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From Luther’s Prayers

Dear Father, here you teach us how we are not by deception to release, drain, extort, sell, depreciate our neighbor’s property, or get by force, but help him keep it, as we ourselves desire to keep ours. You are also a protection against the sharp ways and the trickery of the worldly minded. They will finally receive their punishment. Amen.

I thank you for this protection. Amen.

With sorrow and regret I confess my sin of coveting. Amen.

I ask for help and strength to become devout and to keep your commandments. Amen.

From Luther’s Small Catechism

The Tenth Commandment

You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

What is this?

We are to fear and love God, so that we do not entice, force, or steal away from our neighbors their spouses, workers, or livestock. But instead urge them to stay and remain loyal to our neighbors.

Gospel: Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to (Jesus,) “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” 16 Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17 And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 18 Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be? 21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.

Second Reading: Colossians 3:1-11

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, 3 for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

5 Put to death, therefore, whatever you do is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil, desire, and greed (which is idolatry). 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. 7 These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life. 8 But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old evil self with its practices 10 and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. 11 In what renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

What does this mean?

Your life is hid with Christ in God. (Colossians iii. 3)

The Church is ruled by the Holy Spirit, and the saints are likewise ruled and quickened by Him (Romans viii.), and Christ is with His Church until the end of the world.

Yet we must ask whether it is certain that those who are called the Church are really the Church, or whether they have been astray all through their lifetime, and have at last come back to the right way. For mark that at the time of the Prophet Elijah all of the people of Israel who were in high place, those exercising authority with regard to ruling, teaching, and other offices, had fallen away into idolatry, so that Elijah thought that he alone had remained faithful. Yet the Lord had saved seven thousand! But who could see then and who knew that they were the people of God?

And what happened in the same time of the Lord Christ Himself, when all the Apostles were offended and fled, when the whole great and glorious people were united in betraying, rejecting, condemning, and crucifying Christ, and only one or two, such as Nicodemus, Joseph, Mary, and the thief on the cross were saved? But were not the many also called the people of God? Or was there no true people of God left? O yes, there was, but it had neither the name nor the honour.

And has it not been so from the beginning with the Church and the children of God (for the work of God is altogether different from the work and reason of man) that many have been called saints and the people of God, and they were not, while some, a little despised company, were not given the name but were the faithful?

On the Enslaved Will p. 78 ff. Via Day by Day We Magnify Thee, p. 354.

Therefore I, too, in order to make a start and to give an incentive to those who can do better, have with the help of others compiled several hymns, so that the holy gospel which now by the grace of God has arisen anew may be noised and spread abroad.

Like Moses in his song [Exodus 15], we may now boast that Christ is our praise and song and say with St. Paul, I Corinthians 2, that we should know nothing to sing or say, save Jesus Christ our Savior.

And these songs were arranged in four parts to give the young–who should at any rate be trained in music and other fine arts–something to wean them away from love ballads and carnal songs and to teach them something of value in their place, thus combining the good with the pleasing, as is proper for youth. Nor am I of the opinion that the gospel should destroy and blight all the arts, as some of the super-religious claim. But I would like to see all the arts, especially music, used in the service of Him who gave and made them. I therefore pray that every pious Christian would be pleased with this and lend his help if God has given him like or greater gifts. As it is, the world is too lax and indifferent about teaching and training the young for us to abet this trent. God grant us his grace. Amen.

Via Luther’s Works Vol. 53, pp. 315-16.

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From Luther’s Small Catechism

The Conclusion of The Lord’s Prayer

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen

What is this?

That I should be certain that such petitions are acceptable to and heard by our Father in heaven, for God himself commanded us to pray like this and has promised to hear us. “Amen, amen” means “Yes, yes, it is going to come about just like this.”

Gospel: Luke 11:1-13

(Jesus) was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come.

3 Give us each day our daily bread.

4 And forgive us our sins,

for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.

And do not bring us to the time of trial.”

5 And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ 7 And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

9 “So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.

10 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if the child asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Second Reading: Colossians 2:6-15 [16-19]

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you are taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority.

11 In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ,

12 when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, 14 erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it. 16 Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. 17 These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, 19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.

What does this mean?

And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Colossians ii. 15.

There are two ways of speaking of our Lord’s decent into hell. First, simply, with childlike and simple words and pictures. This is the best and surest way. On the other hand, one may talk about it critically, what it was in itself, how it could have happened that Christ descended into hell and yet His body was lying in the grave until the third day. But what is the good of long and keen disputes about it? Our thinking will never fathom it. I must let it remain in faith and in the Word, for my words and thoughts will never reach it.

Therefore my faithful counsel is that you let it remain at those simple words and childlike pictures and do not let yourself be troubled by those keen and clever spirits who think about it without any picture, and seek to fathom it with their clever reason.

When I say that Christ is Lord over the devil and hell, and that the devil has no power and might over Him and over those who belong to Him, that is spoken without the use of pictures and flowery speech. If I can believe it and understand in such a way of speaking, that is good. If I portray it with flowers and images, and if I make a flag with which Christ broke into hell, so that those who cannot grasp it without images may likewise understand, grasp, and believe, that, too, is good. Thus, in whatever way we may comprehend it, whether with the help of outward pictures or without, both are right and good, so long as this Article remains firm and unshaken, which says that our Lord Jesus Christ descended into hell, broke it to pieces, overcame the devil and redeemed those who were held prisoner by him.

Via Sermons on Easter Day, 1532 [W.A.36. 159], via Day by Day We Magnify Thee, p. 166.

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From Luther’s Prayers

Lead us not into temptation, but help us by your Spirit to control the flesh, to despise the world and its ways, and to dominate the devil with all his malice. Amen.

From Luther’s Small Catechism

The Seventh Petition of The Lord’s Prayer

And deliver us from evil.

What is this?

We ask in this prayer, as in a summary, that our Father in heaven may deliver us from all kinds of evil – affecting body or soul, property or reputation – and at last, when our final hour comes, may grant us a blessed end and take us by grace from this valley of tears to himself in heaven.

Gospel – Luke 10:38-42

Now as Jesus and his disciples went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. 40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42 there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

What does this mean?

Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? (Matthew vi. 26)

Thus God sets before us the example of the creatures, that we may learn from them to trust in God and not to be anxious. For the little birds fly before our eyes, to shame us, and we should take off our hats to them and say: ‘My dear Doctor, I must confess, I cannot do what you do. You sleep the whole night through in your little nest without any anxiety. At dawn you rise and are happy and gay. You perch on a little flower and sing your praise and thanks to God. Then you seek your food and find it. Shame on me! What a fool I am, that I fail to do the same, although I have so much reason to do it!’

If the little bird can live without anxiety and bear itself in that respect like a living saint, though it has neither field nor barn, neither chest nor cellar, and sings and praises God and is happy and gay because it knows that there is One who cares for it, whose name is ‘Our Father in heaven’, why do we not do the same, we, who have the advantage that we can work, till the soil, gather fruit, and store it and lay it up till we need it? And yet we cannot leave off living in such shameful anxiety.

Sermons on the fifteenth Sunday after Trinity, 1544 [W.A.52. 473 ff.] Via Day by Day We Magnify Thee, p. 337

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Here is Luther’s preface to the book of Isaiah:

Preface to the Prophet Isaiah – 1545 (1528)

by Martin Luther

If anyone will read the holy prophet Isaiah with profit and thus understand him the better, let him not despise this advice andinstruction of mine, unless he has better advice and is better informed. In the first place, let him not skip the title, or beginning, of this book, but learn to understand it as thoroughly as possible, so that he may not think that he understands Isaiah well, and afterwards have to put up with, it when someone says that he has never understood the title and first line, let alone the whole prophet. For this title is to be considered almost a gloss and a light on the whole book, and Isaiah himself points his readers to it, as though with his fingers, as the occasion and reason for his book. But to him who despises or does not understand the title, I say that he shall let the prophet Isaiah alone or, at least, that he will not understand him thoroughly, for it is impossible to gather or observe the prophet’s writing and meaning rightly and dearly, without a thorough understanding of the rifle.

When I speak of the title, I do not mean only that you read or understand the words “Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Kings of Judah”; but that you take up the last book of Kings and the last book of Chronicles, and take in the whole contents of them, especially the stories, speeches, and events that occurred under the kings named in the title, clear to the end of those books. For if one would understand the prediction, it is necessary that one know how things were in the land, how matters lay, what was in the mind of the people, and what kind of intentions they had for or against their neighbors, friends and enemies; and especially what attitude they took, in their land, to God and the prophet, toward His Word and His service.

It would be well, also, to know how the lands were situated with reference to one another, so that the strange, unfamiliar words and names might not make reading disagreeable and understanding dark and hard. To do my simple Germans a service, I shall briefly describe the country situated aboutJerusalem or Judah, where Isaiah lived and preached, so that they may better see whither the prophet turned when he prophesied toward “noonday” or “midnight.” On the East, the nearest thing to Jerusalem, or Judah, is the Dead Sea, where, in ancient days, Sodom and Gomorrah stood. Beyond the Dead Sealies the land of Moab and of the children of Ammon. Farther beyond lies Babylon, or Chaldaea, and farther still the land of the Persians, of which Isaiah speaks much.

Toward the North, lies Mount Lebanon and, across it, Damascusand Syria, but farther on, and to the East, lies Assyria with which Isaiah deals much. Toward the West, along the Great Sea, lie thePhilistines, the worst enemies of the Jews; and along the Sea, to the North, lie Sidon and Tyre, which border on Galilee. Toward the South are many lands, — Egypt, the land of the Moors, theRed Sea, Edom, and Midian, so situated that Egypt lies to the West of the middle.

These are the lands and the names about which Isaiah prophesies as neighbors, enemies, and friends, surrounding the land of Judahlike wolves around a sheepfold. With some of them they madealliance after alliance, but it helped them not at all.

After this, you must divide the prophet Isaiah into three parts. In the first he deals, like the other prophets, with two subjects. First, he preaches to his people and rebukes their many sins, especially the manifold idolatry which has got the upper handamong the people, — as godly preachers, now and at all times, do and must do, — and keeps them in check with threats ofpunishment and promises of good.

Second, he disposes and prepares them to expect the comingKingdom of Christ, of which he prophesies more clearly and more often than does any other prophet. He even describes, in Isaiah 7:14, the Mother of Christ, how she is to conceive and bear Him without injury to her virginity, and in Chapter 53, His Passion together with His Resurrection from the dead. He proclaims Hiskingdom powerfully and in plain language, as though it had then come. This must have been a splendid, highly enlightenedprophet. For all the prophets do the same thing; they teach andrebuke the people of their time, and they proclaim the coming and the Kingdom of Christ and direct and point the people to Him, as to the Savior both of those who have gone before and of those who are to come; but one of them does this more than another, one more fully than another; among them all, however, Isaiah does the most and is the fullest. In the second part, he has to do especially with the empire of Assyria and the EmperorSennacherib. He prophesies more and at greater length than any other prophet about how the emperor shall subdue all neighboring lands, including the kingdom of Israel, and impose much misfortune on the kingdom of Judah. But there he stands like a rock, with the promise Jerusalem shall be defended and besaved from him; and that is one of the greatest miracles in the Scripture, not only because of the event, that so mighty anemperor should be defeated before Jerusalem, but also because of the faith, with which men believed it. It is a miracle, I say, that any one at Jerusalem could have believed in such animpossible thing. Isaiah must, without doubt, have heard many bad words from the unbelievers. But he did it; he defeated theemperor and defended the city. He must have stood well withGod and been a precious man in His sight!

In the third part, he deals with the empire of Babylon. Here he prophesies of the Babylonian Captivity, with which the people are to be punished, and of the destruction of Jerusalem by theemperor of Babylon. And it is here that he does his greatestwork, encouraging and upholding a people yet to come amid this future destruction and captivity, so that they might not believe that all was over with them, that Christ’s kingdom would not come, and that prophecy was false and vain. What a rich and fullpreaching he presents! — Babylon, in its turn, will be destroyed, and the Jews be released and return to Jerusalem. He even tells, with proud defiance of Babylon, the names of the kings that shalldestroy it, namely, the Medes and Elamires, or Persians; and he expressly mentions the king who shall release the Jews and help them back to Jerusalem, namely, Cyrus whom he calls “God’sanointed,” long before there is a kingdom in Persia. For he is concerned altogether with Christ, that His future coming and thepromised kingdom of grace and salvation shall not be despised, or be lost upon His people and be of no use to them, because ofunbelief or great misfortune and impatience; and this would be the case, unless they expected it and believed surely that it would come. These are the-three things that Isaiah deals with.

He does not treat them in order, however, and give each of these subjects its own place and put it into its own chapters and pages; but they are so mixed up together that much of the first matter is brought in along with the second and third, and the third subject is discussed somewhat earlier than the second. But whether this was done by those who collected and wrote down the prophecies(as is thought to have happened with the Psalter), or whether he himself arranged it this way according as time, occasion, and persons suggested, and these times and occasions were not always alike, and had no order, — this I do not know. He has at least this much order, — he brings in and deals with the first and most important subject, from beginning to end, all the way through the second and third parts; and that is what we ought also do in our sermons, always running along with the other things our most important matter, viz., the rebuking of the people and the preaching of Christ, even though we may now and then undertake, as occasion arises, to preach of other things, such as the Turk or the emperor, etc.

Remembering this, anyone can readily comprehend the prophetand be at home in him, and not be led astray or become impatient because of the order of the prophecies, as it happens to those who are not accustomed to it. We have done our best to make Isaiah speak good, clear German, though he has accommodated himself to it with difficulty and done his best to prevent it. Those who know both German and Hebrew well, will easily see that, especially the hair-splitters, who persuadethemselves that they know everything; and there are enough words of threatening and terror against the stubborn, proud, hard-heads, — if that would help. What profit there may be in reading Isaiah, I prefer to let the reader discover for himself, rather than tell him; and for one who does not, or will not,discover it for himself, there is not much profit to speak about. He is full of living, encouraging, heartening sayings for all poorconsciences and miserable, disturbed hearts; and there are enough words of threatening and terror against the stubborn,proud, hard-heads; if that will help.

You should not think of Isaiah, except as a man who was despisedamong the Jews and considered a fool and madman. For they did not regard him as we now regard him, but, as he himself testifies, in chapter 58, they shot out their tongues and pointed their fingers at him and held his preaching as foolishness, all except a few godly children in the crowd, such as King Hezekiah. For it was the habit of the people to mock the prophets and hold them madmen; and this has happened to all servants of God andpreachers; it happens every day and will continue.

It is also to be observed that the thing for which he most rebukesthe people is idolatry. The other vices, such as display,drunkenness, avarice, he touches on hardly thrice, but reliance on their own self-chosen idol worship and their own works, or theirconfidence in kings and alliances, he rebukes all the way through. This was intolerable to the people, for they wanted suchconduct to be right. Therefore they are said, at last, through King Manasseh, to have slain him as a heretic and deceiver and, as theJews say, to have sawn him asunder.

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From Luther’s Prayers

O dear God and Father, keep us wide awake and active, eager and diligent in your word and service. May we not be overconfident, idle, and indifferent, as though we owned all things. May the enraged devil not capture us by his treachery, nor rob us of your precious word, nor cause discord and factions among us, nor somehow lead us into spiritual and bodily sin and shame. Give us wisdom and power through your Spirit, that we may bravely withstand him and triumph over him. Amen.

From Luther’s Small Catechism

The Ten Commandments: The Eighth Commandment

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

What is this?

We are to fear and love God, so that we do not tell lies about our neighbors, betray or slander them, or destroy their reputations. Instead we are to come to their defense, speak well of them, and interpret everything they do in the best possible light.

Gospel: Luke 10:25-37

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?”
27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as your self.”
28 And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”

29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’
36 “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

What does this mean?

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart . . . and thy neighbor as thyself. (Luke x. 27)

There you have the good works described all together. These we should practise towards one another as our heavenly Father has done towards us and is still doing unceasingly. You have often heard that we need no works to please God, but we need them for our neighbor. We cannot make God any more powerful or richer through our works, but we can make our neighbor stronger and richer by them. He needs them and they should be directed towards him and not to God. You have often heard this, and it is still ringing in your ears; would to God that it go into your hands and be expressed in works!

Faith is due to God alone; faith receives divine works which God alone can do, and these works of God we can receive alone through faith. Then we should be busy for our neighbor’s sake and direct our works towards him, that they may serve him.

My faith I must bring inwardly and upwards to God, but my works I must do outwardly and downwards to my neighbor.

Sermons on the fourth Sunday after Trinity, 1526 [W.A.10. I (ii).314 ff.] Via Day by Day We Magnify Thee, p. 323.

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Sixth Sunday After Pentecost

O God, you have prepared for those who love you joys beyond understanding. Pour into our hearts such love for you that, loving you above all things, we may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

From Luther’s Prayers

In order that your kingdom may come and increase, bring all blinded sinners and those held captive by the devil to the knowledge of true faith in Jesus Christ. Make the number of souls in Christendom great. Amen.

From Luther’s Small Catechism

The Fifth Petition of The Lord’s Prayer

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

What is this?

We ask in prayer that our heavenly Father would not regard our sins or deny these petitions on their account, for we are worthy of nothing for which we ask, nor have we earned it. Instead we ask that God would give us all things by grace, for we sin daily and indeed earn only punishment. So, on the other hand, we, too, truly want to forgive heartily and do good gladly to those who sin against us.

Gospel: Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. 2 He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road.
5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’
6 And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7 Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9 cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near you.’ ”
16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
17 The seventy returned with joy saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!’ 18 He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. 19 See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you.
20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

What does this mean?

How terrible art thou in thy works! Psalm lxvi. 3.

A housewife should stand in sheer amazement if she really thought about this: today she has a set of fifteen eggs and she places them under a hen or goose. In four or six weeks’ time she has a basket full of little chickens or goslings. They eat, and drink, and grow until they are full grown. Where do they come from? The eggs open when the time is come, and inside sit the chicks or goslings. They poke their little beaks through the shell and at last creep out. The mother hen or goose does nothing but sit on the eggs and keep them warm. It is God’s almighty power that is at work within those eggs, making them turn into hens and geese.

Similarly with the fish in the water and with all the plants which grow from the earth. Where do they come from? Their first beginning is the spawn which floats in the water, and from this grow, by the Word and power of God, carp, trout, pike, and all kinds of fish, so that the water is swarming with fish. An oak, beech, or fir-tree grows out of the earth many feet thick and many yards high, What is its first beginning? Water and earth. The root draws its sap and moisture from the soil and forces it up with all its might so that the tree grows big and strong and tall.

What is the cause of this? God’s omnipotence and the Word which the eternal, almighty Creator spoke: ‘Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly in the open firmament of heaven. And the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle and creeping thing and beasts of his kind’. It is the Word and Omnipotence of God that brings it all about.

Via Sermons from the year 1544 [W.A.49.436 ff.] via Day by Day We Magnify Thee p. 79.

10 Pentecost 5th Sunday

FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

O God our defender, storms rage about us and cause us to be afraid. Rescue your people from despair, deliver your sons and daughters from fear, and preserve us all from unbelief; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

FROM LUTHER’S PRAYERS

The bread is our Lord Jesus Christ who feeds and comforts the soul. Therefore, O heavenly Father, grant us grace that the life, words, works, and sufferings of Christ may be preached, made known, and preserved for us and all the world. Help us to keep his words and works in all walks of life as a powerful example and an inducement to every virtue. Enable us in our sufferings and tribulations to be strengthened and comforted by his sufferings and cross. Help us to conquer our death by a firm faith in his victory over death and boldly follow our beloved Leader into the life beyond. Amen.

FROM LUTHER’S SMALL CATECHISM

The Fourth Petition of The Lord’s Prayer

Give us today our daily bread.

What is this?

In fact, God gives daily bread without our prayer, even to all evil people, but we ask in this prayer that God cause us to recognize what our daily bread is and to receive it with thanksgiving.

How does this come about?

Everything our bodies need such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, fields, livestock, money, property, an upright spouse, upright children, upright workers, upright and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, decency, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.

GOSPEL: Luke 9:51-62

When the day drew near for (Jesus) to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; 53 but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.

54 When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 Then they went on to another village.

57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Second Reading: Galatians 5:1, 13-25

1 For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. 14 For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. “ 15 If, however, you bite and devour one another. Take care that you are not consumed by one another.

16 Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealously, anger, quarrels. dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Galatians v. 1.

Christ has not freed us from human duties, but from eternal wrath. Where? In the conscience. That is the limit of our freedom, and it must go no further. For Christ has set us spiritually free, that is, He has set us free in the sense that our conscience is free and joyful and no longer fears the coming wrath of God. That is true freedom, and no man can value it high enough. For who can express what a great thing it is that a man is certain that God is no longer angry with him and will never be angry again, but for the sake of Christ is now, and ever will be, a gracious and merciful Father. Truly, it is a wonderful freedom above all understanding, that God’s high Majesty is gracious unto us.

And from this there follows another freedom, that we, through Christ, are set free from the law, sin, death, hell, and the power of the devil. For, as the wrath of God can no longer frighten us, because Christ has set us free from it, so the law and sin can no longer accuse or condemn us.

“The Prophet Joel,” E.A. op. lat. 25. 288 f. With Commentary, Via Day by Day We Magnify Thee, p. 150.