Sojourners Devotion 10 24 2020
Discovering new meanings from our initials reminded me of the Da Vinci Code movie in 2006. Based on Dan Brown’s book, Tom Hanks play a Harvard professor of Symbology to decipher the code in Da Vinci’s The Last Supper painting.
In Revelations 13, there’s a reference to the number 666 to represent humanity before the return of Christ. 666 is said to be the antichrist or the false prophet.
When you think about it, our lives are ordered by many symbols that we have come to understand. Street signs keep us from a car accident. The four-color pandemic stages tell us how much we should social distance. As one who still texts with upper and lower cases, using full sentences and punctuations, sometimes I have to ask our grandkids what certain abbreviations mean! I first thought that “LOL” meant lots of love.
Discovering the hidden meanings or embedded meanings in our initials suggests that we are still enduring through this unprecedented period of our lives. None of us lived through the 1918 Flu pandemic when 500 million people were infected. We are driving on unchartered highways.
What is the meaning of life today? We want to envision a future when life existed before March. All of us are hoping for that time when we can see our way to schedule tours, go on vacation, see family loved ones and book air flights.
In the Gospels, the disciples asked Jesus, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” The disciples also wanted to see what’s coming. It was all very confusing and puzzling. The SF Chronicle has been publishing more crossword puzzles, sudokus, and world searches not just to keep us busy while sheltering at home but perhaps life is puzzling today. Maybe the Chronicle is secretly sending us a message!
Following this question asked by the disciples, in Matthew, Jesus responded by telling them that if they have gifts, talents and abilities to use them and not hide them from the world. He also told them that when we see people who are hungry, we volunteer at the food bank, thirsty, we give them a Starbucks gift card, homeless, we build more navigation centers, incarcerated, we take time to visit prisoners and end money bail. Since Jesus is with these people when we help others in need, we would actually be helping Jesus himself!
As we enter the 10th month of the pandemic with the third surge of infections occurring around the world, let us be hopeful that while many things seem to be unclear and hidden from us, God is with us and will not abandon us. At the end of Matthew 25, Jesus said that when we help the least of these, we are the righteous who will receive eternal life.
May you be encouraged and blessed as you deciphered the hidden meanings of your initials as a symbol of God’s future plans for you and for all of us.
Let us pray. Lord, thank you for this time of being together and to support each other during these trying times. Grant us hope and the encouragement that what may be hidden from us, we can still trust you to see us through because you are the God of grace, peace, joy and love. In the name of Christ who reveals all truth in the world, we pray. Amen.