Today's Scripture Reading (August 15, 2021): Genesis 17
Three dots, arranged in a triangle and tattooed onto
the skin. To most of us, it means very little, just dark points the someone mysteriously decided
to have indelibly placed
on their skin. But if you see them on someone, you might be
in the presence of an active gang member, and maybe even someone connected to the Mexican Mafia. Each dot carries a meaning and describes the typical path of a gang
member, with the
dots reminding the wearer that the future likely includes prison, hospital, and cemetery. It is not a positive message, and for most gang members, it is the first
tattoo that they will receive. Personally, it doesn't seem to be much of a recruiting tool. But, the marks are also a reminder to the wearer that they are members of a fraternity and brothers
until all of the dots have been brought to their promised fulfillment.
A similar marking used by other gangs is a collection of five dots. Instead of reminding the
wearer of the stages of gang life, the five dots symbolize "a circle of friends" and the protection that those friends afford the
wearer. The dots remind the wearer that the gang protects him and that he is responsible for safeguarding others who might wear the symbol.
These are only two of the many possible symbols, worn on the skin, that carry
meaning for the wearer, if for no one else. The first ear piercings were worn to
ward off evil spirits, who were thought to be repelled by the presence of
metal. Later, sailors pierced their ears to improve their eyesight (I am not
sure how that was supposed to work), and later, if their bodies washed up on
shore, the ear jewelry was enough to provide for a Christian burial for the dead sailor. Today, earrings are often worn as a rite of passage
into puberty and the teenage years.
Similarly, God told Abraham that he and his descendants were to
be circumcised. The rite was to be exercised on the eighth day. It was at that
moment that the circumcised became part of the tribe of God. Circumcision and the removal of a
small amount of flesh seem to be an appropriate symbol for those who belong to the tribe of God and who promised to live by faith and not by the flesh.
But those who refused to bear the symbol were to be
cut off from the tribe of God. Abraham's descendants were to depend on God, be a people of faith instead of depending on themselves.
And circumcision was an everyday reminder of that commitment. The problem that arose was that Abraham's descendants began to rely more on the symbol than
the God towards whom the sign was supposed to point them.
By the time of the New Testament, circumcision had
lost its meaning; it was just an act that some people did, and others didn't. It had become a symbol of belonging to a human
tribe rather than a reminder of a spiritual reality. What was needed was a
shift on the symbol.
It is a shift that we find in the final address of Moses to the people of
Israel. "The Lord your God
will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your
descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with
all your soul, and live" (Deuteronomy 30:6). Something new was needed, so
that we could love God with everything that we are. It was the circumcision of
the heart.
And
that is the circumcision that we need today. Make no mistake, we still need to
be circumcised, but the circumcision that we need is of the heart. The Apostle
Paul wrote that "no, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly;
and circumcision is circumcision of the heart,
by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person's
praise is not from other people, but from God (Romans 2:29). The circumcision
of the heart allows us to love God and each other the way that we should. And it
is what identifies us as part of the tribe of God.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Genesis 18
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