We know frailty when we see it.   This morning an elderly man will be assisted up the steps to the communion rail.  A retired president of Concordia Publishing House will push his wife in a wheel chair to the front to receive Christ’s body and blood.  Yes, we know frailty when we see it.

But wait a minute.  In the Prayer of the Day we admit, “that in our frailty we cannot stand upright.”  Yes, we are frail.  Even the most robust among us are breakable.  And God Almighty knows, “We live in the midst of so many dangers that in our frailty we cannot stand upright.”  We have fallen, and we can’t get up.

 Could it be that thinking we are not breakable is one of the dangers? Like the writer of Psalm 30, “When all was well with me, I said, ‘I will never be shaken.’”

In the light of whatever dangers have knocked us off our feet we pray: “Grant strength and protection to support us in all dangers and carry us through all temptations.”  In the entrance Psalm (10:12) we asked God to “Arise…lift your hand; forget not the afflicted.” For we are the ones who face the temptations that we are just fine, “I can do this on my own, if you don’t mind God.”

Therefore, we asked God for support even if we think we don’t need it, “through Jesus Christ, Your Son, Our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.”