The Thursday after the First Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on June 11, 2026 by under
Scripture: St. Matthew 10:26-33 (NKJV)
10:26 “Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.
27 “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”
Devotion
I once heard a noted preacher use the first verse of our reading as an excuse to rake a group of pastors over the coals for a heinous sin they had given absolutely no evidence of committing. Considering that in the verse before this reading Jesus is teaching His disciples about those who will unjustly speak evil of them, just as they speak evil of Him, one had to wonder whether that preacher had considered the context of either the reading or his hearers at all. This is, instead, a word of comfort from Jesus, that the truth about you will be revealed: that His blood has covered all your sins, so that the grace by which you now appear as perfect to your Father in Heaven is even now transforming you, so that you are conformed to His image!
Obviously, you are to look at your life to see whether it is truly confessing Jesus before men, but when you see lack, you are to recall that it is not by their own might that the sparrows are lifted into the sky. Rather, your Father, who has all the hairs of your head numbered, is He who provides them the sky, the strength, and the skill to fly. Certainly, His grace shall embolden you to live to His glory!
Collect: O God, the Strength of all them that put their trust in Thee: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because through the weakness of our mortal nature we can do no good thing without Thee, grant us the help of Thy grace, that in keeping Thy commandments we may please Thee, both in will and deed; 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.
