5 For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him. 6 He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. 7 On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. 8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah 9 Men of low estate are but a breath, men of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath. 10 Put no confidence in extortion, set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart on them. 11 Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God; 12 and that to thee, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For thou dost requite a man according to his work. Psalm 62:5-12
Elayne and I spent Sunday in Wilmington with our son and his little family. On the way back we were listening to the radio, and I heard an interesting BBC interview with a British rock musician whose name was unfamiliar to me. The interviewer noted that this young man was different from his contemporaries in that he lived his life very responsibly, and his mature approach to life showed even in his music. Then the interviewer asked the young musician why he was so different. He had a simple explanation.
“Well, it is like this,” he said, “one night, when I was fourteen years old, I was at a party, and I met this guy who was twenty-one years old. We hit it off. For about an hour and a half we talked about a lot of things, including life and death. Finally, for some reason, I asked him if he had ever seen a dead body. He said that he had. I told him that I never had. Then, the very next day, I witnessed this horrible accident, and that guy, the one I had talked to at the party, was in it, and he was the victim, and there I was looking at his dead body. I guess that experience gave me a different perspective on things. I know how fragile life is, and that we have so very little time, and that we ought to use it wisely.”
The Psalmist had a similar insight into life. He compared two types of people to one another, people of low estate, meaning those who are poor, and not very successful, and people of high estate, meaning those who rich, and at least a little successful. He says the former are “but a breath,” and the latter just “a delusion.” Simply put, people of low estate know that their lives are hard and short, but people who achieve a little status in the world develop the delusion that they are somehow different. Because their lives are easier, they forget how short they are. The Psalmist says that the truth is that when people of low estate and people of high estate go into the balance, one alongside the other, both together “are lighter than a breath.”
After establishing the brevity of human life, the Psalmist offers a series of suggestions. First, he urges those of high estate not to be fooled into putting their confidence in wealth, whether it is dishonestly gained by extortion, or by robbery, or honestly gained by some other means. He says, “If riches increase, set not your heart on them.”
We hear that advice over and over again. It echoes throughout scripture, especially in the Psalms and in the Gospel of Luke. In recent days, we hear it even in the marketplace. When news broke about the Bernard Madoff scandal, we heard it even from Donald Trump. Some people still don’t get the message. Not long ago I read about a German billionaire by the name of Adolf Merckle. As of December 2008 he was the 5th richest man in Germany, and the 94th richest person in the entire world. I suppose he was depressed because just two years before he was the 44th riches person on the planet. At any rate, on January 5th, 2009, at the age of 74, he wrote a suicide note and threw himself under a train. It is a shame somebody did not tell him he needed to see the cup as half-full, not half empty. On a smaller scale, I once knew a young man who was so mad at his father for not leaving him the fortune he expected when he died, that he took his own life. These are extreme cases, but people run to extremes when they set their hopes on money. Today we hear about the dangers of sex, drugs, and rock & roll, and I agree that improperly used, all can be dangerous. Interestingly, Jesus spent less time talking about sex than he did talking about the dangers of money. He said, “You cannot serve God and mammon.”
Having dealt with the dangers of putting one’s hopes in money and wealth, the Psalmist turns to the real deal. He urges his hearers to put our trust in God. He calls God and God alone “my rock,” “my salvation,” “my refuge,” and “my fortress.” He writes, “Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God.”
That is a curious phrase. In all of scripture, it appears only here. Perhaps when the Psalmist says that God has spoken once, but he has heard it twice, he is implying that he has ears to hear what God says even when other people don’t. What does he hear? The Psalmist hears, “power belongs to God.” That raises several questions.
I
First, how does God exercise power? God exercises power in the natural world, and also in the world of human beings.
God exercises power in the natural world. In Genesis 1 we read that God spoke, and the cosmos stood forth in stages. In Romans 1, St. Paul says that, since the creation of the world, God’s invisible nature, namely, God’s “eternal power and deity have been clearly perceived in what has been made.” Likewise, God uses power in sustaining the universe. In the book of Job, chapter 38, we read that God commands the morning, and causes the dawn to know its place. God says to the proud waves of the sea, “thus far shall you come, and no farther.” In Matthew 5 Jesus echoes the book of Job saying that God “causes to sun to rise,” and the “rain to fall.” God has power over the natural world.
God also has power over the world of men. In Genesis 2 and 3 we read that God created humankind after God’s own image. Like the animals man is finite, but like God, humankind is free. God’s first gift to us saving life itself is the power of choice. The freedom to choose good and evil In his book, Man’s Search for Meaning, Victor Frankle says that the first power that God shares with us is the last power we loose. The one thing that can never be taken from us in this life is the power of choosing how we will respond to any given situation. Not long ago a friend of mine was carried to the hospital, helpless. It was minor, but he feared the worst. He said to the EMT’s, “I am a preacher. I hope I am acting like one.” He tried to choose a good response.
The power that God gave to humankind extends to human collectives, like governments of all kinds. In Romans 13, Paul says that there is no authority (or power) (exousiai) except that which is from God, and “those that exist have been instituted by God.” That means that God has power over the world of human beings, including our politics.
God’s exercise of God’s power in the world of human beings takes two forms.
First, God exercises his own power over human beings and nations, to create, and to destroy, to lift up and to bring down. God judges individuals like you and me, and God judges the nations in which we live. God judges nations in history, because nations are the product of history. God judges individuals in history, because we live in history, and at the end of history, in eternity, because we were created as eternal beings.
Secondly, God exercises power through the very nations and individuals that he judges. And sometimes the way that God exercises power is a mystery. Here is an example. When Jesus stood before Pilate, Pilate said to him, “Do you know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?” And Jesus responded, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above.” (John 19:10-11) How did the hymnist say it:
God moves in mysterious ways,
His wonders to perform,
He plants his footstep on the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines of
Never ending skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works His sovereign will.
Sometimes God even causes Roman governors to unwittingly serve his purpose.
I am going out on a limb here, but, I sometimes think that, if I were God, I would exercise power a little more transparently. Let me take that down to the lowest level. Consider the case of two farmers living side by side. One prays daily, comes to church ever Sunday, gives generously, takes the preacher home for dinner, and is a good neighbor to everyone. The other never prays, and he comes to church just for weddings and funerals. He wastes all his extra-cash playing the lottery, and he is widely regarded even by those who love him as a bad example. Well, if I was God, when I sent the rain, I would send it just up to the fence. The land of the first farmer would be a well watered garden. The crops of the second man would wither and die. But I am not God, and I am glad that I am not. I don’t have to face my own fierce and unrelenting judgment. The author of the 62nd Psalm reminds us that the God whom we serve is a not just a God of power, but a God of “steadfast Love.” Jesus says that God’s steadfast love extends even to the wicked. He says that God “makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends the rain, on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45) Why would God behave so, even to the wicked? According to St. Paul, when this God sends good our way, even when we are doing evil, it is expressly for the purpose of turning our thoughts, and our steps toward him. In Romans 2:4 he writes, “Do you not know that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.”
God’s kindness extends, for a purpose, to human beings and to nations.
II
There is a second question to be answered: What are the defining characteristics of God’s power. There are many. This morning I would suggest four.
First, the Power of God is the power of a servant. God places himself in a servant relationship with the world. Jurgen Moltmann says that in creation, God had to withdraw himself to create space for the cosmos. The Creator withdraws for the sake of the creation. That is servant power. And what of the Eternal Son? In Philippians 2, St. Paul says that, though he was in the form of God, he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant. And what of the example of the Master himself, the one we call, “the Son of God.” Jesus said, “The son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus said to his disciples, “If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” (Mark 9:35) The Holy Spirit empowers us, but for service to God and to one another.
In his inaugural address, President Obama spoke to the leaders of the world saying, “Your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.” He is calling upon the leaders of the world to be servant leaders. I wish our new president well. I hope and trust that he will take those words into his own heart, for he is right, the only true leader is the servant leader. He who would be first of all, must be servant of all.
Second, the power of God is hybrid power. It has two sources. Dr. J.C. McPheters who was president of Asbury Theological Seminary once said, “Without God, we cannot, without us God will not. ” Let’s break that down. First, “without God, we cannot.” People who rely on their own energy will fail. Eventually, the tank runs dry, the batteries become depleted, and the energy dissipates.
Dr. Bob Pierce the founder of World Vision International was fond of talking about “God room.” He said it is only when we reach the end of our natural resources that we enter a world of supernatural abundance where God alone can work. God is a resource of power beyond anything that we have in ourselves. I think Isaiah 40 still applies:
They who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
Without God we cannot.
Second, “without us, God will not.” For reasons beyond our comprehension, God has chosen to work in the world through us. We are God’s hands and feet in the world, and when all God’s hands and feet are busy doing what God’s hands and feet are supposed to do, then the world will be a better place for everyone. The late Pope John 23rd said that we pray to God to solve the problems of the world, when the truth is that God has given us everything we need to solve those problems. We just have to be willing to use the world’s resources, our resources, wisely, not selfishly. It is tempting to throw up our hands and protest that it is impossible to make a difference. That will not work. We have to act in those things that are closest to us. A journalist once asked Mother Teresa how she managed to deal with the dead and dying in Calcutta when there we so many. She said, “I deal with them one at a time.” We can deal with the issues before us one at a time, too.
Third, God power is not single cell, but multiple cells. An outfit in Menlo Park California called Tesla Motors is bringing to market an environmentally friendly car that really interest me. It presently cost $120,000, but that price must eventual comedown for similar vehicles is not for the Tesla. The Tesla body is built by Lotus. Into that body they drop a 248 horsepower motor. The Tesla roadster will do O-60 in 3.9 Seconds. It has an electronically limited top speed of 125mph. It delivers 100 % of its available torque 100 percent of the time from 0 RPM to 14000 RPM. It has a cruising range of 244 Miles, yet is uses no oil, and burns no gasoline. It is a plug-in electric that uses a battery array that is about the size of a footlocker and weighs 900 pounds. The Tesla gets its awesome power by using 6,831 lithium ion cells. A spokesman for the company says that because it uses so many cells, a few dead cells have no effect of the performance of the car. Here is a handy comparison. The church is one body, but we have many members, and Paul says in 1st Corinthians 14 that those that are less presentable are often more important than those that are presentable. When one of the members of the body fails, the body fails, the body goes on. The church even survived the death of the apostles, and the first evangelists. It survived the death of Luther, and Wesley and Zinzendorf. It will survive the death of Billy Graham, and it will survive you and me. The church is a multi-cell organism. Christ’s body is one, but it has many, many members.
The government of the United States is a multi-cell organization. We have a president, and a vice-president, and 100 Senators, and 435 Congressmen, etc. Our government is never dependent on just one person. We Americans have had 42 presidents and a 43rd now serves—Grover Cleveland was elected twice, succeeding his successor. That is why President Obama is president no. 44. It is interesting that not one of those presidents has been without some merit, though some have proved greater than others. Yet, the beauty of this nation is that we have survived the loss of each without a loss of purpose. It was said of him that nothing became his presidency like the way he left it. He set the standard for an orderly transfer of power. Others have not been so fortunate. Washington left office willing. Most presidents have either completed their terms, and not run again, or they have been voted out. Eight presidents have died in office. Four presidents were assassinated, including two of our greatest, Abraham Lincoln and John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Four presidents died of natural causes while in office, including William Henry Harrison who served for just 31 days and Franklin Delano Roosevelt who served for more than 12 years. Richard Nixon resigned to avoid impeachment. It is my urgent prayer that no serving president will ever again leave office again, except of course, by completing his terms, or by democratic election. It is horrible to think that we might loose a president in any other way. Yet, I am confident that our Government of the People, by the People will survive, for we make up a vast multitude of cells, each one adding power to the other. President Obama has said to the nation what we have often said to the church. We are the church, each of us. We are the nation, each of us. We must all do our part. We must pull together. We Americans are at our best when facing a common enemy, whether in war, or in building our economy. We are at our best not when we look at the things that separate us, as important as they are, as when we look at those things that bind us together.
Finally, I would mention that God’s power is the power to accomplish what God wills. God created this world on God’s schedule, according to God’s will, and someday, God will bring it to its conclusion on God’s schedule, according to God’s will. The ends are in God’s hands. God grants us the means. God says, “Work like I work, and exercise power as I exercise power. Allow those things which break my heart to break your heart. I do not require you to succeed or to force any issue. I require you only to obey. It is in obedience that we can accomplish great things.
Finis