Preparing for Worship - August 3, 2025

The Scriptures this week encourage us to rejoice in the Lord and keep our eyes on Him and “the things above,” rather than upon purely self-centered earthly pursuits. The Old Testament lesson is from Ecclesiastes 1:2,12-14, 2:18-26. The author is most likely King Solomon, son of David. He is called a “preacher” in 1:1, but the word mainly means someone who addresses an assembly of people. Solomon certainly addressed many as king. In v. 2, he uses the word “vanity,” which occurs about 30 times in this book. The Hebrew word means a mist, a vapor, a mere breath - and he says “all is vanity” - suggesting that much of life is fleeting and temporary. He was known for his “wisdom,” but says that much in life is “an unhappy business,” “a striving after wind.” He speaks of toiling hard in life, but never knowing who will end up with what we leave behind - a wise man or a fool. Many days have sorrow and troubles (vexation), and many nights are without real rest. At the same time, Solomon says that one can find enjoyment in the things that come from the hand of God - God’s “good and perfect gifts” of wisdom, knowledge, and joy - and seek to please Him and follow His Word. (See Ecclesiastes 12:11-12. The wisest words are from the One Shepherd, our Lord Himself and His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the true God Shepherd and our Savior. Other books can often just bring “much weariness.”)

The Psalm is Psalm 100, a psalm that recognizes that the Lord is the only true God, our Creator and Good Shepherd, who cares for His sheep and provides “good” for us. All should praise and thank Him with singing,  even if it is just “a joyful noise,” for His steadfast love and faithfulness to us. This psalm summarizes what is said in many of the other psalms, the songbook of the Old Testament. (See Psalm 95:6-7, Psalm 96, Psalm 98:3-4, Psalm 106:1, 107:1, Psalm 16:2, 25:8, 34:8, the refrain from every verse of Psalm 136, and the summary statement in James 1:16-17 and in Jesus, in John 1:14-18.)

The Gospel lesson is Luke 12:13-18. Jesus is asked by someone to solve a dispute between him and his brother over an inheritance. Jesus says that he is not an arbitrator over such issues, though many Jewish religious leaders got involved in such things. Jesus warns against coveting, as some of the commandments do, for “one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Jesus then tells a parable of a man whose land produced bountifully. He has to build more and bigger barns to store everything, and finally thinks he is set for many years and can just “eat, drink, and be merry.” God calls him a fool! He will die that night, and who will enjoy what he focused on, seemingly only for his own benefit? That is, Jesus says, the position of “one who lays up treasures for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (See Jesus’ Words about people who hear the Word of God but are “choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life,” in Luke 8:7, 14, and His Words in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 6:19-21, 25, 32-33.)

How can one be “rich toward God?” The Epistle lesson, Colossians 3:1-11, speaks to that. The focus of our minds is to be, above all, on Christ, and the things above, in and with Him, through the gift of faith in Him and not on self-centered earthly pleasures, many of which are evil. Paul lists quite a number of them, including the covetousness that Jesus also warns about, which is a kind of idolatry, where we can allow ourselves to become more important than Christ Himself or others we can help and serve. We are called to be “renewed in knowledge” by our Lord and His Word and will. Then we realize that our status in this life is not so important, but the new life Christ has given us and the glory that is to come in eternal life, through Christ and His Word and work for us. (See Ephesians 2:6-7, for example.) Our minds are on the things above, being with Christ in heaven, at the right hand of God.