This passage offers a vision for when we mourn those who have died, wonder about our place in this world, or question God’s relationship with us. The earth is not as it should be. It is full of death, of lifelessness, and of separation from God, others and ourselves. In the midst of this, we hear the call to hope, to wait on God to act. All peoples will feast and live together, forever. Death and judgment will be no more. The further good news is that this isn’t only a future event. In baptism, God showers us with life-filled grace and calls us to the community of those gathered around the table. In the bread and the wine, we receive our Saviour. We hear that God is with us, forgiving and restoring, shaping and sending, and leading us along the way. We long for the vision of what will come, even as God enables us to taste and see the grace that is here.
In the midst of the opposing forces in this world, come, O God, and free and feed those in need of your powerful action of grace and justice, even as we offer you praise. Amen. — MHD