Time in the Word
August 10-15 2015
Proper 15
Preparation for next week, Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
The subject of bread continues as we make our way through
John 6. The theme for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost is Incarnating the
Christ. Christ is the Living Bread who came down from Heaven, the Word made
flesh (John 1:14), who gives His flesh for the life of the world.
We can find this Living Bread nowhere else but in Christ. As
Peter answered, when asked by Jesus if he wanted to leave, “Lord, to whom shall
we go? You have the words of eternal life.” After Jesus ascended into heaven,
when called before the Jewish council, Peter would proclaim again, “There is
salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among
men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12). Come, feast on the Living Bread.
Gladly hear His Word, and eat His Body and Blood, given for you for the
remission of all your sins.
Collect for Proper 14 –Almighty God, whom to know is
everlasting life; give us to know Your Son Jesus to be the way the truth and
the life that we may steadfastly follow His steps in the way that leads to life
eternal.
Prayer for Home and Family: Visit, we implore You, O Lord,
the homes in which Your people dwell, and keep far from them all harm and
danger. Grant us to dwell together in peace under the protection of Your holy
angels, and may Your blessing be with us forever; through Jesus Christ, our
Lord. Amen.
Prayer the Unemployed: Heavenly Father, we remember before
You, those who suffer want and anxiety from lack of work. Lead us so to use the
wealth and resources of this rich land that all persons may find suitable and
fulfilling employment and receive just payment for their labor; through Your
Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Pray for Peace: O God, whom come all holy desires, all good
counsels, and all just works, give to us, Your servants, that peace which the
world simply cannot give, that our hearts may be set to obey Your commandments
and also that we, being defended from the fear of our enemies, may live in
peace and quietness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and
reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever.
Monday, 10 August 2015—Psalm 111:1–5, 9; Antiphon, Psalm
111:10—Atheist groups are taking out ads on city buses in cities across the
U.S., even in Indiana (South Bend and Bloomington, so far), that proclaim that
there is no God (‘You Can Be Good Without God’; ‘In the Beginning, Man Created
God’). What utter nonsense! What through-and-through foolishness! The psalmist
tells us what it truly means to be wise: to fear the Lord, to recognize all
that He has done for us. Those so-called ‘atheists,’ far from disbelieving in a
god, have made themselves their own god, and a very poor one at that.
Tuesday, 11 August 2015—Psalm 34:12–22—This is a
continuation of the psalm for last Sunday. In the antiphon for to-day (verse
11), David calls us to listen to him, that he may teach us the fear of the
Lord: one who is not foolish, and acknowledges the Lord, will turn away from
evil and do good; he will seek peace and pursue it. These righteous ones will
the Lord deliver out of all their troubles.
Wednesday, 12 August 2015—Proverbs 9:1–10—In the Old
Testament reading, we continue our education in the way of wisdom from the
wisest man who has ever lived, Solomon. Here, he gives wisdom a personality,
and we start to understand that the personification of wisdom is Christ our
Lord, for it is Christ who invites us to eat of His bread and drink of His
wine. These are His body and blood, which He gives for the life of the world.
Thursday, 13 August 2015—Ephesians 5:6–21—In this section of
our reading from the book of Ephesians, St Paul continues his instruction of
how we ought to live. Since Christ has made us His own, and, since, by Word and
Sacrament, we have eaten the living Bread that comes down from heaven, we ought
to walk, not as unwise, but as wise.
We ought not allow ourselves to be deceived by charlatans
masquerading as men of God; we ought not take part in the sins that the world
takes pleasure in; we ought, rather, make the best use of time, giving thanks
always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Friday, 14 August 2015—John 6:51–69—Jesus declares that He
is the Living Bread that came down from heaven. It is through Him alone that we
can be forgiven, that our sins can be removed, that we can partake of eternal
life. Through Word and sacrament, Christ feeds us, bestowing faith and
nourishing it. The bread that He gives does not just satisfy for a short time,
like earthly food; whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.
Saturday, 15 August 2015—This week, the final two stanzas of
O Living Bread from Heaven (LSB 642) serve as the hymn of the day. Having
received from the Lord Jesus Christ living bread, we seek to serve Him with
holy fear, living as wise, not foolish ones, during our days on earth, and
looking forward to the day when we leave this world below, and enter Heaven,
where joys unmingled flow.
Almighty God, whom to know is everlasting life, grant us to
know Your Son, Jesus, to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may
steadfastly follow His steps in the way that leads to life eternal; through
Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one
God, now and forever. Amen.
Collect for Pentecost 12—Almighty and everlasting God,
always more ready to hear than we to pray and always ready to give more than we
either desire or deserve, pour down on us the abundance of Your mercy,
forgiving us the things of which our conscience is afraid and giving us the
good things we are not worthy to ask but through the merits and mediation of
Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy
Spirit, One God, now and forever.
Prayers from Lutheran Service Book © 2006 and Lutheran
Worship © 1980 Concordia Publishing House and from Lutheran Worship © 1980
Concordia Publishing House.
Schnorr von Carolsfeld woodcut used with permission from
WELS
Lectionary Preaching Workbook Series B – John Brokhoff ©
1981 CSS Publishing, Lima, OH
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