The headlines, which undoubtedly covered the front page of every paper in this country, and perhaps most of the world, this past week declared the beginning of war with Iraq. It was a very sad day for me both because I did not feel that this is the way to solve the problem and because of the terrible impact I knew this war, as any war will have on the lives of so many including many innocent people. What will be the outcome and ramifications of this none of us can really know.

I hear many requests that we pray for our soldiers and our leaders, which indeed we need to do. I also hope that our faith, our spirituality will not identify any person who is to be excluded from our prayers. Our act of holding all before God and letting God hold his will before us is essential in this time. It is an essential act for those of us who call ourselves disciples of Jesus Christ.

In many ways the lessons for today are very fitting for this time. We started the service with the recitation of the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments. They are some of the most ancient laws, commandments in the Jewish History and they set the stage for the Covenant between God and his people, all of us. In Judaism the people are bid to love the law for it brings them into right relationship with God, and this is far better than any thing one could acquire in this world. This may be a bit different from the way we think of the commandments as things we SHOULD NOT DO OR ELSE. They are God’s effort to help us see clearly who he is and who we are created in his image.

How important that is for us in a time of upheaval and uncertainty. The temptation to put other things in God’s place, to not respect one another, to use another for our own ends rather than as the neighbor who is our partner with God in caring for the world and one another. We are not perfect and God knows it, and he gives us these challenges as Leonard Felder calls them in his book of the same title. The Jews understood that it is the Law as these are called, along with many other commandments, that make us aware of our human limitations and help us to know sin when we see it. As Christians we turn to the life and teachings of Jesus to help us in the same way, and remember that Jesus said I have not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. He quotes Deuteronomy when asked about the greatest commandment, saying to “ Love the Lord Your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself

Psalm 19, which we read responsively this morning, is an act of acknowledgement and praise to God for the gift of the law as God’s love for us, to help us find our way, and it is a prayer to God to help us not fall into error or be oblivious to hidden faults.

7: The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
8: the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9: the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever; 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 thy servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
12: But who can discern his errors? Clear thou me from hidden faults.
13: Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not 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 in thy sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

Herbert O’Driscoll in his book Child of Peace, Lord of Life, says, “ The psalmist is presenting God as the ultimate source of wisdom. There is another source of wisdom, the self, the human mind and heart. It is not itself evil but it must always be aware of the possibility that it may claim too much for itself, that it may become presumptuous. God does not demand that we refrain from expressing our human wisdom in speech or seeking it by inward reflection and meditation. Our responsibility is to regard God as the reference point for and the measure of our human wisdom.” ( page 128)

Jesus encounters with the religious authorities of his day where frequently around this issue of whether they were creating their own interpretation of God’s law or seeking their reference point from beyond. It is a dilemma to which we are all vulnerable. When Jesus becomes critical of those carrying out business in the Temple his criticism was confusing because they thought they were doing what was expected making it possible for people to acquire the sacrificial animals and appropriate coins for the Temple tax. Perhaps the problem was that they had fallen victim to the business as usual mentality and God’s presence was not really in it.

Scott Clark in the Journal of Biblical Theology reflects on this event and adds the perspective that the Temple had been the place were God’s presence was to dwell, however Jesus is shaking the old assumptions and bringing to their awareness, though they don’t really get it, that God’s presence is with them in a new way. And, with Jesus’ resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit, God’s presence dwells not in a Temple or Church building, but in the temple of our bodies as we are to be the Body of Christ now.

So as we live through these days, may we do so with great humility and prayer seeking the wisdom of God whose presence dwells in us. May are prayer be that of the Psalmist – May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be always acceptable in your sight O Lord our strength and our Redeemer. Amen.