FROM LUTHERS PRAYERS: FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER

O Father, it is indeed true that no one can be strong by his own PENTECOST
power (I Sam. 2:4). How can we stand before your might if you
do not yourself strengthen and comfort us? Therefore, dear
Father, embrace us, accomplish your will in us, that we may be
your kingdom to your praise and glory. But, dear Father,
strengthen us in this life with your holy word. Give us our daily
bread. Establish in our hearts your dear Son Jesus Christ who is
the true bread of heaven. Sustained by him, we may gladly bear
and suffer the breaking and the dying of our own will and the
fulfilling of your will. Give grace to all Christendom. Send us
educated pastors and preachers who will not give us the crumbs
and chaff of foolish fables, but who will teach us your holy
Gospel and lead us to Jesus Christ. Amen.

Luthers Small Catechism

First Petition
Hallowed be your name.

What is this?
It is true that Gods name is holy in itself, but we ask in this
prayer that it may also become holy in and among us.
How does this come about?
Whenever the Word of God is taught clearly and purely and
we, as Gods children, also live holy lives according to it. To
this end help us, dear Father in heaven! However, whoever
teaches and lives otherwise than the Word of God teaches,
dishonors Gods name among us. Preserve us from this,
heavenly Father!

God, our maker and redeemer, you have made us a new

company of priests to bear witness to the Gospel. Enable us
to be faithful to our calling to make known your promises to
all the world; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
GOSPEL: LUKE 8:26-39
Then [Jesus and his disciples] arrived at the country of the
Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 As he stepped out on
land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long
time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but
in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him
and shouted at the top of his voice, What have you to do with
me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment
me29 for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirits to come
out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept
under ground and bound with chains and shackles, but he would
break the bonds and be driven into the wilds.) 30 Jesus then
asked him, What is your name? He said Legion; for many man is certain that God is no longer angry with him and will
demons had entered him. 31 They begged him not to order them
to go back into the abyss.
32 Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was
feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these.
So he gave them permission. 33 Then the demons came out of
the man entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep
bank into the lake and was drowned.
34 When the swineherds saw what happened, they ran off
and told it in the city and in the country. 35 Then people came
out to see what had happened and when they came to Jesus, they
found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the
feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were
afraid. 36 Those who had seen it told them how the one who had
been possessed by demons had been healed. 37 Then all the
people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus
to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got
into the boat and returned. 38 The man from whom the demons
had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him
away, saying, 39 Return to your home, and declare how much
God has done for you. So he went away, proclaiming
throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN ?
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made
us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Galatians v. 1.
Christ has not freed us from human duties, but from eternal
wrath. Where? In the conscience. That is the limit of our
freedom, and it must go no further. For Christ has set us
spiritually free, that is, He has set us free in the sense that our
conscience is free and joyful and no longer fears the coming
wrath of God. That is true freedom, and no man can value it
high enough. For who can express what a great thing it is that a
never be angry again, but for the sake of Christ is now, and ever
will be, a gracious and merciful Father. Truly, it is a wonderful
freedom above all understanding, that Gods high Majesty is
gracious unto us.
And from this there follows another freedom, that we, through
Christ, are set free from the law, sin, death, hell, and the power
of the devil. For, as the wrath of God can no longer frighten us,
because Christ has set us free from it, so the law and sin can no
longer accuse or condemn us.
The Prophet Joel, E.A. op. lat. 25. 288 f.
With Commentary.
Taken from the book:
Day by Day We Magnify Thee
by Martin Luther
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