Pilgrimage
Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord
who minister by night in the house of the Lord.
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary
and praise the Lord.
May the Lord bless you from Zion,
he who is the Maker of heaven and earth.
Psalm 134
STORY
The Pittsburgh Pirates had a great baseball season in 1979. The Pirates had 98 wins and 64 losses that year and captured the National League East Division title by two games over the Montreal Expos. The Pirates then beat the Cincinnati Reds to win their ninth National League title, and they defeated the Baltimore Orioles, in the seventh and final game, to win their fifth World Series title.
One of the leaders of the team was first baseman Willie Stargell. His teammates called him “Pops” because of his leadership both on and off the field. With his encouragement and example the team was nicknamed “The Family,” because of the close relationship among the teammates. Stargell said of the family experience, “We won, we lived, and we enjoyed as one. We molded together dozens of different individuals into one working force. We were products of different races, were raised in different income brackets, but in the clubhouse and on the field, we were one.”
Sister Sledge is a vocal group that was composed of four sisters: Debbie, Joni, Kim, and Kathie. The group came together in 1971, and in 1979 they saw their breakthrough album titled We Are Family. The album included a song by the same title.
The song was adopted by the Pittsburgh Pirates as their official anthem. It was sung throughout the stadium during games, it was played on the radio, it was heard on television, it was printed on T-shirts, as one could not escape the song. The song echoed what Pittsburgh players and fans believed about themselves: they were “The Family.”
Sister Sledge was invited to sing the song at the opening game of the World Series before 45,000 fans, but they were on a three-week tour of Europe at the time. Kathie, who was the lead singer, on learning that the song instead was sung by a chorus of Pirates fans in the stadium, said, “It’s a miracle. We thought the song had made as much noise as it ever would. Then the Pirates came along. It shows how God can act in mysterious ways.”
The chorus is constantly repeated in the song We Are Family, and it was constantly heard in Three Rivers Stadium. The chorus is all about celebrating being family. Shall we sing:
We are family
I got all my sisters with me
We are family
Get up everybody and sing
We are family
I got all my sisters with me
We are family
Get up everybody and sing
DEVOTION
The Songs of Ascents in the Old Testament includes Psalms 120 through134. The Songs of Ascents is also known Songs for the Journey, as well as Song of Steps for one is on a journey, in addition to being known as Song of Degrees for a worshiper journeys up the hill to Jerusalem. They are Pilgrim Psalms, another classification for these hymns, as those who sang these hymns were on a spiritual pilgrimage to the Temple. The Songs of Ascents were sung or chanted by the ancient Israelites as they were “going up” to Jerusalem, as they were “ascending” the holy hill of Zion to worship at the temple. That is why these psalms are referred to as Songs of Ascents. One of the main themes of these psalms is peace.
According to Deuteronomy 16:16-17, the ancient Israelites were supposed to “appear before the LORD your God,” they were supposed to “ascend” the holy hill of Zion to worship at the temple three times a year: Once for the “festival of Unleavened Bread” or Passover, once for the “festival of Weeks,” which came to be known in later Hellenistic Judaism as Pentecost, and once “at the festival of Booths” or Tabernacles.
Three times a year, twice in the Spring and once in the Fall, ancient Jews and God-fearing Gentiles “ascended” the hill of the LORD to worship at the Temple in Jerusalem. Three times a year, they would have sung or chanted Psalms 120 through 134 as they traveled on their spiritual journey from their homes to the House of the LORD in Jerusalem.
Psalm 120 is the psalm that was sung when the pilgrims were leaving their homes or homelands to begin their pilgrimage to Jerusalem. They might have been traveling from someplace near to Jerusalem, or they might have been traveling to Jerusalem from a far-off land. The first of the pilgrim songs expresses a deep longing for the peace that the pilgrims hope to find in Jerusalem. The psalm indicates that the pilgrims desire peace, the inner peace that only God can give, while the world around them was in conflict. Psalm 120 draws a sharp contrast between the peace of God, the peace that the pilgrims seek at the house of the LORD in Jerusalem, and the conflict, deceit, and hateful words of the world from which the pilgrims had come.
Psalm 134, the last of the fifteen Songs of Ascents is a doxology. It is a blessing upon the pilgrims as they return home from the temple.
The Israelites came from regions near and far; thus, there was a great diversity among them. Though, in the temple they were one family unified by the worship of the same God, Yahweh. Though they came from different cities, from differing rural areas, from differing political environments, they held in common the same anxieties that result from living in the midst of social and civil upheaval.
The worshipping congregation in which we dwell is a family in so many ways. We are a diverse family, as we come from separate households and have differing backgrounds, but we share the same desires, the same hopes and dreams, the same problems, and the same desire for peace, harmony, and tranquility. Because of this commonality among us, we can sing together: We are family; Get up everybody and sing.