Time in the Word - Proper 23 - October 6-11, 2008

Time in the Word
Proper 23
October 6-11, 2008
God’s Generous Goodness

In the Lessons for this week God’s bountiful goodness is the focus. A minor theme is our response to God’s goodness. This direction is taken by the second parable in the Gospel lesson. In the Gospel God’s goodness is expr3essed in His invitation to all to the banquet. In the Old Testament lesson God’s goodness is shown by the feat God prepares in the end for all peoples – a feast of victory over evil and of salvation. Paul rejoices that God meets every need of his. He can do anything because his strength is in Christ. In the Collect for the day we ask the Lord to deals with us according to the greatness of His mercy. The 23rd Psalm refers to God’s preparing a table for us and our cup running over. Because of God’s goodness we respond with love to God in the hymn, “Thee will I love, my strength, my tower.”

Collect for Proper 23 – Almighty God, You invite us to trust in Your for our salvation. Deal with us not in the severity of Your judgment but by the greatness of Your mercy; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Monday, October 6, 2008 – Isaiah 61:10, Antiphon, Psalm 146:2 “I will praise the Lord as long as I love; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.”

Tuesday, October 7, 2008 – Isaiah 25:6-9 –God prepares a feast for the nations at the end. On Mt. Zion God will make a feast for all people on the last day. The world’s history ends in salvation, for God is at work. To be saved is to be made whole. Since Adam, man and creation have been fractured and detached. In the end it is as it was in the beginning: All people are one with God. They are whole. For this reason God’s people can rejoice in what God has done.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008 – Philippians 4:4-13 – In Christ God supplies every need. Paul is content because God supplies every need. Paul appeals to his people to be in harmony with each other, to rejoice and think beautiful thoughts. This week’s lesson 2 brings to a close the series on Philippians. In verse 1 we have a picture of the love affair between Paul and his people. The problem of disunity in the congregation still exists (vv. 2-3). Paul appeals to them to rejoice in Christ and not to have a worry. They are to think of beautiful values and to imitate him. Then the peace of God and the God of peace will be with them.

Paul calls upon his people to “rejoice.” Then he seems to say, “You can say that again!” “Rejoice,” again I say. A true Christian is the happiest person in the world, not because he has all the luck in the world, or has all the money one could want. A Christian rejoices in God, for who he is and what he has done for us. If he is for us and with us, we have every reason to be happy. Then nothing can defeat us, not even death.

Thursday, October 9, 2008 – Matthew 22:1-14 – God invites all to His banquet. Yet another parable - the parable of the wedding feast and the wedding garment. Matthew gives us two parables in this Lesson. The first deals with a king (God) who is giving a banquet for his son (Jesus). He sends out his servants (prophets) to tell the invited ones (Jews) that all is ready. Instead of coming, the invitees make excuses and kill the king’s servants. The angry king destroys the invitees. The servants are then sent out to invite all, good and bad, to the feast so that the wedding hall is filled. If the Jews refuse to come to Christ, they will be replaced by Gentiles.

The second parable is not necessarily related to the preceding one. If the guests have just come from the streets, how could they have a wedding garment? When the king sees a man without a wedding garment, he is thrown out. The point is that it may be too easy to enter the kingdom. There is a requirement: a wedding garment. What is that garment? Faith? The cloak of righteousness? The parable concludes with the maxim: Many are called and few are chosen. Many are called to enter the kingdom, but few are chosen because they only have the necessary qualifications.

When the invited guests declined the invitation, the king (God) opens the gates to one and all. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry is urged to come. This resulted in having both good and bad people at the feast. This produces a problem. Can a holy God tolerate bad people in his kingdom? Matthew adds another parable to serve as a corrective. God cannot tolerate or compromise with sin. At the judgment, God comes and finds one without a wedding garment. He is thrown out. The wedding garment was not a festive one, but rather it was a newly washed, unsoiled garment. It symbolized righteousness. It is a robe of righteousness which is given to those who have faith in Christ. He is our righteousness, and we are in the kingdom because faith puts on Christ. We are then worthy to be in God’s holy presence, because we are clothed with the perfection of Christ.

Friday, October 10, 2008 Psalm 23 - The Psalm appointed for next week is the great Shepherd’s psalm of David. It is possibly one of the favorite of God’s people. The key verse is verse 6, “And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” David reaches the goal of every believer – life with Christ in glory forever. That is our goal.

Saturday, October 11, 2008 –John 14:23– This passage is the inspiration for the hymn. “Thee will I Love my strength, my tower.”

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