August 14, 2023 — Psalm 109 

“Do not be silent, O God of my praise. For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues. They beset me with words of hate, and attack me without cause. In return for my love they accuse me, even while I make prayer for them. So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love. They say, “Appoint a wicked man against him; let an accuser stand on his right. When he is tried, let him be found guilty; let his prayer be counted as sin. May his days be few; may another seize his position. May his children be orphans, and his wife a widow. May his children wander about and beg; may they be driven out of the ruins they inhabit. May the creditor seize all that he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil. May there be no one to do him a kindness, nor anyone to pity his orphaned children. May his posterity be cut off; may his name be blotted out in the second generation. May the iniquity of his father be remembered before the LORD, and do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the LORD continually, and may his memory be cut off from the earth.” (Verses 1-15) 

This psalm constitutes the most vivid example of an imprecatory prayer found in the Psalms. What is an “imprecatory prayer”? This type of prayer is a prayer of “retribution” — these Psalms are those that invoke judgment, calamity, or curses, upon one’s enemies or those perceived as the enemies of G-d. Such petitions for justice have posed a theological problem, not to our surprise. Questions people have raised over the years include: How can a man who claims to trust in the Lord (verses 21-31), pray such curses on his enemies as those found in verses 6-20?  

Let me provide several possible answers for this problem. First, there is a legitimate righteous indignation against sin. Jesus indirectly commands something similar when he tells the woman caught in adultery to “Go and sin no more.” (John 8:11) Jesus is trying to point the woman, and those who might still be lingering, toward a new life. Second, the curses used here are actually a prayer that places the matter into the hands of a G-d. The Psalmist does not judge — he prays that G-d will be G-d and will judge rightly. Third, the psalmist is so identified with G-d that he turns to the only place he knows he will be heard — where we are always heard — he turns to G-d.  

Prayer 

God of steadfast love, on the cross your Son forgave his enemies. Turn us from hatred and evil, that we may forgive the offenses of others as we have been forgiven by you; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. 

Amen. Pastor Dave

August 13, 2023 — Pentecost +11A; Matthew 14:22-33

[Jesus] made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side [of the Sea of Galilee], while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

I want to ask you this question, would you know Jesus if he came up and said hello?  If you passed him on the street would you turn quickly as you passed and say, “Yep, there’s Jesus.” Remember, the pictures that we have of Jesus, the renderings that you have seen all of your life are just a best guess – some better than others. If Jesus bumped into you sometime in your day to day life, would you recognize him? The disciples in our gospel lesson this morning are having trouble recognizing Jesus – although they are in the middle of quite a tempest on the sea – the wind blowing up spray and waves splashing up all around them, and even if Jesus is so far away, even if he is coming toward them. And it is early dawn, early in the morning as the light is just coming up – no wonder they think Jesus is a ghost.  But then he speaks to them – the same Jesus that has spoken to them on so many occasions, teaching them and telling them stories – and they are still unsure.

Then Peter says something quite strange, the most interesting sentence in this whole story, Peter says, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Do you find this strange, or is it just me? We know that Peter is the impetuous one, asking Jesus if they should build three booths following the transfiguration, Peter who denies Jesus three times, now Peter is saying in essence “If it is you Lord, command me to step out of this boat in the dark, in deep water, to tempt death and walk across this swirling sea.” In a flash in the pan moment, Peter says, in essence, Lord if it is you, command me to do something that pushes my faith, stretches me beyond my comfort level, that forces me to – to – to – get out of the boat.  

You see my friends, you can’t walk on water, you can’t truly be a disciple if you never get out of the boat. And Jesus is saying just that this morning, he is saying “step out – take heart – do not be afraid.”  

There’s a wonderful hymn in our LBW, hymns number 494 titled Jesus Calls Us, O’re the Tumult that puts it this way…

Jesus calls us o’er the tumult
of our life’s wild, restless sea;
day by day his clear voice sounding,
saying, “Christian, follow me!”

I guess we need to ask ourselves the same question, “Am I willing to step out of the boat?”

Pastor Dave