Music Info
Have Mercy on Me
By The Porter's Gate
Work Songs | The Porter's Gate Worship Project (Used with permission)
Tenderness
By Tony Anderson
Tenderness | Musicbed (Used with a license)
Script
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TODAY IS WEDNESDAY THE 25 AUGUST, IN THE TWENTY-FIRST WEEK OF ORDINARY TIME.
David Gungor with the Porter’s Gate sings, ‘Have Mercy On Me’.
Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Matthew.
Matthew 23:27-32
Jesus said, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors.
As you listened to today’s scripture you may have been hoping for words of comfort and inspiration. But there is no feel-good factor on offer here. Jesus has a tough message to deliver. He passionately accuses his listeners of hypocrisy, and he doesn't soften the blow. If you had been reading the text, would you have been tempted to turn the page to find something more to my liking?
Do Jesus’s words strike a chord in you? Is he speaking to you? Is he speaking about people you know? Or even about you?
As you listen again, try to enter the scene: imagine standing there in the crowd. Jesus’s voice is hard. He makes those shocking accusations! I see how the people react.
Take this opportunity to look deep into my heart, but to do so with courage and with trust in God. Try to see yourself as God sees you, with all your strengths and weaknesses. Let your innermost thoughts rise to the surface and share them with God. Tell Him how you feel about all of this.
End your prayer giving thanks to God who came to save you from all that is false. He loves you so much he speaks the truth that others dare not speak.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.