He pitches His tent among us

Vacation Bible school.

On January 22, we celebrated the Transfiguration of our Lord, witnessed by the apostles Peter, James and John (Matthew 17:1-9; Mark 9:2-13; Lucas 9:28-26). This last manifestation of the divine nature in Christ before His suffering, death and resurrection concludes the Christmas/Epiphany season.

The Tabernacle.

St. John recalls the Transfiguration in this way: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). This verse also proclaims the Incarnation. So it provided the theme for the vacation Bible school with which we ended the 12 days of Christmas and began the Epiphany season from January 4 to 7.

In the Greek text, the word translated as “dwelt” is eskenosen, which literally means He “pitched a tent” among us. This provided the theme for the vacation Bible school with which we began the Epiphany season from January 4 to 7. God pitched a tent among the people of Israel during their journey to the Promised Land. This was the Tabernacle, the portable sanctuary constructed by Moses according to God’s specifications as a place of worship. The English word tabernacle derives from the Latin tabernāculum, meaning "tent" or "hut". It was in the Tabernacle that God manifested His presence and communicated His will to His chosen people of the Old Testament. Later on, King Solomon would build a permanent structure , or temple, based on the Tabernacle’s design, in Jerusalem.

Ark of the Covenant.

Luz Maria and her daughter, Angi Sarai, built a model of the Tabernacle which showed in detail the outer court, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. In the outer court stood the altar of sacrifice for burnt offerings and a basin of water used by the priests for ritual washings. Only priests entered the Holy Place, where there was the table on which the bread of the Presence was placed, the altar of incense and the seven-branched candelabra (menorah). Within the Holy Place, but separated from it by a curtain as the Holy Place was separated from the outer court, was the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. The high priest would enter the Holy of Holies only once a year, to offer sacrifices on the Day of Atonement. Luz Maria and Sarai made models of all these things to show the children.

The menorah.

In our vacation Bible school, we emphasized that even as the Tabernacle was replaced by the Temple of Jerusalem, the Temple was replaced by Jesus Himself as God walked among men in the tabernacle of His body. Jesus would say, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up” in reference to His body (John 2:19-21). And, after describing the earthly Tabernacle, the writer of Hebrews says, “But Christ came as the High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal salvation” (Hebrews 9:11-12). The Temple of Jerusalem would be destroyed in 70 A.D., and never rebuilt, but even before that, on the day of His crucifixion, the veil of the Holy of Holies would be torn in two (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38), signifying that all clothed in Christ’s righteousness through baptism may enter into God’s presence without fear.

Solomon's Temple.

Now New Testament believers have the promise that Jesus still dwells among us, wherever two or three are gathered in His name (Matthew 18:20). But we dedicate physical locations and hours to the gathering of God’s people to hear the preaching of the Word and receive the sacraments. And even as elements of Old Testament worship prefigured those of the New Testament (the bronze basin for the baptismal fount, and the bread of the presence for the visible elements of bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper), our worship shows continuity with the Old Testament in the singing of psalms; the centrality of the altar or Lord’s table; and vestments for those who act as stewards of God’s mysteries.

Epiphany Sunday.

Seventh anniversary of our temple

Alfredo and Gladys Rivas.

Also on Sunday, January 7, we celebrated the seventh anniversary of the dedication of our “templo” or permanent sanctuary. For 13 years before that, we worshiped in a roofed patio with no walls. Every Sunday the altar and chairs were set up and taken down. It was our tabernacle. During that time there were 16 baptisms and 22 confirmations and reaffirmations of faith. Since January 2017, I have baptized 14 and received 16 communicant members through confirmation or reaffirmation of faith. In other words, comparable numbers of baptisms, confirmations and reaffirmations of faith in about half the number of years, praise be to God.

Members from Corpus Christi Lutheran Church, our sister congregation in the city of Barinas, attended our dedication service in 2017. Most of the same people returned for our seventh anniversary service, plus Alfredo Rivas, who designed and cut our stained glass, and his wife, Gladys, the sister of Ludy de Tarazona of Corpus Christi. Two who were not able to visit us on January 8, Virginia Jímenez and Roamird Castillo, attended the following Sunday.

Septuagesima or Carnival?

Carnaval princess.

With the Epiphany season behind us, we move into a time that sometimes is called Septuagesima after the first of three Sundays between the Transfiguration and Ash Wednesday. Septuagesima is Latin for “seventieth”. The following Sundays are called Sexagesima (sixtieth), and Quinquagesima (fiftieth). In very round numbers, this means 70, 60 and 50 days before Easter. The first Sunday in Lent was once known as Cuadragesima (fortieth) for the 40 days of Lent, and this is the basis for Cuaresma, the Spanish word for Lent. These pre-Lenten Sundays, mentioned as early as 541 A.D., are supposed to be a time of transition from the joyous festivities of Christmas and Epiphany to the darker, more somber mood of Lent.

However, in medieval times, Lenten fasting was required, and the rules were very strict. So, as something of a practical matter, people got into the habit of conspicuous consumption during the pre-Lenten period: Throwing big parties to use up those foods which could not be eaten during Lent, and which could not even be kept in homes during the fast – meat, butter, cheese, milk, eggs, fats, and bacon – as well as other rich foods and pastries. Later on, the revelry came to include parades and masquerade balls. This came to be known as Carnival (or Carnaval in Spanish) from the Latin “Carnem levare” which means withdrawal or removal of meat. The tradition continues in Latin American countries, although in Venezuela, the celebration of Carnaval is officially limited to the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday (which, as it happens, falls on February 14, Valentine’s Day, this year).

We will hold a masquerade party for our preschool children as we have every year, but we will also use the selected readings for the pre-Lenten Sundays to emphasize the three solas of the Reformation. The readings for Septuagesima Sunday teach salvation through grace alone (Exodus 17:1-7; 1 Corinthians 9:24-10:5; Matthew 20:1-16); for Sexagesima, sola Scriptura (Isaiah 55:10-13; Hebrews 4:9-14; Luke 8:4-15); and for Quinquagesima, faith alone (1 Samuel 16:1-13; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Luke 8:31-43).

Our 2023 Carnaval parade float.