A Meditation on Psalm 67

O let the nations rejoice and be glad,
For you shall judge the peoples righteously, and govern
The nations upon earth.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
Let all the peoples praise you.
Then shall the earth bring forth her increase,
And God, even our own God, shall give us his blessing.
God shall bless us,
And all the ends of the world shall fear him. 

This portion of Psalm 67, our appointed Psalm for this Sunday, encapsulates the themes of all of Sunday’s readings. God’s purposes for the redemption of humanity have always had a universal focus, redemption is for all the nations; meaning that God’s love and God’s blessings can never be bound by ethnic or national distinctions. As easy as it may be for many of us to affirm this intellectually, both because of our own experiences with other believers from around the world and because we hear this theme so often in Scripture, for many outside of the church the idea that Christian faith is not just for “western people” or even “white people” is foreign. That this is so was abundantly clear to me in recent weeks as a result of the strange public call to remove a statue of Father Damien, a Belgian Priest who died caring for victims of leprosy in Hawaii, because of his supposed connections to “white supremacy.” Part of the blame for this state of affairs must fall at the feet of the Church. Christian symbols and themes have been too easily manipulated to support warfare, colonialism, and many other practices that mar the image of God in us, often with the Church’s blessing. However, that should in no way keep us from affirming clearly and unequivocally the truth that God’s grace and mercy are for all the nations.

The cross of Jesus Christ obliterates all human distinctions and divisions. Many have opined that death is the great equalizer, but more truly the death of God on the cross, the perfect God-Man, is the great equalizer of humanity. Christ was murdered by Jew and Gentile alike in a historical sense (it was a Roman Governor and a Jewish High-Priest who sent him to death), but it is true also in a theological sense. We are all in sin. How much are we in sin? So much so that God needed to die in order to remedy our sin. Yet, we thank God that His mercy is just as universal as our sin. Jew and Gentile turned to Christ as Saviour following His death and resurrection, and many more still turn to Him. Not only do God’s “blessings flow far as the curse is found,” as the great Christmas hymn puts it, but they flow with greater power and force than sin ever could; propelled by grace, love, and mercy that have already defeated death.

Through God’s Holy Spirit, the good news that God has redeemed humanity regardless of ethnic and racial distinction in the one Jewish man Jesus Christ has reached much of the earth; no thanks to human interference. This Gospel for all people now returns with a fresh vigor from our African and Asian brothers and sisters to the very Western Church that first brought the Gospel of Jesus to them many centuries ago. Let all the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your Kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

In Christ,

Fr. Matt