Awe and wonder – that is the theme that jumped out at me in today’s
readings. I can imagine the awe and
wonder that went through the minds of those assembled who heard Ezra and who
heard Jesus read God's holy word from the scroll. Maybe it's because we live in a modern era where we're so used to computers,
scientific knowledge, and special affects that it takes a lot for us to feel awe
and wonder in our lives.
I remember when my good friend Suzan Cox, the liturgist from St
Richard parish in Jackson, came with me up to St Mary’s for the first time. When we entered the church and saw the
sunlight come through the beautiful yellow stained glass windows, she just could
not believe the beauty of this church. I
had the same reaction when I first walked into our church as well – I really
felt God’s presence there.
Like the awe Suzan Cox and I felt at entering our church for the very
first time, the people of ancient Israel responded in awe and wonder to the
word of God that Jesus and Ezra proclaimed. Almost 6 centuries before Christ's birth, the Temple was destroyed
& the people of Israel were deported to Babylon, leaving only a few
peasants behind in Jerusalem. After more than 50 years of captivity they were allowed to return,
even though by this time most of the survivors had been born in Babylon and had
never before seen Jerusalem. The priest Ezra led a caravan across the desert, arriving in a city
in ruins. Imagine what we still face trying to continue to rebuild New Orleans
after Katrina, or the situation Haiti still faces with hundreds of thousands of
people still homeless after the earthquake there a few years ago, and we can only
imagine what a task they had. They rebuilt the city and the Temple, but the rebuilding effort was
not the entire story. From day break until mid-day, Ezra stood on a platform, reading and
interpreting God's word from a scroll in front of a great crowd. A new era had begun for the people of Israel: a reconstructed Temple
for worship, a rebuilt city to live in, and the rediscovery of the Word of God
as their foundation.
To the ancient Jews, especially to those who had come back from exile
in Babylon, God's word and God's laws were seen not only as the ultimate
authority, but as the center of life. God's word was not a hindrance or a restriction – it was essential to
life itself.
We see God's word & God's law playing the same role in the
community more than 500 years after Ezra as Jesus proclaims this holy word in
the synagogue. Like Ezra returning to his home in Jerusalem after the exile, Jesus
returns to his homeland in Galilee after being baptized & spending time in
prayer. Jesus reads from the scroll of Isaiah, written during the time of the
Babylonian exile. Jesus declares that the Lord has sent him to bring glad tiding to the
poor, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim a time of favor from the Lord. Both Ezra and Jesus bring new life to their communities, but Jesus'
mission is so much more in inaugurating a new era in God's plan of salvation. Jesus proclaims that he has come to restore sight to the blind, which
also means understanding to the unenlightened. Yet, much of the story of the Gospels is how so many people rejected
this new understanding or insight that Jesus brings.
In reading from the scroll of Isaiah to the people, Jesus brought
God's word to the here and now as he was living out and fulfilling the prophecy
of Isaiah. If we really believe Jesus' liberating message in the new sight and
new understanding that it brings to our world, what difference should that make
to us in lives? Today's readings from Luke and Nehemiah take place in the
proclamation of God's word in liturgical settings. How do we approach the presence of God and the presence of his word
when we come to mass and other liturgical celebrations? Do we come with a sense of awe and wonder, of respect and reverence,
or is it just one of our obligations or mundane activities? Coming to church should be something very special to us: entering
this worship space, hearing God's word proclaimed, receiving the Body of Christ
in the Eucharist – all of this should
touch our hearts and our souls like nothing else in our lives. It should stir a sense of awe & wonder in our lives. These readings today give us a lot to think about in how we approach
God in our lives and in how we see his presence in our midst.
No comments:
Post a Comment