Devotion for the Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany, Year B (ILCW Lectionary)

Above:  La Priére, Eglise Saint-Bonnet, by Léon Augustin Lhermitte

Image in the Public Domain

Silence and Service

FEBRUARY 4, 2024

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Job 7:1-7

Psalm 147:1-13

1 Corinthians 9:16-23

Mark 1:29-39

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Almighty God, you sent your only Son

as the Word of life for our eyes to see and our ears to listen. 

Help us to believe with joy what the Scriptures proclaim,

through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 16

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

O God, our loving Father, through the grace of your Holy Spirit,

you plant your gifts of your love

into the hearts of your faithful people. 

Grant to your servants soundness of mind and body,

so that they may love you with their whole strength

and with their whole heart do these things

that are pleasing in your sight;

through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 26

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Is not man’s life on earth nothing more than pressed service,

is time no better than hired drudgery?

Like the slave, sighing for the shade,

or the workman with no thought but his wages,

months of delusion I have assigned to me,

nothing for my own sin but nights of grief.

–Job 7:1-3, The Jerusalem Bible

The speaker in that passage is Job.  Therefore, his attitude makes sense, in context.

Yet we find that St. Paul the Apostle, in different circumstances, had a different attitude:

For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more.

–1 Corinthians 9:19, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition

St. Paul the Apostle emulated Jesus, who came to serve, not to be served.  Jesus and St. Paul understood the importance of prayer and solitude, as well as that of faithful observance.

Those of us who are introverts prefer solitude.  Many of us may find getting away to be alone with God easier than a host of extroverts do.  Those of us who crave silence need to get away from the noise, hustle, and bustle of the world.  Where I live, I cannot get away from noise when I shop in town; music plays in stores.  Sometimes the music is morally objectionable, not merely annoying.  I recall that in a convenience store one night, the selection was a hip-hop “song” celebrating domestic violence and using degrading language regarding women.

The world–kosmos in Greek–is noisy.  The world–kosmos in Greek–encourages consumption and prioritizes productivity.  Yet the spiritual wisdom of Judaism and Christianity mandates rest and contemplation.  Judaism and Christianity teach that productivity is not the highest good and that silence is essential.

Only when we have the silence and the rest we need, can we serve God and benefit each other as much as we should.  Only when we have the silence and the rest we need, can we chant hymns to God as we ought to do.  Only when we listen to God as we should, can we praise God properly.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 11, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE SIXTEENTH DAY OF LENT

THE FEAST OF JOHN SWERTNER, DUTCH-GERMAN MORAVIAN MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, HYMN TRANSLATOR, AND HYMNAL EDITOR; AND HIS COLLABORATOR, JOHN MUELLER, GERMAN-ENGLISH MORAVIAN MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMNAL EDITOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT AENGUS THE CULDEE, HERMIT AND MONK; AND SAINT MAELRUAN, ABBOT

THE FEAST OF SAINT EULOGIUS OF SPAIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF TOLEDO, CORDOBA; AND SAINT LEOCRITA, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS, 859

THE FEAST OF FRANCIS WAYLAND, U.S. BAPTIST MINISTER, EDUCATOR, AND SOCIAL REFORMER

THE FEAST OF MARY ANN THOMSON, EPISCOPAL HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT PAL PRENNUSHI, ALBANIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1948

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Link to the corresponding post at BLOGA THEOLOGICA

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Advertisement