Partners
Psalm 8[1]
I think many of us wonder about the meaning of our lives.
That’s not just something that we do when we’re young. Through all life’s
changes, we can find ourselves wondering what our lives are about. For some of
us, we find meaning in our families and our homes. For others, our lives are
more geared toward our careers. For others, it’s all about community
involvement. For still others, the meaning of life may be focused on the
experiences we have the opportunity to enjoy. For many of us, we find meaning
in life by trying to balance a combination of these factors. Life’s changes
also mean that our quest for meaning in life is a moving target for most of us.
At the different stages of life, we can find ourselves wondering “who am I?”
and “what is the meaning of my life?”
The psalm singer who wrote our lesson for today reflects on
that very question. Like anyone else, the psalm singer apparently was moved by
the vastness of the night sky to wonder about our place in all of that. He asks, “When I look at the night sky and
see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—what are
mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should
care for them?” (Ps. 8:3-4, NLT). It’s a common experience to feel a
sense of awe when you see the beauty of a clear night that seems so full of
stars. And it’s common to wonder at our place in the universe when we feel that
sense of awe.
But there are several ways in which the questions “Who am
I?” and “What is the meaning of my life?” are framed in a unique manner by the
Scripture lesson. First, the wonder at our place in a universe that can seem
overwhelmingly immense is framed by an affirmation that it is God who rules
over all of it. The James Webb Space Telescope recently discovered a galaxy
that is 45 billion light years away! As our technology has improved our understanding
of just how vast the universe is has increased dramatically. It’s only natural
that we should wonder at our place in this overwhelmingly immense universe. And
yet, the scripture affirms that God rules over all of it! At the beginning and
the end of his reflections, the psalm singer affirms, “O LORD, our Lord, your
majestic name fills the earth!” (Ps. 8:1, 9, NLT). I think he could have
just as easily said “, “O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the whole
universe!” The questions “Who am I?” and “What is the meaning of my life?” begin
and end with the affirmation that God is the one who reigns over all creation.
While God’s great majesty may lead us to wonder at our place in things, at the
same time, because we are God’s creatures, our lives are by definition endowed
with significance.
The second way in which the psalmist frames the questions
“Who am I?” and “What is the meaning of my life?” is by placing them in the
context of God’s care for all people. Notice that the psalmist doesn’t simply
ask “What are mere mortals?” Rather, he asks, “what are mere mortals that you
should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?” (Ps.
8:4). Literally, in the Hebrew Bible the
psalm singer wonders why God “remembers” and “visits” mortals. The acts of
“remembering” and “visiting” sum up God’s works on behalf of his people Israel
throughout the Hebrew Bible. That’s the language of God’s care. God continually
made the people of Israel the object of his attention and care. But the psalm
singer extends that care to include all mortals, the whole human family. Again,
the thought that God pays attention to and cares for every human being is one
that we might find so amazing that it’s hard to believe. But the psalm singer
insists it’s a vital part of the answer to the questions, “Who am I?” and “What
is the meaning of my life?”
The third way in which the psalm singer frames these
questions is by affirming the dignity of all human beings as partners in caring
for God’s treasured creation. He says it
this way, “You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things
under their authority” (Ps. 8:6, NLT). It seems clear that the psalm
singer is reflecting here on the description of humanity as a part of creation
in Genesis chapter one. Unfortunately, however, the ideas of “ruling” (Gen.
1:26) or having “authority” (Ps. 8:6) over creation have too often been
misconstrued. The point is not that this world and all that is in it is ours to
do with as we please. Rather it is that we are called to be partners with God
in his ongoing project of creation. Yes, there is a sense in which God “rested”
on the seventh day from all that he did in creation. But Jesus could say in
John’s Gospel that “my Father is working to this day” (Jn 5?), which alludes to
the sense in which creation itself is an ongoing project. It can be awe-inspiring
in and of itself to think that we mortals have been entrusted with caring for what
is most dear to God’s heart: the natural world in which we live and all the
people who life in it! In a very real sense, we are partners in the ongoing
work of creation by the way in which we do simple things like planting a garden.
Those tomatoes that will be turned into pasta sauce and salsa at the end of the
season are still growing right now. Some of them are just flowering. That’s creation
unfolding right before our eyes. And those who are involved in caring for those
gardens are partners in God’s ongoing work of creation. We have all kinds of
ways that we can exercise that partnership with God, including recycling and
conserving resources.
There are many ways we could approach the questions “Who am
I?” and “What is the meaning of my life?” We could approach them functionally,
based on what we do. We could approach them philosophically, or from the
perspective of psychology. And those approaches have important lessons to teach
us about what it means to live fully as a human being. But from the perspective
of the psalm singer, one cannot fully answer the question of the meaning of our
lives apart from the God who created us and who reigns over all things.
It is fitting on this Trinity Sunday, the day when we
remember that we worship the God who is not remote, but rather became one of us
in order to redeem us, and who is with us through the Spirit’s continual
presence, that we remember we are the objects of God’s unfailing love and care.
Always and continually. That has a lot to say about who God is: not a God who
is distant and absent, but a Creator who takes great delight in every detail of
creation, including the flowers that will become tomatoes and peppers and
zucchini our gardens. We see that in Jesus our Savior, and in the work of the
Spirit as well. But the fact that God takes such great interest in us also has
a lot to say about who we are: we are an important part of God’s project. All 8.2
billion of us are beloved and cared for by the God who is beyond the vast
universe. However we answer the questions “Who am I?” and “What is the meaning
of my life?”, we cannot leave God’s love out of the equation. God loves us all,
and that’s a very important part of answering the questions, “Who am I?” and “What
is the meaning of my life?” We are not “mere” mortals who live out our short
lives with no significance, but rather we are partners with God in the ongoing
project of creation and redemption. I think all of this challenges us to take
our place joyfully in the ongoing work of creation and redemption as God’s
partners. And we do that as we hold firmly to our confidence that God cares for
us, and that we are valued, perhaps beyond our imagination.
[1] ©
2025 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 6/15/2025 for
Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
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