June 8, 2008

Pentecost 4 , 2008
Hosea 5:15-6:6;
Psalm 50;
Romans 4:13-25;
Matthew 9:9-13,18-36;


PSALM 50

  1. A psychologist at the University of California, Sonja Lyubomirsky, did lots of research on what makes us happy as human beings.  She created a list of 8 steps to a more satisfactory life, and can you guess what number 1 is?  Count your blessings.  Learn to be grateful.  Gratitude journals have become quite popular in the past few years.  They are journals specifically meant for writing down your blessings each day, and many people claim keeping a gratitude journal has changed their lives.
    1. We hear a lot about thankfulness in our Psalm for today—Psalm 50.
      1. The introduction to the Psalm (vs. 1-6) describes an appearance of God on earth for a time of judgment.  In essence, God summons all people from east to west, and calls the heavens and the earth to witness an act of judgment.  It’s setting up some words from God that God finds to be very important—listen!
      2. The part we heard this morning, vs. 7-15, involve words of judgment concerning the relationship of God’s people to God.
        1. the people are offering appropriate sacrifices to God
        2. But…God wants MORE
        3. God wants God’s relationship to be BIGGER with God’s people
        4. Vs. 14-15 say this:  “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High.  Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

 

  1. God is asking for MORE.
    1. God does not desire the empty sacrifices of animals—God wants God’s people engaged in a new and deeper way with God.
    2. What are OUR empty sacrifices to God today?
      1. We come to church, we go through the motions…
      2. We say the prayers we are supposed to, but we don’t think about them
      3. We confess our sins, but don’t really take the time to truly repent
      4. We get caught up in the negative parts of life and forget to be grateful for what we have
        1. We become like the Israelites, grumbling to God after their deliverance from Egypt
        2. We become inwardly focused, thinking that if just certain things about our lives were different, we’d be able to put more effort into our faith life
          1. Once my schedule slows down…
          2. Once things seem easier…
          3. Once my kids are out of the house…or for me, once my child is sleeping through the night!
          4. Once summer gets here and I get a break from school…
      5. We are all guilty of these things.  It’s part of being human.
      6. What do these empty sacrifices lead to?
        1. They lead us to detach
        2. To look for God in the wrong places
        3. To find satisfaction in our lives through earthly things…you know what they are.
        4. GOD WANTS MORE

 

  1. We hear great words of comfort in this psalm—that God wants us to be thankful and call upon God in times of trouble and we will be delivered. 
    1. But I know it is not as easy as simply trying to be more thankful or remember to ask God for help.
      1. There are times in all of our lives when we experience something that affects us so deeply we can’t, from the bottom of our hearts, feel any thankfulness or joy in our relationship to God.
      2. Sometimes we are so broken we cannot find the words to call upon God in our time of trouble
      3. It is at those times that we cling to the promises God has made
        1. We can remember what God has already done
        2. God has given us an eternal hope
          1. Knowing that God loved us enough to change the path of history
          2. God saved us through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus
          3. This is when we remember God’s relationship to us is bigger than we could ever imagine.
    1. Many of you know the name F. Melius Christiansen.  He was a well-known director of the St. Olaf Choir (essentially creating the choir and making it what it is today) from 1903 to 1944.  He also led a life full of sorrow—he lost 3 of his children when they were young.  The last child he lost, Carl, died at the age of 10 in a car accident.  In that same accident his wife was badly burned and took many months to recover.  Christiansen essentially isolated himself for many months and was hard and bitter.  He came out of this period of grief with a composition of Psalm 50.  The words are, “Offer unto God that sacrifice of thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the Lord, and call upon me in the day of thy trouble:  I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me.”  First sung in 1923.
    2. (PLAY SONG)
    3. He only had the choir perform it four more times in his life—in the next 20 years of directing the choir.

 

  1. We underestimate how BIG our relationship with God is.
    1. When God approaches God’s people in this psalm, God could, of course, ask for anything God wants.
    2. Does God ask for perfect attendance at church?  Perfect examples of our sacrifices to God?  Perfect behavior on our part?  NO.
    3. God asks for a relationship with us.  A BIG relationship.
      1. God asks us to be thankful.
        1. Asking for thankfulness implies that God has already done something—God has acted first, and we are blessed to have something to be thankful for!
        2. God loved us first.  God created us.  God saved us.  We are blessed.
      2. God wants a living, active, two-way relationship with us.
        1. God not only wants us to be thankful for all God has done, God also wants us to call upon him in our time of trouble.
          1. I remember when my son was first born, the night feeding seemed endless.  He ate every two hours around the clock, and I was exhausted.  I could hardly wait until he was a little more independent from me…and now that he is nearly two and sleeping through the night, I don’t mind occasional night wakings.  He is getting so independent now, it sometimes feels like the night wakings are the only time he will actually cuddle with me now for more than 10 seconds!
          2. God enjoys being needed in this way too.  God wants to be the loving parent who is there for us when we need someone.  God finds great joy in responding to our needs and bringing us tender comfort.
      3. In our times of trouble that surely come, God gives us tools.
        1. God gives us the tools to a richer life—one is remembering to be grateful.
        2. Another is remembering we always have a God who wants to be called upon.
        3. And knowing that in difficult times we can remember what God has already done for us and feel grateful—we can cling to that promise.

4.  And we can be assured we have a God who wants a relationship with us that is living, reciprocated, and BIGGER than we can even imagine.  AMEN!