Blogging Toward Sunday, May 20th
Sermon: Rev. LeeAnn Inman
Awakening Our Wonder: "Every Breath We Take"
Scripture: Psalm 104:24-31; 33-35 (Common English Bible)
LORD, you have done so many things!
You made them all so wisely!
The earth is full of your creations!
25 And then there's the sea, wide and deep,
with its countless creatures-
living things both small and large.
26 There go the ships on it,
and Leviathan, which you made, plays in it!
27 All your creations wait for you
to give them their food on time.
28 When you give it to them, they gather it up;
when you open your hand, they are filled completely full!
29 But when you hide your face, they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
they die and return to dust.
30 When you let loose your breath, they are created,
and you make the surface of the ground brand-new again.
31 Let the Lord's glory last forever!
Let the Lord rejoice in all he has made!
33 I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I'm still alive.
34 Let my praise be pleasing to him;
I'm rejoicing in the LORD!
But let my whole being bless the LORD!
Praise the LORD!
Psalm 104, a hymn of praise, celebrates the wonder and variety of creation,
beginning and ending with unbridled, joyful praise to the creator and provider
of it all. Although exclamation points (!) do not exist in the original Hebrew
script, most translations add them with abandon in this Psalm!
This passage, the psalm of the day for Pentecost Sunday, celebrates the Spirit,
or breath of God (
Ruach
in Hebrew) that enlivens and sustains creation and
creatures alike. Recall that God made the first human being from the dust of
the earth, and then breathed the spirit (
ruach
), making them "living being(s)."
The parts of verses that the lectionary skips have to do more with the psalm
writer's sense of the human condition than the reason for the praise: God as
wonder-inspiring creator.
In a blog that popped up when I googled "
ruach," this word topped the list of
"Seven Hebrew Words Every Christian Should Know:"
RUACH: Which means BREATH, WIND, SPIRIT
We don't often think about breathing ... unless we're running out of air. But
breath is an important theme throughout the Bible. The Book of Genesis says
God made man from mud and put skin, muscles, bones, blood vessels,
tendons, veins and hair in place, but the man was not a "living being" until
God breathed into his body.
The word for breath in Hebrew is ruach which also means Spirit, so humans
only becomes "living beings" when God gives the Spirit. According to the
psalms, "... everything that has breath praise the Lord", so to be alive we first
inhale God's Spirit and then we exhale praise. Inhale Spirit, exhale praise. This
is life.
Do you have this rhythm in your life?
This Sunday, we'll celebrate Pentecost, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the birthday
of the Church with word and prayer and a breathing lesson or two. This song,
"
Spirit of God
" by Steve Garnaas-Homes, based on Genesis 1:2, Psalm 104:30,
and acts 2:1-4, will help us awaken to the wonder of every breath that we
take:
Spirit of God, bright Wind, breath that bids life begin,
blow as you always do; create us anew.
Give us the breath to sing, lifted on soaring wing,
held in your hands, borne on your wings.
Alleluia! Come, Spirit, come!
Alleluia! Come, Spirit, come!
Come to worship this Sunday, ready for the wonder of every breath that we
take as we celebrate the life-giving, life-renewing gift of the Holy Spirit.
See you in church, wearing red!
Pastor LeeAnn
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