Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; ̶= 0;A Journey of Prayer and Praise”

Mar= . 8, 2009 &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; By Rev. Kathy McDowell =

There is ancient Gree= k legend that tells of a woman

who was ready to trav= el to the region of the departed spirits. &= nbsp;

She would have as her= guide, a gentle ferryman, Charon.

On the journey, Charon explained, she would travel along the River St= yx,

which formed the boun= dary between earth and the underworld.

There would be a poin= t along the journey

where she would come = to another river, the River Lethe.

There, her guide said= , she would have the choice to drink of the waters of Lethe,

and if she did, she w= ould forget all that she was leaving behind.&nb= sp;

Eagerly the woman ask= ed, “Will I forget how I have suffered?”

“Yes,” he= r guide responded. “But you wil= l also forget how you have rejoiced.” =

Then the woman asked, “Will I forget my failures?”&n= bsp;

The answer was “= ;And also your victories.” <= o:p>

Will I forget how I h= ave been hurt?”

“Yes, and you w= ill also forget how you have been loved.”&nbs= p;

The woman paused to t= hink this matter over. =

And as they passed by= the River Lethe, she did not drink,

preferring to hold on= to the memory even of her suffering and her hurts,

rather than forget life’s joys and loves. =

Sooner or later, as e= ach of us continue the journey of life,

we too learn that rea= l life consists of ups and downs, ebbs and flows,

seasons of celebratio= n and seasons sorrow.

These seeming opposit= es in life are held together <= /o:p>

and very often one gi= ves meaning to the other.

And this is also the = life that is described in the Psalms.

Walter Brueggemann, one of our great modern OT scholars and writers

says this about the Psalms:

“What goes on i= n the Psalms is peculiarly in touch with what goes on in our lives.

Deep loss and amazing= gift are held together in a powerful tension.” [1]<= /b>

And in these times of suffering and times of celebration,

God invites both our sorrowful lament and our th= ankful praise.

At first glance the p= salm we have just heard in our scripture reading

seems to be all about= praise -- exuberant praise and thanksgiving to God.

The psalmist declares= that all the ends of the earth

and all the families = of the nations shall worship God.

But let’s not f= orget the context. (You’ve heard me say that before!)

What we heard today w= as only the 2^nd half of this psalm.&nbs= p;

I hope some of you ha= ve read the entire psalm this week,

or can look it up in = your Bibles right now.   =

The first half is som= etimes called a psalm of prayer and it begins with words

I think you will remember: “My God, my G= od why have you forsaken me?” =

This cry of abandonme= nt is the one Jesus uttered from the cross.

And if the rest of th= e first half of this psalm sounds familiar,

it may be because thi= s psalm is quoted in the gospels more often than any other psalm. Besides this open= ing verse, 4 other verses of this psalm - v. 7, 8, 15, and 18 -

are quoted in the var= ious passion narratives in the gospels.

Faithful Christians h= ave to wonder about Jesus’ mournful cry from the cross.

“My God, my God= why have you forsaken me?” =

But here is an import= ant clue to understanding this cry and the entire psalm that follows. In the Jewish tradition reciting t= he first verse or line of a text

was a way of calling = to mind for all hearers the entire passage.

When the faithful Jew= heard “My God my God,

he or she also rememb= ered the rest of the story of God’s eternal presence,

steadfast love, and e= nduring covenant,

which called for noth= ing less than praise and thanksgiving.

This pattern of lamen= t, followed by praise and thanksgiving,

is a common one in the psalms. The move goes somethi= ng like this: =

We are standing on so= lid ground.

Then suddenly somethi= ng throws us off our feet and we are spinning out of control.

Sounds like real life, doesn’t it. =

Finally, after having= held fast to God, we are re-oriented,

sometimes in surprisi= ng new directions,

and can give thanks t= o our God of steadfast love.    <= /span>

The OT scholar I ment= ioned earlier, Walter Brueggeman, <= /p>
describes this as mov= ing from orientation, to disorientation,

and then finally re-orientation. [2]

This pattern is repea= ted again and again in the psalms.

Here’s an examp= le:

Orientation (from Psa= lm 100): Make a joyful noise to = the Lord, all the earth.

Worship the Lord with gladness. Come into his prese= nce with singing.

Know that the Lord is= God, It is he that made us and we are his;

we are his people, an= d the sheep of his pasture.

But then along comes disorientation, with a good example being from today’s Palm 22: My God, my God, why have you forsaken= me?

Why are you so far fr= om helping me, from the words of my groaning?=

O my God, I cry by da= y, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest.

This pattern is of up= s and downs, orientation to God,

then disorientation c= aused by suffering is repeated in the first 21 verses of Psalm 22.

And then comes re-ori= entation from the second half of Psalm 22:

The poor shall eat an= d be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord.

May your hearts live forever!
All the ends of the e= arth shall remember and turn to the Lord;

and all the families = of the nations shall worship before him.

It’s not just t= he psalms which include this pattern. <= /span>

The Bible is full of = stories of orientation, disorientation, and reorientation,

including Abraham and= Sarah’s story which we heard today. <= o:p>

We just heard one par= t of this story in chapter 17.

What you need to know= is that God had been promising Abraham

that he would be the = father of many nations for close to a quarter century,

beginning in Chapter = 12.

By the time God shows= up with the promise again in chapter 17,

Abram is 99 years old= . Surely too old to be the father of nations.
And Sarai at 90 has long been barren.  &nb= sp;

To be without a son i= n the culture of Abraham

was more than disorie= nting, it was devastating.

For Sarah it was wors= e, for her entire value and worth

depended on her abili= ty to bear children.

When God shows up at = this point in their lives, he reminds Abram of his name:

“I am God almighty” - in Hebrew this name for God is El Sh= addai and it also means One of the mountain.

This mighty One, this= Holy One then gives them new names,

an act which signifie= s their new purposes.

Abram meaning father,= becomes Abraham, meaning the father of multitudes.=

= Sarai becomes Sarah, which means princess,

a suitable name for s= omeone who was to be the mother of Kings. &n= bsp;

God promises that the= son they would have would re-orient their whole existence.

They and the generati= ons after them would become God’s covenant people.

It must have seemed l= ike an impossibility. But that is the way it is with God.

Seasons of suffering = meet seasons of celebration. =

And Abraham and Sarah= had faith through it all.

Abraham is remembered= as the father of nations, but also the father of our faith.

In the Letter to the = Romans Paul recounts the faith of Abraham

and here I am reading= from Romans 4:18-21:

“Hoping against= hope, Abraham believed that he would become

‘the father of = many nations.’

He did not weaken in = faith when he considered his own body,

which was already as = good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old),

or when he considered= the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.

No distrust made him = waver concerning the promise of God,

but he grew strong in= his faith as he gave glory to God,

being fully convinced= that God was able to do what he had promised.”

The story of Abraham = and the psalms teach us to have faith and trust in God

in the face of disapp= ointment and suffering.

But even beyond havin= g faith through our struggles,

what stands out in Ps= alm 22 is praise of God even in the face of suffering.

How is it possible to praise God when we’re suffering?

When there’s be= en a diagnosis of cancer.

When we’re suff= ering from a hurting, broken relationship.

When we’ve lost= a loved one.

When we’re worr= ied about the future. =

Some of us are unempl= oyed or underemployed or are struggling with making ends meet.

Praise God?

Some of us are stuck = in jobs where we are being asked

to do more and more w= ith less and less. We’re glad we have a job. But praise God?

Looking out the doors= and into the community,

more and more despera= te people are lining up at Norcr= oss Cooperative Ministry,

but ministries across= the country are experiencing dwindling resources, too.

Praise God?

The unemployment rate= in Georgia has risen to 8.6 percent,

in California it is 10.1 percent - both a= re some of the highest in the nation. Praise God?

So many destitute peo= ple around the world are living in poverty,

and with so little ac= cess to education,

which we’ve hea= rd about in today’s Pennies for Peace kick-off.
Who can praise God amidst all of this?

When we praise God in= the midst of struggle and suffering,

we are not trivializi= ng our lives or pretending we have no problems.&n= bsp;

The psalms are full o= f deeply personal lament, and Psalm 22 is a good example of this. =

My God, My God, why i= s this happening?
What are you going to do about it? How long O Lord, how long?

But at the same time,= as we offer our prayers and laments to God,

we also are invited t= o offer our thanks and praise, as an act of faith and a sign of hope.

When I was in Israel last fall,

I visited a small sho= p in old City Jerusalem where I bought this stole.&= nbsp;

It’s a hand emb= roidered stole, full of traditional Palestinian cross-stitch.

What I found out was = that these are made by women

of the Melia Art and Training Center,

a group that helps impoverished Palestinian women in the West Bank and = Gaza strip support their families despi= te the political and religious turmoil of this region.

A typical story is li= ke that of one 36 year old young mother of four children.

Before the September = 2000 uprising of the Palestinians,

her husband had a ste= ady and good income from his small business.

But then after the up= rising, his business collapsed.

He found work as a day laborer, but it was not steady and they couldn’t make ends meet. She realized she needed to do some= thing to help feed their four children,

so she started workin= g with this center, doing traditional Palestinian embroidery.
She works an average = of 3 hours a day,

after the children ar= e in bed at night and sometimes very early in the morning,

before they wake up.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>

When asked about her = economic situation now that she is working,

her answer displays h= er faith and trust in God.

“Thank God for = what we have.”

Thanking God for what= we have seems like a small thing -

kind of like a penny = is a small thing.

But small acts of thanksgiving, like the little old penny,

can add up to lives l= arge in faith and in hope.

And it is faith and h= ope that help us remember and turn to the Lord,

who is always near, w= herever we find our selves on the journey of life.

For that we give than= ks and praise. Amen.