This past week, the eyes of the whole world were focused on Salt Lake City. The winter Olympic games are being held there, of course, and normally that would be enough to draw attention and provoke discussion. But this week, the drama was heightened even more because of the controversy over the judging of the pairs skating competition. We’re all familiar with the story by now: the Canadian team skates a flawless program, the crowd is on their feet, chanting "Six! Six! Six!" meaning, "6.0! Perfection!" The television commentators state with confidence that they have surely won the gold. But as the scores come in, exhilaration turns to disbelief. Five of the nine judges have scored the Canadians below the Russians! Disbelief becomes outrage when the French judge reveals that she had been pressured to vote for the Russians, in exchange for a vote in favor of the French team in the ice dancing event. The outcome had been rigged! The fix was in! And from then on, the story took on a life of its own. A huge public outcry erupted; something had to be done to rectify this obvious injustice. Accusations began to fly, of long-standing corruption and vote-trading among judges. The Canadian delegation demanded an investigation. The credibility of skating, and even of the Olympics, was in danger. And then finally on Friday, the president of the International Olympic Committee announced that a second gold medal would be awarded to the Canadians.
This incident shows that even at the Olympics, which are supposed to represent the ideals of sportsmanship and fair play, we are confronted with the fact that this world is not what it should be. Sin and evil have a way of spoiling even those things which are supposed to be pure and undefiled. All you have to do is read the paper or turn on the news, to see that no area of human activity is exempt. We have business executives who deceive and mistreat their employees. Stockbrokers who steal from their clients. Politicians who abandon principle and do whatever they think will get them re-elected. Auto mechanics who charge for bogus repairs. Doctors, and hospitals, and HMO’s who put profits ahead of human life. Even the church hasn’t been spared, as we’ve seen these past few weeks in the news stories alleging misconduct by Catholic priests in Boston.
In 1991, a movie came out called "Grand Canyon." In that film, a well-to-do lawyer tries to avoid a traffic jam by detouring off the expressway, and soon gets lost in a very dangerous and unfamiliar part of the city. His car breaks down. It’s night, and although he manages to call a tow truck, by the time it arrives, his expensive car is surrounded by gang members. Clearly, they are planning to take his car by force, and possibly harm him in the process. Then the tow-truck driver, "Simon," arrives, played by Danny Glover. Over the protests of the gang members, Simon proceeds to hook the car up to his truck. And then Simon does something unexpected. He asks the leader of the gang to just let him go. "I’ve gotta ask you for a favor," he says. "Let me go my way here. This truck’s my responsibility, and now that the car’s hooked up to it it’s my responsibility too." And then he goes on, "Man, the world ain’t supposed to work like this. I mean, maybe you don’t know that yet. I’m supposed to be able to do my job without having to ask you if I can. That dude is supposed to be able to wait with his car without you ripping him off. Everything is supposed to be different than it is."
Everything is supposed to be different than it is. That’s true, isn’t it? We live in a world in which wisdom and prudence require that we view every institution as potentially corrupt, a world in which we cannot assume the integrity of anyone we meet, a world in which we must always be aware of the need to protect ourselves against exploitation -- physically, legally, financially, emotionally. Somehow, most of the time, we muddle through pretty well, at least out here in the suburbs. We buy insurance. We seek the advice of friends before choosing a doctor or a mechanic. We buy a house in a nice, safe neighborhood. We do everything we can to minimize the possibility of being victimized, but still, in the back of our minds, we know that things aren’t supposed to be this way. No matter how well we’ve learned to cope, something inside us cries out, something in our heart yearns for a place where none of that would be necessary. And that’s what our next series of messages is all about -- our journey, our pilgrimage, to that place.
In the middle of the book of Psalms in the Old Testament are a collection of fifteen, Psalms 120 through 134, which are labeled "songs of ascent". Interpreters differ on what that designation, "songs of ascent" means, but the majority view is that these are psalms which were sung by travelers as they made their way to Jerusalem for the three annual feasts of Judaism -- the feast of Pentecost in the summer, the feast of Tabernacles in the fall, and the feast of Passover in the Spring. Three times a year, all observant Jews would leave their homes, their farms, their towns and villages, and would make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for these religious festivals. As they journeyed, they were "ascending"; because Jerusalem was the highest point in the land of Palestine, they were literally traveling upwards. And they were also ascending spiritually, as they sang these songs together and prepared their hearts to worship the Lord.
I’ve chosen six of these fifteen Psalms to study between now and Easter, because that Christian holy day comes at the close of one of these feasts, the Jewish Passover. My purpose is to help us prepare our hearts, to help us "ascend" to God in worship as we make our way through this world as pilgrims, journeying to another land. These songs can give us wisdom and encouragement as we travel.
The Bible is full of reminders that, as the old hymn puts it, "this world is not our home." God never intended that we should be completely satisfied with this life; he never intended for us to feel comfortable here. On the contrary, we’re to regard this world as a temporary dwelling place, a region that we are journeying through on the way to our true home. There’s a good reason for the sense we have that things here are not as they should be. It’s because we don’t belong here. We are foreigners, "aliens" and "strangers" in this world. We were made for life in another kind of place. Our life here is the spiritual equivalent of being on the road and living out of suitcases. Never quite feeling "settled"; never quite being at ease in our surroundings. You know how it is when you go on vacation. No matter how beautiful the scenery, no matter how luxurious the accommodations, no matter how pleasant the weather, sooner or later you’re tired of it. You just want to go home. And for the Christian, "home" is heaven.
"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ" -- Philippians 3:20
We are resident aliens here, expatriates, citizens of another country.
"Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul." -- 1 Peter 2:11
In other words, "Don’t behave like the citizens of this world. Don’t do the things they do, because you’re not one of them."
And the author of Hebrews compares our condition to that of Abraham: "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country . . . . For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. . . And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." -- Hebrews 11:8-16
There’s an ancient document from the second century called the "Epistle to Diognetus". It’s a letter from a Christian to a prominent pagan named Diognetus, in which the author, who is unknown, is describing and defending this strange new religion of Christianity. It reads, in part:
"The Christians are not distinguished from other men by country, by language, nor by civil institutions. For they neither dwell in cities by themselves, nor use a peculiar tongue, no lead a singular mode of life. They dwell in the Grecian or barbarian cities, as the case may be; they follow the usage of the country in dress, food, and the other affairs of life. Yet they present a wonderful and confessedly paradoxical conduct. They dwell in their own native lands, but as strangers.
"They take part in all things, as citizens; and they suffer all things, as foreigners. Every foreign country is a fatherland to them, and every native land is a foreign. They marry, like all others; they have children, but they do not cast away their offspring. They have the table in common, but not wives. They are in the flesh, but do not live after the flesh. They live upon the earth but are citizens of heaven. They obey the existing laws, and excel the laws by their lives.
"They love all, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown, and yet they are condemned. They are killed and are made alive. They are poor and make many rich. They lack all things, and in all things abound."
We are aliens and strangers in this world, pilgrims on our way to another land. Now there are two ways that our "pilgrim" status can cause us problems. The first way is if we forget who we are and start feeling comfortable here. We start enjoying ourselves. We forget about the place we’re journeying toward, and we begin to think of this life, this world, as our "home". Well, what’s wrong with that? The danger is that over time, we’ll "go native". We’ll settle down, adapt, start to accommodate ourselves to the local customs. And before you know it, we don’t look like citizens of God’s kingdom at all. We look just like the world. Our values, and attitudes, and lifestyles become virtually indistinguishable from those around us, even those who profess no allegiance to Christ. This is a very real danger. Paul warns us, in his letter to the Romans, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." (Romans 12:2) In other words, don’t get too comfortable. Don’t start thinking you belong here. Keep moving.
The other danger is that we do feel out of place, but we think there’s something wrong with that. We think we should feel at home here. We think we’re supposed to fit in. And so, instead of being content, and resting in the knowledge that this is all temporary, we agonize, and worry, and stew over the fact that we feel out of place. We expect this world to be heaven, when instead God intended that this world should make us desire heaven.
As we look at Psalm 120, the first psalm of ascent, we see the author being hard pressed by this sense of alienation, this sense of being out of place. Some have suggested that it was written by David during the time of his exile, when king Saul was trying to track him down and kill him, and he had to live among pagan peoples in a foreign land. We can sense the ache in his voice as he laments his situation and longs to return to his native country.
"Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live among the tents of Kedar! Too long have I lived among those who hate peace. I am a man of peace; but when I speak, they are for war." -- Psalm 120:5-7
Meshech and Kedar were powerful, warlike peoples located to the North and South of Palestine. They were characterized by ruthlessness. They took pride in their military strength and economic power. They had no qualms about attacking and devouring weaker nations. Not only did they not desire or seek peace, they actually hated it. They loved conflict, and destruction, and the brutal exercise of power.
Does that sound like our world? Since September 11th, it has become even more apparent that there are people and nations in our day whose driving ambition is to destroy all who stand against them. We Americans are optimistic; we like to think that everyone else in the world wants peace as much as we do. Surely, if we could just sit down and talk with Osama Bin Laden, or Saddam Hussein, or the Ayatollah Khomeni, we could reach an agreement. We could find common ground. Can’t we all just get along? But the truth is that there are leaders and even nations who do not desire peace. No matter what we say or do, they only desire war. That’s frustrating. It’s tragic. But hopefully, it has the beneficial effect of reminding us that this world never has been, and never will be, our true home. There never will be peace on earth until Christ returns. There always will be conflict, and war, and military aggression. The U.S. against Afghanistan. Pakistan against India. Israel versus the Palestinians. And so on, and so on, and so on.
On a personal level, you and I sometimes encounter angry, bitter, malicious people who have no interest in peace. We meet them at work, on the highway, in our neighborhoods; our children meet them at school; sometimes we even encounter them in our own families. And anyone who has been party to a family feud; a conflict with in-laws; or with a husband, or wife, or son, or daughter who spurns all efforts to reconcile, can identify with this Psalm. "Woe is me. Too long have I lived among those who hate peace. I am a man [or woman] of peace; but when I speak, they are for war." What do we do when this happens? How do we cope with this kind of ongoing, intractable hostility? The first step is to imitate the Psalmist, to be brutally honest, with ourselves and with God. We cry out: "Lord, I don’t know how long I can take this. I’m tired, I’m frustrated, I’m discouraged. It doesn’t seem to make any difference what I say; they are determined to hate me. They attack me over and over, no matter what I do. Help me, Lord. Give me the strength to persevere; give me the will to continue in this journey of faith. Give me the grace to remain committed to peace, and not let them change me into a person of war."
The second step is to put our safety, and welfare, and happiness in God’s hands. Instead of thinking about how we’re going to protect ourselves; instead of fighting back, counter-attacking, seeking our own vengeance; we need to look to the Lord to protect us and vindicate us. We need to turn our situation completely over to Him.
"I call on the LORD in my distress, and he answers me. Save me, O LORD, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues." -- Psalm 120:1-2
What’s our first impulse when we hear that someone is slandering us? What is our immediate response when someone is misrepresenting us, putting us in a bad light, making us look foolish, spreading lies, and half-truths, and malicious gossip; destroying our reputation? We want to defend ourselves, don’t we? We want to run out there, and find everyone they’ve been talking to, and set the record straight. We want the whole world to know the truth, or at least our version of the truth. And while we’re at it, we’d like to share some nasty tidbits about the person doing the gossiping.
There are few things more painful and destructive than slander. It hurts when people whose opinions you care about are judging you, and criticizing you, and spreading rumors about you. It hurts to be misunderstood. It hurts when you find that people you considered friends are willing to believe the worst about you, instead of giving you the benefit of the doubt. It hurts when former allies become enemies, all on the basis of false information. And believe me, pastors know something about gossip, and slander, and criticism. But the answer isn’t to go after the perpetrators. The answer isn’t to mount a public relations campaign. The answer is to go to the Lord, to entrust our reputation to Him. "I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me. Save me, O Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues." God is able to defend and protect you. Look to Him first.
The third step is to look to God for justice, instead of taking matters into our own hands.
"What will he do to you, and what more besides, O deceitful tongue? He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows, with burning coals of the broom tree." -- Psalm 120:3-4
What we have here is poetic justice. The Scriptures speak of the tongue as something sharp; something that cuts and wounds and causes injury.
"Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from that noisy crowd of evildoers. They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their words like deadly arrows." -- Psalm 64:2-3
Likewise, the tongue can be the cause of fiery destruction:
"The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell." -- James 3:6
So what will happen to those who persist in their malicious, destructive speech, who refuse to repent? God will see to it that they suffer the due punishment of their sin. He will punish them "with a warrior’s sharp arrows, with burning coals of the broom tree." The broom tree was known for its intense, long-lasting fire. What the Psalm is telling us is that those who have cut and burned people metaphorically with their speech will be punished literally and eternally in the fires of hell. And so in the end, justice will be done. Everything will be made right. All evil and all evildoers will be destroyed, and those who place their trust in God will be saved.
"Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord." -- Romans 12:19
Is this the whole story? No. Because a lament against the evil and injustice in the world is also a lament against the sin and corruption in our own hearts. None of us is completely blameless; none of us can claim moral perfection. All of us stand guilty before God. Our only hope for forgiveness is to trust in the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross; Jesus the Savior giving his life for our sin. As we grieve and suffer at the hands of others, we also need to acknowledge the grief and suffering we ourselves have caused. Otherwise, our outrage at the injustice done to us can turn to hypocritical self-righteousness. Yes, God will judge the wicked. But it is only by His grace that we will escape judgement and punishment; it is only through faith in Christ that we will be forgiven.
"You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things." -- Romans 2:1
But Jesus offers us an escape from God’s condemnation and wrath:
"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." -- John 5:24
So in closing, what can we take away from this first Psalm of Ascent, Psalm 120? First, that this world is not our home, and so it should come as no surprise when our hearts ache over the pain we encounter on our journey. We were made for a better place, and by God’s grace and power, we will reach it.
Second, that God is our protector and provider. No matter how deep the wound, no matter how unjust our treatment, God will take up our cause. He will defend us, he will care for us and comfort us, and in his own time, he will make all things right.
And third, that our only hope of spiritual survival is to cry out to God in prayer; to seek him and follow after him with all our heart. No other person can save us, no other power can deliver us. He alone can bring us safely home. Let us place our confidence wholly and completely in him.
(For an .rtf file of this and other sermons, see www.journeychurchonline.org/messages.htm)
