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Friday of the First Week after the Epiphany
Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 8:6-13
Daily Lectionary: Ezekiel 39:1-10, 17-29; Romans 7:21-8:17
Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness.” (1 Kings 8:12)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The descriptions of the Holy of Holies all sound about like what we’d expect if God needed a house. The Ark was a thing of beauty, history, and glory. The gold and the handiwork, the tablets of the Law, the cherubim who guarded it: These sound like God things. These are the things that seem bigger than we are.
But when the Lord shows up, it’s in a cloud of darkness so thick that the priests could not minister there. It covers everything. Those things that seem bigger than we are still can’t save us from darkness. Not the gold, not the Law, not even the angels. So much of our religion consists of trying to figure out why the things we put our trust in don’t deliver us from the dark. So much of our faith is recognizing that the dark is exactly where God puts Himself.
He won’t bind Himself to any one city. He goes with His people wherever they go. The cloud was a sign of it. The Lord makes His home in the darkness. It’s the story of the incarnation and the crucifixion. The suffering servant entered death to pull you out of the tomb even as He rose from the dead. Christianity is the God who enters the darkness to be with you there, that the darkness would not overcome the light that is Jesus. The closer you get to the darkness, the closer you get to the Lord. You don’t need to escape what’s wrong to be near God. You won’t find the Cross in a perfect sunset. You’ll find it where the sun was blotted from the sky. God was in the darkness for you, dying that you would live. Be not afraid of the dark. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. –Rev. Harrison Goodman
Abide with me, fast falls the eventide. The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide. When other helpers fail and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, O abide with me. (Abide With Me, LSB 878:1)
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By Higher Things®Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 8:6-13
Daily Lectionary: Ezekiel 39:1-10, 17-29; Romans 7:21-8:17
Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness.” (1 Kings 8:12)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The descriptions of the Holy of Holies all sound about like what we’d expect if God needed a house. The Ark was a thing of beauty, history, and glory. The gold and the handiwork, the tablets of the Law, the cherubim who guarded it: These sound like God things. These are the things that seem bigger than we are.
But when the Lord shows up, it’s in a cloud of darkness so thick that the priests could not minister there. It covers everything. Those things that seem bigger than we are still can’t save us from darkness. Not the gold, not the Law, not even the angels. So much of our religion consists of trying to figure out why the things we put our trust in don’t deliver us from the dark. So much of our faith is recognizing that the dark is exactly where God puts Himself.
He won’t bind Himself to any one city. He goes with His people wherever they go. The cloud was a sign of it. The Lord makes His home in the darkness. It’s the story of the incarnation and the crucifixion. The suffering servant entered death to pull you out of the tomb even as He rose from the dead. Christianity is the God who enters the darkness to be with you there, that the darkness would not overcome the light that is Jesus. The closer you get to the darkness, the closer you get to the Lord. You don’t need to escape what’s wrong to be near God. You won’t find the Cross in a perfect sunset. You’ll find it where the sun was blotted from the sky. God was in the darkness for you, dying that you would live. Be not afraid of the dark. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. –Rev. Harrison Goodman
Abide with me, fast falls the eventide. The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide. When other helpers fail and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, O abide with me. (Abide With Me, LSB 878:1)