This morning (Wednesday in the 4th week of Easter) as I read the passage from Exodus, I little remarked the assurance from God to Moses that he would put his hand on him and hide him in a cleft of the rock ... until I saw verse 3 in the responsorial psalm for this coming Sunday's Eucharist:
Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe,
for you are my crag and my stronghold; *
for the sake of your Name, lead me and guide me.
Even as he is being martyred, Stephen the deacon can feel this comfort. It is beyond me. But he does.
Look at what he prays - following Jesus: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”
Forgive them, Lord, for they do not know what they are doing.
Somehow in the depths of what would be despair, the first martyr of the church has hope - hope beyond hope, beyond life. And what is more, and more explicit and important, he has obedience: total trust in God. I'm not sure his thoughts were on himself at all, simply on the witness he made to Jesus.
And this is discipleship - following Christ - too: for Christ died for the truth, which he would not betray.
He - Christ - has become that Truth.
When nothing can save you, save you from the fires or the stones of persecution, that Truth will.
‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many
dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to
prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I
will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there
you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ (John 14:1-4)
Or, in the Scholars Version of the Jesus Seminar, in heavy black:
Don't give in to your distress. You believe in God, then believe in me too. There are plenty of places to stay in my Father's house. If it weren't true, I would have told you; I'm on my way to make a place ready for you. And if I go to make a place ready for you, I'll return and embrace you. So where I am you can be too. You know where I'm going and you know the way.
(Robert W. Funk et al., The Five Gospels, Polebridge Press/Macmillan, 1993. p. 450)
Which really gets the point across. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid! as the angels said to Mary. The messengers of God are pretty consistent. You only have to be afraid of ... God.
Look at all that stuff about the burning bush and leading the people out of Egypt and the horse and his rider drowned in the sea and all the temptations entertained by the people who wander and all the times God takes them back, like the wife of Hosea who was never faithful but always forgiven.
Trust God. There is no need to be afraid of anything else.
He is like a cleft in the rock, a safe place, in which his hand will cover you, even as he passes by.
‘See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock; and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen.’
(Exodus 33:21-23)
Even as they throw the stones.
Even as the plague lurks, seeking whom it will devour.
Stay safe, people. Stay the course.
And we will bow to each other, and greet each other across a safe distance, or through a window at the hospital, or by means provided by Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison, and Steve Wozniak and all the rest.
Keep the faith. Keep it as we pass through kingdoms of anxiety into strange cities that have awaited us for years. Remember we are not alone, in this time or in all time. Stephen is still praying for us.
Even as we do wrong and turn our backs on the Messiah, only to pick up stones to throw, we are safe, in the cleft of the rock we are hidden, as his glory passes by.
https://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Easter/AEaster5_RCL.html
http://edgeofenclosure.org/easter5a.html
https://episcopalchurch.org/lectionary-calendar
O Lord, from whom all good things do come:
Grant to us thy humble servants, that by thy holy inspiration we may
think those things that be good, and by thy merciful guiding may perform
the same; through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/book-common-prayer/collects-epistles-and-gospels-39 [Readings are St. James 1.22-end and St. John 16.23-end]
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant
us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way,
the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his
steps in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ
your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity
of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
https://bcponline.org/
No comments:
Post a Comment