This morning’s Scriptures are: Psalm 105:1-22; Exodus 24:1-18; Colossians 2:8-23; Matthew 412-17
This morning’s Canticles are: Pascha Nostrum (“Christ Our Passover,” BCP, p. 83); following the OT reading, Canticle 11 (“The Second Song of Isaiah, Isaiah 55:6-11; BCP, p. 86); following the Epistle reading, Canticle 18 (“A Song to the Lamb,” Revelation 4:11; 5:9-10, 13, BCP, p. 93)
Exodus 24 is a central passage in all of Scripture. Here in a worship service at the base of Mt. Sinai, God binds to himself in covenant the people he has redeemed. He briefly opens a window into the heart of worship, and from this passage we draw vital principles for worship. In fact, this passage accounts for why we do much of what we do in our worship at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke.
Worship has a script. It’s not free form.Worship happens at God’s own invitation, and on his terms. Yahweh, the redeeming God of Israel has brought this people out of Egypt for fellowship with himself. He has promised to make them a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, and through them to bless the entirety of the human race. And so he is calling the shots.
The Lord calls for the placing of twelve pillars to represent the tribes, and for the building of an altar for sacrifice. He orchestrates the readings and the sacrifices, and twice he evokes from the people, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do….” In the same spirit, our worship is governed by The Book of Common Prayer, an attempt to capture biblical principles for worship. In a nutshell, those principles are: we gather in God’s holy presence; we proclaim his Holy Word; we feast at the Table of the Lord; and we are sent into the world for ministry.
Worship consists of a ministry of word…Twice on this holy mountain there is a generous reading of God’s Word: “all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances” (Exodus 24:3) … “Then he took the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people” (Exodus 24:7). That reading likely consisted of the “Ten Words” that had been delivered to Moses in Exodus 20, plus the unpacking of the “Ten Words” in Exodus 21-23. There the deep principles of loving God and loving neighbor had been applied to various situations, like treating slaves justly, dealing with violent crime, providing restitution in cases of theft or accidental harm, caring for the poor.
In worship, we attend diligently to God’s Holy Word because we are determined to honor him in our lives. Then, in response to his Word, we recite the Nicene Creed, the faith that all believers hold together. There we are adding our own: “All that the Lord has spoken….”
…and a ministry of sacred action.Symbolic actions in this passage include “Burnt offerings” … “offerings of well-being” (literally, “peace offerings”) … “blood dashed against the altar” … “blood dashed on the people.” It all culminates in this extraordinary phenomenon: “Also they beheld God, and they ate and drank.” By God’s mysterious economy, “the blood of the covenant” (Exodus 24:7) does two things. First, it averts deserved judgment. Second, it establishes divine fellowship. And that fellowship climaxes in a shared meal in the very presence of God.
At his Last Supper with his disciples, Jesus recalls this Mt. Sinai experience when he says “this is my blood of the covenant” (Matthew 26:28). With these words in our celebration of Eucharist, we place ourselves at the foot of the holy mountain, sharing with one another the sacred meal, hosted by the mediator of the New Covenant.
During this bizarre pandemic season, in our worship at the Cathedral we have been relying on the Ministry of the Word. I pray that Christ is more fully formed in you as you take his Word more deeply into your being. Meanwhile, we await the time when we can enjoy the Table of the Lord safely once more. Until then, let this prayer from 18th century bishop and scholastic Alphonsus Liguori, hearten and encourage you:
My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire You in my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come … spiritually into my heart. As though You were already there, I embrace You and unite myself wholly to You; permit not that I should ever be separated from You. Amen.
Be blessed this day.
Reggie Kidd+