We Are Humbled and Exalted by the
Cross of Christ
Collect for
Proper 17: O Lord of grace and mercy, teach us by Your holy Spirit to follow the
example of Your Son in true humility, that we may withstand the temptations of
the devil and with pure hearts and minds avoid ungodly pride; through Jesus Christ,
Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God,
now and forever.
Collect for
Pentecost 12: Almighty and everlasting God, always more ready to hear than we to pray
and always ready to give more than we either desire or deserve, pour down un us
the abundance of Your mercy, forgiving us the things of which our conscience is
afraid and giving us the good things we are not worthy to ask but through the
merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord,
For the mission of the Church: Almighty God, You have called Your Church to
witness that in Christ You have reconciled us to Yourself. Grant that by Your
Holy Spirit we may proclaim the good news of Your salvation so that all who
hear it may receive the gift of salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayer for humility: O God, You
resist the proud and give grace to the humble. Grant us true humility after the
likeness of Your only Son that we may never be arrogant and prideful and thus
provoke Your wrath but in all lowliness be made partakers of the gifts of Your
grace; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
For those
outside the Church: Almighty and
everlasting God, You desire not the death of a sinner but that all would repent
and live. Hear our prayers for those outside the Church. Take away their
iniquity, and turn them from their false gods to You, the living and true God.
Gather them into Your holy Church to the glory of Your name; through Jesus
Christ our Lord.
A Morning
Collect: Faithful God, whose mercies
are new to us every morning, we humbly pray that you would look upon us in
mercy and renew us by Your Holy Spirit. Keep safe our going out and our coming
in, and let Your blessing remain throughout this day. Preserve us in Your
righteousness, and grant us a portion in that eternal life which is in Christ
Jesus, our Lord.
“Everyone
who exalts himself shall be humbled,” Jesus proclaims, but “he who
humbles himself shall be exalted” (Luke 14:11). Your hope is in the name of
the Lord, who humbled Himself unto death on the cross and was exalted in His
resurrection. So are you humbled by His cross, and “at the resurrection of
the righteous,” He will say to you, “Friend, move up higher” (Luke
14:10; 13–14). By His grace, the King will honor you “in the place of great
men,” where your eyes will gaze upon the Prince, His dearly-beloved Son
(Prov. 25:7). As He has dealt so graciously with you, “Do not neglect doing
good and sharing” (Heb. 13:16), and “do not neglect to show hospitality
to strangers” (Heb. 13:2). Humble yourself and exalt your neighbor.
Monday, 22 August 2022—Psalm
75:1–2, 6, 9; antiphon, Psalm 75:7—The readings for Sunday speak of being
humble, and the Introit sets the tone by reminding us that we are not to judge
people according to worldly standards; rather, It is God who executes judgment,
putting down one and lifting up another.
Tuesday, 23 August 2022—Psalm
131—This psalm of David is the psalm of a humble man, one whose heart is
not lifted up by himself and one whose eyes are not raised too high. Instead of
relying on himself, David has calmed and quieted his soul with the knowledge of
the LORD and that all our hope is in the LORD from this time forth and
forevermore.
Wednesday, 24 August 2022—Proverbs
25:2–10—About 250 years after the death of Solomon, blessed by God as the
wisest man ever to have lived, King Hezekiah’s men collected some of Solomon’s
wise sayings from a larger collection. The first section used for Sunday’s Old
Testament reading (vv. 2–7) relate to earthly kings. Whereas part of God’s
glory is due to the fact that He is beyond our understanding, it is the glory
of earthly kings to search out and discover. When he became king, Solomon
humbly asked God for “an understanding mind to govern Your people, that I
may discern between good and evil” (1 Kings 3:9). To search out justice and
enlightenment is to a ruler’s glory.
The second portion of the reading
(vv. 8–10) teaches us humility in relations with our neighbor. We are not to be
hasty in pursuing litigation to elevate ourselves over our neighbor; he may
thereby put us to shame. Neither should we engage in gossip, warns v. 9.
Similar warnings are also given in Proverbs 11:13, 20:19, and, of course, the
Eighth Commandment.
Thursday, 25 August 2022—Hebrews
13:1–17—How does a person’s humility manifest itself with regard to those
around us? The writer to the Hebrews exhorts us to care for the needy: Let
brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers . . .
remember those who are in prison . . . and those who are
mistreated.
We ought always to bring to mind Christ’s example, who
suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.
Furthermore, we ought to recall those heroes of the faith whom we heard about
in the epistle readings a few weeks ago and imitate their faith. In the Church,
we are to humble ourselves and obey our leaders and submit to them, for God has
appointed them to keep watch over your souls.
Friday, 26 August 2022—Luke
14:1–14—Sunday’s Gospel speaks of Jesus healing a man on the Sabbath, but
first challenging the puffed-up Pharisees to show Him why this would be wrong.
They could give no answer.
Jesus then tells a parable which
exhorts those puffed-up Pharisees—and us!-–to humble ourselves. One who has the
mind of Christ will not seek to exalt himself over others, but will put himself
in their service, as Christ did for us when he bore our sins to Calvary. When we
bow in humble submission to the Lord, He shall exalt us. Indeed, He has
already, by making us His children through the washing of Holy Baptism and
giving us a seat at His heavenly banquet.
Saturday,
27 August 2022—The first stanza of the Sunday’s Hymn of the Day,
Son of God, Eternal Savior (LSB #842), proclaims the salvation that
Christ has won for us. It then beseeches the Lord to reign among us that here
on earth, His will be done. Our example is Christ, who lived for others, our
plea, then, is So may we for others live. The hymn beautifully proclaims in
song the theme for the day: that we are humbled and exalted by the cross of
Christ, and our lives reflect His humility.
Prayers from Lutheran
Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House
Face of Christ:
Face of Christ:
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