Outside the walls of comfort and safety – February 8
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 78:1-39; PM Psalm 78:40-72, Gen. 26:1-6,12-33; Heb. 13:17-25; John 7:53-8:11
Have you ever read something, thought you comprehended it, and upon careful review, you realize that you totally missed the point of the message? Maybe it was a complex thought. Maybe it sounded familiar. Maybe it was so foreign that the only thing your brain perceived was white noise. No? Just me on this one? Well, here’s what happens to me: I dig further and slow down, as I realize there is much more going on to absorb and ponder.
The last chapter of Hebrews has several spaces like that for me. In this closing charge in a motivational speech, the preacher adjures the ministers to keep loving those within and outside the Christian community, and living upright lives regarding marriage, money, power, prayer, and faith. These leaders in the early church are reminded about the ancient rite when gifts of sacrifice are presented at the altar of God: when animal sacrifices are offered for the expiation of sins, those gifts are burned outside the perimeter of the city rather than being consumed by anyone (Hebrews 13:10-11). (This level of detail feels akin to the tour at Disney World where you go behind the scenes to see the magic behind the curtain!)
Here’s what is next in Hebrews: “Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the city gate in order to sanctify the people by his own blood. Let us then go to him outside the camp and bear the abuse he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come” (v. 12-14). Rather than rush through, I slow down on these words. Jesus went outside the walls of the city to Golgotha – the place of the skull – and died for our sins, sanctifying all people by his blood. That is what we remember each year during Holy Week, in the days leading up to Easter. The preacher’s call in Hebrews is for all priests to do the same – go outside the camp as a part of our ministry. To leave the safety of our homes. To take risks. And sometimes that looks like suffering or taking heat and facing criticism as Jesus did. And why do we do this? It was modeled for us by Jesus, and then we look to verse 14: we have no lasting city or safety in this world. There is much suffering and hardship. We are looking for the city that is to come, Zion, filled with the grace of God.
In the Episcopal church, we remember today a monastic from Africa. Her name was Josephine Margaret Bakhita and she lived from about 1869 until February 9, 1947. Reading a summary of her life and ministry, I was struck by the suffering in her life. The hardship she faced. She had no lasting city or safety in this world. She was born in Darfur, one of seven children. When she was about eight years old, Arab slave traders came into her village (in what is now western Sudan) and abducted her. She was made to walk barefooted for hundreds of miles across the rugged terrain, being sold multiple times. The suffering damaged her body and psyche – to the point that she forgot her name. In her sixteenth year, her current owners escaped Sudan due to war and unrest, and settled in Italy. She was given to the monastics in Venice, a group called the Canossian Sisters. At the age of 20, an Italian court determined she had never been a slave legally. She chose to stay with the Canossian Sisters and was baptized, receiving the names Josephine Margaret and Fortunata. Josephine took vows to join the sisters in 1896. She was known for her calm, kind, and welcoming demeanor, always with a smile. She had a special glow about her. It is written that Josephine’s story reminds us that transformation can come through suffering. She was delivered from slavery and considered herself lucky through it all. Today, she is venerated as a modern African saint, held as the patron saint of Sudan and human trafficking survivors.
As I hold in tension the testament of faith from Josephine Margaret Bakhita and this letter to the Hebrews, our faith sometimes puts us in spaces of peril, and sometimes our faith in God sustains us through hardship thrust upon us. Hebrews is written to priests leading congregations in the early days of the Church. Does this mean that this epistle of the New Testament only applies to ministers and pastors today? Well, the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians offers guidance to those in the coastal trading village, and yet we read them, too. These words are in the Holy Scriptures for all to read, mark, and inwardly digest. The letter to the Hebrews is intended to guide and inspire all people. Remembering our baptism, we are joined into the priesthood of all believers as we are washed clean of sin. All of us are called to live into this wild and wonderful walk of faithfulness. It is risky. It is hard. It is something we do with Jesus, and alongside others. For the glory of God.
- Katherine+
Questions for Reflection
What are some times of suffering that have shaped you? How and where do you see Jesus in these hard times?
How willing are you to take risks for faith?
Daily Challenge
Think about a time of suffering in your life. Take ten minutes to reflect and then journal about that time. What have you learned? Where was God for you? Share this story with someone you trust.