The Ninth Sunday after Trinity, 2021
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The melodies are linked in the hymn title.
The lyrics are linked in the hymn number.
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
Behold, God is mine Helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul.
He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: cut them off in Thy truth, O Lord.
Psalm. Save me, O God, by Thy name: and judge me by Thy strength.
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
Let Thy merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of Thy humble servants; and that they may obtain their petitions, make them to ask such things as shall please Thee; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.
O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth:
who hast set Thy glory above the heavens. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
V. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord:
that delighteth greatly in His commandments. Hallelujah!
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Bad, To Emphasize the Good
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #657 Beautiful Savior
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #657 Beautiful Savior
Prayers and Announcements
- In therapy - after successful treatment - Randy Anderson.
- Pastor Jim Shrader and Chris Shrader; Kermit and Marie Way; Christina Jackson. Anita Engleman, Zach's mother.
- The Church of Rome invented the three-year lectionary and began counting Sundays after Pentecost (not Trinity Sunday). They also promoted such liturgical colors as pink, sky blue, etc. The Lutherans and mainlines fell into place some years ago. Luther used the historic Scripture readings, and we use them too. Therefore it is convenient to quote Luther for the Sunday sermon.
KJV 1 Corinthians 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
KJV Luke 16:1 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. 2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. 3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. 4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. 5 So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? 6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. 7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. 8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. 9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
Ninth Sunday After Trinity
Lord God, heavenly Father, who hast bountifully given us Thy blessing and our daily bread: We beseech Thee, preserve us from covetousness, and so quicken our hearts that we willingly share Thy blessed gifts with our needy brethren; that we may be found faithful stewards of Thy gifts, and abide in Thy grace when we shall be removed from our stewardship, and shall come before Thy judgment, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Background for Luke 16:1ff - The Unrighteous Steward
This parable may be the most debated and misunderstood of them all. It helps to consider the nature of Jesus' parables. They are almost always stories for believers, and they often make a point that is very difficult at first but after plenty of study, stick with us as the Gospel comes out of its disguise in the story.
A good example of misunderstanding is the New Testament professor who denied the resurrection of Christ. He did not understand the Christian Faith, which was hidden from him due to his obstinate blindness, so he said about the parables - "No one understands them." That really meant that he did not. They are almost always for believers, so the seminary professor gave away the plot, even though he wrote a book on the Parables of Jesus.
Those who find fault with God's revealed Word will also find everything but the truth in its passages. They see without seeing and hear without understanding.
KJV Luke 16:1 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. 2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.
This parable can be quite confusing, both in reading it, telling it, and understanding it. Luther said "This is truly a Gospel for priests and monks, and will bring them money, unless we prevent it." (Sermon 1)
Most of the parable is about the unrighteous steward cheating his way out of trouble. As Lenski noted, having a dishonest manager is nothing new - it happens all the time. (Luke commentary) Apparently the good old days were not as rosy as our parents or grandparents claimed.
This manager (steward) was already found out by those who accused him of dishonesty. I had a church member who put together "talking books." He got a public domain book, reworked it, produced it in color, and had professionals speak the story and sing songs with it. One day he said, "I just found out the manager was driving a truckload of my books to sell on his own." The man was fired. The owner was furious.
So this manager in the parable was already found out. He became his own job counselor.
3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. 4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. 5 So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? 6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. 7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.
People wonder - how is this Scripture? Gospel? I could say the same thing about the Canaanite woman, who was ignored and apparently insulted by Jesus, thus making that passage one of the "hard passages of Scripture." Once understood, it is exactly the opposite of first impressions (or the perspectives of atheists books and TV shows).
Instead of What Color Is Your Parachute? (over 25 million books sold), the steward made up his own What Color Is Your Shovel? job counseling guide. It did not look good for him. He was not fit for day-long digging opportunities, and he was too proud to beg for a living. His idea was to cut a deal with those who owed his lord money for goods previously sold - a relief package, counterfeiting the bills for each one who owed money to his boss. They were just like him, ready to make money by being dishonest. At this point, it is difficult to find something edifying in this story.
His motivational idea is this - "I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. ."
The description of the books being cooked, the partners in business delighting in this, and the owner of the estate being impressed - they are pretty appalling. Lenski makes a good point - this is just simply accurate description of the world around us. Those who want to find evil, always do. So those who do not know the Gospel or believe its plain words will always get mixed up by this passage.
4. The foundation must be maintained without wavering, that faith without any works, without any merit, reconciles man to God and makes him good, as Paul says to the Romans 3:21-22: “But now apart from the law a righteousness of God hath been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe.” Paul at another place, Romans 4:9, says: “To Abraham, his faith was reckoned for righteousness;” so also with us.
Again, 5: “Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Again, 10:10: “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” These, and many more similar passages, we must firmly hold and trust in them immovably, so that to faith alone without any assistance of works, is attributed the forgiveness of sins and our justification.
Again, 5: “Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Again, 10:10: “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” These, and many more similar passages, we must firmly hold and trust in them immovably, so that to faith alone without any assistance of works, is attributed the forgiveness of sins and our justification.
It would be impossible for Jesus Christ to teach two different doctrines, so the mix-ups are from the clergy most of all, since the foundational doctrine is rejected (ELCA, WELS, ELS, CLC, LCMS) or distorted in various ways.
8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. 9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
The owner has a keen eye of a savvy business manager, and we might suspect that he is not so different from the dishonest manager, when it comes to cutting the best deal. When my father had a bakery and food was rationed, he could have demanded extra money for the raw ingredients he accumulated. Instead he sold them to his competitors at cost. He also outlasted 200 bakeries - the owners imagined it was an easy way to make money - make bakery goods for a few pennies, sell them for dollars, and they are addicting. (That is a maxim in the tobacco business but it fits bakeries too).
That reminds me. When Marvin Schwan's foundation was a big deal, the pastor/manager of the fund gave himself $400,000 a year plus benefits. (Herman Otten shouted over the phone that couldn't be true, but the figures were published.) Marvin no doubt admired the pastor for taking care of himself so well, as happened wherever the clergy got close to those leaky buckets of Schwan money (the stories I could tell). But that is a parallel to the action of this parable, not a lesson to be learned, except to avoid it.
KJV Luke 16:1 And he said also unto his disciples...
Jesus addressed this parable to His disciples, so it should be understood in this context. One way of explaining this parable is to say - non-believers work out solutions for themselves in this age. They are shrewder than the believers.
One pastor said that broadcasting worship over the Net would cost money, with the equipment, Net charges, and broadcast charges. That is definitely true, but it also means world-wide reach for a small sum of money, as I pointed out. Every church could do that.
Rather than talk about smart money decisions, we should make the purest comparison, from Jesus to the disciples to us. (From Lenski) Just as the steward, lord, and business partners were earnest in doing their work in a world (mammon) way - so should we be earnest in the righteousness of faith.
The disciples had no money or property to hold out as appealing - only the Gospel. Compare that to the steward's swap. "You have a debt of sin? That sin has been paid for by Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Trust in the risen Savior, because faith gives access to grace, forgiveness, and peace."
I translate Jesus' final words as - "Use what you have in this world to spread the Gospel, and the converted will welcome you into eternal life."
God alone is the cause for salvation, so the ending of the parable has a wonderful future prediction - the proclamation of the Gospel will mean that the people who became believers will welcome you for your labors.
That is true for all who participate in sharing the Gospel. Decades ago, free from synodical traditions and snares, the first members of Bethany said, "You are going to use the King James, aren't you?" And we did. Now I realize what a large group is out there, all denominations, reading, hearing, and remembering the entire Bible, not the one edited down by apostates, atheists, and Roman Catholic leaders. In two days, we had 7,500 views on Ichabod, mostly about the Bible.
Many faithful people are out there, around the world. hoping to have the basics taught and clarified. That costs very little in mammon but has a big impact, because tapes and books last.
I see every address as a distribution site, even if only a few books are given away. The direct contact is most important.
I also view books sent to opponents (for no cost) to be the most significant, because Jesus said, "Go to the village against you," which Luther interpreted spiritually as - "Go to the opposition, not to the easy areas." Gospel and the cross always go together.
The ones who never say thankyou - they are prime targets for conversion.
I cannot predict anyone's conversion except to say, any guesses about the past were wrong so any predictions about the future would be wrong too, often wrong in a delightful way.
But this is true - If nothing is said, sent, taught, or published, then nothing will come of nothing.
Like Paul, I wish I could visit everyone regularly, but that is not possible. Locally, I have walked with Sassy and given away dozens of books, often to the most unlikely recipients, all around the neighborhood. One woman began with Creation Gardening and asked for two more. Ranger Bob said to PFC, "You have to read that book!"
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| Norma A. Boeckler |
