Worship Helps for Pentecost 5
Artwork: Joseph and
Potiphar’s Wife
Artist: Guido Reni
Date: 1630
Worship Theme: Is
faithfulness to Christ worth the trouble it brings? The life of faith is lived
in a godless world, and it is therefore certain to be met with persecution.
Like our Suffering Savior, we too bear his cross in our daily interactions with
the unholy trio. The Lord, however, uses these persecutions suffered for the
sake of the Gospel to refine us into the pure, precious metal of his children.
Strengthened through the means of grace, we boldly confess Jesus as the Christ
in the face of any persecution or trouble. The Church prays that God in his
mercy would direct the affairs of this world so that the Church might have
peace, but at the same time we prepare ourselves for persecution.
Old Testament: Genesis 39:6b–12, 16–23
Joseph was well built and handsome. 7Sometime
after all this, his master’s wife had her eye on Joseph, and she said, “Come,
lie down with me.”
8But he refused and said to his master’s
wife, “Look, my master does not concern himself with anything that has been
entrusted to me in the house. He has put me in charge of everything that he
has. 9He has no one in this house greater than I am, and he has not
withheld anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could
I do such a great evil and sin against God?”
10She kept speaking to Joseph day
after day, but he would not listen to her. He would not lie down beside her or
even be with her. 11But one day when he went into the house to do
his work, none of the men of the household were there inside the house. 12She
caught him by his garment and said, “Come, lie down with me!” He left behind
his garment in her hand and ran outside.
16She kept his garment beside her
until his master came home. 17This is what she told him, “The Hebrew
servant, whom you have brought to us, came to me to put me to shame and said to
me, ‘Let me lie down with you.’ 18And look, when I screamed and
cried out, he left behind his garment with me and ran outside.”
19As soon as his master heard the
words that his wife spoke to him, saying, “This is what your servant did to
me,” he became very angry. 20Joseph’s master took him and put him
into the prison where the king’s prisoners were confined, so Joseph was kept in
prison there.
21But the Lord was with Joseph. He showed mercy to him and gave him
favor in the sight of the warden of the prison. 22The warden of the
prison made Joseph responsible for all the prisoners who were in the prison.
Joseph was responsible for whatever they did there. 23The warden of
the prison did not pay attention to anything that was under his authority,
because the Lord was with Joseph,
and the Lord made everything that
he did succeed.
1. What did Potiphar’s wife
try to get Joseph, her husband’s trusted employee, to do?
2. How did Potiphar,
Joseph’s master respond?
3. Things went well for
Joseph in prison. The lesson for us?
Epistle: Hebrews
11:24–26
24By faith Moses refused to be called
the son of Pharaoh’s daughter when he grew up. 25He chose to be
mistreated with God’s people rather than enjoy sin for a little while. 26He
considered disgrace for the sake of Christ as greater wealth than the treasures
of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.
4. When Moses refused to be known any more as the son of
Pharaoh’s daughter, what result was he choosing?
5. Why did Moses think of disgrace for Christ’s sake as
more valuable than the treasurers of Egypt?
Gospel: Luke 9:18–24
18One time when Jesus was praying
alone and the disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say
that I am?”
19They answered, “‘John the Baptist,’
but others say, ‘Elijah,’ and others say ‘one of the ancient prophets come back
to life.’”
20He said to them, “But who do you
say that I am?”
And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”
21He gave them a strict command not
to tell this to anyone. 22He said, “The Son of Man must suffer many
things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law. He
must be killed and be raised on the third day.”
23Jesus said to all of them, “If
anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily,
and follow me. 24For whoever wants to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
6. How did Jesus react when
Peter confessed him as God’s Anointed One?
7. Why did Jesus say he
must suffer many things and must be killed?
8. What will happen to you
if you want to save your life? If you lose your life for Jesus?
Answers:
1. Potiphar’s wife tried to
get Joseph to have sexual intercourse with her.
2. Potiphar got angry when
his wife accused Joseph of trying to make fun of her (and worse). We do not
read with whom he was angry, so we should not assume he was angry with Joseph;
he may have been angry with his wife. In any case, Joseph was thrown in prison.
3. The way things went well
for Joseph in prison—part of the whole story of how God turned bad into good,
with Joseph and his family—teaches us to do the right thing always, for God’s
sake. Following what God says may make us enemies and cause us many troubles,
but God’s way is the best way. In the end we will see it.
4. By letting everyone know
he was an Israelite, Moses deliberately chose to be mistreated.
5. Moses thought of
disgrace for Christ’s sake as more valuable than the treasures of Egypt because
he did not intend to get a reward right away. He was looking ahead to a reward.
(Think of what Moses turned his back on. The remains of a minor young pharaoh
from that era, Tutankhamun, were found inside a coffin of gold.)
6. See verses 20–21. Jesus
warned them not to tell anyone. This may seem odd, until we realize that the
disciples did not have a full understanding of Jesus as the Christ, “the
Anointed One.” They often considered the Christ as one anointed for glory, but
Jesus was one who was anointed for suffering.
7. See verse 22. By his suffering and death, Jesus would
then conquer sin and death.
8. See verse 24. Whoever wants to save his life will end
up losing it. Whoever loses his life will end up gaining life in Jesus.
Putting your faith into action
To deny one’s self is not easy. Pushing aside our sinful
nature is difficult. The plots of many movies and TV shows reflect the old
visual effect used in cartoons: the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the
other, both whispering into the ear of the subject—one suggesting good
behavior, the other suggesting evil. As stewards, that selfishness comes to the
surface much too often. Self comes first; God gets the leftovers. Much more
time and money is spent on self rather than for God. As an individual I am so
convicted by such statements that my reaction is to rise up to defend my choices, my rights. God says, “Leave self behind for once. Act like the
steward of the Master’s property that you are. Be a servant to the Master’s
plan for all that he gives into your care. Shoulder his burden, if you can.”
And there’s a promise in there, for even if we use up our whole life in service
to the Lord, he will give us a new one that we’ll never use up.
There is great need for us
to call upon God and to pray, “Dear Father, forgive us our trespasses.” It is not as though He did not forgive sin
without and even before our prayer. (He has given us the Gospel, in which is
pure forgiveness before we prayed or ever thought about it.) But the purpose of this prayer is that we may
recognize and receive such forgiveness.
The flesh in which we daily live is of such a nature that it neither
trusts nor believes God. It is ever
active in evil lusts and devices, so that we sin daily in word and deed, by
what we do and fail to do. By this the
conscience is thrown into unrest, so that it is afraid of God’s wrath and
displeasure. So it loses the comfort and
confidence derived from the Gospel.
Therefore, it is always necessary that we receive consolation to comfort
the conscience again.
This serves God’s purpose
of breaking our pride and keeping us humble.
God has reserved this right for Himself: if anyone wants to boast of his
godliness and despise others, that person is to think about himself and place
this prayer before his eyes. He will
find that he is no better than others and that in God’s presence all must tuck
their tails and be glad that they can gain forgiveness. Let no one think that as long as he lives
here he can reach such a position that he will not need such forgiveness. In short, if God does not forgive without
stopping, we are lost. – The Large Catechism, The Lord’s Prayer (paragraphs 88-91)
1 I walk in danger all the way; The thought
shall never leave me
That Satan,
who has marked his prey, Is plotting to deceive me.
This foe
with hidden snares May seize me unawares
If e’er I
fail to watch and pray; I walk in danger all the way.
2 I pass through trials all the way, With sin
and ills contending;
In patience
I must bear each day The cross of God’s own sending.
Oft in
adversity I know not where to flee
When storms
of woe my soul dismay; I pass through trials all the way.
3 Grim death pursues me all the way; Nowhere I
rest securely.
He comes by
night, he comes by day, And takes his prey most surely.
A failing
breath, and I In death’s strong grasp may lie
To face
eternity today. Grim death pursues me all the way.
4 I walk with angels all the way; They shield
me and befriend me.
All Satan’s
pow’r is held at bay When heav’nly hosts attend me.
They are my
sure defense; All fear and sorrow, hence!
Unharmed by
foes, do what they may, I walk with angels all the way.
5 I walk with Jesus all the way; His guidance
never fails me.
He takes my
ev’ry fear away When Satan’s pow’r assails me,
And, by his
footsteps led, My path I safely tread.
In spite of
ills that threaten may, I walk with Jesus all the way.
6 My walk is heav’nward all the way; Await, my
soul, the morrow,
When you
farewell can gladly say To all your sin and sorrow.
All worldly
pomp, begone! To heav’n I now press on.
For all the
world I would not stay; My walk is heav’nward all the way.
Text: Hans
A. Brorson, 1694–1764; tr. Ditlef G. Ristad, 1863–1938, alt.
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