The Third Last Sunday in the Church Year
(The Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Trinity)
“The kingdom of God does not come with observation” (Luke 17:20–30). You must use your ears and not your eyes. For God’s kingdom in this world is one of faith, and faith comes by hearing the Word of Christ. The people of Israel, however, wanted to walk not by faith but by sight. When Moses delayed in coming down the mountain, they decided to make a visible god for themselves, the golden calf (Ex 32:1–20). Upon such faithless and false worshipers God’s judgment comes. Only on the Last Day will our faith be turned to sight. “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matt 24:15–28). The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, and He will gather His people to Himself, both the living and the dead. In a world in which our days are few and full of trouble (Job 14:1–6), let us comfort one another with these words of the resurrection and the coming of our Lord Jesus.
Introit: (Psalm 31:1-2a, 5, 24; antiphon: Psalm 31:9a, 15b, 17a)
Pastor: Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!
Congregation: O Lord, let me not be put to shame, for I call upon you.
P: In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame;
C: In your righteousness deliver me!
Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily!
P: Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.
C: Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the Lord!
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: Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!
C: O Lord, let me not be put to shame, for I call upon you.
Collect of the Day
Almighty God, we implore You, show Your mercy to Your humble servants that we, who put no trust in our own merits, may not be delth with after the severity of Your judgment but according to Your mercy; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
- Job 14:1-6 +
“Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble. (2) He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not. (3) And do you open your eyes on such a one and bring me into judgment with you? (4) Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one. (5) Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass, (6) look away from him and leave him alone, that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day.
Gradual: (Psalm 74:4, 2a)
Your foes have roared in the midst of your | meeting place; *
they set up their own | signs for signs.
Remember your congregation, which you have pur- | chased of old, *
which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your | heritage!+ 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 +
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. (14) For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. (15) For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. (16) For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. (17) Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. (18) Therefore encourage one another with these words.
The Lutheran Confessions Reading: The Small Catechism (1529)
P: As the head of the family should teach it in a simple way to his household.
What is The Fifth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer?
C:And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. P: What does this mean?
C: We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look at our sins, or deny our prayer because of them. We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but we ask that He would give them all to us by grace, for we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment. So we too will sincerely forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us.
Verse: (Psalm 46:4)
P: Alleluia. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
C: The holy habitation of the Most High. Alleluia.
- Luke 17:20-30 +
Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, (21) nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” (22) And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. (23) And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. (24) For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. (25) But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. (26) Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. (27) They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. (28) Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, (29) but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— (30) so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
