March 13, 2022 – Second Sunday in Lent

As you know, I took a long vacation to Hawai’i over the past few weeks. As I sat there, enjoying the sights and sounds that are so foreign to us here in Western New York, I began to think about the senses that God has blessed us with. It is only fitting that today’s Psalm talks about being in the presence of God. If you’ll look back at our Psalm, and focus on verse four, I want to read it and have you repeat it.

one thing I seek; <PAUSE>
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord <PAUSE>
all the days of my life; <PAUSE>
To behold the fair beauty of the Lord <PAUSE>

Let’s say it together: “One thing I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; To behold the fair beauty of the Lord.”

Congratulations! You’ve learned the Bible verse Psalm 27:4.

The one thing that I need, the one thing that you need, the one thing that the world needs — is to have the beauty of the Lord living inside of us, to live in the presence of God all the days of our lives and to see God’s beauty and to hear God’s beauty and to smell God’s beauty and to taste God’s beauty and to touch God’s beauty, the beauty of the Lord who is all around us.

In a world in which we are so busy dusting plastic flowers that we don’t have the time to smell the roses; in a world in which the glitter and glamour of the neon lights is so bright that we cannot see the stars; in a world in which violence and brutality rules so many hearts rather than the beauty of God; in this kind of world, we ALL need the beauty of the Lord living inside of our souls.

Just as we need food to nourish our physical bodies, so also we need beauty to nourish our inner souls. As much as you need food for your body, you need beauty for your soul. God gives us what is beautiful to enliven our souls, fill our souls, and energize our souls.

Each one of us has different experiences of God’s beauty and different appreciations of this beauty. Beauty. Those inexpressible and indefinable moments that deeply touch our hearts, our minds, and all our senses. Those moments that melt our hearts when we feel the presence of God in what is beautiful. Each one of us will tell different stories of when we have heard beauty, seen beauty, smelled beauty, tasted beauty and touched beauty…when beauty has touched our inner souls, when God has touched us. Yes, each of us has different stories of beauty.

Let’s attempt to say Psalm 27:4 together again: “One thing I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; To behold the fair beauty of the Lord.”

1. We behold God’s beauty through our eyes.

Where do you see most clearly the beauty of God? What is your story? Is it the sunsets? The sunrises? The flowers? Your garden? Where is it that most touches your hearts? When you are overwhelmed and silenced by the beauty before you. Speechless. Breathless.

During a sunset? A sunrise? When you stand before the waves of the ocean? Or overlooking a volcano? Perhaps in the smallest of things like the intricate petals of flowers or the intricate, miniscule design of the veins of a leaf.

Many people also see the presence of God in art. Art that touches us and melts our hearts into a puddle of reverence. Yes, we are invited to live every day in the presence of the living God and to behold the beauty of God that we see with our eyes.

2. We hear the beauty of God through our ears.

God not only comes to us through our visual senses but the presence of the living God comes to us through our auditory senses. All of us are different. Each one of us has different visual experiences and different auditory experiences which are filled with beauty and the presence of the living God.

What are the most beautiful, God filled sounds that you have ever heard, where you hear the beauty of the living God? Where you behold God’s beauty, where you are aware of God’s beauty? Perhaps in the first cries of a new born baby? The sounds of rushing water in a mountain stream? The words, “I love you.”

Can we say Psalm 27:4 together: “One thing I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; To behold the fair beauty of the Lord.”

3. Our God given senses bring us into the presence of God. What are the most beautiful fragrances that the Lord God allows you to take in?

Perhaps it’s the smell of incense in the church – myrrh and frankincense. Maybe the smell of wet pine needles as you walk in the forest? Have you ever put your nose to a lilac bush in the spring? To a rose in the summer? Carnations? Lilies? Have you ever squeezed herbs between your fingers and smelled the scents of mint, basil, rosemary, and thyme? Have you stepped outside after a spring rainstorm and smelled the powerful smell of ozone? Have you smelled the sweet fragrances of freshly baked cookies as you come into the house? Have you uncorked a bottle of wine and delighted in the bouquet of the wine as its fragrance filled the room? In these exquisite fragrances, we delight in the very presence of God.

4. God’s creation of taste brings more joy to our lives. What are the tastes that you love the best? The flavors? Sugar? Cinnamon? Spaghetti? Pizza? Cherry, lime, root beer?

In your imagination, bite into a fresh apple? Can you savor the taste? Suck on a sweet orange? Raspberries? Pears? Grapes? Would you put a strawberry into your mouth and taste its succulence?

5. Touch. What are the touches which are most vivid and precious to you?  The soft skin of a newborn baby? A tender touch by your husband or wife saying, “I love you.” A touch by a friend on your shoulder as you grieve. Each of these give us glimpses of the face of God.

The Lord God uses all our senses. As one modern poet, John Denver, wrote and sang:

“You fill up my senses
Like a night in the forest
Like the mountains in springtime
Like a walk in the rain
Like a storm in the desert
Like a sleepy blue ocean
You fill up my senses
Come fill me again.”

We ask God to come and fill up our senses. When we live in the presence of God, we see beauty. When we see beauty, we see God.

There are two more places that we see and experience the beauty of God. When you see and experience love, God’s love, Jesus’ love lived out among people and between human beings.

These stories of love are infinite. There are many stories and examples of human love. Carol taking care of Mike as he has suffered a gall bladder attack. Dennis and Debbie caring for one another through their illnesses. Nancy Koehler caring for Janet Casagrande. Mark and Jack care for Bea. We all care for one another. Love that suffers with and for another. It is beautiful to be part of a community of love.

In Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, Les Miserables, the last line in the operetta is by the main character, Jean Valjean, as he sings, “To love another person is to see the face of God.” I believe those words are true: to love another person is to see the face of God.

Where else do we see the beauty of God? Daily with our eyes and ears and nose and tongue and touch, and daily when we see love between human beings. We also see the beauty of God when we see Jesus–Jesus, our beautiful Savior. There is a beauty to Jesus that captures our hearts like a sunset captures our hearts or a piece of music captures our hearts.

Jesus, the beautiful savior who spoke the most beautiful words ever voiced by a human being. Jesus’ magnificent words ring through the centuries with their beauty:

“Love one another.”
“God is love and whoever lives in love, lives in God.”
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
“Forgive one another seventy times seven.”
“Today, you will be with me in paradise.”
“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”

Beautiful words. The most beautiful words ever spoken by a human being. The most beautiful example of love – Jesus’ death on the cross.

I have come to love that Bible verse of Psalm 27:4, “One thing I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; To behold the fair beauty of the Lord.” That is what I need. That is what you need. That is what the world needs. To have the beauty of God living inside of us. Amen.