Songs in the Midst of all the Rest
Sunday, May 6th, 2007
Fifth of Easter,
A Service of Worship under a brush arbor on the site of the old sanctuary.
Jerusalem Baptist Church, Emmerton VA
Psalm 148
What is it about the Psalms that stands out to you? What is it that you LIKE about the Psalms? What is it that you DON’T like about the Psalms, if anything? It’s okay, by the way, to not like some parts of scripture – AND to admit it. That tells me something very important. It tells me that first, you READ scripture, and second, it tells me that you THINK about scripture. The ‘not liking it’ part is secondary. Important yes, in the sense that it indicates that you are not simply skimming the words, but that you are actively applying yourself to the task of working out what the scriptures mean for your life, and sometimes, FREQUENTLY, that can be hard. We wrestle with scripture like Jacob wrestled with God. We may spend all night doing it, and we may walk with a limp thereafter, but at least we have engaged the divine word.
So we have this Psalm, and it seems to be a fairly … standard Psalm. It is a Psalm of Exhortation – that means it is a song to encourage others … if you read through it, it actually calls on not only PEOPLE, but animals, and plants, and mountains, and hills, and trees, and even the weather to Praise the Lord God almighty.
The call to praise and worship is a call directed towards creation – towards the EARTHLY creation – as well as to the heavenly beings – it is a call that covers the entire spectrum of existence – from what we can see – THIS creation – that is all around us, and that part of creation that we cannot see – the hosts of heaven and beyond.
If you flip through the psalms, you’ll find that they are not all this loftily themed. There are psalms that urge God to kill the enemies of David, or the enemies of Israel. There are psalms that express some of the deepest remorse and sorrow that can be expressed in human terms. There are psalms that express anger – some would even say hatred – towards something or someone. There are even psalms that call for the killing of women and babies in very graphic terms. Remember what I said about there being parts of scripture that you don’t like? That’s one of them for me.
But before I go off and throw the baby out with the bathwater, claiming that if there’s room in scripture for THAT, then I’m not sure I WANT to engage scripture at ALL, I HAVE to examine what role the psalm plays in the bigger picture – what part it has in telling me more of who God is, and what God has done.
So we’re starting today with a psalm that is much like the psalms that surround it—psalms of praise and worship. In that sense it isn’t terribly unusual. After all, when we think of the book of Psalms, we think primarily of just THAT – psalms of praise and worship, and not the other kinds of psalms.
And it is just that countering action that I’d like to discuss today – why it IS that we DO find those OTHER psalms – the ‘down and dirty’ ones, mixed in with the ‘high and holy’ psalms.
Think about it. Our call is to worship the Lord – in all we do – word, deed, whatever. Do we? Or maybe I should ask that: do WE? See? We may get on a streak, and go for, what? Five, six, seven? Eight? Maybe even nine or ten … what? Years? Months? Weeks? Days? Minutes? Where we are more or less doing that, but then comes that hammer to the thumb, or that especially annoying person that you run into on the ball field, or that neighbor that just doesn’t seem to understand what you’ve been trying to politely tell them for lo these many years … and your praise and worship psalm suddenly turns into one of those ‘other’ psalms.
It’s not necessarily a GOOD thing, but it is a TRUE thing – insofar as it is true to the human condition on THIS plane of existence. It comes from us because it is a product of our fallen nature, our frail humanity, and our weakness.
And to see those qualities reflected in scripture is a sign of hope. It tells us that in spite of that, God still worked in and through this man, or that woman, or that people, and continues to do so.
I think it can even be read as a … journal. If you’ve ever kept a journal for any length of time, and then after an extended period have gone back and read over entries that you’ve made long before, you immediately gain a sense of perspective. You understand where you WERE and realize where you ARE.
We are surrounded by the graves of some of those original 143 people that formed Royal Oaks Baptist Church with Elder Thomas Braxton. Some are marked, and some are not. We are not standing on the spot where the original structure stood, that is just across Mulberry from here, but we ARE standing on the place where the longest-lasting building that housed Jerusalem Baptist Church stood – from the early 1840’s until 1978 – almost 140 years – that wooden building built by hand by the members of Jerusalem provided a place for instruction, for prayer, for fellowship, and for gatherings to celebrate weddings and funerals – and I’m sure, other family events. Over the years it was surrounded by the graves of those who moved from this existence into the heavenly existence. Those whose psalms were peppered here and there with the less-than-pristine calls to worship HERE, graduated to the place where their songs of worship joined the rest of the heavenly hosts in pure and uninterrupted singing.
And so we have chosen to honor them today. By naming their names, by placing a flower on their graves, we are simply expressing our gratitude for the way they have gone on before us, for the way they taught those who taught those who taught US what it means to live lives of sacrifice and of service.
What does this mean for Jerusalem Baptist Church now, today?
This last week I’ve had a couple of opportunities to speak to my mother on the phone, and each time we do, she tells me how much she’s looking forward to our visit with them that is coming up. There are actually two visits in the works – THEY may be coming to see US towards the end of June HERE, and WE are planning on seeing them during the second full week of July.
When she first mentioned it to me, it caught me by surprise, to speak so eagerly of something that in my mind is still pretty far off. But in thinking about it, I realized that the anticipation is purely an expression of the love she feels for us.
Can we speak in those same terms of our anticipation of being a part of a heavenly choir? Can we see ourselves being in the presence of God God’s self and being known completely, find ourselves loved and accepted to a degree that we can only imagine – and even then, only partially?
Do we look forward in eager anticipation to the day when our mortal shells will be laid to rest here, and we will become part of the legacy of Jerusalem Baptist Church, and have those who come after us speak of us with thankfulness in their hearts?
May it, through the grace of God, be so.
Lets pray.
Fifth of Easter,
A Service of Worship under a brush arbor on the site of the old sanctuary.
Jerusalem Baptist Church, Emmerton VA
Psalm 148
1Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights! 2Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his host! 3Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars! 4Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! 5Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created. 6He established them forever and ever; he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed. 7Praise the Lord from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps, 8fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command! 9Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! 10Wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds! 11Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth! 12Young men and women alike, old and young together! 13Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his glory is above earth and heaven. 14He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his faithful, for the people of Israel who are close to him. Praise the Lord!
What is it about the Psalms that stands out to you? What is it that you LIKE about the Psalms? What is it that you DON’T like about the Psalms, if anything? It’s okay, by the way, to not like some parts of scripture – AND to admit it. That tells me something very important. It tells me that first, you READ scripture, and second, it tells me that you THINK about scripture. The ‘not liking it’ part is secondary. Important yes, in the sense that it indicates that you are not simply skimming the words, but that you are actively applying yourself to the task of working out what the scriptures mean for your life, and sometimes, FREQUENTLY, that can be hard. We wrestle with scripture like Jacob wrestled with God. We may spend all night doing it, and we may walk with a limp thereafter, but at least we have engaged the divine word.
So we have this Psalm, and it seems to be a fairly … standard Psalm. It is a Psalm of Exhortation – that means it is a song to encourage others … if you read through it, it actually calls on not only PEOPLE, but animals, and plants, and mountains, and hills, and trees, and even the weather to Praise the Lord God almighty.
The call to praise and worship is a call directed towards creation – towards the EARTHLY creation – as well as to the heavenly beings – it is a call that covers the entire spectrum of existence – from what we can see – THIS creation – that is all around us, and that part of creation that we cannot see – the hosts of heaven and beyond.
If you flip through the psalms, you’ll find that they are not all this loftily themed. There are psalms that urge God to kill the enemies of David, or the enemies of Israel. There are psalms that express some of the deepest remorse and sorrow that can be expressed in human terms. There are psalms that express anger – some would even say hatred – towards something or someone. There are even psalms that call for the killing of women and babies in very graphic terms. Remember what I said about there being parts of scripture that you don’t like? That’s one of them for me.
But before I go off and throw the baby out with the bathwater, claiming that if there’s room in scripture for THAT, then I’m not sure I WANT to engage scripture at ALL, I HAVE to examine what role the psalm plays in the bigger picture – what part it has in telling me more of who God is, and what God has done.
So we’re starting today with a psalm that is much like the psalms that surround it—psalms of praise and worship. In that sense it isn’t terribly unusual. After all, when we think of the book of Psalms, we think primarily of just THAT – psalms of praise and worship, and not the other kinds of psalms.
And it is just that countering action that I’d like to discuss today – why it IS that we DO find those OTHER psalms – the ‘down and dirty’ ones, mixed in with the ‘high and holy’ psalms.
Think about it. Our call is to worship the Lord – in all we do – word, deed, whatever. Do we? Or maybe I should ask that: do WE? See? We may get on a streak, and go for, what? Five, six, seven? Eight? Maybe even nine or ten … what? Years? Months? Weeks? Days? Minutes? Where we are more or less doing that, but then comes that hammer to the thumb, or that especially annoying person that you run into on the ball field, or that neighbor that just doesn’t seem to understand what you’ve been trying to politely tell them for lo these many years … and your praise and worship psalm suddenly turns into one of those ‘other’ psalms.
It’s not necessarily a GOOD thing, but it is a TRUE thing – insofar as it is true to the human condition on THIS plane of existence. It comes from us because it is a product of our fallen nature, our frail humanity, and our weakness.
And to see those qualities reflected in scripture is a sign of hope. It tells us that in spite of that, God still worked in and through this man, or that woman, or that people, and continues to do so.
I think it can even be read as a … journal. If you’ve ever kept a journal for any length of time, and then after an extended period have gone back and read over entries that you’ve made long before, you immediately gain a sense of perspective. You understand where you WERE and realize where you ARE.
We are surrounded by the graves of some of those original 143 people that formed Royal Oaks Baptist Church with Elder Thomas Braxton. Some are marked, and some are not. We are not standing on the spot where the original structure stood, that is just across Mulberry from here, but we ARE standing on the place where the longest-lasting building that housed Jerusalem Baptist Church stood – from the early 1840’s until 1978 – almost 140 years – that wooden building built by hand by the members of Jerusalem provided a place for instruction, for prayer, for fellowship, and for gatherings to celebrate weddings and funerals – and I’m sure, other family events. Over the years it was surrounded by the graves of those who moved from this existence into the heavenly existence. Those whose psalms were peppered here and there with the less-than-pristine calls to worship HERE, graduated to the place where their songs of worship joined the rest of the heavenly hosts in pure and uninterrupted singing.
And so we have chosen to honor them today. By naming their names, by placing a flower on their graves, we are simply expressing our gratitude for the way they have gone on before us, for the way they taught those who taught those who taught US what it means to live lives of sacrifice and of service.
What does this mean for Jerusalem Baptist Church now, today?
This last week I’ve had a couple of opportunities to speak to my mother on the phone, and each time we do, she tells me how much she’s looking forward to our visit with them that is coming up. There are actually two visits in the works – THEY may be coming to see US towards the end of June HERE, and WE are planning on seeing them during the second full week of July.
When she first mentioned it to me, it caught me by surprise, to speak so eagerly of something that in my mind is still pretty far off. But in thinking about it, I realized that the anticipation is purely an expression of the love she feels for us.
Can we speak in those same terms of our anticipation of being a part of a heavenly choir? Can we see ourselves being in the presence of God God’s self and being known completely, find ourselves loved and accepted to a degree that we can only imagine – and even then, only partially?
Do we look forward in eager anticipation to the day when our mortal shells will be laid to rest here, and we will become part of the legacy of Jerusalem Baptist Church, and have those who come after us speak of us with thankfulness in their hearts?
May it, through the grace of God, be so.
Lets pray.
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