Above: The Vision of Ezekiel, Fra Angelico
Image in the Public Domain
Commissioned and Equipped
MAY 2-4, 2022
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The Collect:
Eternal and all-merciful God,
with all the angels and all the saints we laud your majesty and might.
By the resurrection of your Son, show yourself to us
and inspire us to follow Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 33
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The Assigned Readings:
Ezekiel 1:1-25 (Monday)
Ezekiel 1:26-2:1 (Tuesday)
Isaiah 6:1-8 (Wednesday)
Psalm 121 (All Days)
Acts 9:19-31 (Monday)
Acts 26:1-18 (Tuesday)
Luke 5:1-11 (Wednesday)
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I lift up my eyes to the hills;
from where is my help to come?
My help comes from the LORD,
the maker of heaven and earth.
–Psalm 121:1-2, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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Most of the readings for these three days are stories of commissioning by God, accompanied by a spectacular vision or event. Ezekiel and Isaiah become prophets, fishermen become Apostles, and Saul of Tarsus becomes St. Paul the Apostle, the great evangelist. God qualifies the called, who know well that they are, by themselves, inadequate for the tasks to which God has assigned them.
I do not know about you, O reader, but I have seen no visions and have not witnessed miraculous deeds. Neither has God called me to do anything in the same league as the tasks assigned to Ezekiel, Isaiah, St. Paul, and the original twelve Apostles. I do know some of my inadequacies, however, and affirm that God has work for me to do. Furthermore, I acknowledge my need for grace to complete those tasks for the glory of God.
Each of us has a role to play in God’s design. Many of us seek or will seek to fulfill it, but others do not or will not seek to do so. God will win in the end, as the Book of Revelation tells me, so divine victory is up to God, not any of us. Nevertheless, is responding faithfully to God and accepting the demands of grace not better than doing otherwise?
What is God calling and equipping you, O reader, to do?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 20, 2015 COMMON ERA
THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT, YEAR C
THE FEAST OF SAINT DOMINIC OF SILOS, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT
THE FEAST OF SAINT PETER CANISIUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM JOHN BLEW, ENGLISH PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2015/12/20/commissioned-and-equipped/
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