Festival of St. Laurence, Deacon and Martyr
Posted on August 10, 2021 by under
Scripture: Jeremiah 7:1-7 (NKJV)
7:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 “Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the Lord!’ ” 3 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. 4 Do not trust in these lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these.’
5 “For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, 6 if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt, 7 then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.
Devotion
“Do not trust in these lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD are these.’”
The temple was not a religious talisman that automatically saved attenders from the consequences of their wrongdoings. The same is true today. Mere church attendance is not saving, in itself. We do not confess salvation “by membership alone,” but “by faith alone.” Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” God gives by grace, and we receive through faith.
A necessary part of a true, living faith is repentance. Nothing is automatic. For the people of God in Jeremiah’s day, they could not simply live as they pleased, expecting that their association with the temple would somehow automatically get them off the hook. Similarly, for God’s people in our day, mere association with a congregation does not thereby automatically get them off the hook either. Instead, through faith in Jesus Christ, we are saved by His grace and made right with God. Then, and only then, is our worship also acceptable to Him. As Luther explains in the Catechism, we live our lives of faith by daily remembering our baptism, that is, by daily repentance and receiving forgiveness. Grace gives; faith receives.
Prayer: O God, Who declarest Thine Almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Mercifully grant unto us such a measure of Thy grace, that we, running the way of Thy commandments, may obtain Thy gracious promises, and be made partakers of Thy heavenly treasure; 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 the Festival of St. Laurence, Deacon and Martyr: Quench in us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the flame of vice, even as Thou didst enable blessed Laurence to overcome his fire of sufferings, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
