Home > Reading > The Daily Lectionary – July 18, 2016

joshua2-11

Joshua 2:1–14; Romans 11:1–12; Matthew 25:1–13

She was waiting for me on the steps of the church when the doors opened to let the worshipers “go in peace and serve the Lord.” She was one of many prostitutes in the area. She rushed to me and said, “I know Jesus is Lord, and I think he loves me.”

“Yes,” I said. “That is very true.”

“Do you think he would take my offering?”

“Yes, I believe he would.” She handed me twenty dollars, sighed deeply, and ran away quickly before the parishioners finished the last stanza of the hymn.

I was stunned. I had been preached to; I heard the Word; I heard confession; I saw ministry, and all from what most deem an unsavory, social problem, a prostitute. This is not the first time that has happened.

Rahab, a prostitute, confessed the wonders of the God of Israel. “We have heard how the Lord dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you…our hearts melted within us; everyone is utterly dispirited because of you, since the LORD, your God is God in heaven above and earth below.”

Indeed, the Lord is God and he has no boundaries as to whom may share this news.

Prayer: Lord God of heaven and earth, embolden your Church to confess your name throughout the world, and when we fail to do so, send the Rahabs of the world to remind us. Amen.

Today’s devotion was written by Melinda H. Jones, Pastor of Advent Evangelical Lutheran Church in North Charleston, SC.

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