Gathering

The Holy Spirit calls us together as the people of God.

Gathering Song Come to Me, All Pilgrims Thirsty (ELW 777)

  See next page for hymn

ANNOUNCMENTS

Welcome everyone! Talk about whatever you like….weather etc.

Our sermon today is one from the Summer Sermon Series provided by the ELCIC. Pastor Doug Reble shares his message with us today.

Next Sunday (July 16) is Action Sunday- Brenda is leading. Come out to be the hands and feet of God in the world and play stump the organist.

Pastor Leanne is back July 18.

Any other announcements?

Greeting (ELW p. 213)

Kyrie (ELW p. 213)

Canticle of Praise (ELW p. 213)

Prayer of the Day (ELW p. 215)

The assembly is seated.

Word

God speaks to us in scripture reading, preaching, and song.

First Reading: Zechariah 9:9-12

A reading from Zechariah.

The coming messianic king will inaugurate an era of disarmament and prosperity. Because of God’s covenant with Israel, the people are designated as “prisoners of hope.”

 ⁹Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
 Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he,
 humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
 ¹⁰He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war-horse from Jerusalem;
 and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations;
 his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

 ¹¹As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. ¹²Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.

Psalm: Psalm 145:8-14

 ⁸The Lord is gracious and full  of compassion, slow to anger and abounding in ^|steadfast love.
 ⁹Lord, you are good to all, and your compassion is over  all your works. 
 ¹⁰All your works shall praise  you, O Lord, and your faithful ones shall bless you.
 ¹¹They shall tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your power,
 ¹²that all people may know of your power and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
 ¹³Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; your dominion endures throughout all ages.
  You, Lord, are faithful in all your words, and loving in all your works.
 ¹⁴The Lord upholds all those who fall
  and lifts up those who  are bowed down. 

Second Reading: Romans 7:15-25a

A reading from Romans.

Life captive to sin is a catch-22 existence in which we know good but do not do it and do things we know to be wrong. Through Jesus Christ, God has set us free from such a futile existence.

¹⁵I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ¹⁶Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. ¹⁸For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. ¹⁹For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. ²⁰Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.
 ²¹So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. ²²For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, ²³but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ²⁴Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ^25aThanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Gospel Acclamation (ELW p. 216)

Gospel: Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

[Jesus spoke to the crowd saying:] ¹⁶“To what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,
 ¹⁷‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’
¹⁸For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; ¹⁹the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”
 ²⁵At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; ²⁶yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. ²⁷All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
 ²⁸“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Sermon (ELW p. 217)

In the name of the God who loves us all, grace to you and peace.

So, I have some questions for you. What I will call questions for the “average person.”
That’s you and me, by the way. First, which is more important, making money or being devoted to your family? Ask the average person that question and virtually everyone will answer, “Family” without hesitation. But watch how the average person often lives life. See where they really invest time and energy and they will give away the fact that we do not always live by what we say we believe. They have become persuaded that if they leave for work earlier in the morning and come home tired at night, they are proving how devoted they are to the family by expending all that time and effort to provide them with all the things they need or want.

An ancient story is told of a king who was suffering from a certain ailment and who was advised by his astrologer that he would be cured if the shirt of a contented man were brought to him to wear. People went to all parts of the kingdom looking for such a person and after a long search they found a man who was really happy. But he did not possess a shirt.

Another question. Which means more, the approval of strangers or the affection of people closest to you? Ask the average person, you and me, which means more and they will not be able to understand why you would ask such a dumb question. Obviously, nothing means more to them then the affection of their family and closest friends.

Yet, how often have we embarrassed our children or squelched their spontaneity, for fear of what neighbours or strangers might think? How often have we poured out our anger or displeasure on those closest to us because we had a hard day at work or someone else did something to upset us? A little more humorous example perhaps though with some truth, how many of us have let ourselves become irritable with our families because we are dieting to make ourselves look more attractive to people who do not know us well enough to see beyond appearances?

One more question. What does the average person want out of life? The average person will probably reply, “All I want is to be happy” and you know what I believe that. I believe that most people want to be happy. I believe that we work hard at making ourselves happy. We buy books, attend classes, change our lifestyles, in an ongoing effort to find that elusive quality – happiness. In spite of all that, I suspect that many people much of the time do not feel happy. As Henry David Thoreau said over one hundred and fifty years ago, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”

Oscar Wilde wrote a few years after Thoreau, “In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants and the other is getting it.” He was trying to warn us that no matter how hard we work at being successful, success will not satisfy us. By the time we get there, having sacrificed so much on the altar of being successful, we will realize that success is not what we wanted.”

An anonymous friar in a monastery wrote these words about twenty years ago or so.
“If I had my life to live over again, I’d try to make more mistakes next time. I would relax, I would limber up, I would be sillier than I have been. I know of very few things I would take seriously. I would take more trips. I would climb more mountains, swim more rivers, and watch more sunsets. I would do more walking and looking. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would have more actual troubles and fewer imaginary ones. You see, I’m one of those people who have lived life sensibly, hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I’ve had my moments, and if I had to do it over again, I’d have more of them. In fact, I’d try to have nothing else, just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead each day. I’ve been one of those people who never go anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a gargle, a raincoat, aspirin, and a parachute. If I had to do it over again, I would go places, do things, and travel lighter than I have. If I had to live my life over again, I
would start barefooted earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would play hockey more. I wouldn’t make such good grades, except by accident. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I’d pick more daisies.”

Friends, if you asked the average person, “If you had your life to live over again, what would you do differently? What do you think they would say? What would say? What would I say?

By now you’ve figured out this is not a biblical exegetical sermon, I’ll leave that for the bishops in this summer series. So here is one more vignette to reflect on. And then I will let Jesus have the last word.

There is an old Peanuts cartoon. Snoopy is sitting on top of his doghouse when Charlie Brown comes with a note. Charlie says, “It’s a letter from your brother Spike.” “Dear Snoopy, something wonderful happened, a man came by here and offered to sell me a magic cape. He told me that if I wore this magic cape I would be transported to a land of paradise. He said the cape was on sale, so not wanting to miss such a bargain, I gave him my only dollar.”

The next panel shows Spike spending his time in the desert contemplating the meaning of life. Then we switch back to Charlie reading to Snoopy. “So, by the time you get this letter, I’ll be living in paradise.” Then Spike is pictured again on the desert floor among the cacti, cape draped over his shoulders saying, “Then again, maybe I’ve been had.”

My dear friends in Christ. In this life that we have, too many people have been had. Me, too, at times. There are no magic capes. There is no one key that will guarantee happiness. In fact, that old saying about death and taxes being the only things we can count on would seem to ensure unhappiness. Ask the average person and you will hear that we live in a messed-up world, a world where people fly planes into buildings, where adults sometimes do unspeakable things to children, a world where unspeakable horrors occur every day all over the world.

There will always be low times. In fact, there will be times you get so far down that you cannot remember up. When those times come, remember this. You are not alone. You’ve got a friend, one whom scripture says sticks closer than a brother. Jesus. Who we call the Christ. The same Jesus who issues an invitation in today’s gospel reading, an invitation that reaches down to us no matter how deep we are. This is what Jesus says:

 “Come to me, all you that are weary. All who are carrying heavy burdens, guilt, pain, despair. All that keeps you from being happy. Come, and I will give you rest.”
In the name of the God who loves us all. Amen.

Silence for reflection follows the sermon.

Hymn of the Day I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say (KINGSFOLD) (ELW 611)

Prayers of Intercession

Confident that God receives our joys and concerns, let us offer our prayers for the church, those in need, and all of creation. A brief silence.

Peace (ELW p. 217)

(I invite you to share a sign of peace however you feel comfortable. (you may go around and shake hands if you wish)

Offering PRAYER

God of field and forest, sea and sky, you are the giver of all good things. Sustain us with these gifts of your creation, and multiply your graciousness in us, that the world may be fed with your love, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Canticle of Thanksgiving (ELW p. 219)

Thanksgiving for the Word (ELW p. 220)

Let us pray.

Lord’s Prayer (ELW p. 221)

Sending

God blesses us and sends us in mission to the world.

Blessing (ELW p. 221)

Sending Song Just a Closer Walk with Thee (ELW 697)

Dismissal (ELW p. 222)