Psalm 16: You show me the path of life, abounding joy in your presence!

Feb. 26, 2012, Psalm 16                      Magnificent Failure                            

Genesis 9:8-17            Psalm 16          1 Peter 3:18-22            Mark 1:9-15

Scorpion and the Old Man, as told by Henri Nouwen

One morning, after he had finished his meditation, the old man opened his eyes and saw a scorpion floating helplessly in the water. As the scorpion was washed closer to the tree, the old man quickly stretched himself out on one of the long roots that branched out into the river and reached out to rescue the drowning creature. As soon as he touched it, the scorpion stung him. Instinctively the man withdrew his hand. A minute later, after he had regained his balance, he stretched himself out again on the roots to save the scorpion. This time the scorpion stung him so badly with its poisonous tail that his hand became bloody and swollen and his face contorted with pain.

At that moment, a passerby saw the old man stretched out on the roots struggling with the scorpion and shouted: "Hey, stupid old man, what's wrong with you? Only a fool would risk his life for the sake of an ugly evil creature.  Don’t you know you could kill yourself trying to save that ungrateful creature?”

The old man turned his head. Looking into the stranger's eyes he said calmly, "My friend, just because it is the scorpion’s nature to sting, that doesn’t change my nature to save.”

Our readings for Lent begin with a failure – God’s failure in Genesis to rid the world of evil through the flood.  God saw that humans were wicked and decided to destroy them from the face of the earth.  Their wickedness was so complete that they couldn’t even imagine good things.  “When the Lord saw how great was man’s wickedness on earth, and how no desire that his heart conceived was ever anything but evil, he regretted that he had made man on earth, and his heart was grieved.” (6:5-6)  However the situation wasn’t changed after the flood.  “Never again will I doom the earth because of man, since the desires of man’s heart are evil from the start.” (8:21b)  The flood was a failure for it did not change the human heart.  What did change, though, was God.  God realized that there was something within the human heart that was drawn to evil, to that which was not good for it.

Like the story of the scorpion and the old man, how can God blame his creation for behaving according to its nature?  So God realizes he is the one who has to change.  God makes a unilateral covenant with his people, not because of any merit on their side or anything that they did to deserve it, God doesn’t require anything of Noah.  The covenant is entirely God’s initiative, out of God’s love for his creation.  All of the obligations fall upon God’s shoulders.  God rejects his previous desire to destroy.  Never again he says, in a binding covenant that restricts God’s freedom.  God willingly gives up his freedom for our sake.

God changes and realizes he has to try something new to reach his people.  And so, when the time was right, thousands of years after the flood, God tries something entirely new, he empties himself and becomes one like us in his effort to reach us and save us.  In our gospel today we see this human God, Jesus, after being baptized by John, being tempted by Satan before beginning his ministry of repentance.  He, who was sinless, was baptized by John out of obedience to show us the way.   In taking on our human nature he experiences everything we experience.  He is tempted in all ways, yet resists.  Satan would have him forget his God, forget who he is; Jesus resists.

This bold experiment ends with worldly failure on the cross, book ending Lent with two failures of sorts, but is the failures God’s or ours?  And is it truly a failure?  Remember God’s wisdom appears as foolishness, God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Peter speaks about the flood as a precursor to baptism.  Noah and his family were saved through the flood but the flood was not able to wash away the stain of sin upon humankind.  Christians are saved through the waters of baptism which washes away the stain of original sin, yet doesn’t free us entirely from evil in this world.  Even Jesus was tempted, so we are too.  What are we to do?  God looked around before the flood and saw only Noah as being good.  Are there any good persons in the world?  People who put their trust in God and God alone?  Is this human experiment the ultimate failure, or the ultimate success?  Are humans capable of changing their nature?

Our psalm for today would say a resounding yes.  Even before Christ came, there were people of faith, people of deep and abiding trust in God.  The writer of this psalm is one such person.  The writer recognizes his need for God, that only with God is goodness and mercy.  The psalm is a psalm of trust.  The writer entrusts his life to God, “Preserve me, O God, for in thee I take refuge . . . I have no good apart from thee.” (1-2)  He recognizes that nothing is good apart from God, that all good things, happiness and prosperity, come from God.  He recognizes his great need for God.  The King James version reads “my goodness extendeth not to thee” meaning even our best never comes close to “the best” which comes from God, reason for us to be humble and ask for pardon.

The writer takes delight in the “saints” in the land, they are “the noble” (RSV) or “the excellent” (King James) and he is one of their company, enjoying God’s blessings.  Those who follow other gods “multiply their sorrows” (6)  It isn’t just a matter of increasing sorrows, hurts, pains or grief, but they are multiplied indicated a great increase of suffering for those foolish enough to follow other gods, or exchange the one God for a heathen god demanding blood libations rather than the offerings of wine that were offered to God.  This is such an abomination to the writer that he will not even take their names on his lips.

The psalmist then goes on to express the inner well-being that comes from putting his trust in God.  “The Lord is my chosen portion and cup.” (5)  Portion is one’s share in the division of goods and cup, a metaphor based on practice of passing wine to a guest at a feast or meal, means my fate or destiny (hence Jesus passed the cup at the last supper, Mt. 26:27, 39).  God is my destiny, God holds my fate, God is my possession (portion) all through God’s choice since it is God who holds my lot.  Yet the writer has also chosen God.  There is no forcing on the part of God.  The psalmist’s good fortune cannot be taken from him for it is God who holds it fast.  Not only that, “the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places, yet, I have a goodly heritage.”  He uses the metaphor of dividing lines of property to indicate the blessings he has received.  Each of the blessings he has received from God are comparable to fertile fields or pleasant land. 

The writer goes on to say how God counsels him, gives him directions for his life, speaks to him at night to keep him from going astray.  He starts with God before him always, but God moves to his right side, as a nearby friend, walking by his side.   God, the object of his life, becomes his walking companion.  “Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices.”  Who would not be glad with God at his side?  His whole body is at ease, trusting in his God.  God rescues him from Sheol and shows the path of life where he will enjoy pleasure for evermore – perhaps hinting at an afterlife

So, are people capable of changing their very nature?  The writer of this psalm is a far cry from the wickedness of Noah’s time.  God changed so that we might be saved.  Through God’s love we are changed, people over time are changing.  The basis of this change lies in the first line of this psalm – our recognition of our need for God and humility before our God.  This is the repentance that Jesus is preaching in our gospel today. 

Lent is a time to repent and believe the Good News of God’s love.  Why is this so hard to do?  Especially when you see all of the blessings that come to those who put their trust in God as seen in our psalm.  Because there is still that unredeemed part within us, that part of human nature that would sting those who try to help us, that would reject God to their own detriment.  That is why we need this time of Lent, time to remind us of our own sinful nature.  It is only through God’s love that we can be changed and become all that we are meant to be.  But oh, the joys that are ours when we do that.  As the psalmist tells us, “you will show me the path to life, abounding joy in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever.”

Robertson, copyright Feb. 2012 

Psalm 15, Pursuit of Happiness

Who May Dwell on your Holy Mountain?

St. Patrick's Mountain, Ireland

February 19, 2012                   In Pursuit of Happiness

2 Kings 2:1-12            Psalm 15          2 Cor. 4:3-6                 Mark 9:2-9

Happiness, the pursuit of happiness, is an American ideal; everyone has the right to pursue his/her happiness, but what does this happiness mean?  Webster says that happiness is a state of well-being and contentment.  It’s not a state of ecstatic, frenzied delight, but quieter, recognizing that all is well in your own world, peace and contentment.  How does one achieve this?  Psalm for today offers a clue.  The Grail version of the Psalms entitles this psalm as “True Happiness.”

Psalm 15 is didactic, teaching psalm.   In a time when the written word was uncommon, teaching was done primarily through memorization of lessons.  These lessons used mnemonic devices to help the student remember.  This psalm asks, who is the true man/woman of God?  It instructs on what is necessary for worship to result in blessings.  It has three parts, a question: verse 1, “O Lord, who shall sojourn in thy tent?  Who shall dwell on thy holy hill?”; the response, verses 2-5b; and the reward, “He who does these things shall never be moved.”  The qualifications listed in verses 2-5b are 10 in number, forming a decalogue, a common teaching device of the time.  This person is to 1. Walk blamelessly and do right (reminiscent of Micah 6, “You have been told, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you:  only to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.”).  2. Speak truth. 3. Do not slander. 4. Do no evil to friends.  5. Do not take up a reproach with a neighbor.  6. Despise the reprobate.  7. Honor those who fear the Lord.  8. Stand firm (swears to his own hurt and doesn’t change).  9. Do not lend money at interest. 10. Do not take bribes.  His reward is to enter the temple of the Lord, where he shall not be moved, like the man who builds his house on rock in Matthew’s gospel, 7:24-25.  He will be blessed with security, and against all assaults of evil will stand unshaken as a rock.

This psalm doesn’t deal with sins like murder, stealing, adultery, nor does it address a person’s duties to God, prayer, fasting, almsgiving.  Rather it focuses on social sins which deal with community – lying, slander, gossip, bribery, greed - indicating that this was written during a time when people of integrity and truth were needed – is there ever a time when that is not the case?  It provides simple rules for living in community with others.

This Godly person “speaks truth from his heart” – there is congruence between his thoughts and his words and his actions, as he believes so he speaks.  “To speak in the heart” means to think in Hebrew.  His words are truthful, he doesn’t lie or slander, he guards his tongue, perhaps asking, “Is it true, is it kind, is it necessary” before speaking, a helpful guide for speaking.  He doesn’t associate with “bad company,” but associates with others like him, and is not greedy.  Interest rates at that time were 20-50%, exploiting those in need.  Not so far from our own day with some interest rates soaring, especially for those who can least afford it, those who have poor credit, though a far cry from the lower interest rates many others are enjoying.

A sojourner (as found in revised standard translation) is one who has no inherent rights in a community, who is permitted to enjoy permanent guest privileges of membership.  To have such a status in the temple of a god brought riches of divine favor and protection, however one must prove worthy to have this.  We have no inherent right to heaven, but if we do these things, we will be welcome to take up residence there, where we will be happy, content.

Our psalm asks, who shall dwell on thy holy hill, or mountain.  There is a strong tradition in Scripture of mountains being, holy places, close to God, places of worship and retreat.  Celtic spirituality speaks of such holy places as being places where the veil between this world and the next is thin, where one can experience God in a way that one cannot in the “real” world.  Often these places are in the hilltop and mountain areas, such as St. Patrick’s Crough/mountain where Patrick would go to pray.

In our Gospel, Jesus took Peter, James and John, up the mountain where they experienced a new reality.  There the veil between this world and the next was thin and they see Moses and Elijah standing next to Jesus; they were able to see Jesus as he truly was, in all his glory.  Moses and Elijah were two of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament.  Jesus is seen as one in this line of great prophets, a successor, yet more.

Jews believed that Elijah would come again, before the coming of the Messiah (Mal. 4:5).  In 2 Kings we see where this idea of Elijah returning originated.  He is taken up into heaven in a fiery chariot.  He doesn’t die, is the only person who did not die, being taken up into heaven while still alive.  As such it was believed that he would come back.  A number of traditions center on this belief.  A seat is reserved for Elijah at Jewish Passover services, as well as at circumcisions.  Elijah is taken up while Elisha watches Elijah make that journey between this life and the next.  It is another situation where the veil between this life and the next is thin; Elisha is allowed a glimpse into that world while still remaining in this world.  Notice that not only did Elijah warn Elisha about following after him, the groups of prophets all tried to get Elisha to stay behind.  There was a fear associated with Elijah’s meeting the Lord.

It’s common at the time of death, that our loved one may see those who have gone before them into new life or see a vision of another reality.  This can be a sacred time, their room becoming another “thin” place as they are caught between this world and the next as they prepare to go to heaven.  It can be a good place to be, a holy place, yet often we, too, fear this time.

Paul, in our reading from Corinthians, speaks of a veil over the gospel that he preaches.  Perhaps Paul had been criticized for not being clear enough in his presentation of the gospel, for being obscure, making it hard for others to understand.  Prior to this, 3:13-18, Paul referenced the veil that Moses wore after coming down from the mountain and speaking to God, a veil meant to hide his face because the people were afraid to look upon his face, which glowed from the experience.  He says that for some, a veil lies over their hearts, dulling their senses to the Spirit, however with Jesus the veil is removed, “whenever a person turns to the Lord the veil is removed . . . all of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory.” (3:16, 18a)  Whatever the basis of the criticism of Paul, Paul asserts that the gospel is only veiled to those who do not have eyes to see, the veil of unbelief lies over their eyes, keeping them for seeing the gospel for what it was, God’s revealed word.

The mountaintop is a good place to be, as Peter so awkwardly acknowledges when he says, “Rabbi, it is good to be here.”  But it can also be scary; as noted in our reading, the disciples were terrified.   It is hard to see God face to face.  It can be hard to look at that other reality; that is why we only get glimpses now and then.  That is why Moses’ face was veiled after seeing God, why some people find it hard to accept God’s word or to believe in a greater reality beyond this reality.  We can’t live on the mountaintop, the holy hill, but there are times when the veil is thin.

Psalm 15 gives some simple requirements for being just and thereby being allowed in God’s temple, ultimate happiness.  It provides simple yet very helpful advice for all living here in community, to speak truth from our hearts, to think before we speak and ask ourselves, is it true, is it kind, is it necessary, to avoid hurtful gossip and slander.  Happiness isn’t found in isolation but in right relationship with each other and our God.

Our New Testament readings give us even simpler instructions for holiness.  Paul tells us, it is through Jesus that we are saved, that God’s light has been brought into the world and shines through the face of Jesus.  Jesus allows us to see the face of God.  In our Gospel reading, God tells the disciples, “This is my beloved son, listen to him.”  Listen to him, therein lies holiness, therein lies contentment, therein lies true happiness.  Listen to him and do his word.

If we are to find true happiness, peace and contentment in this world, we need to be aware of the next, that other reality that is more real than what we consider real.  We need to remember what is necessary for communal living; that happiness is not found in isolation but in life shared in love with others.  We need to remember that true happiness comes from listening to Jesus with our whole heart and mind, following him, putting our belief into action.  Then we shall find the happiness we pursue.

Robertson, Copyright February 2012

Psalm 14, Lord, what fools these mortals be!

February 12, 2012                   Psalm 14:  What Fools These Mortals Be

2 Kings 5:1-14            Psalm 14          1 Cor. 1:18-25             Mark 1:4-45

“Lord, what fools these mortals be!” Puck, Midsummer’s Night Dream, Act. III, Sc. II

What fools indeed!  We think ourselves wise, when we are not.  We think we don’t need God, that there is no God, that God is the invention of feeble minds.

Fool, according to Webster, as a noun is a person who lacks sense or judgment; jester; dupe; idiot.  As a verb it is to spend time idly or aimlessly, to meddle or tamper thoughtlessly or ignorantly, joke, deceive, fritter (as in fritter away time).

Our psalm for today says, “Fools say there is no God.”  Psalm 14 and 53 are virtually the same psalm with small differences.  Originally they were in two independent collections of psalms, which were combined.  Basically the psalm is about a person who sees God as being absent and therefore may be disregarded.   It’s a form of practical atheism, most likely written during a time when irreligiousness was becoming more common in Old Testament literature, probably post-exilic time when Greek influence had been growing and weakening the faith of many.  The psalm follows a downward development.  You start by saying there is no God, then out of that lack of belief comes all kinds of evil, their deeds are loathsome and corrupt, they even go so far as to “devour my people like bread.” (vs. 4)  The implication is that once you stop believing in God, you have lost the normal safeguards against evil.  As one commentator states, “It is a straight path from practical atheism to gas chambers.” (Interpreter’s Bible, vol. 4, p. 76)

Amidst this, God looks down and wonders if any are wise and finds none.  This is reminiscent of God looking for ten just men in Sodom and Gomorrah.  Certainly most Jews would be familiar with this story and would take note; God could destroy them for their evil deeds just as he smote that city.  The psalmist asks:  “Have they no knowledge?” (vs. 4)  Don’t they realize, God could do to them what he did to Sodom and Gomorrah?  Psalm 53 states:  “For God will scatter the bones of the ungodly; they will be put to shame, for God has rejected them.” (vs. 5a)  The psalm ends with the psalmist crying for deliverance and for God to restore the fortunes of his people.  Perhaps the deliverance he desired was a restoration of faith to Israel.

One of the greatest theological minds of the twentieth century was an atheist at first, C.S. Lewis.  They say there are no atheists in foxholes during times of war, yet C.S. Lewis came home from WWI still a confirmed atheist.  His autobiography, Surprised by Joy, is the story of his conversion.  Being a philosopher and learned man, it was through philosophy and his studies that God finally broke down the barriers between Lewis and himself.  Lewis was led into atheism through his studies and the influence of teachers and in the same way was led out of atheism.  He found that the writers who most inspired him had this one problem, being Christian, whereas, “those writers who did not suffer from religion and with whom in theory my sympathy ought to have been complete – Shaw and Wells and Mill and Gibbon and Voltaire – all seemed a little thin.” (P.118, Surprised by Joy, as found in The Beloved Works of C.S. Lewis)  The writers he was most drawn towards were in spite of their Christianity, Johnson, Spencer, Milton, Plato, Aeschylus, Virgil.  “Chesterton had more sense than all the other moderns put together; bating, of course, his Christianity.  Johnson was one of the few authors  whom I felt I could trust utterly; curiously enough, he had the same kink.”

Another remarkable event happened in 1926 when “the hardest boiled of all the atheists I ever knew sat in my room on the other side of the fire and remarked that the evidence for the historicity of the Gospels was really surprisingly good. ‘Rum thing,’ he went on.  ‘All that stuff of Frazer’s about the Dying God. Rum thing.  It almost looks as if it had really happened once.” (pp. 122-123)

All of his life Lewis had searched for what he termed “joy” – a certain sense of “unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction” (p. 11)  It was this desire that ultimately led him to  God.  “A desire is turned not to itself but to its object.  Not only that, but it owed all its character to its object . . . Inexorably Joy proclaimed, ‘You want—I myself am your want of—something other, outside, not you nor any state of you.” (p. 121)  He finally realized that that which he sought, was seeking for him, had been seeking him all along:  “if Shakespeare and Hamlet could ever meet, it must be Shakespeare’s doing.  Hamlet could initiate nothing.” (p. 124)  So finally in 1929, he wrote, “I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed:  perhaps that night the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.  I did not then see what is now the most shining and obvious thing; the Divine humility which will accept a convert even on such terms.  The Prodigal Son at least walked home on his own feet.  But who can duly adore that Love which will open the high gates to a prodigal who is brought in kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance of escape? . .  The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation.” (p. 125)

Lewis fought God, in his pride he did not want to appear naïve or foolish.  He wanted to be “intellectual” and count himself among the learned.  Yet this learning was ultimate foolishness, wisdom could do no less than fall in faith before God.

Our God will use whatever means available to reach his people.  He spoke to Lewis using the words of great writers, for others he uses other means.  Some find God in nature and the wonders of the universe; others find God through relationships with others.  God works quietly and yet profoundly to get our attention.  In Kings, Naaman expects great signs and wonders from the prophet.  When Elishah instructs him to simply wash in the river Jordan he almost refuses.  He is healed of his leprosy and proclaims his belief in God.  In our Gospel, Jesus heals the leper and instructs him to remain quiet.  Jesus did not want to draw attention to himself; he wanted to quietly go about his work.  God doesn’t always draw attention to himself, he leaves hints everywhere for those with eyes to see, but doesn’t force his presence upon those unwilling.

Paul reminds us in Corinthians that the wisdom of the world is foolishness – that the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.  Jews seek signs and wonders, Greeks seek wisdom, but we proclaim a Christ crucified.

Psalm 14 and 53 are not treatises on atheism.  They are a treatise on a certain kind of atheism, practical atheism which rejects God and belief in practice, if not in theory, that is an excuse to be unkind, to be evil.  Outright disbelief in God was not common at all during this time, but there were those who lived their lives as if God did not exist.  They don’t address a form of atheism that questions the existence of God, yet lives Godly, Christian lives, behaving more Christian in their unbelief than some Christians in their belief.  They don’t deal with those who question the existence of God because of all of the evil they see in the world. 

God is consistent in Scripture about protecting the poor and vulnerable and our duty to do the same.   We see in Psalm 14 that God hears the cries of the poor and responds.  This God will deal with justice to those who are kind in their treatment of others regardless of their belief.  He will also treat with justice those who treat the poor, widows and orphans, cruelly, regardless of their professed belief.

Our God loves us and seeks us out with love, but he will not coerce or force belief on anyone.  Still we resist God’s love; we look for proof of God’s existence rather than taking that ultimate leap of faith.  As C.S. Lewis states in “Dogma and the Universe,”: “Really, we are hard to please.  We treat God as the police treat a man when he is arrested; whatever he does will be used in evidence against Him.” (p. 314)  Foolishness, pure foolishness.

A fool, as stated at the beginning, is a person who lacks sense or judgment, a jester, dupe, idiot; it is to spend time idly or aimlessly, to meddle or tamper thoughtlessly or ignorantly, joke, deceive, fritter away time.  What fools we mortals be.  We fritter away our time about that which does not save, about things of this world which will fade away, which leave us with no joy, rather than spending our time on the things of God, that will save us.  We think ourselves wise when we are not.  The things of God may appear foolishness to the practical atheists who think only of themselves and their personal gain, rather than being kind, helping others, putting other’s needs before our own.  But they are the fools, for in gaining the world, they lose their soul.  So let us be fools for Christ, bearing our own crosses with love for He loved us first.  Then we shall see in the end who is the true fool.

Robertson, copyright Feb. 2012