"Grounded in God"

Psalm 40:1-11

Rev. Marlene W. Pomeroy

Jan. 20, 2008

Yesterday Jake and I sat in the sunshine and watched our daughter's first All Star soccer game. It was a feisty match between us anAlhambra. It was a pretty even match, with 11 and 12 year old girls running down the ball, jostling and elbowing to get an advantage; they are funny to watch because they are feisty and aggressive most of the time and then once in a while their politeness emerges and they back off rather than steal the ball. So, I'm watching from the sidelines, trying to keep my comments positive - "get in there!  Good job Glendale! Nice kick! Nice teamwork! "Like most parents I try to contain my harshest comments for my own child. When Kaley got tired in the 4^th quarter and was standing, Jake and I both yelled, "Run Kaley, don't stand there; Kaley glared at us and just put her hands over her ears." So, as I am watching this game, I keep noticing that the woman to the left of me, about 10 feet away is calm as a cucumber. She is sitting in her chair, watching the game casually, flipping slowly through a magazine. She doesn't say a word, she just calmly watches and listens to those around her who are yelling and jumping up when there is a good play. When we score a goal, I look at her. Calm. When there is a bad calm by the referee. Calm. I decide that she is one of those balanced individuals who is non-competitive. She is grounded and trusting of her daughter so she just lets her play without a lot of fanfare or pressure from the sidelines. I'm so impressed with her calmness that I am mentally taking notes.

Now you have to understand that we spend a lot of time on sports fields and we see a lot of parents' reaction to games and competition. Some are so obnoxious and emotionally charged that it is painful to be around them. Sometimes a dad has to be forcefully carried off the field by other calmer dads. Sometimes the parents around you comment about the lack of skill of your own child. Human behavior on the sidelines of sporting events is fabulous and horrifying. Okay, so back to my calm, meditative mom on the sidelines. After the next big play, I can't stand it anymore. I walk over to her and say, "How on earth do you stay so calm while your daughter is playing?" Oh, she says, my daughter is not playing - my husband is the referee and I'm just waiting for him while he refs the game. "Ahhh." I knew it was impossible to be that grounded while your child is playing!!!

We are people with emotions and feelings and passions. Usually, when we are healthy, we channel those feelings and passions into constructive avenues: we are inspired to try things, to take risks, to face our fears, to put ourselves out there in the game of life and give it a go!!  We are also human. We fail, we face obstructions that seem insurmountable, we encounter roadblocks, we feel depleted; sometimes we just lose our nerve and we take the easy route. Where do we go at those times? Whom do we turn to for comfort and encouragement? Our text today is from Psalm 40. It is a prayer of thanksgiving and a prayer for help. It uses dramatic language to describe a time when a person is mired down without hope. Listen to the language of the Psalmist: "I waited patiently for God who inclined to me and heard my cry, who drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. God put a new song in my mouth, and song of praise to my God."

Like the woman on the sidelines who exuded extraordinary calm, I want to know what was going on with this person who wrote these words. What was their desolate pit, their miry bog? The brilliance of scripture at times is that it leaves that open for us to fill in. In some ways, it does not matter what it was for that person; it matters what it is for us and for those around us. We are asked to remember a time when we were in that pit: lost, frustrated, insecure, beaten down. We are called to look around and see who is currently in that space and to offer a compassionate response to them. The answer, says the psalmist, is to turn to God; to put our trust in the divine to offer a new way, a new inspiration, some hope. Instead of turning to those friends who go after false gods, the psalmist says, incline your ear to hear God's voice during those times of trial and anguish.

Jake's friend from seminary, Brian, who lives in Guerneville, CA, was riding his bike last week. It was dark and he was riding home. Someone in a vehicle struck his bike and caused him to have a terrible crash. He had a head injury and a severely broken arm and shoulder. His wife sent us an e-mail letting us know what happened and that he was in intensive care. She also said that even though the driver of the vehicle didn't stop, other people did. Someone stopped and called 911. Another person stopped and put some blankets over Brian's body as he lay by the side of the road. Another person who recognized Brian called his wife to inform her of what was going on. She said, "I saw the face of Jesus everywhere that night." What an act of faith to see the face of Jesus when someone has just hit your husband and driven away.

There will be times in all our lives when we have to lean. Sometimes we lean on those around us - our faces of Jesus who embody God's care and grace. Sometimes there is no one there and we need to lean on the presence of God and trust that God holds us with great care. I'm not sure what is more challenging - to experience the presence of God during our highest moments or our lowest moments. When we experience great success it is often easy to just be proud of ourselves and our accomplishments. We say I did it. I achieved this with my own effort. Conversely, when we are failing, it is easy to feel as if we are nothing rather than the beloved children of God. Yet, God is there at all times. God is present and interested in us wherever we are. Martin Luther King Jr. preached on the idea of "somebodiness." He celebrated the idea of human worth for all individuals, not just certain ones at certain times. Do you know where he got this concept? From the Bible.

Martin Luther King Jr. was the son and grandson of Baptist ministers. He logged a lot of time in the pews during his upbringing. And he didn't just do so without questioning. He says that when he was 7, a guest evangelist came from Virginia to talk about salvation and about turning your life over to the church of Jesus Christ. His sister stepped forward to accept the call of conversion and King admitted that he "joined the church not out of any dynamic conviction, but out of a childhood desire to keep up with my sister." (www.stanford.edu/group/King/ 1/19/2008)  He says that when he was 13 he shocked his Sunday School class by denying the bodily resurrection of Jesus. That was scandalous for the southern, literal Baptist faith that he was a part of. But his early childhood grounding in the church and the Bible did provide the foundation for his faith and his life calling. King was a profound man - he was bright and wise. He went to college at the age of 15, after having skipped two grades in high school. He then went on to seminary in Pennsylvania and college at Boston University. He carried within him both the experience of his African American Baptist southern church roots (which included politically active, intellectually sophisticated African American clergymen's influence - Ibid), as well as his European-American theological education from the northeast. He was uncomfortable with the emotionalism and scriptural literalism of his childhood. And yet he was influenced by his churches' social gospel that continually affirmed the right of everyone to be treated with respect. King is remembered for many things: for speeches, for his organization of boycotts in Montgomery and in Memphis among other places; for his willingness to walk and raise awareness for injustice and racism. He is remembered for his advocacy of non-violence as the only acceptable method for combating violence and injustice. When he traveled to India with his wife, he visited a school in southern India which was "attended by and large by students who were the children of former untouchables." (Ibid. p. 2) He was stuck with the 60-70 million individuals in that untouchable caste who could not go places that others had free access to go and who could not do certain things that were allowed by others. King says, "And then, the principal (of the school he was visiting stood up) introduced me and said? "Young people, I would like to present to you a fellow untouchable from the United States of America."  King says, "And for the moment I was a bit shocked and peeved that I would be referred to as an untouchable." (Ibid, from a sermon "The American Dream")

King's experience traveling in India and Jamaica (where he experienced a true commitment to diversity), crystallized his faith and his calling to be an advocate for social justice. Here he was a well-educated, well-grounded American and yet because of his color, he was an untouchable in the eyes of many in his own country and beyond. He says that when he was in theological school, a classmate came to him and said his mother was visiting and he wanted King to meet her. The classmate said, "You know, the problem is I don't know if she would quite fit in this atmosphere. You know, her verbs aren't quite right; and she doesn't know how to dress too well; she lives in a rural area." King says, "I wanted to say to him so bad that you aren't fit to finish this school. If you cannot acknowledge your mother, if you cannot acknowledge your brothers and sisters, even if they have not risen to the heights of educational attainment, then you aren't fit to go out and try to preach to men and women." (Ibid) King says that in his heart of hearts, with all of his success in education and organizing, he was really just a preacher preaching the word of God.  King hammered out the biblical notion that everyone was created in the image of God, not just those who were educated or brilliant or considered worthy in our society.

We have access to so many of King's speeches and sermons and writings thanks to the technology of the 20^th century. In 1963 he spoke to over 200,000 people gathered on the Mall in D.C. for his "I have a Dream Speech." But his life was not just one great success. He also experienced great challenge and fear. His family and children were threatened, his house was targeted. In 1967 he gave a speech at Riverside Church in New York City where he spoke out against the Vietnam War. He was criticized and told that religion and politics don't mix. He was criticized for not supporting President Johnson. He was told that he was fueling the climate of dissent in our country.  Others felt that his anti-war stance was not strong enough. A year later he was gunned down in Memphis.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a church-goer and a preacher who believed that war was wrong, that poverty and injustice was immoral and that we are called to address these problems in our world. He said that he got his revolutionary ideas from the Sermon on the Mount, guided by the insights of Jesus and the non-violent techniques of Mohandas Gandhi. He tells us that when he had times of great stress and fear and doubt, that he turned to God for comfort and guidance. His relationship with God allowed him to pursue his calling as a crusader for the lost and disenfranchised.