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Power of circumstances
During my time here at St. Tim’s, one of the themes that have been instilled in me is that with faith, our circumstances do not dictate things, but that our faith does. I do believe that. But if I’m honest, I’ve felt the true power of circumstances, and more than once, these circumstances have brought me to my knees.
This happened most recently about two weeks ago. It was Monday. For pastors, that’s the day we recharge and reflect so that we hit the ground running on Tuesday and build up toward Sunday. But with kids in virtual school since January, there was no moment to recenter myself. I was losing my sense of centredness and quite frankly losing my mind. I was being driven by the circumstances. That Monday, Joonie just could not focus in front of the computer. And I don’t blame him – it’s hard to expect kindergarten students to stay focused in front of a screen. And I know these circumstances have affected them so greatly too. He was particularly restless and always out of his chair. He was often very angry and moody. Just trying to keep him focused, dealing with his moody behaviour, I lost it. I had a kind of inner breakdown. Me and Deb were short fused and bickering. I was stressed out about the work I couldn’t get done. This is when I felt truly brought to my knees by the circumstances.
This past year, we’ve been at the mercy of constantly changing circumstances. Parents with young children can relate to what I just shared – one parent shared in Bible study that she is simply overwhelmed. For our Hi-C students: this is the time in life where so much of their life experience stems from social interactions and relationships. But all of that has been taken away. Our college students too feel alone, isolated and unmotivated.
The reality of life
We’ve experienced the immense and fearsome power of nature during the pandemic. I believe we’ll be feeling the effects of these circumstances long after life resumes back to normal, whatever that normal is.
This is the reality of life: we are under the constant grip of our circumstances. Sometimes they are good, so we enjoy them as much as we can. We give thanks for them.
But sometimes circumstances bring us down and flatten us. When our circumstances overwhelm us, we are unable to function properly or be the person we want to be. We lose control of our lives, and we lose control of ourselves.
Can we be more?
And so I wonder: can we really live without being dictated by our circumstances? Do our circumstances dictate who we are, what we do, what we think of, and the kind of people we become?
I really think this is a fundamental question for all human beings. Can we be more than creatures of circumstance?
Throughout the long history of the Jewish people, they have constantly been at the mercy of circumstances dictated by powerful outside forces. They could not avoid nor escape the reality of their circumstances.
But the enduring character we see throughout the Bible is that no matter what their circumstances were, they believed in a power that was ultimately greater than the very real circumstances they faced. This power was their God: YHWH, the Lord. Belief in this God was what bound them together as a people.
The psalmist’s praise
The Jewish historian Saul Friedlander describes them this way:
“Since the beginning of its history, this people has seen itself as alone and surrounded by enemies, and has been incapable of having faith in anything save its God and then its destiny. For centuries, misfortune and catastrophe have always seemed to be the most imminent eventualities, though the trust in ultimate deliverance has never entirely disappeared. Our identity is linked to this vision of the world and of the future.” (Saul Friedlander, When Memory Comes)
Today’s psalmist is firmly rooted in this tradition. The circumstances he faced and saw were bleak. His people were scattered and lost after spending 75 years in exile with no place to call home. Jerusalem was still in ruins, and the Temple there where God had once resided was in ruins too. Powerful people in powerful countries had dictated their circumstances, and they were suffering and struggling from them.
The content: Praise the Lord
But what is the central declaration of the psalmist in today’s passage? It is “Praise the Lord”, or “hallelujah” in Hebrew. The psalmist begins with hallelujah and ends with it. In between that beginning and end is the content of his praise. The psalm describes a powerful God who created the world, and this same God who takes care of those who suffer from circumstances brought on by the powerful. In a world that values the strong and swift, the psalmist declares that God is on the side of those who fear him and who hope in him. A God who cares and who is still in charge. That is the content of the psalmist’s praise.
This gives us a profound insight: praise is not necessarily or only an expression of joy for the things that are going well.
Praise is the declaration that even in spite of the difficult things in my life, God is in charge and cares for me.
That is a bold declaration. It is an audacious declaration. It even seems like a foolish declaration. When we are brought down by our circumstances, we can’t just force ourselves to believe that somehow God is in charge and will take care of us.
Praise: a deep spiritual process
And this is when I realized that praise is not merely what comes out of our mouths. What comes out of our mouths in praise is actually the end of a spiritual process that begins in our hearts; a process that begins in our hearts and ends with the praises that flow from our hearts and out of our mouths.
Praise is a deeply spiritual process. It is a movement of elevation from our present circumstances to God’s realm of reality. An upward movement beyond our present circumstances. During this upward movement, our souls become more and more united with God’s Spirit. When we’ve reached God’s realm of reality, we see beauty, we experience healing, and we see God’s vision for life and the world. When we experience that realm of God’s reality, our hearts are changed, and praise flows from our hearts and out of our mouths.
The psalmist says:
“The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the broken hearted, and binds up their wounds.” (Psalm 147:2-3)
Praise begins with faith that God has prepared a place for me to heal my heart and bind my wounds. At our Jerusalem, we relinquish our will so that our souls can be pulled into God’s saving presence. Praise opens our hearts for God’s saving power to come into us.
My friends, we need to cultivate this spirituality of praise, most especially when things are difficult and when we’re overwhelmed by our circumstances. This spirituality of praise is the only way we can deal with and overcome the many difficult circumstances that come our way.
Our Worship Liturgy
Our worship liturgy embodies this spiritual flow that pulls us into God’s presence. Let me explain our worship liturgy by painting a mental picture.
During the week, we live in the cold valley, exposed to the elements. There may be sunny days where it’s nice and warm. But there are also many days when harsh winds blow, when the cold gives us frostbite, food is scarce and predators abound. We can become exhausted and ragged from life in the wild.
But every week, we hear the horn blow, summoning all of us to the base of the mountain. From all corners of the valley, we stream toward the mountain lodge at the base of the mountain. The doors open, and we are invited in. This is our Call to Worship. It is God’s invitation for us to enter this precious time with him on the mountain.
We come in from the cold, into the warm chalet room. We feel the warm air in the room; we smell nice food coming in from the kitchen; there are hangers for our wet coats and food for our hungry stomachs. We’re encouraged by the presence of others who have made their way into the chalet room. This is the time we sing our praise songs. The time of praise begins to warm us up and open our hearts.
Now that we’re warm, dry and fed, we enter into the shower area. There, we see how dirty our bodies have become over the week. We examine the cuts and bruises we have sustained. We take a hot shower to cleanse ourselves of the dirt and dried blood. This is our congregational prayer. Our elder is articulating where we’re at, our states of mind, and where we need confession and repentance. This is a moment we look at ourselves honestly to see where we’re hurting, what we rejoice in, and what we need God’s help in.
From the shower area, now dressed in fresh clothes and cleanly groomed, we walk to the gondola entrance that will lift us up the mountain. We offer our thanksgiving for being in this place. We are thankful for having made it another week out in the wild; we thank God for the provision that has sustained us. We re-dedicate ourselves to God. This is the time of Offering in our worship.
From there, the gondola begins its ascent up the mountain. On our way up, we feel the sensations in our stomachs as we move upward on the mountain. The earth below gets smaller and smaller as we continue our climb. This is the moment of the Scripture reading and choir anthem or special music. Its purpose is to begin the ascent of our souls to meet God. It prepares us for what God will show us and say to us. We anticipate in excitement what God will reveal to us this day.
Finally, we have reached the mountain summit! The Lord greets us and takes us to a unique spot at the summit. Each time we go up there, God takes us to a different spot with a different view. There, the Lord directs our eyes. We see the beauty of creation from this peak. The Lord points out where we’ve been treading below, the wrong turns we’ve been making, the dangerous paths we’ve been on. The Lord points out things we haven’t seen before: a new mountain peak, a new river winding in the valley. The Lord tells us how to get there. What an amazing new discovery! This is the Sermon. It is the Word of God being given to us. We are listening intently, examining ourselves, and being led by God to see God’s vision for my life, the world and all the beauty in it. We understand our circumstances in a new light. We see the beauty of life and new possibilities for it.
Having seen God’s vision and discovered new insights, we ponder and reflect on what that means for us. This is the Reflection Song and the time of reflection. We sing, we pray, we cry, we feel our wounds mending. We make resolutions to live differently and to think about things differently. We pray for God’s help and guidance.
Having experienced all that we have, we join together for a final song of praise. This is the Closing Song we sing. Here is where the process that began in our hearts flows out of our mouths in praise. We sing with a fervour and passion that expresses what we’ve just experienced in our hearts. We join today’s psalmist in declaring that the one who Created everything is the one who cares for me and will see me through.
Being refreshed, given new perspective, and experiencing healing of my wounds, I am charged by God to go back down into the valley. This is the Benediction. I don’t go back as the same person, but as one slightly changed. I go back down with praise, ready for another day or week. I am blessed, I am renewed, I am full of life once again. I make a grace-filled descent back down to the valley.
This, my friends, is the whole process of praise. Isn’t it beautiful? If we have this spirituality of praise, God’s power will sustain us through anything that comes our way. Praise is a spiritual discipline. It’s something we need to do everyday. It’s something we need to do together every week.
A beautiful vision of worship
The life we live is full of twists and turns. Our circumstances are so powerful and can bring us to our knees. But let us renew ourselves with praise.
The prophet Isaiah said this: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:3)
What a beautiful vision of worship! Especially when you are knocked down, bruised and battered, bring your whole selves into the process of praise. And as you do so, as your soul is pulled into God’s saving presence, open your mouths wide with praise, and let God’s praises ever be on your lips!
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