Sermons at St. John’s Presbyterian Church

Cosmic Gratitude in Personal Struggle

Transcribed from the sermon preached July 18, 2010

The Reverend Max Lynn, Pastor

Scripture Readings: Psalm 103: 1-18, I Thessalonians 4:13-18

Psalm 103 1-18

[1] Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
[2] Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
[3] who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
[4] who redeems your life from the Pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
[5] who satisfies you with good as long as you live
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
[6] The LORD works vindication
and justice for all who are oppressed.
[7] He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
[8] The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
[9] He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
[10] He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor requite us according to our iniquities.
[11] For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
[12] as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
[13] As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD pities those who fear him.
[14] For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.
[15] As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
[16] for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
[17] But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting
upon those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children's children,
[18] to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.

I Thessalonians 4:13-18

[13] But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
[14] For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
[15] For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.
[16] For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first;
[17] then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord.
[18] Therefore comfort one another with these words.

The portion of Psalm 103, which we have read this morning, expresses gratitude for physical and spiritual healing, for forgiveness of sin, for justice and compassion. It recognizes the brevity of human life, and divine love, which is eternal. Personal and communal sickness and sin are linked together and pardon is expected because of the covenant. This psalm is sung on the Day of Atonement by Jews and each morning by Greek Christians. (Stuhlmueller, Carroll. Psalms: Harpers Bible Commentary)

In our New Testament scripture reading Paul is reminding the Thessalonians of the hope they have in Christ. Perhaps, some have died in the persecution against Christians. With the passage of time, no doubt, due to persecution, disease or something, some have died, and some are wondering whether the loved ones who have died will be left behind those who are living on earth when Christ returns. It was a common language to say that the deceased has been “snatched” from the world of the living. Paul flips this language and says that the living are snatched to join the Lord and those who have gone before. This is an affirmation of God’s sovereignty in life and beyond death. For Paul, faith for Christians is a springboard through death into complete union with God and those who have gone before. Life then is the approach.

About the only time I watch diving is during the Olympics or at some public pool. It is amazing to see how meticulous Olympic divers are in their approach. Also, they make their steps with confidence, as if they expect their release into air to be powerful, graceful and artistic. Now the public pool is often quite different. Some of us may remember some of our own less than graceful dives. Have you ever started your approach only to feel something was wrong and then, at the last second, tried to pull back and stop, only to discover you had too much momentum to keep from flailing off the end of the board like the “agony of defeat” ski jump guy in the old “ABC’s Wide World of Sports” opening.

One of the lessons of age is how short life is. Our post exilic psalmist is quoting Isaiah when he reminds us, “As for the human, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone.” On the one hand this realization is quite scary, and upon discovering it one is inclined to panic or pull back, to start back peddling.

Leo Tolstoy spent his youth rejecting faith, yet soon comes to discover affirming life is affirming faith. In his short essay A Confession, he describes a dream: He is lying on hammock like structure. Trying to adjust himself to get more comfortable he moves, the threads separate and his lower body slips through. Only his upper back is supported. Looking down into a dark abyss he begins to panic and slip. “I could not make out whether I saw anything there below, in that bottomless abyss over which I was hanging and whither I was drawn. My heart contracted, and I experienced horror. To look thither was terrible. If I looked thither I felt that I should at once slip from the last support and perish. And I did not look. But not to look was still worse, for I thought of what would happen to me directly if I fell from the last support. And I felt that from fear I was losing my last supports, and that my back was slowly slipping lower and lower. Another moment and I should drop off. And then it occurred to me that this cannot be real. It is a dream. Wake up! I try to arouse myself but cannot do so. What am I to do? What am I to do? I ask myself, and look upwards. Above there is also an infinite space. I look into the immensity of sky and try to forget about the immensity below, and I really do forget it. The immensity below repels and frightens me; the immensity above attracts and strengthens me. I am still supported above the abyss by the last supports that have not yet slipped from under me; I know that I am hanging, but I look only upwards and my fear passes. As happens in dreams, a voice says: “Notice this, this is it!”…I see that I no longer hang as if about to fall, but am firmly held. (http://www.dis.org/daver/anarchism/tolstoy/conf17.html)  For as the heavens are high above the earth, says the psalmist, so great is his steadfast love.

Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion. There is no logic progression here toward faith. I have no reason with which to convince. It just is, and there is something about praising God and giving thanks that takes us beyond immediate fears and gives us strength and hope to survive when we otherwise would not.

I picked out these scripture passages to use in Guatemala, as we celebrated and mourned the loss of Feliciana’s father a year previous, and as we went to Xicauic to affirm that despite evil people threatening the village and the nurse, God has not been scared out of the business of renewal and healing disease, God is still about righteousness and justice for the oppressed. God is compassionate and gracious, abounding in steadfast love, and is in charge of this life and beyond this gives us peace and strength to press on in this life toward God’s peace, even through challenges and temptations of this life.

Upon return from Guatemala, as we landed in Houston, a voice came over the intercom saying, “Mr. Lynn please meet airline personnel as you get off the plane.” I was nervous, thinking homeland security had found firecrackers smuggled in the boys bag. But when I met the woman who waited for us she said, “Your father has had a massive heart attack and we are going to divert you to Phoenix. I talked to my brother by phone. My mother had given my dad CPR and then it took the paramedics four shock attempts to get his heart going. He was on life support and was not expected to survive. On my way to Phoenix I seemed to experience two feelings: shock and gratitude. Shock I could easily understand. But the gratitude set on me with an inquisitive smile. How wonderful this life of my father has been. What a privilege and a joy it has been to be his son, to live and grown here on this earth with him. I know there is grief to come, but it comes held in cosmic love.

I pulled out the psalm I had used in Guatemala: Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being; praise his holy name…For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.By God’s grace, if our life ends today, we are assured and secured by God’s eternal love, which goes far beyond this life or death.

Surprisingly, my father seems to be pulling out of it. He came off the ventilator fine and has been moved to rehab. In the meantime my mother had a couple of tests, and on Thursday the oncologist told her she has inoperable liver cancer.

I appreciate your prayers for healing, but I also pray and ask you to pray for the continued affirmation of the joy and privilege of life, the praise of God, even or especially in the face of death. By God’s amazing grace, both my parents’ lives have been springboards to heaven, and they can go and we can send them with confidence and thanks.

Our lives may be like flowers, as temporary as flowers are, they are here today and gone tomorrow, the wind blows over it and it is gone, how blessed are we to live in a world with flowers. As Jesus said, “Why are you anxious…? Consider the lilies of the field… even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. From a cosmic perspective we are here for but a flash, but the steadfast love of God is from everlasting to everlasting. Isn’t this God of life great! May each of us spring off the launching pad of life under the power of God’s grace, and be lifted up into eternity on wings like eagles. Praise the Lord, O my soul, all my inmost being, praise God’s holy name.