3rd Week in Lent – Homewood CPC

DAILY DEVOTIONAL, 3/30/19

Posted on March 30, 2019March 6, 2019 by Sherrad Hayes in 3rd Week in Lent, A Year of Growth, Daily Devotional, Lent, Year 1, Year 1, 2018-2019

Saturday, 3rd Week in Lent

Opening Prayer

Behold, now is the acceptable time;
now is the day of salvation.
Turn us again, O God of our salvation,
that the light of your face may shine on us.
May your justice shine like the sun;
and may the poor be lifted up. (2 Cor. 6:2; Ps. 85:4; 80:3)

(from The Book of Common Worship)
O God, the fountain of life,
to a humanity parched with thirst
you offer the living water of grace
which springs up from the rock, our Savior Jesus Christ.
Grant your people the gift of your Spirit,
that we may learn to profess our faith with courage
and announce with joy the wonder of your love.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.

Morning Psalm, Psalm 43

Send Out Your Light and Your Truth

43:1 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause
    against an ungodly people,
from the deceitful and unjust man
    deliver me!
²For you are the God in whom I take refuge;
    why have you rejected me?
Why do I go about mourning
    because of the oppression of the enemy?

³Send out your light and your truth;
    let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
    and to your dwelling!
⁴Then I will go to the altar of God,
    to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
    O God, my God.

⁵Why are you cast down, O my soul,
    and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
    my salvation and my God.

Prayer:
(from The Book of Common Worship)
Eternal God, source of everlasting light,
send forth your truth into our hearts,
and bring us into your presence with joy and gladness
in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord.
Amen.

Laudate Psalm, Psalm 149

Sing to the Lord a New Song

149:1 Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
    his praise in the assembly of the godly!
²Let Israel be glad in his Maker;
    let the children of Zion rejoice in their King!
³Let them praise his name with dancing,
    making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!
⁴For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
    he adorns the humble with salvation.
⁵Let the godly exult in glory;
    let them sing for joy on their beds.
⁶Let the high praises of God be in their throats
    and two-edged swords in their hands,
⁷to execute vengeance on the nations
    and punishments on the peoples,
⁸to bind their kings with chains
    and their nobles with fetters of iron,
⁹to execute on them the judgment written!
    This is honor for all his godly ones.
Praise the Lord!

Prayer:
(from The Book of Common Worship)
God our Maker,
you crown the humble with honor
and exalt the faithful who gather in your name.
Because you have favored us with life,
we dance before you in our joy
and praise you with unending song
for Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Old Testament Reading, Jeremiah 13:1-11

The Ruined Loincloth

13:1 Thus says the Lord to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.” ²So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist. ³And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, ⁴“Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.”⁵So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. ⁶And after many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” ⁷Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was spoiled; it was good for nothing.

⁸Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁹“Thus says the Lord: Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. ¹⁰This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing. ¹¹For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.

Epistle Reading, Romans 6:12-23

^6:12Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.¹³Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. ¹⁴For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Slaves to Righteousness

¹⁵What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, ¹⁸and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. ¹⁹I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

²⁰For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.²¹But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. ²²But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. ²³For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Gospel Reading, John 8:47-59

^8:47Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

Before Abraham Was, I Am

⁴⁸The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” ⁴⁹Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. ⁵¹Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” ⁵²The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ ⁵³Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” ⁵⁴Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ ⁵⁵But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. ⁵⁶Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” ⁵⁷So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” ⁵⁸Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” ⁵⁹So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

Reflection for the Day

“Serve Christ in the Poor”
from a sermon by
Gregory of Nazianzus (4th Century)
as reprinted in The Liturgy of the Hours

Blessed are the merciful, because they shall obtain mercy, says the Scripture. Mercy is not the least of the beatitudes. Again: Blessed is he who is considerate to the needy and the poor. Once more: Generous is the man who is merciful and lends. In another place: All day the just man is merciful and lends. Let us lay hold of this blessing, let us earn the name of being considerate, let us be generous.

Not even night should interrupt you in your duty of mercy. Do not say: Come back and I will give you something tomorrow. There should be no delay between your intention and your good deed. Generosity is the one thing that cannot admit of delay.

Share your bread with the hungry, and bring the needy and the homeless into your house, with a joyful and eager heart. He who does acts of mercy should do so with cheerfulness. The grace of a good deed is doubled when it is done with promptness and speed. What is given with a bad grace or against one’s will is distasteful and far from praiseworthy.

When we perform an act of kindness we should rejoice and not be sad about it. If you undo the shackles and the thongs, says Isaiah, that is, if you do away with miserliness and counting the cost, with hesitation and grumbling, what will be the result? Something great and wonderful! What a marvellous reward there will be: Your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will rise up quickly. Who would not aspire to light and healing.

If you think that I have something to say, servants of Christ, his brethren and co-heirs, let us visit Christ whenever we may; let us care for him, feed him, clothe him, welcome him, honor him, not only at a meal, as some have done, or by anointing him, as Mary did, or only by lending him a tomb, like Joseph of Arimathaea, or by arranging for his burial, like Nicodemus, who loved Christ half-heartedly, or by giving him gold, frankincense and myrrh, like the Magi before all these others. The Lord of all asks for mercy, not sacrifice, and mercy is greater than myriads of fattened lambs. Let us then show him mercy in the persons of the poor and those who today are lying on the ground, so that when we come to leave this world they may receive us into everlasting dwelling places, in Christ our Lord himself, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Prayer for the Day

Take time to reflect and pray. Pray for those listed on our prayer list from worship. If you’d like to use it, here is a prayer to guide you:

(from The Book of Common Worship)
Great and wonderful God, we praise and thank you for the gift of renewal in Jesus Christ. Especially we thank you for

opportunities for rest and recreation . . .
the regenerating gifts of the Holy Spirit . . .
activities shared by young and old . . .
fun and laughter . . .
every service that proclaims your love. . . .

You make all things new, O God, and we offer our prayers for the renewal of the world and the healing of its wounds. Especially we pray for

those who have no leisure . . .
people enslaved by addictions . . .
those who entertain and enlighten . . .
those confronted with temptation . . .
the church in North America. . . .

Lord Jesus Christ, who stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your name.

Amen.

Closing Prayer

(from The Liturgy of the Hours)
Rejoicing in this annual celebration
of our Lenten observance,
we pray, O Lord,
that, with our hearts set on the paschal mysteries,
we may be gladdened by their full effects.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Let us praise the Lord.
– And give him thanks.
Amen.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL, 3/29/19

Posted on March 29, 2019March 6, 2019 by Sherrad Hayes in 3rd Week in Lent, A Year of Growth, Daily Devotional, Lent, Year 1, Year 1, 2018-2019

Friday, 3rd Week in Lent

Opening Prayer

Behold, now is the acceptable time;
now is the day of salvation.
Turn us again, O God of our salvation,
that the light of your face may shine on us.
May your justice shine like the sun;
and may the poor be lifted up. (2 Cor. 6:2; Ps. 85:4; 80:3)

(from The Book of Common Worship)
Eternal God,
your kingdom has broken into our troubled world
through the life, death, and resurrection of your Son.
Help us to hear your Word and obey it,
that we may become instruments of your saving love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Morning Psalm, Psalm 22

Why Have You Forsaken Me?
To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.

22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
²O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
    and by night, but I find no rest.

³Yet you are holy,
    enthroned on the praises of Israel.
⁴In you our fathers trusted;
    they trusted, and you delivered them.
⁵To you they cried and were rescued;
    in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

⁶But I am a worm and not a man,
    scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
⁷All who see me mock me;
    they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
⁸“He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;
    let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

⁹Yet you are he who took me from the womb;
    you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
¹⁰On you was I cast from my birth,
    and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
¹¹Be not far from me,
    for trouble is near,
    and there is none to help.

¹²Many bulls encompass me;
    strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
¹³they open wide their mouths at me,
    like a ravening and roaring lion.

¹⁴I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
    it is melted within my breast;
¹⁵my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
    and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
    you lay me in the dust of death.

¹⁶For dogs encompass me;
    a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet—
¹⁷I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
¹⁸they divide my garments among them,
    and for my clothing they cast lots.

¹⁹But you, O Lord, do not be far off!
    O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
²⁰Deliver my soul from the sword,
    my precious life from the power of the dog!
²¹    Save me from the mouth of the lion!
You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!

²²I will tell of your name to my brothers;
    in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
²³You who fear the Lord, praise him!
    All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,
    and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
²⁴For he has not despised or abhorred
    the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
    but has heard, when he cried to him.

²⁵From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
    my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
²⁶The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;
    those who seek him shall praise the Lord!
    May your hearts live forever!

²⁷All the ends of the earth shall remember
    and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
    shall worship before you.
²⁸For kingship belongs to the Lord,
    and he rules over the nations.

²⁹All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
    before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
    even the one who could not keep himself alive.
³⁰Posterity shall serve him;
    it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
³¹they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
    that he has done it.

Prayer:
(from The Book of Common Worship)
Eternal God,
your tortured Son felt abandoned,
and cried out in anguish from the cross,
yet you delivered him.
He overcame the bonds of death
and rose in triumph from the grave.
Do not hide your face from those who cry out to you.
Feed the hungry, strengthen the weak,
and break the chains of the oppressed,
that your people may rejoice in your saving deeds.
This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior.
Amen.

Laudate Psalm, Psalm 148

Praise the Name of the Lord

148:1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
    praise him in the heights!
²Praise him, all his angels;
    praise him, all his hosts!

³Praise him, sun and moon,
    praise him, all you shining stars!
⁴Praise him, you highest heavens,
    and you waters above the heavens!

⁵Let them praise the name of the Lord!
    For he commanded and they were created.
⁶And he established them forever and ever;
    he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.

⁷Praise the Lord from the earth,
    you great sea creatures and all deeps,
⁸fire and hail, snow and mist,
    stormy wind fulfilling his word!

⁹Mountains and all hills,
    fruit trees and all cedars!
¹⁰Beasts and all livestock,
    creeping things and flying birds!

¹¹Kings of the earth and all peoples,
    princes and all rulers of the earth!
¹²Young men and maidens together,
    old men and children!

¹³Let them praise the name of the Lord,
    for his name alone is exalted;
    his majesty is above earth and heaven.
¹⁴He has raised up a horn for his people,
    praise for all his saints,
    for the people of Israel who are near to him.
Praise the Lord!

Prayer:
(from The Book of Common Worship)
God Most High,
by your Word you created a wondrous universe,
and through your Spirit
you breathed into it the breath of life.
Accept creation’s hymn of praise from our lips,
and let the praise that is sung in heaven
resound in the heart of every creature on earth,
to the glory of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
now and forever.
Amen.

Old Testament Reading, Jeremiah 11:1-17

The Broken Covenant

11:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²“Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ³You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Cursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant ⁴that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be my people, and I will be your God, ⁵that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.” Then I answered, “So be it, Lord.”

⁶And the Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Hear the words of this covenant and do them. ⁷For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, Obey my voice. ⁸Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.”

⁹Again the Lord said to me, “A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. They have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. ¹¹Therefore, thus says the Lord, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them. ¹²Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. ¹³For your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, altars to make offerings to Baal.

¹⁴“Therefore do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. ¹⁵What right has my beloved in my house, when she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? Can you then exult? ¹⁶The Lord once called you ‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and its branches will be consumed. ¹⁷The Lord of hosts, who planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, provoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal.”

Epistle Reading, Romans 6:1-11

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? ²By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? ³Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

⁵For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷For one who has died has been set free from sin. ⁸Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. ¹⁰For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. ¹¹So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Gospel Reading, John 8:33-47

^8:33They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. ³⁶So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. ³⁸I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”

You Are of Your Father the Devil

³⁹They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, ⁴⁰but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. ⁴¹You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” ⁴²Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. ⁴³Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. ⁴⁴You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. ⁴⁶Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?⁴⁷Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

Reflection for the Day

“The Mystery of Our New Life in Christ”
from Moral Reflections on Job by
Gregory I (Gregory the Great; 6th – 7th Centuries)
as reprinted in The Liturgy of the Hours

Holy Job is a type of the Church. At one time he speaks for the body, at another for the head. As he speaks of its members he is suddenly caught up to speak in the name of their head. So it is here, where he says: I have suffered this without sin on my hands, for my prayer to God was pure.

Christ suffered without sin on his hands, for he committed no sin and deceit was not found on his lips. Yet he suffered the pain of the cross for our redemption. His prayer to God was pure, his alone out of all mankind, for in the midst of his suffering he prayed for his persecutors: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.

Is it possible to offer, or even to imagine, a purer kind of prayer than that which shows mercy to one’s torturers by making intercession for them? It was thanks to this kind of prayer that the frenzied persecutors who shed the blood of our Redeemer drank it afterward in faith and proclaimed him to be the Son of God.

The text goes on fittingly to speak of Christ’s blood: Earth, do not cover over my blood, do not let my cry find a hiding place in you. When man sinned, God had said: Earth you are, and to earth you will return. Earth does not cover over the blood of our Redeemer, for every sinner, as he drinks the blood that is the price of his redemption, offers praise and thanksgiving, and to the best of his power makes that blood known to all around him.

Earth has not hidden away his blood, for holy Church has preached in every corner of the world the mystery of its redemption.

Notice what follows: Do not let my cry find a hiding place in you. The blood that is drunk, the blood of redemption, is itself the cry of our Redeemer. Paul speaks of the sprinkled blood that calls out more eloquently than Abel’s. Of Abel’s blood Scripture had written: The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to me from the earth. The blood of Jesus calls out more eloquently than Abel’s, for the blood of Abel asked for the death of Cain, the fratricide, while the blood of the Lord has asked for, and obtained, life for his persecutors.

If the sacrament of the Lord’s passion is to work its effect in us, we must imitate what we receive and proclaim to mankind what we revere. The cry of the Lord finds a hiding place in us if our lips fail to speak of this, though our hearts believe in it. So that his cry may not lie concealed in us it remains for us all, each in his own measure, to make known to those around us the mystery of our new life in Christ.

Prayer for the Day

Take time to reflect and pray. Pray for those listed on our prayer list from worship. If you’d like to use it, here is a prayer to guide you:

(from The Book of Common Worship)
Eternal God, we praise you for your mighty love given in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, and the new life we have received by his resurrection. Especially we thank you for

the presence of Christ in our weakness and suffering . . .
the ministry of Word and Sacrament . . .
all who work to help and heal . . .
sacrifices made for our benefit . . .
opportunities for our generous giving. . . .

God of grace, let our concern for others reflect Christ’s self giving love, not only in our prayers, but also in our practice. Especially we pray for

those subjected to tyranny and oppression . . .
wounded and injured people . . .
those who face death . . .
those who may be our enemies . . .
the church in Latin America. . . .

Eternal God, source and goal of all life, lead us to life eternal by the mighty love of Jesus Christ, who suffered on the cross, was raised from the dead, and lifted into glory where with outstretched arms he welcomes the world in his strong and loving embrace. In his holy name we pray, now and forever.

Amen.

Closing Prayer

(from The Liturgy of the Hours)

(from The Liturgy of the Hours)
Pour your grace into our hearts, we pray, O Lord,
that we may be constantly drawn away from unruly desires
and obey by your own gift the heavenly teaching you give us.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Let us praise the Lord.
– And give him thanks.
Amen.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL, 3/28/19

Posted on March 28, 2019March 6, 2019 by Sherrad Hayes in 3rd Week in Lent, A Year of Growth, Daily Devotional, Lent, Year 1, Year 1, 2018-2019

Thursday, 3RD Week in Lent

Opening Prayer

Behold, now is the acceptable time;
now is the day of salvation.
Turn us again, O God of our salvation,
that the light of your face may shine on us.
May your justice shine like the sun;
and may the poor be lifted up. (2 Cor. 6:2; Ps. 85:4; 80:3)

(from The Book of Common Worship)
Merciful God,
in Christ you make all things new.
Transform the poverty of our nature
by the riches of your grace,
and in the renewal of our lives
make known your heavenly glory;
through Jesus Christ our Redeemer,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.

Morning Psalm, Psalm 27

The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation
Of David.

27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation;
    whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
    of whom shall I be afraid?

²When evildoers assail me
    to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
    it is they who stumble and fall.

³Though an army encamp against me,
    my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
    yet I will be confident.

⁴One thing have I asked of the Lord,
    that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
    and to inquire in his temple.

⁵For he will hide me in his shelter
    in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
    he will lift me high upon a rock.

⁶And now my head shall be lifted up
    above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
    sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

⁷Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
    be gracious to me and answer me!
⁸You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
    “Your face, Lord, do I seek.”
⁹    Hide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
    O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not,
    O God of my salvation!
¹⁰For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
    but the Lord will take me in.

¹¹Teach me your way, O Lord,
    and lead me on a level path
    because of my enemies.
¹²Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
    for false witnesses have risen against me,
    and they breathe out violence.

¹³I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living!
¹⁴Wait for the Lord;
    be strong, and let your heart take courage;
    wait for the Lord!

Prayer:
(from The Book of Common Worship)
O God, guardian and guide of all your people,
protect and lead us through times of trouble,
establishing our faith on the rock of Jesus Christ,
who is the way, the truth, and the life.
Amen.

Laudate Psalm, Psalm 147:12-20

He Heals the Brokenhearted

^147:12Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
    Praise your God, O Zion!
¹³For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
    he blesses your children within you.
¹⁴He makes peace in your borders;
    he fills you with the finest of the wheat.
¹⁵He sends out his command to the earth;
    his word runs swiftly.
¹⁶He gives snow like wool;
    he scatters frost like ashes.
¹⁷He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs;
    who can stand before his cold?
¹⁸He sends out his word, and melts them;
    he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.
¹⁹He declares his word to Jacob,
    his statutes and rules to Israel.
²⁰He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
    they do not know his rules.
Praise the Lord!

Prayer:
(from The Book of Common Worship)
O Lord,
marvelous is your might
by which you cast down the proud
and lift up the humble.
Restore and rebuild your church.
Gather your scattered sheep
and nourish us by your holy Word,
that we may follow your will
and come at last to the heritage
prepared for us in Christ Jesus.
Amen.

Old Testament Reading, Jeremiah 10:11-24

^10:11Thus shall you say to them: “The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”

¹²It is he who made the earth by his power,
    who established the world by his wisdom,
    and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
¹³When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
    and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
    and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
¹⁴Every man is stupid and without knowledge;
    every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
for his images are false,
    and there is no breath in them.
¹⁵They are worthless, a work of delusion;
    at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
¹⁶Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,
    for he is the one who formed all things,
and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;
    the Lord of hosts is his name.

¹⁷Gather up your bundle from the ground,
    O you who dwell under siege!
¹⁸For thus says the Lord:
“Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land
    at this time,
and I will bring distress on them,
    that they may feel it.”

¹⁹Woe is me because of my hurt!
    My wound is grievous.
But I said, “Truly this is an affliction,
    and I must bear it.”
²⁰My tent is destroyed,
    and all my cords are broken;
my children have gone from me,
    and they are not;
there is no one to spread my tent again
    and to set up my curtains.
²¹For the shepherds are stupid
    and do not inquire of the Lord;
therefore they have not prospered,
    and all their flock is scattered.

²²A voice, a rumor! Behold, it comes!—
    a great commotion out of the north country
to make the cities of Judah a desolation,
    a lair of jackals.

²³I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself,
    that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
²⁴Correct me, O Lord, but in justice;
    not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.

Epistle Reading, Romans 5:12-21

Death in Adam, Life in Christ

^5:12Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— ¹³for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.¹⁴Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

¹⁵But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. ¹⁶And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.¹⁷For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

¹⁸Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. ¹⁹For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. ²⁰Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, ²¹so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Gospel Reading, John 8:21-32

^8:21So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” ²²So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” ²³He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. ²⁴I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” ²⁵So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. ²⁶I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” ²⁷They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. ²⁸So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. ²⁹And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” ³⁰As he was saying these things, many believed in him.

The Truth Will Set You Free

³¹So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, ³²and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Reflection for the Day

“The Spiritual Offering of Prayer”
from On Prayer by
Tertullian (2nd – 3rd Centuries)
as reprinted in The Liturgy of the Hours

Prayer is the offering in spirit that has done away with the sacrifices of old. What good do I receive from the multiplicity of your sacrifices? asks God. I have enough of burnt offerings of rams, and I do not want the fat of lambs and the blood of bulls and goats. Who has asked for these from your hands?

What God has asked for we learn from the Gospel. The hour will come, he says, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. God is a spirit and so he looks for worshipers who are like himself.

We are true worshipers and true priests. We pray in spirit, and so offer in spirit the sacrifice of prayer. Prayer is an offering that belongs to God and is acceptable to him: it is the offering he has asked for, the offering he planned as his own.

We must dedicate this offering with our whole heart, we must fatten it on faith, tend it by truth, keep it unblemished through innocence and clean through chastity, and crown it with love. We must escort it to the altar of God in a procession of good works to the sound of psalms and hymns. Then it will gain for us all that we ask of God.

Since God asks for prayer offered in spirit and in truth, how can he deny anything to this kind of prayer? How great is the evidence of its power, as we read and hear, and believe.

Of old, prayer was able to rescue from fire and beasts and hunger, even before it received its perfection from Christ. How much greater then is the power of Christian prayer. No longer does prayer bring an angel of comfort to the heart of a fiery furnace, or close up the mouths of lions, or transport to the hungry food from the fields. No longer does it remove all sense of pain by the grace it wins for others. But it gives the armor of patience to those who suffer, who feel pain, who are distressed. It strengthens the power of grace, so that faith may know what it is gaining from the Lord, and understand what it is suffering for the name of God.

In the past, prayer was able to bring down punishment, rout armies, withhold the blessing of rain. Now, however, the prayer of the just turns aside the whole anger of God, keeps vigil for its enemies, pleads for persecutors. Is it any wonder that it can call down water from heaven when it could obtain fire from heaven as well? Prayer is the one thing that can conquer God. But Christ has willed that it should work no evil, and has given it all power over good.

Its only art is to call back the souls of the dead from the very journey into death, to give strength to the weak, to heal the sick, to exorcise the possessed, to open prison cells, to free the innocent from their chains. Prayer cleanses from sin, drives away temptations, stamps out persecutions, comforts the fainthearted, gives new strength to the courageous, brings travelers safely home, calms the waves, confounds robbers, feeds the poor, overrules the rich, lifts up the fallen, supports those who are falling, sustains those who stand firm.

All the angels pray. Every creature prays. Cattle and wild beasts pray and bend the knee. As they come from their barns and caves they look up to heaven and call out, lifting up their spirit in their own fashion. The birds too rise and lift themselves up to heaven: they open out their wings, instead of hands, in the form of a cross and give voice to what seems to be a prayer.

What more need be said on this duty of prayer? Even the Lord himself prayed. To him be honor and power for ever and ever. Amen.

Prayer for the Day

Take time to reflect and pray. Pray for those listed on our prayer list from worship. If you’d like to use it, here is a prayer to guide you:

(from The Book of Common Worship)
Loving God, as the rising sun chases away the night, so you have scattered the power of death in the rising of Jesus Christ, and you bring us all blessings in him. Especially we thank you for

the community of faith in our church . . .
those with whom we work or share common concerns . . .
the diversity of your children . . .
indications of your love at work in the world . . .
those who work for reconciliation. . . .

Mighty God, with the dawn of your love you reveal your victory over all that would destroy or harm, and you brighten the lives of all who need you. Especially we pray for

families suffering separation . . .
people different from ourselves . . .
those isolated by sickness or sorrow . . .
the victims of violence or warfare . . .
the church in the Pacific region. . . .

Eternal God, as we are baptized into the death of Jesus Christ, so give us the grace of repentance that we may pass through the grave with him and be born again to eternal life, for he is the One who was crucified, dead, and buried, and rose again for us, Jesus our Savior.

Amen.

Closing Prayer

(from The Liturgy of the Hours)
We implore your majesty most humbly, O Lord,
that, as the feast of our salvation draws ever closer,
so we may press forward all the more eagerly
towards the worthy celebration of the Paschal Mystery.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Let us praise the Lord.
– And give him thanks.
Amen.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL, 3/27/19

Posted on March 27, 2019March 6, 2019 by Sherrad Hayes in 3rd Week in Lent, A Year of Growth, Daily Devotional, Lent, Year 1, Year 1, 2018-2019

Wednesday, 3RD Week in Lent

Opening Prayer

Morning Psalm, Psalm 5

Lead Me in Your Righteousness
To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David.

5:1 Give ear to my words, O Lord;
    consider my groaning.
²Give attention to the sound of my cry,
    my King and my God,
    for to you do I pray.
³O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
    in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.

⁴For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
    evil may not dwell with you.
⁵The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
    you hate all evildoers.
⁶You destroy those who speak lies;
    the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

⁷But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
    will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
    in the fear of you.
⁸Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
    because of my enemies;
    make your way straight before me.

⁹For there is no truth in their mouth;
    their inmost self is destruction;
their throat is an open grave;
    they flatter with their tongue.
¹⁰Make them bear their guilt, O God;
    let them fall by their own counsels;
because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
    for they have rebelled against you.

¹¹But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
    let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
    that those who love your name may exult in you.
¹²For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
    you cover him with favor as with a shield.

Prayer:
(from The Book of Common Worship)
You alone, O God, are holy and righteous,
and we praise you for protecting us in times of trial.
Keep us safe from all evil
and lead us in paths of justice
that we may know the joy of trusting Jesus Christ
our shield and defender.
Amen.

Laudate Psalm, Psalm 147:1-11

He Heals the Brokenhearted

147:1 Praise the Lord!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
    for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.
²The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
    he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
³He heals the brokenhearted
    and binds up their wounds.
⁴He determines the number of the stars;
    he gives to all of them their names.
⁵Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
    his understanding is beyond measure.
⁶The Lord lifts up the humble;
he casts the wicked to the ground.

⁷Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
    make melody to our God on the lyre!
⁸He covers the heavens with clouds;
    he prepares rain for the earth;
    he makes grass grow on the hills.
⁹He gives to the beasts their food,
    and to the young ravens that cry.
¹⁰His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
    nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
¹¹but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
    in those who hope in his steadfast love.

Prayer:
(from The Book of Common Worship)
Loving God,
great builder of the heavenly Jerusalem,
you know the number of the stars
and call them by name.
Heal hearts that are broken,
gather those who have been scattered,
and enrich us all from the fullness of your eternal wisdom,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Old Testament Reading, Jeremiah 8:4-9:6

Sin and Treachery

^8:4“You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord:
When men fall, do they not rise again?
    If one turns away, does he not return?
⁵Why then has this people turned away
    in perpetual backsliding?
They hold fast to deceit;
    they refuse to return.
⁶I have paid attention and listened,
    but they have not spoken rightly;
no man relents of his evil,
    saying, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone turns to his own course,
    like a horse plunging headlong into battle.
⁷Even the stork in the heavens
    knows her times,
and the turtledove, swallow, and crane
    keep the time of their coming,
but my people know not
    the rules of the Lord.

⁸“How can you say, ‘We are wise,
    and the law of the Lord is with us’?
But behold, the lying pen of the scribes
    has made it into a lie.
⁹The wise men shall be put to shame;
    they shall be dismayed and taken;
behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord,
    so what wisdom is in them?
¹⁰Therefore I will give their wives to others
    and their fields to conquerors,
because from the least to the greatest
    everyone is greedy for unjust gain;
from prophet to priest,
    everyone deals falsely.
¹¹They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
    saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
    when there is no peace.
¹²Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
    No, they were not at all ashamed;
    they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among the fallen;
    when I punish them, they shall be overthrown,
says the Lord.
¹³When I would gather them, declares the Lord,
    there are no grapes on the vine,
    nor figs on the fig tree;
even the leaves are withered,
    and what I gave them has passed away from them.”

¹⁴Why do we sit still?
Gather together; let us go into the fortified cities
    and perish there,
for the Lord our God has doomed us to perish
    and has given us poisoned water to drink,
    because we have sinned against the Lord.
¹⁵We looked for peace, but no good came;
    for a time of healing, but behold, terror.

¹⁶“The snorting of their horses is heard from Dan;
    at the sound of the neighing of their stallions
    the whole land quakes.
They come and devour the land and all that fills it,
    the city and those who dwell in it.
¹⁷For behold, I am sending among you serpents,
    adders that cannot be charmed,
    and they shall bite you,”
declares the Lord.

Jeremiah Grieves for His People

¹⁸My joy is gone; grief is upon me;
    my heart is sick within me.
¹⁹Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people
    from the length and breadth of the land:
“Is the Lord not in Zion?
    Is her King not in her?”
“Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images
    and with their foreign idols?”
²⁰“The harvest is past, the summer is ended,
    and we are not saved.”
²¹For the wound of the daughter of my people is my heart wounded;
    I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me.

²²Is there no balm in Gilead?
    Is there no physician there?
Why then has the health of the daughter of my people
    not been restored?
9:1 Oh that my head were waters,
    and my eyes a fountain of tears,
that I might weep day and night
    for the slain of the daughter of my people!
² Oh that I had in the desert
    a travelers’ lodging place,
that I might leave my people
    and go away from them!
For they are all adulterers,
    a company of treacherous men.
³They bend their tongue like a bow;
    falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land;
for they proceed from evil to evil,
    and they do not know me, declares the Lord.

⁴Let everyone beware of his neighbor,
    and put no trust in any brother,
for every brother is a deceiver,
    and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.
⁵Everyone deceives his neighbor,
    and no one speaks the truth;
they have taught their tongue to speak lies;
    they weary themselves committing iniquity.
⁶Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit,
    they refuse to know me, declares the Lord.

Epistle Reading, Romans 5:1-11

Peace with God Through Faith

5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ²Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

⁶For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ⁸but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. ¹⁰For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. ¹¹More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Gospel Reading, John 8:12-20

I Am the Light of the World

^8:12Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” ¹³So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.”¹⁴Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. ¹⁵You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. ¹⁶Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. ¹⁷In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. ¹⁸I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” ¹⁹They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” ²⁰These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

Reflection for the Day

“Blessed Are the Clean of Heart, for They Will See God”
from To Autolycus by
Theophilus of Antioch (2nd Century)
as reprinted in The Liturgy of the Hours

If you say, “Show me your God,” I will say to you, “Show me what kind of person you are, and I will show you my God.” Show me then whether the eyes of your mind can see, and the ears of your heart hear.

It is like this. Those who can see with the eyes of their bodies are aware of what is happening in this life on earth. They get to know things that are different from each other. They distinguish light and darkness, black and white, ugliness and beauty, elegance and in-elegance, proportion and lack of proportion, excess and defect. The same is true of the sounds we hear: high or low or pleasant. So it is with the ears of our heart and the eyes of our mind in their capacity to hear or see God.

God is seen by those who have the capacity to see him, provided that they keep the eyes of their minds open. All have eyes, but some have eyes that are shrouded in darkness, unable to see the light of the sun. Because the blind cannot see it, it does not follow that the sun does not shine. The blind must trace the cause back to themselves and their eyes. In the same way, you have eyes in your mind that are shrouded in darkness because of your sins and evil deeds.

A person’s soul should be clean, like a mirror reflecting light. If there is rust on the mirror his face cannot be seen in it. In the same way, no one who has sin within him can see God.

But if you will you can be healed. Hand yourself over to the doctor, and he will open the eyes of your mind and heart. Who is to be the doctor? It is God, who heals and gives life through his Word and wisdom. Through his Word and wisdom he created the universe, for by his Word the heavens were established, and by his Spirit all their array. His wisdom is supreme. God by wisdom founded the earth, by understanding he arranged the heavens, by his knowledge the depths broke forth and the clouds poured out the dew.

If you understand this, and live in purity and holiness and justice, you may see God. But, before all, faith and the fear of God must take the first place in your heart, and then you will understand all this. When you have laid aside mortality and been clothed in immortality, then you will see God according to your merits. God raises up your flesh to immortality along with your soul, and then, once made immortal, you will see the immortal One, if you believe in him now.

Prayer for the Day

Take time to reflect and pray. Pray for those listed on our prayer list from worship. If you’d like to use it, here is a prayer to guide you:

(from The Book of Common Worship)
God of all mercies, we praise you that you have brought us to this new day, brightening our lives with the dawn of promise and hope in Jesus Christ. Especially we thank you for

the warmth of sunlight, the wetness of rain and snow, and all that nourishes the earth . . .
the presence and power of your Spirit . . .
the support and encouragement we receive from others . . .
those who provide for public safety and well-being . . .
the mission of the church around the world. . . .

Merciful God, strengthen us in prayer that we may lift up the brokenness of this world for your healing, and share in the saving love of Jesus Christ. Especially we pray for

those in positions of authority over others . . .
the lonely and forgotten . . .
children without families or homes . . .
agents of caring and relief . . .
the church in Asia and the Middle East. . . .

Take all our doubts and uncertainties, O God, and fill us with such faith that we may be confident of your love and loyal in the service of him who died and yet lives for us, Jesus Christ the Lord.

Amen.

Closing Prayer

(from The Liturgy of the Hours)
Grant, we pray, O Lord,
that, schooled through Lenten observance
and nourished by your word,
through holy restraint
we may be devoted to you with all our heart
and be ever united in prayer.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Let us praise the Lord.
– And give him thanks.
Amen.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL, 3/26/19

Posted on March 26, 2019March 6, 2019 by Sherrad Hayes in 3rd Week in Lent, A Year of Growth, Daily Devotional, Lent, Year 1, Year 1, 2018-2019

Tuesday, 3RD Week in Lent

Opening Prayer

Behold, now is the acceptable time;
now is the day of salvation.
Turn us again, O God of our salvation,
that the light of your face may shine on us.
May your justice shine like the sun;
and may the poor be lifted up. (2 Cor. 6:2; Ps. 85:4; 80:3)

(from The Book of Common Worship)
Eternal God,
your kingdom has broken into our troubled world
through the life, death, and resurrection of your Son.
Help us to hear your Word and obey it,
that we may become instruments of your saving love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Morning Psalm, Psalm 34

Taste and See That the Lord Is Good
Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.

34:1 I will bless the Lord at all times;
    his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
²My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
    let the humble hear and be glad.
³Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
    and let us exalt his name together!

⁴I sought the Lord, and he answered me
    and delivered me from all my fears.
⁵Those who look to him are radiant,
    and their faces shall never be ashamed.
⁶This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
    and saved him out of all his troubles.
⁷The angel of the Lord encamps
    around those who fear him, and delivers them.

⁸Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
    Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
⁹Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
    for those who fear him have no lack!
¹⁰The young lions suffer want and hunger;
    but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

¹¹Come, O children, listen to me;
    I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
¹²What man is there who desires life
    and loves many days, that he may see good?
¹³Keep your tongue from evil
    and your lips from speaking deceit.
¹⁴Turn away from evil and do good;
    seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
    and his ears toward their cry.
¹⁶The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
    to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
¹⁷When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
    and delivers them out of all their troubles.
¹⁸The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
    and saves the crushed in spirit.

¹⁹Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
    but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
²⁰He keeps all his bones;
    not one of them is broken.
²¹Affliction will slay the wicked,
    and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
²²The Lord redeems the life of his servants;
    none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

Prayer:
(from The Book of Common Worship)
Graciously hear us, Lord, for you alone we seek.
Quiet us with the peace which passes understanding,
and make us radiant with the knowledge of your goodness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Laudate Psalm, Psalm 146

Put Not Your Trust in Princes

146:1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
²I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

³Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
⁴When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.

⁵Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
⁶who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
⁷ who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;

⁸ the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
⁹The Lord watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

¹⁰The Lord will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord!

Prayer:
(from The Book of Common Worship)
Blessed are those who put their trust in you, O God,
our sure rock and refuge.
Guard us from giving to any other
the allegiance which belongs only to you.
Shine upon us with the brightness of your light,
that we may love you with a pure heart
and praise you forever;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Old Testament Reading, Jeremiah 7:21-34

^7:21Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. ²²For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. ²³But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’ ²⁴But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. ²⁵From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. ²⁶Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.

²⁷“So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you. ²⁸And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.

²⁹“‘Cut off your hair and cast it away;
raise a lamentation on the bare heights,
for the Lord has rejected and forsaken
the generation of his wrath.’

The Valley of Slaughter

³⁰“For the sons of Judah have done evil in my sight, declares the Lord. They have set their detestable things in the house that is called by my name, to defile it.³¹And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind. ³²Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it will no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth, because there is no room elsewhere. ³³And the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, and none will frighten them away. ³⁴And I will silence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land shall become a waste.

Epistle Reading, Romans 4:13-25

The Promise Realized Through Faith

^4:13For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. ¹⁵For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

¹⁶That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, ¹⁷as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. ¹⁸In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” ¹⁹He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness^[a]of Sarah’s womb. ²⁰No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, ²¹fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. ²²That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” ²³But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, ²⁴but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, ²⁵who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Gospel Reading, John 7:37-52

Rivers of Living Water

³⁷On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. ³⁸Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” ³⁹Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Division Among the People

⁴⁰When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” ⁴¹Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? ⁴²Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?”⁴³So there was a division among the people over him. ⁴⁴Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

⁴⁵The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” ⁴⁶The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” ⁴⁷The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived?⁴⁸Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? ⁴⁹But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” ⁵⁰Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, ⁵¹“Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” ⁵²They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”

Reflection for the Day

“Prayer Knocks, Fasting Obtains, Mercy Receives”
from a sermon by
Peter Chrysologus (4th – 5th Centuries)
as reprinted in The Liturgy of the Hours

There are three things, my brethren, by which faith stands firm, devotion remains constant, and virtue endures. They are prayer, fasting and mercy. Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy receives. Prayer, mercy and fasting: these three are one, and they give life to each other.

Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. Let no one try to separate them; they cannot be separated. If you have only one of them or not all together, you have nothing. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others you open God’s ear to yourself.

When you fast, see the fasting of others. If you want God to know that you are hungry, know that another is hungry. If you hope for mercy, show mercy. If you look for kindness, show kindness. If you want to receive, give. If you ask for yourself what you deny to others, your asking is a mockery.

Let this be the pattern for all when they practice mercy: show mercy to others in the same way, with the same generosity, with the same promptness, as you want others to show mercy to you.

Therefore, let prayer, mercy and fasting be one single plea to God on our behalf, one speech in our defence, a threefold united prayer in our favor.

Let us use fasting to make up for what we have lost by despising others. Let us offer our souls in sacrifice by means of fasting. There is nothing more pleasing that we can offer to God, as the psalmist said in prophecy: A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; God does not despise a bruised and humbled heart.

Offer your soul to God, make him an oblation of your fasting, so that your soul may be a pure offering, a holy sacrifice, a living victim, remaining your own and at the same time made over to God. Whoever fails to give this to God will not be excused, for if you are to give him yourself you are never without the means of giving.

To make these acceptable, mercy must be added. Fasting bears no fruit unless it is watered by mercy. Fasting dries up when mercy dries up. Mercy is to fasting as rain is to earth. However much you may cultivate your heart, clear the soil of your nature, root out vices, sow virtues, if you do not release the springs of mercy, your fasting will bear no fruit.

When you fast, if your mercy is thin your harvest will be thin; when you fast, what you pour out in mercy overflows into your barn. Therefore, do not lose by saving, but gather in by scattering. Give to the poor, and you give to yourself. You will not be allowed to keep what you have refused to give to others.

Prayer for the Day

Take time to reflect and pray. Pray for those listed on our prayer list from worship. If you’d like to use it, here is a prayer to guide you:

(from The Book of Common Worship)
Eternal God, we rejoice this morning in the gift of life, which we have received by your grace, and the new life you give in Jesus Christ. Especially we thank you for

the love of our families . . .
the affection of our friends . . .
strength and abilities to serve your purpose today . . .
this community in which we live . . .
opportunities to give as we have received. . . .

God of grace, we offer our prayers for the needs of others and commit ourselves to serve them even as we have been served in Jesus Christ. Especially we pray for

those closest to us, families, friends, neighbors . . .
refugees and homeless men, women and children . . .
the outcast and persecuted . . .
those from whom we are estranged . . .
the church in Africa. . . .

God of love, as you have given your life to us, so may we live according to your holy will revealed in Jesus Christ. Make us bold to share your life, and show your love, in the power of your Holy Spirit. Grant this through Jesus Christ our Redeemer and Lord.

Amen.

Closing Prayer

(from The Liturgy of the Hours)
May your grace not forsake us, O Lord, we pray,
but make us dedicated to your holy service
and at all times obtain for us your help.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Let us praise the Lord.
– And give him thanks.
Amen.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL, 3/25/19

Posted on March 25, 2019March 5, 2019 by Sherrad Hayes in 3rd Week in Lent, A Year of Growth, Daily Devotional, Lent, Year 1, Year 1, 2018-2019

Monday, 3RD Week in Lent

Opening Prayer

Behold, now is the acceptable time;
now is the day of salvation.
Turn us again, O God of our salvation,
that the light of your face may shine on us.
May your justice shine like the sun;
and may the poor be lifted up. (2 Cor. 6:2; Ps. 85:4; 80:3)

(from The Book of Common Worship)
Merciful God,
in Christ you make all things new.
Transform the poverty of our nature
by the riches of your grace,
and in the renewal of our lives
make known your heavenly glory;
through Jesus Christ our Redeemer,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.

Morning Psalm, Psalm 119:73-80

Yodh

^119:73Your hands have made and fashioned me;
    give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.
⁷⁴Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice,
    because I have hoped in your word.
⁷⁵I know, O Lord, that your rules are righteous,
    and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
⁷⁶Let your steadfast love comfort me
    according to your promise to your servant.
⁷⁷Let your mercy come to me, that I may live;
    for your law is my delight.
⁷⁸Let the insolent be put to shame,
    because they have wronged me with falsehood;
    as for me, I will meditate on your precepts.
⁷⁹Let those who fear you turn to me,
    that they may know your testimonies.
⁸⁰May my heart be blameless in your statutes,
    that I may not be put to shame!

Prayer:
(from The Book of Common Worship)
Holy God,
you are just in all your ways
and your commandments are the greatest of treasures.
Give us understanding of your law
and direct us according to your will
that we may be faithful in serving you
for the sake of Jesus our Lord.
Amen.

Laudate Psalm, Psalm 145

Great Is the LORD
A Song of Praise. Of David.

145:1 I will extol you, my God and King,
    and bless your name forever and ever.
²Every day I will bless you
    and praise your name forever and ever.
³Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
    and his greatness is unsearchable.

⁴One generation shall commend your works to another,
    and shall declare your mighty acts.
⁵On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
    and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
⁶They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
    and I will declare your greatness.
⁷They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
    and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

⁸The Lord is gracious and merciful,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
⁹The Lord is good to all,
    and his mercy is over all that he has made.

¹⁰All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
    and all your saints shall bless you!
¹¹They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
    and tell of your power,
¹²to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,
    and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
¹³Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
    and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

The Lord is faithful in all his words
    and kind in all his works.
¹⁴The Lord upholds all who are falling
    and raises up all who are bowed down.
¹⁵The eyes of all look to you,
    and you give them their food in due season.
¹⁶You open your hand;
    you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
¹⁷The Lord is righteous in all his ways
    and kind in all his works.
¹⁸The Lord is near to all who call on him,
    to all who call on him in truth.
¹⁹He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
    he also hears their cry and saves them.
²⁰The Lord preserves all who love him,
    but all the wicked he will destroy.

²¹My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
    and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

Prayer:
(from The Book of Common Worship)
Merciful Lord,
you are faithful in all your promises,
and just in all your ways.
Govern us, for we are weak;
strengthen us, for we are failing;
refresh us, for we are famished;
abundantly bestow your gifts upon us.
Defend us from evil,
that we be not tempted from your way,
but may praise your name forever.
Amen.

Old Testament Reading, Jeremiah 7:1-15

Evil in the Land

7:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²“Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the Lord. ³Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. ⁴Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’

⁵“For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, ⁶if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, ⁷then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.

⁸“Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. ⁹Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, ¹⁰and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? ¹¹Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord. ¹²Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. ¹³And now, because you have done all these things, declares the Lord, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer, ¹⁴therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. ¹⁵And I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of Ephraim.

Epistle Reading, Romans 4:1-12

Abraham Justified by Faith

4:1 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? ²For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. ³For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” ⁴Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. ⁵And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, ⁶just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

⁷“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
⁸blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

⁹Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. ¹⁰How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. ¹¹He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, ¹²and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

Gospel Reading, John 7:14-36

^7:14About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. ¹⁵The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?” ¹⁶So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. ¹⁷If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. ¹⁸The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. ¹⁹Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?” ²⁰The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” ²¹Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it. ²²Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. ²³If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well? ²⁴Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

Can This Be the Christ?

²⁵Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? ²⁶And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? ²⁷But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.” ²⁸So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. ²⁹I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.” ³⁰So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. ³¹Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”

Officers Sent to Arrest Jesus

³²The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. ³³Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. ³⁴You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” ³⁵The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? ³⁶What does he mean by saying, ‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”

Reflection For the day

“Boast Only of the Lord”
from a homily by
Basil of Caesarea (Basil the Great; 4th Century)
as reprinted in The Liturgy of the Hours

The wise man must not boast of his wisdom, nor the strong man of his strength, nor the rich man of his riches. What then is the right kind of boasting? What is the source of man’s greatness? Scripture says: The man who boasts must boast of this, that He knows and understands that I am the Lord. Here is man’s greatness, here is man’s glory and majesty: to know in truth what is great, to hold fast to it, and to seek glory from the Lord of glory. The Apostle tells us: The man who boasts must boast of the Lord. He has just said: Christ was appointed by God to be our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, our redemption, so that, as it is written, a man who boasts must boast of the Lord.

Boasting of God is perfect and complete when we take no pride in our own righteousness but acknowledge that we are utterly lacking in true righteousness and have been made righteous only by faith in Christ.

Paul boasts of the fact that he holds his own righteousness in contempt and seeks the righteousness in faith that comes through Christ and is from God. He wants only to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and to have fellowship with his sufferings by taking on the likeness of his death, in the hope that somehow he may arrive at the resurrection of the dead.

Here we see all overweening pride laid low. Humanity, there is nothing left for you to boast of, for your boasting and hope lie in putting to death all that is your own and seeking the future life that is in Christ. Since we have its first fruits we are already in its midst, living entirely in the grace and gift of God.

It is God who is active within us, giving us both the will and the achievement, in accordance with his good purpose. Through his Spirit, God also reveals his wisdom in the plan he has preordained for our glory.

God gives power and strength in our labours. I have toiled harder than all the others, Paul says, but it is not I but the grace of God, which is with me.

God rescues us from dangers beyond all human expectation. We felt within ourselves that we had received the sentence of death, so that we might not trust ourselves but in God, who raises the dead; from so great a danger did he deliver us, and does deliver us; we hope in him, for he will deliver us again.

Prayer for the Day

Take time to reflect and pray. Pray for those listed on our prayer list from worship. If you’d like to use it, here is a prayer to guide you:

(from The Book of Common Worship)
We praise you, God our creator, for your handiwork in shaping and sustaining your wondrous creation. Especially we thank you for

the miracle of life and the wonder of living . . .
particular blessings coming to us in this day . . .
the resources of the earth . . .
gifts of creative vision and skillful craft . . .
the treasure stored in every human life. . . .

We dare to pray for others, God our Savior, claiming your love in Jesus Christ for the whole world, committing ourselves to care for those around us in his name. Especially we pray for

those who work for the benefit of others . . .
those who cannot work today . . .
those who teach and those who learn . . .
people who are poor . . .
the church in Europe. . . .

God of all joy, fill our souls to overflowing with the fullness of your grace. In this season, remind us of your triumph over the tragedy of the cross, and your victory for us over the powers of sin and death, so that we may reflect your glory as disciples of Jesus Christ, our risen Lord.

Amen.

Closing Prayer

(from The Liturgy of the Hours)
May your unfailing compassion, O Lord,
cleanse and protect your Church,
and, since without you she cannot stand secure,
may she be always governed by your grace.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Let us praise the Lord.
– And give him thanks.
Amen.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL, 3/24/19

Posted on March 24, 2019March 5, 2019 by Sherrad Hayes in 3rd Week in Lent, A Year of Growth, Daily Devotional, Lent, Year 1, Year 1, 2018-2019

3RD Sunday in Lent

Opening Prayer

Behold, now is the acceptable time;
now is the day of salvation.
Turn us again, O God of our salvation,
that the light of your face may shine on us.
May your justice shine like the sun;
and may the poor be lifted up. (2 Cor. 6:2; Ps. 85:4; 80:3)

(from The Book of Common Prayer)
Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves
to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and
inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all
adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil
thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus
Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

Morning Psalm, Psalm 84

My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord
To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

84:1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
    O Lord of hosts!
²My soul longs, yes, faints
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
    to the living God.

³Even the sparrow finds a home,
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
    my King and my God.
⁴Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
    ever singing your praise! Selah

⁵Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
    in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
⁶As they go through the Valley of Baca
    they make it a place of springs;
    the early rain also covers it with pools.
⁷They go from strength to strength;
    each one appears before God in Zion.
⁸O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
    give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
⁹Behold our shield, O God;
    look on the face of your anointed!

¹⁰For a day in your courts is better
    than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
¹¹For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
    the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
    from those who walk uprightly.
¹²O Lord of hosts,
    blessed is the one who trusts in you!

Prayer:
(from The Book of Common Worship)
Lord, your presence is better than life itself.
You are strength to all in need,
and hope to those who travel through sorrow.
As the sparrow and the swallow entrust their young to you,
so we place our lives before you.
Receive them in the name and for the sake of
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Laudate Psalm, Psalm 150

Let Everything Praise the Lord

150:1 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
    praise him in his mighty heavens!
²Praise him for his mighty deeds;
    praise him according to his excellent greatness!

³Praise him with trumpet sound;
    praise him with lute and harp!
⁴Praise him with tambourine and dance;
    praise him with strings and pipe!
⁵Praise him with sounding cymbals;
    praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
⁶Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!

Prayer:
Great and glorious God,
in your wisdom you created us,
in Jesus Christ you came to redeem us,
and through your Holy Spirit you guide and sanctify us.
Give us breath to sing of your majesty,
and with all creation,
praise you as the true life of all;
through Jesus Christ,
who reigns with you and the Holy Spirit;
one God forever.
Amen.

Old Testament Reading, Jeremiah 6:9-15

^6:9Thus says the Lord of hosts:
“They shall glean thoroughly as a vine
    the remnant of Israel;
like a grape gatherer pass your hand again
    over its branches.”
¹⁰To whom shall I speak and give warning,
    that they may hear?
Behold, their ears are uncircumcised,
    they cannot listen;
behold, the word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn;
    they take no pleasure in it.
¹¹Therefore I am full of the wrath of the Lord;
    I am weary of holding it in.
“Pour it out upon the children in the street,
    and upon the gatherings of young men, also;
both husband and wife shall be taken,
    the elderly and the very aged.
¹²Their houses shall be turned over to others,
    their fields and wives together,
for I will stretch out my hand
    against the inhabitants of the land,”
declares the Lord.
¹³“For from the least to the greatest of them,
    everyone is greedy for unjust gain;
and from prophet to priest,
    everyone deals falsely.
¹⁴They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
    saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
    when there is no peace.
¹⁵Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
    No, they were not at all ashamed;
    they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
    at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,”
says the Lord.

Epistle Reading, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Flee Sexual Immorality

^6:12“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. ¹³“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. ¹⁵Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! ¹⁶Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” ¹⁷But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. ¹⁸Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. ¹⁹Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, ²⁰for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Gospel Reading, Mark 5:1-20

Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon

5:1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. ²And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. ³He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, ⁴for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. ⁵Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. ⁶And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. ⁷And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” ⁸For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” ¹⁰And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. ¹¹Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, ¹²and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” ¹³So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.

¹⁴The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. ¹⁶And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. ¹⁷And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. ¹⁸As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. ¹⁹And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

Reflection For the day

“A Samaritan Woman Came to Draw Water”
from A Treatise on John by
Augustine of Hippo (4th – 5th Centuries)
as reprinted in The Liturgy of the Hours

A woman came. She is a symbol of the Church not yet made righteous. Righteousness follows from the conversation. She came in ignorance, she found Christ, and he enters into conversation with her. Let us see what it is about, let us see why a Samaritan woman came to draw water. The Samaritans did not form part of the Jewish people: they were foreigners. The fact that she came from a foreign people is part of the symbolic meaning, for she is a symbol of the Church. The Church was to come from the Gentiles, of a different race from the Jews.

We must then recognise ourselves in her words and in her person, and with her give our own thanks to God. She was a symbol, not the reality; she foreshadowed the reality, and the reality came to be. She found faith in Christ, who was using her as a symbol to teach us what was to come. She came then to draw water. She had simply come to draw water; in the normal way of man or woman.

Jesus says to her: Give me water to drink. For his disciples had gone to the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman therefore says to him: How is it that you, though a Jew, ask me for water to drink, though I am a Samaritan woman? For Jews have nothing to do with Samaritans.

The Samaritans were foreigners; Jews never used their utensils. The woman was carrying a pail for drawing water. She was astonished that a Jew should ask her for a drink of water, a thing that Jews would not do. But the one who was asking for a drink of water was thirsting for her faith.

Listen now and learn who it is that asks for a drink. Jesus answered her and said: If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink”, perhaps you might have asked him and he would have given you living water.

He asks for a drink, and he promises a drink. He is in need, as one hoping to receive, yet he is rich, as one about to satisfy the thirst of others. He says: If you knew the gift of God. The gift of God is the Holy Spirit. But he is still using veiled language as he speaks to the woman and gradually enters into her heart. Or is he already teaching her? What could be more gentle and kind than the encouragement he gives? If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink”, perhaps you might ask and he would give you living water.

What is this water that he will give if not the water spoken of in Scripture: With you is the fountain of life? How can those feel thirst who will drink deeply from the abundance in your house?

He was promising the Holy Spirit in satisfying abundance. She did not yet understand. In her failure to grasp his meaning, what was her reply? The woman says to him: Master, give me this drink, so that I may feel no thirst or come here to draw water. Her need forced her to this labor, her weakness shrank from it. If only she could hear those words: Come to me, all who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Jesus was saying this to her, so that her labors might be at an end; but she was not yet able to understand.

Prayer for the Day

Take time to reflect and pray. Pray for those listed on our prayer list from worship. If you’d like to use it, here is a prayer to guide you:

(from The Book of Common Worship)
Mighty God of mercy, we thank you for the resurrection dawn bringing the glory of our risen Lord who makes every day new. Especially we thank you for

the beauty of your creation . . .
the new creation in Christ and all gifts of healing and forgiveness . . .
the sustaining love of family and friends . . .
the fellowship of faith in your church. . . .

Merciful God of might, renew this weary world, heal the hurts of all your children, and bring about your peace for all in Christ Jesus, the living Lord. Especially we pray for

those who govern nations of the world . . .
the people in countries ravaged by strife or warfare . . .
all who work for peace and international harmony . . .
all who strive to save the earth from destruction . . .
the church of Jesus Christ in every land. . . .

Holy God, your Word, Jesus Christ, spoke peace to a sinful world and brought humanity the gift of reconciliation by the suffering and death he endured. Teach those who bear his name to follow the example he gave us. May our faith, hope, and charity turn hatred to love, conflict to peace, and death to eternal life; through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Closing Prayer

(from The Liturgy of the Hours)
O God, author of every mercy and of all goodness,
who in fasting, prayer and almsgiving
have shown us a remedy for sin,
look graciously on this confession of our lowliness,
that we, who are bowed down by our conscience,
may always be lifted up by your mercy.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Let us praise the Lord.
– And give him thanks.
Amen.