The Message, February 18, 2024: "The First Step," Psalm 25:1-10

Author: Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
February 20, 2024

 

“The First Step …”
A Message by Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
Psalm 25:1-10

            What a wonderful coincidence it is that I am offering a message titled, “The First Step,” on the same day that I baptize a six-month-old baby. We know that very soon, beautiful, little Haley will be taking her first steps. It is so exciting! The internet is chock full of videos of precious babies taking those first … wobbly … steps. We see mommies and daddies, grandmas and grandpas clap their hands and cheer them on. And sometimes we see the little one drop back onto their nice, soft diapers. Parents, siblings, aunts and uncles willingly lend their hands to the little one to hold to keep them from falling.

            We know that it will not be long before their steps grow more steady, more sure, more confident, and they begin moving about the house on their own. Parents put up baby gates and locks on the cabinets to keep the little ones safe. And then, before they know it, the babies have graduated from toddling to walking to running around the house!

            Walking is not something that we are taught. Parents do not watch instructional videos so that they can learn how to teach their children how to walk … then run. Walking is something that we do instinctively. The teaching comes AFTER we learn to walk.

            We learn WHEN to walk, and WHERE to walk. We learn how to walk SAFELY … “Look both ways before you cross the street.” “Do not walk alone at night.” “Stay away from the stove, it is hot.”

            Of course, children are not always the best listeners. Sometimes they stray from the paths that they are told to walk. When I was a child, my family was installing a slate sidewalk in front of the house. We were told not to walk or run on the stones until they were set into the ground so that we would not trip and fall. Well … my brother and I were playing, and running, and I took a shortcut across the slate. I tripped and fell … and still have a nice scar under my eye from where the sharp edge of the slate cut me.

            Psalm 25 is a good place for us to begin as we take our first steps on our Lenten journey. David was not beginning his journey to the cross or Calvary as we do in the season of Lent, but he was reaching out, imploring God …. asking God for help. David offered his whole self … his soul, his life … everything to God. The pose of supplication, the arms uplifted … raised toward God … was more than an act of worship. It was an offering.

            The words of the psalm center around three themes can assist us on our journey, our Lenten walk.
            We wait.
            God Teaches.
            God Forgives.

            Those who wait upon God place their trust in God. “Waiting” in this context is very different than what we may think of when we consider the words ‘wait.’ We wait in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles. We wait for our names to be called when we are sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s or the dentist’s office. We wait for our spouse to finish shopping so that we can finally leave the mall. In these cases, the waiting is NOT something that is enjoyable. Neither are we waiting for something for which we are excited. (Except for leaving the mall.)

            Waiting in the context of the psalm is more akin to the waiting that I spoke to the children about in the Children’s Message. We cannot wait for the warm weather to arrive. We cannot wait to go golfing. We cannot wait for Easter … or our birthday … or for our grandchild to be born! We cannot wait!

            That is the type of ‘waiting’ that David was experiencing. He was excited … anticipating … what he KNOWS that God will do for him. He knows that God is faithful. He knows that God is steadfast and true. He KNOWS that the covenant that God made with God’s children is everlasting … until the end of the age.

            Waiting is very different than hoping that something will happen. Hoping is desiring a certain outcome, but not being certain at all that it will happen. Waiting, on the other hand, is based entirely upon our certainty that God WILL do something. Our faith assures us that the promises of God are true.

            Waiting is the source of the wonderful peace that we experience in God. Waiting is the source of our comfort and our joy. God IS faithful. Our steps through Lent are sure and steady knowing that God is with us, holding us, every step of the way.

            Of course, even with God holding us, holding our hands, keeping us steady, there may still be times when we stray from the path set before us. There may be times when we do not know which way to go. David found himself in one of those situations. “Teach me your Way, O God. Teach me your way.”

            David had lost his way. He had wandered from God’s Way, and he was asking for God to teach him … to remind him … to show him how to return to God’s Way.

            We read in scripture: “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” (1 John 4:7)

            To love is the essence of God’s Way. God’s love calls us into being. God’s love is present with us from the dawn of time until the end of the age. God’s love is present with us during the pinnacle moments of life, and God’s love is present when we are in the depths of despair. God’s love blesses us every moment of every day, and God’s Way for us … God’s intent for us … is that we share that blessing with others.

            It is possible, even likely, that we will stray from that Way. We can be tempted to pursue our own way rather than God’s Way. We can be tempted to pursue our own desires rather than follow God’s desire for us and for the world. “Teach us your Way, O God. Help us find our way back to your Way.”

            And forgive us, O God. Forgive the transgressions of our youth. Forgive the transgressions of yesterday when we were old enough to know better. Do not remember them. Do not hold them against us. Show us your mercy, O God.

            God’s steadfast love and mercy are as old as the end of time. God’s forgiveness and mercy are rooted in the deep well of God’s love. The word in Hebrew is ‘hesed.’ It means ‘love and tenderness toward others.’ It is synonymous with the word ‘rahamim’ which means ‘tender mercy and compassion.’ And etymologically is related to the Hebrew word for “womb.”

            God’s love and mercy, God’s forgiveness, are rooted from that which gives us life.

            There may be times when we carry the crushing weight of guilt around our necks. The shame that we may feel drags us down, sucks the joy out of us, sucks the life out of us. Forgiveness gives us life. God’s tenderness and mercy offer us peace, and lightness, and life. God’s love and grace set us free.

            Today we take the first steps of our Lenten journey. May our steps be sure and steady with the confidence that God is with us.

            May we walk with joyful hearts. But let us also be humble in our walk knowing that we rely upon God for our life and breath.

            Let us walk in the Way of Love knowing that God calls us to love and serve our neighbors because we have been loved first. And if we have strayed from that Way, let us be humble enough to ask God to teach us … to show us once more.

            And finally, let us walk without the weight of guilt or shame knowing that we are loved and forgiven, knowing that God’s tenderness and mercy give us life.

            Let us walk in the light and the love of God. Amen.

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