Author: lakewooducc

When is the last time you accused someone of being “wantonly treacherous”? Have you come home from work and fumed to your partner about someone at the office being “wantonly treacherous”? Can you think of an incident that was a deliberate, unprovoked cruel or violent action involving betrayal or deception? That’s strong language. That’s severe behavior. Wantonly treacherous. The phrase is used in Psalm 25.

There are basically two categories of people referred to in the Psalms. There are those who trust God, who are trying to live by God’s justice, who are concerned about the well-being of the community, who are trying to be humble, dependent on God, sinners seeking mercy. That’s group one. The group that those who wrote the psalms represent. Then there’s group two. Those who are evil, wicked, and wantonly treacherous. The second group is self-centered, ruled by self-interest, and has little or no consideration for others.

In a society that praises and promotes self-actualization, self-sufficiency, and instant gratification, the default setting for group identification may be group two. Without much thought or effort we may be numbered among the wantonly treacherous. For instance, could the war in Iraq have been considered, “deliberate, unprovoked cruel or violent action involving betrayal or deception”? Some would say so. Could the economic melt down be considered wantonly treacherous? Some would say so. We might not be as far as we think from the wantonly treacherous.

The point of our faith is to encourage us to live the examined life. And to make thoughtful choices considering the wider implications and consequences of our actions. That’s how we become part of the justice and peace that fulfill divine intentions for the world and creation. We want to try to be in group one because that is the valid path to life that is full, abundant, and joyful for ALL people.

Feeling wantonly treacherous? Don’t panic. As Psalm 25 assures us, God’s character is merciful, loving, and faithful. There is always a place saved for us in group one!

Prayer
It’s easy to get caught up in the living of our days and lose sight of the fact that we are part of a larger reality. Our world can become small and self centered. Our faith invites us to broader horizons. We find our highest good in giving ourselves away in love, mercy, and compassion grounded in God. May we remind ourselves each day to seek goodness and grace. Amen.

This is the extra day of February that keeps the calendar, the seasons, and the stars properly aligned. Without leap year and Feb. 29 every four years, we would eventually end up having winter in July! Thank goodness for leap year helping us to maintain order and balance.

In Psalm 25, the lectionary psalm for last Sunday that has been our focus for the week, the writer pleads for mercy and forgiveness from God. That forgiveness will set things right. But the writer also pleads for God’s guidance:

Make me to know your ways
Teach me your paths
Lead me in your truth
God instructs sinners in the way
God leads the humble in what is right

This implies that not only is forgiveness needed for a full and abundant life, but instruction, guidance, and teaching are also needed. That is what gives the balance. Forgiveness cleanses and frees us. And learning God’s ways keeps us from getting ourselves in the same trouble over and over again. Instead of an endless repetitive loop, the spiritual life can be imaged as a spiral, growing and progressing, not just covering the same ground over and over. Forgiveness and learning help us to grow in our spiritual lives.

Let’s think for a moment about how we learn things. I am trying to learn some Spanish for a trip this summer. I am listening to cds. I am studying books that I have gotten out of the library. Claudia, our church nursery attendant who speaks Spanish, is tutoring me. Sometimes I listen to Spanish radio. I am paying more attention to my son’s Spanish homework for school. There are all of these different ways that I am trying to learn more Spanish.

When we think about the psalmist’s plea to learn God’s ways and follow God’s guidance, no one could be against that, but how will it happen? While we may desire sudden illumination, a zap of revelation, or a tidy rule book, that’s not what we are given. We are given life experience to examine and reflect upon. We are given religious traditions to learn from. This involves participation in worship, reading, study of holy texts, conversations with those experienced, wise ones of our faith. Like any other significant learning, spiritual learning takes effort, time, study, and participation. It doesn’t happen overnight and it doesn’t happen without intentional exertion.

You may want to take a few moments to think about the effort that you are putting into your spiritual life at this time. What are you doing to learn God’s ways? To receive God’s instruction? To follow God’s leading? How are you being a student of God’s intentions? Who are your teachers as you seek to grow in God’s ways? What can you do to increase what you are learning of God? Lent is a wonderful time to invest more effort and energy in our spiritual growth and development. And today we can use this “extra” day of February to do some extra learning!

Prayer
We are thankful for all that we as humans have been able to learn about the world, about life, and about ourselves. We are grateful that life is a journey of never-ending discovery and growth. May we choose to learn more of God and of the way of God shown to us in Jesus. May we let Jesus be a teacher for us as we learn through life. We have been given so many resources for receiving instruction from God. We give thanks for the church, for our faith tradition, for our ancestors in faith, and for our companions on the spiritual journey which bless our growth and nurture our learning. Amen.

We face many difficulties in this life. Struggles and challenges abound. Sometimes we bring trouble upon ourselves. Other times, circumstances occur that we cannot account for and they mire us in misery.

In the ancient world, the world of the Psalms, life’s problems were thought to be sent by God as a response to sin. If you sin, you have problems. If you don’t sin, you don’t have any problems. If you have problems, it is because you sin. There was a sense of direct cause and effect.

So in Psalm 25, the writer refers to many problems and then pleads for mercy and forgiveness because of the belief that God’s forgiveness will mean the end of the problems. The writer refers to being put to shame, being involved with those who are wantonly treacherous, there is reference to enemies, to being lonely and afflicted, to the troubles of the heart, distress, and violent hatred. This Psalm, like many others, is filled with references to severe woes. And what is the cause of these woes? Sin. And what is the relief for these woes? God’s forgiveness.

And so the Psalmist pleads for forgiveness and mercy:
Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions
Pardon my guilt, for it is great
Be gracious to me
Forgive all my sins.

The assumption is that God’s forgiveness and mercy will purge the sin, and thus all the difficulties that are being faced will come to an end. With God’s mercy, life will be prosperous and good. No troubles. While this is more simplistic that we would accept today, there is still great wisdom here. Will repentance and forgiveness take away all of our troubles and worries and make life a bowl of cherries? No, I don’t think so. But I certainly believe that more forgiveness in the world would lead to a world with fewer problems and troubles.

Cultivating the art and grace of forgiveness could alleviate much suffering and pain in the world: In families, in communities, in the work place, in the legal system, and even between nations and groups. Frankly, forgiveness has fallen on hard times and we are suffering for it. It is perceived as weakness. It is seen as being unfair. Letting people off. We are more comfortable with a system of retribution and restitution. Pay back. Don’t let anyone have something for nothing. Forgiveness is seen as pure give away. Ok for God, maybe, but not for inter human affairs.

With all of our focus on repentance and forgiveness this Lenten season, I invite you to give some thought to how you can bring more forgiveness into the world. Where can you do more forgiving – of yourself, of others? More forgiveness will free us from untold suffering and will free us from feeling we are owed, or that we owe. In one version of the Savior’s prayer, we say, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” Doesn’t the world need less debt? Give forgiveness a try. It might not solve all of our problems, but it will definitely help to make life better for everyone.

Prayer
We know our need for forgiveness – from ourselves, from God, from others. This will go a long way to relieve so much of the heartache and stress of this life. May we look for opportunities to practice forgiveness and so free ourselves and the world of some measure of suffering and pain. Jesus was forgiveness embodied. He never withheld forgiveness. May we follow in his way. Amen.