Introduction
This is the Pastor’s Blog for the Service on Sunday Nov 16th at 10:45AM. Included here is the primary Scripture of this message and the Pastor’s notes. Prior to the service it will include an excerpt of the Pastor’s notes and following the service the complete notes will be added. Also following the service a link will be provided at the bottom to Replay this service. We hope you will join us in Worship on Sunday.
Scripture: Psalm 138
1 I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
before the “gods” I will sing your praise.
2 I will bow down toward your holy temple
and will praise your name
for your unfailing love and your faithfulness,
for you have so exalted your solemn decree
that it surpasses your fame.
3 When I called, you answered me;
you greatly emboldened me.
4 May all the kings of the earth praise you, Lord,
when they hear what you have decreed.
5 May they sing of the ways of the Lord,
for the glory of the Lord is great.
6 Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly;
though lofty, he sees them from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life.
You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes;
with your right hand you save me.
8 The Lord will vindicate me;
your love, Lord, endures forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands.
Pastor’s Message:
How is your soul this morning?
This season of less daylight, longer nights, and cloudy weather can weigh on our bodies and spirits, and the 24/7 news cycle can add to that heaviness.
It’s a good time to turn to the Psalms. The Psalms are the worship book for the people of ancient Israel. They poured out their troubles and celebrations in worship – nothing was hidden. In the Psalms, the people offered thanks, lamented, expressed anger at enemies, and begged for God’s presence and action.
Ancient Israel has given generations of worshipers a gift. The Psalms have continued to speak for people of faith across the centuries. They remind us of our creatureliness and the love of our Creator. The Psalms are good for our souls.
Psalm 138 is particularly good and appropriate for this season. It begins with thanksgiving and praise, and acknowledges that there are struggles in this life. It offers our spirits and minds a rest, and a shift in perspective from the day-to-day grind that we swim in.
As the psalm begins, the psalmist offers thanksgiving to the Holy One, and right away acknowledges that there are other gods. He or she stands upright before all those other gods, praising the Holy One who is sovereign in the cosmos. All those other gods who demand our attention can’t answer our call for help as the Divine Creator – the only Creator — can.
It’s interesting to imagine who or what these other gods might be – power, fame, money, possessions, achievement – and how they demand our attention. When it comes down to it, though, these gods can’t offer meaning or substance. From the perspective of the Psalmist – and many other writes of the Hebrew scriptures — these “gods” are idols. The Hebrew word that is often translated “idol” – hevel – can also be translated as “emptiness.” What these gods offer is empty; they are incapable of the steadfast love and faithfulness that define God.
The Psalmist gives us a beautiful and insistent corrective to the demands of the other gods: the steadfast love of God can be trusted. The creator of the cosmos uses power differently from those other gods: the “lowly” receive God’s close attention. The “haughty” are further away from God’s concern by virtue of their own actions and choice.
It’s not how the world works, is it? The wealthy and the powerful are often loud, demanding loyalty and attention, energy and resources. But the Holy One is different, offering care and faithfulness to those who call in distress, who feel as if they don’t matter in the scheme of worldly power.
One commentator I read this week put it this way:
“…we shall always find ourselves simultaneously professing God’s deliverance and praying for God’s deliverance…The apparent ambiguity is actually a re-presentation of the reality of the life of faith. As faithful people, we know that experiences of grace do not alter our essential and perpetual neediness.” Psalm 138 reminds us that God’s love and faithfulness are trustworthy in the present with all of its challenges and the not-yet future for which we long.
Psalm 138 calls us to praise and give thanks, but I can’t help but feel that something needs to be added to our praise and thanksgiving. Is there something we can do?
In our search for something to do, however, we need to keep sustainability in mind. In the midst of life’s challenges and speed, it’s all too easy to give in to spiraling anxiety, to run around like the proverbial headless chicken, kicking up a lot of dust. None of which helps settle our souls, sustain our spirits, steady our faith.
I ran across some wise counsel some months ago. It begins with this: “To go the distance, we [need] to cultivate a sustainable spirit.”
And then the writer offered the “Three Fs”:
Find your lane
Find your people
Find your faith again and again
“Our capacity is not infinite. We can care deeply about [a million projects, issues and causes.] As your capacity allows, identify a few [matters or tasks] where you can pour more substantial investments of your time, attention, and gifts: in other words, find your lane.
The writer goes on to say:
“Like a car on a highway, you can reach out of your lane. We need one another to cross-pollinate and to [work] creatively [together.] We also need people of God to dig deep and commit…
“If you find yourself with heart to spare, then reach out of your comfort zone when you consider what comprises your lane. Tend a garden that will feed someone else’s children.”
As we find our lane, we discover that there are other people in that lane, too, who can offer support, inspiration, and fellowship. We can experience God’s grace flowing out of others toward us, nourishing our souls and feeding our spirits. And then we in turn become channels of that grace.
Lo and behold, in the company of fellow faith travelers we can experience our own faith being buoyed again and again. We can find faith when we thought we had lost it.
And then, my friends, we become more aware of Who else is with us on this journey: God-in-Christ, whose steadfast love never fades or ends, and whose Spirit connects us across all communities.
What emerges is a beautiful, swirling community of mutual support, marked by grace, grounded in faith, standing firm in the face of all those other gods trying to claim our attention.
With this wisdom before us, and the wisdom of the psalmist, we can praise the Holy One and offer thanks now, and look forward to the fruiting of the garden that is to come. The Holy One is with us through it all – now and in the time to come. Praise and thanks be to God.
Let us pray together:
New every morning is your love,
great God of light,
and all day long you are working for good in the world.
Stir up in us desire to serve you,
to live peacefully with our neighbors,
and to devote each day to your Son,
our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
