April 3: Exodus 25-27; Psalm 25; Matthew 26

Exodus 25-27 
I love this!  Moses asks for an offering "from all whose hearts prompt them to give" so that the Israelites can build the Tabernacle (tent of meeting) according to the plans that Moses receives from God. (25:1-9).
All the old hymns that speak of a "mercy seat" are referring to this part of the Ark of the Covenant: a box that signifies the presence of God and is a sort of Israelite analogue of a sacrament (an outward and visible sign of God's inward and invisible Grace at work in our lives).  This Ark and the other accoutrements of worship demand all the creativity and skill of the best artisans in their midst.  There has been, for millennia, a desire on the part of artists and creative people to offer their very best to the God they worship.  Still this is what motivates choir members and visual and fabric artists who make things to beautify worship.

Psalm 25 
Notice how, in this Psalm, there is a way to read it individually and a way to read it as the community of the faithful (Israel).    Another psalm with a song associated, that I learned in college.  Not surprising, since the psalms are the song book of Israel and the Church.  This psalm is all about trusting God when things get challenging in our lives.

Matthew 26  So now we move into the real center of the Passion Narrative.  We have been in Holy Week since Matthew 21.  The Chief Priests and the Scribes are implicated in plotting to have Jesus killed.  "But not during the festival [of Passover], or there may be a riot among the people (26:5)

The final public act before the Passover Meal is the anointing of Jesus by "a woman" (26:6 ff).   In Matthew, Jesus says: "You will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me" (26:11).  In Mark 14:7, Jesus is recorded as saying: "you will always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me."  An interesting thing that Matthew left out?  As someone involved in a lot of community outreach that seems sometimes to be quite futile, I am glad that Jesus doesn't say, "…and you by your efforts can eradicate poverty."  It's not solely about efficacy (though we don't want to waste money and effort that is given to help), but about showing kindness.

Matthew is explicit that the meal they are eating together is a Passover meal.
"Take," "bless," "break," and "give."  The 4 elements of making Eucharist together.  All here.

Then the events of the night before Jesus died for us, ending in Peter's denial and his bitter weeping when the cock crows...