Free From Fear of Judgment
- davidwperk
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
Devotional Reflection, Thursday, July 2, 2026
Proper 8, the week of the fifth Sunday after Pentecost
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key verses for reflection from today’s reading:
8:1There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 973
AM Psalm 131, 132, [133]; PM Psalm 134, 135
Num. 23:11-26; Rom. 8:1-11; Matt. 22:1-14
Today we celebrate the Feast of Walter Rauschenbusch, Washington Gladden, and Jacob Riis. (See below.)
David’s Reflections
When I was barely 21, a senior in college, and serving as pastor of my first congregation, a small country Baptist Church (Longstraw Baptist, Choudrant, LA), verses 1 and 2 of this reading came alive in my garage apartment across from the university. Something in my spirit connected with the language of the first few verses. “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” I realized that I was in no danger of judgment—beloved by God and secure in God’s love. The energy of the joy got so strong that I had to go downstairs and walk around under the pecan trees.
Yesterday’s reading from Romans 7 describes the depth and strength of inner evil in poignant and graphic terms. One could be left distraught about the possibilities for any real freedom in Christ. But, today’s reading bursts on the soul with the promise of the Spirit’s presence within us and of genuine freedom to order our lives differently. As Paul put it so well in Romans 5, “Where sin increased grace abounded all the more.”
We can live free from fear of judgment. God has drawn us to Godself, generated faith in us, placed us in Christ, and overcome the evil that would sweep us down the cosmic drain. A collect in Night Prayer in the New Zealand Prayer Book gives thanks “for the measure of freedom we have, and the extent to which we control our lives.” (See below for the full prayer.)
Mya Angelo’s poem, “Touched by an Angel,” expresses this poignantly.
"Touched by An Angel"
We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.
Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.
We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love's light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free. @
Published in Love Ãs Exquisite Freedom, 2011
Collect of the Day, Proper 8, the fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 230)
Today we celebrate the Feast of Walter Rauschenbusch, Washington Gladden, and Jacob Riis, prophetic witnesses.
Collect of the Feast of Walter Rauschenbusch, Washington Gladden, and Jacob Riis Loving God, you call us to do justice and love kindness: we thank you for the witness of Walter Rauschenbusch, Washington Gladden and Jacob Riis, reformers of society; and we pray that, following their examples of faithfulness to the Gospel, we may be ever mindful of the suffering of those who are poor and work diligently for the reform of our communities; through Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Collect 4, Night Prayer
God our Creator, our centre, our friend, we thank you for our good life, for those who are dear to us, for our dead, and for all who have helped and influenced us. We thank you for the measure of freedom we have, and the extent to which we control our lives; and most of all we thank you for the faith that is in us, for our awareness of you and our hope in you. Keep us, we pray you, thankful and hopeful and useful until our lives shall end. Amen. (A New Zealand Prayer Book. (New York: Harper/Collins, 1997), pp. 834-35.)
A Collect for Guidance
O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people; Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP 100)
For the Church
Give to your Church, O God, a bold vision and a daring charity, a refreshed wisdom and a courteous understanding, that the eternal message of your Son may be acclaimed as the good news of the age; through him who makes all things new,
even Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
In the Order of Worship for Evening
Almighty, everlasting God, let our prayer in your sight be as incense, the lifting up of our hands as the evening sacrifice. Give us grace to behold you, present in your Word and Sacraments, and to recognize you in the lives of those around us. Stir up in us the flame of that love which burned in the heart of your Son as he bore his passion, and let it burn in us to eternal life and to the ages of ages. Amen. (BCP, 113)
A Collect for Mission
O God of all the nations of the earth: Remember the multitudes who have been created in your image but have not known the redeeming work of our Savior Jesus Christ; and grant that, by the prayers and labors of your holy Church, they may be brought to know and worship you as you have been revealed in your Son; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 257)
Daily Office Epistle, Romans 8:1-11
8:1There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, 8and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him
10 But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
Daily Offices in the Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, The Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, page 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer
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