The Runaway Bunny

Sunday, January 15, 2012
Second Sunday after Epiphany
 
“Lord you have searched me out and known me; you know my sitting down and my rising up” (Psalm 139).
            The readings for today include the story of Samuel being called by God and his “here I am Lord…Speak for your servant is listening” response, Paul’s warning to the Corinthians to beware of sins of the flesh, and the story we discussed earlier in the week about Nathanael’s confession of faith upon Jesus’ recognition of him. However, I want to share some thoughts about the psalm appointed for today because it is one of my very favorites. It is Psalm 139 which begins with the words above. Today’s lectionary only includes verses 1 – 5 and 12 – 17, but the ones I want to share with you are 6 – 11 which make it very clear that the psalmist believed that there was nowhere he could go that God would not find him. What great comfort there is in that knowledge!
Where can I go from your spirit?
   Or where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
   if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning
   and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
   and your right hand shall hold me fast.
11 If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,
   and the light around me become night’,
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
   the night is as bright as the day,
   for darkness is as light to you.
            Many of you might remember the children’s classic, The Runaway Bunny, in which author Margaret Wise Brown tells the story of these verses of psalm 139 from the perspective of a bunny and his mother…we are the bunny and God is the mother. In this story, Brown suggests that no matter what disguise we try to use, nor how far we run, God will find us.  I have attached a link to the telling of the story, and I hope you will hear it in a new and different way today, being warmed and comforted by the knowledge that ultimately, like the bunny, we must just stop running and rest in the arms of our loving God.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0tfX9shBbc