READINGS FOR TRINITY TWENTY-FIVE - This year The Third-Last Sunday after Trinity
Holy Gospel: Luke 17:20-30
20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, [Jesus] answered them, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, 21 nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There!' for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you."
22 And he said to the disciples, "The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, 'Look, there!' or 'Look here!' Do not go out or follow them. 24 For as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.
27 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot-they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all-30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed."
Old Testament Reading: Job 14:1-6
1 "Man who is born of a woman
is few of days and full of trouble.
2 He comes out like a flower and withers;
he flees like a shadow and continues not.
3 And do you open your eyes on such a one
and bring me into judgement with you?
4 Who can bring a clean thing our of an unclean?
There is not one.
5 Since his days are determined,
and the number of his months is with you,
and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,
6 look away from him and leave him alone,
that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day."
Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Faith Comes by Hearing the Word of Christ:
"The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed" (Luke 17:20).
You must use your ears and not your eyes. For God's kingdom in this world is one of faith, and faith comes by hearing the Word of Christ. The people of Israel, however, wanted to walk not by faith but by sight. When Moses delayed in coming down the mountain, they decided to make a visible god for themselves, the golden calf (Exodus 32:1). Upon such faithless and false worshippers God's judgement comes. Only on the Last Day will will out faith be turned to sight. "For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man" (Matthew 24:27). The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, and He will gather His people to Himself, both the living and the dead. In a world in which our days are few and full of trouble (Job 14:1), let us comfort one another with these words of the resurrection and the coming of our Lord Jesus.
