December 18: The Message of Salvation to All
♫ Music:
Day 16 - Monday, December 18
Title: The Message of Salvation to All
Scripture: Romans 10:5-13
For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Poetry:
Luke XXIII
By Jorge Luis Borges
[Translated by Mark Strand]
Gentile or Jew or simply man
Whose face has been lost in time,
We shall not save the silent
Letters of his name from oblivion.
What could he know of forgiveness,
A thief whom Judea nailed to a cross?
For us those days are lost.
During his last undertaking,
Death by crucifixion,
He learned from the taunts of the crowd
That the man who was dying beside him
Was God. And blindly he said:
Remember me when thou comest
Into thy kingdom and from the terrible cross
The unimaginable voice
Which one day will judge us all
Promised him Paradise. Nothing more was said
Between them before the end came,
But history will not let the memory
Of their last afternoon die.
O friends, the innocence of this friend
Of Jesus! That simplicity which made him,
From the disgrace of punishment, ask for
And be granted Paradise.
Was what drove him time
And again to sin and to bloody crime.
THE MESSAGE OF SALVATION TO ALL
Borges says the penitent thief’s name is lost to oblivion, and this is mostly true. Whatever name he was called by his fellow criminals, or that was spoken when he was sentenced to be crucified has been long forgotten, and its letters are indeed silent. He has, however, another name: Dismas, the name by which he is remembered by the Church. While almost certainly not his given name, this is how believers have known him for centuries. However, Borges rightly draws our attention to the absence of the thief’s name in the Gospel account of his death.
More significant, of course, is the name of Christ. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” These words were spoken by the prophet Joel, quoted by the Apostle Peter at Pentecost, and are repeated here by the Apostle Paul to show the full breadth of Christ’s offer of salvation. So of course, it doesn’t matter whether Dismas is “Gentile or Jew or simply man,” or whether he can even be named at all. What matters is his recognition of who Christ is. Bloodied as they both were, Dismas looked at Christ and saw a King. In asking to be remembered in His Kingdom, he calls upon His name.
Meditation on the name of Christ has long been part of the Church’s celebration of Advent. The O Antiphons, liturgical chants for use at worship services in the days leading up to Christmas, focus on a name given to Christ in scripture. These antiphons are familiar to many from the hymn O Come O Come Emmanuel, which incorporates the whole series into its verses. Moving from the Old Testament into the New, these chants proclaim to us in the language of scripture the nature of Christ’s identity and give voice to our deep longing for His arrival in our world.
According to one calendar, today is the day that the antiphon O Radix Jesse—O Root of Jesse—should be sung. This antiphon in particular emphasizes Christ’s incarnation in the royal lineage of the nation of Israel. However, like our passage from Romans, it also reminds us that Christ’s coming is a proclamation to all nations. and that His arrival to a particular people is in fact his arrival to all peoples; for, as Paul tells us, “the same Lord is Lord of all.”
The message of salvation to all, then, is testified in every aspect of Christ’s coming to our world. When Paul says “there is no distinction between Jew and Greek,” he is not introducing new doctrine, but recognizing the true nature of Christ’s lordship. Christ came to this world to be Lord of all, and when he returns, he will be Lord of all: of every place, of every people, and of every thief who boldly calls his name.
Prayer:
O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;
before you kings will shut their mouths,
to you the nations will make their prayer:
Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.
Amen
(Church of England, Common Worship).
Jonathan Diaz
Instructor
Torrey Honors Institute
About the Artwork #1:
We’re Not All in the Same Boat, 2015
Banksy
Spray paint on outside wall
Calais, France
This piece is part of a series of works that the artist Bansky created to address the way Syrian refugees are being treated in Calais, France, and elsewhere. The image is based on the famous painting The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault, which depicts the aftermath of the shipwreck of the Méduse, whose captain left the crew and passengers to die. Géricault’s uncommissioned work of this event deliberately sought to be both politically and artistically confrontational, just as much as Banksy has sought to bring the plight of Syrian refugees to public attention. Banksy’s mural shows a raft of struggling refugees trying to flag down a luxury yacht on the horizon.
About the Artist #1:
Banksy is an unknown England-based graffiti artist, political activist, and film director of unverified identity. The artist is known for his satirical street art and subversive epigrams that combine dark humor with graffiti executed in a distinctive stenciling technique. Banksy’s works of political and social commentary have been featured on streets, walls, and bridges of cities throughout the world. His work grew out of the English city of Bristol’s underground scene, which involved collaborations between artists and musicians. Banksy does not sell photographs or reproductions of his street graffiti.
About the Artwork #2
The Raft of the Medusa, 1818–1819
Théodore Géricault
Oil painting on canvas
491 × 716 cm
The Louvre Museum
Paris, France
The Raft of the Medusa is an oil painting by the French Romantic painter and lithographer Théodore Géricault. The work depicts a moment from the aftermath of the wreck of the French naval frigate the Méduse, which ran aground off the coast of today's Mauritania. Those passengers who who survived on a hastily made raft after the shipwreck, endured starvation, dehydration and some even practiced cannibalism. Géricault captured the essence of an historic event that shocked the French public with brutal realism and raw emotion. The painting was seen as largely sympathetic to the men on the raft and the decision to place a black man at the pinnacle of the composition was a controversial expression of Gericault’s abolitionist sympathies. The painting's notoriety stemmed from its indictment of a corrupt establishment, but it also dramatized a more eternal theme, that of man's struggle with the forces of nature.
About the Artist #2:
Théodore Géricault (1791 –1824) was an influential French painter and lithographer. Géricault's short career had a huge impact on the history of modern art and the evolution of French nineteenth century painting. His radical choice of subjects taken from contemporary life, his fusion of classical forms with an atmospheric painterly style, his attraction to sublime and horrific subjects, and his compassion for the weak and vulnerable in society make him a complex artist, but one who helped set the path for Romanticism's emphasis on emotion and subjectivity. His most famous work, The Raft of the Medusa, was a watershed moment in the history of modern art, as it married the immediacy of current events and an eyewitness sensibility with the traditional, monumental format of a grand Salon painting. Much of Gericault's work relied on keen observation, social awareness, and a politically engaged view of the world around him.
About the Music:
“Lights On” from the album Rise
Lyrics:
Oh oh, the light [x6]
We don’t know where we going [x2]
oh oh, the light [x2]
[Verse 1:]
Look around it’s all dark, all black everything.
Like the million man march, but I’m talking bout everything.
Dark hearts, dark souls,
Dark minds writing dark flows,
Can I get a little light though?
Is that something I can fight for?
Hey we so blind we don’t know.
On that highway we go.
Go full speed ahead, flying but we low.
But we don’t know just what he got in store, no more falling for the okie doke.
Nope, he can give us sight for things we never saw before.
‘Till that light get to glowing, we don’t know where we going.
But it ain’t no google map for life, and it’s like our headlights are broken.
Proof: we flashing, passing on some treasure that’s golden.
For some nickel and copper, trying to get glory that’s stolen,
And reaping what we sowing.
Hey we all got dreams, this is mine:
I’m praying that he’ll flip that switch and shine, kids are blind.
We know you got it, Lord we know you got it.
Only you can take us higher, you the pilot
Lights please.
[Hook:]
Oh oh, the light [x4]
Lights Please!
We don’t know where we going.
We so far from our home.
We don’t know where we going.
Blackout, no power’s on.
We don’t know where we going.
My homies gone, they need you to show them so turn them lights on.
We don’t know where we going.
We so far from our home.
We don’t know where we going.
Blackout, no power’s on.
We don’t know where we going.
Until we go where living water is flowing so turn them lights on.
[Verse 2:]
I was walking alone down a dark alley wish I coulda known.
I was locked in a box with blinders blocking my sight of the throne.
Was plotting on others instead of relying on God I was gone.
But my mind it was blown, when He shined that light in my home.
Taking off sleep mask, full speed with the seats back.
Now I can drive head lights on, that steep cliff I see that,
Detour, gotta turn around, young lady gotta turn her down,
180, ain’t perfect now, but I press on and I get stronger.
Dear Lord, our people lost you see the shooting, killing.
Who let Lucifer loose? We all are duped and willing.
And he ain’t through concealing, glory from humans.
We doomed to be in that tomb and walking to our execution.
Man, thank you for dragging me out that dark room.
Your truth pierced through my heart like harpoons, no cartoon.
It’s a blackout, no light just black out.
Please give them grace, I know you got more light to pass out.
[Hook]
[Outro:]
So can you turn the lights on?
Can you turn the lights on for me?
(It’s so far from home)
About the Composer:
Gabriel Alberto Azucena (b.1988), who goes by the stage name Gawvi, formerly G-Styles, is an American Christian hip hop artist and music producer for Reach Records. His career commenced in 2008 when he did production work for Lecrae and Trip Lee, who continue to be his most consistent collaborators. In early 2016, he was officially signed to Reach Records. He won a GMA Dove Award at the 46th GMA Dove Awards in the category of Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year for his production work on Anomaly by Lecrae. On March 31 of 2017, Gawvi released his debut album We Belong to acclaim in the CCM community.
About the Composer/Performer:
American rapper, author, and recording artist Trip Lee, born William Lee Barefield III (b. 1987), is the teaching pastor of Cornerstone Church in Atlanta, Georgia. The album Rise, Trip Lee’s fifth studio album, is in his words “a call-to-action to rise from the dead and actually live. We're born spiritually dead, and I'm calling for everyone to become spiritually alive.” The second track, “Lights On,” was written with Gabriel Azucena.
About the Poet:
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo, KBE, (1899–1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet, translator, and a key figure in Spanish-language literature. His best-known books, Ficciones (Fictions) and El Aleph (The Aleph), which were published in the 1940s, are compilations of short stories interconnected by common themes including dreams, labyrinths, libraries, mirrors, fictional writers, philosophy, and religion. Borges' works have contributed to philosophical literature and the fantasy genre. Critic Ángel Flores, the first to use the term “magical realism” to define a genre that reacted against the dominant realism and naturalism of the 19th century, considers the beginning of the movement to be the release of Borges' Historia Universal de la Infamia (A Universal History of Infamy). Borges became completely blind by the age of 55 and, since he never learned braille, he was unable to read. Scholars have suggested that his progressive blindness helped him to create innovative literary symbols through imagination.
About the Devotional Writer:
Jonathan Diaz lives in Whittier, California with his wife, Abigail. He holds an M.F.A. in Poetry from the University of Notre Dame, and is a faculty member of the Torrey Honors Institute at Biola University. His poems have appeared in or are forthcoming from Zócalo Public Square, American Literary Review, Saint Katherine Review, and The Cresset.