June 6, 2023 — Psalm 50 

“The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks and summons the earth 

from the rising of the sun to where it sets. From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth. Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him, 

and around him a tempest rages. He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that he may judge his people: “Gather to me this consecrated people, 

who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for he is a God of justice. “Listen, my people, and I will speak; 

I will testify against you, Israel: I am God, your God. I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices or concerning your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? “Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” Psalm 50:1-15 

By following the lead of the whole of Psalm 50 (of which I have given you a portion) the Psalmist is making the plea to faithfulness issued in the first six verses — it is a covenantal faithfulness. G-d’s people, redeemed through Jesus Christ. The psalmist reminds us that G-d does not need “…a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine.” 

Whether in the first century or in the church today, are called to attend to the substance, the purposes, the incarnate meaning of our ministry and our proclamation. In other words, we should worry about offering G-d our prayer, praise and thanksgiving and not worry so much about the forms of them.

We are called to give offerings as an act of thanksgiving, rather than begrudging the loss of some of our blessings. If not for G-d where would our blessings come from? The message of Psalm 50 is that in seeking to follow the call of offering our prayer, praise and thanksgiving, we give due honor to G-d and are shown the way of G-d’s salvation. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, because Jesus your servant became obedient to death, his sacrifice was greater that all the holocausts of old. Accept the sacrifice of praise we offer you through him, and help us show the effects of it in our lives by striving to do your will, until our whole life becomes adoration in spirit and truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Amen. 

June 7, 2023 — Psalm 51 

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; 

according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 

Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 

Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; 

so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. 

Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.” Psalm 51:1-16 

The words, “Create in me a clean heart” from Psalm 51, have long been a part of the church’s worship life. For example, in Evangelical Lutheran Worship, four hymn settings of verses 10-12 are available as options for each of ten worship settings (see ELW pages 106, 128 and hymns 185-188). And, for the astute listener, this petition is not only a prayer for individuals in distress, but it is also a prayer for the community on Ash Wednesday and for the worship of G-d’s People each week. 

There are certain Psalms that I would encourage any Christian to remember certain lines, and verses, and to memorize them if possible. Psalm 51 is one of those Psalms. We have been given a lot to handle in these last four to five weeks — and it is in times like these that we should turn to the Psalms to find some comfort. 

Prayer

Almighty and merciful Father, you freely forgive those who, as David of old, acknowledge and confess their sins. Create in us pure hearts, and wash away all our sins in the blood of your dear Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Amen. 

June 4, 2023 – Holy Trinity; Matthew 28:16-20

“Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

In this final commissioning, Jesus tells his disciples to go and make disciples teaching people to obey everything he had commanded them. In the two thousand years since his commissioning, people have cheapened religion, refusing to be obedient to the commands of G-d let alone teaching others to do the same. And too many have reduced worship to nothing more sacred than a concert in the park. To me all of these are reasons that Trinity Sunday remains so important to us as Lutheran Christians. The Trinity not only informs our faith, it bookends our worship – we begin and end each worship service “In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”  And it is so important that it bookends our Christian lives – we are baptized in the name of the Trinity, and when we are buried the pastor speaks these same words.

The G-d who created the heavens and earth is the G-d who loves you infinitely more than any earthly father or mother. And like our earthly fathers and mothers, G-d gives us the freedom to make our own decisions – decisions about faith, decisions about doing good or bad, decisions about relationships. We are not mindless, religious robots. G-d gives us the free-will to be open to the influences of faith, or not. Faith cannot be forced upon people. You don’t come to such conclusions by force, your reason, intellect or brain. You discover those conclusions about faith and about G-d through a relationship with G-d that begins with the revelation in Scripture. To learn that G-d loves you so much that he was willing to suffer and die for you on the cross, well, you don’t find that truth by your reason or intellect. Instead, you find it in the revelation in the Scriptures – you learn by reading and studying the scriptures that G-d is fully present in your heart and is with you this day, in fact every day

And so much about our faith begins with the “Ruach” – the Holy Spirit – which has been in existence from the beginning of everything. And our Holy Spirit along with the Father and the Son continue to have enormous potential for good throughout the world. This is why Jesus commissioned his disciples to do his ministry — beginning with baptism, and then teaching, to make disciples of all nations, not just members, but people who want to be at the forefront of ministry of love, forgiveness, equality and justice.  

No matter how much you hurt today, G-d loves you because G-d created you, and G-d’s love is revealed in the simple ways that G-d continues to make G-d’s self known in your life. No matter how much you doubt, Jesus loves you because he loved his own disciples who never could quite get out of the way of their own doubt and yet continued to do ministry to grow the church. No matter how much you have or have not done in relation to faith, the Holy Spirit will enlighten you with gifts and sustain you with its presence.

No matter if you understand the Trinity or not, G-d is all, is in all, and though remains a mystery to us, we know G-d best as G-d reveals G-d’s self – Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Pastor Dave

June 5, 2023 — Psalm 49 

“Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all who live in this world, 

both low and high, rich and poor alike: My mouth will speak words of wisdom; the meditation of my heart will give you understanding. I will turn my ear to a proverb; with the harp I will expound my riddle: Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers surround me—those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches? No one can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for them—the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough—so that they should live on forever and not see decay. For all can see that the wise die, that the foolish and the senseless also perish, leaving their wealth to others.” Psalm 49:1-10 

The problem that gave rise to the psalm is identified in the middle verses: certain wealthy persons are making the lives of others in the community miserable so that they live in fear. The Psalmist gives three reasons why those being oppressed should not fear the wealthy: 1. They too will die — their wealth will not save their lives; 2. When they die, they will not take their wealth with them — no one does; 3. Like so many sheep, these oppressors are marching toward death. 

What we need to remember every day is to take time to stop binge watching television and spend some time with G-d — remembering that it is G-d alone who has ransomed you and me from the power of death. It is Christ who has redeemed us — “So do not be afraid!” 

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you condemned the rich because they have already received their reward, and you proclaimed the poor blessed because the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Teach us to seek imperishable goods and to have confidence in your blood, poured out as the price of our redemption; and to you be the glory now and forever. 

Amen.