Precious in His sight is the death of His saints

“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints. O LORD, I am truly Your servant, the son of Your maidservant, You have loosed my bonds. I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call upon the name of the LORD” Psalm 116:15-17.

My mother, Jeanette Anne Hemmingson Ernst, died April 30, 2026, during Eastertide like my father did on May 9, 2000. I chose Psalm 116 for memorial services on May 3, the fifth Sunday of Easter, at our mission in La Caramuca and at Corpus Christi Lutheran Church in Barinas. The sermon text was 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17.

“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus."

During the Easter season, we celebrate our Lord’s victory over sin, death and the power of the devil by His atoning death on the cross and resurrection on the third day, as He promised. We rejoice that as we have been baptized with water and the Word, as He was, we will share in His resurrection (Romans 6:3-8; 1 Corinthians 15:20-26). This is the great gift that we receive from Christian parents when we are baptized as infants. But not only do we have the promise of resurrection for ourselves, but also the consolation that our parents will be among the great multitude gathered around the throne of Christ, our Paschal Lamb, they that “shall neither hunger anymore, nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them anymore, nor any heat...and God will wipe every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:16-17). They already are among that “great cloud of witnesses” whose testimony inspires us and they will be with us in the true rapture, which which occur after (not before) the great tribulation when the Lord returns for the once and final time.

The promise is for you and your children

I returned to the theme of Christian families for the opening devotion of a special meeting on May 5 with Luz Maria's afterschool students and their mothers. The occasion was in anticipation of Mother's Day, Sunday, May 10, and to celebrate Luz Maria's birthday. I read from Acts 2:37-47. First, I emphasized the real manifestation of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was not so much the speaking in tongues and the preaching of Peter and the baptism of 3,000 souls. Then I focused on verse 39: "This promise is for you and your children," citing examples of how entire households, including children, were baptized (Acts 16:14-15; 22:22-34). Nevertheless, although parents have the privilege and responsibility to bring infants and children forward for baptism, there also is the reponsibility to bring children up in the teaching and admonition of the Lord. This is the basis of Christian education: Not simply the formal instruction, but also the formation of living faith through the power of the Holy Spirit which has become active in their lives through baptism.

After the opening devotion, Luz Maria review with the students and their mothers what the children had learned so far and how it was helping them in their public school classes. Then the children sang a lengthy Venezuelan birthday song to Luz Maria before she cut into two cakes, one donated by her daughter, Sarai, and the other by her brother, Robert Henriquez. It is customary in Venezuela to not only a Spanish version of the brief "Happy Birthday to you" as in the United States, but also to sing one or more longer melodies. These may go on as long as five minutes, or, at least, so it seems. That evening, after a videoconference with women enrolled in the diaconess training program of Concordia Seminary "El Reformador" and Amy Rast, associate director of deaconess formation at Concordia Theoogical Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Venezuelan women sang another long birthday song to Luz Maria.

On April 13, we celebrated the sixteenth birthday of Anyi Garrido, Luz Maria's granddaughter. Anyi assists Luz Maria with the afterschool tutoring program. She has the highest academic profile of any student in her high school and is taking an extracurricular course in graphic design. 

On April 12, the second Sunday of Easter, Ana Andreina Cabello Gomez, a member of "Fuente de Vida" (Fountain of Life) Lutheran Church in Puerto Ordaz and her sister, Milade, of the city of Guanare, brought an offering of packaged foodstuffs. Puerto Ordaz is in eastern Venezuela, while Guanare is about an hour and a half drive to the north of us. 

 As a mentor of Venezuelan women in the deaconess training program, Luz Maria was invited to hear annual program reports from Concordia Seminary "El Reformador" online April 24. We were pleased to learn the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod-sponsored seminary in the Dominican Republic is continuing in partnership with one of our sponsoring mission societies, LeadaChild of Olathe, Kansas.

Rejoicing in the mysteries of God

The third Sunday in Advent is called "Gaudete Sunday". The introit quotes Philippian 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, rejoice". The Latin words are "Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete." We lit a reddish-pink candle on our Advent wreath in addition to two blue ones.

The basis of this tradition is that while the Scripture readings for the first two Sundays in Advent are rather grim lessons about Christ's purpose for being born in Bethlehem (to suffer and die on the cross) and His second coming in glory and judgment, in keeping with the idea of Advent as a season of repentance and reflection, on Gaudete Sunday the mood shifts more toward joy and hope as the celebration of the Nativity draws near.

We certainly had cause to rejoice on December 13, 2015, as Maria Gabriela Rosales was baptized, and Elias Montoya and Yaneth Torres were confirmed and received their first communion. My sermon text was the epistle, 1 Corinthians 4:1-5, which speaks of the ministers of the church as "servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God." What are the "mysteries of God" but the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper, which we recognize, along with the preaching of the Word, as being central to our worship. You may read the complete English text of my sermon here.

Truly we rejoice in these young people and pray for them: Dearest Lord, we thank You that in the sacrament of baptism you bring new birth and life, making us members of Your holy family. We recall with gratitude our own baptisms, and pray that you would preserve Maria and us in Your baptismal grace. Help us to live in this world as Your redeemed children, serving You and our neighbors in love and devotion.

As You have made us all Your children in holy baptism, You have brought Elias and Yaneth through study of Your holy Word to know the meaning of their baptisms, and confess Your name as the only true God in Whom we have life eternal.

Always renew the strength of these young people that they shall rise up with wings like eagles. Grant them the faith of young Isaac; the vision of young Joseph; the obedience of young Samuel; the vigor of young David; the tenderness of young Jonathan; the wisdom of young Solomon; the courage of young Daniel; and the zeal of young Timothy. Deliver them from the temptations of youth, from unbelief, from forgetting their baptism, and losing the gift of Your Holy Spirit. Hear us for the sake of Your Son, Who redeemed us by His grace. Amén.

(Adapted from the "Lutheran Book of Prayer", Concordia Publishing House, 1970.)

Related articles

• Nations shall come to your light (venezuelaview.blogspot.com)
• Advent 2015. Away in a Feeding Trough. (pastelder.blogspot.com)

Behold, He has kept me alive...

English: Painting of Hebron (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today I mark my 54th year of life and, by human reckoning, I can expect more yesterdays than tomorrows. At times like this, I like to meditate on Joshua 14:6-14.

“Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me.

“I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the LORD my God.

“And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.’ And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness.

“And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. So now give me this hill country of which the LORD spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the LORD said.

“Then Joshua blessed him, and he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the LORD, the God of Israel.”

What applications does this passage have for one's life today?

With my great-grandfather, Andrew John Hemmingson,
on the day of my baptism.

First, the promises of God are sure. He will deliver. In my case, not only was I born into this world on Oct. 19, 1958, on Nov. 2 of that year I received the promise of eternal life in holy baptism. This has proved a source of hope throughout the trials that I have face, a hope buttressed by the many unmerited blessings I have received along the way as well.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:3-7

Second, as long as you are drawing breath, God has a purpose for your life. As it was God who gave you life in the womb, it is God who preserves your life and who gives you the strength to do whatever tasks He has set before you.

“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.” Psalm 139:13

“Thus says the LORD who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you....” Isaiah 44:2

“Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.'

”But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles...” Galatians 1:15

“In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. “ Ephesians 1:1-12

“...And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20

So I am pleased to report that after weeks of high political tension, the national election has come and gone without an escalation of violence. We still face almost daily power outages, the highest rate of inflation in South America, and crime in the streets. But we know that God is with us, that all things are accomplished in His good time, that it is never too late to start anything, and, above all, nothing can separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8:39).

And as always we thank God for those of you who support us through prayer and donations, because He continues to bless us through you.