Rev. Dustin ParkerOCCUPY 'ers WANTED!
Come, Worship the Lord,
By Being Still, and Knowing He Is God!
Psalm 46
† IN JESUS NAME †
May you know the love of God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, as you recognize that weapons are useless, and that you can rest in the Fortress/refuge that is His presence.…
Wannabe Reformers
They see themselves as modern day peace-ful reformers, as they gather in places like Oakland, Irvine, Alta Dena, Rome, London, and of course, Los Angeles and on Wall Street. They are not always sure of why they are gathering, or what their goals are. Unorganized masses, without direction, but they do realize they are all missing something in their lives. They call out for it, saying that they desire reforms and justice, forgiveness of debt, peace, opportunity and true freedom from oppression. They cry for reforms that will allow them a greater chance to live. They want to fight for what is theirs by right, while so desperately needing to know what can be theirs, by rite.
As I hear their cries on the radio, or see them on television, the Bible’s words about the sheep being with a shepherd rings in my ears.
Instead of occupying those places without hope, without answers, I wonder what it will take for them to occupy this place, and places like it around the country, around the world. This is where they need to be, they need to come OCCUPY CHURCH… to come and worship the Lord, to come and being still, know that He is God.
He is their answer, their hope, their answer, if they would only stop to realize it. He has paid their debts, and grants them freedom. He is their refuge, even as He is ours. And as John’s gospel tells us, if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed.
It may be ironic, or even upsetting to know this, but the very lesson the Occupy people desperately need to learn, is the same one we need to learn as well… a lesson Luther learned and it started the Reformation. A Mighty Fortress is actually drawn from this cry, found in today’s psalm. May our learning it, and sharing it with others, reform lives as well.
The core lesson of the reformation is found in today’s psalm, “be still, and know that I am God!”
God is our refuge from anxieties!
If our world is shaken – and flooded –
If nations are in chaos, we abide in His realm
The Battle is over.. even our weapons have been destroyed
If I look at the Occupy forces, for those who’ve gathered to have a voice, to encourage and lift up each other in their battle, I see a group, that is looking for hope, that is looking for freedom from their anxieties and fear, that is looking for a refuge.
It is such insights that help me understand why the psalmist waits until verse 10 to state what we need to do, why he doesn’t start with “be still and know that I am God.” Like the disciples out on the sea, sometimes we need God to deal with our fears and anxieties before we can be calmed enough to see that He is God, we like a young child need to be made aware that we are safe, that our fears are not valid. Those people occupying places aren’t quite ready to know He is God, their anxieties dominate them, their fears assail them.
We hear that He is our refuge, but what does that mean? It means that we need not be anxious, we need not give into fear, we need not worry about life. Three times the Psalmist settles our nerves, allowing those things that dominate our hearts and minds to be calmed,
We see it first, as the psalmist tells us God is ALWAYS ready to help us, in times of trouble. So much so that we need not fear earthquakes or floods, In this world, it seems that natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods are only outnumbered by the lives I have seen shaken by personal traumas, as our health is never perfect, our finances never secure enough, our families never stable enough. Such instability causes anxieties and fears, and yet, if we remember we are in the presence of Yahweh, of God of all might we realize that our relationship with God never crumbles, and His provision and peace can take the deepest trauma, and create something beautiful out of it…
The psalmist shows us again, as He describes that God’s dwelling place. A place where we dwell with Him, a place that cannot be destroyed, because He dwells there. Though nations are in chaos, though they even fail, as we have seen with many, the people of God dwell in His presence, something that even death cannot shake, nor can poverty or taxes.
The third anxiety causing agent is dealt with in even more clarity. Conflict and wars are ceased, utterly disarmed by God. While it is true in heaven there will be such a peace, what we struggle to realize is that the peace of God is ours now. God takes away our need to defend ourselves, along with our need to be on the offensive, our need to fight to get what we think is ours by right, for He has given us so much more – in the rite of Baptism, in making us children of the King.
If someone attacks us personally, does it really matter? If there is truth in what they say, it becomes a learning experience, if there is nothing there, we need not defend ourselves because Jesus Christ is our advocate!
So Rest… and KNOW HE IS GOD
But what does this mean?
Within the Fortress – there is Freedom
It’s not the 1%, it’s the 1.
Without a fight… we serve
We need to grasp this concept – that the God in whose presence we daily abide is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, or Lord God Sabbaoth, Lord God All-mighty. That He has defeated the powers already, that our Father in Heaven has given all authority to Christ, and He has made us His. If earthquakes and chaos, and wars cannot steal us from Him, we can do as verse 10 advises us…
Be Still, and know that He is God!
But what does it mean to be still?
If we realize that as God’s people, we live in the presence of a God who protects us, who cannot be shaken, who cannot be attacked, then we can rest….anxiety free, worry free, able to listen to His voice, His guidance, to walk with Him. That freedom is incredible, it reforms everything! Rest is something you cannot do in conflict, in war, unless your army dwarfs those who would oppress you.
Our lives begin to change – we don’t see justice in the same manner, and we realize that God’s equality is not measured in dollars and possessions or degrees, but in the love that we receive, and pass on. We realize that life isn’t about accumulating or defending what we accumulate, but in caring for each other.
Mostly, we realize it is not the one percent that needs to share and care for the 99%, but that the One has already care for the rest. That debts, deep debts of sin are cancelled, that we are given His justice, even as He takes our injustice, that our selfishness has been cured by Hi selflessness,
Our battles, our personal crusades, our fights and wars have been rendered meaningless. We realize that we aren’t fighting each other, but instead freed of that illusion, an illusion because our battles were never with each other, but with power and principalities and darkness that would cause us the fear and anxiety and confusion that comes from being apart from God.
We know peace because He is among us, He is our refuge, our fortress…
We live in Him, completely free. We live unburdened. unafraid, without anxiety. We live seeing and rejoicing in His glorious work of love that defeats all war and conflict! Rejoicing as we realize that work continues each and every day. We live, at peace, still and knowing that He is God!
All will honor Him….so Come Worship the Lord!
It seems right, as well look at the Reformation this day, that we come to the conclusion of this series. A series with the title, “Come worship the Lord”. An invitation, not to us, for we already know His love. But an invitation for us to bring to those who occupy the world, An invitation to those who Occupy Darkness,
For they need to know that they can come here, that they can find the refuge from the world’s storms and chaos and battles. They need to know they are welcome occupants of the city where God dwells.
An invitation that we have been given freedom to give to any and everyone we meet.
For truly the Psalmist is right – God will be honored and exalted and worshipped by every people, every nation, He will be worshipped through the world.
For they need to know that Yahweh, the God who reveals Himself to the world is here, that He dwells among us, and because of that, we live in peace.
For He is our Fortress, He is our God.
AMEN?
By Being Still, and Knowing He Is God!
Psalm 46
† IN JESUS NAME †
May you know the love of God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, as you recognize that weapons are useless, and that you can rest in the Fortress/refuge that is His presence.…
Wannabe Reformers
They see themselves as modern day peace-ful reformers, as they gather in places like Oakland, Irvine, Alta Dena, Rome, London, and of course, Los Angeles and on Wall Street. They are not always sure of why they are gathering, or what their goals are. Unorganized masses, without direction, but they do realize they are all missing something in their lives. They call out for it, saying that they desire reforms and justice, forgiveness of debt, peace, opportunity and true freedom from oppression. They cry for reforms that will allow them a greater chance to live. They want to fight for what is theirs by right, while so desperately needing to know what can be theirs, by rite.
As I hear their cries on the radio, or see them on television, the Bible’s words about the sheep being with a shepherd rings in my ears.
Instead of occupying those places without hope, without answers, I wonder what it will take for them to occupy this place, and places like it around the country, around the world. This is where they need to be, they need to come OCCUPY CHURCH… to come and worship the Lord, to come and being still, know that He is God.
He is their answer, their hope, their answer, if they would only stop to realize it. He has paid their debts, and grants them freedom. He is their refuge, even as He is ours. And as John’s gospel tells us, if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed.
It may be ironic, or even upsetting to know this, but the very lesson the Occupy people desperately need to learn, is the same one we need to learn as well… a lesson Luther learned and it started the Reformation. A Mighty Fortress is actually drawn from this cry, found in today’s psalm. May our learning it, and sharing it with others, reform lives as well.
The core lesson of the reformation is found in today’s psalm, “be still, and know that I am God!”
God is our refuge from anxieties!
If our world is shaken – and flooded –
If nations are in chaos, we abide in His realm
The Battle is over.. even our weapons have been destroyed
If I look at the Occupy forces, for those who’ve gathered to have a voice, to encourage and lift up each other in their battle, I see a group, that is looking for hope, that is looking for freedom from their anxieties and fear, that is looking for a refuge.
It is such insights that help me understand why the psalmist waits until verse 10 to state what we need to do, why he doesn’t start with “be still and know that I am God.” Like the disciples out on the sea, sometimes we need God to deal with our fears and anxieties before we can be calmed enough to see that He is God, we like a young child need to be made aware that we are safe, that our fears are not valid. Those people occupying places aren’t quite ready to know He is God, their anxieties dominate them, their fears assail them.
We hear that He is our refuge, but what does that mean? It means that we need not be anxious, we need not give into fear, we need not worry about life. Three times the Psalmist settles our nerves, allowing those things that dominate our hearts and minds to be calmed,
We see it first, as the psalmist tells us God is ALWAYS ready to help us, in times of trouble. So much so that we need not fear earthquakes or floods, In this world, it seems that natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods are only outnumbered by the lives I have seen shaken by personal traumas, as our health is never perfect, our finances never secure enough, our families never stable enough. Such instability causes anxieties and fears, and yet, if we remember we are in the presence of Yahweh, of God of all might we realize that our relationship with God never crumbles, and His provision and peace can take the deepest trauma, and create something beautiful out of it…
The psalmist shows us again, as He describes that God’s dwelling place. A place where we dwell with Him, a place that cannot be destroyed, because He dwells there. Though nations are in chaos, though they even fail, as we have seen with many, the people of God dwell in His presence, something that even death cannot shake, nor can poverty or taxes.
The third anxiety causing agent is dealt with in even more clarity. Conflict and wars are ceased, utterly disarmed by God. While it is true in heaven there will be such a peace, what we struggle to realize is that the peace of God is ours now. God takes away our need to defend ourselves, along with our need to be on the offensive, our need to fight to get what we think is ours by right, for He has given us so much more – in the rite of Baptism, in making us children of the King.
If someone attacks us personally, does it really matter? If there is truth in what they say, it becomes a learning experience, if there is nothing there, we need not defend ourselves because Jesus Christ is our advocate!
So Rest… and KNOW HE IS GOD
But what does this mean?
Within the Fortress – there is Freedom
It’s not the 1%, it’s the 1.
Without a fight… we serve
We need to grasp this concept – that the God in whose presence we daily abide is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, or Lord God Sabbaoth, Lord God All-mighty. That He has defeated the powers already, that our Father in Heaven has given all authority to Christ, and He has made us His. If earthquakes and chaos, and wars cannot steal us from Him, we can do as verse 10 advises us…
Be Still, and know that He is God!
But what does it mean to be still?
If we realize that as God’s people, we live in the presence of a God who protects us, who cannot be shaken, who cannot be attacked, then we can rest….anxiety free, worry free, able to listen to His voice, His guidance, to walk with Him. That freedom is incredible, it reforms everything! Rest is something you cannot do in conflict, in war, unless your army dwarfs those who would oppress you.
Our lives begin to change – we don’t see justice in the same manner, and we realize that God’s equality is not measured in dollars and possessions or degrees, but in the love that we receive, and pass on. We realize that life isn’t about accumulating or defending what we accumulate, but in caring for each other.
Mostly, we realize it is not the one percent that needs to share and care for the 99%, but that the One has already care for the rest. That debts, deep debts of sin are cancelled, that we are given His justice, even as He takes our injustice, that our selfishness has been cured by Hi selflessness,
Our battles, our personal crusades, our fights and wars have been rendered meaningless. We realize that we aren’t fighting each other, but instead freed of that illusion, an illusion because our battles were never with each other, but with power and principalities and darkness that would cause us the fear and anxiety and confusion that comes from being apart from God.
We know peace because He is among us, He is our refuge, our fortress…
We live in Him, completely free. We live unburdened. unafraid, without anxiety. We live seeing and rejoicing in His glorious work of love that defeats all war and conflict! Rejoicing as we realize that work continues each and every day. We live, at peace, still and knowing that He is God!
All will honor Him….so Come Worship the Lord!
It seems right, as well look at the Reformation this day, that we come to the conclusion of this series. A series with the title, “Come worship the Lord”. An invitation, not to us, for we already know His love. But an invitation for us to bring to those who occupy the world, An invitation to those who Occupy Darkness,
For they need to know that they can come here, that they can find the refuge from the world’s storms and chaos and battles. They need to know they are welcome occupants of the city where God dwells.
An invitation that we have been given freedom to give to any and everyone we meet.
For truly the Psalmist is right – God will be honored and exalted and worshipped by every people, every nation, He will be worshipped through the world.
For they need to know that Yahweh, the God who reveals Himself to the world is here, that He dwells among us, and because of that, we live in peace.
For He is our Fortress, He is our God.
AMEN?
