God’s Good Pleasure
“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
The late German artist Seiger Koder (d. 2015) was also a Roman Catholic priest. “I hope I can preach with each painting, not just make pictures,” he said, in a 2009 interview. “I want people to look at the pictures, of course, but if the message of my deepest motivation for painting comes across, then I hope that the message of the Gospel comes with it as well.”
His depiction here of Christ the Good Shepherd has notes here of the Parable of the Lost Sheep (esp Luke 15:4-7 but see also Matt 18:10-14): the shepherd comes back from the briar patch with the sheep upon his shoulders radiating a joy, in which all the people of the village are taken up and transformed. Indeed, their eyes are all turned towards him, and to the extent they are contorted to see him, they are taken up into the colors of his joy, remaining themselves, but becoming a blanket of rose pedals on which his light steps fall.
Praise the Lord with the harp; sing praises unto him with the ten-stringed lute.
—Psalm 33:2
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
Texts for This Week
Prayer
Almighty God, give us the increase of faith, hope, and love; and, that we may obtain what you have promised, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Keep your Lamps
It is easy to imagine the haunting old slave spiritual “Keep your lamps trimmed and burning” had an application beyond the call to spiritual watchfulness; perhaps fortifying the resolve of escaped slaves along their journey to liberation. It is difficult to imagine, in any case, that a richer melodic voice has been given to Jesus’s invitation in Luke 15:35. (My personal favorite version is the acappella choral arrangement done by Andre Thomas; although how the adaptation to sacred music performance may have either restored or changed the “vibe” of the piece, I am woefully unqualified to judge! Comparing to how the spiritual is appropriated in Black church worship — for instance, this one, from Bishop David L. Ellis of Greater Grace Temple of Detroit, MI — is a useful comparison: I wish I could find more examples!)
The highlighted video here, recorded in 1970 by the impressively long-lived folk and blues group Hot Tuna is faithful to spirit of the early recordings by Black troubadours, for instance, that of Blind Willie Johnson, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and Rev. Gary Davis, especially the latter. The version is highlighted here indulges in something likely true to the oral tradition, but omitted from the early recorded compilations of Black spirituals, namely, an extended, improvisational mediation. Our watchfulness overflows into ecstasy, for that great day for which we wait and watch is not dreadful nor terrible, for those whom the Gospel has grasped: it is a joy. We wait for the coming of the Bridegroom, and when he arrives, we will feast!
