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Sermon - Second Sunday after Pentecost (A) - 25th May 2008
St Aidan's West Epping 7, 8 & 10am
Readings: Isaiah 49:8-16a; Psalm 131; 1 Corinthians 3:18-4:5; Matthew 6:22-34
Psalm 131 is the twelfth of the Songs of Approach or Ascents. Songs of Approach were most likely used by pilgrims on a journey up to the Temple in Jerusalem or a liturgical celebration in Jerusalem. The repetition of the encouragement to hope in the Lord indicates that Psalms 130 and 131 should be read together. Furthermore, Psalm 130 calls for an attitude of humility that Psalm 131:1-2 very well expresses.
The use of the metaphor of a child with its mother is not unexpected in a collection that may have derived from or been used by groups of pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem and that displays elsewhere a concern with families and children. Even so, verse 2 is striking, because a straightforward translation of verse 2 suggests that the psalmist is almost certainly a woman. Several scholars even suggest that Psalm 131 may have originally been uttered by a woman as she carried her young child along the way to Jerusalem, perhaps even up the steps toward the Temple. While it is difficult to be too confident about such specific proposals, it is clear that the imagery in verse 2 involves the experience of a mother and child; most likely, the psalm was authored by a mother on the basis of her own experience of comforting children.
In the Bible, other songs and prayers were, of course, written and spoken by women in various contexts such as; Exodus 15:20-21; “ Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing. And Miriam sang to them: ‘Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.’”
1 Sam 2:1-10; “ Hannah prayed and said, ‘My heart exults in the Lord; my strength is exalted in my God. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in my victory. ‘There is no Holy One like the Lord, no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. … ”
Judith 16:1-7; “ And Judith said, Begin a song to my God with tambourines, sing to my Lord with cymbals. Raise to him a new psalm; exalt him, and call upon his name. For the Lord is a God who crushes wars; he sets up his camp among his people; he delivered me from the hands of my pursuers. … ”
And, of course in Luke 1:47-55, the Magnificat; “ And Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. … ”
Psalm 131 begins with a series of three negatives that avoids pride and arrogance. The word "heart" in the first verse suggests internal matters; the psalmist is free of destructive pride and haughty thoughts. The word "eyes" suggests external things; raised or haughty eyes are in Proverbs 6:16-19 associated with destructive behaviours. It reads; “ There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that hurry to run to evil, a lying witness who testifies falsely, and one who sows discord in a family”. In other words, the psalmist states that in both thought and deed, she has been humble. The words “… in things too wonderful for me.” It has been suggested that they may well indicate the "inappropriateness on the part of the woman and mother to care about or bother with theology," and it is considered that they may indicate a restriction placed upon women in the patriarchal structure of Israelite society . Indeed, this restriction may account, at least in part, for the struggle implied in verse 2 that is, the woman's need to find a calmness of soul, a peace of mind and heart, that is denied her by her social setting.
The woman finds peace in her acceptance by and dependence upon God. Despite restrictive circumstances the psalmist states that she really has found a certain equilib rium and security with God like her child has found with her. The child is not an infant but a "weaned child.” Having as a baby found acceptance and satisfaction and nurture at the mother's breast, the weaned child returns for comfort and security to the mother's loving embrace.
In short, the image of the loving, comforting mother embracing her needy child portrays Israel's hope. The vulnerable God, whose choices are restricted by the rebellious stance of the wicked and by the iniquities of God's own people, will finally do nothing other than lovingly embrace God's children, including both the victims of pain and those who by their iniquities have inflicted pain upon other people and upon God. Such incomprehensible love and amazing grace are the hope of Israel and of the world then, now, and forever. Remember the parable of the Prodigal Son.
Remarkable in its beauty and its brevity, Psalm 131 performs the valuable service of eloquently enlarging the stock of the ways that most people ordinarily use for understanding God; God is the loving, compassionate, comforting mother, who, although regularly pained and aggrieved and fatigued by her own children, welcomes them back into her arms and bears them up along a difficult way. As for the human side, the Psalm 131 commends the style of life that the psalms regularly describe as "righteous" and "happy". That is utter trust in and childlike dependence upon God for life and for the future. Thus, Psalm 131 cannot help being a reminder that Jesus performed the mother's role of Psalm 131 as he took children into his arms and commended them as models for entrance into the reign of God.
Consider further the probability that as a woman in a patriarchal society, the psalmist's humility was in some sense forced upon her. That the psalmist's experience of oppression impelled her to seek and find comfort with God should in no sense be taken as justification for oppression. Rather, Psalm 131 gives us a glimpse of the beginnings of women's experience of equality in God's sight. It is no coincidence that as he proclaimed and embodied the reign of God, Jesus readily accepted and befriended women and children. Therefore, it is not surprising that in a remarkable reversal of social practices in the ancient Near Eastern world, women were among the leaders of the early church, such as Priscilla and Phoebe. In short, as she experienced the liberating acceptance of God, the humble and humbled psalmist experienced the revolutionary, hopeful good news that to be set free by God means never to be a slave again to human masters. The only proper master of humans is God, the recognition of whose sovereignty creates, not patterns of human domination, but a community of sisters and brothers who are mutually servants, each of the other.
“… the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”