Festival of St. Timothy, Bishop and Confessor
Posted on January 24, 2024 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 13:22-30 (NKJV)
13:22 And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?”
And He said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ 26 then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ 27 But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ 28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. 29 They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. 30 And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.”
Devotion
Jesus wants us to strive to enter through the narrow gate, but this striving is not the striving of good works. It is the striving of repentance. It is the ongoing life of repentance of those who are baptized. It is the ongoing life of faith of the believer.
Jesus said strive because there would be many who will seek to enter and will not be able. Those who are not able to enter are those who depended on some lineage or some past event to save them, but were not willing to live the life of repentance and faith. They wanted to be their own god, to create their own standard, to be responsible to no one. But striving in faith is the only way to enter the kingdom of heaven.
This striving faith is not easy to live out. It often calls on us to do things that we don’t necessarily like doing. It also makes us hated among our neighbors. But Jesus gives us the strength to carry on through the striving life of faith. He strengthens us with His Word and Sacraments. He lets us know that He will supply all our needs.
Collect: O Lord, as Thou didst preserve faithful Timothy to a steadfast confession of Thy Holy Word, even as he instructed those who would be set apart for ministry in Thy Church, we pray that Thou wouldst so bless Thy people in this generation with steadfast confessors, 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 the Transfiguration of our Lord
O God, Who in the glorious Transfiguration of Thine Only-begotten Son, hast confirmed the mysteries of the faith by the testimony of the fathers, and Who, in the voice that came from the bright cloud, didst in a wonderful manner foreshow the adoption of sons: Mercifully vouchsafe to make us coheirs with the King of His glory, and bring us to the enjoyment of the same; through the same 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.
