A sermon from Psalm 111
We celebrated Appreciation Sunday at Windsor Presbyterian Church on January 31st, celebrating all the people who have worked so hard in front of and behind the screens to keep us open — maybe our building has been empty on Sunday morning, but the Spirit is hard at work all through the week.
Psalm 111 and 112 lie right next to each other in Scripture. Dr. Shawna Hannon, a professor at Pacific Lutheran University, does not think their proximity is an accident. In fact, they mirror one another. Psalm 111 describes God. Psalm 112 describes people who follow the Lord.
This mirroring of psalms suggests to those who study such things that they are related. As Dr. Hannon continues: “Could it be that those who find great delight in his commands are capable of mirroring the deeds of the Lord? The complementarity of these two Psalms suggests so…. Because our Lord is already gracious and merciful and just that we are at all capable of being gracious and merciful and just.”
And that is how we approach Appreciation Sunday this year as well, with a deep appreciation that God has shown us how to jump and do good for one another. This is a year when every single one of us has been called upon to do things beyond what we thought “church” was supposed to be. Nevermore can we assume that we show up on Sunday and it’s all done for us. Even if all we’ve had to do is learn to push these crazy Zoom buttons, we’ve all had to give even more than we thought we could.
Of course, that’s silly pastor speak – because we all know that folks at WPC were already jumping in to do what they could to make this little church keep on humming. This church has been through building changes, and pastoral changes, and membership changes and leadership changes – and the changes will go on and on. But what we do not ever want to do is just assume that great big thank you’s aren’t due all around, that we can take your support for granted, that anyone could give to this church that special spark that you give right now.
Enjoy the whole sermon and a thank you video here. And thanks, Dan, for making this happen each week!
