Trinity Metropolitan Community Church of Gainesville (Trinity MCC)

I Sing Because I’m Happy

Rev. Jim Merritt

Trinity MCC Gainesville/OdysseyChurch Jacksonville

August 23, 2009

Introduction:

(Singing) “I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free. For God’s eye is on the sparrow and I know God watches me. God’s eye is on the sparrow, and I know God watches me!” Doesn’t that make you happy today, friends? Doesn’t it make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside to know that God’s eye is on you every moment of every day; when you put your feet on the floor in the morning, while you’re going through your day, when you put your head on the pillow at night (if you’re lucky enough to have one) and while you sleep in the wee hours of the morning. Doesn’t it make your heart want to sing knowing that God’s eyes of love and compassion are watching over you, watching out for you, looking for the good in you in your past, in this very moment and on out into eternity. And don’t you love a God that brings us freedom; freedom from oppression, freedom from discrimination, freedom from the labels of “other,” freedom from all the chains that have bound us up and held us down? We can really sing at the top of our voices, “I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free. God’s eye is on the sparrow and I know that I know that I know that I know God watches me. My goodness, that is good news this morning. What a wonderful and loving God we serve! Are you with me? I’m so excited about what God is doing here and in our denomination, and in our world out there to make everybody knows the radically inclusive, radically welcoming, extravagantly hospitable message of this Gospel of liberation. And I’m even happier that we are a part of it.

Psalm 84

            The Psalmist cries out to God, “Your temple is my Joy, and my flesh sings its joy to the living God. That’s right, sisters and brothers, our God is a living God. You might have heard the message somewhere along the way that God’s work is finished and that we don’t really need an active God anymore because now we can just live by the scriptures. And I’m here to tell you this morning that I love the bible, I love the stories that I’ve lived with since I was a little boy in the Baptist Sunday School and I also know that God is alive and well. I know that Time Magazine made a false report on April 8, 1966, when the front cover said, “God is Dead,” and I know that others are making false reports today saying “there is no God,” because I know, we know a living God, a God that is alive and well and living not only in time and space, but also in our hearts deep inside of us. We know that we are God’s temple; that this church is also God’s temple and we are singing today because we’re so happy that our very flesh sings out the joy of knowing this God who is alive and well living with us and in us!

            The Psalmist uses the metaphor of birds; swallows homing and sparrows seeking places to hatch their young to describe the eagerness with which we can approach God and God’s dwelling places. The Psalmist takes the message of Radical Inclusion to a new level by welcoming non-human images into the temple. I know when I bring my dogs onto this property they are very happy, they sense that this is a peaceful place. I’m also reminded of the morning I drove up to witness that family of deer, beautiful adults and beautiful young deer lounging peacefully on this property. I see the birds and the butterflies and the spiders and thanks be to God, no snakes so far, enjoying this place that is a dwelling place for God. It is God’s dwelling place in the land and in the buildings and in the hearts of those who come here to worship. As the Psalmist suggests, this can be a welcoming place for humans and even non-humans. Helene Talon Russell makes an interesting point. She points out that some birds are ambi-sexual. And I’m thankful for her thoughtfulness because that give us yet another level of inclusiveness to which we can aspire. Some birds are in the minority, too. Some birds are different, too. Some birds are different like you and I are different and isn’t it just fun that although the Psalmist probably not aware of all this, that God has found yet another way to make us sing because we are happy, another way to sing because we are free as we witness this message of full inclusion coming from folks who did not even understand it and were still God’s instruments to teach it. Isn’t it wonderful the way God works?!

The Psalmist also reminds us that in the midst of all this happiness and joy, we will encounter some tough times, too. We know tough times, don’t we? I’m reminded of the late Vestal Goodman, my favorite of ALL gospel singers I’ve ever known, and her song, “God Walks the Dark Hills.” Sister Vestal sings, “GOD WALKS THE DARK HILLS, THE WAY AND THE BY WAYS, GOD WALKS ON THE BILLOWS
OF LIFE’S TROUBLED SEA. GOD WALKS IN THE COLD DARK NIGHT, THE SHADOWS OF MIDNIGHT GOD WALKS THE DARK HILLS JUST TO GUIDE YOU AND ME.GOD WALKS THE DARK HILLS TO GUIDE MY FOOTSTEPS
GOD WALKS EVERY WHERE BY NIGHT AND BY DAY. GOD WALKS IN THE SILENCE ON DOWN THE HIGHWAY GOD WALKS THE DARK HILLS
TO SHOW ME THE WAY.

And I know that some of us in this very room are walking dark hills. I know some of us had to really struggle to get here today. I know some others of us who were unable to get here today because of the struggles in their lives. I want to assure you that I have been in those places in my life, too. I’ve been in places that felt like the Valley of Thirst and I know you have to. And at those times I did not feel happy, I did not feel like singing, I did not feel God living inside of me, I felt anything but free. And as I stand before you in this moment I can tell you that Sister Vestal is right, that the Psalmist is right, that God has spaced event that dry and thirsty ground with springs of living water. God has sent the welcoming rains of autumn and God has walked with us over those dark hills to a point that we know what the valleys feel like so much that our rejoicing can be complete when we get up on the mountain. God empowers us on our way. God brings us welcome relief. God nourishes us for the journey ahead. God brings us the joy we need to Sing because we are happy, to sing because we’re free today. God IS our Strength. God IS our shield. God is the giver of all honor and of all grace. And today we are being called to live into that honor and into that grace, in all our relationships and in our business, and in the way we treat strangers and in the way we treat each other. God wants us to SING because we’re happy. God wants us to SING because we’re free. And finally, sisters and brothers, God wants us to SING to all the world this message of message of liberation, this message of liberation. We are free because God has set us free. We are happy because God has made us happy. We walk patiently through the valley’s because we know how the story ends. It ends in freedom, it ends in deliverance, it ends in peace and it ends in love. God’s love. God’s inclusive love for you, for me, and for all those who are coming, for all those who are on their way.

Conclusion

(Singing) “I sing because I’m happy. I sing because I’m free. For God’s eye is on the sparrow, and I know God watches me. For God’s eye is on the sparrow , and I know God watches you, and you, and you, and you, and me, and all of us, and I know God watches me.” God bless you today. AMEN.

Psalm 84:

Your temple is my joy, Lord of heaven’s might. I am eager for it, eager for the courts of God. My flesh, my flesh sings its joy to the living God. As a sparrow homing, a swallow seeking a nest to hatch its young, I am eager for your altars, Lord of heaven’s might, my sovereign, my God. To live with you is joy, to praise you and never stop. Those you bless with courage will bless you from their hearts. When they cross the Valley of Thirst the ground is spaced with springs with the welcome rain of autumn. They travel the towns to reach the God of gods in Zion. Hear me, Lord of might, heed me, God of Jacob, God our shield, look, see the face of your anointed. One day within your courts is worth a thousand without. I would rather stand at God’s gate than move among the wicked. God is our sun, our shield, the giver of honor and grace. The Lord never fails to bless those who walk with integrity. Lord of heaven’s might, blest are all who trust in you.

John 6:56-69

⁵⁶Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. ⁵⁷Just as the living God sent me, and I live because of my Parent, so whoever eats me will live because of me. ⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” ⁵⁹He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.

⁶⁰When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” ⁶¹But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶²Then what if you were to see the Son of Humankind ascending to where he was before? ⁶³It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. ⁶⁵And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by my Parent.” ⁶⁶Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. ⁶⁷So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” ⁶⁸Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

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