“Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies” Lent 2 Sermon

January 27 – 28, 2010  Lent 2

Matthew 15:21-28

“Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies”

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your loving kindnesses. For they are of old. They are older than our sins. So remember them and not our sins. Remember Your promises. Remember the Sacrifice of Your Son in our stead! For we are severely oppressed by demons, by an evil army of angels, by Satan himself. We are assaulted through the eyes and ears with temptations that threaten to overcome us and drag us into self-destruction by lust, greed, and malice. Sanctify us, O Lord. Fulfill Your will in us or else we are lost. Avenge us for we are Your own Blood-bought children. Cleanse us in holiness. Deliver us from the evil one. Have mercy upon us.

Remember, and do not forget, O Lord, our children which we have forgotten. The end draws near. The enemy is bold in his attacks. He dashes babies against the rocks in clinics in our city. He turns the fathers from their children to shameful, grainy images on the television screens watched alone in the dark behind locked doors or to bottles of violent poison advertized as the stuff of the high life! He tricks them into gambling away the college fund and pretending all the while that their abuse toughens their children for the real world. He demoralizes and defeats in subtle, cunning ways. He undermines the fathers’ love for their children by first destroying the fathers’ love for their wives. He seduces them away with pleasures of the flesh, hardens their hearts, turns them inward, so that they do not notice, or do not mind, when he rapes and tortures their children.

Remember, O Lord, what we have forgotten! For demons prowl the halls of our schools. Our children are in danger. Remember, O Lord, to crush the serpent’s head and to keep us as the apple of Your eye! For the enemy seeks victims in the bathrooms and locker rooms, in the cafeteria and playground. He attempts to rule through terror and pain. He cuts down with cruel words and false names. Our children suffer at his hand and learn the ways of evil men way too early, behaving too much like their fathers, violently using guns and condoms in the school. Have mercy, O Lord, Son of David. Intervene. Bestow the Wisdom that surpasses Solomon’s. Grant us peace in Your land: in our homes, in our Church, and in our government.

Remember, O Lord, Yourself. For with You there is forgiveness that You may be feared. Apart from You there is nothing, no hope, no future, no mercy. And though we have invited these demons in, we are oppressed and repent. We know we should not have. We wish that we had not. We want to never do it again. And most importantly, wholeheartedly, we put our hope in Your Word! We wait for You. For if You marked iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? We ask not for justice. We plead, we beg, for mercy. Send us limping away if You must, but first give us a blessing. Reveal Yourself to us. Tell us Your Name. For we believe that You are the God of Abraham, the living God who made all things, who delivered the Syro-Phonecian´s daughter from demons, who sacrificed Himself to redeem men and defeat Satan, who ascended into heaven to open the way to all believers. We believe that You are the most Holy Trinity. We believe that You are the God of forgiving mercy and saving grace.

We are not the lost sheep of the House of Israel. We are not of that fold. But remember, O Lord, that You have caused us to hear Your Voice. Turn not away from us. Bring us to Yourself. Unite us together in grace. Let us be little lap dogs, eating crumbs from Your table. Anything, just let us live and come in. Relieve us of the demons and Hell’s wrathful fire according to Your own prophetic promise. For it is better to be a dog in Your House than meat in the devil’s stew!

Cause us to remember, O Lord, Your bitter passion and death, to proclaim it and Your mercy, by eating and drinking our salvation in Your Body and Your Blood, by casting out demons and drowning the Old Adam in the Jordan ‘s stream flowing out of the Baptismal Font, by preaching the truth of Your boundless love in the suffering, crucifixion, and resurrection! Feed us. Nourish us. Strengthen and encourage us. Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your loving kindnesses for they are of old. Sanctify us. Fulfill Your will in us. Avenge us. Cleanse us. Deliver us. Help us.

Have mercy upon us, Lord, Son of David. We know Your Name. Remember our names in Your Kingdom for we are the new Israel. We have struggled with God and overcome by Your mercy. We have seen You. Our eyes have seen Your Body risen from the dead and hidden in bread. Our lips have been drank Your Holy Blood. Remember, O Lord, our children. Deliver us from demons. In  + Jesus’ Name. Amen.