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THE TENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOSTJuly 28, 2024Pastor Tom SteersChrist the Saviour Lutheran Church, TorontoDivine Service Setting III (Pages 184 – 202)Lutheran Service Book OPENING HYMN: 604 “I Bind Unto Myself Today”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjnc432bap8Confession and Absolution Page 184-185Introit (read by the Pastor) Psalm 145:1-3, 6-7; antiphon: Ps. 145:5On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever.Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever.Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.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. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.The Kyrie (Lord Have Mercy)Congregation:Lord have mercy upon us.Christ have mercy upon us.Lord have mercy upon us.The Salutation:Pastor: The Lord be with you. Congregation: And with thy spirit.Our Collect Prayer: Almighty and most merciful God, the protector of all who trust in You, strengthen our faith and give us courage to believe that in Your love You will rescue us from all adversities; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. Our Bible Texts – Frist Reading: Genesis 9:8-17Psalm 136:1-9 (antiphon v. 26)Epistle Reading – Ephesians 3:14-21Gospel Reading – Mark 6:45-56THE APOSTLES’ CREED Page 192 HYMN OF THE DAY: 606 “I Lay My Sins on Jesus”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IjgwTfBSYITHE SERMON --Brothers and sisters, peace, grace, and mercy be to you from God our Father and our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.Our protection through Christ is a matter of faith, not sight.This can seem to be a hard truth in difficult times.In our Gospel reading the disciples face strong headwinds.Amid the waves, suddenly they see the impossible: a man walking on water.Fear paralyzes them. Jesus takes that fear away and emboldens them to go on to a potentially dangerous shore to spread the Gospel. We pray the Lord will grant us courage as the wind and waves of our lives threaten. We ask God to grant us faith to believe that our storm-calming, heart-opening Saviour, will take out every evil threatening our destruction. And we pray we’ll be given the desire to tell about Him.This past week there was a rainbow over Lake Ontario.It happened after a sudden, dramatic storm.In the afternoon light, the rainbow appeared. A Christian sees the rainbow and remembers a promise from God. The unbeliever only sees tiny water drops suspended in the atmosphere refracting light, or turns the rainbow into a statement of ‘pride’ about sin.God gave the symbol of the rainbow to Noah after a wicked, rebellious world was destroyed.It’s a symptom, an irony of our un-Godly times, that the rainbow has been falsely transformed into a message promoting sin.In our passage today from Ephesians, we see Paul summarizing his whole ministry and the Gospel itself. Ephesians was a circular letter Paul wrote to be read to many congregations. Paul is praying that the hearer be able to understand the deep, broad, high love of God. The Apostle wants us to be filled with the fullness of the Lord. Notice the echo of the promise God made to Abraham, that he would be a blessing to all the families of the earth. This is also a repeated and important message in Romans and Galatians. Paul is pointing out that all families on earth draw their name from God. God is the Lord of everyone.Paul isn’t suggesting all religions are just ‘other paths’ to God. The Apostle makes clear: Christ alone is the payment for sin. He doesn’t suggest there are alternate routes to salvation, other than Jesus. In our passage from Mark, the disciples need strength, courage, but perhaps most of all faith in Christ as Saviour.Jesus has just miraculously fed thousands of people from five loaves and two fish. At first Christ had asked the disciples to feed the crowd.Now, He’s sent the 12 out at night to the other side of Lake Galilee. Sometime after 3 a.m. they’re no further than the middle of the lake because a strong wind is against them. They’re straining at the oars, probably exhausted, certainly worried.Christ is aware and walks across the lake towards them. Mark writes that Jesus’ intention is to go right by, but the faith of the 12 at this point is even weaker than their arms.They cry out, thinking they’ve seen a ghost.Popular Jewish superstition at the time associated ghostly sightings at night with imminent disaster.By compassion, Christ calls out, identifies Himself, enters the boat, and the winds cease.The account strikes home because the 12 are so human, so much like us.They’ve seen a miracle of Christ firsthand, yet they can’t connect, can’t see the One who fed the multitudes as the same one walking across the waves.They’re not seeing Jesus through the eyes of faith, for who He really is.At times we’re the same.It’s obvious Christ wanted to be seen by the disciples as he passed by.The Greek word for “pass by” can be interpreted as a “theophany,” an appearance, a revelation of God. We remember in the Old Testament how the Lord put Moses in the cleft of a rock in order to ‘pass by’ to show His glory. (Exodus 33:22)The prophet Elijah was to stand on a mountain because the Lord was about to pass by. (1st Kings 19:11). To ‘pass by’ was a way God gave someone a glimpse of His glory, and this is what Jesus was offering, but the disciples hearts were “hardened.”Their eyes and minds were fixed on the wind and waves, the worries of this world.Their bodies were weak, but so were their spirits, yet all the time the source of true strength, courage and hope was right beside them.The Gospel passage doesn’t end there.Christ and the disciples arrive at the other side.We need to remember this is the place in Mark, Chapter 5, where Jesus cast out a legion of demons from a possessed man.The locals, instead of being thankful, or at least respectful, react by telling Jesus to leave town.The young man who was healed wanted to go with Jesus, but Christ denies his request.Instead, our Lord makes him a missionary to the very people who’d been terrified of the demoniac, and now were afraid of what Jesus had done for him. This time, when Christ steps out of the boat, He isn’t greeted by a possessed man or a suspicious mob.He’s accorded a hero’s welcome. People flock to Him, bringing their sick, lame, and blind. What’s come over them, and what has been the agent of their change? The second question can only be answered with the demoniac who told the story of what Jesus had done to free him from evil. Christ used the most unlikely candidate to evangelize a whole region. We might’ve chosen people of power and influence.Jesus takes a formerly possessed guy he healed to help reach the world. The change that came over the people of Genesseret, was the transformation of faith. Today we face a stiff headwind when we act to fulfill the Great Commission. Bring up Jesus, and people often look away. They often don’t want Him in the room. He makes them uncomfortable, because when they receive His salvation, they’re also admitting they desperately need it, that they’re sinners. Repent and receive the Gospel, Jesus said.As Christians, this also can make us fearful.But Jesus gets in the boat with us. The One who calms the storms and calls back the waters of the great flood is with and in us, as is the Holy Spirit. Christ has put His infinite power and overwhelming love into the mission of the Church. He gives us difficult tasks, but He watches, and when we’re overwhelmed by fears, by opposition we face as we do His work, He calls to us.Jesus notices and climbs over the side of the boat and sits beside us. He consoles us with His Word, His absolution, His sacraments.When our enemies seem strongest, Christ can snatch victory from the very jaws of defeat. Jesus doesn’t just steam by the disciples for their foolishness or hardness of heart. He gets in a boat with them that leads to a place where people are hurting and He is healing. Our weaknesses aren’t the point, the important issue is His faithfulness and ministry. Christ founded a movement of people who were in a relationship with Him the Bible calls faith.The transformation of the gentiles of Genesseret isn’t just a historical footnote, but a living fact made possible by Jesus who works through broken and imperfect people.The Jesus who walked across the waters that night follows His Father’s will and dies on a cross to save the world from its hard-hearted sin. He’s with us today in His Church, exactly where He said He’d be.Before us is a world that doesn’t know Him, that can be hostile.While the wind and waves of this life batter away, our Saviour draws near and says, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”Amen.PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT Page 194 THE LORD’S 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 (Left-hand column) Page 201 Salutation and Benedicamus Page 201-202 Benediction Page 202CLOSING HYMN 923 “Almighty Father, Bless the Word” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJu3-_3wFYM