Daily Devotional: Tuesday, 7 July, 2020

Prayers at Mid-day for Tuesday, 7 July, 2020 (Proper 14, Trinity 4)

 

Invitatory

 

O God, make speed to save us.

 

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever.

Amen.

 

The Lord is our refuge and our strength:  O come, let us worship.

 

Hebrew Scriptures

Numbers 35:1-3, 9-15, 30-34

 

In the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ²Command the Israelites to give, from the inheritance that they possess, towns for the Levites to live in; you shall also give to the Levites pasture lands surrounding the towns. ³The towns shall be theirs to live in, and their pasture lands shall be for their cattle, for their livestock, and for all their animals.

9 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ¹⁰Speak to the Israelites, and say to them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ¹¹then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, so that a slayer who kills a person without intent may flee there. ¹²The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, so that the slayer may not die until there is a trial before the congregation.

13 The cities that you designate shall be six cities of refuge for you: ¹⁴you shall designate three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. ¹⁵These six cities shall serve as refuge for the Israelites, for the resident or transient alien among them, so that anyone who kills a person without intent may flee there.

30 If anyone kills another, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses; but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of a single witness. ³¹Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer who is subject to the death penalty; a murderer must be put to death. ³²Nor shall you accept ransom for one who has fled to a city of refuge, enabling the fugitive to return to live in the land before the death of the high priest. ³³You shall not pollute the land in which you live; for blood pollutes the land, and no expiation can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. ³⁴You shall not defile the land in which you live, in which I also dwell; for I the Lord dwell among the Israelites.

 

Psalm

Psalm 5

Give ear to my words, O Lord;

   give heed to my sighing. 

² Listen to the sound of my cry,

   my King and my God,

   for to you I pray. 

³ O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;

   in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch. 

 

⁴ For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;

   evil will not sojourn with you. 

⁵ The boastful will not stand before your eyes;

   you hate all evildoers. 

⁶ You destroy those who speak lies;

   the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful. 

 

⁷ But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,

   will enter your house,

I will bow down towards your holy temple

   in awe of you. 

⁸ Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness

   because of my enemies;

   make your way straight before me. 

 

⁹ For there is no truth in their mouths;

   their hearts are destruction;

their throats are open graves;

   they flatter with their tongues. 

¹⁰ Make them bear their guilt, O God;

   let them fall by their own counsels;

because of their many transgressions cast them out,

   for they have rebelled against you. 

 

¹¹ But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;

   let them ever sing for joy.

Spread your protection over them,

   so that those who love your name may exult in you. 

¹² For you bless the righteous, O Lord;

   you cover them with favour as with a shield.

 

 

¹

Epistle

Romans 8.31-39

 

31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? ³²He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? ³³Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. ³⁵Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶As it is written,

‘For your sake we are being killed all day long;

   we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.’ 

³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

 

Gospel

Matthew 23:13-26

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them. ¹⁵Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

16 ‘Woe to you, blind guides, who say, “Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by the oath.” ¹⁷You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred? ¹⁸And you say, “Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar is bound by the oath.” ¹⁹How blind you are! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? ²⁰So whoever swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; ²¹and whoever swears by the sanctuary, swears by it and by the one who dwells in it; ²²and whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by the one who is seated upon it.

23 ‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practised without neglecting the others. ²⁴You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!

25 ‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean.

 

Commentary (Father Michael)

 

Today’s reading from Matthew is one of those moments where Jesus really seems to drop the gloves with his religious adversaries.  No punches are pulled now!  In his condemnation of the practices of the scribes and Pharisees, we see Jesus fully align himself with the many prophets of the Hebrew scriptures who denounce religious practices and ceremonies that mask the corrupt intent of the practitioners.

 

For Jesus, a system which focuses on religious taxes, enforced tithes, and costly sacrifices is an affront to the holiness of God (hence the distinction he makes between what is on the altar and the holiness of the altar and the temple itself).  In the tradition of Isaiah and the other prophets before him have said, Jesus denounces the religious authorities because they have “neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith”.

 

We know that religion requires money to operate, assuming of course that church buildings dedicated to the glory and worship of God continue to stand, and that clergy continue to be paid.   We also know that religion as a human activity can lead to excess, as evidenced by televangelists who appeal to the faithful for funds for private jet aircraft.   God has given much to us, and expects our faithful stewardship of these gifts.   Hence, the church needs to take a lively interest in its true calling, that our offerings are sincerely requested, sincerely given, and always dedicated to “justice and mercy and faith”.

 

What is your understanding of words like stewardship, tithes and offerings?  Why do you give, and what do you want to see done with your givings? What other questions come to your mind about these passages?

 

Intercession

 

Almighty God, we pray for those who have died of the coronavirus; for those who are sick, and for those who are afraid of getting sick.

Be the shepherd of your people, O Lord, we pray.

In the midst of such uncertainty, we wonder how to keep ourselves, our families, our companies and our churches afloat in a time of economic meltdown.

We ask you to protect us all.

We pray for the millions who are laid off from work, and for those who must continue to work because they provide essential services – or cannot otherwise feed their children.

Give us today our daily bread.

We pray for first responders, doctors, nurses and all who work in health care. We pray for all who are confined to hospitals, nursing homes and institutions – and for family members who are not allowed to visit. We pray for those who are responsible for public health decisions, that they will be guided by science and duty, not ideology or politics.

You are the greatest healer, O Lord.

Lord, have mercy on our public officials. Guide them to create appropriate policies; give them wisdom and good judgment; help them put humanity first, that the people may follow their guidelines and take into account the safety of everyone in all we do.

Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil.

Lord, help us guide our children and our parents through this emergency with cheerfulness, optimism and faith. Help us to lay aside our fears and to focus on the needs of others; where we can be helpful, let us act on their behalf, even if only from a distance.

Lord, make us instruments of your peace.

We turn to you, O Lord, for we have no other help and we know you are sufficient. You are the very power of love, of health and healing, of protection and mercy.

Come then, Lord, and help your people,

bought with the price of your own blood,

and bring us with your saints

to glory everlasting. Amen.

 

Collects of the Day (Proper 14, Trinity ):

 

Almighty God, your Son Jesus Christ has taught us that what we do for the least of your children we do also for him.  Give us the will to serve others as he was the servant of all, who gave up his life and died for us, but lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

 

 

 

The Lord’s Prayer

 

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

 

Thanks be to God