October 4, 2009
Anticipation
- Psalms 85:1-13
- Ruth Moore
Today is World Communion Sunday when Christians from around the world gather in worship to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. It is a day that Christians remember that we are all linked with one another in Christ—no matter our age, gender, color or amount of money in our bank account. It is a time to bear witness to the unity of Christians everywhere as we seek to live out Christ’s command to work for justice and peace. It’s one of my mother’s favorite Sundays. She always calls me on the first Sunday in October to ask if I have taken communion that day. When I say yes, because I am always here with all of you on Sundays, it pleases her to think that we were in communion with each other and with Christ. Because that is what happens when we take communion, the community of faith communes together and the Spirit of Christ is present in the midst of us. And when people all over the world take communion on the same day, we are all in the presence of the risen Christ together. For me it is a glimpse of what salvation looks like.
When Jesus was teaching about salvation he used these words that we often hear in the Invitation to Communion, “People will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 13: 29) I think Jesus must have been a Presbyterian, because when we gather we always find a reason to eat! But notice the future tense of this invitation—people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south. When we take communion we are not only remembering the life, death, sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus, we are also anticipating a meal in the Kingdom of God. And look who will be there—people from all over the world—World Communion! In communion we are being offered a foretaste—just a little bite of bread and a small cup of juice—a foretaste of the fellowship and sharing that will be perfected in heaven.
When we talk about the Kingdom of God or heaven, the word salvation comes up. It is implied that if you are saved, if you achieve salvation, you will go to heaven when you die—that you will then be a part of the Kingdom of God. But what do you think salvation looks like? Does it look like the man standing on the corner with a sign that says, “The End is near?” Is it a final cosmic battle between good and evil and only the good and the Christian go to be with God in the rapture? What is a rapture anyway?
I have a salvation story to share with you. I think I have shared it before, but I am getting old and repeating myself so please bear with me. One day a few years ago I was traveling on 116th Street from Michigan Road to Springmill. The road had just been repaved the day before and I was traveling about 55 mph in a 40 mph zone. I had the radio blaring and I was enjoying the nice spring day. A county sheriff pulled me over for speeding. As I was reaching for my insurance and registration information, the sheriff noticed the bible on the passenger seat. Now I don’t always travel with a bible on the passenger seat— although it’s probably not a bad idea! I had just come from a bible study with a friend of mine from seminary and since I can never seem to find my backpack I had just thrown the bible on the car seat. I think we can call that gesture providence, because the sheriff looked over, saw my bible and asked me if I was a Christian. Now to be honest I would have been a Buddhist or a Muslim at that point just to get out of the speeding ticket! But I said, “Why of course I’m a Christian, officer!” And he told me that he had just recently been saved and was a born again Christian. I told him I thought that was wonderful— because I do think it’s wonderful even if that’s not my experience with salvation and guess what—he let me off with a warning!
Psalm 85 offers us a vision of salvation. Let’s listen to it again—and I am going to include verse 8 which Tammany and Krista did not sing today.
Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts. Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other. Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky. The Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness will go before him, and will make a path for his steps. (Psalm 85: 8-13)
This is a vision of God’s intention for the future. In God’s salvation “steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other.” The writer of this Psalm uses the literary devise of personification so that these attributes of salvation will stand out to the reader. Steadfast love and faithfulness meeting, righteousness and peace kissing each other—what a vision! These verses are also the theme for the Peacemaking Offering that the PCUSA collects every year on this day, so that we can promote peacemaking in our communities and world.
The Psalmist’s vision of salvation is different from other understandings or perceptions about salvation. The sheriff who stopped me for speeding was talking about his own personal salvation. And why not, it was very new to him and exciting and real. But for the Psalmist, salvation is not just an individual experience; it also includes all who turn to him in their hearts. The criteria for salvation is faith and trust in God, not your ethnicity, age, gender, or skin color. The basis for salvation in this Psalm is blessing. It is God’s fourfold promise of steadfast love, faithfulness, peace and righteousness.
This definition of salvation is a dynamic process. When the four characteristics meet they help interpret and expand the meaning of one another, giving us a fuller vision of God’s salvation. Steadfast love is not just an emotion but a conscious decision that needs the truth and strength of faithfulness. Faithfulness is not just determination to stay loyal, but a commitment that must be nurtured and fed by love. Peace or shalom is not just the absence of conflict but includes the fullness of life—peace needs righteousness. Righteousness is not just morality, but also includes being in right relationship with God and with the community. And just so righteousness doesn’t become too legalistic it needs the added dimension of God’s shalom.
As Christians we believe that God dwelt among us in the person Jesus Christ—the one whose name yeshua means salvation. It is in his life that the four characterizations of salvation meet. Both the manger in Bethlehem and the cross in Calvary are signs of salvation for us. But the life lived in between these two events also shows us what salvation is. It is in Jesus’ life that we can see love, faithfulness, righteousness and peace personified—another incident of personification for emphasis so maybe we will finally come to understand.
We must also try to remember that our salvation is found not just in believing in Jesus Christ but also embodying—personifying if you will—what he embodied in this world. “When steadfast love and faithfulness meet in our lives, when righteousness and peace embrace in our business practices, our family relations, or our nation’s policies, God’s salvation is at hand. When we work for justice, we make way for God’s salvation in our world.
I think I saw a glimpse of salvation last Tuesday. I saw over 200 people build a playground for School 55. About 50 of those people had ties to Northminster. We had people from the ages of 23 to almost 90 helping build playground equipment for the school children we have been in partnership with for over 5 years. I think I see glimpses of salvation, glimpses of the Kingdom of God when people from the Interfaith Hospitality Network stay at our church. I see glimpses in the way we care for each other, for the way our children and youth form friendships, and in the way we reach out to others. Look around you. I bet you can see glimpses of steadfast love, faithfulness, righteousness and peace all around you—we just have to be aware of what to look for.
We have been taught that we can’t earn our salvation—it is a gift from God. That’s sometimes hard for us to understand. But the Psalmist helps me understand that idea just a little better. Salvation according to Psalm 85 is a blessing, a gift—and what God will give is good. Complete salvation will occur in the future—it is something we anticipate when we hear this Psalm and when we take communion together. But this Kingdom of God, this perfect world, this heaven, this salvation which God intends for us, is also part of our past and part of our present in Jesus Christ and in the way we embody his call to us in the world. Past, present and future—we must live in all three worlds and it can get kind of confusing at times.
But let’s focus on the Lord’s Supper for right now. In this meal we remember the past—the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. We are part of the present reality since the Spirit of the risen Christ is here with us in this meal bringing healing, wholeness and peace. And we look to the future when we anticipate God’s perfect heaven when people come from all over the world to sit at the table of our Lord and eat a meal together. No one is excluded. Even the little children are called to participate because Jesus does not turn them away. In fact some of our children are taking communion with us for the very first time today. Through this meal we are united with Christ and with one another so that steadfast love and faithfulness can and will meet. So that righteousness and peace can and will kiss each other. So that we can and will see the extent of God’s love for us and anticipate the full realization of the Kingdom of God. That is what salvation means to me. Amen.
Resources:
Paraphrasing from Feasting on the Word – Year B, Volume 4 – Second Sunday of Advent, Pastoral Perspective on Psalm 85.