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Creekside Church
Sermon of September
9, 2001
"How Can We
Sing the Lord's Song?"
Psalm
137:1-9
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Rev. Dave
Eis
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Recently,
there was a junior in high school whose job it was to take
pictures of the "Kodak moments" of the home team.
It so happened that he viewed the cheerleaders of the opposing
team more attractive than the cheerleaders of the home team.
So he meandered over to the other side and began to take
pictures of the very attractive cheer leaders of the opposing
team. While he was there he noticed that the team mascot
had laid down the school flag and was involved with other
things. He picked up the flag and began to wave it. When
the student fans began to realize that an opponent was touching
their flag they began to shout uncomplimentary phrases at
the photographer as he picked up the flag and began to wave
it. The team mascot went after the photographer to retrieve
the symbol of honor for the visiting team. Among the students
it was a near riot condition. The adults did find some humor
in the situation and began to laugh and applaud the situation.
One of the school officials began to scold the photographer
by saying things like," What are you doing, using our
school's camera and film to take pictures of the opposing
team?"
This
episode reminds me of the Israelites in Babylon when asked
to sing one of their temple songs. Their response was, "How
can we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?"
They
sat down and wept. They hung their musical instruments on
the branches of the tree. How can we sing the Lord's song
in this place?
There
is one thing that we can admire about these people, loyalty.
They
were loyal to God. They were loyal to the land. They were
loyal to their music.
The
Promised Land where the Temple was built was a gift to them
from God. It was considered an insult to sing worship songs
while they were being held in a foreign land. They wanted
to go to the temple to sing their songs and have their worship
experiences. The land they knew was holy. It was where they
had heard many prophetic messages, witnessed their children
being dedicated to the Lord, and committing their lives
to God, and eventually married. It was their second year.
No wonder they asked the question, "How can we sing
the Lord's song in a foreign land?"
They
were so loyal that they prayed that if they themselves didn't
regard Jerusalem as their greatest joy, let their right
hand wither and the tongue stick to the roof of their mouth.
They strung their instruments with their right hand and
if it withered they would not be able to play any string
instruments. If their tongue stuck to the roof of their
mouth they would not be able to sing any more. In modern
language they were saying I would give my right arm to be
back in Jerusalem.
We are
not sure why the Babylonians were asking them to sing. Maybe
they had heard of the fine singing the Israelites did. On
the other hand, maybe they wanted to have a good laugh and
mock them while they sang. Regardless of what the motive
was, the Israelites did not want to be disloyal to their
God by singing a song while they were on the soil of a foreign
godless country.
As I
have said before you have to admire loyalty. But they allowed
their loyalty to spill over into anger and revenge. Paraphrased
they said, O Lord don't forget what they did to Jerusalem
and how they cried out destroy the temple. Happy will be
the person who does to Babylon what you have done to us.
We are so angry that you deserve to have your little children's
head bashed in as we throw them against the rocks.
I hope
you have never become that angry. Anger, and a felt need
for revenge can destroy us from the inside. I must admit
there are times when I am angry. Usually, when I get angry
I say things that I regret. The two biggest things that
can destroy us are fear and anger. Often the two go together.
It is
clear that the Israelites needed an attitude adjustment.
What they believed and the actions that followed were not
in their best interest. Their belief structure was in error.
I want to point out that there were at least two thinking
errors that started them toward a path that would bring
them to a negative result.
First
of all, they believed that God resided in the temple. Often
it is the case that closed thinking involves some truth
but not total truth. It is true that God does reside in
the temple but he is not restricted to that geographic place.
An omnipotent and omnipresent God is everywhere whether
we want him to be or not. We all have our sacred places
where it is easier to become centered and be in touch with
God. For some it is at a campfire at Camp Mack. For some
it may be at the graveside of a loved one. For some it may
be at a church alter. Where is your sacred space? What would
be your attitude if someone desecrated that space? I am
sure that if you picture that in your mind you could have
some empathy for how the Psalter felt about being in exile.
The
next thinking error is that God loves Israelites more than
he loves the pagan Babylonians. God dose love Israel. God
chose Israel to be the light to all nations and to bring
his message to the whole world. It was God's strategy. The
untruth about their attitude was that God loves Israelites
more than Babylonians
It was
nationalism at its worst. Even if we do not agree with that
position we can surely understand it. We are continually
exposed to phrases, "My country love it or leave it."
Or, "God guns and guts made this country great."
The sin of nationalism raises its ugly head in a variety
of places. The result of such closed thinking leads to the
result of justifying any evil we want to perpetrate on the
people who are not favored by God as we are. We justify
wars; adopt oppressive foreign policies. We do this under
the misconception that God favors Americans and loves them
more than those other people.
One
of the main ways the Israelites worshiped God was through
the singing of songs along with reciting the law. Now the
attitude is, if we are not in Zion, we are not going to
be able to sing anymore. Not only that but we are going
to pray that their little children will be dashed against
the rocks.
Of course
they had not yet heard the words of Jesus that taught us
to love our enemies and pray for those who mistreat us.
What
is the practical application for this text? I am sure some
of you have already guessed the direction I am going with
this passage.
Soon
we will be worshiping in a facility that is not called the
Church of the Brethren. We will be gathering in a worship
site that is traditionally referred to as Seventh Day Adventist.
For some you may already be asking, "How can we sing
the Lord's song in someone else's sacred space?"
We have an opportunity to know what the Israelites did not
know. First of all God does not love the Brethren more than
he loves the Seventh Day Adventists. I am looking forward
to expanding my experiences by being in close touch with
another group that loves the Lord. We have the opportunity
to know, if we do not already know, that God does not exclusively
reside at the corner of Benham and Wolf. I am looking forward
to having shared sacred space with another group of Christians.
The
Biblical message is that God's presence does not come to
a building because it is a beautiful building.
We will
have the opportunity to know that it is in the gathering
of the people that love God who brings down to earth His
Spirit and his blessings and empowers the people to do God's
work.
I am
aware of a book by Mia Angelo. The title of the book is,
"I know why the caged bird sings." It is a description
of how a young black girl from Arkansas experienced pain
and discrimination and hard times. She never quit singing
because she had a hope beyond the present reality. The hope
was that someday she would be free from her cage. That is
why she could still sing.
We too
have our difficulties, adjustments, pain and sufferings.
But glory be to God, we also have a hope that someday we
will be freed from the cage of our mortality and we will
be free.
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