You are not alone…when life is going your way

Psalm 113

This is the second in our summer series “You are not alone”—and this topic is maybe the hardest… You are not alone… when life is going your way. Pastor Leila Ortiz wrote the story that accompanied this theme and she described how she was raised in a Pentecostal church and raised with the belief that if everything was going well in her life, she was not connected enough to God… because true believers always suffered.

I thought as I read her story that we may not relate to that experience exactly, but we maybe can relate to the experience of having a “praise disability”—or not being very able to notice and appreciate when life is truly good, when God or others are there for us.

My family has been listening to the musical Hamilton a lot in our van, and I’m struck by how much we are culturally conditioned to be like Alexander Hamilton (as he is getting married, and we are getting more deeply introduced to his character) who sings—I will never be satisfied.

That is how we are conditioned to be… that life is never good enough, that we are never done with our work, that we are never done striving… in that way of life, it can be easy to fall into the deepest sense of being alone.

We feel alone as grief for Philando Castile’s loved ones rises up again, and as fears about safety when our loved ones drive and are pulled over rise up again, and as we face what looks like injustice and try to imagine what our faithful responses ought to be.

For those who feel like life has never gone their way, and for those who benefit from systems meant to help our lives go well… you are not alone, and in fact, you being in relationship with each other is more important than ever. Here we are in a place where we can learn how to listen to one another more deeply so that we can grieve together when it is time to mourn, and rejoice with one another when there are things to celebrate.

Ever been the one person on your team that wasn’t fired but was instead promoted?

Ever been the one person who was having a fairly good time away (maybe at a cabin) and then came home to bad news?

Ever felt worried about celebrating the good in your own life for fear that you might appear smug or self-satisfied rather than simply grateful?

We live in a time and place when we are constantly taught that we should not be satisfied... things should be better, we should do better, we should have more (or less)... And in this culture of dissatisfaction, it's hard to practice praise. Later in the musical, Alexander Hamilton’s wife Eliza sings to him, trying to invite him back into their life together or maybe forward into their new life together as parents:

Look around, look around at how lucky we are

To be alive right now.
Look at where you are
Look at where you started
The fact that you’re alive is a miracle
Just stay alive, that would be enough
So we gather here, in the middle of the city, in a neighborhood where as the weather gets hot, sometimes, people get shot... And right here, we practice praising God for what is good right here. We practice not only because things could be worse, but we practice so that we can become the kind of people who notice God in the reasons for gratitude every day and in every place.
Sometimes, like the songs we'll sing today, our praises will be broad...
God is our health and salvation
Sometimes, our reasons for gladness will be very specific... Like in this KICKS week, when kids show up and youth and young adults show up to be with them in life-giving ways. Praise God!
Adults come to make breakfast and lunch and support the counselors... People provide transportation and help everyone have a safe and fun experience. Volunteers share their expertise in cooking and the arts and music, and we serve together...
Praise God when things are going this good way, when the church building is buzzing with life and activity, when the biblical images of seed and roots and tree branches and fruits all seem to come alive right here, in this neighborhood where living trees, seeds, leaves for healing, and fruit are all needed.
Praise God when through the Holy Spirit, Jesus shows up among us offering workers to bring in a beautiful harvest... And we have the opportunity to be a part of that in all our small ways, and all our small gifts become something far bigger than we could have ever done alone.
You are not alone... When life is going your way.
Praise the Lord.

Look around, look around…

Look around, look around, look at where you are.

In Psalm 113, we have an invitation to praise… and it is as if when we praise God, we become different people… maybe more able to be satisfied, which at least partially means being able to be connected to the God who deserves our praise and the people around us who reflect the good that God has done and is doing and will do. Like what kind of good?

Like the slow growth of a tree or a forest that you can’t see immediately. It takes patience to recognize what’s taking shape. That kind of love is what we see in the best kind of fathers… a steady patience over time, a cultivating of new growth, and this is certainly a reason for praise.

In Psalm 113, we hear this... God raises the poor, lifts up the needy... From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised. In general, we're not really practiced at praise. And so the Psalms are a rich resource for helping us to learn how to do this personally and communally once again... Or for the first time.