Clergy/Leaders’ Mail-list No. 2-193 Sunday 29 Sep 2002

Reading: Psalm 127 – VANITY AND VISION

‘Unless the Lord build the house, its builders labour in vain.’ (Ps 127:1)

This is an age in which human endeavour is praised and valued. We pride ourselves on the great achievements of humanity. Part of the reaction to the destruction of the World Trade Centre – even only one day after this appalling event – is to lament the destruction of our symbols of power and financial wealth.

The psalmist sets all of this in context. All human endeavour is weak and fallible. Even that most apparently natural of things, procreation (vs 3-5), is not, after all, a merely human activity. All of life is lived in the presence of God and only when he acts is there likely to be anything of permanence. To attempt to create an empire based only on human vision and activity, as the builders of the Tower of Babel discovered (Gen 11:1-9), is to court disaster.

Only initiatives undertaken with the blessing of God will ultimately succeed. That is not to say that all others will instantly fail. There have been great human empires that have lasted for centuries, but in the end they have perished. The monuments they leave testify only to their passing.

Our natural desire to act independently and to build for our own reputation is to be resisted. Verse 2 presents a challenge to those of us who work long hours in the conviction that this is what gets things done. The inclination to take the praise for success is to be declined. For the glory belongs only to God. There is much here to make us think, not simply about national life but about the lives of our churches. Are we building for ourselves and our reputation or for God? Are we acting in our strength or in his? What is the driving motivation and vision?

Review your personal goals, ambitions and activities in the light of this psalm. Then think about those in your church. What might you do to bring about any necessary change?

– John Grayston

Copyright Scripture Union, 2002

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