How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! – Psalm 133:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (August 7, 2013): Psalm 133 & 134

Paul Simon released his hit album “Still Crazy After All These Years” in 1975. The album hit number one on the Billboard 200 during December of that same year. The album is probably best known for the “Simon and Garfunkel” reunion track “My Little Town.” But the album also contained a quirky little love song entitled “You’re Kind.” The strange love song told the story of a lover expressing all the reasons why his beloved was special – all of the things that she had made a difference in his life. But in the final verse he also explains the reason why he has to leave her.  

I like to sleep with the window open
And you keep the window closed
So goodbye, goodbye, goodbye.

Paul Simon may have hit on one of the eternal truths of life. Sometimes it does not seem to matter how much we agree with each other – the way that we are divided seems to be more important to us.

I am convinced that the Christian Church agrees with each other much more than we disagree. In fact, I think that for most churches the things that we agree on is in excess of 90% of our total beliefs – and it is probably much higher.  And yet we find ourselves divided.

I was recently asked about my views on baptism. My friend and I attend different churches, but the churches are in the same denomination. My view on baptism is that I prefer baptism by immersion. But baptism is too important to be held for only those that are not afraid of water. And so for those that fear immersion, I will find another way to make sure that they get baptized. My friend was immersion only – and as far as he was concerned that was the only proper denominational stance. But the reality is that we are both saying exactly the same thing – baptism is important. We are just attacking the question from different directions. And yet I also know that it is exactly these kinds of arguments that have divided churches - and denominations.

The church is fractured. There is no use in denying it. We seem to be going in so many different directions. But we are also united by a Cross. And sometimes a fractured cross that catches a million shards of light and casts it off in a million different directions is the most beautiful thing we could ever see. The psalmist seemed to understand exactly that. How beautiful it is when God’s people live in unity – or maybe beautiful it is when believers discover the unity that has always been theirs.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 135

But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content. – Psalm 131:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (August 6, 2013): Psalm 131 & 132

There is an ongoing battle between culture and the church. It is a battle that I admit that I am not sure that I understand. The argument goes something like this. The world is split into two dominant worldviews. (Admittedly in the 21^st century the argument has failed already. There are many more than two worldviews, but the argument groups all of the possible worldviews into basically two groups.) The main worldview is the one we would call a Secular Worldview. It is the way that the world is seen outside of God. And set up against this worldview is the Christian or Religious Worldview. And the argument seems to be that only one of these world views can be correct. So in order to be Christian, a person must reject the majority worldview.

But the argument goes beyond just spiritual belief. The worldviews seem to drastically differ in so many of the basic understandings of life. And one of the most drastic areas of conflicts is in the area of science. It is not just a conflict in the so-called Evolution and Creation debate, but it extends even to what it is that can be known. I was recently in a public conversation where I mentioned the certainty of our knowledge of the Theory of Gravity – in fact, so much of what we know is based on the idea of attraction between two bodies, and a very educated gentleman commented that gravity is unproven: that all that can be said is that there is a law of repeated events at work – and it is this law that gives me the assurance that when I drop something it will fall to the ground. I was astonished,  - and I could not believe that we had taken the worldview battle that far.

In his conversation with Nicodemus in John 3, Jesus makes it clear that we are born into the natural world. It is our first place of life. And there is a time when that is all that we know. The Psalmist would seem to agree. For the first portion of our life we are dependent on this world. But there is no conflict. The Secular World View is simply our earliest understanding of life. But it would seem that it also creates a dependency. We need our second understanding to go along with the first. We are naturally born of flesh (and I am not using this term to indicate sin which I admit it can also mean), but we also need to be born of the spirit, which means being weaned from a dependence on the flesh.

To carry the Psalmists imagery a step further, just because a child is weaned from its mother does not mean that mom is no longer needed. It simply indicated that there has been a change in the relationship. And when we are weaned from our Secular World View, our relationship with the world also changes. It is not a reversal of everything that we had known, but we can be calm because we have put the things of this world in its proper place. And only then is true contentment in the world really possible.         

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 133 & 134

Out of the depths I cry to you, LORD; - Psalm 130:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (August 5, 2013): Psalm 129 & 130

 

He woke up in the early hours of the morning. He was in physical pain. His chest hurt, his heart felt like it was about to explode out of his chest. He was experiencing numbness in his face and in his legs. And on top of it all, he was soaked with sweat. It was a feeling that he had never experienced before. All that he could think of was that this must be what it is like to die. Stumbling out of bed he made his way to the small washroom attached to the bedroom. Standing in front of the sink he splashed some water on his face in order to try to find some life, but it was a useless action. He was dying and there was absolutely nothing that he could do to change that.

Except that he wasn’t dying. He went to the hospital and was examined with every test that was available, and the results of every test were that there was nothing wrong. His heart was fine, and yet every night as the clock reached the small hours his chest returned to feeling like it was on fire. The doctors would finally call the events “anxiety attacks,” but the name just didn’t do justice to the very real physical pain that he was experiencing. Somehow blaming the physical pain on anxiety seemed to be like saying that the pain was somehow fake or being imagined, but that was not the reality that he was experiencing during the early morning hours.

We are a culture infected with anxiety problems. The power of our minds to inflict physical pain is rapidly becoming a reality in the lives of the people around us – and a lot of us know the pain personally. And like my friend, often it feels like we are dying, In fact, maybe if we were being honest in those small hours in the morning, we would probably admit that death would be preferable. I mean, at least if we died it would be over – but what we are experiencing never seems to end. It just keeps on repeating itself in the night.

The Psalmist says that he cries out to God from the depths. The Psalmist is still alive, but he is probably questioning whether or not he really wants to be. To die might be better – at least it would bring the incredible anxiety to an end. But that is not where the Psalmist finds himself. He finds himself in the depths – in that pain of small hours of the morning wondering what it is that comes next. And that is what he carries to God. If you are alive, there will be times when you will find yourself in the depths – and in the depths, anxiety becomes the enemy. They are the times when no one seems to hear us or understand what it is that we are going through – including us. But those are precisely the times that the Psalmist points us to the God that hears our cries - even when they come from the depths.      

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 131 & 132

Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. – Psalm 127:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (August 4, 2013): Psalm 127 & 128

Dwight D. Eisenhower began his inauguration speech by asking his nation for permission to utter a private prayer. It was 1953, and the nation was eight years into its recovery from the Second World War. The Korean War was still raging in North East Asia (the armistice would not be signed in Korea until July 27^th of that year, just over 60 years ago.) In South East Asia tensions were rising in Vietnam. War would not officially break out for two more years, but already the twenty year conflict was on the horizon. The world was just starting to wake up to the reality that life as we had known it was changing – the world was changing and it was going to require a different kind of leader to move forward. It was a time when all the nations were trying to make some very real decisions about what path they would take into the future.

So Eisenhower prayed. “Give us, we pray, the power to discern clearly right from wrong, and allow all our words and actions to be governed thereby … May cooperation be permitted and be the mutual aim … so that all may work for the good of our beloved country and Thy glory. Amen.” Eisenhower seemed to know that a unity of purpose was going to be required in the new world – one that was led and authorized by God. It was a prayer that asked that we would be governed by love. And when he took the oath of office, the Bible that he swore the oath on was opened to Psalm 127 and the new president’s hand was laid on the first verse of the Psalm - Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.  

It is not that builders are unnecessary and it is not that watchmen are not needed for the walls. But the Psalmist reminds us that we need to make sure that we are building what it is that God requires. And that our diligence is being spent on the things that God finds important. We do not have the time or energy to devote to the things that are not of God. And I am not sure that we always get that.

As Christians we sometimes seem to spend a lot of energy on things that I am not sure deserves our prime attention. I have been vocal in my disdain for the Pro-Life movement. It has nothing to do whether or not I believe in the sanctity of life – which I do. But every time I see a group of Christians protesting an abortion clinic, and the young confused women that are being cursed as they enter, I have to ask myself if this is what Jesus would do? Or would he sweep the young girl up in his arms and assure her of his love and his concern – both now and in the future. If we are really going to allow God to build the house, I am convinced that the house will be built on love – and that love will change the way that we handle everything. Just imagine what a church built on love could look like. We need to voice Eisenhower’s prayer once more – God teach us what is right.    

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 129 & 130

… if the LORD had not been on our side when people attacked us, - Psalm 124:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (August 3, 2013): Psalm 124 & 125

It often seems to be the “one” that we remember in the hard moments of history. During World War II, it is Hitler that we remember. There were others, lieutenants who carried out the orders of The Fuhrer, allies that committed their own national strengths to his cause – but we remember Hitler the best. It is his name that has rung out through history. On the other side we remember Winston Churchill of Britain – or maybe Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the United States. These are the players that we remember – and these are the “one’s” that during World War II probably never fired a shot. And yet we remember the “one”.

The psalmist remembers the “one”. On the side of the Psalmist the “one” was God. As the Psalmist remembered and told the stories of the nation, in every successful story God had been a big part of the victory. In some of the stories it was a miraculous event – waters parted and walls fell. In other stories God was part of the mystery as armies simply packed up and went home.  Sometimes he raised up leaders that trusted him and led the nation, but the similarity in every successful story was the presence of God in the story. And every failure also carried a similarity. In those stories God was absent. The nation needed the “one” standing beside them.

And they needed the “one” when they came up against the “one”. The word that is translated people is adam. And it can be translated people – or more literally men. But it could also be translated as singular. “If God had not been with us when the man rose up, we would have been defeated” might be a better reading here. We have no idea who the man was – there were so many. The Psalmist could be referring to the Pharaoh of Egypt, or maybe Sennacherib of Assyria or even Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The list of bad “one’s” in biblical times can seem endless. But to the Psalmist, it really does not matter which “one” it is that rises up. God trumps them all.

We still know the truth of the “one”. Some are great “one’s,” or evil “one’s,” some are just the bothersome “one’s” that rise up in our lives and threaten to derail us from the journey. But the truth of the Psalmist still stands. God is our “one” – and he trumps the “one” – he always has and he always will.      

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 127 & 128

As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy. – Psalm 123:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (August 2, 2013): Psalm 122 & 123

I recently watched the mockumentary “Confederate States of America.” The movie is an examination of the history of the United States with one important adjustment. According to the history of the movie, it was the Confederate South that won the American Civil War and slavery continues to be a force in the the development of the United States. In the movie it is Canada and Britain that stand as the harbingers of freedom – but the Black people of the United States, even in the 21^st century, were still slaves. Included along with the mock historical review were the commercials of the slave nation. Insurance companies pushed the insuring of personal property with the smiling image of a black man in the advertisement. Sicknesses of slaves were referred to veterinarians for healing. Even the persistent wish to be free was seen as an illness that could be cured with the appropriate medication. 

But as I watched the movie, what hit me was how absurd these commercials were. To a modern mind, the idea of people as property makes no sense. And then at the end of the movie the reality of the commercials was asserted. Some of the advertisements were for real products that had been used in the past – and some more recently then we might have thought in an enlightened culture. But the final surprise was revealed in the final frame – the images of two slaves that we still use to sell our products – the images of Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben.

This psalm has been criticized for its out dated imagery of the ancient slave and master relationship. Some critics have found it bland without a complaint or need being voiced. There might be a problem hovering in the background, because it is mercy that the Psalmist waits for, but there is no loud cry that has been given a voice. The Psalm is subdued, but that is also part of its beauty. It is the description of an ancient normal relationship.

Maybe the hardest teaching of the Psalm is that the Psalmist recognizes that when it is our relationship with God that we are describing, we take the role of the slave. To our modern minds the thought is disturbing and hard to get our minds around – just like we miss the slave image of both Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben. And I am not sure that it would have been any less disturbing for the early readers of the Psalm. No one, even in the ancient world, aspired to be a slave. But the description is also accurate, after all, God by definition is the one who is Master and in control. What is beautiful about this Psalm is that the Master does not react to us in anger – but with mercy. He is still the one that we wait on because he is concerned about us. The Psalm would seem to underscore God’s loving nature as we look up to him.     

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 124 & 125

… indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. – Psalm 121:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (August 1, 2013): Psalm 120 & 121

There is a reason why the planet Jupiter bears its name. From ancient times the planet has been known to people who watch the skies. It can be seen with the naked eye (it is the third brightest object in the sky, following the moon and Venus – occasionally Mars has the capability of matching Jupiter in brilliance.) In fact, when the sun is low Jupiter can even be seen in daylight – a property that Jupiter shares with only the moon and Venus. This aspect of the gas giant meant that the earliest people on the planet knew of Jupiter’s existence. And Jupiter is the largest planet of our Solar system. Even in ancient times it was believed that Jupiter had the capability of defeating all other planets. And they were right. Jupiter is two and a half times as big as all of the other planets in the solar system – combined.

It was the Romans that gave the planet the name that it bears today. They name refers to the “father-god.” Jupiter was the Roman counterpart of the Greek god Zeus – together they are the chief gods of their respective pantheons. Actually the planet has had several names, and most of them have been derived from the names of the chief gods of the various pantheons of the gods. For the ancient Babylonians, the name that they gave to the planet was Marduk, the Babylonian chief god. The ancient Greeks gave the planet the name Zeus – and the Romans the name Jupiter. And according to the ancient philosopher Homer, Jupiter, the father god, never sleeps.

As the Psalmist speaks of the God of Israel, he is in agreement with Homer – the father God never sleeps. It was an ancient belief. Even Elijah as he battled with the prophets of Baal and Asherah on Mount Carmel taunted his opponents with the words - “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened” (1 Kings 18:27.) A sleeping God, the God Israel never was.

The implication of the Psalmist’s words is that there is no reason to fear the unknown, or to be scared of the dark. God never sleeps. He is there in the darkness watching over his people – keeping everything in line. It probably should not be surprising that Jupiter, the Roman “Heavenly Father” takes after the biblical one. It is exactly what we would expect if both come from a common early belief system. The idea of a Heavenly Father who never sleeps, who holds the events of the universe in his hands, and who watches over his people as they sleep is a common one - and one that we need to be reminded of whenever the terrors of the night attack our minds and our souls.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 122 & 123