SERMON: Inner Child

 10:30 am, Sun, Feb 19, 2023 - J G White / FBCA

(Is 49:8-16a; Psalm 131; Mtt 6:24-34)

 This was our fourth Sunday in a row to hear a bit from Jesus’ sermon as recorded in Matthew five, six and seven. Today, that wonderful lesson: do not worry. Here and now, I could say, ‘And why do you worry about your clothing? Consider the forsythia of the field, how they bloom; they neither work nor weave, yet I tell you, even her majesty Elizabeth in all her regalia was not clothed like one of these. So don’t worry about tomorrow. Today is the Tomorrow you worried about Yesterday.’

The centre of my sermon will actually be the Psalm, which we have already read twice, Psalm 131. It seems all about being calm, deep inside. It is rather like another short Psalm, I suppose, Psalm 23. And surely, to be truly calm inside requires not being too worried.  (joke?)

Ours is a day of worries, fears and anxieties. Maybe life has been this way for a long time.

If you can keep your head when all about you  

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you…

said Kipling. Oh, to keep calm and carry on, like the memes say! And little Psalm 131 might inspire us today. That’s how God gets things done – poetry power! Here is another – written by Regina Coupar, based on the Psalm.

when                                   I remember

my soul                               to be where

is quiet                                I am

 

I remember                       I remember

I am you                             eternity is

child                                    now

 

I remember                       when

my mission is                    my soul

love                                     is quiet

Psalm 131 has just three verses, and really only says three things. One: I live my life in a humble way. Two: I’ve kept my soul as calm as a happy toddler with its mother. Three: All God’s people – keep your hope in God, always.

Those words, about my soul being has calm as a happy child, kept my attention this past week. I thought of people I know who just seem to be calm all the time; they must have real peace, shalom, in their souls. I thought of other people I know who often seem upset inside, like there’s a three-year-old having a temper-tantrum within them.

Something this Psalm-writer knew was how to be humble. Probably took a long time to learn that. ‘O Lord, it’s hard to be humble…’ Indeed it is. Too many of us are too proud to be humble, too needy for attention to be humble, or put ourselves down and beat ourselves up us too much: which is not humility.

O Yahweh, my heart is not lifted up,

     My eyes are not raised too high;

I do not occupy myself with things

     Too great and too marvelous for me. (Ps 131:1)

God’s will for you is for you to know yourself, what you are and what you are not. That the is key to humbleness. As I said last week, you are amazing! Some things are too marvelous for you, yes, but other incredible things are within your power. I know you are amazing, because I have talked with many of you. Your capabilities, your spiritual gifts from God, your life lessons that have trained you are marvelous. Don’t forget those words of Jesus to his disciples of old: ‘Amen, amen, I tell you, the one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these.’ (Jn 14:12)

But I have calmed and quieted my soul,

Like a weaned child with its mother;

My soul within me is like a weaned child. (Ps 131:2)

As people who have received Jesus, we have this gracious possibility. I called this sermon ‘Inner Child,’ but as usual, I am playing with words; so I am not really talking about the psych-ology of dealing with the inner parts of you that are child-like, and might need healing or need to be parented and grow up. I am simply speaking of the soul, the human soul. The soul of which Psalm 131 speaks.

What is the soul? Some deep, inner part of us? Your spirit, which could get separated from you physical body? Or is it truly your whole self, mind, heart, will, and body? However a Christian describes the soul, we could say it is you, the centre of you – who you truly are. To calm yourself, your soul, is a step on the path of life, life with God.  

How do you calm your soul? You likely have a few ways, even if you are looking for more.

How about… quiet time outside? Lately, I have got back out to some wild places near here, to enjoy the fresh air, the winter scenes, and all. The other day I wandered along the Maccan River, and sat for a while on a fallen log to watch the ice creak and crack and move with the incoming tide. I timed my visit for when the tide was flowing in and filling the ice-laden river. I expected all sorts of crashing and banging and sloshing of the multi-coloured ice. Instead, it was remarkably quiet, with just the occasional creak and gurgle. I gazed upon the lush lichens on the evergreen tree branches. I saw some mergansers fly by, a couple of Canada geese, one young eagle, and heard a woodpecker. I enjoyed a very peaceful, slow time.

Don’t we see Jesus heading off to deserted places, quite regularly, during His busy years? He took his disciples along.

What refreshes your soul, and quiets you? How about… music? We are having some ‘special music’ here today, the Fellas being our guests here. Some of the music they share is familiar – and may be special to you – and some may be new to you. ‘Troublin Mind’ was one I had never ever heard of, but now I know it. Some of those simple lyrics I have not yet figured out – yet that is how music and poetry work. They work before we even understand.

Together we sang ‘Be Still My Soul.’ We could just as easily have sung ‘It is well, it is well, with my soul.’ A hymn I know, but you might not, is ‘Hark, My Soul, It Is the Lord,’ from 1768. One of the verses echoes Isaiah 49:15. God’s word:

Can a mother’s tender care

     Cease toward the child she bare?

Yes, she may forgetful be,

     Yet will I remember thee.

The Isaiah reading that Ed shared is one of those many poetic moments when God’s people of old were given hope, in the face of their exile and loss of their homeland. This moment reminds us that the care of the human soul is not done alone. We are in community, we are made for each other, salvation is in fellowship. We see this illustrated in the third verse of Psalm 131.    O Israel, hope in the LORD

From this time on and forevermore.

After those personal, individual words about being humble and being calm inside, the whole people are to put their hope in God. These things go hand in hand – perhaps are inseparable. For our inner soul to be like a calm, happy child, we cannot be alone. And we are not. But we must know that fact.

Troublin mind. Any song like that is trouble shared, and in the sharing, a bit of peace comes into the soul. Songs like this remind us we are not alone in our troubles. Notice these who got named:          

                Mary and Martha, Peter and John:

they had trouble all night long.

Troublin mind, troubling mind;

God's gonna ease my troublin mind.

To have your soul calmed like a carefree child, share your soul, share the journey. We put our hope in God more easily, more inspired, with the fellowship of faith. As someone said, there are no ‘Lone Ranger Christians.’

So you are (or can be) part of the soul-care team. We have responsibility to care for others. We have this ministry. To some degree, we are our brother’s keepers.

Our congregation, like so many others, has our Annual Meeting coming up. All our reports are going to print, including a few financial plans for this year. More important could be: how have we all cared for other souls? Perhaps we have fifty-three Sundays this year to acknowledge that.

I’ve kept my feet on the ground,

        I’ve cultivated a quiet heart.

Like a baby content in its mother’s arms,

       my soul is a baby content.

Finally, is what could be first. You could spend some time asking Jesus what He thinks of this Psalm, and what calming the soul within can look like.