Order, Words, & Voices
06.11.23, Psalm 37:1-8, Good Everlasting
Order
Pre Worship Music
Opening Song Everlasting God Lynn
God is so Good
Call to Worship Response/Lord’s Prayer Rick
Reading Psalm 37:1-8 Martha
Songs He Leadeth Me Lynn
Breathe On Me
Message Good Everlasting Rick
Music I Will Trust in You Lynn
Community/Peace Rick
Benediction/Closing Peace Rick
Post Worship Music
Slides Note: There is a blank title slide between each Section – except for message/sermon slides.
Music (slides) – Lynn
Strength will rise as we wait
upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord
Strength will rise as we wait
upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord
Pre-Chorus
Our God You reign forever
Our Hope our strong Deliv’rer
Chorus
You are the everlasting God
The everlasting God
You do not faint
You won’t grow weary
You’re the defender of the weak
You comfort those in need
You lift us up on wings like eagles
God is so good,
God is so good,
God is so good,
He’s so good to me.
He answers prayers,
He answers prayers,
He answers prayers,
He’s so good to me.
I love Him so
I love Him so
I love Him so
He’s so good to me
God is so good,
God is so good,
God is so good,
He’s so good to me.
Call to Worship (Slides) – Rick
Leader: Do not fret because of the wicked, or be envious of wrongdoers. Trust in the everlasting goodness of God
Response: Let us trust in the Lord and do good
Leader: Take delight in the Lord, commit your way to God
Response: Let us trust in the Lord and do good
Leader: Be still before the Lord, wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in evil
Response: Let us trust in the Lord and do good
Leader: Refrain from anger and forsake wrath
Response: Let us trust in the Lord and do good
Leader: See God in action through the his words of truth
Response: Witness God’s presence in the world around
Leader: When your faith is challenged do not settle, do not give up, do not give in
Response: When your faith leads to tension seek truth more
Leader: May tension in our faith push us to a life of seeking truth
Response: Let us trust in the Lord and do good
Lord’s Prayer (Slides) ‘Join me in the prayer of Jesus’ – Rick
Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, On Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses, while we forgive those who trespass against us. And, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Reading (Slides) – Martha
Don’t get upset over evildoers; don’t be jealous of those who do wrong, because they will fade fast, like grass; they will wither like green vegetables.
Trust the Lord and do good; live in the land, and farm faithfulness. Enjoy the Lord, and he will give what your heart asks.
Commit your way to the Lord! Trust him! He will act and will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, your justice like high noon.
Be still before the Lord, and wait for him. Don’t get upset when someone gets ahead — someone who invents evil schemes.
Let go of anger and leave rage behind! Don’t get upset—it will only lead to evil.
(Psalm 37:1-8, CEV)
Music (Slides) Lynn
He leadeth me O blessed thought
O words with heavenly comfort fraught
Whate’er I do where’er I be
Still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me
He leadeth me He leadeth me
By His own hand He leadeth me
His faithful follower I would be
For by His hand He leadeth me
Lord I would clasp Thy hand in mine
Nor ever murmur nor repine
Content whatever lot I see
Since ’tis my God that leadeth me
He leadeth me He leadeth me
By His own hand He leadeth me
His faithful follower I would be
For by His hand He leadeth me
Breathe on me, breath of God
Love and life that makes me free
Breathe on me, breath of God
Fan the flame within me
Teach my heart, heal my soul
Speak the mind that in Christ we know
Take me to Your sanctuary
Breathe on me
Speak to me, voice of God
Soft and still, inside my heart
Speak to me, word of God
Comfort, heal, restore with light
Teach my heart and heal my soul
Speak the mind that in Christ we know
Take me to Your sanctuary
Breathe on me
Message – Good Everlasting (Slides)
Stanley Rother, who is the focus of the shrine north of here, after five years serving as a priest in Oklahoma, felt a calling to minister to the descendants of the Mayan people in Guatemala. Rother followed God ministering to this people who lived in extreme poverty. He ate in their homes, visited the sick, addressed their medical issues, and built an irrigation system. In addition he learned the various languages of the people and translated the New Testament for them. While serving, a civil war raged through which he continued to serve causing his name to be added to a ‘Kill list.’ For a short while, the church convinced Rother to return to his home and to safety. It wasn’t long before his calling won out over his safety. Just a few months after returning to Guatemala, Rother was assassinated.
How do we make sense of this? Christians like to find the holy nobility in moments like this. Evangelicals, who like to have quick and easy answers to everything, even if the answers are wrong, compare someone like Rother to others who have died in their calling. Someone like Rother makes the sacrifice to a holy calling that is killed by those who seem, not only hostile to God, but also seem to live in comfort and riches. In reality we have to question why God would call someone to a noble task and then, shortly after, permit tragedy. A quandry to which our answers sound hollow.
One of the tough things about striving to live out your faith is the reality that those who don’t make that same faith commitment seem to be the ones that succeed when you fail. You look at those throughout history, including those in scripture, who gave their lives in service to God, who fashioned their lives after Jesus, who are killed, or brutally persecuted, by those who do not fear or revere God.
How do we live a life where our holy teachings seem to be in constant conflict with the reality in which we live? How do we live in peace and holiness when the supposed antagonist of our peace and holiness continually succeed and flourish?
A few years ago, a young man was campaigning for his father who was a powerful politician. The son was speaking to an audience of young adults, mostly male and predominantly white evangelical. The politician’s son knew that those in attendance were in agreement with him that those who did not support his father’s agenda were their enemies, and, therefore, that they were evil and wicked. The politicians son said,
[Slide] “…we better be playing the same game as our enemies are playing. Okay? We’ve been playing T-ball for half a century while they’re playing hardball and cheating. Right?
[Slide] “We’ve turned the other cheek, and I understand, sort of, the biblical reference — I understand the mentality — but it’s gotten us nothing.”
(Donald Trump Jr., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ7VDJdFmQU&t=3s)
While this young man was himself probably very marginal or at best immature in his faith – the amazing thing was that there was no public correction from the numerous evangelical leaders who were supporters of his father. Nothing was heard from those who should have been concerned at the message that ‘followers of Christ need to quit living like Jesus because it is getting them nowhere.’
[Slide] Esau McCaulley, Author of the book ‘Reading While Black’, observes: “we are often presented with two alternatives, neither of which is very appealing: deny the failings we observe within the church or contend that Christianity is not up to the challenges posed by our age.” (Esau McCaulley, Assistant professor of New Testament at Wheaton College, the author of Reading While Black, and a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times)
Much like the politician’s son, it is not uncommon for us to find that our reality does not match up with our spirituality, the question then is ‘do we give up?, Do we give in?’, ‘Do we attempt to isolate ourselves from seeing and knowing a reality that does not match up with our version of Holy Truth?’, ‘Do we isolate ourselves from reality so we do not have to live in the tension between our perceived truth and our reality?’ This is the dilemma the Psalmist is facing in Psalm 37 to which he offers the words…
[Slide – leave up until not to close screen Share] “Trust in the Lord and do good; live in the land and enjoy security. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:3-4)
Probably, you, or someone you know, has felt they trusted God and have done good yet they still find themselves facing struggles, turmoil, chaos, and heartbreak. We have all served as first hand witnesses as loved ones fell ill or died, watched as tragedy has struck, or moments when those closest to us have experienced mistreatment and pain. We have seen pictures and videos of injustice, abuse, oppression – We have asked ‘where are you God?’ We have wondered if truth is even really truth when it is ignored and heckled by those who do not share our faith and yet flourish.
This is exactly the tension going on with the Psalmist as he struggled with the reality of the wicked and the wrongdoers, those who prosper in their evil ways. In this tension, the Psalmist shares his own experience with this tension of the promise of comfort and peace being shattered by the reality of chaos and trauma.
[End Screen Share]
Three times in these eight verses the Psalmist encourages us to: “Don’t get upset (don’t fret).” Then twice he encourages us to trust in the Lord.
The Psalmist, as he speaks of not getting upset (don’t fret), is speaking not to the emotion of being upset, but instead to the real danger of allowing ourselves to get intensely worked up or even consumed by the problem of the apparent prospering of the wicked.
Also, the Psalmist’ encourages us to “Be still”. To stand in awe of God, speechless in the face of the breadth of God’s power and dominion. The implication is that God is in control and doing something in the world even though we think we are seeing the opposite. It is a calling to wait when we cannot see or understand.
The writings in Psalms, including Psalm 37, are largely the words of a believer who has has figured it out. They have grasped the practice of ‘fearing no evil when we walk through the shadow of death.’ They do not write the Psalms to tell give us the definitive guide to removing our own tension between faith and reality, just to let us know their path. So, we use the Psalms as a template for our journey in the midst of the tension.
[Slide – Screen Share – the coming slides will move quickly] The Psalmist shares his own experience of living in the tension…
[Slides] So, as the Psalmist says to *trust God; to *know that God is not absent in our world; to *do good; to *delight in the Lord; to *commit your ways to God; to *stay true to who and whose you are; to *believe that God’s light will, in God’s time, shine on the deeds of the wicked; to *hold to the promise of God; and *shine the light of justice; – the Psalmist is not saying these words with the expectation that we can change our hearts and our minds, our emotions and reactions to evil, our behaviors, compassion, and mercy. These are not things that we can make a lasting definitive decision – this is why we pray, *‘God, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ – because such a change on earth is only possible through the eternal work of the Holy Spirit in collaboration with our own will.
These are all ‘Do’ things that can only happen once we have arrived at the ‘Be’ – which is only begins to happen when we permit the Spirit to do this work.
*“Be still before the Lord, and wait for God.”
What does it take to Be Still and to Wait for God? What does it take in times of tension between our assumed faith and our reality?
Let’s be honest, if someone hurts or harms my loved ones, which ‘loved ones’ includes all of you, in those times I am going to find myself angry and vengeful. In those moments we can understand the thought of leaving aside the heart of Jesus as was suggested by the politician’s son. In those moments, peace, compassion, and mercy do not come easily. Our human nature is to give space to the wicked in our hearts and minds – to give them power. We focus on those we have labled ‘Wicked’ and ‘Enemies’ and then that gives them power and consumes us. Their continued ability to succeed crushes our will. The problem it that it is our will that allows us to wait on God, it is our will that allows us to be silent in God’s presence. It is this standing and waiting that allows us to fully collaborate with the Spirit.
It is here that the Psalmist presents a key suggestion,
“Let go of anger and leave rage behind.”
And, this is the challenge – to let go of the things that keep our will at a distance from the Holy Spirit.
It all comes down to this – ‘Quit making enemies.’ or better put, ‘Quit identifying those who do not agree with us as enemies’.
This is not a plan, it is not an automatic, it is an act of clearing the way so the spirit is free to work with our. Think about it, how many times do you put someone in the category of wicked or evil. How many times do you become angry or fearful, how many times is peace impossible. What do you need to do? Do you need to turn off the constant news cycle, do you need to recognize the hurt in others when they respond negative or hostile towards you, do you need to have mercy and compassion towards those who make mistakes, do you need to listen rather than judge, what is the reason your roadblocks are so effective?
Maybe, we need to begin to look for hope instead of enemies.
Erin Albin Hill, who works with churches to address the reality of trauma caused by churches and ministry organizations, after watching recent documentaries about multiple churches and other ministries and the abuse that took place within those institutions as well as the ripples of that abuse, writes,
“It should be no surprise that I’m sitting here thinking all churches are terrible and I’m confused why we’re even trying to make things better anymore.
Yet here we are. We are still trying. We’re still hoping. We’re still somehow believing in what the local church should be and could be. I wish I could explain why so many people do terrible things in the name of Christ. People are dying from guns every single day. People are taking their lives because their identities are not accepted and welcomed. People are treated terribly because of the color of their skin. And often, those things are done by people of faith and in the name of God. So, why is there still a small flame of hope lightly flickering? I know some churches that aren’t actively harming people by their theology and practices — which gives me hope. Those in my section at my local church light up when they hear my 1-year-old squeal during the church service, and that gives me hope. I hear of people continuing to believe in the divine after being harmed so deeply by the church, and that gives me hope. But it’s getting tiring, friends. It feels like every day, the American church gives us more of a reason not to have hope in the local church. I don’t know why I keep believing in the local church, but I’m going to keep listening to that small part of me that won’t allow me to let it go. Hopefully it teaches me something. I have hope the church will one day be what it is called to be — a radically inclusive place where all are welcome, all are sacred beings, all are safe. What a day that will be.”
(Erin Albin Hill serves as coordinator of research projects at The Center for Church and Community Impact (C3I) at the Garland School of Social Work at Baylor University)
Music (Slides) Lynn
Letting go of every single dream
I lay each one down at Your feet
Every moment of my wondering
Never changes what You see
Verse 2
I’ve tried to win this war I confess
My hands are weary I need Your rest
Mighty warrior King of the fight
No matter what I face You’re by my side
Chorus
When You don’t move the mountains
I’m needing You to move
When You don’t part the waters
I wish I could walk through
When You don’t give the answers
As I cry out to You
I will trust I will trust
I will trust in You
Verse 3
Truth is You know what tomorrow brings
There’s not a day ahead You have not seen
So in all things be my life and breath
I want what You want Lord and nothing less
When You don’t move the mountains
I’m needing You to move
When You don’t part the waters
I wish I could walk through
When You don’t give the answers
As I cry out to You
I will trust I will trust
I will trust in You
Bridge
You are my strength and comfort
You are my steady hand
You are my firm foundation
The Rock on which I stand
Your ways are always higher
Your plans are always good
There’s not a place where I’ll go
You’ve not already stood
When You don’t move the mountains
I’m needing You to move
When You don’t part the waters
I wish I could walk through
When You don’t give the answers
As I cry out to You
I will trust I will trust
I will trust in You
Community (Slides) Rick
- Next Sunday, June 18, Rick, ‘Differentiating Good’, Isaiah 5:18-20
- Summer Bible Study – James, Still gauging interest for a July study, Lunch time or Evenings for four weeks
- Armageddon Summer Book Discussion Dinner coming late July, order and read your copy of the book soon
Benediction (Slides) Rick
As we go forth from this place and enter a new week, may we each experience God’s presence. May the wind of the Spirit startle our senses and blow through our lives; may the fire of the Spirit scorch our complacency and light our way. And may the blessing of the Holy One – the Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer, rest with us now and forever more.
May the Spirit immerse our heads, hands, and feet, our thoughts, hearts, feelings and emotions, resulting in compassion for all others and ourselves. May the Spirit give us the voice to live and communicate our unique stories of hope and life. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of the Father, and the fellowship of the Spirit be with each of us; Amen. (Borrowed and adapted from CMB, & Joanna Harader)
Closing Peace Rick
Leader: May the Peace and Hope of the Lord go with you.
Response: And also with you.
Leader: Go in the Peace and Hope of the Lord.
Order, Words, & Voices 