Monday, August 29, 2016

Psalm Meditation 846
Proper 18
September 4, 2016

Psalm 56
1 Be gracious to me, O God, for people trample on me; all day long foes oppress me;
2 my enemies trample on me all day long, for many fight against me. O Most High,
3 when I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I am not afraid; what can flesh do to me?
5 All day long they seek to injure my cause; all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They stir up strife, they lurk, they watch my steps. As they hoped to have my life,
7 so repay them for their crime; in wrath cast down the peoples, O God!
8 You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your record?
9 Then my enemies will retreat in the day when I call. This I know, that God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise,
11 in God I trust; I am not afraid. What can a mere mortal do to me?
12 My vows to you I must perform, O God; I will render thank offerings to you.
13 For you have delivered my soul from death, and my feet from falling, so that I may walk before God in the light of life.
(NRSV)

There are a variety of ways of seeing God at work in our lives. God has been seen as a distant personality, the ‘unmoved mover’ who set the world in motion and stepped back to watch it all unfold mechanical precision. God is not seen as either for or against us; God is simply out there somewhere watching the cogs of creation mesh together as they were created to do.

God has also been seen as very hands on; fighting our battles for us and actively participating in the day to day goings on of the world. We call on God to fix or change something, and if we have been good enough it happens. God acts on behalf of those who toe the line, follow the rules and behave themselves.

And God has been our buddy, who tags along and helps us through the day by cheering us on in the good times and standing with us for moral support in the bad times. In some cases, this buddy idea gets taken to an extreme in which God supports us and encourages us to do whatever we think is the best course of action no matter what.

I am sure that each of these concepts has a bit of truth in it. There are other ways of seeing God at work in our lives that don’t come immediately to mind. As we find ourselves behaving differently around various groups of people, God is seen by each of us in way that fits who we are at the time.

“This I know, that God is for me.” This one sentence from the psalm speaks volumes. No matter how we see God, how we behave in the presence of God; God is for us. God wants us to be the very best we can be, whether we are close to or far from that goal.

August 29, 2016
LCM

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Psalm Meditation 845
Proper 17
August 28, 2016

Psalm 145
1 I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you, and praise your name forever and ever.
3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable.
4 One generation shall laud your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.
5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
6 The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed, and I will declare your greatness.
7 They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness, and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
8 The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 The LORD is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.
10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your faithful shall bless you.
11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom, and tell of your power,
12 to make known to all people your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. The LORD is faithful in all his words, and gracious in all his deeds.
14 The LORD upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.
16 You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing.
17 The LORD is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings.
18 The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desire of all who fear him; he also hears their cry, and saves them.
20 The LORD watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.
21 My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.
(NRSV)

For most of us mighty deeds are the stuff of legends, stories and news reports. They are the big picture activities of those who live lives in the rarified air of heroes. And those kinds of actions do take strength and might. The psalmist is referring to those acts of strength and power in some of the verses. The one who leads folks into battle, who fights for right and freedom, is a hero to be lifted up in praise. This part of the work and wonder of God is amazing and is told in gasping awe at the power God displays in these victorious moments.

The psalmist tells of other mighty deeds as well. These are the ones that tell of the compassion of God, which is a strength of another kind. We hear these stories when our attention is turned that direction, the stories that put a human face on both victims and individual heroes. At other times these stories happen without fanfare. The other mighty deeds are the acts of compassion that lift folks up anonymously and regularly. These too are mighty acts of God.

Whether God is out in front leading the charge against evil forces or working quietly in the background to give aid and comfort to those whose lives are damaged by evil acts, large and small, the psalmist speaks the praise of God. The psalmist also invites us to offer praise and blessing for all the ways God works. As people of God we act in big and small ways to offer hope, help and healing to those around us so that, “all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.”

August 23, 2016
LCM

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Psalm Meditation 844
Proper 16
August 21, 2016

Psalm 6
1 O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger, or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror.
3 My soul also is struck with terror, while you, O LORD—how long?
4 Turn, O LORD, save my life; deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love.
5 For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who can give you praise?
6 I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping.
7 My eyes waste away because of grief; they grow weak because of all my foes.
8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.
9 The LORD has heard my supplication; the LORD accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and struck with terror; they shall turn back, and in a moment be put to shame.
(NRSV)

One of the most memorable statements I have heard about God is, “If God can’t handle your anger, then why do you have it?” It has freed me to yell at God, to vent my anger, to things off my chest in a way that is more helpful than hurtful. Instead of throwing things like dishes or punches we can stand up and rail against God for the seeming unfairness of the life we are living and the lives of those around us. The psalmist is also free to complain to God about an illness or other calamity of life.

A seminary classmate reminded us, in a discussion of the psalms, that not all of our enemies are other people. Especially in a time in which disease and illness was thought to be caused by evil spirits and demons, enemies lurked in seen and unseen spaces of our lives. The issue is not who it is acting in the psalmist’s life so much as why God has not stepped in to end the situation at hand. Grief and pain, whatever the cause, is a drain on body, mind and spirit. If only God would step in everything would be alright and the psalmist could return to the worship and praise of God.

Finally, the psalmist realizes that God has heard this prayer for relief and it will come. In God’s good time something will happen that will put an end to this suffering and all will be well with the psalmist. We too receive the assurance that God has heard us and is at work in our lives. Whether we have lashed out in anger or used a calmer tone we will know that God is with us in some way.

August 16, 2016
LCM

Monday, August 8, 2016

Psalm Meditation 843
Proper 15
August 14, 2016

Psalm 47
1 Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy.
2 For the LORD, the Most High, is awesome, a great king over all the earth.
3 He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet.
4 He chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah
5 God has gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.
7 For God is the king of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm.
8 God is king over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.
9 The princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God; he is highly exalted.
(NRSV)

I grew up knowing that clapping and other outward displays of appreciation and emotion were inappropriate for the worship setting. Worship was a deathly serious practice and anything that fluctuated from that norm was seen as a bad thing. John Wesley, one of the founders of the Methodist/Wesleyan family of denominations often spoke against ‘enthusiasm,’ vocal and physical demonstrations, during worship. It is a very Puritan mind-set, that worship is staid, serious and interior, even for a congregational gathering. We are at our best with our singing, ‘lustily and with good courage.’

We have claimed and bought into our puritanical roots when we frown at any outward display during worship. It is said that the most common form of appreciation for humor among Methodists is, ‘to smile as loudly as possible.’ So, what do we do with psalms that tell us to clap and sing and shout? We have this wonderful biblical warrant to express ourselves in a variety of ways, from calm humility to the claps and shouts of this psalm. Which one is correct, proper, biblical even?

The best way to worship is the one that works in your life. The difficulty comes when we expect others to worship in our comfort zone. When the majority of the congregation is actively participatory in style, the one who prefers to sit quietly is usually accepted graciously, even if a mite curiously. When the majority style is meditative participation, the one who is vocal and active is looked on as an interruption who needs to be squelched and perhaps even squeezed out. In both cases, the one who demands an extreme version of their own style of worship can damage the worship mood for everyone.

This psalm says to clap and shout and sing with joy, others counsel that we sit in awed silence in the presence of God. Each style has its place in worship and who am I to say that two or more styles can’t happen in the same room at the same time. The focus of our worship is in God. A mason was laying brick at a parsonage in which I lived and I said, “I bet you have seen some interesting things in your life.” and he responded, “I tell my crew, ‘If you are doing your job you won’t have time to look in the windows and doors you are working around.’” So it is with worship; when we are focused on God we won’t have time or energy to focus on the worship style of those around us even as we participate together as a worshipping community.

August 8, 2016
LCM

Monday, August 1, 2016

Psalm Meditation 842
Proper 14
August 7, 2016

Psalm 104
1Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty,
2 wrapped in light as with a garment. You stretch out the heavens like a tent,
3 you set the beams of your chambers on the waters, you make the clouds your chariot, you ride on the wings of the wind,
4 you make the winds your messengers, fire and flame your ministers.
5 You set the earth on its foundations, so that it shall never be shaken.
6 You cover it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At your rebuke they flee; at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.
8 They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys to the place that you appointed for them.
9 You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth.
10 You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills,
11 giving drink to every wild animal; the wild asses quench their thirst.
12 By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation; they sing among the branches.
13 From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
14 You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use,
to bring forth food from the earth,
15 and wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart.
16 The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 In them the birds build their nests; the stork has its home in the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the coneys.
19 You have made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting.
20 You make darkness, and it is night, when all the animals of the forest come creeping out.
21 The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they withdraw and lie down in their dens.
23 People go out to their work and to their labor until the evening.
24 O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
25 Yonder is the sea, great and wide, creeping things innumerable are there, living things both small and great.
26 There go the ships, and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.
27 These all look to you to give them their food in due season;
28 when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
29 When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
30 When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.
31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works—
32 who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD.
35 Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more.
Bless the LORD, O my soul. Praise the LORD!
(NRSV)

When we praise God it is often for a single thing. We watch a sunrise or sunset and praise God for the beauty of the event. Something good happens in our lives and we praise God for the wonderfulness of that event. We rarely do what the psalmist has done, giving thanks for parts of creation that are not a part of our daily life. We do not notice that God sets boundaries for lakes and streams, rivers and oceans until those waters break out of their normal courses. Even then we are rightly concerned about the excess rather than grateful for the normal course of waterways around us. I don’t stop to marvel at the providence of God for squirrels and chipmunks; I notice that they take up all the space on feeders set out for the birds. I enjoy the birds at the feeders without noticing that I have become a participant in providing for the birds as well as the other critters that frequent our feeders.

The psalmist looks around and lifts up a variety of reasons to be thankful for all that God is and does around us to provide for various parts of the world and its inhabitants. Sun and moon, mountains and valleys, grass and cattle, wine and bread each part and pair are reason to lift up a word of thanks, blessing and praise to God. The creative activity of God is reason to rejoice and sing, to celebrate and praise.

The fact that there is anything normal is reason to thank God. That we depend on the sun coming up and the moon going through the cycle of waxing and waning is reason to thank God for a recognizable pattern to the world in which we find ourselves. While we can go through a day and see it as dull and boring because nothing exciting happened, we would do well to thank God for those days as a reminder that the orderliness of our day is a gift that God gives to us. The ordinariness of a day means that God is present with us.

August 1, 2016
LCM