Lenten Midweek 4 4/2/25
LENTEN MIDWEEK SERVICE
APRIL 2, 2025
IN THE NAME OF JESUS, WELCOME TO ST. PAUL’S!
PRELUDE
OPENING VERSICLES LSB 260
This is the day which the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
From the rising of the sun to its setting,
the name of the Lord is to be praised.
Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than
dwell in the tents of the wicked.
Make me to know Your ways, O Lord.
Teach me Your paths.
Sanctify us in Your truth.
Your Word is truth.
From the rising of the sun to its setting,
the name of the Lord is to be praised.
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.
OLD TESTEMENT CANTICLE LSB 261
The Lord God is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation.
With joy will you draw water from the wells of salvation.
And you will say in that day:
“Give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name,
make known His deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that His name is exalted.”
The Lord God is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation.
Sing praises to the Lord, for He has done gloriously;
let this be made known in all the earth.
Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitants of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
The Lord God is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation.
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.
The Lord God is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation.
FIRST READING Colossians 3:12-17
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
ESPONSORY
We have an advocate with the Father; Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Refrain
We have an advocate with the Father; Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. Refrain
GOSPEL READING Luke 23:32-38
The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke the 23rd chapter.
Glory to You, O Lord.
Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to You, O Christ.
SERMON
Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus. Amen. Dear friends in Christ:
Our task this evening is to examine the fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer. In this petition we pray: “And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
On Sundays, when we gather together for worship, we normally confess our sins at the beginning of the service. Placing the Confession there prepares us to receive God’s word and sacrament with a pure heart and reminds us that we have no business being in God’s presence without being cleansed.
In the prayer that Jesus has taught us, the confession of sins is in the middle of the prayer. We shouldn’t read too much into this placement, because each petition is important and the order, while following certain strains of logic, doesn’t seem essential.
But one of the things this placement can teach us is that asking for forgiveness is not just something done at life’s beginnings. Rather, confession is needed throughout life’s activities, just as it’s needed throughout life itself.
Over the centuries, certain believers in Christ have fallen into the so-called Novation heresy – believing that once a person becomes a Christian and their sins are forgiven, they are, or at least should be, done with sinning. These are the Christians who then have to fool themselves into thinking that they’re not really sinning or who fall into despair when they realize that their sins haven’t ceased.
Martin Luther said that the whole Christian life is one of repentance. Indeed, any honest examination of our lives will find that we commit multiple sins each day. These may not always be sins that cause great or immediate pain. But they all still chip away at the strength of our relationships and the quality of our character.
We need to confess our sins to God and ask for his forgiveness. Doing so is right and proper and forces us to be honest.
More than this, confessing our sins also lifts the burden that our sins place on us. For God forgives our sins, which allows us to move past the guilt we feel and helps move us forward in repairing the damage our sins have done – at least as much as this is possible.
In his explanation to this petition, Martin Luther says: “We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look at our sins or deny our prayer because of them. We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but we ask that He would give them all to us by grace, for we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment.”
In this explanation, Luther notes that God is a God of grace. And this is a reminder to us that God has promised to deal with us graciously because of the salvation given by Jesus.
But note, too, that Luther doesn’t elaborate on this grace. His main concern is leading us to ask for forgiveness. And this lack of elaboration certainly mirrors the petition. But perhaps it also reflects the fact that we have one more thing to consider first.
Luther finishes his explanation by saying: “So we too will sincerely forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us.” And these words are meant to reflect the part of the prayer where Jesus adds: “… as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
During his ministry, Jesus spoke very directly about our need to forgive others. One of those times was when his disciples asked how often they were to forgive someone who kept sinning against them. Jesus told them that there was no number of times because they were always to forgive. He told a parable at that time too, about a man whose large debts were forgiven by his master but who then refused to forgive the small debt that another person owed him. The parable concludes with the man who refused to forgive being thrown into prison. And this indicates what God will do to all those who act in the same way.
More than just teaching people about this, however, Jesus also modeled the forgiveness of others in his own life. We heard an instance of this in our Gospel reading this evening. There, after he had just experienced the awful pain and humiliation of being crucified, Jesus prayed: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
If Jesus can forgive such a crime as this, then we too can forgive the crimes committed against us. Not that it’s easy to forgive; it’s not. But forgiving others is always the right thing to do. And that’s because forgiveness is an essential step towards restoring broken relationships.
By adding this calling of ours to the petition, Jesus seems to be taking at least one possible risk. For some may hear the two parts of this petition and conclude that our forgiveness by God is contingent on our forgiving of others.
In the part of the catechism where the church has added extra questions and answers, the question is asked: “Does our forgiveness from God depend upon our ability to forgive others?” The answer given is a definite “no.” And the answer is then further explained with the words: “It may appear that Jesus makes our being forgiven dependent on our forgiving others… Regarding this, the Scriptures teach two complementary truths. First, God has forgiven the sins of the world solely for Christ’s sake; thus I cannot earn forgiveness by forgiving others. Second, if we stubbornly refuse to forgive others, we reject God’s forgiveness for them and for us.”
In other words, our forgiveness of others does not merit our forgiveness by God. But our refusal to forgive indicates a troubling and condemning lack of faith.
About this, we should add that God certainly understands how hard forgiving others can be. And he understands, too, that we will often hesitate with our forgiveness when we feel that our forgiveness may put us or others at risk of further hurt.
But although God is understanding, he also has expectations. And he knows how important forgiveness is. God wants us to extend forgiveness freely like he does. And if we can’t extend forgiveness, what does that say about our faith?
This is where defining what forgiveness is, and is not, is so important. Forgiveness is not about restoring full and complete trust. Rather, forgiveness is about wanting good for a person. It is having the attitude of Jesus, who believed that the people who hurt him did not know what they were doing. Such a belief in no way excuses the sin committed. But it does indicate a compassion towards the one who committed it.
The further explanations in our Catechism speak of forgiveness as a step which leads to peace and reconciliation. And it understands our limitations. The question is asked: “Does forgiveness mean that I must forgive and forget?” The answer is that “forgiveness does not mean having no memory of past wrongs. But we ask our Father in heaven to free us from the anger and resentment that may accompany those memories. We relinquish them into his merciful hands and trust him for healing over time.”
As mentioned already, forgiving others can be a very difficult thing to do. And this is why Jesus teaches us to pray for the faith and strength to do it. By placing our need to forgive next to our need to be forgiven, Jesus gives us helpful perspective and extra encouragement. For it is only when we know the joy and peace of being forgiven that we can freely extend forgiveness to others.
To close this meditation, let us hear again those helpful words we read earlier from St. Paul in his letter to the Colossians. He says: “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”
May our prayers to God strengthen and encourage us in this task. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
HYMN (Stand) Our Father, Who from Heaven Above Sts. 1, 6, 9 LSB 766
1 Our Father, who from heav’n above
Bids all of us to live in love
As members of one family
And pray to You in unity,
Teach us no thoughtless words to say
But from our inmost hearts to pray.
6 Forgive our sins, Lord, we implore,
That they may trouble us no more;
We, too, will gladly those forgive
Who hurt us by the way they live.
Help us in our community
To serve each other willingly.
9 Amen, that is, so shall it be.
Make strong our faith in You, that we
May doubt not but with trust believe
That what we ask we shall receive.
Thus in Your name and at Your Word
We say, “Amen, O hear us, Lord!”
CATECHISM LSB 264
TEN COMMANDMENTS
You shall have no other gods.
You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
Honor your father and your mother.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant,
his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
APOSTLES’ CREED
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life ✠ everlasting. Amen.
LORD’S PRAYER
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.
PRAYERS LSB 265
The response to each petition will be:
Let us pray to the Lord:
Lord, have mercy.
EVENING PRAYER LSB 266
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this day; and I pray that You would forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me.
Amen.
BENEDICTION
HYMN From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee LSB 607
1 From depths of woe I cry to Thee,
In trial and tribulation;
Bend down Thy gracious ear to me,
Lord, hear my supplication.
If Thou rememb’rest ev’ry sin,
Who then could heaven ever win
Or stand before Thy presence?
2 Thy love and grace alone avail
To blot out my transgression;
The best and holiest deeds must fail
To break sin’s dread oppression.
Before Thee none can boasting stand,
But all must fear Thy strict demand
And live alone by mercy.
3 Therefore my hope is in the Lord
And not in mine own merit;
It rests upon His faithful Word
To them of contrite spirit
That He is merciful and just;
This is my comfort and my trust.
His help I wait with patience.
4 And though it tarry through the night
And till the morning waken,
My heart shall never doubt His might
Nor count itself forsaken.
O Israel, trust in God your Lord.
Born of the Spirit and the Word,
Now wait for His appearing.
5 Though great our sins, yet greater still
Is God’s abundant favor;
His hand of mercy never will
Abandon us, nor waver.
Our shepherd good and true is He,
Who will at last His Israel free
From all their sin and sorrow.
POSTLUDE
THOSE SERVING IN OUR MIDST:
Greeter: Bob Juenger
Reader: Aaron Siebrass
Offerings support the church’s mission work – both here and through our many partners. Offerings may be placed in the box at the sanctuary entrance or sent to the church through our website or the mail. Fellowship Cards help us welcome new people and track participation. Please fill one out and place it in the offering box following the service.
Acknowledgments
Service of Prayer and Preaching from Lutheran Service Book
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2025 Concordia Publishing House.
766 Our Father, Who from Heaven Above Text: Martin Luther, 1483–1546; tr. The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941, alt. Tune: attr. Martin Luther, 1483–1546 Text: Public domain Tune: Public domain
607 From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee Text: tr. Catherine Winkworth, 1827–78, alt. Text and tune: Martin Luther, 1483–1546 Text and tune: Public domain
