Order, sacrifice
and covenant – three words you will hear about this morning.
I begin this morning with three stories – each centered on one
of these words (order, sacrifice, and covenant). The combination of
these will get us to some basic questions about God’s order,
our response, and where we go from here. All three stories are true;
one from this past week of Vacation Bible School, another from Japan
many years ago, and the third from the time this Psalm was written.
But first, let’s being with prayer. Creator God, may the words
of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your
sight, for you are our strength, our center, our redeemer, and our
hope. Amen.
What an amazing week it
was at Vacation Bible School. You saw a small piece of it. This place
was literally covered head to foot with kids having a great time while
learning about God’s order. It was just so obvious that a tremendous
amount of planning went into it – Claudia from here, and Mary
from Westwood coordinated the 50-60 volunteers who created backdrops,
set up classrooms, designed curriculum, bought food, taught classes,
created snacks and so much more. These folks pulled off one of the
most amazing weeks I’ve ever seen. Two things, however, jumped
out at me as I prepared for today. Believe it or not, one was Phil
Flanders – scary for anyone when Phil jumps out.
For weeks on end Phil could
be seen on top of a ladder refilling the leaky hot air balloon that
symbolized the theme of “Lift Off” for this Vacation Bible
School. It wasn’t planned that we, along with quite a few other
churches, received obviously flawed balloons. But Phil was there,
knowing that it was important, refilling the balloon week after week
so that it would be right when children arrived for church. Way to
go Phil. The big test, however, came on Tuesday. Realize that by Tuesday
registrations at VBS were already beyond capacity. The plan was 50-60.
By Tuesday there were 74. No one had planned for this many children.
Then, much to the surprise of the staff, Tuesday morning brought ten
homeless children who were ushered in by their leader. They had not
had breakfast, had not registered, had nothing with which to work,
were not expected, and showed up with basically no clue on what to
do. What do you do? What would you have done? Where was God or God’s
order to be seen in this?
Also in preparation for
this sermon on God’s Order I ran across an interesting old story
out of Japan. It is the story of a rice farmer who, as he was working
his rice field high up on the terraced side of the old mountain, felt
the earth move beneath him. He knew it was an earthquake – a
large one. He also knew what that could mean. As he looked toward
the ocean in the distance, he saw the waters begin to recede, moving
away from shore like some tiger retreating as it prepared to pounce.
He then looked inland and saw his fellow farmers continuing to work
their crops in the lowland valleys. He knew that the tidal wave was
coming. But what could he do? What would you do? Where was God or
God’s order or even sacrifice to be found in this?
Finally, what about those
who heard this Psalm, maybe for the first time? We know that they
were no doubt exiles – prisoners in a foreign land, hopeless,
and questioning the power of a God who allowed them to lose everything;
land, families, crops, homes, towns and even the Temple. They had
believed in a God who resided in a Temple in their holy city. They
believed this God to be all powerful, all knowing, and in a significant
relationship with them – and them alone. Then they were conquered.
Then they watched their homes and Temple burned and thrown down. Then
they were taken away to live in a foreign land. What did they do?
What would you do? How would you respond to this God and where might
God’s order or covenant be found in all of this?
Three stories: a recent
event from five days ago, an old story from another culture, and an
ancient event that motivated the scripture we will study this morning.
Order – as stated
in the Friday e-mail - has multiple meanings. It is something we do
at a restaurant to specify the food we desire. It is something some
give to those who serve or are subordinate to them. It can be something
a judge calls for in a court when things get out of hand. It can be
an established group like the Order of Elder in the United Methodist
Church. It is certainly even something that we can establish in our
lives as we hope to move from the chaos that surrounds us, toward…well,
order. The Bible is certainly full of statements and stories of God
establishing and reestablishing order, of humans turning order into
chaos, and of those sent to restore things to God’s rightful
order, of sacrifice and certainly of covenants. But what is God’s
rightful order? And how might we find it? And what of sacrifice and
covenant – what do those have to do with any of this? Let’s
try and unwrap this and see where it leads. To get there we examine
this Psalm.
Psalm 50 helps us establish
a proper understanding of God’s expected order and an appropriate
understanding of our expected response. Open up the pew Bible in front
of you and let’s walk through this together.
Verse One establishes who
is at the center of the equation – God.
Verse Two establishes the
result of God’s central role as creator – The result of
God’s order which is perfection and beauty as God shines forth.
Verse Three establishes
how God brings it all about – by word, fire, even storm. These
can be seen in nature and can be seen metaphorically. Both are important.
Verse Four brings in the
human element and the outcome of God’s order toward us: judgment!
Is God’s judgment necessarily a bad thing or just a reality?
We’ll see.
Verse Five describes a
God who then separates those who follow from those who do not - and
establishes an order of the faithful. Two things identify the faithful:
covenant and sacrifice but what does that mean for us today?
Verse Six declares God
as the one who establishes right living and as the one who has every
right to Judge – the one who declares whether we follow or not
– remember covenant and sacrifice are key.
Verse Seven declares God’s
judgment on Israel because of God’s personal relationship with
them and God’s specific expectations of them because of this
relationship. Are they continuing in covenant by their sacrifice?
Are we?
Verse Eight declares that
it is not simply about sacrificial requirements. It’s not just
about following some law. There are other things that come into play,
more important things in God’s order.
Verse Twenty Two says it
very simply: those who forget God will be torn apart without anyone
to deliver them. Again, this can be seen metaphorically – torn
apart can mean so many things – one being “out of order”
Finally verse Twenty Three
states clearly what will reestablish proper order: proper order will
come with those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice to the one
who is at the center of it all, and by those who live correctly –
they are the ones who will find order or salvation.
Now it would be very easy
to make light of this Psalm as a simple ancient writing, written by
someone who doesn’t really understand what God is today. We
could see this as written by someone with less experience or more
simple, more ancient understanding of God and God’s order. I’m
not going to do that. I believe there are deep and abiding truths
here that can help us understand our faith, what makes us whole as
God’s creation, and what gives us a role in the world that surrounds
us. To get there I want to go back to the three stories I talked about
at the beginning of this sermon. I begin with the last one first.
The Psalmist writes this
somewhat more modern psalm in a time of great stress. Many have fallen
away and taken on the worship and culture of their new surrounding
community. They’ve changed their names to fit in. They’ve
begun to combine elements of Babylonian worship with their traditional
Hebrew worship. They’ve intermarried and taken the ancient laws
lightly. In other words, they’ve given up those things that
set them apart and made them who and what they were. This is a call
to return to God as Jews living in a foreign land. This writer is
reminding them of who and whose they are and what is to be at their
absolute center and why. What becomes crystal clear is that God will
be God and expects certain things. The culture in which they now live
does not need to be the culture they adopt as their own. The community
that surrounds them does not need to be the community that defines
them. They are the people of God and they must remember that God is
with them, supports them, defines them, and holds them accountable.
God must be at their absolute center and for some, that is not where
God is. This, however, remains a God of covenant, of creation, of
promise, and of expectation. This is the creator of the universe and
therefore one to be worshipped. And so what for us? The same. We live
in an area that can all too quickly define who and what we are. We
can easily forget that God is to be at the center of our lives, and
that it is the audience of God, as one theologian states, “the
audience of One,” that is more important than the audience of
the many. God’s order has God at the center. Nothing else. God’s
order has God’s new covenant relationship through Christ as
the absolute focus. It is the life of God that we need to seek, and
the life of faith that needs to be at our center. That understanding
begins an understanding of God’s order. Where do we most readily
find that? In Christ as the one we seek to follow and emulate. That
is the new covenant. It is what we are to follow. What follows that
understanding are the actions of sacrifice and we go back to the second
story.
As the man stood on the
side of the mountain he realized that all of those below would be
buried by the water that was coming. They would be killed. He looked
around trying to figure out a way to warn them. He then saw his old
barns sitting on the shoulder of the mountain—visible to all.
They were tinder dry and they were all that he had. He lit a torch
and then lit each of his barns on fire. From below he saw the people
notice the smoke. He heard the alarm bell sound and watched as they
began to run up the mountain to help save his barns. Then, from the
side of the mountain they watched as the tidal wave covered those
places where they had just been farming, and realized that this man
had saved them – all of them. Then they realized the cost. By
saving them, the man lost everything he had. The townspeople later
erected a monument on the spot they stood while watching the destruction
below. It simply read: “He gave us all he had, and gave it gladly.”
God’s order includes sacrifice but not sacrifice for the sake
of rote sacrifice. God’s order is placing all that we have before
God knowing that God will give us what we need. It is doing for others
and doing it gladly, with joy and the deeper understanding that all
we have
comes from God. How often
do we hear the words of Jesus, “It is in giving that we receive…”
Sacrifice with gladness is that second essential element in God’s
order – the sacrifice of those like us who have much to give,
giving to those who have so little. That brings me to the first story
about Vacation Bible School and how God’s order really works
in our lives.
The leaders of Vacation
Bible School had a decision to make Tuesday morning, and it needed
to be quick. They could have easily said to the woman who brought
these children that there was no room. They knew that they were already
overwhelmed with children. They knew that this group hadn’t
registered. Everything was in order…but then came the new children.
This group of Vacation Bible School leaders clearly recognized that
God’s order often comes in conflict with ours, seems to get
in the way of ours and often does – it often should. So, what
they did was welcome them with open arms. Some ran to the store to
buy food for breakfast, and they fed them – everyday - the first
of the many needs to be fulfilled. Others created and filled backpacks
out of the items they were collecting for a Sunday School in need
and gave one to each homeless child. Others greeted them, learned
their names and made them feel at home…something none of them
had really ever known before. One of the new children was overheard
saying, “This church doesn’t understand the Bible. The
Bible says the adults eat first – never the children.”
“Thank God,” she said, “these people don’t
understand the Bible.” You see, in their culture of homelessness,
particularly in many shelters, all too often the children almost never
eat first. More often they eat what’s left over. They ate first
here, everyday. The VBS staff did all of this very quietly. I walked
in on Thursday and have to admit that I couldn’t tell the homeless
children form those that had homes, the rich children from the poor.
Everyone had what they needed. Balance – God’s Order –
had been established. You see, in God’s order, everyone has
what they need as each shares what they have. God’s order comes
for centering ourselves on God, offering our sacrifices, and remembering
the new covenant made through Jesus, and the covenant we made as we
committed ourselves to this life of faith. Three essential elements
of faith.
Finally, this morning we
baptized little Sophia. What a perfect name for today. For Sophia
means “holy wisdom,” something we hope for in each other
and something we seek from God. Sophia’s wisdom will be personified
and learned from her parents. They committed to that this morning.
But they were not alone. We covenanted that she would be supported
and encouraged by this church. We committed, much like the psalmist
is asking, to help this child find order in her life – God’s
order. Like the theme of Vacation Bible School, we have committed
to launch her into a relationship with Christ via this church. We
did the same last week at VBS- try to launch every child, lift them
up - including those with less – into a solid relationship with
Christ and God’s created order. The result was that we heard
child after child commit themselves to living out this relationship.
Our hope was similar to Phil’s hope every time he filled that
balloon outside - to refill and be refilled, as flawed as we are,
so that we too might have the energy to launch out of here, centered
on God and God’s needed work in the world. Ours is to sacrifice
gladly in order to protect, like the Japanese farmer, those in need,
those facing trials and trauma, and to find
hope like those who heard
this Psalm for the first time, by continually re-centering ourselves
in God’s order. We do that, we continue to do that – and
we will be launched again and again, lifted up Sunday after Sunday
as full / filled participants in God’s covenantal order of creation.
And the result of all of this is that the world that is Santa Monica,
and beyond, will be transformed and reordered by God through Christ.
As it happened through Vacation Bible School, a Japanese Farmer and
a Psalmist - Order, sacrifice and covenant…that is our mission
today, as it was yesterday, and as it will be tomorrow. Amen? Amen!
©Brad
Beeman, 2007. Permission is given for brief quotation with attribution.
All other rights reserved.
Psalm
50: The Order of God Part One: