23 April 2013 - where the heart is

23 April 2013 - where the heart is

Glorious things are said of you,
O city of God!

We are invited to make our home in the city of God because here we have no lasting city (cf. Heb 13:14).  The eternal city breaks forth into the world as Church.  In her we see glimpses of the peace and joy in which we are invited to dwell.

And all shall sing, in their festive dance:
“My home is within you.”

But our song is halting and our dance is sporadic and interrupted.  Voices of the world press in.  They tell us to stop along the way before we reach our goal.  They give us reason after reason why we should not dance.  Look at Boston, they say.  Look at Texas.  And so on.  Fortunately the shepherd's voice calls us on to the lasting joy of the eternal city that no earthly tragedy can touch. Even though the world is loud with the insidious tyranny of the immediate we can always hear our shepherd's voice if we just listen.

My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me. 
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. 

Think of all the things about which we are afraid.  Think of the things which, even today, make us nervous or give us anxiety.  Let us place those fears squarely alongside the promise of the shepherd.  Let us make this promise our prayer against are petty fears.

No one can take them out of my hand. 

What do we really have to fear?  Jesus and the Father are united in the love they have for us.  They hold us in their hands and no one can take us from them.

So let us "remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart" and give the world a reason to identify us as Christians just as the disciples at Antioch did.  We can't keep this to ourselves.  It means too much.  There is something which is at best imperfect about any Christianity which won't be shared.  Fortunately, sharing it isn't so difficult.  It doesn't require any complex theology.  It is the proclamation of a person and what his love and friendship means to us.

There were some ... proclaiming the Lord Jesus. 
The hand of the Lord was with them
and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 

We don't even have to worry so much about being convincing.  Let us proclaim Jesus and trust that his hand is with us!  May the prayer of the psalmist by fulfilled:

All you nations, praise the Lord.