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From 2 Samuel 6:1-23:

1 David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand.
2 David and all the people with him set out and went from Baale Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the LORD of hosts who is enthroned on the cherubim.
3 They carried the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart 4 with the ark of God; and Ahio went in front of the ark.
5 David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the LORD with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. . . . .
12 It was told King David, The LORD has blessed the household of Obed edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed edom to the city of David with rejoicing; 13 and when those who bore the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.
14 David danced before the LORD with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod.
15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.
16 As the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.
17 They brought in the ark of the LORD, and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and offerings of well being before the LORD.
18 When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the offerings of well being, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts, 19 and distributed food among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. Then all the people went back to their homes.
20 David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, “How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ maids, as any vulgar fellow might shamelessly uncover himself!”
21 David said to Michal, “It was before the LORD, who chose me in place of your father and all his household, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the LORD, that I have danced before the LORD.
22 I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in my own eyes; but by the maids of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be held in honor.”

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From Philippians 2:12-13:

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

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From Galatians 4:4-7:

…But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying, Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir through God.

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From Luke 2:22-40:

When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.” Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

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From Isaiah 61:10-62:

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations. For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch. The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God

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From Psalm 111:

Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart. In the company of the upright, in the congregation. Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. Full of honor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever. He has gained renown by his wonderful deeds; the Lord is gracious and merciful, He provides food for those who fear him; He is ever mindful of his covenant. He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the heritage of the nations. The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy. They are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness. He sent redemption to his people; He has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have good understanding. His praise endures forever.

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From Mark 1:14-20:

As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea–for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

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2001

From Harold Masback, The Ultimate OnStar" (June 3, 2001) at pages 5-6:

When I was fourteen, I went to visit my Aunt Madge who was working as a secretary in Paris. Every morning I would go into work with her and then head out on the adventure of the day, guide book in hand. One of my greatest adventures came the day I headed off to find the church of Saints Chapelle; a 13th century chapel thought by some to be the most beautiful church in France. I rode the Metro to Ile de la Cite, wended my way across the island, threaded my way through the Ministry of Justice gates until at last I turned a corner and caught my first sight of the famous church. It was a moment of utter disappointment. There, tucked into a corner of the courtyard stood a gray little church, drab dark windows surrounded by a tracery of blackened stone. I had to check my guidebook to make sure I was looking at the right church, and sure enough the descriptions all fit, the right steeple, gothic arches, portals etc., but it was, well, drab. I paid for my ticket somewhat reluctantly, made my way inside and up the little, dark spiral staircase finally emerging – finally emerging into the breathtaking, shimmering blue light of the chapel’s interior. The genius of high gothic architects had made it possible to wrap the entire chapel in blue stained glass windows depicting the great stories of scripture, and, as the morning sunlight streamed through the glass, it was as if I were standing in the middle of a cobalt blue jewel. I must have stood in awed silence for five minutes before I could even move.

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2001

From Harold Masback, I Have Seen the Lord" (April 15, 2001) at pages 5-6:

The way Emperor Constantine figured it, baptism guaranteed him forgiveness for his sins and certain entry into heaven. But if he got himself baptized too early and then sinned again before he died, he might blow his heavenly guarantee. So Constantine kept putting baptism off until he was laid out on his death bed in the year 327, and then he got himself baptized just before he died. Constantine may have gotten the clean slate he was looking for, but he lost out on a lifetime of baptized relationship with Christ and church. As Luther would say 1200 years later, “there is no greater comfort on earth than baptism.”
You see, here again, the burden of sin falls not just at the moment of death, but all throughout our lives, and the blessing of baptism frees us not just at death, but all throughout our lives. For the baptized Christian, suffering guilt and anxiety about God’s love for us is like paying estimates against a tax that will never come due. Again, I’m pretty sure none of us would make the Constantine mistake – none of us would put off baptism until the last moment of life and miss out on its consolation our entire lives. But if none of us would put off the benefits of baptism and none of us would put off the benefits of the tax coupon, the question I want to ask this Easter morning is: are we making an even greater mistake? Are we making an even costlier mistake with our response to the resurrection of Jesus the Christ?

“The Holy and Blessed Sacrament of Baptism,” Luther’s Works, 35, at page 34

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2001

From Harold Masback, Blessed is He" (April 8, 2001) at pages 6-8:

And if it’s a pilgrim’s path you want, here are three marks of a pilgrimage: 1) A pilgrimage is not about who you are as much as whose you are.
2) A pilgrimage is not about when or why you started as much as whether you stay faithful to your path.
3) A pilgrimage is not about a destination as much as it is the journey itself. First, a pilgrimage is not about who you are as much as whose you are. The key line from Psalm 118 is “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” If you come in the name of yourself – your ego, your pride, your selfish interests – the Bible says you are not blessed but cursed. Better to place your faith in the Lord, the Psalm says, than in mortals or princes. Ours is a gospel of unwed mothers, carpenters, fishermen, and tax collectors whose power comes from their relationship to God. The essence of Jesus’ pilgrimage is faithful obedience to the Father, and the essence of our pilgrimage is discipleship to our risen Lord. Who are you? You may be a parent, an insurance broker, or a teacher. But as a pilgrim you are always more than that, you are a teacher for God, a broker for God, a teacher for God. Second, a pilgrimage is not about when or why you started as much as whether you stay faithful to your path. Maybe the disciples came for the wrong reasons. Maybe they were attracted by the miracles, maybe they misunderstood who Jesus was, maybe they were angling for the best seats at the banquet, and maybe they just jumped onto the bandwagon of apparent victory. But whatever got them following in the first place doesn’t seem nearly as important as whether they stayed faithful to their path once they started. In the worst moments of World War II one frail, old man clung to his pilgrim’s path. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Franciscan priest held on desperately to life at Auschwitz, imprisoned for opposing the Nazis. One day the German camp commander ordered ten prisoners to die of starvation as a reprisal for the escape of one inmate. The ten were picked, but one of the victims, a Polish army sergeant, began to sob. “My wife and my children . . . my wife and my children.” Suddenly, Kolbe pushed his way from the back of the formation to the front, past the guards and right to the commander. “I wish to make a request please.” “What do you want?” “I want to die in the place of this prisoner,” answered Father Kolbe. I have no wife and children. And I have lived a long life.” The stunned prisoners waited for the Germans to say both men would die. But after a moment the commander snapped, “Request granted.” Maximilian Kolbe followed Jesus all the way through the moment he gave his life for another. Faithfulness to his path released in him the power to face death and to believe that God would ultimately triumph. (Quoted in “The Moment of Truth,” the Rev. Samuel Lloyd, III.)
Finally, a pilgrimage is not about a destination as much as it is the journey itself. Oh we have a destination we hope for, our eternal relationship with our God, but like any relationship, it gets worked out along the way. As James F. Dowd has written, “faith in God is not a screened-in porch which we add on to our house for occasional leisure hours. Faith in God is not a bomb shelter to which we retreat in times of intense crisis. Faith in God is more like a mobile home: we live in it and it takes us wherever we go – or to be more accurate, wherever the Spirit of Christ leads.” (“The Consequences of Faith,” November 7, 1982)

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