Devotion for December 24 (LCMS Daily Lectionary)

Above:  A Desert Scene in the U.S. Southwest

Image Source = Western History/Genealogy Department, Denver Public Library

via the Library of Congress

The Church, Dependent Upon God

DECEMBER 24, 2023

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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ;

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

–The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

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The Assigned Readings:

Isaiah 44:21-45:13, 20, 25

Psalm 19 (Morning)

Psalms 132 and 114 (Evening)

Revelation 12:1-17

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The theology of Satan in Revelation differs from that we read in Job, where he works for God and does nothing without divine permission.  But we are not reading Job; we are reading Revelation.  The woman in Revelation 12 is the Church, the baby snatched away to safety is Jesus, and the thwarted dragon is Satan.  The baby might be safe, but the woman still has to face persecution and live in the wilderness for a time–but not forever.  The church will see its vindication.

The exiles of Judah must have felt isolated, as in the wilderness.  Yet, as we have read previously in Isaiah, God was plotting their liberation.  The chosen instrument was none other than Cyrus II, the Zoroastrian King of the Persians and the Medes.

The wilderness makes for a powerful metaphor.  We speak of “wilderness years” of powerful politicians before their height of power and influence.  Isolation in the wilderness (literal or metaphorical) can be difficult, of course.  Yet, as the Desert Fathers and Mothers of Egypt and Palestine learned, there, in the wilderness, they could not evade the fact of their total dependence on God.  The church, likewise, depends completely on God.  It is never far from extinction, yet it persists.  The gates of Hell will not triumph over it, by the grace and power of God.  As we rejoice this Christmas Eve, may we recall whose we are and who will vindicate us.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 4, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE ELEVENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

THE FEAST OF FELIX MANZ, FIRST ANABAPTIST MARTYR

THE FEAST OF ELIZABETH SETON, FOUNDER OF THE AMERICAN SISTERS OF CHARITY

THE FEAST OF SAINTS GREGORY OF LANGRES, TERTICUS OF LANGRES, GALLUS OF CLERMONT, GREGORY OF TOURS, AVITUS I OF CLERMONT, MAGNERICUS OF TRIER, AND GAUGERICUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS

THE FEAST OF JOHANN KONRAD WILHELM LOEHE, LUTHERAN PASTOR

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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/the-church-dependent-upon-god/

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