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THE SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST September 8, 2024 Pastor Tom Steers Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto Divine Service Setting III (Pages 184 – 202) Lutheran Service Book OPENING HYMN: 656 “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” By Martin Luther (1483-1546) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igH38WLuyC0 Confession and Absolution Page 184-185 Introit Psalm 28:1-2, 6-7; antiphon: v. 8 8The Lord is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed. 1To you, O Lord, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. 2 Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary. 6 Blessed be the Lord! For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. 7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to 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. 8The Lord is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed. 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: O Lord, let your merciful ears be open to the prayers of Your humble servants and grant that what we ask may be in accord with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and he holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. Our Bible Texts – Frist Reading: Isaiah 35:4-7a Psalm 146 (antiphon v.2) Epistle Reading: James 2:1-10, 14-18 Gospel Reading: Mark 7:24-37 THE APOSTLES’ CREED Page 192 HYMN OF THE DAY: 846 “Your Hand, O Lord, in Days of Old” THE SERMON -- Brothers and sisters, peace, grace and mercy be with you from God our Father, and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It doesn’t take long in any given day to see the suffering and brokenness of this world. It may take only a few minutes watching morning television, or glancing at the headlines online. We see these things around and outside us. And they’re real. But when we take another look, and in the mirror, for an honest review of our own hearts, we find the problem is deeper, because it’s within us, as well. Jesus tells us this in the verses immediately before our Gospel reading today in Mark Chapter 7. He said, “Out of the heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery.” We’re often shocked or angered at what we see in the world. But the reality is we’re part of it, part of the problem, and the problem is sin. The question then, is what do we do? Where do we go for healing, to be made right and reconciled with our all-powerful God who will decide our fate for eternity? Are we responsible for this fix? Can we accomplish it, achieve the holiness God demands, on our own? Thanks be to God’s Word, the Bible, for it tells us where real healing comes from. And it comes from one place, one person alone, who was both true God and true man --Jesus Christ. This is Good News, because we could never be as holy as God commands, but Jesus could be, and was. It’s also humbling, because when we realize our only salvation is through Christ, we acknowledge we could never save ourselves, in whole, or part. Today, Jesus will draw out of the Syrophoenician woman a remarkable confession of faith. Here’s a woman as far from clean as you can get. A spiritual descendent of the evil Jezebel in the Old Testament. A member of a society that had worshipped pagan idols, and made child sacrifices, perhaps even as we do today, in a culture that sanctions abortion to the idols of pride, lust, and selfishness. Then we read of Jesus opening a man’s ears and loosening his tongue so he can speak the praise of Jesus that reveals a changed heart, one changed by Christ. Today’s Bible readings focus attention on our life as a product of God’s activity. Jesus has made clear that there’s all sorts of nasty stuff in us. What He will do, today, is put something different inside of people. Literally, He’ll open their ears and loosen their tongues, so they can speak something different than the spite, hate, lies, and other sin that normally would be within them. What is good in us, God places there for the sake of Christ, and for a reason. And so, it is Christ’s goodness that God sees when He looks at believers. Not our own righteousness, but that of Jesus. The evil that comes out of us is evidence that in this life we’re still sinners, forgiven sinners, but sinners nonetheless. But the good that comes out of Christians is a witness to the good God put there for the sake of Christ. It is a good that’s meant to serve our neighbour, even the least of those around us, the poor, the homeless, the unborn child. And serve those who are spiritually poor through the Church. This week, the Gospel of Mark gives us two stories told to help us see that point. First the Syrophoenician woman. As I said, she’s as far from kosher as you can get, and yet out of her mouth come words of remarkable faith. How were her lips opened to speak these words to Jesus? The account of the deaf and mute man which immediately follows hers, answers that question. Jesus returns, through Sidon, the evil Jezebel’s home town, and into the region of Galilee and the Decapolis. This is the border of the Jewish and Gentile communities. We don’t know whether this man was a Jew or Gentile, and it doesn’t matter. The man can’t hear and so he can’t speak plainly. The crowds present the man to Jesus, hoping for a miracle, they want something to tell their neighbours that night when they go home. For them, Jesus is becoming a circus act, a show. But Jesus will have none of this. He takes the man aside, privately. He won’t be manipulated a performance, but will also not let this man suffer. He takes him aside and heals him. Jesus doesn’t speak with the man, he doesn’t hear. So, Christ ‘acts out’ what is going on. You wonder if the man even knew who Jesus was. Christ puts his fingers into the man’s ears, to do that he has to ben face-to-face with him. And then Jesus speaks the words “be opened.” Suddenly, the man is healed. His speech is clear, because he can hear it. This is the answer to the question of how the Syrophoenician woman found the words to say. How does the sinner’s heart become a place from which beautiful and holy things proceed? It is because Jesus opens ears and loosens tongues. He puts those holy and beautiful things inside our hearts and draws them out of us as He drew them out of this woman. How will we speak the Good News of Jesus Christ to this world? It will be because God came to earth and took on human flesh in Jesus, and went to the cross to save us. It will be because God gave us His Word, the Bible, that speaks truth to us, and because He offers His sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper to spiritually wash and feed us. Jesus has opened our ears to hear and lips to speak. And it is Christ speaking through us when we tell others of His message of grace and salvation. The Church is called by Christ in the Great Commission to go and teach, and baptize and make disciples. Christians are called to spread the Good News of Jesus to others around us. It is only through His power that we can. The renovation of our hearts, our will and motivations, is His work. Christ fills us with a faith in Him and a desire to go and tell that passes all understanding. The world can’t see this and so it labels the Christian life as boring. But there is no greater adventure than the Christian faith. When we partake of the Lord’s Supper we hold in our hand the visible Gospel, the true body and blood of Christ, just as He promised and commanded. When we speak His Gospel, God is backing up our words. When I splash the baptismal water, it is God giving eternal life. What looks to unbelievers like total failure and miserable loss at Calvary God turns to salvation, victory and powerful witness. Our weakness is an opportunity to show God’s strength, and mercy. Today, Jesus looks us in the eye, puts His fingers in our ears, and says, be opened, and our ears are opened and our tongues loosed once more to be the disciples of His Good News for this world, and this community. We have news to tell, Christ’s story and our story of faith in Him. It’s a good one because Jesus is at the centre of it, forgiving sins, healing hurts, comforting the grieving and promising eternal life. It is a story of real people like you, and me, in fact it is the story of you, and me, and how our Lord has saved us. May the peace that truly passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ. 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 DISTRIBUTION Our Communion Hymn is: 627 “Jesus Christ our Blessed Saviour” Post Communion Collect (Left-hand column) Page 201 Salutation and Benedicamus Page 201-202 Benediction Page 202 CLOSING HYMN: 923 “Almighty Father, Bless the Word”