Open-ended, Life-centred,
Gospel-Focussed Explorations of Australian Prayer Book Psalms.
Psalm 145:8-14...PENTECOST PLUS 8 (A)
.... (For the
Gospel, please scroll)
INTRODUCTION: 1]The
alternative PSS
set for after
Pentecost are used here. 2]
Psalms
are poetry for singing;
personal, depending not on rhyme, but on developing an idea,
contrasting it, etc. They date from pre-1000 BC (David)
to mid 400s
BC. Being of their day, we may
find attitudes in some PSs abhorrent. 3]
v.8reflects EX 34:6
4] v.15, that isn't in our
instalment, is sometimes used as a table grace.
WARMING UP: Are we better at praising people or putting
them down?
TREASURES OLD & NEW:
Identify God at work in anything this week?
ENTERING INTO THE STORY:
8-9 As 'gracious'
derives from 'grace', might this be time to reflect on whether 'grace'
as a prime attribute of God has rather been relegated to a back shelf?
Despite the fact that most of us like to sing, 'Amazing grace....'?
Might any such disuse of 'grace' in our referring to &
understanding God reflect a seeming lack of experience of God's grace
in our own lives? If that's the case, what can the PSt of old teach us?
Do the same issues / questions also apply to God being 'compassionate,
slow to anger, of great goodness, loving, & merciful'?
Is the PSt raising the whole question of 'What is God really like?' for
us in these days when there is much confusion about what God is like,
& a lot of very unsatisfactory, unattractive, grace-less answers to
that question? Can we give such a confident answer as the PSt gives
here? Do we show that answer
in our dealings with others?
10-11 In a day when some
of us feel more connected to 'creation' than we once might have done,
have we retained the vital & basic God-connection the PSt sees
here? Are we more likely to see a connectedness between creation &
self-preservation, global-warming, conservationists...than between
creation & God? Are we actually unsure of God's connection these
days because of more scientific understandings of creation than the
poetic, imaginative, & spiritual one in GEN 1 +? Does it come down
to whether we're 'faithful
servants' of God or not? Are God's glory & might a bit off our
radar these days? Do we have work to do on all this?
12--14 Does it matter
much to us that the 'whole earth may know God's mighty acts & the
glorious splendour of God's kingdom'? Did all that kind of thing pass
away with the British & other empires? Does God's 'empire' not
count as much today as the world's constantly changing political ones
now that in our culture noi-one forces religion on anyone? Does all
this mean 'missions' are a thing of the past, too? Or is it just that
we need to look at them, think about them, act about them differently?
Does mission begin at home - like charity - or is that too simplistic,
& a cop out, even?
Are we good enough at making the right kind of God, the kind of God the
PSt knows well (from personal experience as it sounds) more available
to those who 'stumble' & / or are 'bowed down'? Do we still have
too much baggage that makes people think God's only for the 'goodies'?
How good are we at demonstrating God as God is, what God's really
like?
PLUS: Does this passage offer
any insight into the Gospel (MT 11:15-19, 25-30)?
