Preparing for Worship - August 22, 2021

In the Old Testament lesson for this Sunday, Isaiah 29:11-19, God speaks of a sleep and blindness that have come upon His people (v.10). Their hearts are far away from the Lord. and they have turned things upside down. They think they are the “potter," not the “clay,” and they can do whatever they please They are unwise, following human ideas, and have no real understanding. They are in great danger and need to have their eyes and ears opened and find “fresh joy in the Lord.”

Jesus quotes from the Old Testament lesson in the Gospel reading from Mark 7:1-13. When he came to be the Savior, Jesus said that His own people were again following the “tradition of men” and were “making void the Word of God." Their hearts were far from what God really wanted for them, and they were missing the truth about God and His Word.

The Psalm for this Sunday, Psalm 14, is a very strong indictment of our human condition, left on our own. Some are so foolish as to say that “There is no God.” In fact, as God looks at the world, “There is none who does good, not even one,” according to God’s standards. “They have all turned aside," away from God in their hearts and are evildoers toward others. Paul quotes this passage in Romans 3:10-12, along with other Scriptures, and concludes, “By works of the Law, no human being will be justified in God’s sight.” Yet the Psalm writer, David, says that there is a “generation of the righteous” - people who receive salvation through the Lord.

How can we sinners become righteous? The Epistle lesson, from Ephesians 5:22-33, is about what God wants for wives and husbands in marriage; but right in the middle of that is the Good News we all need. “Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, so that He might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” We are forgiven and counted righteous only through the sacrifice of Christ, in His love for us. Those blessings come to us in the Word connected with water in Holy Baptism. In response, husbands and wives are called also to love each other, with husbands carrying the biggest responsibility, as head of their family.