I don't belong here

Sermon on Ascent Psalm 120

Introduction
In the first half of this year, our sermons were based on different passages from the gospels. The aim was to provide certain key concepts that dealt with the kingdom of God. Who is Jesus and what is his message? This of course includes Jesus’ teachings about the lives of his followers, which include love, forgiveness and justice. I hope it was a helpful series for all of us to know the nature of the gospel in greater detail and how it impacts the daily living of we who call ourselves Christians.

For the second half of this year, we will be switching back to the Old Testament to look at 15 special psalms. They are Psalms 120 to 134, also known as ascent psalms. They are known as ascent psalms because they were most probably the devotional materials of the Jews, whenever they “went up” to Jerusalem for the 3 annual festivals (Pentecost, Passover and Tabernacles). They could also have been used as part of the liturgy when they had to “walk up” the steps or stairs in the Temple. But whatever the explanation, I think these psalms are most valuable to us for a very simple reason. They help to describe the spiritual process by which we go nearer and nearer to God. The spiritual life has its ups and downs. But whatever the seasons of highs and lows, I think we would all agree that eventually it is a journey. We must not get giddy when we are prosperous, and we must persevere when we are in suffering. The ultimate goal is that we are in the right direction that leads to God.

The imagery of life as a journey gives us one common identity. We are pilgrims. As Christians, we don’t have a religious place of significance unlike the Muslims who visit Mecca or the Jews who visit Jerusalem. But just like what the book by John Bunyan “The Pilgrim’s Progress”[1] describes, the Christian travels from this world to that which is to come. He must squeeze through the narrow gate, evade temptations, and survive the valley of death to reach the final destination. Like any good traveler will know, many stories unfold from a trip and learning from the experiences of others will help us align our own. I hope we spend the second half of this year examining our steps, and learning from the psalmist how to complete our pilgrimage to glory.

Point 1: It starts with a lie
There is a centuries-old proverb: “For want of a nail the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe the horse was lost. For want of a horse the rider was lost. For want of a rider the battle was lost. For want of a battle the kingdom was lost. And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.”[2] It states a plain truth that small actions can result in large consequences. This is especially so in the case of a lie. It starts off innocently enough. It is just one lie, merely a half truth. But as the saying goes “A lie has no legs. It requires other lies to support it. Tell one lie and you are forced to tell others to back it up.” A lie always grows into more lies, and pretty soon you have a full-blown scandal. From one mouth to the next, through gossip and in rumors, the lie spreads itself until it becomes common knowledge and you cannot tell if it is the truth itself.
The psalm today seems like a personal prayer for help. The context is a vicious lie. The psalmist is in trouble because of all the negative accusations thrown at him. Why? The Chinese describe one type of people as “唯恐天下不乱”, meaning that they like to stir up chaos and conflict. The psalmist is a man of peace, but there will always be those who enjoy war, and seeing people in trouble. Through spreading lies about the psalmist, they disturb his peaceful living and land him in distress. The psalmist describes himself as living in Meshech and Kedar, both are places inhabited by barbarians hostile to the Israelites. He has been treated like an enemy, like someone who does not belong to the community. It was as though he lived among hostile foreigners equipped and ready to attack and wound. Out of such a situation, he prays to God for help.Based on the contents of the prayer, we see that the psalmist is fully convinced that God has answered him. Possibly the person who was slandering him was now being punished. God metes out his justice towards the liar, the one that is named “O deceitful tongue”. God has given the psalmist the assurance that he will repay the culprit in kind. It is very interesting that the psalmist uses sharp arrows and loaded with burning coals to describe God’s way of dealing with the evil one. We can imagine the situation must be like a war with the missiles flying to and fro. Lies can be very dangerous and they can harm a person. But God arms us as well against such attacks. Lies can hurt, but the truth can hurt just as much especially against the paper thin pretences of these falsehoods. This is primarily the reason why in law, oaths are made by a witness to a court of law before giving testimony. God will repay you in kind if you hurt anybody with your lie.

Point 2: It begins as a confession
The psalm by itself is about lying. But today we want to elevate the discussion to the next level. Why is this personal prayer against a slanderer used as the first of the ascent psalms? This is the most important question today. I believe it is because the experience of the psalmist is not just a personal one, but also something in common with all of God’s people. It is not just the occasional lie we have to deal with. The lies intermingle and transform into reality. We live in a world of lies. The pilgrim’s journey begins when he starts to realize that this world is not really his home. It is a confession: “I don’t belong in this world of lies.” Ever had the feeling that you are surrounded by lies and there isn’t anything that you can take at face value? This is what makes this psalm so powerful. Today, we have politicians making all kinds of promises, especially recently in the American election. We have big corporations stating all kinds of facts about their products that will make our lives better. We have news media and entertainers informing us of their observations of the world. We have the world telling us what to do in order to be happy, to be accepted or to be successful. How many of us really believe in any of these anymore? No, instead we become cynical and disillusioned in a world of lies. Such feelings are not just a modern phenomenon but also the experiences of the Jews who embarked on their pilgrimage.

The ascent psalms were compiled for the Jews who were returning to Jerusalem after they had been exiled because of their disobedience to God’s laws. They lived in the Assyrian and Babylonian cultures which were marked by violence and warfare. For the Jews of the Diaspora (scattered and in exile) who lived far from home and the temple, this psalm expressed their renewed conviction that the God of Israel was on their side and would provide resources to them to cope with the hostility of the foreign environment. They came as pilgrims weary of life’s struggles. Their coming to the sanctuary brought them renewal of hope and courage to live as God’s people in an alien land. So this psalm is really their confession to God of their helplessness in facing this world. It is a common prayer that they need God to rescue them and to support their yearning for justice and righteousness. We call such an act Repentance. The Chinese word expresses the word very well. It is a combination of regret for the current situation and a promise for change. The Christian walk is a journey. And the most important element, the one that decides whether you reach the final destination, is the direction in which you travel. So the pilgrimage must start with this act of repentance. It is an admission that the current state is regretful and it is a realignment of direction towards God. You have to see clearly the world of lies and to reject it, before you will truly yearn for the God of truth. You believe that God alone can change the situation. Like the psalmist, bolstered and armed with the divine word of support, with God's answer he would return hoping and trusting that the situation would be resolved to the glory of God. The divine pledge of support for the victim, which characterizes so much of the law and prophets, shines out afresh over the life of an individual believer. This is why for the Jews, on the road toward Jerusalem, this was their first prayer.

Point 3: Where I belong
The psalm hovers between divine promise and fulfillment, like so much of the Bible. Joy and sorrow are poignantly intermingled, equally valid and as yet unresolved. The journey towards God is never meant to be easy, but then again, it is never meant to be traveled alone. There are two ideals that are celebrated in this psalm. Firstly, the virtues of truth and honor within God’s community and secondly, the outworking of justice as God’s will for his people. This is ultimately what this psalm is about. Truth and honor that brings out justice. This is the final destination that is promised. You might ask: “Why is the act of repentance to move away from a world of lies very crucial for God’s people?”

Friedrich Nietzsche says “What upsets me is not that you lied to me, but that from now on I can no longer believe you.” The problem with a world of lies is that you can no longer trust and believe. Without trust, there can be no genuine relationship. Without honor, we live like barbarians. This is the lesson that we must bring home today: The church is a place of truth. Every Sunday, it is a pilgrimage to come and gather as God’s people. Why do you leave the world to come here? It is because you disdain a world of lies and you long for a place of truth. Therefore, the church must be authentic. The people here must love what is truth and justice. In this place, we must honor the truth. And the truth will set us free to built real relationships. Having said this, we must differentiate between truth and facts. We must recognize the truth that builds relationships, and “facts” that are intended for harm.

Two men worked on a large ocean-going vessel. One day the mate, who normally did not drink, became intoxicated. The captain, who hated him, entered in the daily log: “Mate drunk today.” He knew this was his first offense, but he wanted to get him fired. The mate was aware of his evil intent and begged him to change the record. The captain, however, replied, “It’s a fact, and into the log it goes!” A few days later the mate was keeping the log, and concluded it with: “Captain sober today.” Realizing the implications of this statement, the captain asked that it be removed. In reply the mate said, “It’s a fact, and in the log it stays!”

Therefore a community of truth is not a community of facts. A community of truth does not mean that we can be blunt and insensitive. We speak what is real, not for selfish reasons, but because we want to build real relationships. We recognize that as long as we continue to put up a pretense, we do not really know one another. So it is a matter of how we use our mouth. The church as a place for truth treats how we use our mouth very seriously. It is not for gossip, and it is not for carrying tales. Rather, it is for mutual confession and for genuine sharing, so that we may then depend on one another for support and encouragement. We speak the truth because we believe in love and peace.

Conclusion
Today let us all make the first step. To do that, the psalm reminds us that we live in a world of lies, a world that claims that there is no God. “They claim to tell us who we are but omit everything about our origin that comes from God and our destiny that lies in God. They tell us about our bodies without telling us that they are temples of the Holy Spirit. They instruct us in love without telling us about the God who loves us and gave himself for us.”[3] So we need to repent from this world and turn towards God. We begin the life of a pilgrim to go towards the promise land. We do not need to actually travel to another place, but it does mean that we must live differently from before. It is not a change of location, it is a change of direction. This is the calling of the church. The church must live out what we the people truly believe in. The church must be a place for truth.

Because we believe in the truth, and we believe in peace, it is no surprise that we may undergo persecution from this world. While living in this world, all Christians will find themselves embroiled in warfare between light and darkness. The pilgrimage never promises to be a bed of roses. But the greater the opposition they face, the sweeter the fellowship when they come to worship in God’s house, a place of truth where they belong. Like the psalmist, we call out in distress because of the lies, the gossip and scandals that try to discredit us. But God can answer us with a community of truth, one that speaks out what the world should truly be - a place of love between people, and a place of real relationships. I hope this is a challenge to all of us here, to make this place truly a sacred place where we can feel the presence of God. We can feel at home to be honest and authentic. We feel we belong. A place we can call home.

[1] For details of the story, please read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pilgrim's_Progress
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_Want_of_a_Nail_(Proverb)
[3] Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience, p 27