Friday, May 29, 2009

Sermon – Psalm 1- Belonging to God

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon – Psalm 1- Belonging to God
Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church
May 24, 2009

Listen to this sermon.

We have all experienced crises in our lives when our problems seem to overwhelm us. Even though we have tried very hard to do what is right problems befall us and happiness sometimes eludes us. When bad things happen to us we can either fall into despair or we can remember to whom we belong. This is what we will be thinking about today.

But first please pray with me. Lord Jesus, we gather here today in celebration of your resurrection on Easter. This gives us great hope. But sadly we still experience difficulties in our lives, and we need help to remember that when problems arise we can depend on the love of God to sustain us. We pray this in your glorious name. Amen.

NRS Psalm 1:1 Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; 2 but their delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law they meditate day and night. 3 They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper. 4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6 for the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Last weekend I attended the Baccalaureate Worship Service at Occidental College. At one time Occidental was a Presbyterian college, but no more. It is now a secular institution and this was reflected in their multi-faith Baccalaureate service. The Rev. Susan Young, a Presbyterian pastor, serves Occidental as their Interim Director of Religious and Spiritual Life. She designed the Baccalaureate service held in Herrick Chapel last Saturday.

At this multi-faith service the several faith groups at Occidental presented readings from each of their traditions. Most of these focused on what each of us can do to lead a better life. We can be better people. We can work harder. We can be happier. We can be more creative. We can transform the world. All of these ideas resonated in the young minds of new graduates, filling them with hope and motivating them as they embarked on their professional lives.

The student speaker that morning had a very interesting story to tell. Evidently she had experienced few problems in her young privileged life. At Occidental she was studying Geology with the intent of enrolling at one of the leading graduate schools in the country. Although not required for her major, there was one course she needed to take to get into a prestigious graduate program. This course was General Physics. So last fall she took General Physics, and that’s when her problems began. She tried very hard in her Physics class, but her grades were poor. So she hired a tutor, but her grades went lower. She thought that she did pretty well on the final, but was devastated when it came back with a failing grade and with it her dreams of attending a prestigious graduate school when up in smoke.

Faced with a crisis, possibly for the first time in her young life, she turned to faith. She was in an Asian Studies class studying the religions of Japan. And while reading the Wikipedia article on Buddhism she realized that this religion taught many of the same beliefs that she had been raised with in her atheistic family. Buddhism taught her to work hard and be a good person, and if you do these thing you will be happy, like Buddha, and happiness would transform the world. This reinforced her believe that working hard and being good was the right path to leading a happy life. So she decided to become Buddhist and try to be happy like Buddha.

But as I sat in the congregation that day I couldn’t help but think that she had worked hard, very hard, and she did what she was supposed to do, but she had still failed General Physics and had experienced great sadness. Hard work and being good did not lead to happiness in this instance. In fact hard work and being good led to a crisis and she felt terrible. There had to be different answer. Atheism and Buddhism with their emphasis on working hard and being good just didn’t seem to work.

The keynote speaker at Occidental’s Baccalaureate service was the Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chou, Moderator of the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Rev. Young introduced her close friend as the denomination’s representative in multi-faith discussions. Hence Rev. Reyes-Chou was there to provide a Presbyterian response to the atheistic/Buddhist view which we had just heard.

Rev. Reyes-Chou chose this occasion to tell a story about his family. He started by saying that since he was of Chinese descent he is short of stature. In fact his whole family is very short. And interestingly, this led to his daughter being expelled from preschool. Here is how his story went.

After Rev. Reyes-Chou had preached his first sermon at his first church as a new pastor, an elderly woman in the congregation came up to him and said, “It is amazing that a man so small could have a voice so big!” It was then that he realized that working hard or being a good person was less important than realizing that you belong to someone. The key question we ask is “to whom do we belong?”

Rev. Reyes-Chou then pointed out to the graduates of Occidental that whenever they talk about spirituality it’s not about their own spirits, but it’s always about a spirit beyond themselves, out there somewhere. To be spiritual means to belong to a spirit. And the important question is “to which spirit do you belong.”

He then told the congregation a story about his daughter being thrown out of preschool. Like the rest of the family his daughter was short. So whenever the kids in the preschool played house, some of the kids were selected as mothers, others became fathers, but his daughter, being short, was always cast as the baby. This was an endless source of frustration for the little girl, and she took her frustration out on another preschooler by hitting her over the head with a stick. Rev. Reyes-Chou was told to come to the principal’s office that afternoon when he came to pickup his daughter.

Now Bruce Reyes-Chou had been no stranger to the principal’s office, because he had been there many times as a kid, and had no desire to go back there as an adult. So he called his wife and asked her to pickup the child that day. But when she couldn’t he reluctantly drove down to the preschool to meet with the principal.

While in the principal’s office Rev. Reyes-Chou heard what his daughter had done. And he asked her why she had hit her schoolmate with a stick. The four year old replied: “I did it because God wanted me to do it”.

And that’s the point, from the mouth of a preschooler, we belong to God. If we trust in ourselves, our own abilities, hard work, being good, then we are like
the chaff that gets blown about by the wind whenever we experience problems. This is what the student speaker experienced when she took and failed General Physics. Despite her hard work and good intentions she failed and now cannot go to the school of her dreams. Hard work and right living produced only failure and disappointment. But if we belong to God then we are like trees planted near streams of water yielding good fruit in season and having leaves that never wither. This is what Rev. Reyes-Chou has found. Despite his own limitations and failures he has found lasting happiness by belonging to God.

So how do we belong to God? The psalmist tells us in the very first psalm that we belong to God when we meditate on scripture day and night. That’s why it is so important for us to read scripture every day. If you go to my blog on the church’s web site you will see the lectionary reading for each day. These are readings from the Bible that are used by Christians all over the world. There usually are four readings each day from the Old Testament, Psalms, New Testament and Gospel. Another way to read scripture every day is to pick up a copy of Our Daily Bread on our back table. These have daily Bible readings and devotions. I often read them at Early Morning Prayers.

The promise of scripture is that if you meditate on the Word of God every day you will belong to God. This is you only hope when dealing with crises that will arise in your lives. Your happiness depends on your belonging to God and daily meditation on scripture is the key to this happiness. The Heidelberg Catechism puts it this way.

“What is your only comfort, in life and in death?
A. That I belong--body and soul, in life and in death--not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Sermon – Psalm 98 – Sing A New Song

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon – Psalm 98 – Sing A New Song
Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church
May 17, 2009

Listen to this sermon.

Last Thursday two people were joined in marriage. One was from the Philippines. The other was from Taiwan. One plays the cello. The other plays the piano. Victor and Yahsin played for us last week in a concert on Saturday and in worship Sunday morning. Before Thursday they were individual soloists. But now they are playing something new, a duet, a marriage, blending their music together into beautiful harmony. One plays the melody while the other, in softer tones accompanies. Together they join with God in creating something better than what existed before, a new song.

God is calling all of us to sing a new song. God has heard the songs we have been singing, but now God wants a new song of worship and praise. I am not talking about the kind of music we play in church, whether we have classical music, or soft rock contemporary music or something else. What I am talking about is the song we sing to God whenever we approach God in prayer and worship. God hears the song we sing, but according to scripture God wants to hear a new song.

But before we get to all of this, will you pray with me? Holy Spirit, fill each of the people in this congregation with a new song from God. Fill us with the desire to praise God with our whole hearts. Fill us with God’s love so that our hearts will burst with overflowing love for others. We pray this with you, the Son and the Father. Amen.

Psalm 98 – The Message – Eugene H. Peterson

Sing to God a brand-new song. He’s made a world of wonders! He rolled up his sleeves; he set things right. God made history with salvation; he showed the world what he could do. He remembers to love us, a bonus, to his dear family, Israel – indefatigable love. The whole earth comes to attention. Look – God’s work of salvation! Shout your praises to God, everybody! Let loose and sing! Strike up the band! Round up an orchestra to play for God; add on a hundred voiced choir. Feature trumpets and big trombones; fill the air with praise to King God. Let the sea and its fish give a round of applause, with everything living on earth joining in. Let the ocean breakers call out, “Encore!” And the mountains harmonize the finale - a tribute to God when he comes, when he comes to set the earth right. He’ll straighten out the whole world. He’ll put the world right and everyone in it.

This morning I will be sharing with you three stories of people singing new songs. The first is about a woman who came to pray with the pastor. This is not the first time she had been to early morning prayers. She and the pastor had prayed for her health and for the reduction of pain. She and the pastor had prayed for her family. And she and the pastor had prayed for her finances. As she drove to the church she remembered these prayers. It was then that she realized that the prayers she had been offering up to God were always about her problems and her concerns. So she wanted to pray in a different way this time. She wanted to offer prayers not asking God to do something for her. Rather she wanted to do something for God. She wanted to praise God with her whole heart for all blessings she had received.

She arrived at the church and met the pastor for prayers. The pastor, as usual, was ready with a passage from scripture. They opened their Bibles to Psalm 98 and they began to read it out loud.

Psalm 98:1-3 O sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory. 2 The LORD has made known his victory; he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations. 3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.

The pastor had selected, with the help of the Holy Spirit, the perfect word of God for that moment. Through Psalm 98 the pastor and the woman were able to praise God in highest seeing themselves not as helpless beggars asking for something, but as children of God praising God for his great love and steadfast faithfulness.

The woman left that prayer session singing a new song. Her own concerns, although still important, seemed so small when compared to the grandeur of our creator God. And after experiencing God’s abundant love, her heart was filled to overflowing and ready to confront the day with a new song on her lips.

My second story is about a seminary intern who was coming for his weekly supervision with the pastor. As usual they prayed for the intern’s ministry and for the church. Together they offered prayers for individuals in the congregation who were having hard times. Some in the congregation were looking for work. Others needed housing or access to health care. Some were dealing with the effects of old age. Some were concerned for their families. Some were fighting addictions. Everyone in the congregation had some concern to take to God, and it was the pastor’s and intern’s responsibility to bring these concerns to God. Over time the pastor and the intern began to think that there were so many concerns that solving them was impossible. They had focused so much on the problems of the church they had failed to see what God was doing in the church. So they opened a Bible and began to read from Psalm 98.

Psalm 98:4-6 4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises. 5 Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody. 6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD.

The pastor and the intern then realized what the problem was. They had been praying so hard for the concerns of the congregation they had forgotten about God. Their prayers needed to include praise for God. So they resolved to sing a new song by including prayers of praise and thanksgiving. And they realized as they planned the worship service for the following Sunday that everything we do in worship, the sound of the organ and piano, the voices of the choir and soloist, the prayers, and the proclamation of the Word were all acts of praise to the God, revealed to us in Jesus Christ, whom we worship. The intern left the supervision meeting praising God with a new song running over and over again in his head.

And my third story is a about a woman singing a new song after studying scripture. The pastor stopped in on a weekly Bible study. A small group was talking about spiritual maturity. They were wondering how you would know if you have obtained the “full stature of Christ.” One participant was worried about her own spirituality. Problems at home often left her depressed. And when feeling depressed she did not feel connected to God. At times her problems just seemed to overwhelm her. Satan seemed to be challenging her every step on the way. The group gave their ideas about how she could overcome her difficulties and grow in spiritual maturity. What she really needed was to sing a new song. When it was the pastor’s turn to speak he offered these words from Psalm 98.

Psalm 98:7-9 7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who live in it. 8 Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills sing together for joy 9 at the presence of the LORD, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.

The pastor reminded this woman how she had kicked a serious drug habit a few years before. He also reminded her of how hard she had worked trying to bring her children to Christ. So he suggested to her that a God of righteousness and equity would surely approve of what she had done, and that any lingering sin that might still cling to her would surely be washed away by the blood of Christ.

With the realization that God would treat her fairly and with great compassion she was raised from her depression and began to clap her hands and shout praises to this amazing God. The evil spirits which had tormented her were cast out by the praise and gratitude she offered toward God. This was the new song she had been waiting for, a song to replace the hurt and sense of failure she had experience for so long. As she left the Bible study she smiled broadly because she had a new song to sing, praising God, thanking God for the joy she had experienced in God’s presence in the Word.

Each of us has our own old song. Each of us has regrets and failures. Each of us has fears and concerns. We all experience pain and sorrow and disappointment. We offer all these up in the old songs we have been singing to God for so long. But isn’t it time to begin singing new songs of praise to God? With the resurrection of Jesus Christ our sins have been forgiven and we are offered eternal life. So why keep singing the old songs of sin and death. Let’s sing the new songs of forgiveness and life. Let’s sing praises to God for all that God has done for us.

Cora (Stephen) leads us in praising God every Sunday. The reason we sing these songs is to learn them so that as we live our lives during the week we can hum familiar tunes and remember familiar lyrics. If we learn praise songs here in church then we can continue praising God throughout the week. So I urge you to sing enthusiastically in church today and carry a new song of praise with you as your leave this place. Whenever you sing, whenever you pray always remember your new song and praise God for all that God has done for you.

Father in heaven, we praise you for what you have done for us in Jesus Christ. We are overjoyed with the gifts of forgiveness that we have received and the gift of eternal life that we anticipate. So we offer our praises up to you in gratitude for all of your blessings upon us. Receive these offerings of prayer and praise in the name of your son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Sermon Psalm 22:25-31 – When You Fear the Future

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon Psalm 22:25-31 – When You Fear the Future
Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church
May 10, 2009

Listen to this sermon.

Today is Mother’s Day. And much of what we will talk about today is in mothers’ hands. Mothers are usually responsible for raising the young so they have an enormous impact on the future of our world. Many of you are mothers, or grandmothers, or great grandmothers, or desire to be mothers and you know the effects you have had on children. And I respect all you have done to guide future generations.

We are continuing today our celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ in these Sundays of Eastertide. And today’s scripture gives us a glimpse of the resurrection hope we have received. But first, please pray with me.

Holy God, we approach you in worship today in gratitude for the blessings we have received and in the hope for the glorious future you have planned for us in your kingdom. Give me the gift of preaching today so that I may communicate this hope to the congregation. And open their minds to receive this wonderful gift of hope from you. We pray this with your Son and our Lord, Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Psalm 22:25 - 31 25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before those who fear him. 26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD. May your hearts live forever! 27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him. 28 For dominion belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations. 29 To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him. 30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord, 31 and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.

Psalm 22 is a familiar one for us. You may remember that we talked about it just a few weeks ago on Palm Sunday. The opening lines of this psalm were spoken by Jesus from the cross, “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?” These words were probably written by David after a military defeat. He must have wondered where God went to during a disastrous battle. We too often wonder where God is when we need God and God seems to be no where in sight. The experience of the absence of God is frightening because without God we have little control over the present and no control at all over the future. Only God knows the future and has control over it. So we need God to calm our fears about the future.

That is what is happening at the end of the psalm. God is calming our fears about the future. God is telling us not to fear the future because God is in control. And if God is in control then everything will turn out all right. What we need is the gift of faith so that we can trust God with the future and leave our worries behind. And when we receive this gift of faith, and worries of the future leave us, we just can’t help but jump up and down and praise God. So let’s look at the promises of the future that God made to David which results in faith and praise for God.

The first thing we know is that the future will be characterized by justice and righteousness. This means that everyone will receive their daily bread and no one will go hungry. This aspect of the Kingdom of God has been partially accomplished. Here in Eagle Rock the poor receive Food Stamps and General Relief. The area churches supplement these benefits with programs of their own. An organization that we are a part of called Churches Assisting Neighbors or CAN facilitates the work of the area churches with information and volunteers. The Eagle Rock Seventh Day Adventist Church has a homeless dinner on Mondays. St. Barnabus Episcopal Church also has a homeless dinner on Wednesdays. St Dominic Catholic Church serves a bag lunch during the week and has a dinner on Fridays just before the Eagle Rock Farmer’s Market. And, of course, many of the poor in our community attend our 5:30 service and fellowship dinner on Sunday evenings. As you can see the prediction of the Psalmist that the poor will be fed and satisfied is partially being met here in Eagle Rock and the churches still have more work to do.

The second thing that we know about the future is that everyone who wants to know God will be filled with praise. This too is happening in Eagle Rock as many churches open their doors for worship and praise every Sunday. We are right here every Sunday at 9:45, 3 and 5:30 to worship and praise our creator God. But this part of God’s kingdom is also only partially met in Eagle Rock. Although there are many churches in our community not everyone who is longing for God in Eagle Rock comes to worship. This is our great opportunity as we go about our daily lives in this town to invite everyone we meet to come here for praise and worship. Believe it or not there are still many people who would love to come to church, but no one has invited them. This is a golden opportunity for us to grow this church.

The third thing that will happen in the future is that all who have known God and worshiped God but have fallen away will remember God and return to the church. We all know people who used to come to church but stopped. God’s promise is that no matter how far someone has drifted away, God’s love is so powerful that they will be pulled back. This is our great hope for our children who have wandered away from church. God still loves them and will find a way to bring them back to the church and to the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Just keep praying for your children and grandchildren and great grandchildren that God will give them the gift of faith and the need to praise God in worship.

The fourth prediction for the future in this psalm is that God will give the gift of faith to all the families of the earth, and this will result in universal worship and praise of the Lord our God. Of course this has yet to occur. Although faith is rapidly increasing in parts of the world including South America and Africa there are still large areas where the faith is present in only small portions of the population. This is why the church must continue its missionary work among those people who have yet to hear and receive the gospel. It is vital that the church continue and expand this effort to bring about the conversion of all the people of the earth to the true faith in Jesus Christ.

The fifth prediction for the future is that God will have dominion over all the governments on earth. Although the Kingdom of God is our ideal we are still waiting for it and it has not yet arrived. Few, if any, governments on the earth put God at the center of their policies. Many, like the current United States government, believe in a wall between church and state. President Obama broke tradition this week and did not celebrate the National Day of Prayer in the White House. We know that one day all the kings, premiers, presidents, and dictators will bow down to the one true God. And on that day the Kingdom of God will be firmly established for eternity.

The sixth prediction in this psalm is that everyone who is richly blessed by God will bow down in worship. We are a long way from this happening. Most people in this country believe that the things they have acquired have come to them by their own hard work. We live in expensive houses and drive nice cars thinking somehow we deserve these things because of our own efforts. Therefore they trigger no sense of gratitude and we fail to worship and praise God. Only when we realized that our prosperity results from God’s blessing will we become grateful for what God has done for us and bow down in worship to our living God.

The seventh promise for the future in this psalm is that those who have died will be given the opportunity to worship God. This is why we say in the Apostles Creed that Jesus Christ “descended into hell”. The saving grace of Jesus Christ extends even to the souls of the departed who will one day bow down in worship. This gives us great hope that those loved ones who have died without ever receiving the gift of faith will one day receive that gift and join us in heaven worshiping and praising God.

And the final promise of the Psalm is that future generations will be told about God and Jesus Christ. This is our mission as the church. We are here to proclaim the gospel, generation after generation until everyone has been brought to salvation through Jesus Christ. Our work with children is especially important because this is how we ensure that praise and worship of God will continue into the future. And this is the work of you mothers. You have the responsibility of teaching your children about God so that they might receive the gift of faith and bow down in worship to almighty God.

So according to David we have no reason to fear the future. In the future the poor will be cared for, those seeking God will be filled with praise, those who have fallen away will return to the faith, everyone in the world will hear the gospel and respond in faith, God will rule the world in justice and righteousness, everyone will realize that they have been richly blessed and will bow down in worship, even those who have died will have the opportunity to respond to God’s gifts, and the generations that follow us will continue to praise and worship God. With this good news about the future, what is there to fear? Amen.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Sermon – Psalm 23 – When You Have Want

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon – Psalm 23 – When You Have Want
Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church
May 3, 2009

Listen to this sermon.

Every week we gather here in this sanctuary for prayer. These prayers start on Sunday mornings at 9:45 and continue until 6:30 in the evening. We are praying at each of our three worship services. The Filipino Community Presbyterian Church prays too. We are all praying for things we want. People of God have always been asking God to satisfy wants since creation. But today we have an example of prayer that does not focus on what we want. Rather it is a prayer contemplating God. And this makes this prayer very important indeed.

Please pray it with me.

Psalm 23:1-6 NRS Psalm 23:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; 3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff-- they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long.

Amen.

Of course this prayer is the 23rd psalm. This psalm is the favorite of most Americans. It is said frequently at funerals. During the American Civil War pastors had so many funerals to do they had no time to prepare so that simply recited this psalm over and over again. I memorized this psalm as a child, and I am certain that many of you did as well. Once I was preaching on the 23rd psalm at a nursing home. I was told not to expect any responses from the congregation; most would not even be aware of what I was doing. But after my sermon I asked them to join with me in saying together the 23rd psalm from the King James Version, and I was thrilled when nearly everyone in the room joined in.

This beautiful prayer was written by David probably at a time when he was fleeing an enemy. As David hid in the desert he probably saw a Bedouin tent off in the distance – a huge camel hair tent where the community lived. Knowing what Bedouins were like he took refuge with them. And that night he realized how much God was like his Bedouin hosts.

Bedouins are well known, even today, for two things: how well they care for their animals, and their wonderful hospitality towards guests. Their livelihood is determined by how they care for their animals. They are always on the lookout for new pasture for them to graze and new watering holes where they could drink. But it is their great love for guests which make them well known to all who attempt to cross the desert on a camel. Anyone who is lost, or hungry, or thirsty is welcomed and provided with a joyous feast and place to spend the night.

The Bible is clear that the Bedouins are God’s people. The patriarch Abraham was a Bedouin wandering though the desert and looking for grazing pasture and water. God pointed Abraham in the direction of the Judean desert, the Promised Land. It is clear that Abraham took care of his animals very well and built up a sizable herd. It is also clear that Abraham provided hospitality to his guests, with joyous feasts, places to sleep, and provision for the journey ahead whenever strangers showed up.

Today Bedouin villages can be seen near cities in Palestine. Palestinians go to their tents to buy meat, cheese, eggs and other products. The Bedouins stock up on provisions and then move on to new watering holes with land suitable for grazing. Theirs is a nomadic lifestyle that has lasted for thousands of years.

When I visited Palestine a few years ago my church group was taken to a Bedouin village near Bethlehem. There was a large camel skin tent. Inside were hundreds of large colorful cushions. We were invited in for a great feast of roasted chicken, rice, olives and pita bread. There was much singing and dancing. We all experienced an extremely joyful evening. It was an experience I will never forget. And I believe that this was the experience David had when he wrote the 23rd Psalm.

As David began his prayer he realized that these Bedouin shepherds had provided for all of his needs. He was no longer thirsty, no longer dusty, no longer tired. His own animals and men were well cared for. So he approached God in a new way. All of his wants were satisfied. He didn’t have to pray for those wants. He could focus his entire prayer on God.

It was then that David realized that he was seeing God at work. God was working though the Bedouin shepherds to care for his needs. Then he realized something about God. God was like a Bedouin shepherd. Like a shepherd, God had provided David with everything he needed: water to drink, food to eat, and place to rest and pray.

Then David realized that if he was to claim to be a follower of this God he would have to care for the poor just as God had cared for him. And David, who has been raised as shepherd, knew that he had to care for people just as he had cared for sheep as a youth. So by claiming to be follower of Yahweh, David understood the obligation to be a shepherd for those in need. He was to protect those who were threatened with death. He was to use the authority of his kingly rod and make it a shepherd’s crook to comfort and protect the poor and needy. Despite all of the constraints of money and resources that everyone has, David was to care for the poor with extravagant gifts just as he was cared for by his Bedouin hosts. The tables of the poor were to be covered with food. The heads of the poor were to be anointed with oil. The cups of the poor were to be filled with wine.

This obligation on David to treat others just as he had been treated by the Bedouins was passed on to his descendents who sat on the throne of Jerusalem. But eventually David’s heirs forgot that all the blessings they were receiving from God had to be turned into extravagant blessings for others in need. They forgot to be good shepherds, and God removed them as shepherds of the people. As the people of God were carried into exile the prophets comforted them by telling them that God would become their new shepherd. In the absence of a king the people of God were to depend on God for all their needs.

For hundreds of years people waited for God to send a new shepherd of the sheep who would care for them just as the Bedouin shepherds had cared for David. They waited for a new shepherd who would care for them just as their ancestor Abraham cared for visitors to his tent. They waited for coming of the Good Shepherd.

Then in the first century a man came from Nazareth to proclaim good news to the poor and needy. He extravagantly cared for the poor by multiplying bread to satisfy their needs. He called himself the Good Shepherd, and laid down his own life for his sheep the people he loved. His name was Jesus.

As followers of Jesus Christ we are called to imitate him as the Good Shepherd. We are to imitate Bedouins and to care for the thirsty, the hungry, and the tired, anyone who comes our way. We have the obligation to provide for them extravagantly just as God has extravagantly blessed us. We are called by God to provide extravagant meals for poor, and help them to find a place to sleep at night. We are the good shepherds and the poor in our community are our sheep.

And this is why we have gathered today. This is the table of the Good Shepherd. The cup is full. The table is prepared. This is a great Bedouin feast. So let’s be happy and joyous as gather around the table. Everyone is invited who is a follower of Jesus. We will have three seatings around this table today. Then at 6:30 tonight we will provide an extravagant meal for the poor in our community because we are followers of the Good Shepherd. Amen.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Sermon – Psalm 4 – When You Can’t Sleep

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church
Sermon – Psalm 4 – When You Can’t Sleep
April 26, 2009

Listen to this sermon.


We have all had nights when we cannot sleep. We go to bed but our minds keep on working. We continue to think over the day’s events, the troubles that befell us, our worries and concerns. We close our eyes and try to go to sleep, but we can’t. So we toss and turn, go the bathroom, get some cold chicken from the refrigerator to eat, watch late night television, turn on the radio, or get dressed and go for a walk. We do all of these things hoping that we will become drowsy and go to sleep, but nothing seems to work.

The Psalmist was having one of these nights when he wrote Psalm 4. But before we look at this wonderful Psalm will you pray with me? Father in heaven open our hearts this day to receive that grace you have for us. Bless us with the gift of understanding as we hear your word read and proclaimed. Bless me with the gift of preaching as I proclaim your word to this church. And help us on those nights when we can’t get to sleep with your assurance, peace and love. We pray this in the name of your son and our risen Lord. Amen.

NRS Psalm 4:1 Answer me when I call, O God of my right! You gave me room when I was in distress. Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer. 2 How long, you people, shall my honor suffer shame? How long will you love vain words, and seek after lies? Selah 3 But know that the LORD has set apart the faithful for himself; the LORD hears when I call to him. 4 When you are disturbed, do not sin; ponder it on your beds, and be silent. Selah 5 Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD. 6 There are many who say, "O that we might see some good! Let the light of your face shine on us, O LORD!" 7 You have put gladness in my heart more than when their grain and wine abound. 8 I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O LORD, make me lie down in safety.

[Answer me when I call, O God of my right! You gave me room when I was in distress. Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer. … You have put gladness in my heart more than when their grain and wine abound. I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O LORD, make me lie down in safety.]

King David has written a psalm about sleep. David was an expert about sleep. In our first reading today David helped King Saul who was having trouble sleeping. Saul was plagued by an evil spirit which kept him awake at night. David would play the lyre which had the effect of helping Saul get to sleep. So in a way David is an ancient authority on getting to sleep and his wisdom on this subject is contained in the fourth Psalm.

I usually get to sleep pretty well, but occasionally I toss and turn and just can’t get to sleep. My favorite way of dealing with sleeplessness is by drinking some warm milk and then going back to bed. This usually works, but when it doesn’t I turn to prayer and then to some late night television.

I have often wondered why pastors take Mondays off. They could choose any day of the week. But now I know. After meeting people all day Sunday and praying for them I sometimes find it hard to fall asleep Sunday night. The day’s events keep replaying in my mind. I am in a continual conversation with God about those things that are happening to people coming to our church. So sometimes I toss and turn and find that sleep comes much later than normal. If I were to try to work on Mondays I would be dead tired. I have tried, with the help of some coffee, to wakeup and be productive on Monday mornings, but fatigue usually catches up with me and I am not really productive. Thankfully God gives all of us, including pastors, a Sabbath rest.

When David couldn’t sleep he turned to God in prayer. He reminded God of times past when God had relieved him and gave him rest. So he asked God to calm his fears and settle his mind so that he could get some rest. And David was confident that God would listen to his prayer and give him the rest he needed.

This is where we should start when we can’t get to sleep. We join our voices with David and ask God to settle our minds and help us to sleep. But even though we pray for sleep we still can’t sleep. Why?
[How long, you people, shall my honor suffer shame? How long will you love vain words, and seek after lies? Selah - You have put gladness in my heart more than when their grain and wine abound.]

We would hope that our prayers would always be heard by and acted upon for our benefit, but that is not the case. When we pray that God will settle us down and let us get to sleep we expect that to happen, but we all have the experience of praying for rest and rest does not come. The reason for this is that prayer from our perspective is different from prayer from God’s perspective.

When we pray we experience gladness in our hearts because we are coming into the presence of our creator. But from God’s perspective God sees us as sinners asking for things we don’t deserve. You see, sin separates us from God, and that separation is also there when we pray. So prayers are not always answered by God the way we hope. This is not a reason to stop praying, but when we pray we should first ask for forgiveness and then petition God to satisfy our needs. Thus, when we pray for rest on sleepless nights rather than get angry at God for ignoring our prayers we should confess our own sin which has displeased God. By humbling ourselves we are more likely to make our case before our supreme judge and receive the gift of rest.

So on those sleepless nights when you toss and turn in bed, honestly confess your sins to God and ask God for forgiveness and a good night’s sleep. Then close your eyes and get some sleep, but as we all know that doesn’t always work either.
[But know that the LORD has set apart the faithful for himself; the LORD hears when I call to him … There are many who say, "O that we might see some good! Let the light of your face shine on us, O LORD!"]

The problem is that we and God have different expectations for prayer. God sees prayer as the vehicle were God communicates to us that God loves us very much, and that God has chosen us to be God’s people. God makes us holy, set aside for God’s use. When God hears our prayers God knows that we are ready to be shaped, molded into an instrument God can use for God’s purposes. But we have very different expectations for prayer. We expect that God will do something good for us. We pray to receive some benefit. So, God uses prayer to change us while we use prayer to get God to do something for us. Even though God hears our prayers it appears to us that God does not always answer our prayers. But the reverse is true. God always answers our prayers by making us more holy not by giving us material benefits.

All of us pray for the things we want and need. Some of us pray for our own health, or for the health of a loved one. Some pray for a job or a place to live. Some pray for a relationship or a spouse. These are all good things to pray for. God hears these prayers and will answer them in God’s way. And God’s way is to make us better people. As we become better people we find that the blessings we have prayed for come true because people shaped by God truly live better lives. So when you can’t get to sleep at night, pray to God, but expect not that God will change something for you, rather expect that God will hear your prayers and that you will be changed by God.

[When you are disturbed, do not sin; ponder it on your beds, and be silent. Selah Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD.]

David knew that there were some concrete things that you could do to keep yourself from becoming emotionally upset to the point of disturbing your sleep. The first step is to refrain from sinning. Sin will keep you up a night. If your drink too much, or cheat on your spouse, or lie, or steal or do any of the things we know are sinful our consciences will warn us by keeping us up at night. Most of our worries are that our past sins might be catching up with us. But if we refrain from sinning we will sleep better at night because we will not be tormented by what we have done. If we have sinned then a sleepless night is an indication that it is time for us to confess the sin and repent. Then when we have experienced the forgiveness of God we can simply be quiet, lay our heads on the pillow and get the rest we need.

Another way of ensuring that you will get a good night’s sleep is to worship God. I have found that a daily habit of early morning prayers is a great way to ensure a good night’s sleep. Not only am I dead tired around 9PM every night, I can get the rest I need knowing that I will have the opportunity to talk with God about anything bothering me the next morning. This cuts through my worries and lets me get to sleep. By praying every day, by meditating on scripture every day, or by reading a devotional every day we form a habit of bringing all our concerns to God. And once released from the burden of carrying own concerns we can get to sleep. So I urge you to start a daily practice of worship. Join us for early morning prayers or find something that is right for you. Daily worship will free your minds from your concerns because you would have given your concerns to God.

And the final bit of advice that David gives us about getting to sleep is to always put our trust in the Lord. If we depend solely on our own abilities and resources we will surely fail and this concern will keep us up at night. But if we trust in God to care for us this relives us from the burden of depending on ourselves and allows us to get a good night’s sleep. We trust that God will provide for what we need and will guide us in the right paths. All we have to do is to follow God. By following God we can get to sleep.

Lord Jesus, as we follow you we ask that you forgive our sins and help us to lead new lives. Help us to become the people God created us to be. Help us to trust that God will provide for us all that we need. Take all of our cares and concerns on your shoulders and help us to get the sleep we need. Amen.