Sermon from 17th May 2009

Today our minister, Rev Gill Tayleur, preaches - based on Psalm 98.

There's a little old Christian lady living next door to an atheist. Every morning the lady comes out onto her front porch and shouts "Praise God!"
The atheist yells back, "There is no God!" She does this every morning with the same result. As time goes on, the lady runs into financial problems and has trouble buying food. She goes out onto the porch and asks God for help with food shopping, then says "Praise God!". The next morning she goes out onto the porch and there's the food shopping she asked for, and of course, she shouts "Praise God!" The atheist jumps out from behind a bush and says, "Ha, I bought that food - there is no God!".
The lady looks at him and smiles. She shouts "Praise God, not only did you provide for me Lord, you made Satan pay for the food! Praise God!”

“Praise God” is what we’re looking at this morning, in our series on the psalms, called Conversations with God. We’ve had “God, you know!”, “God you’re my shepherd, you guide, protect & provide for me”, and “God, help!” In the next few weeks we’re going to look at “God I fear you”, “God forgive me” and “what’s our response?” But today we have perhaps the most upbeat of these conversations, with “Praise God!”

Psalm 98 is the psalm we’ve picked as an example of “Praise God!” but there’s a whole bunch of them. Psalms 95, 96, 97, 98, 99 & 100 all say “Praise God!” And they praise God with passion and joy. Do we have this sort of conversation with God? When we say “God you are just WONDERFUL?!” Or does it seem a bit over the top?
Would we praise God quite so passionately? Could we? Should we? Why would we?

This Psalm, 98, and the others like it, show why we might. Why we could and should praise God with all our hearts and minds. They show us 3 things:
WHY we’re to praise God. WHO is to praise God. And HOW we’re to praise God.

First then, WHY do we praise God?
God is to be praised for who He is. Just in these 6 Psalms, 95 to 100, God is called the Lord, Mighty God, King over all the earth, God of power, glory and majesty.
He is described as holy, beautiful, the supreme ruler, victorious, God of justice. He is also described as a God of faithfulness, forgiveness and love.
What a character! Although we can’t get our little minds fully around the greatness of God, and probably shouldn’t expect to, God is indeed to be praised for who He is.

He is also to be praised for what He has done. He has created the universe, “the deepest caves to the highest hills”. Do you know how huge the universe is?!
I read that if we could travel in a space shuttle at a speed of 50,000 km per hour, it would take 88,000 years to reach the star that is nearest to our sun, Proxima Centauri. Incredibly, if the sun were the size of a dot over the letter i on your service sheet, the nearest star would be a dot 16 km away! That’s from here to the other side of Croydon! The universe is VAST!

Or, what about the oceans. Did you know, that scientists are now exploring the ocean deep, up to 5km down. That’s as far as from here to the other side of Clapham, deep! They are finding previously unknown species of marine life, such as a shrimp that survives alongside volcanic vents that spew out water heated to 470 degrees C !!

Finally, let me enthuse about how God has made the human body. One human brain generates more electrical impulses in a single day than all the phones in the world put together. Each square inch of our skin has 3.5m of nerve fibres, 2.7m of blood vessels, 100 sweat glands, & 3.6 million cells. And the human thighbone is stronger than concrete!

God has created a truly marvellous world. Many people say they are aware of God’s presence in a place of great physical beauty, watching a fabulous sunset or listening to the crescendo of a superb orchestra. God is indeed to be praised for what he has done in creation.

We also praise him for what he has done in salvation. He has made the earth, but it needs saving. Saving from the ghastly effects of humankind’s rebellion against God, the effects of sin. God created us to live under his loving and just rule, but we reject Him and live our own way. So we are messed up and the world is messed up, even creation is messed up. This last week we’ve seen the scandals about MPs expenses, worsening violence in Sri Lanka and the news that some scientists think the effects of global warming on the Antarctica are much worse than anticipated. Our world is indeed messed up. It all needs saving to restore the relationship between loving-creator-ruler, and his people & world.

In these psalms, we hear how God saved his people, in bringing them safely out of slavery in Egypt, and saving them in battle against their enemies. Centuries after these psalms were written, God sent the ultimate saving solution, Jesus. By his death and resurrection the effects of rebellion & sin are dealt with and the way opened for us to have the relationship with our loving-creator-ruler, God, restored. Restored forever, when He returns to judge and rule the earth permanently, referred to in this psalm. When salvation will be complete. So we praise God for what He has done in saving us.

Psalm 98 begins inviting us to sing a new song to the Lord for the wonderful things he has done. That means finding new words to express our praise, our own words, but it also means praising Him for the new things He is doing now. His love and mercies are new every day, and every day there are things to thank and praise him for.
For the gift of another day, for the kindness of a friend, for someone I know getting a cancer all-clear this week, for answers to prayer, for God speaking to me about a problem, for those getting confirmed tonight... and so on & on. There’s plenty to praise God for NOW.

So, WHY do we praise God? God is to be praised for who he is, for what He has done in creation and salvation. And for the new things He is doing today.

Next question then, WHO is to praise God?
These psalms invite God’s praise to flow from widening circles, starting with God’s people. Those who are in a relationship with God, our loving-creator-ruler, who recognise who He is and what He has done, have every reason to praise Him. We know he has created and saved us; we know what He’s like. We know his love and mercy afresh every day. How could we respond but with praise?! We should be SO thankful that we can’t praise Him enough!

God’s people lead the way in His praise, but the psalms urge others to join in. “Praise the Lord, all peoples on earth”. “All peoples everywhere” are invited to join in praising God. People of all ages, all races and cultures, all abilities, absolutely everyone can recognise that God is the loving-creator-ruler of the whole universe!

And it’s not enough for all people everywhere to praise God, because the psalms then exhort all of creation to join in! The seas, and all creatures that live there, the hills, the rivers, are all invited to praise God. I love this idea! That if we only had eyes and ears for it, maybe we’d find that the rustle of the trees in Ruskin Park are praising God. The whooshing of fast flowing streams sings God’s praise. Jesus used this idea when he said if you don’t recognise who I am and praise me, then the stones will cry out! God’s creation shouts His praise, whether we hear it or not. God is so great that everything, just everything, cries out in praise to Him. Day and night, year in year out, over all the millennia since the world was created, and for all eternity, all of the universe, physical and spiritual, the rivers & mountains & animals & birds, and the angels! are praising the mighty God of all. And we can join with them!

So. Why is God to be praised? For who He is and what He has done.
Who is to praise him? His people, everyone on earth & all of creation.
The 3rd and last question then is, HOW do we praise God?

These “Praise God” psalms are very clear: we’re to sing! We’re to sing and shout and kneel and bow down before him. We praise Him with music: harps, trumpets and horns are all mentioned here. They were some of the instruments that were used in temple worship. Other psalms say tambourines, flutes, cymbals & lyres are all used in God’s praise. There is something about music and singing that can express our thanks and praise to God very well and many of us really enjoy doing so. We are blessed to have a variety of musical voices, instruments and styles with which to praise God in this church. Along with music, dance is often mentioned in the psalms as a way of praising God, as is shouting and clapping! To these exuberant ways of praising, I’d add doing actions to songs. Sometimes they are a good way of expressing our praise.

At other times we might follow the psalmist’s lead and kneel & bow down before the Lord. There are times for energetic praise to express how wonderful God is, but there are also times for falling to our knees in recognition of how powerful and holy God is. There’s a time for loud praise, & a time for quiet. Different ways of praising will be appropriate for different people, and on different occasions. I hope we can accept others’ ways of praising without making them feel excluded or criticised. That will help us get over any self consciousness we may feel. If we want to sing our guts out loudly, or lift our hands, or stay sitting, or kneel, we may have to get over our embarrassment – but it’s worth it! I’ve heard it described as getting through the “pratt barrier”! I may feel a bit of a pratt, a bit silly, if I kneel while everyone else is standing to sing, or I raise my arms when no-one else does, but so what? It’s more important to express our praise for God, in response to Him, in the most authentic way we can. And of course that’s the important thing, that it’s sincere, that we mean our words & actions of praise, whether that’s in a quiet way, or a lively one.

That goes for whether we’re praising God in church, or at home, or out and about, in the car, in the park, wherever. Praise isn’t something to be kept for Sundays.
On our own we may be less self conscious in our praise.

But what about the times when we don’t feel like praising God at all? What about when life is painful and hard and we feel too upset to want to praise God?
Well these conversations with God have shown us how important it is to be honest with Him about how we feel, as Cameron preached last Sunday. We’re not to pretend to God, even if we’re angry or disappointed. But even when things are tough, we can nevertheless hold on to the truths about Who God is and what He has done, that mean we acknowledge He is still worthy of our praise. We can choose to praise Him despite our dreadful circumstances. That’s what we saw in the psalm we looked at last Sunday, psalm 22. When David was in dire straights, he cried out to God, told Him exactly how he felt, and finally praised Him anyway. So praising God isn’t something that depends on us and how we feel, because it’s all about God, who He is and what He has done. So we can still choose to praise Him.

Sometimes it’s when we’re most focused on the greatness of God and praising Him that we can best forget about ourselves and our difficulties. And we may find that’s when we know the greatest joy in praise. These psalms praise God with a joy too great to contain! Joy that’s overflowing. That may be our experience too, a deep delight in God. It’s not always like that, and we don’t have the right to demand or expect it, but sometimes God very graciously and generously gives us a joy in praise that bowls us over. And amazingly, we read in another psalm, 147, that our praising God gives Him pleasure!
So praising God is good for us and good for God! What a wonderful thing it is to praise God!

So, to conclude, then, we’ve looked at
Why God is to be praised – because of who He is and what He has done, in creation and salvation and what He does in our lives day by day.
Who is to praise God – His people, all peoples everywhere and even creation!
How we are to praise God – with integrity and joy, together and alone, in all circumstances.
What a privilege! So let’s do it, beginning with prayer...

Our great big God, we praise you for your marvellous creation, for your love and for the wonderful way you have saved us through Jesus. May our lives be more and more filled with praise that overflows, deep, authentic, joyful praise, that pleases you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
'

Sermon 10th May 2009

Today our Vicar, Cameron Barker, preaches based on the reading from Psalm 22 verses 1 - 11.

The story is told about a man walking along a cliff-top one windy autumn evening. To his horror, as dusk fell a strong gust swept him over the edge. As he fell, he desperately flailed his arms – and got lucky! Somehow he managed to grab, and hold, on to the stout branches of a tree growing from the cliff-face. As he clung on he realised that actually he wasn't too much better off. So, despite not being a man of faith, he cried aloud into the darkness: 'God, are you up there?' Imagine his surprise, then, when a Voice answered him: 'Yes, my son. What do you want?' Once he'd ensured that his grip was firm again, he wailed: 'Help me!'

I will finish that story later, but I want to pause it there. Of course it's not a true story – but it could easily be! For me the lasting image of the 7/7 London bombings was seeing those TV images of people staggering from Tube tunnels with smoke-blackened faces. Almost without exception, they were praying aloud. Those terrified people pleaded for God to keep them safe. Even at the time I wondered how many of them were in regular conversation with God. Not that many, I suspected. But, as the old saying goes, there aren't any atheists in the trenches. Come the sort of crisis that's so far beyond our control, our natural instinct is to hope that God can help, and to ask Him to.

There's great precedent of people doing just that – and good reason to as well. It's precisely what David, King of ancient Israel, did in the Psalm we've read this morning. As we've already heard in this series, David was someone who was in regular conversation with God. In the past few weeks we have heard how David knew that God knew everything about him – because God had made him. David knew too that God cared for, and about, him. In that wonderful image from Psalm 23, as a shepherd did, God led, guided and protected David – in good times and in bad. And so, in this present bad time – which was a really bad one – David cried out to God, loud and long. In his hour of need, he cried out in faith and trust, for God's help and protection once again.

Now this Psalm may well be quite familiar to those who know the story of Good Friday. Jesus quoted the opening words of it as he hung on the cross. And much of what's written in the rest of Psalm 22 sounds like a very accurate description of what Jesus suffered on the cross. It talks about hands and feet being pierced, people mocking the victim, and gambling for his clothing as he dies in thirsty agony. But today we need to set all that aside. Instead we must focus on what we can learn from this Psalm from its original setting, hundreds of years before Jesus' death.

That's not an easy task, though. We do know many of the details of David's life, because so much of it is recorded in the Old Testament. But there isn't any one incident where David faced death in the way described in this Psalm. In one sense that's neither here nor there, though. Even without knowing the exact details of his circumstances at the time when David wrote Psalm 22, we can still learn how he responded to a desperate crisis. There is no doubt that David's reaction was to cry, and to reach, out, with faith and deep trust in God.

At first glance 21st Century Westerners may not 'get' that. “My God, my God, why have you abandoned / forsaken me?” can easily sound to us like a bitter accusation. But to a Hebrew mind, like David's, and Jesus', it's actually a plea for help. It's more a seeking of reassurance – in the way that we might say, “you haven't, have you?” Unless we grasp that fact, none of the rest of this Psalm will make any sense. Of course David wasn't at all happy at the prospect of dying in agony at the hands of his mocking enemies. Of course he couldn't see the presence, or the goodness, of God in such circumstances. But what he could, and did, do was to cry out to the God whom he knew and trusted.

One of the most important lessons that we can learn from this Psalm, then, is from the honesty with which David wrote. He didn't for a moment try to hide from God how he was feeling about his plight. He was upfront too about how he thought that God wasn't hearing his prayers. David wrote about how he was at it day and night – and yet it seemed to be making no difference at all. The early verses of this Psalm alternate, though. David began with what we could say were grievances about God's apparent inaction. But in-between he reminded himself about who God is, and what He can do.

The very fact that David expressed himself to God at all at such a time tells us just how much he trusted in God! The supporting evidence may have been lacking – but only in the present. In the alternate verses of his Psalm David then reassured himself of his grounds for faith from other evidence. It wasn't 'just' that God was the God of Israel. And it wasn't 'just' that those who'd gone before David had trusted in God, and been saved either. It was also the evidence of his own past that David could, and did, rely on. Again, in verse 9, David reminded himself that he had trusted in God since he'd been a toddler, a baby even!

It was on those bases that David could then, in verse 11, plead with God not to stay away/be far from him. He really needed that help, because his situation was so dire. David didn't ever try to get away from that central fact. Even as he wrote about the good reasons there were to trust God, he kept going back to just how bad things were. In verse 6 he described himself as feeling like a worm, rather than a person. And then, in the next part of the Psalm, he went on to list exactly what he was facing. We didn't read that part – or the turning point that David finally reached, in verse 22.

Again we don't know what got him there, because it's not in the Psalm itself. But, for whatever reason, David knew there had been some kind of a breakthrough – and all was instantly transformed! The internal evidence suggests that nothing had actually changed, apart from David's attitude. But what a difference! From being that broken, desperate man, David became this great hero of faith! In faith he looked forward to the day when everybody would know just what God had done for him! He'd tell them all in public worship. He'd let the whole nation of Israel know about it! In fact, the news of what God had done would reach to the very ends of the earth! More than that, future generations would even get to know about it – and praise God for it! And, if you think that's fanciful, ask what we are praising God for today!

Well we've left that poor man hanging in the dark quite long enough now. Having asked for God's help, he wasn't at all happy to hear God tell him to let go of the branch! 'Is there anybody else out there?' was his next cry! The silence was broken only by God telling him again to let go. He still hung on for as long as he could, before he did let go. Before his life could flash before his eyes, he landed about three feet below, safe and sound, on solid ground.

It is only a story, of course. But it makes a crucial point, as Psalm 22 does – that God can be trusted. I, of all people, well know, though, that life is seldom quite that simple or easy. Psalm 22 is particularly helpful in that way: David faced very real danger, and there was no guarantee that his life would be spared. Yes he could, and did, cry out to God for help – and God obviously did rescue him, or this Psalm would never have been written! But I am sure that even if David had died, he'd have done so still believing in the goodness of God. And this is the faith into which we have welcomed Eden / Freya and Maggie today. It's about trusting and hoping in the God who is faithful to eternity.

As I look around the church this morning, I'm well aware of so many people with all kind of trouble to cry out to God about. I also know that I don't even know the half of it! But I am well aware, too, of my own on-going need to do that. What Psalm 22 does is to give us all the permission we'll ever need to cry out to God for His help. God welcomes us doing that, not least because it's a sign that somehow we do trust in Him. So today do be honest with God about your troubles – as David was. Don't hold back from telling God how it is, and how it feels. Yes, He already knows; but he longs to hear us say it anyway. And let it be – or become – part of a conversation with the God who is faithful at all times and in all circumstances, the One who knows you and loves you and saves you, as He did David. And so let's pray ...

Sermon 3rd May 2009

Today, one of our Lay Readers, Trevor Tayleur, preaches. His sermon is based on Psalm 23 - The Lord is my Shepherd.

There was once a young man who professed his desire to become a great writer. When asked to define "great" he said, "I want to write stuff that people will react to on a truly emotional level, stuff that will really move them and make them cry."
He now works as a traffic warden, writing out parking tickets! I wonder whether David, when he was a young man, thought he would become a great writer. As Cameron explained last Sunday, David, the famous Old Testament King, wrote many of the Psalms. As a young man, David is of course best known for killing the giant Goliath. But when he wasn’t giant-killing, which was most of the time, he was looking after his father’s sheep. He knew a lot about shepherds and shepherding, and he drew on his experience to write what we now know as Psalm 23. Psalm 23 is perhaps the most well-known Psalm. It is a Psalm that has moved people all over the world at a truly emotional level. And it is a Psalm that can teach us a lot.
It starts with the famous words; “The Lord is my shepherd.” Some images of God in the Psalms seem quite distant or impersonal: King, rock, shield, fortress. But the image of shepherd is very intimate. David draws from his own experience as a shepherd, and also from knowing the Lord himself. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.” Everything in the Psalm flows from that.
A shepherd in the Middle East is very different from a shepherd in our own culture. There are no sheepdogs charging around after the sheep. Tesco’s recently asked one of its New Zealand lamb suppliers to stop using sheepdogs to herd livestock into an abattoir unless they could be retrained to be more "considerate" - so they wouldn’t stress the sheep out! A shepherd in the Middle East won’t stress the sheep out. He will have a very close relationship with the sheep. He will know them by name, and they will respond to his call. He will protect and guide them, and maybe even die for them. In David’s time that could happen to a shepherd; he might well have to risk his life fighting off robbers or wild animals.
So a good shepherd gives his sheep total care, and that is the picture that David is giving here. Because the Lord is his shepherd, David has total care. Sheep are very dependent creatures, depending on the shepherd for provision, for guidance and for protection. And those are the three aspects of the total care that the shepherd provides that I’m going to concentrate on this morning: provision, guidance and protection.
First of all then, provision: The shepherd gives David his provision. Let’s look at verses 2 & 3: “He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters.” When reading these verses, it’s tempting to form a picture in our mind’s eye of sheep munching their way around cool green pastures in the beautiful English countryside. But that is not how it is in the dry arid lands of the Middle East. The green pastures and quiet waters in this verse would often be quite far apart and the shepherd would have to lead his flock some distance to them.
The shepherd provides for the sheep by finding them grass to eat and water to drink. And I can imagine having a relaxing picnic in the middle of a green field next to a cool lake. It’s a lovely picture, but not necessarily a realistic description of an average day. A lot of time we rush around, at home, at work. Often it seems we’re constantly on the move, anxious about our families, our jobs, the credit crunch and now swine flu. So where are these green fields and pools of fresh water? In the midst of the pressures of everyday life, I think these verses are telling us that sometimes we need to take time out. We need to ask, “Where are our green pastures? Where are our quiet waters?” As well as a physical meaning, these verses also have a spiritual one. We need to spend time with our shepherd. The Lord wants us to rest, but do we? The Lord leads us to quiet waters, but do we follow? Perhaps the problem is that we don’t know how to rest and we’re too busy to follow. So what is it that the Lord wants us to be doing?

The answer to this question is that He wants us to spend time with him. Our current sermon series theme is “Conversations with God”. Jesus at the height of his ministry would sometimes leave the crowds to be on his own and to pray to his Father, and to talk with him. Life can be very busy, but we do need to find time to pray, to read the Bible, to have conversations with God. I know from my own experience this isn’t easy. It can be difficult to pray and read the Bible on your own, but there are lots of helpful aids around, such as New Daylight and the books by Eddie Askew. And in our Parish there are also opportunities to pray or study the Bible with each other, at our monthly parish prayers and at home groups. The Lord will feed us spiritually, and He will help us to face the challenges and uncertainties of life. As it says in the first part of verse 3, “He restores my soul.”
The Lord who provides for us will also guide us. Look at the second part of verse 3. “He guides me in paths of righteousness...” Literally, paths of righteousness mean simply the right paths. And the promise here is that by being fed spiritually by his shepherd, David is being led in the right paths of life. It’s a bit like having an internal compass needle. So if we feed off our shepherd spiritually, then that compass needle will point us in the right direction; it will tell us where we should be heading with our lives.
If we are praying regularly and studying the Bible, whether on our own or in groups – or both, then we shall be much more open to God’s guidance. There are many temptations that face us – ranging from fiddling a tax return to pornography on the Internet, to name just two. If we are in conversation with God, He will lead us away from them. They are places we won’t want to go to. We will stay in the right paths.
And being guided by God in the rights paths isn’t just about avoiding temptation – it‘s much more than that. If we are willing to let God guide us, He can lead us into exciting new ventures – a new role in the church, a new career, full-time Christian work; the possibilities are endless.

But we don’t always go where God leads us. David certainly didn’t. He did many great things, but he also fell spectacularly from grace more than once. When he was King, at the height of his powers, David committed adultery with Bathsheba, and to cover it up, murdered her husband. God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David. It was very painful, but David was yanked back on to the right paths. David confessed his sin, and followed his Lord once again. David was willing to listen to God’s prophet, Nathan, when he had gone wrong and his relationship with God was restored. While I suspect that none of us have committed both adultery and murder, there will be times when we have strayed on to the wrong paths, and God will challenge us in the way he challenged David. And when this happens, when God challenges us, will we be willing to return to the right paths?
Our shepherd wants to provide for us. Our shepherd also wants to guide us. And he also wants to protect us. Look at verse 4. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
There is now a shift of atmosphere in the Psalm. We move from the tranquillity of green pastures and quiet waters to the hard truths of death, shadow, valleys, fear, evil and enemies.
David knew from bitter experience that life doesn’t always seem fair; life isn’t easy; life can often be a struggle, even dangerous. David realises that we will have enemies. What David insists on is this: that God is with us through it all, on our side and at our side. God is with us in the times of crisis we face in our lives, and in the final crisis of death itself. The shepherd will be with David, escorting him through these dark times, including death itself.
The promise that God gives us isn’t a life of ease and comfort. The promise that He gives us is that He will be with us in the times of darkness, even at the time of death itself. And we have a shepherd that David didn’t have. Who is our shepherd? Jesus!
In John 10:11, Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Jesus was looking ahead to his death on the Cross and his resurrection. Jesus himself experienced deep darkness and even death itself. And so we know that we do have a God who isn’t remote and far away, but who cared enough to send His son to die for us. And Jesus’ resurrection shows that death isn’t the end. Jesus has defeated even death itself.
And this leads us on to the final two verses of the Psalm, verses 5 and 6; “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
The picture is that of a victory feast, a well-set table with an over-flowing cup and the captured enemy looking on. There is no ultimate victory for any of David’s enemies, not even for death itself. And David can declare with confidence, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” That’s eternal life – living with God for ever. And so Psalm 23 points ahead to Jesus, who defeated death and who said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16)
Jesus the Good Shepherd provides for us; he guides us in right paths. He protects us in the bleak and harsh times. Only he can lead us through death; all other guides have to turn back at that point. And how can we best prepare ourselves for those times? By spending time with him now – in conversation with him in prayer, reflection and bible study – on our own and with others. Jesus is our shepherd. Let’s follow him where he leads.
Let’s pray: We thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ, our Good Shepherd. We thank you for his guidance and protection for us. We pray that we may be led into a closer conversation and walk with him, so that we may know that even in the times of deepest darkness he is alongside us. Amen.