November 20th:
Joint Thanksgiving Service with the Presbyterians.
Text: Psalm 107
Then They Cried to the Lord
I am sure that there are those who would take issue with me,
But as far as I am concerned,
The psalm we just read
Was inserted into our scriptures in 2003.
I don't know what was located between Psalms 106 and 108 before 2003,
But I do know that 2003 was the year I discovered this psalm.
I found it because I was given the assignment to read it
At Massena's ecumenical Thanksgiving service.
What still amuses me is that the pastor who assigned me that reading
Had neglected to tell me that I was to only read a part of it
And taking my responsibility seriously
(as you would have expected me to)
I read all 43 verses.
And while I cannot tell you
whether my colleagues or that evening's worshippers
were glad about that,
I can tell you that preparing to read the entire psalm
Not only introduced it to me
But also gave me a much greater appreciation
Of its impact, its power, and its beauty
Than I could possibly have received
had I only read a part of it.
This psalm - like many of the psalms -
Is meant to be read aloud
This psalm - like many of the psalms -
Is meant to be heard
And I believe
This psalm - like many of the psalms -
Is meant to be read and heard in its entirety.
For what brings the words of the psalm alive
Is the psalm's repeating rhythm
And we can hear that so much better when we read it aloud,
When I read it, I hear a drum beat behind it
In fact, I hear an entire orchestra playing
Each movement of the psalm begins with the strings and double reeds
playing in a haunting minor key
telling us, along with the words
that some had experienced troubles & reached their breaking point
So they cried out to the Lord
And then come the clarinets, the flutes, and the piccolos conveying to us
That the Lord delivered those who cried out
By bringing them out from the darkness and gloom of their trouble
And saving them from their distress
And finally, the brass- the trumpets and trombones - lead the celebration
In which the rescued people give thanks to the Lord
Thanks For God's steadfast love
Thanks For God's wonderful works and gifts to human kind
Four times through the pattern repeats itself
Distress Cry out deliverance thanksgiving
[repeat]
The pattern is unmistakable
The message too is unmistakable
It is God who delivers us from our distress and troubles
And our proper response is to give thanks to God
Sadly,
God's people have not always responded that way
In chapter 13 of Hosea,
God utters some of the saddest words in our scriptures
"When I fed them, they were satisfied
They were satisfied and their heart was proud
Therefore, they forgot me." [Hosea 13:6]
The repetitive rhythm of our psalm gives the idea of the variety of ways God helps
In the first of the four distress movements
The people were hungry and thirsty
And God delivered them
In the second
The people were imprisoned
And God saved them
In the third
The people were sick
And God healed them
In the fourth
The people were caught in a storm at sea
And God brought them out
Different problems Different fears Different causes
But the common threads were
That God was with them
That God loved them
That God heard them
That God delivered them
Most of us have never been desperately hungry or thirsty
Most of us have never been imprisoned
Most of us have never been so sick that we didn't think we would recover
Not many of us have been caught in a storm at sea.
But all of us have felt alone
Have been frightened
Have been so confused that we didn't know what to do
and have felt unredeemable as a result of our failures
This symphonic psalm reminds us to not forget
That God is with us
That God loves us
That God will hear us when we cry out
That God will deliver us
Although not always in the manner that we expect.
But as comforting as that is,
the reason we are spending tonight with this psalm
is to hear those trumpets and those trombones remind us
that our response to deliverance has to be
thanking God for God's steadfast love
thanking God for God's wonderful works
thanking God for God's presence in our lives
That is the reminder we need
Anyone can be in distress and call out desperately
But not everyone gives thanks for God's rescuing love
And too many who do, do so without depth of gratitude
For too many simply feel
"Of course, God helped me
Look at all I have done for God"
In 28 hours or so, it will be Thanksgiving Day.
I once heard a preacher say
"I don't know why we even have a Thanksgiving Day.
We should be thankful every day."
He was right in saying that "we should be thankful every day."
But he was wrong in thinking we don't need a Thanksgiving Day
For this day should do just what the psalm does
Remind us that God has been good to us
And Remind us that our response to God's goodness
Is to be thankful
Instead of proud and satisfied
For then we, like Hosea's people,
Might find ourselves forgetting God.
So let's make a deal
This Thursday,
Between the turkey and the pie
Between the games in Dallas and Detroit
Between the arrivals and departures of guests
You and I will each take some time to give God thanks
Out of gratitude and not out of obligation
And let's also make a covenant with ourselves
To offer that thanks each day of our lives
After all, as much as the people in the psalm had to be thankful for
You and I have even more
For we know that God sent God's son to live with us and to die for us.