Opening Matins

Transcript (edited for readability).

Someone to deliver me, O Lord. Time — only forever. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.

"If it had not been the Lord who was on our side," let Israel now say, "if it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when people rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us. Then the flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us; then over us would have gone the raging waters. Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth. We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped."

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.

A reading from Genesis, chapter one. Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

O Lord, have mercy on us.

A reading from the Revelation of Jesus Christ to St. John, the twelfth chapter. Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world — he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them. But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short."

And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child, but the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood, but the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. Then the dragon became furious with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

O Lord, have mercy on us.

Forever, your word is firmly settled in the heavens. Let us give heed to the word of God.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

"And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ has come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God, and they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives unto death."

Today our Lord has comfort for you who are weary from the world's endless warfare. Odd, isn't it, that trying to withdraw from a battle only intensifies the fight. It's a reminder that there are those who consider us enemies and hate us. Not only is this true in human warfare — in Afghanistan, for example — but it is especially true in the spiritual battle since Eden's fall. Perhaps you've noticed: the attack against faithful Christians, and the saving truth of Christ, has been getting a bit more intense lately.

In Revelation chapter 12, God lets us in on what's going on, all to bring you comfort. He reveals how you who trust in Christ are completely on the winning side, how we're in the final mopping-up operations of an already-won cosmic war — and yet why the spiritual warfare is so intense in these gray and latter days.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ to St. John, the last book in Holy Scripture, pulls back the curtain so that you can see what is real, so that you can know that your Lord God knows what's going on and has a plan. There are five key points to Revelation 12. I'll tick them off quickly.

First, the decisive battle by the incarnate Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ — that is the decisive battle. Born of the blessed Virgin Mary, Jesus accomplishes his saving work and reigns as our high priest and king from his divine throne.

Second, Satan — called the dragon — and the demons, fallen angels, sought to destroy Jesus, but failed.

Third, Satan used to show up in the heavenly throne room to accuse sinners, as we know very well from the book of Job, but by the victory of Jesus — incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension — he and his ugly horde have been banished. He cannot accuse you or anyone before God any longer.

Fourth, the dragon is furious. He's lost forever. He's doomed. His head has been crushed by the seed of the woman, Jesus, and the dragon then has a whopper of a headache, and he's out for blood.

Fifth, so now Satan attacks the faithful Christian church. As John writes, "Then the dragon became furious with the woman" — that is, Mary, as a picture of the whole Christian church — "and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus." Satan goes after those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And friends, I would argue that that is precisely you and this community.

To keep the commandments of God is to owe them, to treasure them, to guard them — not to perfectly live by them; only the incarnate Son of God can do that. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, but to value these commandments of God as the unbending standard of right and wrong, of truth, goodness, and beauty. Like this beautiful word from God we had from Genesis 1, that he made us male and female. Voilà. He made Adam and Eve in his image, and made us as souls, flesh and blood and spirit, designed to live forever in joyful harmony and love toward God and in love toward all our neighbors.

Those who do not keep the commandments of God, in this sense, are those who water the commandments down, or change them, or ignore them. And to hold the testimony of Jesus — this testimony of Jesus means Jesus' testimony about himself, that he is the eternal Son of God, come down from heaven to save us. It also means the apostolic testimony of Jesus, their eyewitness testimony of Jesus, especially his crucifixion and his resurrection. This is what we call the gospel, the good news of the Father's incomprehensible love in sending his only-begotten Son to die for you and for all sinners. This Jesus, as he said, is the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through him. He is the way, and the only way, to eternal life.

So those communities, John tells us, who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus — they, that is, you, are the target of Satan's attack. Those who rejected God's commands, Satan doesn't go after them. Those who trust their own goodness, or say there's another way to eternal life besides Jesus — he doesn't bother with them either. He doesn't have to. They're doing Satan's kingdom no harm. But you, who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus, you're in the crosshairs. Satan and the demons hate you. They hate you, because you're victors. You are safe in Christ, eternal victory, and above all, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit love you, delight in you, defend you, and send the holy angels to fight for you.

And here's the weapon that wins victory in this cosmic war. "And they have conquered him," John writes, "by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives unto death." The blood of the Lamb wins. Jesus' blood conquers the evil one. Oh sure, we sin, we fail, we get tripped up, we repent, and Jesus applies his saving blood to you, to restore you, to forgive you of your sins, to cleanse you from the shame of this endless battle, and to pour into you his living blood that destroys death. You can see why so many, like dear Pastor Galter, want the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar as often as possible. The blood of the Lamb, poured on you at your baptism, sprinkled on you in the preaching of the good news of Jesus, and received in the chalice, makes Jesus' victory over Satan your own.

And the word of their testimony — this is the joyful confession of Jesus, the gospel of Christ. We keep our heads in this chaotic battle by continuing to hear and confess the saving work of Jesus. This is the work of the Holy Spirit in our congregations, in our homes, in our schools, in our relationships with others. When we joyfully confess, sing, and revel in this stunning fact: the Almighty Creator gave his only-begotten Son at Golgotha to save you. And they loved not their lives unto death. Jesus said, he who loves his life loses it, and he, for the joy that was set before him, laid down his life to give you life. That's why you died and rose in holy baptism — to love not your life, but his, and to joyfully follow him wherever he leads.

Dearly beloved, hear this word: here is true peace, here is true victory, here is eternal joy and safety — keeping the commandments of God and holding the testimony of Jesus, as the Holy Spirit strengthens us through the blood of the Lamb, the gospel of Christ, and following Jesus in his unending, eternal victory. Thanks be to God, in Jesus' name. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.

Let us 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.

O Lord God, almighty and merciful, defend your church from all false teaching and error, that your faithful people may confess you to be the only true God, and rejoice in your good gifts of life and salvation, through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

O God, the strength of peace and love, the conqueror of all enemies, defend us, your humble servants, from the assaults of our enemies, that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversary, but may rejoice in your abiding protection, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord.

O Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, you have safely brought us to the beginning of this day. Defend us in the same with your mighty power, and grant that this day we fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger, but that all our doings, ordered by your governance, may be righteous in your sight, through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

And the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Good morning, and welcome. We'll give you ten minutes to rearrange things a little bit. We'll start right here, ten minutes from now, with Dr. Ryan Andes.