Proper 13/Pentecost 11/Ordinary Time 18
Preaching
Hear My Voice
Preaching The Lectionary Psalms for Cycles A, B, C
Object:
(See Proper 26/Pentecost 24/Ordinary Time 31, Cycle A, and Lent 4, Cycle B, for an alternative approach to vv. 1-3 and 17-22.)
Consider for a moment the word "remember." Normally, when we hear the word or are encouraged to "remember" something, we immediately begin trying to recall certain facts, names, numbers, dates, and so on. And that is exactly what is intended. But the word "remember" takes on an added dimension when used in the context of worship. When, for instance, Jesus instructs his disciples during the Last Supper to "do this in remembrance of me," he does not have in mind that they should merely recall the night and its events. The "doing of remembering" is an act of "re-membering" and "re-connecting" -- becoming a part of something again.
That is one facet of the biblical meaning of the word "remember." By an act of the will and the imagination, we put ourselves back into events or moments and re-experience their significance. We re-enact in ourselves some biblical truth and thereby allow the importance and the meaning of that truth to change us or heal us.
The first several verses of Psalm 107 are designed to accomplish this act of faithful imagination. They are intended by the writer as a way of helping worshipers remember the mighty acts of God on behalf of God's people. That is the significance of the psalmist's opening statement, "let the redeemed of the Lord say so" (v. 2). Let those who "re-member" what God has done make their remembering known to others.
The allusions that follow almost certainly have reference to the great escape from Egypt. Led by Moses, the people of Israel traveled into the wilderness, met God, lost God, but finally allowed God to lead them into the promised land. Theirs was a story of faith and failure and redemption. "Do you re-member?" the psalmist asks.
But the worship leader may have another purpose in mind. It is not just to celebrate the past that we are called to "re-member." Sometimes we need to re-connect to some sacred moment in the past in order to have hope in a difficult moment in the present. The call to "re-member" achieves a certain pastoral function.
For the people of Israel, re-connecting to wilderness wanderings (v. 4) could have multiple applications. Any momentary distress can be a wilderness wandering. The psalmist could be addressing a tragedy shared by his congregation. And of course, wilderness wandering can be literally so. The psalmist may be addressing the experience of the exile -- going in, coming out, or living through.
Regardless of the nature of the wandering, the hope we need is found in re-membering. God finds us in the wilderness and cares for us. "They cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress" (v. 6). If we can re-connect to that experience of being delivered back then, we can face the wilderness of the present with every hope that we will be delivered now.
The psalmist recites several examples which allow worshipers entry-points to dip into the memories. As we are able to re-connect with these memories, we find ourselves growing: emotionally, spiritually, and even intellectually. The psalmist acknowledges this outcome as he closes the psalm with these words: "Let those who are wise give heed to these things, and consider the steadfast love of the Lord" (v. 43). Or in other words, "re-member ... the last word is always God's love."
-- J. E.
Consider for a moment the word "remember." Normally, when we hear the word or are encouraged to "remember" something, we immediately begin trying to recall certain facts, names, numbers, dates, and so on. And that is exactly what is intended. But the word "remember" takes on an added dimension when used in the context of worship. When, for instance, Jesus instructs his disciples during the Last Supper to "do this in remembrance of me," he does not have in mind that they should merely recall the night and its events. The "doing of remembering" is an act of "re-membering" and "re-connecting" -- becoming a part of something again.
That is one facet of the biblical meaning of the word "remember." By an act of the will and the imagination, we put ourselves back into events or moments and re-experience their significance. We re-enact in ourselves some biblical truth and thereby allow the importance and the meaning of that truth to change us or heal us.
The first several verses of Psalm 107 are designed to accomplish this act of faithful imagination. They are intended by the writer as a way of helping worshipers remember the mighty acts of God on behalf of God's people. That is the significance of the psalmist's opening statement, "let the redeemed of the Lord say so" (v. 2). Let those who "re-member" what God has done make their remembering known to others.
The allusions that follow almost certainly have reference to the great escape from Egypt. Led by Moses, the people of Israel traveled into the wilderness, met God, lost God, but finally allowed God to lead them into the promised land. Theirs was a story of faith and failure and redemption. "Do you re-member?" the psalmist asks.
But the worship leader may have another purpose in mind. It is not just to celebrate the past that we are called to "re-member." Sometimes we need to re-connect to some sacred moment in the past in order to have hope in a difficult moment in the present. The call to "re-member" achieves a certain pastoral function.
For the people of Israel, re-connecting to wilderness wanderings (v. 4) could have multiple applications. Any momentary distress can be a wilderness wandering. The psalmist could be addressing a tragedy shared by his congregation. And of course, wilderness wandering can be literally so. The psalmist may be addressing the experience of the exile -- going in, coming out, or living through.
Regardless of the nature of the wandering, the hope we need is found in re-membering. God finds us in the wilderness and cares for us. "They cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress" (v. 6). If we can re-connect to that experience of being delivered back then, we can face the wilderness of the present with every hope that we will be delivered now.
The psalmist recites several examples which allow worshipers entry-points to dip into the memories. As we are able to re-connect with these memories, we find ourselves growing: emotionally, spiritually, and even intellectually. The psalmist acknowledges this outcome as he closes the psalm with these words: "Let those who are wise give heed to these things, and consider the steadfast love of the Lord" (v. 43). Or in other words, "re-member ... the last word is always God's love."
-- J. E.
