Fourth Sunday after Pentecost: Sermon and Video of Divine Service


Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer, IN


Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 9C)

Isaiah 66:10-14         

Galatians 6:1-10, 14-18       

Luke 10:1-20

 

O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. 

 

Summertime is the season of vacations: school is out, the weather is pleasant. During this time, we often travel, sometimes to far away destinations. We go away on vacation for many reasons. Among them are joyful obligation to see friends and family and to have new experiences. Those of us who live in flat landlocked places benefit from the perspective of being out on the water far from land or from scanning the horizon atop a mountain. And, having a friendly snowball fight in July or August is certainly a unique and memorable experience. But, mostly, we are looking for some peace, a positive disruption of our ordinary routines in life. Vacations give us a chance to disengage with daily quotidian concerns so that we can be restored and reclaim some inner peace and tranquility. 

 

Vacations are events that we choose for ourselves.  But, in the Scriptures today, God tells us that He brings us peace and life. He gives us the grand picture of His work in the world. God is ever working toward salvation for all so that we may all know God’s peace and life. 

 

We see again and again in God’s Word that the Lord disciplines His people for the sole purpose of our repentance. When words do not turn people away from idolatrous worship and reckless and sinful behavior, then the Lord uses other means. The Prophet Isaiah prophesies about the coming invasion of Babylon and how the people that God made free will once again become slaves in a foreign land. The prophet makes plain that this catastrophic event is to return the people’s minds and hearts to the Lord God. For only through the Lord God is there true peace, true reconciliation, a true life worth living. In the course of his preaching, Isaiah points God’s people to the end times where God’s love for the world culminates in the new earth and heaven where God’s peace and life will flow steadily into eternity. 

 

Yet, in this world and until the fulness of God’s time comes, we need regular reminding, regular telling where our true peace and life lies. God brings us peace and life through Jesus and His cross. His Word and Sacraments announce what the Lord does for us through Jesus and his sacrificial death. 

 

Jesus sends the 72 disciples out into the outskirts of Israel to announce God’s Peace and Life. In Jesus’ name, the disciples preach what Jesus has told them about God’s coming Kingdom. By His authority they provide concrete expressions of peace and life.  They heal the sick. They do what no Doctor can do. To be made well physically or mentally with Jesus’ name and authority is a foreshadowing of the fullness of God’s shalom that Jesus brings through the cross. Those that are broken, wearied, debilitated, and ostracized by sickness, are by God’s power able to live again and live with the peace that God provides. 

 

Yet despite the blessings that God provides, people will and do turn away from God’s grace. When they turn away from God’s grace, they turn away from his Peace and Life and they reject the Church that brings God’s message. What is to be done? 

 

We are to remain faithful despite the reaction of others, remembering Jesus’ words, “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects Him who sent me.” 

 

So, the dust is either literally or metaphorically shaken loose, and we go on with our business trusting that a seed is planted, a memory of God’s Word is instilled, we live in perpetual hope that they will turn to the Lord. We remain faithful, hopeful, and trust in the Lord who give us His peace and the promise of life even into eternity. In this vale of tears and amidst this relentless resistance to faith in Jesus Christ, the church remains faithful. We express our faith best when we live out Christ’s love and care for us through love and care of one another. The Apostle Paul calls this bearing one another’s burdens and living together in humility. 

 

The Word of the Lord assures us that God provides His peace and life for us through Jesus Christ. In Christ’s cross, His Word and Sacraments, we experience God’s peace through His forgiveness and the assurance of His ongoing presence with us. God abides with us. In all our trials, in all our temptations and challenges, we return to the Lord God who is our Peace and our Life forever more. 

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen. 

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