Events

Color: Green\r\rOld Testament: Proverbs 25:6–14\rPsalm: Psalm 2; antiphon: v. 11\rEpistle: Ephesians 4:1–6\rGospel: Luke 14:1–11\rIntroit: Psalm 119:1–2, 5–6; antiphon: vv. 137, 124\rGradual: Psalm 33:12, 6\rVerse: Psalm 116:1\r\rWhoever Humbles Himself Will Be Exalted\r \r“Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence” (Prov. 25:6–14). Rather, take the lowest position at the table. Humble yourself before Him. For your place is not for you to take but for Him to give. Conduct yourself with all lowliness and gentleness, bearing with one another in love (Eph. 4:1–6), that the King may give you glory in the presence of those at the table with you. “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:1–11). Is this not the way of Christ? He is the one who took the lowest place, who humbled Himself even to the point of death for us. He is now exalted to the highest place at the right hand of the Father that penitent believers may be exalted together with Him in the resurrection. To the humble at His Supper He says, “Friend, move up higher,” giving you His very body and blood for your forgiveness that you may ascend to take part in the great wedding feast which has no end.\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: White\r\rOld Testament: Daniel 10:10–14; 12:1–3\rPsalm: Psalm 91; antiphon: v. 11\rEpistle: Revelation 12:7–12\rGospel: Matthew 18:1–11\rGospel: Luke 10:17–20\rIntroit: Psalm 103:20–22; antiphon: v. 1\rGradual: Psalm 91:11; 103:1\rVerse: Revelation 12:11\r\rOur Father in Heaven Protects His Children by Giving His Holy Angels Charge Over Them\r \rWe live in “a time of trouble” (Dan. 12:1), in the midst of great tribulation. Satan and his wicked angels have been thrown out of heaven and have come down to earth “in great wrath,” with woeful “temptations to sin” and with constant accusations (Rev. 12:8–12; Matt. 18:7). Even so, we are encouraged by the presence and protection of St. Michael and the holy angels, whom God sends to help us in the strife (Dan. 10:11–13). By “the authority of his Christ,” His holy angels guard and keep us in body and soul. These heavenly servants of God preserve His human messengers on earth, the ministers of “the blood of the Lamb,” against all the power of the enemy, for by “the word of their testimony,” the Church is saved and the devil is defeated (Rev. 12:10–11; Luke 10:18–19). By their preaching and Baptism of repentance, the old Adam and the old evil foe are “drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matt. 18:6). As God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, so are His people delivered and raised from the dust of the earth through the forgiveness of their sins (Dan. 12:1–3).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Green\r\rOld Testament: Deuteronomy 10:12–21\rPsalm: Psalm 34:8–22; antiphon: v. 19\rEpistle: 1 Corinthians 1:4–9\rEpistle: 1 Corinthians 1:1–9\rGospel: Matthew 22:34–46\rIntroit: Psalm 122:1, 6, 8–9; antiphon: Liturgical Text\rGradual: Psalm 122:1, 7\rVerse: Psalm 117:1\r\rIn Life and Death, Christ Fulfills the Law of God\r \rThe Pharisees ask a Law question. Jesus asks a Gospel question. The Pharisees seek to test Jesus in His own words. Jesus seeks to “test” them in the saving reality of who He is as the Messiah (Matt. 22:34–46). The Law requires you to “fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” and to “love the sojouner” (Deut. 10:12–21). Failure to keep the Law perfectly brings judgment. On the other hand, the Gospel brings the grace of God given by Jesus Christ, that you may be blameless in the day of His return (1 Cor. 1:1–9). Jesus is David’s Son yet David’s Lord, true God and true man. He is Love incarnate who fulfilled all the demands of God’s Law on our behalf, that we might be saved from the Law’s condemnation and sanctified in the Gospel’s forgiveness. Thereby we see that “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Cor. 1:9).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Green\r\rOld Testament: Genesis 28:10–17\rPsalm: Psalm 84; antiphon: v. 8\rEpistle: Ephesians 4:22–28\rGospel: Matthew 9:1–8\rIntroit: Psalm 78:1–3, 4b; antiphon: Psalm 35:3b; 34:17a, 6b; 48:14a\rGradual: Psalm 141:1–2\rVerse: Psalm 98:1a\r\rJesus’ Incarnation Secures for Us Life, Forgiveness, and Healing\r \rThe Lord does not require us to ascend to Him; in mercy He descends to us (Gen. 28:10–17). The ladder in Jacob’s dream was not for climbing; it was the means by which the Lord came to bless Jacob. This event finds its fulfillment in Christ who descended from His throne to save and bless us. By His incarnation He is the eternal bridge between heaven and earth. “The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Matt. 9:1–8). The Lord was present in the flesh to absolve the paralytic. Jesus also healed and restored this man’s body. “For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation” (Small Catechism). The Lord still has power on earth to forgive sins. In holy absolution He raises up the new man (Eph. 4:22–28) and bestows the healing medicine which will bring about our resurrection on the Last Day. Thus we say with Jacob, “This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” (Gen. 28:17).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Green\r\rOld Testament: Isaiah 55:1–9\rPsalm: Psalm 27:1–9; antiphon: v. 8\rEpistle: Ephesians 5:15–21\rGospel: Matthew 21:33–44\rGospel: Matthew 22:1–14\rIntroit: Psalm 48:1, 9–11; antiphon: Liturgical Text\rGradual: Psalm 145:15–16\rVerse: Psalm 130:1–2a\r\rJesus Invites Us to His Wedding Feast to Receive Abundant Righteousness\r \rThe Holy Spirit sounds forth the Gospel call: “See, I have prepared my dinner . . . Come to the wedding feast” (Matt. 22:1–14). But many reject this invitation in favor of worldly pursuits. And so the call goes out to others, both the good and the bad. For the wedding invitation is not based on the qualifications of those invited but on the basis of the merits and work of Christ. The feast is free: “He who has no money, come, buy and eat . . . delight yourselves in rich food.” (Is. 55:1–9). Those rejecting the Spirit’s work shall experience God’s wrath and judgment. Those who are not clothed in Christ’s righteousness shall be cast into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Let us therefore seek the Lord while He may be found, for He will have mercy upon us. Let us redeem the time, being filled with the Spirit, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Eph 5:15–21).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Red\r\rOld Testament: Isaiah 35:5–8\rPsalm: Psalm 147:1–11; antiphon: v. 12\rEpistle: 2 Timothy 4:5–18\rGospel: Luke 10:1–9\rIntroit: Psalm 92:1–5; antiphon: Luke 24:46–47\rGradual: Psalm 119:105, 103; 45:1a, c\rVerse: Luke 19:9b, 10\r\rSt. Luke, Evangelist\r \rThe Lord bids us to “pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Luke 10:2). The fields look more like deserts, filled with jackals (Is. 35:6–7), and the Lord sends His laborers out “as lambs in the midst of wolves.” But Christ’s Word of “peace” heals the sick and brings the very “kingdom of God … near” to those who hear it (Is. 35:5; Luke 10:3–9). St. Luke, the beloved physician (Col. 4:14), did “the work of an evangelist” (2 Tim. 4:5). He diligently prepared both a Gospel, the history of Christ’s work in the flesh before His ascension, and the Acts of the Apostles, the history of His continued work among His Church. Luke and his Scriptures are a gift from this ascended Lord (Eph. 4:8–12), written for Theophilus and for “all who have loved his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:5–8). Tradition suggests that Luke was one of the 72 sent out ahead of Jesus, “two by two” (Luke 10:1). Luke proved himself to be a faithful companion throughout St. Paul’s missionary journeys, through many trials and crosses, and even to Rome, where he alone was with Paul.\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship