Difference between revisions of "Sermon for June 25th, 2023"
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I think you could also look at those lines poetically—God created the heavens and the earth, and we are all his guests, traveling through his world, sheltering here for a brief while during our short lives. And what kind of guests does God particularly welcome? | I think you could also look at those lines poetically—God created the heavens and the earth, and we are all his guests, traveling through his world, sheltering here for a brief while during our short lives. And what kind of guests does God particularly welcome? | ||
| − | Verse 2: The ones who: DO walk in the way of integrity; who DO work at doing what’s right; who DO speak truth from the heart. This is our first list of DOs. And all of these things have in common that they are inward things, interior things—things that have to do with our thoughts, our choices, our emotions. That’s where it all begins. | + | Verse 2: The ones who: DO walk in the way of integrity; who DO work at doing what’s right; who DO speak truth from the heart. |
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| + | This is our first list of DOs. And all of these things have in common that they are inward things, interior things—things that have to do with our thoughts, our choices, our emotions. That’s where it all begins. Notice that the Psalm doesn’t specify what exactly constitutes integrity, how do we know what’s right, how do we know what’s true? It kind of presumes we already know. | ||
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| + | That may seem like an over-simplification; you may not always know what the right thing to do is in a complicated situation…but I think the key here is simply good intent. We all know, on a basic instinctual level, when our inner thoughts are unkind or hateful, or resentful. And what begins in our hearts and minds will ultimately manifest in our words, and then our actions, and then our lifestyles. Psalm 15 reminds us that the place to start is with a simple desire to be good, to do what’s right, to speak what’s true. If we keep going back to that, we may not always have the right answer, but we will always be pointed in the right direction. | ||
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| + | Verse 3 continues, this time with our first list of “DON’Ts.” Who does God welcome? The ones who: DON’T slander with twisted tongue; who DON’T malign family or friends; who DON’T pile shame upon their neighbors. | ||
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| + | Notice what all these have in common? They all have to do with the first thing comes out of our thoughts and emotions—our words, our speech. The first things that actually have an impact on the people around us. And usually, our words have the most effect on the people closest to us—in this case, our neighbors, our family, our friends. In other words, after you’ve worked on mastering what goes on inside of you, next work on mastering what goes on right outside of you, or nearest you. For one thing, your friends, family and neighbors will be a more forgiving audience than the wider world. If you can’t speak kindly and respectfully of those who already love you or like you, good luck trying to do that with people who are indifferent or even hostile. | ||
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| + | 4The ones who: | ||
| + | DO perceive the wicked as worthless; | ||
| + | DO give weight to the ways of the godly; | ||
| + | DO keep their word, even when it hurts | ||
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| + | The ones who: | ||
| + | DON’T barter back and forth and back again | ||
| + | 5DON’T enrich themselves at others’ expense | ||
| + | DON’T demand bribes from decent beings. | ||
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| + | The ones who DO all of these things… DON’T ever falter or fall. | ||
Revision as of 14:21, 24 June 2023
I have to admit…after two weeks in Scotland—one week of intense research for my dissertation, followed by another another intense week with my son hiking and backpacking over 40 miles up and down remote highland hills—then a transatlantic flight, going through customs, delayed flights, baggage mix ups, another three hour flight back to El Paso arriving at 11pm, and jet lag…I was totally going to recycle an old sermon to preach this week.
But then I read the Psalm I had originally planned to preach on today, Psalm 15. I was struck by its beauty and simplicity, the symmetry of its poetry in Hebrew, and the weight of its advice. I thought of my daughter Abigail, who is midway through her 15th year of life, and like most teenagers today faced with difficult choices and decisions in a complex culture where social norms, rules and values seem to change every day.
And so I couldn’t help myself. Not only did I write the sermon, I also decided to do my own translation of Psalm 15 from the original Hebrew. There’s nothing really wrong with the NRSV translation in your pew bibles, but I wanted to make a translation that really highlights the poetic features that are so clear in the Hebrew—the alliteration, the meter, the structure and even the playfulness of this poem, all as it dispenses some pretty profound advice for navigating through life’s challenges. So this translation, and this sermon, are dedicated to my daughter Abigail—and really to anyone searching for sense and simplicity in a complicated world.
Psalm 15:1-5 (OT p. 495)
David’s Song of DOs and DON’Ts. 1YHWH, who can stay at your shelter? Who may inhabit your holy hill? 2The ones who: DO walk in the way of integrity DO work at doing what’s right DO speak truth from the heart; 3The ones who: DON’T slander with twisted tongue DON’T malign family or friends DON’T pile shame upon their neighbors; 4The ones who: DO perceive the wicked as worthless; DO give weight to the ways of the godly; DO keep their word, even when it hurts The ones who: DON’T barter back and forth and back again 5DON’T enrich themselves at others’ expense DON’T demand bribes from decent beings. The ones who DO all of these things… DON’T ever falter or fall.
Psummer of Psalms VI: Psalm 15
Right at the beginning, Psalm 15 is attributed to King David—of course we’re never really sure whether that means it’s a Psalm “by” David, “about” David, “to” David, or “for” David—whichever it is, I’ve simply chosen to translate that bit as “David’s Song” because that’s what a Psalm (מִזְמ֗וֹר / mizmor) is…a song. And this song is a sequence of DOs and DON’Ts—things you should and shouldn’t do if you if you want to enter into the presence of God.
Some biblical scholars actually think that Psalm 15 is part of a temple entrance liturgy—it would have been sung as a call and response while people were gathering in front of the temple in Jerusalem for worship. Hence the opening lines in verse 1: YHWH, who can stay at your shelter? Who may inhabit your holy hill? That part would have been sung by the temple priests, and then the various answers to the question might have been sung by different groups of people as they came in.
I think you could also look at those lines poetically—God created the heavens and the earth, and we are all his guests, traveling through his world, sheltering here for a brief while during our short lives. And what kind of guests does God particularly welcome?
Verse 2: The ones who: DO walk in the way of integrity; who DO work at doing what’s right; who DO speak truth from the heart.
This is our first list of DOs. And all of these things have in common that they are inward things, interior things—things that have to do with our thoughts, our choices, our emotions. That’s where it all begins. Notice that the Psalm doesn’t specify what exactly constitutes integrity, how do we know what’s right, how do we know what’s true? It kind of presumes we already know.
That may seem like an over-simplification; you may not always know what the right thing to do is in a complicated situation…but I think the key here is simply good intent. We all know, on a basic instinctual level, when our inner thoughts are unkind or hateful, or resentful. And what begins in our hearts and minds will ultimately manifest in our words, and then our actions, and then our lifestyles. Psalm 15 reminds us that the place to start is with a simple desire to be good, to do what’s right, to speak what’s true. If we keep going back to that, we may not always have the right answer, but we will always be pointed in the right direction.
Verse 3 continues, this time with our first list of “DON’Ts.” Who does God welcome? The ones who: DON’T slander with twisted tongue; who DON’T malign family or friends; who DON’T pile shame upon their neighbors.
Notice what all these have in common? They all have to do with the first thing comes out of our thoughts and emotions—our words, our speech. The first things that actually have an impact on the people around us. And usually, our words have the most effect on the people closest to us—in this case, our neighbors, our family, our friends. In other words, after you’ve worked on mastering what goes on inside of you, next work on mastering what goes on right outside of you, or nearest you. For one thing, your friends, family and neighbors will be a more forgiving audience than the wider world. If you can’t speak kindly and respectfully of those who already love you or like you, good luck trying to do that with people who are indifferent or even hostile.
4The ones who:
DO perceive the wicked as worthless; DO give weight to the ways of the godly; DO keep their word, even when it hurts The ones who: DON’T barter back and forth and back again 5DON’T enrich themselves at others’ expense DON’T demand bribes from decent beings. The ones who DO all of these things… DON’T ever falter or fall.
