Morning Devotion for the Season after Pentecost
July 11, 2022
Invitatory
I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord."
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.
The mercy of the Lord is everlasting: Come let us adore him.
Reading: Luke 14:27-33
Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.” Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.
Meditation - Winnie Smith
Today is the feast of Benedict of Nursia, widely considered the father of western monasticism. As a young man, Benedict became disillusioned with academic life and, at the advice of a monk he met on the outskirts of a small town, became a hermit, living in a cave for three years, rarely speaking to anyone. During these three years, Benedict matured spiritually and got involved with a nearby monastery. Eventually he would found twelve monasteries in Italy and become best known for his Rule: detailed instruction for how to live a prayerful, Godly life, peaceably and in community. The Rule of Benedict prioritizes spiritual and administrative guidance. Time spent in prayer and study is most important, followed by communal living, adequate rest, and manual labor. Belongings are shared, and should be possessed equally by all in the community.
Living up to Benedict’s Rule is a tall task. For those of us who will never live in a monastery or even in a communal setting, this way of life seems strange. And yet, the Gospel text from Luke appointed for the feast of Benedict demands even more of us than Benedict’s Rule. Luke’s Gospel compels us - if we want to be disciples - to give up all our possessions. The verse before today’s section goes further still than that: “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple (Lk 14:26).
How can we possibly live up to this? To give up everything we own, to hate those we love most?
These words are not really calling us to give up all our possessions or to hate our families. God is not directing us to go the way of Benedict, to live in a cave and spend all our days in silent prayer and isolation. The text is calling us to reorder our lives, to reprioritize, to evaluate how much of our comfort, our wealth, our means of enjoyment, are getting in the way of our relationship with God. When I think about my own life, this text is asking me to turn off the TV a few minutes earlier and to use those extra minutes in grateful prayer to God for all the blessings bestowed upon me. It is telling me to skip the fancy iced coffee once in a while and to donate those dollars to a local food bank. These small decisions add up to a life lived outward, lived for God and for others. That is what is being asked of us in this text.
Following the way of Jesus does not need to cost us everything, but it must cost every one of us something.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
