We Shall Come Rejoicing, Bringing in the Sheaves
A Sermon Delivered by The Rev. John D. Painter at Centenary United Methodist Church Metuchen, New Jersey November 22, 2009 (Thanksgiving Sunday)
Text: Psalm 126
Psalm 126
A Harvest of Joy
A Song of Ascents
When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.
May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves. —Psalm 126, NRSV
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Bill Long says he always chuckles when he reads Psalm 126. The reason has little to do with the ideas or concepts in the Psalm but with a story from his past. As you now know, the old Gospel hymn which we just sang, “Bringing in the Sheaves,” is based on Psalm 126. And the chorus is especially joyful:
“Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves,
Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.”
I’ve been singing it to myself all week long in anticipation of this morning’s service.
In Bill Long’s opinion, “It is sort of a hokey tune and words, but hokeyness never stopped the Protestant Church from singing something.” But its “hokeyness” is not the reason Bill laughs whenever he reads Psalm 126. He explains: “Well, my youngest brother, who is eight years younger than I, used to go to various ‘sing-a-longs’ with me when he was a kid, and we would sing the old Gospel tunes with gusto. This was one of his favorites. I could never figure it out until I heard him belting out the chorus one day. He sang, ‘Bringing in the cheese, bringing in the cheese.’ He loved cheese, especially cottage cheese, and thought that the hymn was celebrating the ‘cheese harvest.’”
I also have some memories that arise whenever I hear this particular Psalm. As it turns out, it was the text for the second Sermon I preached…way back during my college years. I had preached my first Sermon as a senior in high school at my home church—Main Street Methodist Church in Nashua, NH. I don’t remember the Scripture passage I used for that message. What I do remember was, if you listened carefully, you could have heard my Grandpa White’s vest buttons popping with pride as his eldest grandson stood in the pulpit to preach his first Sermon. You see, it was a place he would love to have stood as a young man. But family responsibilities and circumstances never permitted him to fulfill that dream, and he spent his years laboring in a New England textile factory, while singing in the First Baptist Church choir, teaching Sunday School, and faithfully raising his family of six children.
The other thing I remember about that first Sermon was this…you might have heard my Grandpa White’s vest buttons popping if it hadn’t have been for the ungodly squealing from my Grandmother White’s hearing aid…smack dab in the middle of the Lord’s Prayer, of all times! And up and down those pews crowded with aunts and uncles and younger cousins, there were the snickers and giggles that erupted, because my Nana White was blissfully unaware of the racket her hearing aid feedback was creating. We were all used to it…it happened a lot…but it was seldom as humorous as in that solemn moment of prayer. In those days, the Lord’s Prayer came before the Sermon, so, as you can imagine, I approached the Pulpit with more than knocking knees as I tried to remain composed.
But it was sometime in my junior year at West Virginia Wesleyan College that a classmate who was already serving as a supply pastor to several small churches just outside Buckhannon asked me to preach for him one Sunday morning. I don’t remember why I chose Psalm 126 as my text, and I really don’t remember a word of what I said in that sermon…even though I preached it in two different churches on his circuit that morning. All I remember is that my fiancé Tina (now my wife of over 44 years) and I traveled together over winding West Virginia roads to those small Methodist congregations; that we were greeted with the hallmark hospitality of those wonderful mountain folk; and, that my fledgling efforts at homiletics were received with uncommon grace and courtesy.
I don’t believe that over the course of 43 years of ministry that I have ever again preached on Psalm 126…not since those days in the early 60’s in West Virginia. I don’t know why that should be, because Psalm 126 is a superb Thanksgiving text. For one thing, the psalmist acknowledges the reality of suffering and loss that we all experience in this life. Yet the writer of Psalm 126 also lifts up the redemptive power of hope and joy that so often emerges out of the restoration that follows loss. In fact, this Psalm recalls one of the biggest joys of Israel following one of the biggest periods of destruction and suffering: the Babylonian captivity. At one point in time it appeared that Israel was finished as a nation and a people: the temple was destroyed; the people were scattered; hope was drowning in a flood of tears. Yet, in time the people were freed from exile and captivity. Reunited and restored back home in Israel and Jerusalem, they began to rebuild their nation and the Temple once again. And they knew, according to the promise of God, that even though they may have sown in tears, they were now going to “reap with shouts of joy.”
Psalm 126 is a “Song of Ascents”—so named because, as pilgrims would “ascend” the rising road to Jerusalem and the Temple, they would sing some of the Psalms. This one is especially full of nostalgia—of the memory of that miraculous time when God brought the exiles home from Babylon. The day of homecoming was wonderful! The trip back passed like a happy dream; even the enemy nations stood and watched in surprise and awe as God’s redeemed returned home. But then…then came the years after. Years of rebuilding all that had been lost and destroyed. Life turned out to be pretty hard, compared to the joy of coming home. They wanted a taste of joy again! They wanted their fortunes to be as when they went singing and dancing back home.
I suspect there are some of us who may be immersed in some nostalgia as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches. At least that has been indicative in the kind of e-mailings I have been receiving from some of my senior friends these days. In these chaotic times, I sense in them a yearning for “the good old days.” I suspect that longing has been intensified by the lingering economic doldrums—fed by memories of a more prosperous time…of less anxious days.
The fact is that even in this time of lessened resources, one commentator on the scene has observed that most of us in this room still have plenty to eat, plenty to wear, and plenty to get around with. We still have much for which to be thankful.
Preaching on the themes of gratitude and celebration in Psalm 126, Frank Schaefer has said, “The thing about thankfulness is that it should be more than a fleeting expression—it should be a life-style and an attitude. You may call it the attitude of gratitude. It is an attitude with life-changing power.
“When we say ‘thank you’ to God—even in the midst of a crisis—it almost seems as if our worries subside. Perhaps this is so because we may remember how God has helped us in times past.
“Thanking God reminds us that God is a God of protection and provision. Even in times of adverse circumstances we know that God is a compassionate, caring God who has promised to come to our help and rescue us.”
Some recent studies are suggesting that there may be a direct connection between an attitude of gratitude and one’s state of health—not merely emotional well-being, but actual physical health! TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey brought this study to public awareness in the United States some time ago. She suggested to her audience that making a mental list of things we can be grateful for before going to sleep at night (and/or before getting up in the morning) will have a very positive impact on a person’s life and health.
Making such a mental list of things we are grateful for does not only make us aware of the many blessings we have in our lives, but it can actually change our perspective. As one African-American preacher put it, making a such a mental list led one father to a new attitude: He went from feeling angry and frustrated over not having enough to provide his children with much-needed shoes, and started to thank God for having two sets of feet that belonged to healthy children. In this way, his problem became a “good problem” to have–even though it was still a problem.
We really do have a choice about our attitude. We can be critical and complain about everything that happens to us. Or we can look on the positive side with an attitude of faith that the God who promised us a joyful harvest just might still be at work in the world and in our lives. And that attitude of gratitude might just compel us to find ways in which we can become a part of the solution to the “good problem” of a father seeking much-needed shoes for his children. Your gifts of food here at the base of the Altar Table this morning are a testimony to the power of that attitude of gratitude. And so will be the commitments you will bring to the table a bit later in this service, as you seek to support our ministry and mission for Christ’s sake.
Why is it sometimes so hard for us to have a positive attitude? It seems so easy to complain about petty things like dirty dishes, stinky laundry, and unmade beds. It’s so easy to look on the negative side. Frank Schaefer says, “I suppose when they were out there wandering around for forty years in the wilderness, the Israelites got really tired of quail and manna after they had tried Manna Soup, Manna & Quail Casserole, Quail & Manna Casserole, Hot & Spicy Shredded Manna, Baked Quail with Sour Manna Sauce, and Sweet & Sour Manna. I’m sure they got tired of the same food every day, but they had the wrong attitude. They forgot how bad things would be without God’s help.”
One woman demonstrated the attitude we might desire to have when she wrote this unusual prayer:
“Dear Lord, Thank you for this sink of dirty dishes; we have plenty of food to eat. Thank you for this pile of dirty, stinky laundry; we have plenty of nice clothes to wear. And I would like to thank you, Lord, for those unmade beds; they were so warm and comfortable last night. I know that many have no bed. My thanks to you, Lord for this bathroom, complete with all the splattered, messy, soggy, grimy towels and the dirty lavatory, they are so convenient. Amen.”
Attitude is a choice, but it is a choice that makes all the difference. Let us make a choice to be thankful all the time, not just in this Thanksgiving season. Let us be Thanksgiving people all the time—people who live with an attitude of gratitude.
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PRAYER
God of endless providing, we give thanks for both the simple, ordinary ways you sustain us and for the complex, amazing gifts of your creation:
for the warm scent of fresh bread and the sharp taste of icy water;
for the elusive touch of a spider’s web and the hidden center of a black hole;
for the gift of loyal companions on long journeys;
for the myriad communities and cultures who find you in their midst;
for all the ways you reveal yourself, whether close at hand, or out of our reach.
Do not let us become complacent. Keep us always mindful of your care for us, that we may remain your grateful people, servants praying in the name of the Servant. Amen.
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