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Psalm 130 1Out of the depths I cry to you,
O Lord. 2Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of
my supplications! 3If you, O Lord, should mark
iniquities, Lord, who could stand? 4But there is forgiveness with
you, so that you may be revered. 5I wait for the Lord, my
soul waits, and in his word I hope; 6my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning. 7O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is
steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem. 8It is he who will redeem Israel from all its
iniquities. |
Faithful God,
We remember the many, many, Indigenous children who did not return from
residential school, including those whose remains were discovered on the
grounds of the Kamloops (Tk’emlúps) Residential School. Grant comfort in the
midst of grief and trauma. Strengthen the Secwépemc people, Indian Residential
School survivors, their families and their communities as they process this
tragic loss. Renew our commitment to the journey of truth-telling, mourning and
responsibility and guide us in the ways of healing and love. Amen.
Lord,
hear my voice!
Let
your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
·
Once again,
I’ve felt that I need to use today’s psalm for my sermon. Yes, I’ve done this
before. Yes, I’ll do it again. Yes, it might be self-serving and yes, there’s a
lot to learn from the Psalms – about prayer, about worship, about relationship
with God.
·
Psalm 130
begins Out of the depths…
As my spiritual father taught me many years ago, this psalm starts from the
lowest place and ascends to the highest by the end of a very short piece of
poetry. It begins in the depths of human need, human sorrow, and human anguish.
It builds up from there through a cry that wants to be heard, through
confession of guilt, through faith and trust, to a profession of the love of
God and of God’s power and desire to forgive and heal us from what troubles us,
singly and as a people, and keeps us from God: It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
·
There are
little things of Hebrew poetry in the psalm. Repetition of a phrase or idea –
here more than those who watch for
the morning – is done for emphasis. (Have you ever longed for
daybreak at the end of a night of vigil with a sick person or a camp fire?)
Rhetorical questions – Lord, who
could stand? – can express confidence.
·
With all this
in mind, we can make this our prayer today. As we gather in this odd way today,
there is a lot of crying out, without a doubt, more than I know.
·
In our
nation, the pain and horror of the residential schools is before us. Many cry
out from the depths of great pain over what was done to 215 children in
Kamaloops and elsewhere. The unhealed and unforgotten wound is torn open again
before our eyes. It is a pain that the First Peoples bear and a pain that we
all bear as Canadians. Whether we were directly involved or not, it is ours to
bear.
·
In the world,
as the virus’ toll is lessened here, it remains rampant in places like India.
How many there and here cry out for relief?
·
In our town,
tempers are high and there is plenty of trouble to go around. I will not go
into detail on this. I will say that we as a congregation have to keep the
common good in mind in every step. What others may do must not deter us from
being concerned for the welfare and good health of those around us, especially
the most vulnerable.
·
We have our
own need and reasons to cry out. We’ve been patient in remaining at home. We’ve
found new ways to do things – thing we did not want to change, and have been
required to anyway. We still have some fear (or at least I do) of the illness
that has sickened so many, taken so many lives, and left many with life-long
health problems. We cry from the depths of our desire to be with loved ones, to
be safe in our own homes, and to be free to follow our own ways as we hope we
will be able to do.
·
We might also
cry out in a more muted way for the comfort and joy of the Lord’s Supper
celebrated together once again. What we will do today will be strange for me
and maybe for you. We have to trust and rely on God’s great grace for this to
be our Sacrament again. Until we can meet and sing and be silent together and
share coffee and cookies together again… we’ll have to be together separately,
relying on God’s presence to bring us together.
·
What is the
Good News here then? If we cry out, God hears. If we hurt and long for what we
truly need, God is with us in that hurt; that’s the meaning of the cross. So
many of the cries are beyond us to heal, so we stand with those who suffer and
do what small things we can. If we do that, what does it make of us?
·
Simply put, Jesus
said Whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother.
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