Belonging

Belonging from Joseph Taber on Vimeo.

Mark 4:35b-41

35On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ 36And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ 39He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’41And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

This is the Word of the LORD

Thanks be to God

Psalm 24

Of David. A Psalm

1The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it,

The world, and those who live in it;

2For he has founded it on the seas;

And established it on the rivers.

3Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?

And who shall stand in this holy place?

4Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,

Who do not lift up their souls to what is false,

And do not swear deceitfully.

5 They will receive blessing from the Lord,

And vindication from the God of salvation.

6Such is the company of those who seek him,

Who seek the face of the God of Jacob.

Selah

7Lift up your heads, O gates!

And be lifted up, O ancient doors!

That the King of glory may come in.

8Who is the King of glory?

The Lord, strong and mighty,

The Lord, mighty in battle.

9Lift up your heads, O gates!

And be lifted up, O ancient doors!

That the King of glory may come in.

10Who is this King of glory?

The Lord of hosts,

He is the King of glory.

Selah

This is the Word of the LORD

Thanks be to God.

We begin with "The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it." It's a statement about who we are, and what we're doing here. "The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it" is an affirmation of faith that roots us, and everything that exists, in reference to our creator.

Our tradition, the Presbyterian tradition, holds fast to what's called the "Sovereignty of God." That's the primary emphasis of our theology. We received that tradition from our youth leaders and our Sunday School teachers and the pastor's whose wisdom still rings in our ears. We have heard about our heavenly father from centuries of faithful disciples, going back to the 1940s where a divided church that had the vision to see that God was bringing them back together with its cross-town brothers. We have heard that Our God Reigns all the way back to when a group of Presbyterians came to a mostly Methodist town and founded a church in the 1880s. We have been told that the LORD reigns on high all the way back to the 1720s, when a man named Francis Mackemie organized the first Presbytery in the Western Hemisphere.

It goes to John Knox in Scotland, whose congregations took their name from the Greek word for the Elders who guided their congregation, Presbuteroi. It goes to a French scholar living in Geneva Switzerland, who helped kindle a reformation that revolved around knowing that in all things, God is in charge. Nearly 500 years of history, all leaning forward into a future where we are servants of God.

But our theological ancestor John Calvin did not invent the sovereignty of God, he merely emphasized it. He read it in books that were older to him than he is to us, writings by a North African theologian named Augustine. Our tradition crosses continents and centuries, and all the while we are focused on the truth that "We confess and acknowledge one God alone, to whom alone we must cleave, whom alone we must serve, whom only we must worship, and in whom alone we put our trust.”

Put another way, "The earthy is the Lord's and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it." All of creation, and all who live in it, which I'm glad to say includes all of us, belong to God. That’s part of what the church is about. We belong to a group of people who confess that we belong to God. We look for God to be in charge of the world all around us, including in the lives we call our own.

So we begin with “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world and those who live in it; for he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the rivers.” The same God who creates each day also provides and guides, re-forming his creation, re-creating among his people, because all things are His.

But this psalm doesn’t stop with its most famous quotation. There’s more to this Christian life than acknowledging God with our lips. We are compelled to grow closer to God, to whom we belong. Faith is the intersection of belief and action, therefore we must respond according to the faith we have been given.

David puts that response to a question, “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place?” All who live in creation belong to God, but who will be able to come near to their creator? David answers his own question, “Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not sweat deceitfully. They will receive blessing from the Lord, And vindication from the God of salvation.” There is no precondition for belong to God, but David points us to a life of righteousness as the appropriate response to our creator. The whole community is tasked with living according to God’s instruction, because God elects a people to special relationship with him. Living according the the stories and instructions of the ”torah is Israel's way to respond to and fully honor God's well-oriented world. That response in obedience is undertaken gladly in a posture of gratitude without calculation or grudging.”

But when I read that part of this psalm, I do not recognize myself in its description. I could not stand among “the company of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.” My hands are dirty, and my heart is impure. I lift up my soul to what is false, and I swear deceitfully. I do not have hope of ascending the hill of the Lord.

Good news is, I have been dragged up the hill by the one person in history who is righteous. Because Jesus Christ stands in God’s holy place, I have already received blessing from the Lord, and vindication from the God of salvation. In awe and wonder of that great gift beyond my deserving, I join in the call we find at the end of our Psalm.

“Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors! That the King of glory may come in. Who is the King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, The Lord, mighty in battle.” For God has conquered our stubborn hearts, and even though we probably have some gates within us, we begin with “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it.” Knowing that even though we may recognize ourselves more in a closed gate than among the company of those who seek the Lord, we belong to God nevertheless.

And our lives are a response to the grace we have already received.

The leaves are beginning to change, the weather is beginning to cool, and the days are growing shorter as this little planet spins on its axis, and in the movement of this world that belongs to God, we see that "It is…an affirmation that God's faithfulness and goodness are experienced as generosity, continuity, and regularity.” Just as the year whirls around the sun, so the church calendar continues to recognize the different seasons of God’s interaction with his people. We see God’s generosity poured out in different ways through our congregational narrative, and we know that our story continues into the future, beyond what we can see. Therefore let us go out into the world to proclaim that God continues to carry us on our journey, reforming us every step of the way, and reminding us that we belong in this community of faith called the presbyterian church of Lowell, and that we all belong to God.

Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors! That the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory.

Selah