2011 November » Faith Presbyterian Church

Psalm 136

Rev. Jeff Chapman ~ November 13, 2011 ~ Faith Presbyterian Church

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¹O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever.
² O give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures for ever.
³ O give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures for ever;
⁴ who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures for ever;
⁵ who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures for ever;
⁶ who spread out the earth on the waters, for his steadfast love endures for ever;
⁷ who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures for ever;
⁸ the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures for ever;
⁹ the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures for ever;
¹⁰ who struck Egypt through their firstborn, for his steadfast love endures for ever;
¹¹ and brought Israel out from among them, for his steadfast love endures for ever;
¹² with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, for his steadfast love endures for ever;
¹³ who divided the Red Sea in two, for his steadfast love endures for ever;
¹⁴ and made Israel pass through the midst of it, for his steadfast love endures for ever;
¹⁵ but overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, for his steadfast love endures for ever;
¹⁶ who led his people through the wilderness, for his steadfast love endures for ever;
¹⁷ who struck down great kings, for his steadfast love endures for ever;
¹⁸ and killed famous kings, for his steadfast love endures for ever;
¹⁹ Sihon, king of the Amorites, for his steadfast love endures for ever;
²⁰ and Og, king of Bashan, for his steadfast love endures for ever;
²¹ and gave their land as a heritage, for his steadfast love endures for ever;
²² a heritage to his servant Israel, for his steadfast love endures for ever.
²³ It is he who remembered us in our low estate, for his steadfast love endures for ever;
²⁴ and rescued us from our foes, for his steadfast love endures for ever;
²⁵ who gives food to all flesh, for his steadfast love endures for ever.
²⁶ O give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures for ever. (Psalm 136, NRSV)

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When you were growing up, did your parents have the habit of telling you the same thing over and over and over again? Anybody else here besides me have that experience?

I remember that my parents first started letting me drive long distances when I was a senior in high school. They’d let me drive up toSan Franciscofrom our home on thePeninsula, for instance. Once or twice they even let me drive with a friend or two up to ski atLake Tahoe.

Before I left home on these trips, however, my mom and dad would tell me the same thing over and over again. “Listen, Jeff, when you get there, we want you to call us and let us know you made it safely.”

And I’d say, “Got it. I’ll call you first thing when I get there.”

Then, only a few minutes later my mom would say, “Did we mention, Jeff, that as soon as you arrive, go ahead and find a payphone and just give us a call.”

I’d answer patiently, “Yeah, you mentioned that, Mom.”

Then, as I’m getting loaded up in the car, there’d be my dad slipping me a few quarters, “Hey, son, go ahead and use these to call us when you get there. You know how your mother worries.”

“Will do, Dad. Thanks for the reminder. And the extra change.”

“You do remember the phone number, right? You’ve won’t forget the number.”

“Yes, Mom, I do know the phone number we’ve had for the last 12 years.”

Even as I’m driving away from the house, they’re yelling down the street, loud enough so all the neighbors also get the message, “Honey, don’t forget to call us when you get there!”

I mean, give me a break, how many times does a guy need to be told? Of course, I’d get there and forget to call.

I’m fully aware that I am now driving my own children crazy telling them the same things over and over again. On my more perceptive days, however, I’ll at least notice them giving me that look, that same look I used to give to my parents. And so I’ll say to them, “I’m sorry. Am I sounding like a broken record?” And they’ll say, “We don’t know what a record is, Dad, but there is something about you that’s definitely broken!”

We just can’t help it. Loving parents tell their kids the most important things over and over and over again.

Our Heavenly Father tells us, over and over and over again, “My love for you endures forever.”

“Did I mention to you how long my love for you endures? It endures forever.”

“Hey, don’t forget that my love for you endures forever. My love for you endures forever.”

Over and over and over again God tells us. And yet, we get going along in life and we forget. Circumstances, the world, hardship, pain, doubt, even busyness and distraction, for one reason or another eventually all of us begin to forget.

So how do we remember? The Psalmist here makes it clear. We remember by intentionally and deliberately recounting all the ways God has been good to us. We remember how much God loves us by remembering all the ways God has shown his love for us. When keep in mind what God has done it cannot be denied, God’s love for us really does endure forever.

You see, Psalm 136 is essentially a list of all the ways God has shown his love to his people. God has done great wonders. God has given us this marvelous creation – heavens, and oceans, and stars, and sun, and moon – a world full of beauty and abundance. God has crossed great distances to come to us in our bondage and save us. God has set us free. God has triumphed over our enemies. God has not forgotten us in our desperation. God gives us what we need.

Once again, the reason God has blessed us so abundantly is because God loves us. And not only does God love us, but God’s love for us endures forever. God tells us this over and over and over again, not just here but all through scripture, because God does want us to forget it. For this reality, this truth, more than any other, has the power to transform everything in our lives. If we would only come to believe it.

You see, there is such freedom and peace when you come to believe that the love another has for you is undying.

Think about it, have you ever had the experience of falling in love with somebody who you are not sure loves you in return? What an unsettling experience that is. You love this person but you’re just not sure they love you. Or, even if they do love you, you’re not certain how much their love can endure.

So you’re afraid. You fear, “What if I mess up? What if I say the wrong thing? What if they find out what I’m really like, where I’ve been, what I’ve done?”

The Bible, in I John 4:18, assures us, “There is no fear in [true] love. Perfect love casts out fear.” In other words, when you know that another person’s love for you is unconditional, that it is guaranteed to endure no matter what, then fear disappears and is replaced by freedom, joy and peace.

Some of us have experienced this on a human level. Some of us had parents or grandparents we came to believe would continue to love us no matter what. Some of us have a husband or wife who, though they knew everything about us, will continue to love us for who we are, or even in spite of who we are. Some of us have brothers and sisters in Christ in this church who love us unconditionally in spite of the mess in our life.

Whether or not you have experienced this enduring love from other people, however, you can experience enduring love from your Creator.

Listen to me. The One who formed you in your mother’s womb, the One who knows you best, the One who knows every word you speak even before it is on your tongue, the One who sees the darkest parts of your heart, the One who knows every selfish thought and intention that has crossed your mind, the One who sees what you do in secret, the One who understand how many times you have forgotten or ignored him, the One who has the highest standards for goodness and holiness, the One who in whom there is no sin or deceit, the One who is so much greater than you are, that One has an undying love for you which endures forever, a love for you which, no matter what, will never change.

Honestly, it’s hard to believe how much God loves us. In fact, God knows you don’t believe it. That’s why God tells you over and over again, “My love for you endures forever. My love for you endures forever. My love for you endures forever. My love for you endures forever.”

In the New Testament we hear this same message in different words, in some of the most beautiful words God ever gave to us. Ephesians 2:4-10 says:

Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

If, by the grace of Christ, we can come to believe God truly loves us in this way, then all our deepest fears will be completely and forever cast out. And in their place, all that will remain is gratitude, intense and enduring gratitude. “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love for us endures forever.”

You see, when you come to understand that somebody has done such a thing for you, when somebody, out of love and out of great sacrifice to themselves has given you such a gift, there is only one way to respond.

Erma Bombeck tells a lot of stories about Jewish grandmothers. One of her most famous is this one.

One day a grandmother took her grandson to the beach. She set the boy in the sand, complete with bucket, shovel and sun hat, and let him play. Soon after, the grandmother dozed off in the warm sun. As she slept, however, a large wave crashed on the beach and dragged her grandson out to sea.

Immediately, the grandmother awoke and was devastated. She fell to the ground on her knees and prayed, ‘God, if you save my grandchild, I promise I’ll make it up to you. I’ll join whatever club you want me to. I’ll volunteer at the hospital, give to the poor and do anything that makes you happy.

Suddenly, right in the middle of her prayer, a huge wave tossed her grandson on the beach right at her feet. She noticed color in his cheeks and his eyes were bright. He was alive! He was safe! As she looked closer, however, she became very upset. At once she stood up, put her hands on her hips, looked up towards heaven and said sharply, ‘He had a hat, you know.’”[1]

Is that how you react when somebody gives you such a priceless gift? Of course not. If somebody were to sacrifice themselves out of love to save your life, or the life of somebody you loved, your natural reaction would be to find some great way to express your deep gratitude. If somebody saved the life of my child, I would be desperate to find a way to express my gratitude in return.

Worship is our desperate attempt to express our deep gratitude to God for what God, through Christ, has done for us, for how God, through Christ, has loved us. In worship, we offer God our praise, our bodies, our minds, our gifts and pledges, our promises, and not out of guilt, or duty, or tradition, or an effort to get God to love us or accept us. We worship simply out of gratitude. God has offered himself so fully to me. I must find a way to offer myself fully back to God. Give thanks to the Lord…his love endures forever! Or said the other way, since God’s love endures forever, let us give thanks to the Lord!

There’s a verse in the book of Hebrews that captures this so well. Hebrews 12:28 says, “Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken [again, it endures forever!], let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.”[2]

We are here this morning worshiping God with reverence and awe. In a few moments we will be pledging our gifts to God for the simple reason that we are so deeply grateful for the enduring love we have been shown in Christ. We give back to God after all that God has given to us.

With that in mind, it seemed appropriate to me on this morning when we each have come to pledge a portion of our finances to God’s work in this place this coming year that we take at least a moment to intentionally remember how God has blessed this congregation which he so undyingly loves.

You see, it is marvelous to me that we pledge some of our wealth to God’s work here at Faith because we are so grateful for what God has done, but then God, out of his love for us, takes those gifts we offer and turns around and uses them to, once again, demonstrate to us and to others how much he loves us.

Let me show you what I mean.

The gifts we offer this morning will be used by God this coming year to help us continue to set aside times for all kinds of people to gather in this beautiful place and express their love for Christ.