Psalm Meditation 912
Second Sunday of Advent
December 10, 2017

Psalm 78:1-12,26-39
1 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3 things that we have heard and known, that our ancestors have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children; we will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.
5 He established a decree in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach to their children;
6 that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and rise up and tell them to their children,
7 so that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;
8 and that they should not be like their ancestors, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9 The Ephraimites, armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle.
10 They did not keep God’s covenant, but refused to walk according to his law.
11 They forgot what he had done, and the miracles that he had shown them.
12 In the sight of their ancestors he worked marvels in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
26 He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, and by his power he led out the south wind;
27 he rained flesh upon them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the seas;
28 he let them fall within their camp, all around their dwellings.
29 And they ate and were well filled, for he gave them what they craved.
30 But before they had satisfied their craving, while the food was still in their mouths,
31 the anger of God rose against them and he killed the strongest of them, and laid low the flower of Israel.
32 In spite of all this they still sinned; they did not believe in his wonders.
33 So he made their days vanish like a breath, and their years in terror.
34 When he killed them, they sought for him; they repented and sought God earnestly.
35 They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer.
36 But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues.
37 Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not true to his covenant.
38 Yet he, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them; often he restrained his anger, and did not stir up all his wrath.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and does not come again.
(NRSV)

One of the things I like about Judaism is that they don’t sugar coat their heroes and ancestors. We know from the beginning that people are going to be faithful for a moment and then stray from doing the will of God, as individuals and as a nation. It is a recognition that people can only depend on God for a little while before they wander off to do things their own way. It is an acknowledgment that we are human and that God still loves them and works for their good despite all the ways they tempt God to walk away.

I was taught that national heroes were practically perfect in every way. We might get some odd piece of trivia to humanize them a bit, for the most part they were perfect and excellent. It wasn’t until the perfection was deeply ingrained that we began to hear about faults, flaws and failings that would have had a questioning the hero designation. We seem to believe that perfection is the minimum standard for anyone who runs for office and serves the nation. If someone is less than perfect we find a way to make them fit our notion of what a hero is, or if they are of the other party, we make them the villain for being such a cad and moral misfit. While it may seem that we are in the worst of times, it is just as possible that we have been through worse and not heard about it.

When we are perfect, we have no need of God. It is when we realize that we are in need of an external moral compass; that we are in need of forgiveness and redemption that we can turn to God for healing and salvation. It is only by seeing ourselves, individually and collectively, as flawed and faltering that we can set aside our need for perfect leaders, even if we have to redefine what perfection is. As less than perfect people we can turn to God for all that God has to offer.

December 4, 2017
LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net
http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/