Psalm 19

Homily – Sunday, the 8th October 2023

Reading: Psalm 19

Long ago in the days when digital money was not in vogue a mother faced an issue. She would toil all day and earn her livelihood and bring the money home. Her husband who did not go to work would steal that money from wherever she would hide it. She complained to the pastor but advice was of no avail.

One day the pastor found the lady casually and asked How is the situation at home. She said, it is much better. Not that he stopped stealing but I have found a place in the house that he would never ever search.

Where is it, the pastor was inquisitive.

It is inside his own Bible, the lady quipped. He never opens it.

Friends, What does the Bible mean to us today?

October is celebrated as the month of the Bible and we remember the Reformation where the Bible became more accessible to the ordinary people. One of the revival songs that attracted quite a few youngsters during our youth days went

Back to the Bible, a lamp to our feet

Back to the Bible so wondrously sweet

Back to the Bible, precious and sure

Back to the Bible and God

Back to the church and the joy that we knew

Back to the pathways our parents have trod

Back to believing and cleaving to the Word

Back to the Bible and God

People have had different experiences with the Bible

People have said,

The Bible is the book that reads me and the author journeys with me..

The Bible is my closest friend through which my God converses with me and I respond in prayer and meditation.

The Bible is the Book that changed me and keeps on changing me.

The Bible is the Book that gives me meaning, purpose and direction in life

What does the Bible mean to you today?

Jon Fosse, the Norwegian writer, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature wherein the academy said “for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable.”

His monumental work Septology is about an ageing painter’s reckoning with the divine. Asle the painter reflects on how to finish his painting of the St. Andrews cross. Written in the wake of Fosse’s conversion (to Catholicism) this culminates what he wrote earlier in “Someone is going to come” the paranoia of a couple in an old house by the sea obsessed by the thought, :someone is going to come.

We find a classic example of voice to the unsayable in Psalm 19

The heavens declare the glory of God,  and the firmament shows his handiwork.

One day tells its tale to another, and one night imparts knowledge to another.

Although they have no words or language, and their voices are not heard,

Their sound has gone out into all lands, and their message to the ends of the world.

Calling each of us to see those things that we normally fail to see and listen to those stories that we normally do not the Psalmist invites us to an intimate encounter with the Word of God

The Psalmist sets forth before us what the Word of God means to him.

The Word of God is Perfect it Revives the Soul

Christ alone, Cornerstone

Weak made strong, in the Saviour’s love

Through the storm, He is Lord.

Lord of all.

When we travel through storms in life, it is but natural that we become weak in our souls. Sometimes it is loss and grief that affects the soul, sometimes trauma, betrayal or loneliness, sometimes it is stress, guilt or regret, sometimes it is unresolved conflict or addictions.. the reasons can go on.

The Word of God revives our soul. It provides spiritual nourishment, guidance, wisdom, comfort, inspiration, hope, conviction, repentance, renewed focus and connection with God, each other and community, it transforms and gives peace and tranquillity.

The soul always knows how to heal itself. The challenge is to silence the mind and allow God to calm the soul in contexts of turbulence and the Word of God is the most effective and soothing balm in such contexts.

What is our relationship with the Bible today?

Does it revive our soul?

The Word of God is sure it gives wisdom to the innocent.

There is a subtle difference between knowledge and wisdom in that wisdom is the practical manifestation of sensible living. How does the word of God provide us wisdom.

This happens in the areas of moral and ethical decision making, building and maintaining healthy relationships in the family, in community and even with enemies, in the right decision making in marriages, parenting and career options. Wisdom is very important in conflict mitigation and resolution, in the proper understanding of leadership. It also requires prudence and wisdom to discern between the temporariness and eternal nature of life.

Wisdom is provided to the lowly since it is only an empty bowl that can be filled. It requires wisdom to understand the transience of life and to humble oneself before the mighty one and be prudent for eternity.

There are several ways of reading the Bible. There is devotional reading, historical reading, literary reading, literal reading, theological reading. There is charismatic reading. There is talismatic reading

What is our relationship with the Bible today?

The Word of God is JUST it rejoices the heart.

When does our heart rejoice? Is it just one’s petty personal gains and achievements?

Nobel Peace Prize 2023 was given to Narges Muhammedi in the Iranian prison for her relentless campaign for justice for women. She has been in prison since 2015 for campaigning for gender justice.

Welcoming the news, the WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay in a statement said: “The WCC congratulates Ms Narges Mohammadi for receiving this prestigious award. We are very strong in our support for gender justice, human rights, and human dignity, mindful of the ongoing struggles of women in the world. This award recognises not only the work of Ms Mohammadi in this area but highlights the issue of gender justice on a global level of importance it deserves. We offer our congratulations and best wishes to Ms Mohammadi.”

One of the key aspects of ensuring justice is a person’s control over livelihood. One of the grass root movements in India called SEWA Self Employed Women’s Association relentlessly tries for the empowerment of women in informal sectors and to ensure that they live with justice and dignity. Workers collectives bringing together Domestic workers, bamboo workers, food workers, fish workers, agricultural workers, street vendors, tailors, self-employed small scale entrepreneurs and own account workers were formed attempting to ensure justice. It was the Word of God ensuring justice bringing joy to the hearts. A pastors daughter and a worker of the Student Christian Movement who heads this campaign for justice is with us today- Dr. Sonia George. What does she do to bring joy to others?

What is our relationship with the Bible today?

The Word of God is clear it gives light to the eyes

The eyes are windows to the soul.

The eyes are not responsible if the mind is unwilling to see and the tragedy of the world today is that we do not see what we must be seeing

We fail to see suffering

We fail to see exploitation

We fail to see injustice

We fail to see disparity

We fail to see corruption

We fail to see human rights abuses

We fail to see the climate crisis looming large

The Word of God gives light to the eyes

The spiritual insights and moral clarity the Word of God provides guides us to understand God’s will and take the right decisions

The Word of God is an eye-opener.

The Bible inspires me, said Bishop Oscar Romero to plant seeds which one day bear fruits of justice and peace, it challenges me to water seeds that are already planted knowing that they hold future promise. But to do that it first opens my eyes to see the injustice around and to realise that injustice anywhere calls for campaigns of justice everywhere.

What does the Bible mean to us today?

The Word of God is clean, it endures for ever

Endurance is a very important quality of life

Endurance is not about being able to stand the storm, it is about being able to walk through it and cross over it.

Not only does the word of God endure but also it helps us endure tough realities of life.

The Story of Katalin Kariko the Hungary born scientist who shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine n 2023 with immunologist Drew Wiesmann for their research that helped find the vaccines for Covid 19 has such a story of endurance. She was Vice President of Bionetech during the peak of Covid vaccinations. While serving in the Temple University of Philadelphia there was an occasion where a specific drug developed by Weissmann and her failed. The University did not renew her position as assistant professor, sold the patent and she was downsized to a temporary post doc position. Despite these It was her commitment to RNA research that led to the modifying of the viral RNA molecules so that they no longer destroyed the immune system in human cells. She was one who saw Corona more as an opportunity rather than a challenge saying- if we have the strength to endure we will win over it.

What is our relationship with the Bible today

Conclusion

The Psalmist concludes

The Word of God is to be desired- more precious than gold is it.

The Word of God is to be relished- sweeter than honey in the honey comb

By the Word is enlightenment and encouragement

By keeping the Word there is reward

The Word helps us cleanse our secret faults and keeps us from presumptuous sins

The Psalmist finishes with a profound prayer Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

And the question is

What is my relationship with the Bible today?

Vinod Victor

October 8, 2023