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Sunday September 5, 2010 "Learning to be Worthy" Psalm 37 |
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Location: Blogs Brad's BlogBrad's Sermons |
 | | Posted by: Brad Miller | 9/8/2010 1:02 PM | It was a big day in my life. It was the day that I turned in my notice at the university. The day I went public with my plans to leave the security of tenure, of a department chairmanship, of a full professorship. And why was I doing all this? Because I was responding to a call to go to seminary in order to enter full time ministry.
But something funny happened that day: when it finally came time to act, I began to have doubts. Protocol said that I turned in my resignation letter to the provost, the chief academic officer of the university. He accepted the letter, he said, with sadness, but with an understanding of my response to a “higher call.” By the time I got back to my office, the President of the University was there to meet me, having heard the news from the provost. In our conversation, the phrase came up again as he said at least he was glad that I was leaving for a “higher calling.”
By the time the day was over, I had heard that phrase a dozen times, and as I drove home, all that kept going through my head was, “What am I doing? What makes me think I am worthy to do this?”
I also heard from people who questioned my choice. “There are very few jobs in ministry,” an Episcopal priest tld me. “If you find a job, you’ll never make any money,” several people said. Slowly, doubt crept in, and with the doubt came the question, “Am I worthy? Can I do this?”
There are days when one form of that question still resonates with me, but now that I am right in the middle of it, the question has changed to “How can I learn to be worthy of this responsibility?”
I’m guessing that we all find ourselves asking this question at times. The fact is that we live in times that can easily lead us to doubt, to worry, to fear. We are faced with a world, that on so many levels, has run amok; a world that is not always fair; a world beyond our control. Over and over again we hear, that in the midst of this confusion, the only way we can move forward is to turn ourselves over to God’s care…fully and completely. But the question is, how can we do this? It’s too easy to simply say, “Trust God.” Well, we do our best to trust God, but we’re also human and when we see what is going on in the world, when we see those who prosper who don’t seem to be godly people, when we feel the fear that comes from a shaky economy, we feel even more unworthy.
We want to be strong, but the question is how?
The question plagued David, too. We know the stories of his childhood, of the special gifts leadership and courage, and finally, the call that he did not seek: King of all of Israel. Here he was, battle tested, always seeking to do God’ will, faithful yet flawed. And the elders of his community wanted to make him KING! All around him were detractors who would gladly see him fail. All around him were people who were prospering, people he knew to be bad people, evil people even.
Can you imagine? Of course you can! We have felt the same sort of doubt and fear. We have seen ungodly people prosper. We have wondered why those who flaunt God’s laws are able to continue. Those people who take advantage of the helpless, who simply put their own desires above the needs of good people. How does that happen? Especially when I am trying my best to be the best person I can be. Especially when I understand that God would have me act a certain way.
When we see this happening, we may reach a crisis of faith. Why should I follow the straight and narrow when I could just cut some corners and do some much better? Who would know?
The Psalm we heard read this morning is subtitled “Of David.” Some believed it was a psalm written to help David focus on what is important as he became King. David, who faced tremendous opposition to his reign and to his faith. Think of any faithful person in a position of power. They may face the same situation as David: torn between what is right and what is expedient.
It is, of course, a psalm that we can easily appropriate, too. We are faced with just such a choice over and over. We face it in our daily lives, in business, in our relationships. We face this dilemma when bombarded by the sensory overload that is the many and various forms of media. Our culture is filled with conflicting messages. Messages of moderation and perseverance we hear in places like this find themselves at odds with messages of excess and instant gratification in the marketing of goods. Messages of tolerance and love find themselves competing with messages of vitriol and intolerance that dominate our airwaves.
In overhearing this Psalm of David, we hear a pastoral message. We hear guidance as to how to live life the way it should be lived. We hear affirmation that we are not crazy, the world seems to ask us to choose between the prosperity and power of the “wicked” and the providence of God. We are faced with a choice between the pressures of the present and the promises of the future. We must choose between faith and no faith. This then is the fundamental point of this Psalm: we find ourselves forced to make a choice – which choice should we make?
This psalm seeks to reach out to offer nurture in a situation where keeping the faith is difficult. This psalm seeks to give us guidance as to how we can choose wisely and therefore, how we can learn to be worthy of calling ourselves the children of God.
The psalmists counsel to those who are caught up in this web of choices, is based on the belief that God is at the foundation of all that is good. When we choose to put God aside, we find that “The Lord laughs at the wicked.” When we choose what is right in God’s sight we hear that “The Lord loves justice,” and “the lord is faithful to the faithful.”
The psalmist presents the case in two different ways: through encouragement and through through descriptions of the worthy. Worthiness is first of all, a trust in God, a delight in God’s peaceful presence. That trust shows itself in our conduct. And when we “do good”, when we are “generous and keep giving”, when we “wait for the Lord”, when we “commit to the way of the Lord”, God will not allow us to fall, “for the Lord holds us by the hand.” And when those things are at the heart of how we live our lives, we will find ourselves worthy, able to persevere through the challenges that the world throws at us.
Make special note here about what the psalmist has to say about how we should react to the “wicked”, the ungodly, those who go their own way without regard to God’s way. Basically, he says, “Forget about ‘em, let them do what they will do, and you do what you should do.”
Do not fret because of the wicked; do not be envious, don’t be angry; don’t take action against them – those things only make you like them. They will wither and fade, and we will find God’s peace.
This is not some ancient poem that holds no meaning for us. It is another example of the power of our holy scriptures. While it might have been on a completely different scale, David faced pressures not unlike the pressures we face today. The advice that guided David has the same power to guide us. And as important as it was to David, it is just as important to us today, no matter who we are.
Our teenagers and young people may experience this as acutely as any of us. Peer pressure is a powerful thing, maybe one of the most powerful things we face. So to you teenagers here today, pay attention to this psalm. It may be hard to choose God’s way. You may worry about losing friends or being on the outside. But believe in this, when you trust God’s way, you will find people who will respect and befriend you, maybe even some of those who would urge you to follow a different path.
The message of this psalm is important for the parents among us. The world puts up formidable obstacles to raising children right…the psalmist urges you to trust God’s way.
Our senior citizens have years of experiencing the worst the world has to offer, but they also have experienced the best the world has to offer. We need you who have that life experience to help guide us, to talk to us about where you may have stumbled and how following the right path has affected you. We need your
witness of triumph and tragedy so that we might recognize and celebrate God’s best in everything.
Those enmeshed in the pressures of the work place, there is great competition, but we cannot control others do to get ahead, all we can do is hold steady to our course and work ethically and to the best of our ability. That’s God’s way.
For those of who call ourselves Christians, trusting God and doing good is important because people are looking to us as representatives of Jesus Christ. When we call ourselves Christians, we must remember that people are watching and judging. Let them judge us well.
For me, it falls to one simple line in the psalm to give us direction: “Trust God and do good.” There is so much that we cannot control in this world that we must concentrate on what we can control. Because when we concentrate on what we can control, our own faith and our own actions, we can leave behind the anger, envy and frustration that so typifies this world and move firmly into that place of peace and calm that God desires for us.
I have a challenge for you this week. In the bulletin is a slip of paper that on one side says, “Trust God and Do Good.” And on the other side, is a prayer by the theologian Rheinhod Neibuhr. I want you to put this slip in your Bible, or on your refrigerator, or on the nightstand by your bed. Throughout the week I want you to pray this prayer and think about how you can “trust God and do good". What pressures are weighing on your heart that you need to let go of? Trust God. But even more than that, do something. Do something to get your mind off worrying about what you cannot control. Do something good. Something that helps someone else. Something that makes someone else feels good, something that puts a smile on someone’s face. Someone that puts a smile on your face.
I’m not talking about anything extravagant. I’m talking about the simplest of things: compliment someone who could use a lift; thank someone for a job well done; assist a neighbor who needs help unloading the groceries; say hello and smile at the people you pass on the street.
We cannot control what others do. We can only control what we do. And when we put our trust in God, and seek to follow the path paved for us by Jesus Christ, we will find ourselves well equipped for the journey, worthy of God’s call on our lives.
If you would take out the sheet with the prayer by Rheinhold Neibuhr – an extended version of what some call “The Serenity Prayer” , I would like for us to pray it together. And then, the choir will grace us with their offering of the morning anthem. As they sing, I would ask each of us to follow with the lyrics printed in your bulletin, and let the words of this beautiful song wash over us and be for us strength for the days ahead.
Let us pray: God, grant us the serenity to accept things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Grant us patience for the things that take time, appreciation for all that we have, and tolerance for those with different struggles. Grant us the freedom to live beyond the limitations of our past ways, the ability to feel your love for us and our love for each other and the strength to get up and try again even when we feel it is hopeless. In Jesus’ name we pray: Amen. | | | Permalink | Trackback |
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