Beautiful Church
August 24, 2003
Psalm 84
11th Sunday after Pentecost
Galena-Warwick United Methodist Charge
Warwick & Galena, Maryland
Rev. Dr. Lawrence D. Jameson
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Psalm 84
How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD
Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD ;
my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she
may have her young - a place near your altar,
O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.
Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.
Hear my prayer, O LORD God Almighty;
listen to me, O God of Jacob.
Look upon our shield, O God;
look with favor on your anointed one.
Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
I love the church!
It is a beautiful part of my life.
At it’s root, the church is people.
All people who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord
are part of the Body of Christ, the church.
The church is big (because there are lots of people in it),
and complicated (because there are lots of people in it).
Therefore, the church has
branches, traditions, theologies, properties,
organizations, history, and buildings.
Did you know there are over two hundred
different denominations of Christian churches
in the United States?
Sometimes people look at a building
and call that the church.
That’s OK. That’s the common usage for the word.
But we know better. The “real” meaning is more profound.
In Matthew 18:20, Jesus said:
“where two or three come together in my name,
there am I with them.”
The church is people.
Whenever Christians gather,
Jesus is there.
When we come together,
there are patterns.
I’ve spent a great deal of time
thinking about what the church does.
I’ve come up with five letters
that I think gives a good summary
for what every church does.
I call it SOFEW.
Does anyone here know what SOFEW stands for?
Answer: Stewardship, Outreach,
Fellowship, Education, Worship
I owe so much to the church!
That’s where I was introduced to Jesus Christ.
That’s where I discovered my Spiritual Gifts.
That’s where I learned the best lessons of my life.
And that’s where
I have devoted myself as a full time Christian worker.
I love the church.
This is something I have in common
with the author of Psalm 84
Verse 1 & 2 says,
How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD ;
my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
It’s OK to love God
and love the church.
We love the church, BECAUSE we love God.
The church is where we meet with God.
The church is where we are challenged, and taught by God.
That makes it lovely.
That’s why our souls yearn for the courts of the LORD.
Our heart and our flesh cry out for the living God
Here is something I have noticed.
Perhaps you have noticed this too.
It’s natural and normal
for people to form an emotional attachment
with a particular congregation.
For instance,
you can ask someone
“What’s your church home?”
Usually they will tell you the name of a church,
even if they don’t attend.
Church attachment is good.
We all have a deep need to belong.
It’s natural for us to form an emotional bond
with a church
even if we are only tenuously associated.
I think that points to something in our nature.
God designed and made us
to be in relationship with one another!
That’s part of what the Psalmist
was talking about when he said,
My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
We love the church, BECAUSE we love God.
It is also normal and natural
for people to move to a new church home.
Most often it’s because
of a change of residence.
But sometimes some other factor is involved.
Over time, churches change,
just like individuals do.
Dear ones,
enjoy the church now,
just like you enjoy watching your children grow,
because ten years from now
the scenery will be different.
I thank God for members who have never attended
any other church,
because they bring a sense of stability and tradition.
I also thank God for the members who
have attended many other churches
over the years.
They bring a fresh perspective, and new ideas.
God brought us all here, with our varied life experiences
so that we could be
his unique and beautiful creation.
Verse 3
Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she
may have her young - a place near your altar,
O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.
This verse is a prayer
because it is addressed to God.
With that in mind, let’s listen in on this prayer once again.
Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she
may have her young - a place near your altar,
O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.
The temple in Jerusalem
was open to the sky,
and a variety of birds made their home there.
The author was saying,
“God, your hospitality and love are so great,
that you even let the animals come near you!”
Here is the point.
If the little birds are welcomed by God,
and can freely enter into his presence,
how much more are people
welcomed and given access?
God’s house is open and welcoming.
Have you ever been in a church
that made you feel cold?
I have.
I have walked into a church where:
no one shook your hand
no one wanted to notice you
no one got out of their seat to say hello.
Dear ones, YOU are God’s representative of THIS church.
Every single person in this church
(that includes members and non-members)
is responsible for making visitors feel
warm,
welcome,
and wanted.
From the first Sunday I came to this church
I made this the first item on every bulletin I printed:
EVERYONE WELCOMES EVERY VISITOR
If we do that, we will grow.
If we do that, lives will change.
If we do that, God will pour out a blessing on this church!
This is
our standard operating procedure.
I know what some of you are thinking.
“That’s OK for the leaders of the church,
but I don’t want to shake hands with strangers.
I’m not good at that. That makes me uncomfortable.”
Dear ones, you can learn to become comfortable
with this.
When you were a little child,
and someone handed you a pencil
you might of said,
“I’m sorry, but pencils and pens make me uncomfortable.”
What did the teacher do?
“Oh my goodness gracious!” said the teacher.
“Well, we can’t let you be uncomfortable!”
“From now on, this student will never be required
to use a pen or pencil!”
But wait a minute. Learning to write is important.
If you can’t use a pen or pencil, chances are,
you will probably never advance in school.
Your education will stop.
An education is important, isn’t it?
So, in order to insure that you gain an education,
your parents were probably willing to work with you
and help you overcome any discomfort with pens & pencils.
You got used to using a pencil. And now, you write all the time.
How did that happen? You LEARNED.
Dear ones,
you can learn to shake the hands of people you don’t know.
You can learn to say the right thing, like,
“I’m glad you are here”
or
“Hi, my name is so and so.”
or
“God bless you”.
Everyone can say “God bless you.” That’s the minimum!
Just as an education is important to a child,
being greeted by EVERYONE in this church
is important to our visitors.
It just might make the difference in their spiritual life.
Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she
may have her young - a place near your altar,
O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.
Verses 5, 6, & 7
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.
Jewish people used to travel long distances
to visit the temple in Jerusalem.
It was part of their tradition.
Traveling to Jerusalem wasn’t easy,
and it wasn’t free.
In spite of the difficulty and the expense,
Jewish people were glad to do it.
Why?
Because every time they did,
God made it worth the effort.
Going to church on Sunday,
is our pilgrimage.
We walk through the desert to get there.
Our desert is filled with
problems, and obstacles, strained relationships,
and hard feelings.
It’s hard to ignore all the things
that work to keep us away from Sunday worship.
But if we set our hearts on pilgrimage,
we discover that the desert changes.
When we set our hearts on pilgrimage:
tears of sorrow turn into raindrops of blessing
hardships turn into help
pain turns into power
frustration turns into fruitfulness.
That’s what God does
for everyone
who sets aside their own issues
to honor and worship him.
Dear ones,
a lot of what you find at church
has to do
with the attitude you bring to church.
Are you coming to Sunday worship
with the heart of a pilgrim?
Do you look at your problems
and say,
“You are important, and I need to deal with you,
but the worship God
is where I get my greatest power, and my deepest joy.”
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.
Thank you for coming to church today!
Thank you for your faithfulness
and devotion to Jesus Christ.
Because you came here today,
the LORD will bestow favor and honor
in your life.
No good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.
Amen.