Curb The Garbage

A Reflection on the Psalm for December 23rd, 2018:
​Fourth Sunday of Advent

Psalm 80 

R. Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth. Stir up your might, and come to save us. 

R. Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand has planted. 

R. Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

But let your hand be upon the man at your right, the son of man you have made strong for yourself. Then we will never turn back from you; give us life, and we will call on your name. 

R. Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

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Chaos. It’s all around us. Especially this time of year. And without making a conscious choice to remain focused on Christ, it is easy to get swept up in the noise and busyness that the Advent season brings. Unless we really choose to keep our eyes fixed on Him, we can succumb to the pressure that we, as a misled society, place on ourselves to find those perfect gifts that are perfectly wrapped, paired with Martha Stewart inspired food and décor. Coupled with the emotional rollercoaster of it all, the result can easily become a heart that is overwhelmed and unfulfilled and has completely missed the point.

If this week’s Psalm is any indication, this isn’t a new concept. It seems that for centuries upon centuries people have realized that we need God, and so, cry out in desperation as in the refrain, “Restore us O God. Let your face shine, that we may be saved.” We can get so lost, but when we cry out to God in those times, He will hear us and “have regard for this vine” and gently bring us back to Him so we can be saved from our own shortcomings.

So how do we do this? How do we ask the Shepherd of Israel to give ear? We acknowledge that we are lost, and then we have firm confidence in His ability to stir up His strength, and in this way we can have hope. Through acknowledging our sins and expressing a desire to be better, the result is not condemnation, but compassion — a theme that rang true in this week’s Reconciliation Drama at Saint Benedict Parish. Compassion literally means “with passion”, and in this case, it is the passion that God has to show us the way if we come to Him with a humble spirit and a repentant heart. Then we can have confidence in the desire of He “who is enthroned upon the cherubim” to “shine forth”.

"How do we ask the Shepherd of Israel to give ear?
​We acknowledge that we are lost, and then we have firm confidence in His ability to stir up His strength, and in this way we can have hope."

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But first, we must make space in our hearts to receive His light. We need to get rid of all the garbage — the stuff that we’ve been dragging along behind us. In this psalm, we are reminded that God wants to help us do this. He wants us to become aware again that we are the vine and can be filled by simply making room. If we can do this, God will fill us with such light that we will never turn back. Regardless of how much garbage there is or how many trips to the curb we may have to make, we can remain hopeful and filled with joy because God is always there. He is patiently waiting, arms open wide, ready to give us Life. ​

​Lynda Tyler (with Jen Jenkins)

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