This morning
is what we call a Family Sunday in church. And as you’ve heard,
that means that all the kids stay in church with us, rather than going
to their Sunday School classes. So I’m going to try and say
some things that just might speak to everyone this morning.
You know, David and I
just got back from our trip to England. We flew Air New Zealand for
the first time. Because it was summer, there were lots of kids on
the plane. And every time the pilot would come on with something to
tell us, he’d say: “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls.” I loved that he
included the kids.
So let me say this morning:
“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls--haven’t we had
a wonderful summer exploring together the beauty and depth of the
Psalms? This book of prayers for God’s people has become more
our book as well. And even though this sermon series concludes today,
I hope all of you will continue to turn to the Psalms throughout the
year. Any time you want to pray to God, or tell God “thank you”,
or cry with God, or shake your fist at God….turn to the Psalms.
You’ll find yourself praying with generations and generations
of God’s people. You will find comfort and strength knowing
that you’re never praying alone. And always knowing that God
hears our prayers.
Our God is wonderful.
Our God has promised to love us and care for us and always look after
us. And even sometimes when we mess up, or when we really don’t
deserve it, or when we do things that hurt God or someone else, God
doesn’t go away. God never gives up on us. As far back as we
can imagine—to our parents and grandparents, to our great-grandparents
and our great-great grandparents, even our great-great-great-great
grandparents—God has loved us every step of the way.
Some of you probably
have family photo albums and you’ve looked at pictures of some
of your ancestors. Sometimes they look funny, don’t they, because
in the olden days people thought it was important NOT to smile when
they got their picture taken. They often look a little stern. So it
helps when our parents or someone can tell us a story or two about
those old ancestors—who they were and what they were like.
You know, I just found
out recently that my great-great grandfather, Johann Christian Friedrich
Schneider, a German, wrote a hymn. He was Hofkapellmeister in his
church, which means he was a Music Director. Think of that, Jim! It’s
a hymn that is not in our current hymnal, but it was in the hymnals
I grew up with as a kid and sang from in church and in Children’s
Choirs and I didn’t even realize that my great-great grandfather
had written it.
It’s a hymn that was meant to be sung on Sundays: “Welcome,
Delightful Morn”.
Welcome, delightful morn,
Thou day of sacred rest!
I hail thy kind return;
Lord, make these moments blest;
From the low train of mortal toys,
I soar to reach immortal joys,
I soar to reach immortal joys.
Now may the King descend,
And fill His throne with grace;
Thy scepter, Lord, extend,
While saints address Thy face:
Let sinners feel Thy quickening Word,
And learn to know and fear the Lord,
And learn to know and fear the Lord.
Descend, celestial Dove,
With all Thy quickening powers;
Disclose a Savior’s love,
And bless the sacred hours:
Then shall my soul new life obtain,
Nor Sabbaths be enjoyed in vain,
Nor Sabbaths be enjoyed in vain.
Now this hymn sounds really
old-fashioned to us and we’re probably not going to sing it
very often. But it means a lot to me to know that my great-great grandfather
was a part of the church. And that he loved singing hymns as much
as I do. And that the faith that is so precious to me and so central
to who I am, was his faith as well. And I can imagine that his parents
must have been part of the church, too, so that takes me to my great-great-great
grandparents. And it’s not hard to go from there all the way
back to the times of the Psalms.
God’s people, generation
after generation after generation, remembering their faith in God
and praising God’s faithfulness to them.
Our psalm for today, Psalm
81, is a beautiful Psalm about God’s faithfulness. As Eliana
read it, you may have heard the ways in which the Psalmist was remembering
the people of God’s faithfulness. “I rescued you, I answered
you, I rescued you”, God says. “I am the Lord your God
who brought you up out of the land of Egypt…” Oh, but
the Psalm tells us, too, how sometimes God’s people forget that
God is God. They stop listening to God. They turn away from God. They
follow after strange gods. They become stubborn.
They were just like we
are sometimes. Every generation, just the same. We think we can do
it all by ourselves. We think we can make it on our own. We think
we know better. We act like we don’t need God.
But here’s the amazing
thing: God never gives up on us. God listens. God protects us. And
God is always ready to fill us up with what we need most—the
finest wheat, the Psalmist says, and honey from the rock. God is ready
to give us the best things and all we have to do, all we have to do,
is open our hearts to God and listen to God.
You know, it’s really
perfect that this is the Psalm we’re given for today. Because
it’s the Psalm that is read at the time of the Jewish New Year—and
that’s actually coming up real soon, starting Sept. 13th this
year. You can tell that this Psalm was written for that kind of celebration
in the first verses: “Sing aloud to God our strength, shout
for joy to the God of Jacob. Raise a song (which my great-great grandfather
would have liked very much), sound the tambourine (which he might
not have approved of in church), the sweet lyre with the harp. Blow
the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, and on our festal day.”
You can see why sometimes it was called “the trumpet festival.”
But most often, this New
Year time is called Rosh Hoshana and it is very important to our Jewish
friends. It is a time for personal reflection and repentance, a time
for turning back to God. It’s a wonderful season of renewal,
a chance to start over again. And if there’s anything about
our life that has gotten a little out of whack, this is the time to
fix that, to make things right with God and with one another, and
start over, fresh and healed.
Perfect for us as get
back into our Fall routine—back to school, back to Sunday school
and choir, back to church, after a wonderful summertime…time
to reflect and renew…time to set our hearts on God and set our
hands to serving others.
So, ladies and gentlemen,
boys and girls, call up all your friends and neighbors this week and
tell them that it’s time to get back to church. Because a new
year is starting. It’s time to sing a song to God and give thanks
to God for all the ways God loves us and cares for us. It’s
time to remember just how very faithful God has been. And it’s
time to keep our promises to God. To listen to God. To take seriously
what God’s word tells us.
It’s time to make
sure that we’re getting our fill of all the wonderful things
God has for us—the finest wheat, the cup of salvation and the
grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Ladies and gentlemen, boys
and girls, as my great-great grandfather Schneider put it: let’s
soar together this year to reach the immortal joys that God has on
hand for us all.
AMEN.
©Patricia
Farris, 2007. Permission is given for brief quotation with attribution.
All other rights reserved.
Psalm
81: You Satisfy the Hungry Heart