THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR B
How Shall We Live With The Blues
Easter is such a joyous, colorful, and vibrant celebration! Now in Eastertide, this second Sunday after Easter this third Sunday of Eastertide, Christ is still risen! The Creation is still waking up! This Sunday provides us with opportunities to continue the flow of hopeful beauty through the banners, pots of lilies and tulips and hyacinths, cloth weavings, or bare branches now covered in ribbons.
But that is not where the psalmist is this morning.
He has gotten to the point where he is at wits end with people. talking about him and his ministry. The author of this song indicates that should be sung with string instruments playing.
This particular selection could be played on violin or harp or maybe even played on a big Base Guitar. For Song 4 is what I would frame as a Blues Sonnet.
We must wrestle with the Blues. In his song “Call It Stormy Monday,” T-Bone Walker laments how bad and sad each day of the week is, but “Sunday I go to church, then I kneel down and pray.” He says
They call it stormy Monday but Tuesday's just as bad
They call it stormy Monday but Tuesday's just as bad
Wednesday's worse and Thursday's also sad
T-Bone Walker’s song unintentionally lifted up the challenge that the Blues placed before the church and that Black religiosity still seeks to solve.
“Stormy Monday” forces the listener to reject traditional notions of sacred and secular. The pain of the week is connected to the sacred service of Sunday. Many in the church are longing for Sunday to Find Freedom again.
There is no strict line of demarcation between the existential weariness of a disenfranchised person of color and the sacred disciplines of prayer, worship, and service to humanity.
This Blue of ministry is a challenge to The Psalmist and to Wesley Chapel today. What happens when the church; When the leadership; and yes when the pastor gets the Blues.
Can we really recover from the Blues and dare speak with authority in the midst of tragedy, when as the psalm writer is saying the world, America is living stormy Monday, and Lake City is experiencing the flooded streets and the broken pipes of the American under belly. But many of the pastors and churches are preaching happy Sunday.
While the world is experiencing the Blues, and pulpiteers are dispensing excessive doses of non-prescribed opioid sermons with severe spiritual and theological side effects.
The Real Blues have faded from the Afro-Christian tradition, and the tradition is now lost in the clamor of Name it and Clam it, success without work, prayer without public concern, and preaching without burdens.
The Blues sensibility, not just in preaching, but inherent in American culture, must be recovered. As Reverend Otis Moss Points out.
We must regain the literary blues sensibility of Flannery O’Connor, Zora Neale Hurston, Ernest Hemingway, and James Baldwin; the prophetic speech of Martin Luther King Jr., William Sloane Coffin, and Ella Baker; along with the powerful cultural critique of Jarena Lee and Dorothee Solle.
The Blues, one of America’s unique and enduring art forms, created by people kissed by nature’s sun and rooted in the religious and cultural motifs of west Africa, must be recovered.
The roots are African, but the compositions were forged in the humid Southern landscape of cypress and magnolia trees mingling with Spanish moss. It is more than music. The Blues is a cultural legacy that dares to see the American landscape from the viewpoint of the underside. The blues sang a sad song of heartbreak and lost and don’t fix the broken heart, lost job or empty pockets. The blues almost celebrate the existence of the Tragedies and keep going forward.
And I tell you this morning when I read the words of the mouth of the psalmist my heart breaks because of these blues. Listen
”When I call, give me answers. God, take my side! Once, in a tight place, you gave me room; Now I’m in trouble again: grace me! hear me! You rabble—how long do I put up with your scorn? How long will you lust after lies? How long will you live crazed by illusion?“
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https://bible.com/bible/97/psa.4.1-2.MSG
”Answer me when I cry out, my righteous God! Set me free from my troubles! Have mercy on me! Listen to my prayer! How long, you people, will my reputation be insulted? How long will you continue to love what is worthless and go after lies? Selah“
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https://bible.com/bible/37/psa.4.1-2.CEB
”Answer me when I call, O God of my right! You gave me room when I was in distress. Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer. How long, you people, shall my honor suffer shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah“
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https://bible.com/bible/3523/psa.4.1-2.NRSVUE
Do you hear it, the People are troubled about many things, but God ‘puts gladness in our hearts.’ Psalm 4 makes a good preaching text any time of year because it offers wisdom and imparts faith. But on the Third Sunday of Easter, it has a special job to do.
Psalm 4 deals honestly with unbelief: outside the church, inside the church, or even within preachers. At Easter time, the words “Christ is Risen!” are answered with “Alleluia, he is risen indeed.”
But unspoken responses might include: “Oh really?” or “I doubt it;” or “I wish I believed that;” or even “You’ve got to be kidding.” Even preachers may privately wonder if Easter is too good to be true.
But God has heard all this before. In the Gospel for the Third Sunday of Easter, Jesus tells his frightened, doubting disciples, “Peace be with you” (Luke 24:36). Likewise, Psalm 4 offers peace to troubled hearts and trust to doubting minds.
But the middle part of the Psalm addresses other people, and these people have various responses to God’s grace. Some believe in God, and some do not.
Among the believers, some are so anxious they can’t sleep at night, even with a “Sleep Number” bed. Still others seem to be wondering what God has done for them lately: “There are many who say, ‘O that we might see some good!'” (4:6).
Thus, the Psalmist has some choice words to each of these groups of people. In these 3 points:
Point 1. God’s Presence in Distress:
Psalm 4 reminds us that God is present even in our moments of distress and weariness in ministry. Just as the psalmist cried out to God for answers and relief, we too can turn to God when faced with the challenges and burdens of serving others. Despite the trials we may encounter, God offers us room to breathe, grace to persevere, and strength to continue our ministry with hope and resilience. God is with us in our blues moments. To the unbelievers: (4:2) “How long, I a test of time, but to the beloved of God time doesn’t matter. The believer knows that God is right there no matter what they are going through.
Point 2 Finding Peace in God’s Promises:
In the midst of the Blues of ministry, Psalm 4 teaches us to find peace and assurance in God’s promises. Despite the scorn and challenges we may face from those around us, God offers us refuge and mercy. Like the psalmist, we can find solace in knowing that God hears our prayers and cares for us deeply. By trusting in God’s faithfulness, we can find the strength to navigate through the uncertainties and difficulties of serving others. It’s the promise of delivering us from all our enemies it’s the promises of a God that will open up the ground and swallow up those that seek to destroy the Moses ministry of liberation we have been called to fulfill. It's the promise of setting a table in mist of the Valley of Death that gives us Strength.
Point 3 Choosing Faith Over Fear:
Psalm 4 encourages us to choose faith over fear, even when doubts and worries threaten to overwhelm us. Just as the psalmist urged the unbelievers to turn from vain words and lies, we too are reminded to anchor our trust in God’s unfailing love and provision. Despite the challenges and setbacks we may encounter in ministry, God invites us to lay down our burdens and find rest in Him. By embracing a posture of faith and surrender, we can experience God’s peace and joy even in the midst of the Blues.
To the folks who wonder if God has done anything good for them lately: (4:6) the Psalm says that God’s life-giving power is our true wealth.
You see church It’s Easter, but we’ve been in one of the worst economic slumps since the 1930’s.
People in the congregation might be thinking, “Okay, so Jesus rose from the dead, but can you say the same for my pension has Jesus not raised my social security, my pay check?”
Perhaps for some of you this is irreverent talk, but it gets at the issue of where we put our trust. Real joy comes not in the dollars and cents that humanity controls but in the blessings of God.
I’ll know with the new war in the Gaza Strip and the new fight against now Ira-in and with war in Ukraine greeting worst and yes more fighting and conflict in African it's almost like the modern blues question of by Biggie and Kelly Price What's going on? (What's going on?) Somebody tell me (What's going on?) Chorus: Kelly Price
I don't know what they want from me
It's like the more money we come across
The more problems we see.
But we have hope today that even when they call it stormy Monday but on Sunday I go to church
Then I kneel down and pray
So what is the Answer, “Sunday I go to church, then I kneel down and pray.”
Yes Prayer is still the Answer
