Daily Office - Jan 19

Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester, 1095
Second Day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Psalm 29
Ascribe to the Lord, you powers of heaven,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the honour due to his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;
the God of glory thunders;
the Lord is upon the mighty waters.

The voice of the Lord is mighty in operation;
the voice of the Lord is a glorious voice.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedar trees;
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon;
He makes Lebanon skip like a calf
and Sirion like a young wild ox.

The voice of the Lord splits the flash of lightning;
the voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord makes the oak trees writhe
and strips the forests bare;
in his temple all cry, ‘Glory!’

The Lord sits enthroned above the water flood;
the Lord sits enthroned as king for evermore.
The Lord shall give strength to his people;
the Lord shall give his people the blessing of peace.

Psalm 33
Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, for it is good for the just to sing praises.
Praise the Lord with the lyre; on the ten-stringed harp sing his praise.
Sing for him a new song; play skilfully, with shouts of praise.

For the word of the Lord is true and all his works are sure.
He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the loving-kindness of the Lord.
By the word of the Lord were the heavens made and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
He gathers up the waters of the sea as in a waterskin and lays up the deep in his treasury.

Let all the earth fear the Lord; stand in awe of him, all who dwell in the world.

For he spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to naught; he frustrates the designs of the peoples.
But the counsel of the Lord shall endure for ever and the designs of his heart from generation to generation.
Happy the nation whose God is the Lord and the people he has chosen for his own.

The Lord looks down from heaven and beholds all the children of earth.
From where he sits enthroned he turns his gaze on all who dwell on the earth.
He fashions all the hearts of them and understands all their works.
No king is saved by the might of his host; no warrior delivered by his great strength.
A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; for all its strength it cannot save.

Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon those who fear him,
on those who wait in hope for his steadfast love,
To deliver their soul from death and to feed them in time of famine.
Our soul waits longingly for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.
Indeed, our heart rejoices in him; in his holy name have we put our trust.
Let your loving-kindness, O Lord, be upon us, as we have set our hope on you.

Amos 5.18-end
Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord!
   Why do you want the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, not light;
   as if someone fled from a lion,
   and was met by a bear;
or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall,
   and was bitten by a snake.
Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light,
   and gloom with no brightness in it?

I hate, I despise your festivals,
   and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
Even though you offer me your burnt-offerings and grain-offerings,
   I will not accept them;
and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
   I will not look upon.
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
   I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
But let justice roll down like waters,
   and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You shall take up Sakkuth your king, and Kaiwan your star-god, your images that you made for yourselves; therefore I will take you into exile beyond Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.

1 Corinthians 5
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not found even among pagans; for a man is living with his father’s wife. And you are arrogant! Should you not rather have mourned, so that he who has done this would have been removed from among you?

For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present I have already pronounced judgement in the name of the Lord Jesus on the man who has done such a thing. When you are assembled, and my spirit is present with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.

Your boasting is not a good thing. Do you not know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch, as you really are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral persons—not at all meaning the immoral of this world, or the greedy and robbers, or idolaters, since you would then need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother or sister who is sexually immoral or greedy, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or robber.

Do not even eat with such a one.

For what have I to do with judging those outside? Is it not those who are inside that you are to judge? God will judge those outside. ‘Drive out the wicked person from among you.’


The Collect
Lord God,
who raised up Wulfstan to be a bishop among your people and a leader of your Church:
help us, after his example,
      to live simply,
      to work diligently
      and to make your kingdom known;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Daily Office - Jan 18

Amy Carmichael, Founder of the Dohnavur Fellowship, Spiritual Writer, 1951

First Day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Psalm 67

God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us,

That your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

O let the nations rejoice and be glad,

for you will judge the peoples righteously and govern the nations upon earth.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

Then shall the earth bring forth her increase, and God, our own God, will bless us.

God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.

Psalm 72

Give the king your judgements, O God, and your righteousness to the son of a king.

Then shall he judge your people righteously and your poor with justice.

May the mountains bring forth peace, and the little hills righteousness for the people.

May he defend the poor among the people, deliver the children of the needy and crush the oppressor.

May he live as long as the sun and moon endure, from one generation to another.

May he come down like rain upon the mown grass, like the showers that water the earth.

In his time shall righteousness flourish, and abundance of peace till the moon shall be no more.

May his dominion extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.

May his foes kneel before him and his enemies lick the dust.

The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall pay tribute; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall bring gifts.

All kings shall fall down before him; all nations shall do him service.

For he shall deliver the poor that cry out, the needy and those who have no helper.

He shall have pity on the weak and poor; 

he shall preserve the lives of the needy.

He shall redeem their lives from oppression and violence, and dear shall their blood be in his sight.

Long may he live;

unto him may be given gold from Sheba;

may prayer be made for him continually and may they bless him all the day long.

May there be abundance of grain on the earth, standing thick upon the hilltops;

may its fruit flourish like Lebanon and its grain grow like the grass of the field.

May his name remain for ever and be established as long as the sun endures;

may all nations be blest in him and call him blessed.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wonderful things.

And blessed be his glorious name for ever.

May all the earth be filled with his glory. Amen. Amen.

Amos 5.1-17

Hear this word that I take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel: 

Fallen, no more to rise, is maiden Israel;

forsaken on her land, with no one to raise her up. 

For thus says the Lord God:

The city that marched out a thousand shall have a hundred left,

and that which marched out a hundred shall have ten left. 

For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:

Seek me and live; but do not seek Bethel, and do not enter into Gilgal or cross over to Beer-sheba;

for Gilgal shall surely go into exile, and Bethel shall come to nothing. 

Seek the Lord and live,

or he will break out against the house of Joseph like fire,

and it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it. 

Ah, you that turn justice to wormwood, and bring righteousness to the ground! 

The one who made the Pleiades and Orion,

   and turns deep darkness into the morning,

   and darkens the day into night,

who calls for the waters of the sea,

   and pours them out on the surface of the earth,

the Lord is his name, 

who makes destruction flash out against the strong,

   so that destruction comes upon the fortress. 

They hate the one who reproves in the gate,

   and they abhor the one who speaks the truth. 

Therefore, because you trample on the poor

   and take from them levies of grain,

you have built houses of hewn stone,

   but you shall not live in them;

you have planted pleasant vineyards,

   but you shall not drink their wine. 

For I know how many are your transgressions,

   and how great are your sins—

you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe,

   and push aside the needy in the gate. 

Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time;

   for it is an evil time. 

Seek good and not evil, that you may live;

and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said. 

Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate;

it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. 

Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord:

In all the squares there shall be wailing;

   and in all the streets they shall say, ‘Alas! alas!’

They shall call the farmers to mourning,

   and those skilled in lamentation, to wailing; 

in all the vineyards there shall be wailing,

   for I will pass through the midst of you,

says the Lord. 

1 Corinthians 4

Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they should be found trustworthy. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself. I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgement before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God.

I have applied all this to Apollos and myself for your benefit, brothers and sisters, so that you may learn through us the meaning of the saying, ‘Nothing beyond what is written’, so that none of you will be puffed up in favour of one against another. For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?

Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Quite apart from us you have become kings! Indeed, I wish that you had become kings, so that we might be kings with you! For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, as though sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to mortals. We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honour, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed and beaten and homeless, and we grow weary from the work of our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we speak kindly. We have become like the rubbish of the world, the dregs of all things, to this very day.

I am not writing this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you might have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers. Indeed, in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. I appeal to you, then, be imitators of me. For this reason I sent you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ Jesus, as I teach them everywhere in every church. But some of you, thinking that I am not coming to you, have become arrogant. But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. For the kingdom of God depends not on talk but on power. What would you prefer? Am I to come to you with a stick, or with love in a spirit of gentleness? 

The Collect

Eternal Father,

who at the baptism of Jesus revealed him to be your Son,

anointing him with the Holy Spirit:

grant to us, who are born again by water and the Spirit,

that we may be faithful to our calling as your adopted children;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen.