Manuscript for the October 4 Service

 + 17^th Sunday after Trinity +

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

C Amen.

 INTROIT   Psalm 119:1–2, 5–6; antiphon: vv. 137, 124

Righteous are you, O Lord,
and right are your just decrees.
Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love,
and teach me your statutes.
Blessèd are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord!
Blessèd are those who keep his testimonies,
who seek him with their whole heart.
Oh that my ways may be steadfast
in keeping your statutes!
Then I shall not be put to shame,
having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
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.
Righteous are you, O Lord,
and right are your just decrees.
Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love,
and teach me your statutes.

COLLECT OF THE DAY

P Lord, we implore You, grant Your people grace to withstand the temptations of the devil and with pure hearts and minds to follow You, the only God; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

 C Amen.

 

 698 MAY WE THY PRECEPTS, LORD, FULFILL

1 May we Thy precepts, Lord, fulfill
And do on earth our Father’s will
    As angels do above;
Still walk in Christ, the living way,
With all Thy children and obey
    The law of Christian love.

 

2 So may we join Thy name to bless,
Thy grace adore, Thy pow’r confess,
    From sin and strife to flee.
One is our calling, one our name,
The end of all our hopes the same,
    A crown of life with Thee.

 

3 Spirit of life, of love and peace,
Unite our hearts, our joy increase,
    Thy gracious help supply.
To each of us the blessing give
In Christian fellowship to live,
    In joyful hope to die.

Text: Public domain

 

 

OLD TESTAMENT READING Proverbs 25:6–14

⁶Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence
or stand in the place of the great,
⁷for it is better to be told, “Come up here,”
than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.
What your eyes have seen
⁸do not hastily bring into court,
for what will you do in the end,
when your neighbor puts you to shame?
⁹Argue your case with your neighbor himself,
and do not reveal another’s secret,
¹⁰lest he who hears you bring shame upon you,
and your ill repute have no end.
¹¹A word fitly spoken
is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.
¹²Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold
is a wise reprover to a listening ear.
¹³Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest
is a faithful messenger to those who send him;
he refreshes the soul of his masters.
¹⁴Like clouds and wind without rain
is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give.

 

A This is the Word of the Lord.

 

EPISTLE Ephesians 4:1–6

¹I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, ²with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

 

A This is the Word of the Lord.

 

 

HOLY GOSPEL

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

 

¹One Sabbath, when [Jesus] went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. ²And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. ³And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” ⁴But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. ⁵And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” ⁶And they could not reply to these things.

⁷Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, ⁸“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, ⁹and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. ¹⁰But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. ¹¹For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

 

P This is the Gospel of the Lord.

 

NICENE CREED

 

SERMON

 Jesus said, “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place.” Luke 14:10-11.

Jesus has it right, of course. It’s always awkward and humiliating to have to be told, “hey, you’re in the wrong spot. This place is reserved for so and so. And you’re not they. Not even close. Go find another empty seat.”

 Most of us dread embarrassment. I’d like to know, if there is a way to measure just how much of our actions and behavior is driven and motivated by our fear of embarrassment. I wonder how often do we make choices based not on what is good, what is bad, what is right and what is wrong, but rather, “Let’s just avoid even the chance of getting humiliated, laughed at, and shamed.”

 Jesus is making a wonderful promise to us. Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. He is calling us to take on an attitude of humility, not with embarrassment, or the fear of shame. But with peace and confidence because He is calling you to be like Him. Be like Jesus, who for us and for our salvation gave up his high and exalted place. He came down from heaven and took a place of humiliation the lowest place, a microscopic baby in the womb of His mother, a newborn in a borrowed makeshift bed where the animals had recently eaten and presumably slobbered.

 Jesus can remove your fears about shame and embarrassment. His humiliation is for you such glorious exalting good news. He came down, to lift you up. He gave up everything, so He could give you everything.

These words of Jesus were spoken after He noticed how the people at the dinner party were shuffling and maneuvering to get the best seats, the honored positions, each looking out for old number one. People, when they are doing that, working exclusively for their own self-benefit and  self-advancement aren’t bothered to consider how it might work out for the next guy. No one would even think to do what Jesus does.

 Jesus does not look out for His own interests. Instead He notices you and takes action for you and your well-being. He comes down and finds you in your lowly position, and says, “I’ll sit here, you go on ahead and take my spot.” Now your position was that place you were born into, a son or daughter of a sinful race. You’re in the humiliating, shameful place of a sinner, faced with what sinners get: guilt, condemnation, death. There’s nothing lower than that. And Jesus’ place is life with God, glorious, exalted on high, where there is always life, light and immortality. That place you and I can never deserve no matter how hard we might strive for it. It is always beyond our grasp unless the Lord Jesus says, “Here, come with me now. Be exalted. I’ve taken your place. I’ve died for your punishment. Now you have my place. You will live forever with me in the presence of the heavenly King.”

 There’s one word in this Gospel reading that we should be sure and notice: “Parable”. Jesus “told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor.” A parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. Parables help us understand the Kingdom of God. The parable of the Lost Sheep, for instance, in which, you know, Jesus teaches us how He wants to bring back into His Kingdom the sinner who has gone astray. There’s the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard where we learn our proper attitude in the Kingdom. We don’t get our place in the Kingdom as a reward or wage for our work and good behavior. Heavens no. It’s by the gracious gift of our King that we get us our salvation and eternal life with Him.

 So this teaching of Jesus about sitting in the place of honor is a parable. It’s much more than some earthly advice. It’s always nice when we are exalted here in this world, in this life. Honor given you by your fellows is desirable. It has its benefits. But don’t spend a lot of effort trying to gain it. There’s a reason why we talk about a person getting his or her “15 minutes of fame.” Honor and glory in this life is so very temporary and sooner than we realize, it’s forgotten.

 When Jesus says, everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” He is explaining to us the things of the heavenly Kingdom of God. He directs you to humble yourself before God. This is another way of saying what He has said to you many times before: Repent.

Your true humiliation happens when you say, “I a poor miserable sinner confess unto you all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended You and justly deserved Your temporal and eternal punishment.” Your true exaltation happens when you hear “for Christ’s sake, I forgive you all your sins.” With that exalting, uplifting truth, heaven on high opens up for you and your place is there, readied and reserved for you.

Nothing, no honor, no glory in this life compares to it. Well, actually there is a little something here that gives you a glimpse of the glory that is to be revealed. You have something very glorious and exalted here. Jesus Christ invites you to the most honored place on earth, the sacrament of Holy Communion, His table, to share His food. It’s hallowed and honored because Jesus is there and you can share in His glory there. But the other people of this world, won’t even recognize or respect that, it will give you no respect or fame in this life. It’s only a glimpse of what’s to come. A foretaste of the feast to come.

 But for now, it’s the time to repent. Now is the time for you and me to humble ourselves. In fact, these dark and disturbing days of plague and unrest are definitely a time for the whole world to repent and be completely humble before God.

 Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled. When you exalt yourself, when you pull yourself up a few rungs of the ladder, you get a better view, like the short tax-collector Zacchaeus once did. From an exalted position you can look down on everyone else below you. From higher up you can see how everyone else is doing, how bad everyone else is doing. Lately, there has not been much self-humbling. Instead there has been a lot of blaming others going on. From our self-exalted positions we can blame this one or that one for the problems of the world. “This government official didn’t handle the present crisis well at all. These problems now are his fault.” “This authority overreacted way too much. It’s his fault or her fault.” “The Chinese are out to ruin to us. This plague is their fault.” And so when we exalt ourselves we think we can see good enough to put the blame where it belongs.

 Why are we having such difficulties like disease and dissension? Do you think, just maybe, God had something to do with it. It’s time to consider that God is the King of the Universe. He is exalted. And we are not.

Dear friends, let’s spend some of our time in these disturbing days humbled before our God. Let’s come down from our high place of blaming others. Let’s quit longing for glory and good days in this life and pray to God for His merciful forgiveness in Jesus.

 “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

 Amen.

  

Prayer of the Church

 

A Let us pray that God would both give us the words to pray and graciously hear our prayer.

P O God, You speak to us and call us through Your holy Word and Sacraments. Grant us grace to hear Your Word and to remain steadfast in the true faith, that at the last we may come to everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

C Amen.

 

A Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus that our faith may be increased and our love for one another may abound more and more.

P Keep, O Lord, Your holy Church in the confession of the true faith and preserve us from all adversities, that we may grow in grace and faith and overflow with love for each other; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

C Amen.

 

A Let us pray that the good news of God's salvation in Christ be proclaimed to all nations.

P O God, grant that Your ways be made known on earth and Your salvation preached among all nations, that all may praise You for the love You have revealed in Your Son; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

C Amen.

 

A Let us pray for the pastors of our Synod and for our leaders: for Pastor Harrison, our synodical president, for Pastor Saunders our district president, and for our congregation, that God would be gracious to us and bless us.

P Almighty and everlasting God, bless all pastors and those committed to their care. Grant that Your Word may be purely preached and Your Sacraments faithfully administered and received by us in faith. Sustain those whom You have called to serve in Your Church, and give them both courage and humility, that they may lead us into all righteousness; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

C Amen.

 

A Let us pray for our President Trump and all those placed in authority over us that we may honor them as God's servants.

P O God Most High, You rule the kingdoms of this world and give governance to those whom You will. Grant that all in authority recognize that You have set them as rulers and governors over us and that we, considering whose authority they bear, obediently honor them; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

C Amen.

 

A Let us pray for those whose vigilant care protects our earthly lives.

P   Heavenly Father, we thank You for all those through whom You bestow Your care upon us:  for doctors and nurses and all who work in the healing arts; for police, firefighters, and those serving in the military, and for all who risk their lives to protect our own. Guard them in the work of their callings and help us to honor them for the ways in which they show us Your protecting care; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

C Amen.

 

A Let us pray for the sick, the suffering, and the sorrowful (especially ___________) that God would strengthen and sustain them in their struggles.

P O God, whose compassions never fail, give healing to the sick, relief to the suffering, peace to the sorrowful, and mercy to every soul that is distressed, that they may find in You the help that only You can give them; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

C Amen.

 

A Finally, let us pray, having no anxiety about anything but with thanksgiving making all our requests known to God.

P Mercifully accept these and all our petitions, O God, which we bring before You this day and grant that what we have asked for we may receive by Your grace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

C Amen.

 

LORD’S PRAYER

 

700 LOVE DIVINE, ALL LOVES EXCELLING

1 Love divine, all loves excelling,
    Joy of heav’n, to earth come down!
Fix in us Thy humble dwelling,
    All Thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesus, Thou art all compassion,
    Pure, unbounded love Thou art;
Visit us with Thy salvation,
    Enter ev’ry trembling heart.

 

2 Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit
    Into ev’ry troubled breast;
Let us all in Thee inherit;
    Let us find Thy promised rest.
Take away the love of sinning;
    Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith, as its beginning,
    Set our hearts at liberty.

 

3 Come, Almighty, to deliver;
    Let us all Thy life receive;
Suddenly return, and never,
    Nevermore Thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
    Serve Thee as Thy hosts above,
Pray and praise Thee without ceasing,
    Glory in Thy perfect love.

 

4 Finish then Thy new creation,
    Pure and spotless let us be;
Let us see Thy great salvation
    Perfectly restored in Thee,
Changed from glory into glory,
    Till in heav’n we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
    Lost in wonder, love, and praise!

Text: Public domain

 

BENEDICAMUS LSB 202

A Bless we the Lord.

C Thanks be to God.

 

BENEDICTION LSB 202

P The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you.

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and T give you peace.

C Amen.

 

 

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Divine Service, Setting Three 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.