Pillared Passages: Portion 5
Written on April 21, 2019.
Come
Upon the Mount of YHWH, Moses met burning bramble. His forage into flame was not a stumble, but a search for the voice that said “Come.”
Air upon atmosphere surrounded Moses with ‘karav’. A draw not a demand. An invitation to approach. To hold his heart out and open. This was not a commanding but a choosing.
Moses dared and Pappa declared:
Put off your shoes from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. (Exodus 3:5)
The ground already hallowed and holy held covenant not consequence. For when our life living is story telling, it isn’t feet to floor but flesh to fire.
Person to Presence is how the connection between Eternal and Earth establishes.
Karav. Come.
Testament old and witness new, this word remains.
On their last eve together, a table teetered with truth. Jesus told Peter he would deny Him three times before the cock crowed.
Peter. The one who said he would ever be there, drawn near. He who said he would always serve, city or cell. And he, willing to die, said he would give his life in worship.
Oh, and I have said such.
Peter, at alert was unaware. Jesus never sought him for His vigilance, but his vulnerability. He couldn’t stay awake, yet he was soon to be awakened.
In the precipice between dark and light, day and night, Peter denied:
“This man was also with him.”
“I don’t know him. I am separate.”
“You are also of them.”
“I am not. I do not serve Him.”
“This man was also with them.”
“I do not know what you are saying. I am clanging cymbal. I will not worship Him.”
He had not come.
And then the cock crowed. Not once but thrice. For his three denies there were three cries. Cries for crimes, soon to be absolved.
Sound split the scene. Not by rooster heralding sun and scurry. But by the call of the Cohanim. The priests.
Jesus told Peter, “Before the cock crows. Before the priest proclaims.”
Like sunset and sunrise, a priest was commissioned to lock the Temple door at dusk and unlock its doors at dawn. He would place the key in the opening of stone floor, in one of many rooms inside the Temple. Then he would place flat stone over the opening and position his sleeping mat upon it, so he could sleep on top of the key.
Sign and symbol that though he slept, his heart would be awake. He would live rested and awakened.
Each day at Pappa’s “Let there be light” the priest would arise, retrieve the key and swing wide the Temple doors, with three calls spilling from his lips.
Three calls for every covenant.
Sacrifice, service and sound.
All the Cohanim (priests) COME, prepare for sacrifice. To draw near.
All Levites (Leviim)COME to your stations to serve. To be with.
All Israelites (people) COME to worship. To let silence turn sound.
Karav. Just come.
Opposites attract. As opposed as condition feels, it longs for covenant. For completion. All creation groans to be made whole. Even the wandering and wrestling parts. That which is not yet hearty with harvest.
And this. This is what Jesus didn’t want Peter to miss. That his “ever, always and willing” would be countered with “do not, am not and will not.” Yet, it would also be met with Christ’s “have done, I AM and yet to come.”
Between Jesus truth told and the crowing Cohanim, Jesus was captured and convicted. I wonder, how far apart they stood. Peter in the courtyard. Jesus in court.
When the cry and call ceased, did eyes meet? Did Jesus turn in His darkest moments and lend Peter light?
For even in the terrible truth that Peter would deny, there was destiny.
Jesus said,
“Satan will sift. I will sort. As he slithers, I will stand. For you. I have already prayed that your faith should not fail. That what you believe would become real and readied.”
Peter’s eyes asked if the sacrifice to come included him. Jesus eyes, tear filled and blood stained poured out yes. And always. And forever.
Peter came. Full and faithful.
Later, he would call forth a royal priesthood,
You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness and into marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9-10)
Who could understand this better than one who revealed it, rejected it and revealed it once more.
Lent’s lantern. Pesach’s promise. Come.
For every ask, there is an answer. Come.
For every trip, there is a triumph. Come.
For every mess, there is majesty. Come.
PILLARED: There is much He has for His many to bring from Heaven to earth. All He needs is flesh met with flame. Let Him draw you to land already holied and reveal to you the places where you fear consequence more than you are awed by covenant. His covenant. With you.
PASSAGED: Let Him robe you royal through 1 Peter 2:9-10. Read it anew in light of the how precious it is to Jesus that it be part of Peter’s life living and story telling.