The Fifth
Sunday after Pentecost
2 July
2023
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Prelude, Welcome, and
Information Hymn #886 O, For a Thousand Tongues to Sing |
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The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you
all. And
also with you. Psalm: Psalm 89:
1-4, 15-18 I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord,
forever; with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to
all generations. I declare that your steadfast love is established
forever; your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens. You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen
one, I have sworn to my servant David: ‘I will establish your descendants forever, and
build your throne for all generations.’” Happy are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O Lord, in the light of your
countenance; they exult in your name all day long, and extol
your righteousness. For you are the glory of their strength; by your
favor our horn is exalted. For our shield belongs to the Lord, our king
to the Holy One of Israel. |
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The Lord be with you. And
also with you. Let us pray. O God,
you direct our lives by your grace, your words of justice and mercy reshape
the world. Mold us into a people who welcome your word and serve one another,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen. |
Reading: Jeremiah 28:5-9
A
reading from the prophet Jeremiah
Then
the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the
priests and all the people who were standing in the house of
the Lord; and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May
the Lord do so; may the Lord fulfill the words that you
have prophesied, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the
house of the Lord, and all the exiles. But listen now to this word
that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. The
prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and
pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. As for the prophet
who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes true, then it will be
known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet.”
The
Word of the Lord
Reading: Romans 6:12-23
A
reading from the letter to the Romans
Therefore,
do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their
passions. No longer present your members to sin as instruments of
wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from
death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of
righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not
under law but under grace. What then? Should we sin because we are not
under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you
present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom
you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to
righteousness? But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of
sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you
were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become
slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of your
natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to
impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as
slaves to righteousness for sanctification. When you were slaves of sin,
you were free in regard to righteousness. So what advantage did you then
get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is
death. But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the
advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. For the
wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus
our Lord.
The
Word of the Lord.
Gospel Verse:
Alleluia! You are a chosen
race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation in order that you may proclaim the
mighty acts of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Alleluia! (1 Peter 2:9)
Gospel
Reading: Matthew 10:40-42
A
reading from the Gospel of Matthew
[Jesus
said] “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the
one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will
receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name
of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and
whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name
of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”
This is
the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to
you, O Christ.
Sermon (added at the end of the document)
Hymn #676 Lord,
Speak to Us, that We May Speak
Thanks
and Offertory
Prayers
of the Church:
God of steadfast love, may we
sing your praises as long as our lives endure. We remember your covenant with
us in Jesus Christ and we ask you to hear our prayers this day.
God of steadfast love, continue to send us prophets
in our time, to show us your way in our daily lives. Lord, in your mercy, Hear
our prayer.
God of steadfast love, help us to remember
that we are under grace, especially when the Law looks so much easier. Lord, in
your mercy, Hear our prayer.
God of steadfast love, bless all those who
have been kind to us for the sake of Jesus and our discipleship. Lord, in your
mercy, Hear our prayer.
God of steadfast love, continue to grant good
weather so the crops that feed so many may grow. Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
God of steadfast love, you hold all people in
your hands. Grant peace to all where war is found, especially in Ukraine,
Russia, and Sudan. Continue to bless all those throughout the world who suffer
the terrors and dangers of violence. Lord, in your mercy, Hear
our prayer.
God of steadfast love, Support all those who struggle
with sicknesses of body, mind, or spirit. Protect and give energy to those who
work for healing in any way. Lord, in your mercy, Hear
our prayer.
God of steadfast love, grant us clear air and
an end to the fires in our province and throughout the nation. Lord, in your
mercy, Hear our prayer.
God of steadfast love, as we celebrate our
national day, in your grace keep us free and always dedicated to justice, Lord,
in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
God of steadfast love, today we remember and
pray for your people of Trinity Church, London, and their pastor, Pastor Steve
Johnston. Bless their faithful service. Lord, in your mercy, Hear
our prayer.
God of steadfast love, we ask you to hear our continual
prayers for those we care for and for those who have asked for our prayers …
* Lord, in your mercy, Hear
our prayer. {*Gail Mauer, Deb Kirschner, Rose Gotzmeister,
Rick Cerna, Rose Ungar, Marjorie Weber}
Loving God, your love and your mercy endure
forever. Hear our prayers this
day and grant what is best for us in all things as we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Hymn ELW#592 Just As I Am
The
Lord’s Prayer
Finally let us pray for all
things as our Lord would have us ask:
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.
Closing prayer
Almighty God, by our baptism
into the death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ,
you turn us from the old
life of sin. Grant that we who are reborn to new life in him
may live in righteousness
and holiness all our days, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
May the Lord bless us and keep us.
May the Lord’s face shine upon us with grace and
mercy.
May the Lord look upon us with favor and X give
us peace.
Amen.
Hymn #545 Lord, Dismiss Us with Your Blessing
Go in
peace. Serve the Lord. Thanks be to
God.
Postlude:
#892 O Canada
W
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Upcoming
Services for July & August:
(All services begin at
11:00am) July 9
Holy Communion at St. John’s (Pentecost VI) July 16
YouTube (Pentecost VII) July 23
Holy Communion at St. John’s (Pentecost VII) July 30
YouTube (Pentecost IX) August 6
Holy Communion at St. John’s (Pentecost X) August 13
No Service scheduled August 20
No Service scheduled August 27
Holy Communion at St. John’s (Pentecost XIII) |
For
sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under
grace.
·
Why do we
talk about sin so much? Why do we go through the Order of Confession and
Forgiveness so often? Years ago, a member of the congregation I served then asked
“Why do we do this so often? None of us really sin, do we?”
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My answer to
that was “<sigh> Oh, boy.” Maybe that person missed something. Maybe I missed something.
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Law and
grace, or if you prefer “Law and Gospel” is the basic Lutheran dichotomy. The
Law restricts; the Gospel frees. The Law condemns; the Gospel forgives. The Law
is concerned with sin; the Gospel is concerned with our life in Christ.
·
For Paul,
the Law points out sin but does not forgive it. For Paul, sin is a power that
enslaves and demands servitude. For Paul, it is not a separation, or
brokenness, or moral imperfection. Rather, it is a power that tries to wrest
control of creation from the Creator.
·
To me, this
sounds like the definition of idolatry, what is rightly owed to the Creator is
given over to something created… which includes the self. I’m reminded of the
insight of a rabbi I once worked with: The first of the Ten Commandments is the
main commandment; the other nine are commentary on the first, showing how we
make ourselves out to be God. In New Testament terms, we have the Great
Commandment - ‘“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all
your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it:
“You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” (Mt.22: 37-39) To
follow those commandments, we pretty much have to leave ourselves behind.
·
The Law
reveals sin and if we are no longer under the Law, can we do as we please all
the time? Paul would say no. Should
we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Such a thing would mean a return to slavery,
a slavery we have been freed from at a great cost of nothing less than the
cross of Christ.
·
Then we should avoid sin, right? Well, sure… and yet. Luther was a
realist and knew his own nature, which is our own nature. The first of 95
Theses states our whole lives should be lives of repentance. (When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ
said, “Repent'' (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of
repentance.) Like it or not, sin remains around us and as always, it is
only defeated and healed by grace.
·
It could be
said that we are helpless against sin and rely solely on grace. And that would
be right. It is the freely given grace of God that saves us and guides us in
our lives in Christ Jesus.
·
A writer
commented on this passage by telling a story about one church’s pastor’s
invitation to Holy Communion: “Receive what you are. Be what you receive.” When
it comes to grace, we have received the grace of God and in that we are resurrected.
From then, we are to be what we have received. We have life in Christ Jesus and
we are to be that life for the world. We receive what we are and we are to be
what we receive. It is a circle and it is a circle of life. It is the life of
grace and so the life of resurrection.
For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
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