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Gate of Heaven

Oculi, The Third Sunday in Lent

gate-of-heaven-violet-1024x1024Oculi

The Third Sunday in Lent
March 24, 2019 AD

Old Testament:  Exodus 8:16-24
Epistle: Ephesians 5:1-9
Gospel: Luke 11:14-28

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“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”   Luke 11:23

When you were baptized and when you were confirmed you were asked, “Do you renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways?” And you answered – either through your godparents at our baptism or you yourself answered at your confirmation – with the single word “Yes.” “Do you renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways? Yes.” A simple answer to a simple question! But what follows in not simple at all for by answering that question with a “Yes” you in fact enlisted as a soldier in the battle with Satan and his legions, a battle which never ends until we leave this present world and like the poor beggar Lazarus are carried by angels into the paradise of God. “Do you renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways? Yes.” A simple answer to a simple question, but the living out of that answer is the work of a lifetime.

In the Gospel for the this day Jesus speaks of the work of Satan by means of a comparison, an illustration. He says, “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe, but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil.” Satan is like that strong man, fully armed, guarding his own palace, his goods safe – until one stronger that he attacks and overcomes him. What our Lord is saying is this: By nature you and I and every human being who has ever lived is a palace or castle of the evil one, a place where he swells and does all the mischief he can. As long as God permits this, Satan has his own way. There is no struggle, no distress, no misgiving of conscience – people go contentedly down the broad way which leads to destruction. This is that full power of Satan which Saint Paul speaks when he writes of those who are “without God in the world,” and, worst of all, not even aware of their plight.

From this condition the merciful Lord delivers us when we are brought to Holy Baptism and there made a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven. Says Saint Paul, “God has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son.” God did that for each one of you when you were baptized, when you in fact renounced the devil and all his works and all his ways. But the struggle to live out the renunciation goes on as long as we live – just as we learned in the Catechism: Baptism “signifies that the Old Adam in us should through daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires and again a new person comes forth who shall live before God in righteousness and purity forever.”

Every day of our lives, every moment, we are caught up in that struggle between the power of Satan and the power of Christ. “Whoever is not with Me is against Me,” says the Lord Jesus, “and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” There can be no neutrality! “Do you renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways? Yes.”

In the Epistle for this day Saint Paul spells out something of what that means for our daily lives, what if means to be WITH Christ rater than against HIM. Paul says, “Be imitators of God as beloved children,” the point being that just as little children who love their parents will try to be like them as much as they can, just so we as the children of God try to be like the heavenly Father, we know in His Son Jesus. Paul then immediately adds: “And walk in love as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Anything that contradicts love contradicts Christ, is against Christ. And so we are called to love the human beings God places in our lives. And that isn’t always an easy thing! It is so much easier to be indifferent and ignore people or even respond in kind when they do us harm. “Christ loved us and gave himself for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” If there is someone you find it hard to forgive, picture in your mind the crucified Savior, and then picture yourself on one side of His cross an this difficult person on the other, and listen to the Savior as He prays, “Father, forgive them…” Whoever is not WITH Me is AGAINST Me and whoever does not GATHER with Me scatters.”

The world in which the Lord’s apostles lived and worked was a world no less decayed than our own. The cities of that time were in fact notorious havens for vice of every description And so Paul admonishes the Christians in Ephesus: “But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you…Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking which are out of place.” And Paul hastens to add: “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”

But it is never enough to avoid what is wrong in the eyes of God, it is also necessary to replace what is wrong with what is pleasing in God’s eyes. How we need to take to heart the words Saint Paul addressed to the Christians in the city of Phillipi! “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, it there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

“Whoever is not WITH me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” Our Lord clearly teaches that in the battle with Satan and with sin there can be no neutrality. These are the words of the Son of God who will come to be our Judge and they speak to the conscience of every one of us. No doubt some may find it hard to accept them, just as it is hard, very hard to bring home to ourselves that although we cannot save ourselves – only God can do that – we are in fact mysteriously free to damn ourselves. And from that fate may God in His mercy save us all!

He is the merciful Lord who, as Saint John writes, appeared “to destroy the works of the devil.” We heard in the Gospel, that when Jesus was accused of casting out devils with the help of the Prince of the devils, He replied: “If I by the finger of God cast out devils, the kingdom of God has come upon you.” God’s kingly rule of compassion, mercy and that “love to the loveless shown what we might lovely be.” In Jesus’ struggle with Satan in the wilderness, in His life of perfect obedience to the Father’s will, in His precious pouring out His life-blood to cleanse us from the stain of all our sins, Satan has met his match: the Savior had defeated Him, the decisive battle has been won. And now we but await the unveiling of His victory on that Last and Great Day when the world as we now know it will come to its end and the risen Lord of Love will make all things new. That new world dawned from the open tomb when the Lord rose victorious from the dead, the triumph we shall soon again celebrate with great joy.

Gate of Heaven

Reminiscere Midweek Vespers

gate-of-heaven-violet-1024x1024Reminiscere Midweek Vespers

March 20, 2019 AD

Psalm 51
Matthew 26:57-75
THE PASSION AND THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
The Third and Fourth Commandments

Just before He died on the cross the Lord Jesus spoke that word which the bystanders no doubt understood as an admission of defeat but which was in fact Jesus’ cry of victory: “It is finished!” meaning “It is accomplished, it is completed!” And if we ask, “What is finished? What is accomplished? What is completed?” the answer is this: our Lord ‘s work of perfect love for His Father, His perfect love for this lost and fallen world. That Jesus lived a life of perfect love for His Father is seen in His perfect obedience to the Father’s will, humbling Himself even to the death of the cross. That Jesus lived a life of perfect love for this lost and fallen world is seen in His praying even for those who had brought His cruel death, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” A life of perfect love for the Father, a life of perfect love for this lost and fallen world: This is what is finished, accomplished, completed as the Lord Jesus bows His head and dies.

On these Lenten evening this year we’re meditating on the Ten Commandments in the light of Jesus’ passion and death.

We remember that when Jesus was asked, “Which is great commandment in the Law? He replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” In these words Jesus summarizes the Ten Commandments: the first ‘THREE commandments require love for God, the remaining SEVEN require love for the fellow human beings God has placed in our lives. But even these last seven also have to do with the love of God. For since they are commandments given by God, fulfilling them, keeping them, not disobeying them expresses love for God

This evening we reflect briefly on the Third and Fourth Commandments.

The Third Commandment is “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.” And in the Catechism Dr. Luther explains this third commandment in this way. “We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His word but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.”

Jesus truly lived from the written Word of God. When tempted in the wilderness He defeated Satan with the Word of God: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. You shall not tempt the Lord your God. You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.” And as Jesus lived so also He died. As His life drew to a close the Word of God was on his lips. For on the cross He prays in the words of the 22nd Psalm, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?” and from the words of the 31st Psalm, “Into your hands I commend my spirit.” The Lord Jesus not only prayed to the Father: in the most real sense His whole life was prayer, communion with the Father, and so perfect love for Him.

The Fourth Commandment is “Honor your father and your mother.” And in the Catechism we learn that this means: “We should fear and love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents and other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them.” Saint John tells us in His Gospel that Jesus, “having loved His own who were in the world loved them to the end.” And so as He is dying on the cross Jesus says to Mary His mother, “Woman, behold your son,” and to John, “Behold your mother.” Here we see how our Lord provides for His mother by entrusting her to the care of John the beloved disciple. And we see in this the pattern of love for parents which God requires of us all — not always easy, but never, ever to be regretted!

But from the cross our Savior not only provides a home for His mother. In a deeper sense He provides a home for every lost and lonely child of Adam’s race — by bringing into being that holy family, His one holy Church, gathered together by the blood and water which flowed from His pierced side as He handed over the Spirit: the water of Holy Baptism, the blood of the Holy Sacrament, and in both of them the gift of the Holy Spirit. In that magnificent 68th Psalm which sings of the triumphal progress of the children of Israel in their wilderness wanderings the psalmist sings: “A father of the fatherless and a defender of the widow is God in His holy habitation: God sets the solitary in families.” And how does God do this? Through that CRUCIFIED Body born of Mary, gathering forgiven sinners into His MYSTICAL Body the Church, the whole company of His faithful people in heaven and on earth. And as Jesus in His death not only provided a home for His mother but an eternal home for every human being His love calls into being, so you and I who are already by our Baptism members of that blessed company of all faithful people are called to WELCOME into Christ’s family those who have yet to know His mercy and His grace.

Saint John wrote: “If you KNOW these things, blessed are you if you DO them.” May we then take to heart all we have been shown from God’s holy Word so that together with Christ’s blessed Mother and all saints we may forever rejoice in the unveiled presence of Him who died but is alive forevermore and has the keys of death and the grave!

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Gate of Heaven

Invocabit Midweek Vespers

gate-of-heaven-violet-1024x1024Invocabit Midweek Vespers

March 13, 2019 AD

Psalm 141
Matthew 26:30-56
THE TEN COMMANDMENT AND THE PASSION
In the ancient Church, these forty days Of Lent were a time for the final instruction of those who would be baptized at Easter. And so Lent has been a season in which the Church was occupied with the Catechism. Lent is also the time of year when the Church meditates on the passion of our Lord. And so this year, the theme of these Wednesday evening Lenten services is “The Ten Commandments and the Passion of Jesus.” We will see how in His passion (as in His whole life,) the Lord Jesus perfectly fulfilled the will of God, kept the Law of God perfectly, suffered and died for all our sins of thought, word, and deed.

Now we remember how God first revealed His Law to Moses in written form, the Ten Commandments on the two stone tablets. But long before that, in fact from the very beginning of the human story, God’s Law was written on the heart of every human being. Saint Paul puts this so clearly when he writes in his Letter to the Church at Rome, “When the Gentiles which have not the Law do by nature what the Law required,…they show that what the Law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them.” And so we see that God’s Law is written not only on two tablets of stone but also on the heart of every human being. And this Law of God is no arbitrary code but simply reflects the way we’ve been fashioned by our Creator.

An illustration I often use in confirmation class is this, that God’s Law is like the little manual that comes with a new car. It tells you what to do and what not to do if you don’t want your car to become a wreck! The owner’s manual isn’t arbitrary but comes from the company that made the car and knows what needs to happen if the car is to be in good running order. Well, you might say that the Ten Commandments are something like your car’s owner’s manual. God is our Maker and so He knows how we are to live if we are to avoid all kinds of trouble, even disaster.

This evening we consider the First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods” which means “We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things” and the Second Commandment, “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God” which means that “We should fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie, or deceive by His name but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise and give thanks.

“You shall have no other gods…” We remember how our first parents and we like them really want to be our own God, ourselves the arbiter of good and evil, right and wrong. Saint Paul tells us that our Lord did not think of equality with God as something to be grasped but emptied Himself, taking on the form of the perfectly obedient Son and Servant of the Father, humbled Himself even to the death of the cross. The words of the psalmist were perfectly fulfilled in Jesus. The psalmist sings, “Then said I, ‘Lo, I have come to do THY will, O God’… and by that WE have been sanctified by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all.”

God cares about His name as we learn in the Second Commandment “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God” and God-in-the-flesh taught us to pray, “Hallowed be Thy name,” a prayer which may be paraphrased as “May Your name be kept holy, May Your name be held in reverence.” But to listen to people talk today – to say nothing of the blasphemies regularly heard on television and in the movies, patterns of speech which even pollute the lives of our little children – you would think that the Second Commandment has become nothing more than an empty form.

It is both amazing and saddening how widespread the misuse of God’s name, even the holy name of Jesus, has become even among professing Christians – all this a symptom of the collapse of any real sense of the majesty and holiness of Him who made and redeemed us. A wise pastor of the Church had this to say: “God’s name must not be profaned in speech… We cannot drag God’s name in the mud of our dirty discourse without undermining in ourselves, and in those who hear us, reverence for God Himself.” There is much to ponder here and perhaps much to repent of.

Jesus is the perfectly obedient Son of the Father. During His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane He prays, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not MY will but THINE be done” and then goes forward to His bitter passion, the perfectly meek and humble Lamb of God, the perfectly trusting Son of the Father, praying with His final breath, “FATHER into Thy hands I commend My spirit.” Jesus’ whole life had in fact been an expression of His dying words, “Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.” “Father, I place my life in Your hands.” He did not curse those who betrayed Him, arrested Him, unjustly condemned Him, flogged Him, and crucified Him, but instead prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He continues to call upon His heavenly Father both in Gethsemane and on the cross.

And all of this He did and suffered for you. He did suffered for me. HIS obedience makes good for OUR disobedience. HIS perfect love makes good for OUR imperfect love, HIS perfect trust makes good for OUR imperfect trust. His HOLY life He gives in exchange for OUR sinful life. And so nothing stands between us and the judgment of God. In His suffering Christ our Lord has suffered the judgement of God for all our sins and so we live in the happy freedom of those who know that “There is now no condemnation for them that are in Christ Jesus.”

The whole human race fell in Adam’s fall, the whole human race is restored through the perfect obedience of Him who is the Second Adam. Says Saint Paul, “As one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one Man’s act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all.” And that acquittal is yours and mine not through any effort on our part but through simple trust in God’s sure promise that this is so!

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Parish Newsletters

Our Saviour Parish News, March, 2019

OUR SAVIOUR LUTHERAN CHURCH
in the City of Baltimore

MARCH,  2019

ASH WEDNESDAY
Wednesday, March 6
Soup Supper, 6:30 PM
DIVINE SERVICE
with imposition of ashes
7:30 PM

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This coming Sunday is the last of the three Sundays of preparation for the coming of Lent. With these Sundays there begins the “Easter Cycle” of the Church Year which consists of these three pre-Lenten Sundays, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost. Every Lord’s Day in the year is of course a celebration of Christ’s resurrection – that is why we worship on Sunday and not some other day – but Easter Day is the Feast of Feasts, the Holy Day of Holy Days. In the English language we call the season of preparation for Easter “Lent.” The word Lent comes from an old English word, “lencten,” which means “spring” and refers to the lengthening days at this season of the year. Just as earth comes to life after the death of winter, so also the Lenten season is a time of spiritual renewal through reading and meditating on God’s Word, through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. In Christ’s Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:2-21) it is very clear that our Lord expects His followers to devote themselves to all three not because God needs our prayer, fasting, and almsgiving but because we do if we are to be ever more closely conformed to the image of the Savior, We pray in response to God’s command and His promise that our prayers are heard, we fast because our bodily appetites – though good in themselves – are disordered through sin, we give alms as a weapon against selfishness, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus how He said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35) and also because of the enormous need that meets us on every hand. Following my letter you will find reports from Quilla Downs and Judy Volkman about our congregation’s support of the GEDCO food cupboard and the Helping Up Mission. Support of these fine works of mercy is indeed a form of “almsgiving.”

Lent has always been a time when Christians devote themselves to meditation on our Savior’s suffering and death. This year the theme of the sermons at the Wednesday Lenten Vespers will be “The Ten Commandments and the Passion.” We will meditate on how in His passion Jesus fulfilled the will of God and suffered for our disobedience to that will so that we might not perish but have eternal life.

The flowers that usually adorn the chancel are in a real sense a festive kind of thing. During Lent flowers will be omitted; you might say that we will “fast” from them. And the Church has from ancient times omitted the joyous “Alleluia” during Lent; we “fast” from that too. But we’ll not only “fast” in this way but we will have one additional item in the Sunday Divine Service. In the ancient Church Lent was the time for the intensive preparation of the catechumens for Baptism and Holy Communion. Lent continued to be a time for attention to the Catechism. And so on the Sundays in Lent we will – just before the Sermon – recite one of the Six Chief Parts of Luther’s Small Catechism. I am afraid that for so many of us the Catechism is something once learned in confirmation class and then more or less forgotten. That is not as it should be! Dr. Luther says:

I do as a child who is being taught the Catechism. Every morning, and whenever else I have time, I read and recite word for word the Lord’s Prayer, the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Psalms, etc. I must still read and study the Catechism daily, yet I cannot master it as I wish, but must remain a child and pupil of the Catechism and I do it gladly.

By the way, we in fact review one of the Six Chief Parts of the Catechism every Sunday morning at the beginning of the adult Bible Class which meets at 9:45 A.M. The class is quite informal, questions and discussion being very much encouraged! We are at present studying Saint Mark’s Gospel. As we approach Easter we will be looking at the Old Testament lessons which are read at the Easter Vigil. Come join us! Adding this class to your Sunday morning might in fact be a useful Lenten discipline, Lent being a time for more intense meditation on the Holy Scriptures. I should also mention that on Sundays during Lent and throughout the Easter season the liturgy will be Divine Service I in the Lutheran Service Book. This is in fact the familiar service from the old blue hymnal. Throughout the Lenten season we will be singing a wonderful Communion hymn, “Now, My Tongue, the Mystery Telling, Of the Glorious Body Sing.” It is a hymn which expresses and also rejoices in the great mystery of the Real Presence of our Lord’s Body and Blood in the Sacrament of the Altar. The words are by Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274). The tune comes from nineteenth century France. I believe that we will grow to love and treasure this hymn.

Our Saviour Church worshiped at 1723 East Fairmount Avenue (near Johns Hopkins Hospital) from its founding in 1892 until in 1919 the congregation moved to our present location. In 1919 Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church purchased the building and still worships there, this year celebrating its 100th anniversary. A visit to our old church has been planned for Saturday, March 9th we’ll gather at Our Saviour at 3:30 P.M. and “car pool” from here. Holy Trinity still possesses the painting of the risen Lord which hung over the altar at our old Church. I very much look forward to seeing it. Please phone (410.554.9994) or email me (Charles.McClean42@gmail.com) if you need a ride or wish to go on this visit.

I hope to see you every Lord’s Day and hope you will come to the Lenten services on Wednesday evening. Please remember me in your prayers; you are in mine.

Affectionately in our Lord,

Pastor McClean

LENTEN SOUP SUPPERS

Thank you to all who signed up. Please join us as we enjoy fellowship and a delicious meal at 6:30pm. Lenten service at 7:30pm.

3/6         Bernie/Julia        Calico Bean Soup
3/13       Judy                       Chicken Corn Soup
3/20       Quilla                     Black Bean Soup
3/27       Merton                Smoked Turkey and Black-eyed Pea Soup
4/3         The Ushers         Chicken Noodle Soup
4/10       Denitta/Mary      Crab Soup and Italian Wedding Soup

WORKS OF MERCY

CARES food contributions: Arrangements have been made with CARES to pick up our food contributions, thanks to the connection Quilla Downs made with them, We will continue to collect food items and Judy Volkman will inform them when we have enough items to go to them. The cupboard is bare right now, so donations are most welcome.

– Judy Volkman

As was reported earlier, we did not make a delivery to Helping Up Mission during Christmas because there were so few grooming items in the box. We will be making our regular spring delivery in March. In order to make the spring delivery, we really need more grooming gifts. The needs of the men remain the same, donations of tooth paste, tooth brushes, foot power, shaving cream, lotion, socks, underwear, deodorant, wash cloths, etc. In addition to your personal gifts, grooming items are purchased with loose change and monies collected from the churches’ two Poor Boxes. As we deliver these essential, yet inexpensive, items to the men at Helping Up Mission, we know that our efforts have a positive and restorative impact, and that we are truly giving to the least of these. Many thanks for your grooming gifts and for your compassion towards our recovering brothers at Helping up Mission.

– Quilla Downs

Parish Newsletters

Our Saviour Parish News, February, 2019

OUR SAVIOUR LUTHERAN CHURCH
in the City of Baltimore

FEBRUARY,  2019

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I think that everyone who attended last Sunday afternoon’s service of Epiphany Lessons and Carols will agree that it was a wonderful occasion. John Igoe, who has often served as substitute organist here, sent me an email saying, “I had the opportunity to attend Sunday’s service, and it was just beautiful. Four voices in the choir filled the church with prayer, and we in the congregation did our part! This was the first time I’ve heard the organ from the nave and it really sounds fine.” I thoroughly agree! And so I wish to thank everyone who contributed to this fine occasion. Paul Techau took leadership in making this happen, arranging to have as guest organist Matthew Machemer who is organist and choirmaster at our Synod’s Fort Wayne Seminary. Merton Masterson warmly welcomed the worshipers. Jamera Hawkins served as acolyte, Gabe Purviance and Eugene James served as ushers. Paul Techau and Marie Herrington, together with David Sexton and Lisa Parente, who are students at the Peabody Conservatory, formed the choir. As John Igoe wrote, “Four voices in the choir filled the church with prayer.” I also wish to thank Mary Techau, Bernie Knox, and Scott Jones who prepared the delightful reception which followed the service.

Yes, we do have a very fine organ and in Marie we have a very fine organist. But the mechanism for playing the bells in the tower has been broken for several months. We need to raise money to have this fixed. If you wish to contribute, simply mark your check “Tower Bell Fund.” We are fortunate to have these wonderful bells which both enrich our worship and are also a witness to the community around our Church.

There are just two more Sundays in this season of Epiphany when we celebrate the appearing of the Lord Jesus in the flesh as God and Savior of the world. The Last Sunday after Epiphany is kept as the Feast of the Transfiguration. In the transfiguration our Lord revealed the glory that is His with the Father from all eternity; it is in a real sense the greatest epiphany in Christ’s earthly life.

The Last Sunday after Epiphany marks the end of the Christmas Cycle of the Church Year: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany. The following Sunday marks the beginning of the Easter Cycle: Lent, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost. Three Sundays with curious names prepare for Lent itself: Septuagesima, Sexagesima, Quinquagesima. These Latin names mark the nearness of Easter: seventy, sixty, fifty days. Already on these pre-Lenten Sundays the word Alleluia is omitted from our worship. On the Last Sunday after Epiphany we have a kind of “farewell to Alleluia” – until Easter Day – singing the 11th century hymn, “Alleluia Song of Gladness”:

Alleluia cannot always be our song while here below;
Alleluia, our transgressions make us for a while forego;
For the solemn time is coming when our tears for sin must flow.

Lent itself begins on Wednesday, March 6th. We will as usual have our Wednesday Lenten Vespers preceded by soup suppers. This year Mary Techau will be in charge of coordinating all this.

On Wednesday, February the Church Council will meet with our City Councilwoman, Mary Pat Clark, and with Shane Bryan, the president of the Ednor Gardens – Lakeside Association. They will present to the Council ways in which our buildings might be used to meet needs in our community.

Let us continue in prayer for one another. Pray also for peace and tranquility here in this city, in our country and throughout the world!

Affectionately in our Lord,

Pastor McClean

VOTERS MEETING – FEBRUARY 3 AFTER DIVINE SERVICE

THE BELLS OF OUR SAVIOUR

You may have noticed that our lovely tower bells have not played recently. We have attempted to have the bells repaired, but the mechanism is 60 years old and is in need of a complete renovation. McShane, the company that installed our bells, has given us an estimate of about $20,000 to do the work. We are continuing to research approaches for the renovation, but in preparation, we have begun a special fund for the repairs in order to return the cherished bells to working order for decades to come. Please mark your donation for “Tower Bells.”
– Mary Techau

Uncategorized

Special Announcement – Divine Service Cancelled Jan 13, 2019

We will unfortunately not be having Divine Service, January 13th (Baptism of our Lord), due to the snow storm. Stay home, read the Word, sing a hymn, and look forward to next Sunday when— Lord willing— we will gather around Christ’s gifts once more!

The Scripture readings for this Sunday are as follows:

  • Old Testament: Isaiah 42:1-7
  • Epistle: I Corinthians 1:26-31
  • Gospel: Matthew 3:13-17

The hymn of the day is “From God the Father, Virgin Born,” which is #401 in Lutheran Service Book and #74 in Lutheran Worship.

May God— the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit— give His holy angels charge over us and keep us all safe and warm during this time of inclement weather.

Parish Newsletters

Our Saviour Parish News, January, 2019

OUR SAVIOUR LUTHERAN CHURCH
in the City of Baltimore

JANUARY,  2019

Sunday, January 6
THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD
FESTIVAL DIVINE SERVICE – 11:00 A.M.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

January 6th is the Feast of the Epiphany of our Lord. This year we have the happy circumstance that January 6th falls on Sunday — I say happy because nowadays, when this great festival does not occur on a Sunday, it sadly tends to pass by all but unnoticed. I like to think of the great festivals of the Christian Year as rays of light on life’s sometimes dreary way, and so I think it a pity when these bright festivals are ignored for no good reason. And so I have throughout my ministry insisted on the observance of Epiphany no matter what day of the week it might fall on.

The Feast of the Epiphany is in a sense the climax of the Christmas season. Epiphany – which means appearing, revealing, manifestation, showing forth – celebrates the appearing of Christ as God and Savior of the whole world. Among Eastern Orthodox Christians Epiphany is kept in celebration of the Baptism of Jesus at which the heavenly Father declared Him to be His Son and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in the form of a dove, so revealing Him to be God in the flesh, One of the Holy Trinity. Among Western Christians (among them us Lutherans) Epiphany has since ancient times been kept in celebration of the coming of the Gentile wise men to worship the Christ Child and offer Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. The coming of the wise men is both a fulfillment of ancient prophecy – “And the Gentiles shall come to thy light and kings to the brightness of thy rising” (Isaiah 60:3) — and also itself a prophecy of the gathering of all nations into the redeemed people of God, the one holy Church. Although we Western Christians do not celebrate Christ’s Baptism as principle theme of the Epiphany festival, the Baptism of Jesus, together with the changing of water into wine at the marriage feast in Cana, have continued to be a part of our Epiphany celebration as can be seen in the hymns of this festival. Dr. Luther translated from Latin into German the Epiphany hymn of the century poet, Coelius Sedulius, a hymn which has two stanzas about the magi, one stanza about the Baptism of Jesus, and one about the miracle at Cana: in all of these events the deity of our Lord is revealed, each is indeed an epiphany of His godhead. This wonderful hymn is found in all of our Synod’s hymnals: the German Church Hymnal for Evangelical Lutheran Congregations of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession (Hymn 60); The Lutheran Hymnal, the red book (Hymn 131); Lutheran Worship, the blue book (Hymn 81); and in our new hymnal, the Lutheran Service Book (Hymn 399) And we will of course be singing this hymn as part of our Epiphany celebration. In the coming of the magi to worship Him, in His baptism in the Jordan River, in His changing of water into wine at the marriage in Cana Jesus appears as the Savior of the world. And if you were to ask me for some words of Holy Scripture which sum up the meaning of Epiphany, I might well refer you to the 11th verse of the 2nd chapter of the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to Titus: “The grace of God has appeared” – the original Greek texts here reads: “epiphanee” (whence we get the English word “epiphany”) – for the salvation of all people…”

On Sunday January 27 there will be an Epiphany Service of Lessons and Carols at 4 0’clock in the afternoon. We will hear readings from Holy Scripture concerning the Epiphany of Christ and will sing hymns and carols of the Epiphany season. We will have a guest organist, Matthew Machemer, who is the Associate Kantor at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. There will also be a quartet including students of the Peabody Conservatory. A reception will follow. Plan now on attending this festival and invite your friends and neighbors to come. The Choral Vespers we had in connection with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation and the 125th Anniversary of Our Saviour Church was a happy occasion and I am sure that that will also be true of the upcoming Epiphany Lessons and Carols.

Those of you who remember Pastor Jason Wolter (who served as vacancy pastor at Our Saviour 2006-2007) will be happy to hear that he will be in the Baltimore/Washington area later this month for the annual March for Life and will be joining us for the Divine Service on Sunday, January 20th. He tells me he loved his time in this congregation and looks forward to seeing you.

When Our Saviour Church — then known as Jackson Square Church because of its location – left its old building near John Hopkins Hospital in 1919, the building was purchased by Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church which still uses it as its place of worship. This year they are celebrating their one hundredth anniversary and have been in touch with us asking for information about the old building. They have also sent us a copy of a page from The Lutheran Witness describing the dedication of the Jackson Square Church in August 1892 and together with that they included a wonderful full color picture of the painting which hung over the altar at Jackson Square and which our congregation then gave to Holy Trinity in 1919. I had never before seen this painting of the risen Lord; I think it is a wonderful painting. Ever since I became pastor here at Our Saviour I’ve wanted to arrange for members who are interested to visit the old building. But now that I have seen a photograph of this wonderful painting I am even more eager to arrange for that visit! Do let me know if you would be interested (410.554.9994 – charlesmcclean42@gmail.com).A suggestion has also been made that we have an artist make a copy of the painting for use here in our present Church building.

I want to take this opportunity to thank members for their Christmas cards and gifts and also thank the congregation for its Christmas gift to me. I also must thank all those who decorated the Church for Christmas and also our organist Marie Herrington who arranged substitute organists to play here while she was visiting her family for the Christmas holidays. The substitutes were John Igoe, Sergey Morozov, Kathleen Bird, and David Sexton. Marie returns on January 13th.

Do remember in your prayers all those whose names appear in the Sunday bulletin and indeed remember all members of our congregation and those the Lord God will send to us. Queenie Hardaway is now living at what used to be called the Augsburg Lutheran Home and now is known as Augsburg Village. I always come away from a visit with her in very good cheer because she is a cheerful person. God bless her and God bless us everyone!

Affectionately in our Lord,

Pastor McClean

THE BELLS OF OUR SAVIOUR

You may have noticed that our lovely tower bells have not played recently. We have attempted to have the bells repaired, but the mechanism is 60 years old and is in need of a complete renovation. McShane, the company that installed our bells, has given us an estimate of about $20,000 to do the work. We are continuing to research approaches for the renovation, but in preparation, we have begun a special fund for the repairs in order to return the cherished bells to working order for decades to come. Please mark your donation for “Tower Bells.”
– Mary Techau

ANNUAL MARCH FOR LIFE

THE 46TH ANNUAL MARCH FOR LIFE will be Friday, Jan. 18, 2019.
This year’s theme is ‘Unique from day one.’ Join ‘Lutherans for Life’ at 1:00pm as the group marches up Constitution Avenue to the Supreme Court and Capitol Building. It’s an opportunity to meet other Lutherans from around the country and enjoy singing hymns and supporting life. www.lutheransforlife.org for more information.
– Mary Techau

WORKS OF MERCY

Regarding our Christmas food drive for needy families, donations from the congregation exceeded our goal of $330. This means that we did not have to tap into the church general fund, as the Counsel was prepared to do. We did not receive any outside funds. To our faithful and generous church members, many, many thanks for the outpouring of monetary gifts which enabled us to purchase the food gift cards, Eleven, $30 cards were purchased from Aldi’s supermarket. On Thursday, December 19, the cards were presented to the social worker at Waverly Elementary/ Middle School, where they were presented to the head of the designated families. The cards allowed the families to supplement their usual food items with a few extras of their own choosing. Hopefully, their Christmas was made merrier because of your gifts. As stated above, the giving exceeded our goal, this blessed position will give us a starting point for future Thanksgiving and Christmas giving.

Helping Up Mission: We did not make a delivery to Helping Up Mission during Christmas because there were so few grooming items since our fall delivery. It is hoped that we will have a healthy supply of items when we make our planned spring delivery. I believe that we all are aware of the stellar reputation and high success rate of this Christian based residential men’s recovery program. Towards that end, the need is ongoing for socks, underwear, washcloths, tooth paste, shaving cream, lotion, deodorant, foot power, etc. Thank you for remembering these men by continuing to provide them with a few essential items on their needs list. Because of your care and compassion this program will continue to count its successes.
– Quilla Downs