Epiphany 2 / Ordinary Time 2
Devotional
Water From the Rock
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle C
Object:
For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest....
-- Isaiah 62:1
Given the seemingly intractable violence of the Middle East, this prophecy has a hauntingly unfulfilled promise. If Jerusalem is the city of peace, its history seems to belie its name. God promises not to rest until "her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch." Therefore, we know that God is not resting but still is at work in our world seeking to bring about shalom. This is a promise not only for Jerusalem but also for the world as well. "The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory...." The fulfillment of the promise to Zion will become an emblem of hope for the world. In the interim, however, believers live in a tension between the hope of the promise of shalom and the violent reality that we experience. In troubled Jerusalem, we see the struggle of faith. We want to trust in the promises of God, but the world around us seems to defy God's intent.
The church becomes a provisional Jerusalem. Its chaotic life can cause its members to feel forsaken and the land of their faith to seem desolate. Just as we are ready to give in to despair, we discover again that God's delight is in us, and there is a mystical sense of the unity of God and creation that suggests that God is married to the earth. Jerusalem becomes the window through which we seek to glimpse the marriage of eternity and time. If we restrict our vision to the limits of our time-bound life, we often find ourselves giving in to despair. If through the experience of the church and the promise of scripture we allow ourselves to glimpse eternity, we hear again the hope that sings, "as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you."
-- Isaiah 62:1
Given the seemingly intractable violence of the Middle East, this prophecy has a hauntingly unfulfilled promise. If Jerusalem is the city of peace, its history seems to belie its name. God promises not to rest until "her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch." Therefore, we know that God is not resting but still is at work in our world seeking to bring about shalom. This is a promise not only for Jerusalem but also for the world as well. "The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory...." The fulfillment of the promise to Zion will become an emblem of hope for the world. In the interim, however, believers live in a tension between the hope of the promise of shalom and the violent reality that we experience. In troubled Jerusalem, we see the struggle of faith. We want to trust in the promises of God, but the world around us seems to defy God's intent.
The church becomes a provisional Jerusalem. Its chaotic life can cause its members to feel forsaken and the land of their faith to seem desolate. Just as we are ready to give in to despair, we discover again that God's delight is in us, and there is a mystical sense of the unity of God and creation that suggests that God is married to the earth. Jerusalem becomes the window through which we seek to glimpse the marriage of eternity and time. If we restrict our vision to the limits of our time-bound life, we often find ourselves giving in to despair. If through the experience of the church and the promise of scripture we allow ourselves to glimpse eternity, we hear again the hope that sings, "as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you."
