Friday, April 1, 2022
Restoration
An excerpt from Psalm 126 (NRSV)
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy.
Reflection from The Rev. Jenny Hulen,
St Simon’s Episcopal Church:
A bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching.
Injustice is soul-crushing. It is soul-crushing to experience and to watch, especially when I don’t know how to address it. So much seems so big that I feel overwhelmed.And then, of course, I do nothing.
But this leader is being faithful (i.e. doing what he is supposed to do) in creating justice. This servant is carrying out the actions for which he was anointed, and he doesn’t get tired or overwhelmed until it’s done. His super-human stamina is a reminder to me of my own limits, but also of the unlimited compassion and consuming concern for justice embodied in Jesus Christ, the one to whom Christians believe this scripture points.
As we step into this Holy Week, I’m reminded that Jesus is going to grow very faint and, indeed, be crushed by the time it’s all said and done. And I wonder how his earthly life established the promised justice before his unjust execution. Perhaps it was simply demonstrating to us that there are some things worth dying for. Perhaps it was that he handed off the justice-making baton to these sometimes thick-headed disciples, and they handed it off to us. I don’t know and I sometimes grow faint trying to figure that out.I do know that you and I are called to that same faithful, Jesus-following justice work. The dimly burning wick of our world is waiting.
The altar cross in St Simon’s Episcopal Church
For further study and prayer, the readings assigned for today are:
Psalm 126; Isaiah 43:8-15; Philippians 2:25-3:1
MUSIC
“Clap Your Hands”
arr. Greg Scheer,
sung by the StGs quartet
Clap your hands, all you nations -
shout to God, sing to the Lord most high!