Delieverence and Hope

We are on a journey. We are starting something new! There will be new experiences, new ministry opportunities, new people, and new problems to solve. We are starting where we are right now, yet there is so much that we really don’t understand or even feel comfortable. We know that we are not home. Our Spiritual home is heaven, but I want to talk about our church home. We may all be together right now and in the building that I can confidently say belongs to the Trustees of this church, but our journey home is still only just beginning.

After the exile, the Israelites never had a mighty kingdom like they had before. Some went back to their land and rebuilt, others would make a pilgrimage to the homeland three times a year. They had to learn to be a people all over again with a completely different way of life. Many had to learn to keep their Jewish faith and culture in a foreign land and pass on the heritage to future generations.

For the next couple of months, we will be reading through the Psalms of Ascents. Psalm 120-134 are called the Psalms of Ascents for two reasons. One, it is said that the Levitical Priest would read these psalms as they ascending the 15 stair-steps from the Court of Women up to the Court of Israelites. But post-exile, they were also chanted by the Israelites as they ascended from Babylon or Persia to their homeland for the festivals. I want us to read though these as we journey through to the relaunching of our church.

Pray and Read Psalm 120

Psalm 120 NRSV

A Song of Ascents. In my distress I cry to the Lord, that he may answer me: “Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.” What shall be given to you? And what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue? A warrior’s sharp arrows, with glowing coals of the broom tree! Woe is me, that I am an alien in Meshech, that I must live among the tents of Kedar. Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace. I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.

This is the first psalm in this collection. So I want you to think of this psalm as being written from the perspective of someone who has been away from home for a long time. Think of a solider who has gone to war. How beautiful is it to see a coming home video for one of our soldiers! Or you can think about those who take business trips. The trip may be filled with learning and successes, but it always feels good to be back home. For some of us, we look forward to going back to our hometown and seeing family again around the holiday’s. This psalm is about the moments before we begin the trip back home.

The psalmist is describing the feel of being tired. This is not just a physical exhaustion, but of someone who is tired of around negativity. The Jewish people were constantly around a ruling class who treated them as less then important just because of there race. They were not like the Persians who had wealth. They were mistreated, generalized and victimized. They wanted to feel like they were at peace, but they were not.

I once felt like this as an Ordained Elder. I felt that many other pastors were in competition with one another. I felt that I had to measure up to a certain standard, say certain things, and act a certain way in order to be counted as good. I am not saying that I was forced to or even to do “measure up” was a bad thing. It was a human reaction to having colleagues and leaders who could honest determine your future. What broke me was seeing division, manipulation, needless arguing, and a demand to be silent if you do not agree with the louder voices. I did not fit in any clique or side, therefore I did did not have many clergy friends, and still don’t. I am hoping that will change soon. So I am ascending to what God has in store for my ministry. We are now on this journey together.

When you are at the bottom, you can only go up. When you are at the start line, you can only go forward. So why did we start this journey with prayer. Yes, it is obvious, but I want you to see it in this psalm. To understand the kind of prayer that is found in this psalm is to understand the why and the how of starting new journeys. This psalm being the first psalm of ascent, we find the writer crying for deliverance from those who wish them harm or deliverance from a situation that is not healthy. They first prayed for God to give them direction, for God to send them peace and hope. Some Jews may have been praying to go home and restore Israel to its former glory. Some may have never knew the old Israel so they were comfortable in Babylon or Persia but desired the newness of having their own home. After the 70 plus years of exile, the Hebrew people themselves were diverse and some made the pilgrimage as a trip to and back from their homeland, staying in the place that was not the home of their ancestors, and that was okay.

Even though the Jewish people did not get the grand kingdom that they once had, they still got to go home. They did get their Messiah, but He was not the kind of Savior they wanted or thought was promised. Something we need to understand is that we will never be Christ United Methodist Church again. We can not go back. And if we are honest, we all know that we wouldn’t want to go to the past. Instead, God is leading us to a new way of being the church. This is why we must start the journey towards our future, rebuild the church as God instructs. For this to happen, we must ascend together. We must pray together, encourage hope in one another and give one another space for God to do amazing things though people who may not have lead before or even people who we do not know yet.

However, we cannot forget our past. We must take the lessons we have learned and the memories we have shared and keep those close to our hearts and share them with future generations. Our past is not one to be ashamed of as it may have been for a few Hebrew people. Even still, they were and are God’s people and they have many stories of God’s redemption and grace. We to have stories of miracles and blessing that we can not forget. We can learn from our past and look ahead with hope while looking for restoration from God.

So we are coming upon a time where action is needed. Over this summer, we have been praying and fasting and waiting for the Lord. I am not saying that we will stop praying and act instead. No, we are to always be praying. But if our prayers are a dialogue with God, then we should be hearing Him speak to us. What is God saying? What is God saying right now. How are we move forward? How are you moving forward in your life? Where have you been in a place where you did not know where to go or what to do? Did you pray through it? Even if you had to wait on God, did you have patient endurance? What does stepping out in faith look like?

In the name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.