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Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
In Isaiah the people are advised to look to their spiritual ancestors as the rock from which they were hewn. Jesus declares that the church will be built on the rock of Peter’s bold confession of faith. God’s word of reconciliation and God’s mercy are keys to the church’s mission. Paul urges us to not be conformed to this world but to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, using our individual gifts to build up the body of Christ. From the table we go forth to offer our spiritual worship through word and deed.
Just as God had called Abraham and Sarah and given them many descendants, so now God offers comfort to Zion. God’s deliverance will come soon and will never end.
1 Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who seek the LORD. Look to the rock from which you were hewn
and to the quarry from which you were dug.
2 Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah, who bore you,
for he was but one when I called him,
but I blessed him and made him many.
3 For the LORD will comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places
and will make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the LORD;
joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.
4 Listen to me, my people, and give heed to me, my nation,
for a teaching will go out from me and my justice for a light to the peoples.
5 I will bring near my deliverance swiftly; my salvation has gone out,
and my arms will rule the peoples; the coastlands wait for me,
and for my arm they hope.
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens and look at the earth beneath,
for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment,
and those who live on it will die like gnats, but my salvation will be forever,
and my deliverance will never be ended.
O LORD, your steadfast love endures forever. (Ps. 138:8)
1 I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with | my whole heart;
before the gods I will | sing your praise.
2 I will bow down toward your holy temple and praise your name, because of your steadfast | love and faithfulness;
for you have glorified your name and your word a- | bove all things.
3 When I called, you | answered me;
you increased my | strength within me.
4 All the rulers of the earth will praise | you, O LORD,
when they have heard the words | of your mouth.
5 They will sing of the ways | of the LORD,
that great is the glory | of the LORD.
6 The LORD is high, yet cares | for the lowly,
perceiving the haughty | from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you | keep me safe;
you stretch forth your hand against the fury of my enemies; your right | hand shall save me.
8 You will make good your pur- | pose for me;
O LORD, your steadfast love endures forever; do not abandon the works | of your hands.
In response to God’s merciful activity, we are to worship by living holistic, God-pleasing lives. Our values and viewpoints are not molded by the time in which we live but are transformed by the Spirit’s renewing work. God’s grace empowers different forms of service among Christians, but all forms of ministry function to build up the body of Christ.
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members and not all the members have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8 the encourager, in encouragement; the giver, in sincerity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
At a climactic point in Jesus’ ministry, God reveals to Peter that Jesus is “the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” and Jesus responds with the promise of a church that will overcome the very gates of Hades.
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist but others Elijah and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
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