Faith Matters | Wake me up when September ends
When our church started gathering again for in-person worship — I’m still getting used to that odd descriptor — I began a sermon series on the Psalms of Ascent (120-134) called “Step by Step.” Because God’s people set these songs to certain tunes, they served as a redemptive “road trip” playlist for their annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem. I have found them incredibly relevant in this season, reminding us of our new identity as exiles, pilgrims, or, if you will, Travelling Willburys on our journey towards the New Heaven and New Earth (Revelation 21).
God has used these songs for over 2,500 years to talk sense into His people, particularly when they can’t make sense of life. In them, we don’t get a vote, but a voice to lament, as well as a captive, caring audience of One. Eventually, after having our heart’s hoarse voice heard, we can calmly listen to His lyrics.
When I appropriately match a Psalm with semi-recent song lyrics, that sermon title can serve like a coat hanger in a closet, granting easier access to the content for future use. I can imagine returning again and again to the content of my most recent sermon, “Wake me up when September ends,” (Psalm 131), in part because its title matches both the Psalm and our current season.
Who cannot immediately connect with Green Day’s sentiment of wanting to simply sleep through and bypass September (any tough season) entirely? Who doesn’t want to jump right to October (presumably a better season)? But when we adopt this perspective, we really do make two consequential mistakes.
First, we assume that nothing good can come out of September. It reminds me of a similar incorrect assumption from an early disciple, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Because something good did come out of Nazareth, something good can come out of September. The Apostle Paul speaks of learning contentment — a thankful satisfaction in less than ideal seasons — in September, not by simply waking up in October to experience it. In reference to contentment, he writes:
I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. — Philippians 4:12-13
September meant dropping from grouper sandwiches to a few ramen noodles, from extra spending cash to an empty bank account. Yet, he claims he was OK. Just okay, can in fact, be OK.
In addition to shooting our contentment in the foot, we end up not placing our hope “IN the Lord” but instead hoping IN October: a better season that we think will bring us that elusive satisfaction. Perhaps November might more accurately represent a tangible target for our hope, when our guy, party, agenda gets voted in? Or that fighting will end with the election, or our teams or dreams will take over? October or November reveal dates and outcomes which have vied for their wrongful place in the boardroom of our hearts, replacing the only Person worthy of our wait.
Biblical hope doesn’t wish for a possible outcome, but waits on a Person who has already come, will come again, and has revealed Himself not by taking, but by giving.
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? — Romans 8:32
In addition to “Him” (referring to Jesus), we shall at some point also graciously receive “all things.” We remain fuzzy on some of the details and the timing, but not on the location.
Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven.
Let’s not go to sleep on September, nor hope in October. For in September, we may just yet learn contentment, and in the Lord, we will find a hope that does not disappoint.
Faith Matters is written by members of the Bradenton area clerical community. Geoff Henderson is pastor of Harbor Community Church (harborcommunitychurch.org) in Bradenton. You can reach him at geoff@harborcommunitychurch.org.