As a Christian shepherd, a pastor, I have sought those faithful means of grace to lead the flock of Jesus to Jesus’ healing side: Word, Sacrament, and Prayer. One cherished resource, an expression of feeding the flock by the Word of God is the use of a lectionary. I have come to value a Sunday Lectionary increasingly as I have moved through the years of my pastoral service. A “lection” of Scripture is a select “portion” of God’s Word, arranged over an extended period of time, usually three years, to be read in divine services of the Church. A comprehensive lectionary for Sundays will include readings from the Old Testament, the Psalms, the New Testament Epistles, the synoptic (Matthew, Mark, Luke) and Johannine Gospels.
Lectionaries may be assembled by a pastor (which I did for several years), or (and I now prefer) a more catholic (universal) compilation (e.g., the ACNA lectionary, the Revised Common Lectionary, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod). Sunday lectionaries are connected to the centrality of the Christian Sabbath, the divinely ordained One-in-Seven, and the Church Year. The Church Year, from Advent to Pentecost, is a pastor’s friend for it follows the life of Jesus, from the promise of His birth to His Second Coming. I want to help God’s People to “mark time” by the life of our Lord, not merely the civic calendar or the invariable “to do” lists in our lives. In this way, the lectionary and Church Year provides the possibility for supporting the pastoral task of nourishing the Lord’s precious lambs on all of God’s Word.
We hear the Word, pray the Word, sing the Word, preach the Word, and by His sacramental gifts and the power and presence of the Holy Spirit of God, experience the Word.
Let us worship the Father of all in the Triune unity of the One True God, in the covenanted Christian community where the sovereign Savior has led us by His Spirit. Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. Therefore, with angels and archangels and all of the company of heaven, let us worship God for this is:
THE LORD’S DAY
The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
Sunday, July 21, 2019
“This is the day which the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
(Psalm 118:24 AV)
Blessed be God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
And blessed be his kingdom, now and forever. Amen.
The Collect (in the Book of Common Prayer; a gathering prayer for worship)
O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
The Bible Lessons for Today
Sunday, Holy Day and Commemoration Lectionary — Year C
Genesis 18:1-14
Psalm 15
Colossians 1:21-29
Luke 10:38-42