Dearest e-votees,
Our appointed psalm for the 1st Sunday of Advent is Psalm 93.
As we gather this week for Thanksgiving with family and friends may God stir our hearts to reach out to those who are estranged from families and friends and neighbors. And may we always be mindful of how Jesus answers questions like: "And just who is my neighbor?"
Peace,
Karl
------------
1 The LORD is king, he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed, he is girded with strength. He has established the world; it shall never be moved;
2 your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting.
3 The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring.
4 More majestic than the thunders of mighty waters, more majestic than the waves of the sea, majestic on high is the LORD!
5 Your decrees are very sure; holiness befits your house, O LORD, forevermore.
Psalm 93, NRSV
Floods are powerful and destructive. They can lift up to places we wish were sheltered. They can shatter our peaceful existence with their roaring. Our cries for help can be drowned out in the thunder of their mighty waters.
The seas and oceans are mysterious and fickle. They can provide food and sport and a means of transportation. They can serve us up as food and make sport of us and deliver us to a final and undesired destination. In ancient times the water were chaotic and powerful and to be feared (in every sense of the word "fear"). Floods and sudden squalls and major storms were hazardous and quite possibly deadly. It wasn't always clear what was lurking under the surface. People carved out an existence with the waters but it wasn't always an easy or a safe one.
Perhaps with our modern sensibilities we have come to terms with the waters. We are perhaps more aware of the expanse of the waters and the hazards. We have people who can give us advance warning and coast guards that can come pluck us from danger as needed. Perhaps we have been lulled into too easy a sense of security. Probably so.
But waters surely roar and thunder and lift us to this day. Violent crimes rise up within our borders and across the globe. Chaos and calamity, natural and human-induced, churn and foment. Our cries of fear and anger and despair can get drowned out by the events of the headlines and the arguments within our leadership and into our very homes. The sea may have shifted form but the dangers are ever present.
The appointed psalm lifts up the Lord as stronger and more steadfast than any waves that rise against us. The world has been divinely established and shall not be moved. The majesty and power of the seas are no match for the majesty and power of the Lord. God has given decrees. God seeks holiness. God's ways shall not be eroded no matter size of the storms that come. The leviathan might seek to make sport (or lunch) of us but it is God who made the leviathan for the sport of it. (Psalm 104:26) The raging seas are no match for our loving Lord.
God has given us decrees. They are summed up as "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind." and "Love your neighbor as yourself". These decrees are sure and trustworthy. Storms come into proper perspective when we build our homes on these decrees. Our neighbors are so much more than those who look, think, act, dwell and live like us. Whenever we seek to draw boundaries God says "You missed some" of the neighbors on the other side of our obstruction.
Holiness befits God's house. If we seek to be holy ("set apart" and "made righteous") then we need to allow Jesus to work on us. Holiness comes from without and comes to life as Jesus works change and renewal in our hearts and minds and actions. Holiness means bringing others into God's house that they might be made holy too. It means setting a place at the table for those we fear and those we loathe. It calls us to take up a basin and a towel and serve all including those who betray and those who deny. Holiness is best expressed in the cross with a demonstration of sacrificial love. We are called to take up our crosses and dwell in the way of sacrificial love as well.
God, be with us this Thanksgiving. May our bellies be filled, our hearts warmed, our loved ones gathered and those challenging, threatening and fear-mongering others made in your image find a place at our tables too. Help us to trust in your decrees and to be grown in holiness. Amen.
Our appointed psalm for the 1st Sunday of Advent is Psalm 93.
As we gather this week for Thanksgiving with family and friends may God stir our hearts to reach out to those who are estranged from families and friends and neighbors. And may we always be mindful of how Jesus answers questions like: "And just who is my neighbor?"
Peace,
Karl
------------
1 The LORD is king, he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed, he is girded with strength. He has established the world; it shall never be moved;
2 your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting.
3 The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring.
4 More majestic than the thunders of mighty waters, more majestic than the waves of the sea, majestic on high is the LORD!
5 Your decrees are very sure; holiness befits your house, O LORD, forevermore.
Floods are powerful and destructive. They can lift up to places we wish were sheltered. They can shatter our peaceful existence with their roaring. Our cries for help can be drowned out in the thunder of their mighty waters.
The seas and oceans are mysterious and fickle. They can provide food and sport and a means of transportation. They can serve us up as food and make sport of us and deliver us to a final and undesired destination. In ancient times the water were chaotic and powerful and to be feared (in every sense of the word "fear"). Floods and sudden squalls and major storms were hazardous and quite possibly deadly. It wasn't always clear what was lurking under the surface. People carved out an existence with the waters but it wasn't always an easy or a safe one.
Perhaps with our modern sensibilities we have come to terms with the waters. We are perhaps more aware of the expanse of the waters and the hazards. We have people who can give us advance warning and coast guards that can come pluck us from danger as needed. Perhaps we have been lulled into too easy a sense of security. Probably so.
But waters surely roar and thunder and lift us to this day. Violent crimes rise up within our borders and across the globe. Chaos and calamity, natural and human-induced, churn and foment. Our cries of fear and anger and despair can get drowned out by the events of the headlines and the arguments within our leadership and into our very homes. The sea may have shifted form but the dangers are ever present.
The appointed psalm lifts up the Lord as stronger and more steadfast than any waves that rise against us. The world has been divinely established and shall not be moved. The majesty and power of the seas are no match for the majesty and power of the Lord. God has given decrees. God seeks holiness. God's ways shall not be eroded no matter size of the storms that come. The leviathan might seek to make sport (or lunch) of us but it is God who made the leviathan for the sport of it. (Psalm 104:26) The raging seas are no match for our loving Lord.
God has given us decrees. They are summed up as "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind." and "Love your neighbor as yourself". These decrees are sure and trustworthy. Storms come into proper perspective when we build our homes on these decrees. Our neighbors are so much more than those who look, think, act, dwell and live like us. Whenever we seek to draw boundaries God says "You missed some" of the neighbors on the other side of our obstruction.
Holiness befits God's house. If we seek to be holy ("set apart" and "made righteous") then we need to allow Jesus to work on us. Holiness comes from without and comes to life as Jesus works change and renewal in our hearts and minds and actions. Holiness means bringing others into God's house that they might be made holy too. It means setting a place at the table for those we fear and those we loathe. It calls us to take up a basin and a towel and serve all including those who betray and those who deny. Holiness is best expressed in the cross with a demonstration of sacrificial love. We are called to take up our crosses and dwell in the way of sacrificial love as well.
God, be with us this Thanksgiving. May our bellies be filled, our hearts warmed, our loved ones gathered and those challenging, threatening and fear-mongering others made in your image find a place at our tables too. Help us to trust in your decrees and to be grown in holiness. Amen.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment