To Save Our Lives--Oct. 14, 2010

I. Readings
Psalms 36, 147:12-20, 80, 27
Hosea 13:4-8
Acts 27:27-44
Luke 9:18-27

II. Selections
Psalm 80:12-13
Why then have you broken down [the walls of the vine that you brought out of Egypt],
      so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
The boar from the forest ravages it,
      and all that move in the field feed on it.

Hosea 13:5-6
It was I who fed you in the wilderness,
      in the land of drought.
When I fed them, they were satisfied;
      they were satisfied, and their heart was proud;
      therefore they forgot me.

Acts 27:30-31
But when the sailors tried to escape from the ship and had lowered the boat into the sea, on the pretext of putting out anchors from the bow, Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.”

Luke 9:24
“…For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. … ” [Jesus to his disciples]

III. Meditation

We want to save our lives—of course we do.

Paul noticed that the sailors were ready to
abandon ship in order to save their own lives;
and he asked the centurion to stop the sailors
so that the lives of the passengers could be saved.

Out of Egypt, you brought a vine, nourished and protected it.
Then you tore down its protection and let it die. Why?
According to Hosea, your people became smug;
their hearts became proud, and they forgot you.

You had saved their lives, but they were ungrateful
and did not want to give their lives to save others.
Each day teach us to lose our lives for your sake,
for you have said it is the only way to save them.