Tuesday prior to Proper 10

 

Isaiah 55:10-13 – God’s Word accomplishes His purpose.  The Word of God has within it an inherent, latent power. Jesus compared the Word to seed. A seed has within it the power of life, to break out of its shell and to grow into a plant. The Word, like a seed, has power to accomplish the purpose for which it was created and sent. It is a lively Word, a living Word. Herein is the secret of powerful preaching. Whenever the Word is proclaimed, the Word, finding fertile soil, will produce remarkable results by transforming lives and creating faith. The secret of great preaching is not in the preacher, not in his personality, wisdom, or techniques. For this reason, biblical preaching is the most effective kind of preaching.

Luther gives us the following illustration; As they come down. Rain and snow are not useless, but they water the earth, giving seed to the sower. The rain can achieve everything for the earth. ‘So also My Word accomplishes everything.’ The effect is the same. For neither one is understood. Reason says, ‘The strength belongs not to the rain and snow but to the earth.’ But when we experience the absence of rain, we see what the earth produces. So He takes away the glory of the earth and shows that it is not the earth that does it but that it is accomplished by the rain. So our building and promotion of the church is not the result of our works but of the Word of God which we preach… Here you see that everything is produced by the Word.

A simple yet heartfelt Prayer – “Almighty God, grant us a steadfast faith in Jesus Christ, a cheerful hope in Your mercy, and a sincere love for You and one another.”

A Prayer for the blessing of God’s Word – Lord God, bless your word wherever it is proclaimed. Make it a word of power and power 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 a life that, as you have promised, your worm might achieve the purpose for which you have sent it; though Jesus Christ our Lord.

Sources

Lutheran Service Book, © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis
Martin Luther, Lectures on Isaiah: Chapters 40-66 (Luther’s Works, 17; Saint Louis: Concordia, 1972) 257-258
Go into all the world, copyright © Ed Riojas, Higher Things