THIRD EMBER DAY OF CREATION
21 September 2013
Readings:
Key Verses (using the World English Bible):
Lev. 23:42-43: “You shall dwell in booths [for] seven days. All who are native-born in Israel shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt. I am [the Lord] your God.”
John 7:16-17: [Jesus said,] “My teaching is not mine, but [the Father’s] who sent me. If anyone desires to do his will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is from God, or if I am speaking from myself.”
Reflection
The Jewish “Festival of Booths” began three evenings ago, on 18 Sept. Living as I do near an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood, I can spot the booths or “sukkot”, wedged in between the courtyards of neighboring apartment buildings, or their “backyards”. It’s a curious sight to see in the middle of sprawling New York City—and probably because New York is so busy, so urban, these small, wooden dwellings become easy to miss.
The Torah mandates that the Israelites will live in these booths, or tabernacles, for one week in order to remember the fragile dwellings the Israelites had to live in after the exodus from Egypt. I wonder how this works in the cities. Are those booths I see kind of like “communal tabernacles”? Do the many Orthodox families that live near me each get turns spending some time in the booth? Surely there has to be some sort of flexibility that I’m not privy to.
Today’s reading from the Gospel finds Jesus teaching his fellow Jews about himself during the Feast of Booths. Yes, as a faithful Jew, our Lord dwelled in these booths once a year too. Jesus taught and acted according to his Father’s will, a will which Christians periodically forget includes God’s Torah.
But there’s someone else who decided to take up residence in a tabernacle—well, perhaps not someone “else”. The same Gospel of John reports that “the Word became flesh, and lived among us” (John 1:14). The word translated “lived” derives from the same word used to translate “booth” into the ancient Greek Bible, the Septuagint. Literally, the Word ‘emboothed’ or ‘entabernacled’ himself among us. The Israelites entered their fragile dwellings as a reminder of their creation as a new, freed people. Now God takes up residence in the fragile tabernacle that is human flesh, in the human life of Jesus, to be mindful of his creation, and to free them.
For this city-dweller, building a booth to live in, or even to stay in for an hour or two, sounds like an excellent way to get back in touch with nature, with God’s creation. And, I believe, a Christian should never be afraid of exploring traditions that testify to the Creator, especially ones that our Lord Jesus himself followed. But even if we don’t, may we never forget that we forever dwell in the booth that is Jesus, the tabernacle that joins both human and divine together.
Prayer of the Day
Living God, we thank you that you have not left us to grope after you in the dark; that your law has been a lamp to our feet, and a light to our path. In this harvest season, when your people had gathered their crops, your law enjoined on them to leave their homes and make their abode is frail booths. Thus you reminded them of the transient nature of earthly possessions, of the insecurity of a life fixed on prosperity without faith in you.
Grant us too, O Father, an understanding of this truth, so that no arrogance may tarnish the joy of success; no self-exaltation debase the love of achievement. Teach us to be humble. Keep far from us the pride of possession and the despair of want. In poverty, save us, O God, from bitterness; in abundance, rescue us from self-indulgence. Incline our hearts to you and keep us from covetousness. Kindle within us a passion for a better world. Enlarge our sympathies, make us eager to ease the sorrow and distress of others, and thus learn to know the joy of service. Lift up our eyes so that, like our ancestors, we too may see, through the leafy booth, the light of sun and star, so that our souls may soar to you.
—adapted from the Union Prayer Book of Reform Judaism, 1940, “Evening Service for ‘Succos’”, p. 199
Hymn: “In many a stone-bound city”
(Words: Jessie E. Sampter in the Union Hymnal of Reform Judaism, 1936; adapted by Joseph A. Soltero, 2013
Tune: Jacob Beimel, Traditional “Succos” melody)
In many a stone-bound city,
Still roofed beneath the skies,
The Lord of boundless pity
Lets little booths arise.
And in those tabernacles,
The wanderer’s blest relief,
God turns our heavy shackles
To strings of fruit and leaf.
Who bring in want and sorrow
The stranger’s fruit with psalms,
Shall plant in joy tomorrow
Their citrons and their palms.
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