Musical Prelude and Service.

Sermon – Psalm 139:7–12
I think I shared a bit o f this story once before, but I want to bring it up once again. I can’t offer many details of this particular conversation. But back when I was still a student, I had a pastoral conversation when the person I was meeting with pointed to a passage from the gospel of Matthew in which Jesus says that a person who curses the Spirit is damned forever.
They then said, “This scares me.” It turned out this individual was struggling with their ultimate fate or destiny, believing they were beyond help for something that had happened in their lives.
I won’t share anymore of that conversation, but when I read today’s scripture from the Psalms, I find myself remembering that conversation. How does someone who feels they are condemned by God read the words I cannot hide from God no matter where I might go?
On the other hand, how would someone seeking solace, someone seeking comfort while feeling completely alone read it. Scripture can be a comfort or n the wrong hands it can be a threat.
For me the Psalms are a gift of poetry to our faith.
As I sit down to read the Psalms or listen as they are read by others, I am constantly struck by their poetry. Their use of imagery, their cadence, it all works together to speculate, to ask questions and imagine what our relationship wis with the creator God who designed all of this and watches over us and accompanies us on our journey through life.
Since humans started this journey, trying to come to grips with our place in the world and how God; whatever name we ascribe to the holy, relates to us and the nature of God, we have struggled to find the words that properly describes our experience of encountering God.
The Psalms were a form of song used in times of worship. They are song and poetry, and the use of metaphor, simile and other literary devices are the best humans have devised for putting those visions and experiences into words to share with others.
In this morning’s Psalm, we are left coming to grips with the all-encompassing nature of God. That no matter where we go, God is near. God is there.
God created all that we can behold, and God is found in all things God created. We cannot escape from God, we cannot hide from God and we cannot be lost by God.
This is like so many aspects of scripture both a warning and a comfort.
God is always there. We cannot escape that. What we do, what we say, what we choose not to do is witnessed by God and is of consequence to God’s world.
The opening lines of the United Church’s New Creed are, “We are not alone. We live in God’s world.”
That speaks to the fact that we move through the world accompanied by a loving and compassionate God, but it also reminds us that our choices and our actions make a difference. What we say and do or choose not to say and do, make a difference not just to ourselves, but to our neighbours and people we may never meet. Our world is connected and interrelated in ways that we struggle to comprehend.
And so here the Psalmist describes how God is always there. No matter where we journey, God is already there. God witnesses what we do, what we say.
For me that is a promise and a reassurance, but it is also a caution to remember that I am connected in mysterious ways to the rest of God’s creation.
There are times in our lives when we can feel separated from God. We can feel estranged from everyone and everything of meaning around us. We can be left feeling utterly alone. Why those feeling come over us can come from a great many sources. Perhaps we are led to believe we are responsible for the tragedy that our lives have experienced. Our actions, our behaviour towards others have returned to haunt us. Perhaps it is a series of unfortunate events that leaves us with a bleak vision of the world and the future.
Many years ago, I had a conversation with a woman who was enduring an incredibly trying time due to several treatments for breast cancer. She asked me if I thought God was punishing her due to vanity. I can I assure you I told her that was not at all the case. But, for me this was yet another lesson that certain visions of God, as a harsh taskmaster who rains down punishment for breaking a set of perceived rules, hangs on tenaciously in the popular consciousness.
For those who are curious, the woman in that story remains alive and well.
I will add that while in that moment in a dark valley she questioned where God was in her life, if she was abandoned or punished by God, as she continued through yet another treatment and another diagnoses and another round of treatment; her friends, her family, her community, stayed close. She found she was surrounded by a compassionate and loving community who cared for her, prayed for her and her husband and was there when she was at her weakest.
God did not abandon her.
When we are at our lowest. When we are experiencing pain or feeling despair, we can be tempted to believe God has abandoned us. Even Jesus was moved to express that level of pain while hanging from a cross.
But despite that, God remains with us. God weeps with us and embraces us when we are otherwise alone. It can be hard to recognize sometimes. I will acknowledge that. It can be a challenge to believe that. I am fully aware of that. But if we can find a way to shift our viewpoint, if we can give ourselves time to open ourselves to the possibilities of this world, perhaps we can witness the many ways God remains active in our world.
Now, yes, I do believe we cannot hide from God. God is aware of all we do and say. And yes, what we do and say matters. But that is not the same as saying God judges and sentences us for our decisions or our reluctance to make a choice. But at the same time, our choices and our actions do not happen in a vacuum.
We cannot hide from God. God is always there, no matter how low we may find ourselves or how high we may soar, thinking perhaps we are beyond the need for God’s guidance and strength. God is there opening their arms and welcoming us to enter a new and loving relationship. God is there inviting us to go on a journey into a new world with new possibilities and new ways of living in this world God provides for us. God is prepared to open our eyes to the way this world is connected, the way our love and compassion; our mercy and generosity can make a difference and how we can be a sign of God love at work for others who feel abandoned and lost.
To return to our Creed –
We are called to be the Church;
To celebrate God’s presence,
To live with respect in Creation,
To love and serve others,
To seek justice and resist evil,
To proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
Our judge and our hope.
In life, in death, in life beyond death,
God is with us.
We are not alone.
Thanks be to God.
Amen
Rev. Warner Bloomfield

Music provided with permission through licensing with CCLI License number
2701258 and One License # A-731789