Third Friday of Advent
Scripture Reading for Today:
For we will sing of the Lord’s loyal love forever!
For the past few months, I’ve had the privilege of being a part of the New Leaf Network Design Shop, the online edition. While moving the event online had some limitations, it did allow us to have English-to-French translation provided in realtime for our Francophone participants. It was a sight to behold watching our skilled translators work so hard to keep up, and by all accounts, they did an excellent job.
As I watched the translators in their little “Zoom windows” breaking a sweat as they powered through, every once in a while I’d hear a presenter say a word or concept in English that I knew would be a hurdle for the translators to tackle as they moved swiftly along. Anyone who speaks two languages knows that word-for-word translation can be incredibly difficult if not impossible sometimes. To that effect, there is a Latin proverb that states, “Every translator is a traitor.” Words and concepts can get lost in translation.
There is perhaps no greater example of the complexity of translating a word than when it comes to the Hebrew word hesed.
Scholars have puzzled for centuries trying to translate this word into English. It occurs more than 250 times in the Hebrew Scriptures, and yet we have no English word(s) to capture its full essence. The best we can come up with in English is hollow in comparison. The Old Testament translation committee of the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible left the vote on how to translate hesed to the end of their deliberations because of the complex debate. And even then after deciding, as with many translations, the word is not always translated the same way.
Loving-kindness, faithful love, steadfast love, love, kindness, great loyalty, favour, acts of loving-kindness, loyal love: these are just some of the directions translators have gone with this word. The central obstacle with the word is that it can only be understood as describing a relationship that is fundamentally unequal between one (One) who is powerful and one who is powerless. I once had a professor refer to this vastly unequal relationship as “Gracious and generous condescension.” While no one wants condescension, when we’re in a place of total need we don’t mind receiving it. And this is the human circumstance with respect to Yahweh. We cannot demand His relationship; we can only need it. We cannot earn it; it comes because of who he is. What’s amazing is that God owes us nothing, and yet he still comes and demonstrates his hesed. And hesed is always an act — always a demonstration. And while the English word “love” is a powerful word, it’s not nearly powerful enough to do hesed justice.
In today’s readings from Psalm 89 we find hesed in a few places. The worship and thanksgiving which introduce the Psalm are centred in it.
I will sing of the Lord’s loyal love forever. I will proclaim your faithfulness with my own mouth from one generation to the next. That’s why I say, “Your loyal love is rightly built—forever! You establish your faithfulness in heaven.” (CEB)
It is that same excitement and adoration which we clearly see depicted in the story of dancing David in 2 Samuel 6. Overcome in worship to the extent that some even found it unworthy of a king’s, David’s response can only be understood in the light hesed. The unfettered, unadulterated, undeserved loving acts of God will do that to you. When we can even slightly grasp God’s loyal love, it wrecks us. It leaves us, in a very real sense, looking for words.
Which is exactly the sort of feeling I sense the author of Hebrews is wrestling with in chapter one. The God known as Yahweh is now made known in and through his son, the Christ. That same hesed which Yahweh poured out is now in and pouring out through Jesus. Not an angel, or any other lofty being or person, for that matter. No, this is the Son of God, the fully divine and fully human man from the line of David, in whom we see coming back in Psalm 89:24, “My faithfulness and my loyal love will be with him.” (CEB)
All the fullness and complexity of God’s hesed now in Jesus…what’s our response to that? How do we respond to this Son of God who is unique among all others? What can we do in light of receiving God’s hesed through Jesus? Do we take a page out of David’s book? Do a little dancing? Play some music? Pass out some food and have a party?
Yes, I think so, actually.
Sounds a little like Christmas. This year, in the midst of your festivities, even with all of the odd COVID-related realities, as best you can, try at least once to cut loose in worship. In fact, if there was ever a year to party and worship in the face of adversity, this might be it. So get a bit undignified. Give your soul some celebration. Raise a drink, crank some Boney M, bust a move, eat great food, and invite others to join you over Zoom. Ha! For we will sing of the Lord’s loyal love forever!
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One of the ways we have been connecting online since the pandemic pushed us online is through our Learning Centre, a weekly interactive Zoom call on a topic with a Canadian voice of wisdom. For the season of Advent, we will be featuring a few of our writers and making space to reflect together on the Advent Reader articles. Join us for the interactive sessions on Thursdays at 1:30 pm (Eastern time) or sign up and view the recordings of the sessions afterwards. SIGN UP for the Learning Centre Advent sessions.