298. Seventh Sunday after Trinity. I.
Lord, let thy blessing
be upon us. Amen.
Gospel Lesson, Mark 8, 1-9. In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: and if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.
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These people were gathered around the Lord, and heard him. — His Christians are with him always. As many as believe are ever with him, and he with them. He is with us not only in the sense in which God is present everywhere with his omnipotence, and sustains and directs all things; but he is with us in his sacred word as our Savior and the king of our heart, as the God of love and mercy who gives us of his Spirit, and is himself our meat and our life.
These people in our text ate of gifts provided by the Lord’s power to work wonders. We also live of his blessing. We receive both our spiritual and our bodily sustenance from his hand; and he prepares our food for us in many wonderful ways, even as he in a wonderful way converts it into blood and muscle and bone in our bodies. He satisfies the wants of the wicked and the good; but the faithful receive his gifts in another spirit than do the unbelievers; they “sanctify all things by the word of God and prayer”; and in these earthly things they partake of the love which is of heaven and eternity. Thus the children of God live all the time of the Lord’s miracles, even though their food is provided for them by the ordinary process of nature. We sit every day among the four thousand, and have nothing ourselves, but are fed by the Lord, take of his hand that which he has blessed, divide it among us all, and have enough, nay seven baskets left over.
Did these people have reason to fear any want? So neither shall we take thought for meat and drink and raiment. The Lord cared for them, before they thought of caring for themselves. “I have compassion on the multitude,” said he; and he thought of the length of time they had been with him, and of what would happen to them, should he send them away fasting. He is full of kindness and compassion, and knows what we need. Is he not able, think you, to provide us with all things necessary? The account before us is written, that we may have faith in him, and be rid of all anxiety; and with the same end in view the Spirit of God has caused to be recorded for our benefit the story of Elijah, and of the widow in Sarepta, and that which Jesus in his sermon on the mount said in regard to the flowers of the field and the fowls of the air. How happy you might be, would you but allow the Lord to care for you! However, no matter how weak your faith may be, he will always give you all that you need, nay more.
Now, how shall we use the gifts of God? In the first place we shall partake of them with joy and thanksgiving. Receive them of God as pledges of his love, and enjoy them before his face; it pleases him to see your happiness. Be fond of his good gifts for the sake of the giver; let them cause you to give him your heart so entirely, that you may be able to thank him for the loss and the chastisement, should he again take them from you. In the next place, we shall cheerfully divide with others, set food before the hungry, and never fear that there may not be enough. You shall do every day that which the disciples did on the occasion spoken of in our gospel lesson.
Lord Jesus, let us ever be with thee, live continually of thy wonders, and fear no want, but believe in thee, and receive thy gifts with joy and thanks, and give with generous hand to all who need. Amen.*
Through each perplexing path of life
Our wandering footsteps guide;
Give us each day our daily bread,
And raiment fit provide.
Oh, spread thy covering wings around,
Till all our wandering cease,
And at our Father’s loved abode,
Our souls arrive in peace!
[suggested tunes: Martyrdom, TLH 154 (listen here); or Azmon, TLH 281 (listen here)]
299. Seventh Sunday after Trinity. II.
Lord, thou hast loosed my bonds;
lead me in thy paths. Amen.
Epistle Lesson, Romans 6, 19-23. I speak after the manner of men, because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity, unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness, unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
❦
Unconverted persons are the slaves of the devil, and yield their members to be his instruments. He makes use of them as servants to his uncleanness and unrighteousness; and they do things in the dark of which they would be ashamed even in the eyes of men. They do not bear in mind that God sees all things; and they do not feel how deplorable it is that their precious soul, which should be the temple of the Holy Ghost, is the dwelling place of Satan, and that their members, which God has gloriously fashioned to be instruments of good, are employed in the service of iniquity. But “the end of those things is death”; that is to say, eternal perdition and separation from God. They who serve the prince of death receive their reward of him; and he has nothing but death with which to reward them. Doleful service, and dreadful reward! In the meantime the devil deceives his servants with dreams of splendor, and teaches them to declaim about liberty. — Now, if the slaves of sin serve the devil in all uncleanness and iniquity, shall not the faithful serve the Lord in all holiness and truth? Your whole conduct shall bear witness that you have been made free from sin, and are become a servant of God. The righteousness in your heart shall hold sway over all your members. Your eyes shall nevermore be used in the service of lust, your ears shall close themselves against uncleanness and falsehood, your tongue shall speak only that which is good and true, and your hands shall always do justice and mercy. Then though your members be weak and expiring, they yet are imperishable. Your pure eyes shall see God in eternal light; your tongue, which now speaks the Lord’s praise, shall sing the song of the Lamb in heaven; your hands, which here have been used in charitable service, shall pick the fruits off the tree of life in the new Jerusalem. All is pure grace. You are made free from sin; this is grace. You are the servant of God; this is grace. You shall reap in due season, if you faint not; what is this but the grace of God? In the Lord’s house everything is liberty, everything is grace, none is a hireling, all are children, all is a free gift of mercy, and all is received as such. Without are the servants of self-righteousness as well as the slaves of vice. Death is the “wages,” that is the reward and pay, of sin; “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” This last is not a reward, but a gift of mercy.
God, give us thy Spirit. Where he is, there is liberty, there is love, there is holiness. Give us these gifts, we heartily beseech thee, mercifully hear us, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.*
These lively hopes we owe
To Jesus’ dying love:
We would adore his grace below,
And sing his power above.
Dear Lord, accept the praise
Of these our humble songs,
Till tunes of nobler sound we raise
With our immortal tongues.
[Evangelical Lutheran Hymnal 450; listen here]
* Here the head of the family says a short morning or evening prayer in his own words, and closes with the Lord’s Prayer and the Benediction. This is to be done every day. If the stanzas are not sung, they may be read in their proper place before the impromptu petition and the Lord’s Prayer.