Above: Design Drawing for Stained-Glass Window with St. Matthias, Between 1950 and 1990
Designed by J. & R. Lamb Studios
Image Source = Library of Congress
Restoration to Wholeness and Its Obligations Upon Us
DECEMBER 1, 2022
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Collect:
Stir up your power, Lord God, to prepare the way of your only Son.
By his coming nurture our growth as people of repentance and peace;
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 18
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Assigned Readings:
Isaiah 4:2-6
Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19
Acts 1:12-17, 21-26
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Some Related Posts:
The Remnant:
http://taylorfamilypoems.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/the-remnant/
Feast of St. Matthias, Apostle and Martyr (February 24):
http://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2010/06/12/feast-of-st-matthias-apostle-and-martyr-february-24/
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
May the mountains bring forth peace,
and the little hills righteousness for the people.
–Psalm 72:3, The Book of Common Prayer (2004)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Today’s readings come from a place of hope amid difficult times. The Babylonian Exile had yet to begin when Isaiah foretold the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the restoration of Mount Zion. And, when the surviving eleven Apostles chose St. Matthias from among the Seventy (or Seventy-Two) to replace Judas Iscariot, they restored the symbolic wholeness–the number twelve. There had been twelve tribes of Israel, so that number was a powerful symbol.
Restoration to wholeness–even better than before–by God directly or by simply following divine instructions–is a beautiful thing. This restoration to wholeness can be collective or individual. It can be purely spiritual and psychological or have an additional physical component beyond brain chemicals and psychosomatic effects. One of the purposes of our Lord and Savior’s healing miracles was to restore people to society. These miracles pointed out the brokenness of the society which had rejected and marginalized such people. Society, of course, is people, not an abstract concept.
O reader, is God seeking to restore you? And is God calling you to function as an agent of restoration for others (individually) and for a society, family, congregation, et cetera? And what will restoration require of you? Most of the Apostles, including St. Matthias, became martyrs. But first they did great work, did they not? Its effects are real today. So what will you, restored, do for the glory of God and the benefit of others?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 25, 2013 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST, 1957
THE FEAST OF JAMES WELDON JOHNSON, POET AND NOVELIST
THE FEAST OF SAINT WILLIAM OF VERCELLI, ROMAN CATHOLIC HERMIT; AND SAINT JOHN OF MATERA, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, AND EPIPHANY DEVOTIONS 
Pingback: Devotion for December 5 (LCMS Daily Lectionary) | ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, AND EPIPHANY DEVOTIONS
Pingback: Restoration to Wholeness and Its Obligations Upon Us | BLOGA THEOLOGICA