Devotions for a Snowy
Sunday Morning
January 24, 2016
We
invite you to take advantage of today’s “time out” to spend a few moments with
God. Read slowly and prayerfully as you listen for the Word of the Lord.
God built the heavens, the earth, and everything in
them.
God calls
us to be builders as well.
God calls us to build our lives:
to
restore broken places and continue to grow.
God calls us to build our community:
to build
bridges of understanding and systems of justice.
God calls us to receive and share the Good News of
God’s kingdom.
Let us
prepare the way of the Lord!
Hymn: How Great Thou Art Hymnal
#77
O Lord my God! When
I in awesome wonder
consider
all the worlds Thy hands have made,
I see
the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the
universe displayed.
Then
sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee;
how
great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then
sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee;
how great Thou art, how
great Thou art!
(Words and Music by Stuart K.
Hine, 1953. Copyright renewed 1981 by
Manna Music, Inc.)
Prayer of
Confession:
In contrast to
God’s clear word, our faults and failings may remain hidden from others and
even from ourselves. Confession before
God can clear our eyes and cleanse our hearts, for God’s mercy is as wide as
the firmament of heaven. Let us confess
the deepest secrets of our hearts before God.
Creating and Restoring God: When we come home to You, we realize how far
we have strayed and how much we have forgotten Your law and Your love. We have
not loved You with our whole hearts or loved our neighbors as ourselves. Forgive us, heal us, and restore us to our
relationship with You through Jesus Christ, in whom we trust. Amen.
(Please continue in
prayer during a moment of silence.)
Words
of Assurance:
God’s
Word does not come to condemn us, but to restore us, reviving our souls and
making us whole. God has set us free to
live in God’s kingdom, on earth as well as in heaven. Let us give thanks to the Lord, our God. Thanks
be to God! Amen!
Gospel
Lesson: Luke 4:14-21
14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the
Spirit, and news about Him spread through the whole countryside.
15
He taught in their
synagogues, and everyone praised him.
16
He went to Nazareth,
where He had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day He went into the
synagogue, as was His custom. And He
stood up to read.
17
The scroll of the
prophet Isaiah was handed to Him.
Unrolling it, He found the place where it is written:
18
“The Spirit of the
Lord is one Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the
poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom
for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the
oppressed,
19
to proclaim the year
of the Lord’s favor.”
20
Then He rolled up
the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were
fastened on Him,
21
and He began by
saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
The Word of God for the People of
God.
Thanks be to God!
Meditation: “Anointed” Pastor Tom
A couple weeks ago, our son, David, preached his first
official sermon (David is a seminary student at Union Theological Seminary in
Richmond). I say official, because he
preached eloquently at the age of three to his sister when they were playing
“church.” David entitled his first
official sermon “First Words.” I must say, (although, admittedly, as a very
biased observer) that David’s first words as a preacher were great!
David’s sermon brought back memories of my own first
sermon. The pulpit from which I preached
was elevated, and it took some very long steps to get there. I remember walking up those steps and wondering
what in the world ever possessed me to think I belonged up there.
Our Gospel Lesson for today presents the story of Jesus’
first recorded sermon. Quoting the
Prophet Isaiah, Jesus reads these words:
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed
me to preach good news to the poor. He
has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the
blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Using today’s terminology, Jesus was announcing His mission
statement. This was the work that God
had called Him to do. I wonder sometimes
whether Jesus was fully aware at that early point in His ministry that the road
He was taking would lead to a cross. Of
course, He was the Word made flesh; but He also was human as we are human. Could it be that Jesus had to wait for the
Father to reveal His will to Him one step at a time?
Jesus does make it clear that He had been called by God
to preach a specific message of good news: a message of freedom, vision, and relief
from oppression. He was called to preach
a message of jubilee!
This first sermon launched a brief but powerful ministry
unlike anything the world has seen—before or since. It was a ministry that had its moments of
spiritual mountaintops; it also was a ministry that had its spiritual low
points, as well, culminating in a dramatic moment in which Jesus prayed,
“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me” (Luke 22:42a). Even in this darkest moment, however, Jesus
remained true to His mission. He
continued in His prayer to say, “yet, not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42b). The same Spirit that
anointed Him at His baptism (Luke 3:22)
and at His first sermon that we read today also sustained Him until His last
breath, when He prayed, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46).
That same Spirit that anointed Jesus and called Him to
ministry also calls us today. Our
“vocations” or stations of life may be different, but the One we serve is the
same. Our training for our mission may
not require years of apprenticeship in a carpenter’s shop; but it may require
years of formal education or years of practical street experience. We may not all experience the dramatic
moments that Jesus did; but the same Spirit is at work in us—inviting us,
anointing us and empowering us for service.
In these moments when the snowstorm has given us some
extra time for reflection, I invite you to reflect on these questions:
· In what ways has the Spirit of
the Lord come upon you and anointed you?
Are you even comfortable using those words?
· What is the work that God has
called you to do?
· What do you need to do to prepare
yourself for the work God has called you to do?
· How will you respond to God’s
call?
Prayers
of the People
In peace, we pray to you, Lord
God.
Silence
For all people in their daily
life and work;
For
our families, friends and neighbors, and for those who are alone.
For
this community, the nation, and the world:
For
all who work for justice, freedom, and peace.
For
the just and proper use of your creation;
For the victims of hunger, fear,
injustice, and oppression.
For
all who are in danger, sorrow, or any kind of trouble;
For those who minister to the sick, the
friendless, and the needy.
For
the peace and unity of the Church of God;
For
all who proclaim the Gospel, and all who seek the Truth.
For
Young Jin Cho, our Bishop; for Danny Kesner, our District Superintendent,
and for all who proclaim the Word of the
Lord, and all who serve God in his Church.
For
the special needs and concerns of this congregation.
[Pause
for a moment to add your own petitions.]
Hear
us, Lord;
For your mercy is great.
We
thank you, Lord, for all the blessings of this life.
[Pause for a moment to add your personal
prayers of thanksgiving.]
Glory
to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and
will be forever. Amen.
[The Prayers of the People were adapted from
The Book of Common Prayer (New York:
Church Publishing Incorporated, 1986), 392.]
The Blessing
May
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the
Holy Spirit bless and keep us, now and forever.
Amen.
