I was a little concerned yesterday that the sermon might not connect since there was little in the way of direct application. Rather, it was a trip back into time where we could join with our brothers and sisters of long ago in the liturgy of the ancient festivals. We could do so knowing that Jesus is the fulfillment of the feasts, thus Jesus is the point of each Psalm we prayed. One comment I heard let me know that connection had taken place for at least one person. She said, "I realized as we went through the psalms that God has always had a people." Well said--God does not simply have individual sons and daughters; He has a people! We are connected.
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I forget which sermon it was, but, back maybe a few years ago, you preached a sermon with a heavy influence on the tradition of Judaism. I can’t remember their Hebrew titles, but basically, the having scripture nailed to our door or entry way, and the practice of standing up and reading together from scripture. The awesomeness of scripture presented to so many ways is that they are so deeply traditional, rooted into our worship driven DNA. The most compelling of these practices, for me at least, is the standing together and reciting from scripture…and not just scripture on the projector, but the Word written in the text, written pages. Don’t get me wrong here, I love technology, but there is something profoundly deep in holding, cradling, the written Word in our hands and standing together, reading together in a holy chant.
This is what I really got out of yesterday, chanting together in a connective practice of worship. To be honest, I felt out of step that Sunday morning. Despite the awesome meeting I had with fellow seekers of Christ who have a passion and desire to serve in various homeless ministries this year, I was distracted by the current sufferings in my life, the unsure fate of my unborn child…though I trust God and I hope and pray everything will be normal and my daughter will be safe, but with all the world weighing on my mind, it’s hard to focus my heart on worship. The value in ancient liturgy is their easiness in use. The words I’m feeling are already written down. I don’t have to work to write them or get them out, I just have to let go and worship God with all the emotions I’m feeling.
This is why I love praying the Psalms, not because I’m lazy, but because the work has already been done for me. It’s like Jesus is whispering to me, telling me to “relax, my burden is light, you don’t need to pray to me with elegant thoughts… pray what I’ve inspired others to pray…relax…let go, you don’t need to impress me…just worship me.”
Thank you Byron for yesterday and all these others Sunday’s praying the Psalms. It has been a blessing to be able to simple come and worship.
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