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Are You Ready?

Pastor Lisa Rygiel

The following devotional message based on the readings for Aug. 10, 2025, reprinted from Sundays and Seasons by Augsburg Fortress.

For which events are you always prepared? Perhaps the coffee is always on in your house, awaiting the unannounced guest at any hour. Or perhaps you always have your passport up to date, ready to take advantage of that spur-of-the-moment vacation deal that arrives in your inbox. Being prepared for what life brings us, knowing we’re ready to tackle whatever comes our way, can give us a sense of security.

Last Sunday’s gospel reading takes the idea of readiness to divine proportions as Jesus reminds the disciples to be prepared for God’s inbreaking at any moment. How are we prepared for God to show up in our everyday life? How are we prepared to encounter God being at work, even now?

God’s kingdom is like a grand wedding party where everyone is invited and has a light to shine. God’s realm is like a gigantic feast where all are fed, and no one goes away empty. God’s reign is one in which humanity can invest in things that last, instead of hoarding for lean times, because in the community of God there is enough for all, so we never need to be afraid.

While many people might hear this reading as referring only to Christ’s final coming, in our liturgy we are reminded that Christ arrives in many and various ways all the time. We are blessed by the Holy Spirit in the waters of baptism, in the bread and wine of the eucharist, in the face of our neighbors as we greet one another with God’s overwhelming peace.

The kingdom of God is always at hand, breaking through the ordinary and mundane in extraordinary ways. Today we are reminded to be ready for it, to look for it, to anticipate it with fearless expectation. So, how are we ready to encounter Christ today?

August 17, 10th Sunday After Pentecost
10 a.m. Sunday Worship

Announcements

  • Fellowship: Join us after worship for coffee and conversation.
  • Church Council: The Zion’s church council will meet after worship on Sunday, Aug. 17, downstairs in the Fellowship Hall. All are welcome.
  • Newsletter Deadline: The deadline for contributions to our September newsletter is Thursday, Aug. 21. If you have an article, idea, or photo to share, please let Jo Moss know.
  • God’s Work Our Hands (GWOH) Service Project: Zion’s Lutheran’s GWOH service project will include building a wheelchair ramp for a local family. If you can help with this project, let John Rygiel know. An exact time and date for the project still is being set with the family. We are also planning an alternate activity for those who may not have woodworking skills. Details will follow.
  • God’s Work Our Hands Worship: We will have our traditional outdoors GWOH worship at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 7, at Round Up Park (near the fairgrounds). A potluck picnic also at the park will immediately follow worship, so bring your favorite picnic food and join the fellowship and fun.

E-formation – 10th Sunday After Pentecost, Aug. 17

The gospel for this coming Sunday is surprisingly harsh: being a believer brings not peace, but dissension. Come to worship to hear about this; come to pray. The bread and wine will strengthen us for our future, no matter what comes.

Luke 12:49-56

Luke writes that faithfulness to Christ and to the community of the baptized is likely to be countercultural, unpopular, even divisive. Much in current Christianity emphasizes instead the open inclusiveness of the church and its commitment to peace. This gospel reading reminds us that frequently, a statement about Christianity needs to be held together with its opposite. Next to the dove of peace is the sword of the word.

Jeremiah 23:23-29

This selection from Jeremiah is set next to Luke 12 to emphasize that God’s word has always been unpopular and a challenge to the culture. The human phenomenon of religion is characterized by pleasant dreams that may be far distant from the message of God’s word. Both Jeremiah and Luke describe the word of God as fire.

Hebrews 11:19—12:2

Also, in the twenty-first century some Christians are tormented, persecuted, and killed for their faith. We trust that Jesus, who in faith endured the cross, will enable us to finish the race of life faithful to God. And if we have no such agonies in our lives, we stand with those Christians who do.

Zion's Lutheran Church

A Reconciling in Christ Community
zionsluth@gmail.com
719-846-7785