Morning Devotion for Epiphany
Monday January 17, 2022
The Invitatory
I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.
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 Lord has shown forth his glory: Come let us adore him.
Reading: Hebrews 4:14-5:6
Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge of things pertaining to God on their behalf, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is subject to weakness; and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. And one does not presume to take this honor, but takes it only when called by God, just as Aaron was.
So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him,
“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”;
as he says also in another place,
“You are a priest forever,
according to the order of Melchizedek.”
Meditation – Michael Palmisano
“Now the thing about the length of life: after accepting ourselves and our tools, we must discover what we are called to do. And once we discover it, we should set out to do it with all of the strength and all of the power that we have in our systems. And after we’ve discovered what God called us to do, after we’ve discovered our life’s work, we should set out to do that work so well that the living, the dead, or the unborn couldn’t do it any better… What I’m saying to you this morning, my friends, even if it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, go on out and sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures; sweep streets like Handel and Beethoven composed music; sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry; sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will have to pause and say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well.’
If you can’t be a pine on the top of a hill, be a scrub in the valley—but be the best little scrub on the side of the hill; be a bush if you can’t be a tree. If you can’t be a highway, just be a trail. If you can’t be the sun, be a star. It isn’t by size that you win or fail— be the best of whatever you are” (Martin Luther King Jr.).
Almost 93 years ago to the day, the great Martin Luther King Jr. was born into this world. As is often the case with such history-shaking figures, the legacy of King has eclipsed the man himself. The mere invocation of his name has the power to rouse us to places where we must reconsider: What does it mean to be just? What is the shape of peace? Who are our sisters and brothers? On this day, by acts of service and remembrance, women and men around the country – and world – recollect the legacy that man who demonstrated for us the remarkable, transforming power of love.
Let us be careful not to lose the man amidst the movement he sparked. Let us not forget that the change this man stirred a nation towards was in some way the result of a single human being, fully aware of himself before his God. I have a sense that Martin Luther King Jr. was so uniquely effective because he was so uniquely the man God had called him into being.
Perhaps I am naïve, but I do believe that if you can live boldly into the self God has called you into being, God’s own self will be transparent through you for the world to see. The world needs those folks who are so acutely aware of themselves in the light of God. If there is a hope for the future of nations and this world, perhaps it resides within people who are most fully alive and aware of themselves before their Creator. Listen carefully and respond yet more courageously. Who is God calling you to be? For yourself? For His children? For Him? Great change begins with a single person.
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.
Closing Prayer
Almighty God our heavenly Father, you declare your glory and show forth your handiwork in the heavens and in the earth: Deliver us in our various occupations from the service of self alone, that we may do the work you give us to do in truth and beauty and for the common good; for the sake of him who came among us as one who serves, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
