Items for the week of Sunday, September 13th

This past Sunday, September 13^th, was the 16^th Sunday after Pentecost

We heard the following scripture readings, introduction, and prayer of the day during the Sunday morning worship service:

Introduction

In Sunday’s second reading Paul questions why we judge one another, since we all stand before the judgment of God. Yet we do sin against one another, and Jesus’ challenge that we forgive seventy-seven times reveals God’s boundless mercy. When we hear the words of forgiveness in worship and sign ourselves with the cross, we are renewed in baptism to be signs of reconciliation in the world.

Prayer of the Day

O Lord God, merciful judge, you are the inexhaustible fountain of forgiveness. Replace our hearts of stone with hearts that love and adore you, that we may delight in doing your will, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Scripture

Genesis 50:15-21 Joseph reconciles with his brothers

Psalm 103:[1-7] 8-13 Lord, you are full of compassion and mercy. (Ps. 103:8)

Romans 14:1-12 Accepting diversity in the community of faith

Matthew 18:21-35 A parable of forgiveness in the community of faith

The Message

If you would like a transcript of the message, please let the office know.

A Prayer from Matt’s sermon.

So let this be our prayer:
We are all saints, O God.
Teach us to love and serve all of your children.
Teach us to forgive as we have been forgiven.
Teach us to judge less quickly and listen more carefully.
Teach us to see your beloved children in the people who challenge us.
Teach us to respond to fear with compassion.
And by your grace, make us a community where imperfect people can discover
mercy, where strangers can become neighbors, and where the love of Christ
becomes visible in the way we care for one another.
Amen.

Devotion for the Week

Forgiven and Freed

Today’s gospel reading is all about forgiveness. In the complex web of human relationships, forgiveness often feels messy. We may not understand it, and it may at times feel entirely out of reach. Yet, as Christians, we are called to wrestle with the promise that even when forgiveness feels impossible, there is room for us and for others in the wideness of God’s mercy. How do we make sense of this?

We might begin by experiencing God’s forgiveness ourselves. Many worshiping communities begin the service with a time of confession and forgiveness. Together we name out loud the ways we have failed to love God and neighbor, the ways we have failed to recognize ourselves or one another as beloved children of God. We name how we have been complacent in systems of injustice, how we have harmed one another directly, and the hurtful things we don’t even know we’ve done.

This practice may seem deeply unsettling; after all, where else do we greet each other with a list of all the things we’ve done wrong? But confession is also freeing. It gives us permission to stop pretending we have it all together. It allows us to shed the weight of our mistakes and lay down our burdens so our hands and hearts are ready to receive God’s mercy.

And then, week after week, we hear God’s words of forgiveness for us and for our neighbors. We are reminded that there is always and forever enough of God’s grace and forgiveness to go around. The public declaration of our forgiveness frees us to enter into the rest of our worship service with open and grateful hearts. And then God’s forgiveness sends us out in the world to practice the hard work of forgiving others and receiving their forgiveness in turn, knowing that God will meet us again and again with mercy and grace.