Remembered Miracles vs Anticipated Miracles

As the Psalmist remembers the precious memories of God’s wondrous deeds, the passage still does not know—the next time—if God will perform the same wondrous deeds or not.

Yes, we live our lives in faith between those treasured memories of God’s wonderous deeds and that hope for God who continues to perform the wonders of transformation, rescue, and healing. Yes, we live in that gap between those memories and that hope. What we are tasked to do is to fill that gap with our daily business of this new year.

We might find wisdom in order to fill that gap from today’s passage in verse 6. We are reminded that we have been given an “open ear”. But our ears mostly are closed to God. Isn’t it true that we do not really want to hear anything that rocks the boat. Thus, we become able to tune out everything except our own voice, our own conviction, and our own vested interest, and our own fears and hurts.

One of the terms that I’d like to draw our attention to is “the great congregation” in verse 10. Which means, while we are individually called, as God addresses each of us, we are not called individually into faith. To enter into faith, to be in union with and in Christ—in other Paul’s words, to be sanctified and to be saints—is to be set aside together as a new way of being and living together.

Here we are, the third Sunday of the new year of 2023. Here we are again we stand and face the gap’s treasured and remembered memories of God’s wondrous deeds in past years and the anticipated hope for this new year; between being and doing like “saints” and being and doing like doubters or even like unbelievers.

Between remembered miracles and anticipated miracles, we are called to be a people having “open ears” and being faithful. And what God asks of us is honest conversation about new life with God, new commitments for the ministry; and about a new thanksgiving and a new song to sing. In addition, we have to be faithful, “a bold walk”--step by step, one step in front of the other--out beyond our ideology, arrogance, greed, anxiety, resentment, anger, hate—all that may lead us separate from God.

Let us keep having open ears; keep seeking new and honest conversation with God, with yourselves, and with others, even if it sometimes ends up being hard and difficult and keep going forward with a bold walk regardless if we are taking small or big steps.

Thanks be to God who is faithful, who calls us to be sanctified “in Christ” until we become like “saints.”

Amen.