The Burden Lifted

The Burden Lifted

Psalm 32[1]

If we live in a world defined by dissatisfaction, as we discussed last week, we also live in a world defined by competition. There’s probably no better time of year to talk about this. “March Madness” isn’t just about basketball. It’s a symbol of how deeply competition is drilled into our lives. In every area of our lives, from school, to work, to sports, to even the games we play for entertainment. The level of competitiveness in our world can leave us feeling like life itself is a “zero-sum game.” That’s just a fancy way of saying that somebody has to lose so that somebody else can “win.” In a tournament like “March Madness,” a whole lot of “somebodies” have to lose so that just one team can win.

I realize that this competitiveness is so much a part of our way of life that some of you may seriously ask whether there is any real alternative. We see it when more than one company has to “compete” for our business. That can be a good thing. To be sure, we also see many ways in which cooperation brings people together for mutual benefit. I think of how communities rally around a farmer who has been injured or is sick and can’t get their crops planted or harvested. But at the end of the day, when the driving force is to “win,” that means “beating the competition.”

I think that’s at least one of the reasons why the message of God’s grace gains so little traction in our culture. The idea that God’s unfailing love is unconditional, unqualified, irrevocable, and unlimited, and that it extends to everyone, everywhere regardless of who they are, where they’ve been, or what they’ve done, just doesn’t compute for us. Like everything else, we view love as something we have to “win” by outdoing others. Even many of us who sing God’s grace in church every week may try to “win” God’s love for ourselves with our morality and our religious devotion. But the very effort means we view others as the “competition.” Maybe that’s one reason why the church has lost so much spiritual credibility with so many in our day. The idea that God extends his grace and love to all people everywhere solely because that’s who God is gets lost in the drive to “outdo” others. We just cannot envision a world in which everyone “wins.” But maybe that’s part of our problem.

You might think that’s a surprising way to introduce our Psalm for today. We hear the language of “righteousness” and we think we have to “measure up” to some kind of standard. In some of the Psalms, the bar for being “righteous” is set so high it leaves us wondering who can ever reach it.[2] But that’s where the Psalm for today comes in. We discussed last week that in the Psalms being “righteous” means trusting in God completely and wholly. Our Psalm for today expands on that: the “righteous” who are “blessed” or truly “happy” are not those who by their own efforts achieve some unreachable standard of morality. Rather, the “righteous” are those who know that they are embraced by God’s love.[3] They’ve learned to be vulnerable enough to admit their pain not only to themselves, but also to God. When they do that, they know the meaning of the psalm-singer’s words: “Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!” Unfortunately, we tend to hear this kind of language in terms of guilt and shame. But this Psalm isn’t about guilt or shame, it’s about grace.

This is more than just religious jargon. The psalm-singer knows by experience the pain of feeling “not good enough.” To paraphrase the ancient words of the Bible, when we try to hide that pain, it becomes a burden that crushes us. It grinds us down as long as we keep silent. Many of us may know by personal experience the suffering that comes from keeping silent about our burdens. Some things are too painful to admit, even to ourselves. That’s because we may we think we’re unworthy of love and acceptance, by God, by others, or even by ourselves. But the burdens we carry don’t disqualify us from God’s love. We’re more than our worst failure. We’re more than the labels people put on us.

The psalm-singer also speaks of the freedom that comes from honesty. The promise of the Psalm for today is that when we admit all the ways in which we feel unworthy or disqualified, we find God’s total and complete acceptance. Even the language of sin and forgiveness demonstrates this. The variety of Hebrew words for sin and forgiveness in Psalm 32 offers the promise and the hope that our all guilt and shame in all its dimensions is resolved in every way that is necessary.[4] And this total and complete acceptance is available to us just for the asking. All we have to do is open ourselves enough to admit to ourselves and to God who we are, what we’ve done, and how we feel about it. We may be able to share this burden with a trusted friend or a counseling professional. The offer of healing held out to us by God’s grace applies not only to what we’ve done, but also to the pain we may carry for what has been done to us. When we name what hurts in a safe environment, we find that we’re still loved by God. Always have been and always will be. The joy and the freedom that comes from this kind of honest vulnerability is rooted in knowing that we are accepted for who we are, now and to all eternity.

In this Psalm, as in the Psalms as a whole, the key to finding this kind of freedom to learn to trust God’s unfailing love. That shouldn’t come as a surprise. The Psalms are filled with testimonies of the “blessings” that come from trusting God’s unfailing love. It’s about more than just comprehending God’s love as a concept. It’s about embracing God’s love wholly and completely with our whole hearts as well as our minds, even with body and soul. It’s about entrusting all that we are and all that we will ever be to God’s care! It may be hard to wrap our heads around something that big. Maybe we need to bring it down to a level we can grasp by taking the risk of trusting a friend enough to share our deepest pain. When we do, and we find love and acceptance in the place of the rejection we feared, the burden is lifted.

More than that, this process of healing can lead us to a whole new sense of worth, value, and acceptance. When the burdens we carry are lifted by God’s unfailing love, or even by the love of a friend, we find the freedom to accept that we are accepted. We find God’s unconditional, unqualified, irrevocable, and unlimited acceptance. That’s what “grace” means.[5] It means we’re accepted by God for who we are, now and forever. Always have been and always will be. When we find this level of freedom because the burdens that may have weighed us down for years have been lifted, we’re free to live fully in the present in a way that’s grace-filled and loving. We’re free to pass on to others the acceptance we have received. It transforms us and everyone around us, as God’s unconditional love is meant to.

---

[1] © 2025 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 3/30/2025 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

[2] Psalm 15 is a great example: the psalm-singer asks a question that boils down to who may live in God’s presence, and the answer is, “Those who obey God in everything and always do what is right, whose words are true and sincere, and who do not slander others. … They always do what they promise, no matter how much it may cost” (Ps 15:2-4, GNT). I think we all tend to assume that “I could never live up to that.”

[3] J. Clinton McCann, Jr. “The Book of Psalms,” New Interpreters Bible IV:806, where he points out that one of the purposes of this Psalm is to demonstrate the truth that “to be righteous is not a matter of being sinless but a matter of being forgiven.”

[4] Peter C. Craigie, Psalms 1–50, 266.

[5] Paul Tillich, “You are Accepted,” in The Shaking of the Foundations, 162. He says that we truly experience “grace” not by anything we decide to believe or do, but rather it’s as if “a wave of light breaks into our darkness, and it is as though a voice were saying: ‘You are accepted. You are accepted, accepted by that which is greater than you, and the name of which you do not know. Do not ask for the name now; perhaps you will find it later. Do not try to do anything now; perhaps later you will do much. Do not seek for anything; do not perform anything; do not intend anything. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted!’” (emphasis added). See also James L. Mays, Psalms, 146: “Calvin observed that all that the Scripture says about blessedness in other beatitudes depends on the blessedness commended here, ‘the free favor of God, by which he reconciles us to himself’ (Calvin I:526).”

 

My Hope is Built on Nothing Less

My Hope is Built on Nothing Less

Psalm 36:5-6[1]

It was a conversation like countless others. And the key question was, “If God doesn’t answer my prayers, what’s the point of trying to live for him?” Of course, the real question was about when “God doesn’t answer my prayers by giving me what I want.” To be sure, this was someone who was desperate—desperate—to find a way to save a loved one. The prayer wasn’t about landing a better job or buying a dream home. It was about saving a life, and the lives of all those affected. Surely God wants the same thing we want when it comes to something like that. And if God doesn’t come through for us when we pour out our hearts in prayer, then why pray at all? More than that, why even make the effort to hold onto our faith?

My answer was one that didn’t satisfy. My answer was that, like Job, we may ask the question, “Why?”, but we may never get an answer. My answer was that we cannot tie our faith in God to the outcome of our prayers. My answer was that we can’t know why God sometimes answers our prayers the way we hope, and sometimes doesn’t. When we’re desperate to save someone we love, that’s not what we usually want to hear. But in my experience, the reason we pray is because we place our hope in God’s love for us that never fails. The reason we keep practicing our faith is to remind ourselves that, come what may, God’s love for us never fails. The one thing we can always hold onto is the hope that God’s love for us never fails. Our hope is based on nothing less!

You may have noticed that we’ve been saying the same Assurance of Pardon all Summer. I don’t normally do that, but I wanted us to have the chance to really let the ideas of Psalm 36:5-6 sink into our hearts and minds. I like the way the New Living Translation puts it: “Your unfailing love, O LORD, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the ocean depths.” It’s one of my favorite Bible verses. It reminds me that we’re never outside God’s unfailing love. God’s faithfulness continues to embrace all of us, come what may. God’s purpose to set things right stands as unshakable as the highest mountains. And God’s work to right all wrongs will one day sweep over the whole world.

That’s a lot to take in, so let’s break it down. First, “Your unfailing love, O LORD, is as vast as the heavens.” This affirmation starts out with God’s character. The fact that God’s character is defined by “unfailing love,” “faithfulness,” “righteousness,” and “justice” serves as the basis for everything we believe. This Psalm reminds us that our hope is based on nothing less than who God was and is and ever shall be, world without end! And the starting point for that hope is that God’s love never fails and never ends. More than that, the Psalmist says God’s love is as vast as the heavens. It extends to everyone and everything everywhere in all creation. This is the quality of God’s love: God loves us all with a love that will never let us go. The amazing kindness and generosity that God continually shows us every day isn’t accidental.[2] It’s based on who God is: “Your unfailing love, O LORD, is as vast as the heavens.”

The next affirmation is, “your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.” That might seem obvious to us, but in a time when people could only speculate what was up there in the sky, the idea was that God’s faithfulness extends even beyond the limits of our knowledge. Like God’s love, God’s faithfulness extends to everyone and everything. In a world where promises are made to be broken, it may be hard for us to believe that the God who loves us is completely trustworthy and reliable. But this is another of those foundational declarations about God: God is the one who never, ever gives up on us. Whether or not it comes when we expect it, God will make good on every promise.[3] “Your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.”

The next affirmation is “Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains.” We assume that God’s “righteousness” also refers to his character. And it does. God is the one who always does what is right. But it goes beyond that. God is also the one who is always working to make all things right. You have to read carefully, and it’s sometimes hidden in our English bibles, but God’s character as “righteous” leads him to always work to make things right.[4] And because this is a matter of who God is, his intention to make all things right in this world is as firm and unshakeable as “the mighty mountains.” You could sooner bring down Mount Everest than you could thwart God’s purpose to make things right! “Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains.”

Finally, this verse affirms that “your justice [is] like the ocean depths.” We’re familiar with the idea that God’s character is “just.” But it may not be one that we find comforting. For us, “justice” equals punishment. But in the Hebrew Bible, God’s justice sets out to help the helpless and to heal those who are hurting. God’s justice brings peace to those who are oppressed and freedom to those who are bound in any way. Even when it comes to those who may be in the wrong, God’s justice comes as grace and mercy. God’s justice is about his determination to right all the wrongs in this world. And this intention is as powerful and unstoppable as the force of water in the ocean! “Your justice [is] like the ocean depths.”

This is the reason why I keep putting my faith in God, no matter what life may bring. It’s because God’s unfailing love upholds everything and everyone in all creation! That includes the whole universe![5] I keep hoping for God’s kingdom to prevail despite all that’s wrong in this world because God is always faithful to everyone, everywhere! When what is happening feels discouraging or even beyond the limits of my faith, I remember that God’s purpose to set all things right is as firm and sure as the mighty mountains! And I also remember that God’s justice, peace, and freedom will one day sweep over the whole world like the waters of the ocean! When life is such that it feels like “all around, my soul gives way,” I return to this verse to keep anchoring my faith and my hope on nothing less than God’s unfailing love, faithfulness, righteousness, and justice! I hope that this verse might inspire you to do the same!

---

[1] © 2023 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 9/3/2023 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

[2] Cf. H.-J. Kraus, Theology of the Book of Psalms, 44.

[3] Jürgen Moltmann, Theology of Hope, 115:God is the one on whom we can continue to rely “all the way from promise to fulfillment.”

[4] Moltman, Theology of Hope, 204: “The ‘righteousness of God’ is God’s faithful love directed toward the goal of setting all humans right with God, with themselves, with each other, and with the whole of creation; thus it refers to God’s redemptive purpose to bring about a new creation.”

[5] James L. Mays, Psalms, 156: the “attributes of the LORD are said to be cosmic in dimension. Heavens and clouds mark the upper limit of the world; mountains of God and the great deep are terms of immensity.”

Dismantling Evil

 Dismantling Evil

Matthew 4:1-11[1]

Our culture has an almost irrational fascination with evil. When I was in college, I read Bram Stoker’s Dracula for one of my English classes. It’s a gruesome and horrific story, one meant to inspire fear of the unknown powers of evil in this world. But the ultimate point of the horror genre, at least in that modern era, was to provide the assurance that no matter how frightening the powers of evil in this world may be, they can and will be overcome by good. Of course, in our postmodern day, those lines have been blurred in popular culture. Novels and films intentionally play up the “good bad guy” over against the “bad good guy.” And the fascination with evil persists. Whether it’s demons, or vampires, or zombies, people seem to think that if they can understand evil, then it’s not such a threat.

I’m not sure that’s the best way to try to deal with the reality of evil in the world. We only have to turn on the evening news to see all kinds of evil run rampant, seemingly unchecked. And way too many people take comfort in being able to say that all this is the work of a “devil.” Somehow, giving credit to a “devil” who is behind all the evil in the world helps people feel better. I think that’s partly because it gives them a ready explanation for where all this evil comes from. I think it’s also because it “confines” evil to one particular figure. In a strange way, that provides reassurance. But in my mind, the popular myths around a “devil” who is everywhere at all times, who is all-knowing and all-seeing, and who has the power to tempt anyone anywhere only increases fear. And it gives any “devil” there may be in this world way too much credit.

I think one of the purposes of our Gospel lesson from Matthew is to demonstrate that whatever evil powers there may be in this world have been decisively defeated by Jesus. Of course, that’s one of themes surrounding the cross and the resurrection in the NT. As the writer of the letter to the Hebrews puts it, Jesus “destroyed the Devil’s hold on death and freed all who cower through life” (Heb 2:14-15, MSG). In our Gospel lesson for today, we find that the “devil” held no power over Jesus from the very start. Although Jesus was weakened by his forty-day fast, which means that the temptations he faced were real, he was able to dismiss every one of them simply by reciting Scripture. And this wasn’t the last temptation he would face.

Part of the reason for Jesus’ ability to dismiss the “devil” so easily is because he had already declared at his baptism that he was determined to “fulfill all righteousness” (Mt 3:15). This is a theme that Matthew’s Gospel develops, and it includes Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount about what it truly meant to follow him in discipleship: responding to the demand of grace by loving God and loving others. It also includes Jesus’ obedience to the Father’s will, seen ultimately in his willingness to go to the cross. But here, we see Jesus’ determination to “fulfill all righteousness” in his unwavering commitment to remain true to God in the face of every temptation.

Every one of the temptations in this story had to do with how Jesus would fulfill his role as God’s “beloved son,” as the voice from the heavens had identified him at his baptism immediately before the temptation (Mt 3:17). Although it seems harmless for Jesus to have fed himself by turning a stone into bread, the temptation went deeper than hunger. The question was whether he would trust in and rely on God to meet all his needs, or whether he would take matters into his own hands. In response to Jesus’ faithful obedience to Scripture, the second temptation (mis)quotes scripture regarding his trust in God. The misuse of the scripture can be seen in that the “tempter” twisted a passage affirming God’s unfailing care into a challenge to put God to the test. Each time, Jesus demonstrated his commitment to “fulfill all righteousness” by remaining true to God.

I think in Matthew’s Gospel we’re meant to see the fact that, despite Jesus’ weakened condition, the “temptation” was really no contest. All he had to do to ward off every temptation was to recite scripture. And the scriptures he used were among the most basic in the Bible: they are related to the call to stay true to one true God from the Shema, the verse that pious Jewish people still recite every day (Dt 6:4-5). Even the final temptation, the offer of “all authority” if Jesus would turn from his loyalty to God and worship the “devil,” was an almost pathetic attempt that failed spectacularly. Again, all Jesus had to do was recite the most basic scripture, which he likely had known all his life: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him” (Dt 6:13).

One aspect of Matthew’s story of the temptation may be hard for us to see. In that final temptation, the “devil” falsely offered Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world and their glory” on a “high mountain.” As if the “devil” would have been able to give what belongs to God! At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, meeting his disciples on another mountain, Jesus declared that God had given him “all authority in heaven and on earth” (Mt 28:18). As a result of Jesus’ commitment to “fulfill all righteousness,” even when it meant going to the cross, God raised him to his own right hand, far above all the powers of evil there may be in this world. Jesus our Savior dismantled the power of evil by his willingness to remain true to God in the face of every temptation.

When we buy into the popular mythology surrounding the “devil,” we may give it far too much credit. Any “devil” there may be is a created being. It cannot be everywhere at all times, it is not all-knowing or all-seeing, and it does not have the power to tempt anyone anywhere. Only God has the power to be everywhere at all times, to be all-knowing and all-seeing! More than that, any “devil” there may be is a defeated being. It could not even stand up to Jesus after he was weakened by forty days of fasting. It certainly cannot rival the power of the risen Christ reigning as Lord from the right hand of God. That means that ultimately, we don’t have to fear evil in this world. Jesus’ death and resurrection broke the power of evil forever. Of course, we still face the reality of evil in this world, but because Jesus is the one who is with us, he helps us face every temptation. And more than that he gives us the power to join with him in dismantling whatever evil there may be in our world in the same way as he did: by remaining true to God.

---

[1] ©2023 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 2/26/2023 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

Joy to the World!

 

Joy to the World!

Isaiah 61:1-11[1]

As I mentioned last week, for some of us this time of year is very difficult. It’s hard to feel like you’re a part of the “festivities.” Instead of joy, the “Holidays” bring sadness. As a matter of fact, I’m one of those people. I’ve dealt with this all my adult life. It relates to issues that go back to my family of origin, but that’s too long a story to tell here. Don’t get me wrong: I’ve always loved Christmas Eve services. Somehow, the “pall” that seems to hang over me during this time of year lifts with Christmas Eve. But otherwise, it’s difficult for me to “get into the spirit” of “Christmas cheer.” I know that I’m not alone in that. That’s one reason for mentioning it—so that others will know that they’re not alone.

For those of us who struggle with the “Holiday Season,” the promise of joy can seem hollow. The wounds we’ve endured in this life have so sensitized us to the suffering in our world that no amount of tinsel or lights or wrapping or sweets can distract us from the fact that it can all feel very hollow! While we are spending an incredible amount of money on ourselves, we are surrounded by people who are struggling just to put food on the table, just to keep the electricity going, or just to keep a roof over their heads. It makes it hard to get into the whole message of hope, peace, joy, and love when it seems like there’s precious little of it going around for those who need it most.

I believe our lesson from Isaiah for today addresses this problem. As I’ve mentioned before, this portion of Isaiah was addressed to those who had lost everything at the hands of the Babylonians. God had made good on the promise to bring them back to their homeland, but when they got there, the reality of their “salvation” fell far short of what they had hoped. They returned to a land that had been devastated by war and left a wasteland. Their lives were harder than ever, and it seemed that the God who had promised to deliver them had failed to make good on those promises. Their faith was spent and their lives seemed hopeless.

What’s more, after going through years of exile that were intended to teach them to follow God’s ways, they still hadn’t learned their lesson. They still failed to practice what the prophet spoke of as “righteousness” and “justice,” which refers to God’s intention that all people should thrive together, equally. Isaiah defines “righteousness” this way: “to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke” (Isa 58:6). He gets more specific: God’s intent was that they would share with the hungry, shelter the homeless, and clothe the naked (Isa 58:7). But they were too wrapped up with their own concerns to actually put God’s “righteousness” into practice.

As a result, God promised to come and set things right himself. And that brings us to the lesson for today. Here, one who speaks like “the Servant of the Lord” announces that God had anointed him to “to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners” (Isa 61:1). He promised to give the “oil of gladness” to those who were mourning—very likely because they were struggling just to survive. The prophet promised in the name of the LORD that God would cause “righteousness” to grow up and flourish like a lush garden! In other words, God promised to set right all that was wrong, to relieve their suffering, and to establish true justice that would enable them all to thrive together, equally.

We know of this message in the Bible—we call it “social justice.” But for some reason, we seem to miss how important it is in God’s saving purpose. We tend to think of our “eternal destiny” as the “important” part of “salvation.” From that perspective, anything we do to help alleviate suffering in this world is good, but it’s not “necessary.” It’s sort of something “extra” that those who are exceptionally caring do, but it’s not a “required” part of the Christian life. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth! Throughout the Bible, it is clear that the work of “righteousness” or “justice” that makes it possible for us all to thrive together is not a “side note” to God’s purpose. Rather, it central to God’s saving work in this world![2] And God’s promise to do this calls us all to take up the work of establishing “righteousness” in our world!

The thought occurred to me that perhaps this year we’re all having difficulty finding joy in the holiday season. This year we may not be able to observe all the “festivities” we would like. However, it might not be a bad thing for us to have to look deeper to find the joy of Christmas. True joy is about the promise that God would send us a Savior who would not only proclaim the good news, but who would also enact it by relieving suffering and setting all things right in the world. If we find it challenging to see that promise fulfilled in our day and time, we can remember that that God isn’t finished with his saving work. The promise points forward to the time when Jesus will complete the work of establishing “righteousness” so that all people can thrive together and enjoy the life God intends for us. I think that may offer a hope that can bring joy not only to us, but also to the whole world!

---

[1] © 2020 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm, Ph. D. on 12/13/2020 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

[2] Cf. T. E. Fretheim, “The Prophets and Social Justice: A Conservative Agenda,” in Word & World 28 (Spring 2008): 163, “God's concern about matters of social justice was believed to be so strong and so pervasive that it was built into the very heart of the covenantal promises. And God was and will be faithful to such promises.”

It's Coming Together

It’s Coming Together

Isaiah 42:1-9; Matthew 3:13-17[1]

It’s not hard to take the point of view that our world is coming apart at the seams. If you pay any attention to the news at all, you know that peoples and countries around the world are struggling against all kinds of disorder. The events that capture our attention are often negative, and it can leave us with the feeling that societies are falling into chaos all over the globe. But you don’t have to look that far to get the feeling that society is coming apart. It seems undeniable that the ways of interacting and going about daily life that many of us may have been taught to observe have simply gone by the wayside. Work ethic, civility in public discourse, simple good manners, seem to have worn themselves out.

The result is that it leaves us feeling like the world in which we are trying to live and raise our children is not a safe place. It’s a place where might makes right, which is fine if you have power. But if you don’t, it’s easy to get discouraged from the fact that you can’t even control your own life. Our world is a place where fame and money talk, and when they do, people listen. If you’re famous and rich, that’s great. But if you’re not, it can seem like your voice is, at best, marginal if not completely muted. When we conclude that our world is unsafe because all the commonly-held codes of decency have fallen by the wayside, it can lead us to a fairly gloomy outlook on life.

When we look at the message of the prophets closely, we find that they lived in times like these. They faced their world coming apart, and in response to God’s call, they proclaimed a very different message. They were motivated by the vision of God’s kingdom of peace and justice and freedom coming into this world and transforming it from the very roots. At times that message came to the people as one of judgment—as a warning that if they didn’t change their ways their world would fall apart even more than it already had.

But beyond that, the prophets were motivated by their faith in the God whose righteousness brings peace, the God whose justice puts mercy into action, and the God whose truth sets people free. And that faith led them to the vision that God has something better in store for the world than darkness, fear, injustice, violence, and chaos. After all, the Hebrew Bible introduces us to God as the one who brings light from darkness, who overcomes chaos simply by speaking the word (cf. Isa. 42:5). And as a result, the prophets pointed to the time when that same God would restore everyone and everything to the way he intended them to be.[2] They looked forward to the time when God would come to put back together the broken pieces of this world and the lives that had been shattered by the power-mongers who try to thwart God’s ways and God’s purposes.

Not only did the prophets envision this kingdom in which God’s peace, justice, and freedom would define life for all people everywhere. They also saw the way in which God would accomplish this miracle. Or perhaps more accurately we should say they saw the one through whom God’s kingdom would become a reality. As in our text from the prophet Isaiah for today, they spoke of the “servant of the Lord” as the one through whom God would establish God’s justice in this world (Isa. 42:4). And what all that would look like could be described in these terms: “a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench” (Isa. 42:3). I like the way The Message puts it: “He won’t brush aside the bruised and the hurt and he won't disregard the small and insignificant.”

In other words, the one who would come to establish God’s kingdom in this world would do so through the mercy and grace and steadfast love that are the central characteristics not only of our God but also of the kingdom he intends to establish. The servant of the Lord would not act like those who wield power and influence in our world. He would be one who would come “not to be served, but to serve” (Matt. 20:28). And through his humble service, he would establish God’s righteousness, and the kingdom defined by it, for all the peoples of the world.[3]

I think that’s what Matthew’s story of Jesus’ baptism is about.  Jesus approaches John to be baptized, and John objects, “I need to be baptized by you” (Mt. 3:14)!  Jesus’ response might seem strange at first glance: “it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness” (Mt. 3:15).  One would think that Jesus had “fulfilled all righteousness.”  I think the “righteousness” Jesus was referring to was the righteousness of God’s kingdom that the servant of the Lord was to fulfill. Once again, I think The Message captures the meaning well: “God’s work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism.”  In his life and ministry, Jesus was convinced that his mission was to fulfill God’s saving purpose for all the nations.[4]

It can be discouraging to see the way things are going in our world. But if we have the eyes to see it, there is something else going on. In his life and ministry and death and resurrection, Jesus began the work of bringing God’s kingdom of justice, peace, and freedom into this world. And he continues to do that even today. That might come as a surprise to you. What may be even more surprising is the way in which he continues that work: through ordinary people like you and me. As we follow Jesus’ example, we too are “fulfilling” the righteousness of God’s kingdom. As we seek to serve those around us, we can see signs that God’s kingdom is even now coming together in our midst.

---

[1] ©2017 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 1/8/2017 at Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

[2] Cf. James L. Mays, Psalms, 311: “The LORD’s reign is power devoted to righteousness and justice.  Righteousness is the rightness that makes for life and shalom; justice is found in decisions and actions according to righteousness.”

[3] W. D. Davies and D. C. Allison, Matthew 1-7, 344: “as the ‘servant’ of God, Jesus not only brings OT prophecy to fulfillment, receiving the Spirit (3.17; 12.18), taking up infirmities (8.17), and giving his life as a ransom for many (20.28)—he is also the paradigm of the righteous sufferer. Thus … he meekly sides with the weak and powerless while being delivered over into the hands of the mighty and powerful. Jesus came not to be served but to serve (20.28), and this idea presents itself at every turn of our gospel. From this we learn that sonship largely consists in choosing to take up the ministry of the suffering servant.”

[4] Cf. Donald Hagner, Matthew 1-13, 60: “Thus John and Jesus perform their respective roles, fulfilling ‘all righteousness’ as the salvific will of God now receives expression in the inauguration of the kingdom and the arrival of a new and crucial stage of salvation-history; cf. also Davies and Allison, Matthew 1-7, 326: “when Jesus fulfills all righteousness, he his fulfilling Scripture.”

Never Ending Love

Never Ending Love

Psalm 36:5-10[1]

I think many of us are people who are searching. We’re searching for the right break or the right person or the right situation or the right place. We seem to believe that if we can only find whatever it is we’re looking for, we’ll finally be happy. We’ll be fulfilled in life. The problem with this approach to life is that we look for that fulfillment in people and things that are finite. By definition, they cannot provide the happiness we seek. Whatever it is we think we’re looking for, when we find it we will inevitably feel let down at some point. Don’t get me wrong—I think we’re meant to find peace and joy in life. But it seems one of the hardest lessons for us to learn is that we cannot look to anyone or anything in this life to provide ultimate fulfillment.[2] There’s only One who can do that.

I think that may be one of the most important lessons the Psalms have to teach us. Repeatedly the Psalmists point us to God as the one who is the source of wellbeing in life, all of life, for all of us. They do it in a wide variety of ways, from reflecting on the experience of God’s presence in worship to the fundamental awareness that God is the one who provides everything that supports us in life—even the sun and the rain. From top to bottom, our lives are constantly in God’s loving care, whether we are aware of it or not.[3]

I believe that is the point of our lesson from Psalm 36 for today. It is one of the classic passages of Scripture affirming God’s unending love and goodness. In an effort to express the ideas behind some of the theologically loaded terms, my translation reads: “Your unfailing love, O Lord, extends to the heavens! Your trustworthiness reaches to the clouds! Your determination to set things right is as firm as the strongest mountains! The healing works of your justice are as vast as the waters of the sea!” (Ps. 36:5-6). I must add, however, that there is probably more going on in these two verses that any translation can adequately express.

In effect, the Psalmist is attempting to summarize God’s character with the words “steadfast love,” “faithfulness,” “righteousness,” and “justice.”[4] I’m afraid, however, that these words are so loaded with significance in the Hebrew Bible it may be hard to grasp all that they’re saying. And yet this description of who God is serves as the basis for just about everything the Scriptures have to say and everything we believe. The Psalmist begins by describing a God of “steadfast love,” a love that never fails and never ends. This is the quality of God’s love: God loves us with a love that will never let us go.[5] That’s where the Psalmist begins in pointing us to the One who is the source of our life: God’s never-failing, never-ending love.

“Faithfulness” is the next affirmation about God. In a world where promises are meant to be broken, we may have difficulty grasping the idea that the God who loves us is absolutely trustworthy. But this is another of those foundational declarations about God: God is the one who never, ever gives up on us.[6] God may let us experience the consequences of our choices, but God will always be there for us. And so this is another basis for looking to God as the source of our life: the promise that God will never give up on us.

The Psalmist also praises God for his “righteousness” and “justice.” Again, these concepts are full of meaning in the Scriptures. God’s “righteousness” is what “sets right” everything and everyone.[7] Theologians call it “salvation” or “justification,” but what it boils down to is that God gives us life! The idea of God’s “justice” may give us more difficulty.  We have difficulty getting past the notion that “justice” equals punishment or condemnation. But in the Hebrew Bible, God’s justice sets out to rescue the helpless and the hurting. Even when it comes to those who may be in the wrong, God’s justice comes to them as grace and mercy rather than condemnation. God’s justice makes us whole! God’s justice gives us life![8]

And so in affirming God’s righteousness and justice the Psalmist affirms that it is God’s intention to give us life. And that intention is as strong and immovable as the tallest mountains. It is as deep and strong and vast as the oceans.[9] In other words, nothing can stop God from carrying out his plan to give us life. And nothing limits God’s plan—it extends to all people and even to all life. As the Psalmist puts it, “you save humans and animals alike, O Lord” (Ps. 36:6). And for those who may doubt that God really is this kind of God, the Psalmist insists: “All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light” (Ps. 36:7-9).[10]

This is where the Psalms point us in our quest to find fulfillment in life. They point us to the God who loves us with a never-ending love, to the God who never gives up on us, and to the God who is determined to give us life that is full and free and joyful. But the Psalmist is aware that life doesn’t always reflect God’s purposes. In fact, the setting of these verses is a prayer for deliverance from enemies who threaten to harm him. Yet the Psalmist knows something that I think we may sometimes forget. No matter what threats we may face, God’s grace will have the last word.[11] Because of that, as we continue our search for a life that will be filled with peace and joy, we can trust that there is a place where we can find it. We find it as we turn continually, day after day, to God’s never ending love.

---

[1] © 2016 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 1/17/2016 at Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

[2] Cf. Henri Nouwen, Here and Now, 125, where he speaks of “the limitations of human relationships”: “When we are lonely and look for someone to take our loneliness away, we are quickly disillusioned. The other, who for a while may have offered us an experience of wholeness and inner peace, soon proves incapable of giving us lasting happiness and instead of taking away our loneliness only reveals to us its depth.” He says that the answer to this problem is that we must recognize continually that (p. 136) “We are God’s beloved daughters and sons, not because we have proven ourselves worthy of God’s love, but because God freely chose us.” Cf. also Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation, 25:  “The only true joy on earth is to … enter by love into union with the Life Who dwells and sings … in the core of our own souls.”

[3] There is some discussion about whether the safety and the refuge the Psalmist experiences takes place in the context of the Temple. See, for example, H.-J. Kraus, Psalms 1-59, 398. It would seem, however, that the all-inclusive language of Ps. 36:7-9 would argue against that interpretation.

[4] Cf. H.-J. Kraus, Theology of the Psalms, 42-46; James L. Mays, Psalms, 33, 311.

[5] Cf. James L Mays, Psalms, 157, where he discusses the Hebrew word hesed, which is translated as “lovingkindness” or “steadfast love” or “mercy.” He says, “God’s hesed is manifest in the way in which humankind depend on God’s saving help: he provides shelter (v. 7b), food (v. 8a), and drink (v. 8b), and so is the source of life (v. 9). Cf. also Kraus, Theology of the Book of Psalms, 44, where he indicates that hesed refers to “unexpected and amazing goodness and kindness” that are not simply spontaneous but result from faithfulness of God’s commitment to Israel.

[6] Cf. Kraus, Theology of the Book of Psalms, 45, where he says that God’s faithfulness refers to God’s “dependability,” in which “his hesed is demonstrated and validated”; he summarizes: “it is a matter of dependability in all that Yahweh says and does.” Cf. Jürgen Moltmann, Theology of Hope, 112-120, 143-148: “God is the same God all the way from promise to fulfillment” (115).

[7] Cf.  Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, II.1:375-84: “According to the witness of the Old and New Testaments, the love and grace and mercy of God, …, are the demonstration and exercise of the righteousness of God” (384); cf. also Jürgen Moltman, Theology of Hope, 204: “The ‘righteousness of God’ is God’s faithful love directed toward the goal of setting all humans right with God, with themselves, with each other, and with the whole of creation; thus it refers to God’s redemptive purpose to bring about a new creation.” H. Berkhof, Christian Faith, 135, where he points out that God’s “righteousness” in Paul’s theology “definitely refers to salvation and redemption.” He continues, “the element of judgment is not absent,” yet “this judgment is turned into grace through Christ’s reconciling death” and “precisely in this way God’s righteousness triumphs.”  

[8] Cf. Kraus, Theology of the Book of Psalms, 43, where he points out that “in the execution of justice and the process of judgment” God demonstrates his “righteousness” and “his salvation, his grace.” Cf. also Marcus Borg, The Heart of Christianity, 76: “in the Bible justice is the social form of love.”

[9] Cf. Mays, Psalms, 156: the “attributes of the LORD are said to be cosmic in dimension. Heavens and clouds mark  the upper limit of the world; mountains of God and the great deep are terms of immensity.” Cf. similarly, Kraus, Psalms 1-59, 399, where he says that the “range” of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness “corresponds to the reality of God.”

[10] Cf. Mays, Psalms, 156: the psalmist speaks of the attributes of God’s character, steadfast love, faithfulness, righteousness, and justice, “as manifest in God’s salvation of all living things—man and beast—and by salvation means God’s ongoing providential care by which he preserves life.” Cf. Kraus, Psalms 1-59, 399: the Psalmist sees “the help of Yahweh … stretched out to its full extent over the world of human beings and animals … . The effect of the ‘goodness’ is universal.”

[11] Cf. Mays, Psalms, 158: “In the face of the threatening shape that evil takes in the character of the wicked, this prayer rehearses and renews the vision of existence as a great system of grace. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not put it out.”

God’s Ways

Psalm 25 [1]

During the season of Epiphany we have been talking how Jesus’ life and ministry served to open our eyes to the reality of God’s kingdom, already working among us to make all things new, to set things right and restore life as God intended for it to be. As we move into Lent, it is appropriate to ask ourselves some important questions. For example, how does this good news impact the way we actually live. What does it mean to live our lives according to God’s kingdom?

The psalmist puts it this way, “Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation” (Ps. 25:4-5). If you’ve paid any attention to my preaching at all, you may have noticed that I begin my sermons with that prayer. This particular Psalm is a prayer for God’s instruction, for God’s torah. [2] Now, most of us have labored under the mistaken notion that the Torah was the law, something from which we have been set free by Jesus. But nothing could be further from the truth. The torah is not a set of rules that are intended to bind us or to be codified into a set of laws. The torah is God’s instruction for what it means to live in the light of the reality that God is working in this world to make all things new. [3]

As one of my favorite commentators on the Psalms says, Torah is “instruction in the broadest sense”; that means that in the Psalms,

“you may find instruction about what God is like and how God deals with people and the world. You can learn about the human predicament and human possibilities in a world populated by the powerful and the lowly, the wicked and the righteous. You can learn about the conduct of life and how that affects its outcome. You will be taught trust and the language of trust, prayer and praise.” [4]

What it means to live in the light of God’s kingdom is simply this: make God’s ways the guiding orientation to all of life. [5] But what are God’s ways? The Psalmist answers that question also: “All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness” (Ps. 25:10). [6] This verse contains two very important concepts in the Hebrew Bible’s understanding of God’s character. God is a God of “faithfulness”—which means that God never gives up on relationships; and God is a God of “steadfast love”—which means that God never quits loving us. [7]

Based on God’s character, the focus of torah is simply “what is right” (Psalm 25:9). It is the Hebrew word that is often translated “justice.” God is also a God of “righteousness,” a God of “justice." [8] But remember that we’ve had some misunderstandings here too. In the Bible God’s justice is the compassion and kindness that creates the conditions in which all people can thrive, especially the most vulnerable. [9] It is a word of salvation; it’s focus is on setting things right. [10]

So from the perspective of the Psalmist, what it means to live in the light of God’s kingdom is to emulate God’s character—to be faithful in relationships, loving in a way that never quits, working to set things right. Now being the industrious Presbyterians we are, we might be tempted to go out and devise a plan to do just that. In fact, I guess you’d have to say that’s exactly what we’ve done as a denomination—devised a plan to systematically follow this way of life.

But notice that God’s torah or instruction is for those humble enough to know that they need it: “He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way” (Ps. 25:9). [11] Those who are open to God’s way are the ones who are humble enough to realize that they need God in every aspect of their lives. They are the ones who are humble enough to align their lives with God’s kingdom when it begins to make an appearance. One of the fundamental lessons of Lent is that we are called to live the life of the kingdom of God. But another one of the fundamental lessons of Lent is that we cannot live the life of the kingdom on our own. The only way we can possibly achieve any success is if God “teaches” us. [12] Being humble enough to seek God’s instruction is a matter of trust—of entrusting ourselves to God’s goodness and steadfast love and faithfulness, and being willing to take the risk of following God’s ways.

---

[1] © 2009 Alan Brehm. A sermon preached by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 3/1/09 at First Presbyterian Church, Dickinson, TX and at A Community of the Servant-Savior Presbyterian Church, Houston, TX.

[2]As the Psalmist puts it, God “instructs [torah] sinners in the way” (Psalm 25:8). James L. Mays, Psalms, 127, reminds us that in the context of the Psalms, “the torah of the Lord, his instruction of those who fear him, is part of God’s saving work.”

[3] Mays, Psalms, 126: God’s instruction “is guidance that makes it possible to live in and according to the rule of God.” Cf. also Mays, 98-99, 152, 168, 254-57, 301, 381-84.

[4] Mays Psalms, 15-16. He continues, “The Psalms compose a book of Torah. In all their styles and types they give instruction. So they can be used. And so they have been used, all of them, to this day.”

[5] Cf. Hans-Joachim Kraus, Psalms 1-59, 323.

[6] Cf. Mays, Psalms, 32-33, 156-57, 168, 218, 277, for explanations of God’s character or “ways” in the Psalms.

[7] Cf. Mays, Psalms, 33, 328, 344-47.

[8] Cf. Mays, Psalms, 57: “God’s ‘righteousness’ … means the divine purpose and power to make people and affairs right for life.” Cf. further Mays, 75, 237, 270-71, 277; cf. also J. Clinton McCann, Jr., A Theological Introduction to the Book of Psalms, 45: one of the most prominent of the effects of God’s reign on earth is “the establishment of justice or the setting of things right on earth.”

[9] Mays, Psalms 311, says it this way: “Righteousness is the rightness that makes for life and shalom; justice is found in decisions and actions according to righteousness.”

[10] Cf. Mays, Psalms, 57, 73, 212, 311, 315, 383 Both the Hebrew words mishpat (justice) and tsedeqah (righteousness) relate to this idea.

[11] Most biblical scholars would argue that Jesus translated the “humble” in the OT Psalms and Prophets into the “poor in spirit” or the “meek” of the Beatitudes. Cf. Mays, Psalms, 35 and Kraus, Psalms 1-59, 92-95.

[12] Mays, Psalms, 126: “The life of prayer is incomplete unless there are supplications that say, ‘Teach me, instruct me, guide me, let me know.’”

God Comes to Set Things Right[1]

Isa 61:1-11

The theme of our celebration of Advent this year is the promise that God is coming. In our text for this week, the prophet Isaiah reminds us that God comes to bring righteousness and justice. At first glance, we might not see that as good news. We tend to miss the Bible’s very robust message about righteousness and justice. For us righteousness is something abstract—something that has to do with God’s holiness or with human “saintly” character. We think of justice in terms of judgment, which means punishment and condemnation.

But the Bible has a very different idea of righteousness and justice. Righteousness is what makes it possible for all people to thrive. Justice is what creates the conditions for righteousness.[2] In the Bible, God’s “righteousness” is what “sets right” everything and everyone.[3] God’s justice is the compassion and kindness that creates the conditions in which all people can thrive, especially the most vulnerable.[4] In essence, when the prophet Isaiah proclaimed the good news that God was coming to bring righteousness and justice, what he was looking forward to was God’s coming to set right everything that has gone wrong.

To some extent, God’s coming to bring righteousness and justice involves an element of “judgment.” But it is not what we normally understand as “judgment”; it is not punishment or condemnation. Rather, the judgment involved in God’s coming to establish righteousness and justice is more like a kind of cleansing. We might envision judgment as “preparing the way for the Lord,” as making straight what is crooked in order that it may be redeemed, as purging everything that stands in the way of God’s righteousness and justice.[5]

But God’s justice has always been and always will be a justice of compassion and mercy, and so it also always involves restoration.[6] The prophets looked forward to God’s coming to bring restoration to God’s people, especially the faithful remnant.[7] But that was not something intended just for them; ultimately it was to bring restoration to all humankind.[8]

I think our misunderstanding of this fundamental aspect of the Bible’s message is the reason why we cannot understand why anyone would rejoice over God’s coming to “judge” the earth, as the Psalms for this time of year put it.[9] “Joy to the World” because God is coming to judge us all just doesn’t quite work for us. But God’s coming to judge has nothing to do with punishment or condemnation; it means that God is coming to establish true justice, God’s compassionate justice that restores the helpless and the hopeless and the hurting.[10]

I think this is also why we cannot fathom what Jesus was talking about when he defined the good news in terms of “the kingdom of God is at hand”! Here again, we have problems with the concept of a “kingdom.” God’s kingdom has nothing to do with what we normally associate with a “king”— the abuse of power and the denial of basic human rights.[11] God’s “kingdom” refers to the idea that when God comes, the whole world will follow God’s compassionate justice so that everyone may enjoy life the way it was intended to be.[12] And so another way of praying “Thy kingdom Come,” is to say “The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world.”[13] God’s kingdom is a “commonwealth of peace and freedom.”

What does God’s kingdom look like? It looks like righteousness—the “rightness that makes for life and shalom”[14]—springing up from the ground as naturally as wildflowers on the side of the road. What does God’s righteousness look like? It looks like compassionate justice setting everything right. What does God’s justice look like? According to Isaiah it looks like good news to the oppressed, healing for the afflicted, freedom for the captive, comfort for those who mourn.[15]

That’s why Jesus could proclaim “the kingdom of God is at hand” as good news. But the kingdom of God is also something that remains to be seen. And that’s also good news. When the kingdom of God comes in its fullness, it means peace and righteousness, the conditions that make life thrive for all people and all creation.[16] It means the end of violence and death and disease and suffering and sickness and oppression and injustice.[17] It means life that is full and everlasting;[18] it means unimaginable joy for all people and all creation.[19]

---

[1] © 2008 Alan Brehm. A sermon preached by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 12/14/08 at A Community of the Servant-Savior Presbyterian Church, Houston, TX.

[2]James L. Mays, Psalms, 311, “Righteousness is the rightness that makes for life and shalom; justice is found in decisions and actions according to righteousness,” Cf. also Jürgen Moltmann, The Way of Jesus Christ, 121: “God’s justice and righteousness brings shalom to both his people and land.”

[3] Cf. Romans 1:16-17; 3:21-26; 4:25; 8:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21.

[4] See Exodus 22:21; 23:9; Leviticus 19:10, 33; 23:22; 24:22; Numbers 15:29; Deuteronomy 1:16; 24:17, 19, 21; 27:19; Jeremiah 7:6; 22:3; Ezekiel 22:7, 29; Zechariah 7:10; Malachi 3:5.

[5] Cf. Christopher R. Seitz, Isaiah 1-39, 192; cf. also Jürgen Moltmann, The Coming of God, 243-44, 255.

[6] Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, II.1:375-84: “According to the witness of the Old and New Testaments, the love and grace and mercy of God, …, are the demonstration and exercise of the righteousness of God” (384); cf. also Moltmann, Coming, 250

[7] Cf. Claus Westermann, Isaiah 40-66, 367, where he points out that “vengeance” in Isa. 61:2 refers to restoration; cf. The Inclusive Translation, “day of vindication.” See also Isaiah 10:20–27; see also Jeremiah 30:1–9; Micah 5:7–15; Zechariah 8:1–8; 12:1–13:6; 14:1–21.

[8] Isaiah 2:2-4; 25:6–10; 45:20-25; 52:7–10; 66:18, 23; see also Micah 4:1-3; Jeremiah 3:17; 16:19.

[9] Cf. Ps. 96:11-13; 98:4-9.

[10] Marcus Borg, The Heart of Christianity, 139: “God cares about justice because the God of the Bible cares about suffering.”

[11] According to Jürgen Moltmann, Christ as “king” it represents “the most radical reversal of the ideal of rule that can be conceived. Cf. The Church in the Power of the Spirit, 102.

[12] Cf. Shirley C. Guthrie, “The Way, the Truth, and the Life,” Presbyterian Outlook (Feb. 11, 2002); at http://www.pres-outlook.com/opinion/guest-commentary/1041-the-way-the-truth-and-the-life.html.

[13] From a version of the Lord’s Prayer in "Night Prayer" section of the New Zealand Prayer Book.

[14] Mays, Psalms, 311.

[15] Cf. Paul D. Hanson, Isaiah 40-66, 224 describes the centrality of Isa. 61 to the biblical message by saying that it “summarizes the heart of the Yahwistic vision of redemption.” Cf. also R. David Kaylor, Jesus the Prophet , 104: “Jesus addressed the poor, the hungry, the discouraged, and the persecuted with the message that God is on their side, supporting them in their struggle, and that God’s just will focuses on their relief.”

[16] Ps 85:10; Isa. 9:7; 52:7; Lk. 2:14; Rom. 14:17; Eph. 2:15.

[17] Isa. 2:1-4; 25:8; Rev. 7:17; 21:4.

[18] Rom. 5:17, 21; 1 Cor. 15:22; Rev. 21:6.

[19] Isa. 55:17; Rom. 14:17; cf. Jürgen Moltmann, “The Disarming Child,” in The Power of the Powerless, 34.