From the UCC Network: 01/18/2011 "Giving What You Have"

Giving What You Have

Excerpt from Psalm 40:10b-11

“I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and truth from the great congregation.  Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O Lord: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.” (KJV)

Reflection by Kenneth L. Samuel

One Sunday, an irate woman announced to some members of our congregation that she would be leaving our church and changing her membership.   When she was asked why, she responded: “Because the Pastor here does not preach enough about sin and judgment.” 

I had to admit that her assessment of my preaching was accurate.  I cannot remember the last time I delivered a “hell and brimstone” sermon – a sermon designed to convict sinners and send people streaming to the “mourner’s bench” in deep repentance.  Maybe this woman was missing the good ‘ol days when people came to church to have right and wrong clearly delineated for them.  Many believe that the world was a better place when sin was sin and right was right and only those who entered into the kingdom through the straight and narrow gate would be saved.  Everyone else (and this would include the vast majority of the world’s population) would be condemned.  Eternally.

I remember those good ‘ol days.  But I don’t remember them as being quite so good.  I remember that there was much confusion between eternal truth and temporal church tradition, partly because no one was allowed to question the Bible and there was no real Bible study – only prescribed Bible commentary.  I remember people proclaiming things in church that they did not practice outside of church.  And I remember people who did not meet the standards of religious ethical behavior being ostracized, publicly humiliated and spiritually damaged.

I could not really argue with the woman who left our church because she did not hear enough about sin and judgment.  The truth is that, like the Psalmist, I can only give to others that which I have received from God.  The Psalmist draws a direct correlation between the lovingkindness and truth that he has proclaimed to his congregation, and the lovingkindness and truth that he has received from God.  To be sure, there is acknowledgment of sin and sin’s consequences in telling the truth,  but the essence of the Psalmist’s message was the lovingkindness of God.  That lovingkindess opens the door to true confession without coercion, making us truly thankful for mercy instead of judgment. 

Others may feel compelled to expound upon sin and judgment.  I’ll just stick with lovingkindness and truth.  That’s what I’ve received and that’s what I need.

Prayer

Dear God, we thank you for giving us not what we deserve, but what we need.  Now help us to take that which you have given and give it to others.  Amen.

About the Author Kenneth L. Samuel is Pastor of Victory for the World Church, United Church of Christ, Stone Mountain, Georgia.

Daily Deliberation and Prayer - 01/18/2011

Make Haste, O My Lord!

8 I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart." 9 I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord.10 I have not hidden your saving help within my heart, I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation. 11 Do not, O Lord, withhold your mercy from me; let your steadfast love and your faithfulness keep me safe forever. 12 For evils have encompassed me without number; my iniquities have overtaken me, until I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails me. 13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me. 16 … may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, "Great is the Lord!" 17 As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God.

Psalm 40:8-13, 16-17

Verse thirteen of this psalmist’s lament is one which I pray every day during my noontime(ish) devotional/prayer time: “Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me.” And my guess is that probably far too many of us can personally identify with the author’s lament in today’s passage. He/she finds life to be in great turmoil, and understands that there are those in the neighborhood who would rejoice in the psalmist’s demise. Thus the cry for help and protection.

Despite what many self-made individuals might think, to turn to God in desperate prayer – in the moment of one’s great need – is both healthy (as it serves the mind-body-spirit connectedness of us all), but also because it is the very thing that our God yearns for; to be in intimate relationship with each of us, even if that rapport begins with our cries when faced with overwhelming difficulties. We all know circumstances that threaten to undo our world; persons and institutions that would rejoice in our demise, or at least use such a downfall for their own advantage. Even our country’s national life is disordered and confused. These are the times in which we can, and should, join with the voice of the psalmist in crying out to the Divine, for the protection and direction that we need. Therefore the continued use of the psalmist’s words in our great liturgies of the Church today: “Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me.”

However, it is just as crucial to discern what else the author of this Psalm is lifting before us, which is just as vital as our calls for help.

• “I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.":   Is God’s law – the Lord’s desires for our lives, the baseline from which we live each day, or is it some other law or god on which we follow?
• “I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord.”:   When is the last time we have stopped or called a friend (hey, how about even a stranger) and shared with them the great things God has done for us?
• “I have not concealed your steadfast love.”:   And having recognized God’s goodness in our life, to whom have we turned to share that goodness – to give ourselves away to those that need comfort too, in concrete selfless acts of kindness?

What we cry for and receive we announce and share with those in like need. What we are blessed with, we use for the blessing of others. It’s all part of the relationship – an intimate relationship between you and I and our God. A transformative bond that can change your life - and the world.

“You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God.”

Amen.

Rev. Michael Kirchhoff