O Adonai,
et dux domus Israël,
qui Moyse in igne flammae rubi apparuisti,
et ei in Sina legem dedisti:
veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.
O Mighty Lord,
and leader of the house of Israël,
who appeared to Moses in the burning bush,
and on Sinai gave him the law,
come to redeem us with outstretched arm.
Christ is born to us. Glorify him.
The burning bush. I AM. Thunder and lightning on the mountatin top. Lawgiver. He who is. He who gives to us words of life, which are a bread more nourishing than any man can fashion. And in his Person and through his lifegiving words, he redeems us. Not in niggardly minimal doses, but with power and excess, with an outstretched arm. This is our God. This God is our Lord Jesus Christ, who comes to us anew as we await him in this Advent.
The God of the burning bush is a God whose name cannot be known. All that can be know of him is that he is. But this God of fire manifest himself to us in the burning bush, and for us the world is set afire by his footsteps. His very being is light and life, and we, in our darkness and mortal corruption cannot but be burned by his living fire. And in being burned, we are made clean, whole. That lie is consumed. That contempt for our neighbor is engulfed. That dark and loathsome inability to escape our despair, that acidie, that demon of the noon day, is lit, smoking and flaming, with the glory of God. I AM has spoken a word which will not be denied.
That word is Law. And because the I AM has spoken it, that Law is life. The Latin Lex cannot adequately capture the fullness of the Heberw Torah. The Latin carries the connotation of process, convention, juridicy. But the Scriptures describe "Law" as instruction in the way of life. It is the difference between an instruction which says, "Drink this pure water; eat this wholesome bread. By these you will live." and that which says, "This is not poison, this is of no danger; it will make you wise and give you joy." The one is the manna from heaven. The other is the delightsome apple. The one is given and received. The other is taken and takes. This Law is. It needs no defense or proof. How does one prove that reality is real? One does not. One simply accepts it, and trusts. It is the delusion that needs proof, that needs buttressing against doubt. And thus it is the lawbreaker who must be most resolute against the word spoken which delivers.
This redemption of the Lord is not by half-measures. It is with outstretched arm. Not an arm which barely raises the hand in gift-giving. Not an arm which merely restrains. But one that commands in its gesture, with a power so deep, so thorough and so mighty it goes to extreme lengths to save. What is the measure of such lengths? Nothing less than the life of the Law himself. This word whose judgments prevail has travelled down the length of that outstretched arm and come to us. Come to us with life, to die to give us life.
Christ is born to us. Glorify him.
Posted by Clifton at November 20, 2004 09:00 PM | TrackBack