Links for today’s readings:
Read: Joshua 4 Listen: (3:31) Read: Colossians 1 Listen: (4:18)
Scripture Focus: Joshua 4:10, 18
10 Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the Lord had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua…
18 And the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and ran at flood stage as before.
Reflection: Holding Chaos at Bay
By Erin Newton
Standing in the middle of the muddy riverbed, the priests hold the ark of the covenant—the symbolic presence of God—keeping the waters at bay. They are doing none of the withholding. They hold poles; God withholds the raging waters.
I love how the text presents the image of the river crossing. I imagine the waters receding, making a path for God’s people. The priests stand motionless in front of this invisible dam. They are not shouting some magical phrase. Their arms are not outstretched as if to bend the waters to their will. They are not even doing the work of a beaver, piling and weaving limbs and branches to keep the waters back. They stand. They stand next to the presence of God.
When they settle in one place long enough, the priests will busy themselves with other things. They will cleanse and burn and offer and worship and intercede and sacrifice. They will live in the presence of God. God will keep doing the work of barring chaos from drowning his people. But here, in this place, they just stand.
Doing something feels a lot more productive than standing. We’re told that “idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” So we, in turn, translate that to “keep busy.” Busyness is godliness, right? Not always.
In the riverbed, these image bearers of God are holding the presence of God. He silently commands the waters, “This far you may come and no farther” (Job 38.11). As priests, they are called to do this specific job. Stand.
And so are we. When God granted all his people to be a priesthood (1 Pet 2.9), he intended for us also to stand in the gap—between humanity and chaos—holding the presence of God. We present the law of love and truth and justice and righteousness to the forces that would bring death and destruction. We stand firm and watch God work.
In Claire Keegan’s novella, Small Things Like These, the main character is abruptly confronted with the suffering of others. His mind is torn between complacency and action. The story ends with a poignant question: “Was there any point in being alive without helping one another?”
In the case of Joshua 4, can we ask ourselves, Is there any point in being alive without standing in the gap, holding space for people to find safety without chaos consuming us all?
Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.
Indeed, our heart rejoices in him, for in his holy Name we put our trust.
Let your loving-kindness, O Lord, be upon us, as we have put your trust in you. — Psalm 33.20-22
– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle
Read more: Spiritual Markers
Their lives were literally and figuratively rootless. They had never known cultivation or agriculture. They had never known any other life than that of a migrant.
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