“No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments” (1 Timothy 5:23).

Timothy had maladies.  We each have our issues and the Lord provides.  More important than that, this is a principle which the church developed into the idea of temperance.  It is to develop balance in this life and in this age.  We fight against puritanical temptations because on the one hand we know sin is all around us and on the other, we would rather be where there is none.  Be balanced and do what is needed to have the best temperament.

Lord, You know the temptations of this world.  You know how we are tempted in one direction and then the next.  Guide me, O Lord, to see that I too need to do what is needed to have an even temperament and stay the course You have set before me.  Lead me, O Lord, in the way of life and teach me to hold fast to the course You have set me upon so that I may grow in this gift of faith and know You that are true as You know the truth of me.

Lord, You have given the promise in Scripture that the day will come, when we shall stand before You, and we shall know even as we have always been known.  Guide me Lord in the way of truth in order that I would forever hold fast to You and do what needs to be done, not letting other things  get in the way.  Let me be neither compulsive, nor exclusive, but balanced in all things.  Amen.

“Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin” (1 Timothy 5:22).

We live in a time when the expectation is that we will help all people in whatever way they want to be helped.  Listen!  True help comes in loving your neighbor, not in just giving them what they want, but seeking for what they need.  In a culture that does not want to invest time, energy, or true money in another, we who follow Jesus are called to a different place.  Be willing to invest in others, but also be wary to invest wisely.

Lord, teach me to listen to You so that I will be wary when I need to be wary and willing where I need to be willing.  Guide me to see that these things are important.  Many have fallen away from their upbringing and do not look to You.  Let me not be one who causes another to stumble, but instead, one who invests rightly in the lives of others.  Lord, You showed how to be merciful, so guide me in the right way.  

Lord Jesus, You did not do everything for everyone.  Those who hate You use this as an excuse to continue hating.  You have called us to love, but to love responsibly.  Guide me, Lord, to know that only You understand the outcome of these things.  Teach me to listen so that, in obedience to You, I may be guided to do what is right always.  Lead me, O Lord, and give me faith to follow where You lead.  Amen.

PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, Cycle C: 7^th Sunday after Epiphany, Proper 6, February 20,2022

Genesis 45:3-15: (Joseph reveals himself to his brothers and forgives them)

Psalm 103:1-13: (Bless the Lord, O my soul! As far as the east is from the west, so far does God remove our sins from us)

1 Corinthians 15:21-26, 30-42: (The consequences of the Resurrection; more than hoping in human power; the resurrection of the faithful, and glorified bodies)

           RCL/ELW: 1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50: (The resurrection body)

Luke 6:27-38: (Love enemies; be merciful, as Father is. Forgive and give, and you will be forgiven and will be given much!)

*****

Let us draw near to the Light of Christ, offering prayer and supplication on behalf of the Church, the world, and one another.

A brief silence

Loving Father, forgiveness is the hardest thing we ever do – but refusing to forgive is worse. Thank you for the forgiveness that you have given us in Jesus. Let it sink in and work deep within us. Although it is so hard, teach us how to forgive, and to ask for forgiveness. Restore us to yourself, and to those who are separated from us, by their sins or by our own.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Make your Church unflinching in exposing sin, humble in confessing it, and generous in forgiving all who repent of it. Do not let it re-brand sin as virtue, nor reject those who stumble. Make it wise in exhortation and counsel. Make it gracious in restoring and healing all who repent and turn to you.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Bless counselors, pastors, and others who help repair relationships and restore community. Equip them to listen deeply and speak wisely. Let them seek your will and model your love as they serve others.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Embrace the people of this congregation with your holy and forgiving love. Make us eager to seek out those estranged from us, and patient in the work of reconciliation. Let all we say and do shine with love for Jesus, and with Jesus’ love for everyone we meet.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Give rulers of nations, and all in positions of authority, a love for justice tempered with mercy. Remind us all that revenge may destroy both parties, and “strict justice” may divide, not build up communities. Teach us that mercy and forgiveness, though difficult, can bring healing and reconciliation.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Restore the faith and the health of all who are burdened by suffering of body, mind, or spirit – especially {List}. Give them the joy of your saving help; and restore them to fellowship with all who love them.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Heavenly Father, we commend our beloved dead into your care, trusting your promise of mercy. Keep us, we pray, in your care as well! Help us bring your mercy to those who are lost, broken, estranged, or despairing. Sustain us with your grace, won for us in death and resurrection of your Son and given to us by your Holy Spirit. Reconcile us to yourself and to each other. And welcome us into your kingdom and reunite us with all your people. There let us praise your goodness forever and ever.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

For all these things, dear Father, and for whatever else you desire for us in your wisdom and compassion, we pray in the name of Jesus, our Savior, Lord, and King. Amen.

“I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality” (1 Timothy 5:21).

Without bias is the instruction.  That is a hard thing to do which is why an elder needs to be all of the things we have heard in this Epistle.  All for the sake of the church and the one with whom these things are true.  Temperance is needed and an eye for what is right and true.  These are not trivial or even temporal matters, but are a matter of eternal life for the ones for whom these things apply.

Sometimes Lord I trivialize what is important and make important what is trivial.  Help me understand that You are dealing with forever.  I cannot even understand this fully, but help me prioritize these matters such that I do not let the trivial things have more weight than the matters that impact Your bride, the church, and the sheep that are influenced by all that I say or do.

Lord Jesus, You have come to guide me into all righteousness.  Lead me this day in the way of truth so that I would do what is right and apply the principles You have been teaching me.  Let me do these things without partiality or bias.  Help me look to You in all circumstances so that I would do what is right according to You and the Word that You have given.  Lead me day by day to become more like You.  Amen.

“Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning” (1 Timothy 5:20).

Jesus gives us the principle of confrontation in Matthew 18.  The church has understood these things with the overarching principle of getting the one in trouble to repent and get back on track.  If they will not, then, so that others do not think that blatant sinning is okay, rebuke the flagrant one publicly.  Many will not do that in our day and so the church slides into ineffectiveness.

Lord, teach me that it is loving to discipline one who needs it.  Guide me, Lord, to be temperate in such things, but also to realize that such things are necessary.  Lead me, O Lord, in the way of truth that I may practice what You would have me practice.  Guide me, Lord, in the way of truth that I would accept rebuke when it is mine to receive and be willing to love my neighbor as I would want to be loved.

Lord, You rebuked Peter in love.  He received it and continued on.  Help me to receive rebuke when it comes.  Help me to rebuke when it is needed.  In and through all things, lead me, O Lord, in the way You know I need to go so that I may walk in humble obedience to You.  Through all things Lord, continue to teach me what I need to know.  Guide me in the way of everlasting life that I may dwell with You forever.  Amen.

A friend of Lutheran CORE has written a side-by-side, phrase-by-phrase comparison of every phrase in the Lord’s Prayer as used by Ebenezer HerChurch with the version of the Lord’s Prayer as translated by the English Language Liturgical Consultation.  Here is a PDF link to that comparison, but it is also below in text.  Per Lutheran CORE’s Executive Director, Dennis Nelson, “People need to know how bad Ebenezer HerChurch is and that the ELCA allows it.”

The Lord’s Prayer is one of several liturgical texts which have been rewritten for use in worship at HerChurch. How does the revision fare? Here is a side-by-side, phrase-by-phrase comparison of every part of the The Lord’s Prayer as used at HerChurch with every corresponding part of the standard edition of The Lord’s Prayer as translated by the English Language Liturgical Consultation (ELLC), with commentary on the revision.

This part scraps the biblical witness to take up unsanctioned innovation with pagan roots. In the biblical text, nowhere do we find a model of, and nowhere are we given the authority for, calling upon God by the name “Our Mother”. Worship of the “mother”, the “goddess”, the “divine feminine”, is a marked feature of pagan religious tradition. It has no basis in Christianity.

Gone, in this part, are the ideas of heaven and that we have a higher power above us. We are to look within ourselves, rather than up to the one who is greater than we are. But God is above us, and greater than us. It is this very fact which makes the incarnation of Jesus Christ so radical: that God, the Most High, humbled himself to become like us, to suffer and die for us.

This part lacks humility. Rather than ask God to do for us, in this part, we are to tell God what we do. Rather than submit to God’s authority and will, we demand that God must submit to us. Absent is the notion that God’s name is holy, and the implied petition that God’s name be made holy in us. In fact, there is no mention of holiness in the revision.

In this part, rather than ask for God’s kingdom—in which all wrongs are made right, all of God’s people belong, and all of creation is made whole—to come amongst us, here we are to ask merely for “wisdom” to be bestowed upon us. A rather myopic and self-centered request.

Gone, again, is the idea of heaven, in this part. And, again, we have a myopic request. Rather than ask for the whole world to be subject to God’s good will, we are to ask only for God’s good will to unfold within ourselves. Quite inconsiderate, myopic, and self-centered.

This part is more of a statement than a petition, an affirmation of sorts. The statement is not wrong, strictly speaking, as God does indeed give us everything we need. But the revision entirely misses a key point of the original petition: that we are told to ask, and free to ask, for our Father in heaven to provide our every need. God invites us to ask, and graciously provides for us.

Gone, in this part, is the notion that we have “sins” for which we need God’s “forgive[ness]”, which is central to Christian faith. It is replaced with the words that we are “remind[ed] of or limits” and that “we let go”. But “sins” are not mere “limits”. “Sins” are trespasses against the Law of God. And we aren’t merely “remind[ed]” of our sins, nor are we to simply “let go” of

them. God calls on us to repent–confess, turn away from our sin, and turn again to God–in order to receive God’s forgiveness. Also gone, in this part, is the notion that we, too, are to forgive.

Entirely absent, in this part, is the notion that we are tempted, let alone that we need deliverance from temptation. That is replaced with an affirmation that God, supposedly, “supports us in our power”. But what kind of power? And to what end? The prayer does not say. God does not always “support us in our power”. Scripture has many examples of God rebuking the powerful, and of God taking away power from those who misuse it.

Entirely absent is the notion that there is “evil” which we need to be delivered from. Instead there is an affirmation that, supposedly, “we act with courage”. But what act do we do with courage? Is it, or is it not, something of which God approves? Again, the prayer does not say.

This prayer is not particularly comforting to one who knows well that he or she does not “act with courage”. The original prayer is a source of strength to the weak ones who pray it in times of trouble. The revision expects that the one who prays is already strong and courageous.

This seems to be an attempt to avoid words that reflect power and hierarchy: “kingdom”, “power”, “glory”. There are some for whom it has become fashionable to replace “kingdom” with “kin-dom” for similar reasons. But the reality is that God is our King, has power over us, and has glory above ours. God is not our equal. God is greater. To strip that away masks the truth that above everyone and everything, above even the most powerful, God is King.

Again, the revised wording is self-centered rather than God-centered, inward-facing rather than Godward-facing. Rather than God’s “kingdom”, God’s “power”, and God’s “glory”, it speaks of our “dwelling place within”, our “empowerment”, our “celebration”.

“Blessed Be” is a pagan greeting, as well as a common way to end prayers in neopagan traditions. And herein is revealed the true origin of the Our Mother in Heaven prayer, and more broadly, of the “Divine Feminine” spirituality which HerChurch promotes: paganism.

This “Divine Feminine” is not merely a contextualization of the historic Christian faith for women; it is something entirely different, which borrows heavily from pagan traditions, without truly “baptizing” them. The resulting religion strays quite far from biblical Christianity. It cuts out essential doctrines of the Christian faith, and it adds beliefs which are contrary to the Christian faith. We clearly see it happen in this revision.

This prayer is not the Lord’s Prayer. It is not even a poor imitation of the Lord’s Prayer. It is something different entirely. It bears little resemblance to the original, since it has been so thoroughly rewritten according to the whims of the “Divine Feminine” spirituality followers.

This prayer is not suitable for use in true Christian worship; avoid it entirely. Choose a standard translation of the Lord’s Prayer instead, in order to truly pray the prayer that Jesus taught us.

“Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses” (1 Timothy 5:19).

The principle here has been violated in our modern culture.  In the name of those who abuse, there is another abuse where an elder only need be accused by one.  Look at the rule and not the exception.  The point of all matters of discipline is for the sake of faithfulness.  The elder may be accused by the one being held accountable, so be discerning.  The elder is there because of a call by the Lord and hopefully in maturity.

Lord, things are upside down in this age.  Help me learn, apply, accept, and understand the principles You have given that are good for all times and places.  Lead me in truth to see that in You alone can truth be understood.  You have not given these principles for privilege, but for the sake of all that we may grow in stature and wisdom.  Help me to learn how to apply these things.

Lord Jesus, You cared for all whom You met.  Those who accused You did so publically until Your trial when scheming took over.  Teach me to move away from the way the world does things that I may learn how to do them the way You would have me do them.  In all things, no matter my position, teach me to apply these principles in my own life and be an example to those who do not follow them.  Amen.

For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,” and “The laborer is worthy of his wages.” (1 Timothy 5:18)

The Lord has called us into a life that is growing into a better self.  In order to grow, we must learn, and this, in fact, is what the Greek word for disciple literally means.  We are called to be people who learn.  Therefore, do not stop one from learning.  In the learning comes the wages, the reward received as one comes to understand these things that the Lord has given us.  Do not hinder another no matter where they are in the learning process.

Lord, You know that this world is set up in competition – one seeking to be on top of another.  Guide me, Lord, to see that it is You and me.  Not that I am any different from all the others whom You have created, but that You measure me against me.  Help me to not compete but learn how to be faithful.  Guide me in Your goodness to see through the games of this world and to live in the truth of the ages.

Lord Jesus, You were an encouragement to all who were seeking truth.  You are truth and those who see You by the eyes of faith need what only You can give.  Help me to not be blinded in this age by all the noise and obfuscation, but instead to be led gently by Your Spirit.  Guide me, O Lord, to see that in You alone is all hope and the only future worth living.  Help me know that everyone who works is worthy of their wage.  Amen.

“The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching” (1 Timothy 5:17).

Listen to these words and hear them as they are spoken.  How many times have you heard someone rip into a preacher?  Pets at home are often better treated than the leaders of the church.  Yet, Scripture says “worthy of double honor.”  So, is the problem that they don’t make preachers the way they used to, or that sinners are sinning without repentance?  The principle is to learn from the Lord what He would teach.

Lord, the culture is constantly pushing against the goad.  I am polluted by the culture.  Guide me, Lord, to listen to You and not to the world.  Help me understand that only in You is there hope.  You have given the Word of truth and in You is all hope.  Help me to give honor where I should but have not.  Lead me to do what is right in Your sight and not what the world tells me to do.

Lord Jesus, You are worthy of all honor and praise.  When I do not do as You direct, I am dishonoring You.  When I do not honor those whom You send, I also dishonor You.  Help me learn what I need to know so that I become obedient in all things.  Help me to curb my tongue and open my heart that I may give honor where honor is due.  Lord, You are the One who guides me, and let it be no other.  Amen.

“If any woman who is a believer has dependent widows, she must assist them and the church must not be burdened, so that it may assist those who are widows indeed” (1 Timothy 5:16).

These particularities are for there and then.  The principle is forever.  If one has responsibilities, the church is not to relieve or fulfill those responsibilities.  We each need to learn to be dependable and responsible.  Yet, throughout the ages, there are those who will let others do for them what they should be doing.  Whether it is a small or large task, it does not matter.  What matters is that we learn what the Lord would teach us by doing our part.

Lord, it is easy to get caught up with the way the world does things and ignore what You are saying.  Guide me, Lord, so that I would do things the way You would have me do them.  Lead me in the way of truth in order that I would be responsible as You direct.  Help me now and always to see that in You alone is there all hope, for Your word gives me the wisdom I need to live according to Your goodness.

Lord Jesus, You did what needed to be done and did not count the cost.  You helped others, even strangers, and in the end appointed John for the care of Your mother.  Lead me by Your example Lord so that I would be responsible and do the things You give me to do.  Guide me Lord and help me to willingly and consistently follow where You lead.  In all things, help me to never shirk my responsibility.  Amen.