Tuesday • 4/16/2024 •
Tuesday of the 3rd Week of Easter
This morning’s Scriptures are: Psalm 26; Psalm 28; Exodus 19:1-16; Colossians 1:1-14; Matthew 3:7-12
This morning’s Canticles are: before the Psalm reading, Pascha Nostrum(“Christ Our Passover,” BCP, p. 83); following the OT reading, Canticle 13 (“A Song of Praise,” BCP, p. 90);following the Epistle reading, Canticle 18 (“A Song to the Lamb,” Revelation 4:11; 5:9–10, 13, BCP, p. 93)
Today is Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter
…how I bore you on eagles’ wings…— Exodus 19:4. What a gorgeous and poetic way to look back on the rescue from Egyptian bondage—the Angel of Death “passing over” the Israelites’ homes, the crossing of the Red Sea on dry ground under the protection of the Angel of the Lord and the Pillar of Cloud, and the provision of manna and quail during the (thus far) three month journey through the wilderness.
How can we interpret the Lord’s working in our own lives as his “bearing us up on eagles’ wings”?
…my treasured possession…—Exodus 19:5. We may not be sure how to think of ourselves as personally “treasured.” Are we even supposed to do so? After all, “treasured possession” here in Exodus is a collective, not an individualistic, concept. Still, God surely doesn’t just love the whole without loving the parts.
So, it’s legitimate for each of us to ask how we can think of ourselves as “treasured.”
…a priestly kingdom & a holy nation…— Exodus 19:6. The mediatorial work that the nation witnesses Moses doing for them is what the Lord is calling them to do for the world. Moses goes up the mountain to listen to the Lord on the people’s behalf, then brings those words to the people. They answer that they will obey. Moses returns to the Lord with their response, and the Lord sends him back with instructions to prepare themselves for his coming.
This is a picture of Israel’s distinct calling in the world—to be “set apart” (which is the root meaning of “holy”) in order to bring the rest of the world into the presence of the Lord by prayer in worship, to listen to the Lord on the world’s behalf, and to bring the Lord’s words to the world in hopes of a response to his call and his love.
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This is why Christians are a people of prayer. We do not meaninglessly toss out verbiage of vague “thoughts and prayers.” We earnestly and tearfully agonize before the Lord. We seek divine relief for the misery and suffering, the lostness and confusion, the wrong-headedness and stubborn-heartedness that plagues the human race. As part of God’s priestly kingdom, we plead for the Lord once again to provide “eagles’ wings” rescue for people under the dominion of powers hostile to their souls and bodies.
Who needs my intercession today?
…we have not ceased praying for you…— Colossians 1:9. In another happy pairing, the Daily Office invites us to read through Paul’s letter to the Colossians during this week in which we reflect on Israel’s “mountain top” experience at Mt. Sinai in Exodus. This epistle is its own “mountain top” experience. Paul himself is persuaded that these new believers have been rescued from hostile powers by arms lifted on a cross. These Colossian Christians have been transferred into the Kingdom of God’s dear Son (Colossians 2:15; 1:14). Thus, they are able to set their minds on things above where Christ is, and where their lives are hidden with him (Colossians 3:1-4).
Throughout this gem of a letter, Paul helps Christians living in Colossae, an out-of-the-way, insignificant town in southwestern Asia Minor, to realize the powerful reach of their lives. They participate in making known the mystery of God’s reclamation of the human race through Christ: “the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator, where there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!” (Colossians 3:10-11 NRSV, slightly edited). It’s a thrilling perspective.
What is especially wonderful to see is the way Paul keynotes his epistle with prayer. It was quite standard in first-century letter writing to begin a letter with a brief prayer for the health and well-being of the person being addressed. But Paul expands this custom with generous thanksgiving for his readers, and then with a deep prayer for God to implant a knowledge, impart a wisdom, and instill a confidence for obedience beyond what Paul’s own words can convey.
For what do I need to give thanks today? And for what do I need a deeper wisdom to know how to live?
Be blessed this day.
Reggie Kidd+