Devotion 8.14.23

Psalm 67

1 May God be gracious to us and bless us

    and make his face shine on us

2 so that your ways may be known on earth,

    your salvation among all nations.

3 May the peoples praise you, God;

    may all the peoples praise you.

God's people, Israel when this psalm was written, is lifting a song of thanksgiving, and lifting up a prayer of thanksgiving for God to continue to bless His people.

God's people today are a multitude of followers of Christ, which includes all nations, races, and ethnicities. So, the question is, what is the church? We go to "church." We attend "church." We invite others to "church." Sadly, church has been reduced to a facility. Some are beautiful structures, and some hold special memories in our lives. They may not be cathedrals, but they are special to us.

Yet, we are calling for God to shine his face on His people and to make our ways known on all the earth. That does not happen passively during the week as we go to and from our work, in our neighborhoods, only being "church" while at church. Israel understood, at times, its unique role as God's chosen people. Paul reflects on that in Romans 10 as he speaks about faith and its root in God's Word and hearing God's Word.

"How are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news?'" (Romans 10:14 - 15)

Paul cites Isaiah in that passage (Is 52) We cannot believe in Christ if we do not hear and we cannot hear unless someone is sent. How beautiful, then, are those who walk among us sharing the good news.

Sharing does not isolate itself to a facility. The church is Christ's, and Christ established His church to go, not to build. While our churches are good to teach and grow its members to go and share, the going and sharing are essential to save those in our communities who do not know the good news.

We pray that God's face shine on us as we boldly proclaim God's good news. We pray we find opportunities to share that good news in our communities. We pray our church sharpens us in ways to be able to boldly proclaim that good news to our neighbors.