In
the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Wondrous honor You have given
To our humblest charity
In Your own mysterious sentence,
“You have done it all to Me.”
Can it be, O gracious Master,
That You deign for alms to sue,
Saying by Your poor and needy,
“Give as I have giv'n to you”? (LSB 851.3)
Whence come all that you are, all that you have and possess? Is it by
your own work and toil that you have such abundance? Or is whatever
you have a gift from God? We confess with all of Christendom, “I
believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.” He
has made all things, and He is the one who gives them into your hand.
We confess as Luther writes in the Small Catechism:
He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home,
wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily
provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.
Take heed of what you confess here:
He richly and daily provides me with all.
Everything you have is a gift of God, given out of His divine bounty,
without any merit or worthiness in you. He chooses to so richly bless
you because He loves you, because He has created you to be His
workmanship, to show forth His love and blessing. He gives all that
you need because He knows you need it, just as you fathers know the
needs of your children and supply them.
