From the Pastor |
As we near the end of the Lenten season, we continue our Journey through the Psalms with Psalm 130. This psalm is extremely appropriate as it encompasses what lent is all about. After all, Lent is a time of self-reflection, prayer and repentance as we return to the Lord… our comfort and help… our strength and our shepherd… our hope!
Today the psalmist has accomplished all of those things in one fell swoop. During a time of great trial and recognizing that he has sinned before God… the author cries out in prayer and repentance. “Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.” He finds himself in the depths… in deep waters which is an Old Testament image of death or great distress… It is out of this great distress that he cries out to the Lord… asking for the Lord to hear him and forgive him… He knows that it is God alone who can help him… it is God who will show mercy. “If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?” Who indeed? Who is there that would have no sin in their ledger… not me, that’s for sure… but it is ok… we can be reassured because: “… with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.” It is the nature of God to forgive… and it is this forgiving love… even more than God’s power that causes us to be reverent… to be in awe of our God because this is where hope comes from. “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.” It is easy to see how this psalm strikes a chord during Lent. Especially this year when it seems the whole world is crying out “of the depths”. Between Covid-19… earthquakes and tsunami warnings… fear is at a very high level. As the psalm reminds us… we need to “put [our] hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with [God] is full redemption.” So… why is this so hard to do? Why is it so difficult to come before the Lord and ask for forgiveness? Why is it so hard to put our trust in God’s unfailing love? Even for those of us who claim the name… Christian? One reason might just be that we are human beings and human beings… typically… DO NOT like to admit we are wrong… we do not like to acknowledge that we have indeed sinned against God and one another. And we sure do not like to take responsibility for when things go wrong in our lives. Besides… unfailing love? That is a hard concept to grasp. It is the love that Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 13: Love that is patient… and kind… Love that does not envy, or boast, or is proud. Love that does not dishonor others, is not selfish or causes us to be angry… Love that keeps no record of wrongs. Love that always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love that never fails! Let’s be honest… Human beings… we… fail at love ALL the time. It is hard to imagine a love that NEVER fails. That level and intensity of love is just too hard for us to fathom. So instead of putting our trust in that kind of love… It is much easier to turn away… to find excuses or whitewash our own behavior… and to place the blame on someone else… sometimes even on God. After all… why would a God who is said to be so loving allow us to suffer this way? Doesn’t God care? Of course God cares… God is right here with us… through it all… And God knows that sometimes it is when we cry out of the depths that we are finally able to see clearly what was previously unseen. It is out of the depths that the ordinary is made extraordinary. It is out of the depths that we can find God sitting at the bedside of those who have fallen ill… grieving with those who have lost loved ones… God can be found in the hands of the doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers… God is there… in the feet of the person bringing food to an elderly neighbor or the family whose parents are out of work. God is here… in this place… God is there with you now… It was when the nation of Israel cried out of the depths that Jesus came to reveal the extent of God’s unfailing, and forgiving love… it was evident when he fed the hungry, gave sight to the blind and set the prisoner free. It was out of the depths that God’s love was made evident at the foot of the cross when Christ suffered and died so that our sins could be forgiven… and it is out of the depths that we can loudly proclaim “Alleluia” for Christ is risen so that we can have new life. Today, as we cry out to God… as we repent and ask for forgiveness… as we then wait with our whole being… putting our hope in the Lord… that we can recognize that it is out of the depths that that God’s love can be seen clearly in action as healthcare professionals are working incredible hours to help and heal even though there are not enough supplies to go around. Seen in the first responders and those considered “essential” who work hard to serve our nation in spite of their own fears and concerns… It is seen in the people have opened their hearts to one another… working together to feed the hungry and help those in need. Lent is our reminder that we need to look at our lives and see how it is we have strayed from God’s path. But even though we have strayed and our love has failed… God’ love NEVER FAILS and God is with us… waiting for us to open our eyes and recognize that our hope comes from the Lord… And through love… God is willing to forgive our sins no matter how great or how small. The psalmist’s cry to the Lord for mercy is echoed in countless hearts today. So I urge you to take time… to pray… to seek the face of God and cry out to God for mercy. Mercy for yourself… Mercy for our nation… mercy for the world… Mercy for us all. Amen
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Yeon Shin
|