Seventh Sunday After Epiphany
February 20, 2022
Holy Communion at 8:30 and 11am
Livestream at 8:25am
Bulletin for the service
Prayer of the Day
O Lord Jesus, make us instruments of your peace, that where there is hatred, we may sow love, where there is injury, pardon, and where there is despair, hope. Grant, O divine master, that we may seek to console, to understand, and to love in your name, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Scripture
Genesis 45:3-11, 15
Psalm 37:1-11, 39-40
1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50
Luke 6:27-38
Sermon
“The Miracle of Mercy”
Genesis 45:2-11, 15; Luke 6:27-38
Mercy is always an act of God. A miracle. An interruption that creates a new and spacious reality. It is an inbreaking of the reign of God. Every time we experience it. Joseph, against all expectation lavishes mercy and forgiveness on his brothers who sold him into slavery. And in Luke we are told to be merciful. This exhortation itself is rooted in the mercy of God. We must travel a little further in Luke to see the mercy of God fully personified. There on calvary Jesus forgives his enemies from the cross. There, mercy flows from his wounded side unto all creation, you, and me alike. Now, fed by his life-giving Spirit we get to participate in this work of our merciful redeemer. These exhortations from Jesus’ sermon become joyful fruits of our resurrection life right here in the present.
Hymns
All Creatures of Our God and King, LBW 527
Lord of All Nations, Grant Me Grace, LBW 419
Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive, LBW 307
Lord of Glory, You Have Bought Us, LBW 424
In our prayers we remember Beyond Hunger.