Monday after the Seventh Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on July 15, 2024 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 12:1-9 (NKJV)
12:1 In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.
4 “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!
6 “Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
8 “Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. 9 But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.”
Devotion
We do not get away with anything. Our sinful hearts and minds tell us that our sin won’t be known. We think it’s OK to do a little bit of wickedness and excuse ourselves. A hypocrite is not just someone who fails to do what he believes or ‘preaches’; a hypocrite is one who justifies himself in such double-mindedness. All of us fail to fear, love, and trust our Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We fail to “practice what we preach” as Christians. But that does not make us like the Pharisees. The hypocrisy of the sons of Satan is ignoring God’s truth and justifying our departure from that truth.
To know that the Lord has complete power and knowledge over all things should be comforting, but it also should be terrifying! If we love God’s truth, then we can rest in the fact that He will love and protect us for Christ’s sake, no matter what happens to our bodies. He will save us and forgive us because His Spirit makes us faithful in our Savior’s atonement on the cross. But if we try to justify ourselves, we resist and mock the Holy Spirit and say in our hearts that God does not see our sin, or that He won’t punish our unrepentance. We should be very afraid of such hypocritical dishonesty, because that is the pride and obstinacy that leads to hell.
Collect: O God, Whose never-failing Providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth: We humbly beseech Thee to put away from us all hurtful things, and to give us those things which be profitable for us; 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.
