Rev. Geoff McKee explains why Psalm 8 such an appropriate and powerful text for Trinity Sunday (16 June 2019). It is the one human being – Jesus – that brings meaning and purpose to all the rest. Our God is revealed as one God in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit – and it is the relationship between the Son and the Father that establishes the possibility of our transformation.

You can download a PDF version of the sermon by clicking here.

Psalm 8 (New International Version)

For the director of music. According to gittith. A psalm of David.
1 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory
in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?

5 You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honour.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

“God made the angels to show His splendour – as He made animals for innocence and plants for their simplicity. But men and women He made to serve Him wittily, in the tangle of their minds.”

So said Sir Thomas More in Robert Bolt’s A Man for all Seasons.

We are unique in creation because we have the capacity to contemplate its wonder.

And glimpse ourselves in relation to God’s awesome splendour.

The psalmist, David, gazed at the heavens above and was amazed at its size and mystery. If only he had known that he saw about 0.001% of the 100 billion stars in the Milky Way, he might have felt a good bit smaller still! Then he heard the babies cry and the children loudly play and was lost in wonder at their exploration of sound and action; discovering and being inspired by the endless possibilities that being human offers. The bringing together of the heavenly glory and the calls of a child or infant might seem strange to us but God delights in such a drawing together.

The story is told of a mother who wanted to encourage her young son’s progress at the piano.

She bought tickets for a performance by Paderewski, the famous Polish concert pianist.

When the night arrived they found their seats near the front of the concert hall and eyed the majestic Steinway waiting on stage.

Soon the mother found a friend to talk to and the boy slipped away.

When eight o’clock arrived, the spotlights came on, the audience quietened, and only then did they notice the boy up on the piano stool, innocently picking out “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”

His mother gasped in horror but, before she could retrieve her son, the master appeared on stage and quickly moved to the piano.

“Don’t stop – keep playing” he whispered to the boy.

Leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around the other side, encircling the child, to add a running obligato.

Together the old master and the young novice held the crowd mesmerised.

In our lives, unpolished though we may be, it is the Master who surrounds us.

He whispers in our ear, time and again, “Don’t stop – keep playing”.

And, as we do, he augments and supplements until a work of amazing beauty is created.

For us, the wonder is that he has chosen to work with us. Sometimes when we’re struggling and feeling a bit sorry for ourselves we might ask, “God, why me?”

Here, David, from a completely different angle asked, “God, why us?” Why are we so special that we gain this privilege?

And the answer to that question is not at all apparent in the Psalm. Instead, we are left marvelling at our fortune to the extent that recognition and praise must return to God.

We have to go elsewhere to receive the key to unlock the fullest Christian understanding of the dynamic of our privilege.

We read the following in the New Testament book of Hebrews chapter 2, and verses 5 to 9.

“It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. But there is a place where someone has testified:
“What is mankind that you are mindful of them,
a son of man that you care for him?
You made them a little lower than the angels;
you crowned them with glory and honour
and put everything under their feet.”
In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them. But we do see Jesus – who was made lower than the angels for a little while – now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”

Here, we find the writer of the Hebrews directly quoting from Psalm 8.

He refers to the importance of human beings in God’s creative work.

The writer does something special.

He understands humanity not through the reference of humanity in general but through one human being, Jesus Christ. It is the one human being that brings meaning and purpose to all the rest.

The divine act of the exaltation and coronation of human beings that David pondered in the Psalm is seen perfectly manifested in Jesus. It is only Jesus who can truly claim the mantle which was bestowed on all and in God’s re-creation of the world and cosmos; it is Christ who bears the honour and bestows it on humanity in turn.

We are created to bear God’s image; we are re-created to bear Christ’s image and, in so doing, bear God’s image.

How does that work?

Well, it can only work through the divine relationship that exists in God. Our God is revealed as one God in three persons; Father, Son and Holy Spirit and it is the relationship between the Son and the Father that establishes the possibility of our transformation.

Remember Philip’s request to Jesus in John 14, to show us the Father? Jesus answered: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father… do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?”

Jesus explained that the works he does are the works of the Father who dwells in him. In other words, the image that the Son bears is that of the Father; thus the Son’s work is intended to reveal the person of the Father.

Furthermore, it became Jesus’ goal to reconcile humanity to his Father through the power of the Holy Spirit; that what was clear in him was manifest through us.

So the triune God has established the true worth of humanity through his own nature and work, all of which makes Psalm 8 such an appropriate and powerful text for Trinity Sunday.

A newly-appointed minister went to visit the home of a member of his congregation.

Upon arriving there, the minister discovered his host was an avid gardener, and was only too delighted to show his minister around the garden, a magnificent sea of greens, purples, blues, whites, yellows and pinks.

Wanting to set the relationship off on a strong, positive note, the minister commented, “Praise God for the beauty of his handiwork”.

But his host replied in a somewhat offended tone, “Now minister, don’t go giving all the credit to God. You should have seen this garden when the Almighty had it to himself!”

The gardener in fact had very good theology.

God has designed the world in such a way that God works in partnership with us, and we with God, to achieve God’s ends. He has made us a little lower than God, and crowned us with glory and honour.

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Amen.

The sixth Sunday of Easter (26 May 2019), has Psalm 67 as one of its Lectionary Scriptures and Rev. Geoff McKee discusses selfishness and sharing, reminding us that we are blessed by God in order that we may bless others. As Christians, we have a sacred heritage to pass on to others – to the world – to the glory of God.

You can download a PDF version of the sermon, if you wish, by clicking here.

Psalm 67 (New International Version)
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us—
2 so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.

3 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples with equity
and guide the nations of the earth.
5 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.

6 The land yields its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us.
7 May God bless us still,
so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.

The lectionary texts for this Sunday portray the cosmic reach of God’s blessing:

• Paul sailed for Philippi where he shared the gospel and baptised Lydia, the first recorded European convert to Christianity (Acts 16:9-15)
• In the Revelation passage, John was taken to the mountaintop where he saw the new Jerusalem and the nations moving through its gates to find healing from the tree of life (Revelation 21:10, 21:22-22:5)
• In Psalm 67 (above), the Psalmist understood God’s blessing of the believing community to extend out into all the earth, to all the nations.

One of the greatest ambitions of any violinist is to play a Stradivarius.

Meticulously handcrafted by Antonio Stradivari, these very rare violins produce an unrivalled sound.

So you can imagine the excitement of acclaimed British violinist Peter Cropper when, in 1981, London’s Royal Academy of Music offered him a 258-year-old Stradivarius for a series of concerts.

But then, the unimaginable.

As Peter entered the stage, he tripped, landed on top of the violin and snapped the neck off.

We can’t even begin to imagine how Peter Cropper felt at that moment. A priceless masterpiece destroyed! [Read more…]

For the 5th Sunday of Easter 2019 (19 May 2019), Rev. Geoff McKee considers Psalm 148.

You can download a PDF version of the sermon by clicking here.

Psalm 148 (New International Version)

1 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights above.
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars.
4 Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the skies.

5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for at his command they were created,
6 and he established them for ever and ever—
he issued a decree that will never pass away.

7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,
9 you mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all cattle,
small creatures and flying birds,
11 kings of the earth and all nations,
you princes and all rulers on earth,
12 young men and women,
old men and children.

13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
14 And he has raised up for his people a horn,
the praise of all his faithful servants,
of Israel, the people close to his heart.

Praise the Lord.

On the evening of 20th July 1969 people across the world were huddled around black and white TV sets, breathless as they watched a grainy image.

Those who didn’t have TV sets had gone to the homes of neighbours who did.

No one wanted to miss what was being shown on the screen.

The air was thick with excitement and nervous tension.

Then, at four minutes to eleven, a white-suited Neil Armstrong stepped from his spacecraft onto the surface of the moon, uttering the immortal words, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Getting to the moon was a phenomenal achievement.

It signalled hope that we humans could achieve great things.

But, from another perspective, getting to the moon signalled the very worst about us.

Eight years before Armstrong stepped on the moon, the Russians put a man named Gagarin into a spaceship and launched him into orbit around the earth – the first ever manned space flight.

That moment shamed the people of the United States.

It was the time of the Cold War and once Gagarin went into space the US was determined to beat the Russians to the moon. They redoubled their efforts. The space programme became a national priority.

Why?

What was so important about being first to the moon?

The race to the moon was a race for bragging rights.

It was a competition to show which nation had the greatest know-how, which system – Capitalism or Communism – the most advanced technology, the cleverer scientists.

A report to the House Subcommittee on Manned Space Flight of the Committee on Science and Astronautics in 1974 stated that the Apollo moon program cost $25.4 billion, which equates to over $100 billion in today’s values. All of this occurred at a time when the US and the world were filled with hungry people.

The greatest sin of humanity is to believe that it is the centre of the universe.

In other words, to always ask the question: ‘What’s in it for us?’

The Psalter – the collection of 150 Psalms in our Bible – is divided into 5 books, reflective of the 5 books of the Law, the Pentateuch.

The final 5 Psalms in the Psalter, all framed with the words ‘Hallelu jah’ are in themselves a mini-Pentateuch of praise to God.

The attention is resolutely taken off the human condition, with its myriad interests and concerns, and it is placed on the praise of God.

In fact, the entry of humanity itself in Psalm 148 – in the great praise chorus to God – is relegated to the end portion of the Psalm.

We are far from the centre of attention.

Have you ever heard the sun, the moon and the stars praising God? Have you ever heard fire, hail, snow and frost praising God? Well then, you haven’t been listening hard enough!

What a delight this Spring to walk through the woods very early in the morning and delight in the contrasting songs of the dawn chorus. The Chiffchaffs and the Willow Warblers really do praise God! If you haven’t heard them you’re missing something very special…

It is good for us to take our place beneath the rest of the created order that we might learn in humility.

It’s appropriate that this Psalm is read at Easter time by Christians for, at its heart, is the mission of God to reconcile all things under his Lordship.

Paul wrote of the significance of the ministry of reconciliation and, in Ephesians, he declared that all things are reconciled or united in Christ.

The work of Christ should not be reduced to one particular view of the atonement. It is not exclusively about sacrifice nor is it exclusively about victory but it is most certainly about reconciling all things in himself.

We are included in Christ’s reconciling embrace.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism reminds us: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” That sounds like a good outcome and is consistent with the objective of all creation which groans with anticipation for its reality.

C.S. Lewis wrote: “I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed.”

We have the privilege among all of creation to express it verbally and we should do so until our delight is complete.

William Henry Draper wrote his great hymn All creatures of our God and King exactly 100 years ago based on the words of Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of the Sun which was, in turn, inspired by Psalm 148.

It contains a startling and stunning piece of theological writing in its sixth verse which is worth returning to.

“And you, most kind and gentle death,
waiting to hush our fading breath,
O praise him, alleluia!
You homeward lead the child of God,
and Christ our Lord the way has trod:”

The invitation here is to death itself to offer praise to God because death itself is only ultimately God’s servant.

That is quite stunning and it comes directly from the way our Lord has trod.

If Jesus had not gone there, there would be no redemption and death – along with everything else -would not have been reconciled to the all-encompassing love of God.

Louis Albert Banks told the story of an elderly Christian man, a fine singer, who learned that he had cancer of the tongue and that surgery was required.

In the hospital, after everything was ready for the operation, the man said to the doctor, “Are you sure I will never sing again?”

The surgeon found it difficult to answer his question. He simply shook his head, no.

The patient then asked if he could sit up for a moment.

“I’ve had many good times singing the praises of God,” he said. “And now you tell me I can never sing again. I have one song that will be my last. It will be of gratitude and praise to God.”

There, in the doctor’s presence, the man sang softly the words of Isaac Watts’ hymn, “I’ll praise my Maker while I’ve breath,/ And when my voice is lost in death,/ Praise shall employ my nobler power;/ My days of praise shall ne’er be past,/ While life, and thought, and being last,/ Or immortality endures.”

At a service in a Presbyterian church in Omaha in the United States people were given helium filled balloons and told to release them at some point in the service when they felt like expressing joy in their hearts. Since they were Presbyterians, they weren’t free to say “Hallelujah, Praise the Lord.” All through the service balloons ascended, but when the service was over one third of the balloons were unreleased.

The Psalm would say to us today: ‘Let your balloon go.’

Only you can do it.

May you be inspired to praise the Lord!

Amen.

This is Rev. Geoff McKee’s sermon for the fourth Sunday of Easter (12 May 2019). Download a PDF copy if you like by clicking here.

Psalm 23 (New International Version)
A psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.

Is there any better known Bible passage than Psalm 23?

I don’t think so.

I’m sure that the older generations will have learnt it by heart at school, and the beautiful rhythm of the Authorised Version is unforgettable:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Wonderful…

The Psalm is unusual in that it describes the benefits of God’s shepherding care towards the individual.

The shepherd analogy is a common one in the Ancient Near East and, of course, it is found frequently in the Hebrew Bible, our Old Testament. But it always occurs outside of Psalm 23 in the context of all the people. There is no specific, personal, individual focus. [Read more…]

In this sermon for 05 May 2019, the Scripture is Psalm 30. We consider the parallels between the (Old Testament) experiences of the Psalmist and the (New Testament) description of the life of Jesus – as we find ourselves journeying to the point of death and forward into life…

You can download a PDF version of this sermon by Rev. Geoff McKee by clicking here.

Psalm 30 (New International Version)
A psalm. A song. For the dedication of the temple of David.
1 I will exalt you, Lord,
for you lifted me out of the depths
and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
2 Lord my God, I called to you for help,
and you healed me.
3 You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead;
you spared me from going down to the pit.

4 Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people;
praise his holy name.
5 For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.

6 When I felt secure, I said,
“I will never be shaken.”
7 Lord, when you favoured me,
you made my royal mountain stand firm;
but when you hid your face,
I was dismayed.

8 To you, Lord, I called;
to the Lord I cried for mercy:
9 “What is gained if I am silenced,
if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
10 Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me;
Lord, be my help.”

11 You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
12 that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
Lord my God, I will praise you forever.

The story is told of King Canute who was once ruler of England.

The members of his court were continually full of flattery.

• You are the greatest man that ever lived…
• You are the most powerful king of all…
• Your highness, there is nothing you cannot do, nothing in this world dares disobey you.

The king was a wise man and he grew tired of such foolish speeches.

One day, as he was walking by the seashore, Canute decided to teach them a lesson.

“So you say I am the greatest man in the world?” he asked them.

“O king,” they cried, “there never has been anyone as mighty as you, and there will never be anyone so great, ever again!”

“And you say all things obey me?” Canute asked.

“Yes sire” they said. “The world bows before you, and gives you honour.”

“I see,” the king answered. “In that case, bring me my chair, and place it down by the water.”

The servants scrambled to carry Canute’s royal chair over the sands. At his direction, they placed it right at the water’s edge.

The King sat down and looked out at the ocean. “I notice the tide is coming in. Do you think it will stop if I give the command?”

“Give the order, O great king, and it will obey,” cried his entourage.

“Sea,” cried Canute, “I command you to come no further! Do not dare touch my feet!”

He waited a moment, and a wave rushed up the sand and lapped at his feet.

“How dare you!” Canute shouted. “Ocean, turn back now! I have ordered you to retreat before me, and now you must obey! Go back!”

In came another wave, lapping at the king’s feet. Canute remained on his throne throughout the day, screaming at the waves to stop. Yet in they came anyway, until the seat of the throne was covered with water.

Finally, Canute turned to his entourage and said, “It seems I do not have quite so much power as you would have me believe. Perhaps now you will remember there is only one King who is all-powerful, and it is he who rules the sea, and holds the ocean in the hollow of his hand. I suggest you reserve your praises for him.”

King Canute was wise but – so often – human beings are not.

Have you ever felt as strong as a mountain?

• A person who calls himself frank and candid can very easily find himself becoming tactless and cruel.
• A person who prides himself on being tactful can find eventually that he has become evasive and deceitful.
• A person with firm convictions can become pigheaded.
• A person who is inclined to be temperate and judicious can sometimes turn into someone with weak convictions and banked fires of resolution . . .
• Loyalty can lead to fanaticism.
• Caution can become timidity.
• Freedom can become licence.
• Confidence can become arrogance.
• Humility can become servility.

All these are ways in which strength can become weakness. [Read more…]