Manuscript for the Readings, Prayers and Sermon on July 5, 2020

+ Fourth Sunday after Trinity +

P    In the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C    Amen.

INTROIT   Psalm 27

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
   The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh,
   my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall.
Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;
   though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.
One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after:
   that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble;
   he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
   and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning,
   is now, and will be forever. Amen.
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
   The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh,
   my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall.

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS                                                                                                                              LSB 204

C    1 To God on high be glory

    And peace to all the earth;

    Goodwill from God in heaven

    Proclaimed at Jesus’ birth!

    We praise and bless You, Father;

    Your holy name, we sing—

    Our thanks for Your great glory,

    Lord God, our heav’nly King.

2 To You, O sole-begotten,

    The Father’s Son, we pray;

    O Lamb of God, our Savior,

    You take our sins away.

    Have mercy on us, Jesus;

    Receive our heartfelt cry,

    Where You in pow’r are seated

    At God’s right hand on high—

3 For You alone are holy;

    You only are the Lord.

    Forever and forever,

    Be worshiped and adored;

    You with the Holy Spirit

    Alone are Lord Most High,

    In God the Father’s glory.

    “Amen!” our glad reply.

SALUTATION AND COLLECT OF THE DAY

P    The Lord be with you.

C    And also with you.

P    Let us pray.

O Lord, grant that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by Your governance that Your Church may joyfully serve You in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C    Amen.

EPISTLE                                                                                                                                          Romans 8:18–23

   18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

A    This is the Word of the Lord.

C    Thanks be to God.

HOLY GOSPEL                                                                                                                                    Luke 6:36–42

P    The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the sixth chapter.

   36[Jesus said:] “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

   37“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

   39He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. 41Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 42How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.”

P    This is the Gospel of the Lord.

APOSTLES’ CREED

C    I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

     maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

     who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

     born of the virgin Mary,

     suffered under Pontius Pilate,

     was crucified, died and was buried.

     He descended into hell.

     The third day He rose again from the dead.

     He ascended into heaven

     and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

     From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

     the holy Christian Church,

          the communion of saints,

     the forgiveness of sins,

     the resurrection of the body,

     and the life T everlasting. Amen.

SERMON

Luke 16:36:  “ Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”

The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?

This Psalm verse that started the Introit today is a prayer that all Christians ought to say.  The Lord God is our salvation. He has saved us. He will save us. What could we possibly worry about or fear?

Now some might say, I’m not afraid of anything. I got no worries. Think carefully about that just to be sure. No fears? Do you fear losing something dear to you? Or the more real way to say it is, do you fear losing an idol? An idol, a false god, is anything that you love above all else. Your status, your health and strength, your earthly relationships, your home and possessions. All such good gifts from God can become gods to you if you begin to love them most and if you, more than anything else, fear losing them.

Or how about this one, do you fear being judged? Jesus said, “Judge not, and you will not be judged.” That is a very popular verse. Often people will repeat this one. People who don’t even know the Bible can tell you, “The Bible says, “Judge not, lest you be judged.” It’s so popular, so oft repeated, because people despise being judged. Nobody wants others to point out their flaws. We go to great lengths to hide our weaknesses and errors. When you fear being judged, your constant motivation is “What will people say if I do this or don’t do that?” Even what appears to be fine, charitable acts of mercy are done out of the fear that others are watching us, judging us. I have to do this or else it will look bad. I have to make an appearance at this thing or people will think I’m the worst. Fear is a horrible motivator.

Recognize your fears and address them in terms of faith. Jesus says, “God your Father is merciful.” Fear says, “God is not merciful. He’s not going to help me.” Fear is the opposite of faith.

So fear hurts our relationship with God, and it hurts our relationship with other people.

There’s this old story, I think it’s older than me, called Old Yeller. It was a Newbery Honor winning book. And then a Disney movie. Ol’ Yeller is a dog -- A good dog, faithful and loving, dear to the family he becomes part of. In a heroic act Ol’ Yeller fights off a rabid wolf to protect the family. But in the course of that fight, he is bit and gets rabies himself. With this horrible sickness, the kind gentle dog turns mean. He growls and tries to attack his family. It’s not the dog, it’s the disease driving him to do so.

Fear is a disease that works on the human mind that way. It makes people lash out at those whom they should love. It makes people in their worst beastly nature, turn inward, think only of themselves and their own self preservation. Again, it’s the opposite of faith which turns our thoughts outward to others to care about them and care for them.

Jesus preaches this sermon, part of which is the Gospel reading today, and He says, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” By faith we can be merciful towards each other. By faith we can show mercy to all and everyone. By fear, we back into a corner, immobilized, snarling and growling if anyone gets too close.

“ Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” Our motivation, as Jesus preaches it here, is imitation. Learn from God, imitate His mercy. Imitation is a great way to learn and gain new skills. Just notice how babies watch their parents and siblings and imitate their actions, sounds, expressions. Jesus says, be merciful that way. Imitate your heavenly Father who has shown mercy on you. And then by faith, not fear, show that mercy to those around you.

In fear you will think, “I can’t. I’ve got no time to be merciful. I’ve got nothing to give right now, I have to put all my energy and all my resources into protecting myself from those scary things out there.

In faith you can think, “I am learning from my heavenly Father what mercy means. It means that He has let me have another day. I should really just be like an annoying mosquito to Him that He swats away, but no, He let me wake up again today and have this new day, and besides that, He loves me and wants to love me everyday and forever. That’s His mercy to me. So now, what can I do for this person next to me.”

“ Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” That’s got to be about the tallest order ever. Jesus says, to you, “Just be like God. Do what God does. Imitate God.”

Just because that order is impossible, doesn’t mean that you should give up on it yet. Think about what God has done that you may imitate Him. No one can imitate God. So, for us and for our salvation He came down from heaven and was incarnate. Incarnate -- God came and became flesh and blood, man. You can’t imitate God. So He becomes man, and you and I have Jesus. How can we be merciful like God? Jesus shows us how. Jesus is merciful for us.

 “Judge not, and you will not be judged.” He says, and Jesus judged not. He condemned not. He is the one, the only one, without spot or blemish or sin. There’s no speck in His eye. He is so perfect that He is the one anointed to judge the living and the dead. But He judges not, He condemns not. Instead He obeys the Father’s will. The Father says to Him, let’s be merciful to my people. Go to them and bring them mercy. You, my dear Son, the Father says, you be judged, you be condemned and you die for it. Thereby, these, my adopted dear children be judged not, be condemned not.

Our merciful Savior Jesus has saved us. He has taken away every cause for fear. Now He invites you to put away your fear, your hang ups, your worries and imitate Him and our merciful Father.

“ Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”  Amen.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

P    Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.

For an increase of mercy among all the baptized, that they would bless and not curse, forgive as they have been forgiven, give as they have been given to, and speak the truth in love, not with anger and pride, let us pray to the Lord:

C    Lord, have mercy.

P    For all pastors in Christ, that they would remain bold to preach the Gospel in its purity and administer the Sacraments according to Christ’s institution, let us pray to the Lord:

C    Lord, have mercy.

P    For favorable weather and a bountiful harvest, that our crops would receive God’s nurture and blessing, let us pray to the Lord:

C    Lord, have mercy.

P    For industries and the service sectors of this land, that their labors may be just and the work they do may be profitable for all people, let us pray to the Lord:

C    Lord, have mercy.

P    For a culture of life in our land and throughout the world, that all life from the womb to the grave would be cherished, and that all who view life as expendable would have their hearts and minds changed, let us pray to the Lord:

C    Lord, have mercy.

P    For those who have been placed in authority over us, that they would govern with a mind focused on peace and the general welfare of all, let us pray to the Lord:

C    Lord, have mercy.

P    For an end to the pandemic and for mercy on all who suffer physical, spiritual and economic hardship because of it, let us pray to the Lord:

C    Lord, have mercy.

P    For the freedoms we enjoy in our country, let us give thanks to the Lord; that we would never take these freedoms for granted and always strive to defend and protect them, let us pray to the Lord:

C    Lord, have mercy.

P    For the sick, for those preparing to undergo surgery, for the elderly and shut-in, and for all who desire our prayers, [especially _____________,] that, according to God’s good and gracious will, they may receive healing, comfort and assurance of His care for them, let us pray to the Lord:

C    Lord, have mercy.

P    Into Your hands, O Lord, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in Your mercy; through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who has taught us to pray:

C    Our Father who art in heaven,

     hallowed be Thy name,

     Thy kingdom come,

     Thy will be done on earth

          as it is in heaven;

     give us this day our daily bread;

     and forgive us our trespasses

          as we forgive those

          who trespass against us;

     and lead us not into temptation,

     but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom

     and the power and the glory

     forever and ever. Amen.

BENEDICTION

P    The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.

The Lord look upon you with favor and T give you peace.

C    Amen.

965 GOD BLESS OUR NATIVE LAND

1     God bless our native land;
Firm may she ever stand
    Through storm and night.
When the wild tempests rave,
Ruler of wind and wave,
Do Thou our country save
    By Thy great might.

2     So shall our prayers arise
To God above the skies;
    On Him we wait.
Thou who art ever nigh,
Guarding with watchful eye,
To Thee aloud we cry:
    God save the state!

Text: Public domain

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Divine Service, Setting Four from Lutheran Service Book

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV^® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2018 Concordia Publishing House.