"For God is king of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise. God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne." -- Psalm 47:7-8

 

"We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ." -- Colossians 1:28

 

         What immediately grabs my attention in Psalm 47 and in Colossians 1 are the words "all the earth" and "everyone." The Psalm proclaims that God rules over all the nations. Paul looks to a time when everyone might be presented perfect in Christ.

When I drove to church this morning, the neighborhoods I passed through were not abuzz with people preparing for worship. The main highways of our region are not clogged this morning with traffic headed to church. These bold statements in scripture seem unrealistic to me. I wonder when this "all the earth worship" will happen. It does not seem like we are making progress toward that day.

         One reason for the decline in weekly attendance in our churches seems to be that people simply have so many choices and demands put upon them. I heard an excellent lecture this week at Trinity Divinity School. Quentin Schultze of Calvin College spoke on "Using Technology Wisely in our Lives." He said that so much of the new technology is used, not for a purpose, but simply because it is there. One example he gave is the trend in colleges to see students coming to their morning classes very tired, but not because they were up studying all night, but rather because they had been instant-messaging their friends, playing interactive games on the Internet, or perhaps gambling online. Many bright and talented students these days are simply flunking out of school because of the availability of technology that eats up large chunks of their time.

         This may be a parable of our lives. Our life of serving Christ as Lord gets pushed to the edges, not because we intentionally turn our back on Christ, but because the choices and demands of our world overwhelm us. We lose chunks of time. We do not know how to make decisions. This is a difficult issue that we must address, if we are to be effective stewards living out of clear commitment to Christ as Lord.

         Schultze also made a hopeful point. People are growing weary of technology. They do not want more email, more channels on their TV, more gadgets and games. The oversupply of technology has produced a hunger for friendship with people and for close friendship with God. There may indeed come a time of turning to God as described in Psalm 47. When Jesus is Lord of our lives, we make decisions to follow our hunger for God and resist the pressures that steal our time.

         The other side of this comes from our understanding of what is happening in our world. That which is hidden from our awareness is very significant, for the nations are turning to the Lordship of Christ in a way that we are not experiencing in our country.

In 1900, 80 percent of the world's Christians lived in Europe and North America. Today, 60 per cent of the world's Christians live in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Those parts of the world are turning to Christ as Lord.

In 1900 there were only about 9 million Christians in all of Africa. By 1950 that number had tripled to 30 million. Today, there are an estimated 382 million Christians in Africa.

         The world is drawing much closer to Psalm 47 reality than we can imagine. The Lordship of Christ looks quite different when we take a global perspective. Many nations are singing more loudly to God, who is king of all the earth.

         Let's take this back to our theme for this month. Our stewardship, that is, our life of giving, serving and our behavior, flows from our experience of Christ as Lord of our lives, and from our commitment to Christ as Lord.

         Psalm 47 gives us a vision of Lordship. God is king. He is Lord and all nations are called to worship him. The Psalmist declares that God, the Lord Most High, is ruler not just over Israel and Judah, or even Assyria and Babylon, but over the whole earth. And as the nations are called to worship God, there is quite a sound of singing, clapping, shouting, and of trumpets playing. He is the King of all the earth. He is King over the nations. He is highly exalted.

         Gerald Wilson writes that this "clapping of hands" is more than applause. The Hebrew word actually means "striking hands" -- the sign of an agreement, a kind of handshake. The nations are joining hands with God, agreeing about their relationship with him. He is Lord.

         So Paul writes to the Colossians, and reminds them:

You were estranged from God, you were hostile to him.

You did not serve him, you served idols.

You did not give to him, you gave to your own appetites and desires.

You did not live for Him, you behaved indecently, immorally.

And then you came to experience the grace of God in Christ, and through the blood of Christ you were reconciled to God. You were aliens, enemies of God, and now you are members of his household.

Now you are at peace with God.

Now you serve him.

Now you give to him.

Now you live for him.

He is Lord.

As we gather for communion on All Saints Sunday, we are aware that we are not alone, we are part of a great cloud of witnesses, whose faith and hope inspires and strengthens us. We are a people of reconciliation. We participate in the Kingdom of God, which we confess extends far beyond our limited experience and awareness. In receiving the bread and cup today, each one of us is entering into a "striking of hands" agreement with the Lord of the nations. We agree with God's Word and what it says about who is king. We take the body and blood of Christ as a sign of stewardship. Christ gave his life. We serve him. We give to him. We live for him.

Come, celebrate the Lord.

Come, clap your hands and sing.

Amen.