Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished. But because our ancestors had angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia.”
NL Daily Devotion for Thursday, December 19, 2019
by R. Fergus Moir, Clergy Stuff
The Babylonian occupiers in Jerusalem wanted to know just who had given clearance for the temple to be rebuilt. They asked the builders for their names, but the builders were smarter than that. They went over the heads of the local government and straight to King Darius, whose predecessor (and father-in-law) King Cyrus the Great, had given them permission to rebuild the temple.
Yet even in their letter to Darius, they did not identify themselves by name, but simply by their relationship to God. Possibly this was for self-protection, but I would like to consider that it was more than that. They named themselves servants of the God of heaven and earth. This connection to God was what mattered, their identity as members of God’s beloved people. They did not seek any distinction for themselves, other than membership in a sacred community.
We, too, are each members of a sacred community, the Body of Christ. We ought not look to find ways to distinguish ourselves, to show off for the gain of status. Instead, we can proclaim ourselves servants of the God of heaven and earth.
How do my words and actions proclaim God rather than self? human being what will become central to their identity. To be called by name is to be claimed in love.
I remember when my daughter was born, after a fairly horrific labor and 5am c-section. The moment I was told she was a girl and saw her for the first time, I literally cried, “Oh! Eiledon! Hi, Eiledon!” She and her name became one to me.
There is something so beautiful and powerful about being called by name. And God does this. He calls not only his beloved people as a whole by name, but each and every one of us individually, speaking us into existence, welcoming us with inexpressible love.
Mother/Father God, you have called me by name and I belong to you. Amen.
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