Ember Saturday
Posted on May 29, 2021 by under
Scripture: Ezekiel 20:40-44 (NKJV)
20:40 For on My holy mountain, on the mountain height of Israel,” says the Lord God, “there all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, shall serve Me; there I will accept them, and there I will require your offerings and the firstfruits of your sacrifices, together with all your holy things. 41 I will accept you as a sweet aroma when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered; and I will be hallowed in you before the Gentiles. 42 Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for which I raised My hand in an oath to give to your fathers. 43 And there you shall remember your ways and all your doings with which you were defiled; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight because of all the evils that you have committed. 44 Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have dealt with you for My name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways nor according to your corrupt doings, O house of Israel,” says the Lord God.’”
Devotion
What happens when God gathers His people together? The liturgy of the Divine Service is much like God’s own words to the prophet Ezekiel. Those who had been “scattered” by God and placed into exile were promised by God to be gathered by Him. Once gathered, God would bring to their remembrance “all your doings with which you were defiled; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight because of all the evils that you have committed.” In the Divine Service, God gathers us and brings to our remembrance who we are; “poor, miserable sinners.”
But, like with the people of Israel, God, for His own name’s sake, does not deal with us as we deserve and in accordance with our “corrupt doings.” Instead, He forgives those whom He has brought to repentance, and renews their faith in His Promise.
Repentance and the forgiveness of sins echoes from century to century, millennia to millennia. God does not change, and neither do His commands. We have His faithful and life-giving Word to lead us into all that is pleasing in His sight. While we fully understand that His Law will always condemn us—and rightfully so—we also know that what He prescribes in His Law was, and is, a faithful guide for holy living.
Moved by His Spirit, we repent of our sin and, moved by that same Spirit, we trust in God’s promised forgiveness. As God’s people, we cherish God’s Word, both Law and Gospel.
Prayer: O God, who didst teach the hearts of Thy faithful people by sending to them the light of Thy Holy Spirit, grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things and evermore to rejoice in His holy comfort; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
