The Unwelcome Word

Verse for the week: For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him.”   Psalm 62.5

Prayer for this week: “Lord, open our ears and hearts, that we may heed your hidden wisdom and let your word be a light to our path.  Speak to us through your living word, that we may obey your call and follow him whom you have sent, Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (K.B. Ritter, Gebete für das jahr der Kirche, 2^nd  ed. Kassel: Barenreiter Verlag, 1948, p.180 )

Bible reading for the day:  Luke 4.16-30 (Immediately following his baptism, the first move Jesus makes in his ministry is to pitch the battle against Satan. The next thing he does is take that battle right to the home front.)

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. ¹⁷ And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and recovering of sight to the blind,
    to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹ And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” ²² And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph's son?” ²³ And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” ²⁴ And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. ²⁵ But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, ²⁶ and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ²⁷ And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” ²⁸ When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. ²⁹ And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. ³⁰ But passing through their midst, he went away.

Prayer (based on TRIP* method): Gracious and Almighty father, thank you for fulfilling your Word, for setting us enthralled ones free, for opening our blind eyes and giving us your full favor in Jesus Christ, crucified and raised for our forgiveness. Thank you! Keep on rescuing us from our prideful nature that despises your grace and wants our merit instead. When we would confine you under our local control and contrive your grace for ourselves, slip right past us and free us to give your grace away to the other, the outsider, the unclean. I ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.

Hymn: follow this link to a beloved classic that gives further voice today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF2M8nvKK9k&list=RDMM&start_radio=1&rv=acOZB3u5_Gk

“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us…”

What does this mean? We ask in this prayer that our heavenly Father would not hold our sins against us and because of them refuse to hear our prayer. And we pray that he would give us everything by grace – for we sin every day and deserve nothing but punishment. So, we on our part, will heartily forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us. (from The Small Catechism, by Martin Luther)

Benediction: Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Eph 3:20-21) 

 

*The T.R.I.P. approach to prayer is based on the way Martin Luther prayed and taught others to pray.  It was later developed by Walter and Ingrid Trobisch and then adapted by Mount Carmel Ministries (Alexandria,MN). The method is founded on scripture and easy to remember:
T: thanksgiving
R: regret (repentance)
I: intercession (asking God to take a specific action)
P: plan or purpose
Reading a biblical text and then applying this method gives one a sound, simple way to form one’s prayers... it helps one learn how to faithfully reflect on God’s Word and talk to Him.