Oxford Presbyterian Church

May 1, 2020

Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved. (Psalms 80:3, 7, 19)

Dear sisters and brothers,

Psalm 80 was written during a period of national calamity for the people of God. In the song, the psalmist likened the people to a vine that became a successful vineyard and bore fruit. But then the walls of the vineyard were breached and passersby stole its produce and wild animals ravaged the plant. Eventually fire consumed the vine. These lyrics of agricultural disaster actually referred to the event of an invading superpower army, the Assyrians, coming and carrying off Israel’s ten northern tribes into exile where they were never heard from again. They also refer to that same Assyrian army then laying siege to the cities of Judah and Benjamin with the people resigned to sitting in their homes and waiting for the inevitable. It was then, when the world was falling apart, that the people of God cried out the refrain of Psalm 80 listed above: Restore us.

What was the basis of this song the denizens of Jerusalem sang in their worship? Why did they believe that God might actually listen to their plea? The psalmist tells us: You brought a vine out of Egypt. The cry to God for help was based in the fact that God had made a covenant with them, a covenant that was drawn up and signed when the people were delivered out of slavery in the Exodus. So much of the history of Israel as relayed to us in the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) is a rather uninspiring account of a people forgetting this covenant. But when the chips were down for these people, they remembered the covenant, and therefore they sang: Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

The cynical side of me listens to that refrain and says, “Those people don’t deserve to be delivered. They trusted in other gods for most of their existence, so let those false gods save them.” But to think and feel this way would be to assume Israel’s God was like all other gods, that the covenant they shared was a bilateral covenant—nothing more than a contract. Israel’s failure to perform—to be faithful—should release God from the obligation of being their God, or so my cynical side believes.

But Israel’s God was not like other gods. The covenant that God made with the people was a unilateral covenant. God’s deliverance of Israel was based in God’s love for Israel, and therefore God’s performance in the covenant was not reliant upon the people’s faithfulness. God did not need to be conditioned into being gracious. Why? Because God was and is always gracious.

Were the people’s cries ever heard? Yes, but not in the way they thought they would be. Their plea—Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved—did not prevent Assyria carrying off the ten Northern tribes of Israel nor prevent Babylon from carrying off the two Southern tribes into exile. But God was still faithful to the covenant and let his face shine so that the people might be delivered. God sent them a savior. God’s love for Israel and performance of the covenant consisted of this: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. The deepest plea of Psalm 80 and our deepest plea amid our pandemic are actually the same. Dear God, may the life you have given us in Jesus Christ be manifest in overcoming the forces arrayed against us. Deliver us from this virus. May we remember this. Amen.

Our session met via teleconference for our stated meeting on Wednesday evening. It was determined that we continue along the same lines determined at our previous session meeting, that we not congregate in any fashion through May 15. We continue to pay close attention to the directives of the Governor of North Carolina regarding restrictions on meetings. If those restrictions remain in place as May 15 approaches, the session will likely extend our decision to not congregate. If those restrictions begin to be lifted, the session will determine the impact of such easing upon our life together and explore what activities we might be able to resume without endangering one another. For the sake of dealing with these matters with wisdom and prudence, we have formed an ad hoc Committee for Reopening the Church. The Committee will make sure we are prepared to resume congregating when those permissions come. We want to make sure we leave no stone unturned with regards to safety, and that we have policies and procedures in place to govern us when the time comes that we are allowed to be in each other’s presence as the church. We will keep you updated regarding these matters as time progresses. In the meanwhile, be praying for the work of that committee. Thank you.

So, our ministry of social distancing for the sake of loving one another and loving neighbor continues. You have all done so well and have been very patient through all of this. May we all continue to endure with this unusual calling upon our lives. Let us always remember—this is a novel virus, and we cannot intuit the risk it presents to us and exactly how we should behave in response. Continue to pray for those that have dedicated their lives to battling infectious disease and who are working around the clock across the globe for the sake of preserving life, including yours and mine.

Your elders continue to be our shepherds and hold all of us up to God in heart and prayer during these days. If you have need of anything, please let your elders know so that we can share in whatever burdens you may be experiencing.

Last Sunday, we entered into the era of live-streamed worship via Facebook Live. If you joined us last week, we invited you to join us again. If you missed us, no worries! There is always another Sunday coming around and it will be here in two days and you are invited to join us as well. Our service begins at 10:00 a.m. If you have a computer or tablet or smartphone with an internet connection, you should be able to receive the stream. You do not need to have a Facebook account to participate. Our stream appears on the church’s Facebook page which is here à https://www.facebook.com/Oxford-Presbyterian-Church-152011345379561/. If you miss the broadcast, the service will remain on our Facebook page for the next several days.

Just like last Sunday, our worship will be broadcast from my home without professional lighting and sound, and will be captured by my iPhone. OPC is not television ministry. But it will nevertheless be the worship gathering of the Oxford Presbyterian Church, and it consists of most of the gifts we have always shared when we are together: prayer, song, word. As I said before: sacraments by their very nature require our gathering in person, but rest assured those signs and gifts await us when we congregate one again. If you have prayer requests or announcements, please email them to me (opcpastor@ncrrbiz.com) or text them to me (919-323-7192) and they will be included in the worship.

I will continue to be sending out our Sunday worship bulletin on Saturday evening complete with hymns and sermon so that you may have your own house-church worship. The important thing for all of us these days is not how we are worshiping but rather the fact that we are worshiping. God gift us whenever and wherever we meet with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As always, you can listen to sermons through our website right here à https://oxfordpres.org/media/#sermons, and at The Oxford Exchange, found here à http://theoxfordexchange.blubrry.net/.

Our website, www.oxfordpres.org, has calendars, newsletters, the OPC WEEKLY, sermons, and even ways to give your offerings (right here à https://oxfordpres.org/give/). It is a great resource in times like these.

Regarding offerings, Oxford Presbyterian Church has an offerings drop-box situated next to the door on the back side of the church at the top of the ramp if you want to drop off an offering. Or, you can mail offerings to Oxford Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 652, Oxford, NC 27565. They will be collected and deposited.

Here is our schedule for the week:

Fourth Sunday of Easter, May 3, 2020:

Scripture reading: 1 John 1:1-2:6

Sermon Title: “The Great Simplicity”

10:00 a.m. – Worship via Facebook Live. The stream can be found at https://www.facebook.com/Oxford-Presbyterian-Church-152011345379561/

Mission of the Month – Our monthly mission emphasis for May will be Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. The offerings are used for communities both near and far that have suffered natural disasters. Some of these funds are already being used to help marginalized communities that have been hard hit by COVID-19 outbreak. Online gifts can be made here à https://pma.pcusa.org/donate/make-a-gift/gift-info/DR000148/.

Announcements:

• · May 7th – 5:30 p.m. – Book Club discussion of Paul: An Apostle’s Journey via Zoom
• We have resumed our local book club via the easy-to-use (for the most part!) teleconferencing technology of Zoom. We are reading Douglas Campbell’s short and readable biography of one of the key witnesses in the New Testament, Paul: An Apostle’s Journey. If you wish to join us, please let Alan know.

Prayers for: Becky and Isabella Baird, Betty Baynes, Michael Boyd, Ann Currin, Larry Delfs, Linda and Mike Diamond, Randy Downey, Julie Gaydon, Diane and Fred Heath, Hannah Hobgood, Sue Huggins, Cotina Jones, Barbara Laurent, Carlis Laws, Will Newcomb,  Greg and Kellie Price, Lynn Stone, Kathy Webb

Happy Birthday to: B.K. McCloud – 5th

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock!

You who are enthroned upon the cherubim,

shine forth before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.

Stir up your might, and come to save us!

Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

O Lord God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?

You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in full measure.

You make us the scorn of our neighbors; our enemies laugh among themselves.

Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.

You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land.

The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches;

it sent out its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the River.

Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?

The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it.

Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and see;

have regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand planted.

They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down;

may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance.

But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand,

the one whom you made strong for yourself.

Then we will never turn back from you; give us life, and we will call on your name.

Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved. (Psalms 80 NRSV)

All blessings in Christ,

Alan

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