Narrative Lectionary Program Year Four– John “Psalm 100”
June 6, 2021: Psalm 100
Free Additional Resources for Study & Sermon Preparation
Furthering the Power of God’s Story – Narrative Lectionary Commentary
by Daniel D. Maurer
Ever hear a howler monkey before? You can hear one here (and learn just a little about them, too).
I know, I know—I’m cherry-picking a verse out of today’s text and running with it,. But if verse one is any indication that “all the earth” includes howler monkeys, then I think perhaps our ears need a bit of adjustment. After all, if God includes a howler monkey’s guttural roars into the category of what constitutes the phrase “all the earth” in verse one, ”Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth”, then perhaps our notions about God’s saving grace—as well as how we steward our mother—are a bit off.
But the Hebrew Bible joyfully resists our vain attempts to anthropomorphize God’s lasting and great story. Did God come to save us? Yes, of course. But God also acts to save the world and all its joyful noises, a howler monkey’s included.
I remember during my time as a parish pastor (ELCA) in western North Dakota, our Sunday School kids all came up front in the sanctuary and made “joyful noises” as an activity for Vacation Bible School. The kids hollered, screamed, whooped, jumped, and squawked. Of course, the parents all enjoyed hearing and seeing their children doing this, each with their cellphones out to record the event for all posterity.
What if we—and I’m including you and all adults—did this instead of a hymn one Sunday? Better yet, what if we showed that video of the howler monkeys and we each did our best H-Monk impression as a hymn?
The point I’m getting at is that joyful noises are everywhere. No, I’m not putting down music. No, I’m not suggesting you actually try doing what I proposed (well, maybe a little).
Farsi translation of Psalm 100
I’m suggesting instead that maybe this psalm is wider reaching than we assume. "All the earth”—what does that bring to mind? What’s more, how does the psalm’s opening invitation bring a wider understanding of who constitutes God’s “audience” for communities of faith? Especially in ways we might not first see, than if we assume it’s first about us.
I find it interesting, too, that God’s community of faith (the human ones) are referred to as “sheep of [God’s] pasture.” It’s not that it hasn’t been done before in the Hebrew Bible—that image is all over the place, really. It’s that, considering that the earth itself serves as a character in the audience, our identity as “sheep” strikes me as strangely quaint and derogatory considering how lofty we choose to elevate our role in the whole spiritual spectrum.
We, though, have not done a very good job as our role of stewards of the earth. And it’s not just about howler monkey habitat I’m referring to.
A preacher might find fertile ground (pun intended) in planting the notion that God rejoices, screams, and howls hearing the joy of the earth, not just the voice of human beings. Howler monkeys included, notwithstanding. How might this psalm, especially, help us to find pause when we judge what God considers a joyful noise, in all the earth.
Happy preaching.
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The following links and resources are not produced or maintained by Clergy Stuff. However, at the time of this posting, the links were active and considered to be good source material for proclamation for the text for this week. Please scroll down or click on the quick jump menu you find below. For more free worship resources & planning materials, please visit our links for RCL Worship Resources.
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Exegetical Links
Joyful Noises Lectionary Reflections – Beth Scibienski
Global Joy for "All Ye Lands" Journey with Jesus
Joyful Noises Contemplative Viewfinder Blog
Great Quotes
“Praise is the duty and delight, the ultimate vocation of the human community; indeed of all creation. Yes, all of life is aimed toward God and finally existsfor the sake of God. Praise articulates and embodies our capacity to yield, submit, and abandon ourselves in trust and gratitude to the One whose we are..”
“Praise, articulated in truth and shouted forth from our voice, should not so much be a whimper as it is a bark, a howl, a chanted bird’s song. God’s voice comes through clearest in the child’s cry as it does in a lion’s roar.”
A Fun and Inspirational Resource
Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices
by Paul Fleischman
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Daily Devotional Feed
Free Dramatic Reading For This Text (NRSV)
Psalm 100
Readers: Reader 1, Reader 2
Reader 1: Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
Reader 2: Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing.
Reader 1: Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Reader 2: Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name.
Reader 1: For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
[NARRATIVE DRAMATIC READING GOES HERE]