Preparing for Worship - August 10, 2025

The Old Testament lesson is from Genesis 15:1-6. The Word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, telling him to “fear not,” but to trust that the Lord would be his shield and bring him blessings. Abram was concerned, though, as he still had no offspring of his own. The Word of the Lord came to him again, reassuring him that his own child with Sarah would be his heir, and renewing His promise that He would make a great nation from him, with a number uncounted, like the stars in the sky. Then we hear that “Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted it to him as righteousness.” This is a crucial passage of Scripture, quoted directly several times in the New Testament and referred to many other times, emphasizing the central doctrine of our Lutheran church - that we also are justified (counted righteous in God’s eyes) by His grace simply through the gift of faith, centered in the coming Savior, our Lord Jesus. (See, for example, Romans 4:3-9ff, Galatians 3:5-9ff, and our Epistle lesson for today, especially Hebrews 11:8-12.) It is the perfect righteousness of Jesus that is credited to us, through the gift of faith in Him and His saving work for us.

The Psalm is Psalm 33:12-22. Israel, from the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, was God’s chosen people. From them would come the Savior, our Lord Jesus. They are called "blessed” and the Lord’s “heritage” in this psalm. But this psalm also says that the Lord looks upon all the children of man and knows what they are like. A king with a great army, a warrior with great strength, and a war horse with its great might can ultimately not save. Israel too often trusted themselves and even false gods and turned away from the Lord. The Lord reminds us through this psalmist that what is needed are people who fear and trust the Lord and hope in His steadfast love and deliverance. They wait for Him to be their "help” and “shield.” They trust His Holy Name and hope in Him.

The Gospel lesson is from Luke 12:22-40. Jesus is teaching His disciples to keep their focus on the Kingdom of God that He is bringing in and giving to them. (He had taught in a very similar way in His earlier Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:25-34.) He knows that they are “of little faith” and calls them not to be so anxious about basic things that He knows they need. If He takes care of the birds and flowers and grass, the Lord will surely take care of His people, too, who are of much more value. Jesus speaks of “treasures in heaven that will not fail” and cannot be bought by our money and possessions, but will eventually be provided by Jesus Himself, by His saving work on the cross for us, and through the faith and trust in Him that He brings us to. He comes to our hearts through His Word and the gift of the Holy Spirit, working through that Word and Baptism. And we are called to “stay awake” in faith in Him. We need to be ready by God’s grace through faith for whenever our own death comes. We need to be ready by God’s grace through faith for whenever Christ will come on the last day, too. That could be before our death, if the last day is soon. The picture image is of being spiritually awake and ready for whenever Christ, the Son of Man, comes and knocks, and we then welcome Him by faith. And amazingly, He will then serve us with His blessings in everlasting life. (This is the real meaning of Revelation 3:20. Many churches say that only if we open the door to Christ and receive Him, then we can be saved. It is not that way. We were dead in our sins, and only God could make us alive and give us the gift of faith and save us.) Now that we are saved by His grace through that faith in what Christ has done for us, we are ready for His return, whenever that comes, strengthened by Word and Sacrament until He comes.

The Epistle lesson, Hebrews 11:1-16, is a portion of a whole chapter, stressing the importance of God’s gift of faith and continuing in that faith. The chapter begins with a definition of faith as the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. People of old were commended for their faith - for example, believing in the creation of the world by the Word of God, the making of all things out of nothing. Then many examples from Scripture follow: Abel, who died, but still speaks through his faith, revealed in the Scriptures; Enoch, who was taken to heaven without dying; and Noah, who trusted what God said and built an ark and became an heir of the gift of righteousness by faith. Then comes Abraham, who left home and went to another country, trusting that God would provide a great nation and a descendant, Jesus, who would bring blessings available to all nations, as the Savior of the world. And there was Sarah, who was far past childbearing age, and yet had the child promised by God. None of these were perfect people with perfect faith, but they sought to hang onto God’s promises and died in faith, still believing that the Lord would eventually fulfill all His promises. They knew by faith that they would have “a better country, a heavenly one,” with “a city designed and built by God Himself.” We have been privileged to know that the Savior, our Lord Jesus, did come and did His saving work for us all. We have been gifted with faith in Him through the Holy Spirit, working through God’s Word and our Baptism. As Peter wrote, “Though you have not seen Jesus, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,” certain of “obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls" (1 Peter 1:8-9). (See also 1:10-12.) “Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15)!