Forward Movement is an official, non-profit agency of the Episcopal Church whose mission is to create compelling content for Christian living. Since 1935 we have published the quarterly devotional Forward Day by Day, as well as pamphlets, booklets, and books that encourage and nourish people in their lives of prayer and faith.
SUNDAY, October 31 23 Pentecost
Luke 19:1-10. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.
Few of us in the early twenty-first century hear much from the pulpit about being “lost,” about sin or sinning or our personal status as sinners. The mainline churches gave that up a generation or more ago, and even the most zealous evangelical groups are more prone to preach the “prosperity gospel” today than any word about human sinfulness and how that applies to us.
Less than a century ago, sinfulness and the dreadful eternity awaiting those who wallowed in it was a common theme for preachers. Now, the emphasis is on God’s love and acceptance of us. That is a lot healthier, but we shouldn’t forget why Jesus came to live and die as one of us.
We are all sinners; none of us deserves God’s love. And yet God does love us in spite of our sins. There is a problem when we take forgiveness for granted, when we don’t try to overcome our sinful proclivities. Jesus accepted sinners, but he did expect them to repent. To err is human, to forgive divine; to strive to do all that God asks of us is our duty and our joy. (2005)
PRAY for The Church of Ceylon (Extra-Provincial to the Archbishop of Canterbury)
Ps 119:137-144 and Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4 –OR– Ps 32:1-7 and Isaiah 1:10-18; 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
View the daily Lectionary Readings at Satucket.com.
Or view the Bible passages at Biblegateway.com.
A Meditation for Pentecost
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