The Acceptable Life

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

January 27, 2013

 The Acceptable Life

Psalm 19

Astronomers first spotted it just outside our solar system;

It was neither a star nor an asteroid –

it was clearly a planet,

a planet that seemed to be about the same size

as our own planet, the planet we call “Earth”.

And then scientists noticed something even more curious:

it was moving;

moving toward us,

moving into our solar system.

Scientists following its path,

minute by minute,

hour by hour,

day by day.

When they first spotted it in the Kuiper Belt just beyond Pluto,

it was more than 3 billion miles away.

But it sailed its way through the heavens,

past Pluto, past Neptune and Uranus,

skimming the rings of Saturn,

and then using the gravity of Jupiter

to sling itself past Mars.

Closer and closer it came,

but once it passed Mars,

the planet did something scientists couldn’t explain,

couldn’t even imagine:

It began to slow down in its approach,

as though whoever was steering the planet

had applied the brakes,

like a train coming into the station.

Slower and slower,

until it came to a stop beyond our moon,

settling into an orbit all its own,

an orbit around the sun,

an orbit that kept it visible,

prominent in the day and night skies.

It was close enough that even backyard astronomers

with their home-made telescopes

could see the planet’s very distinct features:

the blue waters,

the white clouds in the atmosphere,

the gray mountain ranges,

the green forests.

All eyes were trained on the planet,

and the world was astonished to learn

that the contours of the land were

identical to our own earth:

the continents, the polar regions,

the great seas.

                 

Everything about the planet seemed to be identical to Earth,

as though it wasn’t really a planet at all,

but a giant mirror God had installed in the sky

reflecting back our own image,

that image we saw for the first time back in 1969

from the window of the Apollo 8 spacecraft,

planet Earth,

home now to more than six billion men, women and children,

as well as animals and other creatures

by the billions,

all God’s creatures, all God’s creation.

And then came the inevitable questions:

Do you suppose there are people on that planet?

Do you suppose they look like us,

act like us,

think as we do, behave as we do?

Are they men and women created in the image of God?

Do they believe in the Lord God?

Do they have the same struggles we do:

war and violence,

poverty and disease,

or have they found a way to a life of peace, of harmony?

On their planet does everyone have enough to eat?

Does anyone die of illness or disease?

Does anyone shiver in the cold?

Does anyone live in fear?

No telescope was powerful enough

to provide answers to these questions.

The unanswered questions led to even more questions:

Who inhabits that planet?

Should we fear them?

Or should we envy them?

Are they like us, or are they more advanced?

Or perhaps we should ask,

are they like us, only not as advanced,

more like we were a thousand years ago,

five thousand years ago,  

ten thousand years ago?

How do they live?

What do they believe in?

What do they see when they look up in the sky?

What do they think when they gaze toward Earth?

No, this was not an episode of the Twilight Zone,

but yes, this was Hollywood (“Another Earth”)

raising fascinating, almost theological questions.

Rod Serling, the creator of the Twilight Zone

more than 50 years ago,

often dealt with these kinds of questions

profoundly, and even theologically:

What’s up there?

What’s out there?

Who is out there?

They are certainly not new questions, though;

they are as old as humanity.

We can even find humankind’s fascination with the heavens

throughout the pages of the Bible,

including many of the psalms.

As we heard in our lesson,

writing almost three thousand years ago,

the psalmist marveled as he looked up,

“The heavens are telling the glory of God;

and the firmament proclaims God’s handiwork.”

We don’t have to embrace the term “creationist”

to embrace God as the creator of the heavens and earth,

as the creator of all life.

In fact, I would argue that

the more we learn through science,

the more astonishing God’s creative power is revealed to be.

The psalmist knew even back then

that a few paragraphs in Genesis

could hardly begin to describe the glory of God

revealed all around us in creation.

The planets, the stars, the moon – they speak no words,

yet, as the psalmist reminds us,

their voices fill creation,

proclaiming the majesty of God.

And, as the psalmist teaches us,

we are called to listen,

to be attentive to the proclamation of all creation

that fills heaven and earth,

just as we are called to listen,

to be attentive to the voice of God

as it speaks to us from the written words we call the Bible.

And so even as the psalmist marveled at the eloquence of the heavens,

he also marveled at the written word,

Scripture that three thousand years ago he called, “the Law”:

“The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul,

the precepts of the Lord are right,

rejoicing the heart,

the commandment of the Lord is clear,

enlightening the eyes.”

This psalmist’s song is one we are all called to sing

in all its beauty, its majesty, its power,

for the song tunes us to God’s glory,

calling us to see God’s greatness and goodness all around us.

And the song teaches us

that God reveals himself through all creation,

as well as through his written word.  

But the written word reminds us

that ours is a history of disregarding God’s glory,

disregarding God’s word,

that ours is a history marked more by

disobedience to God’s will, God’s way,

of our trying constantly to elevate ourselves to God’s level.

Our call, though, is to elevate our learning, not ourselves;

to elevate our attentiveness to God’s word

so we can grow in faith.

It was Moses who first told the children of Israel,

“One does not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

(Deuteronomy 8:3)

It is such a vital, essential lesson

that our Lord Jesus Christ reinforced it,

repeating it word for word.

(Matthew 4:4)

When we listen to the Word, the words,

when we are attentive we learn,

and then we are renewed.

As the psalmist wrote:

“The instruction of the Lord is all-encompassing,

restoring life.”

We listen;

we learn;

we then finally understand,

understand why the psalmist ends his song with,

“Let the words of my mouth

 and the meditation of my heart

be acceptable to you, O Lord…”

This verse is so often used by preachers

as a prayer before a sermon,

but to use it that way is much too limiting.

The psalmist’s words express his hope

that he’ll be open to God’s instruction and teaching,

that he’ll listen and learn,

that he’ll be transformed by God’s word

and grow more faithful and obedient

so that his every word,

even his very thoughts,

will always be pleasing to God,

that his life will be a song of glory to God

sung in the same way the planets and stars in the heavens

sing their eternal song to God.

When young people who have turned away from churches

are asked their reasons,

hypocrisy is always near the top of the list,

that in churches of every denomination they feel

that we spend a great deal of time, energy, and effort

talking about how we want to learn

how we want to be obedient and faithful,

but all that talk we do on Sunday

gets boxed up and put up on the self on Monday morning,

if not even by Sunday afternoon

It is hardly a problem unique to 21^st century Christianity.

More than 2700 years ago the prophet Jeremiah bemoaned,

“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people

who have eyes, but do not see,

who have ears but do not hear…

there are no limits to your deeds of wickedness:

you do not judge with justice the cause of the orphan,

or defend the rights of the needy….

…see if you can find one person who acts justly”

(Jeremiah 5)

It was Jeremiah’s predecessor, the prophet Micah,

who put God’s teaching so pithily,

almost lamenting as he said,

“He has told you, O mortal, what is good;

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?”

(Micah 6:8)

Ultimately, the lesson we are to draw

from the Word of God written in Scripture,

written in the planets and stars,

and revealed in our Lord Jesus  Christ

is wonderfully simple: God is love.

God is love,

God creates in love;

and God wants creation to grow in love.

And that’s the lesson for us as children of God,

and disciples of Christ:

each of us seeking to live the acceptable life.

It is to live by love, to live in love,

love for all reflecting the glory of God.

“For…the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.”

(Psalm 33:4-5)

To live the acceptable life is to join in the chorus of praise

to the glory of God that the psalmist hears

in creation all around us:

“The pastures of the wilderness overflow

the hills gird themselves with joy,

the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,

the valleys deck themselves with grain,

they shout and sing together for joy.”

(Psalm 65:12)

And we creatures who bear the image of God sing out,

“Our hearts [are] glad in the Lord,

because we trust in his holy name.

…Let your steadfast love, O Lord,

be upon us,…”

(Psalm 33:20-22)

Yes, O Lord, let your steadfast love be upon us,

be upon all creation,

the sun, the moon, the stars,

even that new planet that hangs just above the horizon

in the morning sky

where surely even there

creation lives for you and sings your praise.

AMEN