The Readings: 1 Sam. 16:1-13a; Ephesians 3:14-21; Matthew 8:18-27

Looking toward Pentecost, the second reading celebrates the Spirit’s work in each of us. The second chapter of Ephesians climaxes in a corporate vision, through the Spirit the whole community “a holy temple in the Lord…a dwelling place for God.” Here, an equally powerful individual vision, “Christ [dwelling] in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love…so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

This second reading: a text to sit down with, let it grab me by the scruff of the neck, “Yes, you!” And perhaps let it transpose my hearing of the first reading.

The LORD, who “looks on the heart” loves David, and needs David. The Philistines are out there with their superior technology, threatening Israel with permanent servitude. Israel, in need of better shepherding than Saul can provide. So Samuel anoints David “and the [S]pirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward.” And the Psalter, knowing this story in all its particularity, takes David as Everyman, the lens through which each of our lives before God is brought into focus.

God loves me. God needs me. There’s work to be done, and Jesus would make Himself at home in my core.

We miss the Holy Eucharist. “The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ keep you in everlasting life.” But the LORD who provided manna in the wilderness will hardly let COVID-19 interfere with dwelling in each of our hearts, of filling each of us “with all the fullness of God.”