WHO IS LORD?
Psalm 107: 1-9
LUKE 12: 13-21
AUGUST 2, 2020 in the morning
HE IS LORD .. HE IS LORD. Ok, let’s stop right there and consider on this day of Holy Sacrament just what that might mean to those who sing the hymn, like we just did, or perhaps just what that means in your life rather than focusing on the lyrics of the classic hymn written by that prolific writer of faith songs, Marvin Frey. You might not know this but he also wrote that popular faith song of the Seventies ‘Kum Bah Yah my Lord.’
KUM BAH YA MY LORD … KUM BAH YA … KUM BAH YA MY LORD … well, you know the song or perhaps have even grown very tired and weary of the song after all these years of hand holding; a song that has been used as an adjective in describing a generation of teenage and college-age worshipers. MY LORD … what a song!
WHO IS LORD in your life? I think that this is a valid and essential question to ask on a Sunday when we are sharing Holy Communion … even if the moments we will share at the Lord’s Table are being done virtually but we do call it the LORD’s Table don’t we? We also seem to have no problem whatsoever reciting … oops … praying the LORD’s Prayer, which we will be doing soon, as part of our faith experience and worship just as we each have done hundreds of times before. Jesus said, “WATCH OUT!”
So, I decided to go to that all time book of authority <<Pick up the Bible and then put it down>> … THE MERRIAM WEBSTER DICTIONARY; <PAUSE> you mean you have another book of authority in your life? Really?
Well, if you cringed as I said MERRIAM WEBSTER that’s a good thing because the all time book of authority for our lives should be God’s Word and we should be living out the directives of Jesus Christ that are found in the Holy Bible. In fact, I hope that each of you have taken up my challenge of the season, which is to read at least a couple of verses every single day from the Gospels every single day for the rest of our lives. So that you and I will discover what Jesus wants us to do. HE IS LORD … HE IS LORD …
Ok, but back to the dictionary and our using the time this morning to consider WHO IS LORD. According to the folks who put the dictionary together, LORD is defined as “One having power and authority over others. Such as a ruler to whom service and obedience is due or one that has achieved mastery or exercises leadership or great power in some area.” It does mention, in definition number two, that when capitalized L-O-R-D means G-O-D (also in capitals by the way) or J-E-S-U-S but that’s definition number two and perhaps that holds true in your life as well and, in the lives of many who call themselves Christians all around the world. HE IS LORD … HE IS
WHO IS LORD? WHO IS LORD?
This past week has been another shining example in the challenges faced by people of faith throughout our lives. Yes, the pandemic that is impacting every corner of the world is challenging our thinking and messing with our lives but if you can remember back before mid-March … even in those times … the world was always messing with our minds, our hearts, and our souls; trying to pull people of faith out of a faith walk focused on love and justice. But this past week we even found people who have been aligned with places of worship all of their lives holding high the power of alien believers and dragon adherents … just because.
Although we frequently lay blame for our transgressions and our temptations on the world the true challenge I believe comes from within ourselves. Because, at the end of the day why do we support the bizarre, give credence to those clearly not associated with Christ, and why do we align with the powerful if not for the purposes of giving ourselves more strength and power while we live. To verify that our human positioning is of value and perhaps that we are important; we are the consensus leaders … we are LORD.
WE ARE LORD … WE ARE LORD
Perhaps in our day one of the most perplexing lifting up of anger & self empowerment moments has come from those not wearing masks because they claim it is their right not to. The anti-maskers are not just here in America but a rally in Germany of more than 15,000 people was held all demanding that it is their right to infect others. I discussed with a friend this week that old European description of the UGLY AMERICAN … tourists who demanded that things in a different country and culture still must be done the way the tourist expected for their sake and their power. I remembered a discussion with an Irishman at our hotel in Galway where he laughed saying the tourist dollars mattered to them but that no he was unable to tell some angry tourists where the leprechauns were even though they were cursing at him saying he didn’t want them to know and it was their right to see some. Perhaps the demons had appeared in their sleep too.
Friends, the greatest challenge in our lives is to change who we are when we have discovered God through Jesus Christ. To become Christians living for Christ and following Him. Throughout our lives we have been told to do our best and reach for the stars! Leadership and success have been valued as the best marks of human life by the world. The very concept of kneeling before God … falling on our knees to worship or to fall on our knees to express concern for others … well that takes away our power somehow. We’re told not to do it or that there is no value in those acts.
When we sang Frey’s hymn this morning and twice sang ‘EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW’ were we talking about our own knees or were we saying others need to bow down before the Lord? It’s a serious challenge because we confessed to God today and we are headed to the table Jesus has told us to eat at to remember His pain, His sacrifice, His death, and His resurrection all undertaken for the salvation of each of us and every other human being. God’s love taken to the N’th degree but it was done so that we would change not just so that once in a while we can eat a piece of bread and drink from a cup. God’s call is to no longer walk as a human aligned and focused individual seeking to find a power corner to operate out of but instead we are called to lift high the cross and follow the instruction manual for living a life loving all others, which is God’s Word.
In today’s Gospel message Jesus is teaching about greed and that if we live our lives for ourselves … storing up our earthly treasures that when the day when life ends here we will have failed God in our lifetime perhaps truly not even have faith. As Jesus is challenged to resolve a family dispute He turns the message over into a lesson in faith. The parable of the rich man. “After all,” Jesus says. “One’s life is not determined by one’s possessions.”
Friends, think for a moment of your greatest possession … it only can be a moment’s thought this morning but it is my prayer that your greatest possession is knowing that Jesus Christ is your Lord and your Savior and that having Jesus in your life has allowed you to avoid accumulating human associations for the sake of increasing your prestige and power and wealth but instead that your bowing down to Jesus Christ is allowing you to live out your life in big and small ways for the kingdom every day … every hour … your life’s focus on the lessons of Christ embracing all and caring for those who are hurting.
But, today if you know that your past reflection and consideration of who is your Lord needs to change we can find hope in our Psalm … we can find our rescue in Jesus Christ … and our renewal in the table that is before us.
Many of you are aware that once in my life I lost my faith. All it took was one man and that man’s words stole my faith and I dismissed the holy. But thanks to God I was rescued by a man of faith who held God’s Word up close to my eyes, a man who made me consider that God’s reality is evident every day if we only pause to look, and a man who cared for the homeless again taught me that the evil in the world wants people of faith to dismiss and diminish God at every opportunity. And, that was before social media existed as a reality that only enhances the divisiveness of the world and the easy rejection of Jesus as Lord. I found my faith again, thank God, and am following a path like Paul’s in Philippians to an eternity with God and Jesus Christ.
Today’s Psalm talks about us. Talks about you and me whether we have faltered in our faith or always been strong. Did you hear the Psalm church? Who is your Lord church?
GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD BECAUSE HE IS GOOD! HIS FAITHFUL LOVE LASTS FOREVER! HE IS LORD! HE IS LORD!
God’s Word reminds us, “that’s what those who are redeemed by the Lord say, the ones God redeemed from the power of their enemies, the ones God gathered from around the world.” Friends, when you believe you celebrate your faith and live it! You proclaim even in the dark moments and confusion that HE IS LORD and God’s faithful love lasts forever.
The Psalm of the day talks about humanity’s struggles … wandering in the wastelands and deserts .. lost … hungry and thirsty … in distress … the Psalm of the day talks about the human condition that surrounds us and gives us an answer …
HE IS LORD HE HAS RISEN FROM THE DEAD and HE IS LORD!
God can lead us onto the path of Light … God can give us hope and erase our fears … God gave us Jesus so it is on us to decide to be rescued or to hoard up all we can for the sake of being our own lords and kings and queens or our castles here on earth while risking eternity by failing God.
I want you .. wherever you are in these moments to pray with me this morning but if you are challenged and don’t know what to do or how to change then please contact this church this week by phone or online so we can help. Time is passing … God’s love is enduring and always present … Jesus said WATCH OUT but are you or is the world attractive to you?
Loving God, draw us near to You. We have confessed our sins today and Your table is before us. The world has such a pull on our hearts and minds but God let us sense Your Holy Spirit’s guidance so that we live for You and not us. Help us to reclaim Jesus as our Lord … He is our Savior … and help us use our lives actions and words for our faith!
LET THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN RESCUED THANK THE LORD for His faithful love and His wonderful works for ALL PEOPLE. JESUS IS LORD! AMEN