Preached by the Rev. Ken Pennings on Sunday, July 4, 2010
Psalm 19
When I’m home on Sunday mornings at 8 o’clock (which isn’t very often now that I’m serving as a pastor here), I love tuning in to WORT’s “Musica Antiqua” where old world sacred music is routinely played. There’s nothing like a little harpsichord or some choral motets to get my Sunday morning off to a good start. Before I purchased a digital radio, I would turn on my radio, and have to turn the dial slightly to eliminate the static and interference from other radio stations to be able to pick up the very best signal.
If we think of God as the beautiful music breaking through to our ears and our hearts through the radio waves, what then is the turning of the dial to eliminate static and to tune in to the holy and the divine?
Throughout the summer, we’re looking at the Phoenix Affirmations of Progressive Christians (printed on the back of the bulletin). The introductory paragraph reads, As people who are joyfully and unapologetically Christian, we pledge ourselves completely to the way of Love. We work to express our love, as Jesus teaches us, in three ways: by loving God, neighbor, and self.
Today’s affirmation of the way we progressive Christians pledge ourselves to the way of Love reads, We listen for God’s Word which comes through daily prayer and meditation, through studying the ancient testimonies which we call Scripture, and through attending to God’s present activity in the world.
I’d like to suggest that if God is the beautiful music breaking through to our ears and our hearts through Musica Angiqua, then the spiritual practices of listening, attending and studying are the fine-tuning of the dial.
We listen for the Still-Speaking God through prayer, the study of the Scriptures and what is going on in the world.
I can’t help but wonder if I just lost some of you in that last statement. Might you be thinking, “I’m all about tuning into God’s frequency, but I’m not necessarily doing it through prayer and Scripture study.”
And if that describes you, I affirm you. I’m right there with you.
For God is so much greater than any of our traditional approaches to prayer. God is so much greater than any of our traditional approaches to Bible study.
Our focus must always be on “Tuning in to God’s Frequency” however we do that, and not so much on the particular means we may choose to do it.
Many of us progressive Christians have found new approaches to prayer and Bible study that have helped us eliminate some static in our lives and to tune in to the crystal clear divine music we so love to hear.
But I also believe there are an infinite number of ways we can tune into God’s frequency. I found this delightful list of spiritual disciplines online (and after I share this list of spiritual disciplines or practices, I’m going to ask you to share aloud some of your own):
In addition to prayer, meditation and Scripture study, can we not tune in to God’s frequency through:
Solitude, Silence, Fasting, Frugality, Secrecy (doing good deeds not to be acknowledged, but for the joy of doing them), Sacrifice, Service, Worship, Celebration, Fellowship, Confession, Pilgrimages, Retreats, Devotional Singing, Journaling, Bracketing (the act of setting oneself and one’s opinions to the side, temporarily, especially when dealing with an opinion that is contrary to your own)?
During the season of Lent and Easter, some of us shared publicly on Sunday morning a God-moment in our lives. I heard how some of us were able to tune in to God’s frequency through sunlit kitchens painted yellow, through pigeons ascending into the sky like the prayers of the pilgrims at a mosque, and through wrestling to a decision to spend time with a dying parent rather than participate in a mission trip to El Salvador.
How do we tune in to God’s frequency? Certainly by prayer, meditation, and study of the Scripture, but also by an infinite number of other practices.
Traditional approaches to prayer and Bible study lead to nothing but a lot of static! We may have a lot of unhelpful ideas about prayer and Bible study.
When I was 25 years old, I was living in Falmouth, MA, and the woman I was dating lived in Boston. I had made a lunch date with her with the idea that I would propose marriage over lunch. On the morning of our date, as I drove to Boston to meet her, I was filled with anxiety and fear, which should have been a good sign to me that I might want to rethink my plan. But instead, the whole way to Boston, I prayed, “God, I’m going to propose marriage to her over lunch today unless you stop me.” I pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, sat down at the table opposite her, and proposed marriage. And why? Because God didn’t stop me from doing it by arranging a car accident, a heart attack, or any number of other obstacles which might have prevented me from sitting down at that table opposite her.
Now, I’m glad I married Suzanne. We had 16 wonderful years together before our paths separated, but my prayers were all static. I wasn’t tuning in to God’s frequency at all on that drive to Boston.
Of course, I had the wrong idea about prayer because I had the wrong idea about God.
God is not a traffic cop – “You want to drive this way, but (blow whistle) you must drive that way.”
God is not a Game Show Host (Buzzer) “You chose Door Number One. You should have chosen Door Number Two.”
God is not a Genie I’ve freed from a bottle granting me three wishes.
God is not a supernatural entity who rides into time and space to rescue the distressed, or to rearrange the affairs of humans.
So what or whom is God? I don’t know. I really don’t know. And that is absolutely fine with me. God is Divine Mystery. God is Unknowable, Unfathomable, Undefinable. I’ve let God out of my box of fundamentalist religion, and, as a result, have experienced God as LOVE which transcends any words or ideas found in any one book, in any one religion, in anyone’s creed or theological doctrine, or in anyone’s mind or understanding.
In the language of Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong, “I experience God as Life, and I worship this God by living fully. I experience God as Love, and I worship this God by loving wastefully. I experience God as Being, and I worship this God by having the courage to be all that I can be.” (A New Christianity for a New World, pg. 73).
As a progressive Christian, my prayers are much different than they once were. I don’t pray what I want from God’s hand. Through prayer, I become mindful of the “All is well” of the universe. I enter into the Mystery of being loved by all that IS. Prayer that is resting in what IS truly helps us tune in to God’s frequency.
May we take a few moments of silent prayer to become mindful of the “All is well” of the universe.
As traditional approaches to prayer may lead to nothing but a lot of static so do traditional approaches to Bible study.
I was a young pastor serving a church in upstate NY. A couple who had been attending the church for a number of months asked if I would perform their wedding ceremony. Both had been married before and were divorced. Before giving them an answer, I studied the passages in the Bible which deal with marriage, divorce and remarriage. I concluded that I could not perform their wedding ceremony because they did not have Biblical grounds for divorce and remarriage. When I explained to the couple the reasons for my decision, they and their extended family were hurt, angry, and left the church. I too was sad, but felt justified and righteous in my decision. The couple were married by a justice of the peace, and of course, they never had anything to do with me again.
Once again, I had the wrong idea about the Bible because I had the wrong idea about God. My study of Scripture was all static and I hadn’t tuned in to God’s frequency at all.
Of course, the Bible is not a prescription, a formula, a set of guidelines, a rule book dictated from Heaven. The Bible is a human book written by many people bearing witness to God and God’s activity in the world as they understood God to be and act. Quite frankly, some writers of the Bible have a broader, more expansive view of God than other writers. So we listen to these writers and ask with discernment and imagination, “Can we hear any of Divine Mystery in what these authors write?” For centuries, many have claimed to hear the voice of God through these words. So we trust their witness enough to read and study it for ourselves.
Now, as a progressive Christian, my approach to the Bible is much different. I don’t use Scripture as a sword, a scalpel or even a remedy. Through Bible study, I seek to become mindful of the “All is well” of the universe, and enter into the Mystery of being loved by all that IS.
This kind of Bible study helps us tune in to God’s frequency.
I’ve selected today’s text because of its expansive view of God.
I appreciate that the psalmist hears God speaking through the language of the skies, the day and the night, as well as in human language (laws, decrees, precepts, commandments, ordinances).
The psalmist yearns that her own words and meditations are in sync with God’s.
Sounds like our Phoenix affirmation, doesn’t it? We listen for God’s Word which comes through daily prayer and meditation, through studying the ancient testimonies which we call Scripture, and through attending to God’s present activity in the world.
