A brief prayer is offered that you can add to your daily
prayers this week. The scripture is from our Sunday Service Bulletin for today
-- we continue a Lenten sermon series on Dr. Martin Luther’s Heidelberg
Disputation. This is Luther’s attempt to show what was wrong with the church in
his time. We use a Gospel text today that points out that God delights in
exalting the poor and humble while bringing down the rich and proud. As we
consider this, we must imagine how God views each of us, that is our sermon
theme: “How to we stack up in the eyes of the Divine Beholder.”
Gospel Reading- Luke
1:46-55 English Standard Version (ESV)
46 And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.
Devotion: What do we
really need?
You may recognize the text as “The Magnificat” [the first word in the Latin translation] which is Mary’s
hymn of praise to our Lord. If you think about it, God could have had His son
appear anywhere in the world he wanted: palaces, synagogues, high mountain kingdoms,
lush gardens owned by the rich and powerful with ready access to the citizenry
of the time to spread the word. Instead he chose a humble family of a
tradesman. Why? How does he view us? He sees right through the trappings of the
rich and powerful and life’s challenges of the poor and humble. He looks right
into the heart of a sinner and freely gives us all we need. The text is Mary’s
song, extolling God’s way of loving and providing for the faithful. What is it
that we need? It is what we believers already have, a God who loves us and will
provide for us.
We pray: “Thank
You, risen Lord, for Your unconditional love. Amen”
