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| We are steeped in news stories of sickness, injustice, vulnerability and loss. These daily prayers and Scripture readings are an antidote infusing us with the Spirit that heals and refreshes, reminding us we are in this together, called to action, connected to God, the Source of Life.
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| | Saturday, Sixth Week of Easter
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| Injustice Ends the Line of David (Jeremiah 22:24-30, NRSV)
The Home Daily Bible Readings for Monday through Saturday are selected in support of the print passage for Sunday’s lesson in the Uniform Lessons Series, ©Spring 2020.
22:24 As I live, says the Lord, even if King Coniah son of Jehoiakim of Judah were the signet ring on my right hand, even from there I would tear you off 25 and give you into the hands of those who seek your life, into the hands of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hands of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon and into the hands of the Chaldeans. 26 I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. 27 But they shall not return to the land to which they long to return.
28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken pot,
a vessel no one wants?
Why are he and his offspring hurled out
and cast away in a land that they do not know?
29 O land, land, land,
hear the word of the Lord!
30 Thus says the Lord:
Record this man as childless,
a man who shall not succeed in his days;
for none of his offspring shall succeed
in sitting on the throne of David,
and ruling again in Judah.
Jesus Heals A Man With Leprosy (Matthew 7:28-8:4, NRSV)
Today’s Gospel lesson is selected from the Book of Common Worship: Daily Prayer (Louisville, KY:Westminster/John Knox, 1993).
7:28 Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, 29 for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
8 When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him; 2 and there was a leper who came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.” 3 He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I do choose. Be made clean!” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
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| | Unity
Submitted by Rev. Dr. Sheldon W. Sorge, General Minister of Pittsburgh Presbytery, PC(USA)
Holy God, we acknowledge that the unity of your church is both your gift and our obligation, both a binding force and something we must diligently seek. Our Lord Jesus prays for our unity yet leaves it to us to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace. In this time of the COVID-19 pandemic, your people come together to ask for healing grace to those who suffer COVID infection, and for strength for front line caregivers and support workers who work with those who are sick and those who are most vulnerable.
Yet even as we are united in our prayers for those directly and indirectly affected by the pandemic, we find the bonds of our fellowship strained as congregations are prohibited from gathering during this season of widespread infection. Spiritual leaders are weary, congregants are setting aside their efforts to remain connected with their faith communities. Protect your church from being scattered as it faces a prolonged season of separation from its sanctuaries. Empower its shepherds to guard the flock from peril and provide for sustenance in the desert.
We confess that in our conversations about when and how we might gather again, politics have often led us more than attentiveness to your Spirit. Grant us a willing heart to hear your voice in guiding us as we shelter the vulnerable while also seeking the welfare of all who yearn for the fellowship of fellow-believers. Forgive us when we place our personal and economic interests ahead of the well-being of others. Remind us always to follow in the way of our Lord Jesus, who came to serve rather than to be served, to look to the interests of others rather than to his own.
In the name of, and for the sake of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
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