The complexity of our humanity ...

We return this week to texts from the lectionary.
First, a prayer:

O God,
sustain us in the complexity of our humanity
as you sustained David--
playing the harp of youth,
throwing stones at giant problems,
loving our friends beyond wisdom,
dancing worship,
mourning children,
breaking our hearts in psalms, and
longing for warmth in our old bones. Amen.
- The Vanderbilt Lectionary Project

Hear the word of the Lord:

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
and blameless when you pass judgment.
Indeed, I was born guilty,
a sinner when my mother conceived me.

You desire truth in the inward being;
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit.
- Psalm 51:1-12

These words lead us to remember the words of John:

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins,
he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned,
we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

My little children,
I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.
But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous;
and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins,
and not for ours only
but also for the sins of the whole world.
- 1 John 1:8-2:2 – NRSV

This prayer, this psalm, and this scripture
Remind us of the complexity of our relationship with God.
That’s why I ask us to remember the prayer: “O God,
sustain us in the complexity of our humanity
as you sustained David” — it may serve us well
in our relationship with God this week.

Blessings,

Ron

Whose help, whose hope?

Our meditations in the Psalms continue with Psalm 146:

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God all my life long.

Surely the Lord is the center of the psalmist’s praise! This praise is not lip service, nor is it merely mental assent – this praise comes from the very soul of the worshiper. The feelings of the singer are so strong that twice the psalmist assures us that his or her praises will rise up to God for a lifetime. This ought to beg the question from us, “Why is God worthy of such praise from this person?”

Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortals, in whom there is no help.
When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day their plans perish.

One of the first ways that we come to understand the praiseworthiness of God is to understand the difference between his divinity and our humanity. Interestingly, the psalmist leads us to this place by making half of the comparison and trusting that we will imagine the implied counterpart. The psalmist describes the unreliability of even those who are perceived to be the best, the noblest, of humankind: royalty. Even princes are not very helpful; after all, they have so many people who ask them for so many things. Yet even if one were to work one’s way into their policies, how could anyone be sure that these nobles would focus long enough, or live long enough, to carry out all of these plans?

The nature of God is an implied contrast. Humans are one thing; God is another – the Other. God is reliable. God is worthy of our trust. God will give us help. His breath will never depart because his breath is eternal. God’s breath spoke the words that called this universe into existence and his breath will call the new heavens and earth into eternal existence. Yet, surely this God is not merely worthy of praise for who he is, but for what he has done.

Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith forever;
who executes justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry.

Our God is most worthy of praise because of his mighty acts. Look at what he did for Jacob! Surely he will give happiness to us if we make him our Lord as did Jacob. This God created the heaven and earth and established the laws of physics that hold the universe together. The chaotic sea he made, and calmed, and filled with life. All of these things God faithfully maintains and empowers, even toward eternity.

But the laws of physics, chemistry, and biology are not the end of his governance of creation. God also established laws of justice to govern the behavior of those he made in his image. Because God is a relational being, he made humans into relational beings. And the creator of people and power and possessions calls us to use power and wealth as he does: to care for the weak, the powerless, the outcast and even the oppressed. In a creation this fruitful, who should go hungry?

The Lord sets the prisoners free;
the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the strangers;
he upholds the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

Here are the words of salvation for those whom we serve. Yes, children have been imprisoned, not just in lockup but perhaps even worse – in bondage to the false gods of this world. God offers freedom. Yes, some children are blind and many of them spiritually so. God offers vision of a sort that they can hardly imagine. Yes, too many children are bowed down with the burdens of this world, and with bad habits that will become sin as they become accountable. Yet God offers his love for those who will accept his righteousness by enacting his justice. Those who do not uphold the powerless will find themselves powerless. That is the other side of his justice.

The Lord will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord!

Surely neither this God’s plans, nor his life, will ever fail; he will be God to us, to our children, and to our children’s children. Surely that kind of a God is praiseworthy!

Grace and peace,

Ron