Preparing for Worship - October 5, 2025

The Scriptures for this week call us to trust in our Lord at all times, even when times are difficult and we do not understand why things are going as they are.

The Old Testament lesson is from Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4. The prophet Habakkuk is crying out to the Lord because so many bad things are happening, and He, the Lord, doesn’t seem to care. There is violence and destruction and strife all around, even among God’s people because of iniquity (their sin), and justice is perverted. The wicked even surround the righteous, as Chaldean (Babylonian) armies are threatening the land of Judah and Jerusalem. (Read 1:5-17, where God says that He is raising up the Chaldeans in judgment for the sins of Judah, and Habakkuk questions again why God would allow such wicked people to swallow up people more righteous than they are.) In 2:1-4, Habakkuk is still waiting for answers from the Lord. The Lord calls Habakkuk to wait for His plans to be fulfilled at an appointed time in the future and not to be puffed up by his own self-righteous ideas about what should happen. Habakkuk and others are simply to live by faith in the Lord and His ways and promises. (Habakkuk is finally brought to that trembling faith in His Lord. Read 3:16-19, and rejoice in the God of our salvation, too. Note also how many times verses 2:2-4 are quoted or referred to in the New Testament. Examples are: Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38, Ephesians 2:8, and 2 Corinthians 4:13-18. See, for example, even in the Old Testament: Genesis 15:6 and Isaiah 26:2-4. The appointed time, the fullness of time, was in the coming of God’s Son, Jesus, to redeem us and be our Savior and the Savior of the world. Galatians 4:4ff.)

The Psalm is Psalm 62. David had his struggles, too, and God taught him to wait in silence for His saving work. God alone, God only, was his hope. David warns against putting one's trust in other people, regardless of their status, or in riches or wrongdoing, for these can all be a delusion. Rather, David says, “Trust in the Lord at all times, O people; pour out your hearts before Him; God is a refuge for us,” with His “power and steadfast love.” (Note also that the end of v.12 does not mean that we are ultimately saved by our good works that we do. We are saved by the gift of faith, which the Lord has brought us to, by His grace. Works that we do are a reflection of our faith and trust in our Lord, though. See such Scriptures as John 6:28-29, Romans 3:20, 26-28, 4:2-8, and Ephesians 2:8-10. Note also the thoughts on our Gospel, in Luke 17:5-10.)

The Gospel lesson is Luke 17:1-10. Jesus is warning His disciples about temptations that can lead us to sin. He does not want us to lead others into temptations and sins, either, especially those who are “little ones,” new to faith, or weak in faith, or are literally vulnerable children. At the same time, Christ would soon die for our sins and bring us forgiveness, as repentant sinners, and He calls us to forgive each other, again and again, since we are all sinful people, in thought, word, and deed. (The number 7 means a full and complete number. Jesus is calling His disciples to keep on forgiving others. Jesus went even farther in Matthew 18:22, when He said to forgive 77 times, or as some translate it,  70 times 7 times - and that does not mean that on the 491st time, we can stop forgiving. Thank the Lord that He keeps on forgiving us, above all. May we keep coming to Him, with sorrow and repentance for our sins.) We want forgiveness, but sometimes it is hard to keep forgiving others. The disciples know that and pray to the Lord, “increase our faith,” that we may love and forgive in a better way. Jesus then talks about servants, often literally “slaves” in His own day. Slaves were owned by their masters and received no pay, but were to do whatever the master wanted. Only when they had done their duty, all that he commanded, were they to eat and drink and do for themselves. Martin Franzmann says,  though, “No master of a slave is expected to serve his servants, but Jesus will do the unexpected. To those who serve in faith and love, with no thought of reward, He gives the reward (the gift) which none may claim and only He can give: 'He will gird Himself and have them sit at table, and he will come and serve them.'" See Luke 12:35-40 and Revelation 3:20-21, with regard to Christ’s second coming and the undeserved gifts given in eternal life. Receiving Christ in the Lord’s Supper is also a foretaste of the eternal joys to come. See Psalm 23:5-6 and 1 Corinthians 10:16 and 11:26 and Isaiah 25:6-9.)

The Epistle lesson is from 2 Timothy 1:1-14. Paul writes this letter from prison to the younger pastor, Timothy, around 68 AD, not long before Paul’s death. Paul writes of “the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus” and remembers how that gift of faith had lived in Timothy’s grandmother and mother and now in Timothy, too. Paul assures Timothy again of the Gospel of God, “who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of His own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus,” and “who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.” Paul encourages Timothy “never to be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord,” but to follow the pattern of sound words, the true Word of God received from Paul. Paul is confident that Timothy could, “by the Holy Spirit who dwelt in him, guard the good deposit entrusted to him” - the true Word of God centered in the saving work of Jesus. The Lord had given that confidence to Paul himself, now in prison and facing execution. May the Lord strengthen all of us, too, in that trustworthy Word of God, for our life now and for our eternal future in our Savior Jesus.