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Tuesday, February 22, 2022

 Collect  O God, we thank you for this new day.  Take our hand and lead us step by step through the routine of the day.  Help us to remember to ask for your help as we pray: “Forth in your name, O Lord, we go, our daily labour to pursue.”  Give us the grace to know that your power, working in us, can do so much more than we can ask or imagine.  Dear Lord, we humbly ask in Jesus’ name this day:  “Be with us each hour and send your angels to watch over us & keep us safe.”  Come, let us worship.  

The Proclamation of the Word

1st Reading:  Ruth 1:15-22 (NRSV)

So she said, ‘See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.’  But Ruth said, ‘Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you!  Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.  Where you die, I will die— there will I be buried.  May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!’  When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them; and the women said, ‘Is this Naomi?’ She said to them, ‘Call me no longer Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me.  I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty; why call me Naomi when the Lord has dealt harshly with me, and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?’So Naomi returned together with Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, who came back with her from the country of Moab. They came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. 

Psalm 121 (Book of Alternative Services page 882):

1               I was glad when they said to me, * “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”   

2               Now our feet are standing * within your gates, O Jerusalem.   

3               Jerusalem is built as a city * that is at unity with itself.

4               To which the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, * the assembly of Israel, to praise the name of the Lord.   

5               For there are the thrones of judgement, * the thrones of the house of David.

6               Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: * May they prosper who love you.   

7               Peace be within your walls * and quietness within your towers.   

8               For my brethren and companions’ sake, * I pray for your prosperity.   

9               Because of the house of the Lord our God, * I will seek to do you good.”

Lord Jesus, give us the peace of the new Jerusalem. Bring all nations into your kingdom to share your gifts, that they may render thanks to you without end and may come to your eternal city, where you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever.  Amen 

2nd Reading:  2 Corinthians 1:12-22 (NRSV)

The Postponement of Paul’s Visit

Indeed, this is our boast, the testimony of our conscience: we have behaved in the world with frankness and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God—and all the more towards you.  For we write to you nothing other than what you can read and also understand; I hope you will understand until the end— as you have already understood us in part—that on the day of the Lord Jesus we are your boast even as you are our boast.Since I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a double favour; I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on to Judea. Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to ordinary human standards, ready to say ‘Yes, yes’ and ‘No, no’ at the same time? As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been ‘Yes and No.’ For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not ‘Yes and No’; but in him it is always ‘Yes.’  For in him every one of God’s promises is a ‘Yes.’ For this reason it is through him that we say the ‘Amen’, to the glory of God. But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first instalment. 

Gospel Reading:  Matthew 5:13-20 (NRSV)

Salt and Light

‘You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled under foot.‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

The Law and the Prophets

‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfil. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.  Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.  For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever.  Amen. 

Closing Prayer   Day by day, Lord, make us ever eager to share the good things that we have.  Grant us such a measure of your Spirit that we may find more joy in giving than in getting.  Make us ready to give cheerfully without grudging, secretly without praise, and in sincerity without looking for gratitude, for Jesus Christ’s sake. May the grace of God uphold you, the peace of God surround you, the love of God flow from you and the strength of God protect and bring you safely through this day.  Amen.