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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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Greater Captivity, Greater Deliverance |
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Psalm
126 Eighth
Sunday after Trinity July
13, 2008 Psalm 136 is a song of joy. “[T]hen was our mouth filled with laughter and our hearts with joy.” It was like a dream, it says, A Disney song said “A dream is a wish your heart makes when you’re fast asleep,” and someone else said a daydream is a wish your heart makes when you should be doing something else. When this Psalm was written, the dreams and the daydreams of the Jewish people, were about to come true. For decades the Jews have been prisoners in Babylon. The story of how they came to be there is a sad tale. It took generations of internal decline and strife in Israel, but here is the short version of it. They began their new nation unified around the word of God and with a common commitment to be God’s people. As the generations passed, they became prosperous and secure. Their enemies were subdued and God blessed their industry and hard work. Then their focus changed. They focused on enjoying their wealth and peace, and they separated and fought over their possessions and their rights. They adopted the ideas and values of the worldly people around them, and they deserted God. So God allowed them to be troubled by their enemies again and again, until finally He brought the Babylonians to completely conquer Israel. This was a terrible, bloody, and costly war. Israel lost everything. Her cities were burned. Her people were executed in the streets by the thousands. The survivors were taken on a 600 mile death march, and the survivors of it were forced to live in captivity in Babylon. Those were dark days. They were the days of the fiery furnace and the lions’ den, of persecution, and death. And Israel prayed for deliverance. For decades and lifetimes they prayed. One generation passed away and another rose, and still they prayed. That generation grew and married and had children and even grandchildren, and still they prayed. And God’s answer was always “no.” But one day He said, “yes.” One day Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon, and he allowed the Jews to return to Israel. That is the setting of this Psalm. So we can see why they were filled with joy. Their dream had come true. Their prayers had been answered. It must have taken months to prepare for the journey. 600 miles of desert are not easily crossed. While in Babylon they had to care for themselves, so many of them had homes to sell and belongings to care for. Provisions had to be gathered. But finally the day came for the first caravan to leave for the Promised Land; the land of peace and freedom, and hope. How great a deliverance. No wonder they were filled with joy. No wonder they were like people who dream. The spiritual application of this Psalm is easy to see. Babylon is like our captivity in sin The Bible says we were slaves to sin before we were led out of our bondage by Christ. It controlled us. It captured our minds and distorted our thinking. It caused us to call evil good and good evil. This is why you can explain your faith to some people, but they just don’t get it. Their minds are prisoners of sin. The powers of evil have darkened their minds and they are unable to break free of their bonds. We were prisoners there too, before Christ delivered us. Our minds were darkened. We exalted ourselves above God, and followed our own folly instead of God’s wisdom. God wanted good for us, but we rejected the good and followed evil instead because we thought the evil was good. Our sin caused harm to others and our sin caused harm to us, and we can see the wisdom of the words of James 4:1, “From whence come wars and fightings
among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your
members? Ye lust and have
not; ye kill and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet
ye have not, because ye ask not.” Perhaps we have not actually killed in our drive to feed our lusts. But we have abused. We have offended against the rights and peace of others, and, in the grand scheme of God’s will, that is the same as killing, for all sin is sin. And our sin placed us in a frightening relationship to God. We became the enemies of our Best Friend. We rejected Him, broke His commandments, which were given for our benefit. In breaking His commandments we harmed others, polluted His creation, and rejected Him. Should there be no penalty for this? If we punish people who break our laws, should we expect to go free when we break the holy laws of the righteous God? If we are angry when people transgress against us, does not He who is without fault or sin not have the right to be angry with those who transgress against Him? Our captivity was greater than the Babylonian captivity of the Jews, but our deliverance is greater too. Our deliverer was Jesus Christ. The Son of God Himself came to this sin rotted planet, and gave Himself as the sacrifice for our sins. If someone harms you, you must bear that hurt, if you are going to forgive him and restore your relationship. That is what God did on the cross. He bore in Himself the pain of our sin, and the humiliation of it, and the anger against it. He did not turn it loose on us, He turned it loose on Himself. And He says to all who will accept it, “I forgive.” Your sin is removed as far away from you as the east is from the west and I will remember it no more. Come back to Me and taste of the good things I created you for. People often want to know the secret of joyful living. How can they have joy in their hearts? It is quite simple. It does not consist of turning life into a long series of adventures or indulgences. Simply realize that you once were lost, but now are found. Once you were condemned in sin, but now you are free in Christ. Once you were a prisoner in your hurtful attitudes and activities. Once you were under the wrath and curse of God, destined for a place of unbearable sorrows. But now you are delivered from those attitudes and actions. Now you are free from the wrath of God. Now you bask in His unending love. Now you are headed for the Promised Land of Heaven. Know that, and rejoice. That is the secret to joyful living. The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity Anglican Church,
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