Dear Friends
Tomorrow our youth are preaching for youth Sunday. I will be sharing these brief remarks before the service begins. The picture of the rainbow you can barely see reminds me that even during our darkest hours, God is with us.
Welcome to youth Sunday! In a moment we
will begin our service and focus on and celebrate just that. Today is all about
our children and youth.
But first, I cannot ignore the heavy
hearts we come with this morning if we’ve paid any attention to the news since
we left church last Sunday. After we “weep with those who weep”, as scripture puts
it, after we have prayed for healing and strength and hope, what’s next?
Let me share five things which are on my
heart right now:
First, pay close attention to the words of
our opening hymn. It is a confession. “Forgive, forgive, O Lord we cry” it says. At times like this, my first reaction is “Lord
have mercy upon us. Christ have mercy
upon us. Lord have mercy upon us."
Second, pay close attention to the words
of our closing hymn including these: “save us from weak resignation, to the evils
we deplore”. In other words, don't say “these things happen” but "what will I do?" There is always something we can do, with God’s help, and so we pray the
refrains “Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, for the living of this hour, for
the living of these days, lest we miss thy kingdom’s goal.”
Lord, lead me from prayers to action!
Third, we don’t have to agree with everything
our bishops say, but we should listen and learn from what they are saying about
current events.
In your Epistle a week ago Thursday, there
was a message from your bishop (and two of his Hawaiian clergy) regarding
TMT. (Thirty Meter Telescope)
This past week, there were many pastoral letters from faith leaders around the country including the Bishop of Washington and Dean of our Washington
National Cathedral regarding rhetoric that continues to divide.
And finally, the Bishop of Rio Grande
posted a message in reaction to the second mass shooting of the week in El
Paso. It was the most powerful and personal witness of all, in terms of our dealing
with the pain in our hearts. His name is Michael Hunn. I encourage you to find
and listen to it.
Fourth, at times like this, when I am out of
words and in the midst of things I cannot understand, I turn to our prayer book
catechism and the very first page about human nature, including these questions
and answers:
Why do we live apart from God and out of
harmony with creation?
From the beginning, human beings have
misused their freedom and made wrong choices.
Why do we not use our freedom as we
should?
Because we rebel against God and we put
ourselves in the place of God.
What help is there for us?
Our help is in God. (As the hymns put it,“O God our help in
ages past our hope for years to come” and "All my hope on God is founded".
Fifth and finally, consider these words
from today’s second lesson. Like today’s hymns, this lesson was scheduled long
before this week’s news, but I can’t imagine any timelier words, including
these:
But now, put these things out of your
life: anger, losing your temper, doing or saying things to hurt others, and
saying shameful things. Don’t lie to each other.
Now you are wearing a new
life. In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Greek or a Jew, if you
speak a different language. Christ is all that matters, and he is in all of
you.
To quote
the refrain from today's prayers of the people,
“and let us sow love in the world.”
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