Manuscript for Epiphany 5

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

C Amen.

 

KYRIE LSB 186

C Lord, have mercy upon us.

Christ, have mercy upon us.

Lord, have mercy upon us.

 

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS LSB 187

P Glory be to God on high:

C and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.

We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we worship Thee,

we glorify Thee, we give thanks to Thee, for Thy great glory.

O Lord God, heav’nly King, God the Father Almighty.

O Lord, the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ;

O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,

that takest away the sin of the world, have mercy upon us.

Thou that takest away the sin of the world, receive our prayer.

Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father, have mercy upon us.

For Thou only art holy; Thou only art the Lord.

Thou only, O Christ, with the Holy Ghost,

art most high in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

 

SALUTATION AND COLLECT OF THE DAY

P O God, the strength of all who put their trust in You, mercifully grant that by Your power we may be defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

 C Amen.

 

OLD TESTAMENT READING Isaiah 55:10–13

¹⁰“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, ¹¹so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. ¹²“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. ¹³Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

A This is the Word of the Lord.

 

PSALM 84

¹How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!
²My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord;my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.

³Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
⁴Blessèd are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise!

⁵Blessèd are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
⁶As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools.
⁷They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.

⁸O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob!
⁹Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed!

¹⁰For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
¹¹For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
¹²O Lord of hosts,blessèd is the one who trusts in you!

 

HOLY GOSPEL

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

⁴When a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to [Jesus], he said in a parable: ⁵“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. ⁶And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. ⁷And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. ⁸And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

⁹And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, ¹⁰he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ ¹¹Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. ¹²The ones along the path are those who have heard. Then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. ¹³And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. ¹⁴And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. ¹⁵As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.”

P This is the Gospel of the Lord.

 

Apostles’ CREED

 

SERMON

 Luke 8:8 And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

 A hundredfold was not an unheard of yield in those days back then, but it was extraordinary. It was a clear sign of God’s blessings on the crop that produced so much. In our Sunday school the lessons lately have been on the patriarch, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In Genesis 26, Isaac’s fields produced a hundred fold. It says, “The Lord blessed him.”

 Nowadays, modern science and technology makes a hundredfold yield seem not as impressive. This is not a reason to believe that we as a modern human race no longer needs help from heaven. Rather, by faith we see that God is just as active as ever prospering the work and inventiveness of pioneers like Norm Borlaug and other great men and women whose names we’ve probably never heard. The geneticists, agronomists, technicians, laborers are a blessing of God to the world. Whether they know it or not, acknowledge it or not, God is at work in science and industry to prosper and sustain the whole world.

 Jesus says the yield is a hundredfold, a nice round number that we can all relate to in our mind and we can imagine the great satisfaction that sower would have had with that portion of his field that had such a fine yield. I suppose many in that crowd that day, attentively listening would have thought, “Wow, I wish I could experience a windfall like that. I wish my crop this year would turn out that good.” All can imagine what it would be like, whatever their business, a hundredfold return, that’s what I need too.

 But of course, as we expect, Jesus point here is not on the earthly business. It’s not about profit and loss in this lifetime. In fact, those who think like that are warned by this parable. They are like for seed that “fell among the thorns . . . they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.”

 But for those of you in whom the word of God has been planted, taken root, and is now being nurtured by the Holy Spirit of God, You don’t have to say, Wow, I wish I could get a hundredfold yield.” Dear friends, you’ve got it. Take a moment and consider what is being harvested from the crop the Word of God is growing in you.

 First of all I encourage you take stock of the life your living and consider your personal piety, that is the care you take to be faithful to God, striving to be pure in your life. Serving God, you try to be kind to others, fair in your dealings, generous toward those in need, helpful to those who could use a hand. God’s word, rooted and growing in you, produces such things. It leads one to realize that the righteous life we’ve been called to in God’s Kingdom is 100 times better than the empty way of life of wickedness. Well infinitely better actually, I’m just using that round number 100 that Jesus used. Your good works for God are a product of the seed planted in you.

 Repentance, also is a product of the seed planted in you. Because your piety isn’t as great as it could be nor as great as it should be. God’s Word teaches you to recognize your sinful nature and your ongoing sins of thought, word and deed, things done and left undone. You consider the piety you had intended, and there is guilt and regret. Guilt too, is a product of the seed of God’s law. God’s Word turns you from your sins and toward the righteous life God intends for you. In repentance you can repeat what the Psalm says, “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God  than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”

 And to repentance, the Lord of the Harvest adds faith. What other profit will you ever need, if you have faith. What else can you not live without, other than faith. Faith looks to Jesus. He knows your sins and shortcomings. He takes them from you with the word of grace and forgiveness. He says, “Those sins are mine now. Nothing for you to feel guilty about.” He says, “You are forgiven and so you will not be found guilty and sentenced to hell. You have eternal life in heaven and the resurrection at the end of time. Nothing for you to worry about.”

 There’s your hundredfold crop from the Lord, faith and eternal life, and also the peace of mind that comes from knowing, “OK, now that Jesus loves me and He’s saved me, I can be free to serve him without hesitation. I can be kind toward others without embarrassment, I can be diligent in the work the Lord sets before me without feelings of inadequacy. I can speak up for the truth without intimidation. I can live everyday in the sure and certain hope that my God is on my side and so he promises to be forever. Amen.

 

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

P O Lord God, you are gracious and full of compassion. Because you are good to us and to all your creation, hear the prayers of your children as we call upon you. Lord in your mercy,

C Hear our prayer. 

P With thankfulness we bow in spirit before you, for your love for us, given in the death of your only Son, who was delivered for offenses and raised again for our justification. We admit our transgressions before you. Our sin is ever before us. Grant us a true understanding of the character of our sinfulness and our ongoing need of repentance. Show us in Christ, if we confess our sins, you are faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Forgive us and thereby convert us again to you.  Lord in your mercy,

C Hear our prayer. 

P Send your Holy Spirit on us with his gifts, to sow the seed of your word in us and all Christians. Preserve us in the pure teaching of Your saving Word, that faith toward you is strengthened, love is increased in us toward all, and your kingdom extended in all the world, Lord in your mercy,

C Hear our prayer. 

P Gracious Lord, grant health and prosperity of all in authority, especially our President Biden; Our Governor Reynolds; and all those who serve in our armed forces, and give them wisdom to serve and maintain righteousness and hinder and punish wickedness; and that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty, Lord in your mercy,

C Hear our prayer. 

P For all who are in trouble, want, sickness, anguish of labor, peril of death or any other adversity, including those who are suffering for the sake of Christ’s name and truth, [especially for _____________,]. Dear Holy Spirit comfort them that somehow they may receive and acknowledge their afflictions as part of your good and gracious will, let us pray to the Lord:

C Lord, have mercy.

P Lord God our Savior, preserve us from false teachings, from war and bloodshed, from plague and pestilence, from failure of harvest and famine, from anguish of heart and despair, and from an evil death. Show yourself at every time to be a very present help in trouble, Lord in your mercy,

C Hear our prayer. 

P Lord God, heavenly Father, we thank You that through Your Son, Jesus Christ, You have sown Your Holy Word among us. We pray that You will prepare our hearts by Your Holy Spirit, that we may diligently and reverently hear Your Word, keep it in good hearts and bring forth fruit with patience; and that we may not incline to sin, but subdue it by Your power, and in all persecutions comfort ourselves with Your grace and continual help; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the same Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C Amen.

 

LORD’S PRAYER

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.

 

BENEDICAMUS

A Bless we the Lord.

C Thanks be to God.

 

BENEDICTION

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.

 

921 ON WHAT HAS NOW BEEN SOWN

1 On what has now been sown
    Thy blessing, Lord, bestow;
The pow’r is Thine alone
    To make it sprout and grow.
Do Thou in grace the harvest raise,
And Thou alone shalt have the praise!

2 To Thee our wants are known,
    From Thee are all our pow’rs;
Accept what is Thine own
    And pardon what is ours.
Our praises, Lord, and prayers receive,
And to Thy Word a blessing give.

3 O grant that each of us,
    Now met before Thee here,
May meet together thus
    When Thou and Thine appear
And follow Thee to heav’n, our home.
E’en so, amen, Lord Jesus, come!

Text: Public domain