Lent Devotions - Hope from the scriptures, across the ocean, through a pandemic

Lorenzo Quinn 'Building Bridges' from the Venice Bienalle 2019. Image by Halcyon Art International

It was a great privilege to be asked to contribute a short reflection to this booklet of Lent devotions prepared by the churches of St Stephen's Rochester Row, Westminster, St Barnabas Pimlico and The Church of the Holy Trinity, Manhattan. 

Members & friends from each church have contributed a short meditation based on the Old Testament reading for each day of Lent. Meditations will be published online each day during Lent via the St Stephen's website and the whole collection has been assembled into a pdf file which can be downloaded at this link. 

My reflection, for Friday 19th March is below, based on a well-known and important passage from scripture:

2 Samuel 7.4-17

But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’ Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings. But I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever.


Reflection

What kind of world do you want to build? 

King David wanted to build a permanent home for the ark of God, one as splendid as his own new palace. But God reveals to the prophet Nathan that rather than David building a house for God, God will build David a house - a dynasty - that will reign for ever.

In my working life I am fortunate to encounter architects who are great visionaries. We know when we walk in to a glorious building because we can feel it. These spaces are always more than the sum of their parts - more than what is seen.

How often, like David, do we jump to conclusions about the world we want to build, based on what we see from the windows of our own palaces? 

How much more glorious the world can be if we allow God to broaden our perspective.