Morning Prayer: 06 August – Romans 6:17-19 ~ the slavery exchange

Reading through Romans

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening sentence

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory. You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.
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A reading from Romans: Romans 6:17-19 (NLT)

Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.

Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.

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Reflection: Romans 6:17-19 (John Stott, The Message of Romans: God’s Good News for the World)

United to Christ and enslaved to God (6:1–23)

God’s grace not only forgives sins, but also delivers us from sinning. For grace does more than justify: it also sanctifies. It unites us to Christ (1– 14), and it initiates us into a new slavery to righteousness (15– 23).

b. Enslaved to God, or understanding our conversion (15–23)

Since through baptism we were united to Christ, and in consequence are dead to sin and alive to God, how can we possibly live in sin? Since through conversion we offered ourselves to God to be his slaves, and in consequence are committed to obedience, how can we possibly claim freedom to sin?

(vs 17-18) The application: conversion involves an exchange of slaveries

Conversion involves an exchange of slaveries.

First, you used to be slaves to sin (17a)…. All human beings are slaves, and there are only two slaveries, to sin and to God. Conversion is a transfer from the one to the other.

Secondly, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted (17b)…. Paul… sees conversion not only as trusting in Christ but as believing and acknowledging the truth.

‘One expects the doctrine to be handed over to the hearers,’ writes C. K. Barrett, ‘not the hearers to the doctrine. But Christians are not (like the Rabbis) masters of a tradition; they are themselves created by the word of God, and remain in subjection to it.’

Thirdly, [you] have been set free from sin (18a), emancipated from its slavery. Not that [you] have become perfect, for [you] are still capable of sinning (e.g. 12–13), but rather that [you] have been decisively rescued out of the lordship of sin into the lordship of God, out of the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of Christ.

Fourthly, [you] have become slaves to righteousness (18b). So decisive is this transfer by the grace and power of God from the slavery of sin to the slavery of righteousness that Paul cannot restrain himself from thanksgiving.

(vs 18) The analogy: both slaveries develop

Slavery is not an altogether accurate or appropriate metaphor of the Christian life. It indicates well the exclusivity of our allegiance to the Lord Christ, but neither the easy fit of his yoke, nor the gentleness of the hand that lays it on us, nor indeed the liberating nature of his service.

Nevertheless, Paul continues to compare and contrast the two slaveries. But this time he draws an analogy between them (Just as …so now) in the way they both develop.

Neither slavery is static. Both are dynamic, the one steadily deteriorating, the other steadily progressing…. Thus despite the antithesis between them, an analogy is also drawn between the grim process of moral deterioration and the glorious process of moral transformation.
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Canticle

Christ, as a light illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right. This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful. Be in the heart of each to whom I speak; in the mouth of each who speaks unto me. This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful. Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Blessing

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Morning Prayer: 05 August – Romans 6:15-16 ~ the choice of obedience

Reading through Romans

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening sentence

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory. You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.
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A reading from Romans: Romans 6:15-16 (NLT)

Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.
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Reflection: Romans 6:15-23 (John Stott, The Message of Romans: God’s Good News for the World)

United to Christ and enslaved to God (6:1–23)

b. Enslaved to God, or understanding our conversion (15–23)

What Paul does in the second half of Romans 6 is to draw out the logic of our conversion, as in the first half he has drawn out the logic of our baptism…. Since through baptism we were united to Christ, and in consequence are dead to sin and alive to God, how can we possibly live in sin? Since through conversion we offered ourselves to God to be his slaves, and in consequence are committed to obedience, how can we possibly claim freedom to sin?

(vs 16) The principle: self-surrender leads to slavery

Self-surrender leads inevitably to slavery, whether we thus become slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness (16b)….

Conversion is an act of self-surrender; self-surrender leads inevitably to slavery; and slavery demands a total, radical, exclusive obedience. For no-one can be the slave of two masters, as Jesus said.

Once we have offered ourselves to him as his slaves, we are permanently and unconditionally at his disposal. There is no possibility of going back on this. Having chosen our master, we have no further choice but to obey him.
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Canticle

Blessing

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Morning Prayer: 04 August – Romans 6:14 ~ set free by grace

Reading through Romans

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening sentence

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory. You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.
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A reading from Romans: Romans 6:14 (NLT)

Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.
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Reflection: Romans 6:14 (John Stott, The Message of Romans: God’s Good News for the World)

United to Christ and enslaved to God (6:1–23)

a. United to Christ – understanding our baptism (1–14)

(vs 14) Sin will not be our master

Law and grace are the opposing principles of the old and the new orders, of Adam and of Christ. To be under law is to accept the obligation to keep it and so to come under its curse or condemnation. To be under grace is to acknowledge our dependence on the work of Christ for salvation, and so to be justified rather than condemned, and thus set free.

For ‘those who know themselves freed from condemnation are free to resist sin’s usurped power with new strength and boldness’. Grace lays upon us the responsibility of holiness.

This was William Tyndale’s thought concluding his Prologue on … Romans (1526):

Now go to, reader … Remember that Christ made not this atonement, that thou shouldest anger God again; neither died he for thy sins, that thou shouldest live still in them; neither cleansed he thee, that thou shouldest return (as a swine) unto thine old puddle again; but that thou shouldest be a new creature and live a new life after the will of God and not of the flesh.

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Canticle

Blessing

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Morning Prayer: 03 August – Romans 6:12-13 ~ give yourself to God

Reading through Romans

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening sentence

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory. You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.
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A reading from Romans: Romans 6:12-13 (NLT)

Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.
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Reflection: Romans 6:12-13 (John Stott, The Message of Romans: God’s Good News for the World)

United to Christ and enslaved to God (6:1–23)

a. United to Christ – understanding our baptism (1–14)

(vs 12-13) We must therefore offer ourselves to God

Paul calls us to rise up in rebellion against sin. ‘Precisely because we are “free from sin”, we have to fight against it….’

Instead of giving in to sin, letting it rule over our bodies and surrendering them to its service, Paul now exhorts us to the positive alternative: rather offer yourselves to God (13b). The command not to offer ourselves to sin… indicates that we must not go on doing it. The exhortation to offer ourselves to God… may not be a call for a once-for-all surrender, but it at least suggests ‘deliberate and decisive commitment’.

As with the negative prohibitions, so with the positive commands, Paul looks beyond a general self-offering to the presentation of the parts (again both members and faculties) of our bodies to God, this time as instruments (or weapons) of righteousness (13c). And the ground on which these exhortations are based is that we have been brought from death to life (13b). The logic is clear. Since we have died to sin, it is inconceivable that we should let sin reign in us or offer ourselves to it. Since we are alive to God, it is only appropriate that we should offer ourselves and our faculties to him.

This theme of life and death, or rather death and life, runs right through this section. Christ died and rose. We have died and risen with him. We must therefore regard ourselves as dead to sin and alive to God. And, as those who are alive from death, we must offer ourselves to his service.
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Prayer of St. Francis

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Canticle

Blessing

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Sunday: 02 August – Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15; Psalm 78:3-4, 23-25, 54; Ephesians 4:17, 20-24; John 6:24-35 ~ the bread of life

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentence and Prayer:

From the days when the Jewish people wandered in the desert to this very day, God has been food to the hungry and meaning to those who lose their way. Today we rejoice in our Lord’s loving-kindness.
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Gracious Lord, giver of everlasting life, satisfy our hunger through Christ, the bread of life, and quench our thirst with Your gift of faith, that we may no longer work for food that perishes, but believe in the One whom You have sent. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.
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Hymn

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A Reading from the Old Testament: Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15 (NLT)
[On their way to the Promised Land, the Jews wondered whether the Lord had abandoned them. But God heard, and fed them with quails in the evening and manna every morning.]

The Miracle of Manna Jacopo Tintoretto (c. 1577) Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice — The Miracle of Manna
Jacopo Tintoretto (c. 1577)
Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice

There, too, the whole community of Israel complained about Moses and Aaron.

“If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Look, I’m going to rain down food from heaven for you. Each day the people can go out and pick up as much food as they need for that day. I will test them in this to see whether or not they will follow my instructions.
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“I have heard the Israelites’ complaints. Now tell them, ‘In the evening you will have meat to eat, and in the morning you will have all the bread you want. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”

That evening vast numbers of quail flew in and covered the camp. And the next morning the area around the camp was wet with dew. When the dew evaporated, a flaky substance as fine as frost blanketed the ground. The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it. “What is it?” they asked each other. They had no idea what it was.

And Moses told them, “It is the food the Lord has given you to eat.”

A Reading from the Psalms: Psalm 78:3-4, 23-25, 54 (NLT)

I will teach you hidden lessons from our past — stories we have heard and known, stories our ancestors handed down to us. We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders.
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He commanded the skies to open; he opened the doors of heaven. He rained down manna for them to eat; he gave them bread from heaven. They ate the food of angels! God gave them all they could hold.
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He brought them to the border of his holy land, to this land of hills he had won for them.
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A Reading from the Letters: Ephesians 4:17, 20-24 (NLT)
[Paul tells the people of Ephesus to put aside their old ways and live a new life.]

With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused.
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But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
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A Reading from the Gospels: John 6:24-35 (NLT)
[Jesus urges those he fed to reflect on their hunger and to work for food that will last for ever: the Bread of Life.]

So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for him. They found him on the other side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.”

They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”

Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”

They answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do? After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

“Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.”

Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
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Bread of the Angels is made bread for mankind; Gifted bread of Heaven of all imaginings the end; Oh, thing miraculous! This body of God will nourish the poor, the servile, and the humble.

Thee Triune God, we beseech; Do us Thou visit, just as Thee we worship. By Thy ways, lead us where we are heading, to the light Thou dwellest in. Amen.
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Intercessions:

Faithful God: You always provide for us in our needs. Hear us now:

+ For all who walk in the way of Christ - that You may sustain our faith and hope…. Lord, hear us.
+ For women and men who search for meaning and purpose in their lives – that they may find their answers in Jesus…. Lord, hear us.
+ For nomads and travelers, and all who wander like the Jews in the desert – that You may provide for their needs and support them in dangerous moments…. Lord, hear us.
+ For those who live in hunger – that You may send them food, through our generous hands…. Lord, hear us.
+ For all those whose Christian journey is over – that eternal life may be theirs…. Lord, hear us.

O God, You have never failed to nourish Your people in their needs: hear our cries and grant our prayers, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hymn:

There is no greater truth than this / There is no stronger love we know / God Himself comes down to live / And make a sinner’s heart his throne

There is no deeper peace than this / No other kindness can compare / He clothes us in His righteousness / Forever free, forever heirs

Oh praise the only One / Who shines brighter than ten thousand suns / Death and hell call Him victorious / Praise Him / Oh praise the One true King / Lift it loud till earth and heaven ring / Every crown we lay down at His feet / Praise Him

There is no sweeter joy than this / There is no stronger hope we hold / We are His forever more / Safe, secure by Christ alone

There is no sound that’s like the song / That rises up from grateful saints / We once were lost but now we’re found / One with Him, we bear His name

Benediction:

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen

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