Brothers and sisters, I hope you have enjoyed the cooler weather. Most of you will agree it has been a refreshing change from the heat and humidity we have experienced the past couple of months. I’ll use this as an opportunity to encourage you to be in worship Sunday to receive the refreshing and life changing word God delivers through His Scriptures and the Lord’s Supper. You were united to Christ in baptism. Come and have your spirit fed.
Sunday, October 20 we will be following the liturgy of Divine Service Setting One beginning on page 151 in the LSB hymnal. As part of our ongoing catechetical study, we will also recite Luther’s explanation of the second Article of the Apostles Creed.
.Hymns chosen for the day are #915 Today Your Mercy Calls Us; #536 One Thing’s Needful; #619 Thy Body Given For Me O Savior; and #732 All Depends on Our Possessing.
Scriptures assigned to the day are Psalm 119:9-16; Ecclesiastes 5:10-20; Hebrews 4:1-13; Mark 10:23-31.
Psalm 119 is a long acrostic teaching psalm, with each section originally having verses beginning with a sequential letter from the Hebrew alphabet. Verses 9-16 originally began with the letter beth, generally equivalent to our letter ‘b’ (and also used as the word for ‘house’, or ‘family’, or ‘place’; for example, Bethlehem means the house of bread; Bethel means the house of God). Young students would have memorized the psalm, and through it been instructed on morality and right living. The verses remind us that God’s word is useful as a guide, keeping our way pure. So, trusting and honoring God, we remember His word, contemplate the meaning and application of His word, and tell His word to others. Let us join the psalmist in asking God to help us delight in God’s word, to fix our eyes on it, not forget it, or wander from it. God has given us the Words of eternal life. Study His word and He will teach you the way of salvation through His Son, Jesus.
Ecclesiastes was written by a man who self-identifies as qoheleth, meaning teacher or preacher. He also says in 1:12 that he is the king of Israel. Conservative Bible scholars follow the ancient view that the book was written by King Solomon, son of David. Scripture describes him as the wisest man ever to live. This book appears to have been written when he is an old man recalling what he has observed in life, intending to pass that experienced wisdom on to his sons (and to us) so that they would be benefited from it. In the verses we read Sunday, the Teacher reports that most of what we consider important in life—things like money and possessions– are instead vanity, that is, empty and hollow objects that don’t matter when measured by eternity. We have all experienced how issues over money and possessions cause us worry and conflict. How much time do we spend on things we cannot take with us when we die? Trust in God rather than possessions. He is an ever-present help in time of need. Jesus is the assurance that God will graciously do everything necessary to rescue you from life’s troubles. His promises and assurances comfort us so that we can enjoy a night of restful sleep without worry.
When God created the world, He did so in six days. On the seventh day He rested. It is given the name Sabbath. God then gave instruction that this seventh day Sabbath would be a day of rest for man and all creatures. Sabbath rest was also evident when God brought His people into the Promised Land. The writer of Hebrews points out that Jesus is the true fulfillment of Sabbath rest, that is, His death, resurrection, and ascension have reconciled us to God and opened heaven and eternal life to us. This part of the gospel message declared to us in God’s Word, the Bible. In the verses read Sunday, the writer of Hebrews urges people not to ignore God’s Word, but to receive the rest and comfort it gives. God’s Word is life-changing. Spoken and read, it truly has power to change lives. The perfect demands of God’s Law crush and kill arrogant and resistant hearts. The good news of Jesus brings life to a heart dead in sin. In baptism, God’s word is attached to water to transform our hearts, and we are born again. Through words of absolution forgiveness is granted. With words of forgiveness attached to bread and wine, God sustains and nurtures saving faith in us. Referring to Psalm 95, the writer urges each of us: ‘Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.’
The Gospel from Mark 10 is a continuation of the narrative we read last Sunday. A rich man had asked about what he could do to inherit eternal life. He claimed he had kept all of God’s laws, but because of his questioning we can recognize that his attempts at obedience were not giving him much comfort. Jesus, seeing into the man’s heart, told the man to sell his possessions and give the proceeds to the poor. This wasn’t an issue of being more generous. The problem was that the man was trusting in his wealth. Possessions were his real priority and comfort. Possessions had displaced God in His life. In this Sunday’s Gospel reading, Jesus comments that it is difficult for rich people to enter heaven. This confused the disciples. They wanted an explanation. Possessions are gifts from God. It might be concluded that a rich man must be very blessed. The rich were thought to be the most likely to enter heaven because of all the good things they could do. But Jesus corrects such temporal worldly thinking. Entry into heaven is not achieved by doing; heaven is not a matter of having wealth or not having wealth. Heaven is granted us when we trust in Jesus. We put ourselves in eternal danger when we rely on anyone or anything else. God sent Jesus to be the atoning sacrifice that would redeem us from sin, and make it possible for you to enter eternal life. Everyone who trusts Jesus and holds Him as a priority in their life will receive heaven’s reward. In the verses that follow, Jesus once again informs the disciples that He would soon be going to Jerusalem to die and after three days overcome death. This saving action in our behalf is why Jesus should be a priority in each person’s life. There is no one and no thing that is more important to your eternal outcome.
COLLECT: Lord Jesus Christ, Your grace always surrounds us, preceding and following us wherever we go. Help us to forsake all trust in earthly gain and to find in You our heavenly treasure; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Please let me know if you have any prayer requests or questions about Sunday’s lessons. The Lord be with you. Pastor Boster
