103. Tuesday after Septuagesima Sunday.
O, that we may hear
thy voice, Lord Jesus!
Matthew 10, 37-42. He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life, shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake, shall find it. He that receiveth you, receiveth me; and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.
❦
Our Jesus is infinitely more excellent than all things and persons in heaven and on earth. If we know him, we love him above all, and gladly follow him through tribulation and suffering. He becomes our delight, our treasure, our joy; he becomes our life. Says Paul: “I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” He who does not in this wise know Jesus is not his disciple. For he will teach you this, if you take lessons of him. Begin to do from your heart what he says and as he did; do good to all, especially to his disciples, to the poor, to the forsaken and the little ones. Do it from the heart; do it out of love; persist in it unto the last. Then you shall come to feel deeply your distress and your need of Jesus, the Savior of sinners; and you shall learn to know his unspeakably great goodness and grace. In this way he becomes precious to the soul. He is the sweet fountain of life, the bottomless well of love; he is the sun in our sky, which drives away the night of death. He is the fullness of glory, the God of all spirits; everything beautiful and noble is but his reflection. In him only does our heart find peace, joy, and salvation. He has demolished my death, extinguished my sorrow, plucked me out of hell, and placed me in his heavenly kingdom, — and has done all this out of pure love; that is his nature. He offered up his life for me in death on the cross; thereby am I become a child of God, and shall live with him alway, and inherit all things. All that I am and have is of him; and yet he rewards me for that which I do in his service. I have deserved nothing whatever with my greatest and best deed; yet will he reward me even for the least. I have the blessed honor of giving him meat and drink and clothing and care; namely, in his needy little ones; and yet I am to receive for this an everlasting reward! What say you? is not this love? is not this life? He that spares his own life, and holds it more dear than Jesus, loses his life. He that will not mortify his flesh; he that will not take his cross, which Jesus gives, and follow after him, and live this life in him, is not worthy of him. So himself says; and so say we also, with all our heart.
O, dear Lord Jesus, teach us to know thee in truth, that we may love thee, and follow after thee. Give us a portion in thee; do thou live in us; and thus let us live, and serve one another in thy love. Amen.*
The captive to release,
The lost to God to bring,
To teach the way of life and peace,
It is a Christlike thing.
And we believe thy word,
Though dim our faith may be;
Whate’er we do for thine, O Lord,
We do it unto thee.
[TLH 441, LSB 781 (listen here); or ELH 445 (listen here)]
* Here the head of the family says a short morning or evening prayer in his own words, and closes with the Lord’s Prayer and the Benediction. This is to be done every day. If the stanzas are not sung, they may be read in their proper place before the impromptu petition and the Lord’s Prayer.