Above: The Tabernacle in the Wilderness
Image in the Public Domain
The Glory of the Lord, Part II
JUNE 3, 2019
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The Collect:
O God, form the minds of your faithful people into one will.
Make us love what you command and desire what you promise,
that, amid all changes of this world, our hearts
may be fixed where true joy is found,
Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 35
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The Assigned Readings:
Exodus 40:16-38
Psalm 29
Acts 16:35-40
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And in the temple of the LORD
all are crying, “Glory!”
–Psalm 29:9, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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The Presence/glory of God was manifest as a cloud in the Tent of Meeting in Exodus 40.
In Acts 16 the Presence/glory of God worked through Sts. Paul and Silas at Philippi, where they delivered a young woman from exploitation, found themselves incarcerated on false allegations of disturbing the peace, and evangelized their jailer and his family before spending time with the church in the city.
We encounter the Presence/glory of God in many places, such as nature, scripture, sacred places, and our fellow human beings. Often we meet the Presence/glory of God in people quite different from ourselves. Do we welcome this reality or do we fall back on tribal identities? Do we hold fast to divine glory or do we exchange it for a lesser glory?
We might choose a lesser glory without being malevolent. Acts 16:16-19 is clear that those who profited from a slave girl with a spirit of divination (until St. Paul the Apostle exorcised her) were greedy and had exploited her. Many others, however, simply have spiritual blind spots and proceed from false assumptions. They do not know what they are really doing. That description applies to most people at least partially, does it not? Fortunately, grace is available. Will we accept it?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 8, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT THORFINN OF HAMAR, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF GALILEO GALILEI, SCIENTIST
THE FEAST OF HARRIET BEDELL, EPISCOPAL DEACONESS
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2016/01/08/the-glory-of-the-lord-part-ii/
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