Let us Never be Put to Shame - March 22
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 31; PM Psalm 35; Jer. 24:1-10; Rom. 9:19-33; John 9:1-17
Many moons ago, my work and vocation were as an Episcopal Youth Minister. I loved almost every part of it. We played games on Sunday evenings, met on Wednesday nights where we gathered for our own service of worship and our young people would preach and teach. And many weekends and weeks in the summer were spent on retreats and trips. Our church had a biannual overseas pilgrimage, an annual beach trip, ski trip, annual mission trip, and several weekend retreats.
Without reservation, what was always asked of our young people to bring on every trip was their very own Book of Common Prayer. Most had received one as a gift from Confirmation, just as we give our young people (and adults) at Saint Stephen’s. At the end of the day, we would sit in a circle, debrief what we had learned, we would share our moments of awe and wonder, and conclude with the service of Compline from the Book of Common Prayer.
If you are not familiar with Compline, it is part of the Daily Office (we do Morning Prayer and noonday prayer at Saint Stephen’s) and is designed to be read just before bed. This practice was a part of the early monastic communities, and other traditions might call the service ‘Vespers’. The service begins on page 127 and takes about six or seven minutes. It is a lovely way to end the day.
Like all of the services of the Daily Office, the officiant can select a Psalm. I would wager, ninety percent of the time, we would read the first five verses of Psalm 31. This is probably because we didn’t want to read the Psalm that only had two verses nor the option that had way more and five seemed like an appropriate amount of Scripture for people to read. We hear those verses today and they are some of my absolute favorites.
“In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame; *
deliver me in your righteousness.
Incline your ear to me; *
make haste to deliver me.
Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe,
for you are my crag and my stronghold; *
for the sake of your Name, lead me and guide me.
Take me out of the net that they have secretly set for me, *
for you are my tower of strength.
Into your hands I commend my spirit, *
for you have redeemed me,
O Lord, O God of truth.”
As I read those today, I am left wondering what the impact of hearing those words would have been over and over and over. Did hearing words of affirmation and security have an impact on our young people or my own life? How important could it be for us to hear the security of God’s love to guide us, comfort us, and redeem us? What is the benefit of knowing this truth and hearing at the end of each day?
I want to shift gears for just a moment. We have just concluded a powerful series on race and reconciliation at Saint Stephen’s that has brought a number of difficult topics to the table. This weekend, I read an op-ed by David Brooks in the New York Times on a Christian Vision for Social Justice. I identified with Brooks as being hungry for a movement that doesn’t “reduce people to simplistic labels or destroy a career over a bad tweet.” Brooks points to a lot of the storytelling going on in our communities as a healthy model for truth-telling. And I was thinking of just how painful those stories can be to hear such as the story of Emmitt Till that we have dug into the past two Sundays.
For me, the catch seems to be, if we trust God, specifically in the way that the Psalmist does, then we can advocate for love and justice and even reflect in our own role in the brokenness of the world because God promises to protect us, and in the words of Psalm 31, ‘to never let us be put to shame.’ What a hopeful promise! If we trust in this love and security, I bet it much easier to do the hard work of uncovering experiences and truths in a way that God’s love can break through. But we have to know God is there to guide us and redeem us. I know it’s uncomfortable work. Thanks be to God that God will never let us be put to shame. Amen!
John
Questions for Self-Reflection: Are there words that you heard over and over in your life that were comforting and helped you move through difficult times? What about now?
Daily Challenge: Read the piece from David Brooks by clicking here. Do you find his view more challenging or hopeful? Why?