Pentecost XI

Here is the handout from Bob and Cathy Mattson for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost.

Download: .doc/.pdf

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 Sixth Petition

And lead us not into temptation.

What is this?

It is true that God tempts no one, but we ask in this prayer that God would preserve and keep us, so that the devil, the world, and our flesh may not deceive us or mislead us into false belief, despair, and other great and shameful sins, and that, although we may be attacked by them, we may finally prevail and gain the victory.

Gospel: Luke 12:32-40

32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

35 Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; 36 be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

39 But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”

Psalm 33:12-22

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he chose for his inheritance.
13 From heaven the LORD looks down
and sees all mankind;
14 from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth-
15 he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do.
16 No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.
18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
19 to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.
20 We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.
21 In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
22 May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.

What does this mean?

Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning. (Luke xii. 35)

He who sets out on a journey must lay aside his long, wide garments; he must gird his loins, for thus Christ speaks; ‘Be ye prepared and attentive to the game, have candles alight in your hands, be cunning and skilful, for there is nothing certain. Death comes to your homestead, but the hour thereof remains unknown to you. Work as if ye were to live without end, yet be of such a mind as if ye were going to die at this hour. Such is the true meaning of the girding of our loins, that we live in expectation of Christ, the Bridegroom. But such teaching casts down, and calls us to repentance. For there will be no man thus prepared that he may expect the Day of the Lord with a joyful heart. We love so dearly our most wicked foe the flesh, that we do not wish to die.

And if thou dost not yet know that thou art not thus girded, cry to thy God and sigh unto Him, and He will forgive thee; whereas those that despise His Word and are sure of themselves God will not forgive; nay, of a truth, He will count their wickedness unto them for evil. God can suffer weakness, but wickedness and contempt He cannot endure. Therefore, who perceiveth that he is not thus inclined, let him confess unto God and pray for His help, that we may become thus girded; and God will forgive him and help him graciously.

Sermons from the year 1537. [W.A.45. 384 ff.] Via Day by Day We Magnify Thee, by Martin Luther, p. 14.