“As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.” Daniel 12:13 (NIV)
The spiritual journey is a faith journey. The author of Hebrews famously defined faith as “assurance of what we hope for, evidence of that which we do not see.” Jesus reminded Nicodemus that the word for spirit in Hebrew is the same word as wind:
“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” John 3:8 (NIV)
I’ve always loved that metaphor of wind as spirit. I can’t see the wind, I can only see the evidence of its presence and effect. Jesus provided a parallel metaphor regarding the effect of the Spirit in a person’s life being evidenced by the “fruit” of that person’s life. The evidence of the invisible Holy Spirit’s blowing in and through a person’s life is an increasing amount of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control.
I got to thinking about this as I read the final chapter of Daniel. It ends rather abruptly with the end of his prophetic vision regarding the end of days. Daniel himself is confused and perplexed. “I don’t understand,” he pleads to the angel who showed him the vision.
His humble acknowledgment of his ignorance resonated deeply within me. Like most people, I like facts, evidence, and certainty. The spiritual journey, however, is rife with mystery. There are a lot of moments along the way that I, like Daniel, shrug my shoulders and plead, “I don’t get it.”
What fascinated me in the quiet this morning was the angel’s twice-repeated response: “Go your way, Daniel.” Keep pressing on in the journey. Have faith. Stick to the Spirit’s path. Trust the evidence you feel like a soft breeze in your spirit even though you don’t see it. Be assured that the mystery is not something you can’t understand but that which you will endlessly understand. Press on to the journey’s end when you will fully know that which you always merely believed
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Revelation 2:29 (NIV)
One of the things that I’ve observed about human nature is our penchant for mysteries and secrets. We love a good yarn like National Treasure and The Davinci Code. I can find all sorts of documentaries streaming about secrets and conspiracies. Nostradamus remains a popular figure. A couple of decades ago a book came out about The Bible Code that claimed to unlock secret numerical codes within the text of the Great Story.
When it comes to the book of Revelation it is tempting to lean into that desire to unlock the secrets of what it has to reveal to us hidden beneath the text. Yet along my spiritual journey, I have observed that it’s easy to seek out the secret mysteries beneath the text to the point that I ignore the simple truth that’s staring me right in the face.
Today’s chapter kicks off a series of seven letters which the glorified Christ asks John to pen to Jesus’ followers in seven towns of Asia Minor, not far from where John was exiled on the island of Patmos. The chapter has four of the seven letters which generally contain a pattern of Jesus:
Commending the believers (“You’re doing this well…”)
Cautioning the believers (“I have this against you…”)
Encouraging the believers (“Now do this…”)
Offering a word of eternal hope (“To those who…I will…”).
These places were real cities in which the issues addressed were very real. The Roman world was an immoral culture. Pagan gods and their worship were steeped in prostitution and sexual immorality. The Roman Emporer Domitian led a revival in the Emporer Cult in which he (and some of his family members) were considered gods. Followers of Jesus had faced long periods of persecution (from both Romans and Jews) for their worship of Jesus as the “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” and their rejection of Roman debauchery and polytheistic paganism.
Much like Paul’s letters to the believers in Corinth, the letters to Jesus’ followers in Asia Minor make it clear that there were those who were teaching that one could be a follower of Jesus and still participate in pagan religion and Roman revelry. Jesus’ message through John dispels this notion and encourages His followers to shun these ideas.
Because of their inclusion in John’s Revelation, there are those who inflate the meaning and importance of these letters. It’s often argued that they are representative, allegorical, or parallel to the larger history of the church.
Fine. Buy me a pint and I’ll be happy to discuss it with you.
I find it fascinating that the glorified Christ uses the same phrase in His dictation to John as He did with His parables during His ministry: “Those who have ears, let them hear.” During His earthly ministry, Jesus was typically making a very simple spiritual truth cloaked in a metaphor. I believe the same is true in today’s chapter.
In the quiet this morning, I’m reticent to expand the meaning of rather straightforward messages. Instead, what I’m “hearing” is to reduce the message to very simple truths: Be in the world, but not of it. Keep the faith. Press on.
And so, I enter another day and will endeavor to do so.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Matthew 17:1-3 (NIV)
I was never much of a science guy back in school. It just wasn’t my jam. The further I get in my life journey, however, the more fascinated I’ve become by it. In particular, I find it fascinating the mysteries being uncovered and discovered. I learned as a child that the atom was the smallest “building block” of matter, but physicists have discovered a number of subatomic particles, with even more of them theorized. What’s crazy is that they behave in strange ways we don’t understand. I find it fascinating that we are at once discovering the expanding universe and its mysteries at the same time we’re discovering newer layers of the building blocks of the universe and their mysteries. In either direction, macro or micro, we’re making mind-blowing discoveries beyond our current comprehension. Amazing.
I mention this because the further I get in my spiritual journey, the more aware I’ve become of the connectedness of the Great Story and the mysteries of eternity to which it points. Jesus was always making a distinction between earth-bound thinking and eternity-centric thinking. He continually contrasted the kingdoms of this world to the kingdom of God, earth as opposed to heaven, temporal as opposed to eternal. This is not confined to Jesus. In fact, it’s connected throughout the Great Story.
In today’s chapter, Matthew records one of the most mysterious episodes in Jesus’ story. Jesus takes His inner circle of followers and goes up a mountain. In an instant, Jesus is revealed in His eternal glory. Light brighter than you can imagine, a dense cloud, a voice from within the cloud, and then two beings appearing with Him: Moses and Elijah.
Jesus said in His message on the hill that He didn’t come to “abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them.” The climactic event for the Hebrew people was their deliverance from slavery in Egypt and the God giving of the Law to Moses on a mountain. If you go back and read about that event in Exodus chapters 19 and 20, there are amazing parallels between that episode and the episode described in today’s chapter.
Both events happened on mountains. Jesus shines like the sun, just like Moses whose face was so bright after returning from the mountain that he had to wear a veil over his face (Ex 34:29-35). Both involved seemingly natural phenomena of clouds/smoke and God’s voice from the midst. The former event precipitated the giving of the Law, the latter precipitated the fulfillment of it. Why did Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus? Moses was the instrument of giving. Jesus was the instrument of fulfillment. Moses represented the Law, Elijah represented the Prophets, and Jesus was the fulfillment of both just as He said He came to do. The Transfiguration was a bookend event to Moses’ receiving the Law on Mt. Sinai.
What struck me as I read the episode again today was the instantaneous transfiguration from temporal normal to eternal glory and then the instantaneous transfiguration back from eternal glory to temporal normal, along with the disciples’ terror.
In the quiet this morning, I find myself contemplating the probability (based on evidence in the Great Story) that the veil between earth and glory is thinner than I’ve ever imagined. I live, move, and have my being in an earthbound, three-dimensional world which frames my thinking and perception. But physicists now theorize that there are actually 11 dimensions (or more). There’s more to it than I ever realized, which is exactly what Jesus continually tried to get His followers to understand.
“Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
In essence, Jesus is saying that there is an eternal reality that is more real than the earthy reality I experience in three dimensions with my five senses. He called it “the Kingdom of God” and He asked me as His follower to seek it, find it, see it, believe it, and allow it to transform the way I live, move, and have my being on this earthly journey.
Jesus chastised Peter in yesterday’s chapter for being so bound to his earthy perceptions that he couldn’t see heaven’s intentions. The further I get in my spiritual journey, the more convinced I am that every time Jesus tells His followers to expand their faith, He’s encouraging me to open my mind and spirit to see what is beyond my human senses yet just as real as physical matter. It is already woven into creation itself. I believe it’s right there behind the veil that is thinner than I imagine.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” Genesis 22:2 (NIV)
Today’s chapter is one of the most profound and mysterious events in the Great Story. Scholars explain that there is nothing like it in other ancient cultures or religions with regard to their stories, texts, or religious rituals. Even within the Great Story it is unique. God tells Abraham to make another journey of faith “to a mountain I will show you” where he will sacrifice his own beloved son, Isaac.
WHAT?!
I know. It’s a head scratcher.
As I meditated on the story this morning, I had three observations.
First, this is the climax of Abraham’s story. From this point on, Abraham is making preparations for he and Sarah’s burials, getting Isaac marries, and settling his inheritance. This climactic event bookends the beginning of Abraham’s story.
When we first meet Abraham God tells him to pick-up leave his family, tribe, and home and follow God to a “land I will show you.” In a sense, God told Abraham “leave that which you know and love (e.g. your home and tribe), have faith to follow me.” The faith journey results in the promised son, Isaac. Isaac is the object of Abraham’s love. Now God calls Abraham to leave once more “to a mountain I will show you,” to bring with him what he loves (e.g. his son) and sacrifice him to God. It is an ultimate test of faith.
I couldn’t help but think about Peter and John on the shores of Galilee in the final chapter of John’s biography of Jesus. There is a parallel “bookending” of their faith journeys. It was on this shore that Jesus first said, “Follow me.” Now, the resurrected Christ once again calls them to follow, this time informing Peter that it will ultimately lead to suffering and death.
A faith journey doesn’t end in this earthbound lifetime. One doesn’t retire, nor do things get easier before the journey’s end. In Abraham’s case, in Peter’s case, you find yourself circling back to the beginning and the challenges of faith only get harder.
Second, Abraham’s statement to Isaac (“God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”) proves to be both a statement of faith and a prophetic foreshadowing of the climactic end to this event. It springs from everything Abraham has experienced in his relationship with God through the years. God has made the covenant with Abraham, God has led Abraham to the land as promised. God has given Abraham a son as promised. As crazy and extreme as God’s request sounds, Abraham draws on all that God has done to make this ultimate faith journey.
We don’t like to talk about it much in our culture, but Jesus regularly told His followers that the faith journey required giving everything. Like Abraham, it might mean leaving family behind. Like Abraham, it requires faith to provide an ultimate sacrifice, taking up one’s own cross and following to the crucifixion of self.
Third, the foreshadowing of Jesus’ story in the events of today’s chapter can’t be ignored. In asking Abraham to sacrifice the son he loves, he unwittingly becomes a living metaphor of God himself, who will one day give His beloved Son as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. God providing Abraham a ram to sacrifice in place of Isaac introduces the notion of substitutionary sacrifice. At the time of Abraham, this was a wholly unique concept.
“God will provide the lamb,” Abraham presciently states to Isaac.
Another bookend. We are in the beginning chapters of the Great Story. Themes are being introduced, foundations laid, as well as foreshadows of what’s to come. In the final chapters of the Great Story, John is given a Revelation of the throne room of heaven.
Those gathered worship singing. Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”
The story of Abraham is the seminal event in what will ultimately be God’s act of redemption. Abraham blazes the trail of faith. Abraham foreshadows what God is going to do. Abraham’s faith echoes through history past, it resonates through the crucified Christ, and it is transmitted into the prophesied future.
God will provide the Lamb.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
…then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it. Ecclesiastes 8:17 (NIV)
This past weekend, we watched a stand-up comic waxing humorous on this past year of pandemic. He joked that 2020 is the only year in which the U.S. government could admit that there are UFOs and nobody cares. It’s funny, and it’s true.
In case you missed it, the Pentagon is going to release a report this month in which it details findings on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP). I’m sure it will create quite a stir. I’m personally prepared for the dramatic conclusion of the report: “We just don’t know.”
We live in a complex universe in which there is a lot that we simply don’t know, and can’t comprehend. Wendy and I just introduced a young friend to the famous double slit experiment in physics this past weekend, as well. It’s really fascinating. Basically, it seems that atoms behave differently when they are not being observed. Really. In one of the videos I watched on the subject, Jim Al-khalili of the Royal Institution humorously explains the experiment then ends with, “If you can explain this using common sense and logic, do let me know, because there’s a Nobel Prize for you.”
In today’s chapter, the ancient Hebrew Sage of Ecclesiastes wraps up a list of life’s conundrums by coming to the conclusion that there are certain things that are beyond comprehension. Even if someone claims to know, he states, they really don’t.
Along my life journey, I’ve observed that creation, life, and relationships are complex things. There are simple truths, but there are few simple answers. Nevertheless, I observe that we as human beings like to try and force issues into simple binary boxes. We do this with all sorts of issues in faith, science, politics, and society. I’m either “this” or “that.” If I’m not “that” then I’m certainly “this.” The further I progress in this journey, the more I’ve found that there’s a humility required of me in this life to admit that I don’t really know everything, while continuing to engage in asking good questions, seeking to know and be known, and knocking on the door of opportunity to grow in love and understanding.
I’ve also come to a place in which I’m always cautious whenever I find myself confronted with the proud, loud certainties of others, no matter the source or subject. Jesus said that all those who exalt themselves will be humbled. His example was that of being “humble, and gentle-hearted.”
I’m quite certain that this world could use more of that. As a disciple of Jesus, I’m also quite certain that Jesus wants me to follow that example.
UFO’s and why atoms behave differently when they’re being watched. I’m not certain.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” Psalm 110:4 (NIV)
I confess. I am a Tolkien nerd. I have been most of my life. Before the advent of cell phones I would typically read The Lord of the Rings once a year. Now, I have it on audiobook and will often listen to it when I can’t sleep. Once I got a text from my daughter asking me, “Do you know the name of Theoden’s horse?”
I immediately replied. “Of course. Snowmane.”
She then texted. “Thanks. Playing pub trivia and I knew you’d know.”
But I couldn’t let it go at that. I then added:
“Gandalf’s horse is Shadowfax. Sam’s pony is Bill. Glorfindel’s horse is Asfaloth. Aragorn’s horse is Hasufel. Legolas’ horse is Arod.”
Okay. I was showing off and geeking out. Maybe I have a problem.
Geeking out came to mind as I read today’s chapter, Psalm 110, because it contains a geeky reference in the Great Story that I find even life-long followers of Jesus to be largely unaware. It is the mysterious character of Melchizedek.
Melchizedek makes his appearance towards the very beginning of the Great Story when God calls Abraham:
Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.”
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
Genesis 14:17-20 (NIV)
That’s it. That’s the only reference to him and that’s all we know about him. And this is where the mystery begins. In the Great Story Abram is the first of the Hebrew “patriarchs.” At this point in the story, there are no Ten Commandments, no system of worship (which came through Moses centuries later), no record of any kind of formal “priesthood.” So, who is Melchizedek? Where did he come from? How did he become “priest of God Most High” and what exactly did that mean?
We. Don’t. Know.
So, why is he important?
In the Hebrew system of worship that God prescribed through Moses, the “priesthood” was relegated to Aaron and his descendants. If you weren’t in the line of Aaron then you couldn’t be a priest. When the law and sacrificial system was established through Moses the Hebrews had no “king.” It would be centuries before they established a monarchy. When they did, the line of King David was established as the royal line through which the Messiah would come. So, if the Messiah was to be both King of Kings (from the royal line of David) and eternal High Priest (and only descendants of Aaron could be priests) how is that possible?
David wrote the coronation song, Psalm 110, that prophetically provided the answer. Some scholars say that Psalm 110 is the most directly prophetic of all the psalms, but that isn’t easily understood by the casual reader. David references the mysterious priesthood before Moses and before Aaron. He connects the Messiah with the shadowy figure of Melchizedek, “priest of God Most High,” who “brought out bread and wine“ (sound familiar?). The early followers of Jesus saw it and the author of the New Testament book of Hebrews (also a mystery) fleshed it out. The priesthood and sacrificial system of Aaron was a temporary spiritual band-aid and living metaphor of what was to come. The ultimate, once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus was sourced in an eternal priesthood that was older, deeper, and (from a human perspective) infinitely mysterious.
The author of Hebrews writes:
“Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of the Highest God. He met Abraham, who was returning from “the royal massacre,” and gave him his blessing. Abraham in turn gave him a tenth of the spoils. “Melchizedek” means “King of Righteousness.” “Salem” means “Peace.” So, he is also “King of Peace.” Melchizedek towers out of the past—without record of family ties, no account of beginning or end. In this way he is like the Son of God, one huge priestly presence dominating the landscape always.” Hebrews 7:1-3 (MSG)
In the quiet this morning I feel like I’m geeking out on the Great Story like I geek out on The Lord of the Rings so forgive me if this post leaves you rolling your eyes and/or scratching your head.
A faith journey isn’t about reason or it wouldn’t be faith. In the mystery of Melchizedek, I’m reminded that faith requires of me the humility to accept that there are truths that lie in mystery. They are deeper, older, and unfathomable this side of eternity. Once again, I am grateful to Richard Rohr for introducing me to the concept that mystery isn’t something that we can’t understand but something we endlessly understand. The further I get in my spiritual journey, the more I have come to embrace and enjoy the mystery.
The Mystery of the Missing Word (CaD Ps 62) –
Wayfarer
Selah For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is in him. Psalm 62:5 (NRSVCE)
For most of my life journey, I have spent the beginning of my day in quiet. It helps that I have been a morning person my entire life and am typically the first one awake in the house. It has allowed me to create a spiritual rhythm. Each morning it’s just me in my home office. The neighborhood is silent. The household is silent. I am silent.
You may not know it, but silence is endangered in our world. There are a niche of audio artists and recording specialists who endeavor to capture the simple, pure sounds of nature sans the noises of technology and human civilizations encroachment on it. They complain that their jobs and their passion are made increasingly difficult.
Noise is everywhere.
In my podcast series The Beginner’s Guide to the Great StoryI used three words to guide one’s journey through various sections and genres of ancient text that make up the compilation we call the Bible. The three words are:
Metaphor Context Mystery
This morning’s chapter led me into mystery. Bear with me as I lead you through it. I typically read each day’s chapter in The St. John’s Bible, the only handwritten and illuminated copy of the entire Bible produced in the last 500 years or so. I love it. It’s beautiful. It is a transcription of the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE…By the way, I explain why there are all these different versions in The Beginner’s Guide to the Great Story Part 2). I will usually then switch and read the chapter a second time in the translation I’ve been most accustomed to for the last thirty years which is the New International Version (NIV). Something was missing:
Selah
In the illuminated manuscript of the St. John’s Bible the word “Selah” was written in red ink along the right margin between verses four and five. In the NIV the word was missing altogether. It was left out.
The game’s afoot, Watson!
Selah is, in and of itself, a mysterious word. The Hebrew language is thousands of years old and it was largely lost to the world for a long time. The result is that there are some Hebrew words that the most knowledgable scholars of the Hebrew language can only shrug their shoulders. The meaning is mysteriously lost to antiquity.
The editors of the NRSV translation chose to leave the mystery in the text.
The editors of the NIV chose to eliminate the word for their readers rather than try to explain it or allow me to consider it.
What a shame. Because mystery is part of the on-going journey of the Great Story, and words are literally metaphors. These squiggly lines made by pixels on my screen are just that. They are lines, symbols that my brain instantly turns into phonetic sounds which make words which are layered with meaning. And, as I continually remind myself, mystery is that which I can endlessly understand (Thank you Fr. Rohr).
It is popularly speculated that the word Selah was some kind of musical rest or pause because it always appears in the middle of musical lyrics such as the Psalms or the poetic work of the prophet Habakkuk. While this is pure speculation and educated guess, what modern wayfarers journeying through the Great Story have done is to find a layer of meaning in the letters and sounds of the word Selah.
I read:
For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is in him.
But when I consider that the word Selah might very well mean to actually stop, pause, rest, wait a second, or as The Passion Translation chooses to say: “Pause in God’s Presence” then the verse takes on added meaning:
Selah (Pause in God’s Presence) For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is in him.
In a world of endangered silence, with ceaseless noise of humanity encroaching on me 24/7/365, I find this morning that I need the mystery of Selah, even if the metaphor is purely a layer of meaning I have chosen to attach to it in the endless understanding of possibility.
My spirit needs the pause.
Waiting. Silent. I hear the still, small voice of Holy Spirit.
Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord, and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it. Psalm 22:30-31 (NRSVCE)
I’ve been doing a series of podcasts called the Beginner’s Guide to the Great Story. There are ten episodes in the series and I’m doing the series for those who know little or nothing about how what we call the Bible. Why do I call it the Great Story? Well, I’m not the first to do so, and I find that just saying the word “Bible” can conjure up so many prejudicial thoughts and notions. Besides, I’m more interested in the Story that is being told through the narrative from the beginning in Genesis to the end of Revelation which, again (spoiler alert!), a new beginning.
The next episode in the Beginner’s Guide to the Great Story series is part seven in which I’m going to talk about the section of texts from Isaiah to those written by the Italian prophet Malachi (Sorry, that’s like a dad joke, it never gets old for me). The prophets were some of the strangest characters in the Great Story, and the prophetic texts are mysterious, sometimes poetic and inspiring, sometimes gruesome and violent, sometimes so graphic it would make church ladies blush (therefore those texts are almost universally ignored by everyone).
Think about how the prophetic is almost universally present in all of our great epic stories. One of my favorite prophetic characters is Sybill Trelawney in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter epic (and NOT because my sister, Jody, could could easily pull off being the doppleganger of Emma Thompson’s iconic take on the character). I just love how Professor Trelawney does virtually nothing by way of being prophetic or accurate in her daily predictions. She’s a miserable failure at her subject. But on just a couple of occasions she actually is prophetic, though in each case she doesn’t know it and has no memory of what she actually said. That is classic prophetic mystery. I love it.
Today’s psalm, written by David, is a classic because the warrior-king songwriter has his Sybill Trelawney moment. Written in the neighborhood of 1000 years before Jesus, the 22nd psalm is dripping with prophetic imagery of Jesus.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? Psalm 22:1
And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 20:46
But I am a worm, and not human; scorned by others, and despised by the people. Psalm 22:6
Pilate asked them, “Why, what evil has [Jesus] done?” But [the crowd] shouted all the more, “Crucify him!” Mark 15:14
All who see me mock at me; they make mouths at me, they shake their heads Psalm 22:7
The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. Even Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him; then he put an elegant robe on him, and sent him back to Pilate. Luke 23:10-11
Yet it was you who took me from the womb; you kept me safe on my mother’s breast. Psalm 22:9
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, [the Magi] left for their own country by another road.
Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” Matthew 2:12-13
On you I was cast from my birth, and since my mother bore me you have been my God. Psalm 22:10
The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. Luke 1:30-35
Many bulls encircle me, strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. Psalm 22:12-13
Now the men who were holding Jesus began to mock him and beat him; they also blindfolded him and kept asking him, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” Luke 22:63-64
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. Psalm 22:14-15
So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him… John 19:16-18
For dogs are all around me; a company of evildoers encircles me. My hands and feet have shriveled; I can count all my bones. They stare and gloat over me; they divide my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots. Psalm 22:16-18
When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill what the scripture says, “They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.” And that is what the soldiers did. John 19:23-25
The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord. Psalm 22:26
Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. John 6:26-27
To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him. Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord, and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it. Psalm 22: 30-31
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. Acts 1:6-9
In the quiet this morning I find myself asking, “Did David have any idea what he was writing when he penned the lyrics to the song we now call Psalm 22?”
I don’t think he did. I think it was his Sybill Trelawney moment. Along my life journey, I’ve observed that this is the way the prophetic works. It’s mysterious, and strange, and comes from the most unexpected of people in the most random moments of time. Maybe even me. Maybe even you. You can’t will it to happen like Professor Trelawney so aptly proved in every one of her utterly useless classes. Those who try to do so end up charlatans like Gilderoy Lockhard or end up drowning their sorrows in a bottle of Sherry like Professor Trelawney herself. The prophetic happens when it’s supposed to happen via the medium God chooses (and God often chooses the strangest of mediums). Yet, when it happens, like David having his Trelawney moment in Psalm 22, it’s pretty amazing.
Today I’m pressing on, not willing things to happen, but open and expectant of whatever is supposed to happen in this Great Story in which I’m simply trying to play my bit part to the best of my ability.
(Exit Tom, stage left) See you tomorrow!
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
Spiritual Hearing and Sight Impairment (CaD Ex 6) –
Wayfarer
Moses told this to the Israelites; but they would not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and their cruel slavery. Exodus 6:9 (NRSVCE)
When Jesus was teaching, He would repetitiously tag his message by saying, “Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.” This phrase has always resonated with me. Maybe more so because in the experience of delivering a message I have always experienced that some people really “hear” the message and others do not. Jesus was constantly acknowledging this truth. In explaining to His followers the reason He taught with parables He went so far as to embrace that this is part of a larger spiritual mystery revealed by the prophet, Isaiah:
That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they’re blue in the face and not get it. I don’t want Isaiah’s forecast repeated all over again: “Your ears are open but you don’t hear a thing. Your eyes are awake but you don’t see a thing. The people are blockheads! They stick their fingers in their ears so they won’t have to listen; They screw their eyes shut so they won’t have to look, so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face and let me heal them. “But you have God-blessed eyes—eyes that see! And God-blessed ears—ears that hear!” Matthew 13 :13-16 (MSG)
Not everyone wants to see it or hear it in this moment.
Not everyone is ready to see it or hear it in this moment.
In yesterday’s chapter, Moses’ first attempt at getting Pharaoh to let the Hebrew people go was a dismal failure. Not only did Pharaoh reject the appeal, but he made life even worse for the Hebrews whom Moses is trying to lead. In today’s chapter, Moses is prompted by God to have another go at it but his people would not listen “because of their broken spirit and their cruel slavery.”
In the quiet this morning, I find myself meditating on those whom I observe to be suffering from spiritual hearing and sight impairment. In my experience, the institutional church and its regulatory minions have been too quick to diagnose such a person with a terminal spiritual condition. Judgment and condemnation quickly follow before shaking the dust off and returning to the cloister. I confess that, in my own spiritual journey, I have been guilty of this very attitude.
Mea culpa.
As I began to walk life’s journey along-side those who are struggling to spiritually see and hear, I found them to be a lot like the Hebrews in today’s chapter. There is something broken spiritually. Often it is something old and painful that is deep-seated. Typically it is of no fault of their own. It is the scars of circumstance. I have also observed that there is almost always a true desire to spiritually hear and see, but there is a process. Like the blind man whom Jesus healed, the first time Jesus rubbed the man’s eyes everything was blurry. It took another repetition before the man gained his full sight.
It’s going to take repetition for Moses’ people, too. They are broken. They’re struggling under the weight of their chains and the scars of their overseers. It’s going to take time, repetition, and perseverance before they can hear what God is saying and see what God is doing through Moses.
Along the way, I’ve learned that if someone is spiritually deaf and blind, it simply means I need to keep speaking in love, listening patiently, acting kindly, responding gently, serving faithfully, and controlling my reactions. I’m reminded that on the night before His crucifixion, Jesus was still complaining that His closest followers weren’t hearing Him or seeing what He was doing.
Out in the open wisdom calls aloud, she raises her voice in the public square… Proverbs 1:20 (NIV)
The further I get in my journey the more I both appreciate wisdom and realize how little I have understood wisdom through the years. In my youth, I thought of wisdom as simply making good choices. I have come to realize and appreciate that that wisdom is deeper and more mysterious than I ever knew.
Today begins our chapter-a-day journey through the ancient book of Proverbs. It is a collection of thoughts and short sayings about wisdom. Even in today’s introductory chapter, I find the wisdom is presented in multi-faceted fashion:
It comes from instruction. (vs. 3)
No matter how much you have, there’s more. (vs. 5)
There is a spiritual component at its root. (vs. 7)
There is a generational component, as those who are further in their life journeys have wisdom to offer me of which I am ignorant at my current stage of life. (vs. 8)
There is a communal component to wisdom that finds its source in the people with whom I surround myself and the influence I allow them to have on my thoughts and behavior. (vs. 10-19)
The most fascinating thing I find about wisdom comes from the second half of the chapter. Wisdom is personified and embodied. Wisdom begins to speak. Wisdom is a woman.
In ancient literature and mythology, the personified Wisdom is often named “Sophia,” from the Greek word defined as “wisdom.” That Wisdom should be personified as female makes complete sense to me. I have written on multiple occasions regarding the lessons I’ve learned from being surrounded by women most of my life. As with wisdom, women are multi-faceted. They can at once be simple and complex, strong and gentle, resilient and fragile. Just when I think I have a handle on understanding them, I am reminded that there is a mystery to be endlessly understood.
In the quiet this morning I find myself contemplating Sophia. It’s been a while since the last journey through Proverbs (April/May of 2013), and so much has changed for me in those seven years. I’m at a completely different waypoint on life’s journey. I’m looking forward to what God has to teach me through Sophia and the book of Proverbs in the next few weeks. When I was a young man I considered myself wise, but from where I currently stand on Life’s road I’ve come to realize that there is always more wisdom a little further up and further in.
About This Post
These chapter-a-day posts began in 2006. It’s a very simple concept. I endeavor each weekday to read one chapter from the Bible. I then blog about my thoughts, insights, and feelings about the content of that chapter. Everyone is welcome to share this post, like this post, or add your own thoughts in a comment. Thank you to those who have become faithful, regular or occasional readers along the journey along with your encouragement.
Wayfarer 