Sermon 9-24-22
Psalm 91
1 You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,[a] 2 will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.” 3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the hunter and from the deadly pestilence; 4 he will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and defense. 5 You will not fear the terror of the night or the arrow that flies by day 6 or the pestilence that stalks in darkness or the destruction that wastes at noonday.
Psalm 91:14-16
14 Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name. 15 When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble; I will rescue them and honor them. 16 With long life I will satisfy them and show them my salvation.
Ok everyone, take out some money. Any kind of money, a coin or a bill. I’ll wait.
Now look at the wording, and see if you can find the words, In God We Trust. These words are written in Psalm 91 verse 2, and they are written on every US coin and bill. My husband likes to recall a cartoon he saw many years ago where a person is about to enter a store. On the front door was a sign. “In God We Trust. All others must pay cash.”
What could it really mean to put your trust in God? How would our lives be different? Let’s look for clues in the scripture.
The first two verses of today’s scripture say,
You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty
Are you one of those? Do you find shelter in God, in the word? Do you dwell there, following the Almighty in God’s shadow?
Since you are here listening today, I would guess yes.
The next verse says that you will say to God: You are my refuge, you are my fortress, I trust you.
We see here that trust is tied up with finding strength and being sheltered. From what?
The next verses say that you will be sheltered from the hunter – perhaps violence – and pestilence – perhaps COVID.
It goes on to say that God will cover you with God’s wings. And God’s faithfulness in YOU is a shield from the darkness. I find it interesting that it is not our faith, but God’s faith that is the shield.
“You will not fear the terror of the night or the arrow that flies by day or the pestilence that stalks in darkness or the destruction that wastes at noonday.”
So, verses 1 through 6 tell us that if we trust God, God will protect us. And maybe it is saying that we actually have to ask. “You … will say to the Lord, … God in whom I trust”
Then we skip on to verse 14, where God speaks directly to us:
“Those who love me, I will deliver;
I will protect those who know my name.
When they call to me, I will answer them;”
It sounds like God will protect those who know God. And only those who ask directly.
The Psalm continues:
”I will be with them in trouble; I will rescue them and honor them.” And finally,
“With long life I will satisfy them and show them my salvation.”
So, at this point, you might be thinking, thank God, I believe in God, because if I didn’t, I would have no protection. And I could end up in Hell, according to this scripture.
If you are paying attention to the news and to your bills, you may feel we are already there. It can feel like every aspect of life is upside down. This week was Peace Week, with the International day of Peace being observed this past Wednesday, the 21st. Does the world feel peaceful right now? No, the war between Ukraine and Russia does not seem to be subsiding, and at the UN Global talks this week, it seems like the world’s leaders are bracing for a worsening of the violence.
Or how about peace in the United States? We still are very divided, even in our belief of who won the last election. Globally we are seeing the climate in areas being pulled into stark dichotomy – floods and drought, scorching temperatures and rising oceans. In the US we fight over the rights of individuals, and just the mention of a political party can put a sour taste in a person’s mouth. There is famine and COVID and global migration, people hoping to find a safe place to live.
Yes, this kind of feels like Hell on earth, doesn’t it?
Well, at this point, we need to take a deep breath. Suddenly this beautiful passage from the Bible, written thousands of years ago, gets pretty dark and scary. I have a story for you, and I have some thoughts on what this scripture may be saying to you and me about protection and trust.
I have had a few episodes in my life, where things could have gone sideways, where my life could have ended or I could have been very hurt but didn’t. Fairly recently I heard a podcast about angels. I have never given much thought about angels before. I have friends who are Catholic and know all about them, but I knew nothing. So, this podcast peaked my interest. And one thing you should know about my belief system: I believe in everything, knowing that what we call God is much greater than me, and that all of the belief systems and spiritual entities probably could all exist at the same time. Especially if God is all powerful, and we are merely humans with only the human capacity of understanding.
Well, one thing I learned about angels is that we all have guardian angels who want to protect us. Going back to the scriptures, then perhaps guardian angels have the wings that God protects us with? Anyway, they are always available and all we have to do is ask for what we need. But using the word help isn’t specific enough. We have to be very specific in our request.
A week or so after listening, while the information was still fresh and I was still processing about angels, I was driving home up the Northway in a rainstorm. Suddenly, the wind became fierce, the rain became a downpour, and I literally could not see anything at all, while driving on this highway. I was scared! So I tried asking for help. I said out loud, “Please stop the wind and rain so I can see!” and it did, immediately! Then about a minute later it happened again, so I shouted the request again, and again it immediately stopped, this time for good.
I now believe in guardian angels. My concept of what God is enlarged to include angels, and my concept of how God works in the world enlarged as well. I asked for specific help, and I was protected. I no longer fear the terror of the night, or any of the other examples that was mentioned. In God I trust.
Think for a moment of a time when your prayers have been answered. Or when you were protected despite violence or sickness or something causing fear was happening. Did that expand your concept of God? Did your trust in the Lord grow?
The more I talk to people about their concept of God, I have never heard someone say that they believe HE is a man in the sky with a long white beard. It seems that this image keeps coming up, if for no other reason than for us to say that this is not our God. Not mine either.
And I see that in order to truly understand the full meaning of this scripture we need to declare what it is we trust in. I encourage you this week to spend time figuring out for yourself who or what God is and isn’t.
Revelation 1 verse 8 says: “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. Many times, I use these words when addressing God. So, God is the past, present and future. God is physical and spiritual, emotion and mind. God is animal, vegetable, and mineral. God was all there was before the Big Bang. God is all there will be when the Universe is done. God is the particles of energy in all atoms and God is the space between. God is the love in our hearts and the light from a Supernova. God is me, and God is you.
So, when we hear that we are the hands and feet of God, it is literally true. God works through us.
Now think of a time when you protected someone. Perhaps a child by giving them a home. Perhaps an adult who you drove home. Perhaps a teenager who you said no to, they could not go to that party. When you did that, you were God’s angel. That other person was under your pinions (These are a bird’s outer wing feathers) as you protected them. Your mission here on earth is no less than guardian angels who protect us if we only ask.
I think, when the scripture says that God will protect, rescue and honor those who know God, when we are taking care of others, when we feel that pull to do something, we feel it in our heart. We feel it where God speaks directly to us. When we give, we are hearing God speak our name. When we respond to that call, we are acting out God’s love. We do not need to know the name of that push to serve. By serving, we are God’s body. And the feeling we get once we have protected others is a grand feeling; it is a feeling of Heaven on earth. And it is my belief that this feeling is what salvation is all about.
It is my belief that we are the ones we have been hoping for. We bring Heaven on earth through our actions. We may not have the power to change what is happening in Albany much less California or Ukraine, but we can be angels to our friends and family, our neighbors here. We can pray to God and angels, and we can act with our own hands and feet.
In God we Trust. Amen.
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