Sermon 7th June 2009
Today our Vicar, Cameron Barker, preaches based on the reading from Psalm 111.
Late one dark night, a burglar broke into a house whose owners he thought were away. As he tiptoed into the living room, he suddenly froze in his tracks when he heard a loud voice say: “Jesus is watching you!”
When the house fell silent again, the burglar crept forward once more. “Jesus is watching you,” the voice boomed.
Again the burglar froze, absolutely terrified. He frantically looked all around the room. Then, in a corner, he spotted a birdcage, with a parrot in.
He asked the bird: “Was it you who said Jesus is watching me?”
“Yes,” replied the parrot.
The burglar heaved a sigh of relief, and asked the parrot: “What's your name?”
“Clarence,” replied the bird.
“That's a stupid name for a parrot,” sneered the burglar. “What idiot named you Clarence?” The parrot said: “The same idiot who named the Rottweiller Jesus.”
Now I must admit that the connection to today's sermon is perhaps a little tenuous - but it is there! As the anonymous author concluded Psalm 111 (in the New International Version at least): “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”. It's very instructive, though, that in verse 10 the Good News Bible replaces the word 'fear' with 'honour'. Generally we're not big fans of fear – though that might hopefully change before I'm done! It's not just that a negative fear, of Rottweillers for example, is a sensible one to have in many circumstances. It's more that the positive fear of the Lord is a both healthy and vital one to have, at all times.
In many ways there couldn't be any better day to explore this rather unexpected avenue in our conversations with God series. After all, this is Trinity Sunday, a day when we are specially invited to contemplate the 'otherness' of God. If we're ever in danger of thinking we've got God all neatly taped in a safe box that we can fully understand, this day – and this Psalm – blow all that out of the water! And it may well be that we need this kind of shaking up at this point. Yes, from this series we now know that God knows us. We know that God is our shepherd, who guides and protects us. We know that God hears our cries for help. We know too that we should praise God for the amazing things that He has done – like giving us the wonderful gift of his Spirit. But perhaps we haven't fully grasped just Who it is that we are invited to be in conversation with – until now!
That can't be said of the Psalmist who wrote this song. As I say, the conclusion of his reflections on the nature and works of God is that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. In the Biblical meaning of the word, wisdom is the ability not just to understand life but also to cope with the problems that are an inevitable part of life. It's so key that we grasp this fact that the Bible has a solid strand of wisdom literature running right through it. There are whole books – like Proverbs and Psalms – that explore and explain wisdom. But wisdom appears everywhere – not least in the person of Jesus. And wherever it does, it's invariably closely linked to this clear, positive exhortation to fear the Lord.
Psalm 111:10 is exactly mirrored in Proverbs 1:7, for example. It's also foundational to any number of other teachings and stories in the Bible, from start to end. And we mustn't ever fall into the common trap, of thinking that the fear of the Lord is an Old Testament idea. As the PCC heard this week, the fear of the Lord was a key part of the work of the Spirit in and through Jesus. There are numerous other echoes in the New Testament of this crucial Old Testament concept, that the fear of the Lord is the same as knowing and loving God. It is the beginning of wisdom, of right living in and for the God who has called us into relationship with Himself. And so this Psalm, like the others in this series, is just one, of many, related strands.
We still need to look at it in some detail, though. That's the only way to understand how the writer got to the place where he wants us also to be. For this Psalmist – as for many Bible writers – it begins, and ends with praise of God. In Hebrew, Psalm 111 starts with the word 'Hallelujah' – which does mean 'Praise the Lord!' As we know, part of praise is thanking God. So that's what the Psalmist set out to do, not just with his friends but also in public worship. He did so in a really very clever way here – which is completely lost on us! Psalm 111 is made up of 22 half-lines, each of which starts with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
It's a form of poetry that was then set to music, though the tune is long lost. Psalm 111 was most likely used at one of the major religious festivals in the Temple – though, again, we can't be sure which. In one sense that doesn't matter. What matters is that the Psalmist picks out so many of the reasons that there are to thank and praise God – and does so very eloquently. And, in case you have not yet discovered this for yourself, one of the many joys of the Psalms is that they give us words to use when we can't find our own. So, if you are ever stuck for what to thank and praise God for, or on how to do it, remember this Psalm – and use it!
You can say it, in your head or out loud. You can sing it, to a tune you know, or to one that you make up. Be sure to record it if it's any good, because we can always use it in our public worship! Another way that we can use Psalm 111, or others like it, is as a pattern for our thanks and praise of God. This Psalm teaches us to remember and praise God not just for what He has done – but also for what that tells us about what He is like. That's certainly what this Psalmist did in his Psalm. He remembered, and praised, God for what He has done. But he didn't stop there. He went on to write about what God's deeds show about His nature, His character. And that in itself is a fine example and pattern for us to copy.
Again, that is just what we are meant to do. This Psalmist, like the others, wouldn't see that as plagiarism. All he was doing, in fact, was copying God's own example! God does not ever forget what He has done – and He doesn't ever want us to either! 'Remembering' is a key concept in the Bible. I've said before that it's more the sense of re-membering, or re-experiencing, the past in the present. This isn't dead history we're talking about. It's re-living the gifts of God's goodness and faithfulness and generosity and kindness – of His justice and liberation. And there is no doubt that when we re-experience God's amazing, wonderful gifts so freely given – no matter what our present circumstances - we will want to thank and praise God all over again!
Hopefully you also noticed how the Psalmist's main focus in his song was the central event of Israel's history. The story is woven in and out throughout this Psalm. It's the story of God's deliverance of His people from slavery in Egypt, and the gift of a land of their own. Even though we can't know exactly when Psalm 111 was written, it was hundreds of years after the Exodus. But for the Psalmist, as for Israel, this wasn't dead history. It was real and live and present, a constant reminder of God's promise, of His covenant with them. It's important for Christians too, even more hundreds of years on. But to it we'd particularly want to add thanks and praise for the amazing wonderful and staggeringly generous gift of God's Son, Jesus.
Jesus' death in our place and his resurrection is at the heart of the story of our faith. And we believe that they speak even more eloquently about the nature of this God of love and forgiveness, the God of life and restoration. But what we can't lose sight of is that for us too, knowing this story, and becoming part of it through faith, must lead us to the exact same place as the Psalmist. For us to be wise, for us to know how to live for God and to understand life from an eternal perspective, we too must fear the Lord!
Fear of the Lord isn't too common a topic of conversation amongst modern Christians, I don't think. But maybe it needs to be! And if we can grasp what the fear of the Lord is – and is not – then perhaps it will become that. Mind you, I did find a web-site this week that promises to release people from the fear of the Lord! I suspect, though that the owner of that site has confused the fear of the Lord with servile fear. That's the fear of trouble and punishment at the hands of an abusive authority. But the fear of the Lord is rather a filial fear, the kind that comes from not wanting to offend someone you love. Yes, it is a fear that reverences God's holy, majestic authority – quite rightly. It helps us to obey his commandments – which are the best way to live. And it prompts us to hate and shun all forms of evil; but that is precisely how God designed us to be anyway.
So at this Communion service on Trinity Sunday, through Psalm 111, we are encouraged to praise God. We're to do that for what He has done – and for what that tells us about Who He is. The point that we are invited to reach in conclusion – along with the Psalmist – is that the fear of the Lord is indeed the beginning of wisdom. And so I'll end with a quote from the writer and pastor, Mike Yaconelli, that boldly urges us to go there. He said:
“I would like to suggest that the Church become a place of terror again; a place where God continually has to tell us, 'Fear not'; a place where our relationship with God is not a simple belief or a doctrine or theology, it is God's burning presence in our lives. I am suggesting that the tame God of relevance be replaced by the God whose very presence shatters our egos into dust, burns our sin into ashes, and strips us naked to reveal the real person within. The Church needs to become a gloriously dangerous place where nothing is safe in God's presence except us. Nothing – including our plans, our agendas, our priorities, our politics, our money, our security, our comfort, our possessions, our needs ... Our world is ... longing to see people whose God is big and holy and frightening and gentle and tender ... and ours; a God whose love frightens us into His strong and powerful arms where He longs to whisper those terrifying words, 'I love you'.” And so let's pray ...
Late one dark night, a burglar broke into a house whose owners he thought were away. As he tiptoed into the living room, he suddenly froze in his tracks when he heard a loud voice say: “Jesus is watching you!”
When the house fell silent again, the burglar crept forward once more. “Jesus is watching you,” the voice boomed.
Again the burglar froze, absolutely terrified. He frantically looked all around the room. Then, in a corner, he spotted a birdcage, with a parrot in.
He asked the bird: “Was it you who said Jesus is watching me?”
“Yes,” replied the parrot.
The burglar heaved a sigh of relief, and asked the parrot: “What's your name?”
“Clarence,” replied the bird.
“That's a stupid name for a parrot,” sneered the burglar. “What idiot named you Clarence?” The parrot said: “The same idiot who named the Rottweiller Jesus.”
Now I must admit that the connection to today's sermon is perhaps a little tenuous - but it is there! As the anonymous author concluded Psalm 111 (in the New International Version at least): “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”. It's very instructive, though, that in verse 10 the Good News Bible replaces the word 'fear' with 'honour'. Generally we're not big fans of fear – though that might hopefully change before I'm done! It's not just that a negative fear, of Rottweillers for example, is a sensible one to have in many circumstances. It's more that the positive fear of the Lord is a both healthy and vital one to have, at all times.
In many ways there couldn't be any better day to explore this rather unexpected avenue in our conversations with God series. After all, this is Trinity Sunday, a day when we are specially invited to contemplate the 'otherness' of God. If we're ever in danger of thinking we've got God all neatly taped in a safe box that we can fully understand, this day – and this Psalm – blow all that out of the water! And it may well be that we need this kind of shaking up at this point. Yes, from this series we now know that God knows us. We know that God is our shepherd, who guides and protects us. We know that God hears our cries for help. We know too that we should praise God for the amazing things that He has done – like giving us the wonderful gift of his Spirit. But perhaps we haven't fully grasped just Who it is that we are invited to be in conversation with – until now!
That can't be said of the Psalmist who wrote this song. As I say, the conclusion of his reflections on the nature and works of God is that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. In the Biblical meaning of the word, wisdom is the ability not just to understand life but also to cope with the problems that are an inevitable part of life. It's so key that we grasp this fact that the Bible has a solid strand of wisdom literature running right through it. There are whole books – like Proverbs and Psalms – that explore and explain wisdom. But wisdom appears everywhere – not least in the person of Jesus. And wherever it does, it's invariably closely linked to this clear, positive exhortation to fear the Lord.
Psalm 111:10 is exactly mirrored in Proverbs 1:7, for example. It's also foundational to any number of other teachings and stories in the Bible, from start to end. And we mustn't ever fall into the common trap, of thinking that the fear of the Lord is an Old Testament idea. As the PCC heard this week, the fear of the Lord was a key part of the work of the Spirit in and through Jesus. There are numerous other echoes in the New Testament of this crucial Old Testament concept, that the fear of the Lord is the same as knowing and loving God. It is the beginning of wisdom, of right living in and for the God who has called us into relationship with Himself. And so this Psalm, like the others in this series, is just one, of many, related strands.
We still need to look at it in some detail, though. That's the only way to understand how the writer got to the place where he wants us also to be. For this Psalmist – as for many Bible writers – it begins, and ends with praise of God. In Hebrew, Psalm 111 starts with the word 'Hallelujah' – which does mean 'Praise the Lord!' As we know, part of praise is thanking God. So that's what the Psalmist set out to do, not just with his friends but also in public worship. He did so in a really very clever way here – which is completely lost on us! Psalm 111 is made up of 22 half-lines, each of which starts with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
It's a form of poetry that was then set to music, though the tune is long lost. Psalm 111 was most likely used at one of the major religious festivals in the Temple – though, again, we can't be sure which. In one sense that doesn't matter. What matters is that the Psalmist picks out so many of the reasons that there are to thank and praise God – and does so very eloquently. And, in case you have not yet discovered this for yourself, one of the many joys of the Psalms is that they give us words to use when we can't find our own. So, if you are ever stuck for what to thank and praise God for, or on how to do it, remember this Psalm – and use it!
You can say it, in your head or out loud. You can sing it, to a tune you know, or to one that you make up. Be sure to record it if it's any good, because we can always use it in our public worship! Another way that we can use Psalm 111, or others like it, is as a pattern for our thanks and praise of God. This Psalm teaches us to remember and praise God not just for what He has done – but also for what that tells us about what He is like. That's certainly what this Psalmist did in his Psalm. He remembered, and praised, God for what He has done. But he didn't stop there. He went on to write about what God's deeds show about His nature, His character. And that in itself is a fine example and pattern for us to copy.
Again, that is just what we are meant to do. This Psalmist, like the others, wouldn't see that as plagiarism. All he was doing, in fact, was copying God's own example! God does not ever forget what He has done – and He doesn't ever want us to either! 'Remembering' is a key concept in the Bible. I've said before that it's more the sense of re-membering, or re-experiencing, the past in the present. This isn't dead history we're talking about. It's re-living the gifts of God's goodness and faithfulness and generosity and kindness – of His justice and liberation. And there is no doubt that when we re-experience God's amazing, wonderful gifts so freely given – no matter what our present circumstances - we will want to thank and praise God all over again!
Hopefully you also noticed how the Psalmist's main focus in his song was the central event of Israel's history. The story is woven in and out throughout this Psalm. It's the story of God's deliverance of His people from slavery in Egypt, and the gift of a land of their own. Even though we can't know exactly when Psalm 111 was written, it was hundreds of years after the Exodus. But for the Psalmist, as for Israel, this wasn't dead history. It was real and live and present, a constant reminder of God's promise, of His covenant with them. It's important for Christians too, even more hundreds of years on. But to it we'd particularly want to add thanks and praise for the amazing wonderful and staggeringly generous gift of God's Son, Jesus.
Jesus' death in our place and his resurrection is at the heart of the story of our faith. And we believe that they speak even more eloquently about the nature of this God of love and forgiveness, the God of life and restoration. But what we can't lose sight of is that for us too, knowing this story, and becoming part of it through faith, must lead us to the exact same place as the Psalmist. For us to be wise, for us to know how to live for God and to understand life from an eternal perspective, we too must fear the Lord!
Fear of the Lord isn't too common a topic of conversation amongst modern Christians, I don't think. But maybe it needs to be! And if we can grasp what the fear of the Lord is – and is not – then perhaps it will become that. Mind you, I did find a web-site this week that promises to release people from the fear of the Lord! I suspect, though that the owner of that site has confused the fear of the Lord with servile fear. That's the fear of trouble and punishment at the hands of an abusive authority. But the fear of the Lord is rather a filial fear, the kind that comes from not wanting to offend someone you love. Yes, it is a fear that reverences God's holy, majestic authority – quite rightly. It helps us to obey his commandments – which are the best way to live. And it prompts us to hate and shun all forms of evil; but that is precisely how God designed us to be anyway.
So at this Communion service on Trinity Sunday, through Psalm 111, we are encouraged to praise God. We're to do that for what He has done – and for what that tells us about Who He is. The point that we are invited to reach in conclusion – along with the Psalmist – is that the fear of the Lord is indeed the beginning of wisdom. And so I'll end with a quote from the writer and pastor, Mike Yaconelli, that boldly urges us to go there. He said:
“I would like to suggest that the Church become a place of terror again; a place where God continually has to tell us, 'Fear not'; a place where our relationship with God is not a simple belief or a doctrine or theology, it is God's burning presence in our lives. I am suggesting that the tame God of relevance be replaced by the God whose very presence shatters our egos into dust, burns our sin into ashes, and strips us naked to reveal the real person within. The Church needs to become a gloriously dangerous place where nothing is safe in God's presence except us. Nothing – including our plans, our agendas, our priorities, our politics, our money, our security, our comfort, our possessions, our needs ... Our world is ... longing to see people whose God is big and holy and frightening and gentle and tender ... and ours; a God whose love frightens us into His strong and powerful arms where He longs to whisper those terrifying words, 'I love you'.” And so let's pray ...
posted by Parish Administrator at 12:20 pm
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