Hello clay...

 ...hear now your Potter.

Verse for the week:  “You would shame the plans of the humble poor, but the Lord is his refuge.”  Psalm 14.6

Prayer for the week: “Merciful God, you resist the proud but give grace to the humble.  Help us to trust you utterly, to rest our hope and confidence in you, and to serve one another with pure hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen” (K.B. Ritter, Gebete fur das jahr der Kirche, 2^nd  ed. Kassel: Barenreiter Verlag, 1948, p. 193). 

Bible reading for the day: Isaiah 29.11-19 (note: in the generations leading to the Exile, 587-539BC, God’s own beloved children had rejected him; see Is 1.1-4)

¹¹ And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” ¹² And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”

¹³ And the Lord said:
“Because this people draw near with their mouth
    and honor me with their lips,
    while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
¹⁴ therefore, behold, I will again
    do wonderful things with this people,
    with wonder upon wonder;
and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
    and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”

¹⁵ Ah, you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel,
    whose deeds are in the dark,
    and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”
¹⁶ You turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
that the thing made should say of its maker,
    “He did not make me”;
or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
    “He has no understanding”?

¹⁷ Is it not yet a very little while
    until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
    and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
¹⁸ In that day the deaf shall hear
    the words of a book,
and out of their gloom and darkness
    the eyes of the blind shall see.
¹⁹ The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
    and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.

Prayer (based on T.R.I.P. method*): Gracious and almighty Father, thank you that you are the Potter, the Maker, and the Redeemer, not us. Kill off the pride by which I and your church would turn this truth upside down… honoring you with our lips while our hearts are far from you. Open our deaf ears and our blind eyes that in meekness and through no understanding or effort of our own, we may obtain fresh joy in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Hymn: follow this link to a beloved classic that gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mp3wXUoJnO8

“I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”

What does this mean?  I believe that I cannot by my own understanding or effort believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, and sanctified and kept me in true faith. In the same way he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christ church on earth, and keeps it united with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.  In this Christian church day after day he fully forgives my sins and the sins of all believers. On the last day he will raise me and all the dead and give me and all believers in Christ eternal life.  This is most certainly true. (from The Small Catechism, by Martin Luther)

Benediction:  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with us all.  Amen.  II Cor 13.14

 

 
*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...not to mention that it helps one learn how to faithfully reflect on God’s Word and talk to God.