Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries
"Again and Again"
June 29, 2020
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts.
Many people in our culture today would often prefer to forget the past, imagining that what matters exists only in the present; they believe they have all that is needed to satisfy themselves here and now. Yet most people will remember and rejoice in past events—just ask a child about a recent birthday party or a husband and wife who celebrated a wedding anniversary! We remember events in our nation's past too, from happy celebrations like Independence Day to more somber recollections: Veterans Day, Pearl Harbor, 9-11, and the tributes and war memorials set up in towns and cities across the country.
There are stories we never tire of telling. Just as many families hand down traditions and stories from one generation to the next, the family of God repeats and lives its sacred history year after year. The church tells the story of Jesus, following His life and saving work from Advent through Christmas and on into Epiphany and Lent. With the celebration of Christ's Ascension and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, the church recalls the story of the apostles and the earliest Christians. We grow in faith as we read and study our Lord's teachings in Holy Scripture. We strive to follow in His footsteps through works of love and service to those around us. With reverent joy we hear again and again Jesus' words: "This is My body ...This is My blood," and receive His gifts for the forgiveness of our sins.
These are the stories we want to repeat as long as we live, the lessons we want to pass on to others. With the psalmist we pray, "So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim Your might to another generation, Your power to all those to come" (Psalm 71:18). We gather week after week for worship. In repentant humility we confess our sins and our need for the Savior whose life we follow through the church year. In hymns and sermons, in the study of Scripture, and in daily living for the glory of God, we share with one another the unsearchable greatness of our God. Like children (and adults, too, if we care to admit it) who never grow tired of celebrating their birthdays, we move through the seasons of the church year, rejoicing in the gifts of forgiveness and eternal life that Jesus won for us at the cross and empty tomb. By the help of the Holy Spirit, we seek to "walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us" (Ephesians 5:2a).
Year after year, season after season, we commend God's works to one another and declare His mighty acts, for this is what God in Christ has called us to do: "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9).
THE PRAYER: God and Savior, You have called us out of darkness into light. Help us by Your Spirit to proclaim Your mighty works to the coming generation so that they too will live in the light of Your grace. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Reflection Questions:
1. Do you have a great storyteller or two in your family?This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler. Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
2. How can we declare God's mighty acts in our lives without even speaking a word to others?
3. How are you at telling stories? Are you able to get through a decent-length narrative and hold people's attention? Is there value in this skill for a Christian?
Do you have a great storyteller or two in your family?
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