“And you shall know that I am the LORD” – May 16, 2025

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 40, 54; PM Psalm 51; Wisdom 6:12-23; Col 3:1-11; Luke 7:1-17

“And you shall know that I am the LORD.” This refrain echoes through the book of the prophet Ezekiel. As he issues prophetic messages from Yahweh to the Israelites from exile in Babylon in 586 BCE, Ezekiel warns of destruction in their midst because of the distractions that draw them away from living with hearts for God. They are wrapped up in sinful behaviors, idolatrous practices, and are a general mess. And it is only going to get messier: Division will come. Conflicts will heighten. People will be scattered and persecuted. After each hardship is described in vivid imagery, the refrain comes, “Then they shall know that I am the LORD.”

I have been pondering this book of the Hebrew Bible with a lovely group during the Thursday afternoon Bible study at Saint Stephen’s. What does it truly mean to know that God is the great I AM? Each person will respond differently, and here is the message swirling in my heart this morning. When I say, “Yes, I know You are the LORD,” I am acknowledging that the Divine is here and at play in the world – and even in my life. When I use words around knowing God, I am connecting experiences and belief, albeit feebly, and moving that internal contemplation outward. Maybe those words are only held in my head or my journal – but maybe that attempt at affixing language to thought is translated into prayer to God, spoken in spirit or through my lips. If I am really paying attention to what I am saying, these words can move me to action. It is a type of alignment of faith and life, so that believing in and knowing God shapes how I am in the world around me.

The apostle Paul speaks to this mindset and life-set to the new Christians in churches around the Mediterranean. In the letter to the house churches in Colossae, we read this challenge, “So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God, Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth…” (3:1-2)

How will we “live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28) as the Body of Christ when we acknowledge the Lord as the magnificent Divine, the source of breath and life? If we believe that we are of God’s love and made for God’s love and to share God’s love, what will shift within ourselves and outside of ourselves? May that transformation begin today.

Faithfully,
Katherine+

Reflection and Challenge

What does it mean to you to know the Lord God? Ponder this thought today. What prayers and actions come to mind?