Calvary Presbyterian Church
The Rev. Debra May Cerra
March 15, 2009

Psalms 19:1-14 (NRSV)
The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; 4 yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun, 5 which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. 6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hid from its heat. 7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple; 8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes; 9 the fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. 12 But who can detect their errors? Clear me from hidden faults. 13 Keep back your servant also from the insolent; do not let them have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. 14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

John 2:13-22 (NRSV)
The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15 Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 He told those who were selling the doves, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me." 18 The Jews then said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?" 19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." 20 The Jews then said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?" 21 But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

The Law

Why do we have laws? Are laws written to keep peace or are laws suppose to point out wrongdoings? What value do the laws of the land serve?
Before you begin to formulate answers to my rhetorical questions, let’s look at a few rather nonsensical statutes that are still punishable in the courts. In the state of California, even today women may not drive in a house coat. In Texas, it is illegal to shoot a buffalo from the second story of a hotel. In that same state you can also get locked up and fined $150 for milking someone else's cow. In Georgia, highway signs are required to be written in English. And, if you have a sailor's mouth, you might need to stay away from dead bodies which are in a funeral home or in a coroner's office, since you can be fined up to $550 depending on the extent of the words you utter.
Now, in Utah it is illegal to detonate any nuclear weapon. It is also an offense to hunt whales. Whaling is also illegal in Oklahoma which is the same state that will not hesitate throwing you in jail for making a funny face at a dog. But the most outrageous law that I found posted comes from New York, where the penalty for jumping out of a building – is death.
            Our own state has its share of strange laws. According to dumblaws.com, in New Jersey handcuffs may not be sold to minors and it is illegal to wear a bullet-proof vest while committing a murder. It is also against the law to frown at a police officer and to slurp your soup.
Laws are important – they help to maintain order and semblance; they set parameters and codes of conduct. But, as we have just heard, laws can also be seen as absurd and even incompetent.
This morning our Old Testament reading is Psalm 19. This Psalm talks about the glory of God, using the visual of God’s creation and the words of God’s law. When God is revealed in and through Creation, we are given a general sense of God’s attributes. When God is revealed in God’s Word – that is God’s law – we realize very specific ways to experience God.
The cosmos give silent voice to the awesomeness of the Creator. Creation gives the reader a visual of God’s wonder. “The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.” (1-4a)
In the mind of the writer, the sheer existence of God is proclaimed in God’s handiwork. Even the spaces of “heavens” and “firmament” are not empty. Creation may not audibly cry out praise to God, but the testimony given through creation beholds God’s glory.
One lovely moonlit night, a young girl and her grandmother went for a walk. The sky was magnificent. As grandmother named individual stars and constellations, the granddaughter exclaimed, “Grandma, if the bottom side of heaven is this beautiful, just think how wonderful the other side must be.”
Using images that portray the beauty of heaven, the psalmist continues: “In the heavens he [God] has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegoom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hid from its heat.” (4b-6) Here we find an overabundance of sun imagery – depicting God’s grandeur, God’s strength, God’s expanse. Because the people know the importance of the sun – the need for its light and its heat –  the calling forth of the visual power of this star gives the people a better grasp of the power of God.
Yet, even as the creation metaphors bring us to a better understanding of God, the writer knows that the natural world is not the only place God is encountered. So the psalmist makes a shift – from God’s creation to God’s law, which is the Word of God. “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes” (7,8) It is God’s law – the true and consistent Word – that gives credence to God’s wisdom, God’s sovereignty, God’s power.
God is revealed in and through Creation – giving a general sense of God’s attributes. As we go about our lives, we get glorious glimpses of God in the world. But in God’s Word – God’s law – God is revealed in very specific ways. That is why we gather in community to worship. Here, in this sanctuary, in this time of worship, we get, in Paul Harvey’s words, “the rest of the story!”
Unlike our manmade laws, the law of God is never seen as absurd or incompetent. God’s Word carries great power. It proficiently helps us know God – it gives us a means to understanding God. The Law of the Creator is depicted as carrying God’s great wisdom for God’s people. The Law is seen as perfect and it revives the soul of humankind.
In his Institutes of Christian Religion, John Calvin refers to the Holy Bible as the “lens of faith.” He describes the scriptures as being like a pair of glasses: you put the Bible on and then look through it to see the world.” Each time the scriptures are engaged, possibilities open up. Each time we read and hear God’s Word, the Holy Spirit brings forth a message for us.
From the outset, Israel was a community called to sing praise the one True God – Yahweh. The Book of Psalms is a collection of songs that supports the adoration and confession, thanksgiving and supplication of God’s people for God. Each psalm is intended to give praise to the glory of God, allowing the community to be one in its worship. “For this reason, the book of Psalms lies as the very heart of the Old Testament.”
In antiquity, individual piety could not be separated from corporate worship. Only as a member of the Israel community does one share in the promises and blessings of God’s covenant. It is to God’s people that God is revealed. It is the community that embraces the revelation of God as found in the created order. This is the message of Psalm 19.
There is a story of a boy who would steal away from the family business on Sunday mornings to go to the local church. At first his father just let him wander over to the church each Sunday, but overtime he became uneasy. The father knew nothing about the people who attended the church and was concerned for his son’s safety. So he decided to discuss the matter with his child.
One day he took the boy aside and said, “You know, I see that each Sunday you walk over to the Presbyterian church. Why do you go there? What do you do while you’re there?”
The boy said, “I go to the Sunday school that they have. Kids from the neighborhood are there. It’s fun and l’m learning a lot. I go to the church to find God.”
“That is a very good thing,” the father replied gently, “I am glad you are searching for God. But, my son, don’t you know that God is the same everywhere?’
“Yes,” the boy answered, “but I’m not.”
God’s creation and God’s word can and will change us. Both are integral in proclaiming the expanse of God’s glory. The cosmos, centered in the sun, and the law, found in God’s Word, are both filters with which we can find God’s splendor and God’s majesty.
Yet, even as we ingest and digest the impact of this beautiful psalm, the psalm continues. There is one more verse - a prayer that breathes the psalmist’s deepest desire - to please God; to worship and praise God in such as way that God is blessed; to know the glory and splendor of God. The psalmist prays: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” (14)
Allow this psalm to take you to a place where you can experience God; where you can find God’s glory; where you can know God’s power. Allow yourself to be changed by its message. And then, let the psalmist’s prayer be your prayer: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Amen and amen.