Epiphany 36

Lord and God,

For what did you save Israel, but to serve and worship you alone? Yet first with a golden calf of their own making, then by rebelling against your will and in then with Baal of Peor they defied you. Israel was plucked, planted, watered, yet even in the full flower of its kingdom it did not bear the fruit of righteousness, love, goodness and obedience for which you planted it.

Yet your work was not finished, and you are still working to this day. As none of the wilderness generation remained but Caleb and Joshua, so there remained an unpruned remnant. Humble and mounted on a donkey, righteous and having salvation, a stumbling block and cornerstone is our Savior, Jesus Christ. He purified your dwelling place, cleansed your temple, and taught repentance and life for us. In him we pray for deliverance. We take his name as our own, as he took our sins for his own. Rescue your Son, Father, from wicked tenants who seek his inheritance. Care for us in our weakness and let us see eternal days. Our tongues will talk of your righteous help evermore in the eternal day, for they have been put to shame and disappointed who sought our hurt.