Tuesday after the Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on October 26, 2021 by under
Scripture: Judges 2:16-23 (NKJV)
2:16 Nevertheless, the Lord raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they would not listen to their judges, but they played the harlot with other gods, and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked, in obeying the commandments of the Lord; they did not do so. 18 And when the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them. 19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way.
20 Then the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and He said, “Because this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not heeded My voice, 21 I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, 22 so that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the Lord, to walk in them as their fathers kept them, or not.” 23 Therefore the Lord left those nations, without driving them out immediately; nor did He deliver them into the hand of Joshua.
Devotion
We confess in the Augsburg Confession: “That we may obtain this faith, the Ministry of Teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. For through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Ghost is given, who works faith; where and when it pleases God, in them that hear the Gospel, to wit, that God, not for our own merits, but for Christ’s sake, justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ’s sake.”
God is superabundant in grace to His Church in that He not only gives us His Means of Grace, but also in that He calls and sends men to preach His Word to us, to administer His Sacraments, and to absolve us of our sins. St. Paul writes that the Holy Ministry is a divine gift to the Church “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12). It is not the Lord’s intention that His people wander about as sheep without a shepherd, but He has set some in the Church to guide them in the paths of righteousness. When the Ministry is despised, then there is disorder in the Church and God’s people quickly stray from the fold, and go out seeking other gods in whatever form.
The Church should always pray the Lord continues to send faithful shepherds for the growth and guidance of the faithful.
Prayer: Lord, we beseech Thee to keep Thy household, the Church, in continual godliness, that through Thy protection it may be free from all adversities, and devoutly given to serve Thee in good works, to the glory of Thy Name; 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.
