Proper 12 / Pentecost 7 / Ordinary Time 17
Preaching
Hear My Voice
Preaching The Lectionary Psalms for Cycles A, B, C
(See Advent 2, Cycle B, for an alternative approach to vv. 1-2 and 8-13.)
In 1988, Southern Baptists held their annual convention in San Antonio, Texas. It was a contentious meeting, as factions within the denomination vied for control of the various agencies and boards. Throughout the week, angry words were spoken across the aisle as various resolutions and officer elections revealed the deep schism growing within the group.
Meanwhile, beyond the halls of the heated convention, most of the rest of the country was suffering the worst drought since the "dust bowl" days of the 1930s. It had been months since there had been any appreciable rain. Livestock and crops were languishing for lack of water.
At the peak of one hotly contested business session during the convention, a pastor stepped up to one of the microphones set up for floor discussions and made a motion that the convention pause and pray for the people affected by the drought -- and to pray for rain. His motion received a second and a vote was taken. The result was unanimous. Pausing to pray for rain was the only unifying action taken that entire week.
The writer of Psalm 85 would have appreciated that brief moment of unity. He, too, is concerned about the land. In fact, his psalm opens and closes with a reference to God's favorable stance toward the land. In between, however, there is trouble. Not a drought, but something else. The land of which the psalmist writes is not beset with natural calamity. The land of the psalmist has been beset by God.
Part of the problem, apparently, is that the people have forgotten whose land it really is. It turns out the land does not belong to them. The psalmist makes this clear as he declares, "You were favorable to your land" (v. 1).
Forgetting that the land belongs to God is where most of our trouble begins. The moment we stop recognizing God as the author and sustainer of all life, selfishness, greed, violence, and idolatry will not be far behind. We experience alienation from God as individuals when we forget God's ownership, and we experience exile as a people when we forget that life itself is a gift from God.
But judgment, alienation, and exile are not the last things we hear from God. God's desire is not to punish us forever. The psalmist asks the question, "Will you be angry with us forever?" (v. 5). But the tone is not one of despair. He asks the question in the midst of a plea for forgiveness: "Restore us again, O God of our salvation" (v. 4).
Repentance means to turn, or in this instance to re-turn. As we return to a proper understanding of who owns what, and of who is in charge. The forgiveness that we need and the blessing God wants to give will not be far behind.
-- J. E.
In 1988, Southern Baptists held their annual convention in San Antonio, Texas. It was a contentious meeting, as factions within the denomination vied for control of the various agencies and boards. Throughout the week, angry words were spoken across the aisle as various resolutions and officer elections revealed the deep schism growing within the group.
Meanwhile, beyond the halls of the heated convention, most of the rest of the country was suffering the worst drought since the "dust bowl" days of the 1930s. It had been months since there had been any appreciable rain. Livestock and crops were languishing for lack of water.
At the peak of one hotly contested business session during the convention, a pastor stepped up to one of the microphones set up for floor discussions and made a motion that the convention pause and pray for the people affected by the drought -- and to pray for rain. His motion received a second and a vote was taken. The result was unanimous. Pausing to pray for rain was the only unifying action taken that entire week.
The writer of Psalm 85 would have appreciated that brief moment of unity. He, too, is concerned about the land. In fact, his psalm opens and closes with a reference to God's favorable stance toward the land. In between, however, there is trouble. Not a drought, but something else. The land of which the psalmist writes is not beset with natural calamity. The land of the psalmist has been beset by God.
Part of the problem, apparently, is that the people have forgotten whose land it really is. It turns out the land does not belong to them. The psalmist makes this clear as he declares, "You were favorable to your land" (v. 1).
Forgetting that the land belongs to God is where most of our trouble begins. The moment we stop recognizing God as the author and sustainer of all life, selfishness, greed, violence, and idolatry will not be far behind. We experience alienation from God as individuals when we forget God's ownership, and we experience exile as a people when we forget that life itself is a gift from God.
But judgment, alienation, and exile are not the last things we hear from God. God's desire is not to punish us forever. The psalmist asks the question, "Will you be angry with us forever?" (v. 5). But the tone is not one of despair. He asks the question in the midst of a plea for forgiveness: "Restore us again, O God of our salvation" (v. 4).
Repentance means to turn, or in this instance to re-turn. As we return to a proper understanding of who owns what, and of who is in charge. The forgiveness that we need and the blessing God wants to give will not be far behind.
-- J. E.
