Daily Devotional
The Fire and the Feast
The Lord who appears in glory is not mocked. In Leviticus, sacrifice is offered, blessing is given, and fire comes out from before God. In Isaiah, the same Lord rebukes those who pour out offerings to idols and make light of sin with a loose tongue. In the Gospel, that holy God receives sinners who draw near to hear His Son. These are not contrary things. The same Lord who judges false worship also seeks the lost; the same fire that consumes uncleanness also makes a people fit to rejoice before Him.
Therefore let no one use the mercy of Christ as a cloak for stubbornness. The Pharisees murmured because Jesus ate with sinners, but He did not eat with them to leave them as they were. Heaven rejoices, not over excuses, but over repentance. As it is written: "Rejoice with me; for my sheep which was lost is found. I say, says He, unto you, that there will be such joy in heaven over one sinner that repents." The lost sheep is not praised for wandering, but carried back.
Isaiah also asks, "Against whom have you sported yourselves, and against whom have you opened the mouth, and against whom have you loosened the tongue?’" So let repentance be plain: turn from every rival altar, from every mocking word, from every sacrifice offered to appetite, money, or human praise. Come near to Christ to be healed, but come as one who means to leave the far country. Then blessing may be lifted over the people with clean hands, and the household of God may rejoice without presumption.
“Rejoice with me; for my sheep which was lost is found. I say, says He, unto you, that there will be such joy in heaven over one sinner that repents.”
— Anonymous, Treatise Against the Heretic Novatian
“Against whom have you sported yourselves, and against whom have you opened the mouth, and against whom have you loosened the tongue?’”
— Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho
For Reflection & Discussion
What one sinful practice must you renounce today in concrete terms—by removing it, confessing it, or making restitution—so that your repentance is not in word only?
Whom will you receive this week as Christ received sinners: a stray, poor, ashamed, or neglected person, and what table, meal, or act of help will you set before them?
What word of mockery, slander, or careless speech must you confess and cease today, and to whom do you need to go in order to ask forgiveness?
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