You are encouraged to attend worship each week. If you are looking for a church home we would be happy to explain what we believe, teach, and confess. The service for November 26 will follow the liturgy of Divine Service Setting One beginning on page 151 in the LSB hymnal. Hymns chosen for the day are #793 Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven; #564 Christ Sits at God’s Right Hand; #621 Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence; and #512 At the Name of Jesus.
Scripture readings for the day are Psalm 95:1-7; Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24; 1 Corinthians 15:20-28; and Matthew 25:31-46.
Psalm 95 will be familiar to those of you who know the Venite sung at the beginning of the Matins liturgy. The psalm opens with an invitation to come and worship God. Using imagery of a shepherd caring for sheep, the psalm is a reminder of God’s care for us. False gods are false gods, and they are no match for the true God. He is with us always, even in times of trouble or grief. In the final verses we are told to not be stubborn like the Israelites were during their exodus out of slavery in Egypt. At a place called Meribah the people were camped without water, and they complained against God and doubted that He was caring for them. God responded by miraculously bringing water out of solid rock. The same rebellious attitude is evident in those who refuse to hear, read, or follow God’s Word that points us to His Son, Jesus, the Rock of our Salvation and the Rock upon which the Church stands.
God spoke through the prophet Ezekiel in the years before and during Judah’s exile in Babylon. Like other prophets, Ezekiel pointed out the people’s sin and warned that God would punish them unless they repented. In Chapter 34, God uses the imagery of a Shepherd and sheep to explain His anger against them. That is, the people and especially the leaders were like bully sheep, pushing others aside to have the advantage. This led to conflict, abuse, and injustice. Rather than acknowledging their sin and repenting of it, the people blamed God for their predicament. God threatens to remove the leaders, and promises to Shepherd the people Himself. He will lead justly, judge against the stubborn and oppressive, and bring His people to a place of peace. A few years after the prophecy, God does just that, bringing His people back from exile, to live again in the Promised Land and Jerusalem. These events are foreshadows of the restoring and leading work of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who laid down His life in death to redeem you and me that we with other believers, His sheep, that we would be welcomed by God in heaven.
The Epistle reading is a portion of St. Paul’s first letter to the congregation in Corinth, southern Greece. For those who have questions about what happens to us after death, and what will happen when Jesus visibly returns to earth, 1 Corinthians Chapter 15 is a good place to start readng. In the verses we will be reading Sunday, Paul is emphasizing Jesus power and authority. He will rule over all things. They will be “in subjection under His feet”. Scripture makes plain that when Paul writes all things will be subject to Jesus, this is not saying His divine Father will be subject to Him. As the Athanasian Creed confesses it, Jesus is equal to Father in regards to His divinity, with the same attributes. But in regards to His manhood and human nature, Jesus is inferior to the Father. Beware of those who suggest that this means Jesus is not the true God, but something lesser. Submission or subjection is a term of relationship. Jesus voluntarily took on human flesh to serve, submit, and be subordinate to His Father to fulfill His Father’s will. Submit is used in the sense of good order; that is, among equals one will still be referred to first. Death is our enemy, a curse that separates us from God. We can be comforted because Jesus has defeated death. Jesus is the first to rise from the dead, and we who believe in Him will follow out of the grave.
In the gospel reading Jesus describes the Last Day when He visibly returns. He uses the imagery of a shepherd separating sheep from goats to describe how He will judge and separate believers from unbelievers. In a cursory reading the criteria for the judging may sound like a measure of works. But read closer and see that the works are a response (or lack of response) motivated by faith (or lack of faith). Our attitude toward Jesus will be expressed in our attitude toward others.
COLLECT: Eternal God, merciful Father, You have appointed Your Son, Jesus, as judge of the living and the dead. Enable us to be faithful and repentant as we wait for the day of His return, that we may enter into the kingdom prepared for Your people from the foundation of the world; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
