The Psalmists are great at giving thanks for things that God has done. I am amazed at the history that often pours forth in the midst of a psalm. God has been faithful, and even in hard times, the Psalmist clings to that hope that God will be faithful again.
Look at Psalm 136.
Over and over throughout this Psalm, the refrain echos "give thanks to the Lord for his love endures forever."
In good times (like creation) and in bad times (like attacks from the enemy) Gods love endures forever.
So, now, it's your turn. If you were to write a new Psalm 136, what would it look like?
What are the highlights and lowlights in your life?
Where have you seen evidence that God's love truly does endure forever?
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I grew up in a small narrow world. A time and space of racial prejudism. A time of fear and distrust. I clearly remember the first time I ever got into trouble with authority; for beating up a bully.
There was only one black child in my grade school, and only one seat open on the school bus that morning. I sat next to him in the back of the bus; I had no choice. We were quickly confronted by the school bully, several grades ahead of me and pounds and pounds of meanness beyond me. I stood up and took him down. As a small meek child, it should have been my shining moment; but I acted not to defend my neighbor. I was mad because the bully had called me a "n****r lover."
Since I did not have a church or faith to tell me otherwise, nothing much changed until college. While I mourned the loss of John, Martin and Bobby, and knew that something was seriously wrong with my world, I did not have the tools to understand or change.
As a zoology major, I learned not to apply my motives when studying the behaviour of others. Later, as an anthropolgy major, I then learned not to assume my behaviour was the norm when studying the behaviour of others. As a religious studies minor I learned that our commonalities far outweigh our differences; if we don't use scales of prejudism and selfcentrism.
I will never forget the years of guilt that I developed over my selfish motives on the bus. How did that child I failed to befriend end up? I will always remember the harmful names I, my friends, and all of our parents used to seperate and divide. How much did we contribute to the hate and mistrust that has so long divided us?
Yet in this historic week, where such a country has elected an african-american to be our leader through dark and scary times, we have overcome ourselves. I can not help but feel that God was in it; that my failure on the bus became the thorn in my side making me more sensitive, more aware, more open.
That God forgave our collective weakness and stuck with us through the highs and the lows of our wanderings in the wilderness of prejudism so that we could see this day's dawning amazes me. His love must and truly endure forever!
I've heard from several people that the 11/9 service was great! Your sermon, the testimonies, Chris' readings, and the fantastic song leader have all been lifted up. I was off visiting other churches that weekend, a size extra-large and a size small. Neither had a sermon that held a candle to one of yours in depth, warmth, joy, hope and Spirit.
It is no secret that I was disappointed in our church leadership's failure to lead when it came to decide whether to take the leap and hire a full time pastor. And yet, if we had decided sooner (my "chronos" time vs. God's "kairos" time), we may have not been blessed with you. So, I am thankful for a God who uses our weakensses and failures to achieve His ends. In spite of ourselves!
If I could just let God be God...
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