One of the difficulties I have had since this year began is finding the appropriate RCL readings on line. For about a year I used the Presbyterian link from the US. This is a link from an episcopalian site. It includes the collect or prayer for each day.
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Isaiah 49
But I said, “I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;yet surely my cause is with the LORD, and my reward with my God.”
And now the LORD says, who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him,
and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the sight of the LORD, and my God has become my strength–he says,
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”I Corinthians
I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind– just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you– so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
I spent yesterday on call, and much of the day at work. In this, I was glad that the boys were on holiday, but this morning I’m in recovery mode. Dealing with the pain of others hurts — and when it stops hurting you are officially useless as a therapist and a human being. As I result I slept through both the time of my usual kirk (which closes over the summer break) and the 10 am standard services.
We are told to wait patiently, that our faithfulness is for the glory of God and a witness to his glory in the nations. We are not told that this will be without pain or will be easy.
And those who say this…. are at best in error.