Beloved in the Lord!

In the Divine Service Setting Three (which we will follow during the season of Lent beginning on Ash Wednesday, March 5th), the Confession and Absolution begins with these words spoken by the pastor: “Beloved in the Lord!”  What a gracious call to grab our attention–to grab our hearts!  You are His beloved ones.  And having begun the service with a remembrance of our Baptism: “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” so the pastor addresses the congregation as “Beloved in the Lord!”  For that is what you are–His “beloved.”

It is John 3:16 addressed to you personally: “For God so loved [fill in your name] that He gave [fill in your name] His only-begotten Son, that [fill in your name] believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”  What a Gospel announcement to cherish!  And when you hear the words addressed to you personally during Divine Service (and here in this Shepherdline message), the pastor affirms this Word of God to you: you are His beloved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

Gathered at Divine Service, it is opportunity for us to “draw near with a true heart and confess our sins unto God our Father, beseeching Him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to grant us forgiveness.”  We confess our sins: “O almighty God, merciful Father, I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto You all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended You and justly deserved Your temporal and eternal punishment.  But I am heartily sorry for them and sincerely repent of them, and I pray You of Your boundless mercy and for the sake of the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to be gracious and merciful to me, a poor, sinful being.”

Then the precious words of absolution are declared by the pastor: “Upon this your confession, I, by virtue of my office, as a called and ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God unto all of you, and in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

And the congregation of the faithful responds, saying: Amen.  (Meaning: Yes, yes, it shall be so.)

(Lutheran Service Book, Divine Service, Setting Three, CPH, 2006, pp. 184-85)

Remember the great benefits of regular attendance in Divine Service.  Here pardon for sins is declared to you.  You are the Lord’s beloved.  How blessed you are!  There is no better word for us to hear.

ANNOUNCEMENTS