Text: Psalm 23 and Psalm 98:1-3<\/p>\n
In May of this year, my family gathered in northwest Iowa to bury my grandpa.
\nI stood in front of those loved ones and recited those familiar words of the twenty-third Psalm.
\nThe Lord is my shepherd\u2026
\nYou know, we imagined that this was a temporary act of closure\u2026 a private graveside service that would give way to a much larger celebration of his life once the danger of the coronavirus subsided.
\nWe are still waiting for that celebration.
\nI\u2019ve walked beside so many of you through the valley of the shadow of death this year.
\nYour grieving, like mine, has often felt incomplete.<\/p>\n
And I think part of the \u201cincompleteness\u201d is that there is so much to grieve.
\nThere is so much we have lost\u2026
\nSo many we have lost\u2026
\nSo many ways of being that have been taken from us\u2026
\nWe have felt isolated.
\nUncertain.
\nAlone.<\/p>\n
And yet, we are not alone.
\nWe are not alone in the sense that we are all going through this experience together.
\nAnd as a congregation, we are trying our hardest to help each one of you to feel connection in one way or another.
\nWhether it is a Zoom coffee time or a card from a child or a call from a staff member or a caring connection buddy, our hope is that you know that you are not alone.<\/p>\n
But we are also not alone in the sense that the people of God have faced difficult times like these before.
\nWe can often be so focused only on this moment in time, but if we zoom out and capture the larger picture of the biblical narrative, we find ourselves written into their stories.
\nThink of the ancient Israelites enslaved in Egypt\u2026
\nOr the time of exile in Babylon\u2026
\nImagine what it must have been like to live through the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans\u2026
\nThe heartbreak and disorientation, grief and doubt, suffering and loneliness\u2026
\nWe hold those things in common with these faithful ancestors.<\/p>\n
And it was in those trying moments that the people of God needed to remember that they were not alone, because God had never left their side.
\nAnd they turned to songs like those familiar words of comfort from the 23rd Psalm.
\nThis hymn is not simply a text for funerals.
\nIt is something we pray when we are in the valley.
\nIn the depths of despair.
\nWhen evil and death and enemies surround us.
\nIt is a wilderness song.
\nEven the imagery of the shepherd, the rod and the staff, remind us of trouble:
\nAfter all, a shepherd\u2019s rod would hold off predators;
\nA staff would hook around the neck of a sheep caught in a crevice or bramble.
\nIt is a promise that in the midst of whatever difficulty we might face, God was there.
\nGod is there.
\nGod brings hope and comfort and restoration and hope.
\nIt is a hymn, a poem, a song that we use to cry out from those difficult places and imagine a way forward\u2026
\nImagine the joy\u2026
\nImagine the abundance\u2026
\nImagine the possibility\u2026
\nAll by the grace of God.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m reminded of the words of Sandra McCracken as she explains what it is like to sing our way forward:<\/p>\n
I wrote the title track for the album, God\u2019s Highway, with a friend of mine, Thad Cockrill and playing through the song it was actually a really dark season for me. I was kind of in a fog. And as we were writing, I remember trying to write and express how I was feeling. Thad, very pastorally, said, \u201cYou know the old spirituals would sing not about where we are in the moment. Not \u2018my feet are tired\u2019 and you know \u2018I\u2019m in a fog,\u2019 but \u2018My feet are strong. My eyes are clear.\u2019\u201d This way of singing ourselves forward. Sometimes with tears, sometimes with defiance, sometimes with great celebration.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
When we find ourselves in the valley of the shadow of death we have to find ways to sing our way forward.
\nSing our way forward with celebration and with joy.<\/p>\nAll of which brings us to Psalm 98.
\nOver the next few weeks, we\u2019ll be exploring this hymn, this prayer, as we think about what it means for us to be \u201ctogether for joy.\u201d<\/p>\nAnd we start with just the first three verses.
\nLike Psalm 23, when we read behind the lines, we remember that life was not always so grand for the people of God.
\nWhy else would we need God\u2019s right hand and holy arm to bring us victory?
\nRobert Alter notes that this word, victory, is actually rooted in the Hebrew word for rescue, which reminds me once again of the Shepherd\u2019s rod and staff. (The Hebrew Bible \u2013 The Writings, p. 231)
\nWhile the specific enemy might not be specified, we are singing a new song because God is the one who can rescue us from the chaos, the struggle, the uncertainty, the despair.
\nIn the face of these enemies\u2026
\nIn the face of the nations\u2026
\nIn the face of all that would destroy us\u2026
\nwe experience God\u2019s bounty, God\u2019s abundance, God\u2019s restoration.
\nIt\u2019s like a table, prepared for us, in the presence of our enemies.
\nAnointing and blessing and overflowing\u2026
\nHow could we not sing when we remember God\u2019s marvelous love?
\nHow could we not rejoice in the face of God\u2019s kindness and faithfulness?<\/p>\nPraise lifts us up from the valley\u2026
\nRaises our spirits from the mire\u2026
\nSets our eyes on the truth of who we are:
\nBeloved children of God.<\/p>\n\u201cPraise is a ladder for our spirits, a gift to help us climb up out of the shadows and into the light to get a new perspective on things, if only briefly. Praise brings us back in touch with the truth of our situation.\u201d (Together For Joy)<\/p>\n
I love that line\u2026 praise brings us back in touch with the truth of our situation.
\nIt reorients us.
\nIt helps us remember what is precious and what is essential.
\nAnd that, simply, is God.<\/p>\nA couple of weeks ago, I attended the Leadership Institute through the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection.
\nOne of our keynote speakers was Ronald Heifetz.
\nNow, if you have ever read anything about adaptive leadership in the secular world… Heifetz was probably behind it.
\nFor nearly twenty years, he has been consulting and teaching about what it means to lead in the world today\u2026 especially in the midst of difficult circumstances that require us to build new capacity and change the way we operate.
\nWhat I really appreciated about this particular lecture, however, is that he shared from his own faith tradition.
\nHeifetz talked about how the Jewish faith adapted after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem because of the leadership of Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai.
\nIn this valley of the shadow of death, the Jewish people turned their eyes in praise towards God and discovered the truth of their situation.
\nThey had to figure out what was precious and essential to their faith to carry forward.
\nThey had to figure out what was no longer serviceable and needed to be discarded.
\nAnd that had to figure out what innovation would allow them to take the best of their history into the future.<\/p>\nHeifetz went on to talk about how the Rabbi helped the people to sing old familiar songs in new ways.
\nWith the Temple destroyed, the sanctuary of God moved from a physical to a spiritual structure and became centered on the home. Wherever the family was, there would be a sanctuary.
\nThe priestly functions were taken on by the parent in the home, who would recite the blessings upon the family.
\nRabbis took on greater authority in interpreting the text for the time and place.
\nPrayer that was built upon sacrifice and petition became a matter of the heart and a personal experience of God.<\/p>\nIn the midst of their crisis, in the midst of the valley, they learned that what was precious and essential was not the Temple itself, but their relationship with God.
\nThe God who spoke creation into being.
\nThe God who led them out of Egypt.
\nThe God who had been with them through every valley and time of exile and trouble.
\nAnd that God was leading them into a new future.
\nTurning their hearts to praise, they knew they could trust in the marvelous things God had done\u2026 and would do\u2026 for them.
\nThey discovered new ways of being together for joy.<\/p>\nIn the midst of this moment in the life of our church, we are discovering what is essential and precious as well.
\nThe love of Christ that binds us together.
\nThe grace of God that overcomes our failures.
\nThe challenge of the Holy Spirit that pushes us onward to the Kingdom.
\nWe are discovering what old songs we can sing in a new way.
\nNext week, we\u2019ll talk more about some of the joyful things we are discovering, but for today, let me simply say this:
\nYou are not alone.
\nIn the midst of the grief\u2026
\nIn the midst of the valley\u2026
\nWhen you aren\u2019t quite sure where you are going\u2026
\nFix your eyes on God.
\nCling to the one who has never left your side.
\nAnd sing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Text: Psalm 23 and Psalm 98:1-3 In May of this year, my family gathered in northwest Iowa to bury my grandpa. I stood in front of those loved ones and recited those familiar words of the twenty-third Psalm. The Lord is my shepherd\u2026 You know, we imagined that this was a temporary act of closure\u2026…<\/span><\/p>\n