Readings: Joshua 24:1-2, 14-18, Ephesians 6:10-20, John 6:56-69, Psalm 84
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, August 22 2021
Psalm 84 contains many lines that are familiar to us and which we may have first come across as liturgy or prayers in our worship services. It was thought to have originally been composed as a song, or liturgy, to be used as folks processed towards the Temple for a time of worship. You can feel the anticipation in verse 2 “My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.”
The Psalm talks about how God walks with us through the different experiences of our lives. It mentions the dry times, symbolized by the valley of Baca, literally the “Valley of Weeping” and of how God provides for the lowliest of God’s creatures “Even the sparrow finds a home.”
The Psalm pictures God as being the source of the good things that come to our lives. I wanted to briefly today to focus on just three of them.
• God as the source of our strength
• God as the source of our security
• God as the source of our salvation.
God as the source of our strength
I have had an interesting couple of weeks. Although having been vaccinated against Covid, that Delta virus managed to break through, and I had to be quarantined for a while.
I’m so thankful for those here at church who took care of things that needed to be done, for Val for leading worship and everybody who stepped up. Thankful for all the prayers and messages of concern. Thankful most of all to wife Yvonne, who has had to live in the same house, taking care of everything, while we isolated from each other as much as possible. Thankful, she has not succumbed to the virus, and I remain prayerful she continues to be healthy.
I can tell you this. Covid does not respect the rules. It has no morality. It doesn’t play nice. It does not care about our political beliefs, our religious beliefs, our status, our nationality, or a host of other things. If it can find a way in, it will find a way in. It is on a mission to shut us down. A bit like a computer virus. That’s why we have all those antivirus programs on our computers. Because we know a virus just wants to do one thing. Shut us down.
I had a few days where I really felt unwell. A few others after that where I was just incredibly tired. I can only imagine what those who are unprotected must go through. Don’t panic! I’m not going to use this sermon as an opportunity to say, “You should do this” or “You should do that.” I understand this whole thing is something we are all struggling to deal with.
But I do want to say this. We’re still walking through the Valley of Baca. We are still in a place of uncertainty. As this thing mutates and regroups, and we react and try and understand, we are not always going to get it right! So, this psalm has wonderful advice for those who walk in the valley. Verse 6 “As they go through the valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. 7 They go from strength to strength.”
And the source of our strength is the love of God. From other folk’s care towards me I have received the love of God. Their concern made it a place of springs. Their prayers were the early rain that brought refreshment. That’s what being a Christian community is meant to be about. That’s where our focus always needs to be. Caring for each other.
And if by the fact, that Covid managed to get itself into the life of your pastor, who has been wearing masks, and washing hands, and keeping distance, getting vaccinated and all the rest of it, well… take note. This Covid thing isn’t done with us yet. Stay strong.
Keep on caring for each other. Keep on believing that God can and will get us through, even if some days we are travelling through a valley. God remains the source of our strength, a strength that is expressed in our love for one another. Which brings us to the second thing here.
God as the source of our security
Verse 3 “Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at Your altars, O LORD of hosts.”
The Psalmist pictures God’s care and concern as being one that enfolds all of creation, the youngest and the parents, the cared for and the carer. All find a welcome and a home in God’s sanctuary.
Have you noticed how we use that term, “Sanctuary” to describe the physical place where we gather to open our lives to God? As a kid in church I remember that there were things we could do in the church hall, but not in the sanctuary. Sanctuary was different. Set apart. Holy. “Don’t be running in the sanctuary… slow down. Think about where you are.”
Sanctuary. At church camp we have often sung the song “Lord prepare me, To be a sanctuary, Pure and Holy, Tried and True.” And it is one of those songs that draws you to a place of worship and thankfulness and appreciation that there is a God and it isn’t you!
Sanctuary is not just a physical place, but an experience. A place where we feel at home and enabled to pour out our hearts and lives in worship to God. A place where we find the strength to carry on. A place where we feel safe and secure.
This was the Psalmists experience. Verse 11 “For the LORD God is a sun and shield.” God is the Psalmists light and warmth and security. A Sheild. Part of the armor of God. In Ephesians 6:16 we are encouraged to “take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
Psalm 84, as they walked to the Temple, the people remind themselves of their longing to be in a place where they could once more experience God’s refreshment and security. This psalm acknowledges our need for spiritual nurture and our need to share together in our quest to become all the things God desires for God’s people to be.
God is the source of our strength. God is the source of our security. All of this is leading us to acknowledge the thought that underlays this whole psalm.
God as the source of our salvation.
Verse 10 “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness.”
This verse gives me the impression that the author has lived a little. That he has had personal experience of what went on in the tents of the wicked. That he had spent a thousand days places elsewhere than the love of God could be found. That he had hit rock bottom and discovered that, even there, God still called his name and invited him home.
There is something so humble about his statement, “I’d rather be a doorkeeper.” A sense of, “Y’know I really don’t deserve the privilege of even being allowed in the sanctuary, let alone finding a welcome there.”
Reminds me of the story of the prodigal son, where after wasting his inheritance, he returns to the Father and says, I am not willing to be considered your Son, just let me be as one of Your servants.” And in that story, we know what happens. The Father looks at him, and says, “For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate." (Luke 15:24)
In our New Testament reading today, there are some people finding the actions and teaching of Jesus a little too much for them. Many are rejecting what He has to say and what He has to offer. So, Jesus tuns and asks Peter, “So… are you with them or are you with me?” We read “Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." (John 6:68-69)
When we experience for ourselves the amazing love, grace and mercy of God, that can be found in Jesus Christ, it gives us a sense of, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.” It gives us a desire for worship and service and reveals how empty and inauthentic so many of life’s experiences can turn out to be. It reminds us that God alone is the source of our salvation.
Such a revelation causes our Psalmist to declare in his closing verse “O LORD of hosts, happy is everyone who trusts in You.” The word “Happy” used there is the Hebrew word “Esher” often translated as “Blessed.”
Folks, life can sometimes lead us into valleys. We all sometimes get sick, or have accidents, or are victims to things totally out of our control. This Psalm calls for us to bring all our concerns into the sphere of God’s concern, the place of God’s presence, the Sanctuary, because it is there that God inhabits the praises of God’s people.
We may feel only qualified to be the doorkeeper, we may feel like the outsider, we may wonder what place there truly is for us in the plans and purposes of God, but the further down that road we go, we often reach the place where like Peter we can only say, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
We continue as individuals and as a Church community to travel through days of uncertainty caused partly by a worldwide pandemic that has a nasty habit of interrupting our lives in the most unwelcome of ways.
Let us commit to continuing to travel together, knowing that God is the source of our strength, God is the source of our security and God is the source of our salvation.
And to God’s name be all praise and glory. Amen.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
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