Psalm 23- A Psalm of Resurrection and Hope
Grace and peace to you,
My sisters and brothers in Christ
In this Lenten journey
Our lamenting and praying
Asks of the Creator
Shephard us O God,
Beyond our wants
Beyond our needs
From Death into Life
Amen
(pause)
One of my dear colleagues,
And fellow alums of LSTC
Posted this on his Facebook page:
“The thing about death,
Is that there’s always
Resurrection.
Even if it doesn’t look the same,
There is new life
That
Emerges
(pause)
Alex’s words,
Are truth
Because
I have been,
For the past three weeks
Stumbling through
The valley
Of the shadow of death,
Groping blindly
Stretching out my hands
For God’s Presence
At the foot of the cross
Because
At the foot of the cross
Is where
I have found,
New Life
Renewal of Life
Purpose for all of our lives
(pause)
The Theology of the Cross,
Has been
The cornerstone
On which I have stood,
And where I feel,
Psalm 23 is embedded
Because it is here,
Throughout what we suffer
This is where the Creator God is revealed!
The theology of the Cross says
That there is this radical
Revelation of God
And
Our Faith in God.
God
Reaffirms
God’s Care for us
Regardless
And so,
When we are walking through that valley,
Blind
We are not alone,
When we are in the midst our enemies
Ostracizing us because of our disabilities-
Equating our disabilities
With lack of faith
Or evidence of sin,
Just as those who condemned the blind man,
In our Gospel this morning
God not only is present,
BUT HEALS US
Publicly,
So that our enemies understand,
Who holds all of our lives
(pause)
And if we look at this,
From a historical, Biblical view
In the context of the ancient Jewish Faith
That was a human concept,
This idea of the sins of the parents
Transferred to undue suffering
For the children
It is the same human misunderstanding,
Misinterpretation and twisting of sacred Words
That led to the enslavement
Of a Nation,
When Noah invoked the Curse of Haam
Upon Haam’s son
Damning him and his descendants
To a life
Of subhuman status
(pause)
Here,
In our Gospel,
However,
Jesus does not condemn this man,
For his blindness
Or for those so-called sins
But,
Calls out those
For their spiritual blindness
“I came into this world for judgement,
So that does who do not see,
May see,
And those who see,
Become blind.”
(pause)
The Pharisees were so rigid
About the Law
That they forgot the lessons
That the prophets continued to profess
That regardless of what happens in this life,
Whether we are exiled
Or ridiculed for our faith
Or who we are
Or what direction we go
Or how far we may fall,
God
Is
Still
Here
Loving
US!
How interesting it is,
That there are those,
Who attempt to dictate
Who will be healed
And when
Based on so-called humanity’s power,
Which based in nothing,
Is weak.
They refuse
To open their eyes
To the Grace and Mercy of God
(pause)
Jesus Christ,
In Jesus
Everything is new,
Therefore
When we are suffering,
Stumbling
Blindly
Because we feel
That we have lost everything
That our journey in life,
Leaves us jaded
God is still present
The Cross is still present
And we can be healed!
And because of our healing,
Because we are able to lean on God
“Your rod and your staff, they comfort me”
We in turn have the right,
To speak
To witness
To live out our Faith
To exude our righteous anger
Because this is what God calls us to!
(pause)
Dr. James Cone interpretation of Luther’s
Theologias Cruics says,
“God encounters us
In the human condition
As the liberator of the poor”
We keep forgetting that all of these parables
And stories
In Scripture
Are about POOR PEOPLE
People on the Margins,
Lepers
Those beyond the gate
And THIS IS WHERE JESUS COMES!!
“As the liberator of the poor and weak,
Empowering them to FIGHT
For freedom
Because they were made for it.”
Jesus does not come to coddle the rich,
The wealthy
The 1%
Jesus comes in the midst of suffering
And restores our soul
And because Jesus makes His presence known,
We don’t fear anything
We are overwhelmed
With the Holy Spirit
Who lets us know,
We will be alright!
(pause)
So we can imagine
This blind unnamed man
Healed,
Singing this ancient Psalm
Because
Everything,
About this Psalm
Proclaims
The Good News
Of
Jesus Christ!
The Good News is that
We as people of faith,
Lack for nothing
Because Jesus is, was and continues to be
The first and the last,
Transforming an abrupt end,
To a continuous journey of LIFE!
The Good News is,
That Jesus comes from God
Jesus is a gift from God
“If this man were not from God,
He could do nothing!”
(pause)
And its so strange
That this Psalm
Is only shared
And spoken
In those moments
Of death
And yes,
As I stood by the bedside
Of my Sista Deie
As I did the Commendation for the Dying
For her
I read Psalm 23
(pause)
But
There is truth,
In what my friend Alex said
Because early Thursday morning,
My dear friend Deirdre passed
From this life
Into Ancestorhood
And from those ashes,
There is Life!
(pause)
Just as the Creator gathered Deie
Welcomed her among the Ancestors,
The Creator too,
Gathered those of us who mourn
And new community, new bonds were created
So that we have the ability to honor Deie
By continuing her work,
Of speaking truth, living out our faith
Causing righteous and holy chaos,
Laughing and continuing to be in community with one another.
(pause)
Death,
Death has no power
When there is death of a relationship,
Or a job,
Or even a life,
The Good News is,
There is Jesus
Transforming death
The Cross
Into LIFE!
Thanks Be to God.
