Rev. Sara E. BaronFirst United Methodist Church of Schenectady603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305Pronouns: she/her/hershttp://fumcschenectady.org/
https://www.facebook.com/FUMCSchenectady

Psalm
146 not only instructs us to praise God, it tells us why we would
want to praise God.  It tells us who God is, and thus why God is
worthy of praise.  I tend to think this is a very interesting
question, because there are many possible answers!  For example, most
of the gods and goddesses worshiped around Ancient Israel would have
indicated that they praised their gods and goddesses because of what
they had or what they wanted.  The assumption was that divine beings
gave out favors based on preferences and on the offerings made to
them.  

Those
divine beings were sort of like human rulers, they used the power
they had to help the ones who made them feel good.  In that
understanding, sacrifices to the gods and goddesses were really ways
of preparing feasts for them, as a way of influencing their good
favor.

YHWH
was understood in differently.  YHWH wasn’t understood to be
susceptible to bribes, sacrifices, or other manipulations.  YHWH
cared (and cares) about a just society where the vulnerable are
well-cared for, and where bribes and other manipulations don’t
influence human decisions either!  

YHWH
is described in this Psalm as the one who brings justice to the
oppressed.  That’s such a common description in the Bible that I fear
we may not pay much attention to it!  Our God is a God who seeks
justice, and who in particular seeks justice for those who are not
treated justly in the world as it is.  

Our
God is also described as seeking to free prisoners.  That’s also
common language, language we even hear in our communion liturgy.  It
fits Luke’s description of Jesus, one that quotes Isaiah.  This
phrase is all over the Bible!  But have you thought about it!?  God
is the one who empties prisons!?  I, for one, wanted to make sure
that this meant the same thing back then that it means now.  I
wondered who was imprisoned in Biblical times.  It turns out, it is
about who you’d expect: debtors, prisoners of war, political
adversaries, and most commonly those who broke the laws of society.
Prison was sometimes a holding cell until a punishment was decided,
particularly in cases seen as validating the death sentence.
Prisoners were forced to perform cheap labor, and at times that lead
to intentional increases in the prison population in order to access
said labor.¹
While this isn’t entirely a description of prison in the United
States today, it is close enough that the meaning of “The LORD sets
the prisoners free” is the same now as then!

We
hear sometimes of prisons in the Bible.  We hear that Joseph was
imprisoned because of an accusation of sexual assault, and he was
imprisoned with people who had displeased a temperamental king.  Of
those two, one was freed, one was killed. The empowered and strong
had influence over who was jailed and who was set free, then as now.
We hear of the man in Gerasenes, in Luke, who “lived in tombs”
and was bond with chains whenever possible.  Thus the mentally ill
were imprisoned then as they are now.  We hear of Paul and his
compatriots being imprisoned rather regularly, for sharing news and
information that the authorities didn’t want shared.  

I
don’t know how the words about prisoners being set free would have
struck those who listened in the time of King David, or in the time
of Peter and Paul.  I don’t know if they would have been afraid of
freedom for those who were mentally ill, or those who had a bone to
pick with society, those who were dangerous to government, or those
who broke the laws that kept society stable.  Today, I think most
people would feel afraid setting all prisoners free.  Even though we
incarcerate about 10x more people per capita than similar countries,
our common narrative is that we are safer for doing so.  I do think
there is an need for a justice system that includes keeping society
safe from repeat violent offenders.  Of course, I’ve been convinced
over time that the long term safety of everyone is achieved through
restorative justice… and not the punitive system we currently have
that most often takes severely traumatized people and traumatizes
them further.  Still, I think it is possible that the concerns we
have now about setting all the prisoners free would have had
resonance with those long ago.  Yet, God is regularly referred to as
the one who does so.  Our God is a radical God.

To
think of God as a God who sets prisoners free indicates that the
world, as it is, doesn’t reflect the world as God wants it to be.  It
indicates that more people are unjustly imprisoned than justly
imprisoned, that prison doesn’t make the world better, and that
things are so bad that God would rather have no one in the system
than all the people who are.  Oye!!  That answer is  reflected in
earlier verses of the Psalm itself.  Verse three tells us not to put
our “trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help.”
This Psalm has some serious issues with human institutions, and
encourages serious distrust of them.

The
world lets people be hungry, God wants the hungry to fed, God doesn’t
want anyone to be hungry!  The world has prisoners and prison guards,
God wants freedom for them both.  (I would suggest that moving toward
restorative justice, like the work of the Center for Community
Justice, gives freedom to everyone.  We are pleased to be a part of
their work, giving people volunteer opportunities as an alternative
to jail.)  The world has people who are bowed down by the weight of
their burdens, and those who are lifted up other people’s shoulders.
God wants to lift up the burdened, and help them stand tall.  The
world takes advantage of those who lack power, those without legal
counsel, those who can’t afford to fight, those who don’t have the
means to support themselves.  In Biblical times those were summarized
as the strangers, the orphans and the widows, which meant those who
had no native male to care for them.  God is said to watch over them
directly, upholding those who have no one else to uphold them.

The
very idea of righteousness and evilness in the Hebrew Bible relates
to the care of the vulnerable.  Good living, that is righteousness,
means living in a sustainable system that has built in systems to
care for those who can’t care for themselves.  Even the tithe was set
up as a way to care for those who didn’t have other access to food!
Rules existed about not being too careful harvesting so that others
could glean from the fields.  Extended family was well-defined in
hopes of making sure there were a minimal number of people left
outside of the support of family.  Then, because power and influence
naturally condense in human systems, the prophets continually hold
the Kings accountable for overseeing a system where profit is made
off of the poverty of widows.  What is called evil in the Bible is
taking advantage of the widows, orphans, and foreigners.  

And
so, the Psalm says, don’t trust in the institutions of the mortals,
which will take advantage of the vulnerable.  Trust in God, and seek
to be like God who cares for those who need to be upheld.  

This
is what the Psalm finds praise-worthy about God.  This is why the
Psalmist instructs their own soul to praise God as long as they live.
It seems possible that the Psalmist wasn’t a part of the elite, and
was grateful to know a God who cared.  It seems likely that the
Psalmist’s greatest hope was in the rules of the Torah that protected
them, and in those faithful to God’s commandments who upheld the
rules.

The
Psalmist even connects these acts of justice of the Holy One to God’s
acts of creation. They are in continuity with each other, and the
Psalmist seems to think that God’s working toward justice is as
eternal as God’s own being.  There is such HOPE in this Psalm.  When
it ends saying that YHWH will reign for ever, it implies that justice
will be the end point of human life on earth.

None
of this really answers the question of WHY human institutions are so
incredibly untrustworthy.  The Psalm is sort of kind about it, it
seems to imply that we sometimes try to do good, but we die before we
finish.  (Isn’t it sad that this is optimistic?)  In contrast, it
points out that the steadfastness of God is more trustworthy.  Yet,
the Bible just seems to know that human institutions will seek to
consolidate power, and in order to do so will consolidate wealth and
mistreat the vulnerable to gain both.  The Bible isn’t naive about
this part of human nature, and it has many explanations for it, but
no single one suffices.

But
perhaps the one the Psalm is even deeper than it appears.  Perhaps
human institutions seek to consolidate power because of existential
anxiety?  That is, we are all afraid we are going to die we are
seeking to prevent it in any way we can!  Power and money seem like
the most successful ways to postpone death, so people seek it when
they can!  Then, of course, we see the contrast between the human
fear of death and mortality and value of faith.  Faith gives us a way
to acknowledge our fears and live with them, without letting them
dictate our actions.  Faith reminds us of what justice looks like,
and tells us that God cares about how we treat each other.  That is,
God cares about who has access to food, and who doesn’t; who has
access to housing, and who doesn’t; who has access to healthcare, and
who doesn’t; who has access to a fair chance in the justice system,
and who doesn’t; who has access to protection by the police, and who
doesn’t; who has access to clean water, and who doesn’t; who has
access to toilet paper, and who doesn’t.  God’s care about how we
treat each other is practical.

It
is as practical as the ways that humans oppress each other, and as
practical as the ways societies have used prisons as means of
control.  God’s vision for us in the execution of justice, upholding
of the vulnerable, freeing the prisoners, keeping open eyes, lifting
up those who are knocked down, keeping of faith, access to joy, and
loving goodness.  God is seeking full and abundant life for ALL of
God’s people, and that requires acknowledging that human systems that
consolidate power and money do so at the expense of those who lose
power and money.

Whatever
forces exist that move human institutions into evilness, God’s
nudging is always toward righteousness.  As stubborn as we all are, I
think it is most likely that God will win out over the long run, but
I’m pretty concerned in the short run.

So,
a word to our graduates, whether they are here or not.  (Family
members can send links to the sermon if they wish.)  As you’ve
reached a new apex in your life, you have also increased your
likelihood of accessing powering and money in the world.  It is
likely that multiple human institutions will seek your skills to help
them consolidate power and money.  It is likely that your own fears
will be a strong voice within, if you are human like the rest of us.
But today I commission you, to be part of God’s work in the world.
Seek righteousness, attend to the disempowered, be concerned about
the vulnerable, fight back against systems of injustice, and be
careful who you think deserves imprisonment.  You, too, can be a part
of making the world that is into the world as God would have it be.
But it requires distrust in human institutions and a willingness to
let faith take control of some of our fear.  May we all find the
ways.  Amen

1David
Noel Freedman, Anchor Bible Dictionary: Volume 5 O-Sh,
“Prison” (New York: Doubleday, 1992) p. 468-449.

Rev. Sara E. Baron

First United Methodist Church of Schenectady

603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305

Pronouns: she/her/hers

http://fumcschenectady.org/
https://www.facebook.com/FUMCSchenectady