I will sprinkle
clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and
from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give
you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body
the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:25-26
This year we have been reflecting on the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation. So when I read these verses from Ezekiel, I thought of Martin Luther’s teaching that we are baptized daily. Each morning we die to sin and are reborn - cleansed of our sins and given new hearts. Eugene Peterson, (The Message Bible) describes Ezekiel as the “master of catastrophe” and credits him for the Israelites’ emergence from their Babylon captivity “robust and whole.” Certainly we have known catastrophe this year, whether from natural disasters, violence, or loss due to accidents, illness or aging. But this Advent season we celebrate that God came to dwell among us. God is with us and He understands our human vulnerabilities. I am most fortunate to be connected with Liberty Lutheran where I observe baptized-daily folks bringing renewed spirits and hearts of flesh to their work of helping people who are experiencing loss. Indeed God is with us in our suffering and through the hearts and hands of these compassionate folks; God brings us through our losses “robust and whole.”
Holy Father, we thank you that when we face losses and catastrophes; by your grace, we do not face them alone. Amen.
Linda Breckenridge, is a retired educator, member of Upper Dublin Lutheran Church in Ambler, and member of the Liberty Lutheran Board of Directors.
This year we have been reflecting on the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation. So when I read these verses from Ezekiel, I thought of Martin Luther’s teaching that we are baptized daily. Each morning we die to sin and are reborn - cleansed of our sins and given new hearts. Eugene Peterson, (The Message Bible) describes Ezekiel as the “master of catastrophe” and credits him for the Israelites’ emergence from their Babylon captivity “robust and whole.” Certainly we have known catastrophe this year, whether from natural disasters, violence, or loss due to accidents, illness or aging. But this Advent season we celebrate that God came to dwell among us. God is with us and He understands our human vulnerabilities. I am most fortunate to be connected with Liberty Lutheran where I observe baptized-daily folks bringing renewed spirits and hearts of flesh to their work of helping people who are experiencing loss. Indeed God is with us in our suffering and through the hearts and hands of these compassionate folks; God brings us through our losses “robust and whole.”
Holy Father, we thank you that when we face losses and catastrophes; by your grace, we do not face them alone. Amen.
Linda Breckenridge, is a retired educator, member of Upper Dublin Lutheran Church in Ambler, and member of the Liberty Lutheran Board of Directors.
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