25th November 2020 - Mind Your Head - part 1

​APC 25th Nov 2020                “Mind your Head!”    (Part 1)
 
Welcome and Introduction          
Good morning everyone and welcome to our Midweek worship.  Today I want to begin our new Wednesday Morning Series for Advent called, “Mind your Head!”
But first let’s take a moment to pause and to talk to our heavenly Father, let’s pray…
 
Opening Prayer
Eternal God, ruler over space and time, Lord of history, before all, in all and beyond all, we worship you and acknowledge you, recognising afresh that your ways are not our ways, nor your thoughts our thoughts.
 
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
 
Forgive us for sometimes losing sight of that fact, presuming we know better than you, even expecting you to do our bidding rather than we do yours.
 
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
 
Teach us that you are beyond our greatest imagining, higher than our loftiest dreams; and that you do things in your own time and way.  Help us to wait patiently, trusting in your wisdom and purpose.
 
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
 
When our prayers do not seem to be answered, our ambitions remain unfulfilled ad our faith appears to be in vain, save us from premature judgements.
 
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
 
Teach us that it is often at such times as these – especially at such times as these – that we need to believe in you and your timing.  Give us grace to accept our part in your scheme of things, and leave the rest to you.
 
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
 
Join me as we say the Lord’s Prayer thoughtfully and sincerely together…
 
 
Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name,
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day, our daily bread, And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us,
And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil,
For Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,
For ever and ever, AMEN.
 
 
Bible Reading
 
Psalm 42         For the director of music. A maskil  of the Sons of Korah.
 
1 As the deer pants for streams of water,
    so my soul pants for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
    When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food
    day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
    “Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember
    as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
    under the protection of the Mighty One[d]
with shouts of joy and praise
    among the festive throng.
5 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.
6 My soul is downcast within me;
    therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
    the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
    in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
    have swept over me.
8 By day the Lord directs his love,
    at night his song is with me--
    a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God my Rock,
    “Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
    oppressed by the enemy?”
10 My bones suffer mortal agony
    as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
    “Where is your God?”
11 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.
Reflection               “Mind your head!”         (Part 1)
 
Being 5 foot 8 I’ve never really had to concern myself much with bumping my head.  The same cannot be said for our two boys who have definitely inherited their height genes from Emma’s side of the family.  They are both 6 foot tall which has many benefits.  But one of the drawbacks is that I find myself having to warn them occasionally as they move around the house – “Mind your head.”  Whether it’s walking through a doorway, rummaging in the roof space, entering the shed or working with an open cupboard, when you’re six foot tall, you definitely have to “Mind your head”.
As this Pandemic has continued and the novelty of the earliest restrictions have subsided, I am discovering that most of us are finding it very difficult psychologically and emotionally at the moment.  There are people I know who are suffering from depression who have never struggled with it before.
So I thought it would be appropriate over the period of Advent on Wednesday mornings to write a few reflections addressing how we might find help with our emotions during this time.  For whether we are 5 or 6 foot tall, in the current climate, all of us need to, “Mind our Head.”
If you feel yourself struggling emotionally at the moment then certainly in the first instance I would encourage you not to ignore those feelings but to share them with your spouse, a family member or a close friend or even arrange to come and chat to me.  If talking things out in this way doesn’t seem to be helping, then undoubtedly your local GP will also be a huge source of help.  There are also a number of excellent websites, books and leaflets explaining the symptoms of depression and offering wise advice on practical steps we can take to help ourselves.  Some of these include having a structure to our day.  Talking to someone we trust about our problems and feelings.  Getting up and going to bed at the same time.  Getting out into the fresh air each day and taking regular exercise.  Avoiding or reducing our alcohol consumption.  Eating more healthily.  Doing something we enjoy each day even if it’s just running a bath, listening to music, watching a TV show or buying a carry out coffee.
But as well as learning from online articles or books, particularly as people who view life from a faith perspective, we can also learn some valuable lessons about coping with depression by reading the bible.  For example, when we read the story of Elijah we discover that at one point he becomes utterly depressed after his life is threatened by the wicked Queen Jezebel.  It is fascinating to note how God sends him an angel who tells Elijah to rest for a few days and cooks him a few good meals.  For many of us, like Elijah, a few days break from the busyness and pressures of life may be all that we need to recharge our batteries and overcome our blues.
But this morning I want us to look at someone in the bible whose experience of depression was significantly more serious than this.  I hope that as we listen to their story, expressed in a poem; that we will learn a few things that will help us to cope in our own times of darkness.  I trust that these lessons will also help us to be more sensitive to those we know who are battling with depression.
The person I want us to look at this morning is the man or woman who wrote Psalm 42 and 43.  In actual fact, these two Psalms are part of the same poem.  In many Hebrew manuscripts we find them joined together.  But what fascinates me most about this poem is that it is clearly written by someone with a very strong faith and yet at the same time they are obviously someone who is experiencing a deep depression.  The reason I say that is because the whole poem is really a prayer to God.  God’s name is mentioned 22 times in the space of 16 verses!  Yet if you look closely at the words the writer uses, it is clear that this is the prayer of someone who is struggling with a deep depression.
In verse 3 of psalm 42 we discover that they have been crying and have lost their appetite.  In verses 5 of both Psalms we find that they are constantly tired.  In v 6 and 7 they describe themselves as emotionally disturbed.  This runs so deep that it even expresses itself in verse 10 of Psalm 42 as physical pain.  They describe themselves as feeling completely overwhelmed, as if they are being enclosed by something called “Deep”.  This is the word the Jews used to describe the ‘Chaos’ that existed before God created the world.  The Psalmist says that they feel like the battered rocks beneath a waterfall.  If they were alive today they might have said, “My life is in complete chaos, I’m drowning, everything seems to be on top of me.”  They also complain of feeling deeply lonely and rejected.
All of these things point to one complaint.  This individual is clearly suffering from what would be described today as ‘clinical depression’.
There is a great reassurance in that isn’t there?  For there are super-spiritual people out there who would tell us that Christians should never be depressed.  This attitude can even be found in the hymn writer who wrote, “We should never be discouraged, take it to the Lord in prayer.”  But that simply isn’t true.  Throughout the bible and throughout the history of Christianity there have always been and will always be, fine Christian people who have been discouraged and who have also struggled with depression.  The hymn writer William Cowper and the famous preacher Charles Spurgeon are just two examples.  So let me say it very clearly this morning, on the authority of scripture and the testimony of history, faithful Christians can and do suffer from depression.  To my mind the hymn writer should have edited his words to, “Even when we are discouraged, take it to the Lord in prayer!”  That’s exactly what the writer of Psalm 42 and 43 was doing.  They were deeply depressed but because they had a strong faith they put pen to paper and brought all of their emotions and feelings to God in prayer.
But what was is it that had caused the writer of these Psalms to become depressed?
Well the first thing we discover is that he has become physically isolated.  The title of this Psalm tells us that the writer was one of the ‘Sons of Korah’.  This was a group of people who had special responsibility for leading music in the temple of Jerusalem.  For some reason, the Psalmist was now a long way from the city in the North of the country near Mount Hermon.  To put it simply, this had made the Psalmist homesick.  He longed to be back home in familiar surroundings with his best friends doing what he loved to do- singing in the choir!  That’s why he writes in 42 v 4 “These things I remember as I pour out my soul, how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng.”
The second thing we notice is that the Psalmist was socially isolated.  It may well be that he was where he was because he was a refugee forced to flee his country after Israel had been attacked and defeated by their enemies the Babylonians.  He may even have been a political prisoner.  We just don’t know.  But what we do know is that many people around him were mocking him because of his faith.  “Where’s your God now?” they were saying.  The Psalmist describes this persecution in 42 v 9 and 10 when he writes, “Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?  My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me saying, ‘Where is your God?”  It was only natural in that environment for the Psalmist to feel lonely and isolated and for that to cause him to feel deeply sad.
In life, there are many reasons why people get seriously depressed.  For most people it isn’t just one factor but a complex web of factors.  Those may include our genetic makeup, our natural temperament, our upbringing, as well as the circumstances that we are experiencing in the present.
Given the right combination of factors none of us are immune from experiencing a bout of serious depression or even contemplating suicide.  We’ve all experienced times like the Psalmist.  We can remember how we felt the first time we went away from home or on that first night in Boarding school.  We can recall how difficult that first term at University was or even how much we miss being back home where we were brought up and where everything is familiar to us.  All of us need roots and when those roots are severed, any of us can feel isolated.  We can think of times when people have bullied us or made life difficult for us in work, at a club or in the community.  All of us need to feel accepted and welcome.  When people turn against us we can feel lonely.  For all of us, like this Psalmist, if the combination of factors is right or the pressure severely intense for long enough, we too can experience a deep sense of depression.
During this Pandemic we have all been physically and socially isolated.  We have all felt the outside threat of this virus and the anxiety that has created in our society.  This is especially acute for those of us working on the front line or who have elderly parents.  We have not been able to enjoy the things that give us such pleasure in life and we have been denied the freedoms to do what we choose or go where we want.  We understand why these restrictions have been necessary, but that doesn’t make them any easier to live with.  It is not surprising then that most of us are struggling emotionally at the moment and why many of us are even deeply depressed.
 
Reflection       Are you feeling deeply discouraged or even depressed at the moment?  Despite how unpleasant it is, be kind to yourself and take comfort in the knowledge that it’s not your fault, and you’re not alone.  It is a very natural reaction to the pressures we have been under.
 
The last thing that I want you to see today from this passage is that not only is it natural for certain circumstances and pressures to make us feel discouraged, but it is also natural for them to make us feel that God is far away.
In the same way that a teenager may express their depression by feeling that their parents have let them down or like a husband may express his depression by feeling distant from his wife, so too when a Christian is depressed they will naturally feel that God has abandoned them.  The Psalmist expresses this feeling in verses 1 and 2 when he says, “As the deer pants for streams of water so my soul pants for you, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.  When can I go and meet with God?”
I mention these things simply for this reason.  When as Christians we get depressed, it is all too easy to automatically blame ourselves and to think that it is our fault that God seems to have left us. Granted, if we live in deliberate sin then our sense of guilt may be very real and may cause us to be depressed.   The frist step towards healing in this case will be to confess our sins and to turn away from them.  But the truth is that in 9 cases out of ten, when a Christian is depressed it is not because they have done something wrong.  It is simply a natural reaction to the circumstances they are facing coupled with their natural temperament.  And the reason they feel that God is far away is not because He is far away but simply because that is how their depression makes them feel. 
You know it’s the same for many of us.  Not only has the physical and social isolation and the fear for our health during this pandemic caused us to feel depressed, but it has also caused us to ask questions of God and to wonder if He cares or if He has abandoned us completely.
To be honest, I don’t have any easy answers to some of the questions this Pandemic raises, but what I do know for certain is that God is good.  Whatever battles between good and evil that are at play in the heavenly realms over the current circumstances, I am convinced that God loves us very, very much.  However much we may feel otherwise, He has not abandoned us…
Let me finish by reading you a poem that is familiar to many of us but which illustrates the truth of how many of us are feeling at the moment better than anything else I know…
The poem is called “Footprints in the Sand.”
“One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.
After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.
This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You'd walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life, there was only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me."
He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you."
 
Let us pray…
 
 
Prayer
Loving God, we thank you for the ways you speak to us, through scripture, prayer and worship, through the fellowship of your people and the daily experiences of life.
Loving God, open our hearts to all you would say to us.
We thank you for the ways you have spoken to your people across the ages, the ways you speak to us today and the ways you will continue to speak in the days ahead.
Loving God, open our hearts to all you would say to us.
But today we ask for your help in those times when you seem to be silent, those days when we do not hear your voice no matter how we listen for it, those times when we feel ourselves to be alone and far from you.  Give us courage then to ask if we have closed our hearts and minds to what you would say, or if there is something in our lives creating a barrier between us, preventing us from getting close to you.
Loving God, open our hearts to all you would say to us.
But help us also to understand when there are times when you expect us to get on with our discipleship without you always directing us, without your instructions be spelled out step by step.  Help us to see that your silence may not be of our faithlessness or your displeasure, but rather of your love, offering us the opportunity to grow towards Christian maturity.
Loving God, open our hearts to all you would say to us.
And when we do not hear you speak help us to remember all those times you have spoken unmistakably, to us and to others and let those moments sustain and direct us until your word comes again in your own time and in your own way.
Loving God, open our hearts to all you would say to us.
Take a moment in silence now to bring your own prayers for one or two people to God…
All these we offer in the name of Christ, Amen.
 
Closing Words
It’s been a joy and privilege to share with you again today. Thanks again for logging on.  I do hope you found this morning’s service an encouragement.
 
Do tune in again this Sunday as we light our first candle and reflect on the Hope of Advent.
 
We await government advice as to what church services will be permitted in December.  But recent comments by our Taoiseach have given us hope that church will be open for services during Christmas week.  There is talk in the media of the possibility of services being allowed even earlier but we’ll have to wait and see.  As a leadership we are meeting this evening to plan for that.  We’ll let you know what we are proposing in the coming days.
 
In a moment, I will lead you in a Benediction after which I will invite you as always, to say the grace together…
 
Benediction   
Go now and let the Lord steer you in the way of truth.
Be on your guard so that you will not be caught up
in the trivialities and anxieties of the world.
Be alert at all times and pray for strength
to escape the traps that would keep you from God.

And may God make you increase in love for one another;
May Christ Jesus teach you how to live in God’s ways;
and may the Holy Spirit strengthen your hearts in holiness,
as you ready yourselves for the coming of the Lord.  And
 
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all now and for evermore, Amen.”