Forsaking You, but Not Forsaken--Dec. 26, 2012

 Zechariah--outspoken, courageous, righteous man--

warned his people you had forsaken them

 because they had forsaken you;

and so they stoned him.

Stephen, executed like Zechariah, was likewise

 courageous, full of faith and Holy Spirit--

but before he died, able to forgive

the ones who stoned him.

I am not brave or righteous as these men were,

surely not as forgiving as Stephen was.

I forsake you often, transgress

your commandments.

Whenever I forsake you, I cannot say I prosper;

but God, you have no more forsaken me

than have my mother and father--

forgive me, take me up.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 116; 147:1-11; 119:1-24; 27

2 Chron. 24:17-22

Acts 6:1-7

Acts 7:59-8:8

Selected Verses

Ps. 27:10

If my father and mother forsake me,
          the LORD will take me up.

2 Chron. 24:20

Then the spirit of God took possession of Zechariah son of the priest Jehoiada; he stood above the people and said to them, “Thus says God: Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper?  Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has also forsaken you.”

Acts 6:5a

What [the twelve apostles] said pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit  …

Acts 7:59-60

While [the religious authorities] were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”  Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”