Eastertide
May 17, 2014

Scripture Reading: Psalm 31 

My times are in your hand;
   deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
Let your face shine upon your servant;
   save me in your steadfast love.  — Psalm 31: 15-16

In the childhood of our faith, we often pray for God’s presence to shine upon us, and take care of us. A practice most of us continue throughout our lives. It is the beginning of faith. I broadened the lectionary reading for today to include all of Psalm 31 because it goes on to describe the maturing of faith as in verse 22 where the Psalmist prays blessings upon the Lord for showing his steadfast love at a time of fear. What we see is an ever deepening relationship between the Psalmist and God.

As I write this, some 260 Nigerian school girls, Christians, have been abducted by radical Muslims to be used as pawns in the battle for power in that country. A picture has been released showing several of them now dressed in traditional Muslim clothing with only their faces showing. Face after face depicts only pure shock. They are apparently being brainwashed and forced to make the frightening choice of renouncing their faith or unknown, but surely dire, consequences, for example being sold as child brides.

We surely grieve God greatly when we, the faith descendants of Abraham, carry forward hate-filled and retaliatory actions. The Muslims want their brothers returned to them who have been taken as prisoners of war. How do we heal such deep and ancient wounds so that all of God’s children can live together as one and be a blessing to each other?

The answer is in our Psalm today. We must be able to let God’s face shine upon us in our proper role of servant. When all of us on all sides can relinquish our prejudices to God and let God’s steadfast love flow through us to each other, we will rejoice in God’s presence. In the meantime, we must build bridges of understanding and communications that dispel fears and increases mutual respect, letting that respect grow into love. Impossible, I believe, without the abiding grace and guidance of the God of love.

Prayer: O, Love that will not let us go, let your love flow through and among us and our leaders in government so that these precious lives can be saved and we can grow in your love so that these type reprisals never happen again. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.