 |
| The Scoutmaster, Norman Rockwell |
Psalm 15
Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle?
Who may dwell in Your holy hill?
Who may dwell in Your holy hill?
He who walks uprightly,
And works righteousness,
And speaks the truth in his heart;
He who does not backbite with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend;
In whose eyes a vile person is despised,
But he honors those who fear the Lord;
He who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
He who does not put out his money at usury,
Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
And works righteousness,
And speaks the truth in his heart;
He who does not backbite with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend;
In whose eyes a vile person is despised,
But he honors those who fear the Lord;
He who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
He who does not put out his money at usury,
Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be moved.
Norman Rockwell was the master of painting Americana. His illustrations represented everything that was good and pure and 1950-ish. It was the "Leave It To Beaver" ideal America at its most...well, ideal. And what better subject to exemplify this than the Boy Scouts and a Scout Master? The Boy Scouts with their motto of... you know what? I don't know what the Boy Scouts motto is because the Boy Scouts never called me back. Apparently I was not Boy Scout material. Matter of fact I wasn't even attempting to even get into the Boy Scouts. I was trying to get into their junior sidekicks: the Cub Scouts. I was 9 years old and I wanted to be in the Cub Scouts just like my neighborhood homeboy Russell. It was going be great: I was going to hang around in the woods, make fires and wear a scarf around my neck without any gang or Fred from Scooby Doo associations. And bigger than any of this I was going to get to sleep in a tent! So I went to the meeting and all. I filled out the application but no one called me back. Yep, this was my first encounter with rejection. I guess I just wasn't good enough to sleep in a tent. So last that I heard, Russell grew up to be a firefighter. I just grew up to be a guy who doesn't sleep in tents.
But I'm not bitter about it or anything... really.
So what if I told you that God stayed in a tent... or at least that was the thinking (I know, seems like everyone but me gets to be in the tent). Well that is what Psalm 15 is about. God being in the tent and Him being selective about who gets in. Maybe a little background information will suffice. After the Israelites fled with Moses from captivity in Egypt they received the 10 Commandments on two tablets of stone. They carried it with them during their 40 year trek through the Sinai wilderness. It was house in an ornate structure called the Ark of the Covenant (since the Commandments were a covenant, or agreement/contract, between God and the People). Yes it is the same Ark of the Covenant from the Indiana Jones movies. No it doesn't melt Nazis. Since the Israelites spent such a long period being nomadic, they lived in tents and the ark was hosed in a very specialized tent known as "the tabernacle." So when David asks in the Psalm, "Who may abide in your tabernacle", he is referring to the tent that housed the Ark of the Covenant (which in return housed the Commandments...which encapsulated God's Word). Since God's Word is closely identified with His being, the Ark of the Covenant was seen as a place where God's Presence literally dwelt. They believed that God was in this tabernacle. That being the case their were only a select few that could actually enter the tent to perform the religious rituals for the people. And even select few of those few could get very close to it. Becoming one of these priests or Levites (worship assistants to the priests) was impossible for most people. If you weren't a man: you were out. If you weren't Jew (natural born, not a convert): you were out. If you weren't of the specific tribe of Levi (one of the 12 tribes of Israel): you were out. And even among the tribe of Levi, you had to be of a certain family's lineage. We can actually still trace this family's lineage. If you or someone you know has the last name Cohen or Kohen, then your ancestors may have been priest in ancient Israel (because the priests were known as "Kohenim" in Hebrew). Even among those who were qualified to be priest, there were strict rules for ritualistic purity and moral uprightness. After David, his son Solomon would build an actual building to house the Ark of the Covenant, known simply as The Temple. It was destroyed and rebuilt a few times, but the rules from back in the days of the Tabernacle still prevailed. To put it simply, there were more people rejected from being in the tent than were accepted.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
- John 1:14
So what about all of those who were rejected from the tabernacle: the women, the gentiles, the sinners. Was there ever any chance for them to abide in God's presence? The Gospel of John starts out with a beautiful poetic chapter about how the Word of God came to dwell in human form with us. The Greek word that is used for "dwelt" is σκηνόω and it literally means to "tabernacle." In times past those deemed unworthy by sin, gender or unfortunate birth were not able to tabernacle with God, so God took the form of the lowly to tabernacle with us. If you look through either of Christ's genealogies in Matthew or Luke you will notice that even though Jesus is indeed Jewish, he is not from the tribe of Levi (he is from the tribe of Judah). God chose to reveal His Presence in someone who would not have been allowed in the Tabernacle. That's what type of God we have: One that became rejected to show His love for rejects. Jesus was known as much for his association with lepers, prostitutes, and tax collectors (seen as sell-out, scoundrels to the Romans) as he was for his holiness. Christ is the big tent, that accepts all and covers all. It is in Jesus that all those who are rejected by the world find acceptance by a Loving God. He is a God of the misfits.
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
-1 Corinthians 6:19
St. Paul took it one step further. Go did more than step out of his tent and encamped with you: if you are a Believer then God in the form of the Holy Spirit dwells within you. Just like the Tabernacle gave way to the Temple as a more permanent dwelling for God's presence, when Christ ascended into Heaven he would later send down his Holy Spirit to be our guide. The thing is that we have to remember what the whole tabernacle/temple thing's purpose was for in the first place. It was recognized as God's dwelling place because God's Word resided there. God's contract with humanity was kept in the tabernacle. It was surrounded and kept by select, upright men. If the Holy Spirit dwells in you is it dwelling in the temple of an upright man/woman? Is your body a place where the Word of God is honored? If it is honored, is it practiced? Or just like history (and Indiana Jones) has Your Ark of the Covenant become lost? If so, then there is still hope. The Holy Spirit is a Comforter, a friend and cleaner of darkened hearts. The greatest thing about having God dwell within you is that He is never too far to hear your prayers for a clean heart. He is always attentive to your cries for rescue. He will save you from the cold wilderness and bring you into the safety of His warm tent.
Norman Rockwell was the master of painting Americana. His illustrations represented everything that was good and pure and 1950-ish. It was the "Leave It To Beaver" ideal America at its most...well, ideal. And what better subject to exemplify this than the Boy Scouts and a Scout Master? The Boy Scouts with their motto of... you know what? I don't know what the Boy Scouts motto is because the Boy Scouts never called me back. Apparently I was not Boy Scout material. Matter of fact I wasn't even attempting to even get into the Boy Scouts. I was trying to get into their junior sidekicks: the Cub Scouts. I was 9 years old and I wanted to be in the Cub Scouts just like my neighborhood homeboy Russell. It was going be great: I was going to hang around in the woods, make fires and wear a scarf around my neck without any gang or Fred from Scooby Doo associations. And bigger than any of this I was going to get to sleep in a tent! So I went to the meeting and all. I filled out the application but no one called me back. Yep, this was my first encounter with rejection. I guess I just wasn't good enough to sleep in a tent. So last that I heard, Russell grew up to be a firefighter. I just grew up to be a guy who doesn't sleep in tents.
But I'm not bitter about it or anything... really.
So what if I told you that God stayed in a tent... or at least that was the thinking (I know, seems like everyone but me gets to be in the tent). Well that is what Psalm 15 is about. God being in the tent and Him being selective about who gets in. Maybe a little background information will suffice. After the Israelites fled with Moses from captivity in Egypt they received the 10 Commandments on two tablets of stone. They carried it with them during their 40 year trek through the Sinai wilderness. It was house in an ornate structure called the Ark of the Covenant (since the Commandments were a covenant, or agreement/contract, between God and the People). Yes it is the same Ark of the Covenant from the Indiana Jones movies. No it doesn't melt Nazis. Since the Israelites spent such a long period being nomadic, they lived in tents and the ark was hosed in a very specialized tent known as "the tabernacle." So when David asks in the Psalm, "Who may abide in your tabernacle", he is referring to the tent that housed the Ark of the Covenant (which in return housed the Commandments...which encapsulated God's Word). Since God's Word is closely identified with His being, the Ark of the Covenant was seen as a place where God's Presence literally dwelt. They believed that God was in this tabernacle. That being the case their were only a select few that could actually enter the tent to perform the religious rituals for the people. And even select few of those few could get very close to it. Becoming one of these priests or Levites (worship assistants to the priests) was impossible for most people. If you weren't a man: you were out. If you weren't Jew (natural born, not a convert): you were out. If you weren't of the specific tribe of Levi (one of the 12 tribes of Israel): you were out. And even among the tribe of Levi, you had to be of a certain family's lineage. We can actually still trace this family's lineage. If you or someone you know has the last name Cohen or Kohen, then your ancestors may have been priest in ancient Israel (because the priests were known as "Kohenim" in Hebrew). Even among those who were qualified to be priest, there were strict rules for ritualistic purity and moral uprightness. After David, his son Solomon would build an actual building to house the Ark of the Covenant, known simply as The Temple. It was destroyed and rebuilt a few times, but the rules from back in the days of the Tabernacle still prevailed. To put it simply, there were more people rejected from being in the tent than were accepted.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
- John 1:14
So what about all of those who were rejected from the tabernacle: the women, the gentiles, the sinners. Was there ever any chance for them to abide in God's presence? The Gospel of John starts out with a beautiful poetic chapter about how the Word of God came to dwell in human form with us. The Greek word that is used for "dwelt" is σκηνόω and it literally means to "tabernacle." In times past those deemed unworthy by sin, gender or unfortunate birth were not able to tabernacle with God, so God took the form of the lowly to tabernacle with us. If you look through either of Christ's genealogies in Matthew or Luke you will notice that even though Jesus is indeed Jewish, he is not from the tribe of Levi (he is from the tribe of Judah). God chose to reveal His Presence in someone who would not have been allowed in the Tabernacle. That's what type of God we have: One that became rejected to show His love for rejects. Jesus was known as much for his association with lepers, prostitutes, and tax collectors (seen as sell-out, scoundrels to the Romans) as he was for his holiness. Christ is the big tent, that accepts all and covers all. It is in Jesus that all those who are rejected by the world find acceptance by a Loving God. He is a God of the misfits.
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
-1 Corinthians 6:19
St. Paul took it one step further. Go did more than step out of his tent and encamped with you: if you are a Believer then God in the form of the Holy Spirit dwells within you. Just like the Tabernacle gave way to the Temple as a more permanent dwelling for God's presence, when Christ ascended into Heaven he would later send down his Holy Spirit to be our guide. The thing is that we have to remember what the whole tabernacle/temple thing's purpose was for in the first place. It was recognized as God's dwelling place because God's Word resided there. God's contract with humanity was kept in the tabernacle. It was surrounded and kept by select, upright men. If the Holy Spirit dwells in you is it dwelling in the temple of an upright man/woman? Is your body a place where the Word of God is honored? If it is honored, is it practiced? Or just like history (and Indiana Jones) has Your Ark of the Covenant become lost? If so, then there is still hope. The Holy Spirit is a Comforter, a friend and cleaner of darkened hearts. The greatest thing about having God dwell within you is that He is never too far to hear your prayers for a clean heart. He is always attentive to your cries for rescue. He will save you from the cold wilderness and bring you into the safety of His warm tent.
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