Shifting Into Drive

 

Shifting Into Drive

 

Psalm 16
16:1 Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

16:2 I say to the LORD, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you."

16:3 As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble, in whom is all my delight.

16:4 Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names upon my lips.

16:5 The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.

16:6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage.

16:7 I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.

16:8 I keep the LORD always before me; because God is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

16:9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure.

16:10 For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit.

16:11 You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

 

 

I like to drive. I REALLY like to drive. Cars, that is. It’s not a chore to take long car trips, like to Louisville to visit our grands and their family, therefore. Almost every nice night, we take a run in my sportscar with the convertible top down. I love shifting through all six gears on that thing! Truth-be-told, I’ve never gotten over the joy of passing my driver’s test at age 16 and hitting the road. I don’t know whether it was the freedom the car gave me, or just the idea of driving for driving’s sake? I actually got more excited when my two children passed their driver’s tests than THEY did. My wife thinks I’m crazy. Maybe you do, too. For many folk, driving IS a chore, and the necessary “short trips” to the market or for other local “rat killing,” as my dad used to call it, drive THEM right up the tree. Not me. I’ll gladly jump in the car—either car we own—and putz around to do the menial tasks. (If that isn’t enough to make you think I’m nuts, how about this one: I LOVE to go to the supermarket to do the shopping, even for the “short lists” of stuff we need, from time to time. Again, Dara is so happy I DO like to do this, as she really DOESN’T like going to Giant Eagle.)

 

Being an addicted “gadget freak,” I was an early adopter of the dash-mounted GPS (Global Positioning System) device—a Tom-Tom—when they first came out. Having a space age piece of hardware with a backlit screen and a direct link to several orbiting satellites to guide me, now I could go ANYWHERE with little fear of getting lost! (This is another of my unusual “charms”—I’m a guy who likes to travel and to drive, but I have very little sense of direction. Every car I have owned since has had either Apple Car Play (using Google Maps) or a built in navigation system. 

 

So where am I going with this? Well, this weekend’s scripture—Psalm 16—is a balm for those of us who like to “travel” or “drive” in life, but who need external guidance, because of an inherent lack of direction. Verse eight says, “I keep the LORD always before me; because God is at my right hand…” In the car, this makes God my co-pilot (with apologies to Dara, who actually sits in that seat). A friend who’s life was saved by Alcoholics Anonymous, used to have a bumper sticker that said, “If God is your co-pilot, you are sitting in the wrong seat.” No, I still won’t let God drive, but at least the Lord is “before me” and at my “right hand,” rendering the protection and navigation I need to keep from getting lost. 

 

Back in 2002, we took a trip to Great Britain, rented a car, and I drove all around through England and Scotland. I was on the wrong side of the car, driving on the wrong side of the road, and if you think that wasn’t a challenge, you’re mistaken. We put several hundred miles on that car, with nary an incident. Well, there WAS that little “tight spot” I got us into in Lincolnshire, and that time I turned in front of another car when I forget which side of the road I was on, but neither resulted in damage to the vehicle or the psyches of any passengers in it. Life can put you into British driving mode, sometimes. Think about times in your experience when driving on the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the road would be a good metaphor for where you found yourself. When this happens, we REALLY need to “take refuge” in God, as the psalmist says, AND we have to STAY ALERT! Regardless of when or when we are “driving,” letting yourself slip into autopilot is when bad things happen. Staying alert, keeping your “eyes” on the road, scanning the shoulders of the road, and being ready to hit the brakes is a good formula for safe driving in a car and in living. I have hit several deer in my automobile experience, and while I know they can just jump out in front of you, I can honestly say that each time I hit one, I was sort of cruising on “autopilot” and was not watching for them. The times I have AVOIDED hitting a deer, I WAS staying alert and conscious of driving where and when THEY tend to cross, and I caught them in my field of vision and awareness in time to hit the brakes. See what I’m saying? The psalmist says that taking refuge in God is good, but we have to keep things in front of us, too. Safe “navigation” in life is a team effort.

 

Let’s step back and take a “big picture” look, for a few moments. A question that I learned from one of my mentors is this one: “What is your understanding of the nature of God?” In short, how do you see God? Is God an autocratic “author” of all of life who set up a bunch of rules to keep us “in line?” Maybe for some of you, God is the benevolent, yet detached deity of the Deists, who believe that God set us and the universe up with resources and turned us loose, hoping we wouldn’t destroy each other, and yet pretty much vowing to leave us alone. If you believe in a God who needs “obeyed” as the highest form of praise, then most of your life will be colored by “lawyering” the rules God set down, and painstakingly trying to keep them. You might even be prompted to become an “enforcer,” advocating for a society where God’s “rules” are codified into rules for ALL of your neighbors to obey, whether they believe, or not. But what of the God of Jesus Christ, and of this psalm?

 

The God of the psalmist clearly cares for the creation by “protecting” it and us. The psalmist believes that God created and maintains “good” in us, and is a “good” Creator. The psalmist sees “holy ones”—those who follow this good God—as “noble,” not just as obedient rule-keepers. They are the “good drivers” who obey the rules of the road to keep themselves and others safe, and not just so they don’t get pulled over by the cops. The God of the psalmist gives “good counsel” and is a caring teacher, helping the student learn valuable lessons. I had driver training in high school, and our varsity basketball coach was the instructor in the car we all trained on. He NEVER threatened us with what would happen if we disobeyed the rules of the road. Instead, every lesson about why the rules were important was couched in safety for ourselves and all other motorists, as well as about being a “courteous” driver who gave the other guy a break. This is the “mood” of the God this psalmist describes. This God shows us the “path of life” and the “fullness of joy.” Those who choose other gods condemn themselves to lessor powers and find perdition without any help from the psalmist’s God. Still, this God seems not to revel in even the people guilty of wrong choices being cut off from salvific opportunities. The God of the psalmist is a God of caring, joy, and loving, “parental” supervision of the created order. 

 

I would argue that the God of Jesus Christ is the same God the psalmist describes. In fact, Jesus Christ becomes the ultimate in-breaking remedy for the redemption of all of humanity, one who fulfills the psalmist’s hope that the “boundary lines” between humans and God are lowered, or even demolished by the Christ Event. Are there people who will choose “other gods” even in the post-incarnational era? Of course, but the God of Jesus Christ never gives up on them, and ultimately, unless they full-out reject the overtures of God’s Spirit, and do it perpetually, God will win them over with love, forgiveness, and acceptance. This is the mission of Jesus Christ. And Jesus, like the God of the psalmist, is a benevolent, “parental” teacher who helps us “get it.” We are taught why the “rules of the road” are important—not to “please God,” but to make the Kingdom of God and the Beloved Community possible. Courtesy and “love of neighbor” is what is behind our “obedience,” not just appeasement of an angry deity. 

 

I pray this Psalm finds you open to this view of the nature of God. If not, there is no time like the present to open your hearts to it, and to Jesus Christ, who accepts us, and teaches us the “rules of the road” like our basketball coach did! I also pray that if your current view of the nature of God is of the divine autocrat who “made you and can break you,” and who desires, above all else, your obedience to laws and rules “because he said so,” you might examine the broader witness of scripture to have this oppressive theology lifted off your shoulders. Those who are afflicted by this patriarchal view tend to see a choice between law and love, not that the law is given to help us live out the “rule” of love with each other in the here and now. Again, to use my driving metaphor, if the compelling reason you obey the “rules of the road” is that you don’t want to get pulled over by the cops, you will NOT be a safe driver, and may not see why the safety of OTHER drivers should be a concern of yours. But if you “see the light” and adopt the view that the rules of the road are designed to keep us ALL safer and make driving more pleasurable, then you will “get” the God the writer of Psalm 16 is trying to tell us about. 

 

As I’ve mentioned before, in seminary, I was drawn to the Process model of doing theology. This model posits a loving Creator who “goes on before us,” and who attempts to lovingly “lure” us to making better choices on our “driving” path. The God of Process Theology incorporates our past experience, the circumstances of the present moment, and God’s loving “lure” to form “actual occasions” along a more positive path. What makes it a more positive path? It is one that encourages our own joy and well-being in life, but one that also interfaces well with our neighbors, or fellow-travelers with us on the journey. It is also one that helps advance the “bigger picture” of God’s desire to bring about the ultimate Beloved Community, the Kingdom of God. Now that I have a “high tech” car that uses all kinds of sensors and radar to guide my driving journeys, keep me and other safer, and make my driving experiences less of a “chore” and more of a joy, I can see how the Process model “works” every time I get behind the wheel of my Prius Prime!

 

I once read that the Global Positioning System (GPS) in my car “looks” for three satellites sailing around the earth to get its “fix” and provide direction. In another sermon, I paralleled this to the “fix” we get when we look to the Holy Trinity for guidance on the journey of life. Both “drives” can become less of a chore and more of a joyous “vacation trip” when we adopt a view of the nature of God that is not oppressive, one that is instead loving, nurturing, and redeeming. This is the God of Jesus Christ. This is the God of the author of Psalm 16. And may it be the God of your journey, too! Happy motoring! Amen!