Cure for a big head Psalm 29 August 7, 2016 RUMC

Cure for a big head

Psalm 29

August 7, 2016 RUMC

 Do you remember Sherris telling about Yertle the Turtle last week?

He’s the little turtle that thought he was so important that he made all the other turtles stack themselves up so he could see more and therefore rule more.

"All mine!" Yertle cried.  "Oh, the things I now rule!

I'm the king of a cow! And I'm the king of a mule!

I'm the king of a house! And, what's more, beyond that

I'm the king of a blueberry bush and a cat!

I'm Yertle the Turtle! Oh, marvelous me!

For I am the ruler of all that I see!"

 I’m pretty sure I have met Yertle. And so have you.

I’ve met him in the pews. I’ve met him in the news.

I’ve meet him in the park and once I met him in the dark.

I met Yertle at a meeting one night. I met him on the road as he sped out of sight.

I have seen him running in the election, thinking he (or she) is the king of perfection.

 He says “I'm Yertle the Turtle! Oh, marvelous me!”

There’s a little of Yertle in everyone I see.

I’ve met him a here I’ve met him  there.

I meet him everywhere.

I see him so often… oh can it be?

That there is a little bit of Yertle the Turtle even in me?

I know, that was kind of lame, but you can’t argue with the message.

Yertle the Turtle seems to be everywhere. and if we are honest, we have to admit that there is even a little Yertle in each of us. At least occasionally, we all fall to the sin of pride. 

 There are some dramatic stories of human pride.

In the mid-50s a US Air force plane was flying over Alaska when they entered an unusually fierce snowstorm. The navigator contacted an air base only to be told that he had veered several hundred miles off course. The navigator refused to believe that he could be wrong so they kept going.  Soon the plane ran low on fuel had to make an emergency landing. All six crewmen froze to death on the Alaskan tundra.

In the summer of 1986, two ferries collided in the Black Sea off the coast of Russia. Hundreds of passengers died as they were hurled into the icy waters below. We might assume it was a navigation error, or faulty equipment. The truth is both captains were aware of the impending collision, but both were too proud to be the one to veer off their course.

There are also more ordinary stories of pride. A young woman asked for an appointment with her pastor. She started by saying, "Pastor, I have become aware of a sin in my life which I cannot control. Every time I am at church I begin to look around at the other women, and I realize that I am the prettiest one in the whole congregation. None of the others can compare with my beauty. What can I do about this sin?"

The pastor replied, "Mary, that's not a sin, why that's just a mistake!"

Call it a sin. Call it a mistake. Call it whatever you like; having a big head, pride, arrogance, self-importance, conceit, egotism, self-centeredness, or even pomposity. It is a universal human problem. Even the person with low self-esteem is arrogant enough to think that no one else could possibly be as worthless as him or her.

There is a good reason that “I” is in the center of pride. Pride is a preoccupation with self.

Pride is behind the first sin in the Garden of Eden.

Pride is behind the fiasco at the tower of Babel.

Pride is behind Israel’s demand for a king.

Pride is behind David’s tryst with Bathsheba.

Pride is behind the sins against which the prophets preached.

Pride is behind Herod’s pursuit of the child Jesus.

The disciples fought pride.

Jesus preached against pride.

The rich young ruler was tripped up by pride.

The man alongside the road had to swallow his pride when the Good Samaritan stopped to help.

The disciples argued about who was the most important.

Jesus was the living antithesis of pride when he knelt to wash the disciple’s feet.

Finally it was the pride of the Jewish leaders and Roman politicians that hung Jesus on the cross.

Today we have national pride, democratic pride, republican pride, gay pride, school pride, team pride, black pride, blue pride, even religious pride, and you name it pride… Pride is at the center of our culture. That is why we are so divided, so violent, so harried, so conflicted, and so sick as a culture because collectively we have an “I” infection. What’s more our heads are so big that many people can’t even fit through the church door.

If we were writing psalm 29 it would sound like this

Praise me, everyone,

      praise my glory and strength.

Praise the glory of my name;

    worship me in holy splendor.

My voice is over the waters;

    I am greater than the thunder,

   I am, greater than the mighty waters.

I am powerful;

I am  full of majesty.

Maybe you would not write it quite like that, but you know I am right.

The point of the 29th Psalm is to put us in our place.

Do you feel small when you look up at the stars or when you stand at the ocean? That is what the Psalm is trying to do.

Do you feel powerless as you watch a thunderstorm sweep through, or see the devastation of the tornado? That is what the psalm is trying to do.

Are you humbled by the miracles of birth and death? That is what the Psalm is trying to do.

 Ascribe means to give credit. So it means Give credit to God… Give credit where credit is due… not to ourselves!

Give credit to the Lord, O heavenly beings,

    Give credit to the Lord’s glory and strength.

Give credit to the Lord and God’s glorious name;

    worship the Lord in holy splendor.

We can’t worship if we are focused on ourselves.

We can’t serve if we are only thinking of ourselves.

We can’t be a follower of Jesus if we are looking out for good old number one.

We can’t even love someone if we are thinking about what we can get from it.

We can’t be in ministry if we put our own egos before the needs of “the least of these.”

No one can pick up their cross and follow Jesus if they are preoccupied with themselves.

The Psalm uses a thunderstorm as the illustration.  We can all connect to thunderstorms. They are even more impressive when you see them moving toward you across the prairie or ocean, experience their power, and then watch them recede into the horizon.

•           The psalm describes the storm gathering over the waters, The voice of the Lord is over the waters.

•           moving across the mountains, The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.

•           Ripping across the wilderness The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness.

•           and finally stripping the forest bare. The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl, and strips the forest bare.

 And finally… Finally Calm…peace… quiet…tranquility you can almost imagine the rainbow.

But not because of what I do, or what you do.

Next to God, all the “I”’s in the world are powerless.

Next to God, all the egos in the world fade away.

Next to God, all the powers of this world are nothing

Next to God, all the self important people of this world prove to be not so important.

Next to God the politicians of this world are exposed.

Next to God, you and I stand in awe, and wonder, and humility.

 The only appropriate response to the powerful presence of God is to fall on our knees and humbly worship. “And in his temple all say glory.”

The only appropriate response to the powerful presence of God is to fall on our knees and humbly say, “Not me but you O God. Only you.”

The only appropriate response to the powerful presence of God is to fall on our knees and humbly say, “Here I am. Send me.”

That is why Jesus became impatient with excuses. Excuses come from our prideful “I’s” not our humble worship.

But I have a  family… Jesus says “"If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother …yes, even their own life--such a person cannot be my disciple.”

But I have plans "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

But I’m uncomfortable, “whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it.”

But I am afraid, “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you.” 

But I like my possessions, “Go and sell all that you have and give the money to the poor.”

Jesus had no patience for I’m going to be out of town this weekend.

Jesus had no patience for I have plans with friends today.

Jess had no patience for I’ve done my part.

Jesus had no patience for soccer games, or favorite TV shows, or days off, or weekends away, or sleeping in, or I don’t like the preacher, or I don’t like the music, or the pews are hard, or someone said something to me, or any other excuse he must have heard.

Now, hear me correctly… all that stuff is fine… as long as it doesn’t become an excuse… as long as it doesn’t become a priority over God, as long as you know where your loyalty lies. As long as you have your priorities straight.  As long as you remember that God is God, and you are not. 

Every excuse starts with “BUT I…” or “SORRY I…” Every excuse is based on the prideful claim that we are in charge of our own lives, time, stuff, and happiness. Psalm 29 reminds us that we are not. And it calls us to humbly kneel before God and cry “GLORY. Glory.”

God was once approached by a scientist who said, “Listen God, we’ve decided we don’t need you anymore. These days we can clone people, transplant organs and do all sorts of things that used to be considered miraculous.”

God replied, “Don’t need me huh? How about we put your theory to the test. Why don’t we have a competition to see who can make a human being, say, a male human being . You use your equipment and I’ll use mine.”

The scientist agrees, “Fine” says the scientist as he bends down to scoop up a handful of dirt.”

“Whoa!” says God, shaking his head in disapproval. “Not so fast. I believe that’s mine. You get your own dirt.”

 Give credit to the Lord, O heavenly beings,

    Give credit to the Lord’s glory and strength.

Give credit to the Lord and God’s glorious name;

    worship the Lord in holy splendor.

AMEN