Psalm 105:1-11, 45b

1 Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his Name; make known his deeds among the peoples.
2 Sing to him, sing praises to him, and speak of all his marvelous works.
3 Glory in his holy Name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
4 Search for the Lord and his strength; continually seek his face.
5 Remember the marvels he has done, his wonders and the judgments of his mouth,
6 O offspring of Abraham his servant, O children of Jacob his chosen.
7 He is the Lord our God; his judgments prevail in all the world.
8 He has always been mindful of his covenant, the promise he made for a thousand generations:
9 The covenant he made with Abraham, the oath that he swore to Isaac,
10 Which he established as a statute for Jacob, an everlasting covenant for Israel,
11 Saying, "To you will I give the land of Canaan to be your allotted inheritance."
45b Hallelujah!

This year, Monday Matters is focused on wisdom conveyed in the treasures of the book of Psalms. We'll look at the psalms read in church before Monday Matters comes to your screen.

What do you seek?

During the time leading up to Easter, a church I know and love offers a program called the Catechumenate, taking that name from an ancient Christian tradition. In the early days of the church, the Catechumenate functioned as preparation for adults who wished to be baptized at Easter.

The congregation I have in mind broadened the vision for this program to include people eager to know more about faith, folks who sought renewal of faith, folks finding their way back into church, some former nones and dones. Each year, near Easter, participants in this program would stand before the congregation to share reasons for their participation. According to tradition, the clergy would ask each participant this question: What do you seek? The answer: A deeper life in Christ. This Monday morning, I’m wondering how you might answer the question: What do you seek?

Since we’re journeying back to ancient church traditions, let me share what I’ve learned about baptisms of adults in the first centuries of the church. Like the service of Holy Baptism which we now practice in the Episcopal Church, that early liturgy included lists of renunciations and lists of affirmations. The lists were quite long. In the Prayer Book of the Episcopal Church, those are summed up in three renunciations and three affirmations.

In the early church, baptism was held on Easter Eve, at the Great Vigil of Easter, an all night service that would challenge contemporary worshippers who grouse when a service goes over an hour and who time the clergy's sermons lest brunch plans suffer. But I digress. The renunciations were said facing west, the place where the sun went down, the place of darkness, the home of barbarians. (We sometimes think of the west as the place of enlightenment. That has not always been the case - topic for another rant.)

When it came time for the affirmations, the candidate would turn 180 degrees. If the timing was right, candidates would see the sun breaking the horizon, which may be the origin of Easter sunrise services. I’ve been told that the change of direction, facing east, is where we get the word “orientation.” In that change of direction, candidates turned to the light. How might you make that shift in direction?

All of this church history is prompted by a psalm you may have heard yesterday in church (Clergy had the choice of four different psalms in yesterday’s lectionary). What caught my eye was a particular verse (v. 4) from the psalm reprinted above. It speaks about continually seeking God’s face. It invites readers to search for the Lord and for the Lord’s strength. It’s a call to a new direction. It's about setting a new intention.

We read in many places about how God searches for us (e.g., Psalm 139 which begins: “Lord you have searched me out and known me.) Jesus made that point in his parable about the lost sheep. A shepherd leaves 99 sheep to go look for one wanderer. It’s a picture of extravagant grace, a reminder that all that we do is gift, as God seeks each one of us.

But this psalm reminds us that we have a role to play. It describes what one of my theology professors called the synergy of our faith, God seeking us as we seek God. St. Paul described the synergy this way, as he told the Philippians: Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you. The letter to the Colossians puts it this way: If you have been raised with Christ, seek those things that are above.

With that in mind, what does the process of seeking look like for you? Like those catechumenates, like those baptismal candidates turning to the light, it’s about choosing direction, being oriented towards a life with God, setting that life with God as our intention, turning to the light. Once we’ve made that choice, once we’ve felt a call to head in that direction, it’s about stepping into that new pathway.

That’s where spiritual practices come in. We search for the Lord with our prayers. As the psalm points out, that happens especially in and through expressions of praise, our attitude of gratitude, giving glory to God’s name. It comes with the prayerful recognition that our help is in the name of the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. We search for the Lord by remembering how God has acted in the past, finding that remembrance in the stories of scripture, finding it in community life. We search for the Lord by seeking Christ’s presence in all persons, loving neighbor as self, respecting the dignity of every human being. We search for the Lord by serving others, in the spirit of the one who said he came not to be served but to serve. All of these practices help us find the deeper life in Christ for which we search.

What do you seek this week?

-Jay Sidebotham