Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“And the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me, ‘These are true words of God.’ Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, ‘You must not do that! I am a fellow-servant with you and your comrades who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’”
NL Daily Devotion for Thursday, September 4, 2025
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Prophets are to be emulated, rather than worshipped. We have many prophets in our midst—people who are sticking their necks out and speaking up against the forces of domination, dictatorship, and destruction threatening to topple our democracy. It’s a comfort to know those people are out there making noise, standing up, speaking truth to power. But it’s not enough to think they’re going to fix things for us, as if they are the ones to be worshipped and trusted. They are prophets—speaking God’s words to the people. We are not only to heed their words, but to become prophets ourselves in any way we can. Writing letters to elected representatives and senators, op eds in newspapers and news outlets, these devotions regardless of their readership, in our communities and beyond. We need to get outside the echo chambers of our social media where we just re-post the words of prophets to those who we know already agree with them and us. We need to go public. Not just in big ways, but in small ways, too. Reaching out locally to organizations who are working with immigrant populations scared to go outside for fear of ICE. Volunteering at homeless shelters. Supporting the ACLU and those fighting in the courts to try to stop the downward slide into autocracy. Just as the angel was a fellow servant with John of Patmos, we are fellow servants with the angels and prophets in our midst.
Where can I be an angel to someone today? A prophet?
