3 Teach us the lesson Thou hast taught:
To feel for those Thy blood hath bought,
That ev’ry word and deed and thought
May work a work for Thee.
The Ninth Sunday After Trinity
“The master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly” (Luke 16:1-9). The steward’s shrewdness is praiseworthy for two reasons. First, he knew the master would be merciful. He trusted that the master would honor the debts he forgave in the master’s name. In the same way, though we have squandered our heavenly Father’s possessions in selfishness and sin, Jesus is the Steward who has canceled our debt, knowing that His forgiveness will be honored by the Father because of the holy cross. Secondly, the steward was shrewd in using oil and wheat to provide for his earthly welfare. So also do these earthly elements aid us when pressed into heavenly use in the anointing of baptism and the wheat of the Lord’s Supper. Those who have the Sacraments will have an eternal home when the earthly fails. These are our escape in temptation (1 Cor. 10:6-13). For the Lord is our strength and a shield to all who trust in Him (2 Sam 22:26-34).
Introit: (Psalm 54:1-3,7; antiphon: Psalm 54:4-5)
Pastor: Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.
Congregation: He will return the evil to my enemies;
in your faithfulness put an end to them.
P: O God, save me by your name, and vindicate me by your might.
C: O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth.
P: For strangers have risen against me; ruthless men seek my life;
they do not set God before themselves.
C: For he has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.
All: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, Is now, and will be forever. Amen.
P: Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.
C: He will return the evil to my enemies; in your faithfulness put an end to them.
Collect Of The Day
Let Your merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of Your humble servants; and that they may obtain their petitions, make them to ask such things as shall please You; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
- 2 Samuel 22:26-34 +
“With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless; (27) with the purified you deal purely, and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous. (28) You save a humble people, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down. (29) For you are my lamp, O LORD, and my God lightens my darkness. (30) For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. (31) This God—his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. (32) “For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God? (33) This God is my strong refuge and has made my way blameless. (34) He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights.
Gradual: (Psalm 8:1)
O | LORD, our Lord,*
how majestic is your name in | all the earth!
You have set your | glory*
above the | heavens.
- 1 Corinthians 10:6-13 +
Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. (7) Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” (8) We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. (9) We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, (10) nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. (11) Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. (12) Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. (13) No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
The Lutheran Confessions Responsive Reading: Luther’s Small Catechism (1529)
P: As the head of the family should teach them in a simple way to his household.
What is the 8th Commandment?
C:You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
P: What does this mean?
C: We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest possible way.
Verse: (Psalm 112:1)
P: Alleluia! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
C: who greatly delights in his commandments! Alleluia! - Luke 16:1-13 +
He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. (2) And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ (3) And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. (4) I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ (5) So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ (6) He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ (7) Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ (8) The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. (9) And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. (10) “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. (11) If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? (12) And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? (13) No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
