'For God
alone my soul waits…. God alone is my rock and salvation ….
Trust in God at all times, O people!' How easily the words from
Psalm 62 sometimes roll off our tongues as we read them to ourselves
or recite them together as we did just now. I think, however,
those of us who live in comfort have a greater challenge than
those who do not live in comfort really taking in - 'for God
alone my soul waits.' We are easily lulled by/distracted in
our comforts depending on/believing these comforts are what
it is all about. The psalmist, before the twentieth century
or even before Jesus was born, warns of putting one's trust
in wealth or even yearning or reaching out for such wealth come
by illicit means. Relying on wealth, social prestige, intellectual
achievement or personal skill will inevitably fall short. No,
the psalmist tells us to Trust in God at all times.
As I read
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (he also
wrote the riveting, touching The Kite Runner) which describes
in fiction the recent fifty-year history and culture of Afghanistan,
I am reminded that some can live only in the hope of the constancy
of God's presence. A different culture with its different customs
and history make it seem more obvious from this reader's point
of view that we can't always depend on society, groups, individuals,
or governments. The movie The Matrix pointed that out in a different
way: that what was reality was lie, not dependable. Another
movie of a young man, The Truman Show, apparently living his
whole life controlled by a television producer, under watchful
eyes round the world was the ultimate reality show. But the
life he lived was not real; contrived by one person, it was
not dependable.
Each morning I try to remind myself of this
living God who makes my life full; makes it real. I ask if God
were trying to tell me something, would I know; if God were
reassuring me or challenging me, would I notice. I read scripture
and pray. How do you remember that it is God who so utterly
holds your life? How do you remind yourselves to daily trust
in God and not the palm pilot?
Our reading from Jonah underscores
how Jonah, believing/trusting in God's promise, goes out when
God asks for a second time; Jonah preaches to the wayward folk
of Nineveh. Amazingly without a mention of God and a simple
but direct warning from Jonah, these folks of Nineveh changed;
they turned to God! They repented - turned from their old ways.
God opened his heart to these people.
Now having heard that
reading, you would think all's okay in heaven and earth.
Trust
in God. That is not the case.
If we had
heard the whole story of Jonah, we would hear how Jonah falls
back on his reliance of his understanding of what should
happen to these folk, these folks are enemies, are foreigners.
Jonah gets downright angry with God. If he had really had his
way he would never have gone to Nineveh. It took him a disastrous
sailing trip and a detour in the ocean before he listened to
God. These folk, the Ninevites were supposed to be wiped out.
After all, he, Jonah, is the insider, the one in the know, the
one who loves, trusts God. How can God be on their side? They're
the bad guys.
I can't
help but confess that I might have had the same reaction. Sometimes
God's generosity is more than I might offer, is more than I
might even see as possible.
I think that perhaps this story
of Jonah is not just about Ninevites and a Jonah character but
it is about humanity that forgets/human beings who forget about
the nature of God. Don't you?
How many of us move around thinking
we're just under/outside of the radar, thinking that God might
not know, or just not thinking about God's presence at all,
or how many of us say in a kidding/teasing sort of way 'God
forgive me', or believe what we just did doesn't really count
anyway? We have our own score card of what counts and what doesn't.
No one will, most of all God won't, notice. Jonah may have headed
toward Tarshish the opposite direction of Nineveh; he traveled
over ocean and under water. We try escape in other ways, perhaps:
in our busyness, in our important jobs, in the errands that
need to be done, in a relaxing drink, in numbing television,
or charging that item we really don't need but it felt good
for a moment to buy and have.
Psalm 139 expresses how we cannot
escape from the presence of God even if we wanted, 'Even from
a distance you know me, you know what I am thinking, you know
when I leave and when I get back; I am never out of your sight.
You know everything I am going to say before I start the first
sentence. I look behind me and you are there, then I look ahead
and you are there, too - your reassuring presence, coming and
going. This is too much, too wonderful ….' And a little later
in that same psalm, 'Is there any place I can avoid your Spirit?
- If I climb to the sky - If I go underground - If I flew on
morning's wings to the far western horizon….' No, you are there,
the psalmist sings.'
But not only is God present when we have
our subtlest, little or greatest doubts and our darkest thoughts
and our most mistaken ideas, God is ready to fill us with reassurance,
light and truth. If we were to go back to psalm 62, we would
hear that generosity. At the end of our reading of the psalm
it says, 'To you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love, for you repay
all according to their work.' God's response is steadfast love
to all.
This last week has been a week in prayer for Christian
Unity. God offers through Jesus Christ good news for us: that
in our living we can celebrate life and in our dying there is
meaning. The message of God through Jesus is simple: love one
another and love God; our translations and multiple religions
have muddled the message of good news. The prayer for Christian
unity is always that we might recognize what unites us: Muslims,
Jews, Christians, Hindi. It is humanity, human beings who divide;
we build walls and create exclusive organizations. Christ unites.
I think perhaps that's what God's steadfast love would offer:
unity. I think that's what the story of Jonah is offering: God
chooses to act toward all of creation, seeking wholeness and
reconciliation of every creature to God's own self. God seeks
us all so that we might sing, truly sing, as the psalmist. For
God alone my soul waits….
Right now what challenges us further
is that we're in a time when wealth and material comforts for
some are halving, and for others, savings are nose diving, and
for others, they may be on the brink of bankruptcy or even more,
threatened by being put out on the streets. Many are truly in
need of material assistance; on the other hand, most of us are
anxious simply because our 401, 403's are not at the level they
were a year ago and we liked/we miss feeling flush. And we get
just a bit anxious about whether at our present rate of spending,
we will have enough to last us through our lifetime or whether
we'll be able to afford the trips or education we had planned
on. But the psalmist sings: 'You alone, O God, are my rock and
salvation.'
Sometimes, it's not until we meet one who lives
relying on God - they do live among us, friends - when we are
reminded there are much more important things in life than what
we sock away in savings and want to count on for our children
and our futures. It is the privilege we have of knowing one
another right here in our church/faith community. Despite our
creature comforts, even among us, we can be reminded of the
psalmist's abiding trust and faith in God. It is the privilege
of knowing that there are those in our midst whose families
are knit together in love and in faith. Oh, we're not perfect
or in total agreement in our families, nor do we totally understand
each other but ultimately, some of us are bound in love and
faith. The psalmist does speak for us. It is the privilege of
knowing individuals who face each day questioning how they might
live out what God would call them to be and do. And in that,
sometimes, one has to say, 'I have enough on my plate, I can't
do it; I need to love myself as much as God is present for me.'
It is the privilege of knowing that some among us take great
personal risk to believe in a God of love made manifest in Jesus
Christ. And yet, in taking a life-threatening risk, they in
turn are filled with joy because of this supportive, faith community.
It is the privilege of living in this faith community and knowing
those who not caring how much is in their own pockets reach
out in compassion blind to prejudice or difference, and see
only Christ in the other. It is the privilege of knowing some
even as they die -necessarily loosing all the fabricated crutches
that sustain us here one earth - grow and remain strong in a
faith of a loving God who greets and surrounds them as they
move into another realm of living. It is the privilege of being
in this community of faith and to witness the reaching out in
love that happens through our youth.
Yes, we
have our Jonah escape moments, our Jonah angry moments when
we might cry out 'this isn't fair' and do not understand God's
magnanimity, but perhaps we do also have our psalmist moments
when we are deeply touched by the ever-present love of God.
May we continue to grow knowing this One who is beside us and
in whom we can depend.
