Going from Strength to Strength

Psalm 84; John 6: 56-69
August 24, 1997
14th Sunday after Pentecost, Year B

 © John Ewing Roberts, 8/24/97


PSALM 84

Eugene Peterson's translation of Psalm 84 is fresh. It flashes with contemporary references which can be appropriately jarring. As you listen, note that he translated the old "heavenly hosts" as "angel armies."

What a beautiful home, God of the Angel Armies!
     I've always longed to live in a place like this,
Always dreamed of a room in your house,
     where I could sing for joy to God-alive!

Birds find nooks and crannies in your house,
     sparrows and swallows make nests there.
They lay their eggs and raise their young,
     singing their songs in the place where we worship.
God of the Angel Armies! King! God!
     How blessed they are to live and sing there!

And how blessed all those in whom you live,
     whose lives become roads you travel;
They wind through lonesome valleys, come upon brooks,
     discover cool springs and pools brimming with rain!
God-traveled, these roads curve up the mountain, and
     at the last turn - Zion! God in full view!

God of the Angel Armies, listen:
     O God of Jacob, open your ears - I'm praying!
Look at our shields, glistening in the sun,
     our faces, shining with your gracious anointing.
One day spent in your house, this beautiful place of worship,
     beats thousands spent on Greek island beaches.
I'd rather scrub floors in the house of God
     than be honored as a guest in a palace of sin.
All sunshine and sovereign is God,
     generous in gifts and glory.
He doesn't scrimp with his traveling companions.
     It's smooth sailing all the way with the God of the Angel Armies.

(Eugene H. Peterson, translator, The Message - New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs [Colorado Springs, Colorado: NAVPRESS] 1995, pp. 773-774)

INTRODUCTION

Our gospel lesson from John 6 contains what scholars call "a hard saying" of Jesus, one of those difficult teachings which deserve tobe unpacked in a different forum than a sermon. Save the interpretation for a careful Bible study with time for give and take.

For now I am interested in the emotions of Jesus and of his disciples. After this tough teaching in John 6, many disciples drew back and no longer went with him. Jesus said to the 12, "Will you also go away?"

Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God." (John 6: 65-69)

I wonder how Jesus felt. John 6 opens with 5000 well fed followers and closes with 12 troubled disciples, one of whom is a traitor. That is a lot of downhill emotional distance for Jesus to have travelled.

And how did the disciples feel? Probably how you and I feel whenever we hear something from the gospel or prophets that is so challenging that we know we are going to have to make a change in our lives.

Or at the bare minimum they felt like you and I do whenever something happens in church that just does not connect. We don't understand it; it's from a different genre; it's just not accessible.

Sometimes, let's admit it - religion just doesn't connect. Sometimes even Jesus himself had to take deep breath, sigh, and look at 5,000 people walk away with full stomachs and empty hearts. At that low point Jesus had to look at the people to whom he was closest and ask, "Are you going to leave me too?"

I don't know how long a pause there was between Jesus' question and Peter's answer. We usually write Peter off as "loveable, ol' impulsive Simon Peter," and assume that he would have answered quickly. But I think in this case Peter paused and gave Jesus' question some thought.

This small businessman from Capernaum was no dummy. He had seen enough changes in his life to know that he had better be careful about what he said when he made promises to Jesus.

There is a terribly disturbing hymn about the call of Jesus to Peter, John and the others - its cost and consequences.

They cast their nets in Galilee just off the hills of brown;
such happy, simple fisherfolk, before the Lord came down.

Contented, peaceful fisherman, before they ever knew
the peace of God that filled their hearts brimful, and broke them too.

Young John, who trimmed the flapping sail, homeless, in Patmos died.
Peter, who hauled the teeming net, head down was crucified.

The peace of God, it is not peace, but strife closed in the sod.
Yet let us pray for but one thing - the marvelous peace of God.
(William Alexander Perry, "They cast their nets in Galilee," No. 538, A New Hymnal for Colleges and Schools, edited by Jeffery Rowthorn and Russell Schulz-Widmar [New Haven: Yale University Press] 1992)

As Peter was being crucified upside down, I wonder if he remembered this moment in John 6, when Jesus gave the chance not to renew his option. "Will you also go away?" As he hung dying in pain and humiliation I do not think that for an instant Peter would have regretted his decision not to go away. I think he would have said the same thing, "Where else can we go? You have the words of eternal life."

In Jesus Peter had discerned the presence of God so clearly, so powerfully, so accessibly and with such disturbing potency that he could not go away. Oh, before it is over, he could deny, he could be confused, he could say stupid things, but he could never in the final analysis go away.

What drew him was the presence. And it is the presence which is at the heart of Psalm 84, the presence of God in the temple.

The energy, the excitement of knowing that God would be present in a focused, specific place drew the pilgrims of Psalm 84 year in and year out, back to Zion.

ECSTASY AT FIRST SIGHT

I can't imagine what it must have been like for them to anticipate that first glimpse of the temple. I've worked on this in preparation for this sermon, trying to think of one moment of excitement and expectation in seeing something for the first time. I would be interested in hearing what moment you would suggest out of your experience.

For me it was the cab ride, travelling from the Athens airport to the hotel, but I was hoping, no, aching to catch my first glimpse of the Parthenon. To some it is just a pile of old Greek stones in ruins; for me it is the most beautiful survivor from the ancient world I love so much. Every time we turned a corner I craned my neck to peer out the dirty cab window, longing for even a fleetingsighting.

Magnify that anticipation by infinity and you have what a righteous Jew would feel, longing for that first look at the temple - maybe coming up from Jericho through the dessert, cresting on the Mount of Olives, seeing that first bit of Mediterranean vegetation as the pilgrim puts behind his back the Middle Eastern desert, and there with the sun pouring over the white marble of shining gold is the temple. Here is the Holy of Holies, here God is present in a special way. Think of the rush, the adrenalin surge, the bounding heart, the moist eyes!

This ecstasy at first sight produced Psalm 84 and drew from the pilgrim a cry of deep joy.


THE TRIP

This Psalm could be about anticipation of a trip to the temple, or it could about memories after the trip. These feelings are easy for us to get hold of. Most of us have had our vacations for the summer.

Pre-vacation planning is lots of fun. Do you like to plan for a vacation trip? Read up on destinations, pick out the best spots to see given the limits of your time and budget?

And after the trip, do you like to relive a trip after you get home? Pouring over photos, having the standard friendly dispute with your beloved spouse over the subject matter of a particularly hard to identify photo, looking up things in guide books to answer questions that came up along the way?

Coming and going, planning and remembering, preparing and reminiscing - they are all part of what make the journey fun. Again, magnify the experience by infinity and we begin to feel what the pilgrim felt before and after the trip to the temple.

These feelings hold true for every great pilgrimage. For centuries Christians have gone to Jerusalem. The journey is long, fatiguing, dangerous, but worth it. In Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre beside the Chapel of St. Helena in the underground Chapel of St. Cartan on a wall is a drawing of a ship. The mast of the ship is broken, perhaps by a storm at sea, or possibly to represent the pilgrim's intention not to sail away from this land where he senses so keenly the presence of God. Beside the ship is a grafitto with the Latin words, "Domine, ivimus!" "Lord, we went!"
These were the same kinds of feelings we find in Psalm 84 about finally reaching the temple, a place to encounter the presence of God.
THE PSALM

Charles Spurgeon, that prince of 19th century British Baptist preachers, declared this Psalm to be "the noblest of the sons of song," the choicest of sacred odes, and the Pearl of Psalms. Of its pilgrimage theme he said, "Families journeyed together, making bands which grew at each halting place; they camped in sunny glades, sang in unison along the roads, toiled together over the hill and through the slough, and as they went along , stored up happy memories which would never be forgotten." (Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. IV [New York: Funk and Wagnalls] second edition, 1881, p. 63)

John Durham, a contemporary Baptist scholar, praises this vibrant poem, rooted in the theology of the Presence of God in the Temple which Solomon built in Jerusalem. (p. 344) It begins with a gasp at the sheer loveliness of the entire Temple complex (up from Jericho through desert).

One writer said, "We Christians, and Protestants in particular, may have difficulty sharing or understanding the almost sensual happiness and joy associated with festival observances in the temple. Such observances combined high pageantry, feasting, and dancing, and the sense of the divine presence with the atmosphere of a country fair and community reunion. Old acquaintances were renewed, past experiences shared, and new relationships acquired. At the same time, one participated in the cultic services and sacrifices that were seen as restoring and preserving world order." (John H. Hayes, Preaching Through the Christian Year - B [Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International] 1993, p. 384)

PILGRIM FEELINGS

It is remarkable that all these feelings came to a psalmist who could not get past the outer courts of the temple. Only the priests could penetrate the inner courts, and only one priest on one day each year could enter the Holy of Holies.

But it was glorious to be even in this marginalized, fringe position because the presence of God was at hand. He sees the birds in the temple, and says something like, "Those lucky birds! They're here all the time!"

A little excursus or footnote about birds and temple. In the ancient Near East birds which nested in temples were regarded as sacred. (A. A. Anderson, The New Century Bible Commentary - Psalms (73-150)i Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing Co.] 1981, p. 602) The sanctuary was a bird sanctuary!

We are not surprised when Jesus said, "Consider the birds of the air...your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (Matthew 6: 26) We are "on the same page" when we singthe old gospel song, "His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me." (Civilla D. Martin, "His Eye Is on the Sparrow," No. 33, Songs of Zion [Nashville: Abingdon Press] 1981)

Sparrows and swallows were welcome in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, but they were not welcome in the Greek temples. In Euripides' play Ion the young hero is a servant in the temple of Apollo at Delphi where he sweeps up trash and carries a bow and arrows to put to flight birds who might foul the offerings (Euripides, Ion, lines 106-107).

"To protect statues against birds' droppings, disks .... were affixed to their heads..., the probable origin of the nimbus in Christian art." (Euripides, Ion, edited with introduction and commentary by A. S. Owen [Oxford: At the Clarendon Press] 1963, p. 77) Next time you see a halo think about the birds in the temple!

The birds in the temple in Jerusalem were a source of inspiration for the pilgrim because if the birds could make a home in the presence of God, if they could raise their young in the presence of God, then he could surely feel at home in the presence of God, he could surely raise his children in that same presence.

THE PURPOSE OF THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE

This is a psalm about pilgrimage. It is an easy move, perhaps too easy a move, for a preacher to say, "Life is a pilgrimage!" But it is. Life is a journey.

It is a question, perhaps too easy, for a preacher to ask, "What is the purpose of your pilgrimage?"

You know all the standard answers to the question.

Some say it is survival - just making it through the night in order to make it through the day.

Some say it is security, get a job, a house, retirement.

Some say it is success; others say it is satisfaction.

At this time in my Christian journey my answer to the question of the purpose of the pilgrimage of life is joy. By joy I do not mean perpetual, superficial happiness. By joy I mean the total experience of the thrill of life in the presence of God.

I think I am on pretty secure ground. Jesus spoke of joy at the end of life's journey, when all is said and done. One day, God willing our spirits being faithful, we will hear those best of all words, "Well done, good and faithful servant...enter into the joy of the Master." The joy of the Master! (Matthew 25: 21)
In the Presbyterian tradition the Scots Shorter Catechism says our chief end is "to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." Enjoy him forever!

One of our favorite gospel songs, We're Marching to Zion, covers much of the same ground as Psalm 84, with the joy of the journey ringing in every note. In the program notes I write each week about our hymns I recently mentioned that this hymn was called "that lively quickstep for happy Christians" in George Sampson's The Century of Divine Songs. Two of Isaac Watts' original stanzas are unfortunately omitted from our hymnal:

The sorrows of the mind Be Banished from the place;
Religion never was designed, Religion never was designed
To make our pleasures less, To make our pleasures less.
There we shall see his face, And never, never sin;
There, from the rivers of his grace, There, from the rivers of his grace,
Drink endless pleasures in, Drink endless pleasures in.

Religion never was designed to make our pleasures less! There, from the rivers of his grace, drink endless pleasures in! Glorifying God and enjoying him forever! Basking in those blessed words, "Enter into the joy of the Master."

GETTING THERE IS NOT ALWAYS FUN

But getting there is not always fun. Not everyone here today is feeling joyful. Not everyone here feels like drinking endless pleasures in. On the journey there are dark valleys we go through. This psalm speaks of such a time, such a place, such feelings - it speaks of the Valley of Baca.

No one knows exactly where the Valley of Baca was. The word "baca" refers to balsams or aspens, trees or shrubs which grow in arid places. Different translations try to express this meaning:
     the New English Bible translates the Valley of Baca as "the thirsty valley;"
     the Revised New English Bible has "the waterless valley;"
     the Moffatt translation reads, "When they pass through Weary-glen, fountains flow for their refreshing, blessings rain upon them..."
     the Message translation by Eugene Peterson has, "...how blessed all those in whom you live, whose lives become roads you travel; They wind through lonesome valleys, come upon brooks, discover cool springs and pools brimming with rain!"
However you translate it, the Valley of Baca is a metaphor for the dry, hard, lonely times in your life and my life.
WHAT TO DO IN THE VALLEY OF BACA

The good news is this: the joy of the presence of God can well up in the Valley of Baca. That's the message of this psalm; that's the experience many of you have had; and that's the experience many of you long for - the joy of the presence of God in a dry valley.

But we must expect it, anticipate it, ask for it, pray for it, look for it, hope for it.

This possibility of presence in a dry valley is at the heart of a classic prayer written by Pope Leo I in the 5th Century: "Almighty and everlasting God, who art always more ready to hear than we to pray, and art wont to give more than either we desire or deserve; pour down upon us the abundance of thy mercy, forgiving us those things whereof our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask, but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord. Amen."

"...if we can't see a spring, or refuse to believe that in its place the Lord will provide something better, we will probably go thirsty." (Lloyd John Ogilvie, Falling into Greatness [Nashville: Thomas Nelson Sons] 1984, pp. 122-123)

If we enter the valley with such expectancy, we can go from strength to strength. If not, we will be like the poor man in John 5: 5 who suffered on and on for thirty eight years or the poor woman who suffered under many physicians in Mark 5: 25.

But we could be like the man in Acts 3: 1ff. He came to the temple with a spirit of expectancy. He expected money. God had more in store for him. Peter and John say, "In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, be healed!" Beyond the lame man's highest expectations of mere alms God granted him the blessing of healing.
From blessing expected to greater blessing received, from strength to strength. In the valley of Baca one can go from strength to strength. Again the students of scripture have different ideas of what this wonderful phrase means.

"From strength to strength" could be...
     the way the pilgrim song grows ever stronger as new pilgrims
join in; the way the crowd grows as people attract people;
the way whole villages strengthen the pilgrim band as they join the throng; it takes a village to grow a pilgrimage.
That's why it is so important to be with other believers in strengthening one another, be it in Sunday School, Wednesday night prayer and study time, or in a small group.

Each shared experience of springs in the desert, each shared experience of going from strength to strength opens us up togreater trust in the future - we go from one strong moment to another. The more we face, the more God blesses us.

You can identify your own Valley of Baca right now. But more importantly, can you identify your spring, your source of strength, your well spring of hope, your inkling of the presence of God?

I think it's wonderful that the first thing you see when you enter into the court of this place of where we practice presence of God is a fountain of bubbling water. It was delightful last week in our baptismal service that you could hear the sound of water gurgling and surging in the pool throughout the service. There are foretastes of refreshment all around us.

JESUS AND US

The psalmist in verse 9 refers to the anointed one. I need to be careful in speaking about the anointed one. For the Psalmist the word probably referred to the king or the high priest. Christians cannot help but think of Jesus of Nazareth as the one anointed to bring the light of God to the nations, the one who has brought the light of God to us, the one who for us is like the temple, the locus of the presence of God so clearly, so accessibly, so perfectly.

That takes me back to where we started in John 6 and Jesus asking, "Will you also go away?" Peter says in effect, "No way! You are the one who has the word of eternal life; you are the presence and power of God, and no matter what happens to me now or later, I have got to stay with you!"

If you have had that sort of experience, you are a Christian. If not, I hope you will have the experience of discovering Jesus as a well of refreshing water in the dry valleys of your life. I hope you will say, "I have to stick with Jesus; I can't go away; I need to be with him always."

There is a wonderful title of a widely read book about Jesus. It is called Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time (by Marcus Borg). Maybe you have heard about Jesus all your life, but have never really met him on the pilgrimage of your life, in the dry valley. I pray that you are finding in Jesus the refreshment and strength he can provide and that you are meeting him again for the first time. Let him be the Lord of your life; he will never disappoint you; your joy will be in him and his in you. Amen.

© John Ewing Roberts
Woodbrook Baptist Church
(Formerly Eutaw Place Baptist Church)
Baltimore, Maryland

[This sermon is for circulation within the Woodbrook congregation and may not be reproduced without permission]