Day of National Thanksgiving
Posted on November 24, 2022 by under
Scripture: Zephaniah 3:8-9 (NKJV)
3:8 “Therefore wait for Me,” says the Lord, “Until the day I rise up for plunder; My determination is to gather the nations to My assembly of kingdoms, to pour on them My indignation, all My fierce anger; All the earth shall be devoured with the fire of My jealousy.
9 “For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call on the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one accord.
Devotion
The so-called “worship wars” in the Lutheran Church, the struggles between the advocates of Contemporary Worship and advocates of Liturgical Worship, have been going on for decades. If we listened at all to the words of our Lord through the Prophet Zephaniah, I think we ought to ask ourselves, “What is ‘pure language’?” From today’s Scripture reading it is quite apparent that “pure language” is important to our Lord and that it is instrumental for helping us “to serve Him with one accord.”
So is “pure language” something we wait for our Lord to restore or something we ought to pursue when it comes to worship on Sunday morning? I would think the answer would be obvious, but, obviously, it is not.
The purveyors of Contemporary Worship have put the emphasis on the people rather than on God thus the language of Contemporary Worship is people-centered. Just listen to many Contemporary Christian songs. “I” and “Me” are the primary subject of the song. On the other hand, Liturgical Worship is centered on Christ and what He has done. One need only begin at the beginning of the service to hear the difference: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. We are taken to the very throne of our God who has called us to be His children and has given us His name in Holy Baptism.
Prayer: Absolve, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy people from their offenses; that from the bonds of our sins which, by reason of our frailty, we have brought upon us, we may be delivered by Thy bountiful goodness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for a Day of General or Special Thanksgiving
Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, Whose mercies are new unto us every morning, and Who, though we have in no wise deserved Thy goodness, dost abundantly provide for all our wants of body and soul: Give us, we pray Thee, Thy Holy Spirit, that we may heartily acknowledge Thy merciful goodness toward us, give thanks for all Thy benefits, and serve Thee in willing obedience; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
