Festival of St. Bartholomew, Apostle
Posted on August 24, 2024 by under
Scripture: Isaiah 62:6-12 (NKJV)
62:6 I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent,
7 and give Him no rest till He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
8 The Lord has sworn by His right hand and by the arm of His strength:
“Surely I will no longer give your grain as food for your enemies; And the sons of the foreigner shall not drink your new wine, for which you have labored.
9 “But those who have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the Lord; Those who have brought it together shall drink it in My holy courts.”
10 Go through, go through the gates! Prepare the way for the people; Build up, build up the highway! Take out the stones, lift up a banner for the peoples!
11 Indeed the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the world:
“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Surely your salvation is coming; Behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.’”
12 And they shall call them The Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord; And you shall be called Sought Out, a City Not Forsaken.
Devotion
“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Surely your salvation is coming; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.’”
Just as the Lord set up watchers, heralds, and prophets in the ancient times, so in these latter days the Lord has sent His Apostles to build up the highways and to be the pillars of the Church. This is why Lutherans believe in sola Scriptura, that is, that the final authority of the Church is the Word of God alone. The Lord has appointed His watchmen, His heralds, His Prophets, and His Apostles. We acknowledge that the Lord has also given authority to bishops, pastors, and deacons. The Lord has given truth through the Church throughout the ages, as faithful teachers and martyrs proclaimed the truth of the Gospel. But all those authorities must give reverence to God’s authority and what He has given in the Scriptures.
Therefore, we are built together in the doctrine of these watchers and heralds: the Apostle and Prophets. This is what it truly means to be catholic, to be Lutheran, and to be raised together in the unity of the true Christian faith.
Collect: O Almighty God, Who hast built Thy Church upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the Head Cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their doctrine that we may be made a holy temple acceptable unto Thee; 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.
Collect for the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Almighty and Merciful God, of Whose only gift it cometh that Thy faithful people do unto Thee true and laudable service: Grant, we beseech Thee, that we may so faithfully serve Thee in this life, that we fail not finally to attain Thy heavenly promises; 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.
