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Jan. 16, 2005 Psalm 40
2 Epiphany
Hold On!
There is a lot of joy in being a pastor … and a lot of awe.
There is joy in being present for very important life events (marriage, births, baptisms, and even death) … seeing folks grow and struggle and mature in their faith … hearing about the faith serendipities. There is awe in witnessing God’s hand and presence and guidance in your lives.
One of my joys lately… or lately I’ve been aware of a “clumping” of folks talking about the same thing… and that is many who are talking about God’s “call” on their lives. That is really awe-some … to hear folks describe a realization, a gnawing, a knowing that God is nudging to dig deeper… step wider … see farther …. Dream the improbable.
Last Sunday evening, we experienced an amazing event as the good folks of Our Redeemer’s Lutheran and Trinity United Methodist, came together for worship and prayer and singing and dance and Holy Communion …. And then we had dinner together. Many of us stayed and cleaned and put away tables and chairs together.
One part of the worship was their pastor Dan and I talking about our calls. And one of the things I noticed and I have continued to reflect upon is the nature of our “calls.” They were inseparable from our lives of faith. Growing up in the church, finding our way as teens and young adults, God’s hand on our lives did not start or stop with the path of going into the ministry. Our calls continue with the everyday nuances of church and family and society.
The life of faith is a life dedicated to listening for God calling our names. Sometimes we hear clearly and distinctly … other times we have vague impressions ….. and still other times we come to crossroads and hope and pray that we take the right road, as the challenge becomes just stepping out in spite of the fears and questions.
But this life of faith … living with God’s Presence, committed to following Jesus, is also a life of uncertainty. It can present times of terrible doubt and questions, dark nights of the soul, alienation from the very folks we love, and even the inner conflict of our rational questions to our spiritual selves.
In College I remember some folks being obsessed with “knowing God’s Will” for their lives. I picked up from them that they were convinced God had one set path for them, and it was their solemn job to figure it out… as if God were playing a cosmic Jeopardy game….
Contestant: ‘Life’s Calling’ for $100 Lord!”
God: “Go to Alaska and minister to the Eskimos
in minus 60-degree weather!”
Contestant: “What will I do for the rest of my life?”
I have run across this “theology” quite a bit …. Usually with younger folks struggling with a wide open future… but not always.
In my experience and great privilege of being involved with so many faithful lives, reading the Biblical stories, other stories of faith, as well as my own… I do not believe that our God has one thing in mind for us and we have to “find” it and “do” it, or we will have missed the divine boat of spiritual fulfillment.
When Jesus told the parable of the talents… it was of a master giving servants each different amounts of money. When he came back, he wanted to know what they had done with the money. The story gives us not even a hint of a Master who had in mind exactly what his servants should do or by how much they should increase this trust.
In fact when the Master returned he was very pleased with the two servants who did show an increase, even though the amounts were different. His displeasure was with the servant who did nothing… was fearful … buried the money so he could return the full amount in tact.
That tells me of a God who enjoys risk! Diversity! Mystery! And surprise endings! God risks with us, and asks us to risk … to dare … to step out and know that God’s arms are always there… if need be. I haven’t found the “playing it safe” chapter in the Bible yet.
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I think that’s one of the reasons I love the Psalms so much. They remind me that Trust-in-the-present relies a lot on my past experience with God.
Over and over again, and Psalm 40 is no exception, the Psalms keep saying….
“I am afraid now… I am in deep water … I don’t know how this can possibly come out…. “BUT…. I KNOW You God have been there in the past for me. I REMEMBER when you led my
ancestors through the Red Sea ….
“I REMEMBER when I was sick and you made me well …
“I REMEMBER when my enemies were all around and you saved me …. I REMEMBER!”
Faith is NOT blind trust… or a naïve dependancy. Faith is an amazing present, backwards, present, future, present receiving, living and co-working out of our life’s circumstances with a very present divine Presence..
“God how do I climb this impossible mountain before me?
“Oh yes, now I REMEMBER when I didn’t think I would survive, when the pain was too great… and you brought me through!
“Ok… that’s what I’m going to hang my hat on right now. I can’t even see the future, the present terrifies me, but I KNOW how you’ve held me BEFORE, and I know somehow, in ways I cannot fathom, You WILL hold me and bring me through once again.”
Now… that doesn’t mean things turn out the way we’d like … or that it will be a piece of cake. It means we are assured of God’s undivided, intimate, present, power and love in all times and circumstances as we walk the paths before us.
The Apostle Paul would write much later in the New Testament book of Romans (8:38-39),
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Nice sentiments? Prosaic words to move his readers? Or faithful insight from someone who was guided and grounded by his every day experiences with a living God.
When Joshua faced overwhelming odds leading his people into the Promised Land, God didn’t say… “It’s yours, tied up with a bow!” God told Joshua words that still challenge me:
“Every step you take I will give you!”
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And then… once again… when we get some distance and perspective … when we can finally SEE that yet again God has indeed brought us THROUGH the flood, UP from the pit, AROUND the conflict, OVER the obstacle….
We have one more experience of God at work in our lives, that will be there the next time we need it… THAT’S the NEW SONG! The Psalm talks about.
Oh… and … a very important point here…. These NEW songs God gives us…. Aren’t to be hummed in our head, or quietly kept to ourselves.
Psalm 40 declares:
“God put a new song in my mouth
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and trust in the Lord.”
Sometimes … we need to hear each other’s songs. We need to hear how God is at work in each other’s lives. Sometimes, maybe we do FORGET how God has been present for US, and I need to hear how God has been present for YOU. I need to hear your song. I need to see what FAITH looks like in your life of real ups ans downs and problems and possibilities.
Our God is an incarnate God … “incarnate” … comes from the Latin “flesh” … God comes in flesh. God came in Jesus, so we could see and touch and listen and walk with God who knew also what it was to be human.
And God still in-carnates … God comes to me in you, and God comes to you in me. And God comes to others in us!
But in order for God to in-carnate us human beings… we need to be open and malleable and willing to be used divinely … as the Psalm says:
“Then I said, ‘Here I am!’”
That CALL…. And response.
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God’s Call comes to us throughout our lives… it’s not just a one-shot golden ring that we need fear missing on this go-round.
The Call comes when the neighbor next door comes over;
When the job or the marriage ends….
The Call comes when that still small voice says NOW might be the time to step out;
The Call comes when we’re scared to death, or excited as all get-out;
It comes when we have no more strength,
or when we have no more time.
The Call comes at the beginning of life, in the middle of bills, and even in how we face death. Amen.
“40” …… U2
I waited patiently for the Lord He inclined and heard my cry
He brought me up out of the pit Out of the mire and clay
I will sing, sing a new song I will sing, sing a new song
How long to sing this song? How long to sing this song?
How long... how long... how long... How long... to sing this song
He set my feet upon a rock And made my footsteps firm
Many will see Many will see and fear
I will sing, sing a new song I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song I will sing, sing a new song
How long to sing this song? How long to sing this song?
How long... how long... how long... How long... to sing this song
Psalm 40:1-11
40:1 I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry.
40:2 He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.
40:3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.
40:4 Happy are those who make the LORD their trust, who do not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after false gods.
40:5 You have multiplied, O LORD my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you. Were I to proclaim and tell of them, they would be more than can be counted.
40:6 Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.
40:7 Then I said, "Here I am; in the scroll of the book it is written of me.
40:8 I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."
40:9 I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O LORD.
40:10 I have not hidden your saving help within my heart, I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.
40:11 Do not, O LORD, withhold your mercy from me; let your steadfast love and your faithfulness keep me safe forever.