Author: admin

Collect

O perfect Love,
whose compassionate power transforms sin into health
and temporal dust into eternal glory:
grant us a gracious faith,
so that like Joseph, when he was sold into slavery,
we may face our trials with confidence,
and become a blessing
to friend and enemy alike in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Readings

Genesis 45: 3-11, 15

Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?’ But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come closer to me.’ And they came closer. He said, ‘I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither ploughing nor harvest. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, “Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. I will provide for you there—since there are five more years of famine to come—so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.” And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.

Psalm 37: 1-12, 41-42

1 Corinthians 15: 35-38, 42-50

Luke 6: 27-38

‘But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

‘If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.’

First of all let me start by saying we, who write these reflections, don’t get to choose which ones to write. I am slotted into the third Sunday of the month for February.

So, here I am writing about ‘Love’ again. That is the word or feeling that jumped out at me when I looked over the scripture readings for the week. Well, it was Valentine’s Day last week so I guess it is appropriate. But I also wondered how many more times would I need to convey to others about God’s love, the effects on us and the need to pass all of that love onto others; all others.

…all this comes in the name of love!

I looked up on the internet; how many times the word love was mentioned in the Bible and the answer was hundreds. It is not the most used word but it is one of the central themes and driving forces of God’s word. And this means that I will need to either write a reflection or preach about love again. But If I tried to preach to others about loving their neighbour, turning the other cheek or forgiving a past, hurtful event, then I had to make sure that I could do it myself. With that in mind, I decided to do an experiment. I sat at my desk and imagined a certain group of people in the room with me. (Don’t worry; none of them were any of you). I looked around the pretend crowded room and asked myself if I ‘loved’ them. For a few minutes I sped through the group without hesitation, very proud of myself of course, but then came one person, who stopped me from moving along. I decided to clear the room, so to speak and focus on why I could not say to myself that yes, I did love this person. After considerable thought and some prayer, I realized that yes I could love this person too, but why was it so hard? What had they done to me that I could maybe not forgive or forget? Oh, that’s it!!! The ‘forgive’ and ‘forget’ part. Forgiving the past and forgetting it may be the only way I can move forward. It is a burden to carry it so I needed to let it go.

And that my friends, brings us to the reading from Genesis and the story of the amazing Joseph, who forgave his brothers for selling him into Egypt. The path that his brothers sent him along would have been horrendous at times. However, just like most of us do when put in a difficult situation, Joseph came to the end of the path different than when he went in. He walked with God. We all know that it isn’t easy to find God in those extremely difficult times, or maybe we tend to forget to look for him. We are too busy, maybe being angry at God or asking why did this happen to us and although a natural response, it is a state that we cannot remain in for long. We must seek out God, pray, walk with him and let him carry us when necessary. Realizing that with God’s help we can get through all things and the faster we allow him on each and every path we take, the faster and easier it is to get through the difficult ones. We are never alone, even though we may think we are. We just need to reach out and grab that helping hand that is stretched out waiting.

Joseph took God’s hand and listened while God sent him back to his brothers to explain why he was there and who had sent him. To “preserve for you a remnant on earth and to keep alive for you many survivors”. God uses Joseph in this way, to continue with his covenant with Abraham that he will have many descendants.

I hear the story of Jesus in this part of the story of Joseph. He (Joseph) is rejected by his brothers, imprisoned falsely, but ended up changing the course of events for many. Jesus is rejected by many, put to death unfairly yet ends up changing the world for ever.

And really, all this comes in the name of love!

Collect

God, you root those who trust in you
by streams of healing water.
Release us from the bonds of disease,
free us from the power of evil,
and turn us from falsehood and illusion,
that we may find the blessing of new life in you through the power of Christ. Amen.

Readings

Jeremiah 17: 5-10

Psalm 1

1 Corinthians 15: 12-20

Luke 6: 17-26

He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.

Then he looked up at his disciples and said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God. ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
‘Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
‘But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation. ‘Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
‘Woe to you who are laughing now,
for you will mourn and weep.
‘Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

“You who are hungry now”

When we read the beautifully written Beatitudes, we must read them in the context of the struggle between harsh poverty and great wealth existing in Jesus’ time. John Dominic Crossan has brought to our understanding the conditions of social life in first century Palestine. Powerful men built great cities to reflect their own glory and name, and these cities created a huge drain on the resources of the area. The poor, as always, were exploited even more than they had been, as resources, especially food crops, were redirected to feed the needs of the city–rural values exploited by urban values. To understand the dynamics, you have to imagine a despot building palaces for his own pleasure and pride at the expense of his poor countrymen: think of Saddam Hussein and his many palaces, or Ceausescu of Rumania. The farmers of Jesus’ time were little more than indentured servants, virtual slaves, paying larger and larger portions of the fruits of their labours to their landlords and overlords, surviving at near subsistence levels. In this social context the Lord’s prayer for daily bread takes on an intense urgency.

Like me, you are probably very familiar with the Beatitudes as found in Matthew’s gospel:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.

Those lines are certainly beautiful poetry, and the English teacher in me is ecstatic, but seen in the social, political context of the first century CE, the Beatitudes are not just pretty words, but a call to action, a call for social revolution.

This thrust becomes clear when we examine how the passage above is different from the version of the Beatitudes found in the earlier gospel of Luke. Luke presents only four Blessings, compared to Matthew’s nine, but they are less ethereal and more earthy:
Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you and de-
fame you…for my sake.
Furthermore, the second half of the poem in Luke’s gospel contains a series of four “woes” to balance the four “blessings”:
Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you,
for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

The New Revised Standard Version from which we read is very close in translation to the King James version; I checked to make sure the contemporary editors weren’t slanting the translation to fit their theological or political agenda.

When analyzing literature it is important to pay attention to repeated words; they are clues to meaning. In both gospels, there is, of course, the repetition of “Blessed,” and in Luke the four “blessed” are balanced with four “woes,” but the other repeated word in Luke’s version is significant–the word “now”:
Blessed are you who are hungry now…
Blessed are you who weep now…
Woe to you who are full now…
Woe to you who are laughing now…

The reference to “now,” to time present, is conspicuously absent from the Beatitudes in Matthew’s gospel: “great is your reward in heaven.” It is no wonder we know and love the Matthew version of the Beatitudes–far more comforting, far more politically and socially safe, for Luke’s series of Woes are also omitted. Matthew’s “Blessed are you who hunger and thirst after righteousness” is far more abstract and therefore less challenging than the very concrete statement in Luke: “Blessed are you who are hungry now.” The Beatitudes of Luke’s gospel are clearly a call to action, a warning to the wealthy: how long must the poor and the marginalized wait for the blessings of God? But the political and social context is nevertheless underlying Matthew’s version, just as they did in his version of the nativity.

In both gospels Jesus spoke to the wealthy about their obligations to meet the needs of the poor. Jesus talked more about money than he did about heaven or prayer; after “the Kingdom,” Jesus talked about money more than anything else. He was trying to make people, especially wealthy and religious people, realize that how they think about money is a major factor in determining their spiritual growth. “You can not serve God and Mammon.” The power of money was the number one idol in Jesus’ time, and it remains so in our culture. We really cannot grow spiritually beyond what we do with our wealth: “Woe to you who are full now.” We in Canada, in the Northern and Western developed nations, are richly blessed. We must share. The good news of Jesus is as simple as that. The actual bread and wine are to be shared. The multitudes are to be fed very real loaves and fishes. The gifts of God for the people of God, now.

Collect

Loving God,
you have called forth disciples and prophets
to live and speak your word.
Give us ears to hear,
lives to respond,
and voices to proclaim the good news of salvation, which we know in our Saviour Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Readings

Isaiah 6: 1-8

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said:
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.’
The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’

Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.’ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’

Psalm 138

Of David.
I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
I bow down towards your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness;
for you have exalted your name and your word
above everything.
On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.

All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord,
for they have heard the words of your mouth.
They shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
for great is the glory of the Lord.
For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your hand,
and your right hand delivers me.
The Lord will fulfil his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures for ever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

1 Corinthians 15: 1-11

Now I should remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain.

For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to someone untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of
God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace towards me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.

Luke 5: 1-11

Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’ Simon answered, ‘Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.’ When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’ For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’ When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

Collect

O God of all the prophets,
you knew us and chose us
before you formed us in the womb.
Fill us with faith that speaks your word,
hope that does not disappoint,
and love that bears all things for your sake, until that day when we shall know you fully,
even as we are known by you. Amen.

Readings

Jeremiah 1: 4-10

Psalm 71:1-6

1 Corinthians 13: 1-13

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

Luke 4: 21-30

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about what it means to truly love as God called us to love, and how so many people seem to get the idea of Christianity fundamentally wrong. Or at least they seem to know, if you ask them, but there is a disconnect between what they believe to be true and how they actually live their lives. This week’s reading from Corinthians is a great example of how we might be able to contextualize the kind of life that God is calling us to live when we think about love and loving our neighbours.

Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, talks about love. This reading is often used at weddings to talk about the nature of love between two partners about to embark on a life together; but, if we read the first part of this passage, we can see that Paul is talking about more than just romantic love. He is talking about the love that we are all called to embody and let guide all of our actions.

Paul’s letter to the Corinthians also tells us that if we gain knowledge into the mysteries of the universe, and into the way our world works, but do not have love within us, then we are nothing. I can think of a number of examples of very powerful people who are extremely intelligent and possess a great deal of knowledge, but do not have love at the core of their being.

First, he talks about the way we speak, saying that if we use our voices to speak words of “mortals and of angels”, but do not have these words come from a place of love, then we are essentially just making noise. Think about that for a second: no matter what we say, no matter what our message is when we speak (or type, or text), if we don’t have love within us, then we’re just noisy creatures. That’s not to say that words that don’t come from love don’t have impact; we know that they do. Bullies and trolls say mean stuff all the time and it affects us deeply. Those who talk about love but don’t truly believe what they say end up sounding hollow and fall flat. But, if we really want to follow what God is calling us to do, our words need to come from a place of love. Sometimes that can mean having difficult conversations about important issues like racism, inequity, and climate change. You will still have disagreements, of that there is no doubt. Imagine, though, how hard it is to truly argue if you are coming from a place of love. It’s really hard to argue with someone who is confident in their ability to love unconditionally.

One embodiment of this is a content creator, author, and all around beautiful human being named Jeffrey Marsh (@thejeffreymarsh). Jeffrey is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns and constantly addresses nasty, hateful, and ignorant comments they get from people. They always do so with such love and grace, knowing full well that many of the people spouting anger and hate toward them are missing something in their own lives. Jeffrey chooses to combat fear, misunderstanding, and hate with pure love, and it’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen on the internet. Jeffrey is truly living the message of speaking powerful words from a place of love.

Another person who does this is Rain Dove (@raindovemodel). Rain uses all pronouns (he/ she/they) and has no specified gender identity – they choose to live in a fluid space without labels. Rain gets so much hate directed toward their account because they choose to reject the boxes into which we like to put human beings. But like Jeffrey, Rain reacts from a place of love, knowing well that so many of the people who approach them with hate are deeply hurt and struggling. On Rain’s Instagram feed, you can see countless examples of how they have turned a conversation about hate into one of support, love, and guidance. They truly are moved by the Holy Spirit in how they interact with people on this earth.

Both Jeffrey and Rain show us that the words we use matter, but also that the place they are coming from deeply matters. When we use words from a place of love, we can help people heal and come to a better place within themselves.

Paul’s letter to the Corinthians also tells us that if we gain knowledge into the mysteries of the universe, and into the way our world works, but do not have love within us, then we are nothing. I can think of a number of examples of very powerful people who are extremely intelligent and possess a great deal of knowledge, but do not have love at the core of their being. These people seem so soulless and one-dimensional compared to the wise and intelligent leaders who come from a place of love. Archbishop Tutu was a prime example of someone who had a lot of knowledge and wisdom and led from a place of pure love. Nelson Mandela is another example. In our own diocese, The Venerable Val Kerr, Archdeacon for Truth, Reconciliation, and Indigenous Ministry is someone who I can say from experience has not only deep wisdom and understanding, but also a sweeping and deep love for everyone.

Finally, Paul tells us that the way we give to our communities needs to be grounded in love. I received a lovely email from a parishioner this week suggesting some ways that our entire church family can engage in Lent in meaningful ways, including to give up single use plastics, and to purge our homes of all the excess “stuff” that we have. This parishioner was clear, though, that these kinds of acts should be mindful acts that reflect what we want to be as followers of Jesus, not just simple purging for the sake of self-improvement. This is so wise – anything we choose to do that “gives” to our community, whether it’s donations of food, clothing, money, time, or our talents, should come from the core value of love for one another and love of God.

I hope that we can take some time this week to think about how we use our words, our knowledge and wisdom, and the way we give. How often are these choices rooted in love? How often do we react out of other emotions, or out of a sense that we will feel better if we do/say a certain thing? We are human beings, after all, and none of what we do will be perfect—I say ridiculous and hurtful things all the time without thinking–but, we are also blessed with minds that can talk back to our choices. The first step in any kind of change is awareness. So my challenge to you for this week is just to notice how you speak and act and where those words and actions come from. From there, we can try and make some powerful changes toward being grounded and centred in love.

Collect

In you, O Lord our God,
we find our joy,
for through your law and your prophets
you formed a people in mercy and freedom,
in justice and righteousness.
Pour your Spirit on us today,
that we who are Christ’s body
may bear the good news of your ancient promises to all who seek you. Amen

Readings

Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

Psalm 19

The heavens are telling the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night declares knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard;
yet their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun,
which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy,
and like a strong man runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them;
and nothing is hidden from its heat. The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the decrees of the Lord are sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is clear,
enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring for ever;
the ordinances of the Lord are true
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey,
and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward. But who can detect their errors?
Clear me from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from the insolent; do not let them have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

Luke 4:14-21

Right now we are in the midst of the season of Epiphany. An epiphany is among other things, “an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure” according to Merriam-Websters on-line dictionary. So during Epiphany we have readings around revelation, specifically the revelation of God seen through the person of Jesus Christ, but also the revelation of the nature and the work of God, revealed in a variety of ways.

Our Psalm this morning is a psalm of revelation. How God is revealed in nature and in the laws. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork”, the psalmist writes and who of us cannot say that we have not stood in awe, wonder and absolute delight at the incredible beauty seen in our skies. But seeing God revealed in nature is more than just being in awe or delighted by the beauty and wonder of God. God’s nature is revealed in nature. The psalmist writes, “Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.” The sense of nature pouring forth speech and knowledge is about nature revealing God, we see God’s triune nature of Father, Son and Holy Spirit or Creator, Word, and Spirit, in the way that all nature works and weaves together. An apple tree does not grow without soil, rain, sunshine, bees and birds and animals eating its fruit and scattering the seeds to start new trees. All these disparate elements of nature form a cohesive whole in the growth and propagation of apple trees. So God the Designer, Builder and the One Who Brings to Life is Understood to be three distinct persons yet one God.

It is even in the lifecycle that we see constantly in motion around us, the cold of winter leading to the new growth of spring, the death of one tree giving nourishment, life, to other trees and plants. The death of one animal feeding, giving life to others. Creation and recreation, turning something that seems to be an end into a new life are all signs pointing to the nature of God. We see it too in our own lives, there are times when the death of one dream leads to the opportunity for a new one. We lose a job and see only hardship in front of us, but the end of that job opens the door to a new one we may not even have considered. We are never to see death, even our own as an end but rather a new beginning. That is the promise that gives us hope which is offered by Jesus.

The Psalmist then goes on to talk about how sustaining the law of God is, the psalmist is not talking about the structure which can be found in a system of laws and rules but rather the relationship with God which is revealed in the law. God’s love for us, God’s desire to be with us and God’s desire for us to lead happy and prosperous lives are revealed in the laws. We also see God’s desire for us to have happy and prosperous relationships with each other. The laws are about how we can live together in peace and harmony because we have gained wisdom about God and about relationships from studying the laws of God and because we see the love of God written in each line.

In Psalm 19 written by David we see the basis of David’s trust in God, built through seeing God revealed in nature and at work in nature and seeing God revealed in the laws handed down to us. That trust is what allowed David to keep his sheep safe, take on a seasoned warrior named Goliath and lead the people of Israel to become a united prosperous nation. It is a reminder to us to look at the world around us and see God not just in the beauty of a sunset but in the cycle of life and death, in the intricacies of the natural world and how every element relies on and feeds and is fed but every other element, the harmony we see which we should never take for granted. It is the same balance and beauty we should see in our relationships with family, friends and strangers and it is the same beauty we get a glimpse of in our triune God. Learn the commandments of God and see in them not a legal system but rather a sign of God’s love for us and a way for us to be in harmony with each other. God reveals Godself again and again to us if we but lift our heads and look around. Amen.