Join us at 11:00 a.m. as we gather to celebrate the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost. During this season, we hear the broad range of Jesus’ teaching as he forms his disciples for life together in faith. Below are brief explanations of the readings for the day and the hymnody. We invite you to join us in hearing these life-giving Scriptures, singing the Word in hymnody, and receiving Christ’s gracious gift of himself in the Lord’s Supper. Because it is Labor Day weekend, we will also engage in a Rite of Affirming of the Vocation of Christians in the World: Daily Work.
First Reading: Ezekiel 33:7-11
The text marks a major turning point in Ezekiel’s message. Up to now, Ezekiel has faithfully prophesied Israel’s doom if it did not repent of its wickedness—idolatry, systemic violence, and social injustice—but it did not, and the day of judgment has come: Babylon has conquered Jerusalem. Now Ezekiel is to explain why this happened and proclaim God’s continuing will for Israel. Although Israel is being punished for its wickedness, God does not delight in its suffering; God desires that Israel repent, turn from its ways, and live.
Psalm: Psalm 119:33-40
Major scholarly debate continues about by whom and when this psalm was written. A beautifully crafted Hebrew poem, Psalm 119 focuses on the goodness and perfection of God’s word or instruction (torah). The author says little about himself, speaking instead of his need for God’s instruction and acknowledging that his heart is inclined toward unjust gain and falsehood. He longs for God to turn his heart toward God’s commandments and ways, trusting in the promise God has made to those who fear God.
Second Reading: Romans 13:8-14
Paul acts as a kind of life coach for the Christian community, giving instruction about the implications of living by faith in Jesus Christ. Although Paul frames his teaching in the belief that the end is near, his message can also mean for us that there is no time like the present to “wake up” and live in the strength of the gospel. Paul describes the Christian life as “fulfilling the law,” not because we must fulfill the law to be saved, but because we have “put on Christ,” by whom the law has been fulfilled. By faith, or by putting on Christ, a distinctive way of life emerges: our debts are canceled, so the only thing we “owe” is love, which summarizes the Christian way of life and reflects such things as honoring marriage, life, property, and our neighbors’ well-being because that is who we are in Christ. Having put on Christ, we cast off the works of darkness and live as people of the light—sober, decent, and ready for the day that is coming.
Gospel: Matthew 18:15-20
Here Jesus instructs his disciples on how seriously the Christian community—and God—takes sin, while showing that its purpose is not “getting even,” but seeking reconciliation and extending mercy. When one disciple sins against another, the matter is addressed privately and, if necessary, with others and eventually the whole community. If the person remains unrepentant and unreconciled, they are regarded as a gentile or tax collector—not as an act of shunning, but as a refocusing of the community on reconciliation, remembering that these are precisely the people for whom Christ came and to whom grace is offered. Reconciliation remains the focus: whenever two or three gather in Christ’s name, Christ is present with them in their pursuit of reconciliation.
Gathering Hymn: ELW 557
Awake, My Soul, and with the Sun
The text was written by Anglican priest and hymnodist Thomas Ken (1637–1711) in 1695 and calls Christians to begin each day by renewing their vows to God, asking for forgiveness and guidance, and dedicating their thoughts, words, and actions to God’s glory. The tune MORNING HYMN, composed by François H. Barthélémon (1741–1808), is in Long Meter (8.8.8.8), giving the hymn its straightforward, measured, and dignified character.
Hymn of the Day: ELW 603
God, When Human Bonds Are Broken
British hymn writer Fred Kaan (1929–2009) first published this text in 1989. The five-stanza text is a prayer for God’s grace when relationships are broken, capturing the themes of confession, forgiveness, family, healing, and reconciliation. The tune MERTON, composed by William Henry Monk (1823–1889) and published in 1850, provides a calm, measured setting for the text.
Sending Hymn: ELW 656
Go, My Children, with My Blessing
Written by Lutheran pastor and hymn writer Jaroslav J. Vajda (1919–2008) and published in 1983, the text expands the biblical language of the Aaronic blessing into a hymn of baptismal identity, forgiveness, nourishment, and sending. The tune AR HYD Y NOS is a traditional Welsh melody dating from the late eighteenth century and gives the text a gentle, familiar character well suited to a closing blessing and sending.
Organ Voluntaries will include:
Preludes on AR HYD Y NOS(“Go, My Children, with My Blessing”) by Allan Mahnke and Betty Roe; a Minuetby Handel; a new prelude on MERTON (“God, When Human Bonds Are Broken”) by English composer Malcolm Archer; and Charles Vincent’s Postlude. Charles John Vincent (1852–1934) was an English organist, composer, and music educator who served as organist at several English churches and founded the Vincent Music Company, which published music in London from 1890 to 1913.
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