Reflections on "Where Do You See God...in Times of Death" John 11: 28-45; Ezekiel 37:1-14

When we learned that our county was going into "shelter in place," we literally put together the service and recorded it 5 or 6 hours later so we could have one more week fo worship being led in our sanctuary by a worship team.  the next day we learned that the "shelter in place" order allowed for worship teams of 10 or fewer people to gather to live stream or record worship services.  But, we had already done the worship service.  I am grateful for the handy resources that allowed this sermon to get thrown together in a couple of hours Tuesday afternoon!

Also included our Time with Young Disciples.  Our youth ministry team had the great idea to have the kids do Lego creations or draw something based on the Scripture lesson read.  A great idea that we will be implementing throughout our live streaming worship experiences.  Hopefully, some of the drawings and Lego creations will be photographed and posted on the church's FB page.

Time with Young Disciples:  The prophet Ezekiel looks down into the valley and sees dry bones.  Dry bones represented death, no hope.

But the breath of God breathes on the bones and they come to life. sometimes we talk about the bones dancing and singing.

it reminds us that even we things see bad, even when we are afraid, God is right there with us working to make things better.

I thought maybe you could use your Legos if you have them or draw a picture of what that might look like.  maybe a valley of dry bones coming to life.

And maybe you could think about what the prophet Ezekiel felt like when he saw the dry bones and then when he saw God bring the bones to life.

And then you might talk with your parents and brothers and sisters about what new things you might want to see God do today.

pray after me:  

”Where Have you Seen God…in our times of death” March 29, 2020; Lent 4 St. Andrew, Denton; John 11:  28-45; Ezekiel 37:1-14

Martha has already greeted Jesus on the road and heard from Jesus those words we cling to n times of death ““I am the resurrection and the life.[f] Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”

We pick up the story in vs. 28:

28 …Martha went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34 He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus began to weep. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him

Introduction:   Little did Lisa and I know when we put the Lenten preaching series together that our sermon topics would be so timely:  two weeks ago, where do we see God in crises; last Sunday, where do we see God in times of transition; today, where do we see God in times of death.

I hope you have been journaling where you have seen God. 

In fact, I would invite you to post on the St. Andrew FB page a story or two of where you have seen God in this uncertain time so those of us who are looking might share your vision.

Move 1:  Where do we see God in times of death?  We see God walking with us, joining us in our grief.

a.  That is the image given to us in the story from the Gospel of John.

1.  Jesus weeping at the death of his friend.

2.  Jesus traveling to be with Martha and Mary in their grief.

3.  If you notice, Mary greets Jesus with  a comment, maybe an accusation:  “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

4. In fact, if you read earlier in this chapter when Martha met Jesus on the road to Bethany, she has the same accusation.

5.  Jesus’ answer begins with his presence with them and the tears he shares with them.

b. Let’s be clear - This story of Jesus, his dead friend, and his grieving sisters is not told to sentimentalize death.  To say that God joins with us does not mean that death is no big deal. 

1. or that death is not difficult.

2.  Or that there is no pain in death.

3.  In normal times, we know that the dying part of the cycle of life is full of pain and grief and loss.

4.  In our current crisis, when we see the death totals announced each day we know each number represents pain and loss.

c.  In the pain of death and the depths of grief, when we see God with us, we proclaim our faith in the God of resurrection.

1.  The God who weeps with us is also the God who resurrects.

2. The God who walks with us in our grief is also the God who leads us to new life.

In times of death, look for God walking with you and leading you to new places.

Move 2: We can also see God in times of death giving us hope.

a.   “Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.”

1. So cry out the Israelites.

2.  They look to the valley and only see dried up bones.

2.  Do not miss this real and scary look at their reality.

3.  the story of the God who breathes life into dry bones begins with the dry bones.

b. Being faithful does not be we have to ignore our reality or put blinders on as we look at our world.

1. It is a scary time in our lives.

2.  Isolation is lonely.

3.  Disruption of our routines shakes us to the core of our being.

4.  An Unseen virus lurking in our midst frightens us.

3.  We look around and see dry bones filling the 

valley.

4  God does not ask us to ignore the reality of the world in which we live.

c.  But God does call us to trust in God’s ability to breathe new life into the dry bones.

1. not a breath that must be contained by a mask or avoided by others within six feet because it carries a virus.

2. But a breath of God’s life-giving, live-saving Spirit.

3. the Spirit that calls us to find new ways to be in relationship while still being quarantined.

4. The Spirit that sends volunteers each morning to feed the hungry during this crisis.

5.  the Spirit that invites us to adapt and find new ways of doing things in the midst of crisis.  

6. The day is not here now, but the day will come when we will look back over this time in our lives and our world, and we will reflect on the new and powerful things created and discovered, ways in which we saw God do a new thing.

In times of death, look for God in the hope we have for the new coming.

Move 3:  We also see in times of death God calling us to step forward in faith.

a.  Clearly, in the story we read in the Gospel of John, we find our hope in the resurrection to eternal life.

1.  A powerful faith statement.

2. A hope that sustains our faith.

b.  But we are also called to serve the God whose power to resurrect is being unleashed in our world today.

1.  not just a future hope, but a present reality.

2.  Lazarus comes to life in that moment.

c.  “Unbind him. Let him go”

1.   in an Interview with Ross Wilson, an internationally acclaimed artist who was honored by Queen Elizabeth II with a British Empire Medal, Jessica Hooten asked him about his latest art exhibit.

It is titled The Calling of Lazarus, a series of 60 portraits on display at the Windgate Art Gallery at John Brown University. the 60 portraits follow Lazarus as he moves through this story found in the Gospel of John.

Listen to how Wilson describes Lazarus

 “this life is built, and then it stops, and then Christ reaches in and brings it forward again.” Jessica Hooten interview ross Wilson, christian  Century, March 16, 2020; https://www.christiancentury.org/article/interview/bringing-forth-lazarus-blank-canvas?fbclid=IwAR1qEXhjCrpDMjqCf6UAUtE5_oJDO4zCvzkf6n-7Dq1PiVkGfEwt9T1-b3o)

2.  Jesus reached into the stench of the tomb and called Lazarus to step forward.

3 not into life everlasting, that would be a later chapter for Lazarus, but Jesus calls Lazarus to come out fo the tomb and follow him.

4. As Meda  Stamper, a Presbyterian minister and writer notes:  Being in relationship with Jesus means facing death and grief with him and learning that still, in spite of the death and the dryness and the finality of the door at the entrance to the tomb of our hopes, he can still be said to be life.  Nothing is ever so dead that it keeps him from being that in himself and for us.  And in John that life is not only a future hope.  Abundant life is always ever now (Meda Stamper, Presbyterian minister and writer, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=904; 

5.  In times of death, God calls us to step forward in faith, to be part of that new thing God is doing even now in our midst.

Conclusion: Can these bones live? 

Ezekiel wants to know.

Martha and Mary want to know.

We want to know.

Listen for the rattling sound.  Look for the Spirit of God.

The glory of God has arrived in your midst.

Where Have You Seen God...in Times of Transition I Samuel 16:1-13

this sermon is part of the Lenten series, "Where Have You Seen God...?"  It was preached by Rev. Lisa Patterson in a service live-streamed to the congregation.

Sunday, March 22, 2020 | 1 Samuel 16:1-13                                                                          

Where Have you Seen God...in Times of Transition?

Rev. Lisa Patterson

I Samuel 16: 1-13  The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” 2 Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.” 4 Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?” 5 He said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.”[a] 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” 11 Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” 12 He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.

Sermon:

We are in strange, scary, unsettling, changing times. We can’t buy our favorite, fresh chicken whenever we want it and even more disturbing - the shelves with toilet paper are empty. Our communal hangouts like athletic gyms, restaurants, bars, schools, and churches are closed. We can’t even go to in-person committee meetings. We are concerned about our medical staff and the hospitals where they serve.

We are concerned about the numbers of people who might soon occupy those beds, and uncertain if there will be enough beds and equipment for all the patients. We are concerned that our medical staff have ample supplies of the proper protective gear and about the decisions they will have to make. We can’t hug each other and express our normal human emotions of love and friendship – and for huggers, like me, that is really difficult.

Life as we know it is changing each day, if not each hour with a new CDC recommendation, national update, or church announcement. . If you haven’t been adept with technology up to this point, my guess is that you are gaining ground, because you want to stream your church service, stay connected with your family and friends, and with the global community. As human beings we struggle and resist these changes and transitions in our normally stable lives. I believe there is a deep underlying fear that we think nothing will ever be as good as it was before – and, the loss will define us rather than the power of new hope having the opportunity to refine us and sanctify us and this history of time.

            The text I just read is an Old Testament story about change and resistance to change. This theme has been constant and throughout the ages. It picks up right after the prophet Samuel had informed King Saul that the Lord had rejected him as king of Israel. Our text today opens with Samuel grieving and resolutely trying to hold onto what he had helped established rather than moving into the new possibilities that God was sending him to.

Samuel was trying to remake the day by obsessing, fixating on what had gone wrong in King Saul’s leadership and his part in it. He was naturally grieving and resisting rather than listening to God. Samuel was grieving and God knew it. Out of God’s strong, commanding, resolute, steadfast love, God tells Samuel to get a move on, get your anointing oil because I am about to do a new thing.

            Samuel did what God commanded, and he moved on. He laid his fixation on King Saul down and he headed out into the new future God was creating and which he couldn’t yet begin to see. He took up his horn of anointing oil and the heifer to sacrifice as a cover for his real mission, and he traveled to Bethlehem, a place outside his usual territory. The elders of the city were apprehensive about his arrival because of his power, and they didn’t know his purpose. Samuel, the well-known big steeple preacher of his time, convinced them he was just there to sacrifice.

 His cover worked, and he started checking out Jesse’s sons. His eye was immediately taken with tall, handsome Eliab, the oldest. Surely he had to be God’s chosen,. But he was not the one, and it was at this point in the story when God spoke the words that so many of us hold dear in Scripture. God said, “Do not look on his appearance or the height of his stature, for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” God said, “Stop just looking at the tall ones.” After seven sons had passed over by God, Samuel asked if there weren’t any other sons from which to choose. God had not chosen any of the seven.

            Jesse didn’t understand, but he said his youngest was out in the fields tending the sheep. He was the youngest, the smallest, the least likely to be chosen, this one God chose. When David entered the room the Lord told Samuel, “Rise and anoint him.” And the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward, even though he went back to the fields that day. Samuel was called to anoint the new king while the old still occupied his heart and his place on the throne. But right in the midst of Samuel’s resistance, he heard God’s call inviting him to the better future. He had to trust God’s vision more than his own. He had to stop fixating and trying to remake what was already in place. He had to stop resisting and start embracing, anointing the new. He had to acknowledge God’s desire and will to do a new thing right in the middle of the reality of the situation. That is how God works. As Scot McKnight wrote in Christian Century, “In this way God sanctifies history, making it something to embrace rather than resist.”[1] Bringing the new out of the old – sanctifying and transforming the reality.

Like Samuel, we are called to listen and look for God’s possibilities in the midst of all the impossibilities we are faced with each hour during the crisis of Covid-19. We, too,  can be Samuel-like and make the trek through the wilderness from that which is familiar and feels safe and steady to the new possibilities of God.

We can walk before we see fully and listen for God’s call before we grasp what God is up to in sanctifying and transforming this difficult time in history. God did not, would not bring about Covid -19. I need to be plain about that. But God is active, God is on the move as we shelter in place, go to the grocery store at odd hours, and feel isolated from our friends and community. God is always up to something good and God anoints our heads with oil in the bleakest of times. It is God who prepares a table by God’s own hand for each of us – for everyone in the whole, wide world.

Change is inevitable. It is part of our human life. As believers we do not remain in a static, unchanging state, but we are people of new life, new light, and transformation. We try to learn what is pleasing to God rather than getting stuck trying to remake today stay just like today and ensure there is no change. We think and plan like human beings but God’s vision is eternal and steadfast. God is sanctifying a brand-new time in history, not bringing about Covid-19 but by calling us into new possibilities of living.

One of you texted me last week when the school closed worried about what would happen to all of the children who were going to be hungry without the school providing breakfast and lunch. We were wondering what we could do at St. Andrew. I read in yesterday’s newspaper that 500 people had called the school district to volunteer to pass out more than 11,000 meals the district’s nutrition staff had prepared for school kids this past week.

During school closings and uncertainty, the district and these volunteers fed a lot of hungry kids. Others of you have suggested making medical masks because of the short supply, and we want to support medical staff and patients. Several of you are already at work making these to help support the medical community. Our deacons are offering to run errands and pick up needed groceries or medications for those who cannot get out. Our elders are making sure that wages for staff at all levels continue in the midst of shortages, market downturns, and job loss. Our church is supporting each other and the larger community through simple, ordinary, human things like emails, calls, texts, walks taken with a six-foot social distance, which are so many virtual hugs given to instill hope again in the devastated community around us. Church members are figuring out ways to send in their pledges when not occupying pews each week. Our daily bread is considered an essential service by the city and volunteers are staffing the social agency so that some of the most vulnerable people can get fed. As they do so they are following all safety guidelines so that all are safe.

Times of change and transition need faithful people who might greet the new with trembling, fear, resistance but nonetheless listening for God’s call guiding us into the new and being open to it. We are in a time when we see empty shelves, scarcity of drug testing kits, medical equipment, ventilators, hospital beds, toilet paper, food, and jobs. What is not scarce though, through the power of the spirit, is trust, hope, and love – love that is stronger than fear[2], fiercer than Covid-19, and which casts a net that is global in nature and which holds all of God’s world in its power and tender care.

We are not called to be a prophet like Samuel – that call was given just to him. We are not called to be David – to be king was his call. We are simply called to be us – in our frailties, our fears, our hesitations, our strength, our courage – all gifts of the spirit of God to embrace God’s new possibilities. Sometimes we might need to be a Saul and listen to a person like Samuel when he or she tries to help move us from one type of call to another, but all are a part of God’s kingdom and have purpose and strength through the power of the Spirit.

How can we be Samuel-like[3] and listen to God during this time to making the trek from the old to the new? To share what we have even when things we rely upon are  scarce? Who have been your Samuel-like leaders? The ones who led you and helped you embrace the new? Who has given you the courage to begin to breathe again and believe that new possibilities are coming, even though you just can’t see them right now? Or believe that new possibilities really are right before us?

These journeys into God’s transforming life and new future are happening all the time. It isn’t just one journey that will be made, but many journeys that come at God’s call and are accompanied by the fierce, compassionate, care love of the Good Shepherd.

---

[1] Scot McKnight, “Move on: 1 Samuel 176:1-13; Psalm 23; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41. The Christian Century, February 22, 2005

[2] Richard Rohr. “Love Alone Overcomes Fear.” Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation. Center for Action and Contemplation, Thursday, March 19, 2020.

[3] Brian K. Blount. “Can Someone be Called and Not Know It?” Christian Century, March 30, 2014.

Reflections on ”Where Have you Seen God…in our times of crises” Exodus 17:1-7; John 4: 5-42Lent 3

A strange day of worship as I preached to the camera doing our Livestream with a handful of musicians, our associate pastor, liturgist, sound and video persons, and a few others.  Like many churches, we had canceled public attendance at our worship service due to COVID-19 concerns.  

I laid out the preaching series a couple of months ago, not realizing that a sermon on seeing God in crises would be so timely!  In a busy week without a lot of focused preparation time, I read a really good article (referenced below) that helped quite a bit.  

The John passage (4:5-42) is the lectionary passage linked to the Exodus passage, although there was not a clear connection between the two, at least for me.  It is a wonderful passage, though, and would be worthy of several sermons. I would recommend reading it for some more thoughtful reflection.

”Where Have you Seen God…in our times of crises” March 15, 2020; Lent 3 St. Andrew, Denton; 

Exodus 17: From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” 3 But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 He called the place Massah[a] and Meribah,[b] because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Introduction:  “Is the Lord among us or not?” 

That is the question the Israelites have as they find themselves in the wilderness facing a water crisis.

Wilderness for the Israelites was that place they did not want to be.  Being in the wilderness meant they were not home; they had not found their place; they were still wandering; still in transition;  still surrounded by the unknown.

Wilderness was a place of vulnerability.

Maybe you feel like you and all the world is in the wilderness at this moment.

Unsure of what the future will hold.  Easier to see obstacles and challenges than solutions and answers.

“Is the Lord among us?”   A wilderness question.

When we ask our Lenten question:  “Where do you see God?” it is another way of asking the wilderness question.

this morning, we reflect on where we might see God in the midst of crises.  No doubt, the current crisis we are in with the coronavirus is our immediate context, but we can might also consider other crises we have faced as we look for God in those moments.

move 1:  As we look for God in crises, we see God, the one who is calling us to step out in leadership.

a.  Look at Moses.

1.  “what shall I do with this people?” he wants to know.

2. I suspect he had a few ideas.

3.  Run away from them.

4. Tell them they are on their own.  he’s tired of their quarreling.

5. He’s tired of their blaming him when they are mad at  God.

6.  time to turn in his staff because they start throwing those rocks at him.

7. he’s done.

b.  but God has a different plan. 

1. God tells Moses to put himself out in front: “go on ahead of the people” (Exodus 17:5). The Hebrew verb is ‘br, “to cross over”, followed by the preposition liphnê, literally “to or before the face of”(http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3432;  Anathea Portier-Young; Associate Professor of Old Testament

Duke University Divinity School)

2.  Moses must cross in front of the people.

3.  He must risk stepping out and facing their anger and fear.

4.  he must move beyond his own fears and insecurities and lead the people.

b.  When we find ourselves in times of crisis, we often want to shrink from the moment.

1. let someone else step forward.

2. LEt someone else risk making the decision.

3. What if it goes wrong and they blame me?

4.  But there is God, calling us to step forward.

5. Most of us do not have the influence or the responsibility like President Trump and other elected leaders in our country have in this moment of crisis.

6. But we do have opportunities to lead and influence people who look to us in our social circles, neighborhoods, and work.  

7.  Look for the God who calls you to lead in this places.

c.  Why can Moses step forward in leadership?  Why can we step forward in leadership?

1. Because  God is present with us.

2. God tells Moses: “I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb” (Exodus 17:6). 

3.  Moses does not take his risky step forward to lead God’s people alone - God is ever before him and present with him.

The God we see, who calls us to lead in the face of crises, is ever before us and present with us.

Move 2: Move 3:  We see God in the call to shared leadership.

a.  When God tells Moses to step forward, God also tells Moses to take some elders with him

1.  Moses is not in this alone.

2. Moses is not limited to only the ideas he can come up with or the resources that he alone has.

3.  Moses works with a leadership team.

b. Collectively, they have many more tools to use to guide and direct the Israelites during this crisis moment in the wilderness.

1.  The elders carry with them their experience and their history of having witnessed God’s saving action.

2.   The elders carry the trust and the hurt and the hopes of the people. 

3. The elders will join Moses in being present for God’s people.

4. Moses is not the solution himself - he needs to share the leadership (http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3432;  Anathea Portier-Young; Associate Professor of Old Testament

Duke University Divinity School)

c.  As we face crises, we are not alone. 

1. We have God with us.

2. We have those people God sends to join us in leadership.

Look for God in those people.

Move 3: Look for God in the ordinary tools you already have.

a.  Notice that the water gushes out to wet the lips of the Israelites when Moses touches rocks with his staff.

1.  the staff he has used for most of his life.

2. He has corralled sheep with his staff.

3. he has protected sheep with his staff.

4.  He has leaned on it when tired; used it for sure footing when climbing.

5. In fact, he has already used his staff to part the Red Sea.

b.  The rocks.

1.  the wilderness has little edible food - remember, God had to provide manna a quail for the Israelites as they hungered in the wilderness.

2. There is not oasis with water for the people.

3. But there are plenty of rocks, part of the landscape.

c.  God has Moses use his staff to transform the ordinary rock into a spigot of life-saving water (http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3432;  Anathea Portier-Young; Associate Professor of Old Testament

Duke University Divinity School)

1.  Ordinary things used by God for extraordinary results.

2.  God already has given you gifts.

3. As you face crises, look for the gifts and abilities God has already given you and put them to work.

4. We believe God equips us for the tasks to which God calls us.

5. When we face crises, look for the ways God has already equipped you and use those gifts.

Move 4:  A final thought,  look for God among the most vulnerable

a.  perhaps not explicit in the Exodus text.

1.  But like the Samaritan woman at the well, we live our lives knowing Jesus Christ.

2.  We know how the stories of what Jesus did and those about whom Jesus worried, how much Christ cared for those in need.

3.  We can expect that when we look for God in crises, we find God among the most vulnerable.

b.  As challenging as a crisis is for those of us who have resources. how much more challenging it must be for those with limited resources.

1.  Yesterday, at our closed church, Our Daily Bread still met to feed the hungry.  they had to modify how they served the people in an effort to reduce the potential for spreading germs, but still the hungry were being fed.

2. yesterday, at our closed church, the American Red Cross blood drive still took place in our Rec Center.   they had extra precautions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.  But, there is s dire need for blood right now.

So they were there.

3. As we modify the patterns of our daily lives and change how we interact communally, we must continually be on the lookout for how we can care the most vulnerable in our midst. 

4.  I suspect we will see God when we do.

Conclusion:  I recently ran across this poem about being in the wilderness:

I’m not the first.
That’s what I tell myself when I wake up in the wilderness—
Big sky, worried heart, wondering which way to start.
I have been here before.
We have been here before.
For as long as there has been creation,
There has been wilderness.

First it was an endless void,

Until God and God’s paintbrush painted the sky gold.

And then it was all that lies east of Eden,

Which is everywhere that our story unfolds. . . 

So where is God, you ask?
God is in the big sky and in my worried heart.
God is the sidewalk cracks where new life starts.
God is in the realization that I am not the first.
So may we take these limited days left
And remember that we’ve been here before—
God and I and this untamed world.
God and the Israelites and the gathered assembly.
God and the horizon and the new day beginning.

—Sarah Are {poem from our "Wilderness Poems," Wilderness Lent Bundle}

Crises will find us as we live our lives.   so too will God.