From Everlasting to Everlasting (Psalm 90)

 All Saints Sunday can be a day of big emotions:

• Gratitude for the lives of those who we have known who have passed away, and their blessing and influence on our lives.

• Sadness that they are no longer with us.

• Wonder about the meaning and mystery of life, including life after death.

• Contemplativeness as we consider how we are living our own lives, and what legacy we will leave to those close to us after we are gone.

These thoughts and emotions, in turn, may lead us to wonder: What is our purpose? What are our own thoughts about death, and about life?

One day, I pondered the question: what is it that can help me face death without fear? Is there anything that can help me face death without fear?

I pondered this for a while.

Eventually, I realized that there is something.

Love.

To be surrounded by the love of family and friends….

To be able to share my love with them….

And to know the love of God, from which nothing—not even death—can separate us.

I realized that if I have love, then I’m not afraid.

Last week, I preached about how love is the greatest commandment. And I’ve mentioned how much I have learned from you, from the people of Bixby Knolls Christian Church, when it comes to love.

You have taught me more than you know, by the way you have shown love to me, and the way you show love to one another.

And it’s only natural that some of you have asked, out of love, how it is that I am now choosing to leave Bixby Knolls Christian Church.

It began as a decision rooted in financial necessity. Almost a year ago, when we had our congregational meeting, it was brought to our attention that the days of Bixby Knolls Christian Church being able to maintain current levels of spending on staff salaries were limited. 

That notice entered my mind and my heart, and while, at the time, I hoped that things would change and I would be able to stay, I realized that I needed to prepare for the possibility that things would not change—or, at least not quickly enough for me to stay. 

This is not a criticism of anyone, for your level of generosity is, and has been, more than I could have ever hoped for.

So I began updating my profile in the denomination’s search and call system.

I don’t know if you realize it or not, but updating one’s profile in the search and call system means answering questions of purpose, of calling, of strengths and weaknesses. In other words, answering questions that are very similar to the questions you all have discussed in those after-church meetings.

Questions of “What is your ‘why?’” My questions used slightly different language, but they were basically the same.

And it took me a while to answer them. First, I read in my profile the answers that were already there; the answers I provided the last time I was in the search and call process, 16 years ago, which eventually led to me becoming pastor here at Bixby Knolls Christian Church.

I thought about all the ways I’ve grown and changed since then, how you all have helped me grow and improve as a pastor over the years, and what my strengths and growing edges are today, and what type of ministry God is calling me to today. 

It took me a month to write new answers to those questions. I didn’t want to rush it. I saw the value in the process, the journey, and didn’t want to rush to answers or solutions too quickly.

And what a powerful, beneficial process it was for me. It truly did help me gain a greater understanding of God’s call on my life, at this point in my life.

And as we all were pondering questions like this—me, in search and call, and you, in the New Beginnings conversations—I began to sense that God was calling me to a new adventure, a new chapter, a new journey (or whatever you want to call it) … and that God was calling Bixby Knolls Christian Church to a new adventure, a new chapter, a new journey…

And it was then that I realized that I was being called to a new ministry for more than just financial reasons. I realized that God has greater things in store for both you and for me. New journeys and new adventures.

And through this process, I’ve learned to trust God more. I thought I knew what I wanted; but I made a commitment to being open to whatever it was that God wanted.

And the journey had many twists and turns. Sometimes, I was so sure that God was calling me in a certain direction, only to have God put up a roadblock and say, “Nope! That’s not the direction for you!”

And I’d say, “Really?!?” Because I was so certain that it was.

And I’d alter the coordinates, and my personal spiritual GPS would recalibrate and recalculate, and I’d head off in some new direction, not knowing where this journey would take me, or how many other detours there would be along the way…

But with each detour, each roadblock, each surprise, I learned to trust God a little more.

And I’ve become a little more philosophical, and a little more able to trust God to lead me, even when the future seems unclear.

Our scripture today is a psalm that is labeled, “A prayer of Moses.” Most likely, it was written by someone many centuries after Moses, someone who perhaps tried to imagine what it was like for Moses.

 Moses learned to trust God as he led the Israelites out of Egypt, and through the Wilderness, and, eventually, to the promised land where they would be made into a whole new people and a whole new nation.

It was an incredibly difficult journey, through the wilderness, filled with wanderings, detours, and countless challenges. The people, and even Moses himself, wanted to give up at times.

Yet, in the end, Moses could see how God remained faithful, and how God was with them, and how God was leading them.

“Lord, you have been our dwelling-place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.”

Our God is the God of our ancestors. Our God is the God of all those who have died: those whose names we read this morning, and all those who died in years past.

When we get impatient, or when we wonder why things happen when they do, or why we are being led on a journey into the wilderness, this prayer of Moses reminds us: “a thousand years in God’s sight are like a day, or like a watch that passes in the night.”

This prayer of Moses reminds us that our own days are limited. They pass by quickly. 

But with the passing years comes new wisdom.

Richard Rohr has written a book about how a person’s spiritual journey evolves and matures in the second half of life. In the first half of life, he says, one’s spiritual purpose is about constructing a good, solid container for faith. In the second half of life, our task changes; the task then becomes filling that container.

For me, I think the second half of life involves asking more questions than answers, and knowing that the answers aren’t even that important; but that asking the right questions is.

But the one thing I still hold on to is love, as well as trusting the one who is the source of all love.

I know that many of you feel anxiety and sadness at my upcoming departure. It will, for me, be a difficult goodbye. But I want you to please trust God with the future of Bixby Knolls Christian Church. 

You may have a lot of questions, and that’s good. 

The answers may not come as quickly as you’d like, and that’s OK. 

The God of our ancestors will be with you. The God who has been our dwelling-place in all generations will be with you. The God who was with the Israelites on their 40-year journey to the promised land will be with you. The God who has guided this church’s ministry for over 77 years will be with you.

That God can be trusted. I know this better now than I did a year ago, or at any other point in my life.

When the future is uncertain, trust God.

When life’s journey takes an unexpected turn, trust God.

In any and every circumstance, trust God.

From everlasting to everlasting, trust God.

Making Our Days Count (Matthew 25:14-30 & Psalm 90)

 Each week, the lectionary presents four different scripture readings: an Old Testament reading, a psalm, a reading from one of the epistles, and a reading from one of the gospels.

Some churches read all four. Some read two. I usually pick just one. 

But I realized that the psalm listed for today - Psalm 90 - was really helpful for me when it comes to understanding the gospel reading that we just heard. So let me read for you part of that psalm:

Psalm 90:1-6, 12

Lord, you have been our dwelling-place in all generations.

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

You turn us back to dust, and say, ‘Turn back, you mortals.’ For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night.

You sweep them away; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning; in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.

So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart.

As I studied this psalm, and did a little research on it, I realized that the psalmist was writing from a difficult place. Some sort of trauma or affliction was happening. 

The commentators suggest that it is likely some sort of military occupation or takeover, like when the Babylonians captured Jerusalem and took many of the city’s more prominent citizens into exile.

But the psalm could also make sense in the midst of some other type of tribulation. Like suffering through a pandemic, for example. 

The psalmist prays for God’s mercy. And the psalmist wants God to teach him and his neighbors to count their days, so that they may gain a wise heart.

It seems pretty literal in Hebrew: count the days, compute the number of days of one’s life. But how does one gain wisdom by doing this? How does counting one’s days give a person a wise heart?

Then I realized: It helps, because those who count their days learn to make their days count.

Those who count their days learn to make their days count.

It reminds me of a sermon I heard some fifteen years ago, give or take - a sermon preached by one of the youth at the church I was then pastor of. (Well, I guess she's not a youth any more.) Her name was Allison, and I don’t remember what scripture she based her sermon off of, but I remember she talked about the Broadway musical Rent, and the one song from that musical called “Seasons of Love.” 

Now, if you don’t know, the lyrics of that song go like this: “Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes. Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear. Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes. How do you measure, measure a year?”

The song counts minutes instead of days, but I think the point is the same as the psalm: Count those minutes, so that you learn to make those minutes count.

So now we come to the reading from Matthew, in which Jesus tells the story of a wealthy man who entrusted his money to three slaves. The money was in the form of talents; one talent was equivalent to about 100 pounds of gold. That’s a lot of money. It would be worth around two million dollars today. That’s the worth of one talent.

The scripture is very careful to count the talents. One of the slaves received five talents (about ten million dollars); one received two talents (about four million dollars); and one received one talent (about two million dollars). For all three slaves, the talents were counted out; but only two of the slaves made their talents count. For all three slaves, the money was counted out; but only two of the slaves made their money count.

So far, I’ve talked about counting days… counting minutes…and counting money… and these are all ways of counting our lives. If you think about it, there really is no difference between counting time, and counting money. There’s no difference between an hour of your life, and the money in your bank account. Your money is your life. If you work one hour for fifteen dollars an hour, then the 15 dollars in your pocket equals the one hour of your life you gave in exchange for that money. 

Right? Isn’t that what a job is? You go to a boss and say, “I’ll give you an hour of my life’s energy in exchange for 15 dollars.” So that fifteen dollars equals one hour of your life. Or, if you have thirty dollars, that equals two hours of your life.

So when we’re counting money, we really are counting hours and days - hours and days of our lives.

God, who is the master of us all, has given each of us a finite number of days to live, a finite number of hours. These have been entrusted to us, and some of those hours, we have exchanged them into money.

Now the question is: what are we going to do with the hours we’ve been given? And what are we going to do with the hours we’ve exchanged for money?

If we bury our money in the ground, so that it does nothing, is that not a waste of the days and hours we’ve been given? The time we spent to earn that money?

But what if we use our days and our hours and the money for which we’ve exchanged our days and our hours, to help grow the kingdom of God? What if we used our days and our hours and the money for which we’ve exchanged our days and our hours, to spread love and joy and hope in our world?

The psalmist wants to count every day because every day counts... When this pandemic began, I know I figured, well, we’ll just wait until it’s over. We’ll pause our lives, and resume once things get back to normal. 

But as the pandemic continued and worsened, the days turned into weeks, and the weeks turned into months, and I realized: that’s a lot of days I’ve been counting! Or, rather, not counting! I have a 2020 calendar, and most of it is blank, because many of the things I had planned for the year were cancelled. 

And as a result, even though I’ve been doing my best to count the days, I came to the realization that I wasn’t making my days count. 

That’s the challenge for us: to count our days, so that we can make our days count. 

I got tired of wasting my days, of not having my days count. So I started looking for opportunities to make my days count. 

Sometimes, those opportunities involved ways to take better care of myself. To exercise. To pray. To get out and explore, in ways that are safe, given the pandemic. 

Sometimes, those opportunities involved ways to show kindness to others. If we couldn’t gather in person in all the ways we wanted to, then I started looking for ways to improve how we can connect online.

Sometimes, those opportunities involved committing myself to activities that helped make this world a little better; and that included evaluating how I spend my money. Since the money I spend represents a part of my life - an hour, a day, or more - then I want every dollar I spend to count for something. I want every dollar I spend to be meaningful to me. Because wasting money is wasting life.

There are a lot of ways to spend money that are meaningful… and there are a lot of ways to spend money that are meaningless. I’m not going to get into specifics - you can figure out which is which for you. But my point is the same point that I started with: as you count your money, make sure to make your money count.

As you count your days, make sure to make your days count.

I will say that, for me, and I know for many of you, one of the most meaningful ways I can spend my money is to support the work of our church. Many of us have just made commitments to support this church’s ministry in 2021. If you haven’t, it’s not too late - just let Sandy know what you commit to giving in 2021. 

Thank you for pledging to support the ministry we share. I hope you feel that, by doing so, you are making your money count, and that you are making your days count.

Because this church does so much to bring wholeness to our community and our world. We not only proclaim a message of hope and healing in this place, but we also provide support to other organizations and ministries, locally, and around the world, that do the same. 

Through the many organizations and ministries we support in one way or another, we have repaired hurricane-damaged homes in Puerto Rico; we have made possible local and national efforts at overcoming racism; we have provided food to people who are hungry; we have helped start 2,000 new congregations, many of them reaching ethnically diverse communities; and we have supported higher education in Disciples-related colleges and seminaries…

In addition, we have helped children and youth encounter God through worship & wonder, vacation bible school, and summer camp; and we have provided companionship to eldery folks who would otherwise feel alone in the world; 

But perhaps most importantly, we have let people know that no matter who they are, they are loved and affirmed by God. There’s a lot of people in the world saying that God hates people who do this, or that God hates people who do that, but our message is that God loves every person, that God is love, as the scripture says; and no one - no one - is beyond God’s love. 

And we put that message into action. People have actually told me that this church is the one place where they feel loved and accepted for who they are. The one place! Nowhere else in their lives have they got that message, that they are worthy of love and affirmation!

And it is a message we will continue to proclaim. Loudly. Boldly. Because that’s how we make every day, every minute, and every dollar, count.