Proper 23 Year C 10/9/2022
2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c; Psalm 111; 2 Timothy 2:8-15; Luke 17:11-19
Rev. Mark A. Lafler
There sure is a lot going on in our world.
In our own city we have elections coming up…
I see the signs in people’s yards…
In our state we have the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.
Many of Florida will be trying to rebuild their lives for months if not years.
In our nation we have the political back and forth…
The instability of economy…
The continued impacts of a global pandemic.
And in the world, we have the constant threatening of a potential nuclear warhead…
If you pay attention to any of these things…
Your blood pressure may soar!
The stress and anxiety can really get to you.
And all of these things feel like small things in comparison to what may be going on in your own life…
Family…
Health…
Finances…
In our own personal situations…
Things can be tough.
All of this is a reminder of the many reasons we need God…
We need the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We need a Savior…
Jesus Christ.
Who gave his life for us…
A ransom…
A sacrifice…
So that we who believe in his life and death and resurrection…
May be saved from sin, death, and the grave…
That we would become children of God…
that we would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Baptized into his death and resurrection…
Becoming the church…
The people of God.
And yet even though we know this…
We believe this…
It can sometimes feel that there is something missing.
That life can be too overwhelming.
I am reminded of a meme I saw recently on social media where a guy tells a new friend that they really wish God would speak to them personally.
The friend says, “Read your Bible.”
They guy replies to his friend, “No, I mean like out loud.”
The friend replies back, “Well, read your Bible out loud.”
And there is truth there.
As believers, although our intentions are to read the Bible daily…
We often fail to do so…
Going through life…
Listening more to what our favorite media personality says about the nation and the world then the very words of God revealed to us through his Holy Word.
God is speaking to us.
Through his Holy Scripture.
And in times of trouble, stress, doubt, and pain…
The Psalms contain some of the deepest theology and emotionally charged words we have in all of scripture.
The Psalms are they hymns of the Bible.
The words that Jesus would have sung in the Synagogue.
The words that Jesus took to heart…
Memorized…
The words he quoted throughout his life…
In our Gospels, he quotes the Psalms more often than any other book of the Old Testament.
It was to the Psalms that Jesus turned to even at his death…
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Psalm 22)
So today…
Let us also turn to the Psalms.
Our Psalm appointed for today is Psalm 111.
Our Psalm is not written by David…
In fact, we do not know who wrote it.
But it is a carefully crafted work.
This psalm is an acrostic poem.
Although we are unable to tell in the English translations…
Each line begins with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
The psalm was written for a time of praise…
Perhaps the author was a music leader.
The first lines give this much:
Hallelujah!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the assembly of the upright, in the congregation.
It is a psalm of praise…
A call to praise God…
Of which we give thanks to the Lord with our entire being…
All of who we are.
We are not to hold anything back from the worship of the Holy God.
No matter the circumstances…
No matter the moments that are unfolding on the news…
We are called to be a people of praise and thanksgiving to our Lord…
As our liturgy declares during the words of Eucharist…
Just before the proper preface:
It is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should
at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto thee, O Lord,
holy Father, almighty, everlasting God. (Rite 1)
It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and every-
where to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, Creator of
heaven and earth. (Rite 2)
After this call to praise…
The psalmist then begins to trace the faithfulness of God through ages past.
God throughout Israel’s history has done great works…
God is one who does mighty deeds.
The psalmist gives allusions to some of the most historic events in Israel’s history…
The Psalmist declares:
He makes his marvelous works to be remembered;
Point to God’s acts in delivering and establishing his people.
the Lord is gracious and full of compassion.
Are reminders of God’s mercy when Israel made a golden calf.
He gives food to those who fear him;
The food is a reminder of the gift of manna and quails in the wilderness.
he is ever mindful of his covenant.
Displays the faithfulness of God to his promises.[1]
He has shown his people the power of his works
in giving them the lands of the nations.
Refers to the land of promise which the people of God lived on.
And now that the psalm has brought to mind the faithfulness of God through the history of his people…
The psalmist praises the power of God in keeping his covenant.
He writes:
The works of his hands are faithfulness and justice;
all his commandments are sure.
They stand fast for ever and ever,
because they are done in truth and equity.
He sent redemption to his people;
he commanded his covenant for ever;
holy and awesome is his Name.
When we remember the mighty deeds of God in our life…
In the life of our family…
In the life of our church…
When we remember the ways in which he has saved us, protected for us, provided for us, cared for us…
We see a God who is faithful…
Who is just…
We are confident in who he says he is…
Holy and awesome is his Name.
In the final verse the psalm points toward the awe-inspiring God.
The psalmist declares:
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
those who act accordingly have a good understanding;
his praise endures for ever.
Fear here is not the type that makes you run away in horror…
But it is also more than respect.[2]
In the Hebrew, awesome and fear are forms of the same root…
So the phrase “fear of the Lord” corresponds to the fearsome reality of God.[3]
It has to do with being in awe of the power and majesty of God.
To truly be in awe of God changes the way you behave…
The way you think.
So this whole psalm of praise is pointing toward the faithfulness of God.
His faithfulness throughout time.
His faithfulness through his covenants.
And his mighty power to carry out his faithfulness.
The lesson for today is this:
God is faithful.
St. Paul also declared the faithfulness of God.
We heard in our reading from 2 Timothy a trustworthy statement:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he will also deny us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful–
for he cannot deny himself.
We serve a faithful God.
He is faithful in our moments of weakness.
He is faithful in our moments of doubt.
He is faithful when we struggle.
He is faithful even when we sin.
In a time where things seem to be spinning out of control…
When our world seems to have gone mad.
God is faithful.
In our lives, the difficulties we have with the people we love…
With the health and financial hardships, we endure…
God is even faithful in and through these times.
This is the good news to us today…
And good news for the entire world…
For all people…
God is faithful.
And because of his faithfulness…
May we praise him for ever and ever…
For his Name is holy and awesome…
Praise be to God.
Amen.
[1] Allusions are from James Mays, Psalms, Interpretation (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1994), 356.
[2] Tremper Longman III, Psalms, TOTC (Downers Grove: IVP,2014), 385.
[3] Mays, 357.