I bid you grace and peace on the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, the continuation of the conversations of the preceding weeks in our culture.
Our invitation to worship is a prayer which acknowledges our anxiety with the world we live in and the call to things heavenly because those things last. Our first lesson from the Prophet Jeremiah holds God’s impeachment of the leaders of Israel and their reliance on their gods, not the grace of God. The Psalmist’s refrain is a lament that the worldly people have overrun the temple and a request for God to come and restore Israel and the temple. The New Testament reading from Paul’s first letter to Timothy recounts the promise that Jesus is the one who ransoms us from our earthly situation and leads us to a heavenly vision. Our Gospel from Luke is the parable of the dishonest manager and the implications of our faithfulness or lack thereof.
Our lessons and sermon spotlight stories of confusion and chaos and the divide between earthly passions and the things that make us part of a larger community with an outward focus. It can be hard to imagine why those who are self-focused appear to thrive even though we are called to be in community. How do we reconcile our lament about the state of our world and our job to mediate between our call service and community while it runs counter to the culture of our world. Our job is to be faithful to our ministry and to stand against injustice while not succumbing to human emotion. Our mission is to stand with those who need to have a voice and to be engaged in the wider community.
Where can you apply God’s balm to the wounds of the world? I invite your comments,
Les+
Readings: Jeremiah 8:18-9:1; Psalm 79:1-9; 1 Timothy 2:1-7; Luke 16:1-13.
Sermon link: https://audiomack.com/fatherles-2/song/pentecost-15-sermon-1
