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THE NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST September 29, 2024 Pastor Tom Steers Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto OPENING HYMN: 791 “All People That on Earth Do Dwell” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc4gEC2lInU The Invocation Page 184 Confession and Absolution Page 184-185 Introit (read by the Pastor) Psalm 135, verses 1-3, 13-14 Praise the LORD! Praise the name of the LORD, give praise, O servants of the LORD, 2 who stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God! 3 Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing to his name, for it is pleasant! 13 Your name, O LORD, endures forever, your renown, O LORD, throughout all ages. 14 For the LORD will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants. 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. Your name, O LORD, endures forever, your renown, O LORD, throughout all ages. Kyrie (Lord Have Mercy) Lord have mercy upon us. Christ have mercy upon us. Lord have mercy upon us. Pastor: The Lord be with you. Congregation: And with thy Spirit. Collect Prayer: Everlasting Father, source of every blessing, mercifully direct and govern us by Your Holy Spirit that we may live the Christian life you have prepared us to live; 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 Readings: Old Testament Reading Numbers 11: 4-6, 10-16, 24-30 Psalm 104: 27-35 Our Epistle Reading James 5: 13-20 Our Gospel Reading Mark 9: 38-50 THE NICENE CREED Page 191 HYMN OF THE DAY: 505 “Triune God, Be Thou Our Stay” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1zCM5M6T_s The Sermon – Today’s Bible readings are powerful. And the words of Jesus in our Gospel reading are pointed right at us. In the Old Testament we have a lesson from the Book of Numbers about grumbling and ingratitude among God’s people . . . and how God steps in to help His servant Moses deal with this. In our passage from James, the Brother of Jesus appeals to his readers then, and today, to be patient and compassionate with one another in the Church: “. . . serving one another, just as Christ is patient and compassionate with us, having served and saved us from our sins on the cross.” The words of Jesus in our passage from Mark are sharp, and it’s important that we understand just what He’s saying in these verses. In all our readings this Sunday, God is crushing our human spirit in these words, He’s bearing down on our pride, ego, and sinfulness. And He calls us to remain filled with His Spirit and be at peace with each other. God’s Spirit will fall on unlikely folk, even the wrong sort of people in the Old Testament. The Book of Numbers is describing the journey of the Israelites in the desert after they were freed from bondage in Egypt. Pharaoh had killed all the newborn male children of the Jewish people. He’d enslaved the Israelites, and was literally working them to death. God responds by sending plagues against Egypt. The arrogant pagan must let the people go. The Lord separates the Red Sea, and drowns Pharaoh’s army. God even feeds the people in the desert by giving them Manna, a heavenly sweet bread so they won’t starve. The people’s reaction? They complain. They lie and say that things were wonderful in Egypt, when in reality, they were starving. God’s provision is not enough for them. They’re so human, imperfect, like us. In the face of God’s salvation, they grumble and want more; in this case they want meat. They’ve talked a whole lot of trash about how great things were in Egypt, and God is angry. Even Moses is fed up with the complaining, and basically says: “God I can’t handle these people anymore.” So, God sends help. He sends His Holy Spirit down on 70 men who become aides to Moses. God’s answer to human brokenness is to send the Holy Spirit down on sinful people, and remake them into His servants who will serve others. Or in other Words: the Church. James the Brother of Jesus continues this lesson. He writes: “Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.” James means God. The Apostle reminds us: “19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death.” This is advice every church can benefit from. People today might be comforted in the simple truth that the first generation of Christians wasn’t any different than we are -- they were sinners. They needed the same forgiving Jesus we need, and they got Him. The First Century was not a golden age when all Christians were ‘perfect’ as opposed to this corrupt generation, in which we’ve somehow failed to live up to our place in the kingdom of God. Overall, they were just as greedy, foolish, contentious, self-centered and sinful as people today. That’s why Jesus came. He came for folks like us. That’s why He’s here today in Spirit, in His Word, in His Sacraments. Exactly as He said He would be. And if you’re not already feeling a little under the pile from the Old Testament and Epistle readings, you have to really strap on your seat belt for Jesus’ words in Mark. But look at the context, something we always do as Biblical, Lutheran Christians. John, the beloved disciple, is cheerfully updating Jesus that he and the other disciples stopped this guy who was casting out demons in Jesus’ name, because in John’s view, he wasn’t part of the club. Jesus takes another view, and teaches John that whoever isn’t against them is for them. Christ also tells John that whoever makes anyone lose their faith would rather have an anchor tied around his neck and thrown into the ocean than face the punishment they’ve earned. Then, there are these sharp words, we need to understand in context. ‘If your hand or foot cause you to sin cut it off.’ ‘If your eye causes you to sin pluck it out.’ Jesus is not calling for self-mutilation here. Christ, who would have been speaking Aramaic, is using a typical Aramaic form of extreme examples, what today we might call hyperbole. It’s like when a parent says to a child, ‘I’ve told you 10 million times not to cross the street without looking.’ We all know it wasn’t 10 million times that the parent warned that. It probably hadn’t been a hundred times. But the point is made that the parent had to say it one too many times, and the result of not listening could be death. Physical death in the case of the child. Spiritual death in the case of the sinner. Jesus is saying, ‘your sin is that bad.’ It’s no mild cold fixed by a dose of Aspirin. Our sins are so serious it took someone’s death to pay for them – Christ’s death on the cross. But even here, our Saviour is loving and gracious. He reminds the disciples, and us, that we are salted by fire. What does that mean? Salt was the preservative of the ancient world. Jesus is saying we will be preserved, saved, by the fire of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit that comes into our lives in Baptism. The Holy Spirit that reaches into our hearts and minds when we hear God’s Word, and who works faith within us. And the Holy Spirit, that through God’s Word, changes the bread and wine of Communion into the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, so we can be fed and forgiven. No small stuff. And Jesus ends all of this with a simple hope. He says: Have this salt in yourself that I give you, and be at peace with one another. Have the Holy Spirit and peace that came down upon the people of ancient Israel when Moses asked God for help. Have the Holy Spirit and peace that James reminds the early Christian Church of. Jesus would have His disciples of yesterday, and today, be empowered by the Spirit, and share His peace and love with others. There is no better way than through receiving His Word and Sacraments within His Church, and sharing the Good News of Jesus with others. Brothers and sisters, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you now and always. Amen. OFFFERING PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT Page 194 Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy) Page 195 The Lord’s Prayer Page 196 The Words of our Lord Page 197 Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) Hymn 962 The Distribution Page 199 Nunc Dimittis Page 199 Post-Communion Collect (Left-hand column) Page 201 The Benediction Page 202 CLOSING HYMN: 922 “Go, My Children, with My Blessing” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiQZd_FUfpQ