EASTER VIGIL I MIDWEEK Responsive Prayer I April 12, 2020

AS WE PONDER WORSHIP TODAY In this season we gather in vigil and in prayer. We can still hear the echoes of Jesus’ words from the cross. We can still hear the echoes of the slamming of the tomb. We can lament in the confidence that Friday gives way to Sunday. We know that that tomb stands empty and that Jesus speaks to us once again at break of day.

PRAYER BEFORE WORSHIP (A time of quiet preparation for worship)

O Lord, my creator, redeemer, and comforter, as I come to worship You in spirit and in truth, I humbly pray that You would open my heart to the preaching of Your Word so that I may repent of my sins, believe in Jesus Christ as my only Savior, and grow in grace and holiness. Hear me for the sake of His name. Amen. (Prayer before worship, inside cover of LSB).

EASTER ACCLAMATION P Alleluia! Christ is risen! C He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

INVOCATION The sign of the cross may be made by all in remembrance of their Baptism.

P In the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit. C Amen.

READING Psalm 61:1–8 P A reading of Psalm 61.

Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. Let me dwell in your tent forever! Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! For you, O God, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name. Prolong the life of the king; may his years endure to all generations! May he be enthroned forever before God; appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him! So will I ever sing praises to your name, as I perform my vows day after day.

P This is the Word of the Lord. C Thanks be to God.

COLLECT FOR THE WORD P Blessed Lord, You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning. Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and take them to heart that, by the patience and comfort of Your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. C Amen.

MEDITATION ON THE READING The grace of Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

The other day I was talking with our organist and choir director Bob Keck, and he said he heard someone describe what was going on in the life of the world like a car going 70 down the high way and then suddenly throwing it into reverse. The transmission would drop out if not for some safety measures, and even then, it is bad news. He then told me I could use that in a sermon, thanks Bob. It’s a good analogy, and in times like this, we need all the help we can get to describe life as we now experience it. We need all the help we can get finding the right words. When Martin Luther was a monk, he would pray through all 150 every week. To us that sounds like quite a feat, but for Luther, that’s just what monks did. It is still what monks do. 150 psalms, read, chanted, prayed through each and every week. Let’s say you only prayed one psalm a week for 10 years. At 52 weeks a year, you have prayed the psalm 520 times. If you have prayed all 150 each week, you’d have prayed 78,000 times. Being in the psalms that much would change the way you think, it would change the way you speak, it would change the way you pray. Why? Because you would constantly be confronted with their language. It’s just like that old saying, if you want to be a better writer, read good writers. Just by being exposed to the psalms, you would be molded and shaped by them, in unintentional or accidental ways. The psalms would teach you how to pray as and Solomon prayed, as ancient Israel prayed, as our Lord Christ prayed. Tonight our reading is the psalm assigned for the Wednesday after Easter, Psalm 61. This is one of the many psalms of lament. Diving the into genres like lament, praise, thanksgiving, royal, or wisdom is always a bit subjective. By some counts there are around 40 psalms of lament and by others, closer to 70. Regardless of how we sort through the various kinds of psalms, far and away there are more lament psalms than any other. These can be communal laments, where a community is speaking as a whole, or these can be individual laments, where one person is speaking by themselves. Either way lament psalms arise from a crisis, a struggle, a difficult reality. They call on God to act, often citing something He has done in the past as the basis for his request to act. More often than not, these prayers end on a high note, some exclamation of praise. Not all of them share all of these characteristics, but many do, and Psalm 61 is no exception. The psalm begins by asking God to hear the psalmists prayer, to listen, because the psalmists heart is faint. He wants to be led to safety, to the heights, and he knows that God has been a refuge and strong tower in the past. The psalmist wants to take shelter in the wings of God and dwell in safety. This poetic language paints a picture of God we need to hear, especially during the hard times, but not only during them. Because whether times are low or high, God is still the refuge, he is still the place where we dwell securely. Now the psalm doesn’t stop with that , it continues. This person knows that God has given him strength and gifts in the past, and asks that God protect the king, that he be enthroned forever, and because God will do this, the psalmist will praise God and perform his vows daily. Who is this king? Well, I think we do well to think at one point in time this was talking about David. For us, who live on this side of Easter, I think the king is the who, as the Son of David, died and rose again, the one who is enthroned forever, Jesus Christ. I said before that when we pray the psalms we are praying the prayers of others, of David and Solomon, of ancient Israel, of Jesus himself. This is true of Psalm 22 like we talked about on Maundy Thursday, but it is also true of Psalm 61. Jesus prayed lament psalms. There is nothing inherently sinful about crying out to God in distress and asking him to act. In fact, lament psalms are confessions of faith. They recognize that the only one who can do anything about what is going on is God. And the person praying them often feels like God isn’t listening, but they are still reaching out and asking him to act. That’s the thing about the psalms in general, and lament psalms in particular, they help us find the right words. I will never understand why our Missouri Synod hymnal leaves out some of these lament psalms. Singing, praying, chanting, shouting, crying these psalms is not just a matter of imitating the saints of the past, it is a matter of being shaped by them. It is a matter of learning how to pray when we can’t find the words to describe how we feel. See, Jesus on the cross does not only deliver us from sin, death, and hell. Jesus on the cross teaches us how to pray when the world grows dark. He teaches us how to pray when we need a strong tower. When we need to be led to the heights, to dwell in God’s wings, to know that God has acted in the past, and to praise him that he will act again. The psalms shape us, because the psalms give us Christ, the words on his lips, and the confidence in his Father.

Amen. VOTUM P The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. C Amen.

VERSICLE P Holy God, holy and most gracious Father, C have mercy and hear us.

LORD'S PRAYER P Lord, remember us in Your kingdom and teach us to pray: C 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.

CONFESSION OF FAITH Apostles’ Creed C 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 T everlasting. Amen.

VERSICLES P I cry to You, O Lord; C in the morning my prayer comes before You. P Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, C and uphold me with a willing spirit. P My mouth is filled with Your praise, C and with Your glory all the day. P Every day I will bless You C and praise Your name forever and ever. P By awesome deeds You answer us with righteousness, C O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas. P Bless the Lord, O my soul; C and all that is within me, bless His holy name! P He redeems your life from the pit C and crowns you with steadfast love and mercy. P Hear my prayer, O Lord; C let my cry come to You.

COLLECT OF THE DAY P Almighty God, by the glorious resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ, You destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light. Grant that we who have been raised with Him may abide in His presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. C Amen.

COLLECT OF THE SEASON OF EASTER VIGIL P Almighty and everlasting God, in times of exile you comforted your people through words spoken by your prophets. Comfort us now, we pray, through the Word that is Your Son. Mindful of his cross, point us to his empty tomb, and help us to wait in expectation for the age that is to come; through Jesus Christ your son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. C Amen.

LUTHER’S EVENING PRAYER C 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.

BLESSING P Let us bless the Lord. C Thanks be to God.

P The Lord bless us, defend us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life. C Amen.

EASTER ACCLAMATION P Alleluia! Christ is risen! C He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Acknowledgments Creative Worship for the Lutheran Parish, Series A, Quarter 2. Copyright © 2019 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Responsive Prayer I 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 © 2018 Concordia Publishing House.