Page 1 of 10 LIVING THE LECTIONARY A weekly study of the Scriptures assigned for the coming Sunday. An opportunity to make the rhythms of the readings become a part of the rhythms of your life. available on line at www.bethlehemlutheranchurchparma.com/biblestudies Oct 23/25, 2014 Bethlehem Lutheran Church 7500 State Road, Parma Thursdays at 10:00 AM, Saturdays at 7:00 pm (Also presented as a part of the worship service at Puritas Lutheran Church, 13812 Bellaire Road, Cleveland Sundays at 11:30am and 6:00pm.) Readings for Reformation Sunday October 26, 2014 www.examiner.com “It's Reformation Sunday this week in Protestant circles, which for us Lutherans means we're into the season of questioning the benefit of the thing. One particularly well-stated article was posted by Clint Schnekloth at LivingLutheran.com : As it stands, Reformation Sunday is the only Sunday of the entire church year that commemorates a moment in the history of Christianity rather than a moment in the narrative of Scripture itself. It is elevated and idealized precisely because it is so unique. This needs to stop. Clint is absolutely right. Reformation Sunday shouldn't be a celebration of one moment in the history of Christianity. But I would argue …” www.christiancentury.org (see the last page for “the rest of the story”.) Page 2 of 10 Reformation Sunday October 26, 2014 Red (Reformation Sunday, Proper 25 [30]) Hymn of the Day LSB 411 or 579 (TLH 295) “I want to walk as a child of light” Kathleen Thomerson is Organist and Music Director at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Austin, Texas. She was born in Tennessee and grew up in Mississippi, California, and Texas. College music study was at the Universities of Colorado and Texas, the Flemish Royal Conservatory in Antwerp, and privately in Paris. Before retirement in Austin, she lived in Collinsville, Illinois, when her husband was a biology professor at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. Her best-known hymn text is "I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light," set to her hymn tune HOUSTON. --www.morningstarmusic.com Watch this video for a personal view by the family of Joshua Collingsworth, 2005-2008. “I want to walk as a child of light” www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9WjSxVQnTU Or “The Law of God is good and wise” You may recognize this melody from LBW hymns 522,655, or 908 Of course you might want to sing “Ein Feste Burg” either rhythmically or isorythmically (all equal rhythms) LBW 656/657 or TLH 228/229 It appears in 579 hymnals. Page 3 of 10 Jeremiah 31:31-34 New International Version (NIV) ( next week – Revelation 7:9-17) 31 “The days are coming,” declares the LORD , “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to [a] them, [b]” declares the LORD . 33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD . “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD ,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD . “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” a. Jeremiah 31:32 Hebrew; Septuagint and Syriac / and I turned away from b. Jeremiah 31:32 Or was their master Page 4 of 10 Psalm 46 (Psalm 34:1-10, 22 ) For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth. [b] A song. 1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. [c] (Selah) 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. 6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. 7 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. (Selah) 8 Come and see what the LORD has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields [d] with fire. 10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” 11 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. (Selah) Footnotes: a. Psalm 46:1 In Hebrew texts 46:1-11 is numbered 46:2-12. b. Psalm 46:1 Title: Probably a musical term Page 5 of 10 c. Psalm 46:3 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verses 7 and 11. d. Psalm 46:9 Or chariots “Psalm 46 is the primary source of “A Mighty Fortress” “Some scholars surmise that Luther adapted preexisting melodies when composing EIN FESTE BURG. They also suspect that the popularity of this hymn not only contributed to the spread of the Reformation but also to the increasing importance of the Ionian mode (major) as opposed to the older church modes. The melody is in a rounded bar form (AABA); the setting at 468 (LBW 656) is in the original rhythm; the setting at 469 (LBW 657) is adapted. If the rhythmic setting of 468 is unfamiliar, use it as a choir anthem at first. Perhaps the organist could play one of the many organ preludes that employ this authentic rhythm. Accompany with a moderate organ registration for the first two stanzas, but enlarge the registration for stanza 3. Be sure to play at a moderately fast pace and keep Page 6 of 10 rhythms crisp; this tune must sparkle with energy. Use brass for festive services.” -Psalter Hymnal Handbook” www.hymnary.org Page 7 of 10 Romans 3:19-28 (I John 3:1-3) 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. Righteousness Through Faith 21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in [a] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, [b] through the shedding of his blood— to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. 27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. 28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. a. Romans 3:22 Or through the faithfulness of b. Romans 3:25 The Greek for sacrifice of atonement refers to the atonement cover on the ark of the covenant (see Lev. 16:15,16). Page 8 of 10 “Paul has just spent two chapters making sure that all the Gentiles among his hearers and all the Jews alike will recognize themselves to be pretty much out of wiggle room. Gentiles, he argues, might not have had the law to guide them, but they had revelation from God in the natural world, and they did not follow what they knew. Jews have even less of an excuse. They had the law and yet did not remain faithful to the covenant God made with them. Quoting Psalm 14, Paul concludes, “There is no one who is righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10)… So Paul sets up this scenario where everyone listening to his letter is staring at their shoes and wishing it would just be over soon, and then he says, “But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed” (Romans 3:21). Of course, it is not immediately good news that the righteousness of God has been revealed… (See Luke 1:51-53)… When Old Testament prophets speak of the God’s righteousness, they are pointing to God setting things right for God’s people. The little people will be vindicated, and Israel will know justice, peace, and prosperity… Reformation The Protestant tradition speaks of God as always reforming the church.