January 27, 2007 - Saturday in the Third Week after Epiphany
From
Higher Things:
“How lovely is thy dwelling place, O LORD of hosts.” (Psalm 84:1)
One Sunday, during the Divine Service, a little bird flew through an open door into the nave. She was our “phoebe in residence,” a lovely dark-headed bird with a lilting chirp that hung around the courtyard. She wasn’t afraid of the school children and seemed to enjoy the company. On this Lord’s Day, she decided to join our congregation, much to the delight of the kids. She darted about, perching here and there in the chancel, her song rising above our chanting.
Psalm 84 came to mind. “Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at Thy altars, O LORD.” She seemed very much at home in the courts of the Lord, as well she should. She was one of the Lord’s creatures too, and for a moment, we caught a little glimpse of Eden’s paradise where man and bird and beast lived in harmony.
How lovely is Thy dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! The psalmist delights in the tabernacle/temple, the place of God’s sacramental presence among His people. Where the Lord dwells, it is a lovely place.
Jesus is the Son of God “tabernacling” among us. He has made our flesh His dwelling place. In Him, God is truly with us. Every Sunday, every Divine Service delights in the promise that where two or three are gathered in the name of Jesus, there He is in their midst, a lovely dwelling place.
Our sinful nature refuses to recognize this. Our souls do not naturally long for the courts of the Lord, nor do our hearts and flesh sing for joy to the living God. According to our sinful natures, we’d rather sleep in on Sunday morning, watch the football game, play soccer, or read the paper. That we long and faint for the courts of the Lord, is the work of the Spirit, stirring up a hunger and thirst for the gifts of Christ.
It’s usually a struggle. Sometimes we have to force ourselves to get up and get ready for worship. Even pastors have days when they’d rather be somewhere else than in the courts of the Lord. But, then we hear those familiar words forgiving our sins. We hear the words of Spirit and life read from the Scriptures and preached from the pulpit. We eat and drink the Body and Blood of our Savior. And we realize that the little “phoebe” that flew into the church one Sunday morning couldn’t have come to a better place.
“For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”