“For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” (Psalm 30:5, NRSV)
In Psalm 30, we experience the dedication of the house of David to the Lord. David extols God for his healing, restoration, and joy (Psalm 30:2-3, 11). He expresses gratitude for being saved from the pits of death and now living as an active participant in a life with God (Psalm 30:9-11). This act of dedicating a physical house to God as an earthly steward of the Spirit of the Lord was common in David’s era. For Christians, however, we must consider not only what it means to dedicate a physical place to cultivating God’s presence but also our lives since, through Christ, we became living houses for God. Last week, I visited the chapel at which Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated in 1980. Considered the “voice of the voiceless,” Bishop Romero died as martyr while working to make God’s kingdom come on earth. Outside the doors of the chapel at Hospital de la Divina Providencia hung a plaque inscribed with 2 Chronicles 7:15-16: “Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer offered in this place. For now I have chosen and sanctified and set apart for My purpose this house that My Name may be here forever, and My eyes and My heart will be here perpetually.” This scripture reminds us that God resides in physical places. However, it also reminds us that each of us is a living house of the Lord with a unique purpose. We, God’s Creation, are stewards of God’s eyes and heart in which the Holy Spirit forever dwells (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). This means that we have a responsibility to dedicate ourselves, like David did with his house, to cultivating the Holy Spirit in our lives. Part of doing this means having open eyes and attentive ears to the cries of our world. We must listen for the weeping, share in God’s anger at injustice, and strive to make joy in the morning a possibility for all of creation – even those weakest of us. Thus, we ask ourselves: Can we recognize the acts of our world with which God would be angry and stand against them? We are the house of the Lord with the power to bring joy. May we do this with open eyes and attentive ears so all of us can be saved from the pit of death. |