Time in the Word - Pentecost 8, Proper 11

Fellowship with the Divine
Next Sunday may be called “Hospitality Day.” Human entertain divine beings at dinners. In the Gospel Martha and Mary have Jesus in their home for dinner, but only Mary gets fed by Christ while Martha is busy getting the meal ready. In the Old Testament lesson Abraham offers hospitality to three men from God and receives a blessing from them. The Epistle lesson is a continuation from last Sunday’s lesson from Colossians. Because of the cross which reconciled us to God, we may appear before Him with holiness. Before Christ, we could not approach God or be in His presence because were estranged from Him.

Collect for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost: O almighty and most merciful God, of Your bountiful goodness keep us, we pray, from all things that may hurt us that we, being ready in both body and soul, may cheerfully accomplish whatever things You want done; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever.

Collect for Proper 11: O Lord, grant us the Spirit to hear Your Word and know the one thing needful that by Your Word and Spirit we may live according to Your will; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever.

For guidance in our calling: Lord God, You have called Your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but on that Your hand is leading us and Your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

For steadfast faith: Almighty God, our heavenly Father, because of Your tender love toward us sinners You have given us Your Son that, believing in Him, we might have everlasting life. Continue to grant us Your Holy Spirit that we may remain steadfast in the faith to the end and finally come to love everlasting; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

For newness of life in Christ: Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness and put upon ourselves the armor of light now in the time of this mortal life in which Your Son, Jesus Christ, came to visit us in great humility, that in the Last Day, when He shall come again to glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to life immortal; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Time in the Word 12-17 July 2010
Preparation for next week, the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
Monday, 12 July 2010—Psalm 119:57-60, 64; antiphon, Psalm 119:103— Psalm 119:57-64 is brought to you by the Hebrew Letter “”Heth” The Lord is the Psalmist’s true homestead because it is God’s law that fills the earth with all that makes life secure and joyous. So God’s promises are his hope and God’s righteous laws are his delight.

Tuesday, 13 July 2010—Psalm 27— Devotion to God’s House. David speaks of fearless trust in God. God - the strength of his life. David loved to sing, and to pray and to wait on the Lord. The man whose priorities are right (Vv. 4, 8) has nothing to fear (Vv. 1-3, 5-6). He knows where to turn in trouble (Vv. 7-12) and his hope is well founded. (Vv. 13-14)

Wednesday, 14 July 2010—Genesis 18:1-18a—At the oaks of Mamre, Abraham feeds three angels of God. At least two of the “men” were angels. The third was the angel of the Lord or the Lord Himself. [See Vv. 1,13,17,20, 26, 33, and especially verse 22] Abraham politely addressed one of his guests as “my lord” and called himself “your servant” (Vv. 3, 5) a common way of speaking when addressing a superior. Hebrews 13:2 is probably a reference to Vv. 2-8 and 19:1-3. Abraham and Sarah were rewarded beyond measure. They entertain the Lord Himself Vv. 1-2 and they are given the miraculous gift of new life. Vs. 10a Note: The woodcut below is a depiction of what transpires in the verses immediately following our lesson.

Thursday, 15 June 2010—Colossians 1:21-28—Through the cross Christ reconciled those once estranged that they might be blameless before God and Paul explains the purpose of his sufferings and ministry. Paul explains so much in just a few verses. In Vv.21-23 Paul explains the nature of the gospel, the way of salvation, with an appeal to remain steadfast in the faith. In verse 24, there is the difficult passage concerning Paul’s sufferings completing Christ’s afflictions. In Vv. 26-27 Paul speaks about the mystery of the gospel. The purpose of one’s ministry, the goal of the church’s work is in verse 28: “So we preach Christ to everyone…in order to bring each one into God’s presence as a mature individual in union with Christ.” Maturity in Christ is the goal in thinking, understanding, in attitude, and in practice.

Friday, 16 July 2010—Luke 10:38-42— Jesus visits with Martha and Mary in their home. The church needs to reach out into the world demonstrating the compassion of Christ. This is seen in the work of Martha. The church at the same time needs to become a redemptive community – demonstrated by the actions of Mary. Mary chose to fulfill that need by sitting at His feet to learn from Jesus. We can not neglect physical bread for spiritual bread. Both are needed. But which is more important? In the Gospel text Jesus answers this: “Mary chose “the good portion.” Donating food, clothing, shelter, medical care and the like is important yet the Savior encourages us to give top priority to the spiritual needs of life.

Saturday, 17 July 2010 - Romans 3:23-25 – The hymn of the week is “O Savior, Precious Savior” (LSB 527). Having come into the presence of Christ, having heard His Word having communed with Him at His altar, having received His promise of reconciliation in the words of the Absolution we are encouraged to praise the name of the Lord. The words of this much loved hymn finds its focus on Christ and the true worship He is due. Come tomorrow to the Divine Service expecting to be drawn by the Savior to those means of grace that He gives us.

Prayers from Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House
Collect for Eighth Sunday after Pentecost from Lutheran Worship © 1980 Concordia Publishing House
LECTIONARY PREACHING WORKBOOK SERIES C John Brokhoff © 1979 CSS Publishing, Lima, OH
Woodcut by Baron Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld, 1794-1872, a distinguished German artist known especially for his book, Das Buch der Bücher in Bilden [The Book of Books in Pictures]) ©WELS.
Concordia Self Study Bible © 1886 Concordia Publishing House