"The Top Ten Securities"
Preparing for worship
Sermon Preached by
The Rev. Dr. Andrew Stirling
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Text: Psalm 15
I have been so excited about this morning's sermon because I have some outstanding advice to give you - and I have been waiting all week to give it! My advice to you is as follows: First, you should endeavour at all times to eliminate as much personal debt as you can. Secondly, you should maximize your investments, not only with RRSPs, but by taking advantage of the TFSA and you should buy low and sell high. And you should do everything in your power to make your money work for you. How does all that sound?
Trust me; if you have to listen to your minister for financial guidance, you are a little bit like the person who has decided to represent themselves in court - they have a fool as a client! I am in no way qualified to give you ideas to become the ideal investor. I am qualified, however, to give you advice about becoming the ideal worshipper. And, it is about becoming the ideal worshipper that I really want to give you some guidance this morning.
I base it on a question that was asked by the psalmist: “What must I do before I go into the sanctuary of the Lord?” In Psalm 15 there is incredible guidance as to how one should prepare oneself for coming into the House of the Lord. The psalm was written hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus and it is in many ways an ancient ritualistic liturgy. It was designed, so it is believed, to help pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem, hence the reference to the Hill, the City of Zion. Before they went into the temple, they had to prepare themselves for their arrival. Some scholars have argued that in many ways this psalm was actually a form of catechism, where priests would teach people on their way to the temple what they should do to prepare themselves for their arrival. It was a liturgy, but also a tool of instruction. There were very concrete restrictions in those times about who was allowed into the temple. At the heart of Judaism at the time, constraints were placed upon people. For example, those who were ritually unclean were not allowed to enter the temple. Those who were paralytics full of leprosy were not allowed to enter the temple. Likewise, gentiles were not allowed. There were very concrete and strict restrictions.
Psalm 15 is not about those rituals. It is not about the ceremonial laws. Rather, it is about the moral and the ethical standard of the people who are going into the temple. Even today, you can find that in places of worship there is often limited access. Not everyone is free simply to go and worship wherever or whenever they want.
Many years ago when Marial and I went to Jerusalem, we found that at the western wall of the temple, often known as the Wailing Wall, where people go and place their prayers in the cracks of the stones, we were separated right away - the women on the right and the men on the left. Right away, there was a restriction as to what part of the wall you could go to. There were scholars of the torah off to the side, and only certain people could go and meet with these scholars, who were ritually clean and given a position of privilege to be able to read the torah. Clergy, for example, were allowed to go and visit, regardless of their religion or tradition, but lay people were not. There were restrictions.
Just around the corner on the Dome of the Rock, which is of course a Muslim site, you have to take off your shoes; you have to promise to behave yourself when you go in and you make an ethical commitment. You also have to agree to follow the guide wherever the guide goes. In other words, you are not free to roam around.
Even in some Christian churches there are restrictions. I remember attending a congregation many years ago that required every member, before they went to communion, to have a card delivered to them by the elders. If you didn't have that card, then you weren't allowed to take communion. In other words, there were restrictions in place as recently as a few years ago in the Christian Church and even now at some other religious sites. Some people find this offensive, particularly as Christians who believe that there are no works that we should do that make us righteous before we go to worship. According to the Book of Hebrews, we have a High Priest who has already gone before us and who has opened the way for us to enter into the Holy of Holies. If we believe in Jesus, the High Priest, then we are justified by our faith in him and it is not on the basis of works that we enter into the presence of Almighty God.
Nevertheless, with that caveat in mind, I think there is something we can learn from Psalm 15. John Calvin suggests that there is much we can learn, and there are three things that we need to keep in mind when we read this psalm. The first is that we need to be godly people. We need to live upright and righteous lives. Therefore, as Christians, we should think about these things before we enter into the House of the Lord. But he also recognized that, in any place of church at any given moment, there are what he calls “the permanent and the stranger.” The “permanent” are those who are committed to a life of faith and who live a life worthy of Jesus Christ. Then there are the “strangers” who just sometimes wander in because there is nothing else to do on Sunday morning at eleven o'clock, so they just go to church. He says, “These often live side-by-side, but let's not get too wound up when things don't go perfectly in a church. Let's not try to separate a group of people, like the Catharists do, or the Novatians or the Donatists, who historically wanted to split the Church to create a little pure clique within it.” Calvin says that you can't do that; there is a mixture in any place of worship.
He also uses another phrase: “The barn floor of God's House is never completely clean.” In other words, in this life you are never going to have a perfect Church with people. There will always be something on the barn floor. He says that only in the last days will it be the perfect, pure Church. With that in mind, we should read Psalm 15 and understand that maybe there is something here that can help us prepare our way into the House of the Lord.
There are 10 things that one should do before worshipping. The argument has been made that maybe these 10 things represent the Decalogue - the Ten Commandments. Others have suggested there are 10 because we have 10 digits and we can always then count with our fingers to remember what they are. The fact of the matter is that when you are on your way to Jerusalem and the temple, you need to remember these 10 things. They break down into four very easy categories. The more I look at them, the more I think this makes sense for our daily living, because the first thing is that you need to do is walk blamelessly, in an upright and righteous manner. I think the psalmist had in mind that we, as Christians, as people of faith and people of God, should be good citizens. We should live in a way that is respectful to the values and forms of justice within our society. We are not only to be good religious people, but we are to be seen to be good citizens within the world - to be seen to walk in a blameless way and to make a contribution to the whole civic realm. One of the problems of religion and religious people is that, in a sense, they get so wrapped up in their faith, religion, values and ideals that they forget about being good citizens. In this post-Christian, post-modern era, it seems to me we need to engage society. The only way that we can really engage it meaningfully is if we live as good citizens within the world. We need to make a contribution to the world, to act out our civic duties with propriety, with thoughtfulness and with kindness. In other words, to walk blamelessly is a statement of our faith.
It also suggests, and I think this is what the psalmist is getting at more than anything, that our faith is not just something that happens right here in the sanctuary. It might be the place where we are inspired, where we worship God, where we love God, where we meet with our fellow believers, but it is living as citizens, contributing to the polis, that is an integral part of our life and our faith. I would encourage you to see yourself as a good citizen before you ever come into the House of the Lord, to make a contribution to the greater, common good and not just to the good of the temple and the place of worship.
The second bit of advice, though, is even better than this. It is to be careful and to watch how you speak. The psalmist talks about the problems of slander and gossip and talking ill of your neighbour. What happens within the heart, what happens within the soul of a person, comes out in what they say. Very often, if their heart if not right, then what they say is not right and evil comes out. There was this wonderful phrase from the Second World War: “Loose lips sink ships.” In other words, you might pass on some information that you don't realize is being used by the enemy. Your gossip and your talk can actually lead to the demise and destruction of others.
In 25 years of serving the Church I must admit this, that gossip by people within the Church often has done more damage to the unity and well-being of the Body than all the machinations of the devil! Gossip and slander can hurt and destroy. We need to watch our tongues, not only in the sanctuary but before we even come here. What we say about one another, how we talk about our church, how we refer to godly things, has a profound statement on what we believe.
There is a wonderful fable among Aesop's Fables about Xanthus, the philosopher. He decides he wants to hold a great banquet and impress all his friends, so he asks Aesop, his servant, to go out and buy the best food that you can buy and bring it to the dining room to serve to all his friends. Aesop goes out, buys the best ingredients, brings them back and presents the dinner to Xanthus. The dinner consists of five different types of tongue from five different animals with five different sauces on it.
Xanthus looks at this and says, “You bring me tongue to eat with five different sauces and you tell me that this is the best food that you can buy?”
Aesop says, “Absolutely, for from the tongue comes the great constitutions, from the tongue is spoken truth, and wisdom and reason. With the tongue there is praise. The tongue is the most valuable thing that exists on earth!”
Xanthus throws up his arms and they have their five tongues with sauce!
The next day, Xanthus decides to throw another feast. This time, he reverses the logic and he says to Aesop, “Go and buy me the five worst foods that you can find, cook those and serve those.” Xanthus thinks that this will be a good meal.
Aesop does exactly as asked, and he comes back with five more tongues and five different sauces.
Xanthus says to Aesop, “What on earth are you doing?”
Aesop said, “You asked me to bring in the worst, and I have. The tongue is the worst. It is the source of division, of slander, of lies. The tongue is often the cause of war. So, I have brought you tongue.” Xanthus walks away.
Aesop is right! The tongue can be the most powerful tool for good; it can also be the most powerful weapon of war. Watch what you say. Do not gossip. Do not slander. Do not hurt your neighbour. Do not speak ill of the other.
The psalmist goes on. He says that there is also a time to honour the good and to separate yourself from the bad. What did he mean? By “honour the good” he means you should listen to, and you should respect, not just the wealthy, the powerful or those of position, not just those who are thought of highly, but you should respect those who practice godliness and righteousness. In other words, make sure that you associate with people who are doing godly things. Whether they have the respect of society or the world doesn't matter; it is whether their behaviour is wise, holy and appropriate.
I had teacher who gave me great instruction and was the most influential teacher in my high school. He was a man who used to walk around the corridors of the school wearing very soft-soled shoes. Remember those old desert boots with crepe soles? I am dating myself now, aren't I? He used to wear those, and you never knew he was coming down the hallway. You would be doing something, probably something you shouldn't, and all of a sudden, he would just appear. He was also the teacher of Religious Studies, and so we nick-named him “Creeping Jesus.” He used to just appear anywhere at any time! He was also a man of deep wisdom and if you listened to him, he was profound. When I left that school and immigrated to Canada, he made an interesting observation that I have never forgotten. He said, “Andrew, make sure that you always listen to godly people and that you are careful about those who are not.” I have thought about that over the years. He didn't say “wise,” “intelligent,” or “powerful,” he said, “godly.” Maybe he thought I was hanging out with a bad crowd, and I probably had been and I needed to change my ways. But he was right.
Honour those who do good. Be around, listen to, support and encourage those who do good. Very often, those who we think are like ourselves, those who look like us, sound like us, espouse the same ideas and virtues as us, might in fact not be godly after all. I think we will be shocked as we find out more about Guantanamo Bay in the next few months. No, it is what happens in godly people that really matters, so associate with them and think about the importance of godly wisdom. Honour those who do good.
The fourth suggestion really is relevant. It is that you must be careful about your money. It is amazing when you look at the New Testament how often Jesus speaks about money. It is in almost every parable in some place. He mentions it time and time again: where your money is, there's your heart. Use your money wisely and invest it properly. He goes on and on, saying, “Give your money to the poor,” telling the story of the widow who only gave one small gift or the person who bragged about their money. There is money everywhere!
Money is power. Money speaks! If you use your money for usury, which in biblical times meant using it to exploit someone, knowing they couldn't pay you back; if you use money to bribe people and to influence others, then you are not doing what God wants you to do. One needs to be very careful with money because it can bring you down as well as lift you up.
I read a story in a magazine a couple of years ago about a bar that had a very strong bartender. The patrons of the bar decided to put out a bet that no one could beat the bartender in one thing because he was so strong. When he squeezed a lemon, no one else could come along and get even one more drop out of it. So, $1,000 was offered to anyone who could get a drop out of the lemon after the bartender had squeezed it. Different people came along - weightlifters, wrestlers, lumberjacks, football players. None of them could get a drop out of a lemon after the bartender had finished squeezing it.
One day, a little man weighing about 130 pounds and wearing a suit, with glasses and a briefcase walks into the bar. He sits down and says, “I can get a drop out of the lemon.” They all laughed at this little shrimp of a fellow. “How on earth was he going to be able to do this,” they thought? They let him have a go at it, and the bartender squeezed until it was bone-dry, down to the rind. This little man, with his briefcase and glasses, gets up and squeezes it and squeezes it and all of a sudden a drop comes out and then another drop, and another - and everyone is dumbfounded!
As the bartender finally gives this man the $1,000, he asks him, “What do you do? Clearly, you are not a weightlifter or a lumberjack or a football player. What do you do?”
The man says, “I work for Revenue Canada.”
You have got to be careful what you do with your money! They will get you!
Using your money wisely and thoughtfully is essential. It is essential for a good life; how much grief is brought when it is not treated wisely? How many people, how many economies, are brought down by usury, by loaning people money with no thought to whether they can repay it?
This psalmist was prophetic. But all of this is for one reason: Our preparation for worship is in order that we might worship God rightly. Not that we earn God's respect, not that we are able to influence the Lord by our good deeds, but because by preparing ourselves to enter the House of the Lord we understand that there is a connection between what we do here and how we live our lives out there. The life of faith is not a life of ritual; it is a life of commitment. It is not ceremonial; it is a life of dedication. Then, the psalmist concludes that if you do these things when you come into the House of the Lord, you will stand on something firmer.
I ask you, aren't these 10 good securities on which to base your life? Amen.