Wisdom

O Lord, whose care and love is constant, send down to me your pure wisdom, that I may always return to you to give thanks so that the world may see through my life your hand. AMEN.

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Mal 1:1,6-14; Ps 101, 109; James 3:13-4:12; Luke 17:11-19.

And yet....

"...yet will I rejoice in the Lord. I will exult in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength." (Hab 3:xviii)

In my tradition preachers in their sermons usually start by commenting on the lessons in the order they appear in the service: Old Testament, Psalms, New Testament, Gospel. The Gospel's end today offends our sensibilities in today's world a little:

"So you also, when you have done all the you were ordered to do, say, "We are worthless slaves; we have only done what we ought to have done." (Luke 17:x)

If that's as far as we go, ignoring the rest of the Gospel message, then we've missed the point. I go back to the verse above from Habbakuk. "And yet" is a great way to start a prayer, for it says to me that despite all my failings and even despite all I have done right, I'm not putting the good and the bad on some grand scale trying to balance things out...or tip the scale in my favor. What I am ordered to do is give honor to the only one who deserves that honor: the God of my salvation and the source of my strength. AMEN.

Bedrock

Hab (i): I will keep watch to see what he will say to me, and what he will answer concerning my complaint.

Ps 89(xiv): Righteousness and justice are the foundations of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.

James (xxiv): You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

Juke (xxix): They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.

There is an ultimate bedrock on which we can stand and depend. We need not look any further, but only look at what we have and listen to the eternally echoing words.

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Proper 28 Year B

Hab. 2:1-4, 9-20; Ps 89: 1-18/19-52; James 2:14-26; Luke 16:19-31.