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THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITYJune 16, 2024Pastor Tom SteersChrist the Saviour Lutheran Church, TorontoDivine Service Setting III (Pages 184 – 202)Lutheran Service Book OPENING HYMN: 609 “Sinners Jesus Doth Receive”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RODV7z-UQhI Confession and Absolution Page 184-185Introit (read by the Pastor) Psalm 25:1-2a, 5b, 15, 20; antiphon: vss. 16,18Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins.To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame;You are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net.Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me! Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins. The Kyrie (Lord Have Mercy)Congregation:Lord have mercy upon us.Christ have mercy upon us.Lord have mercy upon us.Gloria in Excelsis (Glory to God in the Highest) p. 187The Salutation:Pastor: The Lord be with you. Congregation: And with thy spirit.Our Collect Prayer:O Lord, the protector of all who trust in You,without whom nothing is strong and nothing is holy, multiply Your mercy on us that, with You as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.Our Bible Readings:First Reading – Micah 7:18-2018 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance?He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.19 He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot.You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham,as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.Pastor: This is the Word of the Lord.Congregation: Thanks be to God. Psalm 103:1-13 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.6 The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.7 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Epistle Reading – 1st Timothy 1:12-1712 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. 17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.Pastor: This is the Word of the Lord.Congregation: Thanks be to God. Gospel Reading (please stand) – Luke 15:1-10Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”3 So he told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”Pastor: This is the Gospel of the Lord. Congregation: Praise be to Thee, O Christ. THE APOSTLES’ CREED Page 192 HYMN OF THE DAY: 611 “Chief of Sinners Though I Be”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR4riCrdNyETHE SERMON –Brothers and sisters, peace grace and mercy be to you through God our Father, and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.We have great news this morning from our Gospel Reading – Jesus receives you and eats with you. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be here now, nor would we one day be in Heaven.Does that mean Jesus doesn’t care if you sin and think you can do whatever you want, that he’ll celebrate your sins with you?No, there is a call to repentance here, a repentance, which means a sorrow over sins, a turning to Christ, and a genuine desire to follow Him.That repentance can’t happen if we’re comfortable in our sins or think we don’t sin. The latter issue was the one the Pharisees were burdened by.Many people today fall prey to both errors.Much to their dismay – and judgment – the Pharisees never spoke truer words than when they grumbled according to Luke’s Gospel that, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” Here we see the Pharisees were not only experts at the Law, but could inadvertently speak the truth – though they were too blind in their stubbornness to see it. So, Jesus tells them a story, a trilogy really, the two parables of our Gospel today, along with the parable of the Prodigal Sonn and His loving Father that concludes the 15th chapter of Luke. The two stories before us this morning are often thought of, and used as, “evangelism” texts. And they are, if we understand evangelism correctly. Evangelism is not just for those people out there – the pagan peoples of some far away land. Evangelism is for every sinner, every man, woman, and child alike until our Lord comes again on the Last Day. Evangelism is the proclamation of the Good News that, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” Evangelism is the spreading of the Gospel to save souls for eternity.So, what about you and me? Are we sinners? Of course we are. The Apostle Paul wrote about himself, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” No one else’s sin spiritually hurts you or separates you from God and keeps you out of the kingdom of heaven.It is YOUR sin that’s your worst nightmare – not the gangsters, not the troublesome neighbour or even family member. Oh, they’re sinners as well like everyone else, but they’re not our ultimate problem. You and your sin are the problem. And Jesus came to save you and me from this. “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” Again, does this mean Jesus tolerates sins, even joins you in celebrating them, or being ‘proud’ of them? No.Nothing could be further from the truth. He calls sinners to repentance, strips each sinner of his own self-righteousness, and brings them in repentance to dine with Him at His Table alongside other repentant sinners at a heavenly feast. A feast of His body and blood for forgiveness, life and salvation – the gift, the Holy Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. And any church that does not see communion that way is not a Christian Church – the Bible makes that clear.There is always room at this table for one more repentant sinner.God the Father is always ready to welcome one more formerly stubborn Pharisee, or person who used to think they could live any way they wanted, but who finally admitted to being lost. Here we’re really no different than the Pharisees, are we? God has indeed given us a great gift in this nation where we are still free to assemble to hear God’s Word and receive His gifts. But we’ve turned away from His generosity in many ways. The unbelieving world denies Him as the Creator of the universe and our Creator and Father.Secular culture denies His good gift of marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and instead tells us we should be proud of sin.Over 100,000 unborn children a year in this country are murdered in the sin of abortion. In the U.S. it’s over a million.Many in our society have forgotten that our eternal destiny is in the hands of God alone, whether they dismiss Him, or not. His majesty, and reign, His sovereignty continues.And our salvation is only found in being found by Him. Many today put more faith in being guided by their GPS units than the Bible. But the moment after they close their eyes for the last time, in this life, those GPS devices and everything else in this world will mean nothing.Many people don’t like to admit that they don’t know where they’re going and need help. Physically, and especially spiritually. They prefer to set their own path.The Pharisees were no different. But you know what? Everyone since Adam and Eve has had the same problem when it comes to Heaven. We’d all rather get there by ourselves, traveling our own chosen roads, figuring we know exactly where we are, what we’re doing, and that we’ll get to where we need to eventually.But that’s the highway to hell. There are many on it. They believe they’re a law unto themselves, and don’t need to repent and receive God’s Word, and His Sacraments that He instituted and commanded.Dear fellow sinners, don’t ever forget that apart from Holy Baptism, apart from hearing the Word of God that forgives you, apart from the Holy Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, we too are among the lost. Each and every one of us is in the same boat as the Pharisees if we insist we don’t need Jesus Christ, and His means of grace. There’s no alternate route to Heaven. It’s really just that simple: “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” Jesus is telling everyone this in the Gospel of Luke so that they too might see themselves as sinners in need of a Saviour.So that they too might desire to be received by this God-man and eat with Him in the Kingdom of Heaven.Jesus wants you and all people to know, believe, and rejoice that He, the very Son of God, came to receive the worst – human beings.And what’s more, Christ even became the worst – for us! He took on our sins and went to a cross and died horribly to take the punishment we deserved so that believers, repentant sinners, could be forgiven.Now that’s evangelism. That’s the Good News, the best news you can, or will, ever hear. The Son of the Living God, loved you so much He died for you so that you wouldn’t die eternally. May God’s truth, mercy and forgiveness comfort you, and inspire you to go and tell those who are lost that they have a Saviour – Jesus Christ.Amen.PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT Page 194 THE LORDS’ PRAYER Page 196 THE WORDS OF OUR LORD Page 197 Pax Domini Pastor: The peace of the Lord be with you always. Congregation: Amen. THE DISTRIBUTIONPost Communion Collect (Right-hand column) Page 201 Salutation and Benedicamus Page 201-202 Benediction Page 202CLOSING HYMN 922 “Go, My Children, with My Blessing” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiQZd_FUfpQ