On the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, September 27, the readings asked an ordinary question. Does the work I do actually matter? Paul asks it in a letter to the church at Philippi. Jesus asks it in a short story about two sons and a vineyard. Pastor Christopher Ramstad preached on how Paul answers it. “I did not run in vain or labor in vain.”
From September through May we worship twice on Sunday mornings, at 8:00 and 10:30. The Christian Education Hour meets between them at 9:15. In June, July and August there is one service, at 9:00. We receive the Lord’s Supper on the first and third Sundays. This was the fourth Sunday. There was no Communion.
The order was Divine Service, Setting Four. It is one of five settings in the red hymnal in the pew rack. In Setting Four, some of the old parts of the service are sung as hymns. The Gloria, for example, is a hymn that starts “To God on high be glory.” Everything is also on the screens, so no one has to hunt for a page.
The readings: an old excuse, a servant, and two sons
The opening hymn, Lord, Help Us Walk Your Servant Way (LSB 857), is about Christ setting his power aside to serve others. Then came the three readings. In Ezekiel 18 the people of Israel were repeating an old saying: “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” In other words, our troubles are our parents’ fault. God retired the saying. Each person answers to him, he said, and he takes no pleasure in anyone’s death. “So turn, and live.”
Philippians is Paul’s letter to a church he had founded in the Greek city of Philippi. Chapter 2 holds a passage many churches read every Palm Sunday. Christ, who was God, “made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant,” and was obedient all the way to the cross. A few verses later Paul writes this:
Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
Philippians 2:14–16 (ESV)
In the Gospel, Matthew 21, the chief priests ask Jesus who gave him his authority. He answers with a question about John the Baptist, and then with a story. A man asks his two sons to work in his vineyard. One says no, then changes his mind and goes. The other says yes and never shows up. Jesus asks which one did what his father wanted. We confessed the Apostles’ Creed and sang the Hymn of the Day, What Wondrous Love Is This (LSB 543).
The sermon on the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Everyone knows what it is to work hard for nothing, Pastor Ramstad said. You spend hours on a puzzle (his sweet spot is 500 pieces, while Mrs. Ramstad likes a thousand), and just before it’s done someone bumps the table and the whole thing hits the floor. Or you get to the end and a piece is missing. Or you rake the whole yard on Saturday, and on Sunday morning the neighbor’s leaves have blown in.
The week before, the Gospel had been Jesus’ parable of the workers in the vineyard. A landowner hires workers at dawn, at midday and an hour before quitting time, then pays every one of them the same day’s wage. The ones who worked since dawn grumble. Pastor asked whether their long day had been in vain, and admitted that Christians grumble the same way. What about my work? Paul points away from the self, toward the people around us. “Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love.” Then Pastor gave the line he repeated all morning. “God doesn’t need your good works. But your neighbor does.”
He named two ways a church goes wrong here. The first is pride. It takes a great many people to keep a congregation going: the altar guild, the elders, the boards, the council, the teachers and staff. People who have served faithfully for years can start keeping score of who else is pulling their weight. That is the grumbling of the dawn workers. In the parable the landowner answers it with a question, and Pastor let it stand. “Do you begrudge my generosity?”
The second is apathy. The proud worker wonders whether his work matters. The apathetic one wonders whether it matters if he works at all, and lets his faith shrink to showing up on Sunday. Scripture compares that to a tree with no fruit. Pastor called both of them sin. The way between them is the humility Paul describes in Christ. The Gospel opens with the chief priests asking Jesus about his authority, and the reader already knows the answer: he has all of it. He used it to become a servant and go to a cross.
Christ’s work is finished. We are saved by it through faith, not by anything we do. But faith is more than you and Jesus, Pastor said. Christians are bound to one another. We share one confession, so it is worth knowing well. He invited people to the congregation’s new study of the Book of Concord, the Lutheran confessions, and told everyone to dust off Luther’s Small Catechism at home. We share the Sacraments, where God serves us. And we share the work of serving one another.
Paul says Christians “shine as lights” in a crooked world, and Pastor made that concrete. Parents, play with your kids this week. Husbands and wives, spend time together. Godparents, pray for your godchildren. It matters. Paul wrote Philippians from prison. He could have called his years of travel a road that ended in chains. Instead he remembered the people of Philippi, whose story is in Acts 16: Lydia, who opened her home to him, and the jailer who was baptized with his whole family. “Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering,” Paul wrote, “I am glad and rejoice with you all.”
The children’s message: the third son
DCE Jason Glaskey’s children’s message picked up from the previous Sunday. That week Pastor Ramstad had preached in costume as Izzy, a vineyard worker who kept finding reasons not to work. Jason showed the children a picture and pointed out that Izzy’s work gloves stayed clean all day. Then he told them about the two sons from the Gospel, and asked which one did what his father wanted. They knew. It was the one who said no, and then went.
Then he added a third son the story doesn’t mention: Jesus. His Father sent him to save his people, and he said yes and went. He didn’t come back with dirty gloves. His hands were marked by the nails of the cross, “because he loves you and he loves me so much.” Pastor came back to that picture in the sermon. Jesus is the one with the dirty hands.
A family at work
One family ran a good part of the morning. Pastor Ramstad preached. Principal Mollie Ramstad of Martin Luther School played the organ while our organist, Betty Lingenfelter, was away. Their daughter Katheryne R. served as acolyte, the assistant who lights the altar candles, and also played the flute. The congregation thanked them with applause at both services.
Just before the Prayer of the Church, we sang O Lord, Hear My Prayer (LSB 780). It is a short sung prayer that Pastor has been trying as a way into the prayers. The first petition asked God to keep his church from “grumbling, rivalry and conceit,” which was the sermon in a sentence.
After the service
Two things coming up are open to anyone. Spaghetti Day at Martin Luther School is Friday, October 9. Lunch is delivered from 11 to 2. Dinner and a silent auction run from 4:30 to 7. The money goes to the school playground, starting with shade. Worship and Picnic in the Park is Sunday, October 11, with one service at 10:00. There is no 8:00 or 10:30 that day. Details for both are on the church calendar.
Next Sunday, October 4, is LWML Sunday. It honors the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League. Wear purple if you have it. The Book of Concord study meets the second and fourth Thursdays at 5:30 in the Fellowship Hall. The next session is October 8. Men’s Table Talk is a monthly supper for men. They work through the Small Catechism over a meal. This month’s was set for Tuesday, September 29, at Hackett Hot Wings.
In the Gospel, the son who said no still went, and the one who said yes stayed home. Pastor’s line for the week was short enough to take home. God doesn’t need your good works. Your neighbor does.
Read it again this week
- Ezekiel 18:1–4, 25–32 — the end of the sour-grapes proverb, and God’s plea: turn, and live.
- Philippians 2:1–18 — the mind of Christ, the servant who was exalted, and lights in a crooked generation.
- Matthew 21:23–32 — the question about authority, and the two sons.
Three questions from the sermon:
- Pride or apathy: which ditch do you drift toward? What would humility look like there this week?
- “God doesn’t need your good works, but your neighbor does.” Name one neighbor who needs something only you can give right now.
- Paul wrote “not in vain” from a prison cell. Where does your work feel wasted right now? Whose faces might Paul tell you to picture instead?
Luther’s Small Catechism is free to read online. For this Sunday, read the Second Article of the Creed. Luther says Christ redeemed us “not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood.” That is the children’s message in one line.
In the service — Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, September 27, 2026
| Liturgy | Divine Service, Setting Four. No Communion (fourth Sunday). |
| First Reading | Ezekiel 18:1–4, 25–32 |
| Epistle | Philippians 2:1–18 |
| Holy Gospel | Matthew 21:23–32 |
| Hymns | LSB 857 Lord, Help Us Walk Your Servant Way · LSB 543 What Wondrous Love Is This · LSB 722 Lord, Take My Hand and Lead Me · LSB 780 O Lord, Hear My Prayer · LSB 655 Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word |
| Creed | Apostles’ Creed |
| Preacher | Pastor Christopher Ramstad |
| Children’s message | DCE Jason Glaskey |
| Organist | Mollie Ramstad, for Betty Lingenfelter |
| Acolyte and flute | Katheryne R. |
| Also in the service | LSB 780 sung before the Prayer of the Church |
Questions people ask
What is Divine Service, Setting Four?
It is one of five orders of worship in our hymnal. In Setting Four, several of the old parts of the service are sung as hymns. The Gloria is one of them. You can follow along in the red Lutheran Service Book in the pew rack, or on the screens. What to Expect walks through a Sunday step by step.
What does “Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost” mean?
The church year has two halves. The first follows the life of Christ, from Advent to Pentecost. The second runs from Pentecost to Advent and follows the life of the church. Those Sundays are counted in order, so this was the eighteenth. The color on the altar is green. More about what shapes our worship is on What We Believe.
Why was there no Communion this Sunday?
We receive the Lord’s Supper on the first and third Sundays of the month. September 27 was the fourth Sunday. So the service ended after the prayers and the blessing. If you are new and have questions about communing here, talk with Pastor Ramstad before the service. He is glad to talk.
What is LWML Sunday?
LWML stands for the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League. It is the women’s group of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Women give small gifts called mites, and the money funds mission work. Once a year a Sunday is set aside to thank God for it. Ours is October 4.
Where do I park?
There are three lots. One is off 26th Street, north of the sanctuary. The main lot is off Connecticut Avenue. A smaller one sits near the Youth Center off 27th Street. Every lot has handicapped spaces, and all of them lead to the church building. Signs inside each door point the way, and greeters are there to help. See Where We Meet for a map.
Should I bring my children into the service?
We hope you will. Children are not just allowed in worship here, they are encouraged in it. Wiggling and noise do not bother anyone. A nursery is available for families who need it, though it is only sometimes staffed. Changing tables are in the nursery and in the family restroom in the narthex (the lobby).
Thinking about visiting?
From September through May we worship at 8:00 and 10:30 on Sunday mornings, with the Christian Education Hour between them at 9:15. From June through August there is one service, at 9:00, with classes after it at 10:15. Holy Communion is on the first and third Sundays.
Park in any of the three lots and come in any door. Signs point the way, and someone will be there to help. Dress however you are comfortable. Bring your children with you.
- What to Expect — a walk through a Sunday morning here
- Sunday Services — times through the whole year
- Where We Meet — campus map, parking, the buildings
- Who Is Jesus? — the shortest answer we know how to give
- Mission & Vision — what we are here for
- Watch worship online — if you would rather start from home
- Contact us — questions, or a prayer request
About Immanuel Lutheran Church
Immanuel Lutheran Church is a congregation of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod at 2616 S Connecticut Ave, Joplin, MO 64804. We are the home of Martin Luther School, which serves children from age 3 through 8th grade. Jesus brings life. Meet Him here.
More about us: About Us · Staff and Leaders · past services and sermons, including the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost and the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost.