Sermon at United Church of Beloit Nov. 5, 2017
A Blessing for Every Occasion
Psalm
118:19-29
19 Open for me the gates of the righteous;
I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord
through which the righteous may enter.
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
you have become my salvation.
I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord
through which the righteous may enter.
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
you have become my salvation.
22 The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
23 the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 The Lord has done it this very day;
let us rejoice today and be glad.
has become the cornerstone;
23 the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 The Lord has done it this very day;
let us rejoice today and be glad.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
From the house of the Lord we bless you.
27 The Lord is God,
and he has made his light shine on us.
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession
up to the horns of the altar.
From the house of the Lord we bless you.
27 The Lord is God,
and he has made his light shine on us.
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession
up to the horns of the altar.
Our
Psalm this morning is one of several that was composed specifically
to be sung in worship services-for the beginning of the Passover
worship service.
118:19
the
gates of righteousness.
The entrance to the sanctuary, leading to the presence of God,
where the psalmist will offer thanks. The gates are righteous because
the One who dwells behind them is righteous, and those who enter must
be righteous as well (Ps.
15 and
24).
must put God first and obey the commandments...
118:22
The
stone that the builders rejected.
The metaphor would likely refer originally to a king, who
represented his people.
the
cornerstone. The low and insignificant, despite having
been rejected, is exalted to the chief place. A Cornerstone, the
first stone or concrete block laid in the foundation of a new
building, must be laid perfectly straight, because all the rest of
the building is aligned with that very first stone. A stone rejected
by the builders, was not square, or would not align straight and
true. Yet, the song says the rejected stone became the the
cornerstone!
This hymn must have been on Jesus'
mind during his Last Supper with the disciples. In the gospels Jesus
quoted vv. 22, 23 about Himself. He said HE was the stone the
builders rejected who would become the Cornerstone. He would of
course become the cornerstone, the foundation of the church!
This
is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it! We
hear and even say that a lot. And it means today this very day is the
day the lord has made, so we are grateful!!
but
it means much more as well! It means that Jesus. The One who was
rejected is the cornerstone, the very foundation of our faith and
worship. And how can we be anything but grateful!?
118:26
Blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Later,
this cry is lifted up by the crowds as they welcome the true King,
Christ Jesus, into Jerusalem on what we now call Palm Sunday. (Matt.
21:9). In a way still
beyond their understanding, Jesus was about to defeat sin and death
on the cross.
Because
of God’s victory, His people will turn the day of despair into a
day of worship before the Lord. We now know that victory came through
Jesus on the Cross,
You
see how this psalm ties to the stories of Jesus?
Shortly
in our Communion service, We commemorate the Passover meal , that
last supper that Jesus had with his disciples.
Now
let's look at our New Testament Lesson.
Philippians chapter 4
4
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5
Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by
prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
7 And the peace of God,which transcends all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Keep
God first. Rejoice, find something to be grateful for. Remembering to
count our blessings is powerful. An attitude of gratitude for
blessings large and small makes life better all the way around! Do
you know people who grump and complain about every little thing?
They're never happy. Then think about someone you know who is
grateful for what they have and always tries to look on the bright
side! Who would you rather spend a lot of time with?
How
can we develop or improve our attitude of gratitude? ...
In the Jewish tradition, at the time of Jesus and since, people say quick short prayers upon awakening and throughout the day to help them remember to always put God first. The prayers begin with “Blessed are you Oh Lord Our God, King of the Universe..” if you saw the play or movie Fiddler on the Roof, there is a line, “Rabbi, is there a blessing for a sewing machine?” to which the Rabbi replies, “There's a blessing for everything!”
In the Jewish tradition, at the time of Jesus and since, people say quick short prayers upon awakening and throughout the day to help them remember to always put God first. The prayers begin with “Blessed are you Oh Lord Our God, King of the Universe..” if you saw the play or movie Fiddler on the Roof, there is a line, “Rabbi, is there a blessing for a sewing machine?” to which the Rabbi replies, “There's a blessing for everything!”
to
be clear, one isn't praying God bless you, God. To bless God is to
praise God! Remember Psalm 103 which begins “Bless the Lord O My
Soul and all that is within me, bless his holy name.” it means to
praise the Lord. By the way, a pastor friend says that if you forget
to say grace before a meal, you can just say that verse!... (pat
stomach) “all that is within me bless his holy name..”
“to
bless” in Hebrew translates to both praise, and to kneel, as if
kneeling in worship, or to receive a blessing. To kneel, is an act
that shows that you are humbling yourself. Lowering yourself before
God or the person bestowing the blessing.
So
to say Blessed is the Lord God, is to humble ourselves to praise God,
to honor and revere, the lord and creator of all. And in so doing, we
are putting God first, which helps us to remember how truly blessed
we are!
At
that Last Supper, After Jesus and the disciples settled together
around the Passover table, the first words Jesus spoke were: “I
have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer”
(Luke
22:15).
He
looked forward with joy and anticipation to have this special
celebratory meal with his favorite people...
do
you look forward to a holiday dinner with your favorite people? If
you're the main cook and cleaner, then Joy may not be the very first
word that comes to mind! {Story about Sherry remembering me teaching
her how to shuck sweet corn! My thought was “all these people to
feed”}
But
years later, that moment was a cherished memory for our oldest niece!
So do try to find some joy even in all the work during the upcoming
holidays. You never know what might end up being a blessing for
someone else.
Philippians
4
8
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is
noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable―if anything is excellent or
praiseworthy―think about such things. 9 Whatever you
have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me―put it
into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
We
may find ourselves down, struggling with emotions for a variety of
reasons. But we can choose to change our focus, to mentally set aside
the sadness, anger, or whatever. I have a friend who has a magnet on
her frig that says “Today I am in charge of how I feel, and I am
choosing happiness” she isn't just ignoring situations in her
life, or in the world, but she is a person of prayer. She prays over
things, and then doing whatever she can about situations, she moves
forward. And chooses to be happy. Because she knows she is alive, she
has children and grands and that is a lot to be grateful for.
I
think of this text being a type of "mental floss". When we
are mired in thoughts or things we've heard or read that bring us
down or make us angry, we can help turn ourselves around, and 'floss'
our thoughts with whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely,
admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. These are qualities of God.
When we view something lovely, we are taking in a quality of God.
Ponder excellence or perfection, you are pondering a quality of God.
If and when we think about things that have these qualities, it helps
us to get the negativity out of our minds. That's why i call
it "mental floss" -we can floss away the debris left by the
negativity. That's what my friend does.
Jesus
chose to be filled with Joy at that last Supper...he had eagerly
looked forward to it. Even tho in a matter of hours he would be
arrested, beaten, and go through the worst form of capital punishment
that humans could devise, and in so doing, he would take on the sin
of humanity...all of OUR sin, and therefore, upon that cross, endure
complete and utter separation from God. Yet He chose to enjoy time
with those closest to him. He praised God, how can we do anything
less?
Please pray with me, Blessed are you Lord God, maker of heaven and earth! Thank you for your Word which helps us learn how to choose gratitude, and to honor and revere you, Thru your blessed son, Jesus we pray, amen.
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