You send forth your spirit… you renew the face of the ground
June 3, 2012 | Anita Retzlaff | Psalm 104: 24-35          

This psalm is pure beauty!  The pictures painted herein move me; that is what poetry does.  In language that lifts us out of the mundane (and mundane only means ordinary) the psalmist praises the glory of God as wisdom, creative genius, raw power and careful tending.

God has one way in the world and that is the way of love.  The relationship of Creator to the creation is described in the 104th psalm as unmitigated praise and worship.

So for us today, as we celebrate the baptism of Kerstin as yet one more marvelous sign of this relationship of Creator to creation we have testimony to the presence of the Spirit in our midst.  For the poet makes it abundantly clear that God intends for us and all creation to thrive through the myriad acts of re-creation, renewal and replenishment.  These are the actions of the Spirit breathing new life into places of decay, demoralization, disinterest and death.

In God’s abundant plan for all people life is given and life is taken away.  This is the natural course of events eloquently described as God opening his hand and giving life then, hiding his face and taking the breath away.  This is not unjust but merely a poetic description of the gentleness of God in the cycle of life.  Our daily realities, our mundane existence includes experiences that are far from gentle,

however the intent of God through the Spirit that hovers over the waters and over all creation is that of wholeness and joy. Our experience of God is justice and love.  Our experience of human interaction and physical limitation can be quite another story.

And so the spirit of Pentecost creates and renews our lives as individuals and as a congregation.  We take this great leap from the creation of Leviathan sporting in the waters surrounded by creeping things innumerable, great and small to this space in which we have witnessed the renewal of one young life before the face of God this day. Kerstin is intimately connected to the creating and sustaining power of God the Open-handed One.

We respond to such grace by renewing our baptismal covenants and our relationship with God.  We remember yet again that God is merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.  We remember that Jesus our Lord unleashed a powerful force of love onto the face of the earth that changes our outlook on life.  We remember that the Spirit of renewal fills and refreshes each one of us today because that is the way God works love in this world.  We are moved, we are compelled, to give thanks for God’s generosity.

May the glory of the LORD endure forever!
May our meditations be pleasing to God!
Bless the LORD, O my soul.
Praise the LORD.  AMEN