Timeless Promise

A Reflection on the Psalm for May 31st, 2020:
The Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday

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Psalm 104

R. Lord, send forth your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.

Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great. O Lord, how manifold are your works! The earth is full of your creatures. 

R. Lord, send forth your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.

When you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the earth. 

R. Lord, send forth your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.

May the glory of the Lord endure for-ever; may the Lord rejoice in his works. May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord. 

R. Lord, send forth your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
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Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

This year, I have to admit, I’ve been having a hard time wrapping my mind around what it means to live in the promise of Easter. As Christians, we believe that death has been conquered. But what does that mean amidst so much suffering, so much pain, so much grief, so much death? 

We live in what has been called the already-but-not-yet, where Jesus has already come into the world sharing His message of hope and love for all people and risen from the dead, but all the brokenness of the world has not yet been restored to the way God intended it to be. And it’s a hard place to be. Because this was never really Plan A. God never really meant for us to live in this space where it’s not done yet, where there is still so much pain and suffering. And I think on some level we know it. The ache that is inside of us — the one that pulls us towards beauty and truth and connection — it tells us that we were never really made to live like this, apart from God and apart from one another.

When Jesus appeared to His apostles after His resurrection, I imagine that they were overjoyed. But I also imagine that joy might have quickly turned to sorrow and confusion when He explained that He couldn’t stay, that He had to leave. He then told them that though He had to go, He was never really gone because He was going to send the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to be with them. And that's a promise for all of us, too. The Comforter sits with us as we grapple with the "not yet."

I’ve been following the writer Kate Bowler as she reflects on this particular Easter season. She spoke about the beautiful loop of the story. Easter is a story about the past because it is a story about a particular event, something that Jesus did in the past. But it’s also a promise for the future. One day everything will be restored to the way God intended it to be and there will be no more separation, no more pain. And it’s a story about the present because it’s pulling us towards where we are going.  

We're invited to live our lives in the light of God's love — loving those around us and speaking up for justice where we can. The hope of Easter gives us the courage to believe that God is at work in our world today and that God is still making all things new.  ​




Morgan M.

Photo by Werner Sevenster on Unsplash

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