Psalm 148 - All Creation Praise the Lord - Happy New Year!

New Year’s Day, 2012

Isaiah 61:10-62:3        Psalm 148        Galatians 4:4-7            Luke 2:22-40

Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?

Should old acquaintance be forgot and days of auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne, we’ll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne.

Why is it so hard to let go of “stuff.”  I’m not a hoarder, my house is not a fire trap due to excess newspapers, magazines, collectibles, gathering dust.  One can easily walk from room to room with only an occasional pile of books to step over.  Still I have boxes of stuff in my home, the accumulation of a lifetime.  I have toys, odds and ends, homemade cards, stuff I’ve written from my childhood stored away in an old roll top desk, memories of a person I can hardly recognize, much less remember.  I have papers written in college that impress me at how smart I once was.  That person is long gone.  I have college textbooks along with a small library of books I’ve collected over the years.  You never know when I might want to pick up Mandarin Chinese or see if I can resurrect the Russian I studied all through college.  Have to keep those books.

And then there is my children’s memorabilia.  Not just pictures and cards they made for me, but each has their own store of treasures, kept at my house.  I’m as loath to throw these out as I am to throw out my own.

What is it about these that has me trapped, keeps me from letting them go while others pitch and toss with no regrets?  Perhaps it’s because of the memories attached to each item of a forgotten childhood and youth.  Memories that only come back when I pick up a memento or read the words, memories that were forgotten. 

It’s so easy to forget, seems to get easier with each passing year.  You swear you will never forget, only to forget the swearing.  Years pass and with each year come more memories.  You have to let go of some in order to clear away space in your brain for the new.  I hang on to memorabilia in the hopes of hanging on to the memories, with the thought that someday I just may need this tidbit, maybe as part of a story, or a memoir. 

Another reason I find it so hard to throw out, is my dislike for waste.  I don’t like to see food wasted so it sits in my refrigerator long past the sell by date until I am finally reassured it needs to be thrown out.  I don’t throw out clothes I rarely wear, appliances I no longer use, out-dated electronics, thinking someday, they may prove useful again. The minute I get rid of something, I find I need it!  I abhor waste, even wasting time.  Time is far too precious to waste.  And worst of all, a wasted life.  I don’t know where this dislike for waste came from, I just know it is strong inside me.  I don’t want to waste any minute of this life God has given me.

Each year, at the beginning of a new year, we sing, auld lang syne, old long ago.  We ring in the old, ring out the new, and ask the question:  should old acquaintances be forgot?  The implied answer is, no, we should not forget old friends, times gone past, even as we welcome in the new, but it is a question worth asking.  When is it time to let go of the old for the new?  Can we have it both ways?  Can we treasure the past while embracing the future?

And I wonder, what would Jesus say about my boxes of memories?  They aren’t of value to anyone but me.  Should I pitch and toss?  What does Scripture say?

Our psalm for today is a psalm of praise, the third of five Hallelujah psalms that conclude the book of Psalms.  The writer calls for all of creation to praise the Lord, all creation in heaven, on earth and under the earth.  It is divided into two parts.  The first part deals with the heavens, angels, sun, moon and stars, all praise the Lord.  Where heathen nations worshipped the sun, moon and stars as divinities, they are clearly under God’s command for God created them (vs. 5).  Section ends with a refrain, vs. 5-6, sung by the choir in response to the call for praise.

The second part deals with all earthly creation, including the depths of the earth and sea and all that arise out of them, fire, hail, snow, frost and stormy winds (vs. 7-8). They, too, are under the Lord’s command and acknowledge him.  Then the earth (vs. 9-10), mountains, hills, trees, animals; finally all people, kings and queens, the high and mighty, the old and the young (vs. 11-12), all praise the Lord.  This section concludes with a second refrain (vs. 13-14). 

The order of praise follows the order of creation in Genesis 1.  The attitude of the writer parallels that of the Genesis 1, with the earth, all creation being good, very positive psalm, all the world is under God’s command.  This would be a psalm of orientation based on Walter Breuggeman’s definition.  However, we know that not all of God’s creations give proof of God’s goodness.  Hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, all wreak havoc on creation, destroying life, creating waste, and bringing into question the goodness of our God.  The psalmist doesn’t deal with these questions, focusing only on the importance of praise and in doing so reminding us that our blessings outnumber our problems, that we owe to God that which is rightfully God’s, our praise.  As one commentator states, “The blessings far outnumber the trials.  There is a problem of pain, and the facts of life continually remind us of it.  The problem may become most acute when we seek to lift up our hearts in praise.  The contrast between the realities we see and feel and the praise we offer is too obvious.  Yet as praise continues, a sense of indebtedness overwhelms resentment and complaint.  We may even reach the point at which we give thanks for our sorrows, our disappointments, our losses (II Cor. 12:9b).”  (The Interpreter’s Bible, volume 4, p. 756)

Passage from Isaiah is another call to praise; God is praised for restoring Israel, bringing forth justice and praise to the earth.    In 61:10-11, the prophet moves from praising God for his personal salvation to hope that one day salvation will be completed.  In 62 he calls upon God to fulfill his promise of salvation to Jerusalem.  Israel that once was called “forsaken” and “desolate” are now “my delight” and “espoused.”

Gospel- we hear story of Jesus early years, his presentation in the Temple, how he grew in wisdom and grace.  In the temple was a righteous man, Simeon, who had been told he would not die until he had seen the Messiah.  God’s spirit was strong in Simeon; the spirit guided Simeon to the Temple that day and revealed to him that this small baby was the one he had been waiting for.  His response was one of praise and thanksgiving, thanking God for his salvation through the birth of the Messiah.

Paul tells us in Galatians, that in the fullness of time, Jesus came, no sooner, no later, at the right time when humans were ready.  Simeon had spent his whole life waiting for this day.  Now that it had happened, he was ready to go, his life had been fulfilled.  All of our readings remind us of God’s salvation, God’s saving power and the ultimate expression of this in the birth of a baby, Jesus.  It is precisely this which saves our memories, saves our lives and our world from waste.  With God, no life is wasted, not the unborn, not lives lost in natural disasters.  God knows us all by name, we are part of his creation, and God saves all of us.  God restores our memories as well, all that is important to remember, all that God wants us to remember, they will all be restored if not in this life, then the next.

And so, as another new year begins, we are called to both let go of the past, and treasure our memories; we are called to let go of the “stuff” of life, material possessions, while not wasting for all of God’s creation is precious.  We are called to both/and rather than either /or, to join with all creation in praising our God who saves us.  Happy New Year!

Copyright 2011, Robertson

Psalm 97 - Repetitions that Delight - Christmas 2011

Christmas 2011             Repetitions that Delight

Isaiah 9:2-7          Psalm 97              1 Titus 3:4-7                  Luke 2:1-20

When my son, Dan, was a baby, he had one book he wanted me to read over and over and over, Busy Timmy, to point where he had it memorized at 1 year.  Needless to say, I grew tired of this repetition much quicker than he did.  When we like something, we tend to want to repeat the experience over and over, whether watching a favorite video, reading a favorite book, eating a delicious dessert, or listening to music.  Good stuff of life bears repeating. 

Some repetitions are annoying, scales on the piano by the beginner, the refrain “Are we there yet?” while undertaking a long trip with children, muzak on elevators.  I recently traveled to New York for the weekend.  Riding on the subway, I quickly tired of refrain, “stand away from the door,” at every stop.

Some repetitions never fail to delight, a beautiful sunrise or sunset, a starry sky at night, the Harvest moon, that first cup of coffee in the morning to greet a new day, the great works of literature, Shakespeare, Dickens, Tolstoi and others, love stories – we love a good love story, boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl, vice versa, and every variation thereof.  That’s why there are so many books, movies, songs about love.  We never tire of them.

Psalm for today states nothing new or unusual, nothing we haven’t heard before, some might say why even include it in the book of Psalms, could easily be eliminated or condensed into another psalm, like a Readers Digest condensed book, yet it is worth keeping, worth repeating.

It is a psalm of praise of our God, the wonder of God, that God reigns as king forever.  It isn’t the words themselves that are so wonderful or unique, but the passion for the subject by the writer.  These are words written by someone who knows his subject, loves his subject, and that makes all the difference.

The psalm follows a traditional format, three parts.  First verse introduces the subject, the theme for the psalm.  Verses 2-6 speak of the cosmic power of God enthroned in heaven.  Traditional terms for a theophany are used, showing God in nature, with dark clouds and lightning. Verses 7-9 contrasts the shame of idolatry with rejoicing of Zion, God’s people.  Verses 10-12 exhorts the faithful to hate evil and rejoice in the Lord.

Every good story has conflict and plot twists, true of this psalm.  The conflict seen in verses 2-6 is our desire to know God, yet God is covered with a veil of mystery.  The darkness is lit up from within by blazing fires and lightning, glimpses of God, but more often than not our path is dark, we don’t know our future, don’t know our God, don’t even know ourselves all that well at times.  While on this earth we walk in darkness, yet walk we must.  We get glimpses of God, moments of clarity when the way seems clear, but those are short lived.  This causes conflict, yet the conflict creates interest in knowing how it will turn out. 

The other conflict in the psalm is between believers and unbelievers.  We are reassured that our God guards the lives of those who are faithful, that right will prevail, we need only remain true to our God.

Our Gospel reading for today is the beginning of the greatest story ever told, a great love story, the continuation of the story of God’s love for his people which echoes in the Old Testament and starts anew in the New Testament with the birth of a baby, something new and unique, never before seen, never to be seen again.  The story is repeated every year, yet never gets old.  Well worth the repeating.  With years of life the story is enriched by memories, memories of Christmas’s past, Christmas’ yet to come, full of nuances, light and dark.  Not every Christmas memory is pleasant.  The first Christmas without a loved one at the table can be very difficult, yet the story goes on,

God so loved the world.  God’s love for us goes on; we need to keep repeating the story, through good times and hard times.  So much of our life is darkness.  We need to treasure these moments of light when God’s presence reveals itself to us through the darkness.  Treasure this time when the people who walk in darkness, all of us, see God’s light.  They are all the more precious for being few and far between.

And so, as we gather here today on yet another Christmas, let us relish the story of that first Christmas long ago; let us remember other Christmases in our lives, not so long ago.   

This Christmas, may we be a light in the darkness to others during difficult times.  May our light shine before others, showing them the way to our God, leading them to Jesus.  And may we never tire of repeating the story, the story of God’s great love.

Robertson copyright December 2011

Psalm 126, Great Expectations

December 11, 2011                 Great Expectations!

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11                  Psalm 126        1 Thes. 5:16-24          John 1:6-8, 19-28

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” Charles Dickens, author who in his writing on Christmas, The Christmas Carol and others, did more to save Christmas from a neglected, little observed celebration than any person of his time.  Would be interesting to hear what he would have to say about our current observance of the holiday and the excesses associated with it  . . .

This time of year can seem like the best of times and the worst of times, a season of extremes, highs and lows, exacerbated by lack of sleep, excessive eating and drinking and parties.  It can be both a wonderful time and terrible time depending on your life circumstances.  Something about the holidays makes the highs higher and the lows lower.  It also is a time of “Great Expectations” to use the title of one of Dickens’ novels.

Psalm 126 is very appropriate for this season of strong emotions.  Whereas Psalm 85 encompasses past present and future, Psalm 126 embraces the whole realm of human emotion in 8 verses.  As J.E. McFadyen says, the psalm passes swiftly through the “vicissitudes of human life—its laughter and tears, sorrow and joy, dejection and exaltation, exile and redemption, spring and autumn, the beautiful dream, and the cruel reality; but the sorrow of it all is swallowed up in the lovely vision with which it ends.” (Interpreter’s Bible, vol. 4, p. 664)

This short, beautiful piece of poetry is from the post-exilic time, a time after the return of the exiles from Babylon in 537 BCE.  Poet remembers this time as a time of wonder, an idyllic time, golden age with so much laughter and joy that unbelievers, the heathen nations, were inspired to say, “The Lord has done great things for them.” (vs. 2)  Psalm is considered a lament, following the form of a lament, yet it is so full of hope and joy that it doesn’t strike me as sorrowful at all.  It is meant to be studied with Psalm 85, both of which psalms were structured for liturgical use to keep hope alive in the people.

The psalm provides a beautiful image of this time of return.  The destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of the countries key leaders made a tremendous impression on the Hebrew nation   It was a significant turning point in their history, as significant as the Exodus experience.  It forced them to change their theology, challenged their understanding of their role as God’s chosen nation and the role of the Temple.  Their religion which had centered on Jerusalem and the Temple had to make a profound shift in order to survive, a shift to a focus on the law, Torah.  Families had been scattered, some had died while in exile, others had been born and only knew about Jerusalem through what they had been told.   When they were finally allowed to return, the psalmist describes that return as if they were walking in a dream; they could hardly believe their good fortune.  Dumb with astonishment and wonder at first, then their mouths were filled with joy and laughter as they were reunited with old friends.  What a welcome there must have been by those who had been left behind amidst the rubble.  A wonderful occasion, as wonderful as the Exodus when God brought them to safety through the Red Sea and when God brought them into the Promised Land, an idealized time, however short lived.  The Jerusalem they had returned to was not the Jerusalem they had left; there was much work to be done to rebuild the city and the Temple.

The second section of the psalm , vs. 4-6, turns from the remembrance of the past to the present, a time of unhappiness and difficulty.  Poet uses image of dried up river beds, the wadi beds of the Negeb, to illustrate that Israel has become barren of life and hope.  The wadi beds in this region were waterless, dry and arid most of the year until the rainy season when God sent down streams of life giving water.  The people ask God to restore their fortunes like he restores the river each year.  Psalm ends on a note of hope that those who sow in tears shall reap with joy, a proverb the some believe was based on a primitive belief that “one must not laugh when he sows, lest he weep when he harvests.” (Leslie, Psalms, as found in Interpreter’s Bible, p. 666.)  Time of sowing was hard work; it was an anxious time for sower knew not all seed would bear fruit.  People would pray for a good harvest as reward for the hard work of sowing seed.  Certainly life on this earth can be hard as well with many reasons for tears, but the writer of this psalm believes in happy endings; that we are born not for tragedy but for some ultimate good.  Israel was currently experiencing a time of tears, yet a joyous harvest is predicted based on God’s actions in the past.  This is reason for confidence.

Note that confidence is in God and what God has done, not what people had done.  Their return from exile was seen as an act of God, showing God’s goodness.  In verse 3 the people echo back the words of the heathen nations saying, “The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad.”  The writer is confident that this will be the case in the future.  This shows the importance of praising God when praise is due, focusing more on our blessings than our complaints.  As one commentator states:

“If instead of complaints we gave praise where praise is due, there would be fewer family disagreements ending in family tragedies.  If instead of taking favors for granted in national life we gave credit to leaders and public servants and remembered how much we owed to the past, there would be greater joy in adding to the common stock and less temptation to demand more than we deserve.  Churches too would be transformed if they taught people in all circumstances to dwell upon the mercies they have received instead of multiplying their troubles.  If God did anything for us in our early days, if he has supported us through difficult years and comforted us in bereavement, let us not be silent.  Let us tell people not only by the words we speak but by the radiance of our lives.  So much of the distress in the world springs from the fact that we want to tell what we have done, not what God has done for us.  Afflictions we may keep to ourselves.  Blessings we should share.  They are neither few nor mean.”  (Interpreter’s Bible, pp. 665-666)

Our passage from Isaiah is from third Isaiah; the call of a third prophet following the tradition of Isaiah.  This prophet speaks during a time of reconstruction after the return from exile.  While second Isaiah spoke words of comfort to people in exile, third Isaiah speaks words of encouragement to people rebuilding after the destruction of Jerusalem.  His is a message of hope based on conviction that God will bring forth justice just as surely as the earth brings forth plants.  This is reason for rejoicing.

Reading from Thessalonians picks up on theme of rejoicing, saying “Rejoice always . . .give thanks in all circumstances.”  Surely our hope is in the Lord who turns sorrows into joy and gives us reason for rejoicing.

Gospel we hear John the Baptist’s testimony.  John clearly attributes to God what belongs to God. He is clear about his identity, that he is not the Messiah but just someone who points the way to the Messiah, an important lesson for all, to recognize who we are and give to God what is rightfully God’s, not setting ourselves up as a false god as John so easily could have given his popularity. 

    

Advent is a time of Great Expectations, highs and lows, children look forward to Christmas with expectations of toys they shall receive from Santa, as adults we may be looking forward to holiday gatherings in great expectation of a Hallmark Christmas only to be disappointed when those expectations are dashed upon the rocks of reality; when our dreams fall short.  Those who are missing loved ones may find the holidays and the idyllic pictures of family gatherings very painful as they remind us of all we have lost. 

In light of broken expectations and losses we may be tempted to lower our expectations out of fear of being disappointed yet again, but Advent is a time for great expectations.  It isn’t a matter of lowering expectations but examining where we place those expectations.  If we focus on the things of this world, even on good things like family and friends, we will undoubtedly be disappointed for all humans have feet of clay, we all have our share of disagreements, we all misunderstand and are misunderstood at times, leading to disappointment.  But if we build our expectations firmly on God, trusting in God based on the good God has done in the past, we will not be disappointed.  Not only that, the final reality will exceed our expectations in ways we can’t begin to imagine, beyond our wildest dreams.  Then we, too, shall be like those who dream.

So, let us not be afraid to have Great Expectations this Advent for our God will not disappoint.

Robertson, copyright December 2011

Psalm 85 - Now and Future Salvation

December 4, 2011                   Now and Future Salvation

Isaiah 40:1-11             Psalm 85                      2 Peter 3:8-15a                        Mark 1:1-8

Advent begins a new year for the church – out of sync with secular society which celebrates beginning of new year on January 1.  The church is also out of sync with holiday celebrations that are part of this year as they rush to Christmas, forgetting Advent.  Personally glad for a respite from celebration, enjoyed Thanksgiving, but needed a break before Christmas celebrations began, experiencing the letdown after a good party.

So here we are at the beginning of another church year.  New year begins with end times, not the birth of Christ but the second coming of Jesus.  Jesus has already been born, is already present in the world.  What we celebrate is the anniversary of the birth.  God does not repeat himself, always new.  The unique event of Jesus’ birth will not be repeated.  Jesus will come again but not like the first time; Jesus will come at the end of time.  Readings remind us of this, remind us of the need for salvation for our lives are not meant to last forever, nor is the world going to last forever.

Psalm for today considered a lament by some, a prophetic liturgy by others.  Beautiful psalm that transcends time, encompasses past, present and future within the lines of poetry.  Verses 1-3, begin with past, recalling the “good old days,” a time past when circumstances were better.  Recalls how God restored the fortunes of Jacob - the nation, not the man.  Psalm could be referring to any number of incidents, in this better time God restored them to physical prosperity by restoring the land; God forgave their sins and restored their relationship with God by withdrawing his anger.  It was a golden age romanticized in remembrance as we so often do when thinking about the past.

Verses 4-7 refer to the present, a time of some danger.   The people stand before God in their need and plead for God to once again restore their fortunes, reflecting on how God restored their fortunes in the past.  “Show us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation,” they say, pleading for salvation, a restoration of relationship with God.

Verses 8-13 take us to a future time.  God responds to his people and the poet bursts forth in beautiful poetic images of a time in the future when all will be restored, order will be restored.  At times this passage is considered eschatological referring to end times, the glories of heaven, but it is also situated on earth, God’s glory shows forth on earth.  It is a both/and situation – vision of heaven and of heaven on earth.  It is a time when love and faithfulness will meet once again, righteousness and peace will kiss.  Implication is that these natural pairs have been unnaturally separated in this world but will now be brought back together.  Faithfulness will spring up from the earth, righteousness come down from heaven and join together in perfect harmony, between heaven and earth.  Earth will finally live in accord with God’s will, how God intended earth to be and God will give what is good. 

We see in this psalm past, present and future held together in a way that transcends time, a new sense of time that encompasses all time.  All those of you who are older understand how this can be.  There is a new sense of time that can come with age, which has been termed gerotranscendence, or climbing over age.  Memories of past events from our childhood seem like only yesterday, are as real now as when they first happened.  You can hold the past and present together in a new way you couldn’t before.  The veil that separates this life from the next gets thinner as we age and grow closer to our ultimate future.  Time takes on a whole new meaning as we are caught between this world and the next.

Isaiah passage, beginning of second Isaiah, includes the first words of Handel’s masterpiece, the Messiah.  We hear the beautiful oracle – “Comfort, give comfort to my people.”  God is calling the prophet to speak words of comfort.  First Isaiah is dominated by words of warning, calling upon the people to repent, return to their God, to true worship of God, before it is too late.  Second Isaiah speaks words of comfort to a people in exile.  The Hebrew people did not listen to God speaking through the prophets; their country was overthrown by Babylon and their people were taken away.  God lets them know through the prophet that their time of exile will soon be over.  God will make a path for them in the desert.  God will clear the way for them, lowering the mountains and raising the valleys to make the way smooth for God’s people.  There is a sense of an immediate, soon to happen, future, as well as a distant future, foretelling the return of the exiles as well as foretelling a much more distant future when all nations shall be gathered together under the one Shepherd.  Such is the beauty of prophetic passages, they can apply to a concrete situation as well as another future time, the end time.  The events in this passage have happened and yet haven’t happened: another situation of both/and, both are true.

In the passage from Mark, we have the beginning of the story of Jesus, Christ, Son of God.  John the Baptist prepares the way.  Just as God prepared a way in the desert for the Israelites, John is preparing the way for Jesus, who proclaims the kingdom God.  Jesus’ birth inaugurated the kingdom so that we live in the kingdom while anticipating the kingdom, it is both present in the here and now and for the future.

2 Peter reminds us of the last days, end time.  Thanks to Jesus, we are already living in the end time; God’s kingdom is present yet not complete as we work for the fulfillment of God’s word in this world.  A thousand years are but a day in God’s time and so we wait for God’s time, staying ready, prepared for Jesus whenever he might come again and busy about the work of building God’s kingdom.

Our psalm for today is all about salvation, a plea for salvation.  We already have salvation and yet we need to be busy about salvation.  Jesus was born, walked this earth and died for us, to save us.  Like God’s kingdom, it is now, ours already, and yet for a future time.  In our psalm, peace is related to salvation.  God will speak peace to his people, his salvation is at hand, not only is at hand, is here and now because of Jesus.  Certainly that is reason enough for feeling a sense of peace, the peace that the world cannot give, that only God can give, a peace based on justice, doing what is right, God’s justice.  Wherever there is injustice, there is no peace, which is why there is so little peace in our world.

So what are we to do, we who are living in these end times? Sometimes we can wonder about our lives, have they had meaning, have we made a difference, does it matter that we walked on this earth, a hundred years from now, who will remember, who will care, for we like grass will die and our memories fade from the land as the prophet reminds us.  Advent is a good time to wonder about these, a good time to ask what remains undone in my life, what do I need to be busy about in order to be ready for Jesus when he comes for me?  Advent is a good time to wonder about salvation.

C.S. Lewis tells us in Mere Christianity, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.  The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven.  It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.  Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’: aim at earth and you will get neither.  It seems a strange rule, but something like it can be seen at work in other matters.  Health is a great blessing, but the moment you make health one of your main, direct objects you start becoming a crank and imagining there is something wrong with you.  You are only likely to get health provided you want other things more –food, games, work, fun, open air.  In the same way we shall never save civilization as long as civilization is our main object.  We must learn to want something else even more.”

And so what are we to do?  Conduct ourselves in holiness and devotion, as Paul tells us, thereby waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of the Lord.  We need to be busy about building God’s kingdom, busy about our own salvation as well as the salvation of the world, building a world of true peace based on righteousness.  We need to be ready when Jesus calls just as the Hebrew nation had to be ready to return.  Perhaps they had gotten accustomed to Babylon, made a new life there, might have been hard to leave, but leave they must just as we must when called.  We need to both prepare the way for ourselves and for others and be ready to take the way whenever Jesus calls.

Copyright December 2011, Robertson

Advent Preparations

Porch swing down in advance of snowstorm.  Listened to Handel's Messiah to clear my head of Thanksgiving in order to focus on Advent, reflecting on end times and working on sermon.  Opened book of daily meditations by C.S. Lewis this morning and found the perfect quote to finish sermon.  Love the creative process!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I get a break from preaching this week so took advantage of the break to submit posts for earlier psalms:  Psalms 1-9.  Check them out when you have a chance.  Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Psalm 9, Humility in Leadership

Oct. 30, 2011                                      Humility

Joshua 3:7-17                          Psalm 9            1 Thes. 2:9-13             Matthew 23:1-12

Can’t talk about psalm 9 w/out talking about Psalm 10 – at one time one psalm that has been separated into two parts, an acrostic psalm, form of psalm where each verse, line or couplet starts with a new letter of the Hebrew alphabet, ex:  9-10, 25; 34; 111; 112; 119; 145.  Poetic device that at times led to artificiality in trying to make it work.  This poetic form has been lost in translation, making it easier to separate the two, in some ways seem like two very different psalm with no connection, easy to understand why they would be separated rather than together, yet, together, they follow a familiar format found in a number of psalms – starts with praise of God, God’s power and justice, then, after “buttering up” God with words of praise, moves to a lament, tells God his sorrows then ends with a note of confidence that God will prevail, God will do for him what he asks.  Another indicator that these two psalms were once joined is the “Selah” at the end of 9.  “Selah” not spoken, do not know actual function of selah, could indicate a pause, almost like a comma, or like a breathe mark in a song, or, in this case, might say - “to be continued,” meaning it is not done.  Most Bibles have the two separate psalms, for sake of simplicity and space, easier to deal with them as two separate entities.

Psalm 9 – psalm of praise and thanksgiving, praising God for destroying the enemy, appears to be a psalm of orientation, as characterized by Walter Brueggemann, God is in his heaven, He sits on his throne, and all is right with the world – verse 7-8.

Hebrews in Joshua might very well have sung this song of praise after the events of that day and in anticipation of what was to come.  We have the miraculous crossing of the river Jordan, much like the crossing of the Red Sea in Exodus, God wants to clearly establish Joshua as Moses’ successor with all of his authority by doing a “replay” of this historic event, yet we hear so little of this event in later Scripture and in our culture today.  The crossing of the Red Sea, saving of the Hebrew people from Egyptian slavery is recounted over and over again in Scripture as well as each Passover by Jews, also part of Christian heritage as story often retold as part of the Easter Story, not to mention dramatic retelling in picture form in the epic movie “The Ten Commandments” and Disney cartoon in “Prince of Egypt.”  This is a foundational story, to be told and retold to each new generation.  Verse 3 of psalm, “When my enemies turned back, they stumbled and perished before thee,” brings to mind image of chariots getting stuck in the mud as they tried to flee.  Defeat of foes in psalm described like the rout of an army, making it very pertinent to Hebrews during Joshua’s time, a time of war.  

In contrast, story we hear today is but a “blip” in Hebrew history – no pursuit by Egyptian chariots.  Joshua is most known for battle of Jericho, dramatic portrayals of the walls falling down.  He led during a time of war.  Passage today serves important purpose of helping to further establish Joshua as God’s chosen leader of Hebrew people – well needed confirmation as there are many challenges to being a leader of a group of people at any time, especially during time of war.  Seeing this dramatic incident, chances are the people followed Joshua more readily as he led them into and conquered the promised land.  May pray this psalm in confidence to God who will defeat evil, destroy the wicked and give them victory over their enemies, in some ways, psalm might be considered a war time psalm for people at war. 

Another way to read psalm, verse 3, rather than being about an army, according to some commentators is about the discomfiture of men who, confident in the deadly character of their charges against the psalmist, had brought their case to the temple to seek through some ritual act or some form of ordeal a pronouncement of the psalmist’s guilt from God, and had been put to shame by a divine decision contrary to their desire.  Verse 4, “For thou has maintained my just cause.” – such a deliverance viewed as result of judgment made by God in his heavenly court of justice. 

If we interpret verse three in a spiritual sense, then perhaps enemy that has fallen are our tendencies to sin, caution though, fall in KJV means “stumble through weakness.”  It is great when we can say that temptations are getting weaker, as if they had fallen into a decline; but we must still watch, for evil has remarkable recuperative power.  Goodness needs to be nurtured, but evil has its private supplies of energy in the heart of man – a painful fact of human nature. (paraphrased from commentary)

Verse 6 speaks of an enemy, could be an army for those in times of war, however God has other foes besides dictators and aggressor nations.  Pain is one; ignorance another; death a third.  He has warriors besides armed forces.  All who fight against anything that brings destruction are soldiers of God.  Thus the verse could be used in fighting against pain and ignorance, praying “O Thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end” with final enemy being death “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” 1 Cor. 15:26

Verse 9, translation of refuge/stronghold, also “high place” – in contrast to “low place” - reminder that those who follow the Lord will remain in the high places or need to take the high road, not sinking to the low road, thus putting their trust in God – verse 10

Verse 11 reminds us of our need to let others know what God has done for us through singing his praises; verse 12 lets us know that our God does not forget – in contrast to humanity that constantly forgets, forgets God’s goodness and strays from their God.

Verses 13-14 – hear how God lifts from death to life, raises us from low place to high place, followed by verse 15 that speaks of nations, or those who have sunk into pit that they made, caught in their own trap.  How often do we slowly fall into pits of our own making?  Some translate “nations” as the “proud” – the proud sink into pits of their own making, well might we watch out for pride which leads to many a fall.

Gospel picks up theme of humility.  Jesus tells the people to listen to the Pharisees for they sit in the seat of Moses, affirming their leadership, as Joshua’s leadership was affirmed.  He tells them to do as they say, not as they do for they speak right, yet their actions are not always in line with their words.  Lest we be too harsh on the Pharisees, we need to look at our own life.  Chances are there are many times that we too have failed to live up to our ideals.  As a minister I hold forth the values and ideals of Jesus, while recognizing how often I fall short, yet the Gospel needs to be preached, as Paul tells us, and so I preach, along with other ministers, being aware of how far off I am in my own life – happened in Jesus’ time, continues to happen.  A reason for humility.  Last week in reading from Thessalonians, Paul spoke of being like a mother to the people of Thessalonica, nurturing them.  This week he speaks as a father, with authority and decisiveness, guiding principles, as God is Father, providing guidance and protection to those who put their trust in Him.

Psalm closes with admonition:  “Put them in fear, O Lord!  Let the nations know that they are but men!” A reminder again of the need for humility, to recognize that we are but human.  We need to struggle against the enemy within, putting our trust in our God as our refuge, not humans.

Psalm ends with “Selah.”  We have set the stage, one of praise of our God, trust in God as just judge and protector, and so we conclude but it is not over.  Selah - to be continued.

Robertson, copyright November 2011

Psalm 8, What a Piece of Work Is Man

Oct. 23, 2011                          What a Piece of Work Is Man

Dt. 34:1-12                  Psalm 8                        l Thess. 2:1-8               Mat. 22:34-6

What a piece of work is man!  How noble in reason!  How infinite in faculty, in form and moving! How express and admirable in action!  How like an angel in apprehension!  How like a god!  The beauty of the world!  The paragon of animals!  And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?

Hamlet, Act. II, Scene II

What a piece of work is man, indeed.  Shakespeare, not only a great writer, also to my mind, well versed in Scripture, especially the psalms as I hear echoes of Old Testament poetry in Shakespeare’s poetry.  Never researched this or seen other research on it, just strikes me as true.

Sense of wonder at man, humankind’s place in God’s creation found in Psalm 8, also present in this passage from Shakespeare as Hamlet struggles with depression, his place in this world – we are both a little lower than the angels, crowned with honor and glory, given dominion over the creatures of the earth and yet – dust.  Out of dust we were formed and to dust we will return.  The greatest of us are all destined to die.  Moses, one of the greatest of the prophets, died, as we see in reading from Deuteronomy today.  He dies, never having entered the promised land, having only been given a glimpse of that promise.  The work of leading the people into this land, conquering the land for God’s people belonged to another, Joshua, and so Moses was able to die in peace, knowing he had done what he was meant to do, ready to pass the baton of leadership to his successor. 

What a piece of work is man!  We are caught between heaven and earth, of this earth and yet not of this earth, destined for something greater, beyond this life.  One of the paradoxes/puzzles of life – how can we be of this earth and yet not of this earth?  How can we live, one foot planted firmly on the ground, the other pointed to heaven.  Yet, as humans, we are able to live in paradox, recognizing that two seemingly contradictory points of view can both be true, recognizing that much of life remains a mystery even as we learn more and more about this life and this world, even as we seek to master this world.

Psalm 8 is a pretty straight forward hymn of praise, praise of God in nature, the author is stirred to praise of God through contemplating the glory of God manifested in the wonders of heaven, which in turn leads to reflection on the place of man in creation.  He says, “O Lord, how majestic/excellent/awesome is your name in all the earth!” recognizing that our God truly is an awesome God.  Even babies proclaim God’s greatness.  God’s praise is engrained into the human psyche from birth – might say we are hard-wired for God, to recognize God’s wonder as infants.  As we grow older, sometimes we lose this sense of wonder, as Hamlet had.  Sometimes we need to rediscover this as adults through experiencing God in nature as the psalmist does.  There are no words to express God’s glory – the noblest hymns that we can invent in praise of God are like the babblings of babies and infants.

Looking at the moon and stars at night, the work of God’s hand, God’s finger, excites awe and wonder at God’s majesty in the author, as well as a sense of insignificance.  This image of God’s finger brings to mind the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and Michelangelo’s masterpiece reflecting God’s creation of the world, with good reason.  This psalm is closely tied to the creation story from Genesis, where God made the heavens and the earth, all of creation, plants and animals and then created mankind and gave us dominion over the earth – all of this is found in our psalm for today in poetic form, a reworking of the creation story just as Michelangelo told the story in painting.

Chances are that many of us at one time or another did precisely what the author of this psalm did, gazing up at a starry night, or a beautiful harvest moon, or some other wonder of nature, the Grand Canyon, magnificent snow covered mountains or the autumn trees, we can feel very small, insignificant against the grandeur which is God and God’s creation.  It has a way of helping us reprioritize, recognize what is truly important in this life, how so many of the worries and concerns that plague our days and nights are as nothing in the wider scheme of life, in the face of God’s majesty.  And yet we, too, are a part of that creation, not only that, God made this great world and entrusted it to us, fallible humans that we are – imagine that!

Yet we too are part of that creation, the focal point of God’s creation – little less than the angels, hard to believe, a concept hard to grasp, yet true. Sometimes seems like we have messed it up incredibly, hard to believe that God would trust us which such a great gift.

What does it mean to have dominion over God’s creation?  Does it mean we have authority to run roughshod over the animals of the earth, slaughtering them without thought, forcing them to live in crowded breeding grounds and pumping them with antibiotics and human growth hormones?  Does it mean it’s okay to use the resources of this earth with no thought to future generations?  Polluting the air and water, depleting the world of natural resources, strip mining coal?  Or does it mean that we respect the earth and the goodness that is part of this world, treasure it in order to be able to pass it on to the next generation?  With great authority comes great responsibility.  Native Americans, before they make any decision, ask, how will this affect seven generations from now.  In this they treat earth as Mother, they respect the life force of the animals that give up their life that we may have meat to eat.  Francis of Assisi, whose feast day is celebrated this month, referred to the moon as brother, the sun as sister, all of creation, including the animals were brother and sister to him, radically extending Christ-like love and respect not only to people, but to all of creation.

Norman Wirzba, in his book, Living the Sabath, gives us a different perspective on what it means to have dominion over the earth, p. 32.  “Far from being an excuse to do with creation as we want, the exercise of dominion is the practical training ground in which we learn to live patiently and attentively with others so that the mutual flourishing of all becomes possible.  In a very important and practical sense, the vocation of humanity to have dominion will have to be worked out in the twin contexts of careful gardening, of tilling and keeping (even serving) the garden of paradise (Gen. 2:15), and the spiritual and moral work of conforming our lives to the life of God and thereby becoming the concrete manifestation or image of God (Gen. 1:26).  As Terence Fretheim has proposed, humanity’s most fundamental task is to share (however imperfectly) in God’s continuing creative work of fashioning a livable and lovable world:  ‘having dominion and subduing are understood originally as completely positive for the life of other creatures.’   Indeed, as bound up in a common membership of creation, we are responsible in certain respects for the continuing becoming of creation.”

Looking at the creation story, Wirzba sees that God’s work wasn’t completely done on the sixth day.  There was yet one more thing to create before creation was complete p. 33:  “Another detail, frequently unnoticed, is that God was not quite finished with the creation on the sixth day.  Near the end of the story we are told that God finished once on the sixth day, but then again on the seventh.  Why would there be a need to finish something twice?  What would be the significance of a second finishing?  Quoting from a midrash, the medieval rabbi Rashi claimed that after the six days of divine work creation was not yet complete.  What it lacked, and thus what remained to be created, was menuha, the rest, tranquility, serenity, and peace of God.  In the biblically informed mind, menuha suggests the sort of happiness and harmony that come from things being as they ought to be; we hear in menuha resonances with the deep word shalom.  It is this capacity for happiness and delight, rather than humanity, which sits as the crowning achievement of God’s creative work.  It is as though by creating menuha on the seventh day God gathered up all previous delight and gave it to creation as its indelible stamp.  Menuha, not humanity, completes creation.  God’s rest or Shabbat, especially when understood within a menuha context, is not simply a cessation from activity but rather the lifting up and celebration of everything.  Here we see God in a most personal (and exuberant) imaged, like a parent frolicking with a child and in this joy and play demonstrating an abiding commitment to protect, sustain, encourage, and love into health and maturity the potential latent within the child.”

And so, what are we to do, we humans caught between heaven and earth and given charge over God’s work? We are to care for each other and this world, love of God, love of neighbor, as Jesus tells us in our gospel today.   We are to be as Paul tells us he was, as gentle and nurturing as a mother, caring for her children.  So we are to treat each other, and this world God has given us with love and respect, treasuring all creation into the next generation and sharing in God’s own experience of delight.

Robertson, copyright November 2011

Psalm 7, God, the Just Judge

October 9, 2011                                  God as Just Judge

Exodus 32:1-14           Psalm 7            Phil. 4:1-9        Matthew 22:1-14

Psalm for today is an individual lament, the psalmist flies to God’s temple in search of sanctuary from those who would tear him apart like a lion’s prey, then he takes on oath that only someone who was innocent would swear, telling God if he has done that which he has been accused of, then let his enemies overtake him and kill him.  Next section he hopes in God’s protection, he expresses his confidence that the actions of the wicked will come back on their heads, “They make a pit, digging it out, and fall into the hole that they have made.  Their mischief returns upon their heads, and on their own heads their violence descends.” (vs. 15-16)  Like karma – they will reap that which they have sowed.  Psalm concludes with praise of God’s justice/righteousness.

God is a just judge in this psalm; happy are the righteous who are under his judgment.  God as judge is not a popular image in this day and age.  Don’t hear a lot about it, yet was very common concept for God for the Hebrew people.  The word judge and different variations appear in King James Bible 192 times, judgment/s is mentioned 188 times, not to mention how often justice, God’s justice appears in Scripture.   There is even a book of Judges, a recounting of these religious leaders who led Israel after Joshua and before David.  Judges played a very important part in Old Testament life.  Unlike the judges of today who are restricted to advising the jury and not free to convict, they rendered decisions when there were conflicts among people.   Patriarchs were judges in their own families, making decisions, deciding disputes, as were kings.  Priests were judges and so the sanctuary became a place of judgment.  The elders of the city could serve as judges at the gate, or a judge might go from town to town as Samuel did.  Judges were also military leaders endowed by the grace of God to deliver and govern his people in times of oppression.  They served for a limited time during a crisis.  Judges found in many different situations, some just, some unjust.  It was injustices perpetrated by some judges that caused people to ask for a king, as if a king would be better.

No surprise that Hebrew people would apply term to God.  God is the supreme arbiter pronouncing sentences on man as we see in Gen. 18:24; Is. 33:22; James 4:12.  He judges all the earth (Psalm 94:2; Acts 10:42; Rom. 3:6).  He judges between nations (Is. 2:4).  The sinner is well advised to avoid God’s judgment by loyalty to the covenant as we see in today’s psalm verse 8 as well as Psalm 50, 82 and 96.  Very common yet we seem to avoid ideas of judgment, we prefer to focus on God’s love and mercy rather than his judgment – why?  What are we afraid of?  What have we lost in the process?

Readings today remind that there will be an accounting; we are accountable before our God for our actions.  Exodus – just last week heard how God appeared to the people in thunder and lightning, terrifying them, lest they sin.  Today we see how it didn’t work.  People strayed, built a golden calf, an idol to worship, even if they said it was to represent their God – was in direct disobedience to commandments God had given them.  God is angry, ready to destroy these people and start over again with a whole new race under Moses, just as he did at the time of the flood with Noah.  Moses convinces God to give people another chance and God relents of his anger.

Interesting and problematic passage – poses question – can God be wrong?  Did God need Moses to show him he was wrong?  If God can be persuaded by Moses, can we persuade him to do what we want?  How often will God soften his heart and relent?  How many chances will God give us to get it right?  What does this tell us about God?

All good questions – was God even wrong in creating us given the fact that we constantly get it wrong, we don’t seem to be improving much as a race; we continue to miss the mark, sin.  Yet there are good people among us as well, enough that God won’t destroy us or our world.  We saw that in Sodom and Gomorrah when God was ready to save the city if even 10 good men could have been found.

God, as judge, is willing to listen to us plea our cases, Moses acts as the attorney for the defense, he pleads his case well and God gives the people another chance, gave repeated chances.

Gospel – parable of the wedding feast – king throws a wedding feast but people don’t come, not only that, when he sends a second invitation, they kill the messenger.  What is the king to do with such ungrateful servants?  He destroys their cities, kills them then sends out to the highways and byways and invites any one willing to come.  But when one came not dressed properly he was thrown out – reminder that many are invited, few are chosen.

What does this tell us about God’s justice and mercy?  God, the all powerful, is powerless before our free will.  God has this incredible party, banquet waiting for us, but for whatever reason, we aren’t coming, maybe too busy about own affairs – incredible thought to people of that time, wedding parties were big affairs, went on for days, whole village would attend – who would want to miss out on that, especially when the king was buying?  And yet the people weren’t responding, not only that, when asked a second time they either ignored the messenger or killed him, as they did to the prophets.  Reminder to Jewish nation that kingdom could be taken away from them, as we heard last week.

Then God invites everyone, but that doesn’t mean there are no requirements.  It isn’t enough to just show up, need to be dressed properly, it is a wedding after all – need to have inner garment of living a good, righteous life. Even though all are welcome, all are invited, doesn’t mean all will get in – there are some standards.  God sets the standards.  Maybe why we don’t like this aspect of God, we have got the part about all being welcome, what we seem to be missing are the standards.  There are standards if we want to be admitted to the heavenly banquet.  It isn’t just anything goes.

Let’s look again at God as the just judge – the just judge listens to all sides of the story, listens to the people. He is able to discern rightly, knows their hearts, knows when they are lying, knows wickedness even when it masquerades as good.  Also knows that there are times to give a second chance, or a third or even more, but also time to say enough, no more chances, you’ve had all the chances you get, you had lots of opportunities in this life to change, and you didn’t, now it’s too late.  We do run out of time.

That’s a tall order, hard to do, impossible for man, possible for God.  God as judge reminds us that there will be an accounting for our lives, we are accountable before our God for how we live, and so we better get our act together now, while we still have time, for we do not know the day or hour death will come.

Perhaps part of our problem with this image is that we see so many imperfect human judges who make human mistakes.  Our system is different from Old Testament times.  They didn’t have to deal with a jury and our far from perfect legal system, which sometimes leads us to wonder does justice ever prevail.  We see people getting off because of legal technicalities or simply because one lawyer was better than the other.  Often wonder where the justice is.  Justice truly is blind at times in our legal system.  The position of judge not as important as in Old Testament times, still it does carry some power and weight.  They have the power to allow or disallow evidence, the power to impose sentences.

Hard to know when to give someone a break, be lenient, and when to throw into jail; hard to be a judge, have same people coming like a revolving door, repeatedly asking for forgiveness, use all the right words to convince you to give them yet another break – we can’t see what God sees, we can’t look into the heart, can only do the best we can with what we have.

I wouldn’t want to trust my life to our judicial system and human judges.  Hopefully I will never be placed in that position.  But God isn’t like that, God, the just judge, sees to the heart, he knows when people are lying, he knows about tough love and what it takes to get people to reform their lives.  Psalmist today presents his case to God, the ultimate judge.  He does so in confidence, knowing he has done all that he could, that he is innocent of any crime, being under God’s justice is a good place to be.

There is a party going on, a heavenly banquet, Paul tells us to rejoice in the Lord always, we have reason to rejoice, in that we believe we are already part of that party to a small extent.  If we continue to do what we are already doing, living lives that are honorable, true, pure, as Paul tells us, then the peace of God will be with us.  There is a party, all are invited but not all get in.  First we have to stand before our God in judgment, but we don’t have to fear, in that we are doing our best, trying to be loving, caring people, trying to follow God, our God, the just judge knows this so there is no reason to fear.  In that we have done this we have clothed ourselves in Christ, Jesus, and so are ready for the party whenever God invites us.

Robertson, copyright November 2011