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THE TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY October 20, 2024 Pastor Tom Steers Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto Our Opening Hymn is: “O Christ Our True and Only Light” Lutheran Service Book, 839 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITcK0kBrrHg We begin our service with the Invocation: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Confession and Absolution Page 184-185 The Introit Psalm 119:1; 38-40 antiphon: Liturgical text The whole world is in your power. O Lord, King Almighty, no one can gainsay you. For you have made heaven and earth; you are Lord of all! Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD! Confirm to your servant your promise, that you may be feared. Turn away the reproach that I dread, for your rules are good. Behold, I long for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life! The whole world is in your power. O Lord, King Almighty, no one can gainsay you. For you have made heaven and earth; you are Lord of all! 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. Our Collect Prayer– O Lord, keep Your household, the Church, in continual godliness that through Your protection she may be free from all adversities and devoutly given to serve You in good works; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. Our First Reading Genesis 1:1-10; 2:1-3 Psalm 8 Epistle Reading Ephesians 6:10-17 Our Gospel Reading John 4:46-54 THE APOSTLES’ CREED Page 192 HYMN OF THE DAY: 607 “From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee” Text & music by Martin Luther Lutheran Service Book, 607 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctBQw5vOYuw THE SERMON – Faith, Love, and Trust This Sunday, our Old Testament text gives us the first verses of the Bible. They coney the power and truth of God’s Word. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” The universe did not create itself. God created the heavens and earth only by the power of His Word. In the opening verses of the Gospel of John, which mirrors Genesis, the Apostle wrote: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (vs. 1-4) God proclaims His Word, and it’s done. The Apostle John went on to write, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (v. 14) The Word of God, the Bible, is telling us that this Word was, and is, Christ. Our Saviour, the Second Person of the Trinity, gave us His Word, His Gospel promise, that through faith in Him alone we will live eternally in Heaven. In our Gospel passage an official, or nobleman, comes to Jesus from Capernaum. His son was very ill. So, he goes to Christ to ask that He come heal his son. The official probably heard Jesus was a miracle worker. He seeks out the Lord for a good reason – he loved his son and didn’t want him to die. But notice how the official asked for help. He said, “Come down and heal my son, for he is at the point of death.” The words unfortunately show the official had limits on how much he believed Christ could do. He asks Jesus to travel to perform the healing, even though Christ didn’t need to go anywhere to heal anyone. He is the all-powerful Son of God. God the Father created the universe through Him. Christ could say the Word at any place, whether on earth or in Heaven, and the man’s son would be healed. But the official didn’t get this. And there are times we don’t as well. You may remember another Biblical account. A Roman Centurion, who also lived in Capernaum, had a sick slave at the point of death. But the Centurion didn’t demand Christ go with him to heal the slave, even though Jesus was in Capernaum at the time. By contrast, the Centurion said, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. But say the word, and let my servant be healed.” This man was commended by Christ for his great faith. The official in today’s Gospel passage didn’t have so strong a faith. He implores, ‘Come down before my child dies.’ The man not only doesn’t realize Christ could heal his son with a single word, but could also raise the son from the dead. So, the official’s panic was unwarranted. In fact, it showed a lack of faith. And Christ cites this in His reply. In the same way, we, as frail human beings, can be tempted to panic. We can forget the power of our Lord when faced with the trouble of this world, especially in the face of disease and death. We can forget that Christ is Lord over both life and death. Some may not actually expect God to keep His promises, but will try Him out in situations where they don't think they have many options. Some feel if God proves Himself to them, they’ll believe. There are others who think they’re Christians but only have a ‘historical’ faith. They believe a man named Jesus lived and died, and they may accept He rose from the grave. They talk about the forgiveness of sins, and accept it in a sort of ‘academic’ way, but it never reaches into their hearts. They never learn to trust God. True faith comes from hearing the Word of Christ. We see the official believe Jesus when our Lord promised healing. He heard and received faith. More than that, he trusted Christ’s promise. That’s the essence of faith, which believes God is trustworthy. He doesn’t break commitments. What He says, He does. We also have the same external ‘Word.’ We don’t receive that Word directly from Jesus, as the nobleman did. Instead, we receive it through the Church and men of God who preach and tech the truth of God’s Word – the Bible. Our challenge as Christians is to receive the Word of Christ, not the words of human beings or human opinion. We are to see the Word as God’s promise He will never break. Perhaps the official was tempted to think, “Okay, this fellow works miracles, but look at Him – dusty from the road, no visible halo. Is this someone I should trust when He won’t even come to my home?” Yet when the man hears Christ, he believes. His faith is no less a miracle, and happens because the Holy Spirit worked through the Word to create faith in his heart. It’s the same for us. God gives us His Word in the Bible, in the Gospel, to create and sustain faith. The hardships of this world can overwhelm us. Yet God in His mercy doesn’t leave us to our own devices. Christ has given us the Church in which we find His Word, and the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. It’s through these means of grace that He works faith in our hearts. Salvation was won at Calvary; it is delivered through the means of grace found within the true Church. God can give us challenges so we won’t grow complacent in faith, but instead be forced to look to and cling to Him. To look to Him in trust, hope, and love. When trouble finds us, Christians seek Christ in prayer. Yet prayer in itself doesn’t strengthen faith. Prayer is the asking, not the receiving. The clear voice of God is in His Word that He speaks in Holy Scripture. We hear it in the Divine Service and Bible studies. If we avoid His voice, but think we are faithful, we’re mistaken. If we only pray, but don’t listen to God’s Word, we’ll either become bitter when God doesn’t appear to answer as we want, or else invent our own answers, and attribute them to God. There are times when God’s answer to prayer is ‘yes.’ At other times it may be, ‘not yet.’ And there are times when His reply is ‘no.’ Any loving parent is aware we can’t always say ‘yes’ to their children if we care about them. We also can’t expect our Lord to listen to us, but refuse to listen to Him. In His Word, God teaches us how to withstand hardship, pain, and loss. He points you to the future heaven and earth where He will erase suffering and tears. God teaches you to have faith in the Heavenly Father who gave His only Son to heal our infirmities, and pay for our sins. God can withhold His aid from us, for a time. Then we should remember that God’s Son surrendered to death for us. God the Father withheld His aid from Jesus, for a time. This was in the Father’s wisdom, that the greater healing was to come from Christ’s suffering – the healing and forgiveness of our sins. The Father didn’t forget the Son – we see this in the Resurrection. And God does not, and will not, forget you. Through Christ’s Resurrection, through faith and trust in Him as Saviour that the Holy Spirit works within us, our Heavenly Father gives you the victory over sin, death, and the devil. Like the official’s son, we also will live. And as Christians, that will be for eternity in Heaven. Amen. PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT Page 194 Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy) Page 195 The Lord’s Prayer Page 196 Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) Hymn 962 Post-Communion Collect (Right-hand column) Page 201 CLOSING HYMN: 923 “Almighty Father Bless the Word" Lutheran Service Book, 923 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJu3-_3wFYM