Preparing for Worship - June 25, 2023

The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 91:1-10 (11-16). The psalmist assures us that when our “dwelling place” is with the Lord, He will be our “shelter,” our “refuge,” and our fortress.” We can “trust” Him, no matter what dangers and “terrors” surround us. He will be with us “night” and “day” and at “noontime.” This does not mean that we won’t have trouble, but the Lord and His angels “will be with us” and “rescue” us ultimately with “His salvation.” (See the fuller Bible Study on this psalm in this week’s podcast.)

The Old Testament lesson is from Jeremiah 20:7-13. The prophet Jeremiah had the very difficult job of telling the people of Judah that “violence and destruction” and captivity in Babylon were coming to them, because they were continually rejecting the Lord and His Word. When Jeremiah spoke this Word from God, he received “reproach, derision, laughing, and mockery” from those to whom he spoke. He wished he could stop speaking, but he could not. God’s Word was like fire, and he could not hold it in. At this point, the Lord was like a “dreaded Warrior.” Through it all, Jeremiah knew that somehow the Lord would be “delivering the life of the needy from the hand of evildoers.”

In the Gospel lesson, Matthew 10:5a, 21-33, Jesus was preparing His disciples for the very challenging days they would face, much like Jeremiah did, but in their case, it would be for proclaiming “the name of Jesus” as Savior of the world. If Jesus was to suffer much as their Lord and Master, should members of His “household,” His Christian family and church, be surprised if they are also “hated” and “maligned” (spoken about critically in a spiteful way)? They are “not to fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” “The one who endure to the end” in faith in Christ “will be saved.” Jesus will “acknowledge” all believers, including us, before His “Heavenly Father.”

How can we endure in the faith, even as we may face more challenges? Paul reminds us, in our Epistle lesson, Romans 6:12-23, of the greatest gift we have already received. “The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” Now that we live under that grace, that free gift of God, would we want purposely to keep on sinning, with “lawlessness that leads to more lawlessness” and to “the wages of death”? “By no means!” says Paul. We still have that temptation, because of “natural limitations” (literally, “because of the weakness of our (sinful) flesh,” with which we were born. How much better to be what we now are - “slaves of God” and His “standard of teaching to which we are committed” in Christ. God loves us in Christ! He knows and always wants what is best for us and is leading us now to eternal life. That is the good “fruit” we now want to see in our lives, through God’s grace in Christ.