St. Nicolai Notes

Prayer for February 13-19, 2022
Sermon Text: Luke 6:17-26

That we may live in commitment to truth and justice enacted by love

Jesus, your word is a source of both hope and worry. You declare that those whose lives are defined by deprivation and grief, and those hated, excluded, and insulted for following You are blessed and should rejoice and jump for joy now, because in the day when God sets everything right, they will be rewarded like the prophets, God’s messengers, who were mistreated by many of their ancestors.

But You also declare that those who are well-supplied, live lives full of laughter, and are lauded by all, are on a dangerous path, because they are enjoying the benefits and reputation that false prophets gained by saying what their audience wanted to hear instead of calling them to heed God’s instruction and commands.

Give us discernment of where our lives are less fully aligned with your instruction than we imagine. Transform us and energize us to live in commitment to truth and justice enacted in love, even when that makes our daily lives more difficult and causes others to insult and reject us. Amen.