Psalm 123
To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
As the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
until he has mercy upon us.
Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Our soul has had more than its fill
of the scorn of those who are at ease,
of the contempt of the proud.
This Psalm brings to mind an old Russian folktale. The story goes that on a small island off the coast of a certain village, there lived a group of Christian hermits. They had been shipwrecked long ago, when they were just boys, and they lived on the island their entire lives having very little contact with outsiders. As a result, their faith never progressed past the childish belief of their youth. These hermits couldn't recite the Apostles Creed, they couldn’t pray the Lord’s Prayer, and they didn’t know a thing about the Trinity or the incarnation.
Once an Archbishop who was visiting the village heard about these three Hermits. Most people said it was just a rumor, that they didn't really exist. But there were some fishermen who claimed to have actually met them. The Archbishop felt a burden in his heart for these hermits and decided to search them out so that he might bring them back to Christian society.
The Archbishop set sail for the location where the hermits were supposed to be and, sure enough, he found the island exactly as described. When he came to shore, the Archbishop found a small camp where the three hermits lived. They each had long white beards down to their waist. The Archbishop greeted the hermits and quickly discovered that all the stories he had heard about them were true. They couldn't recite the apostles creed or say the Lord's Prayer, and they knew nothing about the incarnation or the Trinity. The only prayer they knew how to recite was, “Lord have mercy on this sinner.” The Archbishop, offered to take them to the mainland so they could be among Christian society, but the hermits had been in eachother’s company on the island so long that they had become quite happy there and they politely refused.
So the Archbishop decided to educate them before he left. He labored at length to teach them the creed, but the three hermits were so forgetful that they simply couldn’t keep any of the information in their heads long enough for it to sink in. Trying to explain the trinity and the incarnation was even more hopeless so the Archbishop focused his efforts on at least getting the hermits to recite the Lord’s Prayer. The Archbishop worked with them well into the night. The hermits were eager students. At first they slipped into their habit of praying, “Lord have mercy on this sinner.” But after hours of repetition they finally had the Lord’s Prayer down solid. Satisfied with his work, the Archbishop blessed the three hermits and went on his way. He had only been out from shore for about 20 minutes when he heard noise coming from behind the boat. When he turned to see what it was, his jaw dropped. To his astonishment, the three hermits were running across the water to catch up to him. When they finally made it to the boat, they stood on the waves and called out:
“Archbishop! Archbishop! Teach us the words to your prayer again! We’ve already forgotten them!”
At that very moment, the Archbishop fell on his knees and, looking up to Heaven, he prayed, “Lord have mercy on this sinner.”
Isn't that a wonderful story?
We are reminded by the Psalmist of the power of a simple humble prayer: "Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us." Like servants before our master, we look up to God in reverence asking only for his lovingkindness...
Sometimes we overcomplicate things.
As we caravan together through the wilderness, it will be easy to do. Our current moment will cause us to ask profound questions. Questions about God's nature and his power and will to act. Questions that have plagued the faithful for millennia. We will also be presented with new challenges as we navigate how to respond to the suffering we see around us. It will be easy to get lost in the maze. We talk of doctrine and theology as if knowing God were an elaborate science. But it's as easy as looking up to God and asking for his mercies which are made new with every morning.
What if this time we haven this wilderness together is our opportunity to reclaim a child-like faith? A faith that takes delight in simple truths and humble prayers.... One that walks upon the waters.
Lord have mercy on this sinner. Amen.
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