Greatness of God

^{Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC on November 23rd and 24th, 2019}

^NRS Psalm 8:1 <To the leader: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.> O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. ² Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger. ³ When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; ⁴ what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? ⁵ Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor. ⁶ You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet, ⁷ all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, ⁸ the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. ⁹ O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Have you ever pondered about God? What is God like? How can we interact with God? Has God ever talked with me and I missed it? David was a favored child with God and yet in all the stories of David we never see one on one interaction with God. Moses had one on one interaction with God throughout the exodus story. Abraham had one on one interaction with God throughout his journey to what is modern day Israel. Yet David never did. His interaction with God came through the prophets that were instrumental in his rise to being King. Samuel and then Nathan shared the messages of God to David. Yet, David loved God with all that he was. We see that in the Psalms that David wrote. David shared the ecstasy of God’s loving relationship and the sorrow when David did not feel God’s presence. Our Psalm today is all about the glory and majesty of God that David knew and understood.

Why my focus on David? Because like David, the majority of us have never had a one on one encounter with God. We have received God’s messages in our lives from Pastors, Sunday school leaders, our own reading in the Bible and numerous other sources that bring us what God wants us to hear. How many of us use those encounters to enrich our lives and those around us? How many of us ponder the events of our life as God inspired and then praise God in the ways of David?

Have you ever gone out on a starry night in places where you can truly see the beauty of the heavens above? Have you ever wondered at all that is there and how it got there? If not, then maybe one day soon take a trip west of here to get away from the city lights and spend some time gazing up into the heavens. Have you ever watched a hummingbird work a flower or the feeder you placed on your deck? Have you ever marveled at the grace of fish swimming under the water while watching birds fly through the air? I ask all these questions because I am hoping to open you senses to the glory of God that is all around us everywhere. God created all that we are and all that we know. God created the heavens, the earth, the plants, the trees and of course, you and I. What a magnificent creation it is. Have you ever pondered how the intricacies of the body all work together for the common good of each of us. All those parts interrelating, interacting and constantly changing as we grow from child to adult. God created all of that and yet we all too often fail to give God the praise and glory that God deserves for it.

Some might even say, there is no God or that we came into the world by chance. Buried deep inside of us is a recognition or knowledge that there is a God. If not, why then when ancient cultures all looked into the vastness that is the universe, the blooming of a flower or the taking of a breath to live, did they acknowledge God? Every ancient culture, every human being that has ever lived has at one time or another acknowledged that there is a higher power that exists. Why not acknowledge that higher power as the creator of everything? David understood that. He acknowledges God in his words, which are great poetry. How majestic is your name he says.

Paul encounters the living on the road to Damascus. What must that have been like? Here he is thinking he is carrying out the work of God by persecuting these followers of Jesus. Here he is standing to the side as they stone Stephen to death. Then, on the road to persecute even more Christians, he encounters God one on one. We can only imagine the tremendous shame, guilt and even fear that would overwhelmed him. During the time when he cannot see, he has time to reflect on all that has happened in his life and what the encounter on the road means. We don’t get any additional information that God interacted with him one on one from that moment, but it changed everything about him. From that point on, we see God encountering with Paul through others.

This last week I spent time with two events that spoke to what being a Pastor is supposed to do. We are supposed to speak truth and bring the truth of the Bible to the people we serve. We are not God. We are simply human beings that have given a wonderful opportunity to share God’s unconditional love with the world around us. God’s greatness is not the earth we walk on or the air that we breathe, though the critical balance of those two things is greatness in itself. God’s greatness is that grace, mercy and love that God extends to you and me unconditionally. What that means is that no matter what we do, no matter where we go and even if we turn our backs on God, God never stops loving us and seeking a relationship with us. That is incredible to me. That God would love me even when I least deserve it.  

David understood that God’s greatness was that love and he struggled the most when he could not feel that love. When Saul was searching for him to put him to death, he questioned why God had deserted him. Yet, David realized that things happen in this world that we cannot understand. David understood that even when the darkness, that is often human persecution of one another, is not the work of God but rather that when those dark moments are upon us; God’s love is shining down through us. Have you ever experienced that? I have. I love the 46^th Psalm. God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble. I carried this passage with me during a dark period of my life, a trial that cost me more than just money, but my current life at the time. What prevailed was not what I hoped for but it was what I needed most. A reminder that even in the darkest moments God is with us, loving and caring for us.

Today I hope that you can encounter the majesty of God in your life. That you can see that God is real and constantly loves you and that everything you have in your life is God at work. I invite you to read the Psalms and hear the words of David. They are much alive today as when he wrote them. They have given me comfort in the darkest times of my life as I hear the message that God is with me. They can work for you as well if you let them. Let it begin by taking a moment from your busy schedule and open your eyes to the majesty of God all around you. Enjoy the night sky, enjoy the flowers and the trees, enjoy the harmony of breath and air as you encounter God.

We are called by God to be the instruments of God’s grace and mercy here on earth. We do that when we encounter the least of creation, the homeless, the oppressed, those who are ill and struggling and those who do not feel loved. When we spend our time, our hands and feet, doing the work of God, we begin to see the grace, mercy and love of God move through us and into the hearts of those we are helping. When we begin to surrender to the power of that love, our lives are forever changed and God begins to use us to transform the world around us.

I believe with all my heart that God is working through this church to change the world around us. There are forces that desire to stop that work, subvert it and even destroy it. But no matter how much they try, like Saul trying to destroy David, in the end God’s grace and love will prevail. God’s greatness is available to everyone every moment of every day. We need to praise God for all that God is doing in our world and all that God has promised us, whether we deserve it or not. God is great, God is God, and God loves you and me.