Rev. Franke's Theme Thoughts

Proper 24, Series A October 19, 2011
(Tweaked for a mission theme!)

Lessons for The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Isaiah 45:1–7 ~ God commissioned Cyrus to subdue nations and carry out His will.
Psalm 96:1–9 (10–13) [Antiphon: Ps. 96:9a]
1 Thessalonians 1:1–10 ~ God chose the Thessalonians to receive the Gospel and model the Christian faith.
Matthew 22:15–22 ~ Jesus taught that even Caesar’s taxes should be used in service to God by His people.

GATHERING THE TEXTS: Citizens of God's Kingdom in the Cities of the World
Through Isaiah, God promised to give wealth and power to the Persian king, Cyrus, so that he would know the Lord, the God of Israel, is the only God. St. Paul reminded the Thessalonian believers that they had been chosen by God, for their lives were motivated by their faith, love, and hope in Jesus Christ. In the Gospel lesson for the day, some Pharisees intended to trap Jesus between the law of Rome and the loyalty of the people by making him decide for or against Caesar’s tax. Jesus made them show the people that even Pharisees carried an image of Caesar around with them! Because we were made in God’s image, we belong to the Lord.

PRAYER BEFORE THE SERVICE: Lord, everything I have is yours. Help me use it to spread your kingdom and proclaim your glory and to promote the welfare of my neighbors. Amen.

A PRAYER FOR MISSIONS: Almighty Lord, You form the light and create darkness; You bring prosperity and create disaster; apart from You there is no God. Help us see that because we belong to You our work is produced by faith and our labor prompted by love, so that all people everywhere may know Your salvation; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

STEWARDSHIP THOUGHT: God has commissioned Christians to use the riches of this world to share the riches of the world to come.

OFFERING PRAYER: Lord, bless these gifts from willing hands
To bring good news to many lands.
Give messengers to spread your grace
To hardened souls in every place. Amen.

CONVICTION AND COMFORT: Like the Pharisees, we find it all too convenient to adopt the idolatries of this world when it suits our purposes; even so, Jesus reminds us that God created humanity to be his own, made in His image. In Christ, God has restored us to Himself, so that we are to dedicate our lives to Him. Would that we could as readily adapt the conveniences of this world to the urgent task of extending the kingdom of God’s grace!