Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this last Friday of September. Today we are just three months away from Christmas day. Those who live in the area join us for our weekly television outreach this evening at 7 p.m. on Time Warner Cable channel 4. We are gathering for an evening of food, fellowship and prayer this Saturday September 26, at The Wesley United Methodist at 6 PM. The food will be prepared by our own chef Jeff Skinner. Those of who live in the area and have to work Sunday, join us for this Saturday gathering. Wesley United Methodist Church is located at 1000 Day Hollow Road , Endicott.
One of my favorite Psalms is Psalm 84. One of my favorite worship songs is based on this Psalm. ( Better is one day in your house than thousand elsewhere.)This psalm is one of a handful classified as a Song of Zion. Pilgrims probably sang it together as they made their way up to worship God at the temple in Jerusalem. The song captures the joy of those who were making their pilgrimage to the temple, expecting to meet the presence of God there. The Christian life is a journey of growing in the life of faith. We acknowledge that it is always God that first moves toward us, but we also move toward God, and the primary way we move toward God is through the spiritual disciplines.
Over 1500 years ago, St. Augustine wrote the following lines that have become famous, "Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee". With those words he captured the sense of spiritual longing that many of us have as we make our way as pilgrims in this life seeking to deepen in our relationship with God.
A pilgrimage requires a sense of expectation and confidence. In Psalm 84:3,4 the psalmist describes the expectation of blessedness for those who dwell in God's presence. Even the sparrows and the swallows find their place in the temple, and the temple dwellers, “ those whose livelihood involves serving God in the temple", are called happy and blessed. The psalmist is confident and expectant that God is near those who have the privilege of living near the temple and praising Him there.
The imagery of the sparrows and swallows finding a place in God's presence reminds me a bit of our Lord's famous words found in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. The simple message is that the way of the pilgrim is the way of humbly placing trust in God. The Psalm, as well as the Matthew passage, suggests that ultimate fulfillment and joy in life is found in humbly placing our trust in God, not in self-serving concern and worry for our personal well being. The primary experience of pilgrimage is usually found in the journey itself. Often, journeys can be quite difficult. Yet, as the psalmist reminds us, we will find Gods strength and presence with us along the way. We may travel through the deserts of life, experiencing times of barrenness in which it seems as if God has abandoned us. The 16th Century mystic, St. John of the Cross, referred to such times as the dark night of the soul.
Instead of seeing such times as a crisis of faith, St. John of the Cross wrote that these are times that God uses to awaken our spiritual longing, and so, through these experiences, to deepen our faith. They are valuable, though often painful, parts of the experience of growing in our life of faith. Our vision and expectation of God sustains us not only in the times of joy but also through the times of trial and pain.
Finally, a pilgrimage is complete when one arrives the destination. In verses 10-12, the psalmist speaks of finding a place in God's home, saying that one day spent in a God's very presence, in His dwelling place, is better than a thousand days spent of serving his own self-interest.
Let us travel in the way of the pilgrim, keeping our sights set on our true home that we may find as the psalm concludes: "O Lord of hosts, Happy is everyone who trusts in you."
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VdUiKagWjU
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