Lutheran Heritage Foundation - Underwriter of Thy Strong Word — Underwriter of Thy Strong Word

Hosted by Rev. Will Weedon, LCMS Director of Worship and International Center Chaplain.

With guest Rev. John Shank from Trinity Lutheran Church in Edwardsville, Illinois.

Sixth Sunday after Epiphany

Introit: Psalm 98:7-9

⁷Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
    the world and those who dwell in it!
⁸Let the rivers clap their hands;
    let the hills sing for joy together
⁹before the Lord, for he comes
    to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
    and the peoples with equity.

Antiphon: Psalm 98:2

²The Lord has made known his salvation;
he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.

Gradual:

Psalm 117:1-2a

The Lord‘s Faithfulness Endures Forever

117 Praise the Lord, all nations!
Extol him, all peoples!
²For great is his steadfast love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

Psalm 96:8

⁸Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering, and come into his courts!

Old Testament: Deuteronomy 30:15-20

¹⁵“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. ¹⁶If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God^[a] that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules,^[b] then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. ¹⁷But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, ¹⁸I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. ¹⁹I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, ²⁰loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

Footnotes:

Deuteronomy 30:16 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God
Deuteronomy 30:16 Or his just decrees

Psalm 119:1-8 (antiphon: v. 1)

Your Word Is a Lamp to My Feet

Aleph

119 ^[a] Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
    who walk in the law of the Lord!
²Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
    who seek him with their whole heart,
³who also do no wrong,
    but walk in his ways!
⁴You have commanded your precepts
    to be kept diligently.
⁵Oh that my ways may be steadfast
    in keeping your statutes!
⁶Then I shall not be put to shame,
    having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
⁷I will praise you with an upright heart,
    when I learn your righteous rules.^[b]
⁸I will keep your statutes;
    do not utterly forsake me!

Footnotes:

Psalm 119:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem of twenty-two stanzas, following the letters of the Hebrew alphabet; within a stanza, each verse begins with the same Hebrew letter
Psalm 119:7 Or your just and righteous decrees; also verses 62, 106, 160, 164

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

Divisions in the Church

3 But I, brothers,^[a] could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. ²I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready,³for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?⁴For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?

⁵What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. ⁶I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. ⁷So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. ⁸He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. ⁹For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

Footnotes:

1 Corinthians 3:1 Or brothers and sisters

Proper Verse: Ephesians 5:2

²And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Gospel: Matthew 5:21-37

Anger

²¹“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ ²²But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother^[a] will be liable to judgment; whoever insults^[b] his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell^[c] of fire. ²³So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. ²⁵Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. ²⁶Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.^[d]

Lust

²⁷“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’²⁸But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. ³⁰And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

Divorce

³¹“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ ³²But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Oaths

³³“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ ³⁴But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, ³⁵or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. ³⁶And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.^[e]

Footnotes:

Matthew 5:22 Some manuscripts insert without cause
Matthew 5:22 Greek says Raca to (a term of abuse)
Matthew 5:22 Greek Gehenna; also verses 29, 30
Matthew 5:26 Greek kodrantes, Roman copper coin (Latin quadrans) worth about 1/64 of a denarius (which was a day’s wage for a laborer)
Matthew 5:37 Or the evil one

Rev. William Weedon

We have the distinct privilege of borrowing LCMS Director of Worship and International Center Chaplain Rev. William Chancellor Weedon for an hour a day to add Host of Thy Strong Word to his list of titles. Native to the central Maryland area just outside of Washington D.C., he enthusiastically enjoys his coffee, playing piano, and singing heartily, as well as spending time in the pool with his wife Cindi, three children and their spouses, and seven grandchildren. He’s one of those people that listens to Christmas music year-round, but we still let him in our studios. You may find him reading a good murder mystery or some writing by Johann Gerhard, Joseph Ratzinger, or Alexander Schmemann while eating a chocolate torte made by his wife Cindi. When he’s read all the books he can manage, he escapes outside to hike, bike, or even run in his Vivobarefoot shoes that Andy Bates, his favorite famous person, told him to buy.