Here is the (approximate) text of my sermon yesterday on the Sunday after Ascension, reflecting on the relevance of Psalm 97 to life then, and life now. Or you can click here to listen to the recording.
Good morning! It’s the Sunday after Ascension – if you’re wondering what that is, it’s the event we’ve just heard described in the Bible reading when Jesus left his disciples and went to heaven – whatever that means! Hopefully one of the things we can think about this morning is what that means.
But one of the things I like about the church calendar at this time of year is that we’re following, in real time, the events around the end of Jesus’ life as they are described in the Bible – at the end of the books we call the gospels, and at the beginning of the next book in the Bible – Acts of the Apostles.
We marked Palm Sunday a week before Easter, when Jesus arrived in Jerusalem riding on a donkey. Later that week was Maundy Thursday when the Bible describes how Jesus shared a meal with his friends – what has become our communion service – and washed their feet.
Then it was Good Friday and Jesus’ crucifixion, followed by Easter Sunday and the amazing event of Jesus’ resurrection. The gospels in the Bible tell us that Jesus met his disciples several times over the next 40 days before his Ascension, which was celebrated last Thursday. And then 10 days later, 50 days after Easter (counting inclusively) comes Pentecost, which we will celebrate next Sunday – come back next week if you’re wondering what that is!
So, here we are on the Sunday after Ascension, but I’m wondering what the disciples were doing after they’d seen Jesus leave them. I wonder if it’s a bit like Easter Saturday – after Jesus’ death I wonder what his followers were feeling – was it all over? What about Jesus’ promises? And then came Easter Sunday.
But now Jesus has gone again, in this slightly strange event of being enveloped in a cloud and taken from the disciples’ sight. Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem until they were clothed in power from on high – but what did that even mean?
Maybe… maybe they turned to their scriptures – to their Bible. We heard read the end of Luke chapter 24. Earlier in that chapter, Jesus met two of his disciples as they were walking on the road away from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Jesus talked to them and told them what all their scripture (our OT) said about him. Maybe, after the Ascension, they took their cue from that and chewed over some more of their scripture to see what it might say about Jesus… whether they did or not, it’s what we’re going to do this morning.
We’re going to meditate (by which I mean spend some time with, and see what questions come up) on some OT scripture. The Lectionary – our reading plan – gives us Psalm 97, which turns out to be good for Ascension! The Psalms themselves are meditations – ancient poems or songs expressing what the Israelites knew and believed of Yahweh – God who had called them out of slavery and made them a people of God’s own.
So, let’s spend a few minutes in psalm 97 – I’ll share some thoughts – you read it too and see what speaks to you this morning.
In the hymnbook at the heart of our Bibles, Psalm 97 is one of a group, 93-100, about God being king. Psalms 93, 97 and 99 all start with the same words: “The Lord reigns”. And the other psalms mention God as king too.
I was thinking about those opening words through this week, as I was starting to prepare for today. As it happened, we were near the Emirates football stadium on Monday – there were road closures and lots of people in Arsenal shirts and scarfs heading towards the stadium. It wasn’t a match, but it was a celebration – Arsenal’s women’s team had won the European Cup. So, just like Crystal Palace after winning the FA Cup and Liverpool after winning the Premier League, Arsenal were having a celebration so the fans could applaud their team and see the trophy. (And isn’t awful how the Liverpool parade was ruined for so many by injuries in the midst of the celebrations.)
So, I was thinking about “The Lord reigns” in the midst of all this on Monday, and thinking about how football people might say that Arsenal are the ‘reigning’ European champions, or Crystal Palace are the ‘reigning’ FA Cup winners, or Liverpool in the Premier League. How are those teams ‘reigning’? It’s a fact that they were the most recent team to win that competition, but they don’t have to do anything to ‘reign’.
What about ‘The Lord reigns’? Is it just stating a timeless truth – “The Lord is King’?
No, here it is something active – The Lord reigns, or ‘The Lord has begun to reign’ – it’s an announcement, a declaration that things will happen because the Lord reigns – the Lord God is kinging it!
And this is something the whole earth should celebrate – it’s good news for everyone and everywhere! How did you read those words in verse 1? It could mean that creation itself is celebration God’s reign – like the picture in the book of Isaiah of the trees and the fields clapping their hands. Or it could mean that people everywhere (as is mentioned in v.6) should celebrate the good news of God’s kinging it. What does this image suggest to you?
Verses 2-6 pick up various images from other places in the Old Testament. “Clouds and thick darkness surround him”, as at Mount Sinai when God gave the ten commandments (and more) to Moses and a cloud covered the mountain.
“Fire goes before him and consumes his foes…”, as in the wilderness when two sons of Aaron approached the altar when they shouldn’t have, and ‘strange fire’ consumed them. (Lev. 10 – I’m not commenting on that story now, but note the connection of the imagery of this psalm with these stories.)
The earth, lightning, mountains – all point back to creation and remind us that, although God is the creator of creation, God is not part of creation – reflecting the Genesis narrative.
These big images point to the awesomeness of the God who has begun to reign.
But also God is trustworthy – ‘righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne’. God is good! And God seeks justice. Proverbs (16.12) says, even about earthly kings, “Kings detest wrongdoing, for a throne is established through righteousness.” The psalm declares that this awesome king is a good king.
So, v.7 encourages us, worship God! In fact, all the gods, by which the OT means other created heavenly beings, should worship the Lord who reigns!
Challenging words – all who worship images or boast in idols should worship God. I came across this from one of my favourite writers the other day, writing about things that might distract us from following Jesus:
Be alert and of sober mind! (1 Peter 5.8) Whatever your intoxicant is, discipline yourself away from it. It might be movies, it might be politics, in might be the Chicago Cubs or Bears or Bulls [or, in our context, Crystal Palace, Chelsea, Arsenal]… Whatever clouds your mind and heart, and so blocks your capacity to give priority to following Jesus … go on a fast. (And Upon This Rock, p.274)
Go on a fast – choose away from those things we know consume our attention in order to take control – yes – but more than that, to have the brain space, heart space to turn to God and follow Jesus.
Idols and images don’t have to be literally things you can see and bow down to – don’t be distracted, v.7 of our psalm says – worship the God who reigns.
Have you come across The Bible Project? They produce videos and podcasts to help us all understand the Bible better. One thing they often mention is ‘hyper-links’ in the OT text – sections of text that, if they were on a webpage, you’d be able to click through and find something else relevant to what you were looking at.
v.8 here is like that – it’s the same as a verse in another psalm. If you were singing one hymn from our big red book and found a verse that you recognised from another hymn, maybe you’d wonder what on earth had been going on at the printers, but also I think you’d be reminded of what that other hymn said – or maybe you’d flick over to that other hymn to see how they matched up.
Here the hyperlink is to Ps. 48.11 – about Zion, or Jerusalem – their capital city – hearing and rejoicing and all the surrounding settlements doing the same. And Psalm 48 opens with the words, “Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise” – it builds more on the idea of God’s greatness – this is the God who is kinging it.
v.10 of our psalm turns the focus on the readers and singers of the psalm – up to this point there has been lots about God – the God who reigns – now, what about us, the readers?
God calls people to…
- Love the Lord – here’s a link to Deuteronomy 6, and the prayer that Israelites prayed every day – Love the Lord your God with all you heart and soul and might
- Be faithful, righteous and upright (v.10-11) – these are the same characteristics of God mentioned earlier in the psalm – God’s people are to reflect God – we are made in the image of God
- And finally we called to rejoice in the Lord and praise the name of the Lord (v.12)
So that’s psalm 97 – what’s it got to do with Ascension, you ask!
The New Testament writers see that whole sequence – cross, resurrection, ascension – as interrelated, leading to… where.
Philippians 2 – therefore God highly exalted him (Jesus) giving him the name that is above every name, that at his name every knee should bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.
Jesus is King! Jesus reigns! Jesus has begun to reign!
What happens if we read the psalm in that light?
Maybe the clouds that surrounded Jesus at his Ascension were not just some passing weather pattern, but were the clouds of God’s presence, as at Sinai, as in v.2 of the psalm.
Read like this, the psalm gains an extra meaning, calling us to worship Jesus as king, and to fast from idols.
Jesus is the ‘most high’ of v.9
And we are still called to respond with action – joy / rejoicing / worship – also seeking righteousness and justice like our King.
Maybe reflections like these helped the disciples be ready for Pentecost.
I have speculated about what the disciples might have been doing after Jesus’ Ascension, but also I believe reflections like these help us, as followers of Jesus, be ready for life!
This is practical stuff – who we think and believe Jesus is affects everything! I believe that I am caring for children in response to a calling from a transcendent kinging God who is nevertheless intimately interested and involved in our lives. This gives me a very different perspective from the secular philosophy of the policy makers who it sometimes feels see children simply as needs to be met. With the worldview of a follower of Jesus, we see lives created in the image of God, seeking nurture and formation as people of God, called to love others as they love themselves – this is practical stuff.
What about you? What does the reigning king Jesus, who calls us to love God and love one another, mean for you, as we wait, with the disciples, for Pentecost next week?
Let’s pause a moment to think and pray…
Lord Jesus, thank you that you are King.
Thank you for your love and your righteousness and justice.
Help us to love you more and grow in our love for others and ourselves.
Help us to live out your righteousness and justice wherever we find ourselves.
We pray that our lives would demonstrate your kinging it, your reigning as king.
Amen