Today is a historic day in America, though the reverberations of it will reach around the world. As was pointed out in Creative Homiletics today, in the history that has led to today stands a Baptist! Devotions from class this morning responding to Barack Obama's election as the next US President, allowed us to 'hear' and comment on the "I have a dream..." speech of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. To me at least it spoke of how, amongst other things, hope is alive and change is possible. "Failure does not have the last word" when you have "reached the other side of enough" as some students put it yesterday when articulating what the resurrection 'does'. Despite many failures and failings then, when many had reached "the other side of enough" today is a day of new and re-newed hope that change will indeed be possible.
On a different note (?) am preparing a sermon for this Sunday, Remembrance Day. I'm going to a new church that I have never preached in before, having accepted the invitation to come before I realised the significance of the date. Had I realised that first I would probably not have accepted, in all honesty. But I didn't, so I did, and I'm going.
Have never preached on Remembrance Sunday before. Had no idea where to begin with the preperation work ... other than in deep prayer of course. Went to Gathering for Worship which was of little help, so went to 'the little red book' more properly known as Patterns and Prayers for Christian Worship, which was slightly more helpful ... even suggesting appropriate readings. Having gone through them, some more prayerfully than others, Psalm 46 has been settled on, and so the last two days have been spent working with the Scriptural text.
From my own reflections one of the things that spoke most loudly to me in the Psalm was God's resounding "no" to all that would try to overwhelm. That "no" speaks louder than anything else, yet also speaks a "yes". A "yes" to trust in Yahweh, a "yes" to an alternative future to what the circumstances offer, a "yes" to hope. Surprisingly only half the commentary's I've also engaged with seem to have picked up on this in any kind of significant way. Yet it is there in the text. Craig Broyles writes that the Psalm speaks security because God is present, meaning 'the moment when light dispels darkness was symbolic of salvation, newness, and hope.' Therefore as the Psalmist writes "we will not fear."
The stillness is a call to cease, to recognise God and the reality of an ever-present, dwelling God both for now and for the future. The stillness becomes an act (of sorts) of resistance . It says "no" to fear and "yes" to trust. It says "no" to despair and "yes" to imagination. It says "no" to present chaos and "yes" to present Sovereignty.
Gerald H. Wilson sums it up like this:
We face death and the dissolution of the world, not because we are assured of a new life after death ... We live faithfully in the face of the ultimate threats of life because God is at the core ... Life with God is not dependant on life as we know it - or even on the universe as we know it. Life with God transcends our need to life here and now at any cost. Life lived in the power of God's refuge and strength becomes eternal life - not just life that hopes to be restored in some future perfect existence, but life that is not threatened by the imperfection of our world or even by the dissolution of all we know.
In all this 'stuff' there is strong message for Remembrance Sunday. A time when, yes we come to remember and to pray, but also create space to imagine and hold onto the hope that is birthed and clung to as we are still and know that God is God, no matter the surrounding chaos. Ultimately its about the rule of God. We remember those who fought and died in wars, we pray for those who still do,but we anticipate when wars will be no more. As Isaiah puts it so beautifully, we look forward to a time when "He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore." (Isaiah 2:4) Quite how the text will work its way into a sermon text to be 'performed' is tomorrows work, but tonight I go to bed reminded of what it means to be still, to really cease all strivings and quell all fears, and in that space dare to put all trust confidently in the awesome God of hope.
1 comment:
Remembrance Sunday is a sensitive time to reflect and give thanks and I personally think the young generation will find it difficult to full appreciate, because we have been blessed in the manner of not being led into war by force. Instead our attitudes show that we are disrespectful at times and we take blessings for granted. Interestingly, it's the young generation that don't bother to think and give thanks to those who died for us during the horrible wars and you can tell by those who wear a poppy to show respect... in contrast it's the young generation that demands a change in the attitude of the American government to shift old views to see hope for the country and for themselves.
Technically, you can bring in the effect of change and hope with the light of Obama's presidential win - paying attention to his acceptance speech, to the hope of having coming through and winning World War I and II. Hope still exists, particularly the hope and resurrection of Jesus Christ our LORD and Saviour. We all need hope, one way or another, but not many people will take a moment to think that we need help in a spiritual sense, because we can be busy pre-occupying our minds to finding that very solution. It can be troubling, even for a Christian to acknowledge that we at times need help and hope of a new beginning... and to channel a message of hope of a new tomorrow in Christ will deliver a powerful statement to the church and His children... May the LORD bless you with a hopeful message to deliver and stir in the hearts and minds of those who listen this Remembrance Sunday. <><
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