work to bring peace, justice, health and protection in this and every place, let us pray to the Lord:
For those who bring offerings, those who do good works in this congregation, those who toil, those who sing, and all the people here present who await from the Lord great and abundant mercy, let us pray to the Lord:
For favorable weather, for an abundance of the fruits of the earth, and for peaceful times, let us pray to the Lord:
For our deliverance from all affliction, wrath, danger and need, let us pray to the Lord:
For those in our congregation who are enduring illness or injury – that they may be strengthened and healed; for protection against the Coronavirus for all throughout the world; and for the maintaining of order and peace among us, let us pray to the Lord:
For the faithful who have gone before us and are with Christ, let us give thanks to the Lord: Thanks be to God.
Help, save, comfort and defend us, gracious Lord.
Silence for individual prayer.
Rejoicing in the fellowship of all the saints, let us commend ourselves, one another, and our whole life to Christ our Lord: To you, O Lord.
O God, from whom come all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works, give to us, Your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, that our hearts may be set to obey Your commandments and also that we, being defended from the fear of our enemies, may live in peace and quietness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Taught by our Lord and trusting His promises, we are bold to pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name,
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven;
Give us this day our daily bread;
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us;
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Let us bless the Lord. Thanks be to God.
The almighty and merciful Lord, the Father, the + Son, and the Holy Spirit, bless and preserve us. Amen.