The Monday after the Twenty-Third Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on November 4, 2024 by under
Scripture: St. Matthew 10:16-23 (NKJV)
10:16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. 17 But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. 18 You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; 20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
21 “Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 22 And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
Devotion
We are inundated in our society with warnings about treacherous and ignorant people that are about to destroy our way of life. Beyond the fact that it is never good to feed oneself a steady diet of outrage and fear, it is also the opposite of what our Lord tells us. Jesus tells us that persecution will come, but we are not to worry about it. He says: “do not worry about your life” (Matt. 6:25). And again, our Lord says: “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you” (Matt. 5:11).
Here in chapter 10, Jesus tells us what the people of His Church will have to endure. We will be torn up like sheep among wolves. The world will hate our perspective on everything because our worldview is shaped by Christ. They will try to silence us. And we are not called to mount a counter attack when it comes to defending the Gospel. Don’t worry about whether or not you will succeed in persuading anyone. Bear witness to the Gospel as God will give you the words and works you need. It doesn’t have to be eloquent. God will fit the words to His purposes, and He has taught us what deeds of love look like in Christ. We do not need to worry about our enemies. Our Lord will care for us.
Collect: Absolve, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy people from their offences, that from the bonds of our sins which, by reason of our frailty, we have brought upon us, we may be delivered by Thy bountiful goodness; 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.
