10th Sunday After Trinity, 2010-08-08: Ps. 73
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
A. 1] On the 10th Sunday after Trinity (or 11th after Pentecost), the Christian Church commemorates the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70. To make it very clear right from the beginning: This is by no means the opportunity for us Christians to look down on the people of Israel, or the Jews in an attitude of haughtiness, contempt, or condescension. Rather it is the occasion of looking into the mirror to see what happened to the chosen people of God, and to consider this as an admonition that applies to us as well. For God’s people in the New Testament, the Christians out of the heathen – in spite of our calling, in spite of God’s benevolence bestowed upon us – we are and remain endangered from within by unbelief, doubt, arrogance, pride, and self-assuredness. This morning, psalm 73 may well serve as such a mirror to us. Looking thoroughly into it, we will find our true mirror-image; listening closely to God’s word, we will discover ourselves the way we really are, and the way God wants us to be; meditating on Asaph’s prayer, we may eventually detect what we urgently need to be on good terms with God.
A. 2] Looking into this mirror of psalm 73, we see a split image: On the one hand, we look into the abyss of dark deliberations, night thoughts indeed, especially about other people and their demeanour. But on the other hand, we observe a brightly illuminated picture, filled with expressions of confidence, trust, and reassurance towards God. And then midway between these two opposing impressions, we find reflections of Asaph’s pondering while he is trying to comprehend his own way of thinking, and thereby, God’s way of acting. In all this, we may see reflected ourselves – the way we compare ourselves to others, and therefore complain about them and go blaming God; then again how we turn to God in order to gain ground feeling dizzy from this look into the abyss. Looking into this mirror, we may also discover the means to take refuge to, when we feel that those dark cogitations are dragging us down, so we may escape to a secure place and find a safe stronghold. Finally we must not forget that a mirror usually has got a frame, and so does our psalm have.
A. 3] Following the psalmist step by step, we will in this sermon meditate on three aspects: 1) The dark side of our hearts and its nocturnal, nightmare-like considerations; 2) the pivotal point midway between these two sides; 3) the bright side of God’s helpfulness, assistance, and recourse; and finally, we will have a look at the framework.
B. 1] The dark side of our hearts and its nocturnal, nightmare-like considerations
How familiar do these complaints sound to my ears, moreover to my mind! Oh yes, those evil people! Those big shots and loudmouths! Those big bosses, who lord over their employees! Those milords who look down on all the others so haughtily and snootily! – There was this classmate of mine whose father was very successful in the tobacco business only a few years after the II World war; and his son had a weekly allowance, at least five times as much as mine was. Imagine my feelings when he would ‘graciously’ share some of his treats with me. – Then there was that fellow student at the university – fortunately not a member of our church – who dedicated his exams thesis to the famous German theologian Karl Barth (who had deceased already two decades prior to our exams). – The ladies among us will probably remember that tiny pretty girl in her pink (or purple, or azure) petticoat from the neighbourhood who always caught the attention of aunties and grannies and was very versed in taking advantage of this fact. And generously would she introduce you to her friends, and parents.
And nowadays, when we watch the news on TV, or read the economic news in the papers, with all that money burnt because of greed and avarice – verse by verse we find applications from what we hear in this psalm. I remember one prominent German banker, when asked about losses in the dimension of 50 Mio Euros (500 Mio Rand) due to overtrading, make light of this minus: “Oh, that’s just peanuts!” Most probably, you can easily envisage the furious reactions coming from the public. You do not have to dig deep in order to reach feelings similar to those of our psalmist, like envy, anger, jealousy.
Particularly tempting are these thoughts if you can feel assured that the judgements you make with regard to others, are in line with God’s assessments. Surely we will be enraged when we see someone openly challenge God and His knowledge; most certainly we will be upset at all those people who frankly oppose God by maintaining that He does not care whatever they do.
Moreover, if we are in the position of applying God’s standards as revealed to us in His Law – and notably against fellow humans who obviously do not care about God and His holy will: In this case, more than ever will we have pronounced our judgment: Impious people who deserve nothing but God’s wrath and His ultimate ire! As a friend of mine used to say: I am a dangerous person anyway. I am much more dangerous when I am right. But I am most threatening to others, when I know that I am right! And at the same time, we will feel sorry for ourselves and wallow in self-pity: “Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning” (v. 13+14).
Do we not empathise with these sentiments, do we? And we walk around burdened with sorrow and sullenness; we sit around depressed by discontent and desperation. In our heads, the windmill blades rotate: When will God eventually interfere; when will the Most High finally bring to an end this neglect and disdain? For, if I were in the position to govern the world, I would easily liberate the world from those evil people with their evil thought and their evil assaults, and get rid of them all. -
Surprisingly, this could be the point, when the gloomy picture changes.
B. 2] The pivotal point midway between these two sides
To get rid of them all, what an attractive perspective! But all of a sudden, the psalmist brings the rotating windmill blades in his brain to a halt. Looking back on the mental movements that had been going on within himself, he has to agree: “My feet had almost slipped”, and: “If I had said, ’I will speak thus’”– so apparently he was close to giving in to his dark thoughts and to drowning in his fallacious speculations.
Reviewing this whole process, he discovers, much to his surprise, that he was thinking, feeling, estimating, and making judgements just along the lines those criticized by him were moving. Focused on their faults, concentrated on their misinterpretations, hooked to their wrongdoings, he himself slips and slides into the very same kind of mindset and demeanour: Inflected into his complaints, curved into his self-pity, he starts to accuse God of neglect, of being idle, and even being unjust. Later on, when he has found back to his senses, he will compare this habit to that of a “brute beast” (v. 22). In the light of God’s presence, we become aware, what it is all about – how we are, how we behave, what we really look like, even in the eyes of God. This may be painful, and this pain in itself is not yet the solution to our problem, but to be alarmed at our true condition may be a first step toward recovery.
It is very interesting and of utmost importance to us to see what hinders his precipitation into the abyss of weltschmerz/world-weariness, self-contempt and hatred of God. The turn of events took place when, “I entered the sanctuary of God”. As a Levite, the singer of this psalm has access to the temple. That is where he belongs, moreover, that is, where the presence of God abounds. It is exactly in this very presence of the Lord, that his perspectives change. It is precisely in the proximity to God that his attitude undergoes a radical change. All of a sudden, Asaph stops comparing his fate to that of the obnoxious scorners of God, or at least he gives up trying to come to terms with these differences and inequities, as he thought, by his own means.
Being near to God in the House of the Lord, he feels no longer forced to make his self-esteem dependent on this fatal comparison. Being close to God, he is capable of letting go this whole approach of matching with the others and competing with them. In this environment saturated with God’s dedication and friendliness, he comprehends that he will never find his identity, nor will he find peace of mind by contrasting his concept of life to those who deliberately do not agree with him. How come? Because in the Lord’s House, he is in touch with God, and is so in a salutary way. Nothing else would be of any help at all. For being in touch with God in general, still could mean, that we would have to be frightened, or threatened, or endangered. It all depends on how the relationship between us and God, between God Himself and us, is designed and defined.
In any case, as soon as God draws near to us friendly, kindly, graciously, that will change everything essentially. Whenever God reveals Himself to us helpful, supportive, and charitable, that will open up new horizons. We have to remember that this revelation, that this self-disclosure on God’s side occurs especially in the Lord’s House. Having said this, it happens here! It is here that we encounter God’s mercy. It is here, in the church, that we come to know of His affection. It is here, when the Gospel of Christ is preached, that we experience His boundless fondness towards us. For Christ, our heavenly brother, who is “the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15), and thus “the mirror of the fatherly heart” (LC II, 3, 65), He is the one to allow us to look at God’s true attitude towards us. It is here, whenever we look at Christ crucified, that we learn how much God cares for us. As it was for Asaph, this will be the turning point for us as well: Because in His House, in His Son, in His Word, in His means of grace, God shows Himself warm-hearted and merciful, willing to soothe our pain, prepared to ease our sorrow, and ready to remove the recalcitrant reflections of our hearts whatsoever, that notion will make us safe and secure.
B. 3] The bright side of God’s helpfulness, assistance, and recourse
Indeed, the notion of God’s gentleness and kindness makes us safe and secure. And it is only God’s gentleness and kindness, His readiness to keep and save us that in the end will help us overcome the dark phases in our lives. Otherwise, we certainly would be doomed to perish, just in the same way as the psalmist foresees the fate of the wicked ones. There would be no difference. But now, and all of a sudden, the whole picture has changed. God presents Himself as a place of recourse. God shows Himself as a realm of refuge. God proves to be the strength we can rely on, He turns out to be reliable in the midst of all our doubts, He appears to be accountable right in the midst of our afflictions. Just in the very moment, when all our deliberations are stuck in a dead-end street, He will be with us with a word of comfort. Just in the hour of deepest resignation, we may feel His soothing attendance.
Such pacification of our hearts and minds, however, does not come from the bottom of our hearts themselves, or from the thorough scrutiny of our minds. Rather we must be buoyed up by God’s promise. It is inevitable that God Himself takes the initiative. Necessarily, it must be Him to take our hand in order to lead us out of that self-made trouble that we are stuck in. Necessarily, it must be Him to give us strength so that we are not defeated by our self-contracted weakness. Necessarily, it must be Him to open up the gates of our self-built prisons, so that we may be set free. Necessarily, it must be Him to provide a place of shelter, so that we must not drown in our self-created misery. Necessarily, it must be Him to secure a space of refuge so that we will not be crushed by the evil powers within us and around us.
And so God has done and continues to do. You are looking for a place of refuge amidst your angst and fear of life? Well, here it is, because you are assured to be God’s child when you were baptised, just as it was done this morning in the baptism of Juandré Christoph. – You are searching a shelter to safeguard you against the sin that tries to dupe you from within and subdue you from without? Well, here it is, as you are ascertained that Christ has overwhelmed the deadly powers of sin when He died for you on Calvary. – You are seeking a new perspective for your life going beyond the walls of isolation you have constructed around you? Well, here it is, in that God by His word of absolution acquits you of all the delinquencies and defaults you are burdened with. – You are in need of having your feeble faith strengthened and fed, so it may survive? – Well, here is the nourishment provided to precisely this purpose, in the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ distributed to you in the Lord’s Supper. – You are in search for some encouragement and empowerment to manage the challenges you are facing in everyday life and in your spiritual life as well? Well, here it is, in the promise given to you by the risen Christ Himself: “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Mt. 28:20). It is here, in the House of the Lord, that this comes true. It is here, in the midst of the Christian congregation that this becomes a reality. It is here, in the presence of our God, that all this proves truthful.
C.] The mirror’s frame
Two statements, rather two confessions form the frame of our psalm: “Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart” (v. 1), and: “I will tell of all your deeds” (v. 28 c). In the last verse, the psalmist points to what he has been doing all the time while declaiming this prayer, and in the first verse he highlights the conclusion that he has drawn from pondering the experience that he faced. But see, the decision to proclaim what God has done to me, and the subject and substance of God’s doing, are intimately connected to one another: God’s benevolence, God’s beneficence, are bent on being made known, indeed God Himself is eager to announce and apply His loving kindness to everybody who needs them, rather who are in need of Him. This is the basis and foundation of every missionary effort, be it to the Jews, be it to our fellow citizens in this part of the City of Pretoria, Arcadia. Asaph, the pious psalmist has learnt this himself; therefore he cannot but share what he has experienced with God. There is no doubt about God’s goodness, good will and friendliness to those who needily, yet full of expectation approach Him. Beyond all question, we may depend on Him, can lean on Him, and are allowed to count on Him. Even if our hearts might still be weak, and our minds inert, may we deep down inside still waver and tremble, yet Asaph’s credo holds true: “God is the strength of my heart!” (v. 26). May this conviction deeply take root in our hearts, so that we may be assured of God’s affection towards us, and cannot but tell others about it – even and especially the Jews – and may God’s benign cordiality capture our souls throughout, so that we may be at peace with Him, now and eternally, amen.
(© Prof. Dr. Werner Klän, Lutherische Theologische Hochschule Oberursel, Germany)
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