Daily Devotions with the Dean
This morning’s Scriptures are: Psalm 89:1-18; Joshua 1:1-9; Ephesians 3:1-13; Matthew 8:5-17
This morning’s Canticles are: Pascha Nostrum (“Christ Our Passover,” BCP, p. 83); following the OT reading, Canticle 9 (“The First Song of Isaiah,” Isaiah 12:2-6, BCP, p. 86); following the Epistle reading, Canticle 19 (“The Song of the Redeemed,” Revelation 15:3-4, BCP, p. 94)
Today’s lesson: It’s not just that I read, but how I read.
Read slowly. “… you shall meditate on it day and night…” — Joshua 1:8. Joshua is given formidable tasks and stupendous promises. And he’s given one principal resource: “all the law that my servant Moses commanded you … this book of the law.” The key to success in the tasks at hand lies in not deviating from what’s in that book. For all the verbal instructions that Yahweh will provide, he has revealed his heart and his mind, and has laid out the shape of relationship with him, in the written word. And that word must be internalized, taken in slowly, and “chewed on” (the literal meaning of the Hebrew word translated “meditate on”).
So, the notion of the word “not depart[ing] out of your mouth” is really quite graphic. Of course, in the abstract, it means “think about it” all the time. But the concrete image is quite vivid: “chew on it,” the way a cow chews its cud, or a dog worries its bone. That sort of reading presupposes reading slowly and reflectively. It calls for committing thoughts and phrases to memory, and rolling them over on the tongue. It means constantly pondering their significance. It does not mean breezing through passages to put a check mark on a to-do list. That’s easy to do in an exercise like the Daily Office. Which is why I often have to make myself slow down, reread, and ask the Lord what I’m supposed to be getting today, as I look for key phrases to jump out and grab me.
It means committing some passages to memory. Good candidates from today’s reading in Joshua are:
“This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful.” (Joshua 1:8)
and:
“I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)
Read, looking for the mystery. “…a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ…” — Ephesians 3:4. Besides reading slowly, today’s passages commend a certain purpose in reading: looking for what God would reveal to you and to me about his Son, and about the way he is making all things new through his Son.
For Paul, there is a twofold “mystery” hidden throughout the Old Testament that is now being revealed for the world. That mystery is Christ and his Church. For example, in the first place, “Joshua” (translated “Jesus” in the Greek Old Testament) pictures ahead of time the One who will bear the same name when he comes to earth to conquer sin and death—as Paul describes the “mystery” in Colossians: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). In the second place, as the nation of Israel enters the Promised Land to become a colony of God’s rule, she depicts in advance Jesus’s Church growing into a house for God’s dwelling (Ephesians 2:22): “the mystery of Christ…that is, the Gentiles have become fellow-heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:4b, 6).
A Christ-filled interpretive imagination can get carried away with itself, of course (early theologians could find Christ’s blood in Rahab’s red rope). But our imaginations can also become dull to the fact that “the ends of the ages” have fallen upon us (1 Corinthians 10:11). We can too easily forget that, at its heart, the whole of the Bible points to Christ. I should read, asking Christ to show himself and what he’s doing to bring people into fellowship with him and with one another. And then for him to show me where I fit in those purposes—even in what lies ahead today.
Read as under authority. Centurion: “For I also am a man under authority” … Jesus: “Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.” — Matthew 8:9a, 10b. Finally, I need to read, expecting marching orders! The centurion, accustomed to responding to superiors who communicated to him through messengers, knew that Jesus, like the centurion’s own superiors, spoke with such authority that Jesus wouldn’t physically need to be some place for his commands to be enforced.
The faithful centurion knew that dutiful messengers don’t speak for themselves. We know that faithful Scripture writers don’t either. When I read them, I need to listen for the voice of their Master and mine. As Peter puts it: “It was not on any human initiative that prophecy came: rather, it was under the compulsion of the Holy Spirit that people spoke as messengers of God” (2 Peter 1:21 REB).
From the Catechism in the Book of Common Prayer.
Q. Why do we call the Holy Scriptures the Word of God?
A. We call them the Word of God because God inspired their human authors and because God still speaks to us through the Bible.
Be blessed this day,
Reggie Kidd+
Sunday Worship
Noonday Prayer
Daily Devotions with the Dean
This morning’s Scriptures are: Psalms 85 & 86; 1 Samuel 2:1-10; Ephesians 2:1-10; Matthew 7:22-27
This morning’s Canticles are: Pascha Nostrum (“Christ Our Passover,” BCP, p. 83); following the OT reading, Canticle 10 (“The Second Song of Isaiah, Isaiah 55:6-11; BCP, p. 86); following the Epistle reading, Canticle 18 (“A Song to the Lamb,” Revelation 4:11; 5:9-10, 13, BCP, p. 93)
I love it every seven weeks when Psalm 85 rolls back around in the Daily Office. Every time, a single verse from this psalm brings everything else going on around me to a halt. I have to pause to take it in once again:
Mercy and truth have met together; *
righteousness and peace have kissed each other (Psalm 85:10).
Think about the wonder of what’s being said here. Deep within the wonder of God’s very being, seeming opposites coalesce. The unbreakable truth of God’s Law meets the tenderness of God’s mercy. The unbending rectitude of his righteous justice kisses the loving peaceability of his heart. He must judge rightly, and he loves endlessly. The Bible, then, as a whole turns out to be a telling of the epic of this dynamic—this “meeting” and this “kissing”—as it is played out on the world stage, culminating at the cross of Calvary. There truth and mercy meet. There righteousness and peace kiss. There, as the apostle Paul puts it, God shows himself to be “just and justifier” (Romans 3:26).
This verse from Psalm 85 reminds me of the 18th century Welsh hymn, “Here is love,” which includes this verse:
On the mount of crucifixion fountains opened deep and wide;
through the floodgates of God’s mercy flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers, poured incessant from above,
and heaven’s peace and perfect justice kissed a guilty world in love.
What an arresting line, that last one: “Heaven’s peace and perfect justice kissed a guilty world in love.”
“Here Is Love,” at “The Event Without Walls,” Exeter Showground, 1995
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZJmTVdDyLY
“Here Is Love,” sung by Matt Redman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTOP304FOG0
Ephesians 2 finds the apostle Paul reveling, in the first place, in the way that the walking dead—unworthy sinners, all—have been, out of the richness of God’s mercy, made alive in Christ. Indeed, they have been raised up and seated in the heavenly places right alongside the ascended ruling Christ (Ephesians 2:1-10, today’s epistle reading). In the second place, Ephesians 2 shows Paul glorying over the way that formerly alienated people—Jew and Gentile—have been made one, since Christ has become their peace (Ephesians 2:11-21, tomorrow’s epistle reading). Truth and mercy. Righteousness and peace.
Accordingly, at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, in our gospel reading, Jesus urges (I paraphrase): “build your life on the solid rock of this truth, not on the sand of your own machinations and strivings. Don’t think you can approximate God’s righteousness on your own merit. Don’t think you can presume to find mercy apart from ‘my blood of the covenant’ (Matthew 26:28). Take the whole package deal. Take me,” he says, “because in me, mercy and truth meet. Take me, because in me, righteousness and peace kiss. Take me, because in me, heaven’s peace and perfect justice kissed a guilty world in love.”
Be blessed this day.
Reggie Kidd+
Noonday Prayer
Our Plan to Resume In-Person Worship
Dear Ones,
I am writing to update you on the Cathedral’s plans to reopen in the coming days. All of us at the Cathedral want to return to our normal schedule of worship services as quickly as possible. We want to gather to experience the “beauty of holiness,” but we also need to safeguard our congregation to the best of our ability.
Right now in Phase 1 of reopening, requirements for resuming in-person worship are profoundly restrictive: everyone—clergy, altar party and congregants, must be masked, observe strict social distancing (6 feet), refrain from any kind of touch, and, at the strong recommendation of choir directors around the country, refrain entirely from congregational singing; at Communion, only bread may be distributed. In the short run, we would be unable to offer nursery, Sunday School, children’s church, between-service classes, or post-service coffee hour. Seating capacity in the Cathedral would be severely limited, and restroom use would be restricted.
Given these considerations, as of today, May 21st, here is our plan (subject to change based on safety):
We plan to resume our normal schedule of in-person Sunday worship services mid-July. In the meantime, we continue online services at 10:15 on Sunday mornings.
In addition, beginning the first week of June, we plan to open the Cathedral for Midday Eucharist on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, with appropriate safety precautions in place. Noonday Prayer will continue online (Monday, Thursday, and Friday), but we plan to stream the Eucharist on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. If you cannot come to the Cathedral for those services, we invite you to view them online and partake with us spiritually.
Also, the Church Office will reopen beginning Tuesday June 2. Hours through June will be Tuesday through Thursday, 10 am to 3 pm, and Fridays, 10 am to noon.
This plan emerged with prayerful consideration and after extensive consultation with Cathedral clergy, staff, the Chapter, and many of you over the past few weeks. The factors influencing this decision center around the Cathedral being a welcoming, safe, and inviting place where everyone can experience “the beauty of holiness.”
I am very grateful for your patience. I am grateful for how many of you have told us how meaningful the online services are. We know they are not the same as being together in the Cathedral. We know there are going to have to be adjustments when we return: “normal” will likely be different. Now, however, we are thankful for the opportunity to offer worship to a wider reach beyond our own doors, and to join our hearts in worship with those near and far: our Cathedral family, friends, and those who are just now discovering the Cathedral.
Finally, I am asking for your help in a particular way. As we move closer to resuming in-person worship, the Cathedral will need an army of volunteers, to undertake the cleaning and hospitality necessary for maintaining a welcoming, safe, and clean worship environment. If you would like to help, please email Anne Michels (amichels@stlukescathedral.org).
We’ll send a further update with more detailed information soon. Looking forward….
With much love,
Reggie Kidd, Dean
rkidd@stlukescathedral.org
Daily Devotions with the Dean
This morning’s Scriptures are: Psalms 8 & 47; Daniel 7:9-14; Hebrews 2:5-18; Matthew 28:16-20
This morning’s Canticles are: Pascha Nostrum (“Christ Our Passover,” BCP, p. 83); following the OT reading, Canticle 8 (“The Song of Moses,” Exodus 15, BCP, p. 85); following the Epistle reading, Canticle 19 (“The Song of the Redeemed,” Revelation 15:3-4, BCP, p. 94)
You give him mastery over the works of your hands; you put all things under his feet. — Psalm 8:7. The majesty of the heavens makes David, in Psalm 8, ponder the wonder of the Lord’s having put us humans at the pinnacle of creation. David is in awe of the status that we have been given—crowned with glory and honor, overseers of a dominion where everything is life, no death; cooperative effort, minus coercion or corruption; productivity without waste.
I love the way the artist Ari Gradus (www.ari-gradus.com) imagines our relationship with the creation in his painting Spirit - Creation. The form of Adam emerges from the ground. His posture is one of wondrous praise. It’s as though all earth’s plenitude streams out from him, or at least revolves around him—as though the glory of image-bearing flows out with its own creative, life-giving energy. Even though that’s an inversion of the order of the Genesis account, it captures the biblical logic of humans being the fulcrum and crown of creation.
And yet…
As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them… — Hebrews 2:8b. Perhaps one of the greatest understatements of all time. The writer to the Hebrews takes up Psalm 8’s celebration of the dignified place of humans in the scheme of things. But he notes that what we see—what we experience—is not what Psalm 8 envisions. As it is, we don’t see humans large-and-in-charge. As it is, we don’t see humans proudly reflecting the glory. As it is, we don’t see ourselves here and now as lords and ladies of God’s creatures.
In a second painting, titled Paradise Lost, Ari Gradus captures this “As it is…” insight. No, since the Garden, “we do not see everything in subjection to him.” Instead, the bitter fruit of the bite from the forbidden fruit leaves us cringing and fleeing for shelter. Creation devolves into a serpentine swirl of threatening globs, all of them indistinct, except for the ones in the shape of the forbidden fruit. Adam and Eve have dropped the fruit with the missing bite to the ground, where it lies at the front of the painting. Several forbidden fruit seem to chase the unhappy couple down, threatening to rain down upon them.
“As it is,” indeed. We are supposed to be the crown of creation. But here we are, trying to protect ourselves from an ironically named coronavirus, “corona” being the Latin word from which we get “crown.” Originally, “corona” meant a “wreath” of honor or “garland” of majesty. The microscopic coronavirus is covered with super-microscopic crowns. When the coronavirus invisibly invades our being, it connects itself to our lungs with those grabby crowns, so it can claim us and kill us. It’s brought our economy to its knees. It’s made us mask ourselves from one another and has caused us to be fearful of getting within six feet of each other. Even the confinement it has forced on us has led to things like increased domestic violence and substance abuse. The helplessness we feel, the sense of attack we experience—they are a parable of what it is to live with “Paradise Lost.”
…but we do see Jesus… — Hebrews 2:9a. Then again, this is Ascension Day. And the writer to the Hebrews doesn’t quote Psalm 8 to push us further into despair. He wants us to look up and see that at the right hand of the Father sits Jesus. There in advance of us is our Champion—once “made lower than the angels” and “suffering…death and tasting death for everyone,” now “crowned with glory and honor [also] for us” (Hebrews 2:9). He is there because paradise has been regained.
There, according to the writer to the Hebrews, quoting Psalm 22:22, he proclaims the Father’s name to us, a name of holy blessing (Hebrews 2:12; and see Numbers 6:23-27). And there, according to the same psalm, he sings a hymn of praise to the Father (Hebrews 2:12). He proclaims the truth that our sins have been atoned for, “our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22). He sings us out of shame and into his fellowship as his brothers and sisters (Hebrews 2:11). He announces—and loudly, I submit!—that he has “destroy[ed] the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free[d] those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death” (v. 15). As “merciful and faithful high priest,” he tunes our voices for the singing of praise to the Father who has provided complete atonement and timely help (2:18; see also 4:16).
Collect of the Day: Ascension Day. Almighty God, whose blessed Son our Savior Jesus Christ ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things: Mercifully give us faith to perceive that, according to his promise, he abides with his Church on earth, even to the end of the ages; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Be blessed this day.
Reggie Kidd+
Noonday Prayer
Daily Devotions with the Dean
This morning’s Scriptures are: Psalm 78:1-39; Leviticus 26:1-20; 1 Timothy 2:1-6; Matthew 13:18-23
This morning’s Canticles are: 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)
From the depths to the heights today!
Dark days ahead for a failed Israel. Leviticus’s perspective is that Israel’s failure in her call to be a kingdom of priests and a light to the nations is inevitable. Israel’s life would be a colossal exercise in reductio ad absurdum—exile would be the absurd end of the God-rejecting logic of their lives. Called to make human life flourish, they would become cannibals. Called to cultivate worship of the true and living God, their carcasses would be piled upon the carcasses of their idols. Called to give the land rest, they would be forced into a frenzied fleeing from enemies (real and imagined) so, yes, the land could rest from them.
This is excruciating material. Small wonder the entire drift of modernity has been to project a different image up into the heavens—an image that looks like the best and the kindest that we can imagine in ourselves—and then call that projected image “God.” From Ludwig Feuerbach’s “God is the infinity of our own nature” to Eric Fromm’s “humanistic god”—though not everyone is especially honest about it—especially the theologians who mask it under other names, like Paul Tillich’s “Ultimate Concern.” Then again, it’s not a uniquely modern project. In the second century, the heretic Marcion erroneously rejected the Old Testament God of Vengeance (whose voice we hear especially strongly here in Leviticus 26), and replaced him with the New Testament God of Love.
One True Israelite. Indeed, a passage like today’s from Leviticus 26 would be the most depressing, nightmarish of scenarios, were it not for the fact that One True Israelite would, in time, answer the call to circumcise His heart (see Leviticus 26:41). The “circumcision of Christ” (see Colossians 2:11) would begin in the waters of the River Jordan—a symbolic drowning, and a second crossing of the Jordan into the Promised Land. The circumcision of Christ would become complete when this One True Israelite would humble himself (again, Leviticus 26:41) to the indignity of a cruel Roman cross, and thereby “make amends for their iniquity” (once more, Leviticus 26:41). What’s more, that True Israelite—Son of their greatest king—would also be the embodiment of Yahweh himself, David’s Lord (Psalm 110:1). So, what he would accomplish, he would accomplish perfectly—on behalf of us, and on behalf of God (Matthew 22:41-45).
All of this happens in the New Testament, not by its authors refashioning God, but by their taking with utmost seriousness the full force of the language of God’s “fury” against sin and “abhorrence” of everything in us that finds sin so delightful. Against that evil, the New Testament sees God waging perfect warfare—Himself plunging into drowning waters of purgation, nailing our offenses to a cross, and one ultimately, of His own making (Colossians 2:14).
Savoring the victory. Paul writes his letter to the Ephesians in the wake of the realization that Israel’s failure had led to her greatest glory: bearing to the world the mystery the “glorious grace that [our God and Father] freely bestowed on us in the Beloved … redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.” This rich treasure, “as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”
It’s only in recognizing the terrifying, blazing fury of God against sin which Moses records in Leviticus 26 that we are able, with the apostle Paul in Ephesians 1, to appreciate the beauty of who Christ is and the magnitude of what he has done to bring us into a restored relationship with God. May his name be forever praised.
Collect for the Sixth Sunday of Easter. O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Be blessed this day.
Reggie Kidd+