shekinah

Psalm Reading for December 3, 2023

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This Psalm appeals to the Lord for intervention in a time of adversity. It is described as a Psalm of Lament. It is difficult to tell from the context alone if the Psalm was written before or after the exile of Israel. It doesn’t really matter to the reader, because it is clearly a cry for help in any event. One clue, though, might be the mention of the tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh, which would suggest that the Psalm was written before the Northern Kingdom of Israel was destroyed and scattered by the Assyrians in 722 B.C.

The imagery of the Lord as Shepherd is familiar to us, and comforting — but then there is the imagery of the Lord sitting enthroned between the cherubim. The cherubim are those terrifying angelic figures who are depicted as the guardians of Eden with a sword of flame, and the close companions of the Lord who bear him up with wings of the wind. This description of Yahweh is much more intimidating. There may also be a reference to the winged cherubim made of gold who flank the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies within the temple.

But what does the Psalmist seek? Restoration, revival, salvation. He cries out for the Lord to awaken, and to make his face shine on them again. This hearkens back to the Deuteronomic blessing that Aaron was instructed to give as High Priest:

Yahweh bless you, and keep you.
Yahweh make his face to shine on you,
and be gracious to you.
Yahweh lift up his face toward you,
and give you peace (Numbers 6:24-26).

There may also be a reference to the glory of God that accompanies his presence — the same glory that made the face of Moses shine after he’d been in the presence of the Lord.

But there’s a catch — God is now angry with Israel. The result of his anger is the deep grief of Israel and the derision and mockery by their enemies. Their grief is expressed in a very concrete image — their very food is drenched by tears, and their drinking bowls are full of tears!

We don’t really know the specific cause of this disruption in their relationship with their God, but it could be any one of many of Israel’s historic setbacks.

The refrain recurs as a kind of litany three times:

Revive us, and we will call on your name.
Turn us again, Yahweh God of Armies.
Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved.

And what is the source of that salvation? The Christian reader can’t help but read into the Psalm a messianic prophecy:

Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand, the son of man you have raised up for yourself.

The phrase son of man may have many meanings, but one that is inescapable for the Christian is Messianic. Jesus uses this phrase repeatedly in the Gospels when referring to himself.

APPLY:

At some point we all know how it feels to be defeated, demoralized, in despair — as a nation, a family, an individual. The cry of the Psalmist isn’t far from the experience of any of us.

We have all tasted our own tears of grief or shame; and we probably know what it feels like to be despised by someone because of our mistakes.

What we cry out for, in our nation, our church, our family, our own lives, is revival and restoration. If once we have experienced the presence of God in our lives — if we have known the shine of his face — and it has faded for us, we earnestly yearn for it again.

We will find our revival and restoration in the life and the light of Christ, who brings not only salvation from our sins but healing to our hearts, and the power to live the holy lives to which he calls us.

RESPOND:

I find myself from time to time dealing with my own drift away from God. I have to cry out again for renewal and revival. As with the Psalmist this happens when I begin to call out God’s name and seek to live according to the claims of his name.

Our Lord, our nation experiences victories, but also sees defeats — the disabled veteran who wonders ‘was it worth it?’ The ambiguity of race relations in a divided country. And our own personal struggles with grief or depression. We don’t have the wisdom to provide all the answers. But you have provided a Person who is wisdom incarnate, and salvation, and new life! May we find our source of healing and salvation in Christ! Amen.

PHOTOS:
“Psalm 80” by Brett Jordan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Reading from Acts for May 21, 2023 ASCENSION

The chancel of the medieval church of St Botolph’s in Cambridge was rebuilt by Bodley in 1872. This stained glass window of the Ascension of the Lord, dates to 1886 and is in the east window above the Altar. [photo and description by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P.]

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Acts 1:1-11
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

This week’s lectionary readings focus on the Day of Ascension, which always falls on the Thursday forty days following Easter Sunday. (The lectionary calendar gives the option for using the Ascension of the Lord selections in place of the Scripture selections for the Seventh Sunday of Easter.)

OBSERVE:

The Gospel of Luke and the Book of the Acts of the Apostles occupy a unique relationship in the New Testament canon. Both books are written by Luke, who is called the beloved physician by Paul (Colossians 4:14); and they are really intended to be read as companion pieces.

I recommend that the reader begin with the Gospel reading from Luke 24:44-53, also included in this week’s SOAR Lectionary Bible Study. [CLICK HERE for the SOAR study on Luke 24:44-53]

Luke’s Gospel is the account of the birth, baptism, temptation, ministry, teaching, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Luke makes it quite clear that he intends to apply the same scrupulous research in the book of Acts to the work of the apostles after Jesus is taken away from them:

The first book I wrote, Theophilus, concerned all that Jesus began both to do and to teach, until the day in which he was received up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.

We note that Theophilus in Greek means friend of God, or beloved by God. Whether this is an actual individual, or is perhaps meant to describe the reader (in much the way 19th century writers might write to their “dear readers”), what is significant is that Luke is continuing his record of Jesus and his disciples. In fact, it might be argued that as The Gospel of Luke is the story of Jesus, Acts is the Gospel of the Holy Spirit.

In the Book of Acts, Luke asserts that Jesus:

showed himself alive after he suffered, by many proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking about God’s Kingdom.

Today’s Lectionary reading describes the final appearance of Jesus in the flesh at the end of forty days. Although there is overlap between Luke’s Gospel and his Book of Acts, it is clear that this account is more detailed.

Jesus led his disciples to the mountain called Olivet, also known as The Mount of Olives. We remember that this olive grove on a hillside is just a little more than half a mile from the Temple, and is also where Jesus prayed the night he was arrested. There seems to be a slight discrepancy with Luke’s Gospel, in which he says Jesus led his disciples to Bethany (Luke 24:50). Bethany was actually about a mile from the Temple. What this probably means is that they were on the Mount of Olives, on the way toward Bethany.

What really matters is the content of his message. He instructs them to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father, which is the same language that he uses in Luke’s Gospel. However, he then becomes more explicit, and connects events from the beginning of Luke’s Gospel with events soon to take place in Acts:

For John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.

We have come full circle from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and John’s promise of the coming Messiah. John the Baptist says:

I indeed baptize you with water, but he comes who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to loosen. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire, whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor, and will gather the wheat into his barn; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire (Luke 3:16-17).

However, the disciples are fixated on their own notions of the Kingdom of God. They ask:

Lord, are you now restoring the kingdom to Israel?

Can it be that even after at least three years with Jesus, and after his cruel death and his glorious resurrection, they are still so slow to understand? Jesus answers that they aren’t to be concerned about the end times. They have a job to do:

He said to them, “It isn’t for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set within his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”

Jesus doesn’t deny the reality of the end of the age. He is simply telling them that it is not their business. It is the Father’s business, and it will happen when he is ready. This is essentially the same teaching we find in Jesus’ doctrine on the parousia (the coming of Jesus at the end of the age) in Matthew’s Gospel:

But no one knows of that day and hour, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only (Matthew 24:36).

Jesus instead is mapping out his directions for his disciples in the meantime. When they have been empowered by the Holy Spirit, they will carry the Gospel throughout the world. Implicit in his words is a description of the geographical spread of the Gospel — beginning where they are in Jerusalem, then to the Jewish world of Judea, then even to the non-Jewish world of Samaria, and to all the Gentiles throughout the world.

What happens next can only be described as a theophany — a manifestation of God. Jesus rises up from their sight and disappears into a cloud. We remember that we have seen something similar in the account of the Transfiguration, except that the cloud — a symbol in Scripture of the presence or shekinah of God — descends upon Jesus. Jesus had taken three of his disciples to the top of a mountain earlier in his earthly ministry, and he had been transfigured before them in dazzling light; Moses and Elijah had appeared to him and spoke to him of his impending departure in Jerusalem — meaning his death, resurrection and even his ascension. And then:

a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered into the cloud. A voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!” (Luke 9:34-35).

In our current passage, the disciples stand transfixed, gazing up at the sky — and then they are spoken to rather curtly:

behold, two men stood by them in white clothing, who also said, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky will come back in the same way as you saw him going into the sky.

Again, we see the completion of a circle. There are two men in white here — no doubt angels — just as there were two men in dazzling white at the empty tomb who asked the women why they were seeking the living among the dead, and assuring them that Jesus had been raised.

In this case, the angels assure the disciples of the promised age to come — that Jesus will return just as they saw him go.

Clearly, this is not an ending but a beginning. Jesus is no longer present physically with his disciples, but he has given them the promise of the Holy Spirit, who will be poured out on Pentecost, just ten days later; and they are assured of Jesus’ ultimate return at the end of the age. And they are given their job description:

You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.

APPLY:

There are many layers of application in this passage that will always be relevant to the church:

We are to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit so that we can be empowered by him. As Paul says:
Such confidence we have through Christ toward God;not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God (2 Corinthians 3:4-5).
Our business is not to waste our energy with speculations about the end-times. Jesus and his apostles bear ample testimony to the promise that he will come again — but when and how that will happen is God’s business, not ours.
What we are to do is be witnesses to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, beginning in our local context (represented by Jerusalem); and to those who share our culture and worldview (represented by Judea); to those who don’t share our culture and worldview (represented by Samaria); and we are to spread the Gospel to the entire world!

If we spend our days in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with everyone we meet, we won’t have much time to waste on idle speculations about the end of time. But we will be ready when Jesus does return!

RESPOND:

I spent about four years living in Wilmore, Kentucky, the home of Asbury University and Asbury Theological Seminary. My family and I worshiped at the Wilmore United Methodist Church. In the chancel of the church, high above the platform, there is a stained-glass window that I never failed to notice.

There are three words in the window:

Come. Tarry. Go.

This is a fitting message not only to those who come to worship, but also to those who are attending a Christian college and/or seminary:

Come — and worship and learn.
Tarry — wait, until you are empowered with the promise of the Holy Spirit.
Go — and when you are filled, Go and be witnesses for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

This actually seems to be a pretty fitting mission statement for every Christian and every church!

Lord, we come to you that we might receive forgiveness and grace; we tarry so that we may be filled with the power of your Holy Spirit; and when we receive that power, send us out to go in your name, and share all that we have learned and experienced. Amen.

PHOTOS:
"Christ ascending into heaven" by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Psalm Reading for December 18, 2022

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Yahweh bless you, and keep you.
Yahweh make his face to shine on you,
and be gracious to you.
Yahweh lift up his face toward you,
and give you peace (Numbers 6:24-26).

There may also be a reference to the glory of God that accompanies his presence — the same glory that made the face of Moses shine after he’d been in the presence of the Lord.

We don’t really know the specific cause of this disruption in their relationship with their God, but it could be any one of many of Israel’s historic setbacks.

The refrain recurs as a kind of litany three times:

Revive us, and we will call on your name.
Turn us again, Yahweh God of Armies.
Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved.

And what is the source of that salvation? The Christian reader can’t help but read into the Psalm a messianic prophecy:

Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand, the son of man you have raised up for yourself.

The phrase son of man may have many meanings, but one that is inescapable for the Christian is Messianic. Jesus uses this phrase repeatedly in the Gospels when referring to himself.

APPLY:

At some point we all know how it feels to be defeated, demoralized, in despair — as a nation, a family, an individual. The cry of the Psalmist isn’t far from the experience of any of us.

We have all tasted our own tears of grief or shame; and we probably know what it feels like to be despised by someone because of our mistakes.

RESPOND:

PHOTOS:
“Psalm 80” by Brett Jordan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Psalm Reading for August 14, 2022

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This Psalm appeals to the Lord for intervention in a time of adversity. It is difficult to tell from the context alone if the Psalm was written before or after the exile of Israel. It doesn’t really matter to the reader, because it is clearly a cry for help in any event. One clue, though, might be the mention of the tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh, which would suggest that the Psalm was written before the Northern Kingdom of Israel was destroyed and scattered by the Assyrians in 721 B.C.

The imagery of the Lord as Shepherd is familiar to us, and comforting; but then there is the imagery of the Lord sitting enthroned between the cherubim — those terrifying angelic figures who are depicted as the guardians of Eden with a sword of flame, and the close companions of the Lord who bear him up with wings of the wind. This is much more intimidating. There may also be a reference to the winged cherubim made of gold who flank the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies in the temple in Jerusalem.

Our current lectionary reading jumps from verses 1-2 to verses 8-19.

In verses 8-19, the Psalmist introduces a familiar metaphor — Israel is compared to a vine that the Lord has brought from Egypt. The Psalmist recounts a part of the salvation history of Israel. In language reminiscent of Isaiah 5:1-7, he addresses his prayer to the Lord:

You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
You cleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.
The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches;
it sent out its branches to the sea,
and its shoots to the River.

[For more information on the vine and the vineyard as a Biblical metaphor, CLICK HERE to read the Old Testament SOAR for August 14, 2022]

In these few verses we see the sweep of Israel’s history — exodus from Egypt, the conquest of Canaan, flourishing in this new land, and the spread of the nation under the leadership of the Davidic kings. At its height under David and Solomon, Israel’s influence had spread north to Lebanon (the mighty cedars), and from the Mediterranean Sea all the way to the Euphrates River.

But now circumstances have changed. The Psalmist asks God plaintively:

Why then have you broken down its walls,
so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
The boar from the forest ravages it,
and all that move in the field feed on it.

The Psalmist is writing from the perspective of one who sees his nation besieged and harassed, likely by the Assyrians in the late 8th century. Given the references to Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh the Psalmist particularly has the Northern Kingdom in mind, not Judah.

His appeal is for the God of hosts to protect and care for his vine that has been burned and cut down by the invaders.

And what is the source of that salvation?

But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand,
the one whom you made strong for yourself.

Is the Psalmist speaking of a king? If so, is he speaking of a king from the Davidic dynasty that rules in Judah following the separation of the Northern from the Southern Kingdoms? Or is this, as the Christian reader might interpret, a messianic prophecy that will be fulfilled by Jesus, the Son of David?

In any event, the Psalmist vows that when deliverance comes:

Then we will never turn back from you;
give us life, and we will call on your name.

Finally, the Psalmist closes with a litany that appears three times in this Psalm:

Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.

This hearkens back to the priestly blessing that Aaron was instructed to give as High Priest:

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace (Numbers 6:24-26).

There may also be a reference intended to the shekinah, the glory of God that accompanies his presence, and that made the face of Moses to shine after he’d been in the presence of the Lord.

APPLY:

At some point we all know how it feels to be defeated, demoralized, in despair — as a nation, a family, an individual. The cry of the Psalmist isn’t far from the experience of any of us.

When we have experienced the grace of God, we know how it is to feel that we are like a vine that has been planted and watered by God, and flourished under his care. And when life gets hard, when the “vine” in our lives is uprooted by circumstances beyond our control, we cry out just as the Psalmist does.

What we cry out for, in our nation, our church, our family, our own lives — is revival, restoration. If we have experienced the presence of God in our lives, if we have known the “shine” of his face, and it has faded for us, we earnestly yearn for it again.

We will find it, if the Scriptures are true, in the life and the light of Christ, who brings not only salvation from our sins, but healing to our hearts, and the power to live the holy lives to which he calls us.

RESPOND:

I find myself from time to time dealing with my own drift away from God. I have to cry out again for renewal and revival. As with the Psalmist this happens when I begin to call out his name and seek to live according to the claims of that name.

Our Lord, our nation experiences victories, but also sees defeats — the disabled veteran who wonders ‘was it worth it?’ The ambiguity of race relations in our nation today. The specter of terrorism. And our own personal struggles with grief or depression. We don’t have the wisdom to provide all the answers. But you have provided a Person who is wisdom incarnate, and salvation, and new life! May we find our source of healing and salvation in Christ! Amen.

PHOTO:
“Psalm 80_14” by Baptist Union of Great Britain is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for May 22, 2022

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

The simplest summation of this passage is one word — restoration.

So many of the elements of the Garden of Eden are present and are perfectly restored — and perfected — in this passage.

Of course, there is a noticeable difference. The ideal world of Genesis is described as a Garden. The fulfillment of all things at the end of history is described as:

the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.

However, this is a city remarkable for its lack of spectacular religious architecture. It is simply not needed because God’s presence permeates the entire holy city:

I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.

And in my reflections on Psalm 67 (the Psalm reading for this week’s lectionary selection), I noted the shekinah of God, which is variously described in Scripture as the face, the presence, the shining, and the glory of God. This shekinah is completely manifest in the holy city:

And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

Just as the Lord once was described as:

walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze (Genesis 3:8):

so God’s presence dwells in the midst of his people. And the Lamb is the lamp, which is consistent with Jesus’ description of himself:

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

Also, we note that this ultimate vision of the holy city is inclusive. The holy city is not exclusive based on ethnicity, culture, race or tribe:

The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.

However, there are some criteria that are required for entrance through those gates. In this instance, some of those criteria are expressed in negative terms:

But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

The positive criterion mentioned here is inclusion in the Lamb’s book of life — which is made possible by faith in the Lamb himself, Jesus.

In the next section of our passage, the allusions to the first garden become even more clear:

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city.

We are reminded of the river that flows out of the garden in order to water Eden. Again, a significant difference is that that this river in the holy city is the water of life. We remember the promise of Jesus to the Samaritan woman at the well:

“The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life” (John 4:14).

And of course, there is the description of the tree of life. It was forbidden to eat from the fruit of the tree of life only after Adam and Eve had eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now, in the holy city, the fruit of the tree of life seems to be available to all the servants of God:

On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

But the greatest blessing of all is to be identified with God and the Lamb, and to belong to him:

But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

Jesus has made it clear in the Sermon on the Mount that only those who are pure in heart shall see God. God’s servants are those who have ultimately been purified by having:

washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:14).

APPLY:

The holy city as described by John the Revelator is both a “new thing” and the restoration of all that was lost in The Fall.

Revelation promises:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more (Revelation 21:1).

But so many of the elements that are present in our passage represent a restoration of those blessings lost in Genesis. This new life that is to come is both a continuation of life as we have experienced it, and yet it is a glorified life.

RESPOND:

There is a kind of rich, spiritual sensuality in this passage, in a sanctified sense.

I imagine seeing the glorious Light that permeates the holy city, that comes from the face of God himself. I imagine dipping my hand in the cool, clear water of life that flows through the city, and drinking. I can almost taste the fruit from the tree of life.

Obviously, the imagery is intended to help us identify with the wonderful promises of heaven.

And, one thing that I had never really noticed until now — the fruit of the tree of life was never actually denied to Adam and Eve until after their disobedience. Only the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was prohibited. After their sin and fall, only then was it prohibited for them to eat the fruit of the tree of life.

I think this was actually a blessing. To live forever without God in one’s life — which is the necessary consequence of unforgiven sin — would be hell. But to be washed in the blood of the Lamb, and to be forgiven, and to become a citizen of the holy city — that would be a blessing, when we, with Christ:

will reign forever and ever.

Our Lord, I look forward to the blessings of your holy city — the water of the river of life; the fruit of the tree of life. But even more than anything, I look forward to the Light that permeates everything, and to being in your presence. Amen.

PHOTOS:
"Light Throughout Scripture" by Tyler Neyens is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Psalm Reading for May 22, 2022

On Jewish tombstones you will sometimes see a symbol showing two hands arranged for the Priestly Blessing. [Description and photo by elycefeliz]

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 67
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This is a Psalm of blessing, first for Israel, then for all nations everywhere, and finally for all the earth. The familiar notation, Selah, is a reminder that this Psalm is a hymn for the purpose of communal worship.

This emphasis on worship is reinforced by the opening verses of the Psalm, that include an allusion to the priestly blessing that the Lord instructed Moses to teach his brother Aaron:

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying,
Thus you shall bless the Israelites: You shall say to them,
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them ( Number 6:22).

Worshipers hearing the first two lines of Psalm 67 would have been reminded of Aaron’s blessing, and most likely would have completed the blessing in their own minds.

However, the Psalmist expands the scope of blessing. Not only is he calling upon God to bless Israel, he advocates that the truths of Israel’s God be spread throughout the world:

that your way may be known upon earth,
your saving power among all nations.

Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth. Selah

We are reminded that Israel has been blessed in order to bless all nations; that ultimately God is to be acknowledged throughout the world. The nations represent the Gentiles (goyim) who also come to acknowledge the sovereignty of the Lord.

Moreover, this blessing also extends to the earth itself:

The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, has blessed us.
May God continue to bless us;
let all the ends of the earth revere him.

As the earth itself has been blessed by God, so it yields up its abundance in response to bless the nations; and even the earth itself worships the Lord!

APPLY:

There is a kind of reciprocity that exists between those whom God blesses and their response to him in worship.

As Israel worships God, Israel basks in his blessing; as the nations worship God, they bask in his blessing; as even the earth — nature itself — worships God, the earth basks in his blessing.

We are reminded yet again that the unique blessing that Israel received as God’s chosen people was not to be hoarded, but to be shared. They were blessed so they might be a blessing to other nations and to the earth.

There are four signal blessings that are mentioned:

Salvation
Justice
Guidance
Increase (or fertile abundance)

When these four blessings are present, the presumptive presence of God’s kingdom seems to be present. When these are present, shalom — God’s peace — is present.

RESPOND:

In my youth group when I was younger, we almost always ended our evening with the “Aaronic Blessing”:

May the Lord bless you and keep you;
May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you;
May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

I wasn’t exactly sure what it all meant at the time, but it gave me warm feelings. I wanted to be kept by God — it suggested to me that I belong to God.

I liked the sense that God would make his face to shine upon me. I had the image of his face shining like the sun upon me. As I learned more about Hebrew thought, I discovered I wasn’t that far off. The Hebrew word for face is also interpreted as presence. And the shine may well refer to the Hebraic concept, shekinah.

Shekinah is the concept of God’s unique presence that manifests his glory on us. For his face to shine upon us, and for him to lift up his countenance upon us is to turn his face toward us and to bless us.

In the words of the Christian singer Carman,

I want Some O Dat!

Our Lord, you have made your face to shine upon us, and have blessed us. May all nations, and the earth itself, praise you for all you have done! Amen.

PHOTOS:
“Cohanim Hands – Preistly Blessing” by elycefeliz is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Gospel for February 27, 2022, Transfiguration Sunday

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Luke 9:28-36
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

The Transfiguration account appears in all three of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), with a few nuanced differences in the narratives. It is a “theophany,” when the glory of God is “unveiled” for the disciples to behold.

Luke’s Gospel doesn’t say where the Mount of Transfiguration is. Tradition holds with Mount Tabor (1,886 feet), which is within the borders of Galilee. However, I hold with the opinion that the logical location of the Mount of Transfiguration is Mount Hermon (9,232 feet), located to the north of Galilee, in the Gentile district near Caesarea Philippi.

This is the region where, according to Matthew 16:13 and Mark 8:27, Jesus asked the disciples the famous question “Who do men say that I am?” In each of those Gospels, this incident precedes the Transfiguration, just as it does in Luke 9:18. It only makes sense that Mt. Hermon would be the mountain where Jesus goes to pray, especially because it is the highest point in the region and because of its proximity to Caesarea Philippi.

Whatever the location may have been is neither here nor there. What really matters is what happens there.

The stated purpose of climbing the mountain is to pray. And it is during prayer that the “theophany” occurs:

And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.

There are a succession of phenomena that occur. Jesus becomes luminescent with light; Moses and Elijah appear; the cloud envelopes them; and the disciples hear a voice that repeats much the same thing that the Father said when Jesus was baptized in Luke 3:22:

“This is my Son, my Chosen [an alternate translation is Beloved]; listen to him!”

We can only imagine how Peter and John and James, overcome with fatigue, are processing all that they are experiencing.

First, there is the dazzling light and the transformation of Jesus. In a sense, the “veil” is drawn back, and the disciples see the divine nature of Jesus after having come to know the human nature of Jesus. They see his true glory.

Second, there are Moses and Elijah, who of course represent two seminal figures in the story of Israel. Moses had experienced the glory of God on Mount Sinai (aka Mount Horeb) when he received the Law. Elijah, the first major prophet of Israel, had also experienced God’s presence in the “still small voice” at Mt. Horeb.

Although we aren’t told exactly what they are speaking about, Luke tells us that they are:

speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

Implied in this subject of his departure is all that will happen in Jerusalem — the passion, the crucifixion, the resurrection, and the ascension of Jesus. The ascension is only clearly described in Luke 24:51 and Acts 1:9-10, written by the same evangelist, Dr. Luke. All of these events may well be described as the ultimate theophany.

Third, there is the cloud. The cloud in this transfiguration account, of course, is often associated with the shekinah in Scripture, the glory of God. We are reminded of the cloud that signified God’s presence in the accounts of Moses and the Israelites — the cloud that led them in the wilderness, that settled on Mount Sinai when Moses received the law, and that settled on the tabernacle when the Lord met with Moses.

Fourth, the voice of God the Father is heard. Interestingly, the voice of the Father isn’t heard until Peter pops off with a rather impulsive outburst:

“Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.

It is then that the Father speaks:

While he [Peter] was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”

The Father seems to be silencing Peter’s well-intentioned attempt to “do” something; and the Father is once again affirming his Son and his ministry.

And then, as suddenly as these events had occurred, the experience is over:

When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

At that time it was still premature for Jesus to be fully disclosed to the world, until the time is fulfilled.

APPLY:

We tend to have a “bias for action” as Christians. We hear the Word, and we want to act on it, we want to do something. We want to be:

doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves (James 1:22).

This is a good impulse. Peter’s misguided desire to build three tabernacles to honor Jesus, Moses and Elijah is well-intentioned. It’s just not what he was there for. He was there to be a witness to the glory of the Lord.

This is something that even in our activist, busy, hard-working Christian lives we should probably hear. Sometimes we simply need to heed the words of the Psalmist:

“Be still, and know that I am God!” (Psalm 46:10).

Only after we have worshipped the Lord and learned to listen to his voice will we know what we are to do in order to serve him.

Mother Teresa described her true source of strength, and the source of spiritual power for her order, the Missionaries of Charity:

In our congregation, we used to have adoration once a week for one hour, and then in 1973, we decided to have adoration one hour every day. We have much work to do. Our homes for the sick and dying destitute are full everywhere. And from the time we started having adoration every day, our love for Jesus became more intimate, our love for each other more understanding, our love for the poor more compassionate, and we have double the number of vocations.

RESPOND:

I haven’t experienced anything nearly so dramatic and vivid as Peter, John and James. My spiritual experiences, though real enough to me, have been more subjective — perhaps triggered by a night sky, or a waterfall, or a moment in a worship service, or a passage from Scripture.

I wonder sometimes why it was Peter, John and James that were chosen to accompany Jesus up the mountain. Significantly, it was the same three who went with Jesus to the Garden of Gethsemane when he prayed so passionately the night of his arrest.

I wonder if the others felt any envy or jealousy? I warrant that they did, based on the fact that in this very same chapter of the Gospel, the disciples start arguing:

An argument arose among them as to which one of them was the greatest (Luke 9:46).

The point is not “Who gets to be closer to Jesus?” or “who is more important?” If I take my sin seriously, I know that I deserve nothing from Jesus. Yet he loves me so much he was willing to leave his heavenly throne, empty himself of all but love, take human flesh upon himself, and die for me!

In light of that, as the Syro-Phoenician woman said to Jesus,

“Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs” (Mark 7:28).

The crumbs from the table of heaven are preferable to the most luxurious delicacies that this world can offer.

Lord, my glimpses of your glory are enough to draw me closer to you; but I look forward to beholding your glory without the veils of this world one day. ‘Now I see in a glass darkly, then I hope to see you face to face.’ Amen.

PHOTO:
“Transfiguration of Christ” by Gerard David (1460-1523) is in the Public Domain. It is displayed at the Church of Our Lady in Bruges, Belgium.

Old Testament for February 27, Transfiguration Sunday

This window by Max Ainmiller, c.1855 is in Peterhouse College chapel, Cambridge. [photo by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P.]

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Exodus 34:29-35
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This is another of the great “theophanies” in the Scriptures, which describes God’s manifestation of himself to Moses.

In this case what we see is the after-effects of the encounter between God and Moses. Moses has been on Mount Sinai in the presence of God for forty days, neither eating nor drinking, and recording God’s Laws.

Now Moses descends the mountain carrying the tablets of the covenant, and his brother Aaron and the Israelites are astonished — Moses’ face radiates with an unearthly glow.

Moses has been in the presence of the Shekinah, the “glory” of God. God has made it quite clear to Moses in Exodus 33 that no man can look upon the face of God and live. The presence of God is simply too intense for frail and fallible human flesh to endure. But Moses has had a kind of oblique, indirect view of God’s glory as the Lord has imparted his revelation to Moses. Apparently, this otherworldly view of God, even though it is partial, is so powerful that it has the effect of illuminating Moses’ face.

We should remember that this is actually the second set of stone tablets that Moses has carved. When he first descended from Mount Sinai with the first set of tablets, he came upon the riotous revelry of the Israelites, worshipping the Golden Calf and engaging in bacchanalian orgies (Exodus 32).

Moses’ response to their debauchery was to shatter the tablets and punish the Israelites.

So, in this passage, when Moses puts on a veil in the presence of the Israelites, the pretext is that he is being merciful to them. They cannot endure too much exposure to the omnipotent holiness of God, even reflected in a human face.

APPLY:

As we will see when we read 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 in this week’s Epistle reading, there are somewhat different interpretations of Biblical events.

In Exodus 34:30 we are told:

When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him.

When we consider the transcendent and terrible power of God’s holiness, this is a reasonable reaction to Moses’ transformation.

However, Paul interprets these events differently, as we will see. He will use this passage as a symbol that suggests the superiority of the new covenant, revealed by Christ, over the old covenant revealed to Moses. Paul says Moses:

put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside (2 Corinthians 3:13).

Other translations make it clear that the glory of Moses’ revelation was fading splendor (Revised Standard Version) or even more strongly, was passing away (New International Version).

Paul interprets Moses’ motives as an attempt to hide the fading glory!

Are these two views of the same event contradictory? Not necessarily. The two views of Moses’ radiant face and his veil may be snapshots of the same event taken at different times.

When the Israelites initially see the glow on Moses’ face, they are afraid. Moses has obviously been in the presence of something so supernatural and so powerful that they shrink back from him. After all, they have already seen the power of God at work many times. So Moses covers his face initially because he is motivated by mercy.

But Paul’s interpretation is a snapshot taken some time after Moses has returned from the Mountain. Moses sees that the glory is now fading, and he wishes to hide that fact from the people.

Initially, Moses put on the veil motivated by mercy. But later, the veil becomes a disguise for his insecurity.

This tells me that two views of the same event may still both be true, depending on perspective — and time.

RESPOND:

What would it be like to be so radiant with the glory of God that people could see it in my face? To have been in the presence of God to such an extent that it becomes evident to others?

It appears to come with a cost. Moses devotes time and self-denial to his relationship with God. What am I willing to risk for my relationship with God?

Lord, draw me to the Mountain where I may experience your glory. And help me to overcome the fear of your glory that I also feel. Amen.

PHOTOS:
“Moses with the Tablets of the Law” by Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Psalm Reading for November 29, 2020

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Yahweh bless you, and keep you.
Yahweh make his face to shine on you,
and be gracious to you.
Yahweh lift up his face toward you,
and give you peace (Numbers 6:24-26).

There may also be a reference to the glory of God that accompanies his presence — the same glory that made the face of Moses shine after he’d been in the presence of the Lord.

We don’t really know the specific cause of this disruption in their relationship with their God, but it could be any one of many of Israel’s historic setbacks.

The refrain recurs as a kind of litany three times:

Revive us, and we will call on your name.
Turn us again, Yahweh God of Armies.
Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved.

And what is the source of that salvation? The Christian reader can’t help but read into the Psalm a messianic prophecy:

Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand, the son of man you have raised up for yourself.

The phrase son of man may have many meanings, but one that is inescapable for the Christian is Messianic. Jesus uses this phrase repeatedly in the Gospels when referring to himself.

APPLY:

At some point we all know how it feels to be defeated, demoralized, in despair — as a nation, a family, an individual. The cry of the Psalmist isn’t far from the experience of any of us.

We have all tasted our own tears of grief or shame; and we probably know what it feels like to be despised by someone because of our mistakes.

What we cry out for, in our nation, our church, our family, our own lives, is revival and restoration. If once we have experienced the presence of God in our lives — if we have known the shine of his face — and it has faded for us, we earnestly yearn for it again.

RESPOND:

PHOTOS:
“Psalm 80-7” by tea4judy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Reading from Acts for May 24, 2020 ASCENSION

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Acts 1:1-11
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

This week’s lectionary readings focus on the Day of Ascension, which always falls on the Thursday forty days following Easter Sunday. (The lectionary calendar gives the option for using the Ascension of the Lord selections in place of the Scripture selections for the Seventh Sunday of Easter.)

OBSERVE:

I recommend that the reader begin with the Gospel reading from Luke 24:44-53, also included in this week’s SOAR Lectionary Bible Study. [CLICK HERE for the SOAR study on Luke 24:44-53]

The first book I wrote, Theophilus, concerned all that Jesus began both to do and to teach, until the day in which he was received up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.

In the Book of Acts, Luke asserts that Jesus:

showed himself alive after he suffered, by many proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking about God’s Kingdom.

For John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.

We have come full circle from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and John’s promise of the coming Messiah. John the Baptist says:

I indeed baptize you with water, but he comes who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to loosen. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire, whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor, and will gather the wheat into his barn; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire (Luke 3:16-17).

However, the disciples are fixated on their own notions of the Kingdom of God. They ask:

Lord, are you now restoring the kingdom to Israel?

He said to them, “It isn’t for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set within his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”

But no one knows of that day and hour, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only (Matthew 24:36).

a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered into the cloud. A voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!” (Luke 9:34-35).

In our current passage, the disciples stand transfixed, gazing up at the sky — and then they are spoken to rather curtly:

behold, two men stood by them in white clothing, who also said, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky will come back in the same way as you saw him going into the sky.

In this case, the angels assure the disciples of the promised age to come — that Jesus will return just as they saw him go.

You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.

APPLY:

There are many layers of application in this passage that will always be relevant to the church:

We are to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit so that we can be empowered by him. As Paul says:
Such confidence we have through Christ toward God;not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God (2 Corinthians 3:4-5).
Our business is not to waste our energy with speculations about the end-times. Jesus and his apostles bear ample testimony to the promise that he will come again — but when and how that will happen is God’s business, not ours.
What we are to do is be witnesses to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, beginning in our local context (represented by Jerusalem); and to those who share our culture and worldview (represented by Judea); to those who don’t share our culture and worldview (represented by Samaria); and we are to spread the Gospel to the entire world!

RESPOND:

There are three words in the window:

Come. Tarry. Go.

This is a fitting message not only to those who come to worship, but also to those who were attending a Christian college and/or seminary:

Come — and worship and learn.
Tarry — wait, until you are empowered with the promise of the Holy Spirit.
Go — and when you are filled, Go and be witnesses for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

This actually seems to be a pretty fitting mission statement for every Christian and every church!

PHOTOS:
"Christ ascending into heaven" by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.