Psalm 90
The reason this psalm is so popular
for the Sunday before New Year’s is that verse 12 says, “Teach us to number our
days; that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” The day in our culture when we pay
attention to number of days is New Year’s Eve. We count down to the second and
celebrate the hanging of a new calendar. We want it to mean something!
Calendars have increased our awareness of the passage of time and have given us
definite ideas about one year coming to an end and a new one beginning. We tend
to want everything to mean something so now we make New Year’s Resolutions on
the day that most significantly symbolizes a fresh start. We dream of big
changes and set new goals.
But strangely, the first half of the psalm is mostly about our failure to accomplish anything of significance. We are just dust. We only last a moment, while God lasts forever. We make God angry because of our sinful ways, so that we are afflicted and moan under the pain of his punishing judgments. This reflects a truth too. We may have made New Year’s resolutions and set new goals last year too, even if we didn’t write them down, we probably thought of something. How much have we accomplished of significance based on the idealistic dreams we dreamed on New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, 2013?
It is good for us to be sober minded as Paul said in his epistle, and not think too much of ourselves as if we can do anything without God’s help. It is good to be humble in this way. It keeps us mindful of our need of grace and mercy. But also, Moses wrote his psalm toward the end of a ministry to people who did not have the Spirit of God in them. They had many blessings from God: freedom from Egypt, food in the desert wilderness, and all kinds of provisions that did not wear out but sustained them as they traveled. But instead of enjoying all this and giving thanks to God, we know that they often complained, grumbled and rebelled.
They often did not obey God’s commands, and made it difficult for Moses to lead them. That is why he said so much in the beginning about the glory and power of God and the fragile nature of human existence. He was trying to get the people to humble themselves before God and look to Him for help and guidance. But hopefully, we as Christians, have learned such lessons. We have received the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ. We welcome God’s guidance and wisdom. We seek him out in our personal prayer times with him and in our study of Scripture. We live in the time of God’s grace and mercy. We do not forget humility, but we can give thanks too for many ways in which we have been serving the Lord more faithfully than the ancient Israelites did.
So let me review the highlights, all the good things about our ministry that we have either started or continued in 2014. First I want to make mention of the new members and friends of 2014. We welcomed the following new members: Helen Harris, Jane Barber, Sharon Proffit, Shannon Davis and Megan Cooley. In addition we have enjoyed the company of the following new visitors: Joe & Bonnie Sisson, Maureen Mickelson, Wayne & Janet Hotchkiss, Laurie Mowrey, Margaret Briggs, Ed Reynolds, Dee Eisle, even Michy’s friend, Damien.
We have started new ministries. In particular, we helped Joe and Bonnie Sisson remove an eyesore and hazard from their back yard. Kay started her Thursday morning women’s Bible Study. The Belkowskis, Biggers and other helpers repainted the upstairs hall and rooms. We opened the Community drop in center to assist people in recovery. We started a partnership with Habitat for Humanity, specifically to help build the Noren’s new house, but that’s just the beginning. We literally stepped out in faith, outside that is, and had outdoor worship services! I think next summer we’ll try doing that at the pavilion. We enjoyed a second year of Operation Christmas Child collections, but I think that’s also still a new ministry. We got a new sign out front.
We started the fund raising dinners at Culver’s to help us meet our goals. You approved the opening of the small capital fund drive for sanctuary improvements and that work is making progress. That’s forward thinking faith at work.
You also have taken seriously our new emphasis on the neighbors who care theme by starting to talk about our own homes as the centers of our own mission fields. You are encouraged to keep thinking about your next door neighbors and praying for them and seeing if God shows you new ways to love them. Therefore I say that I see a new spirit of faith to serve the Lord with gladness. And God has blessed us with some gifts too. A whole bunch of sound equipment from a Covenant Church in Muskegon has helped us with our sanctuary improvement process.
And lately, we received the large financial gift from the estate of Arlen Lindburg. I say to you that the favor of the Lord our God does rest upon us. He has established the work of our hands by encouraging us with a great gift of provision. May I say a word about the significance of the financial gift? It was definitely large enough to wipe out our budget deficit from last year and give us a big boost into the New Year. This is proof that if we will be faithful to our calling and ministry, God will supply the needed resources.
Now it is also a test so that we get to see whether we will continue in faith, believe in God’s provision and use the resources we have to do more outreach. We certainly don’t want to be like the servant who hid and buried the one talent he got out of fear of his master and fear of taking a risk with the money entrusted to him. We have no reason to fear our Lord who loves us and provides for us! And we have no reason to be afraid to risk anything. If we are acting in good faith. God will provide!
So this is not the time to look at this little lump of money as if it were all we will ever get. We don’t need to keep it in reserve. We don’t need to horde our resources and keep it safely laid up for hard times. We have just come through hard times and God has more than met the need!
Now let’s look for a moment to the challenges of 2015. What will God call us to do with the treasures he has placed in our hands? How will we discern his will if we do not increase in prayer? How will we develop our care for neighbors? How will we use our spiritual gifts to serve on the mission fields around our houses?
This is where the second half of the psalm comes in to look forward. Teach us to number our days; that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love; that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble. May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children. May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands.
Now let’s say a word about what that work ought to look like or be like. This connects with our ministry goal of being neighbors who care. To be neighbors who care we must love them. How do we love our neighbors so that they feel God’s love? We must not look down on anyone or judge them by their appearance or outward behavior. Our gut reaction when we see a disheveled or angry person is to avoid them or scorn them. We are afraid. But we must remember what Jesus did. He accepted people as they were. He was still willing to talk with them and tried to share his love with them. That’s radical hospitality.
One of the reasons people don’t come to church is that they are afraid they will be judged. We may have to work extra hard to overcome that preconceived idea they have and welcome them in a way that makes them feel welcome instead of judged. With God’s help and in His Spirit, we can overcome our natural reactions. The opening words of this psalm can remind us that when we are tempted to look down on someone, we should remember that we, being human, actually have a lot in common with them, so that we say, “There but for the grace of God, go I.”
Another reason people don’t come to church or hang around with us is because they are afraid we will lecture them and tell them how they should live. They get the impression that we don’t care what they think. We may have to work extra hard to overcome that preconceived idea they have and talk to them in a way that is really interested in what they have to say. We don’t have to be defensive. We don’t have to be afraid that if we listen to them it means we agree with their actions and choices. We can have a fearless conversation in which we let people express their ideas and even their doubts. We can let them know that we struggle with doubts sometimes too. We can be real.
Another reason people are afraid of church is that they think we are just a bunch of hypocrites, refusing to be honest about our own faults and flaws. If we have that fearless conversation and are willing to share the ways we struggle to live up to God’s ideals, they will learn that we are all in this together. We’re not really hypocrites. We’re not really pretending to be perfect. They need to see a genuine humility in us.
And finally, the fourth main reason that people don’t want to go to church is that they think our God is irrelevant to their lives and can’t help them with their problems. Aren’t you glad that there are only four main reasons? Are you seeing how these all are overcome in the same way? If we love them enough to be honest about our struggles and get the chance to share how God helps us with our struggles, maybe they will see that God is relevant and can help them too! As we interact with people, instead of having a hopeless attitude which believes that people never change, let us pray and anticipate that God will meet them where they are and become relevant to their lives. This is how we will exhibit the love of Christ and love our neighbors and have high hopes for them in the power of the love of Jesus Christ.
Radical hospitality, fearless conversation, genuine humility and divine anticipation will make our church irresistible because Jesus is irresistible! The character we exhibit as we do our ministries and outreaches is the most important part of anything we do. As Paul would have said, If we do outdoor worship services and band concerts, Christmas parties and Easter parties and block parties and hat and mitten give-aways and prayer walks and spend all kinds of money in outreach programs of any kind, if we don’t love the people we are trying to reach in the really open way that Jesus is talking about, the way God loves us, then we may as well not even try to minister to them because it isn’t going to accomplish anything meaningful if we don’t have the love. But to accomplish anything of significance, we must genuinely love people with the love of God. Then we will really be neighbors who care and even if we just give out a cup of cold water, we will see God do miracles of salvation and reconciliation!
Let us look to the Lord, with joy and gladness, giving thanks for his provisions that we have already enjoyed and for the ones that he has promised to deliver to his faithful children to meet our needs. Let us be eager to follow his lead and discover the new ways to love our neighbors so that we get the chance to serve God and share the cherished old gospel that saves people’s souls when they believe. May God allow us to dream dreams and see visions of new ministries that he is calling us to accomplish as we move forward into another new year. May God himself establish the work of our hands. Amen.
The four reasons why nobody goes to church, and the four acts of love that fix that, I got from a book called “Why Nobody Wants to Go to Church Anymore” by Thom & Joani Schultz, Group Publishing, 2013.
But strangely, the first half of the psalm is mostly about our failure to accomplish anything of significance. We are just dust. We only last a moment, while God lasts forever. We make God angry because of our sinful ways, so that we are afflicted and moan under the pain of his punishing judgments. This reflects a truth too. We may have made New Year’s resolutions and set new goals last year too, even if we didn’t write them down, we probably thought of something. How much have we accomplished of significance based on the idealistic dreams we dreamed on New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, 2013?
It is good for us to be sober minded as Paul said in his epistle, and not think too much of ourselves as if we can do anything without God’s help. It is good to be humble in this way. It keeps us mindful of our need of grace and mercy. But also, Moses wrote his psalm toward the end of a ministry to people who did not have the Spirit of God in them. They had many blessings from God: freedom from Egypt, food in the desert wilderness, and all kinds of provisions that did not wear out but sustained them as they traveled. But instead of enjoying all this and giving thanks to God, we know that they often complained, grumbled and rebelled.
They often did not obey God’s commands, and made it difficult for Moses to lead them. That is why he said so much in the beginning about the glory and power of God and the fragile nature of human existence. He was trying to get the people to humble themselves before God and look to Him for help and guidance. But hopefully, we as Christians, have learned such lessons. We have received the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ. We welcome God’s guidance and wisdom. We seek him out in our personal prayer times with him and in our study of Scripture. We live in the time of God’s grace and mercy. We do not forget humility, but we can give thanks too for many ways in which we have been serving the Lord more faithfully than the ancient Israelites did.
So let me review the highlights, all the good things about our ministry that we have either started or continued in 2014. First I want to make mention of the new members and friends of 2014. We welcomed the following new members: Helen Harris, Jane Barber, Sharon Proffit, Shannon Davis and Megan Cooley. In addition we have enjoyed the company of the following new visitors: Joe & Bonnie Sisson, Maureen Mickelson, Wayne & Janet Hotchkiss, Laurie Mowrey, Margaret Briggs, Ed Reynolds, Dee Eisle, even Michy’s friend, Damien.
We have started new ministries. In particular, we helped Joe and Bonnie Sisson remove an eyesore and hazard from their back yard. Kay started her Thursday morning women’s Bible Study. The Belkowskis, Biggers and other helpers repainted the upstairs hall and rooms. We opened the Community drop in center to assist people in recovery. We started a partnership with Habitat for Humanity, specifically to help build the Noren’s new house, but that’s just the beginning. We literally stepped out in faith, outside that is, and had outdoor worship services! I think next summer we’ll try doing that at the pavilion. We enjoyed a second year of Operation Christmas Child collections, but I think that’s also still a new ministry. We got a new sign out front.
We started the fund raising dinners at Culver’s to help us meet our goals. You approved the opening of the small capital fund drive for sanctuary improvements and that work is making progress. That’s forward thinking faith at work.
You also have taken seriously our new emphasis on the neighbors who care theme by starting to talk about our own homes as the centers of our own mission fields. You are encouraged to keep thinking about your next door neighbors and praying for them and seeing if God shows you new ways to love them. Therefore I say that I see a new spirit of faith to serve the Lord with gladness. And God has blessed us with some gifts too. A whole bunch of sound equipment from a Covenant Church in Muskegon has helped us with our sanctuary improvement process.
And lately, we received the large financial gift from the estate of Arlen Lindburg. I say to you that the favor of the Lord our God does rest upon us. He has established the work of our hands by encouraging us with a great gift of provision. May I say a word about the significance of the financial gift? It was definitely large enough to wipe out our budget deficit from last year and give us a big boost into the New Year. This is proof that if we will be faithful to our calling and ministry, God will supply the needed resources.
Now it is also a test so that we get to see whether we will continue in faith, believe in God’s provision and use the resources we have to do more outreach. We certainly don’t want to be like the servant who hid and buried the one talent he got out of fear of his master and fear of taking a risk with the money entrusted to him. We have no reason to fear our Lord who loves us and provides for us! And we have no reason to be afraid to risk anything. If we are acting in good faith. God will provide!
So this is not the time to look at this little lump of money as if it were all we will ever get. We don’t need to keep it in reserve. We don’t need to horde our resources and keep it safely laid up for hard times. We have just come through hard times and God has more than met the need!
Now let’s look for a moment to the challenges of 2015. What will God call us to do with the treasures he has placed in our hands? How will we discern his will if we do not increase in prayer? How will we develop our care for neighbors? How will we use our spiritual gifts to serve on the mission fields around our houses?
This is where the second half of the psalm comes in to look forward. Teach us to number our days; that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love; that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble. May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children. May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands.
Now let’s say a word about what that work ought to look like or be like. This connects with our ministry goal of being neighbors who care. To be neighbors who care we must love them. How do we love our neighbors so that they feel God’s love? We must not look down on anyone or judge them by their appearance or outward behavior. Our gut reaction when we see a disheveled or angry person is to avoid them or scorn them. We are afraid. But we must remember what Jesus did. He accepted people as they were. He was still willing to talk with them and tried to share his love with them. That’s radical hospitality.
One of the reasons people don’t come to church is that they are afraid they will be judged. We may have to work extra hard to overcome that preconceived idea they have and welcome them in a way that makes them feel welcome instead of judged. With God’s help and in His Spirit, we can overcome our natural reactions. The opening words of this psalm can remind us that when we are tempted to look down on someone, we should remember that we, being human, actually have a lot in common with them, so that we say, “There but for the grace of God, go I.”
Another reason people don’t come to church or hang around with us is because they are afraid we will lecture them and tell them how they should live. They get the impression that we don’t care what they think. We may have to work extra hard to overcome that preconceived idea they have and talk to them in a way that is really interested in what they have to say. We don’t have to be defensive. We don’t have to be afraid that if we listen to them it means we agree with their actions and choices. We can have a fearless conversation in which we let people express their ideas and even their doubts. We can let them know that we struggle with doubts sometimes too. We can be real.
Another reason people are afraid of church is that they think we are just a bunch of hypocrites, refusing to be honest about our own faults and flaws. If we have that fearless conversation and are willing to share the ways we struggle to live up to God’s ideals, they will learn that we are all in this together. We’re not really hypocrites. We’re not really pretending to be perfect. They need to see a genuine humility in us.
And finally, the fourth main reason that people don’t want to go to church is that they think our God is irrelevant to their lives and can’t help them with their problems. Aren’t you glad that there are only four main reasons? Are you seeing how these all are overcome in the same way? If we love them enough to be honest about our struggles and get the chance to share how God helps us with our struggles, maybe they will see that God is relevant and can help them too! As we interact with people, instead of having a hopeless attitude which believes that people never change, let us pray and anticipate that God will meet them where they are and become relevant to their lives. This is how we will exhibit the love of Christ and love our neighbors and have high hopes for them in the power of the love of Jesus Christ.
Radical hospitality, fearless conversation, genuine humility and divine anticipation will make our church irresistible because Jesus is irresistible! The character we exhibit as we do our ministries and outreaches is the most important part of anything we do. As Paul would have said, If we do outdoor worship services and band concerts, Christmas parties and Easter parties and block parties and hat and mitten give-aways and prayer walks and spend all kinds of money in outreach programs of any kind, if we don’t love the people we are trying to reach in the really open way that Jesus is talking about, the way God loves us, then we may as well not even try to minister to them because it isn’t going to accomplish anything meaningful if we don’t have the love. But to accomplish anything of significance, we must genuinely love people with the love of God. Then we will really be neighbors who care and even if we just give out a cup of cold water, we will see God do miracles of salvation and reconciliation!
Let us look to the Lord, with joy and gladness, giving thanks for his provisions that we have already enjoyed and for the ones that he has promised to deliver to his faithful children to meet our needs. Let us be eager to follow his lead and discover the new ways to love our neighbors so that we get the chance to serve God and share the cherished old gospel that saves people’s souls when they believe. May God allow us to dream dreams and see visions of new ministries that he is calling us to accomplish as we move forward into another new year. May God himself establish the work of our hands. Amen.
The four reasons why nobody goes to church, and the four acts of love that fix that, I got from a book called “Why Nobody Wants to Go to Church Anymore” by Thom & Joani Schultz, Group Publishing, 2013.
Comments
Post a Comment