Wednesday, August 14, 2013

14 August 2013 - distanced yearning

14 August 2013 - distanced yearning

“This is the land
which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
that I would give to their descendants.
I have let you feast your eyes upon it, but you shall not cross over.”

Even this promised land is only a sign prefiguring greater things to come.   The Church is the "Israel of God" (cf. 6:16) and none fully posses it until Jesus establishes it in fullness through his cross and resurrection.

These all died in faith, not having received what was promised, but having seen it and greeted it from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth (Heb 11:13).

Since the time of Moses the LORD has been building our hopes for this "better country" which is "a heavenly one" (cf Heb 11:16).  Our Church is this very heavenly homeland manifested on earth.  It takes faith to recognize heaven in the Church.   Moses only sees the promised land from afar but there is a certain sense in which he does attain it by faith in God's promise.  We see heaven from a distance through the lens of the Church but by our faith we become fully present in the mysteries celebrated before the throne of God.

If this is so then we must recognize the authority he sets over us in this homeland even more so than the people of Israel do for Moses and Joshua in their turn.

Now Joshua, son of Nun, was filled with the spirit of wisdom,
since Moses had laid his hands upon him;
and so the children of Israel gave him their obedience,
thus carrying out the LORD’s command to Moses.

This is a precondition for harmony and order in our life together as the family of God.  That is why Jesus insists that we submit to the authority of the Church, not as our first recourse in misunderstandings and disputes, but as the ultimate authority.

If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church.
If he refuses to listen even to the Church,
then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.

But when we listen to the Church we are able to gather together and agree about the things for which we are to pray.  When we are able to have such unity in our prayer we can claim the promise:

it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them.”

This is the goal toward which God leads his people through history.  Jesus is at the very center of it, meeting all of our needs in his name.  He is in our midst and in his presence every desire is fulfilled.

Come and see the works of God,
his tremendous deeds among the children of Adam.
Bless our God, you peoples; 
loudly sound his praise.

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