Each day this week, read the appointed Scripture slowly, sit with the short reflection, and close with the prayer. This week’s devotional is drawn from the Scriptures the Church appoints for the day.
Monday
The Collect for the Day
O GOD, who declarest thine almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity; Mercifully grant unto us such a measure of thy grace, that we, running the way of thy commandments, may obtain thy gracious promises, and be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Collect for this week makes a striking claim: God declares his almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity. Not in thunder, not in the overthrow of armies, but in mercy. Everything else the Collect asks stands on that. We ask for such a measure of grace that we may run the way of the commandments, and even the running is asked for, not presumed. A week that begins here begins low, with open hands, which the Gospel will shortly show us is the only posture that goes home justified. Pray the Collect slowly today, once in the morning and once at night, and notice that it asks nothing God is reluctant to give.
O God, who declarest thy almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity, mercifully grant unto me such a measure of thy grace, that I may run the way of thy commandments and obtain thy gracious promises. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Tuesday
St. Luke 18:9-14
9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
The Pharisee was not lying. He did fast twice in the week. He did give tithes of all that he possessed. Everything on his list was true, and none of it justified him, for St. Luke says he prayed thus with himself. A ledger of genuine goodness, read aloud to one's own soul, is not prayer. The publican, standing afar off, had no ledger at all, only seven words: God be merciful to me a sinner. And it was he who went down to his house justified. The danger for people who love the Church and keep her ways is not that these things are worthless. It is that they can quietly become the thing we trust.
Lord, deliver me from keeping accounts with thee. Give me the publican's prayer and the publican's place, that I may go to my house justified, not for any work of mine but for thy mercy's sake. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Wednesday
Psalm 124; 125
IF the Lord himself had not been on our side, now may Israel say; * if the Lord himself had not been on our side, when men rose up against us; 2 They had swallowed us up alive; * when they were so wrathfully displeased at us. 3 Yea, the waters had drowned us, * and the stream had gone over our soul. 4 The deep waters of the proud * had gone even over our soul. 5 But praised be the Lord, * who hath not given us over for a prey unto their teeth. 6 Our soul is escaped even as a bird out of the snare of the fowler; * the snare is broken, and we are delivered. 7 Our help standeth in the Name of the Lord, * who hath made heaven and earth. THEY that put their trust in the Lord shall be even as the mount Sion, * which may not be removed, but standeth fast for ever. 2 The hills stand about Jerusalem; * even so standeth the Lord round about his people, from this time forth for evermore. 3 For the sceptre of the ungodly shall not abide upon the lot of the righteous; * lest the righteous put their hand unto wickedness. 4 Do well, O Lord, * unto those that are good and true of heart. 5 As for such as turn back unto their own wickedness, * the Lord shall lead them forth with the evil doers; but peace shall be upon Israel.
The parable was spoken, St. Luke says, unto certain which trusted in themselves. The two appointed Psalms answer with where trust belongs. The first looks back: if the Lord himself had not been on our side, the waters had drowned us. Our escapes were never our own doing. The second looks forward: they that put their trust in the Lord shall be even as the mount Sion, which may not be removed. Self-trust feels like standing on rock, and it is the most movable ground there is; one hard providence and the ledger of our merits is worthless. As the hills stand about Jerusalem, so the Lord standeth round about his people. The publican went home held by exactly that.
O Lord, who standest round about thy people as the hills about Jerusalem, remove my trust from myself and set it upon thee, that I may stand fast for ever. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Thursday
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11 Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.
Paul had a past that did not go away when he became an apostle. I persecuted the church of God, he writes, and he writes it in a letter meant to be read aloud. He does not manage his history; he sets it next to the grace that overtook it. By the grace of God I am what I am. That is the publican's prayer grown up into a life. Notice that grace did not leave Paul idle; he labored more abundantly than they all. But he will not let even the labor stand as his claim. Yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. A Christian's biography, honestly told, always has that shape: what I was, what grace did, and no boasting anywhere in it.
O Lord, by thy grace I am what I am. Let thy grace not be bestowed upon me in vain, and let whatever labor comes of it return to thee alone. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Friday
Isa. 26:12-16, 19
12 Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us. 13 O Lord our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name. 14 They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish. 15 Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth. 16 Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them. Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
Thou also hast wrought all our works in us. Isaiah says out loud what the Pharisee never learned: whatever is sound in us, God worked it in us before we ever offered it back. And then the prophet says the furthest thing mercy will do. Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust. The mercy that met the publican in the temple does not stop at pardon; it is the same almighty power the Epistle preaches, the power that raised Christ from the dead and will raise all who are his. The week that began asking for mercy ends awaiting resurrection, which is mercy's finished work.
O Lord, who hast wrought all our works in us, perfect thy mercy's work, that with all thy saints I may awake and sing in the day when thou makest all things new. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Week Together
The Collect makes the claim: God declares his almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity. The Gospel tells the story of that claim, two men in the temple, and the one who asked for mercy going home justified. The Psalms locate the ground of it, for the parable was spoken to men who trusted in themselves, and the Psalmist answers that they that put their trust in the Lord stand fast for ever. The Epistle shows the claim grown into a life, the least of the apostles saying by the grace of God I am what I am. And Isaiah carries it to its end, for the God who works all our works in us will not stop at pardon: thy dead men shall live. Mercy is not God's concession. It is his power, doing its chief work.