Psalm 42 - A Reflection for Worship

Psalm 42

As the deer pants for streams of water,

so our souls long for you, O God.

Our souls are thirsty for You, we are thirsty for the living God.

When shall we come into your Presence and see your face?

Our tears have been our portion night and day and many have asked, Where is your God now?

Why are our hearts so heavy, O Lord? Why this unrest within us?

Our souls are quite burdened, the load is hard to bear;

Therefore now we will remember Your work in our midst.

We remember your help in this place.

We remember the waves of your Presence rushing over us.

Lord, you have given your loving-kindness in the daytime,

And in the night-time we did sing of you. We now make our prayers to you,

O God, the Lord of our lives.

At times we wonder, ‘Have you forgotten us? Why are our adversaries so heavy upon us?’

Our bones are being broken, we are oppressed and scorned. We are asked again, Where is your God now?

Even though our hearts are still heavy, O Lord,

Even with our souls’ unrest.

O God, We will put our trust in you.

We will give thanks to the One who is our Help and Presence,

Our Light and our Life. Amen.

A Lenten Devotion

Friends,

I hope this brief note finds you doing well. Perhaps you realize that the Christian church is in the season of Lent. This is the season of the year leading up to Easter. Here are some general Lenten facts:

~ Begins on Ash Wednesday and includes 40 days minus Sundays.

~ Adapted from the word, lengthen, as in the lengthening of the days.

~ In the early church, converts used this time to prepare for baptism on Easter Sunday.

~ This time represents the time (40 days) Jesus spent in the wilderness focusing on God. His vocation was

clarified as a result.

Today many ‘give up’ something during these

40 days. This may or may not serve a spiritual purpose.

(Examples might be t.v., caffeine, alcohol, the news

media, chocolate, etc.)

Here are some practical applications for us:

~ 40 days is ten percent of a year, thus representing

a tithe.

~ Habits formed during this time can carry over.

~ ‘Giving up’ something is never trivial when it is done for the greater purpose of glorifying God. Nor is ‘taking on’ something new for a period of time.

~ Less of any one thing can mean more space and room for God. We can welcome this.

Years ago I decided to ‘take on’ something new during Lent. This year I am carefully praying through selected psalms. I take a particular psalm a week and pray through it several times over the course of the week. I read it in a few translations, new and old. I read what a good commentary or two says about this psalm. Finally I write it in my own words as a prayer.

Sunday I shared Psalm 42 with the church during our time of Morning Prayer. The extended and relaxed reflection on this psalm helped me notice the general message of the psalmist: in the midst of turmoil, as the psalmist was asked, Where is your God now?, the psalmist remembered God’s work in the past. This remembering sustained for the present. Remembering brought comfort; remembering was also a commitment.

This week I’ve moved on to another Psalm, and am finding the exercise even easier and more enjoyable. How will God use this during these forty days and beyond? We shall see.

Blessings,

Ande Myers

The photo in this email is of our Communion Table this past Sunday. The Flower Committee does a great job with seasonal displays.

Comments? - I'd love to hear from you: ande.myers@gmail.com

Completely Legal and Absolutely Wrong

Friday, March 04, 2011

Early yesterday morning I saw some friends at the coffee shop and they asked me, What do you think about this Westboro Baptist Church and the Supreme Court decision?

Nothing like this to start off a Thursday, huh? Well, have you seen this story? Westboro Baptist is a church known for their hate and hate-filled demonstrations at inaugurations, courthouses and ,yes, funerals. You’ve probably seen their posters. These appeared at the funeral under consideration: "God Hates Fags," "God Hates You," "God Hates America," "God Hates the USA/Thank God for 911," and “Thank God for Dead Soldiers,” to name just a few.

This week the Supreme Court heard a case involving Westboro Baptist and the grieving father of a fallen soldier. The soldier was Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, a Marine who died in Iraq. All Mr. Snyder wanted for his son was a private and solemn funeral. And then they show up with their posters and their hatred. (Here you can find several good and thoughtful stories about this Westboro Baptist Church, the Supreme Court, and the issues surrounding this case: www.abpnews.com.)

So, back at the coffee shop…Ande, what do you think about them?

I said, It makes me sick that they call themselves Baptist and it makes me sick that they call themselves a church.

Would you worship with them? No.

Would you serve them Communion? They wouldn’t come to our church.

That’s not what I asked…if they did, would you serve them Communion? We would have some sort of conversation beforehand and I would not.

The Supreme Court decided 8-1 that Westboro Baptist could make these nasty protests. In this case it is evident that they decided that what is legal in America can still be totally wrong. Even in this ugliness America remains beautiful.

The Associated Baptist Press referred to the lone minority opinion:

Justice Samuel Alito filed a dissenting opinion, saying that while the church’s speech might be protected if directed toward a public figure, plaintiff Albert Snyder of York, Pa., was a private individual who suffered “great injury” due to “outrageous conduct” by a group seeking publicity…“In order to have a society in which public issues can be openly and vigorously debated, it is not necessary to allow the brutalization of innocent victims like the petitioner,” Alito opined.

Here is why I am so mad at Westboro Baptist. I celebrate that they can legally express their opinions. And I am resigned to the fact that they can be tacky about it and tasteless, even vulgar. But the church is called to a higher standard. That church and all churches. And I see in this church no reflection of Jesus Christ.

In our nation freedom is a privilege. Freedom is a responsibility. Sadly, not everyone is mature enough to earn privileges and take responsibility.

Justice Alito prevented a unanimous decision because he could not get his eyes off of the victim. In this case the victim was the grieving family of Lance Cpl. Snyder. I am proud of Justice Alito’s decency. And if I err, I hope to err on the side of grace and compassion.

As we think about our lives and our callings we should aspire to live lives of purity, generosity, and compassion. In this case I believe this would have been to tend to the grieving family. James said it like this in chapter one verse 26 – 27:

If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

After leaving the coffee shop I was still angry at Westboro Baptist. I probably always will be. I also realized that the world is looking to the church. They notice. And I wonder: Do we give them substance and seriousness? Are we like Jesus? Our job, job number one, is to be witnesses for Jesus.

Please, God, give us your help.

Blessings,

Ande Myers

Questions or comments: ande.myers@gmail.com.