HELP the WORLD REJOICE

 

November 29, 2023

 

Psalm 80

Restore us, O God of hosts; let Your face shine, that we may be saved! You brought a vine out of Egypt; You drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land. ... Why then have You broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?

In the Movie and play Sister Act, Mother Superior is afraid of Deloris Van Cartier and for good reason. Deloris is a mess. She needs a sanctuary. Delores is a singer. Her latest audition was after-hours at a seedy joint in south Philly. She didn't get the job. And, to make matters worse, that night, when she left, she took the wrong door and witnessed a murder. Right in front of her, the club owner shoots one of his henchmen for squealing on him to the cops. Now Deloris is a witness, on the run, and needs a sanctuary. The police hide Deloris, the loud-mouth lounge singer, in a convent, much to Mother Superior's chagrin. Because when Deloris joins the choir, she brings the whole scummy world inside that sanctuary, into God's vineyard, and the riff-raff are trampling down the vine, eating all the fruit, just as Mother Superior feared.

Psalm 80, was written during a time when ancient Israel was divided. The leaders in the Northern Kingdom were corrupt. They had mixed with the culture around them, the consequence of their choices caused things to come crashing down around them. In the year 722 B.C., the Assyrians invaded, broke down their walls, trampled their sanctuary, and scattered the people. The Poet of Psalm 80 probably lived in the southern part of Israel when it happened. He hears about it and calls out his prayer to God in a poem. The Psalmist compares God's people to a vine, and their land is like a vineyard. And like Mother Superior in Sister Act, the Psalmist does not understand why God would let the world invade His vineyard.

When Jesus said, "I am the true Vine and you are the branches" (John 15:5a), He probably had Psalm 80 in mind. Recognizing Jesus as the Vine we see the relationship between the world's mess and God's sanctuary in a new light. Because the Gospels show us that Jesus embraced the so called "riff-raff", you and me included. Jesus let Himself be trampled, cut down, crucified, then, with God's power and compassion, He rose from the dead. He broke down the wall. He welcomes us in, so that we can welcome others.

Back to Sister Act, when Deloris Van Cartier led the choir in the convent, she taught them how to sing. And maybe we can hear her words as prophetic. She tells her sisters, and us,

"When you've got a song worth hearin' 

there's one thing to do.

Just keep your fear from interferin' 

and let that sucker burst through.

Raise your voice! Blast it! Blare it! 

Stand up and share it! Help the world rejoice!"

God, keep our fears from interfering, so that we can help the world rejoice in Jesus. Amen.