Rev. Dr. Bary R. Fleet - Pastor
April 6, 2008 – 3rd Sunday of Easter
Acts 2:14a, 36-41      
1st Peter 1:17-23   
Luke 24:13-35
Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19

For All God’s Bounty

How many of you today are in debt?  You don’t have to raise your hand, but I suspect that a good many of us have a mortgage; some of us not only have a mortgage, but we have an equity line of credit … and a fair number of us have some credit card debt … even if we pay it back at the end of the month.

We are used to being in debt. 

Here we have the Psalmist feeling in debt – to God.  “How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?”  It seems an odd notion that God keeps a ledger and expects repayment.

So, we ask, what sort of repayment is the Psalmist talking about?

Usually in our culture, debts are paid on the installment plan. 

O, Visa (or Master Card … or Discover … or American Express), you have been so good to my by letting me buy what I want, and – if you are good enough not to let me buy anything else for a while – I will be able to repay you (with interest) by the end of next year!  But, of course, you might be soooo good to me that you will continue to allow me to buy things that I want and I’ll be paying you back for most of the rest of my life. 

I don’t know that we would say that we “love” our creditors, but that’s what the Psalmist said.  “I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications.”

We don’t really know what happened with the Psalmist, except that in desperation he cried out to the Lord.  He says, “the snares of death encompassed me … I suffered distress and anguish.  Then I called on the name of the Lord:  O Lord, I pray, save my life!” (Ps. 116:1-4)

As he writes, referring to God, “He inclined his ear to me.” 

What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me?” (Ps.116:12)    

Interestingly, the Psalmist thinks of three things that he promises – both to himself and to God:

(1) “I will lift up the cup of salvation.” (vs.13a)  Other translations say “I will take the cup of salvation.” 

This is a way of saying that we will accept what God has to offer … that we know that in lots of ways we are empty, but God has something that will fill us.  What might it be like to get up every morning and say something to the effect, “God I know you have a gift for me today?”  “I’m not sure what it is, but I know it is there, and I’m going to be looking for that gift … and I’m going to take it – and know it is from you!”

Most of us are quick to ask God for what we need … but what if God already has in mind something that God wants us to have today?  Are we willing to take it, to lift it up as God’s gift to us?

(2)“…and call on him as long as I live.”  (vs. 13)

That’s what we are going to do in a few minutes … lift up the cup of salvation.  And as for the “calling on him, I think of that as a “visit”.  This is a promise to be in regular contact with God … not forgetting the importance of this relationship.

Visiting people is almost a lost custom … calling on our friends and relatives … but the Psalmist, out of gratitude, is going to keep the connection.   

(3)“I will offer you a thanksgiving sacrifice.” (Vs17a)

What might that be?  What is an offering that we might make – not out of duty, not to avoid feeling guilty, but out of pure gratitude for the ways God has been present in our lives, for the ways in which God has answered our prayers?

In a few minutes we will be invited to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.  As we are waiting to be served, as we are waiting for others to be served, I would invite each of us to use that time … and more … to think of specific ways that we can – and WILL – return something to the Lord for all his bounty to us.  What are we willing to do?  What sacrifices are we willing to offer – out of gratitude for all of our blessing?

This could easily be a stewardship sermon … because that’s really what the Psalmist has grasped … that real giving, real promises, real life-habits come from gratitude much more than duty or obligation.

“I love the Lord, because he heard my voice and my supplications!”

And because I do … here’s what I’m willing to do!

SERMON IN A SACK:  packet of seeds and cut flowers. Talk about all that needs to happen between the seeds and the blooms in our hands.  That’s what God wants to do with our lives.  God has planted a seed of goodness, of kindness, of love in us … and God wants that to grow into something beautiful in each of us!