Collect: Proper 16

Grant, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered together in unity by your Holy Spirit, may show forth your power among all peoples, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Jeremiah 1:4-10 . . . The story of the calling of Jeremiah to be a prophet of the Lord

Psalm 71: 1-6 . . .  God will continue to be one’s refuge and stronghold

Hebrews 12:18-29 . . . disciples are said to stand, not before Mount Sinai, but before Mount Zion of the heavenly Jerusalem

Luke 13:10-17 . . . Jesus, on the sabbath day, heals a long-suffering woman from an infirmity she has had for many years

 

Sermon by Otis Moss, III

“A small baby girl, 4.5 pounds, was born to Ed and Blanche. She was a sickly child…born in 1940…the 20th of 22 children. Before the age of five she dealt with measles, scarlet fever, and a variety of other diseases, and eventually was stricken with polio. She was told she would never walk again.”

Otis Moss, III, is the Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois, a civil rights advocate, activist, and author who was recently recognized as one of the “12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World.”  He begins his sermon on the bent-over woman from Luke 13:10-17 with the story of Olympic champion Wilma Rudolph, whose grandmother never lost faith in a God who can heal.  “Your condition does not have to be your conclusion,” Moss insists.  Jesus might have said the same thing.