This Sunday’s readings are centered around the very ancient Prayer of the Day. For nearly 1600 years God’s people on this day have prayed that God might give them true spiritual wealth. “Teach us always to ask according to your will that we may never fail to obtain the blessings you have promised.” What a magnificent prayer for the materialist world in which we live! Our lessons today show people who have come into great wealth, that true, spiritual wealth can only be found in God and His eternal blessings for us in Christ. The Christian seeks spiritual wealth.

The Christian lives as wheat among weeds as he waits for the harvest. In the Prayer of the Day, we ask for the spirit to live like wheat–to think and to do what is right–even while we live in this sinful world. Living with an eye on the coming harvest gives us encouragement, comfort, and hope. The Christian lives as wheat among weeds.

The Sunday is summarized in the Prayer of the Day, which thanks God for the implanting of the Word and asks for the Spirit’s help in producing fruits of faith. The Christian is planted by the Word and produces fruit.

From the beginning of time, God provided rest for His creation. He blessed the seventh day and set it apart, that man might learn to find his rest in God alone. In Jesus, the Christian finds rest from his burdens, rest from his battles, and rest forever in heaven. The Christian finds rest in Jesus.

This week we begin a 7-week series looking at various aspects of “The Christian.” The beautiful Prayer of the Day sets the tone for the Sunday. The Church prays for the love of God that we might always love Him above all things. The Verse of the Day describes this total commitment to Christ as denying ourselves and carrying our crosses. The lessons warn of the earthly ramifications of such love, but also point to the promised heavenly rewards. The Christian loves God above all things.

The Holy Ministry preaches Christ in spite of persecution. Christ promises courage for His witnesses to testify even in the face of pain or persecution. The Prayer of the Day is one of the most ancient in the Church’s use. It seems to have been suggested by the disasters of the dying Western Empire. As Rome crumbled, the Church prayed for God’s governance that she might worship in peace and joy. Today Christ reminds us that even when that peace and joy are absent, He will give us the courage to continue to testify in His name. The Holy Ministry preaches Christ in spite of persecution.

Over the next three Sundays we hear Jesus’ Missionary Discourse (Matthew 10:5-42). Last Sunday we saw the unworthiness of the servants God calls by mercy. Today the emphasis is still on the Ministry of the Word, but the focus shifts from the servants to the people they serve. We see the compassion and love of God for this world, love so great that he called ministers of the Word to share His grace and mercy and foretell of the coming kingdom of heaven. The Holy Ministry is given by God out of compassion for his people.

The Holy Ministry is filled with people who God called out of His boundless mercy. Nothing else could explain the choices for ministers that God made! He calls such sinful and weak men to fill this office. Only mercy can explain the men He chose in this Sunday’s lessons: a despised tax collector, an exiled killer, a persecutor of Christians. How poignant these lessons are, when we remember that each lesson was penned by the unworthy minister called into service by God’s boundless mercy! The Holy Ministry is filled with people who God called out of His boundless mercy.

The Holy Ministry stands on the rock-solid truth of God’s Word. Not all who call themselves ministers do that, so watch out for false teachers! Many will come with wise-sounding words and pious promises, but they are not what they seem. The Church’s only defense is to stand firmly on the rock-solid truth of God’s Word.