Saturday after Sexagesima Sunday
Posted on February 10, 2024 by under
Scripture: Jeremiah 11:1-7 (NKJV)
11:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 “Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 3 and say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel: “Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant 4 which I commanded your fathers in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and do according to all that I command you; so shall you be My people, and I will be your God,’ 5 that I may establish the oath which I have sworn to your fathers, to give them ‘a land flowing with milk and honey,’ as it is this day.”’”
And I answered and said, “So be it, LORD.”
6 Then the LORD said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying: ‘Hear the words of this covenant and do them. 7 For I earnestly exhorted your fathers in the day I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, until this day, rising early and exhorting, saying, “Obey My voice.”
Devotion
The Prophet Jeremiah was sent by the Lord to proclaim a word which sinful Judah did not want to hear, calling them to repentance. As a faithful servant of the Lord, Jeremiah simply replies, “So be it, Lord.”
When God’s servants proclaim His holy Law, they know that there will be some (maybe many) among their hearers who will become quite upset—even angry—at the one who proclaims that word of judgment. Insofar as that servant of the Lord is faithful to the One who called him, he will be unconcerned for how his hearers regard him. As St. Paul wrote to the Church in Corinth: “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord.” (1 Cor. 4:3–4) As the servants of the Lord sow the seed of God’s Word, they know it is the Lord who grants fruitfulness to their endeavors; their only concern is to be faithful in their vocation, repenting of their weakness when they are tempted to say what people want to hear, rather than what they need to hear.
For the saints, this is a great consolation, for the Lord sends His ministers to faithfully proclaim His Word and to administer His Sacraments, so that the saints will be led in the way of repentance, and healed with the balm of the Means of Grace.
Collect: O Lord God, Who seest that we put not our trust in anything that we do: Mercifully grant that by Thy power we may be defended against all adversity; 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.
