Lectionary Devotions by Bishop Hawkins

Our readings today are about Christian morality, about Christian living, which means walking in the Spirit as we follow Jesus Christ…

The Lord Jesus himself would restore us, he would reconcile us to God and, in himself, to one another. He would restore us to communion, communication with God and one another. So he comes to open us up, to open our minds and hearts, to open our ears and our lips…

Jesus spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others. And today, he does the same!

This Christian believing, this Christian confessing and this Christian living are only possible by the gift and power, the influence and inbreathing of the Holy Spirit…

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord…

In Revelation we are told of the life of heaven, And they shall see his face (Rev. 22.4) and St. Paul says that while here we see but dimly, our end is that full and intimate knowledge of Jesus, Now we see in a glass darkly; but then face to face…

This image of steward is meant to remind us that we are caretakers, not owners, of all that God has entrusted to us. That includes our lives, our allotted time, our bodies and minds, our health and strength, our talents and abilities, as well as our money, education, and opportunities.

The story of our salvation is told best in terms of our adoption and forgiveness. St. Paul speaks in both Galatians and Romans of the mission of the Son and the Spirit, in exactly these terms…

We all serve and obey someone. Our claim to have no master only means that we are serving some hidden master, our lower selves, our selfish interests and the like…

This is the gospel of Jesus Christ: God is kind to the ungrateful and to the wicked. This is the Good News: God is good to the evil and gracious to the ungracious…