How do we proclaim
what we believe?
When, in the Book of Deuteronomy, after forty days in the desert, the people of Israel are about
to enter the Promised Land, Moses reminds them that that, as they reap the
blessings of God, they must bring the
firstfruits of the products of the soil and set them before the Lord. It
is a way for the entire community to proclaim what they believe, to state
explicitly that everything they have, they have from God. God has brought
the people out of Egypt with his strong
hand and outstretched arm; their firstfruits are a gift of thanksgiving,
but also a proclamation of belief. Their
sacrifice will take place in the temple, the site of Psalm 91, which is sung to
recognize that God is our refuge, our
fortress, our shelter, the source of all blessing, especially in times of trouble.
During his forty
days in the desert, Jesus similarly recognizes his complete dependence upon God,
placing absolute trust and confidence in God who, he knows, will deliver
him. One
does not live by bread alone, Jesus tells the devil in Luke’s Gospel. It is a proclamation of Jesus’ belief in God’s
true power, a power grounded not in fear but
in love, a power that will guard the
Son, lest he dash his foot against a
stone. Paul exhorts the Romans to similar faith: if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your
heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Both elements – word and heart – are necessary;
together, they represent a radical shift in identity, operated at the very core
of our being. It is our job to proclaim
that radical shift and to live according to it, grounding our own actions in a
firm belief in God’s love and offering him our firstfruits as acknowledgement of that belief.
This post is based
on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
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