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23rd Sunday after Pentecost • Year C
November 16, 2025 • Proper 28
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Historical Collect
Lord God, rule and govern our hearts and minds by your Holy Spirit, that while keeping the end of all things in mind, we may be stirred up to holiness in this life and come to be with you forever in that life to come. Grant this, we pray, through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Swedish Psalm Book, 1639)
Thematic Collect
God of might, strengthen your church through the gifts of word and sacrament that we might live in hope and promise. Grant that we may not lose heart when the journey makes us weary and the future seems uncertain or dire. We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.
The Common Thread
The Lord is returning. That great and awesome day draws ever near. But it is not here yet. So what now? “The Lord has made known his salvation,” so now is the time for endurance. We must wait for God to judge the world with righteousness, and in the meantime, we are to make a joyful noise to him and tend to our vocations. As we make that joyful noise, we are to do our work quietly. Faith finds a level place to take an enduring stand in the steadfastness of Christ. We are thereby empowered to patiently wait for his return while tending to the holy callings of parenting, farming, or any other tasks that God has placed before us. This is how Christians endure the times: faithfully and expectantly. So, straighten up! Your redemption is drawing near.
First Reading • Malachi 4:1–6
Who will be spared from judgment? No one, for Christ is coming to judge the “quick and the dead.” All who have ever lived will bow before him. Those who had faith in him—who feared, loved, and trusted him—will leap with joy. But the wicked will be stubble before the fire. God has prepared the way to salvation through his Christ. All who lived will either skip (v2, NASB) along the way or be the ashes underfoot.
Psalm • Psalm 98:1–9
People invent semblances of salvation but they are a sham. God has shown the only salvation available to sinners. He has done so in plain sight, revealing his own righteousness by which people are saved, if they have faith. What a song of joy we can sing, once we understand that it is not our righteousness that saves us, but instead, the righteousness of God.
Second Reading • 2 Thessalonians 3:1–5, 6–13
While works do not save us, they are the result of faith. It is not only good works that should flow from our faith, general work should also result in the lives of faithful people. All believers have holy callings, whether they be mothers or fathers, school teachers or software engineers, or any other vocation. We are to work with a whole and full heart as though we are employed by the Lord (Col 3:23). We are to earn our own living in such a way that benefits others and gives honor to God.
Gospel • Luke 21:5–28, 29–36
“The end is near,” cartoon signage reads. But what if we took those cartoons as actual warnings instead of jokes? There will be signs in the heavens and in political upheaval but we need not wait for such things or wonder if current turmoil in the world are indications of the end. Neither do we need to read comics to know. The end is indeed near, because the Scripture says so. Straighten up (figuratively as well as literally) and lift your chin with the expectation of the parousia of Christ. The Son of Man is coming again!
SMALL INSERT FULL TEXTS: This version of the Proper 28C small insert includes the entirety of the readings, rather than the truncated form of the small insert found on the right side of this page. Instructions for copying are included.
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