Today is the commemoration of Cyril and Methdius, Missionaries to the Slavs.
Today's readings are Psalm 84.1-4, Exodus 34.29-35.21, and Luke 7.36-50.
The Psalmist pictures God's courts as a place of safety. We fly to God as a bird flies to a shelter in a time of danger or distress. What benefit does God receive from our looking to him for safety? None at all, no more than a barn receives a benefit from a swallow that hides under its eaves.
How do we flee to God? We come to him for comfort. We come to him for protection. We look to him for our supply of all our needs, just as the bird finds food in and around the barn. And in gratitude, we bring the gifts that God has given us, gifts which He then uses to care for us and for our neighbors. Do those gifts, even our displays of love and affection for God result in our forgiveness? Not at all. Jesus knows the woman who comes to him is a sinful woman. Her gratitude does not forgive her. Rather, her gratitude flows from her forgiveness.
May we who are forgiven in Jesus Christ return thanks and praise to him now and forever.
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