Psalm 137
1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
2 There on the poplars
we hung our harps,
3 for there our captors asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"
4 How can we sing the songs of the LORD
while in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget its skill.
6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem
my highest joy.
Most of you know your biblical history well enough to know that in ancient times, Israel was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar and forced to live in exile in Babylon, far from home. There evidently were three deportations beginning in 598 B.C. and concluding by 583 BC. Only after the Persians conquered Babylon in 538 BC were the Israelites allowed to return home.
The Jews were allowed while in exile to do pretty much what they wanted there - except to go home.
Over time the Jewish people, surrounded by an alien culture, began to conform, to fit in. One scholar says, They squandered their special identity as God's holy, special people. This was certainly true of many, perhaps most, but there were those who did not conform; who did not seek to fit in; who sought, as noted here, to keep their hearts focused on the homeland, on Jerusalem, on that Holy City; to remember their relationship with God.
One of the siren calls we get this season is to conform to the madness of shopping, buying, taking care of our material desires. I'm certainly not denigrating the importance of gift-giving to those whom we love or the joy of Santa moments for our children and grandchildren. The Smiths do that just like you! I am, however, inviting us to keep a healthy spiritual balance in what we do these days and weeks leading up to Christmas.
Perhaps we can pray for strength to avoid buying what we cannot afford. Perhaps we can make sure that our gifts are reasonable and not ostentatious. Perhaps we can be sure that we really do look our for those whose only practical Christmas joy is at the hands of caring and loving people who find myriad ways to help the hurting, the disadvantaged. Perhaps we give special attention to the theme of "alternative Christmas" (this Sunday, December 4, 9 to 12:15 in Mike Wilson Fellowship Hall).
With you, I will seek God's help to be more attentive to the ways of the Christ Child than to the ways of our culture!
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