Lenten Midweek 3/19/25
Lenten Midweek wk2 3.19.25 PDF
LENTEN MIDWEEK SERVICE
MARCH 19, 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 1 Timothy 2:1-6
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
RESPONSORY
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 22:39-46
The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke the 22nd chapter.
Glory to You, O Lord.
And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
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 today is to consider the third petition of the Lord’s Prayer. That petition is: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
A good place to start in our examination is the Gospel lesson just read. The reading comes from the night when Jesus met with his disciples in the upper room and washed their feet, gave them a new command, and instituted his holy supper. That night ended with Jesus being betrayed, arrested and put on trial. But before this, Jesus spent time in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. There he prayed: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” The “cup” that Jesus refers to is the suffering and death that soon awaited him.
When we first hear of Jesus’ prayer in the Garden, we might think that it speaks only to the simple submission one must have to whatever God plans for our lives. In the case of Jesus, he certainly wasn’t looking forward to the pain and suffering that he knew was coming, and he knew that God invites us to pray for those things that we would like because God might be able to accomplish his purposes in different ways. But Jesus nevertheless submitted himself in obedience to whatever God decided. He knew that God’s ways are always best.
God is ultimately in control of all things. And acknowledging this is the right thing for us to do. Sometimes we will state this acknowledgement by adding the words: “Lord willing” to our intentions, as in “Lord willing I’ll make it to church on Sunday.” This expresses our understanding that while we may have our intentions, God might have other plans.
Jesus’ prayer in the Garden, however, is actually much more than this. In his prayer, Jesus is submitting himself not only to God’s preferred ways of running the world but also to God’s great plan of bringing salvation. Jesus knows that his suffering and death will accomplish this salvation, and that his death is not merely something that he has to endure because he lives in a world cursed by sin.
We see this greater understanding of God’s will in words Jesus spoke earlier in his ministry. In John 6:38-40, Jesus says: “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
Here Jesus equates God’s will with what God desires. And God’s desire is that people be saved from the curse of sin, which is death. God has sent Jesus to carry out this desire.
Jesus did this by paying the price of human sin through his sinless life and his sacrificial death. Through these, Jesus does not lose those entrusted to him but rather saves them, for they will be raised up with him.
St. Paul knew about all this and echoed it in his first letter to Timothy, his young protégé. We heard these words of Paul in our first reading tonight, where he tells of “God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” The word for “desires” in the original language is the same as the word “will” in our Gospel reading. God desires that all people be saved from their sins and that they come to know the source of their salvation, which is Jesus.
This is the understanding we are to have when we pray the petition: “thy will be done.” Jesus is leading us here to pray that the things which God desires would happen among us.
Yes, our prayer can also be a simple acknowledgment on our part that God’s way of ordering the world is best and that we are submitting ourselves to this. But even more, God wants us to pray that the things he desires would come about. By doing this, we learn to desire these things too.
In the explanation he gives to this petition in the Small Catechism, Luther captures this greater goal by tying the petition back to the first two. Those petitions – “Hallowed by thy name” and “thy kingdom come” – are both expressions of faith in God’s salvation.
To examine this more closely, let’s turn in our hymnals to page 324 and read through this explanation together. There we see the first question Luther always asks: “What does this mean?” And then he gives his usual short and direct answer. We read together: “The good and gracious will of God is done even without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also.”
Another way of saying this is that God is going to go ahead and do the things he wishes to do anyway, all of which are good, but that he also wants us to join him in doing these good things. Life goes best for all when we live according to God’s desires; and this petition leads us to pray for the strength, wisdom and faith to do them.
Luther then asks the follow-up question: “How is God’s will done?” And to this question, Luther answers (we read together): “God’s will is done when he breaks and hinders every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which do not want us to hallow God’s name or let His kingdom come; and when He strengthens and keeps us firm in His Word and faith until we die. This is His good and gracious will.”
Notice the references here to the first and second petitions. God wants his name to be holy among us. And that’s because when it is, this is a sign of our salvation. Likewise, God wants us to acknowledge his kingdom and join as citizens of this kingdom. When we do this, we are living in harmony with him and his people and can be assured of our salvation.
Luther’s explanation also reminds us that when we live out those first two petitions – confessing his name and living in his kingdom – we will be attacked. Our enemies – the devil, the world, and our own sinful nature – do not want us to follow God’s commands and live by faith.
But thankfully, God is working to “break and hinder every evil plan and purpose” of our enemies. He does this in ways unseen to us, yes. But he also does this as he “strengthens and keeps us firm in his word and faith until we died.” God promises to work in our lives when we call to him; and this petition of Christ’s prayer leads us in that calling.
As disciples of Jesus, we are not left to guess what God’s will is for our lives. We know the good and gracious will of our Father through the message and ministry of Jesus. For he teaches us God’s heart, and how to live according to God’s laws, and how to trust in the salvation he has won for us.
As disciples of Jesus, we are to pray the petition “thy will be done” with the same confidence that Paul expressed to the Philippians when he said: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (1:6). We pray it not as a cry of resignation to an unalterable fate but as a joyful confession that because of Christ Jesus, God’s will for us is eternally good.
May God lead us always to pray this petition with such faith. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
HYMN (Stand) Our Father, Who from Heaven Above Sts. 1, 4, 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.
4 Your gracious will on earth be done
As it is done before Your throne,
That patiently we may obey
Throughout our lives all that You say.
Curb flesh and blood and ev’ry ill
That sets itself against Your will.
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.
HYMN Go to Dark Gethsemane LSB 436
1 Go to dark Gethsemane,
All who feel the tempter’s pow’r;
Your Redeemer’s conflict see,
Watch with Him one bitter hour;
Turn not from His griefs away;
Learn from Jesus Christ to pray.
2 Follow to the judgment hall,
View the Lord of life arraigned;
Oh, the wormwood and the gall!
Oh, the pangs His soul sustained!
Shun not suff’ring, shame, or loss;
Learn from Him to bear the cross.
3 Calv’ry’s mournful mountain climb;
There, adoring at His feet,
Mark that miracle of time,
God’s own sacrifice complete.
“It is finished!” hear Him cry;
Learn from Jesus Christ to die.
4 Early hasten to the tomb
Where they laid His breathless clay;
All is solitude and gloom.
Who has taken Him away?
Christ is ris’n! He meets our eyes.
Savior, teach us so to rise.
POSTLUDE
THOSE SERVING IN OUR MIDST:
Greeter: Jim Easterly
Reader: Michael Chamberlain
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; (sts. 1, 9): tr. The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941, alt.; (st. 3): tr. F. Samuel Janzow, 1913–2001, alt. Tune: attr. Martin Luther, 1483–1546 Text (sts. 1, 9) : Public domain Text (st. 3): © 1980 Concordia Publishing House. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License no. 110005326 Tune: Public domain
436 Go to Dark Gethsemane Text: James Montgomery, 1771–1854 Tune: Richard Redhead, 1820–1901 Text and tune: Public domain
