29 June Mon- Who was I?

Voice:

Today is Monday. Being 29th June, we also celebrate the Feast of St Peter and St Paul.

Spend a moment of silence in His presence.

Psalm 113

¹    Praise the  Lord !
    Praise, O  servants of the  Lord ,
praise the name of the  Lord !

² Blessed be the name of the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore!

³ From the rising of the sun to its setting,
the name of the Lord is to be praised!

⁴The Lord is high above all nations,
and his glory above the heavens!

⁵ Who is like the Lord our God,
who is seated on high,

⁶who looks far down
on the heavens and the earth?

⁷He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,

⁸to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of his people.

⁹He gives the barren woman a home,
making her the joyous mother of children.
Praise the Lord !

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as It was in the beginning, is
now, and shall be forever. Amen.

Acts 11:1-18

¹Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.
²So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying,
³“You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
⁴But Peter began and explained it to them in order:
⁵“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me.
⁶Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air.
⁷And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’
⁸But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’
⁹But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’
¹⁰This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven.
¹¹And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea.
¹²And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house.
¹³And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter;
¹⁴he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’
¹⁵As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning.
¹⁶And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
¹⁷If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”
¹⁸When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God

Who was I…?

The Feast of St Peter and St Paul celebrates two very different men whom God used to build His Church. Peter was a Galilean fisherman and the apostle to the Jews. Paul was a former persecutor and became the apostle to the Gentiles. Together, they remind us that the gospel is for the whole world.

It is therefore fitting that the lectionary appoints Acts 11:1–18. Peter had to defend himself before the believers in Jerusalem because he had entered the house of Gentiles and eaten with them. Their criticism reflected centuries of religious and cultural boundaries. But Peter simply recounted what God had done and concluded, “Who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”

Those words became a turning point in the history of the Church. Had Peter insisted on preserving old prejudices, the mission to the Gentiles would have been hindered. Instead, he recognised that God’s grace was larger than his assumptions.

The Feast of Peter and Paul reminds us that God delights in using different people for the same gospel. Peter would open the door, and Paul would walk through it to the nations. The Church grew because both men were willing to yield to God’s purposes.

As we celebrate their witness, we should ask ourselves: Are there people we have written off, ministries we have resisted, or opportunities we have dismissed because they do not fit our traditional expectations?

May God grant us the humility of Peter to say, “Who am I that I could stand in God’s way?”

We pray for the special Collect for today:

Almighty God,
whose blessed apostles Peter and Paul glorified you in their death as in their life:
grant that your Church,
inspired by their teaching and example, and made one by your Spirit,
may ever stand firm upon the one foundation,
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.

Be blessed by The Summons by John Bell. This is a song written by the Iona Community and released in 1987.

Will you come and follow me
If I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know
And never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown,
Will you let my name be known,
Will you let my life be grown
In you and you in me?

Will you leave yourself behind
If I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind
And never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare
Should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer prayer
In you and you in me?

Will you let the blinded see
If I but call your name?
Will you set the prisoners free
And never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean,
And do such as this unseen,
And admit to what I mean
In you and you in me?

Will you love the ‘you’ you hide
If I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside
And never be the same?
Will you use the faith you’ve found
To reshape the world around,
Through my sight and touch and sound
In you and you in me?

Lord, your summons echoes true
When you but call my name.
Let me turn and follow you
And never be the same.
In your company I’ll go
Where your love and footsteps show.
Thus I’ll move and live and grow
In you and you in me.

Link to today’s Morning Office

Daily Devotion