Pentecost XII
Here is the handout from Bob and Cathy Mattson for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost.
From Luther’s Prayers
O God, here I learn to recognize you as my Creator. How wonderfully you have made me, both in body and soul. You have given me life through my parents and given them kind hearts to serve me, their child, with all their strength. They have brought me into the world, nourished me, waited on me, cared for me, and trained me through diligence, anxiety, danger, effort, and labor. Until now you have guarded me against countless perils and needs and have often helped me, your creature, in body and soul. You have done all this as though creating me new every hour, with the devil begrudging every moment of my life. Amen.
From Luther’s Small Catechism
The Lord’s Prayer: The Sixth Petition
Save us from the time of trial.
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 12:49-56
(Jesus said :) 49 “I came to bring fire to earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 52 From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; 53 they will be divided:
father against son
and son against father,
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
54 He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’; and so it happens. 55 And when you see the south wind blowing you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?”
Second Reading: Hebrews 11:29-12:2
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who had been disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.
32 And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented—38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarded its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
What does this mean?
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame. (Hebrews xii. 2)
In all temptations we should keep our gaze fixed on the image of Christ, and keep close to it. For Christ goes on, however much it hurts, and He is full of courage. Therefore we must pray that He will also give us His courage and spirit, that we too may learn to be strong in the midst of weakness and to overcome in the days of affliction. In this way Christ comes to us not as an image. He implants in us all His courage, so that we too can endure. Therefore, whatever may come upon us, however much shame and blame, people will see that Christ, our prince, perceives and overcomes it triumphantly. Therefore we must beseech Him for courage that, in the midst of besetting adversities, we may be made strong and be given power to overcome death.
In this self-same way Paul sets Christ before us in all his Epistles: first, as an example, which we are to follow, then as He gives us the spirit and the courage which He Himself possesses. And this is the true Christian teaching.
Similarly, no one knows how to use the Passion of Christ, and no one rightly experiences it unless he has endured adversities and been brought near to Christ, and has suffered and come through because he received from Christ the power to endure. In this spirit one must come right to the centre and learn how to use Christ.
Sermons from the year 1522 [W.A.10. III. 77]. Via Day by Day We Magnify Thee p. 128.
