Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, November 11th 2012
A printable PDF file can be found here
When a church constructs a new building there will usually be a dedication service. An often used text at such services is the first verse of Psalm 127 “Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain.” Such a text is a reminder that our church buildings should never become monuments to human achievement nor should they prove to be a temptation for ourselves to take credit for what God is doing in our midst.
Psalm 127 is about a lot more than building construction. It challenges us to consider the way we construct our whole life. It questions our personal security systems. It outlines the benefits of trusting in God. When we have faith in the grace and love of Jesus Christ we become inheritors of the promises of God. Psalm 127 reminds us of what some of those healing promises are.
Within these wonderful few verses of Psalm 127 we find;
- An antidote to futility
- An antidote to anxiety
- A promise of vitality.
1. An antidote to futility
In the Book of Ecclesiastes the author declares 'emptiness, emptiness, all of life is emptiness'. What we do we gain from all our toil under the sun? What's the point of it? Why do we even bother? The second verse of our Psalm captures this sense of futility, “In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat”.
We are encouraged from an early age to build a life for ourselves. We are told the world is full of opportunity, that there's nothing we can't do and if that we just work hard enough then the rewards will surely follow. And for some fortunate folks, maybe it turns out that way. But for many it just isn't true. Oh, yes, they are working their fingers to the bone, but the dreams fade as the years go by and oftentimes there is that sad moment of realization and disillusionment that maybe 'this is all there is' and 'this is all I will ever be.'
When a hurricane called Sandy comes calling the futility level notches up a whole lot higher. All that we have built seems frighteningly fragile. Jesus told a number of stories about foolish builders. Those who said to themselves “I will store up for myself great treasures on earth, only to be told “You fool, this very night your life will be taken from you. Now what will you do with all that you have so greedily accumulated?”
The antidote the Psalmist offers us is in this first verse. “Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain.” This Psalm reminds that we can construct our lives in one of two ways. We can seek to please ourselves or we can seek to please God. Either we invite God to be in on every aspect of our lives or we face life alone. It cautions us that if we leave God out of the picture, then it will lead us, ultimately, to a place of despair. Unless the Lord builds the house of our lives, then we are building in vain. Psalm 127 offers an antidote to futility. Faith in God. Secondly it offers ...
2. An antidote to anxiety
The first verse continues. “Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.” The job of the watchman was to be on the lookout for danger and take measures to prevent any threat coming upon the city. The psalmist suggests to us that taking human precautions is not enough. That unless we also seek the protection of God over our lives, then no matter how wonderful the barriers we build around our lives may be, they will always prove to be in vain.
We are an anxious society. People worry about everything that it is possible to be worried about and even a lot of things that we really shouldn't be worried about. Why, here I am now sharing my worries about the amount of worrying there is in our worry soaked world! If we could only turn anxiety into a power source then we would never have to worry about losing power ever again!
It's a matter of security. Where do we find our personal security? Again the psalmist offers us the options. We either 1) trust in our personal abilities to supply everything we need to protect us from every danger and disaster that may befall us or b) we trust in God. “Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.”... unless God watches over us then no matter what precautions we surround our lives with, they are all a matter of vanity... and vanity is not security... and where there is no security all we are building is anxiety. Hurricane Sandy has taught us lot about our vulnerability.
Let's remind ourselves of some of the things Jesus has to tell us about worry. “I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.” (Luke 12:22-23)
He challenges us “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? (Luke 12:25-26)
He directs us to the better way, the less anxious way, the secure way “Seek God's kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid... for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. He encourages us: Give to the poor ... Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 12:29-34).
It's all about security, about trusting in God ...deep questions about what we are building our lives upon. Yet this psalm isn't just about questions, it also offers us a promise. The promise that through faith in God our life will find a center that is powerful and creative and life giving. We see also in this Psalm ...
3. A promise of vitality.
The Psalmist promises us vitality in two specific ways. The first is found in verse 2 'He grants sleep to those He loves.' This promise is in the context of finding an antidote to futility and anxiety. What do we gain from our faith and trust in God to be both our builder and our security? Well, putting it simply, we rest easier! But it's a lot more than that.
The Psalmist is implying that if we have faith that God can both guide us and protect us, if we find our security in the love of Jesus Christ, then we discover a sense of perspective to our lives that nothing else in this world can give us. Again Hurricane Sandy has taught us this lesson, whether we wanted to hear it or not. When everything is stripped away, we understand that our 'stuff' isn't the bottom line. It's having communities that care and people we can trust and taking the next breath that matters most.
The Christian message about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is no little thing. It is not, “Oh. God sent Jesus to die for us so that when we die we can all go to heaven. How nice!”The Christian message is that we are on this earth for a purpose, that death cannot destroy and despair cannot obliterate. That there is a pulse that reverberates throughout all creation, a pulse of resurrection energy that can be a restoring force in our own lives through the action of God's Holy Spirit.
In the culture at the time this Psalm was written, vitality is compared to having a huge family. Fertility is seen as the sign of blessing. Verses 3 through 5 : “Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.”
Now we are in the 21st century, the population explosion is straining our planets resources to breaking point. The option to 'Go forth and Multiply' is morally unjustifiable. We have the responsibility to reinterpret this verse and apply it to our current situation.
We can do so by realizing this promise speaks about community. The primary support community in Old Testament times was your own family. That no longer applies. In the New Covenant community initiated by Jesus, we are encouraged to see all people as sisters and brothers, children of the One Father God. As the old disco hit proclaims “We are family!”
Psalm 127 encourages us to be a church community that is living and active and vibrant with fellowship and love. To put our trust in God to bind us together and grow us in our faith together. It is in and through this community of faith we are called to care for another and bear each others burdens, to pray for one another, to be a witness to the world that declares as a song we sometimes sing says; “They will know we are Christians by our love!'
Which brings us around full circle... “Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain.” Such applies to our individual lives and to our community. Psalm 127 offers us;
- An antidote to futility. Allow God to build our lives and life will not be in vain.
- An antidote to anxiety. Find our security in the love of Jesus Christ and we will have a true center.
- A promise of vitality. Trust in God to discover a renewed perspective on life.
Rev. Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
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