A Luther Prayer
Advent is a penitential season of the Church. We look both inward and outward. Inward to our own failings; outward to the redemptive work of the coming Messiah. The Great Exchange! Our sin for Christ’s righteousness! I came across this prayer from Martin Luther:
Behold, Lord, here is an empty cask that needs to be filled. My Lord, fill it. I am weak in faith; strengthen me. I am cold in love; warm me and fill me with fire that my love may flow out over my neighbor. I do not have a firm, strong faith; I doubt at times and cannot fully trust God. O Lord, help me; increase my faith and trust for me. In Thee is locked the treasure of all my possessions. I am poor; Thou art rich and art come to have mercy upon the poor. I am a sinner; Thou art righteous. I pour forth a stream of sin; but in Thee are all fullness and righteousness.*
When we look inward with Luther, we see our sin. However, when we look outward with St Paul, we see our Savior:
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. The new has come! And all these things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them. And he has entrusted to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, inasmuch as God is making an appeal through us. We urge you, on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him, who did not know sin, to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians%205&version=EHV>
May your Advent season draw you closer to your Savior. Listen, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the good promises that I have spoken. From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+33&version=EHV>
Trust the promises
Steve Skiver
*Quoted from What Luther Says Concordia Publishing