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THIRD SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY
January 23, 2022
Gathered, Hearing, Praising
At Easter, on the road to Emmaus, the Lord Jesus taught us how all the Scriptures ultimately point to Him and His ministry of salvation. Today, we hear the same claim at the beginning of His ministry. Quoting Isaiah 61, He tells His hometown neighbors, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). They were impressed. But only for a short moment. Not everyone will listen to the Word of God until it first inspires repentance over sin. Only when God gets us to face up to our real need, the forgiveness of sins, does the Spirit of God work true faith in the heart that results in praise of God who saves us. The world wants only to cover up and does not like hearing God call what we are doing and what we are sin. In a strange way, however, the Christian actually likes getting honest and facing up to sin, confessing it in order to receive God’s gift of forgiveness and new life. As one Body in Christ, we respond with one voice in praise to God.
+ PREPARATION +
OPENING HYMN: #398 –Hail to the Lord’s Anointed
INVOCATION
Pastor: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
OPENING SENTENCES Romans 7:12, 22–24
Pastor: The law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
People: For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,
Pastor: but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
People: Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION
Pastor: Let us confess our sins to God, our merciful Father.
People: To You, O God, we confess that we have sinned against You in our thoughts, words, and deeds, and also by the good that we have failed to do. Our love for You and for our neighbors has been weak or even dead. By Your Law, You reveal the judgment we rightly deserve. Because Your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, has fulfilled Your Law on our behalf, we beg Your forgiveness and grace to restore us to life with You in the fellowship of all believers. Amen.
Pastor: Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! In the stead and by the command of our Savior, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
+ SERVICE OF THE WORD +
PSALM Psalm 19:1-14 (spoken responsively by verse)
1The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
2Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
3There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
4Their measuring line goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
5which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
6Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them,
and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
7The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
8the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
9the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
the just decrees of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
10More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
11Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
12Who can discern his errors?
Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
13Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.
14Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
KYRIE
Pastor: In peace, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Pastor: For peace from God and peace among our brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Pastor: For peace among all who seek to serve Christ and support His Church, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Pastor: For this holy house and for all who gather here to be strengthened in faith and encouraged in service, 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.
Lord God, Your Word clearly shows Your love for the world in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Give to us both heartfelt repentance and faith that we may rejoice together and praise Your goodness; 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 Nehemiah 8:1–3, 5–6, 8–10
(Ezra reads the Law.)
1 All the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. 2So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. 3And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. . . .
5And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. 6And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. . . .
8They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.
9And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. 10Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Lector: This is the Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
GRADUAL (spoken together)
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.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering, and come into his courts!
EPISTLE 1 Corinthians 12:12–31a
(One Body with many members)
12For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
14For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
21The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
27Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31But earnestly desire the higher gifts.
Lector: This is the Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
VERSE Luke 4:18a (spoken together)
Alleluia. The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. Alleluia.
HOLY GOSPEL Luke 4:16–30
(Jesus rejected at Nazareth)
Pastor: The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the fourth chapter.
People: Glory to You, O Lord.
16[Jesus] came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
18“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” 23And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.” 24And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30But passing through their midst, he went away.
Pastor: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
People: Praise to You, O Christ.
HYMN OF THE DAY: #839 –O Christ, Our True and Only Light
SERMON
NICENE CREED
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth
and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only-begotten Son of God,
begotten of His Father before all worlds,
God of God, Light of Light,
very God of very God,
begotten, not made,
being of one substance with the Father,
by whom all things were made;
who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary
and was made man;
and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.
He suffered and was buried.
And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures
and ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of the Father.
And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord and giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified,
who spoke by the prophets.
And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church,
I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins,
and I look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life + of the world to come. Amen.
After each petition:
Pastor: … Lord, in Your mercy:
People: hear our prayer.
At conclusion:
Pastor: … 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.
Almighty and everlasting God, mercifully look upon our infirmities and stretch forth the hand of Your majesty to heal and defend us; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, 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.
CLOSING HYMN: #409 – Hail, O Source of Every Blessing
Creative Worship for the Lutheran Parish, Series C, Quarter 1. Copyright © 2021 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
