We have talked before about the “new immediacy”, which is meant that the past is irrelevant and the future is too long to wait for, and so, all that matters is the now. The urgency of the present pushes upon us and to the point that there is an entire sub-culture that worships at the feet of the NOW.
It used to be that we thought that anything worthwhile was worth working for, but now we have a hard time convincing folks that the assumption that anything worthwhile can be acquired at once, is not true!
A book I read put our dilemma this way: It is not difficult in such a world to get a person interested in the message of the gospel, it is terrifically difficult to sustain the interest. Millions make a decision for Christ but the attrition rate is ridiculous. Many claim to be born again but the evidence for true Christian discipleship is slim. In this environment even news or information about God can be sold if it is packaged correctly but as soon as the buzz wears off it is quickly discarded. There is a great market for religious experiences but little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, and little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what the ancients called holiness.
Many contemporary authors are using the analogy of tourist Christians versus pilgrim Christians. With the tourist mindset, religion is understood as a visit to an attractive site to be made when we have adequate leisure time…perhaps a weekly trip to church or to a special service. Maybe we go to hear a new personality or a cool singing group. The pastor serves as the tour guide or cruise director…and our faith becomes something we go and do for a while but not with any sense of permanence…we visit but we don’t find our identity in visits.
Whereas pilgrims or disciples are those who spend life apprenticed to our Master. A disciple is a learner, not in simply the academic sense but in the sense of being a craftsman, not so much interested in acquiring information about God but skills in faith. Pilgrims spend their time going somewhere. We are going to God, and we are going on the road, who is Jesus, He said after all, that He is the way and that no one gets to the Father but by Him. Hebrews 11-12 gives us the heroes of our faith and then calls us in light of those faithful men and women to get going…no extra weight, no parasitical sins hanging on, keep your eyes on Jesus and let’s finish the race.
One of the portions of the bible that too often get ignored are the Psalms of ascent, psalms 120-134…these Psalms were sung as the worshippers made their way up to Jerusalem, because the city was on a high hill the worshippers would spend much of their time ascending. It was not just a physical ascent but it was a picture of a spiritual ascent. Although those in and around the city would find themselves doing this often, during the three great feasts, Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles the numbers would swell as all the Jews would make journey to the great city.
Picture this: a throng of folks walking, young and old, little kids, old men and women…singing…singing about the journey, singing ON the journey…preparing while they journey to meet with God, to be in His presence.
Jesus would have made this journey, over and over again with His parents as well. Listen to this from Eugene Peterson in his commentary on these psalms: “We continue to identify with the first disciples, who set out for Jerusalem. Jesus had a head start on them and they were following, puzzled and not just a little afraid. (Mark 10:32). We also are puzzled and a little afraid, for there is wonder upon unexpected wonder on this road and there are fearful specters to be met. Singing the fifteen psalms is a way both to express the amazing grace and to quiet the anxious fears. There are no better songs for the road for those who travel the way of faith in Christ…”
120 In my distress I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.
2 Deliver me, O Lord,
from lying lips,
from a deceitful tongue.
3 What shall be given to you,
and what more shall be done to you,
you deceitful tongue?
4 A warrior’s sharp arrows,
with glowing coals of the broom tree!
5 Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech,
that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
6 Too long have I had my dwelling
among those who hate peace.
7 I am for peace,
but when I speak, they are for war!
Our culture is a culture that is swarming with and lives by lies…truth is almost impossible to find. The world doesn’t play by our rules, if the truth doesn’t work, then don’t use it. Even in the church, and among professing Christians the truth is twisted, shaded…words are spoken to make the speaker look good even exaggerated if need be to defend self and even destroy brothers and sisters.
Psalm 120 is a song about a person who is sick with the lies and crippled with hate, and not just annoyed, but almost in despair. I think we could say that the song is beautiful but in a dissonant way…in fact it is almost harsh…it begins in essence; “I am in trouble…” And the trouble comes from the lips of those who lie and whose lies work.
Many of us understand this far too well, and we like the psalmist say we simply want peace…but those around us will not have it. You look at things and see no end to the harm, no light at the end of the tunnel. We are tempted to think we can handle it, or we will fix it…but we accumulate resentment, bitterness, we look at ways to get away from things, escape. The language suggests deceit…they smile, but lie…they flatter but it’s all a sham…
In verse 5 we find Meschech and Kedar; they are place names. Meshech is a far off tribe miles away from what is now southern Russia. Kedar is a wandering barbaric tribe. In popular nomenclature we would say something like, “I live in the midst of hoodlums and wild savages, this world is a pit and I want out.” But the answer for us as always, isn’t in our plans, or our quests for revenge or attempts to set the record straight…but with the Lord. The Lord is mentioned only twice but once He comes into our situation, He fills the entire picture and our gaze is then directed away from the lies and the liars to the One who knows all.
When the Lord comes, falsehood flees and the truth is where our comfort is found. Yes they lie, they attack with lies, but God does not lie. God speaks over us with singing and rejoicing. God promises to deliver us and to set us as princes. God says he is for us. God says He will avenge. God says He will be a refuge.
And as we journey these promises are not just words, but they mean something, they MUST mean something. The psalm almost trails off as if to say, this is the way it is going to be, this is the world, this is even the spirit of supposed Christians at times…But the Lord has heard me…as I journey, the Lord sees, the Lord hears, and the Lord will deliver.
This is not blind naivete, this is not an ignoring of what is really happening, this is the stance of faith, the stance of the pilgrim who admits fully what is, what is going on, what is reality, but who is not taken in by the hooks of the circumstance, but by the promises of God.
The Lord hears…the Lord will deliver, and as I make journey, I will sing…and I will trust.
Prayer: Father, though this world be demon filled, and men prove to be easily taken in by evil, You have promised that those who trust You will ride on the high places and be brought into the kingdom victorious. Lord help me this day, to keep my focus upon You that I might be holy and that I might be a light in the darkness, through Jesus Christ my Lord, Amen.
Song: The Kingdom of God
