ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

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August 21, 2022

The Narrow Door

When you think about it, it is a silly question: “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” (Luke 13:23). Why do you think you need to know that anyway? Maybe such a person is worried for others—for their family, for their children. Or maybe they are looking for a loophole for themselves. Of course, our Lord sets us straight by turning the question back so that we ask, “Am I going to be saved?” To answer that question, we almost automatically fall into the temptation to believe that the answer has to do with the sufficiency of our own merits or good works. The “narrow door” and Jesus’ requirement to “strive to enter” seem to suggest some evidence of effort on our part. The surprise, however, is that there is no effort required; one only receives the work, the merit, the righteousness of Jesus Christ. In Holy Baptism, you receive that new status of “child of God,” bearing the righteousness of Christ. The striving and effort are but the daily dying and rising by repentance and faith by the power of your Baptism. The strength to persevere is nourished by the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist. Keep entering through the open door, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

+ Preparation +

OPENING HYMN: #915 – Today Your Mercy Calls Us

INVOCATION

Pastor: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

People: Amen.

OPENING SENTENCES Psalm 46:1; 50:1

Pastor: God is our refuge and strength,

People: a very present help in trouble.

Pastor: The Mighty One, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth

People: from the rising of the sun to its setting.

CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION

Pastor: Invited by the grace of God, as His baptized children, we entreat His mercy confessing our sins and receiving His forgiveness.

People: O merciful Father, hear our plea for Your constant help in the struggle of living in the strength of our Baptism into the death and resurrection of Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. We lay our sins on His own atoning death. Raise us in the assurance of Your forgiveness and Your power to create a new and contrite heart, that we may serve You in holiness and forever sing Your praises both now and forever. Hear us for the sake of Jesus, our Lord and our eternal King. Amen.

Pastor: The almighty God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given you the new birth of water and the Spirit, strengthen you with His grace. In the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, and by His authority, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

People: Amen.

+ WORD +

INTROIT Psalm 117 (spoken responsively as marked)

Splendor and majesty are before him;

we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord, all nations!

Extol him, all peoples!

For great is his steadfast love toward us,

and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!

Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Splendor and majesty are before him;

we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the Lord!

KYRIE

Pastor: In peace, let us pray to the Lord.

People: Lord, have mercy.

Pastor: For the peace from above and for our salvation, let us pray to the Lord.

People: Lord, have mercy.

Pastor: For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the Church of God, and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.

People: Lord, have mercy.

Pastor: For this holy house and for all who offer here their worship and praise, let us pray to the Lord.

People: Lord, have mercy.

Pastor: Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.

People: Amen.

SALUTATION and PRAYER OF THE DAY

Pastor: The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Pastor: Let us pray.
Merciful God, You have extended Your invitation to forgiveness, life, and salvation to be proclaimed and heard throughout the world. Grant that all people hear and learn to respond to Your love in a constant faith empowered by Your Word and Sacraments; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

People: Amen.

OLD TESTAMENT READING Isaiah 66:18–23

(They shall see My glory.)

¹⁸“For I know their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, ¹⁹and I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations. ²⁰And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. ²¹And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the Lord.

²²“For as the new heavens and the new earth
     that I make
shall remain before me, says the Lord,
     so shall your offspring and your name remain.
²³From new moon to new moon,
     and from Sabbath to Sabbath,
all flesh shall come to worship before me,
declares the Lord.”

Lector: This is the Word of the Lord.

People: Thanks be to God.

GRADUAL Psalm 34:9, 19, alt.

Fear the Lord, you His saints,

for those who fear Him lack nothing!

Many are the afflictions of the righteous,

but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

EPISTLE Hebrews 12:4–24

(A Kingdom that cannot be shaken)

⁴In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ⁵And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
⁶For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”

⁷It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? ⁸If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. ⁹Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. ¹¹For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

¹²Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, ¹³and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. ¹⁴Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; ¹⁶that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. ¹⁷For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

¹⁸For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest ¹⁹and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. ²⁰For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” ²¹Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” ²²But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, ²³and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,²⁴and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Lector: This is the Word of the Lord.

People: Thanks be to God.

ALLELUIA and VERSE Luke 13:29

People: Alleluia. People will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. Alleluia.

HOLY GOSPEL Luke 13:22–30

(The narrow door)

Pastor: The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the thirteenth chapter.

People: Glory to You, O Lord.

²²[Jesus] went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. ²³And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, ²⁴“Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. ²⁵When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ ²⁶Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ ²⁷But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ ²⁸In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. ²⁹And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. ³⁰And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

Pastor: This is the Gospel of the Lord.

People: Praise to You, O Christ.

Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died and was buried.

He descended into hell.

The third day He rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven

and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy Christian Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life + everlasting. Amen.

HYMN OF THE DAY: #791 – All People That on Earth Do Dwell

SERMON: The Narrow Door

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

After each petition:

Pastor: … Lord, in Your mercy:

People: hear our prayer.

At conclusion:

Pastor: Into Your hands, O Lord, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in Your mercy, through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

People: Amen.

LORD’S PRAYER Matthew 6:9–13

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name,

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven;

give us this day our daily bread;

and forgive us our trespasses

as we forgive those who trespass against us;

and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory

forever and ever. Amen.

CLOSING PRAYER

Pastor: Let us pray.
O Lord, You have called us to enter Your kingdom through the narrow door. Guide us by Your Word and Spirit, and lead us now and always into the feast of Your Son, Jesus Christ, that we may follow Him on the way that leads to eternal life; who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

People: Amen.

BENEDICTION Numbers 6:24–26

Pastor: The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.
The Lord look upon you with favor and + give you peace.

People: Amen.

DISMISSAL

Pastor: Go in peace as you serve the Lord.

People: Thanks be to God!

ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST – Online Church at Home Bulletin