Time in the Word Easter 7

This coming Sunday will be the Sunday after the Ascension. Jesus has departed and the church is on its own. The disciples are left alone to confront the challenges of living in a fallen world. Before He departs, Jesus prays for His friends. The First Lesson shows the infant church with the problem of a vacancy in leadership and prays to the ascended Lord for guidance in choosing a successor to Judas. Though Jesus has ascended, Christians are not alone in the world. This thought is conveyed in the Second Lesson as well as in the Gospel. The suggested hymn deals with the church without the physical Jesus and urges the people not to fear, for God has chosen to give them the kingdom.

A Prayer for Agriculture:  Almighty God, You blessed the earth to make it fruitful, bringing forth in abundance whatever is needed for the support of our lives. Prosper, we implore You, the work of farmers, grant them seasonable weather that we may gather in the fruit of the earth and thus proclaim Your goodness with thanksgiving. May we see by this noble vocation that with Your help they feed the world. And cause all those who give thanks over their food to treat those who produce it with both honor and respect; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. 

A Prayer for Ascension: Almighty God, the giver of all that is good, by Your holy inspiration grant that we may think those things that are right and by Your merciful guiding accomplish them through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

For blessing on the Word: Lord God, bless Your Word wherever it is proclaimed. Make it a word of power and peace to convert those not yet Your own and to confirm those who have come to saving faith. May Your Word pass from the ear to the heart, from the heart to the lip, and from the lip to the life that, as You have promised, Your Word may achieve the purpose for which You send it; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Collect for the Seventh Sunday in Easter O King of glory, Lord of hosts, uplifted in triumph far above all heavens, leave us not without consolation but send us the Spirit of truth whom Y9ou promised from the Father, for You live and reigns with Him and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Monday, 11 May 2015—Psalm 27:1a, 4-5, 10, 14; antiphon, Psalm 27:7— The antiphon is “Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me!” The cry of the Psalmist is a prayer for deliverance from treacherous enemies. These remain unspecified, whether from inside or outside the kingdom or both. The chief weapon is a false charge intent on discrediting the king. When people say all manner of things falsely against us, we need not retaliate. Rather we are take our burdens, concerns, and sorrows to the throne room of grace and be thankful as the Savior answers each petition according to His perfect and good will.

Tuesday, 12 May 2015—Psalm 1 key verse v.6 —“For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” This psalm verse gives us both Law and Gospel. The ways of the wicked will be met with the full brunt of Law – the ultimate judgment for unbelief and sin. The righteous, on the other hand, not by any merit on their behalf but completely by grace, will be delivered on the last day. This of course is Gospel. The destinies of two lifestyles are the destinies of those who have chosen them.

Wednesday, 13 May 2015—Acts 1:12-26—The Post–Ascension church prays for guidance. The church is living b3etween Jesus’ departure and the coming of the Holy Spirit. The time has come to fill the vacancy caused by Judas’ suicide. The one to be chosen as a replacement is to be one who shared the experience with Jesus from the time of His baptism to His Ascension and one who can witness to the Resurrection. Two men met the qualifications: Joseph and Matthias. God and not the church elected Matthias. The church merely asked the ascended Lord which of the two He had chosen. After prayer, Matthias was chosen to be one of the Apostles. The church’s leadership ranks were now filled and ready for the Spirit’s coming.

Thursday, 14 May 2015—1 John 5:9-15—Everything we do in life all boils down to faith. Faith is simply another word for “trust.” Trust simply means to take God at His Word. Note and give special attention to verse 10 which is critical. Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony god has given about His Son.  This is the same thing the Savior said to Nicodemus who came to visit the Savior at night. Read John 3:15-18. See how clearly that this universal truth is woven throughout the Scripture and that the Scriptures interpret themselves namely that each passage explains the other more clearly. Forty different men over a period of some 1,500 years wrote 66 books that in reality make up one book. These books have one doctrinal viewpoint, one moral standard, one plan of salvation, one program for the ages.

Friday, 15 May 2015—John 17:11b-19—The Post-Ascension church confronts the world. In this high priestly prayer, Jesus is aware that He is going to leave the world and His disciples will be left in a fallen world. Think of what the world did to Him! Will not the disciples face the same opposition? Naturally, the disciples would be afraid. Thus, Jesus prays for His followers, not that they should be taken out of the world as He is about to do, but that they should be protected from the Devil and the world. He prays that they may be one as He and the Father are one. They are to be made holy in His Word. As He was sent into the world, He sends them into the world for the same purpose He was sent.

Saturday, 16 May 2015— Luke 12:32, Matthew 25:34; Psalm 103:3-5; Matthew 28:20b – The hymn of the Day is “Have no fear, little flock”– {LSB 735} As the Easter season draws to a close, we have no fear as our  Lord and Savior lives and reigns through all eternity. He has promised to send us His Holy Spirit. Thus this new hymn reminds us that we are safe in His almighty hand. 

Prayers from Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. Lutheran Worship © 1980 Concordia Publishing House

Lectionary Preaching Workbook Series B John Brokhoff © 1981 CSS Publishing Lima, OH

Illustration from a woodcut by Baron Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, © WELS Permission to use this copyrighted item is limited to personal and congregational use.