Friday, July 12, 2024

Saturday prior to Proper 10

 


Luke 10:2 – is the inspiration for the hymn, Spread the Reign of God the Lord (LSB 830). Who will work for the Lord and His cause? There is plenty of work to be done. May we pray the Lord would use each of us to be doing His will in our daily vocations. The opportunity to serve Him is rewarding enough. As we can find work to be done may we do it joyfully and willingly.

Tell of our Redeemer’s grace,
Who, to save our human race
And to pay rebellion’s price,
Gave Himself as sacrifice. Stanza Three

Absolution is neither a response to a suitably worthy confession, nor the acceptance of a reasonable apology. To absolve means not only to loosen, to free, to acquit; it also means to dispose of, to complete, and to finish. When God pardons, He does not say He understands your weakness or makes allowances for your errors. Rather, He disposes of; He finishes with, the whole of your dead life and raises you up with a new one. He does not so much deal with your failures as does He drop them down the back hole of Jesus’ death. He forgets your sins in the darkness of the tomb. He remembers your iniquities no more in the forgetfulness of Jesus’ death. He finds you in the desert of death, not the garden of improvement. And in the power of Jesus resurrection, He puts you on His shoulders, rejoicing, and brings you home. – Robert Farrar Capon, Parables of Grace, pg. 39 -

The Beheading of John the Baptist, Schnorr von Carolsfeld woodcut copyright ©  WELS for personal and congregational use; used with permission


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