“I Lift My Eyes to the Hills: A Vision on Bradley Boulevard”
Rev. Dr. David E. Gray
Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church
Stewardship Sunday
November 8, 2009
Psalm 121
The author of Psalm 121 was on a journey, though our text doesn’t tell us much about the itinerary. Perhaps he was saying goodbye to friends and family before leaving Jerusalem in search of fortune. Maybe his work during that agrarian time took him away from his home. Most likely, he was a pilgrim traveling to Jerusalem to worship. The context of Psalm 121 implies that the writer is on the move. The Psalmist says that God will keep his feet from “being moved,” or slipping. That God will be his shade from the hot sun that impaired so many travelers in the Middle East. That God will watch his comings and goings.
Psalm 121 has historically been a favorite passage for missionaries. It is believed that Dr. David Livingston read it on the morning of his departure from England for Africa.
The writer of Psalm 121 had the confidence to go on his journey, because he believed that God would look out for him and for those he cared about. Psalm 121 is so popular today because it speaks of gratitude and trust in God during the journeys of life.
Two weeks ago my family traveled to Colorado for a wedding. If you’ve ever been to Colorado and have driven along I-70 west you’ve seen those great Hills, the Rocky Mountains, rise up in the distance. As they get closer and closer you realize just how inspiring they are. As he prepared for his journey, the Psalmist lifted his eyes to the Hills that he saw and put his trust in God. On his journey, the psalmist needed help. He needed God’s help steadying him so his feet didn’t slip. He needed God to protect him from the hot sun so he didn’t burn. He needed God to help guide his steps.
Psalm 121 is so powerful because it starts with the sovereignty of God and ends with the closeness of God. The Psalmist cries, “I look to the Hills.” Many of us feel the presence of the God when we are hiking or in the mountains. Mountains remind us of the power of God. The Psalmist affirms that God created heaven and earth. In fact, the New International Version of the Bible translates verse two as identifying God as the “maker of Heaven and Earth,” the exact phrase included in the Apostle’s Creed.
Psalm 121 depicts a powerful God who cares about us. The Psalmist believes that his help comes from the Lord, who guides his comings and goings and who keeps us in this life and forevermore. God is powerful enough to help us, and caring enough about each of us to want to. I love this Psalm’s message that God is big enough to do something about my struggles and near enough to care about me.
The psalmist concludes that God will keep his life. His whole life. He affirms that that God is in charge. That God doesn’t slumber. That all he has comes from God.
On stewardship Sunday we affirm that God keeps our lives. We join in gratitude for God’s abundant gifts. Stewardship as a principle is about the wise use of resources. In Biblical culture, stewards managed another’s property. In Jesus’ parables of the “Unjust Steward” from Luke and of the “Three Stewards” from Matthew’s Gospel, we hear about the importance of people stewarding well the resources their Lord gives them. If we believe that our church is God’s gift to us and a unique expression of God’s presence on earth, and if we acknowledge that the talents we have that allow us to earn a living originate from God, than we are ultimately accountable for how we steward the gifts of time, talent and treasure that we have been given.
Stewardship Sunday is an expression of our gratitude. I’d like you to know how grateful I am to each of you. First, for calling me and welcoming my family so thoroughly here at Bradley Hills. Secondly, for supporting this church. I know this has been a challenging year for many of us. It has been several years of transition for your church community. And it’s been such a challenging economic year. And yet you as a congregation have stood together and stood up during a time of transition and during a time of economic challenge. You have continued to contribute to your church and to God’s work in the world through this congregation and you are now in a very strong place. Our church budget is on track for the year. We are doing well. We are grateful for that. And third, you have supported each other during times of personal need. You have delivered meals, flowers and communion. Visited and consoled each other. Celebrated and laughed with each other. And trusted God together.
And so this morning we lift our eyes to the Hills. To our Bradley Hills. There was a time when many Presbyterians in the Washington area lifted their eyes to the suburbs of Bethesda. In the 1950’s, they decided to move the Washington Heights Presbyterian congregation to the Bradley Hills section of Bethesda. And this church in this spot was formed. Last Sunday was the final Sunday that founding member Marian Grobowski spent with us as a congregation before she moved to be with her son in the Carolinas. Marian came to the church this week to see me and say goodbye. She told me that when she joined the church, the same day as Dorothy DeCourt, there were cows roaming behind Walter Johnson High School and Fernwood was a rural road. During those times, people journeyed to Bradley Hills to see what a church in these Hills could be like.
Now again is a time when we look up and begin to dream about what kind of church we’d like to be.
We have a proud history as a place of education. Bradley Hills began in many ways as a Sunday school, as a place to educate young people. Our nursery school is a ministry of the church. We have young families moving into Bethesda and coming to our congregation. As the parent of a young family I take that responsibility in education seriously. How are we as a congregation going to respond to the new families coming to our church?
This worship space makes us lift up our eyes. To this cross, to these stain glass windows, to these resurrection and Pentecost windows. We turn around and see this great organ, or look at this lantern, and we think about the legacy of worship and music and arts and word and spirit at this church. Organists dream about playing a musical instrument like this. Choirs and ensembles vie to perform here. These pulpits have hosted many an important communicator. Our choirs and chancel players glorify God. What a legacy and gift to be able to worship here. How do build on this worship tradition? What can our music program for adults and children look like? We have the pieces in place to keep this program vibrant. We have such gifted musicians, can we increase the time they spend with us so that we can lift not only our voices, but the spirits of those who come and worship with us here.
When I was thinking of coming to Bradley Hills last year as pastor, and shared with people what I knew about the congregation and why I felt this was a potential fit, I talked about your commitment to mission. This congregation has been a leader in helping people in vulnerable places within our local area and across the globe. This is a critical time for many in the communities around us and our commitment to mission giving and finding ways to meet those needs is made possible by our pledges of financial support.
The Psalmist looked to the Hills and asked “Where does my help come from?” “It comes from the Lord.” People in our day still look to God’s church for help as well. I get calls from people every week seeking emotional, spiritual or financial help. I’d like people in Bethesda and Washington to continue to look to the Hills, Bradley Hills, as a source of hope and help at this difficult time. For both members and the broader community.
What Joanie Friend does as our parish nurse to help people at times of physical vulnerability is amazing. What Gail Brown does to help people grow spiritually is fantastic. I have been inspired as I’ve watched Scott lend an ear to young people who need someone to listen. I am lifted up at the end of each service as I stand at the back of this sanctuary and face the altar of God and listen to Kyle play our magnificent organ.
The lift my eyes and heart to the Hills. But the only mountains I am seeing this week are the mountains of boxes in my living room. As many of you know, my family just moved to Bethesda. We didn’t plan on doing so this quickly and we now have to sell our old home in this market. It’s a time of transition, but we have a vision, we can see what is on the other side of this transition. I know that being very close to the church, to Suburban hospital and to many of you will make a positive difference in our life as a church. I know that being in Montgomery Country can be a blessing to my children. I know that for my wife and me, the risk we take in moving is worth it.
God calls us, each of us, to take risks in our commitment to God’s service. To reach out to others, to care for each other and to invest in God’s vision for God’s church. The reason we can risk making a commitment to God is because we know that God keeps our lives. Our stewardship of our time and talents in volunteering and our stewardship of our treasure in making a financial pledge to the church comes from our trust in God and from the joy we can receive from helping.
There is great joy in giving along a journey. Emel Sweeny, age 73, is a retired bookkeeper in Washington DC. Last May he was traveling on a bus in D.C. when he encountered a young woman who was struggling to manage her four, small, tired children on a bus. Standing at a transfer stop on the bus, she staggered from exhaustion. So Sweeney got out of line, hailed a cab, took out of $20 bill and told the mother and her family to come and take the cab the rest of the way home. He guided her steps on her journey and used his resources to provide help at a critical time. The mother, after she piled her family into the cab, opened the window, waved at Sweeny as he got back into line and mouthed the words, “thank-you.”
When asked why he did it, Sweeney answered, "Have you ever looked into the face of someone you're being generous to?” "Her (gratitude) just rested in my chest," Sweeney said, "and as I rode home I was so happy."
Like Sweeny, like the Psalmist, we too are on a journey as individuals and as a congregation. We don’t know who we’ll meet or what opportunities we’ll face over this next year. But we are on a journey. That has always been the way it is for God’s people. Old Testament icons like Abraham and Sarah were not settled people, but people in route to somewhere. Jesus described his own existence as someone who was on a journey, as being on the way, rather than as someone settled. To be a disciple of Christ in the New Testament meant you were on your way. In fact, the early Christian church was known literally as “The Way.”
We are on our way as a church community. If you are a visitor this morning or someone considering membership, I hope you’ll join us at Bradley Hills. If you are a member of the church, please know how grateful I am to be in ministry with you. You are wanted and needed here. I can see where God is leading us to be a congregation that educates children, equips adult, inspires people through worship and sends them out to serve the world.
And so I ask you to close your eyes for a moment. Go ahead and close them. I’d like you to remember a time when the church or a friend at church or even someone outside, was there for you during an important time or a time of need. Next, I’d like you to remember in your mind a time when you were able to help someone else in the church or elsewhere. Maybe God has given you a particular gift or talent. Or entrusted something to you and you used it to help someone else. How did it feel to be supportive of that other person? Now visualize in your mind one way you can contribute to making your church a place of hope, inspiration and support. Now open your eyes. Lift them up. And thank God for the ways God is calling you to help. Thanks be to God. Amen.
