Our collect for today acknowledges God’s never-failing providence, and our appointed lessons give us some examples of how we may experience it in our own times. In the lesson from the Hebrew scriptures we find Elijah in competition with the prophets of Baal for the hearts of the Israelites. Elijah trusts God’s never-failing providence to demonstrate the truth of his message to the ever-negligent Israelites. The assembled people are awed by the amazing answer to Elijah’s prayer when his offering is totally consumed by fire. Their hearts were once again turned back to the Lord, and they proclaimed their renewed faith: “The Lord indeed is God.”

The apostle Paul in our epistle reminds us that his knowledge of the good news came “through a revelation of Jesus Christ,” not through any “human source.” We remember his Damascus road experience (Acts 9:3-19) where the resurrected Christ confronted Saul of Tarsus, the enemy of the adherents of The Way, the followers of Jesus. It was the never-failing providence of God that reached Saul’s heart and turned him completely around, transforming him into the foremost proponent of the gospel.

Our gospel lesson makes the point that no one is beyond the never-failing providence of God—not the most powerful outsiders like the Roman centurion, nor the most lowly Roman slave are excluded. That is good news! No matter who we are, where we go, what we do, the never-failing providence of God enfolds us with grace now and forever.