Powerful
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The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;
the God of glory thunders; *
the Lord is upon the mighty waters.The voice of the Lord is a powerful voice; *
the voice of the Lord is a voice of splendor.The voice of the Lord breaks the cedar trees; *
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.- Psalm 29:3-5
The voice of the Lord is a powerful voice. Psalm 29 talks about how it thunders like a mighty waterfall, is a voice of splendor, breaks strong Cedars, splits flames of fire, shakes the wilderness, makes large oaks writhe and strips forests bare. In other words - it is powerful! The psalmist is using the metaphors of the most awesome powers of nature we can know or witness to describe this indescribably encompassing voice.
This week, in one of the daily readings from Hebrews 11, it said:
By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.
The word, or the voice, or the power of God is not something we can see, but it is behind everything we do see - as creator, as destroyer, as re-imaginer and re-builder. Both of these readings remind me that whenever we think we’re in charge, we’d better think again.
That fact has been brought home for me in yet a new way over the last 2 1/2 weeks. Covid came into my cells without my permission and it hangs on to them much longer than I want it to. As I write, this is day 17 for me, and I’m just finally beginning to feel better. Happily, I’m feeling better enough to be looking forward to seeing you all again this Sunday.
We will begin the season of Epiphany together with Baptism of Christ Sunday, and we’ll take this opportunity to renew our baptismal vows (and if you’ve never been baptized, we can certainly take care of that, too). In the gospel for this Sunday, the voice of God proclaims, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” These are powerful words - not of destruction - but of affirmation. They not only pertain to that one baptism long ago, but to all of us who continue to follow in Jesus’ way. They express a powerful promise - that we beloved of God - our Creator. And I trust that God is well pleased whenever we show up to pray, worship and follow Jesus back out the door again into our day to day lives. With God’s help, and our faith community to guide us, we can live out our baptismal promises in this often difficult world.
So come be assured by God’s powerful voice this Sunday, and to be reminded that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever. These very powerful words from the baptismal service that remind us that the powerful voice of God can and will carry us through all our days, no matter what they may bring.
