Devotional thoughts for Saturday

Saturday 1. November 2014

Trinity 19, All Saints' Day

Jesus said: "It is written: My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you make it a den of insurrectionists!" (Matthew 21,13) 

Jesus spoke these words shortly after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. He refers to the Prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah (Isaiah 56,7; Jeremiah 7,11). The temple and its courtyard were dedicated to sacrifices, prayer, worship and teaching. But the tables set up in the courtyard to change money and sell pigeons had encroached upon the limited space where people gathered to pray and hear the rabbis teach. The temple had been corrupted, and Jesus reformed it. 

Luther did the same in his day. The Church had been corrupted with penances, indulgences and other works righteousness that encroached upon the pure gospel. Luther overturned those merits of works righteousness and put the focus back on Christ, His merits and the gospel of grace and faith. 

Jesus makes one a saint. You don't need a papal proclamation and proof of two miracles. You only need Jesus and the declared righteousness that He freely and mercifully gives you in the waters of Holy Baptism. Faith receives this righteousness as one's own, and thus, forgiven and redeemed, you are a saint in the eyes of God the Father. As saint's we pray and worship the Triune God. We petition God to intervene in the chaos and corruption found in this world. We pray for peace and the proclamation of the pure gospel.

Prayer: O Almighty and Everlasting God, You knit together Your faithful people of all times and places into one holy communion, the mystical body of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Grant us so to follow Your blessed saints in all virtuous and Godly living so that, together with them, we may come to the unspeakable joys You have prepared for those who love You; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever.  Amen. (F34, Treasury of Daily Prayer)